Assalam Alaikum,

I am Mani. I have been elected as a new author at “Metroblogging Lahore” and it is my first post as an author, so, here I would like to share something.

First of all I thank Hassan Mubarak (the captain of LMB) and Sean (the moderator of Metroblogging) for helping me out to become a passionate member of the passionate LMB Authors’ Guild.

Actually I am a bit patriotic and have some sincere thoughts for my country and especially for my city.
I have no interest in Politics; therefore my main focus would be on other issues, problems entertainment and information about Lahore.

As it is a well known proverb that “A journey of thousand miles starts with the first step!” (sorry if I quoted it wrong). I consider this post as my first step but don’t know that how far I will be able to make it..!
But it is just the beginning and ‘InshAllah’, with your prayers, I’ll try my best to put all my efforts to make LMB a favorite blog site!

Thank you for reading this post!
Keep visiting for further posts.
Allah Hafiz.

May is almost here and its getting hotter day by day. Though Lahoris are all ready to welcome the wave, loaded with fans and ACs, but if one spends most of the day out on the roads, ACs and fans become useless. So the only way is PROTECTION. When out there in Lahore, protect yourself with sunscreens, use SPF 15 or 30 formulas or see a dermatologist. Cover with gloves while driving to protect your hands, to avoid hair damage/heat strokes wear scarfs/caps and always take notice of excessive sweating and drink plenty of fluids to avoid palpitations, hypotension and pass outs.

We all know that during summer, we loss so many valuable lives, just because they don’t care for these primary measures, specially people with blood pressure and diabetes. We all deserve to lead a healthy and active life.

At first I thought if had been super dumb in not noticing that ladies’ sandals actually have ‘knobs’ to make them fit well.

But that was only until I read the last sentence carefully…:)

Provided it is pure, hygienic and cold, there have never been, and never can be a better alternative to water being the most refreshing quencher of thirst. Still, we, Lahoris prefer Lassi over anything else.

Although we have had Ice-Cream on the streets for decades, these water-carts may seem new to Lahorites. This unique selling idea, however, is not new to the developing world. Bottled water is sold on carts all over the world from Dalian to Delhi, from the Philippines to Panama.

Next time you are out in the sun and feel terribly thirsty, look no further than these cute Sufi Water Carts. You can find plenty of them in the Gulberg area these days.

We hope that rest of the parties including Nestle, Kinley and Aquafina may soon follow Sufi selling water out on the streets in temperatures increasing 40 C. Perhaps, Sufi might have started selling Cooking Oil and Soaps on the roads by then…;)

Adoring your city could be this important….. I am here now, representing Lahore :)

Lahore’s culture is so rich as it had been ruled by emperors from different parts of the world, who brought about changes adding to its glory one by one. Its a great experiance to live in a city like this. Its a heavenly feeling to be a part of this city :) ………( i know i sound fanatic but its true).

Have you ever tried to feel Lahore? Did you share Lahore with foreigners or guests like a guide and what questions about Lahore you were asked, that you did not know?

Does the title remind you of a poem that we used to sing in our primary school days?

We know, from childhood, what all the signal directions mentioned on this Traffic Police Mobile mean, don’t we?
But, how many of us follow them…

Confessions of a Traffic Violator

Are you brave enough to tell us the last time you violated a traffic rule; the situation; the reason behind it and whether you felt proud or sorry for the act…

Be Honest!

Lahore is a great city. I am sure it is. I have been living here for 24 odd years (whereas 24 is an even number, I’m sure you’ve noticed). But I know Lahore to be great only becuase so many are saying that it is; it is vast, it is big, it has them restaurants blah blah blah. I am more knowledgable about the city in the ‘blah blah blah’ regions than anywhere else, and of course, as I say this I am realizing that not many people make it their business to find out about the city. Only the really adventourous types (and believe me, they are few and far in between) actually take the time out, perhaps with a camera in hand, to actually give action to their plans and tour the city here and there, find wierd stuff in the most normal of places and find semblance in the most chaotic ones.

But I recently have been reading the autobiography of Mohammad Asad (a great man in my opinion, who converted to Islam from Judaism, lived amongst the Arabs, learnt the contextual Arabic of the classical kind and eventually went ahead to write ‘The Message of The Quran’, arguably the best English Translation and Tafseer of the Holy Book to date!). And the way he has elucidated his experiences, the way he has observed the culture of nations through their dressings, their places, their language and the way he has abosorbed all of that, has made it almost eniable for me. And of course, I relate it firstly to myself, and can clearly see that the fullness with which one can live a society is not even in the same vicinity as being close to what I normally go through on any given day.

I need a camera, I need to travel, I need to observe and learn and apply and repeat ad infinitum. Over here, ‘I’ is as metaphorical as it gets, people. Feeling the culture of a town, of a place, of your surroundings is a great way to learn and move forward, taking those connected to you with you. Almost like seeing and hearing what the society is doing right and what it is doing wrong, from a third-person point of view.Perhaps like reading science, so you know what not to invent.

Hence ended the rant.
Time to go back to that cocoon now.
Bye bye.

When I scored 61% on the ‘How much Pakistani you are’ poll, I was told to celebrate my Pakistaniat with a glass of Lassi. That brought me the idea to see how most of us quench our thirst in summer here. So, here you go:

This interesting image shows estimation of heights of buildings at the under-construction Sheikh Zayed Centre (SZC) in Lahore. The mighty development is situated on Ferozpur Road, just between Daewoo Station and the Qaddafi Stadium on the opposite side of the road. Construction has started in full swing with initial digging activity at the construction site.

As UrbanPK reports, the complex is to host a 5-star Grand Hyatt Hotel, and high-rise luxury apartments to be managed by Hyatt Residency.

Initiated as a Joint Venture between the Dhabi Group of UAE and Government of the Punjab, the project is covered by a holding company called TA`AVUN (Pvt.)Ltd. which will be responsible for managing the project. Turner International (one of the largest construction companies in the US have been hired as contractors/builders; whereas HOK – a firm that designs buildings for Donald Trump, has been retained as Project Consultants & Architects).

Project: Sheikh Zayed Centre, Lahore
Location: Ferozepur Road, Lahore
Maximum Height: 60+ Storeys
Maximum Area: 91 Kanals
Appartment Floors:20-25 (3 Towers)
Parking Capacity: 4,000 vehicles in 4 basements
Jobs Creation: 30,000
Cost: $500 Million + (unconfirmed)
Status: Under Construction
Completion Date: 2010
Designed by: Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum
Ligthing by: Fisher Marantz Stone (FMS) – also working on Burj Dubai
Developers: Taavun (Pvt.) Ltd. – a JV between Dhabi Group of UAE & Govt. of the Punjab
Contractor:EMAAR

Special Feautres:

– Tallest building in Pakistan by its completion
– 60+ storey main tower; visible even from Wagha Border
– 5-Star Grand Hyatt Hotel
– Multiple appartment blocks managed by Hyatt Residency
– Conference seating capacity of 5,000+
– Pakistan’s first Ice Rink
– Exclusive shopping mall
– Corporate offices, mini cinemas
– Overhead covered bridge connection with the Qaddafi Stadium

More on Sheikh Zayed Centre, Lahore:

– UrbanPK
– Skyscrapercity
– Wikipedia
– FMS

I thought myself to be more patriotic!

Anyways, A for [pine]Apple at Islamabad Metblog , from whom I borrowed this quiz, scored 63%. That was just because she lives in the capital…;)