Adil Najam

Do you even know who Urooj Mumtaz Khan is? I did not. I am glad I now do.

It turns out she is a part of the Pakistan’s women cricket team, and her century helped Pakistan beat Hong Kong by a whopping 172 runs in a one day game. This, in turn, means Pakistan women’s team will now play in the World Cup qualifying tournament to be held in Ireland in 2007. All of this, good news.

Guest Post by Raza Rumi

I have been meaning to add to the ATP discussion on the architecture of the 7 (or is it 5?) -star hotel (here, here and here). Pakistan’s recent financial-isation and commercialization of its aesthetics is saddening. I am reminded of this beautiful verse in urdu:

Ek ham hain liya apni hi soorat ko bigaar
Ek woh hain junhay tasveer bana aati hai

Loosely translated (for the non-Urdu readers)

Here are we who have distorted their own countenance
And there are those who know how to create newer images

The inspiration for this post comes from an image of the Lahore Railway Station sent to me by my J. Brommel. Once a regal specimen of the Raj architecture and a landmark of Lahore it is losing its grandeur. The sad part is that these are not-so-old Raj structures. Forget the Mughals and the eras before. What has happened to the Lahore Railway Station is a metaphor for transnational control and the rise of marketing gods.

Guest Post by S A J Shirazi

The Karez system on irrigation is one of the traditional engineering wonders of Pakistan.

West of Indus Plains and out of monsoon zone is Balochistan – the largest landmass in Pakistan with an area of 343,000 square kilometres. Balochistan is scarcely populated, mainly due to its daunting arid geography. It includes the mountainous country separated by intervening valleys. Balochistan receives very low rainfall annually.

But innumerable natural springs known as “Karez” and streams are found in most of the areas.