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High talk in Bangkok

Surprisingly, the flight is full of Pakistanis – businessmen, families, tourists. It seems the we are shifting our gaze towards the East. The West and the Middle East seem to be the stories of the past. All action is now in the East...

Our Turkic Connection

We need to do some work on the history as well. And accept our ownership of the Indus Valley, Vedic and Gandhara civilizations, a geographical fact. And it is for free…..

The Long Shadows of Hindu Kush

What is finally left behind is a mosaic of different ethnicities - Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Baluch and Punjabi speaking Sikhs and Hindus and the mixing of some Arab and Mongol blood.

A Flight into Time

We fly over runway threshold, enter the runway and flare out at 30 feet. Then throttles get back to ’Idle’. Airplane rides on a cushion of ground effect. The wheels scrape the earth surface. We are at Athens, Greece.

The world of the Wise Lord

The other ancient philosophy emanated from Zoroastrianism which explained that a man’s life is a struggle between the good and the evil. Its monotheistic concept included a satan, a messiah, death, resurrection, day of judgment, heaven and hell.

The Middle Kingdom Wallas

In a nutshell, the Middle Kingdom is unique in three aspects to the other ancient civilizations. It did not produce any God. It has been the longest continuous civilization. And it has yet to have the bitter-sweet taste of democracy.

The Nylon Descent

The rocket under my seat fired. My seat was catapulted out of the aircraft at a high speed shearing through the glass canopy overhead shattering it into bits. The rocket propelled the seat vertically 200 feet high.

The Troubled History of Jews

Historically, whichever society had welcomed the Jews to live in peace with it, it had gained not only in terms of scholarship and knowledge but also in terms of commerce, trade and wealth creation. So could the Middle East.

The Tale of Five Rivers

The invaders brought new languages and strange cultures. Along with their brutality, there was the religious oppression by the Pundit and Mullah. Out of this chaos and turmoil was born a new language called Punjabi.

The Mystery of South India

There is a similar philosophy behind the South Indian saree. The unstiched drape enhances the shape of wearer and only partially covers the midriff. The navel is left unconcealed because it is considered a source of life and creativity.

The Company Bahadar

In its 250 years, it expanded to rule most of India, founded Hong Kong and Singapore, held Napolean a prisoner on Saint Helena and had something to do with the Boston tea party. Its officers invented the games of badminton, polo, squash and snooker.

Understanding Sanatana Dharma

Dharma is the process for aligning one’s body, mind and soul with the nature in search of the Ultimate Truth or Reality to find salvation in life.

Drama over the Karakurams

As I looked inside the cockpit, I got a rude shock. My fuel gauge was reading only 1800 liters. There had been a sudden and a massive fuel leak. China was left far behind and my destination in Pakistan was still hundreds of miles away.

Making Waves in the Sky

We were now only a few hundred feet above the ground and cutting through the air really fast. All eyes were glued to the sky. We were in the stadium for only a few fleeting moments; and then it was all over.

In Search of Birth Places

He had left it when he was only one year old. Sure enough, as we make the final mountain turn, there is Kusik on the hilltop, visible from miles. The locals talk of it as Devi ka Mandar or Kusik fort. A 50-60-house village is located next to

That Evening in Paris

I took the lift for the 18th floor. The lift stopped at the eight floors. A sparkling young lady peeped in and greeted me with a ’Bon Jour’. I thought she wanted some information. Her next sentence cleared the confusion. ’Want some compa

Flashbacks from School

Those were also the days when we grew by an inch a month and the body chemistry was changing rapidly. Our voices changed and hair began to grow at odd places. Unfamiliar powerful forces, of which we knew little about, were building up inside us ...

Crossing the Atlantic

Incidentally, the shortest distance between two places on earth is not along a straight line on the map; but is along the circumference of the globe which appears a curved line on the flat two-dimensional map.

Punjabi Heroes that History Forgot

Not only great men but the Punjabi folk lore has strong willed women who dominated their beloveds – in the tales of Heer Ranjha, Sassi Punnu, Mirza Sahiban and Sohni Mahiwal.

Sargodha & Migs

But the skyline of Sargodha would always remember the roars and thunders of those quaint Chinese birds which kept its skies so colourful, noisy and interesting for so many years.

Transfer of Power from the British Raj & The South Asian Politicians

While the common man went about his routine daily chores, the future of South Asia lay in the hands of the politicians of the Congress and the Muslim league.

Coming to Terms with Kargil

Launching lashkars from our own territory to capture peaks inside the enemy territory; and then playing innocent was never a story that could be easily sold.

The Defence College Experience

We also touched, perhaps superficially, on other national issues ranging from ‘economy’ to ‘national planning’ and had begun to have a false feeling of ‘knowing it all’.

The Art of Business Lunching

The best part of giving a ‘business lunch’ is that you get your prospective client out of his office, where he sits imperiously behind a huge desk, looking you through the top of his half-eye

The Summer of ’69

Her fully blossomed body in a tight swimsuit with both of them visible was an uncomfortable sight and the tension in us would soon be uncontrollably evident on our tight swimming trunks.

Stranger than Fiction

I never realized that stories stranger than fiction lay right next to my pillow

Travels through America - Deep Thoughts

Finally, it was one sight that took my heart and left a lasting impression on me of the beauty and simple innocence of a human being...

Preventing Military Take Overs

Military Reforms

Life with Wife

The only mysteries left in each other's anatomy are perhaps lungs and liver.

Tying The Knot - Village Style

maids who can conveniently meet their boyfriends

Nazar Khan

• Articles on Chowk: 30
• First article: Jan 8, 2003
• Latest article: Oct 10, 2005
• Times read on Chowk: 656357