KARACHI: Karachiites are smart, nay, street smart. What does that imply? According to one definition, street smartness means the experience and knowledge required to deal with difficulties of life in an urban environment. Karachiites have that knowledge in abundance. This, by the way, does not always manifest positively. The kunda system installed in many middle-income areas to dodge electricity bills is not a good example. But then, most of the time, they, sorry we, come up with things that are just inspiring in the weirdest of ways.

The current heatwave that has sapped every ounce of energy out of Karachiites doesn’t seem to lose steam. It all started on June 19, ironically when it was the first day of the month of Ramazan. On June 20, it went a notch or two higher, and the word ‘hot’ couldn’t even begin to describe the kind of suffocating, scorching weather it was. Even those who didn’t step out of their cozy homes the whole day felt the sun’s wrath all through the day.

The unlucky ones who stepped out of their houses for whatever reason on Saturday and Sunday, it must have been a torrid experience like no other. But, as Hollywood movies tell us, with the bad comes the good. It is only while being on the street that you get to see scenes of unbelievable grit and imaginativeness. Here’s how:

For those of us who can’t drive a car (let’s not go into its reasons) rickshaw drivers are not generally known for their innovativeness. You hail an auto, tell the driver where you want to go, haggle over the fare he demands and that’s about it. But this weekend, Karachi’s rickshaw drivers were at their creative best. As we all know, you can’t have an air conditioner in a three-wheeler, so the vehicle has to ply under the sun just like that, whatever the weather conditions have to offer. To beat the heat, one of them, whom this writer had the opportunity to travel with, came up with an ingenious strategy. He had a bowlful of ice cubes wrapped in a small towel placed right next to his handlebar. At every traffic signal (or if the signal was far away, after every four to five minutes of driving) the auto wallah would pick the towel with his left hand, keeping the right hand firm on the handle, and wipe the sweat on his face with it. Cool, isn’t it?

At one stop, he exchanged pleasantries with a cabbie friend of his who was no less innovative in his approach to minimise the effects of a debilitating heatwave. He, the cabbie, had attached a battery-run fan to the dashboard of his black-and-yellow taxi. The fan looked small, but was powerful enough to keep even the customers in the backseat cool, and if possible, calm.

The cabbie’s invention made this writer ask the auto wallah why he could not think of the welfare of his clients and keep a bowlful of ice cubes in the passengers’ cabin. He smiled and said: “Sahib, uss ke liyey to hamein kiraey double kerna parein ge, aur phir aap loag hum se laro ge” (for that we have to double our fares and then you people will quarrel with us). He was right.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2015

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