Karachi (Hardback) | Released: 01 Oct 2010

Two hundred years from its founding as the port of Sindh and fifty years from its position as the only port of Pakistan, Karachi has an undisputed place in the economy of the country and in the affections of its citizens. The glowing capital of Sindh is loved in spite of its glaring shortcomings. In the imagination of its people it stands for a lifestyle that is at once modern and yet more leisured than the frenetic megacities elsewhere.
The citizens of this megacity are capable of dealing with their problems. Karachi is a new city but it is old in its wisdom and tolerance. Above all it is a cosmopolitan city which demands civilized attitudes from its most unruly citizens. It is this mainstream Karachi that this book is about. Karachi - Megacity of Our Times is the story of transformation of a sleepy town of under twenty thousand people into a vibrant metropolis-one of the largest in Asia today. Thirteen prominent writers of Karachi take the reader through post-independence development in politics, economics, the arts, demography and architecture. Some of the articles are very personal, evoking nostalgia for the Karachi that was; others are analytical drawing on available data to predict the course that this turbulent city will take in the future. A part of the book is devoted to the 'long nineteenth century' when the Englishman ruled and divided the city into 'white' and 'native' quarters. There is also a section on people who have contributed to the welfare of the city. The book is profusely illustrated with maps, photographs, and illustrations.

About the Author:
Dr Hamida Khuhro was educated at the Universities of Karachi, Cambridge, London and Oxford. She is a historian and has taught at the Universities of Karachi, Oxford and lastly Sindh University where she was Professor of History. She left University teaching to concentrate of writing and politics. She has twice served as Minister for Education and Literacy, Government of Sindh. She has also served as Member and Chairperson of a large number of political, academic and government committees. She has published a number of books including Making of Modern Sindh, Mohammad Ayub Khuhro: Life of Courage in Politics, The Making of Modern Sindh, and has edited many books including Sindh through the Centuries, Papers of the Separation of Sind from Bombay Presidency and a number of memoirs etc.

Anwer Mooraj was educated in India and England and is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science. He started his journalistic career in Dawn in the 1960s as an assistant editor, was the founding editor of The Herald in 1970 and served as chief executive of the Gulf News, Dubai from 1982 to 1985. He is widely travelled and is the author of three books Sand, Cacti and People (1965) Wild Strawberries and Harbour Lights (1992), and co-editor with Dr Hamida Khuhro of the first edition of Karachi Megacity of Our Times (1997). He is a management expert and his last assignment was as chief executive of The Pakistan American Cultural Center-the world's largest bi-national centre which he served from 1990 to 2004.