Picture(s) of the day: 4 on a motorcycle?

Now this just totally cracks me up….except that it also shows how people of Karachi (Pakistan) take the idea of livin’ on the edge just a tad bit too far. This is dangerous, not just for the 4 people on the bike, but also for others. Mind you, this is not kids playing around in an isolated alley. This is on a major road in the middle of very busy city traffic. Unbelievable.

Source: Karachi Metroblog

Happy Diwali to all my Indian and Hindu friends

RAWALPINDI - Nov 09: Girls light clay lamps in their house on the occasion of Diwali on Friday.—Dawn Online

LAHORE - Nov 09: Women celebrate Dewali at Krishna Mandir.— APP

KARACHI - Nov 09: Members of the Hindu community celebrate Diwali by playing with sparklers.—Dawn Online

Picture(s) of the day: Low-tech Refrigerator, Pakistan style

I have written here about a pretty cool low cost clay+solar refrigerator invention by an Indian. It was indeed ingenious of him to develop a refrigerator that could be deployed across most of the world.

But here is a picture of another low-tech refrigerator - from Naran, Pakistan this time. The photo is posted here really only for fun…. but now I wonder if it also speaks for the general lack of technology innovations getting reported out of Pakistan. Regardless, kudos to the creativity of this person….(photo courtesy: ATP; credits: Shoukat Raza).

Picture(s) of the Day: Al-Hambra in Granada, Spain

Lots is happening in Pakistan. Well, not all is bad though. Yes there have been suicide bombings, and people are really quite scared of what may come if this continues, but in the middle of all this terrible news came the Supreme Court ruling that President Musharraf’s dismissal of the Chief Justice was illegal and stood no ground. The case has been thrown out and Chaudhry Iftikhar has been reinstated.

Pakistani newspapers, blogs, and even international media is touting this as a historic moment for Pakistan, and a momentous victory for the democratic forces. I agree that the decision of the Supreme Court against a sitting President and military general is probably unprecedented and remarkable indeed. The court has shown its mettle, though it must be added that it was the lawyer’s movement that probably gave the support to the independent judiciary that it so lacked earlier.

But this is also an important time for all the forces, parties, groups etc that rallied with the lawyers in this movement to think deep about what they plan to do next. Were they supportive of this extra-judicial firing of the Chief Justice only because it gave them a way to vent their anger against Musharraf’s rule? Politicians: where are your policy documents on how you would deal with the growing rise of extremism in Pakistan? Lawyers: how do you plan to convert this historic victory for the rule of law to actually make it meaningful for the masses who struggle to find even a hearing, let alone justice, in Pakistani courts every day? And the society that is now celebrating this victory: how does it plan to stop fighting against itself? As Adil Najam put it eloquently, ours is a society at war with itself. And we better find a way out of it soon or the flames of war will engulf us all so badly that we won’t even know which way is right and which way is wrong.

Anyways - this post was not about the Pakistani politics. I wanted to post some pictures from Al-Hambra that even some readers requested for. Click on th epictures should take you to the full image. Al-Hambra is absolutely beautiful and certainly worth visiting for any of you that haven’t. I am writing this from Kyoto, Japan (where I am for work) and if I get time to venture out I will take some pictures here as well. I have heard it is absolutely gorgeous here, the ancient capital of Japan.

Picture(s) of the day: Hard earned livelihood

Khoon Paseenay kee kamaa’i:

ISLAMABAD - June 05: Somebody’s wreck provides this old man his day’s living. — Photo by Tanveer Shahzad (Courtesy Dawn)

Picture(s) of the Day: Roosters eating vegetables-for-sale

This picture from DAWN online edition is funny but sad at the same time. If you haven’t seen these vegetable carts before, here’s the gist of it. In most big cities in Pakistan, especially in the province of Sindh, men sell vegetables by going door to door with 4-wheeled carts like this. They are called “Sabzi waaley“, i.e. vegetable people. They get up early in the morning to go to the main vegetable markets to buy their stuff, and then walk around selling them at a slight premium. This is a great service for the Pakistani housewives/home-makers who find it culturally and otherwise difficult to go too far from their homes for grocery shopping.

In the hot summer days, the job of walking the streets with the cart can be gruelling. In this picture, it seems one such cart-owner has fallen asleep - but lo and behld a flock of roosters/chicken has descended upon his goods to have their taste. The sight itself is funny, but its sad because for most such vendors live on a daily earning and their vegetables destroyed in this manner can cause great financial harm. I do hope though that the man wouldn’t just proceed to sell this stuff any how…There are many stories around the unhygienic nature of vegetables sold in this manner but let’s save those for later.

Picture(s) of the day: Wolfowitz

Enjoy this cartoon from Slate.com.

Picture(s) of the day: Traffic Safety in Pakistan?

This picture speaks volumes for the careless attitude that much of Pakistani society has adopted towards road and traffic safety (related posts: here and here). Vehicles are often oprated under dangerous conditions, public transport buses with people hanging outside the doors and crowded on the roofs, trucks overloaded with carriage, and rickshaws and motorcycles zigzaging between the traffic to save a few minutes in their commute. All this has resulted in numerous traffic accidents. Truth be told, one can hardly find cars in Pakistan now without at leastsome external damage to them from accidents.

But in the case of this particular picture, I also question the sensibility of the parents who would allow their children to travel like this? Do they not realize how dangerous it is?

Picture(s) of the day: The Light Within

I am mesmerized by this picture. I cannot thank Adil enough for bringing this to my notice. See what he has to say about it. Aaye Haath Uthain Hum Bhi (Come, let us all raise our hands as well). The verse says so much about the Pakistani society of today that desperately needs its silent majority to speak up, so to say raise their hands, and stand up for what they believe in.

This photograph is of Pakistani Kathak (a type of classical dance) maestro Nahid Siddiqui and a fellow artist performing in Islamabad at an event organized by the Pakistan National Council of the Arts.

Picture(s) of the day: Photos of Eid in Pakistan

Would love to hear what you guys did for Eid? Here are some wonderful moments captured in photographs by various news sources.

 

Thousands of Pakistani Muslims offer Eid Al-Fitr prayer to celebrate the ending of Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006 at historical Badshahi mosque in Lahore, Pakistan. (AP Photo/K M Chaudhry)

 

 

Muslims attend Eid al-Fitr prayers to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan, on the rubbles of a mosque which was destroyed by last year’s earthquake, in Balakot, 180km (112 miles) from Islamabad October 25, 2006. REUTERS/Ibrar Tanoli (PAKISTAN)