The 'Ikes of March

Re: # 48

gt,

thanks for the recommendation, i will give it a try ........ like i said, i am not much of a sommelier but i do know what i like : full bodied but mellow and not tannic - if it makes you pucker even slightly it is vinegar, not wine ........

..... a couple of weeks ago i gave up on gin martinis and beer and started drinking wine seriously (weight, heart and all that ) ........ so in a few months i should be able to talk a little bit more about it - unless i fall off the wagon (again!)

...... if you like reislings you should take a wine tasing tour at the eberbach monastery near mainz germany and then end it with dinner at the fine restaurant ...

....... and a little guilt is good - it jelps you keep your feet on the ground ......... i know, i know - sometimes we speak from both sides of the mouth .......... the real problem starts when you stop realizing that you are doing it .........

Re: # 31 hamidm2,

Important things first. After talking to you, I couldn`t resist myself....and so got myself a merlot.....Argentinian called Trumpeter made by the Familia Rutini Wines.....am at it right now...good stuff... the year is 2004....though I do not know what is a good year for Argentinia....


And hamidm sahib.....please stop this guilt shilt business....it is not for you.......start by changing your bar-tender.....the guy knows nothing about the heart. How can you do this to red wine?.......please!

#24 by hamidm2

Brilliant Hamid saheb. Reminds me of `Diary of a social butterfly` of TFT. You weren`t the writer, were you?

#45 by JagdeeshGodbole on April 2, 2006 9:45am PT
when there are millions of children in pakistan not in school its in poor taste to talk about private education, like i said before i don`t know who she is what her backgound is so it`s not personal.

BTW while on the subject of poor taste there is another writer here on chowk NHK, the guy actually wrote about his child servant, i am sure the southern slave owners had more decency than that.

Re: # 43

So how does that make this article ``in poor taste``?

Re: # 24

Hamidmia-

You need to seriously think of re-compiling all your gems on the chowk and make a copyright of it..............because I am tempted to lift much of what you write into something seriously commerical.......

#39 by hamidm2 on April 1, 2006 8:41pm PT
hamid i have nothing personal against shandana, but what i abhor is the fact that even after 50+ years of independence there isn`t a decent public education system in pakistan because of the `criminal ruling elite` of army, feudals, bureacrats etc.

Re: # 33
lol..really..elitist???
if the damn governemnt could do its job..there would be no problem here.Parents are stressed to the point of no return because they are responsible for choosing the `best` education..and pay through their a..... for it and five years down the lane sit and wonder with a glazed look..did we do alright

much obliged to all of you for reading and responding :)

I have three children and if I were to relive my life I would not send my first born to any pre-school or any educational institution till atleast five!!! That is what I am planning to do with my youngest.I hope I can keep to my mind set because last week I almost sent her to the play schhool next door. Thank God she has more brains than I do.She said NO and I listened...I plan to listen to her now onwards...
really we would be animals without instinct

Re: # 37

bj ........... it is much easier than you think, but there is a trick to it ....

aslam mian ........ i have no intention of starting class warfare here - god know we have enough trouble with the jihadis and horrible hindoos .........

#35 Hamidm mian (further thought)
A dhoti may be a more practical alternative.

#36 Aslam mian
Do you know what ``tongue in cheek`` means?

#35 Hamidm mian
Trying to relieve yourself (``like the common folks``) while having the shalwar still on must be an extraordinarily difficult feat - especially at your age! I think that blue label is truly earned!

#33 by hamidm2 on April 1, 2006 2:51pm PT
agreed it was in poor taste

---

and then she has the audacity to write this ``Education, I tell ya, we’d be nothing but animals without it.`` in pakistan there are millions of children of poor parents not in school through no fault of their own either because they have to work to support their families, or because the criminal ruling elite has not provided primary schools for them. is she suggesting they are animals, well i tell ya fear the day when these ``animals`` rise up.

shandana,

...... just so that you don`t feel you are the only one who is a little confused about what is right and wrong ........... every time i am in pakistan i wear a shalwar kameez most of the day and squat by the roadside to relieve myself like the common folks - it gives me a sense of legitimacy ...........

..... of course, at night i end up drinking blue label with friends and talk about the good old days at the old school .............. no big whup !

shandana ....

....... i think you should rename the article ``yikes of march !`` ...........

shandana,

... now that i have had my first drink of the evening i have to say something ....... i loved your article the first time i read it, but the more i think about it the more i think it was a horrible elitist thing for you to do ........ now mind you, i don`t think there is anything wrong with being an elitist - god knows i am as stuck up as the next paki with who went to kgs - but it is not nice to talk about this stuff in public ........... look, i don`t want to put a guilt trip on you and your hubby and the poor little boy, but let`s not talk about this stuff on a public forum like chowk ........ not that the unwashed masses will ever see this, or anything like that, but it just seems to be in poor taste ........... sorry

i must be the only one on chowk who went to open air school and also from working class background

Re: # 29

gt,

..... i don`t mean to mislead you ...... a professor with a phd in cs from a us university can make as much as 2 lakh a month at fast or lums, plus a couple of lakh on the side doing consulting work...... but we are talking about the run of the mill lecturer at government college for bous with a masters in islamiyat and economics from bolan university which is known for the annual niswar spitting contest ..........

........ primary and secondary education is a rather elitist affair in pakistan as is obvious from shandana`s article ....... and my account of the drawing room conversation is not exagerrated at all - actually i have heard worse which has made me choke on a samosa or two ......... and i am ashamed of the fact that some of these women are my sisters and aunts .............

....... of course i am not ashamed of the fact that i am the proud landlord of a ``computerized english medium school`` run by a retired major from the army education corps whose brother-in-law loaned him two lakh rupees that i demanded as rent advance .......... you just cannot trust these educationists that cater to the unwashed masses .............. anyway this fine establishment, set up in a fifty year old house without windows and plumbing, charges kids of low level government employees and small shopkeepers eight hundred rupees a month to give them a shot at a clerical job in pwd which will give them a 3000/150/250/5500 salary plus a transportationallowance of 200 a month and maybe, just maybe, a shot at a one room government quarter in a slum that should have been pulled down twenty years ago ......... and the 800 does not include uniforms - it seems all these schools have a mandatory uniform that can set their parents back a thousand or two that they don`t have ............

............... i am sure you must be wondering about the ``computerized`` part ...... ..... so, one day when i walked into the ``principal`s`` office for a cup of tea and general gup shup, i asked the main with hairy ears and no eyebrows, `` major saab, yeh computerized kiya hai - you have a wirelss network or is it hard wired ``.......... major saab lfirst ooked at jinnah`s picture on the wall, then he looked at the ``go to china to get knoledge`` poster and then pointed at the dusty machine on his desk ......`` hamid sahib we have all our students records - fees, exam results, conduct and behavior problems, etc etc on this computer ...... my son, who is a student at oxford computer college in lalkurti set it up for me ..... the boy is a genius, i tell you`` ............... yes sir, he sure is ..

...... more importantly, i used to do merlot until the bar tender told me that pinot noir and shiraz is better for my heart ....... ....

hey Hamidm -- that was great screenplay for Shandana`s Survivor show.......Aap Pakistani filmon mein mukalmay likhaa kareiN......

Re: # 28

hamidm2,

Thanks, I thought you did merlot.

A Reader in an elite Indian University would make Rs 35,000 gross......and life is tough. Hopefully things would change. A business school in Hyderabad pays very well and IBM has started a research division in IIT where pay is good.

Re: # 28

hamidm2,

Thanks, I thought you did merlot.

A Reader in an elite Indian University would make Rs 35,000 gross......and life is tough. Hopefully things would change. A business school in Hyderabad pays very well and IBM has started a research division in IIT where pay is good.

Re: # 27

GT,

.... sorry, i am not much of a connoisseur of fine wines, but i do know bad wine when i taste it ! ......... i stick to shiraz or pinot noir and will only drink white wine if the catholic church goes on a rampage against red wine drinkers as apostates and heretics ...... as far as i know i have never had a malbeck - but i understand it is often used to blend with other bordeux wines ......

.......... a starting college professor (lecturer) working for a government college starts at grade-17 makes and less than 13,000 a month if he is lucky enough to find a job ......... a high school teacher working for a ``urdu-medium`` school makes less than 3,000 a month and makes his living by giving private tuitions from .......... a ``lady teacher`` at a school for the awam which charges about 6-700 a month in tuition) makes less than 1500 a month! (but she gets to go home in the middle of the class to stir her handi and make the chappatis before her husband comes home) ........... on the brighter side, there seems to a some sort of a ``computerized english medium school`` in every gully koocha ......... at this rate, in a couple of years, any snotty-nosed kid in pakistan should be able to answer your question about malbeck .........

Re: # 24 hamidm2,

I wanted to ask you this question for a long time but could not find an appropriate board. This comes close enough. So here goes:

What do you think about the Malbec from the Mendoza region in Argentina? I like it a lot, but is it kind of in?

Shandana,

Enjoyed it. How much would a professor in a college make?

#24, hamidm2

Bravo!

Re: # 24

This alone should be published on fp.

Shandana,

Some easy potshots here. On one hand I appreciated the puncturing of the self congratulatory private school ethos, on the other hand would like to see an honest acknowledgement of how lucky those private school students and parents have it.

#14

farouq mian,

..........don’t worry, a lot of people who live in pakistan don’t understand the fuss over educational either; but that does not stop the chattering classes from constantly talking and whining about it ........... most other people, people whose teeth chatter because of the cold, don’t have much to do with education of any sort – they simply cannot afford to send their kids to school since they are busy rummaging through the garbage for bone and glass and paper ............... but for a certain class of people it is the only real worry in the world .............. at most social gatherings, specially the mid-morning tea parties, after you are done talking about which bakery makes the best cake and whose khansama is having an affair with the neighbor’s maid and the olfactory properties of this or that new perfume, the conversation invariably turns to education :


hostess (runs her fingers through her blonde streaked hair and looks anxiously at the twelve year old bare-footed girl as she brings in a tray stacked with fresh fried samosas) : larki, parveen say kehna kay chai ka pani rakh dey............... so, mrs khan, where are you planning on sending your kids ............. you know that in this town there is a shortage of two things only – wafadar servants and good schools

mrs khan (who is new to the group looks around timidly at the other women who are all ears and have stopped munching on their death by chocolate cake from gourmet bakery ): for the time being they are going to roots because beaconhouse did not have any openings and froebels is too far from us and khan sahib says that the city school building is not safe since the earthquake ............

hostess (lifting her plucked eyebrows as the other women cringe with disapproval) : roots? ........... they don’t even have a proper school building and I have heard that their teachers actually beat the kids .......... kiyon , janoo ?

janoo (with a samosa in each hand): you know i just came back after a workout at the gym and i am so hungry ......... (the other women look at janoos rather full figure draped in a super-sized track suit)

janoo (reaching for the cake): but darling you are right, roots is not up to standard ........ i have heard that even some army officers manage to send their pre-school kids there ....... how much is fees ?

mrs khan (anxiously wiping the sweat from her brow): six thousand a month for primary and ten thousand for middle school .......... it is not much ........ we were paying fifteen twenty thousand a month in karachi .............

hostess: no wonder ?....... bhai, nowdays you can’t even get a driver for less than four thousand a month and then he wants to work only six days a week and also expects at least one meal a day .............. how can you buy a decent education for that kind of money ............ how much did you pay for deposit ?

mrs khan (looking pale): forty thousand, non-refundable ..........

bunty (the disgust cracking the layers of makeup on her face): i think you should at least send them to froebels- so what if it is too far ....... you know pinky’s kid’s used to go there when she was the prime minister .........

janoo (with nose in the air): bhai as far as i am concerned the only school worth anything in this city is the american school – at least the kids learn to speak english with the proper american accent ……… and in this day and age what is 6-700 dollars a month for a proper education ..............no?

hostess (as parveen, the other twelve thirteen year old, rolls in the tinkling tea trolley ): but I have heard they serve pork in the cafeteria and there is not much emphasis on teaching islamiyat ........... after all we are muslims and our children should learn how to pray and read the koran ............ ali says we must not abandon our culture specially if we are to retain the family seat in parliament ........... but the american school is okay for business people like you – we have to stay close to the awam ...........pareven !.... kumbukht !....... these samosas are over cooked – so many times i have told this girl not to overheat the oil ........... you know how much i pay her ? a thousand rupees a month plus three meals a day and she is always threatening to leave ......... these people have no sense of duty and loyalty ...........

janoo: i heard the kids from american school spiked the punch at their prom and then created a scene at the village .......

hoastess (sighing): but janoo, kids will be kids .... rember the time aali spiked the punch when we were at kinnaid ......

jamoo (with a nostalgic look): aaah ... those wer the days ..... you know tha aali used to smoke pot and ended up marrying her goroo professor at smith college ......

bunty: really?........ did you know that mrs iftikhar’s kids go to st. mary’s ?....... she is such a paindoo – imagine sending your kids to a missionary school nowadays ! ............ twenty thirty years ago they used to be okay when the fathers and mothers were white men and women from ireland or wales – now they send kalay kalootay padres from sri lanka and south India .......... i think mushy went to st mary’s? …… i don’t understand mrs iftikhar – it is not as if she doesn’t have the money..........

rehana (adjusting her bra strap under her leotard top): she is a gujrati - a patel - and you know how cheap these people are ............ i can’t believe i have to wear track pants over my leotards at this new gym that opened up even though the lady who runs it is a german

bunty: i think mushy went to st pat’s?

rehana: no wonder he speaks english like a ba-pass clerk :” we would look at all the modalities of the situation before reaching a consensus with all the connected parties to the problem that has been existing for the past forty seven years !” ............ what a clown!

bunty: at least he is better than that fat shopkeeper, nawaz sharif .......... i can’t believe he went to st anthony`s

hostess (agitated) : all the mithai walas, jewellers and other small business men send there kids to st anthonys now – that place is like a zoo ........... half he kids speak punjabi and the other half speak english with a punjabi accent .............. you know my brothers went thee in the sixties (and she wipes a tear from her eye)

bunty: jani, don’t get upset .......... like everhtyhing else the educational system in this country has gone down the drain ........... bhutto and then that idiot zia are responsible for this sad state of affaris ............. may they rot in hell ...............

everyone : ameen, sum ameen ............

rehana : rafi wants to send amir to aitchison next year .............. what do you think

janoo (mumbling with her moiuth full ): rehana, you can do whatever you want, but i tell you there is a lot of homosexuality there .......... you know that abdul ali khan, wali khan’s brother, was the principal there for a long time and people say he was a homosexual ........... if you want to spend thirty forty thousand a month to turn your son into a khusra, it is your problem ........

rehana (who looks worried and ignores the bra strap that has slipped out again): hai, really?..... i thought that sort of thing happened only at the cheap cadet colleges where the faujis send their kids .......... you are kidding, right ?

janoo (with a mischievous wink): of sourse yaar, i am just pulling your leg ....... and aitchison is fine, my rafi went there and let me tell you, he is no homo (wink! wink!) ……


............ and all this time poor mrs khan sits quietly on the couch without touching the food ........ it has been a terrible morning for her :”how can I face these people again? what must they think ?.... i can’t believe I let irfan talk me into sending the kids to roots ....... i should know better than that .............. what does he know …… so what if he is a contractor with billions in the bank – he is still a paindu who went to government high school #2 ........... ya allah, why did I ever agree to marry him ?”

the pace at which India is developing its infratructure (after its urgent nuclearizing priority) -- in all likelihood -- one can safely bet -- in 2010 Dilli will still be in 1020...

``Commuting time has reduced, congestion has eased and pollution levels have dropped dramatically. The life of the common man has improved.``(Amansandhu)

which Delhi are you talking about Amansandhu sahib -- may be between December 2005 and March 2006 --``You will find New Delhi a changed city`` -- but in December in the Nizamuddin area I was stuck in the traffic for one full hour -- everybody had turned off their vehicle`s engines -- we got out ate a samll lunch nearby resteraunt and came back --

reason -- coal was being delivered by the goods train to the Delhi Power house!!!.....by 2010 ur ``Dilli`` may still be ``dur ust``....

...as they used to say -- ``agar Dilli meiN dhool nu khaiee to phir keya khaya``...

Shandana,
The Commonwealth games in Delhi are in 2010. New Delhi airport is being modernised and privatised. By the end of this year Delhi Metro [ underground] will ply from the airport to New Delhi railway station. Delhi Metro is currently the most modern in the world. It has transformed north Delhi and will soon change south Delhi. Commuting time has reduced, congestion has eased and pollution levels have dropped dramatically. The life of the common man has improved. All buses will be eased out by 2010 and eco-friendly buses will be introduced. Waste disposal is to be modernised etc, etc.
The Managing Director of Delhi Metro, Dr. E. Sreedharan, was chosen by Times magazine as the most outstanding Asian, 2003.
You will find New Delhi a changed city in 2010.

Re: # 15
hasanmahmod mian -- do you HAVE to be a so nihilistically clinical party pooper.....:) -- why not some subtle wit like Hamidm`s or Gill`s.......

Shandana writes a fluid prose.......a little slippery here and there......nonthless delightfully readable......cherish her rich writing......you yourself sound quite welltodo.....so why not...:)

thank you for this peek into the life of rich and cool.
good read. is 60,000 the ``donation`` fee or yarly sum?
if donation, its cheap by indian standards. of yearly, its at par.

please do indulge us and wrire about dilli..what is a little target among chokies.

one thousand dollars to reserve a seat in kindergarten?!?!

is it worth it? i can understand spending good money at a middle school or high school but kindergarten? can`t u teach the same stuff at home for free

shandana - lovely read as usual and thank god for you! my mother tells me i can`t possibly remember the interviews that we all went through when i was your kid`s age but i do - they talk about how hard it is on the kid to be interviewed for admission into kindergarten but i remember having a good time while my mom and dad went through the third degree.

as for the pissed off contingent that have begun to appear - i hardly need to tell you to ignore them, do I?

where is our society heading ? every institution , every one are taken on by this poision of capitalism - which is permoting the rich-poor & this medium divide which will not benefit us in future -
so whats the solution?
a) nationalize education sector
b) health care sector
obviously , this won`t happen because the best schools are owned by the elite and lootays in government ( our very own Foreign Minister is a example ) -
we need a revolution .....

I really dont understand the point of this article. Is it for you to tell us that you had a good time in India because that is surprising. I have been there and it is one of the dirtiest countries in the world or was the point that your husband is a nice boy who does not have the guts to stand up to you, or is the point that you went off on your kid because you were mad at your husband for a mistake that you both made. Maybe you wanted to tell us that you had 60000 to pay for a school when most of people in Pakistan dont have that much money. I seriously dont understand why this article is even on chowk. Do you know a lot of people who work for this website. Maybe next time you will come up with something that will not sound like grumblings fom a 5 year old kid. I am pretty sure there are writers who can write above the level of a kindergardner.

I`m a little confused by this article, perhaps because I don`t live in Pakistan. Why are parents being interviewed? is it because the demand is very high and there aren`t enough places at these private schools?

It almost sounds like the schools attitude is that they are doing you a favour by letting your child into the school. Aren`t you the customer paying for the service?

#1 by hamidm2

Yeah the revelation begins as soon as you land and confirmed during the drive into the city.

the first school i went to was open air under a tree i had to bring my own taat to sit on, have things improved since then. in the uk thousands of indian and pakistani doctors are working in restaurants living on soup kitchens, because their degrees are not recognised.

Dear Shandana

Nice article and I think things will only get worse in the future. Or maybe i am being pessimistic.

Hamidm2: there is always a possibility for a slug fest...your own statement can act as a catalyst..i have ceased to be surprised at the inanities that can cause a mudfight at Chowk.

Pleasure to read, Shandana-ji !

Let me share my experience of the Interview stuff.

When my wife and I took our 2 1/2 year old daughter for the INTERVIEW in a Nursery School in Bombay, we found bedlam. Packed into a smallish hall were literally hundreds of people - anxious parents, teachers running about with clip-boards trying to get some sort of order established, and of course the kids. The kids were clearly not prepared for this. Neither was my daughter.

She emitted a loud howl and burst into tears.

For a moment my wife and I panckied. Then I had a brilliant idea.

I had noticed that the little garden outside was empty, because everyone was inside the hall trying to be interviewed. So I picked up my bawling daughter and set off for the garden.

There was a slide, where the kid climbed steps and slid down a narrow, smooth open chute. I placed my daughter at the foot of the stairs, and off she went like a bat out of hell, tears forgotten.

She had a whale of a time for a few minutes until the teachers also managed to get people out of the hall and into the garden. Naturally, the kids came to the slide, too.

By now my daughter was the Queen of the Slide. She claimed first right, demanded that all the kids formed a queue, and even pushed away a couple of belligerent ones who tried to ``short-circuit``.

This seems to have impressed the teachers who were in the garden. They asked my daughter her name, which (fortunately) she remembered.

She was admitted without an interview.

Re: # 5

Delhiwala, why are you so saRa hua?

Shandana, excellent writing as usual. However, this peace could have used some diligent proof reading. There are a couple of glaring (but easy to commit) spelling mistakes, which should have been caught by the editors.

Having gotten that off my chest, I must compliment you on an excellent article. You have a certain style of writing which is very polished, but still comes straight from the heart. Add to that your bubbly wit, and we have a winner on our hands. Indeed, you are a breath of fresh air in an otherwise putrid environment of chowk.

There is a real problem in India (and I guess also in Pakistan) as far as primary education is concerned. Most government schools have become useless with their out-dated teaching methods and their completely unenthusiastic teaching staff. That is partially the reason why every parent wants his or her kid to get into the private schools, which are few. The competition to get into such schools is very high and consequently, the schools can practically dictate terms to parents. Also, the fees charged by these schools are exorbitant. I doubt any middle class parents can afford Rs. 60,000 per year school fees (for 12 years) in either India or Pakistan (rising salaries notwithstanding).

Both the governments of India and Pakistan need to address this crises in primary education facilities as a top priority. In India the government focus is mainly on the institutes of higher education like IITs, IIMs and RECs. Indians are quite proud of the engineers and managers that come out of these institutes - and rightly so- but the primary education infrastructure needs huge, huge improvement.

I don`t know what the solution to this problem is, but encouraging opening of more private schools while at the same time drastically improving the conditions in government schools seems like a good place to start.

I think your hubby is a good man! (Psst… most hubbies are! (The problem is usually on the other side!)) And certainly a very patient man!

I always have trouble with kids calling unknown adults aunties (or uncles). I think it is a great mistake to assign respect strictly based on age – and it is at the root of many troubles that plague our culture.

When I started reading your article, it appeared to be moving a bit like Delhiwala’s trip to Las Vegas (you know the sort that reads – “..woke up in the morning, went to bathroom, brushed teeth, then had a cup of tea,…..”) but you recovered well.

But Dilli does have a point – as he appoints himself to point out, your point is not well made!

[…because we knew lots of people who sent their kids their, and the boys best friend from playschool would be shifting there in August too.]
Your writing style still seems to exhibit a few symptoms of the exhaustion from the heat of exertion!

PS: sorry to get here late!

Shandana,
A great read, Looks like urban education in Pakistan is as expensive as it is in India.

#1 by hamidm2 on March 30, 2006 11:06am PT

````....... by the way, did you check out any of the madrassas in karachi ?....... they offer free board and lodging ...````

You have just created one more avenue for the Indo-Pak slug match, haven`t u? (Madrassas offer free education, but it is a bigoted one.. teaches death to Infidels.. No madrassas encouraged in India.. hence we are superior) ;;;-)

Thanks,
Avkrishna

And the point of this article is...................




heloooooooo....

My dad rode his bicycle from Kharar to Ambala along with 2 Tayas every day to attend the high school. He came to Delhi and cleared the govt service exam and retired as Very Senior Govt employee.

My dad wore a Pajama and shirt and run-down turban everyday. Oh, and during winters they carried a 12 bore shotgun on the bicycle in Ambala, just in case....

You people think too much. Just put the kids in any school and spend time with them at home.

Ms Minhas: How can you be a Muslim is still a mystery to me? In my school the biggest badmaash(good friend of mine) was a Minhas Jamindaar from Sangrur. You should drop this lastname, you are no Minhas...

Bibi,

Whats the relationship between India trip and school interview?

I remember our first school interview.....

I was in pajamas....my grandfather in a Kachha and banain....we went into this school.....the `principal` was tidying the school on weekend.....a few questions asked....my grandpa rejected the school.......the principal was scared of my grandpa during the interview....

how about this one....

we were envious of our paindoo cousing who always stood first or second in class.....when we visited his pind, found out that there were only 2 students in his class......the whole school was under one big tree......

how about this one......

my grandmas went to schools where their sisters in law taught.....and they got slapped by the sisters in law for disobedience......they gave up studies.....

talk about simpler days.....where`ve they gone??????

or another one when an uncle yelled `ter maa di, bhen di....` to his `maaster` and ran out of school......

or another uncle who cheated after threatening his master with knife.....and still failed....!

hamidm2:
Wait a while; you wouldn`t be disappointed. The essay does provide a slight opening for the flood of Indo-Pakistani politics to barge in. The family went to India for the vacation, didn`t they? That should be enough.
The essay is good to read.
Rs 60,000! Wow, this explains why there is no scarcity of students for the madrassas.
Mohammad Gill

Lovely, springy read.. what I got out of it was how your husband is such a Run-Mureed – in Punjabi, we say, “Bivi day thalay lagya oya ay”.

Happy spring time.

.......... now that was one heck of a good read ....

...... i wonder how somone can turn this into the usual indo-pak dung-fest ....... hmmmm - there are so many possibilities .....

....... by the way, did you check out any of the madrassas in karachi ?....... they offer free board and lodging ...