Sunday, July 1, 2007

It Rains... and then it pours

Yes! I'm back.. Had been on a break of sorts from blogging and most of the other online activities that I'd been so engrossed with during the fellowship, but I'm most certainly back.

What's with the subject of the blog, you ask? Well, in case you've missed out on my photographs and the videos that I've been uploading, it's been raining in Karachi. And not just rain. LOTs of rain.

I've often wondered who is responsible (or as is the trend now, be held 'accountable') for the mess that the financial capital of Pakistan gets into, once a few drops of rain hit the roads. Don't get me wrong - I am actually quite a big fan of the City Nazim (Mayor) Mustafa Kamal, and I am personally thrilled each time I drive down an underpass or see how quickly an overhead bridge is coming up - but come on... in the absence of diversions and detours, is there someone responsible for my rundown car, or the fact that I couldn't get online or make calls from my cellphone, missing an important editorial deadline because the electricity failed and cell reception was HORRIBLE.

It's the same story pretty much everytime. Each time it drizzles, Karachi comes to a sad standstill because authorities (and whoever they might be) claim that they weren't prepared for the situation. Ummm.. We've been having monsoon rains this time of the year, for decades! This year, the excuses for not being able to manage the traffic or not being ready for the severe downpour, just sound lame.