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Last week, the news about the signing of an MoU between the Model Town Society (MTS) and Makro Habib for setting up a wholesale outlet in Model Town made healines in all the major newspapers. As per details of the MoU, the company -- a joint venture between Netherlands based Makro Cash & Carry and the House of Habib -- would get 68 kanals of MTS land on 33 years' lease. If the deal gets through, the company will have to pay a monthly rent of Rs 3.75 lakh per kanal to the society. This rent amount would be subjected to an annual increase of four per cent. MOOD STREET It begins right under our nose at most workplaces. People who work grudge those who don't. They in turn grudge those who work and make them feel unnecessarily guilty. Town Talk activity "Summer activities allow people to explore facets of their personality which they might not be able to during regular school time," claims Ahsan Ashraf who devoted a past summer to studying drawing and painting at the Alhamra Arts council. Now a student at a liberal arts college in the United States, he appreciates how this exposure groomed him for the challenges ahead. "I got to explore myself to a greater degree than ever before and met new people with great ideas," he says. Comedy of
Errors By the time I enter the hall, it's hot, the lights are on and it's half empty. Young boys, teenagers with wiry thin frames and sprouting moustaches show the incoming crowd to their seats. QUESTION TOP 10 Most boring places
in Lahore 1. Minar-e-Pakistan 2. Museum 3. Kot Lakhpat Railway Station 4. Lahore Fort
Residents of Model Town Society are split over the body's decision to hand over a huge chunk of its land to a multinational chain
By Shahzada
Irfan Ahm Last week, the news about
the signing of an MoU between the Model Town Society (MTS) On the occasion, MTS President Col (retd) Tahir Kardar triumphantly announced that the society would earn a total of Rs 1.62 billion during the lease period while the plot would remain its property. He also termed it a welfare project for Model Town residents who would be able to buy quality products at cheaper rates in a congenial atmosphere. The MTS president also denied any differences among the members and said, "all but a few troublemakers were happy with the deal." According to him, the presence of 250 MTS members and 28 members of MTS managing committee at the MoU signing ceremony was enough to prove his point. However, on the other hand,
the opponents of the deal have claimed that the decision was taken in haste
and without assessing the environmental damage such a mega construction Muhammad Asim, a resident of Model Town, tells TNS that the tussle between the two groups in fact started with the placement of an advertisement in newspapers early last year. It invited expressions of interest from international cash and carry stores for the establishment of a modern air-conditioned store having a covered area not less than 100,000 square feet. Many residents reacted strongly when they came to know about the location of the plot on offer, he says. First, they were not ready to see a green belt area converted into a commercial building and second, they feared the over-crowded Model Town Link Road, that touches this plot, would perpetually remain blocked if Makro builds its outlet here. What followed was a legal battle between the two groups and filing of a petition in the Lahore High Court by Model Town Residents Amir Azam, Iqbal Chughtai and others. The case was heard by the Honourable Justice Azmat Saeed Sheikh who asked the defendants to follow the legal procedure to get the land/master plan changed with the approval of the society members, if it wanted to go ahead with its said plans. Following is an extract from the honourable judge's observation in the case "...no doubt foreign investment is to be encouraged but foreign investors are not above the law and must conform to laws of the land and must necessarily also exhibit sensitivity to the rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the area. The learned counsel for the petitioner has rightly drawn the distinction between growth and development. The two concepts are not synonymous and all growth must be measured against the collateral damage accrued thereby. Even otherwise, growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell." MTS President Col (retd) Tahir Kardar tells TNS that as per directions of the court the society has got approval from the Lahore Development Authority to use the said piece of land for commercial purposes. "We followed the proper procedure and placed advertisements in newspapers inviting objections from the members of the society. Only those members who had filed the petition came up with objections whereas the rest endorsed our stance," he says. "I wonder why the dissidents are unable to realise that the billions raised through this deal will be used for the welfare of Model Town residents." Kardar says that the biggest opposition has come from those people who have illegally grabbed society's land and fear eviction in case such projects are launched. "For example, around 16 kanals out of the 68 kanals of the land being leased to Makro is in the possession of squatters. Whenever we try to demolish illegal constructions here, they lie down in front of bulldozers," he adds. He tells TNS that a proper Environmental Impact Assessment of the project has already been carried out by NESPAK and it is being ensured that no harm is done to the surrounding environment. "Besides, Makro Habib is working on a comprehensive traffic management plan that will minimise risks of traffic jams in the area," he says. Amer Azam, a dissident member of MTS managing committee is not ready to buy the arguments given by the society president. He says the LDA has not followed the proper procedure to bring about a change in the master plan of the society. "We have sent not less than 56 objections to LDA against this plan but the authority has not bothered to call us in person and redress our problems," he says. Amer says the MTS president has yet to get approval from the Gulberg Town administration as well as the general body of the Model Town Society to change the use of this green belt area. "But it's strange they have started signing MoUs without getting these approvals." He goes on to say that "we will approach the court within a couple of days against the illegal steps taken by MTS and LDA." Amer says though the MTS president is talking extensively about the MoU and Environmental Impact Assessment carried by NESPAK, none of the managing committee members have so far had the privilege of seeing these two "sacred" documents. "I would simply say it's a day-time robbery and nothing else," Amer says.
By Farah Zia I don't quite like the way
we use the word politics -- as a substitute of anything from It begins right under our nose at most workplaces. People who work grudge those who don't. They in turn grudge those who work and make them feel unnecessarily guilty. Actually this is a harmless human activity which should be accepted for what it is. Instinct, shall we say? But God knows why people have decided to call it politics. It gets bizarre when these people, having decided that this is what it is, choose to quantify it. There is more politics in this office than that, they say. The yardstick here is of course one's own share in creating the muck in the workplace. The greater the share, the more one sees of that abstraction called politics. This is just one example of how the analogy is drawn between politics and everything decidedly wrong. The trouble begins when the word starts getting maligned by those existing in the political arena. The chief justice has turned a purely legal issue into a political one, they say. This they think is a befitting reply to the original question being raised everywhere that a political issue -- which provides that all organs of state must perform their own function including judiciary whose job is to interpret the laws and constitution and was upheld by the chief justice -- has been forcefully turned into a legal issue. By declaring that the issue has become political, those doing politics are implying that a political issue is a non-starter. There is no solution to a problem that's political while there still is hope if it stays in the legal domain. Obviously they don't know that what they're implying is that they themselves are dumbheads doing politics which they're saying is a non-starter and essentially bad. Can't get any more preposterous than this, can it? Well, the fact is that it isn't preposterous and there's logic behind this line of reasoning when it comes from those in the realm of power politics. Historically, political issues projected as legal ones have been decided in favour of the state and so, why not again, one more time? So it's the dynamics of power politics, which incidentally hasn't got much to do with politicians in our case, that is responsible for the current usage of the word. The fact of the matter is that now people at large associate politics with everything they should not associate it with. Thus when Imran Khan, having established his credentials as a well-meaning sportsman and a clean philanthropist, announced to enter politics many years ago, one found that most of the educated middle-class dismissed him instantly. "He was okay till he joined politics," was the stock response. "He's made the biggest mistake of his life," was another. The presumption that politics is a dirty word and anybody who tried getting into the business made a fundamental mistake was indeed problematic. The underlying thought being that politics must stay a dirty business and clean people should keep away from it at all costs. It has taken Imran (this is not coming from a Khan fan, mind you) some years to redeem his image as a politician, who created the right kind of noises at the right time on most issues. It would be all too naive to absolve the politicians for creating or reiterating this image of politics. It must be remembered though that politics is not what politicians make of it, politics is what they ought to make of it. Fortunately for us, the mood in the streets these days is thoroughly political -- as it should be. And that's one reason for this column to appear in Mood Street. • Photo exhibition by Afhani photographers from Tuesday, 22 May To Monday, 28 May. • A tribute to Ustad Amanat Ali Khan by Carvan today at Alhamra Arts Council, The Mall at 7:00 pm. • LEAF Takiya Sudh Sangeet,Ustaad Badruzzaman Khan and Ustaad Qamaruzzaman Khan play Morning Raags at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, 27 May at Alhamra Gaddafi Stadium. • A kathak performance by upcoming kathak dancer Umair Arif till 24th may 2007 at 7:00 pm at Alhamra Gaddafi Stadium. • Dr. Salim Akhtar will talk about 'Afsaana' on Thursday, 24 at Model Town Library. • Puppet show for children is held every Sunday at Alhamra Mall. • Music night every Friday at Peeru Cafe. • EU Film Festival from May 23 to 26 at Annemarie-Schimmel-Haus. Summer camps activites can be helpful in early grooming of the children while keeping them from wasting time "Summer activities
allow people to explore facets of their personality which they might not It's not just college-bound students like Ahsan who benefit from such opportunities. Indeed, summer camps serving up a smorgasbord of extracurricular delights are a booming fad in our city with parents and children planning for them weeks in advance. Motivations range from burnishing resumes to quashing boredom to seeking a healthy social outlet. But whatever your age or purpose, there seems to be something for anyone willing to put in the effort to find it. In the case of younger
children, parents seek out sheltered environments where they can "The institute offers such a variety of activities that there's something for every child in the family," chimes in his mother. "And the prices are very reasonable for the convenience and experience they provide our children". It's not just resourceful institutions like the Children's Complex that house such valuable experiences. Schools are often cited as ideal destinations for those in search of a productive summer. National Grammar School, Royal Educare and several primary schools have offered a range of classes in art, music and sports that have drawn warm praise from parents and children alike. And the schools have benefited too, with the opportunities for additional revenue and increased visibility. So what activities draw the biggest crowds? Beating the summer heat with a plunge into the cool depths of a swimming pool seems to the physical activity of choice. "But once the rainy season kicks in, swimming is no longer an option," laments Farah, a mother of two, "and there are still two months left to keep the children entertained". That's precisely where the value of institutions that unify a range of activities under one umbrella shines through. "My summer camp allowed us to choose freely between swimming, playing harmonium and drawing on any given day," says a past summer camp participant. "So weather and other externalities cease to be a constraint". We must also commend the efforts that go on behind the scenes to make such ventures successful. Setting up the camps, publicizing them and monitoring their quality are all segments of an intricate task that requires careful planning and vision. Two such visionaries, Mrs. Fehmina Hussain and Mrs. Shazia Yasin, are all set to launch 'The Centre' this upcoming summer. This Muslim Town based academy invites children and teenagers to sample from an eclectic mix of academic and extracurricular offerings. In the words of Mrs. Hussain, "We have put immense thought into identifying the kinds of classes that our students need to polish their skills for future success. We have also placed a premium on recruiting specialised and distinguished teachers to ensure our students get the best". Some thought also needs to be spared for the inconvenient truth that summer camps tend to be the domain of those who can afford them. Limited options in martial arts, physical fitness and football training are available to our hordes of public school students but opportunities in the fine arts tend to be sparse. For families mired in poverty, such luxuries are simply out of the question. But do they have to be? Would not some basic investment into seasonal extracurricular for our children be a great community welfare project and keep our children off the streets and out of trouble? Would it not be a step towards taking minds off drugs and theft and on to footballs and pottery? The virtues of extracurricular pursuits for our affluent children are well appreciated, but there is no reason some benefit cannot trickle down to those who are needier. Really, any investment in the talents and abilities of our children is an investment in our collective future. Comedy of Errors'Ethics of Job Hunting' is a commendable endeavour by a young director who seems to have a niche for comedy
By the time I enter the hall, it's hot, the lights are on and it's half empty.
Young boys, The old man sitting next to me scratches his head and asks me if this play is in Punjabi, he is holding the play's brochure upside down. I don't know whether to laugh or cry but gently imply that the play is in English and that he might be in the wrong hall and in the wrong play. For the next hour, people in their chairs -- mostly women will fan themselves with the play's brochures (for the lack of air-conditioning), all of us will be subjected to strange techno music and the hall will slowly fill up. Tonight is the last night for the play 'Ethics of Job Hunting' that ran for three days in Alhamra Hall-II from May 14-16. Lahore has been a Mecca for English plays over the years. Plays like 'Moulin Rouge', 'Phantom of The Opera' and 'You Only Marry Twice' have been great successes despite the fact that all of these have been either adapted from movies or plays written by British or American playwrights. Such plays are neither set in the subcontinent nor deal with indigenous characters. 'Ethics of Job Hunting' is an original play written by Saad Sultan who says that there came a point in his life when he became sick and tired of 'repeatedly watching fine brown men insisting on playing anything except fine brown men.' The play's director, Ian Eldred has been involved in the theatre scene for some years now as an actor and has now taken up direction duties like his peers Omair Rana and Ijlal Khan. The play revolves around Mujtaba (played by Taimoor Shakuri), who is a young graduate from Lahore, looking for a high paying job. After six years of waiting, he finally gets the once-in-a-lifetime break when a family friend, settled in London, visits Pakistan to scout for local talent to fill up a recently vacated post. Add to this, his girlfriend who is applying for the same job, his frustrated maulvi brother and the family friend's engaged daughter who likes to flirt and the outcome is a slapstick comedy on his hands. With a salary of a lifetime at stake, Mujtaba seems to be willing to remove anything that obstructs his path and this sets up the play to be a mad tea-cup of a party. The acting was a mismatched affair. Actors such as Taimoor Shakuri, who played the lead and was wonderful in the physical comedy routines and Timothy Able, who played the family friend were well cast for their respective roles. Others such as Isaam Harris who played the mualvi brother and Jennifer Wasim who played the girlfriend were mundane. The biggest problem was the use of British accents by all actors that was a major distraction, on top of which many had little voice throw which meant that you couldn't understand half the things that they were saying. The worst perhaps was Saad Sultan himself playing the girlfriend's father. The lighting and the set design were kept to bare minimum, which suited the play. Most of the scenes were lit using a general wash which meant that the whole stage was illuminated giving the impression of naturalistic lighting, while in some cases the light was dimmed or raised to give the notion of day and night. The music was also used very sparsely during the play. The best bit being a scene where the actors cleaned up the stage perfectly synched with a piece of classical music. It's refreshing to find young talent such as Saad Sultan taking up playwriting. Writing comedy is especially hard apparently Saad Sultan does have a knack for it. The play did lose its steam at the end but most of it was well paced. His jokes, the ones that you could understand were funny and it seemed that most of the audience enjoyed them. Ian Eldred is very well versed in theatre of this sort. The play's physical routines were well managed and the blocking of the actors was also commendable. Directing actors is a skill that comes with a lot of patience and doing a lot of work. He might be a little weak in the pacing of things but it is good to see people like him taking up the cause of theatre. RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S
QUESTION
TOP
10
Most boring places in Lahore 1. Minar-e-Pakistan 2. Museum 3. Kot Lakhpat Railway Station 4. Lahore Fort 5. My mother-in-law's house 6. All workplaces 7. Model Town Link Road 8. My school 9. Jalo Zoo 10. Kamran Bara Dari To enlist by popular vote the 'top ten' for next week, send in your emails on top ten 'Top ten ugly buildings in Lahore'. Please email at shehrtns@gmail.com
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and Makro Habib for setting up a wholesale outlet in Model Town made healines
in all the major newspapers. As per details of the MoU, the company --
would cause. They contend that the property in question that lies at the
southwest corner of Model Town (near G Block) was part of the green-belt zone
and classified as an amenity plot under the master plan of the society.
According to the byelaws of the society, its masterplan cannot be changed
without fulfilling certain legal obligations and administrative procedures.
conspiracy to ambition to corruption to all the other negative attributes
possible.
be able to during regular school time," claims Ahsan Ashraf who devoted
a past summer to studying drawing and painting at the Alhamra Arts council.
Now a student at a liberal arts college in the United States, he appreciates
how this exposure groomed him for the challenges ahead. "I got to
explore myself to a greater degree than ever before and met new people with
great ideas," he says.
trust leaving their children without their personal supervision. The
Children's Library Complex off Mall Road is cited as a popular destination
fitting this criterion. Swarms of children converge on its lawns every summer
adorning everything from karate outfits to tennis shorts. Most classes
involve groups where instructors engage pupils in an assortment of drills to
solidify their technique. "I had a great time taking summer tennis
classes here," says a beaming nine year old. "When not playing
tennis, I could retreat to the library or movie theater so there was always
something to do".
teenagers with wiry thin frames and sprouting moustaches show the incoming
crowd to their seats.
