This is a picture of a notice found outside a lift (elevator) in Karachi.
Translation of the Urdu bit is even more amusing than the English one. Continue reading ‘Pictorial: Is the lift REALLY there?’
Archive for the 'Pictorial' Category
It was the first time in history that an entire nature series was filmed with high-definition technology. The resulting images were some of the most fascinating that have ever been showed on television and in fact, some were the first of their type ever broadcasted (with respect to their content). That is one reason it took nearly four years for the entire 11- episode series of Planet Earth to be filmed.
One part of the documentary was dedicated to the Karakoram range and the longest mountain-glacier in the world, the Baltoro, found in Baltistan. However, even amongst the mighty mountains, Planet Earth’s main mission was not to film the mountains themselves but to capture images of an animal that has never been intimately filmed in the wild: The snow leopard. It was a task that took nearly a year from start to finish but in the end the effort paid off. Here is a brief pictorial overview of the Baltoro and the snow leopard, followed by clips of Planet Earth on Pakistan (although they do not do justice to HD or the programs’ producers, the internet still has its limitations):
Continue reading ‘Extraordinary Pakistan: the Baltoro Mountain-Glacier & the Snow Leopard’
After the post on Peshawar I would like to move onto another city that I have never been to, but interests me greatly. The provincial capital of Balochistan, Quetta, is known as the ‘fruit garden’ of Pakistan. Its names derives from kwatta, which means fort in Pushto as it is a natural fort surrounded by hills on all sides. Quetta boasts a population of half a million people and it has increased dramatically since partition due to its military base and trading activities. It is dominated by a Pashtun majority with a multicultural minority
Quetta’s infrastructure and its look was changed forever after the 1935 earthquake. About 40,000 people were killed on 31 may 1935. Before that it was a bright and bustling city with multi-storey buildings. Now, it has mostly single storey and quake proof houses, built with bricks and reinforced concrete. Instead of going on any further I will let the pictures do the talking. Please keep in mind, it is very difficult to capture the essence of a city as culturally diverse as Quetta in a few pictures. It is almost impossible to accurately depict its character. However, I have tried to put together a brief collection of pictures which give an idea of life in Quetta, the landscapes, the people and other important sights.
If any of you is interested in knowing what the Lal Masjid fatwa against Tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar is based on then click here for a larger image. The importance of these picture is not so much what they show, but what they say about the absurdity of the continuing Jamia Hafsa and Lal Masjid episode.
Men, said the Devil,
are good to their brothers:
they don’t want to mend
their own ways, but each other’s.
-Piet Hein
I feel we have been focussing too much on too few cities. Even though a lot of the posts concern Pakistan as a whole there have been hardly, if any, on cities apart from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Hence, this is an attempt to look at the ancient city of Peshawar through pictures. Even though I have travelled widely inside Pakistan I must confess I have never been to Peshawar. Recently, Peshawar has been hugely affected by religious extremism as religion has played a huge role in NWFP’s politics. There are many images of women in bhurqas and of billboards with females blackened to hide the faces, however, this post is an attempt to reflect upon the city’s architecture, culture and history.
[I have used a new plugin to display the pictures in a particular format. Since this is the first time we are trying it on the blog it may not appear properly. If there are any problems with it please let me know]
Credit to *abro* for this picture, which was taken from flickr. It is titled Judiciary and Uniform and was put up a couple of months ago so has nothing to do with the most recent episode. How do you interpret it?
The Pakistani mindset is unique. We have a habit of not listening to people and taking it upon ourselves to do things our way. It is very difficult for us to take things seriously and to see them the other person’s point of view. Here are a few pictures that demonstrate this.
First: This woman has a young child in her arms. She is trying to cross a road from a point where there are railings so that noone is able to cross that road from that point. There are many things that could happen. She could lose her balance and trip onto the road and her child and her could be hit by an oncoming car. She could get stuck in the railing and lose the grip on her child who could fall and get hurt. She could get hit by a car while crossing the road, which seems to be a fast moving one due to the railing. These are obvious risks, but she is willing to take them. Why?
Continue reading ‘Pakistani mindest: In Pictures’
A friend emailed me these pictures recently. They seem to have been taken from the British Library archives and show how the city has transormed itself in the last 100 or so years. But then again 100 years is a long time. So much progress has taken place in these last 100 years that it is unbelievable.
What’s more unbelievable is how some of the sites are still easily recognisable. Empress Market has not changed one bit. D.J. Science College also looks very much like what it was when I saw it last. Gymkhana has had developments all around the main building, but the main building still retains the same Tudor look.
And then there’s Saddar. WOW. I’m sure some of you would be able to recognize some old Victorian style churches and buildings after careful examination, but it is almost impossible to compare it to Saddar of today. It has definitely changed. For worse.
In the pictures it looked like a lovely area to live in. Today, it is what Mr Cowasjee refers to as a ‘fire-trap’. Not just that it is a ‘carbon dioxide trap’ as well with old heavily polluting buses, rickshaws, mini-buses, taxis and vans. Also, it looked quite open and spread out in those days compared to the claustrophobic streets of today.
Continue reading ‘Karachi Archives’
It’s a cold, dark night. The leaves outside my window are rustling as the cool winter breeze whispers through their branches. I sit alone in my room, wondering how Karachi got so cold this year. The coastal city rarely experiences such cold waves. Whatever cold we do get is quickly dissipated by the warmer coastal breezes and beautiful sunshine. But it has stuck around for a considerably long time this year. As I ponder the various causes, Al Gore and his global warming documentary come to mind.
Midway through my train of thought I also begin to wonder why it is a cold, “dark” night…I mean it’s the middle of winter-so WHY THE HELL AM I EXPERIENCING LOAD-SHEDDING???!!
The torrential rains in the summer left us some beautiful adjustments in our surroundings. Everybody has heard about the flooded underpass…but I am talking about a most breathtaking sight.
The monsoon rains followed by the winter downpour we had in December has helped transform Karachi into the city of Lakes. Think I’m exaggerating? Take a look at this:
