Memories of rainy days in the past invaded in full force the minds of the Karachi population as the city was lashed for two consecutive days with the first day breaking several records and confronting Karachiites with a kind of severe weather they had not faced for several years.
For all intents and purposes it was an ordinary day with the kind of weather prediction that abounds throughout the year but hardly ever materializing.
Well this day it did materialize and that too with a bang. Light rain that started in the afternoon turned to a down pour by early evening and continued till late at night. It was not just constant rain but it’s intensity that caught the populace by surprise.
At the peak of the rainfall it was unfortunately also the peak time that the household bread earners return home from work. While most of the roads at that time are full to capacity it is the Shahra-e-Faisal, which usually bears the brunt of this sea of transport that includes cars, motorcycles, trucks, rickshaws and other vehicles.
This also being the main route to the city’s international airport there is also the rush of airline passengers in a hurry to catch their flights. Well, no one among this multifaceted group was ready for what awaited them as they carelessly ventured on the roads leading to their respective destinations.
It is not that Karachi has never seen heavy rainfall. I distinctly remember two rainfalls in which streets had turned to lakes. In one I was at that time working for a German firm operating out of SITE and committed that blunder of taking the prediction for rain lightly and left the office after the rain had been coming down for some time.
As I hit the road or whatever part of it was visible all I could see was water everywhere.
If it was bad in SITE it was worse in Garden Road area where the water was even more steep and I was just driving like in a lake. It was only when I hit Saddar that I got some relief. More or less the same intensity when I was working on MT Khan Road and Mai Kolachi had not come into existence. A colleague dropped me at hotel Metropole and from there it was a long walk to Bilawal Chowrangi, dodging pot holes and looking out for open manholes.
This year was a marked difference, both in the intensity of rain water and the response even of the ordinary person and I think this difference can be attributed to better communications as in the previous years I have mentioned mobile phones were not so much in vogue. This year they played a pivotal role as those stuck in rain water could communicate their plight to their families and friends at times, enhancing their concerns and at others calming them down and reassuring them that things are under control.
It was actually a cause for concern also as many batteries died down or networks switched off and household members following the progress of their stranded members were left wondering what was happening with obviously the worst fears on their minds. Amidst all this I was highly impressed with the kind of concern and intensity of caring displayed by a company operating from DHA with employees whose residences were scattered all over the city.
The employees of this company left their work place in early evening and soon it was evident that most were stuck in different places. None was abandoned but under the direction of top most officials both in Karachi and Islamabad each indivual’s progress was monitored which included calls to their near and dear ones or on their mobiles if still working.
This operation continued unabated with all top people engaged till well past midnight and everyone heaved a sigh of relief as the last person reached home at well past midnight.
Needless to say, how such a caring attitude by a company fosters love and respect for the company in the hearts of its employees. This is just one example but there were several others, including mosques that opened their doors to not only provide shelter but food as well and even private residences opening up their doors to accommodate the stranded. For what started as an ordinary rainy day turned into a day of lessons from which we can all learn.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a well-known columnist
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