My Journey to Pakistan: Experiencing the hotter side of life in Karachi

Every now and then the local electrical company (KESC) is making sure that I experience the true life of Karachi and shuts down the electricity for so many various, hilarious reasons which seem extracted from some dark humor screenplay. As I am writing this post the electricity was shut down because of rain and storm. Now my definition of rain and storm must be much different from theirs as rain has fallen for merely 2 blessed minutes and by now the ground is already dry. The announced storm moved some leaves from the trees more like a cool breeze than like a real wind. And yet we have no electricity.

All those Karachites who have experience similar situations probably wonder why our UPS is not working. Well I can’t tell you because I don’t know. There are many things here which are uncommon for me and I did not take the stress of finding out how everything works. My bad. (later edit: my husband fixed that! Yeeeey!)

Thanks to the same aforementioned company, few nights back I had the opportunity of admiring the starry sky from the terrace for few good hours as the electricity was cut off and the air in our room was becoming unbreathable at 30+ degrees.

Earth hour does not come only once a year in Karachi, it comes every other day and it lasts for good time. I wish it was the company’s way of encouraging a greener planet, but it is just irresponsible behavior. To top all that, last week KESC had shut down electricity in the middle of the day for maintenance. That is pure bad management!

Apart from electricity shortage, we also had water shortage in Clifton, Karachi. For some reasons the water supplier opens the pipes only for 1-2 hours in the middle of the night and that’s it! Houses have water tanks of thousands liters of water. But what happens when the water is finished? That can’t be a pretty scene in 40+ degrees. So you call a private water supplier. Yes, thank God there are such companies. Only that time is not important for these companies. For them it seems as if time has special dimensions and if they say they will send the water tank in 1 hour, don’t be foolish and expect them that quick…2-3 hours later call the company and remind them.

So no electricity, no water…welcome to Karachi’s hot and humid summers :)

My Journey to Pakistan: Earth Hour in Karachi

Things are happening in Pakistan and they are no longer happening with a considerable delay compared to other countries. They are happening right now due to the dedication and hard work of a handful of young people who are doing their best to see their country grow.

Earth Hour was celebrated this year in Karachi through an event organized by Lets Build On (LBoN) and Green Volunteers. The event took place at Clifton Park Towers and attracted many people. Some of the people joined in without knowing what the event was about, but once they found out, they showed their support.

Candles were lighted, stories were told, pictures were taken, Geo TV showed up and, for one hour, no one there used electricity. In a country with over 170 million people, imagine what would happen if more people joined in! 

Although, courtesy of KESC, Karachi is celebrating Earth Hour almost every day now :)