Karachi: L-Q
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Karachi vs. Lahore
A tale of two cities
By Zainab Mahmood
Each city has its own delights. Karachi has the sea, Lahore its food street. Karachi has its enormous variety of imported quality goods, while Lahore has its authentic and historical markets.
I must confess that during the countless winter breaks spent in Lahore in my younger days I found the city and its people to be drastically different from the life I had been used to in Karachi. It made it easier on my conscience to think of my cousins as “paindu” when they referred to me as a Karachiite “burger”, all in good fun, of course.
It is certainly true that people from these two cities, as is true of any other similar yet distinct city cultures, have formed pre-conceived notions and prejudices about each other. Now over the years these were possibly reinforced by economical and cultural factors such as Lahore being the hub of education, intellect, art and literature while Karachi was more of a financial district with the hustle and bustle of a fast-paced city life driven by material pursuits. But it’s not so black and white -- Karachi isn’t as shallow as it seems, nor is Lahore as sophisticated as it once was.
Ever since I went to Lahore earlier this year, I have been imbibing reservoirs of information on the differences between the two cities. I’ll start with the simpler stuff I noticed in my early days as my husband and I began to socialise with his circle of friends.
With the ubiquitous mushrooming of cafes across both cities I found that Lahore’s coffee spots outnumber those in Karachi. Having said that not all of them are worth writing home about and we quickly narrowed down our frequent haunts to a select few. The variety of food available at these cafes has some subtle differences from the menu choices in Karachi, where one is likely to find more elaborate and pretentiously embellished dishes to satisfy the cosmopolitan palettes. Lahoris, who are famous for loving their food, don’t quite believe in complicating matters with imported cheeses or vegetables or dressing them up with sauces -- they generally prefer good food in simple forms. Karachiites, on the other hand, need it to sound and look like it came off the BBC food screen and enjoy the added paraphernalia, the exotic salads and vegetables, which Lahoris would consider a tragic waste of space.
In Karachi one is likely to see the same faces at the same places as groups of friends prefer to make a particular place their haunt. Lahoris rarely ever think of going to the same place too often as the entire population of cafes is at their disposal and trying out different types of foods, snacks or desserts is more important than anything else.
Another remarkable feature of the café culture in Lahore is the presence of families and people of varying economic backgrounds, whereas in Karachi it is usually the citizens of Defence/Clifton, the so-called upper class that come in to spend their not-so-hard-earned money.
Stepping aside from the social factors, Lahore traffic shines a great deal of light on the mentality of drivers in the city. No adherence to rules, flagrant violation of the common sense and civic laws. Apparently vehicles in Lahore don’t come equipped with indicators, therefore one cannot blame the people for not using them nor understanding what the flashing light at the back of my car means. With traffic being as bad as it is one must say the layout of most of the city is easier to comprehend and navigate than Karachi. Having lived there for 28 years I still feel lost in some parts of Karachi and find it hard to explain directions to people because I just seem to know most of the ways by sheer frequency of visits and no logical route can be laid out for strangers driving in Karachi for the first time. Lahore on the other hand is more welcoming for a newcomer with its bigger roads and signs and sensible division of sectors and towns.
Being a thoroughbred Karachiite, who grew up arguing and interacting with Pathan “dokandaars”, I find the vendors and shopkeepers in Lahore dramatically different. At times surprisingly rude, at other times placidly accommodating, I still haven’t figured out if it is to do with the location of shopping areas in Lahore or with the creed of the shopkeepers. Are the Lahori ones better than those from other parts of Punjab or are the ones in Gulberg ruder than the ones in Defence?
Lahoris, of course, have a somewhat crude but highly entertaining and witty sense of humour, while Karachiites are more inclined to appreciate a more westernised, media-inspired humour or street and Indianised humour, depending on which part of the city you hail from. The upper class in both cities seem to religiously follow their favourite American dramas and comedy series; but people in Karachi have also developed a flavour for world cinema and cult movies which might be a hot favourite amongst a few Lahoris but doesn’t quite appeal to the general movie-watching youth there.
Lahore might also be known as more fashionable but Karachi is at pace with the world when it comes to seasonal trends. In the past people felt Karachi trailed Lahori fashion or that people in Lahore had a richer fashion sense; but now Karachi has devised its own taste and trends which is a healthy mix of local and foreign concepts catering to the tastes of the local market.
Each city has its own delights. Karachi has the sea, but Lahore has its food street. Karachi has its enormous variety of imported quality goods, while Lahore has its authentic and historical markets such as “ichra” and “anarkali bazaar”. Lahore has smoother roads and running water, while Karachi struggles with its civic problems and yet manages to stay afloat and abuzz with a life and vitality that most visitors admire.
There will never be an answer for the question people love to ask in both cities, “which one do you prefer?” Karachi is in my blood and I will always defend it and appreciate it for its tenacity and durability against torrential rains and political storms. Whereas now having moved to Lahore I admire and enjoy its simpler ways, its slower pace and the typical Lahori food and humour which don’t seem quite so “paindu” to me anymore.
Karachi: Mukka Chowk
The Fist Of Fury
By Jawwad Ahme
At a busy square in Karachi, a giant fist protrudes from the ground, big enough for the square to be known as Mukka Chowk. Purportedly, it is the scaled-up replica of Liaquat Ali Khan reminding us of his famous words that Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, the NWFP and Kashmir — or maybe it was East Pakistan — unite like the fingers of a hand hence the people of Pakistan could break anyone’s jaw like a strong fist.
