So the question is, why do i miss Karachi? Is it the lights or the buzz or the language that’s so native?
Last time when i went home five months ago, i remember getting off the bus at Ayesha Manzil and loving the feel of losing myself in a huge sea of people, looking and chattering the same way i do. Even though Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, widely spoken and understood, the dialect varies from place to place. Punjabis often have no clue of commonplace idioms. Living in Punjab also means quitting on your favorite slangs (like abay, tafreeh, bharam etc) which make more or less your every sentence. Same goes with the dress. The plain collar-less kurtas i like to wear get me a good number of reluctant stares. No matter how hot it is or how red your neck is of all the rashes you’ve successfully gathered through the summer, your kurta has to have a collar or it’s no kurta. While in Karachi, people have long since broken free of the shackles of Tradition. They go for ease, and then ease becomes the tradition there. That’s what i love about Karachi.
In addition to that, Karachi’ites are warm and spontaneous yet quite nonchalant at the same time and that’s no less a blessing. Especially when you are tired of stumbling on the sidewalk bruising your knee and looking up to find an entire traffic jammed, staring at you, curious and entertained at the same time. That’s offensive and real embarrassing! That explains why Star Plus serials have such an overwhelming following in Punjab. People just can’t get over their curiosity!
Islamabad though, is not precisely Punjab geographically. Nonetheless, it carries itself the same way. 80 percent of its Punjabi population makes it so typically desi.
Well, i wished to write how much i am missing Karachi right now but this post turned out to be one of the usual ‘Punjab vs Karachi’ hassles. Haha 😀 No offence Punjab. You are lovely. Karachi is just lovelier 😀
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