Okay, I think this will be a tough one :). What is it and where?

Answer in 48 hours.

oh and reward for correct answer: 1 Abbot ki Mospel – thora sa Abbot ka Mospel mal lene se machar aap se door, rehne par majboor :D.

23 days after the earthquake, life seems to be getting back to normal for majority of Lahoris. People are shopping around for Eid and the usual Eid festivity is visible in bazaars and shopping malls now. But I know a lot of people are NOT celebrating Eid this year or celebrating it with saadgi.

It is extremely important that our own local media, atleast, continue to give sufficient coverage to quake affected people and their issues. This will keep on reminding people that there is still a long way to go. We must not forget that people affected by quake still need help. It’s going to take a few years before some kind of normalcy is restored there and we must continue help in any form we can.

We cannot bring back those who have died BUT together we can turn this disaster into an opportunity. Let’s give it a shot :).

A friend just sent me this email (thank you :) ) so please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join us in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 100,000 signatures – please sign here

Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.

A private relief team is leaving for Pehal (near Mallot) at 9:00 PM tonight (Oct. 31).

Those interested in accompanying the team should call Akmal Javed on 0321 4699066, or one of the following:

Mujeeb Qayyum – 0300 8433539
Shaoib Tareen – Cell 03008402265
Abdul Raouf – 0321 4698103

This is from the comments posted on one of the recent posts but I thought it deserved an entry by itself. As a Pakistani based overseas one can only pray and donate hoping that these donations would reach the victims of this tragedy. This particular story is of Uzra Baloch, based in New Zealand, who has organized a drive to collect donations in her North shore city. She was recently interviewed by Radio New Zealand. You can listen to the interview at the following link

http://www.radionz.co.nz/__data/assets/audio_item/108472/435D9C20-wmbr.asx

On the other hand, it is really heartbreaking when you hear stories of donated items being SOLD openly in markets and aid caravans being looted :(

While some traditional businesses like Nirala are doing well in terms of carving a niche, others are facing a severe grudge from multinationals. From a marketing mailinglist:

“Pepsi since last couple of years is leading a campaign that the drink offers much more than the traditional

Blood donations are needed in Capital hospital of Islamabad (CDA Hospital)

O+ and B- blood groups needed

Please contact Mr. Abdul hameed through these numbers :
0300-5312955
051-9221334

Wassalam

Rahul Roy, a documentary film maker from Delhi, India will be sharing his research & showing his documentry film, ‘Sunder Nagri ‘ (The City Beautiful) at the Lahore Chitrkar.

Date: Wednesday, 02 November 2005
Time: 7.30 PM
Venue: Lahore Chitrkar, 41-B/3, Gulberg III, Lahore [View Map]

The Film:
Duration: 78 Minutes
Director/Camera: Rahul Roy
Editor: Reena Mohan
Script: Rahul Roy/Saba Dewan/Reena Mohan
Sound: Asheesh Pandya

Sunder Nagri (The City Beautiful ) is a small working class colony on the margins of India

Lahoris are perfect drivers. No really – we are perfect drivers for the right-hand-side driving rules. We always make sure that the slowest moving cars go to the right most lanes. I realized this when i saw that the driver of the civic climbing the jinnah flyover at not more than 15 kmph made sure that it remained in the right most lane. As a lahori with the ‘perfect’ traffic sense, i overtook it from the left. Further down a single lane, i almost avoided a head on with a bike because the man on it insisted to drive ‘perfectly’ and took a right turn by coming to the right most side. I was wrong – he was right (pun intended). I sincerely advise the traffic control department to consider changing to the ‘right’ side of the lane for driving. After all, more than half the world uses them and the current rules imply a colonial residue in our law making (*snickers*). Anyone from the traffic police reading this blog, please consider my proposal if you want to make people in lahore atleast perfect drivers in essentially zero time.

Canal is surely one of the busiest Inways into Lahore. Although, the ‘underpass’ drive has improved the flow of traffic along the canal, the road is seriously in need of an additional lane.

I am talking about my experience of travelling the section passing through Punjab University.

Traffic on this section is so enormous that vehicles literally move bumper to bumper during peak hours. The two lanes become so conjusted, that even a 5 second brake by a bus on a stop results in traffic stoppage.

In addition to this, car bumping accidents have become a frequent happening here. I think the government should immediately start work on adding a third continuous lane to all the stretch of this very important goway. In this way, hectic delays in traffic and car accidents could be avoided in future.

I was going through some old editions of The Tribune when I found this very interesting article about Lahore. Written by an Indian author, Rajan Kashyap, who visited Lahore last year. When he mentioned Edwin Hall of The Forman Christian College, it suddenly brought back some wonderful memories. Memories of two amazing years of my life. I think I will write about those good old days but not now, soon hopefully.

It’s strange that I never visited any of my old college or school once I finished my education there. I have my own reasons. A lot of my friends still love go back and meet their old teachers, see their old class-rooms and everything but I never did. Do you guys visit your old schools or colleges, even after so many years? And if you did, you miss anything :) ?

Lahore – the very name stirs a yearning in millions in the country. It beckons those who once lived there as well as those who merely heard about it. On a much awaited visit to historic city, Rajan Kashyap discovers that Lahorias are as vibrant as Punjabis on this side of the border. Read here by Rajan Kashyap.