In Pakistan, under the de facto martial law since November 3, the constitution is suspended, civil liberties frozen and thousands of lawyers, human rights activists and opposition party workers thrown behind bars. As Pakistan staggers into the fourth week of state of 'emergency' amid loud voices against imposition of emergency from lawyer community, human rights activists, political parties and media, views of commonman have least come to the fore regarding imposition of emergency. The News on Sunday goes to common people in different areas of Lahore and to some other cities as well to know their views about emergency, their problems and which leader they think has the capacity to lead this country in the right direction.

With the country in deep political crisis, most of them say they are pining for a real national leader, someone selfless, inspiring and, above all, new. Instead, their choices seem limited to the same names that have dominated the political scene for the last many years -- Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Pervez Musharraf and plenty of Pakistanis are sick of the lot. A majority of them make clear their belief that their country ought to wash its hands not only of emergency rule and Musharraf but also of some of the opposition figures trying to take his place. The time has come for sweeping changes, they say.

"We are fed up of President Musharraf and his policies, his government has done nothing for common people. We have also seen what Benazir and Nawaz Sharif have done to this country," says Muhammad Shafiq, 42, a civil servant who stops for a cup of tea in the Shah Alam bazaar. He is from Samanabad Lahore. According to him at present imposition of emergency is the top most problem Pakistan is facing. "I don't know why Pakistan is repeating the past? General Pervez Musharraf should lift state of emergency from this country immediately. Democracy under leadership of a visionary and energetic leader like Imran Khan is the solution to most of our problems," he says. "I will vote for Imran's party in next elections," he tells TNS.

There are some, who second Shafiq's opinion. They want democracy in Pakistan sans Nawaz Sharif and Benazir. "They just want to be in power again," Mazhar Iqbal, 27, a labourer says dismissively. "I want somebody new who loves this country and thinks of all the people of this country. He may be Imran Khan," he says.

Others think at present it is difficult for some fresh face to get into power in Pakistan. "Both Benazir and Nawaz Sharif have ruled the country twice and we know what they did with Pakistan and common people. Imran Khan should be given a chance this time. But we do not seem to get rid of these corrupt leaders (Musharraf, Benazir and Nawaz Sharif) in near future because there is 'beradari system' in Pakistan and people vote for candidates on the basis of beradari, race or sect instead of keeping merit in view. Nobody can change this system and fate of Pakistan," says Ghulam Mustafa, 60, a shopkeeper in Shah Alam market Lahore. He loves Imran Khan, but may not vote for his party in next elections "although I want Imran to rule this country I will vote for the one elders of my beradari choose. Mustafa will be among those elders. I am pretty sure it will not favour either PPP or PML-N." He belongs to Arain beradari and lives in the walled city.

Ghulam Mustafa hates 'emergency' and wants to register his protest but cannot dare to after seeing the merciless torture of the people observing peaceful protests. Pointing towards a picture published in a newspaper in which a plainclothes policeman was dragging a woman protester towards police van, he says, "I do not want myself or members of my family to get this kind of treatment. That is why I opt to stay away from protests although I dislike emergency and General Musharraf from the core of my heart," he adds.

Price-hike is the other issue keeping people away from registering their protests against emergency. "Yes, I hate emergency because it is not good for the country but if I will go to protest who will earn bread and butter for my family," says Muhammad Rafique, 50, a tea stall owner in Mustafabad, district Kasur.

According to him during the last few months prices of all necessities of life have doubled "but who cares for the poor. Cooking oil was available at Rs. 55 per kg some three four months back now its price has is Rs105 per kg, flour price has also doubled in the last two months and it has also disappeared from market. The same has happened to prices of sugar, pulses and vegetables. This is what Musharraf-led government has done for the poor and now he has imposed emergency to clear way for corrupt political allies (flour and sugar mafias) to come into power again," he thinks that democracy is far better than dictatorship.

"If we have a people's government, they will have to consider concerns of people before increasing the prices. Both Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto are far better choices than Musharraf. Just see that even when Benazir has American support she still needs to go to people while Musharraf does not need our support at all and this is the main difference between a dictator and a political leader," he says. To him price-hike and emergency are equally important and inter-linked problems of Pakistan at present and Musharraf has done nothing good for this country in his eight years of tenure. "He should resign because he has let loose a reign of terror. If there are free elections, I can bet that not even a single candidate of PML-Q will win elections throughout Pakistan," he claims very confidently.

Abdul Razzaq, 32, a grocery shop owner in Mustafabad, Kasur, tells TNS that everybody around him denounces emergency. Musharraf-led government has completely failed and he is just busy in saving his chair and least interested in problems of common people. "Prices of goods of everyday use are increasing like anything and there is nobody to check this phenomenon. You will be surprised to know that rate list is being given to shopkeepers on daily basis because of price-hike. The prices of cooking oil, flour, pulses, sugar, milk and even soft drinks are changing every day. Flour mill owners have displayed prominently that 20 kg flour bag is available at Rs. 285 but they do not sell one for less than Rs. 320. While they charge Rs. 320 per 20kg bag, the receipt they give is of Rs. 285. How can shopkeepers sell flour on cheaper rates," he asks. He suggests General Musharraf to step down and let free and fair elections be held in Pakistan. "Democracy is the only solution to all these problems," he says.

My first and only car crash happened two years ago. It was a hot summer day in June. It was early, the car was dirty, a bird's fresh white excrement smeared against the windshield's wiper.

My father was in the passenger seat, trying to exert verbal authority over the laws of physics: "Slow! Slow! Slow!"

We were already sliding toward the edge of the metal gates of Askari apartments. No amount of brake pumping was going to prevent our 3 mph rendezvous with the rusty edge of that metal gate.

My father glared at the gate and braced one hand against the dashboard. And still there was time. We'd entered into a kind of logarithmic slow motion, a science experiment designed to test one of Zeno's paradoxes. Not only was time slowing, it kept getting slower, until it seemed we would never actually hit the gate. More than the collision, I feared the thought of failing and that this would mean that I wouldn't touch the car again.

Of course, the car eventually smashed into the metal gate. We broke a headlight and the front went in a little. My memory of the incident isn't of the impact itself. Rather, it's almost entirely of the helpless slide and the accompanying time dilation. It seemed to be the slowest crash imaginable.

Until I tried working for television.

Two years into college, my friend and I were offered to come up with an idea and then write a television serial for a teacher who was directing and producing his own serials.

We were excited, I remember both of us sitting for three consecutive hours drinking tea and throwing ideas at each other of what we could really write, you know something that was real, commercial and yet serious and something that would change television!

What we came up was this ambitious saga of five 20 year olds who start a band and what happens to them then. It would have original songs, (My friend also composed music) there lives in all its complexities, their hopes and dreams, the difficulty with tackling fame, drugs, love earned and then lost -- everything.

As predicted our teacher loved our idea and we were officially commissioned to write 13 episodes and compose the original soundtrack.

The idea was that this would be our breakthrough into television, as screenwriters that would slowly lead us to that ultimate dream that every kid who picks up a movie camera dreams of -- to make something of their own. We dreamed our whole lives on the strength of that one script.

And so it went. In the rigorous routine that we set up for ourselves, we would write in the day (it was a holiday break) and then at night work out the songs.

We worked really hard at it, we really did. But things sometimes don't work out. The scripts that we had put our blood and tears into, started being sent back for re-writes. It became so bad that one episode's script (it was actually the pilot episode) got totally re-written into something that we had not envisioned in the first place.

It took its toll. My friend went through an extremely bad break-up and I started to develop a serious writer's block The seriousness can be determined by the fact that in the first time in my life, I started loathing writing or to be true my own ability to write.

By the time we started shooting the first episode, I realised I was back in the car with my father, sliding toward an inevitable crash. I wasn't going to win any battles with the director or my friend who still wanted to go on. I wasn't going to be able to write. I was going to fail. The only question was when. And time was slowing inexorably.

The crash came, after seeing the pathetic first episode (which the director had shot like the tacky sitcoms he was used to making) an executive told him, "I see the moments in the script, it has enormous potential but I think you never saw them in the first place."

The project was scrapped and it was depression time.

But maybe failure isn't the problem. Maybe expectation is.

When these traumas happen, we generally find ourselves on the familiar stages of loss: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But how we cope is less important than how we remember the experiences afterward. The best failures aren't forgotten; they're incorporated into our life's narrative.

Sometimes we try to kill the things we are good at, the talents we have, the gifts God has given us. The day I started writing again, I realised that writing was all I had, that it was the very essence of what keeps me going, that even when I failed, it would be there with me.

The great thing about surviving a storm is that you're much better prepared the next time the winds start kicking up. You recognise the early warnings. You stock up on essentials. And, most crucial, you go in knowing that no matter what happens, you can always rebuild.

Failure makes you ready in ways that success never could.

That's why you have to drop to one knee and propose to the girl you're pretty sure you love. That's why you have to send out your resume, even though your job is just fine. That's why you have to climb that 14,000-foot mountain. It won't always work out. You may get divorced. Or fired. Or frost bitten. But the alternative is a life of vague disappointment.

When that nagging little voice pops up, wondering what's going to happen if you fail, just ignore it. Yes, it's hard. As humans, we're programmed for loss aversion. But money is just money. Your job is just your job. Your life -- the adventure of your life -- is all you really have. That's yours.

When things go wrong, when you're sliding toward an unavoidable crash, don't panic. In those long seconds before the impact, look around and figure out how you entered into this mess. Think about how you'll frame the story a year from now, over a few drinks. Can you come up with an honest version that ends, "So in a funny way, it was the best thing that ever happened to me"?

• World Performing Art Festival (WPAF07) at Alhamra, Gaddafi Stadium till

December 2, 2007

• Pop Night Talk Shawk on Nov 25 featuring Kamaliya (Ukraine) Abrarul Haq, Omar Inayat, Rafaqat Ali Khan and Raga Boys at 9:15 pm.

• Abie-Jesus: The Guantanamo Years (Theatre) on Nov 25-26 from 8:15pm to 9:30pm.

• Devotional Music Night on Nov 30 featuring Raza Allan Fakir, Akhtar Chinar Zahari, Zarsanga Areeb Azhar, Sha jo Rag Fakirs and Shafquat Ali at 9:15pm.

• Qawwali Night on Dec 01 featuring Sher Miandad, Rizwan Muazzam Ali Khan, Sher Ali, Mehr Ali, Abou Muhammad Farid, Ayaz Hussaini Group and Javaid Bashir at 9:15pm.

• Film Night IV showing Rang de Basanti, Yeh Hum Naheen, Osama, The Offering, Inside the Kalari on Nov 25 from 4pm to 9pm.

• Film Night IX showing Drishti, War Child and Afghan Women: A History of Struggle on Nov 30 from 4pm to 9pm.

• Folk Puppet -- Mohammad Bashir on Nov 25 from 4pm to 5:30pm.

• Nalin Gamvary -- Javanika (Sri Lanka) from Nov 25-27 from 4pm to 5:30pm.

Dance with Nahid Siddiqui from Nov 25 to Dec 21 at Lahore Chitrkar.

Banners hung across streets, stitched together make a house -- in local parlance, jhuggi. These are mostly one or two room residences, all made of cloth, canvass, bamboo and wooden sticks -- over 400 of them. The locality is Talianwala near Multan Chungi in Lahore.

How they fare in winters leaves one guessing but the most glaring facts about the area where they live is that there is no water, no sewerage connection here and these people are living here for the last 20-25 years.

They do not complain about the absence of water and sewerage. They have learnt to live without these very basic necessities of life, which we, the better-off can't think of living without. A family here earns between Rs. 3000-4000 a month only.

They are most concerned about the prices of food items which they say, are becoming expensive with every passing day. The school teacher Nadia says, "Today a thing is for one rupee, the next day it is for two rupees. Only till last week, atta was for Rs 18 per/kg, now it is selling for Rs. 20 per/kg. Milk is available at Rs. 35 per/litre. We spend all that we earn."

People live on rent in these make-shift houses which they have made themselves. The rent varies according to the stretch of land the tenant occupies. Its Rs 400 for an average two room jhuggi. There used to be 500 jhuggian before. Almost hundred households have moved to a better place outside Lahore.

Its almost dusk. I see a donkey cart loaded with blue cans coming from afar, children running after and beside it. The cart is carrying water for the locality. Morning and evening water is brought to this locality from houses in Awan Town where people are kind enough to let these poor people fill their cans. So water is particularly precious here. These people go to open fields to answer the call of nature in the absence of sewerage. They take bath in their rooms, still there is no sign of mud in their houses, they are so well-kept one would say.

All the people of this locality do one work -- clean the city. They pick garbage from all over Lahore, sort out the recyclables and dispose off the refuse. Plastic and glass items are then taken away by the factories that manufacture things with these materials. Without these people the city would be a heap of garbage.

The other common factor in this colony is donkey, the prime source of their livelihood. Every household has a donkey cart on which they carry garbage which they pick from the different houses in the city. Of course they have divided their areas and are working harmoniously. Though these people make a livelihood from collection and disposal of garbage, their homes in which they live, are clean with charpoys laden under the canvass roof in the dimly lit rooms. The floors are clay painted and give a neat look to them. There are houses which have clay fences with nicely painted motifs in blue.

While walking in this shanty town I come across a big courtyard with neat clay painted floor and low fences here and there, a charpoy in a corner and a clay handi with something cooking in it on a clay stove, children and mother around it. The courtyard looks like a clearing in a jungle where garbage has replaced trees. Its rightly said, 'cleanliness has nothing to do with poverty'.

This is Jehangir's house where he lives with his children and grandchildren. I say, "You have the most beautiful house in this locality", and he answers, "This is no house. What is a house without a roof". The man says, "Bhutto gave me two and a half killa land which is 20 kanal land. I hope to get my land if Benazir is elected." He was one year old when he came to Pakistan with his parents from Amritsar to Kasur in 1947. Jehangir longs for land that he can call his own.

The one regular visitor to Talianwala is a former veterinary technician of Lahore Zoo, Doctor Zarrar who comes here every Friday, the day these people take break from work. Dr. Zarrar who works with Brooke now, an organisation that works for animals, looks after the well-being of the 400 donkeys in this locality. He is a regular visitor here for seven years and is presently training these people on how to care for their animals which he calls 'social mapping'.

Brooke Hospital provides injections for animals and Dr. Zarrar is training the donkey owners to administer injections to their animals. The doctor treats them, gives the people free grooming kits for donkeys to clean them and take out any nails that stick in their hooves. The doctor says these people have developed exceptional resistance to infections and are really hardy.

This same person, Dr. Zarrar and two other persons Lt. (retd) Col. Moinuddin Chishti and Col. Zaidi of Brooke Hospital for Animals, have done a wonderful thing for the people of Talianwala. They have initiated a school in this area, the first school ever in this locality. The school has so far only one teacher, a young lady Nadia who is matriculate and lives in one of the jhuggis here. Thirty five children are attending this school and the number is increasing with time.

The idea is to equip them with the basic skills of reading, writing and basic arithmetic to begin with. What this school is doing, is inculcating good thinking and habits among children other than giving them reading and writing skills. The teacher is informing them about religion, history, cleanliness and value of time.

Children are really excited about learning new things. They are happy about going to school. They have been provided with books and stationery. There is a 10-year-old girl I see reading in a corner. Her mother tells me, "She is found reading all the time, she is so fond of books." A father whose three children go to this school, says, "Education is light. This school is a ray hope for us." Let's hope this school will flourish and children of this locality truly benefit from it.

Skin allergies and diseases have become common problems in cities. It covers a wide range of conditions from rashes and acne to liver spots. One skin disorder may not be serious while another may be life threatening. There are many reasons why skin diseases occur or recur. Many are not curable but for most there are good treatments to limit the problems.

Sometimes a skin disorder comes unexpectedly but most of the time there are some skin disorder symptoms. Millions of Pakistanis are suffering from skin diseases due to lack of awareness of preventive measures and unavailability of inexpensive and authentic treatment. Ninety percent of the people are suffering from skin diseases with the rise in pollution levels.

There are more than 3,000 kinds of skin diseases. Some of them are serious and can cause skin cancer if they are not treated properly. Medical science has developed treatment for skin diseases. People should consult doctors if they find any signs of skin disease, says Prof Syed Atif Kazmi who is heading Dermatology Department at King Edward Medical University, Lahore.

Substandard skin creams and local steroids are one of the major reasons of growing skin diseases in the country, it came to the fore.

The five day 26th Annual Conference of Pakistan Association of Dermatologists (PAD) and 5th South Asian Regional Conference on Dermatology (SARACD) was held at a local hotel in the city from November 14-18 with a lively discussion on treatment modality aspects. The theme of the conference was 'New horizons in Asian Dermatology'. The main mission of the organisation is to advance skin disorders related research and promote treatment and clinical efforts to help alleviate debilitating symptoms and to improve the understanding and treatment of skin diseases for the benefit of suffering patients worldwide.

Dr. Thada Piamphongsant's lecture on Aesthetic Dermatology focused on the beautification of skin and delaying of the aging process. He stressed that skin is not only beautified externally but also internally through proper diet and food supplements.

The area that has caught people attention nowadays is cosmetic dermatology. Two presentations were conducted by Dr. Muhammad Ahmed (Pakistan) who spoke on "safe hair transplant surgery. Safe donor area must be predicted in individual cases and should be followed strictly. The other presentation was on "Is it better to be bald?" The hair transplant surgeries should be performed by surgeons only after getting a hands-on experience. Dr Jha Anil Kuma (Nepal) gave a lecture on 'Dealing with dermato-cosmetical clients.' He shared a paper to discuss experiences of dealing with the common primary and secondary Dermato-cosmetical clients in day to day clinical practices. Dr Arif Maan (Pakistan) talked about the 'Socio-economic and psychological impact of skin complexion on female segment of Pakistan'. His study was designed in a posh area of Faisalabad. Through qualitative analysis it was concluded that 73% were victims of their skin complexion. Dr. Kono MD (Japan) talked about 'Lasers in Dermatology' and Dr Azim Jehangir (Pakistan) gave a lecture on 'Fractional laser resurfacing: The science, technique and device options'.

The PAD Exhibition was another success where pharmaceutical and consumer companies participated. A parallel event of derma books written by Dr. Atif Kazmi, Prof. Azam Bokhari, Dr. Yasmina Khan and Dr. Jamil Sabri was also held.

Government is willing to support research, particularly in skin diseases as large funds have been allocated for this purpose. Government has provided Rs. 10 million to each teaching hospital for research purposes, said Punjab Health Minister Chaudhry Iqbal.

The conference was organised for the first time in Lahore. Over 1000 delegates from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and many other countries such as Saudia Arabia, UAE, the UK, USA Philippines, Thailand, Afghanistan, Iran, and Nigeria participated. They shared their knowledge and experience in the plenary lectures.

1. Pink Tea

2. Coffee

3. Expresso

4. Yakhni

5. Chicken corn soup

6. Hot and sour soup

7. Gur wali chai

8. Peshawari Qahwa

9. Tea

10. Green tea