Karachi - Pul Ke Us Paar

Arts & Culture Culture, Arts, Literature & Linguistics
1

Salams,

Those who have ever lived in Karachi or visited enough to understand the culture of the city, know that Karachi is divided into two worlds.

The world on one side of the Clifton bridge - from Saddar to Gulshan to Nazimabad, Orangi, Malir, Landhi, Federal-B-Area, Laaloo Khet etc etc…
That is the economically middle and lower class strata, some of it very educated, and generally inhabited by people who migrated from India, except some colonies which like, I forget, Pathan basti I think which is all Pathans, and so on. Peple travel in public buses. A lot of the women wear burqa and chaadar and you’ll never see girls in jeans or guys in shorts in the shops here. Most of the kids go to government schools or not so expensive private schools and do matric, FSC and so on. A lot of them then end up in DOW, NED, KU etc.

The other side of the Karachi world is Karachi South, bridge ke us paar. This side is Sea View, Clifton, Defence, Bath Island, Gizri…these areas have some scatterrings of poor localities like Delhi Colony, but generally this side of Karachi is inhabited by people who are better off and migrated from other parts of Pakistan like interior Sindh or Punjab. Well to do families of expatriates also come and settle in these areas. Unlike the rest of Karachi, the roads here are clean, this area is hardly ever affected by terrorism, expensive looking cars are seen on the roads and so on. You might even see see girls in jeans or guys in shorts in the expensive malls in Clifton in these areas. Load shedding is never so bad in this part of Karachi. There are actually trees and parks here and nice roads. Things are more expensive. Kids go to posh co-ed schools where they talk in english and do O levels and A levels. A lot of them end up abroad or in more expensive private colleges in Pakistan.

The people who live in the first world look at the other side of the bridge inhabitants as ‘burger’ who are too westernised, are not in touch with the reality in Pakistan and specially the ethnic strife and violence in Karachi. The burgers look at the people from the other side as being too laaloo kheti and paindoo.

There are ofcourse exceptions to the above in both cases, and there are some ‘mixed products’ who have relatives on the other side of the bridge or have moved from one side to other because of economic prosperity, or some who live in a poorer area but go to a posh school etc etc…

I think this general divide in society exists not just in Karachi but in other Pakistani cities as well. My friends from Lahore tell me the same about the divide between people living in Gulberg and Defence vs. people living in old Lahore for example. Then in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, there is the Isloo Pindi divide.

Its really interesting though how thes divides perpetuate themselves through the generations. The cultural, social and economic divides that exists within Pakistani society are amazing. I wonder if we will ever have homogeneity, though not sure if that is necessarily good or not.

2

Sadly, your money, status, cast, colour is what interests many today in Pakistan, even though you won’t be taking any of it when you depart this life. I’m hoping for a miracle which would change the mentality of such people who think that they are superior then the other person for any reason there may be.

3

Well said SKN and amen to your prayer... :-)

4

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Sharafat_Ka_Namouna: *
Sadly, your money, status, cast, colour is what interests many today in Pakistan, even though you won’t be taking any of it when you depart this life. I’m hoping for a miracle which would change the mentality of such people who think that they are superior then the other person for any reason there may be.
[/QUOTE]

that won't happen at all :~)

5

Re: Karachi - Pul Ke Us Paar

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ~NiQ@Bi~: *
Salams,

Those who have ever lived in Karachi or visited enough to understand the culture of the city, know that Karachi is divided into two worlds.

The world on one side of the Clifton bridge - from Saddar to Gulshan to Nazimabad, Orangi, Malir, Landhi, Federal-B-Area, Laaloo Khet etc etc...
That is the economically middle and lower class strata, some of it very educated, and generally inhabited by people who migrated from India, except some colonies which like, I forget, Pathan basti I think which is all Pathans, and so on. Peple travel in public buses. A lot of the women wear burqa and chaadar and you'll never see girls in jeans or guys in shorts in the shops here. Most of the kids go to government schools or not so expensive private schools and do matric, FSC and so on. A lot of them then end up in DOW, NED, KU etc.

The other side of the Karachi world is Karachi South, bridge ke us paar. This side is Sea View, Clifton, Defence, Bath Island, Gizri...these areas have some scatterrings of poor localities like Delhi Colony, but generally this side of Karachi is inhabited by people who are better off and migrated from other parts of Pakistan like interior Sindh or Punjab. Well to do families of expatriates also come and settle in these areas. Unlike the rest of Karachi, the roads here are clean, this area is hardly ever affected by terrorism, expensive looking cars are seen on the roads and so on. You might even see see girls in jeans or guys in shorts in the expensive malls in Clifton in these areas. Load shedding is never so bad in this part of Karachi. There are actually trees and parks here and nice roads. Things are more expensive. Kids go to posh co-ed schools where they talk in english and do O levels and A levels. A lot of them end up abroad or in more expensive private colleges in Pakistan.

The people who live in the first world look at the other side of the bridge inhabitants as 'burger' who are too westernised, are not in touch with the reality in Pakistan and specially the ethnic strife and violence in Karachi. The burgers look at the people from the other side as being too laaloo kheti and paindoo.

There are ofcourse exceptions to the above in both cases, and there are some 'mixed products' who have relatives on the other side of the bridge or have moved from one side to other because of economic prosperity, or some who live in a poorer area but go to a posh school etc etc...

I think this general divide in society exists not just in Karachi but in other Pakistani cities as well. My friends from Lahore tell me the same about the divide between people living in Gulberg and Defence vs. people living in old Lahore for example. Then in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, there is the Isloo Pindi divide.

Its really interesting though how thes divides perpetuate themselves through the generations. The cultural, social and economic divides that exists within Pakistani society are amazing. I wonder if we will ever have homogeneity, though not sure if that is necessarily good or not.
[/QUOTE]

beautifully expressed NiQ@Bi,
and the divide is widening day by day with the rich getting filthy rich and the poor getting poorer. take for instance the recently launched beach development project on the clifton-seaview beaches which would include 5 star hotels, luxury resorts, spas, apartmets, offces, clubs, resaturants etc costing over a billion dollars, for who? the rich and priviledged to feel even more privileged while the poor would be pushed farther down the ladder of prosperity. karachi at the moment could have done a lot more with a billion dollars spent elsewhere in areas that actually needed to be developed. theres no proper transportation, theres poor poiwer supply, in summer you almost never have power and water. there so much pollution. but why should any one care!? what everyone cares about is more and more luxury while 85% of pakistani population can not even think of enjoying the luxury of fulfilling necessities. the filthy rich community in pakistan whic is literally rich by filthy money, or the people from 'across the bridge' as they say, are totally unaware of the common pakistanis problems. they live an airconditioned life from luxury cars to luxury cars to mansions to mansions.
we can only hope that one day pakistan and pakistanis would get back on track and follow UNITY-FAITH-DISCIPLINE.

6

i doubt the mentality will ever change.
well said naqabi :slight_smile: :k:

7

sad but so true.

8

punjabi kurri...sad init :-/

suroor... thanks...and don't lose hope...duniya umeed pe qayim hae :-)

Hariz Zuberi...thanks...and I agree with you, that money that is being spent on the beach development project could have been spent elsewhere, such as the basic infrastructure of Karachi -- even if the government is doing this to make the beach a tourist attraction and a revenue source.

EP...who knows...maybe one day...

9

Niqabi you grammarian burger :-p Who was it that went to bridge kay is paar st burger michaels? ;-) I used to live in the Tank they had parked on the clifton bridge protecting the irani embassy! :D

A major landmark that you saw when you went south of the bridge (apart from teen talwaar) was this store called Cliff Cool. Anyone remember that shop? It was like a mini Agha's.

10

LOL st michael's was not a burger school cheegum :p

11

Err if that was not burger then what do you consider burger? Nai roshni???

12

lol well st michael's had all kinds of kids, even ppl from malir and laloo khet study there ya know coz its not that expensive :p

i didn't hang out with a burger crowd but ya there were small crowds of burgers in st michael's...but the school wasn't burger itself...

kgs...yeh now that was a burger school...all of it...i dint like that school at all...mar mar k ro dho k kisi tarhan passed two yrs there boht mushkil se...

13

face it niq.. st michaels was pull kay is paar.. unless you get on mai kolachi and quickly get on the us paar :p

14

pull ke us paar hae to kya hua :p i have lived in clifton most of my life too...lekin thats exactly what i was getting at...that these burger and laloo kheti stereotypes r just that...stereotypes...

15

kuch aise log bhi hain jo rehte pull ke is paar hai..par mehnat mazdoori aur doosri activities ke liay pull ke us paar jaate hain :rolleyes:

acha likha hai aap ne bhai :k: samaaj par gehri nazar hai aap ki.

16

jeee sahi farmaya aap ne :smiley: is point ko miss kerne k lyay maazrat… :smiley:

but is mein aankhein roll karne kee kon si baat hae :smiley:

shukria behen :stuck_out_tongue:

and lol @ gehri nazar :smiley:

17

And what about our beloved Kala Pul (a.k.a. Chand Bibi Bridge) ?? Ironically it is totally white in colour.

18

^

cheegum, what about it? :D

19

Niqabi. a good effort, and I can see your underlying reason for showing the vast divide among people within the same city.

My attempt is to put a little more balance, as well as bring in other aspects which you did not address. Someone may then add further to it. so dont take this as a ceritique, but a further insight which is not cpmplete by any means..

our perspectives tend to get limited by what we see and what we are exposed to..how many f us take the time to go and see what is beyond our usual routine routes?

two worlds?

there are more than just two worlds. using the bridge as a dividing line may be easy, but through the city there are very prosperous areas.

The world on one side of the Clifton bridge - from Saddar to Gulshan to Nazimabad, Orangi, Malir, Landhi, Federal-B-Area, Laaloo Khet etc etc...
That is the economically middle and lower class strata, some of it very educated, and generally inhabited by people who migrated from India,

In the same areas you have places liek KDA1 and some of the areas of Gulshan, Nursery, Kehkashaan area etc where some very well well off people live.

what you are also forgetting from your view of karachi are places like ranchorr lines, bhains colony etc

*Peple travel in public buses. A lot of the women wear burqa and chaadar and you'll never see girls in jeans or guys in shorts in the shops here. Most of the kids go to government schools or not so expensive private schools and do matric, FSC and so on. A lot of them then end up in DOW, NED, KU etc. *

not everyone gets a chance to go to go to the private schools, or to university.

in your quest to use teh bridge as a dividing point you are lumping together people from jet lines and saddar with people in gulshan and north nazimabad with people in landhi and laloo khet...very very diverse areas.

*but generally this side of Karachi is inhabited by people who are better off and migrated from other parts of Pakistan like interior Sindh or Punjab. Well to do families of expatriates also come and settle in these areas. *

you will find a good chunk of population is composed of ppl who migrated from India or their children in these areas.

*Load shedding is never so bad in this part of Karachi. *

water is a diff story though, so were car snatchign and burgularies in the 80s.

There are actually trees and parks here and nice roads. Things are more expensive. Kids go to posh co-ed schools where they talk in english and do O levels and A levels. A lot of them end up abroad or in more expensive private colleges in Pakistan.

if you look at the population of these areas and see teh school capacity of KGS etc, you will realize that not everyone here goes to these schools. Also the number of private schools in PECHS, GUlshan, North nazimabad indicate that kids there are going to co-ed private schools. just because its not Karachi Grammer does not mean they do not have other options.

*There are ofcourse exceptions to the above in both cases, *

Most are exceptions to the divide you have shown.

as I noted if you have concerns about the divide that you see between people living in clifton and people living in sulistan e jauhar, you should see the diff between them and ppl in Malir and lyari.

The lines are very blurred, not everyone in defense area is living in some palace, there are apartments there, have been there since I can remember, "seaview" is an example. from a pure financial sense the people within theses areas are very diverse too. financially as well as froma social perspective whereas u have major industrialists and landowner types in clifton, you also have many hard working professionals who have done well in their professions.

same applies t places like PECHS and GUlshan, where you get a mixed bag of very successful people, a drive down some of the streets there will show you that. There are many people from these areas who have gone abroad for studies. and I am not just talking about nursery or KDA1, but gulshan and north nazimabad.

contrasting these areas overall with defense area is okay, but the source of the challenge is not at this level. a vibrant growing middle class is critical to society, and thats what you have in Gulshan, North Nazimabad, PECHS in general, although there are many who are way beyond middle class, and same for DHS/Clifton a vast majority there is middle class, there are more of your very rich folks there compared to other places but mostly it is still middle class.

once you start looking at other areas that I mentioned, where there are more sub groups..take shah faisal colony for example, diff areas within there have very diff groups..but they may be towards the lower end of the middle class and in lower middle class..you go a little beyond and you will see people struggling for day to day existence..tour the kaatchi abadis, where forget grammer schools, and good govt schools..look at places like bhains colony, sohraab goth, and you will see people who dont have many options.

And then there are people even lower on the economic ladder..in these bastis..where do you think the maasis, and jamadaars and the street vendors live?

The problem is not due to a difference in people who go to exclusive private schools and go abroad to study, or to those who go to less exclusive private schools or good govt schools and go abroad or end up in local universities..the problems are due to teh divide between these groups and the rest of teh city...and if you use teh city as a yardstick, go to rural areas and see how people live, what they have access to, education, information..etc etc and you will see the problem.

20

hmmm…Fraudz…you’ve mentioned some good points and added more detail to the overall picture…

thanks for contributing to the discussion :k: