Saturday Night Events

Saturday nights are one of the most awaited times of the week for me. Some people start brooding over Saturday night plans right from the very beginning of the week. It may help them to pull off the dull weekdays this way. All sorts of activities are happening all over the town on Saturday evenings and if you are inside that circle, you too may get a chance to be part of it. Unfortunately (or fortunately? I cannot tell), I am not part of any circle and cling to my old time friends for a fishing venture this time around. We met at a friends place at around midnight. There was buzz, booze and of course the obligatory hash.

For the record, hash is illegal in Pakistan, much in the same way that corruption is banned according to our constitution. Both are rampant. One is the cause and the other is the effect of it. But you can never blame the politicians and bureaucrats for being corrupt. They are just too pressed for money due to the rising inflation, credit crunch and slow economy. After all, they have got a lifestyle to maintain (and improve in most of the cases). As regards to the common man, he has always lived in tough situations and will find out a way to live in even tougher situations. You can never eradicate poverty, why bother putting in the efforts?

Karachi is different from other major cities of Pakistan in that it has got a sea attached to it. It not only boosts the economy of the country, as it is one of the major ports in the region, but also provides a recreational spot for the denizens of the city. We set off, in the small hours of the morning, from Kimari (the port) in a fishing boat and went 3-4 km deep into the sea. Owing to the threats and the worsened law and order situation in the country, a strict scrutiny of identification documents is performed by the coast guards just before you venture out into the deep seas.

The color of the water is blackish green. Although it never had a bluish tinge or was clear enough to see through to the bottom of it, it was not this black either. Now, it has a thin slick layer of crude oil floating on top of it. In July 2003, a Greek tanker Tasman Spirit went aground, cracked and broke apart near the Karachi port and spilled some 30,000 tons of oil into the sea. According to the laws governing the sea trade, ships older than 15 years cannot be considered seaworthy and hence cannot be contracted. But Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) contracted the Greek tanker which did not fulfill the requirements even at the time of the contract (details can be found here: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-8-2003_pg3_1). For quite some days, the coastal highway running along Sea View cannot be traversed due to overwhelming smell of hydrocarbons in the air. A lot of the residents in that area had to move temporarily just to avoid the health hazards attached to this incident. And even seven years after the incident the sea can still not be restored to its previous position. We owe a lot to corruption in Pakistan, not just hash.

Looking at the million colors in the sky just before the sun comes up is an experience in itself. And of course this experience is way better when you are on dope. And listening to Coming Back to Life. Suddenly the sea that set us apart from the shore also seemed to cut me off from all that was happening on the grounds; the target killings and the ethnic violence, the suicide attacks and the religious discriminations, flood relief activities and the corruption, the drone attacks and the Taliban. Suddenly it all seemed to be happening in another world.