This picture was somewhere in the corner of an Urdu daily I was reading today. Despite the poor quality of printed image, it struck me immediately and I couldn’t stop myself from posting it here. The eyes of all three individuals in this picture, seems like they have given up on life, surrendered. It’s really difficult to imagine what life must have been for hundreds of thousands of families like the one shown in the picture. I sometimes want to argue with The Creator and question His logic but I have been told that I just can’t do that. This is not fair.

Source: Daily Awaaz

Sadly we see scenes like this all around us everyday, we just move on and never do anything to bring a little hope in the life of even a single human being. How many you and I have given hope, ever??

Lahoris will vote tomorrow for local bodies elections, hopefully. Polling hours are from 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM and everyone has to vote for 6 different candidates. Yes I know there are not many good people to pick, system doesn’t work, rigging and all that blah blah you have in mind. A lot of things could have been done in a better way but I guess this is not the time to go into such debates. And this is not a good enough excuse for NOT voting. I think every one should go out and vote even if you have to pick a lesser evil. If you are one of those people who debate about Pakistan not getting any better etc in offices, cafes, colleges and universities then its time now to ACTUALLY DO something about it.

Come out and support this toota phoota political process and make it work, atleast try :). Help your country, help yourself.

Credits: From the personal collection of a friend, Pierre Jolit

Two Pehelwans (wrestlers) getting ready for Kushti (bout)…

Sometimes I feel like a travel bug with a deep-in-heart desire to explore things unknown to self. This was one of those days. For those of you who don’t know, I wake up early; so early that few friends jokingly call me ‘early bird’. Check business mails, some personal agendas and then there’s always Fajr prayer. Still 6 AM and I’m off to a humble nashta with lassi and bun. Can’t be more simple. Usually, I come back after the breakfast and again prepare for the hectic day ahead. But occasionally, I cut lose and go exploring the city and streets. As I told, this was on of those days.
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Lahore Lahore Ay Blog just did a small piece on us – thanks guys. They have an amazing blog about lahore – and their pictures are really cool.

When Hassan was lashing hard on the idea of an Oxygen Bar in the city, I spotted something absurd in the midst of a rather not-so-elite area; none other than our old and dear railway station. Have anyone of you been to station recently and saw the vending machine serving water? Has a blue logo..hmm… yeah, of Atlantis Water.. or something like that I guess. Insert a coin in the machine, and it will serve normal/chilled water depending upon your preference. The machine might be useful but the reason behind employing this does not seem to be a considerate one. I mean, water is a basic necessity and should be available without charge. At least, at public places like railway station or bus terminals.

With the commercialisation of most of country’s assets, are we on the verge of commifying the necessities now? While commofiying air might not be possible, selling water is certainly not unfeasible at all; in a country where majority still doesn’t have access to clean water. Reckon, the secret slogan for the new water company might be ‘no money, no water!’.

Yasir Hussain is a fellow blogger at Lahore Metroblog and a friend. Last time when we met at Lahore’s pehli sarkaari meetup, he mentioned something about his business related to handmade carpets. I couldn’t discuss further details with him at that time since our Kaptaan Saab was very keen that we stay focused on the future strategic planning of Lahore Metroblog – the main purpose of our secret meeting. But it was a pleasant surprise indeed to know about Yasir’s work and that Mash’Allah he is doing so well at such a young age.

Source: Yasir’s Web Site – Alrug.com
This one is called Navy Blue Hunting. It’s a very unique Zakni Baluchi in Hunting design.
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The first time Atif spoke about his drama Deadwood Dick, he had me. I’m always interested in such theatre and it’s very few and far between that I get a chance to see theatre these days (regardless of the fact that I’d been myself involved with theatre a few years back). The play was great; I wasn’t expecting it to be that good, frankly. The actors, although amateurs, carried themselves really well. I think the director Rabia Khawar has a future here. However, I was thoroughly disappointed by her own performance. She was okay with her expressions and body language, but she eat words when she spoke; her murmurs were not clearly audible. A few others have the same problem, which is somehow bad for a theatre actor. I think the guy playing Black’n (villain.. why is that I always like villains more?) was the best, so was our charming hero (don’t remember the names). Plus, some pretty faces ;) All in all, it was fun watching that drama filled with intrigue and character. I bet, you won’t have missed out if you knew it was that good. Two more days to go!

Click below to see more pictures from the play. Descriptions, left to right.
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There’s a very cool new band in town – The Rising – who’ve just released their new single Jhoot on Pak Media Revolution.

I hadn’t ever heard of em before – but this song’s really cool, very interesting guitar work, and thought-provoking lyrics. A little depressing though – darkblue :/ (But the fact that they share their name with a springsteen song always gets my vote :D)

Do check it out here – and do let everyone know what you think!

PS. There’s gotta be an omnipresent orkut link – http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=3880056 :)

Source: http://www.geocities.co.jp/AnimeComic-White/3531/camera.gif

The first Lahore photo meet-up is:
on : this sunday – 21st August
meeting at : the gulberg dunkin donuts (again! :))
at the hour : 5 pm

Come join us for donuts and a trip around gulberg taking lots of pictures of the city, the people, anything really. :) You’ll know who we are from the cameras on the table!

PS – if you can’t make it this time round – or if you’re planning a trip to Lahore in the coming week – you can join us on another photo meet-up NEXT sunday – 28th August, when we plan on covering the Lahore zoo, and maybe Mall Road, and other areas around the same place!