CITIZENS of Karachi are not generally known for their sweet tooth. But it was a week that began with a news item that had to do with this very aspect of life. On Dec 19, 1972, the media claimed that the day before Karachiites went without sweets the first ever `sweet-less` day in the city. Reason: from now on, they would have two days without any sweets in a week Monday and Tuesday in order to overcome sugar shortage. The government of Punjab had also taken the same step. Many birthday and marriage parties were put off or cancelled as no sweetmeats were available in Karachi. The events that were held had to contend without them. Similarly, the big hotels did not serve desserts after lunch and dinner.Sweetmeat factories also remained closed.

Oftentimes in the world of comedy and satire, with the sweet comes the sour. On Dec 23 talking to newsmen in Karachi the distinguished stage and television artists, Kamal Ahmed Rizvi and Rafi Khawar popularly known as Allan and Nanna criticised the lack of facilities and official encouragement in promoting theatre in the country. They were particularly critical of the role of television and the Arts Councils in Pakistan.

The pair was of the opinion that the entire grant given to the councils by the government was spent on the highly paid staff while almost nothing was left for the promotion of the arts and established theatre groups hardly received any cooperation from them. They told journalists that the TV authorities had not invited them to appear on television since Nanna had to leave forLondon on a business trip some time back. Allan and Nanna added they would love to resume their famous AlifNoon [TV] series.

The artists were not the only ones grousing about the state of affairs in those days. On Dec 24, the Central Commerce, Production and Presidential Affairs Minister, J A Rahim, said that capitalists and waderas had not changed their outlook on life and were hatching conspiracies against the people`s government. Speaking at a reception organised in his honour by the Korangi-Landhi (PPP) and the Landhi-Korangi Hawkers Welfare Association, he remarked that capitalists were indulging in malpractices and taking away national wealth abroad instead of investing in Pakistan. Similarly, waderas were trying to sabotage the reforms introduced by the government for the benefit of thedowntrodden. Rings a bell, doesn`t it? Whatever the domestic circumstances may be, the city by the sea never stopped attracting attention of international travellers. On Dec 19, Ratna Devi, wife of the late President Soekarno of Indonesia, arrived in Karachi on a three-day visit. After a day`s stay in the city, she was supposed to fly out to Islamabad and expected to call on President Z A Bhutto.

And on Dec 21, a reputed Soviet scholar Mrs Marietta Stepariarts landed in the Sindh capital on a week-long tour of Pakistan during which she was to attend the International Congress of Orientalists in Lahore on the occasion of the Punjab University Oriental CoIIege Centenary celebrations where she was supposed to deliver a lecture. The scholar had written extensively on Allama Iqbal`s poetry and on Urdu literature.