The fogs of Lahore

I vowed to myself that I would not regret my decision to move from Karachi to Lahore.
I never did.

But that did not mean that I wouldn’t miss Karachi. Karachi after all is a bustling cosmopolitan city. Compared to it, Lahore has a somewhat sedentary attitude. It is true that Karachi has a lot to offer, a lot more than Lahore.

But then Lahore is not without its surprises.

Ok so may be Lahore has not got awesome shopping malls ( yet ) like Karachi but there is the Shahi Qila , Shalamar gardens and several hundred years of history.
Since we moved here two years ago there have been several surprise offerings from Lahore in addition to fascinating historic locations.

One of these surprises is the fog of Lahore. Being a Karachite for more than 15 years, fog was something I had never seen before in my life. And we (the family and myself) just didn’t get to see it, we almost got lost in it, not once but twice.
Thankfully we managed to make it home safely both times but I will never forget the experience.

Since then I have seen all kinds of fogs.

Mist that stays close to the ground and slowly creeps forward (like it does in one of those C grade horror movies’ cemetery scenes. The only thing missing were the ghouls that walk on top of it).
Then there is the haze that completely envelops every thing, reducing visibility to zero. It is the zero visibility that is most inconvenient; you can not see anything beyond two feet.

Amazing, that is how I would describe it, not at all frightening, eerie perhaps but never scary.
Now the fog season is gone.

Summer is on its way but I have some photos to remind me what it was like.
And how it will be again next year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Three cheers for me

I once wrote in by blog about the joys of doing something for the first time.

Well… there has been another first time to for me.

I FINALLY MANAGED TO DO ONE HUNDRED LENGTHS IN THE SWIMMING POOL.

Ok, I admit that the pool isn’t huge, but it isn’t tiny either and I know for those of you who are enthusiastic swimmers this is no big achievement. Countless have managed a hundred lengths probably hundreds of time in their life. But like I mentioned in my old blog, it is not the event or the act itself which excites me so much. It is the fact that I managed to do it for the first time in my life. Next time I do it I will probably be as casual about it as the human fish swimming along side me in the pool who completes a century every single day.

But until then let me bask in the glory of self accomplishment

Bubble Trouble

Up till two months ago my son was a fairly regular visitor to the community pool managing a decent number of laps in an hour or so. If he ever swam too vigorously and became out of breath he would counter that problem by blowing bubbles under water: A technique to control breathing that was taught to him by his old swimming coach.
One day, after a few energetic lengths he decided to apply this technique before resuming his strokes. Not far from him, lounging in one of the shallow corners of the pool, a middle aged gentleman was resting with his back to the wall and arms spread eagle like on the support pipe running along the sides of the pool. As my son proceeded to release the air from his mouth he glanced sideways, towards the submerged lower half of the man and saw similar bubbles coming out of his ....... ahem ........ swimming trunks. Apparently the man was also getting rid of some air but very obviously from the wrong end.
Totally taken aback by this unseemly act and shocked at the man’s disrespect for propriety in a public place, my son did the only thing he could. He swam as hard as he could and ended up at the far side of the pool at a speed that may have matched Phelps’ performance at Beijing. For the next twenty minutes or so my son played the self invented game of “let’s put as much distance between myself and that infernal bubble machine”, by swimming to the other side of the pool every time he saw that man heading towards his end.
Well, to cut the long story short, that was the last time my boy visited the community pool. And since summer is coming to an end, it is hardly likely that he will go back there again this year. I am hoping that by next summer the memory of the bubble blowing rear end of that idiot would have faded enough for me to persuade him to resume his aquatic activities once again.
But honestly,
The things people do when they think no one is watching.

11 June

They say that those whom God loves die young.

The only problem is that those who are usually loved by God are also loved by us.

Naveed was one such person.

It was impossible not to love him for those who knew him.
It has been five years to the date since he left us for heavenly abode. He is in a better place but that does not stop us missing him even today.
Life goes on regardless of who leaves and who stays back. The last five years bear evidence of that.

Bounded by our mortal limitations there is not much we can do for Naveed or any of those who have reached there final destination. What we can do however, is take a moment out of our busy schedules today and offer a little prayer to remember the man who meant so much to us.

A healthy doze of discipline

The family and I went to see a stage play couple of days ago. The play was ok, well rehearsed enough to be entertaining. Though personally I think the director’s heart to heart with the audience in the beginning and during curtain call was much more amusing than the show itself but still, I have no complaints. It was time well spent.

But that is not why I am mentioning it in my blog. Reason I am writing about it is because of something the management said and did.

The management had said that the doors will close at 8:30 sharp.

Late comers will not be admitted.

And to my surprise they did exactly that.
I know this “starting events on time" may be taken for granted in some places but in Pakistan very few have the guts to actually do it. So hats of to "Shah Sharabeel" and the “Bombay Dreams” team for meaning what they said.
I think it is about time we Pakistanis were given a few more of these much needed healthy dozes of discipline.

Happy Birthday

It was my daughter’s birthday on the 29th of March. She turned five that day.
It was a much anticipated event, especially for my little one.
Ever since the beginning of the year she had started asking about it.
“It is going to be in March dear”.
I kept telling her but that did not make things any clearer for a kid who only knows months by their names and has no idea about their duration.
With March came new batch of inquiries.
If March had arrived, why hadn’t her birthday?
“Because it is at the end of March, Sweet heart”
“How long till than?” Was the next inevitable question.
“About four weeks from now”
“Which day”?
I did some quick calculations (and also sneaked a peek at the calendar hanging on the wall) then replied confidently
“Saturday”
Fortunately, days of the week, she does know and has a pretty good idea how long a week takes to go by. But that did not mean she was going to make my life easier by understanding immediately.
“This Saturday?”
“No no.” I said alarmed. If she is not corrected, I thought, a massive tantrum would erupt on the coming weekend when an expectant little lady discovers that she has pinned her hopes on the wrong day.
“Then when?” She asked with a pout.
“Er……. It will be on the next to next to next to next Saturday.”
So much for trying to make it clearer. I actually ended up confusing myself with my own reply.
One week later
“How long now?” she asked.
“Next to next to next Saturday”
Two weeks later
“This Saturday, mama?”
“No next to this one” said I.
Finally, third week into March, she lost her patience.
“You keep saying next next next every week. My birthday never comes.” Exhausted with waiting for ever, the poor thing wailed aloud.
“That is not fair darling. Each week there is one less next” (like a third rate reality show with weekly elimination).
But she was in no mood to pay attention to such wearisome details.
So I said the only thing that could cheer her up. The one thing she had been longing to hear all this time.
“Hey guess what. No more nexts. It’s going to be on this Saturday, your birthday is here.”
Finally
It turned out that she had two birthdays instead of one. Since Saturday was a school holiday, so we sent the cake and goody bags for her friends to school on Friday where she celebrated a bonus birthday party amidst all her classmates.
As for Saturday, we invited all the family and went out to a popular pizza joint for her birthday where we promptly got into a heated argument with the management because they had neither remembered to decorate the birthday area as per instructions nor kept our reserved seats vacant for us. Fortunately, we had arrived earlier than every body else so we managed to sort everything out before the guests arrived.
It was a fun event. At least I thought so. My baby later confessed that she had enjoyed her school party more then the one she had with the family.
So much for all the trouble we went to.
This just goes to show that it is irrelevant to children how much you have spent to make their day special. All they need is friendship and love to make them happy.
Although we could not invite any of her school friends to the evening party but there was no shortage of love. So all in all, she was not too disappointed.
Besides, the generous gifts form various uncles, aunts and cousins went a long way in making up for what ever was lacking.
In the end it turned out to be a beautiful day, made even more wonderful by the ecstatic expression on my child’s face.
Late at night, tired to the bone, but happy that the much awaited day was finally over, I was heading of to bed when my daughter’s voice reached my ears, completely shattering my peace of mind.
"Mama, when is my next birthday going to be ???????”