I feel it only appropriate, given that this is my first blog entry, to introduce myself in a concise, yet effective way.
I was born in Karachi, but raised in the United States. I'm currently working as a strategic marketing manager at a top ad agency in Karachi. I came to Karachi from the United States and decided to try my luck here, and also to experience life in a third world country.
So, why now, why start a blog? That has to be one question that every blogger (who has their own blog) has asked themselves before writing their first blog entry. The truth is, life in this part of the world is still generally unknown to the average, well, objectively, I wouldn't want to generalize and say "westerner," so I'll say American. Although, it would be reasonable to hypothesize that most westerners would fall into the same category.
This city, Karachi, is the most amazing place I've ever seen in my life. The last time I came here was about 15 years ago. On my way to my family's house from the airport, I was just observing the surroundings to see if I could recognize just one thing from my last trip. Nothing, not one inch of Karachi looked the same. I was happy to see so much development compared to the last time I came. Port Grand, Dolmen Mall in Clifton, Khadda Market, Forum, Boat Basin, Tariq Road, and many other places make Karachi the only city in its class.
Karachi has a population of close to 20M people. There are various classes of people, similar to other countries, and its very segmented. To sum it up, you have very poor people, poor people, not so poor people, ok to do people, well to do people, very well to do people, and extremely well to do people. I may have left one or two out of the mix, but that's it, more or less. People live in slums (kachee abaadi), apartments, penthouses, houses, and mansions. Any American will recognize the international chains in Pakistan such as McDonald's, KFC (well, not for much longer), Pizza Hut, Domino's, and Hardee's. I think back to my school days and remember my first experience witnessing peoples' perceptions about Pakistan. Some girl asked me, "do you live in a house there"? A boy asked me, "do they have cars there"?
Naturally, with a population this size, space can become a crucial issue. One very important area of space, which any person who hopes to navigate the streets of Karachi behind the steering wheel of a car, will find this out very shortly in their first drive. Driving in the US was easier with a blindfold than it is to drive in Karachi. One thing is for certain, however, and that is if a person successfully masters the art of driving in this city, he/she is fit to drive anywhere in the world.
In a city where anything can happen at anytime, one must all ways be on their toes. This is the city of the tough. Its dog eat dog, and only the strong survive. It's a representation of darwinism at its finest. This is the place where bombs explode, political parties run the streets like mafias, and cops run from danger - they even get out of your way on the road if you honk at them. Even after all this, its business as usual. Karachi is the city where there are protests on the street, the protests get violent, various places are vandalized, and people are killed. Then, the next day, everything is as it was the day before. Everyone still goes to work, out for shopping, to have a meal, to watch a movie, etc. Karachi pauses, but never stops.
After all this, why would I stay in Karachi and not return to the United States? That's something I was thinking about on September 20th, when scores of foreign nationals were leaving on flight after flight outside of Pakistan, and after reading two warning emails from the United States Consulate's office. First, its challenging, and I enjoy a challenge. Secondly, Karachi is full of life and full of promise. In my 9 months here, I've seen a lot of new restaurants opening, new shopping areas being built, more houses being built, and new commercial areas emerging. Third, I've met great people here, who are generous, kind, loyal, intelligent, and innovative. Fourth, THE FOOD. To date, I've been to over 50 restaurants in Karachi, and although not every experience was ideal, I don't regret most of them. Finally, and perhaps the most important reason, living here will enable me to perceive things in ways I've never done before, some of which I've already experienced.
So, with all these crazy things going on, violent protests, killing, robberies, etc., do I get scared? Of course I feel scared, for a little while at least. You get used to it, you have to, there's no choice, except leave or commit suicide. Even when a person suffers the most devastating loss, they have no choice but to continue breathing and move on. That's exactly what you do in Karachi, shrug it off, continue breathing, and move on.
Stay tuned as the story continues...
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