Life Lessons from Karachi’s Mubarak Village Beach

If you happen to live in the city of lights — Karachi — or have ever visited this sprawling metropolitan, chances are you’ve made your way to at least one of its famous beaches. I went to Mubarak Village recently. It’s an engrossing place for two reasons: the road leading there is lined with interesting developments, and visitors get the rare chance to go fishing or snorkeling right off the coast. But I don’t plan to write about how cool the place is, or how exciting my visit was. Some other day, maybe. What I do want to write about are the quietly mystical things I learned that day — things no one ever told me. The sea has a way of doing that.

Four Life Lessons the Sea Quietly Handed Me

1. Whatever Is Yours Will Come Back to You

A simple shoe was lost to the water. And then — with the high tide — it came back. Not once, but twice. None of us had really thought about it before, despite seeing countless illustrations in old books of boys playing football by the sea. But it’s true: the waves throw things back at you.

What belongs to you has a way of finding its way back — even the sea seems to know this.

2. Don’t Run After What Is Lost

The things that weren’t ours? They never came back. When the sea took them, they were gone. The ocean, it seems, was quietly telling us something — don’t follow the mirage. Don’t exhaust yourself chasing an illusion dressed up as something real.

3. Don’t Chase Something That Is Already Slipping Away

If you’re already watching something slip through your fingers, the wiser move is to protect yourself. Minimize the damage. Save what you can.

Don’t go so far overboard trying to hold on that you destroy yourself in the process.

4. A Good Conversation by the Seaside Has No Alternative

This one needs no explanation. Sans phrase, as they say. There is something about a Karachi beach at the right hour, with the right company, that no amount of words can fully capture. Some things just are. The sea doesn’t lecture. It doesn’t explain itself. It just moves — and if you’re paying attention, it leaves you a little wiser than when you arrived. These are the quiet life lessons from the sea that Mubarak Village handed me that day, completely free of charge. — This was originally posted here.