‘No WiFi, just conversations’: Unique Karachi Café promotes real-life interaction

There’s a unique café in Karachi that offers its patrons a kind of digital detox..!

Asif Jalil, who is professionally a doctor, and his wife Aqsa say they wanted to create a serene environment where people could converse peacefully, admire the trees, and listen to birds chirping, rather than being glued to their screens.

Set up in the backyard of a decade old house last October, they named it “Mazi Café” meaning ‘the past’ in Urdu, and hanged a sign that reads: “We do not have Wi-Fi. Talk to each other. Pretend it’s 1995.”

They tell visitors there is no Internet connectivity, encouraging them to engage in conversations over coffee or tea or read books from the café’s collection.

 

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Aqsa, reflecting on the café’s origin, reveals that it always bothered her seeing people constantly taking photos of their meals for social media, which inspired her to create a space where phones could be put away.

“Nestled in the backyard of an old house in Karachi, Mazi Café serves as a sanctuary for those looking to reduce screen time and foster genuine, face-to-face connections.”

Mazi Café has since become a community hub, Jalil says, attracting folks of all ages who seek to disconnect to reconnect amid bustling city life.

Here, people put their phones away to socialize like in the old days, and Jalil adds that the coffee, sourced from Redberry Roasters in Lahore, is quite good as well.