Cafe World. . .

By Sehar Dar.

What name comes into your mind when you think of an institution, where almost 24000 students are being served with various edibles at reasonable prices? The answer could not be other than the canteens of University of Karachi.

Regardless of whether you are a student or a teacher, if you want to have any sort of good food during the University timings then no place is more attractive than "KU Main Cafeteria"c (famous as PG within the campus). Surrounded by trees, a number of canteens are present in this impressive environment providing a variety of food to the students at reasonable rates.

According to an opinion of Sumbul Badar,a student from the Department of Micro-biology proper seating arrangement is needed as most of the students have no place to sit and have to stand while eating which seems quite odd.

Nonetheless, with no specific canteen for every department, students flock to the ones closest to their department at times for just food and at others to chill out or to exchange notes and study materials. Girl students in particular are very fond of the samosas and rolls and take dozen or two home in a raw form to serve at home with tea.

Whether it is the low cost samosas of the PG canteen, Jabbar bhai’s chat, Majiday hotel's daal Sufi's Biryaani or daal with paratha and , if one studies at the University of Karachi then these are the things that should never be missed out.. The food items including "Chinese Rice", "Biryani", "Chaat", "Chicken roll", "Fries" and famous "Aloo Samosa" etc. are usually available at PG. The famous "Samosa" and "Chaat" are specially liked by the students due to their splendid and delicious taste

It has been two years since Professor Dr Abuzar Wajidi has been made head of the team that monitors the canteens. Though he is unaware of the actual prices of food or the number of canteens on the university campus he claims that his team is competent and is taking care of the affair pretty well.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr Pirzada Qasim, maintains that he understood that the number of tuck shops on the campus are not sufficient for huge number of students of the University.

He shows his concern about the tuck shops and said "We are trying to improve not only the quality of the food but also the ambiance of the canteens".
The VC also  maintains that "The quality of food and prices are monitored and are looked after, and if someone tries to defy the rules, then he is penalised, fined or his licence is cancelled".

However, few students complained about the poor hygienic condition. Also few students said that though all the food items are sold here at a very reasonable and cheap prices but cleanliness of the place is usually neglected here..

However, the complains regarding the quality of food and hygienic conditions are something that should be considered by keeping a proper check by the KU administration.

But the very important thing is that these cafeterias, canteens and specially "Dhabaaz" are contributing a memorable part to the students' lives. The rush, the trees, and long lines of students buying food are something the students of KU want to remember.