In next 7 hours my flight for Glasgow is supposed to leave from Islamabad, and I have decided not to take it. I have already pushed it once but this time I think I am just letting it go. Since coming to Pakistan, I have taken a great job in Lahore which I really enjoy doing since I can feel the very impact the things I do can and probably will make. It is just wonderful when you are part of something which is far greater than yourself. However there are occasional moments of outbursts, especially on the general Pakistani disregard for the very basic thing called a queue! Honestly no other social disorder pisses me off this much!
This whole year has been weird. It has been literally marred with my repeated cancellations of travel plans. I was supposed to get to China but I couldn’t. I was suppose to get to Thailand but I couldn’t. I was supposed to get to Australia but I couldn’t. Now I am even skipping on Scotland (which I really miss to be honest). In April I am supposed to travel to Turkey and Cyprus for some official trip, but let’s say I am not going to talk about it until I am actually there. Note: I do need my annual trip.
Will be controlling myself not to go towards airport tonight.
Apart from all this, earlier today my father made me read four news items from newspaper. I won’t make any commentary on these issues but I do hope that my fellow Pakistanis reading this post can give a few seconds to these topics before doing something else:
- A Doctor couple arrested in Islamabad for illegal abortions of unmarried girls (charging them Rs 10,000) and in case of deliveries selling them off to people who wish to have children (Rs 40,000 in the case of sting operation). They were already under suspicion for three dead children found near the area of clinic in just last one month.
- A couple was arrested in a hospital while trying to kidnap a 5 month old boy from a pediatric ward.
- A 21 year old boy committed suicide by eating poison because he could not handle the fact that his mother has remarried, and then abandoned him and his younger brother.
- A young newly married girl committed suicide by hanging because her husband wouldn’t let her go home until she was done with her graduating exams (she was married but still completing her university degree).
Apart from all this if you are in Pakistan and want to work on a social video project, get in touch (feel free to spread the word if you know someone else who might be interested). I am looking for old people (men and women) who are willing to share a joke or a small story they heard when they were young. I want them to tell me this in their mother tongue.
So the update for now is that my car needs to be written off because apparently to get the sun roof and rest of the stuff from Japan plus the damage to the car and the slashing of tyres will incur a crazy amount of money to the insurer. A salvage company will pick it up from me tomorrow and will give me an estimate market price of the car which the insurer will then pay me. Only issue is that I have a flight on 15th of September to Pakistan and I really hope everything can be sorted out in 7 days time!
Meanwhile I was supposed to help Edu move but did not have my car so we ended up having lunch at Rice & Noodle Bar on Dumbarton Road. Why didn’t Lan take us there before? The food was amazing and the best part was that I had a fish soup for the first time in my life and I loved it! I love fish but I have this theory that a dead fish should not be in the soup - I hate all the Pakistani or otherwise dishes with that, but this one really won me over. Then took a walk to University and then to this wonderful tea house - Tchai-Ovna at the Otago Lane. I had Japanese Sencha Hon tea which was good but I really loved the aroma of Chinese Lotus tea.
And it was there when discussing the Motorcycle Diaries about Che Guevara we discussed a possible trip through Asia Pacific on a very normal and perhaps second-hand motorbike. I have warned Edu that he needs to start this trip in start of November otherwise I am susceptible to a change in mind (those who know me long enough already hate my spontaneous plan making skills).
By the way I also figured out that Google Map does not give you much information for route planning between countries in Asia Pacific and it is not that the countries are not joined by roads at all but Google Maps got a mind of it’s own for this region. Try running a search for directions for: Dhaka - Yangon - Bangkok - Kunming - Ho chi Min - Phnom Penh - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore!
REPLIES:
Sorry for not replying quick enough:
ajewelbandaid, goodbyeblighty : Hey thanks guys no it wasn’t like a race attack at all and I won’t use that overly “misused” term. This was an insane guy who wants trouble all the time and did this when he was extremely drunk and maybe even under influence of something.
wajihah , beautifulsiesta : thank you guys :) all is well now - just has put things off schedule for me.
And really sorry for all the messages I missed before - really got myself in a tight routine recently.
