Karachi with arms wide open
The city is bleeding with no one to take care of it, no one to love it and no one to own it
Have you noticed most conversations we have with our new acquaintances play out as “Hi I’m so and so, no I’m not from Karachi, my family moved here twenty years ago.” Well guess what, if your family moved here 20 years ago you definitely belong to Karachi. What’s more, the native Karachiites have another pet habit of calling themselves muhajirs three generations down the line — not one of them has ever been to India, let alone migrated from there, why would they want to describe themselves as migrants? Both my paternal and maternal families migrated during the time of partition and yet the word is one I do not ever feel like using when telling someone my identity. I’m a Karachiite, I was born here, I’ve lived here all my life and if someone needs a broader generalisation, then I’m a Pakistani, plain and simple.
People move to Karachi, they “migrate” here looking for better prospects, they build their lives in the city. This city welcomes them, with open arms and accepts them for who they are and does not question them. People from all ethnicities, classes and religions can have a go at making better lives for themselves here. What happens once the lives have been made and prosperity won? Those very same people who’d run to Karachi disown it and say “No we belong to our native city.” Well then if you do you may as well have made your life there. Sometimes I feel it’s simply a tactic to keep responsibilities at bay, if you don’t own the city then you don’t have to care about its problems. If you’re just a visitor then it’s not your job to tackle the issues within it. The city is bleeding with no one to take care of it, no one to love it and no one to own it.
People from all over Pakistan come here, settle down and let Karachi take care of them, keep them in its embrace and yet they never proudly say that they belong here. All this city ever wants is to be owned, loved and cared for, just as it has done for us, like a mother with arms wide open ready to embrace us for who we are.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2015.
People move to Karachi, they “migrate” here looking for better prospects, they build their lives in the city. This city welcomes them, with open arms and accepts them for who they are and does not question them. People from all ethnicities, classes and religions can have a go at making better lives for themselves here. What happens once the lives have been made and prosperity won? Those very same people who’d run to Karachi disown it and say “No we belong to our native city.” Well then if you do you may as well have made your life there. Sometimes I feel it’s simply a tactic to keep responsibilities at bay, if you don’t own the city then you don’t have to care about its problems. If you’re just a visitor then it’s not your job to tackle the issues within it. The city is bleeding with no one to take care of it, no one to love it and no one to own it.
People from all over Pakistan come here, settle down and let Karachi take care of them, keep them in its embrace and yet they never proudly say that they belong here. All this city ever wants is to be owned, loved and cared for, just as it has done for us, like a mother with arms wide open ready to embrace us for who we are.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2015.