LIFE LESSONS
I was 12 years old when my father was transferred to Karachi. It was a new city and very different from what I was used to. To me, Karachi was big and frightening, and the first thing that struck terror in my heart was the traffic. Before coming to Karachi, I used to think the traffic in Lahore was bad, but compared to Karachi, it was actually very good, at least on the main arteries.
The next shock I got was my new school. In Lahore, my school was big and had a playground and an auditorium. On the recommendation of one of his colleagues, my father enrolled me, along with my younger sister, in a school that has campuses in all the major cities of Pakistan. The school was in a bungalow, and there was no play area. The canteen was super expensive, and my school van was so small that some of the girls had to let the smaller girls sit on their laps.
I felt miserable on my first day. I couldn’t help comparing my new school with the old and was prepared to dislike my teachers and classmates. My class teacher introduced me to the other girls and told them to help me, as I had moved from another city. In the break, everyone went out, so I also had to leave the classroom. Since I didn’t know anyone, I decided to just sit on a bench in the corridor and eat my sandwich.
Before I could open my snack box, it was snatched from my hand by a girl who was big, tall, and scary. I was too frightened to say anything and decided to stay quiet when another girl confronted this bully and asked her to return my snack box. Then, two other girls joined the fray and made the bully return my snack box. This was the beginning of a friendship that is still going strong, and I am sure even after we get married and have kids, we will always remain friends. To me, friendship is more precious than all the gold in the world.
My friends helped me adjust to life here, and very soon the school stopped suffocating me. I still felt it was unfair to make children study in such confined quarters, but thanks to my new friends, I no longer felt miserable.
There were things I had to bear, and with good grace, too. Initially, my accent got me a lot of ribbing, and when I mispronounced some Urdu words, everyone wanted to teach me the correct pronunciation. But there was no spite, and it was all done in a friendly way. We all had quite a few Karachi walay versus Lahore walay debates. I took a direct hit in one of our verbal sparrings when I told my new friends, ‘Lahore Lahore ae‘ and one of my friends retorted, ‘Karachi uss da shoher ae’. Seriously! But when I told them how clean Lahore is and how much better the traffic there is, they agreed I was right.
What I fell in love with during my time in Karachi was the sea—oh, it’s simply splendid and awe-inspiring. The first time I saw the sea was when I went to Sea View Beach on a school field trip. Later, my family discovered the beaches of Sandspit, French Beach, etc. I don’t think words can describe the majesty of the sea, and Karachiites are lucky to have so many beaches they can go to whenever they want. Just as Lahoris can be in the mountains in a matter of a few hours, So, Karachi, if you have the sea, we can boast of parks and proximity to mountains. Another sea Karachi can boast of is the sea of people! The malls, roads, restaurants, and public places are always jam-packed!
It would be unfair not to comment on the scrumptious food we all enjoyed in Karachi, but Lahori food is superb as well. In terms of variety in food, Karachi definitely has more choices to offer because it is home to so many ethnicities, but fresh veggies that Lahoris can take for granted is something Karachi walas can only have if they grow them in their own houses. Lahore is way more secure than Karachi; I was always afraid someone would snatch my cell phone while I was in Karachi, but in Lahore, mugging is not common at all.
After five years, my father was transferred back to Lahore. I remember my happiness at going back to my beloved Lahore, but this happiness was tinged with a little sadness. Karachi had grown on me, and leaving the three friends I love was not easy.
Fast forward to the present: my friends and I are all in professional institutions now and are still best of friends. I was overwhelmed with happiness when one of my friends got admission in LUMS! Becoming classmates again was a joy I cannot express in words. Lahore has the best educational institutions in the country, and my friend readily admitted it. I am working on making her a full-time Lahori by taking her to androon whenever we can get away!
Looking back, I can say with confidence that people everywhere are good, and that is one of the most valuable lessons I learned during my stay in Karachi. Sure, we are culturally different, but once we open our minds, we can embrace our differences, and instead of being Lahoris and Karachiites, we can be humans and Pakistanis first.