In most cities of the world, walking a few blocks is no big deal and people do it on a daily basis. Contrary to this, you are not expected to walk at all in Karachi. This is ironic considering the unavailability of decent public transportation. However, even crossing a road is an ordeal and most people are mortified to experience it.
Following this philosophy, the sidewalks in Karachi are for anything but walking. They usually do not have enough space for any kind of decent movement, let alone walking in full stride. Why?? All sorts of reasons: beggars, addicts, plant nurseries, fruit vendors, clothing vendors, carpet vendors, pottery vendors.
In the bazaars, there are so many vendors crowding the sidewalk that you can just spend the whole day shopping from them, without having to go to any inner shops at all. It complicates the task of shopping as their presence makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to move around. Moreover, it puts you in grave danger of being pushed around by bulky females who are struggling to wriggle their way out of the chaos. You just don’t have a chance against them, thanks to their supreme health and strong determination.
Just imagine yourself in that position for a moment, no place to walk, no room to move and the perpetual threat of being pushed around. Despite the fact that we have no help from the sidewalks, we brave Karachiites still haven’t wavered from the task of walking and shopping.