A Taxi Drivers Stand

Its a big road, but not much population around. Had to wait before I could see a Taxi cross by. And when a few did, they were already full. Walking ahead a bit, I waved my hand out to an empty one.

'How much are you going to take till Clifton park? '

'100. '

'Its not that far. How about 80?'

'We'll see. Sit'

So I sat.

I could have caught a bus. Would have taken just around 14 Rs.

It was early June 2007. Not long after May 12, the day some areas of Karachi turned violent with street gun battles at the arrival of the -on trial- Cheif Justice Iftekhar Chaudhry of the supreme court and a major MQM rally the same day.

I like conversation.

'So you must travel to all parts of the city, here everything is usually calm. Whats the situation in other places?'

'Its pretty much like they're two groups now. Its very tense. There are some who support Altaf Hussein (Leader of the MQM) and then there are those who support Imran Khan'

Imran Khan. A Cricketer turned politician, he had been strictly critical of the MQM and vowed to take legal action against the party for carrying out the violence on May 12. He supports the Chief Justice in his bid to regain his seat, making it very dangerous for himself to come to Karachi.

Funny. This was the first time I'd heard someone mention Imran Khan as someone with large public support for his politics. His party has only one seat in the National Assembly, and that of Imran Khan himself. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, the driver looked pathan, just like Imran Khan himself.

'Really? Imran Khan?'

'People are getting tired of Altaf Hussein. They're beginning to rise up against him. Hes an evil man, he sits in his nice house in England, while his own party workers and others die here'

'Then why the mass support. I saw his rally on TV, and he did get quite a gathering'

'Those people are all poor. They're bribed. They were offerng 1500 rupees for every person who showed up.'

I had heard that before, and not only about MQM rallies.

'That is how the MQM works. They pay people who are jobless and poor to do their dirty deeds. People are offered money in the hundred thousands to murder someone on their behalf. I was offered 200,000. I didnt take it. Why should I murder a man I don't know?'

I agreed, pushing him to continue.

'They told me hes a very bad man, and has done lots of wrong things. I asked them if hes so bad why don't you kill him yourselves? Nah, I cant kill a man, even if he has done something wrong, I'm killing the bread earner of a family. What if he has a sick mother. If I kill him, his wife and kids could be left with no means of sustenance. There are so many reasons I cant commit murder no matter how much they give me.'

He looked pessimistic. Or maybe it was pity.

'Everyones giving bribes these days. If they are, I cant trust them. Once i picked up a woman from Malir and as soon as we were about to get going two guys on a motor cycle came up to me. They told me that women is a whore, and that I should kick her out of my taxi. She pleaded to let her stay in the taxi and that she wasn't a whore. Then they offered me cash to tell her to get out of my taxi. I told them "it doesn't matter to me what she is. All I know is she is my customer and she came into my taxi. That means I'm going to drop her where she tells me to" and with that I drove away.
'Anyway, then I asked the woman why these men were after her. She told me that her husband was murdered recently, and she had come here to take his savings out of a bank. She said these men knew about the money and were after it. This money was all her family had to live on. I felt really sorry for her.
'Once we got to her house, she told me to stay outside till she went in and had locked the door. She was afraid those men might come again and attack her.'

By now I'm sure he was expressing sorrow

'You did the right thing. You had nothing to do with whatever she was'

And with that, the silence.

'Here's the park'

'Yea, just go ahead a bit and drop me on the left.'

When he stopped the car, I gave him the hundred he had asked for earlier and telling him to take care of himself I got off.



The park had a historical terrace, with some Mughal architecture. The Emperor Jehangir used to come here and look into the Arabian sea. His empire was growing. What was he thinking?

As the sun was setting, the limestone gave a glow. People from far off in the city come here now and relax in the grounds. Their city is getting dangerous. What are they thinking?