shalimar, darling December 30, 2006
Posted by Administrator in : nomadika , add a commentAs good tourists we went for a stroll around the beautiful Shalimar Gardens.
Shame the fountains weren´t on, they only work on Special holidays, probably due to drought. The gardens are another masterpiece from the time of the brilliant Mughal civilization, which reached its height during the reign of the Emperor Shah Jahan. The elegance of these splendid gardens, built near the Old City of Lahore on three terraces with lodges, waterfalls and large ornamental ponds, is unequalled. However, there are 2 other sites with the same name, the form of this garden is inspired by the gardens of the same name, in Kashmir, and was later copied in the Shalimar Gardens of Delhi.
PK pop star, Ali Zafar December 29, 2006
Posted by Administrator in : nomadika, kraziness , comments closedAs well as meeting family, the centre of life in these parts, and the reason for our visit to Pakistan, I am taking note of all things modern in the land of Pak. Shazi´s trendy interior designers love to point out all the non Third World aspects of Lahore, and of course, there is a lucky minority that live life just as if they were in NY, London or Tokyo. Unfortunately 95% of the population don´t share such a lifestyle, despite the fact that the LCD screens in every room at Shazi´s place spit out images of a youth culture where girls aren´t covered up, guys look like tanned Justin Timberlakes and the dance sequences are reminiscent of the greatest Bollywood choreographies. But none of this really reflects what you see on the streets: sure, young guys have swapped the traditional curta plus shalwar combo for Levi´s and a cool haircut, but I haven´t seen a single skirt out there although there are some pretty Pakistani girls dressed á la western at the priciest shopping malls. I wonder whether they can get out of arranged marriages as easily. It seems to me life in Pakistan could head towards moderation quite easily, but current world politics will probably send this society in the opposite direction.
But let´s not get too distracted, this post is all about the discovery of beautiful Ali Zafar, Pakistani Pop Star if ever there was one. He´s just released his second album called Masty (which means joie de vivre, apparently) and is an expert at creating teenager oriented pop music. Oh and he does it ever so well, cute as they come, his second single Sajania is on every music video channel, but I prefer the first track, Masty with its catchy guitar riff and live energy swell. I bought the album and it turns out Ali writes and composes most of his stuff which takes him out of the pop product category: the guy´s a musician whose art sells rather well. I haven´t got a clue what his songs are about, but there´s another one with a modernised Qawali vibe that I can´t help but put on repeat (yes, I am the obsessive sort), it´s called Kharayaan day. I would shoot a music video in the middle of the Thar desert with a Burning Man style installation piece in the background and beautiful lotus-eyed women that appear and disappear like mirages as Ali stumbles around in the sand. That´s the thing about being on holiday, you have time to come up with cool ideas.
Anyways, here´s a write up of Ali´s first album, Huqa Pani, and there´s loads of material about him on the web. Look him up on YouTube or take a walk around his website alizafar.net. It wouldn´t surprise me if his record company suggested he make an album in English one day and then we´ll get to dance to his music in Euroland aswell.
gosh December 29, 2006
Posted by Administrator in : nomadika , add a commentWe went to the market this morning where shephards from all over Punjab are camping out with their livestock ready to do business. Shazi took 4 lambs home, the newspapers explain the need for a professional to take care of the slaughter and I saw how the ladies of the house packed the sacrificial meat in plastic bags ready to distribute amongst the people who came knocking on the door to take some home. Naturally the Eid meal consisted of lamb or Gosh in all shapes and forms.
loko drivin December 29, 2006
Posted by Administrator in : nomadika , add a commentWow! we´ve been out + about the city in Shazi´s big, comfy lexus, with driver and all….but man, people drive crazy here…more like bumper cars than anything else! Less beeping of the horn than in India but there´s still an amazing array of complex melodies as they run with great velocity up and down the pentatonic and whole-tone scales, or through intricate Oriental flurries. Quite chaotic. I´ve seen children clinging five to a Vespa, their dads weaving desperately between knife sellers and kebab wallahs, dodging donkeys and low-hanging arches. Funny how the more people you see on a small vehicle, the less developed the country: in Nicaragua it was pretty normal to see whole families on a bicycle, here they´re all on a motorbike “PAK Hero” model, and the ladies always sit with both legs on the same side. In the States, however, the most common site is huge SUVs with only one person inside. When I explain the concept of the carpool lane over here people look bemused.
I do love the way they decorate all vehicles, trucks are the most ornate, but even richshaws get tuned up.
Daud has been getting the hang of the local driving style and is mastering the technique quite well.