Who left behind................

The following post got published at blogs.dunynews.tv on 18 August 2011.

People say everything is possible in this world, what all one need are the will, determination, Zeal and passion to make it happen. Yes many things are possible in this world and much loss can be fulfilled. Wealth, health, respect, trusts, confidence can be regained but few things never return. Time if once fly, words if once spoken, bullet if once fired and life if once lost can never come back.

Above all the loss, the most heart thrashing is the moment when one looses his beloved, his source of life, around which his world of happiness orbits. Ferocious flood of tears fill up the eyes sweeping all the dreams, commitments, hopes, happiness and promises away with the departed soul and left rampant memories behind.

28 July was commemorated as the first anniversary of the tragic Air Blue crash. This calamity which engulfs 152 lives is still a mystery not only for a common man but also for the clan of the deceased as the government has not make the investigation reports public.

The investigation was done by two teams. One of the teams was headed by Air Commodore Khawaja Abdul Majeed, president of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Safety Investigation Board, which focused on human factors, possibility of technical fault and weather conditions.

The second team, headed by Federal Investigation Agency director-general, was assigned the task of investigating the possibility of `sabotage’, but neither of the reports is unveiled for the public like others in the past. The guardians of the dead are enraged and traumatized by the most important questions rattling in their minds that How this havoc took place? And who should be blamed for the bloodshed of their loved ones? Neither all the legal heirs have got compensations announced by the high ups of government and Air Liner Company, nor have they got any satisfactory answer to their burning question.

My soul shivers when I thought about the families of the victims. How have they controlled themselves when they heard about the tragedy? How had a brother felt that has just see off her newly wedded sister for honey moon? How had a sister reacted when the wedding album arrived with the dead body of his brother? What did a mother feel when she saw her son’s fiancé after his death? Had that father been able to stand who has lost his only son? How painful was it when they saw Margalla hills encircled by human limbs? How grim was to recognize the corpse of their beloved? How battering was it when they were misinformed that few people had been rescued? How much hopes had been torched till they get into reality?

I become deeply grieved when I saw tears in their eyes, when I hear their stories, when I witness unanswered questions on their faces.

But why can’t I escape from these thoughts, none of the victim was my friend or relative, I don’t know their families personally. But yes, we share a common bond. The bond of humanity, which is above all the relations.

The loss suffered by those families can never be compensated. But providing accurate answers to their questions can bring an iota of relief to their hearts. 

KARACHI.......... I AM MISSING YOU

Karachi… my city of lights….my city of life

Where mornings begin at 10 am and nights are brighter than days. Where traffic noise can never let u sleep and no roads are find without a jam. Where beaches are packed with people in every hour of the day. Where food streets and restaurants are bulging even after the mid night, where malls and bazaars are always crowded as if there is Chand Raat. Where customers are not willing to leave the shop unless the shop keeper is about to kick them, where boys play cricket on the roads, where people are always complaining about the load shedding and where newspapers and news channels are loaded with the inflation updates.

Life in this city has its own charm, containing so much of qualities Karachi and Karachiites are surely different from every other city and citizens in this world. If a person has spent few years in this part of the world he can never love any place more than this vicinity.

With the ups and downs of life, something strange happened in past few days. The wind which was always smiling, is mourning. Something has changed. But what?

I went out of my home, everything was bizarre. I didn’t find my city illuminating; I found it haunted by darkness. I didn’t witness any traffic jam, I saw every road cleared. I didn’t heard any shouting horn, I felt cries and firing in the air. I didn’t find the busy restaurants and bazaars, I saw troops of rangers, I saw blood. What all I witness in the city was terror, pain, tears and anguish.

Lot of feelings attacked me at the same time, I came back home, I was astonished, worried, horrified and grieved. I did not understand where I have been, where I am, is this same city I lived in or have I come to a mysterious locale? How can it be my metropolis?

 My city is the city of lights, not of darkness. My city is the city of life, not of corpses, my people thank God for their fix load shedding time, not for escaping from bullets, my city is where peace means happiness, not the interval between two killings, and my city has got a rush at food streets not at the coffin shop.

This is the city of brutality, killings, sectarianism, racism, politics, violence, animals and vampires.

This is not my city God, this is not my Karachi.

Dear God,

I am missing my Karachi a lot. Please return my city to me with its all charms, with its jammed roads, with its zealous people, with its twinkling lights and with its colorful life.