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cinema MOOD STREET TOWN
TALK begging Grounded
in work Accepting
remarriage cinema The other side of the picture The magic of 'silver screen' hasn't waned, despite the good ol' idiot box -- now famously morphed into Plasmas and LCDs -- the rich man's little home theatres, and the diminishing culture of watching films in theatres By Usman Ghafoor Those were vintage
'cinema' days. People would skip work or meals, reschedule social
engagements, and even travel Veteran film producer and proprietor of Evernew Studios, Shahzad Gul, says firmly, "It doesn't." Period. Gul argues that it's only a case of 'a good film will always find an audience'. "The cinema industry's downfall was basically thanks to Lollywood's inability to meet the demands of the market." Mindless masala movies
resulted in perennially deserted ticket windows and forced most cinema
houses to close Gul's views are shared by a majority of common people who believe that the Lahore-based film industry is responsible for shooing the audiences away, in the first place. Ahmed Ali, 41, a banker and, admittedly, an avid film viewer, remembers how his entire household became a huge Nazrul Islam fan after (1975's) Aina, "We watched it (Aina) a number of times in the cinema. We loved the songs, the actors, everything about the film. Today, it's only for an Indian or an English movie that we'd go to a cinema." For Sana Ansari, a student of Film at NCA, cinema lost its charm because "there were better options". She opines that the 80s and even the earlier decades were cinema-centric because it "was a world that hadn't yet woken up to the wonders of cable television, video, DVD and, above all, the web. Cinema-going, then, enjoyed the pride of place, being the only major fun excursion for people who liked to come out in groups -- with friends or family, or both." However, she maintains that the magic of what is traditionally called the 'silver screen' hasn't waned and "will never wane". There are people who say that family audiences began to shun cinemas because of 'bad environment'. "How can you feel comfortable and enjoy yourself when you have a rowdy bunch of boys in the hall who are smoking, wolf-whistling and passing cheap comments left, right and centre?" asks Maimoona Abbas, a housewife. "And, what about the betel-stained seats, and floors that give off a strong stench?" According to Amir Haider, manager and co-exhibitor, DHA, Lahore's newly built, upmarket cinema house, these are all very valid reasons. "We created DHA keeping such conditions in mind. "And, we saw that the cinema-going culture improved majorly." Amir remembers a common viewer once telling him how he "liked to come to the cinema because here he didn't need to escort the ladies of his family to the washroom. "It is about a sense of security." He also speaks of the strict ban on smoking inside the hall that made the atmosphere more community-friendly. Given the "quality services" that the cinema provides, the high ticket rate (it's highest in Lahore!) -- Amir feels -- is completely justified. Another reason why the public seems to have taken to cinema afresh is the introduction of Bollywood movies. "We had long been pressing the government to allow us to screen Indian films in theatres here, because we knew that the survival of cinema lay here only," says Jehanzaib Baig, film exhibitor and owner of Plaza cinema. Amir seconds Jehanzaib, "People are returning to cinemas because we're showing them the kind of product they want. "Like it or not, we are a nation that has fed upon Indian films -- for years and years -- through TV, video, and now pirated editions on DVD. Our people have a strong taste for these films. It's their staple diet now." For Taimur Ahmed, 24, a hotelier, "Bipasha Basu and John Abraham's Goal (last year) was the first time we were watching a film on the big screen. It was awesome!" He adds that he liked to go to cinema with friends even though he had a Plasma screen -- "rich man's little movie theatre", he jokes -- right in the comfort and cocoon of his home.
MOOD
STREET By Aoun
Sahi A couple of days back, around three in the morning, a constantly ringing phone call forced me to get up. An old friend, from back home in the village, sounded quite agitated: "Why did you take so long to pick the phone?" Mad at being woken up in the middle of the night, I was put on the defensive instead. As he went on to narrate the "small problem", I was informed that the police had arrested his servant 10 minutes ago, over "charges of selling hashish." The charges could not have been fake as everybody in the village knows his servant sells whatever he had been accused of. My friend did not stop at that. He told me he wanted to see his servant back in next ten minutes. I tried to tell him I could not contact any police official at that time of the night. I could not possibly ask them not to arrest criminals. He was shocked to hear me talk like an ordinary man, "despite being a journalist". By then, my friend got really worked up. He warned me that not only should the policemen drop his servant back home, they should be suspended from their duties asap. This he wanted for having committed the crime of "arresting a servant of a journalist's friend." I tried to explain that I had no powers to order police officials. "Recognise your powers. You are a journalist. Just call the district police officer and tell him that your friend's servant has been arrested by his men for nothing at this time of the night. Tell him if the servant is not released in the next ten minutes, you will publish a big story about his corruption in the paper." This was not the first time I had been reminded of the 'powers of a journalist'; I get similar phone calls from my relatives or friends every other day. They want solutions for their legal (or illegal) problems through me in no time. They are not ready to listen to me and insist that a journalist can do everything. This friend of mine disconnected the phone after giving me the cell number of the assistant sub inspector (ASI) of police who headed the raiding team. "You can't kid me. I know journalists can do anything. I will call you in ten minutes. I want a positive response," he said and hung up. I heaved a sigh of relief and switched off the phone. Sufficiently awake by that time, I started wondering who was to blame for this perception about journalists: "People who could do anything anytime." Ever since this incident, my friend is perpetually annoyed with me because he is convinced I did not help him when I could have. It is painful to lose old buddies but I hope someday he will understand that journalists, do not have unlimited powers. Well, these are the kind of demands that one is faced with on a regular basis. A fellow journalist told me that an old woman in her area demanded that her son-in-law be beaten for hitting her daughter. "Nothing less will do," she had declared together with the "fact" that it was no big deal for a journalist. It appears that journalists rule the underworld too, apart from possessing all the magical powers that you think they have. One common demand the relatives and friends make from journalists is to find jobs for their dear ones. "Innu kedray arra deo" ("Just get him placed somewhere") is a common request. They are disappointed when we tell them we can't. Majority of our acquaintances ask for nothing less than "a press card." Some need our visiting cards. The demands are made invariably by the less educated or the uneducated lot. Drivers want it to stay out of trouble [read traffic police] on the road. Most people believe it will work anywhere. Please understand that journalists can't wave a magic wand. They, too, have to follow the law like you do. At least in some cases... TOWN TALK• Puppet Show at
Alhamra, The Mall every Sunday at 11am. • Talent Hunt Show (singing) every Saturday • Panjabi Sangat is a weekly gathering every Friday and Sunday at Najam Hussain Sayed's house at 7pm where Punjabi classical poetry is readand sung. Any person who visits
the Sangat can freely and actively participate in the above mentioned activities. • 'Vasda Lahore' photo exhibition is being organised by Lahore Sudhaar and Urban Resource Centre Lahore. This exhibition will be based on entries submitted by citizens Other than photographs, verse and poetry, as well as sound recordings are also welcome. begging Children of a lesser god Beggars hire babies and children and use them as tools to earn a living By Farooq Khattak
These children and infants have been turned into a for-hire commodity. All
along Ramazan every street, market, The infants are barely clad, mostly in a shirt with no cover over their heads or a cloth over them to save them from sun or smoke emitted by cars, buses and rickshaws. Almost all the time, the infants are asleep. They are rather in deep sleep. Noise of moving vehicles, rat-a-tat of rickshaws and yells of Rehriwalas, even loud horns do not stir them. I find out that this sleep is induced and not natural. A woman beggar in B-Block Market, Faisal Town, after much ado and convincing, which included the prospect of receiving a hundred rupee note as bakshish, told TNS that she got the infant from Kotha Pind. "I got the child from a woman who charges Rs 200 per day from beggars who want to 'hire' the baby. She is the mother of this child," the beggar, Sakina said. "The woman fed the baby before letting me take the child. She also gave the baby some spoonfuls of mixture to induce her into sleep," she said. "The mixture is made of sleeping pills and water. The favoured intoxicant mixture of such mothers is opium boiled in water. After taking this mixture the child sleeps without any problem for hours," she said. Many women beggars can be seen carrying a baby in their arms at Akbar Chowk, Township Market, Mochipura, Model Town Link Road, Kalma Chowk and there are swarms of beggars in front of Victoria departmental store, Raja Sahib departmental store, Pace, Bank Square market, A-Block market, Model Town park, Century Tower, Muslim Town Morr, Bekhewala Morr, Moon market at Allama Iqbal Town and other spots holding sleeping infants. Moreover, male beggars also flock these places usually with small children, toddlers and school age boys and girls. They are seen with one hand on the child and the other hand outstretched to seek alms. The sad part is that these children spend the prime time of their lives on roads which they should have been spending in schools -- studying and having fun with their classfellows in playgrounds. They beg on roads for soulless adults, for some blind or handicapped old man. I know a young beggar who is a regular feature in the Model Town Sunday Bazar. Those who go to this bazar are all too familiar with him -- a cripple who begs for mercy -- that is his identity. The same person plays a different role rest of the week. The other role is that of a blind man accompanied by a small girl who walks with a white cane in different blocks of Model Town. When contacted, no high up at the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) were available for comments. Nevertheless, an official on condition of anonymity, said the Bureau was chalking out a plan to eradicate this evil. "Teams carry out raids and take such children into custody to prevent their abuse. Sometimes it is difficult to ascertain their parentage as they are just infants and the beggars always claim them to be their offsprings." Dr Shakoor Ahmad, a psychiatrist says that infants who are used for begging and are intoxicated, carry mental scars in their subconscious for the rest of their lives. Citing a research, he says, there is a high probability of such children becoming drug addicts and petty criminals, thus becoming a burden on society. The doctor lamented that drug addicts and small-time criminals are being bred in the city. They will have an agonising life and would be a pain for their families. This is the worst kind of social crime since these children would have a painful life because of no fault of theirs. Victor Hugo in his epic and one of the best known novels of the 19th century, Les Miserables (published 1862), portrayed the story of the poor in France in the era when Napoleon Bonaparte was finally defeated. Les Miserables examined the nature of good, evil and the law. He portrayed the life of a convict in his novel who wanted to redeem his wrongdoings. The novel sketches family love and miseries of the poor. It seems that the same conditions are prevailing in Lahore since the distinction of good, bad, humane and legal is fading at a fast pace. The family is a partner in crime in what is going on in Lahore's roads. What can be more horrible than mothers handing over their children to beggars. Countless infants and children of Lahore, both boys and girls, are being robbed of their right to play with toys or with other children, lie in their cradles sucking their thumbs, dreaming of fairies and butterflies, blissfully dozing in the lap of their mothers, who look at them with adoration. New clothes and Eidee are far away from these children on the occasion of Eid. These children grow seeing an ugly side of life shown to them by grown-ups including their mothers for the sake of earning a few bucks. Even Victor Hugo did not see such a thing. Khawaja Hafiz-ur-Rehman has been binding books since Independence and talks about the binding business and Lahore in the early days of partition By Zaheer Ahmed A white bearded old man
who is binding books since Independence, is works hard as ever for
livelihood, no matter Khawaja Hafiz-ur-Rehman is in the binding business for the last 62 years. For long he is at Khawaja Brother Book Binding, Royal Park Lahore and shares his experience with The News on Sunday. He says that binding is an art which has a long history. "Binding is a profession which conserves knowledge and transfers it from east to west and from north to south. There is no shortage of writings in the times when the world is moving forward at a great pace. A lot is conserved through binding. In early days, leather was used to bind books but gradually its use decreased due to increasing prices and non-availability of leather. Latest machines have also eased the work of binding and now a huge quantity of books are being bound on machines the world over but their quality is not as good as compared to the books bound manually. Most of the rare books in the world have been conserved through manual binding. Talking of his professional career, the 73-year-old Khawaja Hafiz-ur-Rehman says, "I was in class 4 in Govt Primary School Narang Mandi, district Sheikhupura when I asked one of my class fellows, 'whose father is in the book binding business?' I wanted to learn to do it myself, knowing little at that stage that I will continue doing this my whole life. Luckily, there was one among us whose father was in this business and this classfellow of mine took me to his father. I would go there and observe carefully the binding process and then I also started doing the same along with study. "My father had died four and a half years before partition and my sister's husband Syed Zubair who was an excise inspector in West Pakistan, brought me up. He took me along with him wherever he was transferred. After migrating from India, we settled in Narang Mandi where we spent three years and got primary education. At that time primary education was upto class 4 and one had to take admission in high school for fifth grade. "When I completed class 5 from Government High School Narang, Syed Zubair was transferred to Bata Shoe Factory and he got me admitted to Govt High School Jallo More in class 6. We stayed in Jallo Park for one year and later shifted to Miran De Khui and then Royal Park Lahore where we still reside." Ferozdin, a cousin of my sister's husband asked a renowned book binder Haji Bashir Ahmed who had migrated from Ambala, India, to accept Hafiz-ur-Rehman as his pupil. Haji Bashir Ahmed who did book binding at Ambala Book Binding shop on Sheesh Mahal Road, Lahore, paid special attention towards me and taught me this art. My Ustad Haji Bashir Ahmed enjoyed good repute for his book binding work. He had bound the biggest Quran in the world written by his spiritual leader Sufi Barkat Ali of Samundri Road Faisalabad. Other important books bound by Haji Bashir are one on Islamic Summit and a photo album of George V and VI. "A TV channel had made a documentary on my teacher Haji Bashir Ahmed whose three grandsons Musa, Mansoor and Nasir are still carrying on the book binding job in Lahore. One of them works for Minhajul Quran, one for Mansoora Madrassa and the third one for National Book Binding. "My work has not yet got the mirage," says Hafiz-ur-Rehman. I asked him to speak about the political scenario in Pakistan in early days of partition and he said, "the life in early days was very calm and peaceful and only the political party was Pakistan Muslim League." About city situation, Khawaja Hafiz said that when he came to Lahore Mushtaq Ahmed Gormani was the Governor of Punjab. "The streets and Mohallahs were almost deserted, even Model Town which is known as posh area was so deserted that it presented the picture of a jungle. Someone had asked my mother to hire a house in Model Town. 'She refused and said we did not like to live in jungle. "We took a house in Miran Di Khui on rent for Rs 2 per month. The electricity and water bill was included in that. It was a three storey house and we lived in the ground floor where a single hand pump met the requirement of all the inhabitants of the three storeys. The usage of electricity was not much and we used only 25 watt bulb. Every street of the city had water tap from where the 'Maashki' supplied water to the houses on nominal charges. The road of Royal Park was so patchy that tonga walas were reluctant to take their horse-driven vehicles on this road, fearing that the axle of their carts may break." About binding material, he says its all scrap imported from Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan for no binder can afford new material as it is very expensive. When asked how he managed to run his kitchen expenses, he says that he likes to consume vegetable below Rs 20 per kilogram, now the price of coriander has increased and he has told his family not to use it till its price comes down. Hafiz-ur-Rehman has two sons, one works with me and the other works for a cell phone company. He has done M.Com. "I believe that Allah will create resources for my livelihood, however, I keep working hard and do not sit idle." Quoting a Saraiki poet, he says, "I am following the principal of his poetry. Kaar Karein, Bekaar na Thiven.... Kaaron Rizq na Bhalin Mut Mushrik Thiven" "Do work and do not sit idle. Don't think you earn livelihood through work or you would be 'Mushrik'. Women cannot remarry because of society's attitude... Uzma's marital life was nothing less than perfect. At 26 she got married to a lecturer and had two daughters. They were living happily when suddenly her husband passed away. His untimely death left the three dependent on pension and nominal government allowances. Uzma had little idea of the hardships ahead. She was beset with new responsibilities. Her in-laws could not wait for more than a year and proposed she married again. Since Uzma's sister was married to Uzma's brother-in-law, her parents avoided interfering in the affairs of their daughter, fearing their action might annoy the in-laws that could create problems for the second daughter. One of Uzma's husband's cousin sent a marriage proposal for her to her father. Since Uzma's in-laws strongly recommended the person, the proposal was accepted immediately. Uzma was in a dilemma. If she refused to remarry, a life of isolation awaited her, which a shelterless family could not afford. If she did, she was fearful for the future of her two little girls. She married after a deliberation of two years. After five months of Nikah, the new in-laws began to pressurise her to give her money for investment in the business of her husband to earn huge profit. She was promised that she would be given half of the share from the profit. She was already repentant over the blunder she made by remarrying as her daughters were not accepted by new in-laws and they were missing their loving mother. When she refused to hand over the money, she was threatened, "if you don't give money, I will kill you", said her new brother-in-law showing the knife. They kept her hostage for two days, coercing her into giving the money she had in bank account. Her husband suffered serious injuries when he left for market on bike. All her in-laws rushed to hospital forgetting her and she succeeded in escaping the marriage-turned-prison. She never returned. Her daughters suffer mental shock, as they did not want their mother to remarry. The classmates of the girls make fun of them, taunting them on their mother's second marriage. Uzma succeeded in saving money from new relatives but could not do so from old relatives. She sews clothes to support her family. Uzma, having two unpleasant stains on her face, a widow and then divorced, could not find who to blame. Another woman Noor Bibi, 43, feels guilt over her second marriage after the death of her husband from whom she had two daughters -- one is married and the other is school-going. She has a son as well. "Life is hell since the death of my husband. The people around me pushed me to remarry for their personal interests. My children's lives have been ruined; my daughters face humiliation, the elder by her in-laws and the younger in the school. My son's personality has been destroyed because my new husband insults him all the time which has made him defiant. He does not go to school. He has become a drug addict and keeps bad company. All my dreams for him have shattered," she broke into tears while talking about her tragic life. "I have no marital relations with my new husband. In the beginning, I was pressured to choose one, marriage or children; I did former. Later I could not keep my words. I could not remain indifferent to my children's bad conditions which distanced my husband. Now I am just a servant in this home," says Noor Bibi. These are not only Uzma and Noor Bibi's ordeal, this is the result of our general stance on remarriage of widowed and divorced women. By marriage we believe a slavery contract, one would say. Once a girl gets married she is expected to spend the whole life with her husband and in-laws, no matter how she is treated. I have studied thirty cases of remarriages, half from rural side and the other half from urban areas. Almost half of the remarriages are complete failure, another twenty percent cannot be considered successful, only thirty percent can be described as successful. What is to be blamed is our unjust attitude towards widowed and divorced women, making remarriage a sinister act. We all know that our Prophet Muhammad (S.A) himself had wives, many of them divorced or widowed. Unfortunately, we wish to follow only those parts of Islamic teachings that are controversial in nature having the potential to fan disputes, violence and neglect. We need to follow the teachings that have a healthy impact on the society and mould our attitude and approach positively. Once we have changed our concepts about the position of woman in society, giving her the due status, the issue of women's remarriage will have greater acceptability.
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to places far off to catch the latest films in theatres. At the box
office, there would be a scramble for tickets, and certainly the counters
for snacks and drinks would be the busiest and the noisiest. As the happy
and 'fascinated' (read star-struck) crowds of people would begin to
collect inside a huge theatre hall and nestle themselves in the
traditionally partitioned Gallery or Stall rows, the run-up to the start
of the film -- right through an assorted mix of product commercials,
teasers of 'forthcoming attractions' and, finally, the national anthem --
would all be loaded with excitement. Back in the 1950s and 60s, there were
no air conditioners, no hi-fi dolby stereo or surround sound systems, and
-- sometimes -- no colour. Ceiling fans and slabs of ice were used to
moderate soaring temperatures. But, all told, none of this was an issue
for a common movie buff -- in our part of the world. Interestingly, the
past couple of decades saw us make use of the various comfort machines
available, and yet we lost an entire generation of crazy cine-goers.
Recent blockbusters Khuda Key Liye, Race and Singh Is King, are rare
exceptions that raise a pertinent question: Do three hits in 13 months
make a 'trend'?
down or convert into showrooms, drama halls, and petrol stations.
bazaar, Chowk and traffic signal on main roads remained swarmed with beggars.
The most common scene at a traffic signal is of a woman walking upto you with
a baby in her arms, asking for alms. They would plead for help, begging for
cash, either to buy milk or medicines for the baby.
what goes on.