By the time this article is published, we will be with Sukhi and Dhuki Ram, as on 5th May, Mumtaz and I caught the early morning Turkish Airline to the US, via Istanbul, where we availed two night stay at the Bomonti Hilton Hotel, to break the long journey.

Our connecting flight to LA was on the 7th and as usual, both the flights were comfortable, but tiring and boring. After buckling ourselves in, we ordered two glasses of Bordeaux and tried to sleep, but unfortunately, I can never sleep on a plane, so most of the night was spent drinking France’s best red and watching TV and by the time we reached LA, I was tired and exhausted.

We reached Los-Angeles International Airport at 4.45pm. We had ordered wheelchairs to avoid waiting in long queues and were apprehensive of the new immigration formalities introduced by the Trump Administration, but we had no problems with customs and immigration and were soon wheeled out to the exit, where my daughter and her two children, Zafir and Rafee, (Sukhi and Dhuki Ram) were waiting for us. They had driven all the way from San Diego to pick us up and we were soon on our way to the two hour drive to her new house.

We were visiting the US after a gap of almost four years, but things do not change much in the US as they do in Pakistan. Except for the controversial Trump Administration, life in the US goes on, provided your papers are in order and you stay within the law.

My daughter’s new house is spacious, with a swimming pool and located not far from the children’s school.

Now a little about San Diego. According to history books, SD was inhabited by the Kumeyaay Native American people. The first European to visit the region was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese. He was commissioned by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza to continue the exploration of California.

In 1821 Mexico won victory over the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War for Independence and the Mexican Province of Alta California was created. Alta California became part of the United States in 1850, following the U.S. victory in the Mexican-American War.

The city in the early years faced financial problems and one William Heath Davis had invested $60,000 constructing a wharf, which turned out to be a financial disaster and was remembered as "Davis' Folly".

By 1860, many of the businesses had closed and only visionaries like Alonzo Horton, who were convinced of San Diego's destiny, stayed. He purchased 900 acres of today's downtown for only $265, an average of 27.5 cents an acre and established a ‘New Town’.

Businesses and residents flocked to the ‘New Town’ and San Diego experienced the first of its many real estate booms and in 1878, San Diego became a rival to San Francisco.

Today, SD is rated to be the best, but most expensive city to live in the US, because of its excellent weather, its renowned performing arts, beautiful gardens, SeaWorld, the Zoo, world class restaurants, its sun drenched beaches and Balboa Park, the nation's largest urban cultural park on 1,200 acres. The city is also home to 15 major museums.

Most of the cultural attractions are independently managed by non-profit organisations and are fine examples of the government – citizen partnership. The government provides the basic civic facilities like hospitals, schools, which are free till high school, parks, museums, beaches, assorted recreational activities, etc. It is the privileged, socially responsible citizens, who play an active role by establishing Trusts and Foundations, which sponsor, build and establish world class institutions that are managed by a board of trustees and professionals.

These professionals are held accountable and the Trustees ensure that the institutions maintain a high degree of excellence and provide the best services to the citizens.

Despite the extensive use of plastic bags in the malls, you will not find a single plastic bag in the streets or dangling in the trees or bushes. And the answer is simple, the citizens observe the law and if they don’t, they are fined a punitive sum of US$1,000.

And it is these excellent facilities and services that create a bond between the government and the citizens, who willingly become stakeholders. They assume ownership of their city and take pride in observing its laws. This is something that we desperately lack in Pakistan.  There is, of course, the down side to every city and even in SD. There are certain parts of the city which are to be avoided. But on the whole, SD is a law abiding, safe, clean, well managed city, catering to the needs of its residents.

Due to my extensive travel programme, I will not be able to write my weekly ST articles, so my friends will have to bear with me, as I will take the liberty of reproducing some of my old articles from ‘Down Memory Lane’.

(Email: trust@helplinetrust.org.pk).