KARACHI: Once the clock struck 12 (on Tuesday night), the smell of gunpowder filled Karachi’s air. Ear-splitting aerial firing in various parts of the city welcomed the arrival of the year 2025. Reportedly, nearly two dozen people received injuries during the half an hour or so of festivities, and Gulshan-i-Iqbal was the locality where the firing was the loudest and consistent. This time around (read: this year) it was different. The gunshots sent a shiver down quite a few spines. The city had been in the grip of tension for the last one week. Not many were expecting that after the MWM dharnas at different spots in Karachi and then a counter narrative against the sit-ins from the outlawed ASWJ would allow the revellers to step out of their houses or whip out their (hopefully licensed) guns to celebrate New Year. But it happened, and happened like never before. There would hardly be any vicinity in the city where firing at midnight did not take place. The interesting thing was that apart from gunshots, fireworks, on small and large scales, were witnessed. Arguably, one of the elaborate firework shows was seen at Bahria Town. A big number of men, women, boys and girls turned up for it. Eyewitnesses and participants claim thousands gathered around the dancing fountain and there was a prolonged traffic jam due to the goings-on. Governor’s House also had one such event. It was arranged complying with the orders of Governor Sindh, Kamran Tessori. Rooftops of many spacious bungalows in Defence played their part in brightening up the Karachi skyline as well. Once the colorful and sparkling displays were recorded on cell phones, it didn’t take a long time for them to go viral on social media. While there may be detractors of such a manner of celebration the fact that despite the politically tense atmosphere, Karachiites expressed their feelings the way they usually do on New Year’s Eve. It can be argued that it indicates the resilient spirit of citizens: the city, over the years, has seen countless ups and downs — social, political and economic — and yet its capacity to absorb the bad times, accept them and move ahead is commendable. Talking to Dawn, distinguished town planner and architect Arif Hasan said, “The younger generation needs recreation, entertainment. It doesn’t need gender segregation. Young boys and girls differ with their parents on many subjects. All these trends are getting visible now. There are certain old, traditional values and on the other hand, there are youngsters equipped with information technology making TikTok videos and such things.” The architect pointed out, “It’s a very healthy trend. What makes it unhealthy are the attempts that aim to stop them. For example, when a student gets admission to an educational institution, he is required to sign a form where he is asked to accept that he won’t participate in political and religious activities. I think, progress can’t be made without dissent.”