Half empty or half full?

By Tehmina Qureshi

There is a lot wrong with public sector universities.  There is corruption, politics, inefficient staff and teachers, dilapidated classrooms and campuses... the list could go on and on. Karachi University too, is a victim of most of these diseases, and none the less notorious for it.

Almost everyone I knew discouraged me from studying in University of Karachi when I told them what I wanted to do. They, all, listed all the above mentioned  problems trying their best to dissuade me and proving their point. Since I hadn't experienced being a student yet, all I could do was smile and say, "I know". 

 Now, having been in the middle of all the clashes between student wings of political parties, frustrating indolence of staff, braving teachers who know less than us and give marks according to how bad their day is going; believe it or not, that's the very reason that makes me love Karachi University. Absolutely not because of the things that the loop holed system enables me to get away with (just so you know, I haven't broken one rule so far), but because if these dire problems weren't there I would've been less educated in the things that really matter.

To me the university is a model for all that plagues our country as well. Weak administration, dirty politics and all... Many people who enter the university fall victim to it. And this is the very excuse they give when they, themselves, take advantage through shady deals and "influences". Our laziness in submitting the semester or exam fee on time, not studying, or just being plain lazy is actually fuelled by all of this. A typical Pakistani and Kurian complain sounds something like, "hum kia karen? Yahan ka system hi aisa hay..."

 That is what the university taught me. How to live in a place with so many things wrong with it and yet be able to come out with your integrity intact. You may give excuses about the system, or the people, but ultimately it is your actions that make your life's story, not anyone else's.

People underestimate the potential of University of Karachi... I remember I did too. But after spending almost two years in here, I have, ironically, come to respect it for just what people hate it for. All it's faults. Because they teach me how to recognise the wheat from the chaff, and they have taught me how to live in this big bad world and still be able to look myself in the eye at the end of each day. This is a lesson, I couldn't have learnt in any books, or from sages, but I learnt this studying in Karachi University.