Pictures of Karachi (Old and New)

A part of Karachi's financial district

Karachi at night

British family at Elphinstone St., 1914

An old image of Karachi from 1889

An aerial view of the Port of Karachi

A sketch of the old fort at Karachi from the 1830's

A postcard from 1930 of Elphinstone Street, Karachi

Part of the town of Karachi, with mud houses; camels and villagers in foreground. April 1851

Karachi Airport in 1943 during World War II

Front view of Jinnah International

Farewell arch erected by the Karachi Port for the Royal visit of Prince of Wales, later King George V, 1906

Bunder Road

View of the Bunder Road (now M. A. Jinnah Rd.), 1900

The Mohatta Palace

The Empress Market, 1890

Satellite view of Karachi

How I Developed My Interest In Reading

I was born in a family where reading is only limited to either Holy Quran or daily newspaper. Since I am the eldest among my siblings, therefore I had no peer pressure of reading. My primary school didn’t have any library. Once my maternal aunt, who resides in New Jersey sent me Cinderella story book. That book was in the shape of Cinderella's carriage. The outlook of the book was so appealing that it made me read the whole story. That was the first time I ever read any fictional story. The concept of a beautiful, innocent, poor girl turning into princess by a magic wind fascinated me very much. From that point of time, I started digging for stories like Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Snow White and other fairytales.

My secondary school had an enormous library with books on literature and every fictional topic. I started with William Shakespeare's stories since one of his stories was mandatory in our curriculum. The school library had easy translations of Shakespeare's original prose. I swept off Shakespeare's section in couple of months. I read his every story from Macbeth to the tempest, from Romeo Juliet to King Lear. Every story captured my interest because I never read such social topics. Then I switched to Charles Dickens but I could only read his one literature, David Copperfield. Then I turned to children fiction starting from Famous Five and Secret Seven. These stories kept me engaged in reading because of their mysterious plot and friendship among characters. Plot was almost the same in both series. Later I started reading Sabrina the teenage witch and Princess Diaries.

As I done my matriculation, I heard the name of Sidney Sheldon getting famous in my friends' circle. Curiosity made me buy Sheldon's book. That was the first book that I bought. I bought it from Liberty Books for Rs. 450. I knew the cost was extravagant but I was so desperate to get hold on Sheldon's buzzer that I let go the cost element. It was The Stars Shine Down. Plot was based on suspense, revenge and mystery. That was the finest piece of writing I ever read. Since then I became hardcore fan of Sidney Sheldon. Being economical, I started buying second hand novels of Sidney Sheldon that hardly cost me Rs. 60. I completed reading all of his novels in two years. His novels opened a new world on me. I got to know lucid details about professions like Showbiz, Law, Medicine, Journalism, Politics, Architecture, Banking etc. Novels of Sidney Sheldon had everything; suspense, intrigue, passion. By that time I was a bookworm. I had to read to breathe. Reading became breathing for my mental life. If I had nothing to read I would look for anything on tea table be it newspaper, magazine, yellow pages. I became an avid reader.

Getting into University, opened a sea of books for me. University's library had everything. Keeping interest in fictional stories aside, I started exploring new topics. I switched from fiction to non-fiction. President Pervaiz Musharraf's autobiography In the Line of Fire was my first attempt. Then I read Benazir Bhutto's Daughter of the East. Both of these autobiographies reflected a new genre to me. I tried dwelling in Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler's Autobiography but I didn't find it much interesting. Moreover I read Tehmina Durrani's Blasphemy and My Feudal Lord, Men are from Mars Women are from Venus by John Gray, Princess by Jean P. Sasson, a real tale of Arabic customs and traditions narrated by anonymous Arab princess.

Finally one day while looking in Literature section in library, I came across a new name, Judith McNaught. I read the back cover and I found it an exceptional piece of romance written in Victoria England and Regency Era. One by one, I read her all novels and I found all very alluring, exhibiting passion, romance, and luxury.

No one author or book can get the title of Initiator in my reading life. All of them encouraged and attracted me towards reading. Now I read everything that comes in my hand; be it biography/autobiography, self-help, fiction, business related articles or research papers, romance etc.

The truth is that reading is not anymore just a hobby for me but now it has become an integral part of my daily routine.

ENERGY CRISIS

Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and theologist, said that life is lived forward but understood backwards. We have lived Pakistan forward for sixty years and it is still important that we take a look into past so as to give us a better understanding of life. Oddly enough, we seem not to have learnt any lesson as a nation.

Every great invention in this world came as a result of men's desire to get away from threatening situation. The fear of ignorance is the reason why we have invested in education. The fear of world war three was the motivation behind the formation of the United Nations. The fear of going through another energy crisis could have compelled us to plan ahead to avert the current energy crisis. This fear did not motivate us. This has tempted me to write about the energy crisis confronting the nation, which has become like a long and dark corridor with no exit sign.

The casualties of the energy crisis are great. In the present age, without sufficient energy the wheel can't run on roads, industry and agriculture can't sustain, hospitals and operation theatres can't function, schools and laboratories can't work and public and private sector businesses can't operate. This is indeed the situation we are facing in Pakistan. The shortage of sufficient and affordable energy has not left any of the above-mentioned institutions operate smoothly. The situation demands a collective effort on the part of all stakeholders of society, including policy and decision makers, scientists and academia, industrialists and entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens.

One social dimension of the energy crisis is that many marriages in the country would break down. This is so because the crisis has caused people to be laid off from their work places. These people have their bread taken away from their table. Parents who have been asked to go home cannot meet the needs of their families: feeding commitments, school fees, and health commitments. Men would lose respect from their wives and children as they cannot play their role as the breadwinners.

What is the government doing to ensure a sustainable supply of energy resources for economic growth? What strategic steps are being taken to acquire energy resources in future? Is private sector willing to invest in Pakistan’s oil industry? What are the incentives being offered to the foreign players to continue working in the exploration sector? What hurdles are stopping other big players around the world to enter Pakistan? What is the role of gas distribution companies so far? Are the citizens of Pakistan being robbed by energy giants with ever rising utility bills? What should be the real price of petroleum, kerosene and other oil products in Pakistan? When will the nation have “load shedding free” electric supply? Have we been able to make long term contracts with the countries to provide uninterrupted supply of energy resources? Will the government be able to provide enough sources to the citizens for a sustainable economic growth? Have we lost the race for acquiring maximum energy resources for future survival?

Emerging shortages are due to oil price increases since 2003 which was induced by increasing demand from the U.S and China, the falling state of the U.S. dollar, and stagnation of production due to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Iraq is No. 3 in the world (besides Saudi Arabia and Iran) for its oil reserves. However some observers have stated the global oil production peak occurred in December 2005. If this is correct it is also to blame. Then 2008 Central Asia energy crisis which was caused by abnormally cold temperatures and low water levels in an area dependent on hydroelectric power brought energy blues alongwith South African electrical crisis which may last to 2012, lead to large price rises for platinum in February 2008 and reduced gold production. Despite having significant hydrocarbon reserves, in February 2008 the President of Pakistan announced plans to tackle energy shortages that were reaching crisis stage.
Particularly in Pakistan, low hydel power production and law and order problem in Balochistan have further aggravated the power blues. However government has taken actions like restrictions on night-time commercial activity which has sorely affected many small businesses.

President Pervez Musharraf stressed the need to overcome prevailing energy crises in the country by taking all possible measures on emergency basis. Chairing a meeting along with caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro on energy and power generation, President Musharraf said Pakistan had abundant energy resources which needed to be harnessed through an institutionalized strategy for optimum utilization.

He said that a multifaceted approach be implemented for the optimum utilization of Thar Coal reserves so that its benefits could reach the people. The President also ordered to put on fast track the development of Lakhra coal to meet future energy requirements of the country. He said the government was well-aware of its energy requirements and was striving hard to reduce the gap between demand and supply of energy resources - and the level of success of government efforts has been shown in the current statement by KESC Chairman that Karachites will face one and half hour power failure fourfold each day to overcome electricity shortage.

Pakistan needs to set up at least a dozen nuclear power plants, large coal fired plants, wind farms and solar plants in the next 10 years to generate about 20,000 MW of electricity. We need to invest at least a billion dollars a year in developing the infrastructure and establishing power plants using nuclear, coal, wind and solar technology. We need to cut back on non-development expenditures by at least one billion dollars a year to invest in energy needs.

One thing is certain: winning the arguments cannot be the answer to the problem. What is needed is an urgent assembly of problem solvers, charged with a clear mandate within a time frame to outline the most efficient pathways to tackle the crisis.