One cold winter night just before the year's eve few years ago...I was sitting here on the computer checking my mails and stuff when for some reason I Googled for my home town "Karachi"....there wasn't much back then about Karachi....the search result was not even in a three figure....as compared to About 18,700,000 results(0.12 seconds)
today..but there was one thing that I found very interesting and different from the rest of the information and web-sites about my city....and it was Karachi Metblogs ....a part of the global Metroblogging network.....
That night I was not familiar with blogging ...so I thought it was like an online newspaper.....the next night I checked this site again....and read a little more ....found some of the comments on the blog very interesting...so I gathered all my courage and submit a very short comment to one of the blogs....with my real name and email address...the comment appeared on the blog....I was so thrilled and scared as well...as to what would happen...if I am asked by the authorities to explain who am I and why in the world did I comment on a non Pakistani web site....Well nothing of that sort ever happened....infact since I used to be very careful about browser history and using the net after shutting the door....so nobody in the house on a shared computer ever found out about my hundreds of idiotic and idiosyncratic comments that made me so popular among the metrobloggers and blogger from pakistan without having my own personal blog.....or doing blogging for KMB...I never even attended the KMB or Bloggers Meet-ups and I am very glad that I did not....because freedom of expression and freedom of speech is one of the most endangered thing in this part of the world....over the years I have lost so many nice bloggers and commentors of KMB....who because of their other occupations and responsibilities found it absolutely impossible to continue....or were offered very lucrative positions in their desired fields....few even left because they could not handle criticism to whatever they blogged....some it was very evident found it very difficult to cope with as their ideologies and beliefs were challenged by the excessive freedom provided by the Metroblogging....to me and some of my friends...Many times in the past couple of years the KMB team and some individual bloggers tried to put a lid on my comments but failed....I am not actually sure if it was me or the Principle of freedom that made the moderators look really bad whenever they tried to enforce the relevent comments ideology....But one thing I can claim very proudly and I am sure I can prove from the comments of the regular fellow commentors on KMB....is that my lighthearted and humorous comments on KMB did not let the political parties of Pakistan to make it a serious hangout...for themselves....I know for sure that all political parties of Pakistan left,right, centre read KMB and my comments... but not as critic or a rival....which is something very encouraging for an unprecedented activity such as blog comment.
That night I was not familiar with blogging ...so I thought it was like an online newspaper.....the next night I checked this site again....and read a little more ....found some of the comments on the blog very interesting...so I gathered all my courage and submit a very short comment to one of the blogs....with my real name and email address...the comment appeared on the blog....I was so thrilled and scared as well...as to what would happen...if I am asked by the authorities to explain who am I and why in the world did I comment on a non Pakistani web site....Well nothing of that sort ever happened....infact since I used to be very careful about browser history and using the net after shutting the door....so nobody in the house on a shared computer ever found out about my hundreds of idiotic and idiosyncratic comments that made me so popular among the metrobloggers and blogger from pakistan without having my own personal blog.....or doing blogging for KMB...I never even attended the KMB or Bloggers Meet-ups and I am very glad that I did not....because freedom of expression and freedom of speech is one of the most endangered thing in this part of the world....over the years I have lost so many nice bloggers and commentors of KMB....who because of their other occupations and responsibilities found it absolutely impossible to continue....or were offered very lucrative positions in their desired fields....few even left because they could not handle criticism to whatever they blogged....some it was very evident found it very difficult to cope with as their ideologies and beliefs were challenged by the excessive freedom provided by the Metroblogging....to me and some of my friends...Many times in the past couple of years the KMB team and some individual bloggers tried to put a lid on my comments but failed....I am not actually sure if it was me or the Principle of freedom that made the moderators look really bad whenever they tried to enforce the relevent comments ideology....But one thing I can claim very proudly and I am sure I can prove from the comments of the regular fellow commentors on KMB....is that my lighthearted and humorous comments on KMB did not let the political parties of Pakistan to make it a serious hangout...for themselves....I know for sure that all political parties of Pakistan left,right, centre read KMB and my comments... but not as critic or a rival....which is something very encouraging for an unprecedented activity such as blog comment.
.jpg)
