The REAL staple food-Doodh patti

This week, Kolachi did a short feature on the mainstay of my day - doodh patti.

Kolachi spoke to Zaman Khan (not his real name), owner of a tea dhaba in Saddar, to find out. “People in Karachi are always busy, frustrated, and overworked. When they come to a dhaba, they want something strong enough to take their mind off things.”
…”I don’t want to name them, but there are a few dhaba owners who extract opium from its stem, grind the stem left behind and let it boil in the tea.“
What?! Is this yet another one of those Karachiite secrets I wasn’t privy to, or just another urban legend akin to the ‘Slims has drugs in it to make it more addictive’ story?

If they don't care, why should we?

I was just going to some place the other day and I saw this car pull up right in front of me at the signal. And I thought, "If this guy is a member of the National Assembly, then shouldn't he be actually aware of laws banning tinted windows and customized plates?". So I took this picture to prove that even the rulers don't actually giva a shit here in Pakistan. And by the way, this picture will be shown on Dawn News as part of their Citizen Journalist programme every hour on Sunday, January the 25th.

An original pictue by Faiz Khalil.

Random quote

I just came across this random quoe while surfing the web:
"Ability is what will get you to the top if the boss has no daughter."

Ridiculous and ridiculous-er

Should the thousands who work in the media be expecting drones to hover around their buildings soon? Perhaps - Asif Ali Zardari declared yesterday that “journalists are the biggest terrorists.”
Geo just ran a bit on the National Assembly’s proceedings today: Ayaz Amir reportedly said it was ‘regretful’ that Zardari had termed the sahafi baradari as terrorists. Sherry Rahman denied he’d said anything of the sort. And surprisingly, Naveed Qamar seemed to be awake while Gilani was talking! Miracles all abound.

Double trouble

Imagine if this had happened at a Western airport:
Syrian police mistake man for Iranian president Mahmoud AhmadinejadThe bearded man’s distinctive features appeared to be instantly recognisable as he stepped off the plane and entered the arrivals hall of Damascus airport - so much so that the Syrian police, taken aback by his presence, sounded a major security alert.
Puzzled as to why they had not been tipped off about the impending arrival of such an important VIP - Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - flustered officers swarmed around the familiar figure and tried to usher him to a secluded part of the airport, out of harm’s way and away from the prying eyes of the masses.
The Iranian leader, they believed, must have travelled to Syria on the same kind of unannounced trip he sometimes makes in his native country, where he has been known to attend mourning ceremonies and visit deprived areas without prior notice.
His presence on Syrian soil would not have been entirely surprising, since Syria and Iran are allies. But only when word reached Iranian passengers newly arrived on a flight from Tehran that their president was in the airport did it became clear that it was a false alarm.

Representative isn't it??

I was going to Dreamworld last sunday and right off the highway, I saw this sign. It made me think off hte state of our police force and how representative the donkey really is.

On bribery

Here in Karachi, bribery has become almost a fact of life. To get anything done efficiently, one simply HAS to give bribes. For example, police officers routinely give "discounts" on their chalaans, bringing the fine down from Rs 500 or so to Rs.50. Of course, if you decide to "avail" this "discount" you will not have your license taken away or have to fill out a proper form. The policeman simply pockets the money and walks away.
Of course, now it's not just the policemen who ask for bribes. KESC, CDGK and almost all government employees now ask for "help" or "bhatta" (protection money) to ensure speedy service. On festivals like Eid, policemen routinely stop over trucks and threaten to fine them for irrelevant things unless they pay up. In the major markets, millions of rupees change hands every month in the form of bribes. Also, some of the police departments are so fire with corruption that the collection of protection money is their sole occupation between 9 A.M and 5 P.M, thus ensuring that markets are an easy target for robbers
Recently, the TCP (Trade Corporation of Pakistan) launched a tender to buy 100,00 bales of cotton (the full story is available at http://www.dawn.com/2009/01/04/ebr11.htm). However, to ensure that a company's bid is even considered, bribes in the order of Rs.15,000 must be given to the Director of the TCP.
I think that now only God's gonna stop this country from actually going to the dogs.