Town Talk
- Event: The Early Birds. Cycling to start today at 5:30 am from Zakir Tikka shop. End time: 8:30am. Host: Critical Mass Lahore.
- Sudh Sangeet: LEAF in collaboration with Lahore Arts Council will hold Sudh Sangeet at Alhamra, The Mall on Tuesday, July 14 at 5:45pm with Ustaad Mahfooz Khokhar from Rawalpindi, Dr. Taimur Khan (Saarangi Nawaaz from Rawalpindi) and Sabz Ali (Tabla Nawaaz from Peshawar).

Stoic contentment
There is hope for Pakistan, says this foreigner, and it is the people
By Matthias Gattermeier
There isn't much room for optimism in Pakistan these days and hope seems to be a foreign word for most people spending their daily life in this troubled country. But in fact there is a sign of hope -- it is reflected by people still capable of laughing about their own worsening situation, even when they express it in a bitter sarcasm.

Preparing women for public sector
The six-month internship programme for women from Punjab is the first of its kind
By Rana Shahid
Women represent almost 50 per cent of the population. Their share in the economy is not proportionate to their share in the population. The social development indicators point to the worst level of discrimination with the indication of highest levels of maternal mortality rates in the region, mainly linked to the low levels of women's earned income, as low as 20 per cent in comparison to the 80 per cent of earned income of men. The agriculture sector absorbs 72 per cent of the female labour followed by the informal manufacturing sector.

Three weeks into launch, Hamza Jafri, (who is better known for playing weirdly angled eastern melodies on his guitar and singing pointed, politically charged songs as the leader of the band co-VEN) bald and sporting a short beard, has a certain spark in his eye and is smiling. A bespectacled, serious young man sitting across him, in the main reception, its walls covered in graffiti, is coaxing out the loneliest of notes which turn themselves into a Blues melody. He plays well and Hamza looks impressed. The young man stops and says, "You see I can play this but I feel I keep repeating myself." The young man's voice sounds distressed, boxed up in a corner. "I want to expand my vocabulary." Hamza looks at him and says, "You could listen to some Jazz and Funk and incorporate small pieces of these styles into your playing."

That's the whole point of The Guitar School, initiated by Hamza Jafri and Abid Khan (another veteran of the music scene). It opened three weeks ago in DHA Phase 4 -- with its motto "Play it like you feel it," the whole emphasis is on nurturing and developing a student's own unique style of playing a musical instrument.

In another small colourful room, painted in purples and sound proofed by egg crate shells, two girls, aged somewhere between 12 and 15 and a small boy wearing a black T-shirt and red shoes, their notebooks open and filled with guitar notations, are all strumming away on their own guitars. Abid Khan, warm, bespectacled and sporting a goatee, is teaching them a new chord, the D 7th. There is a certain awe watching kids learning the guitar, the way their small fingers try to adjust themselves on the fretboard, that certain look of happiness when they get a sound right, the excitement, the sense of humour and most of all their sense of satisfaction.

"The whole idea is that anybody who wants to learn the guitar should be able to play it their own way," says Abid. "The basics are of course the same for everyone but we want a student to play whatever they want to whether its right or wrong, it's essential to developing their own unique voices. I don't want to bring in the teacher-student concept when I am teaching these kids, learning the guitar should be fun."

With 23 students already, (from 10 year olds up) the school is catching attention. "There wasn't a place like this when I was young, we just learnt to play by ourselves. It was mostly by a lot of listening, buying guitar magazines and trying to catch where a guitar player's fingers were in a music video," says Jafri. "We wanted to do something for music when nothing much is happening. Kids today are very intelligent and with so much information available, anyone can learn to play today by watching videos on YouTube, but of course the human interaction is absent."

There is also a general perception of kids not listening to a lot of music. "That's true," says Abid. "The more you listen to different genres of music, the more ideas you get and it will improve your playing. That's why I ask my students to go and look up great guitar players on the internet, I want the students to listen to them and find out why they are important. The students should be inspired."

Not only does The Guitar School offer classes for guitar beginners, guitar intermediates, acting for television, song writing and singing but also houses a small accessories and equipment shop called Gear UP that has good quality equipment and is very convenient for students.

All courses are priced at Rs. 6000 per month and a Rs. 3000 discount is offered on advance payment of 3 months on any course. When asked about the tuition fee being a little steep, for students who have the aptitude and the talent, Jafri replied, "It depends on a student's potential, if there is a certain merit we do accommodate students who can't afford to pay the full fee."

Seerat Jafri who teaches acting for television, says teaching children to act keeps her on her toes. "I have two classes at the moment, one class has adults in it and the other is a class with teenagers. The adult class consists of working actors who want to refresh their vocabulary of acting and keep things fresh but the interesting thing is "I have a whole syllabus for my class but when you're teaching an eleven year old and a 14 year old, the syllabus has to be changed to what they can understand. The whole point is that the experience should be fun for them, it shouldn't be the same feeling as if they are back in school. So it consists of a lot of colourful costumes, makeup and storytelling."

With the explosion of television and radio channels favourably opening up the job market, it's heartening to see that Pakistan has started paying some attention to the craft of the creative arts. From Beaconhouse National University to NAPA and now The Guitar School, the next generation of the creatively inclined will have teachers to guide them.

- Event: The Early Birds. Cycling to start today at 5:30 am from Zakir Tikka shop. End time: 8:30am. Host: Critical Mass Lahore.

- Sudh Sangeet: LEAF in collaboration with Lahore Arts Council will hold Sudh Sangeet at Alhamra, The Mall on Tuesday, July 14 at 5:45pm with Ustaad Mahfooz Khokhar from Rawalpindi, Dr. Taimur Khan (Saarangi Nawaaz from Rawalpindi) and Sabz Ali (Tabla Nawaaz from Peshawar).

- Ghazal Night at Peerus Cafe every Friday at 9pm.

- Jazz Night at Peerus Cafe every Saturday at 9pm

featuring live performance by Jazz Moods.

- Adabi Sangat: LEAF will hold Adabi Sangat (poetry readings), a programme of Adab Saraa'ae on Monday, July 13 between Asr and Magrhib at 125-F Model Town, Lahore.

- Study Group: LEAF will hold Study Group titled Mathanvi Maulaana Room 8 with Ustaad-e-Mohtaram Ahmad Javed on July 16 at Model Town Library

Auditorium at 5:45 pm.

l 'Story Hour' at Faiz Ghar for children five years and above on Sundays, from 6-7 pm. The event is followed by a sing song session with Zarah David on keyboard.

- Faiz; understanding poetry:

'Sher Ki Baat' every Wednesday from 5-6pm. Teacher: Dr. Arfa Syeda.

A star cinema

Entertainment is one essential part of Lahori lifestyle which for the past decade or so has been confined to dining-out or, at best, visiting the latest shopping outlet in town. Whereas earlier it used to be going to cinemas with their magnanimous halls, the secluded family boxes, the heavily draped projection screens and, of course, popcorns and drinks. Cinema was tantamount to a fun excursion, if not for the love of movies. It 'rocked our boats', to put it proverbially. Yes, the conditions of the cinemas deteriorated over the years -- the walls were now stained with betel-juice and stank of all things foul, the seat cushions came off variously, and air conditioning became nonexistent (actually, it was never fixed) -- all of which served to shoo the crowds away. The 2007 opening of DHA, touted to be Lahore's first cinema house -- famously built on modern lines to suit international standards -- changed things for the better. We saw a return to cinemas. With Cine Star, Township's answer to DHA, the trend is sure to pick.

The road leading to Cine Star is a not-so-smooth drive -- construction work is being carried out on both sides that is not a very fine first impression. You meet the guiding signs of the cinema house variously, as you hit the Model Town link road. This part of the city is rather underdeveloped, compared maybe to DHA which is already established as a posh area with its numerous restaurants and shopping plazas and, now, the much-talked-about cinema, also called DHA.

A project of Ch Faraz Ahmed, Cine Star boasts a capacity of 581 seats. Its décor deserves a special mention: in the lobby you are greeted by a unique array of life-sized cut-out posters of renowned Bollywood and Hollywood actors. Our very own Reema is there, too, couched next to none other than Julia Roberts and Shah Rukh Khan.

The walls are tastefully done, covered with deep maroon-hued velvet tapestry and snuggly chairs to match. The surround sound system and the air conditioning are all state-of-the-art and the family viewers are going to feel comfortable in a no-smoke, beautifully scented environment. Mercifully, for all the virtues of the cinema house, the ticket is not heavily priced and is actually less than what it is at DHA and Sozo.

It would be unfair to talk about Cine Star and not mention its staff, a group of polite and very presentable young men who are willing to help you if you have any queries or issues.

For Lahorites in general and the residents of Township and adjacent areas in particular, Cine Star is a welcome addition, as it saves them the trouble of having to go all the way to the Metropoles and Gulistans and Princes on the very crowded Abbott Road miles away.

The makers of Cine Star seem to have taken a cue from the very successful DHA. If the latter was launched amidst great fanfare with the premiere of the money-grossing Khuda Key Liye, Cine Star recently had its inauguration with a showing of Kambakht Ishq, a Bollywood blockbuster by all standards. If only they put themselves on cyberspace and made use of the elitist, e-booking trend.

Cine Star also needs to do something about its parking lot. You may not fall in love with the place at the very first sight, rest assured you won't leave the theatre hall without a sense of having got your money's worth --'paisa vasool', in popular terms.

There isn't much room for optimism in Pakistan these days and hope seems to be a foreign word for most people spending their daily life in this troubled country. But in fact there is a sign of hope -- it is reflected by people still capable of laughing about their own worsening situation, even when they express it in a bitter sarcasm.

A friend of mine recently confused me by noting that Pakistan might be the only country in the world that works better under dictatorships and that this is a fact he is proud of. A confusing remark at first but in fact a cleverly emphasised side blow pointing to the ability of the people to keep democracy in this country of contradictions.

Sonya Qadir, a law student in Lahore, points to the famous fearlessness of the people: "It's interesting how so much happens here but life just goes on. The first suicide blast in Lahore did not make people run away from streets. The stoic calmness of the people was remarkable; they inspected the scene and discussed the matter on the street rather than jump into their cars and drive off quickly. Not panicking, not afraid but annoyed that a handful of fanatics ruined their country's reputation once more. People gathered in front of TV sets by the streets while they could have turned their heads only 20 centimetres to see the emergency units live in action."

"Well, TV just got the better pictures," they say.

Such phlegm goes beyond dealing with the regular terror incidents. Ironically, people are exaggeratedly proud of their general stoic patience, which in particular the suppressed and under-privileged of the society have to show day after day.

At the end of the day it gives the Pakistani people some hope that their country "is still surviving after so much experimentation done with it", as a young Lahori puts it.

Besides such painful sarcasm, there are other outlooks that promise a more optimistic perspective such as an increasing number of diverse cultural activity expressing the pluralism and creative potential in the country.

Pakistan also can be proud of a relatively free media landscape of newspapers and TV channels which do not shrink from turning even Musharraf, the former head of the country, publicly into ridicule. And the recent movement of protesting lawyers loudly limited President Zardari's power to interfere in the country's justice system.

Backed by broad support of public opinion the demonstrations forced the president to recognise the will of the people and to reinstall formerly sacked judges.

Not to mention the famous tradition of hospitality, upheld in all circumstances, exemplified in the amazing solidarity with the victims of the current war going on against the Taliban in Swat, providing them shelter and safety in their own houses, well knowing it won't be a short visit.

The essence of Pakistan may be summarised best recalling my colleague, Stefanie Andruchowitz: "It is the people that make the place colourful."

This might be one part of the abstruse fascination that magically brings so many visitors back to stay at this troubled place for long.

Down the line, there is hope of Pakistan -- its people.

Women represent almost 50 per cent of the population. Their share in the economy is not proportionate to their share in the population. The social development indicators point to the worst level of discrimination with the indication of highest levels of maternal mortality rates in the region, mainly linked to the low levels of women's earned income, as low as 20 per cent in comparison to the 80 per cent of earned income of men. The agriculture sector absorbs 72 per cent of the female labour followed by the informal manufacturing sector.

There has been some effort in recent years to fix five per cent quotas of all posts in the federal government offices to be filled directly by women. When the Ministry of Women Development (MoWD) formulated the National Plan of Action (NPA), the government committed to raise the quota of women employment to 25 per cent. The inquiry report on women's employment in public sector clearly indicates that there exists a wide gap in the ratio of women employees in the public sector. It also indicates that there are lack of institutional processes to encourage and support women to work in government departments and institutions. The commonly held apprehensions about the competencies and aptitude of women are: lack of information regarding jobs; discrimination in advertisements; gender insensitive working environment and women's mobility problems.

To acquaint women Master's degree holders with working environment in the public sector, the Social Welfare and Women Development Department has launched the first-ever Punjab Female Internship Programme in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Canadian International Development Agency.

The one-year programme will cost Rs 10.235 million ($170,590) and will directly benefit 50 fresh university graduate women in two batches. The duration of internship in each batch will be of six months. Indirectly, it will benefit the government agencies by providing the interns and more substantively by changing their views on women employment. It will also be used for instituting gender sensitive work environment in the government departments and agencies. The programme aims at encouraging women for public sector employment, providing a platform to women to prove their capabilities, giving them exposure of the public sector environment and functioning, especially in areas like office management, planning and execution of project activities. The objective of harnessing women's job potential in the public sector is to help them gain practical skills to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Punjab Female Internship Programme Coordinator Qasim Zaman Khan, who ran a week-long workshop for interns, says that internship in the public sector will expose them to the dynamics and working of the government. "It will enable women to apply for government jobs based on the skills gained during the internship period. The narrower perspective of the internship may result in skill enhancement of these women while the broader impact of a technical investment in this area will contribute towards gender mainstreaming in the public sector," he maintains.

He is of the view that employment in the public sector departments such as the Programme Management Unit (PMU), Gender Reform Action Plan (GRAP), planning, health, education and finance departments offer greater opportunity for economic independence of young women than jobs traditionally held by women. "By demonstrating the idea, a strategy can be devised for the future employment of women in the new projects while training can be imparted to young women on a sustainable basis," he adds. "The programme is a practical step towards implementing the government's gender equity policy."

For the first phase, 25 interns have been selected from Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Jhelum, Khanewal, Multan, Mandi Bahauddin, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi purely on merit. "All the interns are 25 years or less of age. They are unemployed post-graduate women who have 16 years of formal education in social science disciplines from the HEC-recognised universities with at least 2nd Division. Communication skills in English, Urdu and one provincial language besides basic computer skills were the basic requirement for selecting the interns," he states. "The internship is neither an offer of employment on a formal job nor does it confer any right for future employment in the host organisation. It simply aims to provide an opportunity for on-job training to enhance skills and employment opportunities of interns for a better professional future. A monthly stipend of Rs 10,000 will be given to each intern."

Dring the internship period, the interns will be exposed to two field visits to model districts, three donor projects, one multinational company office and seven workshops on different topics like leadership, communication and presentation skills, etc.

Mudassra Rafique, an intern from Jhelum and a Master's in Behavioural Sciences from Fatima Jinnah Women University, says the workshop has cleared their apprehensions about the programme. "We have learnt a lot about women's rights. We have been engaged in debates and group activities to have a practical knowledge how to work in various public sectors. We have not only learnt but also enjoyed the workshop," she says. When asked whether she faced opposition from her parents to attend a workshop away from home, she said her father visited the workshop venue and was satisfied with the environment and modus operandi of the training workshop.

Um-e-Farva, a gold medallist in MSc Psychology from Islamia University Bahawalpur, says: "We are lucky enough to be selected for the internship. The workshop has facilitated us in many ways. We have been trained how to behave in practical life and in the field. It has given us motivation. The internship will be beneficial to us in getting a job."

Samia, a Master's in Education from the Punjab University, says that men and women have to work for the progress of the country. "The workshop has proved very beneficial for us. The selection has been made purely on merit. A gathering of girls from nine districts has provided us a great opportunity to learn about the society and how to work with men in the public sector," she views.