Adil Najam

This may not mean much to our readers outside of the United States, but within the Paksitani-American community, Devon Street in Chicago is a landmark location and Sabri Nihari, within Devon Street, is an institution in itself. These are icons of the Pakistani-American community and Devon Street is the closest that we have in the US to a ‘Pakistani icon.’ The one other possibility may be Jackson Hieghts in New York, but in all fairness Lahore, Lahore hai and Devon Street, Devon Street hai.

This Thursday a fire broke out in the block on Devon Street that includes Sabri Nihari and also engulfed and gutted another Chicago landmark, Poshak Boutique. According to a story in Chicago Tribune:

The smell of smoke and charred debris hung heavy Friday over the heart of Devon Avenue, a boulevard of American dreams built by immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh… But a fire Thursday morning ravaged most of the south side of the street between Campbell and Maplewood Avenues, closing 15 businesses and 11 apartments. Friday morning, shop owners gathered across the street in Zam Zam Restaurant to commiserate, compare losses and try to find a way to smile through it.

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Adil Najam

Some time back I had done a post with the title: Fifty-Fifty: The Best PTV Show Ever and included a clip from the show. The show was loosely based on Saturday Night Live and was the brainchild of Shoaib Mansoor and Anwar Maqsood, with the starring brilliance of Majid Jehangir, Ismail Tara and Zeba Shahnaz. It generated some interesting discussion and much nostalgia. Although not everone agreed it was the best show ever, there was a general sense that it had to be ‘amongst the very best.’

Today we bring you two clips from Fifty-Fifty, which may well be amongst the very best that the show ever offered, and may be amongst the best comedy skits even produced for Pakistan Television. The first of these skits may well be the iconic skit that defined the show in many memories; certainly mine. To those not familair with the Fifty-Fifty mystique or with the music of the time this may not seem all that funny, but when these were first telecast the whole country – quite literally – were talking about them. Enjoy.

Bilal Zuberi

Probably all readers of ATP know about the ban from cricket on Shoab Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, the two leading attack bowlers from Pakistan after failed drug tests during last month’s Championship Trophy. One would have thought this was an isolated incident, and that others sportsmen in Pakistan, especially those competing at national, and especially international sports, would learn a lesson. But I guess not.

Daily Times reported today that two of the leading boxers in the Pakistan delegation to the SAF games in Colombo, Sri Lanka (held in Aug 2006) tested positive for the use of Cannabis. Not only were they disqualified, but they also lost the gold medals that they had earned for Pakistan. According to the report:

Pakistan’s two leading boxers – Meherullah Lassi and Faisal Kareem – have been banned for six months after testing positive for cannabis, a Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) official told Daily Times here on Thursday. PSB Dr Waqar Ahmad said that both boxers tested positive during the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Colombo, Sri Lanka in August this year. It is pertinent to mention that both pugilists won gold medals during the SAF Games in Sri Lanka. “The SAF Games committee has said that their gold medals have been withdrawn,� he said. Dr Waqar said it was a bad news for Pakistan. “Their absence will definitely hit Pakistan’s chances in the Doha Asian Games next month. They were kept in the Asian Games squad in the hope that they would be cleared but now they have been banned, the Pakistan Boxing Federation will replace them with other boxers,� he added.