15 March, 2009

Trip to Lahore 2009

We have a gap…

So here is the story. After resigning from A.P (which I must confess felt awesome!), I was sitting at home and it just happened. One day, I just thought to myself, Salman, you feel like going to Pakistan. And so off I went. Within a week, I had booked a ticket and was flying!

I did not plan for anything, all I knew was that it was time to go to Pakistan. Amid all the chaos and news of car bombs left, right and centre, it hardly seemed like a sensible decision. And this is where I have to pause. You see, being a Pakistani, I am well versed with the living conditions in Lahore, having spent around ten years there. It is an understanding (as for millions of others) that ‘media’ is all about amplification, dramatising (is that even a word?) and flashing the latest news to attract audience. And for years, I accepted it as a necessary evil we have to put up with. However, when it came time to get on that plane, I did have this apprehension of whether it is safe to travel to Lahore.

It is so easy to blame, silently refute an event or actions and tell ourselves that we would not fall for that lie, claim or whatever pronoun one wishes to associate. However, when the time comes, we realise (or even worse, without realisation) that we have become the very same we silently condemned. Reminds me of a saying of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh): (Google to the rescue)

“Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart - and that is the weakest of faith.”

I think its only now that I understand what the Prophet (pbuh) meant by this saying. My point being, that while I did know that the projection of news that the media is responsible for is hardly worth its weight in feathers, I had grown, perhaps involuntarily, to accept it as well. In my state of apprehension, I had failed to take account of approx. 160 million (almost twice the population of Great Britain) that are living there and my own family and blood relatives are living a normal life, going to work, socialising and going to the same restaurants as thousands of others.

I did decide on one thing, that I will take lots and lots and lots of photos while I am in Pakistan and Alhumdulillah I did! I took 712 photos over the couple of weeks, how awesome is that! To be honest, all credit should go to the wonderful people at ‘CHDK’ for their custom firmware. Do give them a visit if you have a Canon digital camera, their efforts and passion and friendliness is exemplary.

Using the time interval auto photo script, i captured a road journey from ‘Defence Y-block’ to my place in 'Model Town’. Do watch if you have little under two minutes to spare.

There is so much to talk about, to think about and ponder over. Hope to share more soon. Salam

No comments: