Metro Shopping Experience
June 21, 2009
Day 2 sees us out and about into Karachi. Our first stop is a step into a piece of Europe. We arrive at the entrance of a heavily guarded of a large warehouse store. The store is called ‘Metro’ a German company that has opened up shop just 3 months ago. After being thoroughly checked by armed guards we are allowed to enter to the car park and we look for a suitable parking spot. 
The car park is laid out neatly with marked parking spaces probably enough for at least 500 or more cars. To the right of the large blue coloured warehouse built with cheap corrugated metal sheets lies a large cabin sized generator with the words ‘Siemens’ written in large bold letters.
The other corner has a prayer room, neatly labeled and placed as far away as possible from the main warehouse store. The windows have unusual large red spots in the middle of the windows. There is a small ablution area and a small carpeted interior with two air conditioning units placed high on the walls. 
Entering the the shop requires a Metro card or being in the company of someone who has a Metro card. A metal detector screens everyone and cameras are not allowed in, though ironically with such restrictions mobile phones with cameras are not stopped. Armed security guards are crawling everywhere and the staff are well trained and fall into the 20-30 age bracket giving the shop that fresh, young energetic look.
Getting inside you are greeted with a mirror of any large megastores in the West which are built on the outskirts of cities. Shopping trolleys are gleaming and new, easy to handle and the floor immaculately clean with sales men and women pressing you to try the latest coffee and popcorn with free samples. The aisles are neatly labeled and the shelves are full of goods from the latest laptops, Garmin GPS devices, mobile phones, sports rackets, motorcycles, fridges, Ariel washing powder, drinks, fruits, imported yogurts from France and all the cigarettes that any smoker would desire, the latest and best German made power tools and more.
Cigarettes are priced very competitively compared to the West and there is an obvious lack of awareness of the health implications of smoking. The tobacco companies are aggressively marketing their poisonous wares unchecked by any governmental supervision. The meat section is quite impressive, it is a large cold room with workers impressively dressed in uniforms with their heads covered and gloves giving an impression of surgical cleanliness. The prices of fruits are unusually competitive. Below is a picture of the price of mangoes, at 30RS per Kg they are more competitive than the mangoes outside with stall sellers who were asking 35 Rs/Kg on inquiring later that day. 
As we make our way to the checkout my relative points to a room, inside you can make out two white gentleman sitting. They are well built probably around 6 feet tall each with blond hair. They look like the foreign managers who are running the show behind the scenes, they have three eager looking people sitting in front of them, probable new hires aspiring to employment in the clean environs of Metro.
The first 48 hours have definitely been quite hectic and there is more to talk and write about but I need to take a break now. I sit back and mull over the daunting challenge to Islamic social reformers who are faced with a population that is exposed to the alluring promises of a consumer based society.
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