Is it strictly business?

It happens during every business cycle.

So, what is it that pushed the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in Karachi to go this far at doing business? The all-mighty DHA has issued notices to some seven restaurants, at the seaside, Phase VIII of DHA, to vacate their premises. A professional entity like the DHA suddenly decided to ignore all its promises made to the restaurant owners, to renew their contracts.

An anonymous DHA official told me that all this was purely business and that it happened during every business cycle. He never told me that they renewed the contracts for special cases or let us say, for special people, but the latest favourite on the upside food street is Kolachi as it didn’t receive a notice; Savors has been around for 15 years and it didn’t receive a notice either; neither did The Village which has been around for the past 30 years.

When I met Kolachi’s owner, Hasnain Raza, he was a little taken aback by the DHA’s decision. But at the same time, he sounded quite optimistic, saying that everything would sort itself out. I actually asked him how he got away with not being asked to vacate; he gleefully accepted that Kolachi was blessed and said it were the people’s prayers that worked.

The irregular plots that are used as makeshift restaurants being asked to leave is less understandable than the notice handed to the Sunday Bazaar in Phase VIII. The Sunday Bazaar contractors have also been asked to move but that is truly a different case. Those plots are basically being used to sell smuggled goods or charity stuff sent from abroad.

For now, no one has an answer to my original question: what exactly is going on? We’re all equally clueless. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed and hope DHA extends the contracts for the restaurant owners because people really do love the food on that street! These seaside food stalls bring us more than what the rest of this violence-wracked city has to offer. Meanwhile, let’s hit our jets and fly our way to enjoy seafood and sip down fresh lemonade and look at the lit-up waters while we are at it!

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2013.