Waiting for the Boom — page 2

A large group of foreign-looking people traveling in Pakistan is an uncommon sight, so I am not surprised that many of my fellow countrymen are staring at the Chinese engineers sitting beside me the following morning in the departure lounge of Karachi airport. But the smiles that the Chinese are receiving, the handshakes and words of support from complete strangers, do surprise me.

As I listen to the brief conversations taking place in broken English between Pakistanis and Chinese, I begin to understand. A car bomb has killed three Chinese engineers in Gwadar. The Pakistanis in the lounge are expressing their gratitude for the work the Chinese are doing and for their decision to persevere despite the attack. "Pakistan, China, good friends," a middle-aged Chinese man says to an elderly Pakistani, who looks pleased to hear it. I am pleased, too. Pakistan's friends are few and far between these days. Much of the world seems to look on our country with a mixture of suspicion and fear. But these Chinese engineers appear calm, professional and not in the least resentful or hostile.

Gwadar's runway is too short to accommodate a modern Boeing or Airbus, so we board an ancient, propeller-powered Fokker. We take off with a roar. In just a few minutes, the urban sprawl of Karachi has given way to the arid and rugged Baluchistan coast, a muscular, bony land edged by the cool blue of the sea. I find myself trying to visualize Gwadar, playing with images of other seaside paradises I have visited. Bali comes to mind, and Portofino, but I dismiss the first as too green and the second as too wealthy. Perhaps Gwadar will be like Mykonos, with its whitewashed buildings and dry coastline.

"Are you going to buy property?" asks the man in the seat beside me as he opens a metal briefcase and takes out brochures covered with hand-written notes.

"No, I'm looking for paradise," I say, adding, "for an article I'm writing. Is Gwadar as lovely as people say?"

"The port is almost done. And soon they will complete the coastal highway to Karachi. Now is the time to buy."

"Yes, but what does it look like?"

He is distracted by a flight attendant, who has brought us sandwiches. Then he begins entering figures into a calculator. I decide not to ask him again.

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