Crazy week but aha !

The  week has  been crazy .I ‘ve been trying to  write  a report  titled,“ Federalism in Pakistan :The Liberal perspective” .As the week ended, I  finally managed to pass it to the  designer to make  it  all nice and pretty. Also  trying to juggle newspaper articles  deadlines….   these  deadlines will be the death of me  one day.

However, I did manage  to steal  off some quality time for myself during the week and  visit the  Lok Virsa Museum which also goes by the name of the Heritage Museum.

Excellent . It is  excellent.It   depicts  Pakistani  lifestyles and culture beautifully.All the four provinces are represented,  there is a corner  for the outstanding  women of Pakistan , there are  artisans  at work , there is  Kalash and the Northern Areas. Thankfully there is no Kashmir! A   Freudian slip  or  ???? Hmm…

Jinnah  is  shown  having  tea  with Rana Liaqat Ali Khan  , the wife of  the First Prime Minister of Pakistan , with Jinnah ’s sister Fatima  Ali Jinnah  standing at the side.What I liked about all this  was the attention to detail  although Jinnah  ’s  white kurta could do with a wash!

On the whole very nice  and the  ticket is  extremely  nominal…pay  thirty  rupees and you get a grand  tour of Pakistan’s culture.  Its  a pity that  they don’t have a website.

Taking  photographs  is not  allowed. Pity.

Next time in Islamabad, your  first  stop should be the Lok Virsa.

Out with the old.. in with the new

I’m  finally back  home. I ‘ve  been travelling within Pakistan  and outside for more than a month  now. The latest  trips were  to Taiwan and Malaysia . Its  fun to travel and  meet interesting people  but good  to  be home. I finally get to have a  closet and not a suitcase  . Ahem.. this is ofcourse not  to suggest that I  live “within a closet” back home!

For my trips to Taiwan and Malaysia, my flights were  through  Bangkok. The Thais are getting  a new airport ,Suvanabhumi  airport at the end of the month. The new airport is certainly the focus of attention … at the cost of the old one.

The  cooling at the old airport is  pathetic now. The bathrooms  have become dirty as most of the cleaning staff is engaged  at the new airport. My favourite  place  at Bangkok airport, the  Bangkok Cafe, has also partially shifted there. In short, the transit this time at Bangkok was’nt  fun.

But  guess  that was  to be expected. Speaking of  new airports, what ever happened to the new Islamabad airport ? Has the land  been acquired for it ?  What’s the latest ?