KARACHI: The rain forecast was there. The heavens had been threatening to open up for a few days now but until it actually happened, the citizens of the desert city of Karachi remained in denial.

Now while some curse the rain because of the usual power failures, traffic jams, puddles and pools, others decide to ignore the negatives to enjoy the pleasant weather and compliment it with delightful snacks.

Usually, when it rains in Karachi, there are queues forming and growing at pakorasandsamosasplaces. The tea stalls also hurry up with the sizzling parathas orders with steaming mugs of tea.

But Karachiites usually experience light rain with intermittent episodes of heavy downpour. This weekend it was different though. From morning till evening to the next morning and after, it poured non-stop. And although many yearned for warm and tasty snacks during this time, there were hardly any places serving pakorasand samosasother than your own kitchen, of course. Most shops faced a dilemma about how to go about it. Since they fry these delicacies in a big wok out in the open, it was impossible to do so in the rain … as catch 22 situation. Even the most popular Nimko remained closed due to the rain. Still, another savoury shop nearby was doing roaring business as, yes, they were making pakoras.

Still, there was the enterprising kachori seller, Shahid Kachori House, who encroaches the footpath near the Sindh High Court carrying on his business under a plastic shade to keep out the rain. He was also making a killing.

It being a weekend, many decided to embark on an adventure of exploring what is available for breakfast. Only three or four restaurants were open for business on the food street at Boat Basin and they all were jam-packed with customers. “There was chicken-cheese, plain chicken and potato paratha, halwa and puri all available here until a while ago but they seem to have run out of everything,” says Zaheer-ul-Hassan while finishing his breakfast with his big family all happily settled on a takht.

“The weather is very pleasant, which is rare for Karachi. So we thought why not enjoy it. Of course, driving around the city can be a challenge with many roads flooded but with no electricity in the house we felt it was better to brave the outdoors. It turned out to be a good idea, too.”

Meanwhile, the people being turned away from that eatery jogged up to the next one a few feet away that was still serving all the items on its menu. The outside area had been covered by orange plastic to keep the rain out. Still, rainwater would collect on it making it sag at places. Then the people would carefully drain the water out from one side.

At Burnes Road, another food street, there were the Arabi parathas piling up for the people but few customers showed up as the roads there were too flooded, making the people think twice before attempting a trip to that part of town.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2017