Darwaish
At ATP, we have been writing about many critical issues facing Pakistan and Owais recently wrote on rising food prices. However, I feel that there is a serious lack of awareness about the two silent tsunamis of Water Shortage and Food Shortage which are just around the corner and we need to write a lot […]

Owais Mughal
This photo is courtesy of Muhammad Ali Musa. It shows Abdulahad the qulfi seller on a Quetta Street. Eventhough Abdulahad doesn’t look very happy, I chose this photo because of its blue and orange color splendour. The photo is dated: April 11, 2008.

Also note the 9 qualities of this ‘qulfi’ painted on the […]

Owais Mughal
ATP is always searching for tips on good Pakistani food (see here), and as I have a long history with food experiments myself (see here). So here is my new discovery.
On our last trip to buy oriental grocery we were surprised beyond words to find ‘Tsingtao Curry Samosa‘ and ‘Paratha - which taste like […]

Wasim Arif/ Other Pakistan
azal se Adam-o-gandum meiN ae dost
ajab andaaz ki khat-pat rahi hai
barabar baRh raha hai narkh-i-gandum
bani Adam ki qeemat ghat rahi hai
The classic movie Roti starring the legendary Rajesh Khanna begins with his character Mangal stealing roti as a child from a restaurant to fill his empty stomach. This event transforms him for […]

Owais Mughal
The festival of Eid is here. Eid celebrations are not complete without some sweet dishes around. There is a very famous sher about sewayiaN (sweet vermacelli) which I want to share. arz kia hai (here I go):
jaatay hi bazm meiN jo us ne uThaai sewayiaN
jab tak bethay rahay hum na jhukaai sewayiaN
Today we’ve […]

Adil Najam
Bilal Zuberi’s wonderful post on Ramzan in Pakistan has inspired me to finally write about Rooh Afza - something I have been meaning to do for a while. Bilal’s post was made all the more poignant for me because I spent the first week of Ramzan in Pakistan. As Bilal mentioned, one of the […]