Twenty years ago, I left Lahore. Excited by prospects of quality higher education and the adolescent yearning for freedom, this was a moment that only with age I have understood. A flash that alters the life-path even when one is not aware of it. As I grew up and visited Lahore from a multitude of cities and continents, Lahore's provincialism and inward-looking ethos irked me. However, the splendour of its lived history and multi-layered present fascinated me endlessly. A false sense of fatalism whispered that my exile was going to cover a life-span.

The last few years were spent abroad: so dejected I was that not living in Lahore would mean living just anywhere. When I decided this summer to return to Pakistan, I was astounded by the reactions from all and sundry. I was told that I am 'mad' to have chosen to return to a burning, imploding and crashing Pakistan. Such is the power of global corporate media that even the discerning and schooled Pakistanis have started to believe in the failed state mantra scripted outside Pakistan.

My own parents, temporary residents of Islamabad, scared by the blasts advised me against it. Others from the more indulgent school of thought were aghast with my decision to return to a country where power outages, crumbling urban infrastructure and pollution define urban living. Of all the nightmares cited was that who knows if the country would survive? Such cynicism and unmasked pessimism about Pakistan is always disturbing, yet familiar. My question is when was the country not about to unravel since 1947?

Such has been the level of insecurity propagated by the state and of late its international partners or the ubiquitously infamous band of its 'friends'? After all, if this was such a grave situation then I might as well be with the loved and the familiar instead of living a life of an unrequited exile?

Load shedding -- well yes, inconvenient as it may be, is not all that unfamiliar. Prior to the high cost and high-kick IPPs, we lived in the dark times and used candles and hideous flashlights. Were we less happy? "Not really," I told a friend who narrated the frequent power breakdowns as a proof that we had entered the august league of Sudans and Somalias of this world. Perhaps the colonial discourse has seeped so deep that we continue to berate ourselves; forever undermining, lowering and running ourselves down. None of that nonsense for me -- neither the self-immolation nor the naive hollow bravado.

Unaffected by the prophets of doom, especially of the non-resident and domestic-elitist variety, I landed at the Lahore Airport on a pleasant October night. It was admittedly not that easy to deal with the twelve hours of power breakdown preventing any normal activity remotely related to the twenty-first century dependence on technology.

But what was more difficult, and remains so, is to deal with the endless prophecies on the end of the game. If anything that history has taught us, is, that upheavals of time are but the larger current of our collective unconscious. There were times when epidemics would haunt the population. What could be worse than our own holocaust at the time of Partition; the three wars with India and above all the dismemberment of the country in 1971? True, the destructive and suicidal trends are still embedded -- all the more reason to raise voice against it.

Lahore has changed as I discover: the older landmarks are gone and replaced by concrete not to mention the ill-planned high-rise structures, ugly billboards and the recently added hazardous LCD screens. Courtesy my blog-zine, Lahore Nama I have also met many a Lahore enthusiast. Most notably Ahmad Rafay Alam who has been my companion on quiet Sunday mornings as we continue to explore the hidden streets and history-trotting roads. Rediscovering the neglected Railways quarters, the workshops and the Raj nostalgia streets that have survived Pakistanisation and later day Islamisation is delightful to say the least. These images and glimpses that flashback in the empty corners of my day-job.

The Mughal monuments are even more ignored and less frequented: the commercial attractions and thanks to the state-led effort to reduce culture to cuisine mean that fewer people visit gems such as the Jahangir's tomb and Shalimar Gardens.

A month in Lahore has been furious and fulsome: from the youth festivals to the Ajoka street theatre performances; and from the spectacular All Pakistan Music conference to long, tiring walks within the walled city. I have been a little disconnected with the hip and the mainstream -- the meaningless socialite evenings and the soulless eateries in the upper-middle class neighbourhoods. The latter best represented by the glitzy, crowded markets in the Defence Housing Authority.

And, being driven away from the TVs and computers, I am back to a bit of reading with emergency lights. Lest I forget the few visits to Ganj Baksh shrine and Mall Road shops has been intensely charming. All the sympathetic messages, often masking friendly condescension, have been replied with some high-spirited lines that have amazed me as well.

It is just so funny that electronic media's copycat formats and reinforcement of stereotypes -- home-grown and global -- are so out of tune with the nuanced and undulating reality of Pakistan. What has been the best part so far, is, the indomitable will of people to survive and resist -- galloping inflation, scare-crows, sacred cows and roaring puppets on the idiot box. Life flows, as before, with much more energy, civic action and the marching youth. The bulging youth population reminds me of how the exile from beloved Lahore has bracketed me in another generation. The new globalised youth is far more prepared to take risks and charter newer territories despite the skewed opportunities and rampant tribalism.

If only the pollution in Lahore were to be checked, traffic to be managed well and life-options for the labour, migrants and the underclass were a little more equitable and inclusive, the city would be unparalleled in this part of the continent.

There is so much to be done. The imagined failure of the Pakistan project is nothing but a fantasy. Nothing proves it better than Lahore that has finally started to look outside its confines and post-1947 provincialism.

Raza Rumi is a writer and blogs at www.razarumi.com and edits cyberzines Pak Tea House and Lahore Nama. Email: razarumi@gmail.com

I embarked on the flight to Cairns from Sydney, Australia, expecting another high tech metropolis. As the plane dived, however, I plunged into the sheer beauty of nature. Cairns is the 'last major outpost of urban civilization' -- known as the capital of the Great Barrier Reef. This tropical paradise is considered a springboard for tourists. Being closest to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, it provides an easier approach for the eastern countries as well. It is located in the far north region of Queensland in Australia. The flight was about two and a half hour long from Sydney, I had thought I had seen the best spectacle of my life, till I saw Port Douglas -- a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. These are reflections of a traveller upon his first and most memorable visit to the Great Barrier Reef.

Port Douglas is an hour up the coast from Cairns. The easiest way to get there is by driving down. There are various tourist operations in this area. One such is the Quick Silver Company, which takes you in a bus to Port Douglas then up to the Catamaran -- a cruise liner. The ride up to this resort strip is scenic, informative and colourful. It is like taking a leap into one of the National Geographic Society Programmes. Along the way one gets to see wallabies grazing in their natural surrounding, which is by far the most astonishing sight. It is probably only in this part of the world that one witnesses wallabies roaming about so freely.

Upon arrival at Port Douglas, there is an expanse of rainforest to be seen. There are day trips organised for venturing into these tropical forests. Food items here range from meat pies to Macchiato. But what better place to order seafood than this little strip of marine heaven! The place has a variety of sharks, crocodiles, so one should venture into the resort pool rather than open waters. However, if you are on a day trip to the Great Barrier Reef , you just hop into the Catamaran waiting for you at the harbour. It is a huge ship which takes one to the amazing Barrier Reef in one hour. Catamaran hired by Quick Silver Company is double storeyed with bars and compartments. It has a very helpful crew, guiding you along the way. Quick and comprehensive sessions on snorkeling, scuba diving, water sports and marine and coral life along the reef are given by the competent crew members. This ship reminded me of the star galactic ship in Star Wars. It is just like a spaceship which eventually hooks up to a floating spacious platform reminding one of a space station, only it is in the ocean not space. This multi-storeyed platform is floating in the open waters and besides is a helipad for adventurers opting for a helicopter ride. At the platform, you are served with a buffet lunch, with seafood as the main attraction.

The activities are of course marine based. There are scuba diving , snorkeling facilities available, a submarine ride is also there for you to enjoy. This submarine ride is especially good for those not wanting to get wet, yet enjoy the marine life first hand. Nonetheless, there is no pleasure better than diving into the ocean, and being one with nature. The coral reef does not make one feel the water as deep, yet all sorts of fish, plants, and coral are there for you to touch, feel and see. The stingers are warded off by nets for safety reasons. The experience is, regardless to say, awe inspiring.

If you are asthmatic, or have sinusitis, it is advisable that you do not scuba dive in these waters. Snorkeling is the best option here. Snorkeling gear is provided by the Catamaran staff with instructions, which have to be followed meticulously for one's own safety. There are bio-marine scientists on board providing you with necessary information about the marine life. All there is required of you thence, is to make that leap. Once I took this leap in the water, I felt I was surrounded by a jungle of corals, it was like a safari trip within the complex reef structure.

The immense beauty of these takes you by surprise. It is a different experience to witness this natural wonder from the platform, and an altogether different experience to be amongst these marine organisms belonging to the animalia classification. These exist as sea anemone, in colonies of identical groups. At the barrier reef the groups are reef builders. These have a skeleton and over a thousand identical polyps make up a coral head. Corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae , which provide corals with food. Owing to these algae the colours of the coral range from a spectrum of blue, green, aquamarine, orange, and yellow. The sunlight plays games on these corals, making the spectacle an out of this world experience.

The Australian authorities have managed to preserve the reef's natural beauty by prohibiting any one from taking a coral out of its habitat. No wonder the Great Barrier Reef is one of the 'richest, most complex and diverse ecosystems in the world.' The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park starts from the tip of Cape York in Queensland and extends south to Bundaberg, stretching 2300km along the north- east coast of Australia. In order to maintain 2900 individual reefs is quite a task. This reef system can be seen from outer space. If you take a helicopter ride you could get the aerial view of this marine extravaganza. It is the 'world's biggest single structure made by living organisms,' hence, aerial view provides another dimension to this pageant of light .There are fringing, planar, and cresentic reefs along the Great Barrier Reef. The marine life that can be seen here if you scuba or snorkel is the green sea turtle, dwarf winkle whale, dolphins, humpback whales. In the mangroves are crocodiles, which have been preserved by the marine park as well.

There is a cultural and spiritual importance of this reef system for the Aborginal, and Torren Strait Islanders, adding yet another dimension to the beauty of this structure. The spiritual connotations of these reefs are probably the reason why one feels a transcendental up lift towards a realm beyond reality.

I take home with me, the imprint of one such image where a blue star fish resides on the bleached, green-orange coral swaying back and forth emitting a light of its own as the sun rays reflected off the water around it. The joeys hopping back to their mother wallabies, the lush green of the forest nestling these comprise the memories I cherish. The ride back is like a montage of colours, lights, and images imprinted for ever from a barrage of wondrous experiences of the day.