Train to Pakistan 2004: Just Another Touristy Day.

#31 ijaz_gul
i`ve lived in islamabad for the last 21 years.and all i meant was that islamabad isn`t AS deserted on eid hols. as it used to be :-)
peace.

#56 by Romair: I agree with you, this is not the criticism by veeresh ji which irritates but when he attempts to be an expert on Pakistan or mentions some wrong observations.

I think Veeresh and DM are both super wicked. They have been bowling googlies all day, and pakis are forced to politely pad these. Very enjoyable mind-games.

This is why our travelogues are better than yours. When Beena wrote something about the Mumbai Leftist Jamboree, I sincerely requested that she write something real, and not quote Anand Patwardhan, or the ubiquitious taxi-driver who seemingly yearns for indo-pak peace. Chowk did not publish her next installment (or i missed it). Writing about food details is a time-honored practice (e.g. Hemingway, Jhumpa Lahiri, i-am-the-cheese among other writers). You really have to think hard while having to write about something mundane as parathas. Getting into too much detail is not good; french fries and parathas test much better in animal fats, now our hindu brethren flying our of Devon St may have to sue paki take-out place along with McDonalds.

And I just dont believe that mumbai food is behind .. you folks are wasting time with Bare Mian, real kebabs are outside the Mahim Darga (you pedder-road marine-drive folks have no idea). And then what about Andhra Fish at Trishna, all the great Udupis, Vada Pav, Pav Bhaji incl Jain Pv Bhaji, Kala Khatta, Bhel Puri, Goan and Malvani food, Kerala Thali at Rice Boat in Bandra, Dillli Darbar dibba-gosht, parsee food in mocambo and on and on... veeresh dont sell short..our kebabs are better, animal fats or not.

#56 by Romair on May 24, 2004 9:36pm PT

It is amazing to know that a man who understands the importance of specifics and improper use of extrapolations resort to the stereo-types in his own discourse with a great flourish!!

vereesh #38: ``For example, many Pakistanis on this website are miffed about the way I have portrayed ``The Train`` route from Wagah to Lahore, but how many Pakistanis have bothered to retrace the route? All it costs is 50/- rupees one way. But no, it is better to try to shout me down as ``ungrateful``?? You tell me, or ask anybody from Lahore, is riding a dusty ruined train through Mogulpura a great introduction to Pakistan, how do I write ANYTHING good about that?``

I don`t think anyone has a problem with your describe a train trip the way you saw it. Good or bad. At least, they shouldn`t. I certainly do not have a problem with that. If you would have said that the Islamabad Club is not good, after seeing it in detail. I would not have a problem with that either.

I think what many, if not most, peope have objections with is drawing conclusions on issues which you have not been, and could not be fully exposed to, in one week. And then making unnecessary comparisons with respect to India, on those issues. It is impossible to gain that much knowledge about something in one week.

It would be the equivalent of saying, I saw Lahore club and it was dirty, hence every club in Pakistan is dirty or I talked to a cab driver and he told me this, and thus every Pakistani thinks that.

I don`t think you will face too many arguments if you keep your observations, both good and bad, specifically to what you directly saw and directly experienced. Its only when you start extrapolating, based on those observations, that you will face most of the arguments. Specifically because those who have lived in Pakistan, for a long time, will know you are incorrect on many those extrapolations.

chacha tahmad...
you been approved by an authority...want a manager?

#49: Tahmed:
You can certainly handle humor when needed to... regardless of who, what and when.

Harimau # 47,

Putting the onus squarely on Nehru alone would not suffice. Having said that I don`t take it as a north vs. south issue, like jay. But my objective was to clear up jay`s delusion, who thinks everythig thats wrong is due to northeners and everything right is due to southerners. He should go and sit in the paki government office for strategic planning for such nonsensical and idiotic thinking.

Adios

#51

Unless you`re doing it intentionally, it`s tahmed, not tahmad. May be a minor difference to you, but guess what`s happening in america and around the world as a result of such minor differences?
Then again what`s in a name?

tahmad #47: ``Just kidding, Romair``

Don`t quit your day job.......Leave the humor to more qualified individuals like hamdim..........

....vereesh, i liked this best of all your travelogues so far....more personal, less clinical...btw, there`s much more to lhr than a dusty train ride through mughalpura:)...

ijazgul #37 You dont know Romair. He knows everything about everything. He does not need to go anywhere to know more about it than the local tourist guides. He does not need to read anything in order to be the expert on the subject. In other words, he is God-like in this respect. The All-Seeing, the All-Knowing. Used to be the Almighty too, but resigned and left for the New World.


Just kidding, Romair. Dont fry me with a bolt of lightening.

Just a general remark for the pro-Congress types:

Jagdish Tytlers`s appointment to the Union Cabinet by none other than Manmohan Singh and the silence surrounding it is a dhabba on the new government`s image, and leftist/liberal/progressive`s silence on the issue gives them less moral ground to stand on while ranting and raving about the BJP`s `fascist` communal policies.

Ah, the hypocrisy. But hey, that`s politics, ain`t it? Democracy zindabad!

Ref Maharana #36

[Jay #30,

Last time the cabinet was influenced by a south indian.. we lost a war in 62.]

The ONLY person capable of having any influence on the Cabinet was Bandit Nehru. By no stretch of the imagination can he be called a South Indian.

VK Krishna Menon just happened to carry Nehru`s water in the Ministry of Defence. He was a Commie to boot. But it was Nehru`s budget that wouldn`t let the Army buy even Jeeps, let alone armaments. I remember that the soldiers, for whom Nehru cried buckets in public, were sent into battle in the Himalayan foothills with WW II rifles and with tropical clothing. And were led by an incompetent military general who happened to be Bandit Nehru`s relative.

Ref veeresh #38

[harimau 37 . . . on aaloo parathas, do you like the thin crispy filling or the chunky heavy filling? Also, on cooking mediums, try working Indian-Pakistani food in Olive Oil that has been advance seasoned / flavoured with peppers . . . yummmmm . . .]

Aha, a true gourmand! You nabbed the difference correctly without any hint from me as to what made the Pak-restaurant paratha different.

The parathas with the thin, mashed-potato filling is great to eat hot but is somehow not so great a day later. That Pak-restaurant paratha, eaten a day after it was made, was not only good but sustained me on a flight from Chicago to India.

Ref nazarhayatkhan #39

[Just a general remark for the Anti-Congress types:

The recent Elections of India & Sonia`s refusal to become a PM has done a far greater image building for India on the world stage than its IT or economic growth or any other PR exercise could ever have done.]

Dear Khan Saheb, we in India need approval from the world like we need a hole in our head. On the other hand, economic growth would have brought respect just as it did to China.

[It has also put a moral pressure on other dictatorships to emulate the example.]

The changes in the Indian government starting with 1977 didn`t seem to have had any influence on dictatorships worldwide. So why should this one be any different? Do you really expect Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore to suddenly accept fair and free elections and retire to an ashram in the Himalayas? Do you expect the ayatollahs of Iran to become secular? Do you hope that Musharraf will actually step aside in Pakistan?

When Churchill made a statement about the moral power of the Vatican, Stalin asked, ``How many divisions does the Pope have?``