a Pakistani asking a new trainee what is different in PK from home…

her answer is exactly what was my though:

“its hard to say, there is nothing that would be similar ”

Scene one: Sudan – teddy bear case
A primary school teacher was charged for “letting 7-years old children in her class name a teddybear Mohammed“. It was part of a lesson where the kids were supposed to pick a name for the teddybear, so they picked the most favorite name of theirs. If You are not able to find what is the problem, the religion-protectors found it as an offence to name a toy by the name of the prophet Mohammed… (read original text)

Silly isnt it? And pointless! Conservative Islam doesnt agree with depicting people and most of all holy people, because it doesnt want them to become subjects of worship, true – but putting this case in the same category is idiotic! And no talks about cultural sensitivity – that is not the case here! If this is blasphemy how DARE the protectors of faith name their sons with the name of the Prophet? Do they claim that their son is worth the Prophets name? Stupidity!
She was in jail for a week waiting for the court to decide, was supposed to be given 15 days of jail, but has been pardoned by the president… and than deported from the country…

And to finish the story – a worker at the school has been fired and accused that it was her who started the whole thing… She claims to be innocentand has her life screwed big time as nobody wants to employ her and her family is being harrassed… As I say, pure Stupidity in all directions. (read article)

Scene two: England – bishop supports implementation of Sharia law
A bishop has told in an interview that he thinks that some aspects of Muslim law – sharia should be implemented in UK law, mostly in field of economy and marriages. As result a virtual “stoning” by media and even politicians started, not a single word of support worth notice…
And I feel like puke – PUKE – P.U.K.E. – vomit! If you are looking for a couple of guys who would kill all the Muslims in Your town, try for example this page. The comments of people to the topic are so absurd, simple minded and “I am right and who doesnt agree is s sissy and leftish liberalist!”…. pure disgust…

Ironic: if You get married in Pakistan under Muslim law, Your marriage is valid in UK, but in UK its not possible to get married under Muslim law… isnt that weird?
MEGA ironic: during the carnage and shit throwing, the news from Nov 07 that UK government will issue Sharia-compliant bonds has made it to headlines again… (read original text)

…the whole thing is about exagerrating and missinterpreting. But it perfectly fits into the scheme of “war on terror“, because war needs propaganda (doesnt matter if the war is/not “just”) and fear and hate of the enemy is a basic propaganda element… I guess those who came up with the term “war on terror” got more than they asked for …

Scene three: Iran – government forces people to follow Sharia-called rules
Well, in last year or so the conservative elements of the government of Iran have started to push on following of some rules that they call Sharia. First of all, there is nothing like Muslim law, its just a collection of instructions taken from Koran and Muslim traditions that a power-party or religious group proclaims to be Sharia. Forget the concept of a book of Muslim law, Koran is not a book of law, but a collection of verses on God and Life… Thus logically Muslim law is actually the law of the power group… and often the power group chooses different rules than the people would.

Iran in last year has seen persecutions of women who had their head scarf not “non-transparent enough” or of not enough of length etc. Really ridiculous crap because of simple reason – people of the countrz (muslims) do not agree with those rules. Understand, Muslims are pushed to follow a “Muslim” law that they do not agree with, thus there are only two options:   a) they are not Muslim, b) the law is not Muslim…

You pick, but I have been told that women after comming from outside fling the piece of cloth on the ground – because they are made to wear it, not because they believe in it. What in Turkey becomes a symbol of “free presentation of being Muslim” is in Iran a way “of raping the beliefs of people”…

But here in Pakistan and even more in India its obvious that clay doesnt cost anything! In India they serve You tea in pottery mini-cups, that You throw away after usage… But after a little bit of rain and stomping the cup becomes what it was before – dust…

…what happens to a plastic cup? Does it change back to petroleum? Dont think so… thank You Pakistan for giving a blow to my image of the world…

There are generally three chapters of the story:

1. Regale Internet Inn

This travelers hostel situated on the Mall street, main street of Lahore, actually walking distance from the Old city … Doesnt look much from outside, but offers accomodation only for foreigners for 150-200 Ruppes per night (SO cheap compared to others) and that includes free drinking water, european style washroom, washing machine, internet, TV, comfortable roof-terrace, library, non stop security and most of all – lots of other random travelers who can give You the best advises…

Apart from this, the owner Mr. Malik has lots of interesting things to talk about and organizes every Thursday a trip to a Sufi shrine where the “mystic” drumming and chanting and tranceing is going on…

2. The sightseeing in Lahore

Very nice time – going around and seeing all the (most famous) interesting places. Lahore has lots to see and You dont feel like a “normal” tourist, because there is nearly no foreigners and the places are really interesting.

On the flip side, YOU are often a bigger attraction for locals than the places (so they keep staring at You and try to find out: “what is Your name”, “where are You from” etc.) and to every nice place You go, there will be somebody who wants to show You “something beautiful” and ask for money afterwards

I have seen e.g. Badshahi mosque (after 400 years, still one of biggest mosques in the world), Minar-e-Pakistan, the trio of Jahangirs, Asaf Khans and Nur Jahans Tombs, Food Street, Daata Darbar (Sufi saints shrine) and lots of other random places…

3. Being stuck in LUMS uni

Which happened due to the assasination of Benazir Bhutto …getting bored and having enough time to update this blog.

…. EnD …. if You have only few days to spend in Pakistan, go to Lahore and life in Regal Inn.

Well, I have spent the Xmas in Lahore, in the hostel mentioned below… In Pakistan, and most of all iLahore, has a suprising lot of Christians. But they celebrate Christmas on 25th, unlike in Slovakia where the celebration is on 24th night. I have spent the days sightseeing in Lahore…  But I have a few interesting stories to share

random guy: “hello, what Your name?”
me: “Tomas”
random guy: “me [insert name], nice to meet You …… where You from?
me: “Slovakia – Czechoslovakia – Europe ”
random guy: “Aaah, Europe … are You Christian?…… because I am!”
me: “Yes …………by birth.”
random guy: “Ok, nice to meet You, Happy Christmas”
me: “You too, Khuda-hafiz”

random guy: “hello, what Your name?”
me: “Tomas”
random guy: “me [insert name], nice to meet You …… where You from?
me: “Slovakia – Czechoslovakia – Europe ”
random guy: “Ok, suppose You pray to Your God what would You wish for? ”
me: “……. [mind stuck] well, ehm, aaaaah, huh …. [finaly idea] I guess Peace for this country.. ”
random guy: “Ok, nice to meet You, Happy Christmas”
me: “You too, Khuda-hafiz”

random guy: “hello, what Your name?”
me: “Tomas”
random guy: “me [insert name], nice to meet You …… where You from?
me: “Slovakia – Czechoslovakia”
random guy: “I am Pastor in church here in Lahore. I just see You here and think he is Christian, and thats why I come to You. Would You be so kind and let me invite You for dinner to my house, day after tomorrow?”
me: “Well, nice to meet You, I am not sure if I have time, I might leave Lahore soon ”
random guy: ” I will show You my church. Actually would You like to say something in my church – from the Bible. You do read the Bible(!?)”
me: “Thats really nice of You, actually I want to read it…. Just like the Quaran. But as I say, I dont know yet if I am here than. [which is truth].”
random guy: “Ok, here is my number, can You give me Your number and we call and say if You can?”
me: “Ok, here it is. [that cant hurt and actually it could be interesting]”
….. discusion during which he shows me his planned speach for the next mess and tells how he wants to be a good reader of English Bible and than we part [and I forget it all due to Benazir]
….. few days pass……
phone: “hello? here is [name], I want to ask how are You, I sent You SMS message on Christmas.”
me: “Oh, hello yes [totally forgot about the message], nice to hear You. ”
phone: “So can You come to my home? I am not sure if I tell You, I even have a small school at the Church, and I tell them I met You and they want to see You and I say You might see, if can. I understand You are busy.”
me: “well, I want to return back to Karachi as soon as possible, so do not know… again [partly true], will see”
phone: “Ok, was just nice to hear You, good bye, God bless You”
me: [confused] “Yes, good bye.”

guard at Sacred Heart Cathedral : “halawala kikle afiaz [something in urdu]?! ”
me: “Pardon me? I want to take pictures, can I?”
guard: “haliflatu platu watu [something in urdu] Christian?”
Jeremy : “Why? …. Yes, we ………… by birth”
guard: “Catholic? urdududududu [something in urdu]”
Jeremy : “No, we not Catholic, can we go to the cathedral? ”
me: “Yes, we are”
guard : “huhlugugulgu, nah, go. [gives up and lets us in].”
Jeremy: [pissed off] “Why did he ask us? If we are Catholics? Did anybody ask us at the Mosque or Sikh Temple if we are Muslims or Sikhs?! What the #$%? ”
me: “In case like this, I will be buddhist, muslim or even sikh, I want to see it…”
Jeremy: “phf” [pissed off, disinterested in the really nice cathedral]
…after a while…
me : “Jeremy! I know now why did he ask us… There is a service going on inside…”
Jeremy: [surprised looks at his bag] “Oh, afraid of terorist attacks? From us? ”
me : [thinking: Actually, its Christmas service, Muslims also dont like when non-muslims go for their Friday prayers and this service is only once in the year... ]”

(I am cheating – the last pic is from India, in Pakistan there were no Xmas markets…)

1. Getting there

I was requesting visas for India from Pakistan, which is already a disadvantage, but thanks to a few miracles and Umar who did the running around Islamabad offices, me and Jeremy got the visas right on time, actually we had to wait for them in Lahore as they came a day later… 3.300 rupees The only good thing was that foreigners dont get visas that say how exactly do You have to cross (train, plane, bus) and where (which exact border place), so we walked to Inda :O

Simply said – we took a taxi from Lahore, went to Wagha border, went through the Paki customs, walked to India, went through the Indian customs and than got a taxi to Amritsar… I know it looks pretty simple, and it would normally be, but not if there is a bus with fifty people who comes at the same time as You    It took us damn 3 hours to get from 1st to 2nd taxi!

2. Amritsar

Amritsar is the city closest to Lahore, it took half an hour from the border to get there. We had couple of hours before our train left so we thought we have no reason to hurry… but. First of all we wasted time at the border and than it took us 1,5 hour to get a ticket – wait in the line! The way how the ticket selling works is the TOP of unefficiency I have ever seen.

Anyways, we went first to the Golden Temple, as that was something Jeremy wanted to see… and I have to say, I am glad he did. It is a beautiful place, where there is lots to see… For any tourist it is also very good to know that the temple is open to any visitor, there is a place to sleep for free inside, the temple has a charity kitchen that serves hundreds of poor every day and most of all – its really beautiful.

3. Train ride

Was OK. If I say that it took 28 hours, I guess some of You will be scared, well, it was sometimes boring, but it was pretty OK and comfortable.

We spent couple of hours talking to a random indian guy – about everything: partition of India and PK, differences, history and even Kashmir. Result (can not say what is true and what not):
- people of both countries like each other, its the governments that do all the conflicts
- the Pakistani security services actually attacks India
- there is no way how India or Pakistan can accept that Kashmir is not theirs

4. Jamshedpur

Would be a small and unimportant town, if TATA Steel was not founded here – this is where the TATA empire has started. Btw, TATA is launching the “Worlds cheapest car” for only 2.500 USD … Apart from that the town is actually owned by TATA and has to be said, thats why its also called the cleanes town of India (eventhough by European standards it still has a long way to go). Generally its just an industrial town with not much to see except a Culture centre (founded by TATA) and schools were poor people learn handycrafts (founded by TATA), TATAs trainign centre (where the opening ceremony was) and TATA Steels factory (which we have not seen).

During the conference we had an Indian night, during which there was a whole program of different kinds of Indian music and dances, really nice

5. Kolkata

Where we stayed in a cheap (but really bad) hotel, as we had couple of days left before we had to go back to Pakistan. We saw some nice places like Victorias Memorial (but didnt go in, too expensive for foreigners) and Belur Math (headquarter of Ramakrishnas). As Kolkata experienced some riots lately (conflict between oposition and government) some places have been closed…

BUT what was the most important for us was the FOOD and TEA. Amazing lassi, potato chat, spicy tea and other random foods, that was the best part of the Kolkata stay

6. Way back to Lahore

Took two nights and one day   Not kidding, but it went fast… Got a few intesting sights, like a cow looking into our compartment, saw the holy river Ganga, and sunrise over the fields. Stopped again for a short time in Amritsar (we came before the border opened) and than walked back to Pakistan… The End

Simply said, Dandia is dancing with two sticks, one in each hand, where rythm is made (following the music) by banging of sticks of Yours or with a fellow dancer. Its originally a hindi tradition that had something to do with rain (I didnt understand that very clearly). In this case the DJ was kinda bad in playing any original pakistani or indian songs and thus the whole thing changed into a disco with sticks in Your hand

Now what took the most of the day was the beach… We (MC and interns) took part in annual IBA University trip along with few AIESECers from IBA who invited us. Beach house, loud music, amazing food, games and lots of people (5 buses).

My affection for the sea and the beach looks like not to be a temporary one. I enjoy immensely every single time we go. I have been swimming, playing in sand, walking the beach… really feeling relaxed and having some beautiful sights (eventhough didnt take too many pictures). Thank You guys very much for the invites, anytime again!

Apart from all of that one moment was interesting. A man came to me and asked “Do You know anybody here? And do You actually enjoy it here? Because I was watching You during the day and You have been always alone, if swimming or walking, not talking to people much.”
…Thinking back, its true, I have not been. For some reason I enjoy being alone in the middle of a lot of people – seing them have fun, looks like that it shows again that despite all that clownish masquarade, I am still a lonely shooter.

The building is very massive and is visible from far, it is actually very simple in architecture but the closer You get the more impressive it is. As the park around the mausoleum is huge (53 hectares), a lot of people are coming here just to hang out, but picnics are officially forbidden.

Few facts: The dome is 43 meters high and 75 meters wide/long, built on 4 meters high platform. 15 successive fountains head to it. Finished in 1970.

We have come here during sunset and have seen not just the tomb itself but also the procedure of putting down the flag and also how the lights went up. We have left to early to see how it looks like during night.

Definitelly a place to go to… not just to see the tomb, but also because of the people as for most of the visitors take this as an occassion and come in very nice colourful clothes, all parfume and make-up… As example, in one moment (dont ask me why) maybe 50 girls with all colours of clothes showed up.

So here is a brief outline of my experiences in Islamabad:

train traveling – arriving late at night after 20 hours in train in “Low Air Conditioned” class… horrible, the carriage was so cold that I have spent most of time at open door…

partying – the international community of Islamabad has a life quite different from that of the rest of Pakistan. Some of them actually say that “Islamabad is 20 minutes out of Pakistan“. I have been on a party organized by a few US guys who live here. The party was pretty big mix of different nationalities and was a real party (You know what I mean ). It was a pretty unreal feeling, being on a terrace of a house in the middle of a other houses with beer in my hand and LOUD music booming behing me… Definitely not the Pakistan I have imagined

sightseeing – I have visited again the Faisal Mosque. First time during the Friday prayers and later at night. We have also went in and actually also have been alowed to take pictures. The mosque itself is nice, but not too beautiful, but what makes it amazing is the size and location… Seing the hills right behind the mosque (a path starts a few meters behind it) is really experience.

Of similar interest was the National monument a work of (quite colosal) art which is still in development. A beautiful place that not just offers interesting sights of the monument itself and views on Islamabad, but also offers a lesson of history of Pakistan (via reliefs in the monument).

hiking - on one of the days when I was alone I went to the view point above Islamabad called Daman-e-Koh, it was a hike that lasted maybe 15 minutes up hill, but was refreshing as I had not been hiking for a long time… I have seen the “famous” Islamabad monkeys and also tested if You can call the forests of Margalla Hills can be called “forest“, they can be – as soon as You leave the path walking is very difficult due to thorn bushes and creepers. The hills offer a mix of leaf trees and random palm trees and are very easy for hiking.

On one of the hikes I had a chance to see the Faisal Mosque and Red Mosque from distance, their proximity was a little bit disturbing.

One important warning – dont hike there alone or without local people… its stupid idea, trust me.

eating – if I have not told to You till now, Eid is mostly about eating. Some of the locals said that You dont have real Eid if You dont eat at least 5 times per day… We had Eid We have been invited to dinner by three different families and everywhere we went have been offered food… I definitelly gained some weight!

The most known element of this month for non-muslims is fasting. Actually it is quite wider, between sunrise and sunset (which in Karachi is time between cca 5:00 and 18:15) You can not put anything in Your mouth… no food, no drinks, no cigarette, not even pills or tootbrush

But trust me, there is more than just that… If interested, read an article in Journal about Ramzan.

Click on pic to see whole album…

Customs
What it means for “normal” people is that the daily timeschedule quite drastically changes. The last food/drink can be only before sunrise and after sunset. In our house 6 people from 5 different countries (Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapure, cote d ivore) follow this tradition.

It means that two of them (according to schedule) wake up at 3:30 and prepare breakfast (ever noticed that its “break” and “fast”, as its a break in fasting?) called sehri for all of them. Than in the evening is aftar, which is hold as a dinner common for all people. The reason for this is that Ramzan is also the time when each Muslim should share with everybody…

Effect on daily life of non-muslim
- This also means that all shops and offices start earlier and finish earlier and some even cut down on number of working hours.
- Its also not possible to buy food other than in grocery stores (those few open). Eating, drinking, smoking or even singing on public can be taken as insult.
- If You live with a Muslim, know that s/he wakes up at max 4am and goes back to sleep at 5am.
- Get ready that the streets are often deserted and during evening prayer times You live in a city of ghosts with the voice of Mullah coming from all sides.

History
The history of Ramzan is as old as Islam itself. Ramadan is the name of 9th month of Muslim calendar, the word itself means “burn” and is older than the custom.

This is the month during which God made the first revelations of Koran to Prophet Muhammad, thus time when His words came on earth. Its the month when the fate of world for the next year is decided, the gates of Heaven are open and gates of Hell are closed and on the other side, His followers must pray, fast and do good in order to show their obedience…

Now I am sitting on our rooftop and watching the wedding from a distance of cca 8 metres and will live update You what is going on

First You should get the picture of the stageset of this litle “drama”. The floor of the roof is covered with red carpet, tent walls are around the whole roof to ensure privacy (luckily not on my side), small tent with food and tables with barbeque are in the corner and in a central position a small stage. Everything looks like You would imagine based on the Arabic nights fairytales (except of lightbulbs instead of candles and camera guys shooting it all on tape).

First the women, dressed in colourful clothes, welcome the family of groom and bride with throwing rose leafs on their heads. Then all the women take a seat and in the simple of tympan and clapping they half sing – half recite… blesings? (I still dont speak Urdu ) This takes time untill the whole family doesnt meet (which with Pakistani punctuality took an hour).

Then the bride, covered from head till toes, sheltered by four girls holding a colourful fabric above her head, each by one corner, accompany her to the stage. Her mother joins her and waiting continues. After a while mother leaves and the groom is brought to take place next to the brides side.

You should know that this moment, its only females present. The only males are the servants prepairing the festivity and children.

After an another half an hour (while the couple still sits on the stage) the men came and after a while the “man of the house” takes some food. After him all the men come and fill their plates (no surprise, its already 2 am). In the meanwhile girls do “guards” at the brides side, they change every few minutes. After all the men have, the women take food. After all the guests have taken part in the festivity, the couple is allowed to come down from the stage. At this moment also the servants are allowed to take food.

During these festivities I have lost the track of the couple, it might be that they have dissappeared for a time, but I noticed them only after a longer while. They were mingeling among the guests, bride was allowed to take her face cover off… The couple was not hanging much together, each socializing with different guests.

After the wedding night gets a little bit boring, a good old family quarrel comes handy… It looks/sounds like flock of chickens anoying a cock, a man among a group of angry talking women.

3 a.m., guests are leaving, the bags for gifts for the new couple are put (partly full) aside, party is over. The city spoils the people, I strongly believe that the wedding festivity the traditional style is more fun…

4 a.m., I go to sleep and post this, the servants and hired hands, are alrady for half an hour tidyng the roof, no visible result except of lot of talking and finishing leftovers… no need to hurry

Here are some pics I have taken, first: I know it looks like a stage in theatre, You will have to trust me that is really a roof and real people…

Thank You for reading, I will be glad if You let me know via email or Guestbook if You like my posts and if its worth to sleep only 4 – 5 hours because of this web…