EVERY city in the world has a distinct feature that makes it different from the rest. Sadly, the former City of Lights is now the City of Wall Chalking, where in order to stay up to date you should always observe the writing on the wall.

If you don`t know which leader is currently imprisoned, what is the best way to win back your loved one, or where to find the best tuition for your children, don`t worry. Go to any area in the city and you will find the answer to all your questions sprawled across the walls.

The menace of wall chalking seems to be picking up pace before the elections, and luckily for those associated with the business the elections are near. You will get to know (un)biased information about the politicians standing in your constituency. Some may be very sincere, others would be handpicked by your favourite leader to represent him, whereas some would be abused in language beyond your wildest imagination.

The venue of each and every party`s next gathering would also be written on the wall to `facilitate` you and save you from the trouble of finding out from other means.

Ifan outsideris asked about the biggest problem the country is facing currently, he would .after reading the writing on the wall suggest that people in Pakistan need to be loved. Every other wall in the city has a message for those who have been unsuccessful in love, whose wife or potential wife has ditched them and/or who want to find the right bride for them-selves. It seems that the advertisers know exactly who the target market is, because, circumstantial evidence suggests, many of those who read these advertisements actually call for information, even if they don`t physically go to the`love doctor`.

Similarly, if you want to know about your future, the walls of the city would provide all the information you need. The baba in your area would tell you whether you are destined to do well or not, whetheryour children will obey you or not and/or whether your office problems would end soon, or not.

Naturally, each of us wants his or her children to do well in life, and for that all you have to do is to find out, through wall chalking, the`bast` and the `gratast` institution in your area. Nobody knows who comes up with these slogans, but one thing is certain: the school owners or the wall chalking artists cannot spell.

Who is the creative mind behindall these advertisements that rule the walls of our city? Nobody knows, but everybody cares because without wall chalking, the city of Karachi would seem better, cleaner and above all, a city we could all be proud of. As there iscurrently no elected city government in the largest city of Pakistan, it seems that we will have a wall chalking gala ahead of the general elections, where the party with the most appropriate words will hold the edge!-OA