Another Country
My undying love for Karachi has been dented a little over the last few days. Karachiites out of their natural habitat are not unlike Henry James’ Americans fumbling their way through Mother Europe. There’s a strange glassiness that infuses into them. Is it the glut of chlorophyll, oxygen, ozone or just mere displacement? I have had the pleasure of the company of no less than three Karachi friends in almsot as many days. Here follows a top ten of some of their more memorable reflections. Gentle Reader, treat this not as a harangue. I do still love them dearly.
“Islamabad is sooooo suburban.” Err Yes. But doesn’t a suburb presuppose an “urb”?
“I couldn’t possibly live here.” Nobody’s asking you to.
“What I really mean is, how do you manage to live here?” I do. I kind of enjoy being in a city with four seasons, utilities that work, and a fairly literate population. That doesn’t stop me from hating it at times.
“Where’s the traffic?” There is traffic. We just have more miles of road per person than you guys do.
“The houses are kind of …err small.” Conspicuous consumption is looked down upon by many people.
“This restaurant wouldn’t survive in Karachi.” It’s not planning to travel there.
“Do you think Vinny is prettier than ZQ?” Who are these people ?
“Dubai is so much closer to Karachi than Islamabad.” Yes. But how much black-and-gold Louis Farooq can you put up with?
“I could do with a Big Mac right now.” Cool. Fancy driving 400 kilometers to Lahore?
“The men here are so much better looking.” Yes.
“Islamabad is sooooo suburban.” Err Yes. But doesn’t a suburb presuppose an “urb”?
“I couldn’t possibly live here.” Nobody’s asking you to.
“What I really mean is, how do you manage to live here?” I do. I kind of enjoy being in a city with four seasons, utilities that work, and a fairly literate population. That doesn’t stop me from hating it at times.
“Where’s the traffic?” There is traffic. We just have more miles of road per person than you guys do.
“The houses are kind of …err small.” Conspicuous consumption is looked down upon by many people.
“This restaurant wouldn’t survive in Karachi.” It’s not planning to travel there.
“Do you think Vinny is prettier than ZQ?” Who are these people ?
“Dubai is so much closer to Karachi than Islamabad.” Yes. But how much black-and-gold Louis Farooq can you put up with?
“I could do with a Big Mac right now.” Cool. Fancy driving 400 kilometers to Lahore?
“The men here are so much better looking.” Yes.
posted by Uber Homme at 1:41 pm
3 Comments:
No. I love Karachi and all that goes with it. Just commenting on the fish-out-of-perrier syndrome.
sin, i'm hurt!! dubai isn't THAT bad!!!
i haven't been to islamabad in years & years but i bet i'd make similar stupid comments if i was there. i do remember it being really peaceful, quiet and CLEAN (a welcome change from karachi).
Sin: Nobody who lives here calls this place "Isloo". You may uniwttingly cause antipathy. Much like the guys who call another city Frisco. :)
Sarah: Its so clean that I'm begining to believe there are goblins armed with Harpic who take to the streets every night.
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