(Cntd)

By 

S. Buk Mai .

A new Press amendment law makes it easy to gag the press. Naturally the Press is in between a major dilemma and general malaise about this; especially when there was no need for it. Looks like a case of an over zealous bureaucrat. A Punjabi friend remarked that it looks like the case of a new wrestler who, coming into the arena, tends to slap his hands on his thighs excessively – to impress the other wrestlers.

Still it is amusing to see how the PML[Q] which is the kings party [or the breakaway party created from the ex-prime ministers party [ PML-N] , is using the song by Ibrar the singer – exploiting the symbol of the bicycle allocated to it – Beja merey cycle tey ……..It is great fun to watch these ads on the TV.

Which reminds one of the wrath of the Khan [ Imran Khan the cricketer turned politician- " Mey ball phainkoon ga , aap catch karain gey" – I will throw the ball, will you catch it – started off a few years ago with these horrible speeches, which naturally led to a complete rout at the 1993 elections. After being in his youth "a man for all Khanums", [witness a track record that extends from the lawns of Oxford to the freeways of Los Angeles] , he is now a born again Muslim shuttling among the burqa clad Khanums of Mianwali and Wah Cantonment. Outside his Party office in Islamabad is a picture of a huge cricket bat with lights that turn on at night – makes a European look at it as a Freudian symbol. He was more of the bowler than batsman. It even rankled the maulvis [clergy] here who objected to his rubbing the new cricket ball on his trouser thigh to keep the shine on it. The maulvis claimed that this action of rubbing the ball was a vulgar act. How kinky can the maulvis get? We hope he can invite all his old buddies – Mick Jagger and the gang to show us how to party on election time.

The Lotas --[that south-asian vessel used in the process of cleaning the front and the bottom- has a spout and a round flat bottom, so a slight knock will make it shift its basic direction; hence those who play musical chairs in politics are called Lotas]. — are active again and marching verily to the old tune of Colonel Bogeys March.

We are not going to have a rocket –scientist as a President; we are not as lucky as our neighbour; but then even the US does not have a rocket–scientist as a President. Under Bhutto the President was an onion peeler, an honest and honourable man.

The weather is turning glorious day by day; the sun is slanting its angle of light; everything appears beautiful when you have enough to eat and sleep without a care; there is a heaviness in the air, a certain lethargy even – that weather, which as the Indian movie idol Dharmender sang – "…. Ho ji ye mausum bara baimaan hey…." – [About the monsoon]; this time around friends describe it as "charsi " [ pot – laden]. Autumn leaves are falling, in the mornings there is a slight mist and a nip in the air; a khaki haze surrounds the Islamabad hills presumably from the stone crushing plants near Taxila.

The Food Street in Lahore’s famous inner old city area " Gowalmandi" [dairy farmers market] known for its food gourmet connoisseurs, has come of age- it is a meat eaters gourmet area- famous for its lamb chops and fried fresh Punjab river fish. It has given the Heera Mandi food shops a run for their money. In the evenings the old carved wooden window balconies and the shops selling fighter kites create an ambience which mingles with the Cokes, Pepsis and Seven-ups.

For those into heritage and trudging into memory lanes, the good news is that Lahore ‘s city intelligentsia has managed to save the old Tollington food market. There is now a plan to save the old building, restore it to its original state and more.

Art the old beggar that barely scrapped a living, has finally arrived big time in all the cities of Pakistan; In Lahore, the Parsi novelist Bapsi Siddwa’s novel title " The Crow Eaters" is also the name of a new art gallery, It is near the old Anarkali bazaar.

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