Spellbound

There is this thing about Karachi. Dozens are murdered on its streets everyday. Crime and corruption are at their peak. In fact, it has been compared to the fictitious Gotham city.When you'll come here, there is going to be so much violence that you're gonna want to run away. You might witness people firing at each other. You'll probably see tires burning on some major road. And you will definitely read a newspaper filled with news you wouldn't want to read. The city will leave you breathless because nobody will let you take a break for even one moment. But that's not all there is to Karachi.

Karachi has magic. It has beauty so wild that it will leave you amazed and love so passionate that it will shake you to your very core. But it's not something that you can just find in a day. It's something you'll have to live here to see. Something you'll have to observe and appreciate over the days that pass by. You'll have to take a walk on a chilly night (Just don't take your wallet or phone). You'll have to give in to its evening's gentle wind. You'll have to learn to move with its broken roads. You'll have to survive a day without electricity in its brutal, summer heat. You'll have to dance in the rain on its dirty beaches. You'll have to ride on top of a bus. You'll have to enjoy a cup of tea at a dhaba. You'll have to stick through a bad day to see how, in the end, its people come together to help. And you will have to have people here, who you love, to be able to see the magic. And once you've seen the magic, this city will enchant you in a way that you won't be able to leave.

As I was writing this, a random guy asked me why I was smiling. I said one word and the smile was on his face too: Karachi.