Lahore is a great city that blossomed on the meandering Ravi river. Its people are magnanimous, its streets full of life, its bazaars are vivacious, its shopping robust. It is a wonderful blend of the Potowar and the Jhelum, a confluence of various cultures of Pakistan. It is the heart of the “Punj-aab”(land of five rivers). From Gulberg to Bhatti gate, from Canal Road to Batapur, Lahore exudes a culture that is unique to the subcontinent. It has survived the Mongol raids, lived through the invasions from the Macedonians and coped with attacks from the North. It prospered during the British era and has thrived after 1947. It has been the capital of many empires of South Asia. Perhaps not the oldest city in the subcontinent, but it is one of theoldest cities that is thriving today. The Ravi when it reaches the plains of the Punjab is neither a gushing river nor a muddy canal, rather it looks like an old tired river that has little water but very large banks.
THE CONVENT BRED BROWN ARE LOST IN THE BAZAARS OF LHORE Stiff collard Aithesonians mingle with the graduates of Kennaird College on Mall Road. Canal road is where the cruising goes on, and many a couples unite in love. The medical graduates of *King Edward medical college * brush sides with the graduates of FC college in the markets of Gulberg. The APWA begums mingle with the Cantonment snobs at Gogo or the current place for Ice Cream Cones. UET-Mughalpura spawns research and development in science and technology. One of the oldest shopping centers in South Asia is called Anar-Kali where you can find anything and everything of value. The narrow streets cater to all sorts of tastes. The over zealous shopkeepers will invite you for a “thandi botul” (cold drink) of “gurum chaah (hot tea) and then try to sell the behen-jee (sister) something. Intense haggling is the
rule of the day, and the women are experts in cutting prices. The bus stops near the colleges are favorite places for young Romeos to hang about, and they litrally hang on to the new busses still called “Omni Buses” when the Juliets get on the front section of the crammed buses.
Ruppee-Gymkhana membership, life is a beach. Lahore, like most subcontinentcities is a pyramid society with small middle classes. The upper middle class Lahori lives a life more comfortable than the average European. The rich Lahori (with an army of servants, home registered dry-cleaning, fresh milk and vegatable delivered daily, bed-teas, morning cofee and parties everyday, marker-coached-squash-games, Dollar-a-point-nightly- bridge- sessions, swimming galas, and trips to Shangrila, Singapore and Europe), lives a life of abject luxury, perhaps found only in the old colonial era of a hundred years ago.
Lahoris eat their food spicy, the snacks (chaat, samosas, pakoras)
chilli-hot, their summer drinks freezing-cold and their tea way past
boiling..Blocks of ice stuffed with lemons adorn the “thailas” (man drawn
carts) will sell you fruits and vegetables. “Shikanjbeen”(Fresh lemonade), Lassi (a yogurt drink) and Peshawari “shakar kola” (sugar and secret spices mixed with water), “Gunnay-da-rus” (sugarcane juice) are some of the roadside drinks that will keep you cool in the 120 degree summers. “Karak chah” (Boiling tea, mixed with an overdose of sugar and milk and tea) will keep you warm in the below freezing winters.
The United Christian Hospital was but a shack in 1947. Today is sports a
modern hospital complex in Gulberg. Lollywood has begun to churn out
Pakistani movies made by the Pakistani middle-class. New educated starlet like Atiqa Odho have actully gotten the chic elite of Lahore to watch a Pakistani movie (they wouldn’t have been caught dead in a Pakistai movie theatre just a few years ago!)
A few miles from Lahore across the toll-bridge over the Ravi is the
industrial complex called Kala Shah Kaku. The chimneys of the chemical plants created by the Saigols are a sharp contrast to the minarets of the Badshahi Mosque of Lahore built by the Mughals. Data Gang Baksh is buried on the outskirts of walled city. This great Sufi saint was responsible for the mass conversations of Lahori Sikhs and Hindus to the message of Islam. Today it is
revered like a saint.
The old walled city contains the notorious Heera Mundi, the red light district of the city, which had the ignominious distinction of being the largest red light area in the subcontinent. Like Delhi, the old city was a walled city. There are several gates in Lahore Bhatti, Mochi are only some of them. True Lahoris come from INSIDE the old walled city. Modern Lahoris wouldn’t be found dead in the old city. The canal that runs through the city is a great place for an evening walk or a dip in the 120 degree heat in the middle of summer.
