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proposals MOOD
STREET Town Talk Sit
and Sip Afshan Basit Rain is unusual here. So when it rains, people come out especially to watch. Just the rain. They will pull up chairs in their porch and sit, as my baby niece does. The wonder and solemn silence with which she sits in the lap and stares out at the clouded sky shows she is aware of its difference, aware of the glistening rain drops having their fall broken by outstretched leaves, parched from the scorching 40C sun that burns down every day and will probably do the same tomorrow. Monsoon season is a crazy season, brought to crazy people, from a humid, hot still spell it will very suddenly change to cool wind and rain, then just as suddenly go back to scorching sun. While the government plants thousands of trees every year, the 14 kilometer stretch of Multan Road from Chauburji to Thokar Niaz Baig lies barren as ever with no greenery in sight. All the traffic to and from Bund Road which has many inter-city bus addas, pass through this part of Multan Road. Can the Parks and Horticulture Authority look into the possibility of planting trees on this dusty divider.
proposals Water park idea at Lahore canal There can be many sports on the canal. A long distance swimmer and sea diver has some suggestions By Husain Qazi Lahore's canal is a blessing for the city. There are
few cities in the world that are adorned by a canal passing through the
middle and for a hot climate the tranquil waters become the paramount
recreation not only for the persons playing with water but for the many
commuters passing along the beautiful roads that run parallel to it. Lahoris love their canal. Many of the men would have jumped into it sometime in their youth. The jam-packed canal in hot summers give us an idea about how much recreation it is providing to Lahoris free of cost. During the Spring Festival the beautifully decorated canal provides a visual treat to the thousands of persons who pass along its dual carriageway. With little effort we can harness this tremendous gift of nature to beautify and enrich our city. There are numerous spots along the canal that can be converted into Water Parks which can provide an ideal recreation to the whole city particularly in the sizzling summers. Fortunately, we have ample space on both the banks and at some selected point we can expand the canal about the size of a cricket ground that can be used for a variety of water sports and recreation. This small lake will tremendously add to the beauty of Lahore and water sports like swimming, boating, water polo will promote a healthy sports and recreation culture in Lahore. The wide green belts on both sides of the canal can absorb the expansion of road to accommodate the lake. In this way the commuters on these busy roads will also enjoy and refresh themselves while passing along the lake. As a long distance swimmer and a qualified sea diver, I
can safely say that Lahore's canal is a safe canal. Its average depth is 5
feet that does not pose any grave danger even to the non swimmers.
However, safety precautions i.e. life jackets and life guards make open
swimming absolutely safe and enjoyable. By implementing this culture,
Lahore can provide a working model of water safety for the rest of the
country. If the project becomes successful, similar water parks can be constructed after every few kilometer on the 17 km long canal. A water park exclusive for ladies may also be built as there are very few water based recreation opportunities for them. A large lake can be developed over the BRB canal which has wide open spaces along its banks. Water based leisure activities are very common in Europe and the USA. In spite of the cold weather, people in large numbers enjoy these activities that provide an ideal relaxation to a large number of people. Bathing in mud based natural water is good for the body, spa's and mud baths are increasingly becoming popular due to their healthy and vitalizing effect. In our country gifted by nature with abundant water resources, this activity can be promoted with little effort. Canal water parks shall also raise awareness for keeping our canals and rivers clean. Lahore canal gets the attention of many environmentalists and they may be invited to join hands with government to make it a model of cleanliness and beauty. Pakistan has been gifted by an abundance of water resources. Our canal system is the largest in the world and our dams and headworks are scattered all along the country. We have tremendous potential to develop water tourism with little cost and little effort. An initiative by Lahore's development authorities will result in the promotion of water recreation throughout the country InshAllah. Email: husqazi@gmail.com
A familiar stranger By Aatekah Mir-Khan I know this city. Or at least I used to. It is one of the
recurring things in my most pleasant memories. But lately, I have started
feeling like a stranger here. It is still familiar but I do not know it
anymore. So much of what I see and experience seems like déjà vu. That is
all it is: a sense that I have been here before but there's no connection
except for the nagging sense of cognition. Maybe the reason is that I have not felt this city like I felt the way towards London. I have always seen it from a distance but have never really touched it. My feet have never felt the pulse of the streets and the echoes of my exhilaration have never made its heart race with excitement. I haven't trudged through it drenched; the streets have never guided me. I haven't found that one special place that can be my refuge every time I need it. The rain here doesn't kiss my face reassuringly and the wind doesn't play with my hair to comfort me. I guess the biggest problem is that I haven't discovered to laugh on my own or cry by myself here. I have always had to depend on someone. There are always people around who bind me to Lahore, who make me connect with it. I haven't found my personal connection with it. It's like Lahore is Plato's realm of ideas and forms and London is where my ideas found a body. To be honest, the city has potential. It does! It has a canal running through its middle. That is pretty romantic, even if the sight of people swimming in it is not exactly elegant. When the sun is not very harsh and the trees sway to the wind's tune, it does make me smile. But we haven't had the chance to be properly introduced to each other. I am still waiting for our first real conversation: just the two of us, no mediators in between. But how can I converse with the city when the people living here are incapable of that?! It's like a pack of werewolves was here that wiped the city clean of intelligent, mature people who could have a proper conversation, with strings attached. All I see around are women who are too absorbed in their selves and men who just can't get over themselves, even though they are supposed to be mature. It seems as if in order to have a chat you either need to be capable of talking complete crap, or you need to be full of yourself and what you own or be willing, no, be enthusiastic about flirting (if not having an affair, despite the fact that you are married by the way), because the utterance of a single sentence which is sans any subliminal meaning heralds the end of something that you thought had some semblance of an adult friendship. I don't know whether I am supposed to feel humiliated by that or whether I should pity those who can't fathom a relationship without any vested interest. Who is the bigger fool, I always ask myself. I end up disillusioned, wondering whether my views are too simple, too idealistic. I miss chatting with virtual strangers. I miss smiling at people and having them smile back. I miss being given compliments like adults and accepting them like one. I miss the luxury of sensing a connection and then finding out whether it was right or wrong. I miss telling people and having them tell me, "Let's do this again sometime" and actually do it. Someone asked me some time ago what had changed, "It still is the same city and people that you left." I guess I am what, or rather who, has changed. It's very similar to the feeling of loss that you experience once anything is taken away from you. You have to have it in order to sense that deprivation when you lose it. I guess I never had it before I left and I had lost it when I came back.
Event: The Early Birds. Cycling to start today at 5:30 pm from Zakir Tikka shop. Host: Critical Mass Lahore. Play: Hond Unhond (Being and Nothingness) on Sunday and
Monday (Aug 2-3) at Ali Auditorium from 8pm to 9pm. Produced by Lok Rahs,
this one act play if for free. Please do not bring children under the age of
14 years). Play: 'Becoming Strangers' at Alhamra, The Mall on Thursday, Aug 6 at 7:30 pm. The play is a dark comedy written by George Freek. Australian Education Exhibition at Pearl Continental Hotel on Monday, Aug 3 from 10am to 6:00 pm. Live & Study in Malaysia: 3rd Education Exhibition at Avari Hotel on Aug 4-5 from 11am to 6pm. Reference in memory of Dr M. Sarwar (1930-2009) at HRCP Auditorium on Saturday, Aug 8 at 5 pm. He was founding member and former president of Democratic Students Federation (DSF) and former secretary general (central), Pakistan Medical Association (PMA). Story Hour today for children 4 years and above at Faiz Ghar from 6-7 pm, conducted alternatively by Shoaib Hashmi, Dr. Arfa Syeda, Salima Kashmi, Naveed Riaz, Moneeza Hashmi, Mira Hashmi and others, followed by a sing song session with Zarah David on keyboard. Note: Free yoga for children and parents from 5:45 to 6 pm before Story Hour. Ghazal Night at Peerus Cafe every Friday at 9pm. Jazz Night at Peerus Cafe every Saturday at 9pm featuring live performance by Jazz Moods. Puppet Show at Alhamra, The Mall every Sunday at 11pm.
The trend of having cafes inside bookstores is catching on By Uliya Suleman There are bookshops that remain open till late at night.
The number of visitors to these shops has only increased with time. A lit-up
bookstore with parked cars on Main Boulevard Gulberg, has a café inside.
This not only means that this place sells books and some snacks, what they
offer is a free browsing of books while the readers can also enjoy a cup of
coffee. There cannot be a better option for book lovers. With very few
libraries with rights of admission restricted and the fact that mostly aren't
open at late hours, these kind of library cum bookstores are the most
favourable places for readers. 'The demand was made by the public that we need some snacks and drinks while we are browsing through books," says Rao Abid, general manager of Readings. "It has been 3 years since we have started this trend." Abid adds "this place also serves as a library for readers, as no library is open at night, so this place serves the taste of Lahoris." Abid says that fiction is in hot demand and people come almost daily to get a taste of it. "Teenagers and adults are the most regular who come and sit and sip here. Second to fiction, children books sell well. " Ali Ahmed, 21, a daily customer of Readings says "this café trend is very good and I come here daily. I am a book lover so I read and buy a lot, but because of the cafe I don't have to buy every book which like and it saves me money." Many customers come to search and buy resource material for their work like theses and research projects. Babar Zaid a customer says "I'm a student of M. Phill and doing my research and a bookstore like this is a very helpful place for my research." Variety Books located in Liberty is another bookstore that has a café where people can enjoy reading books. "People who come here can have light meals and they can also browse through book. If they purchase something from the café they are then allowed to sit and read as much as they can," says the management of Variety Books. "Mostly teenagers and adults come here and fiction is the most popular genre followed by books about politics and social issues." Talha Abid, a teenager says "I like this environment and I read a lot of series books some of them I buy and read at home, others I read here." Zaryab Khan another regular at Variety says "This is a fabulous place where I can sit and read fiction stories comfortably and have tea. I read a lot of car magazines here; as it is very hard to buy them and get them delivered in Pakistan as they are published abroad. I don't have to purchase them and I have a place as well as my mug of coffee."
Rain brings a break in the routine life of city dwellers Afshan Basit Rain is unusual here. So when it rains, people come out
especially to watch. Just the rain. They will pull up chairs in their porch
and sit, as my baby niece does. The wonder and solemn silence with which she
sits in the lap and stares out at the clouded sky shows she is aware of its
difference, aware of the glistening rain drops having their fall broken by
outstretched leaves, parched from the scorching 40C sun that burns down every
day and will probably do the same tomorrow. Monsoon season is a crazy season,
brought to crazy people, from a humid, hot still spell it will very suddenly
change to cool wind and rain, then just as suddenly go back to scorching sun. It rains, so it is time for rainfood. Menus are changed, quickly whipped up. Lahore loves it food deep fried, and now is the time to have hot oily food that you simply cannot want to eat in the heat otherwise. Every vendor knows it is the time for samosas and pakoras, every household knows it, and somewhere people will even make curry out of gramflour and put in pakoras – and a university community will troop in to eat, facing the windows as they do. Tea is a common addiction, every couple of hours on the hottest days, but today it is savoured as if it were a rare treat. It rains, and people leave their work to crowd outside
under a dripping veranda and watch. They will watch the ground, they will
watch any one who is out in it. Lahoris will always look amused at umbrellas
when they see one, despite legendary fierce sunshine and despite the crazy
monsoon rain that bursts down in a white unrelenting sheet, they still
consider umbrellas as eccentric pieces depicting an unnecessary fuss. Even if all that is there, is a building, today they see. People who otherwise succumb to the mundane without a thought, never changing their routine or adding something new, will somehow for an hour, for as long as it rains, wake up. They will suddenly smell the earth, the rain, they will suddenly be grateful for every scent of steaming food and wet earth. They will suddenly be spontaneous, and they will suddenly feel, and take a walk in the rain, laugh with delight when they get soaked after a 'necessary' few steps in the rain to get from A to B, and then brandish their damp clothes like armour, or put out their hands gingerly and draw them back in to examine the drop on their palm. They will suddenly see, and look at the silent trees around them that commanded attention but got none before, and beauty in leaves that are shades greener with the dust washed off them. Yes, that is it. One of the most polluted cities will have its dust beaten down by heaven-sent crystals, and the skies will seem clear and beautiful for a glorious evening. Even the traditional red brick buildings are beautiful to look at, for they turn a deep red when wet, and send out an earthy scent of bricks that remind you of things as you pass by. People will even get all romantic and imagine new scents. Yes there is a mess of mud and traffic, of children swimming in roads flooded because the gutters do not work without a care of contamination, of wild boys jumping into the muddy canal running through the city just so they can swim in the rain, but I find people generally love rain here. Lahoris feel sorry for those who cannot enjoy rain, those who come from climates where it rains all the time. They feel sorry for them having to miss out on the 'seeing' and pleasure that comes with rain and changes the feel of an 'everyday', changes moods. .And they feel sorry for them having to live with the rain almost everyday. For you see, much as Lahoris love their rain, they don't want it everyday. And much as they love to complain about their sun, they would rather have it everyday.
While the government plants thousands of trees every year,
the 14 kilometer stretch of Multan Road
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from Chauburji to Thokar Niaz Baig lies barren as ever with no greenery in
sight. All the traffic to and from Bund Road which has many inter-city bus
addas, pass through this part of Multan Road. Can the Parks and Horticulture
Authority look into the possibility of planting trees on this dusty divider.