Mysterious lanes of extravagance

Last night while i was sitting by the window looking down at the narrow, crowded lanes of my neighborhood which reminded me of a telephone conversation i had in the morning. I have been trying to get a credit card for myself since sometime, for which ive been talking to a bank representative. The lady who seemed to be more excited than me when i had applied for the card, sounded equally disinterested after she processed my application. It was after patiently waiting for some response from the bank, that i called up again to check the status of my application. Apparently, the reason why i was not given a credit card is because in the application form my area pin-code reads '400003'.

This was the first time i actually did a small study on the place where i have been living since the time ive opened my eyes to the world. Its not just the bank, i have also experienced people having similar sentiments when it comes to education too. I have witnessed kids from my hood being denied admissions to educational institutes because they belong to a locality that has an infamous reputation of being a hub for anti-social elements. In an attempt to understand radical sentiments that people have towards a place i call 'home', i went around talking to those who live here and the ones who probably would never want to even pass by. 

So what if the dreaded don who lives in Karachi once resided here, or most of the recovery guys representing various banks belong to the same place. It does sound ironic that men who go out to recover money from defaulters actually are not eligible to get a loan for themselves, after all, you would need balls of steel to walk up to them if they defaulted on any payment or even refused to pack back.

Whatever maybe the reason, i personally feel things are being exaggerated to a point of actually influencing mindsets of others. If that's not the case then who could justify the extravagant food orgy, that people from across corners of the city are compelled to be a part of. Ramadan is a time when souls with insatiable palettes and overwhelming appetites flock the roads below the murderous flyover of JJ to get their hands on some real, lip-smacking, calorie-loaded fare. It surprises me how suddenly the so called 'unsafe' lanes of my hood transforms into this 'must-visit' food heaven, to be walked in wearing the most revealing outfits, just because its "cool" to be eating on the roads this way.During those 30 days, my facebook wall is generally filled with check-ins of my friends, flaunting their presence at Mohammed Ali road, which kinda amuses me because for me its been an everyday affair for the past 26 years, so who's more cool now? 

People talk about aggression that the locals living around have, but what they do not see is that this aggression is actually a "take no shit" attitude that they live with. I do not condemn the lifestyle that they have,  coz i might be on the same path too and why not?. Refusal to become a punching bag does not make these people social worms to be looked down upon. As a matter of fact i believe that its real men and women who stand up for whats right and not be afraid of anything, that's how living is for residents of Mumbai 3.

- Fahad Parack