Tuesday, March 6, 2012

My Jouney to Pakistan part 7: Working out in parks

In one of my previous posts I was saying that people don’t walk in Pakistan. Instead they take out their cars and go to where they need. I was very happy to learn that there are parks in Karachi where you can go for a walk or jog and I was even happier when we went there.
We went to Zamzama Park, a very nice park near our place, with few trees, a playground for children, a special court for skaters, benches, running tracks and even a small restaurant.

I was very impressed with how clean the park was. No food wrapper thrown on the grass, no water bottles lying around here and there, the trees and grass nicely trimmed. But I was even more impressed with how many people were there to work out.
I loved watching people on the running tracks because it gave me such a beautiful perspective on local people. I saw people walking or running in sports equipment (joggers, track suits) and people doing the same in shalwar kameez. There was a beautiful mixture of modern and traditional and the best part was that it didn’t seem like anyone was uncomfortable with this.
Apart from people running or walking on the tracks, there were others practicing yoga on their mats, while others were doing what it looked like martial arts.
Although a public place managed by Defence Housing Authority, the park has an entrance fee of 10 rupees per person (less than 0.1 euro) which help maintain the bonsai garden and offer full security.

Conclusions of the day
  • Although walking on the streets is not an option, there are many parks serving this purpose. 
  • Traditional and modern blend together on the running tracks without anyone looking uncomfortable.

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