See you next year

“Wait, wait, stop!” He mulishly moved on looking back for a bit though. Let me tell you where this all starts. A few days ago I decided to execute one of my extremely outrageous adventures with highly expensive cameras that I borrow from various ‘people I know’ to randomly capture moments in time on the streets of Karachi. So there’s this university called Greenwich in Karachi located just next to seaview where I also happen to study and one fine day, in fact cross that out. One not-so-fine day, as I had been delayed by unnecessary academic entanglements in my non-academic natured life which led to the setting sun growing on me, I set out with none other than my boss’s worthy camera on foot to my home situated in Phase II of DHA which basically turned in to a 71-picture-two-hour-15-minute voyage. The whole itch to initiate this marvelous feat came about from my nagging about the monotony and banality of photography and the lack of fresh observations. So I strolled, hopped, skipped and jumped with an uncovered ready-to-click camera which mind you, one intimidating house guard thought I was looking to sell. Wow, that’s a first. Also, for the first time in my life the arbitrary ‘man on the street’ here and there was asking if I needed a drop somewhere. The fact that I was meandering with my boss’s possession did not bother me at all as I would have probably said the same thing which I do every single morning when I get to work late which is something like, “My dog ate my homework” which obviously doesn’t make any sense to him letting me off the hook.
Let’s take a short break and talk about the much-talked about man in the news called Mr Barack Obama. He made waves across the Asian media, smiled for over a thousand photo calls, did his usual raising of his fingers while saying things like, “I had a dream…”, “The US is…”, “Muslims are…”, “India’s economy….”, “Indonesia is my home….”, “G-20 is….”, and maybe even, “I love Japan because…”. You’ve got to give it to the gentleman. He even seems capable of making the world believe “My dog ate my homework,” and unlike me, he actually owns dogs. But the fact of the matter is he’s back home and the media is talking about everything else but him. I knew it! I knew Katy Perry would make bigger headlines in India than Mr President. In fact, the US news media is still reeling on about the effects of the midterm elections making the Mad Hatters slightly happier with their Tea Party.
My question with Obamania is why was Pakistan sitting like an arms-folded, irate, spoiled and neglected girlfriend when Obama did not visit Pakistan during his Asia tour? Boo hoo, O’ the poor darling was fuming alright, especially behind the “symbolism” hidden in the decision to pick Mumbai’s Taj Hotel for starting the trip. Get real Pakistan! Is this what we need? A knight in shining armour from the US to stop by ‘the white buildings’ in Islamabad to comfort and caress the weeping lass? For God’s sake, yes most people would say he is the most important man in the world, at least temporarily, and his “Pakistan can……” words might touch the wounded hearts but he certainly is no caped crusader, Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Neo, or even Maula Jutt. Yes, most of what Mr President said to our neighbor was something like, “India is good……”, striking deals, making businessmen back in the US break out in smiles, and keeping certain political figures happy in both countries while talking about the slightly more ‘hush hush’ sweet talk.
This is really turning out to be a love triangle. I just hope Pakistan doesn’t end up saying, “How dare you cheat behind my back?” I just realised this might end like the Twilight Saga. I say, men of Pakistan (namely Islamabad), get on your feet and think for a moment. We are definitely capable of much better than wishing for a few words of wisdom.
A ‘real man’ that I am, I carried on foot but not before stopping for a few seconds to click. Treading on and on the darkness grew and I searched for light sources to brighten me up and my photos. Around an hour had passed when the infamous fork in the road came and I foolishly decided to take the ‘road not taken.’ It was the Gizri flyover in DHA which is not meant for pedestrians but for fools like me, for you see it had so many fascinating lights. As I walked uphill and clicked, I hummed and whistled the tune of ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai,’ I had to do something to take my mind off the fact that I could be hit by a speeding vehicle any moment which nearly did happen not once but many times. However my boss’s memory card saved some striking moments on and under the bridge and all the other prepositions you can imagine.
Going down the bridge and the rest of the journey home was not as exhilarating as I had already made ‘observations’ en route several times before. And yes, walking is a big part of my life. But the itch to click did not stop even when I ran into some ‘dirty’ policemen frisking ‘innocent’ boys on the street. Of course they could not stop me, I had my ‘on special assignment’ Dick-Tracy-type-of-looking-card dangling and flashing around my neck which I consider ‘the precious ring from Middle Earth.’ But wait, enough of showbiz references. What were we talking about again? Ah yes! The man from the photo waving while saying, “See you next year!”