Lahore

Lahore  is often called the Garden of Mughals because of its rich Mughal heritage. Nothing you will ever see on the media.

Some background on the City that I cut-pasted from Wikipedia that is fairly accurate:

A legend, based on oral traditions, states that Lahore, called Lavapuri (City of Lava in Sanskrit) in ancient times^, was founded by Prince Lava,the son of Rama.  To this day, the Lahore Fort has a vacant temple dedicated to Lava (also pronounced Loh, hence “Loh-awar” or The Fort of Loh).

Ptolemy, the celebrated astronomer and geographer, mentions in his Geographia a city called Labokla situated on the route between the Indus River and Palibothra, or Pataliputra (Patna) mostly, in a tract of country called Kasperia (Kashmir), described as extending along the rivers Bidastes or Vitasta (Jhelum), Sandabal or Chandra Bhaga (Chenab), and Adris or Iravati (Ravi). This city is more than likely ancient Lahore.

The oldest authentic document about Lahore was written anonymously in 982 and is called Hudud-i-Alam. It was translated into English by Vladimir Fedorovich Minorsky and published in Lahore in 1927. In this document, Lahore is referred to as a small shehr (city) with “impressive temples, large markets and huge orchards.” It refers to “two major markets around which dwellings exist,” and it also mentions “the mud walls that enclose these two dwellings to make it one.”  The original document is currently held in the British Museum. Lahore was called by different names throughout history, and to date there is no conclusive evidence as to when it was founded; some historians trace the history of the city as far back as 4000 years ago.

The correct pronunciation: Law-her. not La Whore like Media pronounces  it.

October 15, 2009

I do not like ice cream. Gelato is not “ice-cream” which I enjoy anywhere, anytime, especially in Florence, Italy.  Ice-cream on the other hand, never more than a few spoonfuls—enough to sweeten the mouth. Because they don’t serve “just a spoonful” in New York or anywhere else in the world, I never order any since the rest goes to waste. Even the best and most expensive kind anywhere in the world doesn’t entice me. However, in Lahore, I can eat buckets. I can’t have enough of it. The small shop-owners order the milk from specific areas with special cows which they churn in a special way into this special cream, and then add the flavoring (often from crushed real fruits). It is yum-mm-mee.

Before I continue on about the stay here so far, I apologize for the delayed nature of this letter/email. Despite the accessibility to a fast internet connection at home I have just now gotten around to this update. The first week I was tied up with family and the funeral arrangements, an intense, exhausting process. Moreover, I was assisting my parents with some practical matters. When many major events are packed in a single day, a day can seem like a week; therefore after the first four days here I felt like we had been here for four weeks. This week things have slowed down a bit and we will be departing on Sunday for LA.

History:

I would like to begin by clarifying a few facts: Pakistan is not pronounced pack-is-stan. The “pak” is pronounced more like an Upper East Side New Yorker or a snotty British saying the word “park,” dropping the “r.” It means “pure land” and it is far from the vision that many shed blood to create. Short history: if East Asian Countries were the illegitimate children of British Imperialism, Pakistan was the rebel child that did not care to look for the father: it spat on the freedom granted. Pakistan was carved upon a simple ideology: they were Muslims first, then whatever other ethnicity. My father to this day adheres to this philosophy. He has a very old, traditional Pan-Islamic worldview. Therefore, even now, the Muslims that occupy Pakistan are from Middle-Eastern/Arabian, Iranian, Russian, and even Chinese descent and some only one generation removed. The country is compromised of so many languages and tribes that sometimes it is a surprise that it is indeed one country. However, few years after its creation, the nation was feared as one that would perhaps unite with other Muslim countries to create a Pan-Islamic Republic comprised of several countries. This paranoia (some local political analysts to this day say it is a legitimate concern—after all, imagine if Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the a few others were to unite) has served as an impetus for many wars propagated by others.

State of Political Affairs:

They do not like the US government here (not a surprise) but they respect President Obama; convinced that, deep down, he is a “Muslim”—“has to be—look at his principles and vision.” (That is amusing because awhile ago I read an article which stated that he adheres to many Buddhist principles. I think it is best to conclude that he tries his best to live up to values set forth in various religions, yet not indoctrinated by any).  This country is as much “at war” as is felt when living in the United States:  oblivious. We hear of bombs being blasted here and there, some near, some far and people are enjoying life. Hard to decipher who the “enemy” is. The fundamentalist Taliban that were once supported by the US for many years are now split into many factions some of which continue to get the local government’s support, others the US government’s, and some even Indian government’s support. The local government itself is splintered into sections due to funding provided by the US government.

I have encountered impoverished people who find their life stripped of any meaning due to extreme poverty so blowing yourself is not a loss to yourself or the family. Others hold the view that if one is to die by American drones he or she might as well go down preemptively. Yet there are others who believe the local government has been “bought” by the US government and therefore it does nothing to prevent the local terrorist attacks (separate from the Taliban). In short, terrorism is a scapegoat for bigger governments to do what they wish. We now use humans as bombs.

The police here are so strict (handing fines for not having helmets if driving a motorcycle to random car checks) that it is appalling how the arms are being smuggled inside through India and Afghanistan.

In my opinion it will get a lot worse before it gets any better for no other reason but because the “enemies” are so undefined. For example, even something like “news” is a weapon. Once upon a time, the media was the source from which to get factual information, now it serves monetary and political interests.

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