'Mujhko bhe to lift karaday'

By Kanwal Naz.

After reading 10,11 articles on this blog I am sure the readers are  completely aware of the fact that UoK is one of the largest University of Pakistan spread over many acres of land etc....But I am pretty sure that none of you have ever felt the depth and the pain in the phrase''spread over many acres of land''....this particular sentence hides some very interesting stories in it....and the most popular of these stories is the ''Lift karaday story..it must be sounding strange to people who do not belong to K.u.

But after reading this piece ,you will have an idea of how the KUrians deal with the reality of the phrase briefly discussed above..

As we mostly have hot season in Karachi so moving from one place to another in K.u is kind of a tough job for us ..we have to gather alot of energy to start the march from one department to another..and if unfortunately you are walking alone ..believe me ,there is nothing in the world worst than that.

.As we have our subsidiary classes in the afternoon when the hotness of sun is at its peak,we find it difficult to walk from Mass communication to our respective classes in the 'Arts' department,and we don't have shuttles available all the time....so the best and ever used formula is taking a lift from cars passing by the road in front of our department.Believe me, its really a disgusting,irritating,unpleasant but still an interesting job.in which we stretch our thumbs out,give dejected,sullen,gloomy looks and put all our efforts to stop a car ..mostly we get lifts easily and don't have to struggle alot but sometimes we fail to convince people with these expressions..after waiting for sometime we loose hope and say ''aj qismat ma chalna he likha hai'.Sometimes when we get 'no lift'....and the energy level is too low ..we use the third lifeline and that is 'rikshaw'..

The reason why lift karaday is very popular is because you don't have to pay a penny ,and still reach your destiny and as we believe in 'A penny saved is a penny earned' so this is our most favourite option..But seriously,asking for a lift in K.u is an art and not everyone is good at it,only some are lucky and are always successful in convincing people how helpless we are and telling them by your expressions that if you do a favour to us ,no one in this world would be better than you..

If you have never experienced such thing in your life,you must pay a visit to K.u to be fascinated with such experiences..

“form submission ki aamad aamad hy”

by Syeda Nadia Zarif


The title of the post perfectly describes the present ‘form filling- form submitting’ season being celebrated at the University of Karachi. The pushing, shoving, sweating and yes…swearing is in the air.

What happens during the semester form submission days is that people forget their morals and values and join the rat race. The situation is bound to get nasty when there are three windows and two workers serving five to six, highly unorganized queues of men and women, when there should be three windows and three workers with three queues instead.

It is a horrid sight to see people fighting and arguing while waiting for their turn.

Are we students or some illiterate labors waiting for our per day wages? Shouldn’t we maintain a difference between education and ignorance?

Of course we should. We study tolerance in our syllabi and do the exact opposite outside our classrooms. It’s a shame to see how students lose their cool and act like a bunch of baboons.

I know it is a frustrating fact that the “bank folk” are clumsy and inefficient and are mostly not dealing properly with the students, and that there are some “resourceful” people who get their forms submitted through unfair means, we should keep in our minds that it is us, the students, who have to maintain discipline and be patient. After all, it’s our form and it’s important to get it submitted on time. If we join the foul play, we shouldn’t forget that no matter how clumsy the administration maybe, they do not grant mercy to the “disturbance-aggravating elements” if caught red handed. They can confiscate your documents if need be.

So, we should not let any thing disturb the peace of the situation while waiting for our turn. If some one is coming out of turn, don’t get outraged. Inform someone who is in charge. Don’t take the law into your own hands fellows. Be patient. It is Ramadan and we shouldn’t say or do anything that can make us look ugly in the eyes of the Almighty.

Arts Lobby: The place to be …

By Sameen Meher

Although the University of Karachi has a wide spread area ,having numerous “attractions”, Arts Lobby remains the most cherished point for every KUrian. Everyone who has visited UoK(or not) is familiar with  the arts lobby. It is a cool and comfortable area that serves as a refuge for panting and gasping students during hot summers. All groups have fun and enjoy a quality time together at the lobby. There are some students who, during their breaks, pass their time reading books and completing notes. Then there are some cases where students alias ‘bunkers’ gather to celebrate their ‘escape from class’.

It is an excellent as well as a very convenient meeting point for couples too. They usually sit beside the wall of the auditorium and spend long , wasteful hours together. It is a relaxing spot even for those having no friends because some characters known as “ lobby k namunay” (namunay is Urdu for sample, don’t get me wrong folks!) provide them entertainment through their talented performances. For details you must visit the place at least once.

Now during Ramadan, in the blistering month of August, when the student’s attendance experiences a huge decline, still then, the arts lobby is found abundant with students. After their tiring routine during the holy month, students love to spend a good time at the lobby and take a long, deep breath of relief in the fresh air to shed off their fatigue. No matter what’s going on throughout the university, lobby has its colors bright and shining all the year round.

Don’t mess with the beehive…

By Fatimah Mazhar


Racism has always been a very sensitive topic for the masses. And one has to be really very careful while discussing this topic in a classroom, especially when the classroom is in the University of Karachi.

As all the students are well aware of the politics of this university, we are very careful while passing any racial statement even when we are talking amongst ourselves. In fact, everybody knows that it’s better not to talk about these issues at all,not even with friends or classmates. I say so because K.U. is a place where there have been numerous cases of certain “clashes” which have caused a lot of trouble for the other students who do not have anything to do with political activism.

My point is that, when one knows that this university is a beehive that should not be poked with a stick no matter what, then why do certain teachers love to discuss unnecessary political matters? When they know that we are living in a society where people do not even know how to spell ‘tolerance’. Isn’t it obvious that teachers should refrain from such political gossip while teaching in classrooms? Do not they know that we have students amidst us who speak for their organization before they speak for themselves?

A few days back, one of my teachers (not from my department) was discussing ‘provincialism’ and its causes. When we jumped to the causes, our teacher turned the mike towards us. She wanted to know what we, the students, thought of racism and ethnicity. Although she took off with the topic on the right foot, things got a bit odd when suddenly she passed a rather racist statement (intentionally or unintentionally) regarding one of the prominent cultures of Pakistan.

Now, I have been taught racism, ethnocentrism, nationalism and provincialism previously in my International Relations classes, but never did I come across such a situation in which a teacher openly targeted a specific people and their culture. I don’t know what she was trying to teach by questioning the existence of a 63 year old culture. She actually made an objection to what those people call themselves. This really changed the whole mood of the classroom when some of the students, who were hardcore supporters of that culture, burst out with their reactions. Now tell me, is it appropriate to pin point a certain cultural entity living in your country and criticize their actions when you are aware of the fact that there are students in your class who can give a strong reaction to such statements.(you are living in Pakistan you know!) By the term ‘reaction’ I mean severe reactions which can turn the whole situation of the university in an instant.


Maybe my teacher was trying to sort out ethnic differences like Erin Gruwell(form ‘Freedom Writers’ movie). But I guess she could have done better by criticizing all the other four cultures of Pakistan instead of attacking just one.

The teachers, with all due respect to them, must be careful before discussing such political issues and even if they want to, must keep their tone vague, so that it doesn’t create situations that can turn nasty. After all, they are the ones who can drive their way out of the varsity gates whenever there is a clash and the innocent students are left at the mercy of public buses. (Even those rickshaws disappear like the dodo-birds… its not pleasant you know! )

Constant vigilance!!!

'Lost Identity'

By Sana Batool Naqvi.

Digital libraries at educational institutes are made for the purpose of providing students,the exposure towards a useful technology called computer..It helps them to raise the standard of education of there institute.Students are supposed to use this place for educating themselves that includes making of notes,searching material for assignments etc.
I will no more let you read these boring facts and waste your time....so here I come to share something interesting.
Allow me to take you to the ground floor of an enormous structure firmly placed in the centre of the campus...yess.. I am talking about the Mahmud Husain library.The ground floor comprises of a room known as 'Digital library' as written on the head of its door.
I wonder why they call it a library and not a 'cyber cafe.To agree or disagree with my statement you need to step into the room.Right in front of which,sits two ladies chatting happily with each other all the time and enjoying the job in the chilled air conditioned room.

.

The situation here is contrary to what fatima(my friend)wrote in her writing piece about the receptionist at I.R department in her article 'IMPOLITE RECEPTION'...where she talked about the impolite receptionist.

Let me take you back to the cyber cafe of UoK......after getting in ,you are told to submit ur students id card at the reception ..so that they can register your name as well as the time when you entered inside.Now its a challenge for anyone to find a student engaged with a pc and using the technology to educate him/herself...you can find very few who are actually utilizing their time for the purpose, that a digital libraray should be used for.

Majority of them spend their time using social networking websites like facebook,orkut and twitter etc.While some behave childishly and play games .The last time when I visited the library to search material for my assignment I saw a girl watching 'Lion king' that actually made me feel if she is a retard...as you cannot even switch on the speakers there...!so with no sound she was watching the movie...even if i don't object on such a mature lady doing such an immature thing,how can I stop myself from thinking, why at such a place???
.While some are mature enough and spend their time doing other things of their interest other than education..Beside this the library charges 10rs per hour,and this is the reason why the receptionists enters the time when you step in so that they can calculate from that time and can show you the bill at the end...

All these reasons made me feel that the digital libraray of UoK has lost its identity and has become something else where the visitors do everything except for educating themselves and the fact that they charge money is more than enough to consider it as a cyber cafe.

Allegedly failed.. !!

By Suleman Saadat Khan.

‘Apnay department se original marks sheet nikalwain phir ana’, this sentence was inculcated in my mind by semester cell personnel so strongly that I could have forgotten my name but not my problem.
My bad timing started the moment I received my 2nd semester proforma. God knows how hard I work before every terminal examination of mine. Oh no, don’t get me wrong, I study hard not to get the top grades in class ofcourse, but to pass in every subject so that when I show my proforma to my respected parents I can get a little less scolding.

Yeah, let’s get back to my story. I received my second semester proforma and was shocked to discover that I was fail in English. Not by 2 or 4 marks, but I had failed with precious figure of 10! I’ve quite a remarkable memory, speaking honestly, so I ran back home to check my notebook where I had copied my marks. I was pass in English, and had 79 marks in total. The result was wrongly printed in proforma.

The very next day I swiftly made my way towards department office and told them what my problem was. ‘Dekhain ye problem semester cell walon ka hai un se pata karen’..... ‘OK’ was all I could utter in response. Under the scorching heat of sun, I traveled from new building to semester cell and was greeted by a tired and weary looking man whose tone was obviously not welcoming. ‘Mujhe samajh nahe ata ap sab yahan chaley atey hain, ap ko pata nahe andar sirf staff members a saktay hain?” After listening to his contemptuous and stinging words, I told him my problem. “Wapis department jao aur original marks sheet nikalwao”, he said.

I again headed back to my department and asked office personnel to show me the marks sheet. “Wait karo”, a person said, and I did. He started combing all the files one by one. After hard work of 20 minutes all he told me was “Mujhe nahe pata kahan rakhi hai, Jameel sahib kal aingay unse lena”.

Next day, Jameel sahib appeared like an angel! I ran towards him and asked him to give marks sheet. He finally managed to find MY sheet and I made my way towards semester cell again, all alone, without conveyance ofcourse. I saw a great number of students there with a great number of complaints. I waited, and when my turn came I showed that man my marks sheet, happily. “Is pe teacher kay signature kahan hain?’, he said. I was infuriated!. I came back to my department and found that teacher will be gone for 2 weeks. Finally when she came I got her signature on paper and headed towards semester cell, again. It was a hot day and I wanted no more of it. I showed them my marks sheet again and waited. After 25 minutes a man appeared from inside and said “Wo humara admi kuch dino k liye bahar gaya hai, wo a kar computer men ap k result ki correction karey ga..men pen se ap k proforma men correction kar deta hun”. ‘If I had wanted a “pen correction” then I could have done it myself idiot!’ I said to myself. I was fuming.

I finally got hold of my dear uncle who’s a head of a respected department in KU, he took my original sheet, my proforma and went to semester cell. In less than 10 minutes he appeared from inside and told me my result was corrected ELECTRONICALLY and I could get my new proforma in a week with a submission of application. I thanked him but my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about those poor souls who, like me, fail in proformas and have no uncles in university who’re department heads. All I could utter at moment was “chalen uncle chai hojaye!”

The I.R. (Impolite Reception) Department

By Fatimah Mazhar




The international relations department is one of the finest and most wanted departments of the social sciences faculty at Karachi University. Most wanted because the teaching staff here is abundant with professionals and educators who take their job quite seriously (with a few exceptions of course). In fact, I would love to pursue my masters in this subject. The only thing that is wrong with this department is its reception room and the people in it. Let me tell you why...

Its normal for you to close your eyes when there is a dust storm, to drink water when you are thirsty and trust me folks, it is absolutely normal to feel annoyed when your I.R. teacher doesn’t’t show up on time ,especially when you are a student who has come walking all the way from the mass communication department. The very first words that come out of your mouth are mostly, “is he going to come or not?? I am not going to waste my time waiting in vain”. Then one of your sympathetic friends tries to cool you down by saying, “don’t worry, let’s go to the reception and find out”. And now, the fun begins…

Normally, institutions have big and spacious receptions with an all-time-smiling-for-no-reason receptionist. But when it comes to the I.R. reception at K.U. you might experience the contrary. The room is even smaller than the lavatory (it is right next to it). I think maybe the room’s size is the source of frustration to the man sitting on the desk because he is a man who is ready to attack anyone who comes seeking information. The I.R. receptionist wears this particular frown on his face that makes you feel that you are not welcome. He glares at you as you stumble into the room and place your hands on the desk. He doesn’t like it, and starts looking into a file that was lying on the desk lifelessly just before you came in.
You wait for the man to get through it but he doesn’t, so it’s you who breaks the ice by asking him where Sir XYZ is. He asks you the teacher’s name over and over again and then gets busy with his assistant sitting in front of him and forgets all about you. You remind his majesty of your presence by repeating the teacher’s name and then he plays the which-section-are-you-in card. You spend almost fifteen minutes explaining him from which department, class, section and shift you are from. Then he impatiently, without even checking any register, tells you to leave because “he” thinks the teacher is not going to come. If you dare to ask why, he yells at you and utters “aapko kyaa karna,class ni hy toh jaaen”.


Humiliated, you turn away from the room when you suddenly realize that you can ask him for the teacher’s contact number and do the job yourself. “aap jaaen aur chairperson se mil len” , is his irritated reply.



One word of advice people, next time if your I.R. teacher gets absent, leave immediately and don’t dare venture into ‘you know where’. It’s better to miss the class than to have his angry spit all over your face. Beware!!!

Constant vigilance!!!!!!!!!

Political Party Culture in K.u

By Sehar Azhar


University of Karachi is one of the well known Universities of Pakistan,where more than 25,000 students are studying .Parents prefer K.u for there children instead of other private Universities but at the same time some guardians/parents never allow there children to join K.u and get education from there.



The reason behind this is the developed political party culture in UoK.



There are different political parties in our University but the leading parties are APMSO,ISO,IJI etc.Just because of these political parties the circumstances have become adverse ,when conflicts arises between them on different unvaluable issues or or events,any of such incidents happened in the city has its direct effect on at the University level and students belonging to political parties start conflict in University also and due to these unreasonable conflicts in University teachers are enforced not to take classes and lectures ,in this way the studies of students are badly effected.



Not only male but female students are also actively involved in different political activities directly or indirectly.

Sometimes when clashes happen in the Campus,students find it difficult to go back home safely.



But beside all this these political parties are doing so many good things like organaizing different events like bookfair,cricket tournaments and etc.



I think there is no harm in political activities of students at any institution if the activities are for the sake of betterment for students and the institution but not for there own will and desires

Because not only in our country but all over the world this political party culture is considered good and is encouraged.