If you’re in Karachi right now, try this: Take a notebook -- preferably spiral-bound -- and a well-used pen that you enjoy using. Find a couple of floor cushions or a portable mattress. Wait for 2.00 am. Walk out to your nearest terrace/roof-top/open-air driveway. Plant the cushions/mattress on the ground. Plant your ass on top. Make sure the planted ass provides you a clear view of the sky above. Try and spot constellations in the sky. If you don’t know any constellations, make up your own. (It’s a bit like making shapes in the clouds, just more fun.) Lying down and looking up at the stars helps. When you’ve spotted at least three constellations -- publicly-known or self-created -- write. Repeat.

Sat on my terrace last week and did the above. Orion the Hunter is my guardian constellation. I can spot it just about anywhere in the country, any season, any time of night. If it’s physically visible, I’ll spot it. Find something that like that for yourself. Then, anywhere you are at any given time, you’ll carry a slice of home with you.