Poree Cholay

Img_1241, originally uploaded by hammadin.

Ahh. The picture shows the preparation of a puree.

The wonderful sunday morning tradition of eating puree with cholay ( or halwa if you like halwa).Most bakeries have thier puree cholay crew out in the morning (7 AM) on Sundays to make the delicious oil filled breakfast.

Puree is deep fried rotee. Yes it is unhealthy. But its just once a week.

Chicken!

Img_1232, originally uploaded by hammadin.

If you want chicken you can get it at the Friday Bazaar. YOu can even choose the size of your chicken form the cage as seen in the photo. The chicken is killed in front of you ( and is rated PG 13).

Friday Bazaar

Img_1231, originally uploaded by hammadin.

At designated locations across the city we have the Itwar (sunday), Mangal(Tuesday) and Friday ( Jumah) bazaars.

This is a photo of the Friday bazaar from yesterday. It is like a farmers market with lots of poeple shouting out prices of their goods. YOu dont have grocery carts but you have tokree walas ( basket holders) who carry your goods for a nomincal ammount.

I enjoyed my visit to the Friday bazaar.

Blue Area

Img_1228, originally uploaded by hammadin.

A view of the greenary in front of the main commerial area ( called the blue area) in Islamabad.

Traffic control

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One Traffic policeman talks to two policewomen about ( I hope) the increasing traffic and the accompanying chalenges of traffic control in Islamabad.

Eid is in the air

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The spirit of EId is being felt on the streets.

Herds of goats are being escorted for sale in designated areas and on the streets. Also slowly but surely I can hear more and more sounds of cows and goats from differnt houses.

The picture shows one cow and one goat.

Chalo Mcdonald chalien

Img_1234, originally uploaded by hammadin.

Well. I avoid Mcdonalds in Canada due to halal issues.

The Mcdonalds in the picture opened just recently. It is of course a big hit. I have so far been successful in avoiding it in Islamabad. I am against commercial imperialism. Why should I make Mcdonald people rich abroad when I can make other poeple rich here.

I enjoy the other local franchises like Rahat Bakery or even better: the burger walas on the street.

RIckshaw

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Three wheeled taxi that is a major mode of transportation in most cities.

Donkey Cart

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Donkey cart! A good cheap way to transport goods locally.

Busy street in Gujrawala

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A busy street in Gujranwala. Notice the smog, lack of pavenment makings, pedestreians and a whole lot more. Believe you me its not fun driving these roads.

Horse Carriage

Img_1225, originally uploaded by hammadin.

A picture of a horse carriage in Gujrawala. The horse carriage is still common in many cities.

Grocery store on the road

Img_1226, originally uploaded by hammadin.

Fresh fruit carts on the sides of roads are quite common specially in Punjab ( I went to Gujrawala on a 1 day trip to visit my aunte). I have really enjoyed the Guavas on this trip.

Notice the garbage behind the cart (which is also quite common in Punjab).

Cute kids

Img_1197, originally uploaded by hammadin.

My nephew and neice. Both of them are too cute as is obvious in this picture and too adorable in person.

While the band was playing...

Img_1189, originally uploaded by hammadin.

Last 4 days I have been busy with weddings. Of course I cant post pictures because I dont ant to be beaten up by anyone who doesnt want their picture on cyberspace ( read: any auntees or bajees who might think they were not looking good in the picture will beat me up).

Regardless, basically there were two weddings. Both were quite interesting. ONe was of a family freind and another of a close freind. This band was playing to welcome the barat ( the bridge groom posy who come to take the bride away). IN south asian culture by and large the girl goes and lives with the boy's family. ( I am tempted to comment on the whole mother in lw-daughter in law issue --saas bahu--but thats better left for another post when I have a better internet coonnection and can research the topic more).

The normal marriage in SOuth Asia consists of upto 6 functions:

Mangani-engament

Nikah- NIkah( contract for marriage---i.e. the paperwork) if families need to have nikah beofe actual wedding date

Dholki-At bride and bride groom's house...women ( and somtimes men) sing songs to celebrate occasion for many nights some time

Mehandi- The night before e mariage night when the bride orbride groom's hands are decorated with this orange thning called mehandi. The bride and bridegroom can have seperate functions or the same ones for Mehandi

Shade- The actual night whhen the bride leaves the bride's house to go to bride groom's house. It can be sad occaion for girl's parents who may cry a lot. The bride crys a lot too and if the bride groom is emotioimnal like me he moight start crying just for the heck of it. This is the actual night of consumation of mrriage. Much more can be written nbut thats better left for another day.

Vailma- A reception hosted by bride groom to introduce bride to his freinds and relatives

The question I asked my family freind about his marriage was that: Is this the beginning of the end or the beginnning of a new beginning? He answered saying that it was a later. May Allah make it so and give him the best in this life and the next. ( and may his wife make lots of rotee if he likes it--or when I visit)

STreet snacks

Img_1165, originally uploaded by hammadin.

If you are on the street and want snacks. There is the option of buying corn ( or corn niblets) warmed up in sand. It has a delicious and fresh taste and costs about 20 cents. I have been having one every day. yummy!

Stay in your lane

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A orange cone to make sure people dont invent new lanes at intersections. Pavement markings dont always work at intersections.

Whenever I ride in a car, it is like an amusement park ride. You dont know what hazard you might face next. It is exciting and scarey. Well the driving topic deserves more details form me later.

Locked.

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A sanitary sewer cover near my house chained and locked so that scrap metal hunters cant steal it and re sell it.

Thats Garbage!

Img_1158, originally uploaded by hammadin.

Waste management in the capital city is handled by dumping garbage into designated bins which are cleaned out regularly by city authorities. As you can see in the picture that sometimes the area around the bin is more populated then the actual bin itself. One can regularly observe people on bikes who manually scan the grabage in the bins for recylable scrap. ( there is no recycling at the consumer level). And yes as you see in the picture, the crows like these bins a lot So do stray dogs, cats and random cows.

Reportedly, the garbage goes into a nearby landfill. I passed by that landfill a few times back in the day. I doubt that there is a barrier at the bottom of the landfill which checks the flow of hazerdous lechate into the subsurface groundater. yeah you guessed right. Thats not good for the people who might drink/pump that water.

A speed bump

Img_1156, originally uploaded by hammadin.

A speed bump on my street.

Speed bumps in Pakistan are an essential part of traffic control. In some ways they serve the purpose of a stop sign ( stop signs downt work in Pakistan) and/or to control speed limits. They sometimes even work better than traffic lights. A recent accident in my neighborhood led to a constuction of a speed bump right at the scene of the accident. The speed bump in this picture has reflectors so you actually can see it at night. However, a lot of speed bumps are either unmarked or their paint has faded. So they are also a test for your eye sight.

For some people this is a speed bump, but for others its just another bump in the road. [Bump!]

Watch your step

Img_1154, originally uploaded by hammadin.

This picture is of a catch basin located in the local market place near my home. This catch basin is of course supposed to catch stormwater ( and from the looks of it is capable of catching more than storm water ).

The depth of the hole is about 6 feet. And given that the parking lot which hosts this catch basin has no lights, it is a big safety concern.

Such dangers are common in the capital city and even more so outside of it. As a matter of fact trips and falls is one of the major causes of injury to the public in Pakistan ( according to a report in a reputed newspaper today).

Dont worry, I'll watch my step.

A view from my house

A view from my house, originally uploaded by hammadin.

This picture is taken from my house. It shows the mosque, beyond which are the Margalla Hills part of the Himalayas ( I think).

I never realized what a great blessing this view was thoughout my youth. Thats what travelling does to you, eh. It humbles you and makes you appreciate what you have or what you had.

And you know what, I am thankful for the fact that I am thankful now!

A view from the plane

A view from the plane, originally uploaded by hammadin.

This photo from a height of 10,000 m is taken from my plane. It shows the (famous) Pak Afgan border. Notice how the rugged sandy mountains change into higher snowy peeks. ( I dont think you can fence this border!!)

to complete this update, please restart yor machine.

as it is very obvious, my blog has been out of commission.

I was being updated and hence had to restart myself, causing the delay.

I am going to Pakistan for a few weeks. This time I intend to take my camera and try to keep up a photo blog during my trip ( No, I dont intend to get engaged or married during this trip, However, stay warned that what I intend and what actually happens are not always syncronized.