Jhoolay Laal!

Having heard so much about the Urs of Hazrat Ali Hajveri and the legendary blessings that the saint has had upon the city of Lahore, some kind people took me to see for myself what I had been talking so much about on the news. (Photo Courtesy: WR)

Trance seemed to descend upon the people, the buildings, the streets and the incense ( agarbatti) laden air as I with a couple of friends tried to make our way towards where our hosts were. The Urs of Data Ganj Baksh is in full swing in Lahore and we decided to visit it. More people were expected the next day on the ocassion of Chelum of Hazrat Imam.

Followers entering Data Darbar for Urs under tight security

A good job with the illumination

This evening though the worst fears have come to life. Two suicide attacks , one in Urdu Bazaar Lahore and one in Malir Karachi have devastated more families by taking atleast 13 lives uptill now. Expressing grief is beyond words and the manner in which people being killed in the name of religion simply deplorable and deceptive.

Beyond!

A view of the Shrine from the rooftop

Security last night at Data Darbar was no doubt tight. Thorough body searches plus walk through gates put in place at least at three points before one could reach near the tastefully illuminated shrine.

Abundance! Cooks delivered their best recipes of Halwa and Naan as a respect to Data

Peace and brotherhood- the actual message of Islam was making the followers present merry as ever . Hi on the pleasure of simply being in a vicinity where there were no divisions between a beggar or the elite, all helping themselves to food arranged by anyone for everyone. That's how naan and halwa and sweet rice and tea lasts all night, as the junta did the dhamaal ( dancing to drum beat) oozing tranquility.

With my hosts outside their Dera in Bilal Gunj area

Hypnotic!

The dhole performance I attended was that of Goonga Sayeen. It was breathtaking and the beat contagious. They donot charge any fee for performing at Data Sahib or any other Urs. Its what people give to them at their will..for they believe its all to celebrate the ultimate union of their Data with his beloved Allah. That's the concept behind celebrating Urs, my hosts told me.

Dhole and Dhamaal !Goonga Sayeen amid an ecstatic crowd

Dum Ghutkoo!

Trance and the works

Fans taking photos with Goonga Sayeen

Many might not be able to relate to the concept of Urs but these huge gatherings do point out that there is a great common between so many beings that makes them converge . Yet questions remain as to why the divides so stark that elements donot hesitate to take lives.

The climax subsiding at day break at the adjacent bazaar

ESS EMM ESS

Many things catch the eye while reading up towards my first broadcast of the day usually. For example, this report by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) that said something that came as a surprise to me.

It reveals that Pakistan ranks no. 5 in the list of countries whose people exchange the most text messages on mobile phones! Because I couldn’t figure out if that’s good news or bad, after a little inquiry I found out that one of the reasons that PTA gives for this nice position on that list is that the call and sms rates in Pakistan are the lowest ones in this region.

This surprises more than it gives happiness. In a way this again proves that in our country things that we ‘need’ are not only difficult to find but also beyond the reach of those who need them the most. Things that we mostly just “want” are easier to find dirt cheap.

Gas in winters and electricity in summers are a rare find. Forget about how much tomatoes cost or how expensive it is to get petrol for your vehicle these days. So, I’m not quite sure how much are these interesting and hard to understand cell phone packages and zero sms rates helping us build our lives as a nation. But one thing is for sure, it really has kept our sense of humor alive if not made us wittier.

Just when I was trying to recover from the funny version of late poet Faraz’s poetry, cooking expert Zubaida aapa’s tips came out as the latest craze. If that wasn’t enough, how munni earned a bad name for herself was another issue that did the rounds. Just today I woke up to Veena Malik’s totkay (tricks/tips)

But yes, sms is a cheaper and quickest technical way to complete the formality perhaps of wishing each and everyone on your phone contact list a new year or Eid, Christmas or any other festival.

So, next time you are stuck in that never ending queue of vehicles on a cold winter evening waiting to get CNG so that you can drive comfortably to work the next morning, start texting to kill time . Not only will you keep yourselves entertained but also bring more fame to the country. Who knows next time Pakistan might steal a place in top three from any developed country on that list.