THREE-hundred-and-thirty-three years before the beginning of the Christian era, Aristotle is on record for asserting that man “is by nature a city beast.” A thousand years since Aristotle, cities came to be known for their commercial corruption, crime and political chaos, just as the rural regions became famous for their feudal tug-of-war.
Where did the cherished romance of the cities disappear to? Perhaps, it chose Venice — the city in the North-eastern part of Italy avidly sought by newly-wedded couples for honeymooning. Oh, to be in Venice when spring, summer or winter is there!
Even though we were celebrating the ‘silk and fine linen’ (that is the twelfth) anniversary of our wedding, the romantic ambiance of Venice has not left us untouched!
In a gaily-decorated gondola one day, we sailed in the Grand Canal and the merry gondolier was singing his lovelorn airs more fervently than paying proper attention to rowing. So we rubbed shoulders with a more gaily-painted gondola that was occupied by a Scottish couple of our age. The encounter found the four of us sharing a table in a romantic bistro where we tucked up our hearts full of pasta sans vino, that very much surprised our waitress.
Oh, to be in Venice! We remember and miss it to this day. But should we?
Right here in our beloved Karachi and right before our own aging eyes, we are watching a Venice coming up on this side of the Suez! At least, the signs are coming loud, thick and fast. The difference, however, might be of the colour and odour of the water running in criss-crossing canals. But you have to pay a price, don’t you?
Venice, of the true-blue Italian origin and fashion, is built in a group of islets in a romantic lagoon in the Gulf of Venezia at the head of the Adriatic, amidst an extravaganza of canals. Beautiful buildings appear to shoot out right from these canals in the manner of the daring Italian fighting spirit, the continuous erosion threatening to sink them someday into the Adriatic Sea. But the Venetians never bother, and Venice survives with its treasures of art and handicraft. In addition, there is a growing industrial zone.
The up and coming visage of Venice on this side of the Suez has, however, a somewhat different background. It is gradually being surrounded by smelly water overflowing from a choked and decrepit sewerage system aided in its siege of the city by ponds of water left in the wake of rains whenever they happen to visit the city. A vision of Venice on this side of the Suez occurred to me as I drove my small four-wheeler to fetch some urgently needed old-age medicines from the chemist shop. This shop is hardly two kilometres away. But whatever route I took, I was determinedly thwarted by broken roads swept away by rivulets disgorged by manholes of underground gutters. At places, here and there, the cesspools were deep and wide enough to submerge the lower half of my ancient car, and I shuddered at the thought of all the four tyres going flat. I was forced to take a long detour of some 8 or 9kms before I could reach my destination.
We in Karachi witness, as a routine, the worsening of our sewerage system at a much faster rate than the repairing of our wretched roads.
At this rate, the day does not seem very far off when we shall be rowing in a criss-cross of canals in gondolas. The kundawallas will find a much more rewarding job as gondoliers and newlywed couples will save all the time, trouble and money otherwise spent on a visit to Italy.
THREE-hundred-and-thirty-three years before the beginning of the Christian era, Aristotle is on record for asserting that man “is by nature a city beast.” A thousand years since Aristotle, cities came to be known for their commercial corruption, crime and political chaos, just as the rural regions became famous for their feudal tug-of-war.
