Living in deafening silence forever, oblivious to the natural norm of expression, Bilal Ahmad has fought his way through life, surviving in the competitive world where even the ones whom nature has blessed way more than him, face a torrid life. In the prevailing socio-economic circumstances, in a society which is becoming unforgiving and unrewarding with every passing year, Bilal has refused to live a distorted life.

Bilal, who is deaf and dumb, had not thought that one day he would do a job in a multinational food restaurant KFC.

The multinational food restaurant on The Mall next to Dayal Singh mansion is being run by 23 deaf and dumb persons including 20 boys and 3 girls. It is the only food restaurant in the metropolis that is being operated by deaf and dumb persons.

All the 23 special people are running this KFC restaurant in an excellent manner. They have been working here for the last two years like normal persons, serving in the same capacity in other restaurants. Majority of the customers particularly come to this Mall Road, KFC branch to see these brave hearts who prefer to face the challenges of life instead of choosing a distorted way of living.

One of them, the cashier counter in-charge, Nabila says that it has been the aim of her life to do a respectable job so that nobody feels pity for her. Well, you may question how did she talk to me. We communicated through writing because I do not know their sign language and she cannot speak like us.

Customer Relation Officer KFC Sana Naz said that this KFC branch is under the Cupola, Pakistan Ltd. banner. Cupola recruited candidates from several deaf institutes across Pakistan and provided them with specialised training. She said all these 23 are from the government supported institution for the deaf and dumb, Gung Mahal. All of them have done their F.A.

The work environment of this branch has been created to suit the deaf, with innovations such as using light bulbs in place of bells along with illustrative point and order menu cards.

This KFC branch manager Nida told TNS that there are now 3 KFC outlets in Pakistan run primarily by the Deaf: 1 in Karachi in Gulshan Iqbal, a 2nd in Lahore on the Mall Road, and a 3rd in Rawalpindi. Each restaurant is staffed by the deaf, with one hearing manager on duty for customer assistance.

The manager pointed out that because of their nature of work, IT companies in Pakistan are ideally placed to offer meaningful employment to the disabled.

A customer Sufyan Saleem while appreciating said, "KFC and Cupola and all those involved have done excellent work". He said that he wants to congratulate the KFC management on their noble attempt to give jobs to such special persons. He said if he will ever have his own office he will surely give job opportunities to these brave people. He said a common man should get a lesson from these deaf and dumb persons who live with dignity and strive for excellence. He urged the other organisations and institutions to give job opportunities to such people.

Another customer Faizan Qazi, an electrical engineer, said that if someone wants to see a place like heaven he or she must come to this place where silence and eyes work instead of tongue and ears. He said it is not difficult for any one to deal with these innocent persons. Faizan said he used to come to this place two or three times in a month because whenever he felt disappointment in his work he would come here and after watching these silent persons who are facing this cruel world with patience, he got new hope and courage to overcome his disappointment.

A teacher at the deaf and dumb school and college told TNS that the KFC's policy is very good and other private organisations should follow it. It is better social service for the society. He said he and his colleagues usually try to help their students in their personal capacity but success of these efforts depend upon luck. "Only few students are lucky to find useful jobs with respectable pay, generally such people are given manual labour or domestic work," he said.

While talking to TNS, Secretary Special Education Maqbool Ahmad Khan said that government is making arrangements for better future of deaf and dumb children. He said immediate and effective measures are being taken for their educational and professional training. Government is doing its best to provide better educational and professional opportunities to these deaf and dumb children. On a query about the KFC branch where all the staff is deaf and dumb with the exception of one, he said that KFC's attempt to facilitate these special persons is really appreciable and other people in the private sector as well as the government sector should provide job opportunities to such special persons.

•Fourth LUMS Social Sciences Conference from Sat, Dec 20 to Mon, Dec 22. For registrations contact ssconference08@lums.edu.pk.

• Polo Tournament today at Lahore Polo Club.

• Musical Show at Alhamra Arts Council, The Mall on December 24 in Hall I from 8am to 2pm and on 28th December in Hall III from 7pm-10pm.

• A Pakistani film is shown at Alhamra, Hall III, The Mall every Thursday at 8pm.

• Puppet Show at Alhamra, The Mall every Sunday at 11am.

• Talent Hunt Show (singing) every Saturday at 7pm at Alhamra, The Mall.

• Paintings Exhibition at Alhamra Arts Council, The Mall till Dec 31. The artists include Meher Afroz, Noor Jehan Bilgrami, Ali Kazim, Shireen Kamran and Ubaid Syed.

• Film Night every Thursday at Alhamra Arts Council, Hall III. Pakistani movies are shown in it.

• 48th National Table Tennis Championship till December 23 at Wapda Sports Complex. Fourteen teams will participate

• Ju Jitsu wrestling event starting today at 21-Munawar Chambers, 1-Mozang Road, Lahore. It will continue till next sunday, Dec 28. e-mail: info@ajjbwf.org

• National Bank of Pakistan Gold Cup Hockey Tournament at National Hockey Stadium from Monday, Dec 22 to Tuesday, Dec 30.

• Panjabi Sangat is a weekly gathering every Friday and Sunday at Najam Hussain Sayed's house at 7pm where Punjabi classical poetry is read, interpreted and sung. Any person who chooses to visit the Sangat can freely and actively participate in the above mentioned activities.

• Sufi Night every Thursday at Peeru's Cafe at 9pm.

The practice of moving to houses or their portions available on girvi basis (on mortagage) is becoming quite popular nowadays. Under this option, an individual can live in a house on payment of an amount mutually agreed upon between him and the owner of that premises. The arrangement is such that the owner takes this amount and allows the person giving it to occupy a premises for a specific period of time. The day this time period ends, the premises are vacated by the occupants and the owner returns the whole amount that they had deposited in the beginning.

This is quite different from occupying a house on payment of monthly rent and suits both the tenant and the landlord to a great extent. "This is a win-win situation. The owner of a house gets sufficient money to meet some immediate financial need and the tenant has the option to live their for free," says Tariq Iqbal who is occupying lower portion of a 4-marla house under a similar arrangement. Though the value of the deposited money may depreciate over time but this cost is insignificant when compared to the rent that one might have to pay in case one moves to a rented house, he says.

Tariq tells TNS that his landlord needed Rs 400,000 on an urgent basis and had tried to secure loan from some commercial bank. Despite making repeated efforts he could not succeed, says Tariq, adding that it was next to impossible for him to meet the formalities set by the banks. A consultant offered to help him out but only on payment of Rs 40,000 which was a very big amount for him. Besides, the interest rate applicable on the loan was so high that he decided against it, Tariq adds.

The helpless landlord had even contacted a private lender who offered to pay him the amount on an interest rate as high as 5 per cent per month. "The landlord was about to accept the offer but luckily he ran into the property dealer whose office I had been visiting for the last two weeks," says Tariq.

What followed is anybody's guess. The property dealer invited both the landlord and Tariq to his office and within an hour the girvi deal was complete. Tariq gave Rs 400,000 to the landlord and was allowed to occupy the lower portion of his house for two years.

The option of living in houses on girvi basis has been there for long but the ever-increasing inflation has led many to avail it over the last couple of years. Bao Muhammad Akram, a property dealer in northern Lahore, tells TNS that it has become very hard for people to buy houses in the metropolis or pay exorbitant rents. What many of them do is that instead of depositing their savings in commercial banks they get houses on girvi basis, he adds.

He says some people avoid depositing money in banks because they think it is unIslamic to support a system thriving on interest whereas others for the reason that they are not attracted by the low return rates offered to them. However, businessmen do not use this option as blocking of investments, however small they are, is something out of question for them.

Akram tells TNS that the occupants of girvi houses have to pay utility bills, in addition to the refundable down payment they deposit before moving to the premises. He says proper comprehensive legal documentation is done at the time of finalising a deal and the concerned revenue officials are also informed about it. Akram says mostly the owners of smaller houses, i. e. those built over 4 to 5 marlas, are interested in giving them on girvi basis and the proposed time of occupation normally ranges from around 2 to 3 years.

He says mostly the relationships between the parties in such deals remain smooth but in case a dispute arises it can be handled amicably. For example Akram says, there was a landlord who could not pay the deposited amount at the time of the expiry of the deal. "Before the situation could get out of control, I arranged a new tenant who agreed to pay the amount and move into the house. The money he had deposited was given to the occupant who had refused to move out empty handed," he adds.

Sajid Ali, a clerk in a private office, tells TNS that he has opted for a girvi house as he can live there for at least three years at a stretch. "In case of a rented house you have to get the deed renewed every year and the landlord can give you one-month eviction notice on completion of the 11th month." He says this clause gives the landlord the right to throw tenants out at his will or allow them to stay there only after an upward revision in the rent amount.

But he says, in case of girvi deal, he has an upper hand in the sense that the money given by him has been used by the landlord at the time of need. "The landlord is thankful to me and often says that I have helped him out at a time when he needed such help the most." Sajid says he has been living at the said premises for the last two years and hopes that the landlord will ask him not to leave the place at the end of the third year. He says if this happens he may let the landlord keep the money he had deposited earlier and pay some more to extend the deed by a couple of years.

"I can't believe this is the Lahore we live in," I said to my friend. We were in Sheranwala Darwaza (the gate of lions) of the interior Lahore, trying to locate a Mughal mosque for our assignment. "But this is the real Pakistan," she replied. I was walking through the dingy dark streets of interior Lahore for the first time. "Can you believe it?" I asked myself. I grew up in this city I claim I can't live without and I have never seen its real face. I wouldn't even claim I never imagined interior city to be like this.

You enter the Sheranwala Gate and a surrealistic vision of an ideal small town life hits you, ignore the stench. It's almost noon and the daily business has started. The day is like any other day. Most of the shops in this area have unstitched cloth for men and women. Nothing, according to the shopkeepers, is local. It is either japani, cheeni (Chinese) or Italian, yes Italian.

The most interesting part of the trip were the noisy shopkeepers. Although I did not stop at any of the shops, I thoroughly enjoyed their tactics to attract the attention of the passer-by. I couldn't help laughing at their hilarious claims and propositions.

1. "Qayamat aa jaye agar mein jhoot boloon." (If I am lying let the dooms day come).

2. "Agar is se sasta pore Pakistan mein mile tau mein ap ko apni dukaan muft mein de dun ga." (If you get it cheaper from anywhere in Pakistan I'll gift you my shop for free).

3. "Is se khoobsurat cheez agar mile tau please mujhe bhi la dena." (If you get anything more beautiful than this please don't forget to bring one for me).

4. "Yeh special rate sirf aap keliye. Aj tak kisi ko is rate per nahin diya." (This is a special rate for you. I have never given it to anyone on this price before. Ever).

5. "Hamare customer tau puri dunya se ate hain, ap kahan se aein hain?" (Our customers come from the whole world. Where are you from?)

What they say to lure women into the shop can probably pass for harassment in the west. You hear these while trying to walk without falling into the open sewage and trying to ignore their offers: "Where are you going, sale tau yahan hai?" (sale is in this shop) or "aap ne dekha nai bhai ne sale laga di hai" (didn't you see you brother has put the whole shop on sale)or "look at this zakhmi print, it will look beautiful on you." No matter what, they will tempt you to look at them at least once. Entering the shop is your choice.

How can you talk about Lahore without mentioning the food. These desi food shops are just everywhere. You don't actually see people eating but buyers at these shops are plenty. Chances are you will come witness the making of mithai, jalebi or samosa, Lahore's favourite dessert.

In short, life is at its fullest in these dingy alleys. Screaming kids, swearing old men and catch-me-if-you-can women, the life here is busier than ever. I understood what one of my friends who lives near Shah Alam said. "There is no concept of the individual in these areas." Once you enter the interior Lahore, you understand why. The 'I' fuses into the collective 'we' because in a place where one house shares its walls with the other two houses, where you can hear your neighbour's conversations and quarrels, the concepts of family also changes. And here people are living like this for years and years.