Another evidence that we are living in strange times. Barack Hussain Obama has become the first American President who’s skin is not white. Obama made a clean sweep by taking 338 against McCain’s 159 electoral votes.

McCain conceded defeat and Obama delivered his acceptance speech. Whole world watched as the man spoke to a crowd of one million. It was almost mass hysteria, a very emotionally charged scene, people crying, having trouble finishing their sentences. It was indeed a moment that America should be proud about. It is something they can cherish.

Where else  can an immigrant family can rise to such riches… A true personification of “American Dream”. As I watched the speach, I was trying to find similarities and differences between Pakistan and America.

The way Obama Interacted with the crowed reminded me of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Only one leader in know history of pakistan had such a charisma… Also I do see some sparks of such charisma in Lawyers Moment.

““If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,”” Obama said.

Los Angles Times Reports

“Barack Obama, the son of a father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, was elected the nation’s 44th president Tuesday, breaking the ultimate racial barrier to become the first African American to claim the country’s highest office.

A nation founded by slave owners and seared by civil war and generations of racial strife delivered a smashing electoral college victory to the 47-year-old first-term senator from Illinois, who forged a broad, multiracial, multiethnic coalition. His victory was a leap in the march toward equality: When Obama was born, people with his skin color could not even vote in parts of America, and many were killed for trying.”

What This will mean for Pakistan

Obama winning election is not seen as good omen for Pakistan.  India being a bigger and better democracy, Democrats Govt. tend to have more inclination toward india.

It also means and end of what is called an American love affair with Pakistan. American Dollars that poured over the countries elite will stop. Pakistan might face sanctions of economic nature.

Theater of “War or Terror” will most likely to be shifted from Iraq and Afghanistan to Our North Western Province and some parts of Baluchistan.

Zardari might get a call from Obama in middle of night informing that US will pursue terrorists in setteled areas of Pakistan.

The Gujranwala Connection

Obama’s mother is reported to have lived in Pakistan for 5 years in Gujranwala.  Little is know about how Obama Spent his 3 weeks in pakistan when he visited her mother here.. May be he came to lahore too..

More here

We are vegetables. Give us our food and we will be green, some of the colorful amongst us being red and pink to add variety. There may be some people who are as sophisticated as, say, an onion with their layers of insulation, indifference, intellect or some other induced protection. Some, the real gems, may even be fruits. But all in all, we as countrymen are no more than plants that have accepted their fate of either withering out with time, or being really luck and be served on a ‘china’ platter to the highest bidder (pun definitely intended).

Our country really has a great threshold for pain. We should be proud of that. No, really we should. Not physical pain, but extreme mental torture to our collective intelligence (remember, we are vegetables). The dollar is at its highest ever to the rupee. Zardari, now a teenager without the pimples, thinks that India was never a threat. The biggest money-makers for us, the farmers, are the lowest in the food chain. We essentially now do not have a food chain as such. Inflation has put balloons to shame and our government is perhaps making the animal kingdom proud.

Did you know that the farmer was to be paid Rs 950 per maund for his wheat crop? This was rightly hailed as a sensible decision to first, produce surplus wheat and secondly, to inject billions to the rural economy. A great sign, some would think. No, not really. I have been a farmer for the last three years. The input costs in the form of fertilizers and diesel has grown not linearly, but exponentially. The seemingly large increase from the Rs 650 to Rs 950 per maund does not bring the percentages at par. No one seemed to care about that, of course. We were, being lettuces and onions, overjoyed at the increase in support price. No one cared that the international rate is somewhere at Rs 1200, no one cared that the smuggling will not be stopped, no one cared. Lettuces and pea-pods are not supposed to think about things like that. So, the animals that rule the plant kingdom, hit us with an absurdly crude weapon; they increased the fertilizer prices from Rs 3,100 to Rs 5,500. So, you get 350 per maund increase in wheat price. National average of wheat production is dismal 20 something maund per acre. Let us make that 29 mnd/acre. With 350/mnd increase, the farmer stood a chance of making an extra 350*29= Rs 10,150 per acre from his anticipated wheat crop. The vegetables rejoiced at this higher mathematics. The animals, cool as a cucumber (ha!), saw the anticipated surplus, so they increased the input fertilizer prices. Who cares about the sky-high diesel rate? And water, who needs water for crops? Let our friendly India have some, they are hardly a threat of course. What, you have electricity to take water from wells? Double the electricity rate so your threshold for mental torture stays exercised. ‘Give me some of that 10 thousand now, why don’t you. Although you will be making that in April next year, why don’t you just give some of that cash to me now?’

And as farmers go, they will complain, they will complain some more. You and I will not hear about it, but they will complain. It will not fall on deaf ears, only trained ones. Lahore will have its food on the table. It will a little less, but who cares. Who notices? How many of us know how much lentils cost? Heck, how many know the difference between masur and channa?

Remember, farmers are more than 70 percent of Pakistan. Out of the other 30 percent, a whopping 90 percent or so have their income directly tied to this wonderful sector. Who in his right mind say that Pakistan’s economy is dependent on Agriculture, on wheat, milk and rice? Pakistan is a country of vegetables.

Take the power back, why don’t you.

The Mensa IQ test is being held in Lahore on 13th and 14th of September.

The timings are:

LGS Johar Town

Saturday, 13th Sept at
1:30 - 2:30
2:30 - 3:30
3:30 - 4:30

LGS Defence

Sunday, 14th Sept at
10:30 - 11:30
11:30 - 12:30
12:30 - 1:30
2:30 - 3:30

The ticket price is Rs. 350. Ticket can be bought on spot.

There will also be a talk by Mr. Faisal Qureshi (founder chairperson of Mensa Pakistan, host of looseends, Breakfast at Dawn and Ankahi) at LGS Defence on Sunday 14th Sept at 1:30pm. The topic for the talk is Youth Responsibility.

Mensa Pakistan is an affiliate of Mensa International, The World Wide Higher IQ Society,

The aim of the organization as described under its constitution is, “Mensa provides a forum for intellectual exchange among members. Its activities include the exchange of ideas by lectures, discussions, journals, special-interest groups, and local, regional, national, and international gatherings; the investigations of members’ opinions and attitudes; and assistance to researchers, inside and outside Mensa, in projects dealing with intelligence or Mensa.”

Yesterday, while walking down the usual zig zag of streets from bus stop to my flat, I was thinking randomly about inflation, cost of living, job security, stock markets, dollar price,  Zardari, Lawyers Movement, Bajour, Baluchistan etc. etc.  Then suddenly I came across this banner….

Banner in Urdu Reads: Last Chance, Last Price, Below Purchase Price, Shop has been sold, Business Gone Broke

This banner per see looks like just another business trick. But If you look closely and try to read between the lines. This banner becomes a satire, a commentary at current state of affairs in this country. It describes in very few words the political, economical and moral dilemma being faced by us.

I invite you to elaborate through your comments on each/any expression(s) on the banner you can relate to…

Pakistan has been slipping deep into economic recession with record level inflationary pressures. During countless discussions with people, the reaction is always one of amazement as to how people can still cope with such high commodity and petrol prices.

I am keen to learn from the readers how your lives have been affected by the current price hike. I can appreciate most of us are the fortunate ones who make up the middle and upper classes of society with less impact than the disadvantaged. However, I have a personal story which goes to show the current situation is felt across all spectrums of society…

We all know the wheat shortage crisis last winter. At its peak, I experienced first hand the difficulty with which my household cook had to procure a bag of atta. If I recall correctly, it took him best part of the day to scour the city and eventually got hold of a bag. The surprising aspect of it all was that this took place in the most up market neighbourhoods of the city and my family didn’t have any financial constraints. I just wonder how people with less influence and money must have coped during the time.

It would be great to hear your experiences of dealing with the rising prices and how you have dealt with it - For instance, reduced non-essential car travel; eating less meat; eating out less; stopped buying new gadgets/clothes etc.

It would be nice if everyone could share their thoughts as I strongly believe some of your solutions will spread best practice and help others in adopting them and saving some of their own money.

Thanks!

Ever tried googling Lahore and found nothing but the standard wikipedia entry and perhaps some news item related to British Asian terrorists? Sad but true.

To be honest, I gave up hope long ago when I initially attempted to look up Lahore on youtube during my initial enthusiasm for the video sharing site. Little did I know that it would bring up an array of bizarre clips of school girls in a street fight; tacky sing along versions of Lahore Lahore aye; and a somewhat fazed swede-Pakistani girl videoblogging about her recent visit to the city. And not to mention a string of so called lewd dances featured in Lahore Defence Party videos … dare I say it is pure class A trash.

Anyway, the point being that our beloved city is no where portrayed on the internet in a positive and candid light. On my last visit to Lahore, I was set to create a series of video blogs where my aim was to visit old and new Lahore and post/share my creations with friends and family in London. Unfortunately, the events of Dec. 2007 simply ruined all my plans of walking freely around the city. Anyway, I am sure someone will take it up as a task to perhaps create a regular weekly/monthly video link on LMB with tours of old and new Lahore. For instance, we could have a tour of Wazir Khan Mosque one week and a videoblog focussed on a walk through the bustling Liberty Market. For people who don’t exactly possess a Sean Connery voice, then I suggest adding text via subtitles along the video. I am sure there is clever video editing software out there to achieve the desired effect.

Hope this has inspired a few people to put on their creative hats and go and direct/act in a video about Lahore. I enourage you to do so, so that overseas Lahoris like myself don’t have to go through the agony of watching the dancing girls of Defence and that annoying Swede-Paki.

G’luck!

I must admit I always step out from the International Arrivals at the magnificent Lahore Airport with a certain amount of trepidation. The primary reason being that my weight (lack of) always prompts the first piece of dialogue between me and my family/friends. It usually follows a compassionate tone by my family as to the utter lack of care that I must have been subjected to back in London.

The interesting fact is that the subject of my weight-lessness has now become the norm. Apparently, the claim is that I keep on losing weight on each successive trip. Well surely this can’t be true…because if it were, then I wouldn’t be alive writing about all of this. This prompted me to really ponder over the whole weight issue in context of Lahore and it led to some interesting learning.

I am sure you’ll agree that appearance is generally in the eye of the beholder. So while I may be perfectly fit and strong for one person, I might be extremely thin and weak for another. The reality in Lahore tends to be the latter. In my view, this is down to the fact that Lahoris have become so used to seeing bulging waist lines that anyone with non-portruding gut is regarded either ill or abnormal.

On closer analysis, I did notice an abundance of people in the city with high weight levels with respect to their heights. Whilst I didn’t weight all of them (would have made for an interesting conversation though), my naked eye could judge the fact they were well beyond the normal threshold. Some could argue that I am on a fat-bashing campaign here but I am not. I am simply fearing for these people as their weight due mostly due to an over-indulgent lifestyle will lead to serious long term diseases like heart attacks, diabetes and high blood pressure.

So what needs to be done?

For one, we really need to educate people that over eating is unhealthy. Did you know there is scientific evidence to prove that the South Asian population of India and Pakistan are more susceptible to pulmonary diseases than other races. So we should all try to avoid fatty foods and make an effort to include boiled vegetables and fresh fruits in our diets. No health regime is complete without physical exercise. Set a target to walk, jog or if you’re lucky to have access to a sports centre, join a sports team. You will find yourself feeling more energetic at work and less stressed in general.

On a personal note, I have recently taken up cycling after a 15 year gap. Now that I am back on the rode, I can’t imagine why I hadn’t taken up cycling before. Not only am I saving up on petrol but I am also getting fitter with more stamina. Cycling in our part of the world is treated as the domain of either children or servants. It needn’t be…go and change this view.

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.

President Musharraf fulfilled his promise by conducting free and fair elections in a relatively peaceful environment.
First time in Pakistan’s history a democratically elected government finished its constitutionally required time of 5 years. First time in Pakistan’s history people were allowed to exercise their ‘righ’t to choose their government without the interruption of the military.

But unfortunately even rights are not safe from attacks as a large number of women in Peshawar were barred from voting at polling stations by the electoral candidates of the provincial constituencies of PF-6, PF-7 and PF-8. A female presiding officer at the Khazana Bala polling station showed reporters an agreement written in Urdu that said, “We, the candidates for PF-8, announce a ban on women’s participation in the February 18 balloting, given that women had been barred from voting in the previous elections as well.” Similarly, panchayats (local village councils) in Mianwali and Sargodha also banned women from voting.

Apart from that, Abdul Sattar Edhi, a social worker, upon reaching the Kharadar polling station in Karachi, came to know that he could not vote because his name was not registered. Shocked and disappointed he said, “I am a true Pakistani, but cannot exercise my right of voting.”

Similarly, deposed chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary and former superior judges Shakirullah Jan and Sardar Raza Khan, who are strictly under-house detention since November 3, weren’t allowed to cast their votes for the general elections aswell.

So what is a right? How do you define it?

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@Blossom Shed, Defence

Question is, abnormally, when a single rose can cost you 100 Rs. (aprx.) only, (if red enough)??? Answer is pretty simple i.e. when Valentine’s Day is around the corner :) ….

According to the lady who owns Blossom Shed, roses are going to be sell at rate of 400 Rs. per dozen around Feb 14. Additionally, another reason behind this hike is extreme weather changes that affected the flowers.

Btw, is that true that V. Day is becoming a part of our lives now? I mean, many people do celebrate this day to show their love and affection to their family & friends ONLY ;). So can i assume that this day no longer belongs to Mr. Cupid?????