Preparation for Life (PFL), formerly Lawrie Green Education Pakistan, has brought a bunch of reputable British Universities and their representatives to Lahore for the 1st UK Education Fair, 2008.

 This event provides an excellent opportunity for people planning for or thinking of getting higher education in the United Kingdom. A lot of useful information is being dispensed by foreign representatives of educational institutions such as the University of Manchester, University of Liverpool, Aston University, University of Sheffield, University of Swansea, Cardiff University, Kaplan Colleges and Cambridge Group.

 So if you have any reservations to be cleared, questions to be answered, or queries to be listened to regarding prospects of studying in the United Kingdom, just head off to the Emerald Hall, Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore.

The Education Fair will continue for the 13th and 14th May 2008 with timings of 12:00pm to 6:00pm.

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With only a handful of days left to Mother’s day, celebrated globally each year on May 11th (sunday) , a day when children express their great gratitude and appreciation for everything done by their mothers. Have you made some plans for it?

If you want to buy her something, it doesn’t have to be fancy and expensive. It can be a hand-made special gift or a card, wonderful bouquet of flowers, just a little something to entertain her, to express your love and affection towards your mother. Or maybe you can throw a surprise dinner party for your mom (as i plan to, Insha Allah! :) )

First make a list of all the family members or friends you plan to invite and send invitations. Then finalize dinner/lunch/brunch menu, don’t forget to include her all time favorite dishes.

Later set a clean lovely table, place attractive fresh flowers, arrange food in a special festive way and enjoy a lovely meal. A great gift for mom, isn’t it?

Can’t decide on anything yet, here’s a cool fun site to fuel your creative side.

1>>> Family Fun -Mother’s day.
2>>> Cards and gifts, ideas for Mother’s day.

In the end i just want to say, for all the work Mom does throughout the year she deserves to be pampered particularly on Mother’s Day!

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The six-day Cholistan Festival got off to a colorful start yesterday, May 6th, 2008 at Al-Hamra, The Mall. The Lahore Arts Council (LAC) Assistant Director Zulfiqar said that LAC had organized the festival to promote artists of the desert areas.

Al-Hamra Art Council (AAC) has organised this festival in continuation of its annual activities related to highlight cultural values and festivities of the desert people. The festival will continue for a week with a series of performances in which artists, hailing from Cholistan desert, will show captivating artistic stints in the fields of drama, music, puppet show and folk dance.

Different stalls, enriched with typical Cholistani-cultural items ranging from dresses, silver-moulding jewelry, shawls, ivory-styled bright bangles, glossy clay studded with weeds and grass used as fodder of different animals, light footwear with classic designs to earthen-wares, are installed to make the modern-day city-bounded people of the provincial metropolis aware of the culture life of the Cholistani people.

The Lahorites, who are facing the brunt of the searing summer-season, will be welcomed by the richly-coloured clad folk dancers with riveting dhol beats on the grassy lawn of Al-hamara Art Council.

The word Cholistan is derived from “cholna”, which means moving. The Cholistanis have a semi-nomadic or an unsettled lifestyle, moving from one place to another in search of water and fodder for their animals. And this festival is meant to preserve their identity.

With only five days left, don’t forget to take your friends, family and children to Al-Hamra, so they can enjoy this wonderful, varicolored festival.
More at>>>

Happy Cholistan Festival!

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Maybe the ceiling of the Ferozepur Road Underpass got scratched by heavy vehicles that exceeded the height limit prescribed for the tunnel or maybe it’s an act of transformers. Similarly, in Islamabad brand new vehicles on top of a truck got damaged when the truck driver tried to squeeze his vehicle through an underpass a couple of days ago.

What a shame!  So who would you blame?

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Enjoying life is as much necessary as work :)

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City District Government Lahore (CDGL) is finally taking an effective step against encroachers on main commercial streets in the city starting with demolition of illegal extensions of gas and fuel stations on Thokar Niaz Baig and removing encroachments on both sides of Multan Road.

This bold step has been undertaken in presence of LDA (Lahore Development Authority), LESCO (Lahore Electric Supply Company) representatives and officials belonging to the related law-enforcing agencies.

Regulation and proper implementation of property laws and strict action against offenders regardless of their status are initiatives that are so very good for the commuters, business owners and ultimately the annoyed residents of the affected localities and their surrounding areas.

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WARNING: Not for the faint-hearted!
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Dogs on Diet - somewhere in a slum

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It was just another day, nothing different, the sun rose to the skies, the weather warming up by the hour, everything going on as usual. Less did anyone know at LUMS that there is a grave happening to unfold before the sun sets on this day.

Hashir Munawer class of 2007, due to graduate a year later than his batch mates was seperated from the program apparently because of an abrupt change in policy. (minimum CGPA increased to 2.8 from an initial 2.2). He killed himself by hanging himself to the fan by an iron wire. Another file closed from the craziness of this world. Period.

What caused this to happen? A happy go lucky kid, who was good at volley ball, done his A levels from a prestigious school in Karachi, who was known for caring for all that came his way, a smiling face. A few things his friends had to say about him. Why didn’t anyone talk to him about it? Who broke the news to him? Why didn’t they sit him down and talk about other options in life? There were a million and one things that could’ve been done, this was NOT inevitable! Where was Nashi Khan (Student Counsellor/ Psychiatrist)? Where were his faculty advisors? Who will answer these questions? Who will finally brush all of this under the carpet?

There have been 4 suicide attempts at LUMS in 2007 (Unconfirmed sources). Changing policies at the drop of a hat and then implementing them on graduating classes and not the next new intake, the insensitivities of a “perfect” world. Does this not happen everywhere? Students get kicked out of schools in their final years for O and A levels only because they are not performing “up to the mark”? Who defines success? Who defines this mark? Have we lost our values and basic regard for humans around us in this vicious cycle? a fourth grader taking as many tuitions as there are subjects. Is “winning” everything and “living” does not measure up?

 How Many Hashirs will it take for the blind, inefficient, cold blooded, policy makers at such universities and those that drive the society? Let’s just get it over with!

 May Allah forgive Hashir’s sins and give the bereaved all the courage in the world to live through this ordeal. Aamiin

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What does he really want, no one knows.
What he possibly could want, a lot of us can guess (a higher percentage this time around perhaps?).
What he has gained by losing so much, all of us can see.

His dilly-dallying over the judges issues is not a surprise at all. He could not afford to restore a judge that is going to take away Zardari’s ticket to freedom, namely the NRO. This much should be quite obvious. And this much is the real test of the litmus variety, for our judiciary; will they or won’t they nullify the NRO.

The NRO, in all legal aspects, is considered to be the epitome of legalizing illegality; an insult to the process of lawmaking itself. The beauty of it is that the majority (more than two-third) of the lawmakers (the graduate assembly of President Musharaf) did not approve of it to begin with. Transparency International’s Pakistani chapter, apart from telling us how corrupt we really are, has called the NRO an offense against convention itself! NRO was also designed to ensure that PML-N leadership gets nothing out of it.

Now, Zardari, in all his potential wisdom accumulated over all these years, is playing for the whole package. I have never voted for PPP, before or after Mrs. Benazir Zardari. I find the appearance of MQM in Lahore and subsequent rise in mobile theft, kidnapings and arson to be more than just a coincidence. I really want to meet an MQM supporter in real life, because till now I find it hard to imagine someone actually believing Altaf ‘expat’ Hussain. I want to meet him (or her) and then stay quite, lest ‘they’ shoot me in the leg, or my right eyeball.

I like the way the insanely corrupt bureaucracy is already cringing and returning their ‘accessories’ in fear of a strict administrator in the form of Shahbaz Sharif. Strict is good when even the good is the worst.

Have I completely lost more than just the plot when I link MQM with a higher number of ‘related’ theft here in Lahore? Anyone?

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Lahore Bar District Association Seceretary, Latif Sirraw, protesting on Mall Road Lahore (Thursday), with the lawyers community and civil society activists, in the wake of recent clashes in Karachi, which caused the deaths of 15-17 people including the burning to death of 7 lawyers, several injuries and several other losses.

Photo Credit: Umer Sharif, Daily Pakistan

In this crucial stage of struggle for the restoration of judiciary, such irresponsible behavior can affect their efforts adversely.

What do you say?

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The Cavalary crossing that leads to Cantt on one side and Defence Housing Authority on the other flaunts few of the largest sites available for outdoor advertising. No brownie points for guessing that two of the leading telcos have captured these sites and using them for their advantage to its max. However on a regular basis for at least the past few weeks (if not months for sure) Every evening, the Warid billboard is dark as the night itself whereas the Mobilink one is shining like a golden sun.

Is this a deliberate move by the golden sun or is night descending on the brand team of the other player? (Comments are welcome, what do you think?)

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At the time of the history’s greatest migration, along with geographical disorientation, the infant Pakistan was also psychologically lost and depressed. These were dire times when simple survival as a seperate nation was the only priority and arts at such time could not be given much heed. This led to further gloom of the art lovers as well as artists themselves. Apart from radio Pakistan there was no more music in the air. Music lovers reminisced the live music concerts whereas maestros in the field of music started to crumble. At such a difficult time for music in Pakistan it was cocncerned citizens that collectively volunteered to initiate the All Pakistan Music Conference in 1959. Their main objective was to rejuvenate and relive the glory of classical music and arrange seminars, conferences and concerts. (courtesy: www.apmc.info)

Today, 49 years later the All Pakistan Music Conference maintains its poise and is held every year without fail reminding us of the art that breathes in the same ambience as we do. Classical music and dance is in the air of the subcontinent. We can choose to ignore it but not eradicate it.

The remaining APMC Festival 2008 has been postponed but the last of the few events was last month when Hajrah Khan, a Social Sciences Major from Lahore University of Management Sciences read an academic paper on “Urdu Ghazal & English Sonnet” very intricately interlacing the two and reminding us , art has no boundaries, geographical or demographic. The esteemed presence of Shaista Sirajuddin to read out the English Sonnets selected by Hajrah and Dr Arfa Syeda Zehra to recite Urdu Ghazals added to the magic.

The research paper was followed by Tabla maestro Shahbaz Hussain from Manchester, who gave a talk on different components of Tabla(solo) playing again resembling those of an English Sonnet and and Urdu Ghazal. Shahbaz Hussain is a student of Ustaad Allah Rakha’s son, Ustaad Shaukat Hussain and Ustaad Fayyaz Khan. He has also performed with Ustaad Valayat Khan on his last concert in London. Shahbaz Hussain teaches at NewCastle University which happens to be the first university in the world to have introduced a degree in Tabla. Himself being born in the UK, his parents hail from Lahore and so here’s a son of the soil making us all proud of the fact that we share his roots. This event was by far the best account of playing any classical instrument and the accompanying talk (given in English) was surprisingly free of any (greek!) jargon  and completely comprehendable by the common man.

The best part was where he told how long ago a girl from Lahore was married into a musical “gharana”(family) in Delhi and her father gave her 500 “gats” as her dowry. Shahbaz also played one of those Lahori Gats in the end.

All Pakistan Music Conference is an association which is truly (and quietly) conserving our heritage and not letting it wash away with the graffiti of all things new.

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Radio channels were airing a traffic report all yesterday evening about the massive traffic jam at Chowk Chauburji and the resulting chaos in and around the area. Diversions were being recommended to alternative arteries by the Lahore Traffic Police Department.

Photo by Khalid Babur at Wikipedia

For every Lahori, this beautiful monument is a familiar structure and now lies in the middle of a thriving commercial area. Shops, restaurants and offices circle the intersection where Chauburji stands reminiscent of Princess Zeb-un-Nissa’s once grand and extensive gardens.

Built around 1646 AD by Zebinda Begum or Princess Zeb-un-Nissa, daughter of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir, Chauburji’s current dilapidated state is not a new sight. Go to the Shalimar Gardens; Emperor Jahangir’s Tomb; Queen Noor Jahan’s Tomb, all these places were once crown jewels among the ‘City of Gardens’ i.e. Lahore’s green heavens and now there hardly is anything left in color there.

Our general respect for our heritage and particularly regarding such architectural wonders is as low as for the traffic rules inscribed for us by the ‘goras’ and which are considered to be followed only by the really dumb.

A visit to Chauburji gives you a glimpse into Lahore’s magnificent past and, somehow makes you sad when thinking of its unsure future.

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After unanimously being elected the new Chief Minister of Punjab, the first order to be issued by Sardar Dost Mohammad Khosa was that of fulfillment of a promise made by the PML (N) President, Mian Shahbaz Sharif i.e. conversion of the grand new Chief Minister Secretariat in Lahore into a Girls University for Information Technology. 

While majority of the population is hailing the decision and characterizing it as first of the falling pillars of elitist rulers, what many don’t realize is that this move of the new government is an even bigger mistake. 

The lavish complex was constructed in the exclusive high-security neighborhood of GOR near the Mall Road and is situated quite next to the old CM Secretariat. 

Staggering amounts were spent on an area of 85,000 square meters in a locality where a one-kanal plot is no less than Rs.2.5 million. The whole project cost around 350 million rupees with additional expenses of 110 million, 120 million, 10 million each spent on interior décor, air-conditioning and plantations respectively. Office floors are tiled with granite while Spanish tiles decorate the lavish bathrooms.  

According to provided statistics in the press, it will take almost Rs.340 million a year to maintain only this property and that too in a country where 33% of the 162 million population lives on less than a dollar a day. All this expenditure has been labeled as a wastage of public money with least regards of the previous government to the poor of this city particularly and Punjabis generally. And rightly so is the claim true, regardless of the fact that this new secretariat was to serve the seat of the Punjab Chief Minister who was lacking a proper office for years and forgetting the fact that billions were spent on construction of a new Prime Minister Secretariat in Islamabad during the earlier rule of the new government itself. 

However, what this new ‘welfare’ government did, totally lacks sense and is a decision of dull proportions. Converting this piece of art into a women’s university is as lame a decision as one that leads to its total destruction. Firstly, it is not the right place for a public educational institution especially for girls referring to the close proximity of high-sensitive government offices and residences of important people in power. Even the disturbance created by blockades to entrances of GOR and regular VIP movement at the old CM Secretariat next door is enough to convince concerned parents in deciding against their children’s admission into such a university, making the whole plan an unfeasible one. 

What, on the other hand, would have been a wiser move was to auction the property at prime rates for a luxury hotel or apartments to raise money for construction of a new University at a more feasible and secure location somewhere else in the city. 

Otherwise, let the millions already spent on this building go into scrap as students have no interest or motivation in preserving or carefully using the granite tiles or Spanish bathrooms just for the sake of saving people’s money from going into trash.

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