As patriotic as I'm ever gonna get:P

Today is May 11th. It's finally election day! And even though I'm finally old enough to exercise my right to vote, I probably won't have an ink-stained thumb later tonight. As much as I appreciate the ECP's efforts at ensuring that the majority of Pakistan's population was registered for the elections this time round, things haven't gone smoothly at all obviously. Turns out all of my family's polling stations are scattered across the city. I'm registered at some school in Malir, my grandparents are supposed to cast their vote in North Nazimabad, my mom is the only one fortunate enough to have her polling station in our area, and my dad isn't a registered voter at all. Keeping the security situation in view and the Taliban's hours-old announcement of planning nation-wide attacks on election offices tomorrow, it's probably better to stay locked indoors. But isn't that what we've been doing for the past decade or so? Where is our faith? Where is our belief in something greater than ourselves that's worth the sacrifice? I'm just as guilty as the rest of you who're still confused about whether or not to head out later today...guilty of valuing my life above that of my fellow Muslims, guilty of loving myself more than this country that was founded on truth and equality so I'm not gonna give a whole lecture on patriotism here. I can't vote because there's no one willing to drive me to my polling station, and I don't think it's safe enough to go by rickshaw or taxi. I wish my dad were here. I'm sure he would've taken me if I really wanted to go. But he's out of the country and I'm lost without him, so who am I to talk. 

But I believe in this country; most of all I believe in this city. I love Karachi like I've never loved it before. We went shopping yesterday, our usual destination, Dolmen Mall, Tariq Road. My driver must really wonder about the hours we spend in there. I looked at the polished marble floors and the people laughing and talking around me, and the brilliant lighting and even though it was exactly like any other shopping mall in the world, I felt this hot surge of love for everything around me because it was mine, it belonged to me, it belonged to Karachi, and really, it's all one and the same thing. I felt this swooping feeling in my stomach and a tingling in my skin because I knew that when I'd step outside, the Karachi sea breeze would rush to greet me, blowing my dupatta back, blowing through our palm trees and our shalwar kameez, reminding me in that one instant of all the memories I've ever made in this city and how my roots go deep deep into the land here. Karachi is mine, and so is Pakistan. Nobody has any right to take it away from us. Not the Taliban, not the United States, or any of the corrupt politicians that have squeezed as much money as they possibly could out of it. The people of Pakistan have borne enough, and nobody ever acknowledges their suffering or their pain. We have been through too much together. Too much. It's unbelievable that we ever made it through the Shiaa bombings, the unspeakable horror of the Quetta dharnas, the target killings that swept over Karachi and extinguished laughter and joy in every household (including mine), the many many countless scandals the government officials were involved in (and still are), the factory fires in Karachi and Lahore, the loadshedding, oh the despair of losing to India in the semifinal ICC Cricket World Cup, and there is so much more. Yes, it's a miracle we still manage to get out of bed each morning and look to Allah SWT for hope and a better tomorrow. It's an even bigger miracle that despite it all, the nation is counting on 11th May to turn it all around. Because many times it has seemed that the damage that has been done to my country cannot be remedied. But so many people believe otherwise. It's heartening. What a wonderful nation this is. What a spirited, beautiful nation.

So all those people who're planning on voting, I applaud you and ask that you pray that I'm somehow able to cast my vote too! No matter how slim the chance of that, I don't want to give up on it just yet. And to all those who complain about Imran Khan's flaws, I just have one thing to say. Do you SEE a better alternative out there? That's right, there isn't one! Nobody is perfect, sure there are problems with the PTI, but who else are you going to vote for, if not for Khan? The way I see it, he's the last hope for the nation, the only leader we've got left, the only one we can afford to trust! 

Imran Khan ftw! I hope and pray that Allah grants you success and turns this nation's future around. Pakistan Zindabad.