Owais Mughal

The 2009 Sheedi Jaat festival at Manghopir concluded just yesterday (June14-17). I thought it may be an appropriate opportunity to revisit Manghopir. Following post has been updated with new information and new photos at several places for our revisit today.

One of the vivid memories of my childhood is our family picnic visits to the Crocodile pond of Manghopir and then further to Hub Dam. For us children the Crocodile pond at Manghopir was always more fascinating than the calm lake of Hub Dam. Today, Manghopir pond is the largest colony of crocodiles in Pakistan. It is located in Northern part of Karachi. Google Earth map is given below.

Attractions at Manghopir:

Manghopir is famous for three major attractions.

(1) The shrine of Saint Sakhi Sultan which is located on a hill at an altitude of approximately 600 ft.
(2) Adjacent to the shrine is the second attraction in the form of a crocodile pond with a hundred plus docile crocodiles lying lazily there.
(3) A kilometer away from this shrine-crocodile pit complex is the third attraction in the form of hot water sulphur springs

Owais Mughal

Last week I made this spicy aaloo cholay chaat (potato-beans-spices-mixture) for my office mates. It proved to be a huge local success. Now for the benefit of larger society, I am giving away the recipe’. I am also providing photos for the agnostics. What more should I say in its praise; it only takes five minutes to make; hence the title – 5 minti chaat.

Before going further I want to ‘gosh-e-guzaar’ (i.e. say) this sher to you:

hum bhi muNh mein zubaaN rakhte haiN
kaash poocho ke zaaiqa kia hai

Adil Najam

Like him or not, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy is undoubtedly one of Pakistan’s leading intellectuals.

He does what intellectuals are meant to do. He makes us think.

He forces us to ask questions that we avoid and he challenges us to question the easy answers. This is not to say that Pervez – who I have had the honor of knowing since the early 1980s – is always right. No one ever is. But he is always provocative. And in the right sense of the word. he provokes us to think. Even – and, maybe, even more – when we disagree with him, we are forced to think. And that can never be a bad thing.

Currently, the Chair of the Physics Department at the Quaid-i-Azam Univeristy, Pervez Hoodbhoy recently wrote this article for the celebrated journal The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. It is worth a close and careful read. Personally, I am not convinced by his worst case scenario. Although, I should acknowledge that worst case scenarios are supposed to be exactly that: worst case scenarios. I also think that he underplays the role of civil society in Pakistan, which I think remains the most vibrant hope for our future, not withstanding the undercurrent of the ‘urban taliban’ within Pakistani civil society. But, there is much in this article that we should ponder upon and think about very carefully.

If you think Pervez Hoodbhoy is wrong in his assessment of where Pakistan is heading, give us your own assessment of where yo think we will be. Disagree if you will, but do what the article is supposed to have you do: think!

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