The Karachi Walla

“I registered for the session only to see his house up close”, a girl confided in us, a small group who was taking a look inside Tofiq Pasha’s humble double storey home. We were at Tofiq Pasha’s farm to attend a gardening class and were taking a break around lunch time. Tofiq Pasha calls himself […]

Karachi is a difficult city for most of its dwellers. Crumbling infrastructure, pollution, rising cost of living, incompetence, disappointments can take its toll on anyone. Time and again you have to look and seek for inspiration. The Karachi Walla was in Lyari to meet Ibad who has been conducting Drum Circles across the city, most […]

Reclaiming Public Spaces. One at a time. Pakistan Chowk. Check. Pakistan Chowk is one of the most well known landmarks in Karachi. The Reference Point. It comes handy when one has to give directions, or eat bun Kebabs, or get wedding cards printed. Pakistan Chowk is a fantastic place. It is surrounded by most beautiful […]

Lyari has a top of mind recall for various reasons. Street Art is certainly not one of those. Shilo Shiv Suleman, an Indian Artist started Fearless Collective in 2012 after shocking gang-rape of a medical student in Delhi. Many saw the resulting fear in women as a deterrent to their entry in public spaces. To […]

It felt as if I was in a different timezone, a far off geography – definitely not present day Karachi. There are many shrines around the city with their peculiar ways of celebrating words of Sufi saints. Qawwali is perhaps the most popular ritual but communal dhikr is not uncommon either. However you perhaps would […]