Auntie, can we please have our ⚽ back?

 

Why do we market our milk as Australian milk?

So many questions: is this really Australian Cow milk? Are we importing Australian cows into Pakistan? What's wrong with Pakistani cows? Does barfi made from Australian cow milk taste good? Can we make kheer from this Australian milk? What does an Australian cow look like? Are they racist? If you drink Australian cow milk, can you get into an Australian university?  

Why did the PTI government allow Anhaar to import Australian cows into Pakistan? And, if this isn't really Australian cow but Australian-cow-flavoured milk, then why are these companies misleading the public? How can we amend the laws to import other cows too and , how can we better mislead consumers? 

Sunshine casting golden glows

I love the pools of golden sunshine that the evening sun creates in our home. I love how the sun casts a glow around the house in the evening. 

Strolls, tea and books

During an evening stroll in the small Nathiagali bazaar, I saw a couple walking towards the bazaar, while I walked back to the hotel. They passed me in the night for a split second but it was an impression. 

It was a newly-wed wordless couple. The girl was dressed in a slightly formal suit , her head was covered with a chiffon dupatta and, she had a nice shawl around her shoulders. She seemed to be smiling nervously. The chap was walking with his hands clasped behind his back. They were not talking but quietly walking towards the bazaar. They were not holding hands either. I felt there was a nervous look of courage on the girl's face. 

That she was thinking 'I am unbelievably here but I must do this.' 

I wonder if they had an arranged marriage and were too shy with each other. I was amused and slightly depressed, too, looking at them. 

The image really stuck in my head. I've seen much more intimate couples, holding hands or bent over knocking heads chatting at restaurant tables, talking to each other. But this couple was very distant. 

Good luck to them in their wordless and confused start. Maybe the charms of Nathiagali will bring them together. 

Speaking of charms, besides my snobby take of Murree Mall Road and the break-neck speed at which the hill station is becoming a Pindi bazaar, it goes without saying that honeymooners and middle-class vacationers come up here. So, I must appreciate that these hills are frequented by the hopes of new loves and passions. 

Oh, another thing that really struck me was seeing nariyal stalls up in Murree and Nathiagali. Yes, you read that right - there was coconut water being sold up in the hills in freezing weather. And it was 400 rupees a pop! Why would I like to drink nariyal ka pani in that weather or atmosphere, it is something I associate with the tropics and hot summers. There is something utterly vulgar about it. Are coconuts being trucked up to the hills from .... Sindh? Someone please enlighten me. Are they frozen and then thawed for the winter tourists in Murree? 

I do love roaming around in Islamabad's Markazain (what is the plural of Markaz). And, they too are changing at break-neck speed. Old shops are being torn down to make way for new plazas. Things are being gentrified. 

I myself am always looking for that old feeling of Islamabad. For example, I love the shops in Supermarket/F-6. Handicraft shops. Shawls. Carpets. Jewelry shops. I love how shaded that Markaz is. Soon, though most of these shops will disappear and, we will have big brands or supermarkets take over. The charm of going into a family business will soon be gone. Already, it is rare to be offered a cup of tea or soft drink while shopping. 

I love the stalls in Jinnah Supermarket, selling trinkets, clothes, chicken corn soup, fake perfumes, etc. My friends and I met up the other day at Kabul Restaurant for dinner and, later we strolled through the Market. We stopped at a book stall and, I was amazed at how knowledgable the bookstall owner was! He advised us which books to get, that so and so had copied so and so's style, and, so on. I was quite blown away and started ranting about how much I had a vendetta with Saeed Book Bank. 

Here was an informed bookseller who one could actually talk about books with with a small bookstall and, there is Saeed Book Bank - self proclaimed biggest bookshop in the country -  round the corner which doesn't even have one informed staff. Going into Saeed Book Bank, once my favourite place, just makes my blood boil. There are dozens of staff but each one is a headless chicken who couldn't find a book, even if they look for it in their computer. None of them are trained. I must have spent at least a few thousands of dollars since my 20s and, everyone goes there to buy books. After all these years, why can't they at least invest in their staff? There's not even a freaking sofa to sit down and peruse through books. They haven't even got a small coffeeshop. 

Instead, every now and then, they collect and cash in on public sympathy by announcing they are about to close down! 

Finally, whenever my siblings visit from London, they go on about how expensive Islamabad is. They are hooked to coffee and, they tried buying it from coffeeshops 3 times a day and, were shocked at how a cuppa is more expensive than in London. Why do small pleasures have to be so expensive? 

Speaking of books and tea, this thing has been making rounds on social media and I swear.....

Inflationary times, blocked roads and peaceful protests and khandaks

I've had random conversations with drivers and shop keepers during a road trip recently and realised that PTI supporters are now vehemently against this government in the face of sky rocketing inflation and blatant corruption. They are unhappy with how badly Naya Pakistan has fared. There is the idea that PTI has also not properly dealt with TLP wallah and, in fact, are making things worse. They are angry roads have been blocked and business is down. However, the same folks also support TLP and think that indeed the French Ambassador has made a 'gustakhi' and should be kicked out. I've heard that Khadim Rizvih was a great guy (the mullah who is on record verbally abusing Abdul Sattar Edhi and the government) and in the same breath that in fact, Imran Khan is a useless politician who himself badly affected business by a year long dharna in 2014 and was so good at verbal abuse. It's a contradictory set of arguments but my guess is that the public cares about inflation, their day to day earnings, but also is conditioned strongly in favour of the religious right. In their eyes , Imran Khan has failed not only to provide economic prosperity but is also failing to punish those who insult Islam.

The road trip was up to Murree and Nathiagali which got delayed the first time around thanks to the TLP Wallay who were marching from Lahore to the capital. The nervousness around their arrival at the capital made me cancel the trip. "What if the roads got blocked and we got stuck in the hills?" I wondered. I postponed the trip for a week thinking that surely, since the government is so used to dealing with them sieging the capital, the turnaround for arrival, thorna phorna, negotiations and muzakarat, manana and dealings would take about a week. Yes, a week's time, I calculated it. 

It still didn't end and the beast was still slouching towards Bethlehem. So, I took my chances and set forth upon my weekend break. 

Still, one wanted to keep turning one's back during the back and, look out for the TLP Mullahs. What if their leaders decided to take a break from their protests and wanted a break up in Murree, too? 

"Woh TLP wallon ka kya hua?" I asked the driver. The driver said they wouldn't come to the capital because the state had dug "khandakay" near Jhelum.  I don't know what gives one pause these days but the word "khandak" gave me pause. I've never studied Urdu or studied in Pakistani schools so my knowledge of technical Urdu words is limited to what I learned from my parents and, I do remember something about a Battle of Khandak from early Islamic history. What is a khandak? It is a trench. 

You can imagine how much of a pause this could give you. Your brain computer has to reset twice just to process it. 

Blink twice? 

So, we have the Islamic Republic of Pakistan digging khandaks in the 21st century to stop marching violent mullahs towards the capital. We have one of the biggest , well funded armies and security states in the world and here we are digging trenches to stop unruly mullahs from laying siege to our capital.  We surely have to ask ourselves what went wrong and when in our charmed existence as a the Fortress of Islam. 

I chatted at length with the the few drivers I met during this trip, one who proudly would say because he is from Murree he doesn't pay Toll Tax, he just has to smile at the booth people. Why is everyone so happy to break the law around here but moan about it when it affects them badly? 

See, the other driver told me that he had initially been a PTI supporter (that too because of family compulsion because his brother was a party worker in Murree) even though he lost his whole garment business during the year long siege Imran Khan laid to Islamabad back in 2014. Business was so bad because roads were blocked and tourists had all but stopped coming to Murree. So, his business went "thap." He was generally angry with Imran Khan who was not even a good cricketer according to him and, didn't know how to do anything at all. He complained a lot about business and inflation. I asked him but he is a very religious man and why are the mullahs not cooperating with him? The answer was that he is not really a true believer. It is all a sham. 

Who is a true believer or not is a great shifting Pakistani game. 

Anyway, it was a delightful diversion to the hills. My father would have none of it, though, he didn't want us escaping anywhere from the 'security' of the house but still, Kavita and I absconded, assuring him we would be back. 

I haven't been to Murree since 2005 or 2006, during one of my trips back to Islamabad from Monrovia. I think it was a day trip  and, I hardly remember any of it. I really wanted to see the hill station that is Murree, built by the British. I keep seeing hill stations in Hindi films , from Qayamat se Qayamat Tak to Jab We Met to Lootera but the British colonial hill station's main square's vision struck me in the old film Kudrat. The main square has a church, square, horse - carriages and definitive buildings. I recently watched Kudrat (what haven't I watched and discovered in this Pandemic?) and, aimed to see Murree. 

Speaking of hill stations, please read lovely piece from Scroll: From Kipling to Manisha Koirala: How Indian hill stations came to assume feminine identities. 

I was absolutely disturbed by the Murree Mall Road. Mullahs and patriarchal attitudes love to describe women existing as women vulgar but the sight of Murree Mall Road was absolute vulgarity to me. It is not that I want British glory to be preserved here but for whatever these hill stations are worth, they do have some historic and aesthetic value. And as far as I know, there aren't any offensive status of British slavers and colonial overloads there that need toppling. Instead, Mall Road had this cheapness to it, a vulgar display of ugly shop fronts, litter, a highly offensive monument to the Army or the state , and to boot, a man was slicing up some tailed critters, spilling their blood and guts everywhere in the middle of this Mall Road. I can tell you, my privileged self was horrified. I was told later the oil from this reptile is highly valued. 

The church was not opened to the public but I snuck in, begging the caretaker to let me take a few pictures. Inside the walled grounds of the church one felt a little relief and calm and felt one was in the beautiful mountains. 

Pakistan is so unsafe for non-Muslim houses of worship that they simply close doors to the public. 

Nathiagali was much less 'developed' than Murree, I think. It is still heavily forested with majestic pines to be seen everywhere. The main bazaar was much more delightful and open, though of course, the same cheap goods can be seen here as well. There is littering and plastic everywhere and, you will now even see a green face mask hanging here or there on a branch. Soon, more hotels and restaurants will pop up here, many of them being local fast food or coffeeshop chains, in domestic colonisation style. Likewise, many owners of hotels seem to hail from Lahore. 

I asked about the new hotel that will be constructed in Nathiagali , a 5-star one, whose foundation stone was inaugurated by Imran Khan. I was told a stay order had been put in due to environmental concerns. I was flabbergasted. Paused in my brain tracks. How? What? 

Do you actually mean that our sermonising Prime Minister who on one hand claims to have planted a billion trees and also tells us how important tourism is to our future inaugurated a new hotel that didn't even pass through a basic environmental check list? 

Let's all dig a khandak, climb into it and curl up in a ball and cry?