My Pakistan Diary: Lahore Aaya Main Othay Dil Chhod Aaya!

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Dost-mitter, Farzana and their ilk go on with their lovefest with the pakis.....
Amit wants open borders for the Pakis to come in and enjoy Kashmir.

But the reality is given below....

http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEL20040425061607&Title=B+R+E+A+K+I+N+G++++N+E+W+S&Topic=0&Full~Story

Terrorists behead police officer`s wife, daughter in Kashmir
Sunday April 25 2004 16:40 IST
PTI

SRINAGAR: Terrorists beheaded wife and daughter of a special police officer in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said on Sunday.

The terrorists barged into the house of SPO Ghulam Hassan Qureshi late on Saturday night at Bazipora village and beheaded his 30-year old wife Shaha and eight-year old daughter Misra, they said.

The SPO was not present at home as he was on duty at Bandipora.

Before fleeing, the terrorists planted an IED in the SPO`s house which was later defused by the bomb disposal squad.

After spreading the lies about me this person is acting the victim and shedding tears on other chowkists` shoulders just in order to `enlist` ( his expression!) them for his ``Save-TNT`` cause. What a way!

Solitude:
Glad to see YLH and his family signing the petition after your intervention .

Nooralain,
Yes the Methodist Church is right next to Lucy Harrison. I was a regular visitor to the facy fair each year at that school. Behind it is the military garrison.

I did my Senior Cambridge in 1971 and joined Government College the same year.
Don Bosco is next to St. Anthony`s Church and St. Anthony`s School is next to Catholic Cathederal. I made a meaningful mention of it in my article, ``Kahan Se Aap Zammaney Key ...`` at Chowk.

Well who is your cousin and which year. I may know him.

As of today, FC College Rules Pakistan. Mussarraf was most unlike FC type. Perhaps it has more to do with his backgrond of St. Patricks and personality of Bishop Lobo.

Tahmed, there is so much of Lahore that it would need volumes.

The Nan Kebab Wala sitting with his tawa in Regal Chowk on the junction of Lawrence and Temple Roads is still there. He provided us with much of our nutrition in childhood. People like, Zahid ali Akbar, Imran, Sharif Brothers and Saifur Rehman, Ishaq Dar, the Chaudries of Service Group and many more Antonians still visit his grandson who runs the roadside eatery.

While training for boxing and gymnastics. we used to get up at dawn and jog to Minto Park.
Pehlawan was our regular diet on the way back. Amongst us Clyde Rose, Nigel Rose, Bobby Sanaullah and Brian Rose went on to represent Pakistan in the Asian and Commomwealth games. But I feel that Royale Park lassi had no substitute.

Bhatti Karahi Wala near Mozang was a great spot. One of his cooks later opened the Karahi spot for Jehanghir on Kashmir Road. When Jehanghir became a chain, this cook lost his place. I traced him out recently and got him cornea transplants.

Over time the landed aristocracy and industerialists have moved to Lahore. With it has come the present format of Basant and Hip swinging. Like ever, Lahore has absorbed yet another influence.

Chowk editors I would expect you to show some fairness and allow my last post on YLH`s propoganda and lies. He cannot accept intellectual dissent.

sadna#130:
I crossed the Sindh river twice, once while crossing from Panjab to NWFP and another time while passing through Sukkur in Sindh. Couldn`t even get a good look from the road from where I was sitting.

ijaz gul,

lucie harrison is the school, i believe. my cousins attended that school. but there is also a church somewhere along waris road, not too far from lucie harrison where my aunt and family, and our family sometimes attended sunday services. also, the writer, bapsi sidhwa, i believe had her house on that same road. i think the church is/was either presbyterian or methodist, and i can tell you who the padri was there, though he is no longer alive, and you may not have known him.

perhaps one of these days, i shall have to tell my father you thought f.c college is a college for sissies! he attended f. c, before he went to nishtar medical college which if memory serves me correctly is in multan?

ammi always mentioned shimla pahadi, but i had no clue what she was talking about. : )
i loved lawrence gardens though, they were beautiful to wander through, and the flower shows they put on were fabulous.
i know of st. anthony`s. my cousin was there. don bosco and st. anthony`s were next to each other, or very close at least. cathedral off of mall road was quite a good english medium school also, was it not. perhaps st. anthony`s was better.

i don`t know when you attended school or stayed in lahore, i was there in the early to late seventies. it is somewhat nice to remember the lahore of old which doesn`t quite exist anymore.

regards,
n~

Ijaz Gul #140 So, you are a fellow Ravian. No doubt your posts always make a lot of sense. But how did you miss the pehlwaan at bhatti gate (this is circa. 1969)? That man made served cold milk with lots of sugar and things plus kulfis and other food from heaven - after studying late into the warm Lahore nights, we would jump over the rooftops (gates were closed after midnight as I remember) and head for bhaati gate. The pehlwaan would be there (did this man ever sleep?) along with bottles full of sugar-filled cold milk and kulfis.

Nooralain, are you talking of Lucy Harrison School? Well I remember it when I studied at St Anthony`s Lawrence Road.

Some areas that have been missed are the Gardens and Parks of Lahore. I remember jogging in The Lawrence Gardens and plucking unripe mangoes. Along the canal. there was a lovely prommenade which has only grown with beauty.However, I feel for the Manto Park, which no more offers opportunities for sportsmen which it once did. Simla Hill was a beautiful place but has been overshoadowed by the Holiday Inn. This is where most of the Goan and Anglo Pakistani community lived before moving to Canada, States and Australia.

At Lawrence road, we had the famous Taj Din, the Lattu (TOP) maker. He was known to be the best in his trade, and lets not forget the Pairey Wali Lassi in the Royale Park.

There was a small fishery near the Lucy Harrison. Alas! it is no more there.

Regatding kite flying, Krishan Nagar and Mochi Gate were the hot spots and surprisingly amongsts the middle class it was dominated by Anglo Pakistanis. Good kite flyers were called Khilaris and they made their own doar and tukkals(kites)

Nouvelle Lahoris have proliferated and brought disrepute to this sport. In those days Mujras if any were in the confines of Heera Mandi. Kite flying was hummed with activities like eating of KATLAMBAS(a desi pizza) Jalebi, Lassi, Kanjhi and Ho Jamalo. There was a dignity and poise in the sport that is no more there.

Amongst the student community, the English medium was dominated by St. Anthony`s and Urdu Medium by Central Model. FC College was sissys while Government College was the ultimate. Ravians were second to none. As a Christian I deliberately overlooked FC College and chose to be a Ravian. Aitchison belonged to the elites and sissies.

The best Puri Halwa was served opposite the Amritsari Sweet Shop on Beadon Road. It is still there. Regal wala somosas were the best but have been edged out by the H. Karin Baksh. What a shame!

Inside the walled city, Lal Khooh was the best Mithai and has since moved to other parts of the city. Nirala then was a perifery.

I hope I invoke enough nostalgia?

#118

Shri Anil,

What is all this groaning and mumbling about hindu-sikh majority Lahore? Presumably, as soon as the kafirs were eliminated the mandirs were smashed or destroyed. Sikh places of worship are a little different as they do not contain idols; they can be tolerated, and, after 1985 there is an attempt to distinguish between hindus and sikhs with a view to helping out with the khalistan movement.

You will wait for a loo-oo-ng time to hear any expressions of regret with respect to cultural genocide of hindu religous sites. I have met even ``educated`` indian muslims who view idol-smashing as natural and perhaps even necessary. So don`t waste your breath here.

We are dealing with a self-absorbed and triumphalist religous ideology with explicit instructions for violence against hindu-buddhist-jain images. It will take it a long time to reach the level of civilization that says sarva dharma sambhav. Meanwhile there is always the Babri Masjid to complain about :-)

It is hard imagine now that Afghanistan/NW Pakistan was a center of learning once with many key buddhist and hindu sites. Panini the famous sanskrit grammarian was an Afghan ! The tenth century ruler of Kabul was a Hindu and several saivite relics have also been excavated.

Presumably with the islamic invasions there was a systematic genocide of the ruling class and especially the buddhist monks. Tens of thousands of indian slaves were taken to Persia and Central Asia. One muslim commentator speaks of the foothills becoming dark with the multitudes of indan slaves who were removed to central asia and sold at a low price. Intellectual and other traditions were destroyed and replaced by an islamic militarized culture that remains characteristic of the region.

vertex #129
``thanks to tax payer money
Oh, don`t Pakistanis pay taxes, too? This is dost-mittar`s board so I will only add I hope Indian Muslims and the world are suitably grateful to Pakistan for fighting the scourge of Indian nationalism and Hindutva.

rsridhar #122 You are very right in saying that one develops an attachment to the place one grew up in. My visits to India have been too short (mostly stopovers en route to other countries on business, and never more than an overnight stay in a hotel) to mean much. I hope, at some point in the future, to take a more leisurely trip through India and Delhi certainly seems to be a place one could spend some time on. So, from what you describe of Delhi, this should be something to look forward to.

veeresh #135 I was just presenting one first hand experience and saying that this indicates that there was ``an element of truth`` to the need for a place in the sun. Things are black and white only on chowk - not in real life where black and white exist side by side. That is all I am saying.

tahmed32 - 134 . . .this theory by the Muslim League of a separate nation as a place where Muslims could find a place in the economic sun . . . I can understand that, which is why we have India where Muslims (and others) of all sorts can have ``a place in the economic sun.``

Now, since that is the case, what was the reason behind the Muslim League`s need for yet another separate nation where most Muslims (and others) would not have a place in the economic sun?

I mean, take the following figures for two hypothetical countries ``X`` and ``Y``.

In ``X``, all sorts of Muslims (and others) can go about economic emancipation. No big deal.

In ``Y``, women, minorities, Muslim sects, poor people, bonded labour, certain communities . . . all totalling say 90% of the population can not find a place in the economic sun.

So who was the Muslim League batting for, then? Country ``X``?

anil #127 This link provides a brief but interesting history of Lahore, including the partition period and all the way to rapid development of lahore in recent years.

http://www.dawn.com/events/century/pla3.htm

My late father told me a couple of stories of Lahore from partiiton days:

a. After he left college, he wanted to start a bookshop in Anarkali. Although shops were on sale in Anarkali, not one of the shopowners (who were all hindus) was willing to sell to him. So, there was an element of truth to the muslim league`s call for a separate nation where muslims could find a place in the economic sun.

b. During partition, there was a hindu professor whose house in Lahore was surrounded by a muslim mob. The professor told the mob (or so the story goes, as my father told me), that they could kill him if they wished, but they should save the library of books in his house since they would need them once the chaos of partition was over. The mob killed the professor and then burnt the library as well.

One day I hope, next to the Pakistan mounument in Lahore, we will have a monument to the sikh and hindu residents of Lahore who were killed or had to flee for their lives. And perhaps this professor`s story will be written there as well.