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scheme MOOD
STREET TOWN
TALK review Call
of the night A
question of decent dining "Comedy is serious
business"
scheme Cheap business Owners of 'sasti roti' tandoors can neither shun nor avail the offer; they are doomed to suffer for agreeing to register themselves By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed Muhammad Ali,
52, a labourer at Railway Goods Godown, argues with the waiter over the
bill he is asked to pay. He is content with the price charged for a plate
of mixed vegetables but he is not ready to buy roti (traditional bread) at
the market price. Following an exchange of
harsh words, both of them agree to take the matter to the owner of this
small, roadside restaurant. Ali's stance is simple. He says that paying
Rs10 or Rs20 extra for lunch is not a big deal, but he will not allow the
restaurant owner to pocket what he does not deserve. "If I've to pay
Rs6 for a roti, I think I'd better go to another place. "How can a
beneficiary of sasti roti scheme charge market rates? If this guy wants
to, he must immediately remove the banner," says Ali. The waiter has his own
version to narrate. He tries to convince the agitated customer that there
is an erratic supply of subsidised wheat to the restaurant. Every time
they run out of supplies they have to buy wheat off the market and, hence,
charge accordingly. This situation is
reflective of what goes on at most of the city's tandoors that are
supposed to provide roti at the rate of Rs2 per piece. Registered under
Punjab government's sasti roti scheme, these tandoors are entitled to
flour at a subsidised rate of Rs250 per 20-kg bag. The market rate, on the
other hand, ranges between Rs670 to Rs700, depending on which brand you
pick. The huge difference
between the subsidised and the market rates do tempt people to sell their
stocks in the market, but this practice is strictly prohibited under the
law. "Unfortunately,
such discrepancies were noticed at different places and levels leading to
cancellation of the registration of several tandoors," says Rana Niaz,
owner of Bismillah Hotel, situated close to the Railways Carriage Shop and
the Railways Locomotives stores. Presently, the supply of
subsidised flour to stand-alone tandoors has been discontinued and only
the restaurants offering a complete package under the Sasta Dastarkhwan
Scheme are entitled to avail this option. Niaz is one such
restaurant owner who is supposed to offer a meal to customers for Rs15 per
head. The customer gets two rotis and a platter of daal (lentil) or
vegetable under the package. According to Niaz, "We do not get any
subsidy on anything other than flour. The natural gas we use is charged as
per commercial rates and all the food ingredients we use are purchased
from the market." An additional cost
imposed on them is that of the mechanical tandoors and electricity
required to run them. Under a scheme supported financially by the Punjab
Small Industries Corporation (PSIC), the restaurant owners were provided
these tandoors on installments. Every restaurant owner, who has a
mechanical tandoor installed at his place, has to pay Rs2,35,000 over a
period of five years. This is irrespective of the fact whether these
mechanical tandoors operate or not, for whatever reasons. Niaz says the mechanical
tandoors are capable of baking above 1,000 rotis in an hour's time but,
sadly, most tandoors do not get enough subsidised flour to bake even a few
hundred rotis. On the other hand, the
PSIC gives the owners no relaxation regarding payment of monthly
installments. "I didn't get
subsidised flour for over a year, though I have been paying the
installments regularly," Niaz adds. He is in a fix. If he
removes the banner he will never get fresh supplies and the mechanical
tandoor he has got will become a dead asset. But if he doesn't, his
customers will argue with him over the price. They will doubt if he is
selling subsidised wheat in the market or over-charging them. Tahir Masood, a
businessman and a frequent traveller to Islamabad, rejects the idea of
selling sasti roti at tandoors to everybody. "The subsidy should
always be directed only to target segments," he says. Masood recalls how an
outlet of a famous desi food chain, at a service area along the
Lahore-Islamabad Motorway, was selling sasti roti for Rs 2 per piece but
the waiters were reluctant to get him a half-serving of the dish he had
ordered. "They charged me Rs350 for the dish and Rs6 for the three
rotis I consumed," he says. Service charges and tip to the waiter
were in addition to this. "Do such outlets
qualify to become beneficiaries of the scheme?" he asks. Regarding installments
against the provision of mechanical tandoors, PSIC Director Ali Raza Tarar
says he was asked by the district government to visit different
restaurants in the city and verify whether the owners deserved a
relaxation or not. "I have forwarded my recommendations to the
concerned authorities who will take final decisions." It is hoped that the
deserving owners will get a grace period to pay outstanding installments,
though there is no clue as to how will the sasti roti scheme survive. Talking to TNS, on
conditions of anonymity, a district government official says the financial
woes have made things difficult and the supply of subsidised flour has
been discontinued in four out of nine administrative towns of Lahore. When asked about the
non-payment of dues to flour mills, the official agrees there are delays
but rejects the allegations that the government officials have been found
charging commissions while clearing payments. He says that the tandoors
were earlier attached to expensive hotels and restaurants and they were
registered but later on their registrations were cancelled. The official also denies
the charges that any funds allocated for the purpose have been diverted to
the BRTS project. However, he confirms that the allocation was reduced due
to the recent flash floods. "This was done to spare funds for rescue
and rehabilitation projects in the affected areas." The question arises if
the scheme covered legally under the Sasti Roti Authority Act will survive
long enough, especially once there is a change of government. Would the
succeeding government be willing to pump billions of rupees into a project
which lacks an efficient monitoring and evaluation system? According to Shahid
Ghani Advocate, who has appeared in courts on behalf of the tandoor
owners, there is hope but only when the credibility of the project is
ensured. Ghani says that Section
10 of the relevant act makes a mention of the Sasti Roti Fund as
consisting of grants made by the government or other authorities and
agencies, donations from national or international agencies, donations
from philanthro pists, non governmental organisations or any other person
or association of persons, and income from any other source. "You make the
system fool-proof and funds will follow," he announces. caption The scheme does not
offer the tandoor owners any relaxation regarding payment of monthly
installments. —Photos by Rahat Dar caption Ambiguity about the
beneficiaries.
Eat a few
almonds daily and your memory will improve. Or, so goes the old wives’
tale in Pakistan. A good memory is something that will serve you well, for
you won’t waste ten minutes looking for your wallet or glasses (the
latter might be perched on your head the entire time) or forget something
important you had to do. Thus, quite a few grandmothers have almonds
rather than chocolates in their cupboards for their grandchildren. A good memory is perhaps
an inherent quality. When I was very young, my mother would praise my
memory and tell me to remind her of things she had to. However, now, years
later, I simply can’t imagine keeping track of things to do without
technology. What kind of technology?
For starters, the moment I know I have to do something on a particular
date, I create a reminder on my cell phone, or, if it has no due date,
store it as a note. The relief in not having to remember it is palpable.
In fact, if I am lying in bed and I know that I haven’t added something
to the to-do list, I will lie in an irritating semi-conscious state till I
force myself to grope for my phone lying on the side table. Notes, to-do lists and
reminders are fast replacing planners, diaries and paper timetables, but
technology hasn’t stopped. Instead, increasingly more sophisticated and
tailor made time-management ‘apps’ or ‘widgets’ are available on
cell phones. Many are a spin on the traditional to-do and reminder lists,
providing new features for example the ability to see them 24/7 on the
home screen of your phone or the ability to shift incomplete tasks to the
next day with the swipe of a finger. Some apps are built for
more specific needs. The time when if you wanted to remember to buy eggs,
milk and chicken during grocery shopping, you had to create an absurd
scenario in your head involving said items or risk forgetting them is long
past. Now you have shopper apps that already contain an inbuilt list of
common items and the ability to add new ones. The most fascinating part is
that you can click and drop items in the list into a virtual shopping cart
as you pick them off shelves in the super market or arrange them according
to aisles for a less chaotic shopping experience. Time management apps
exist for harried mothers too, to make their day easier by having the
phone keep track of errands. These apps contain different categories
including home projects, kids activities etc. Another kind of app
exists for the times when you don’t have time to fully peruse an
interesting article by allowing you to relocate it to a Read it Later list
rather than hoping you remember it when you get home. I know what you’re
thinking: this doesn’t protect you from the occasions when your memory
fails and you have no idea where you put the cell phone or the TV remote
control (and are too lazy to get up every time you have to change the
channel). Other than the fact you can call yourself from another phone,
some phones can be located via GPS from an online account. For the more
forgetful ones, remote control locators and lost key finders are also
available which flash and plays a loud sound on the press of a button on a
separate device. As each new app and
device is released, it is as if our memories outside of our bodies are
increasing. Rather than stressing ourselves out, afraid that our forgetful
tendencies will rear their head this time, one just has to look down at
our computer or phone screen. Skeptics will say that the less we exercise
our memories, the weaker they will become. Hence, I will end with a
Chinese proverb, modified by myself to take into account technological
advances: “The palest ink (or pixels) is better than the sharpest
memory.”
*Exhibition by rural
artisans and craftspersons from far-flung areas of Pakistan, continues at
Lahore Museum, Tollinton Market, till Jan 21. Timings: 9am—6pm. Organised by Sungi
Development Foundation in collaboration with Lok Virsa, Daachi Foundation
and Beaconhouse National University, the event will display hand-made
products for sale. These products include traditional handicrafts such as
embroidery, Balochi crafts, Hunza crafts, Ajrak, Jisti/Phulkari and Metal
work. *HUF Walkathon &
Carnival: A charity event organised by Hope Uplift Foundation, which was
to be held last Sunday is now taking place on Jan 20 (today), at Sheba
Park, Y Block, DHA. Time: 10 am-5 pm. Entry free: Rs. 100. The main theme
of the event is, “Make A Difference One Step At A Time!” The walk will
end at 12:30 pm. Later, the participants
and individual walkers will be given awards in the following categories:
1)Most sponsors on pledge sheet; 2)Most kilometres walked; and 3)Most
money collected. The organisers promise lots of exciting high-end goods,
food and services stalls.
review The ongoing
Cogito Youth Performing Arts Festival (CYPAF), due to end Jan 21
(tomorrow), provided the much needed break in the midst of a highly
charged political scene of the country last whole week. Two of its prime
events - the Literary Open Mic Night and the Comedy Workshop - especially
lightened up the mood of the Lahoris who had gathered at The Knowledge
Factory, DHA, the venue for the festival. Sponsored by the US
Consulate General, Lahore, the CYPAF featured a number of events,
punctuated with over 20 workshops - the last one, Improvisational Workshop
is to close the event. For the uninitiated,
Cogito is a youth-based theatre production company that has collaborated
with different civil society bodies to promote arts in the country. While some of the
festival workshops were widely attended, that of comedy lacked
participation most evidently - not to say, surprisingly. Shehzad Ghias
Sheikh, head of the event, and the writer-director of last year's
hilarious theatre production Shakespeared, attributed this to a "lack
of quorum" and also "a dearth of comedians and people who take
comedy seriously." (Read a detailed chat with Ghias Sheikh in the box
below) On another day, Zahid
Ummar, an underground musician, gave an enthralling live performance while
a young, excited crowd lapped up to every word he sang on heartbreak and
celebration of love. A theatre and acting
workshop, conducted by Shah Fahad, a FAST graduate and founder of
Dramaducation, focused on developing teamwork. Some 15 people took part in
the workshop which "brought us closer - literally," said a
participant, "as the exercises often required us to shed our
inhibitions and get into a kind of physical proximity." Shah Fahd had an
explanation: "Confidence is key to acting, so it's important for
people [attending such workshops] to come out of their comfort shells and
show the confidence to try out new things." A change in mood was in
store for a small but charged crowd of people as the Literary Open Mic
Night kicked off with Maham Suhail reading out her poem, titled, 'That
Dream-like State,' which depicted the relation between the poet and her
"mental and physical spaces." Suhail also recited an
Urdu poem, titled 'Dua - Eik Pareshaan Sawaal,' which is a plea to God to
pull her out of despair. "This one I wrote sometime last year, while
I was still in a 'dream-like state'," she explained. "You can
also find a streak of Sufi philosophy in it." Next, Fakhra Hassan, who
is not new to Lahore's literary circles, read out her poem 'Boxes'
highlighting such hardcore socio-political issues as massacre, genocide
and rape. However, the poem ended on a positive note - that of survival. "It is basically
about the relationship between the oppressor and oppressed in a capitalist
society," she said, in her epilogue Hassan was followed by
Raza Naeem who gave a rendition of Saadat Hasssan Manto's letter in a very
interesting style. Naeem also successfully tried to place these letters in
their context, shedding light on the many facets of the great Urdu short
story writer of the century. He went on to a
hilarious Punjabi verse on "Zardari", leaving everyone in
splits. His witty liners and inimitably animated voice worked well to
heighten the mood of the poem. Gulnaar Tabassum,
another relatively known poet, recited two of her Urdu nazms. Her work
deserves a special mention also because she was the most senior
participant in the group. Lastly, Ahmad Shah
Durrani made a heartfelt reference to the Soviet-Afghan war in his poem
that he called a labour of love. "Life is a wonderful gift of God and
we must celebrate it," he said. All in all, it was an
inspiring night in terms of selection of poetry and prose and the
unprejudiced response of the crowd that came - and left - in good spirits.
Call of the
night A concert by
Call, a leading band of the country, brought the recently held LUMS sports
festival to a musical close. With Mustafa Zahid of Roxen stepping in as
the vocalist, Call promised some great listening moments to a crowd of
young students. The promise was further highlighted by a rumour going
around the campus that the band had a surprise in store. The concert was supposed
to begin at 8 in the night, but it was delayed by at least two hours.
Finally, an underground metal band Keeray Makoray kicked off the event.
The audience waited impatiently for Call the announcement of whose arrival
got them in the groove, as the hosts began a countdown. Led on stage by Xulfi,
the band received a huge round of applause as the guitarist cum vocalist
announced that Javed Iqbal (of Coke Studio fame) would accompany the band
and play the violin. Later, Adrian, the flutist who was recently seen
performing in Xulfi's Nescafe Basement gigs, also joined in. The band started off
with a powerful instrumental medley by Javed Iqbal. This, coupled with
Xulfi's masterful guitar and some fine drumming, had the audience swaying.
As the music reached a
crescendo, Mustafa Zahid made an appearance and belted off 'Kyun', as the
musicians masterfully made the transition to the song. Iqbal left the stage
after the song amid a word of thanks by Xulfi and Mustafa. The upbeat rock song 'Pukaar'
followed, as Mustafa gave an impressive display of his vocal range, firmly
nailing the high notes of the song and getting the crowd to head-bang with
him. The comparatively
mellower 'Shayad' was the next to follow and slowed things a bit. Once the music stopped,
it was overtaken by a big round of applause which turned into shrieks of
joy as Xulfi sang the first verse of, perhaps, their most famous song to
date, 'Laree chhootee'. Call wrapped up their
performance with the highly energetic 'Yaro yehi dosti hai'. caption Mustafa and Xulfi:
a peppy duo.
caption The canteen that the
British established at the Loco Workshop for the workers has been closed
for the past 30 years now. Kiosks on Railways’ land, along the road,
have replaced the once decent canteen which was run by the divisional
superintendent of the workshop. Has it become victim of the land mafia?
Can’t the government restore it?
"Comedy is serious
business" The News on
Sunday: Tell us about the idea of Comedy Workshop and also a bit about the
participants. Was there any pre-qualification or entry test required to
get into the workshop? Shehzad Ghias Sheikh:
Well, the Comedy Workshop was designed as a series of group activities
rather than as a lecture. For instance, one of the activities we had
chalked out was building a story line by line. Most of our participants
were young students from institutions like LUMS and ComSats. They weren't
exactly aspiring to be comedians or stand-up performers; they just wanted
to have a 'taste' of it. As for the second part
of your question, there was no prequalification whatsoever for
participants. Personally, I have no degree or qualification in comedy but
I have founded and trained at least two improvisational comedy troupes
[during the Cogito Youth Performing Arts Festival) and have been doing
stand-up for a couple of years now. But I am keen to share my methods with
anybody who wants to learn. TNS: Did you train the
participants in comedy-writing and/or comedy acting? SGS: At the festival, we
had had specialised workshops which included acting and improvisational
comedy; the latter focused on how to develop ideas for comedy. There was
one workshop that featured writing comedy as a component. Having said that, I'd
say that a simple idea can be developed into a full-fledged comedy sketch
or skit, a stand-up act, a joke or a sitcom. Most comedy writers agree
that there are but a limited number of jokes in the world, so learning
their types will help one structurally dissect jokes. For example, one
method is writing the punch line first and then going up to the set-up so
that a certain answer would strike as funny if one can design a question
accordingly. TNS: What texts or
scripts did you use in the workshops? SGS: Truth in Comedy:
The Manual for Improvisation by Del Close, Writing Comedy by John Byrne
and Impro by Keith Johnstone. We also showed clips from Comedian, a
documentary by Seinfeld, Talking Funny by Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock and
Seinfeld. Besides, we took account
of the participants' favourite comedians and shows and tried to make them
understand their individual styles better. TNS: Sometimes a gag or
a dialogue which looks funny on paper can turn out to be flat when
performed. How can this situation be helped? SGS: It's a terrible
situation to be in. Sometimes even a joke that has worked 10 times in
front of an audience will fail when performed for the 11th time, or a joke
that has never worked will leave a certain audience in fits. So, as a
comedian, one has to be confident and versatile with the jokes. If a
certain joke isn't working at all, with different audiences, it is best to
drop it even if you think it is hilarious. Rephrasing a joke can also do
wonders sometimes. Comedy is serious business and it involves a great deal
of trial and error. TNS: How well do such
small-time workshops prepare the participants for a future performance? SGS: There is not much
you can do in a two-hour workshop except go over the basics. The
application of those basics depends on the performers. If they repeat the
exercises and put in hard hours while doing the things they have been told
to do then they will be successful. Otherwise one cannot become an actor
or a comedian by going to a workshop or by reading a book. But we do them
in the hope that if nothing else the participants will come out of the
workshops more confident than ever before. caption New 'kid on the bloc'. Websites on Lahore 1 mylahorecity.com 2lahorenama.wordpress.com 3 lahoresnob.com 4 lahorebazaar.com 5 danka.com.pk 6 getlahore.com 7 projectlahore.com 8 lahorenews.com 9 lahoreworld.com 10 lahore.com
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A
question of decent dining
