This photograph was taken by Talha Masood on a Pakistan Railways train from 
Islamabad to Lahore. It first appeared, under this headline, in Talha’s weblog, My Cosmos, which is a wonderful chronicle on the life and times of Islamabad.
For a picture taken by a cellphone camera, its quality is very good. But more than that, here is another example on Pinglish in action. Note the space between ‘N’ and ‘K’ and how it makes all the difference.
For more on the meaning of Pinglish see ATP’s first blogpost on the subject.
Adil Najam
Did you know that June 21 is World Music Day, or Fete de la Musique. Well, now you do. This festival is celebrated across the world with various music programs and free concerts. Since 2004 it has also been celebrated in Pakistan. This picture is from the free concert held in Islamabad this year, organized by Alliance Fransaise (the World Music Day is largely a French thing).
The singer is Saira Arshad, who has recently released her first album. Supposedly her hit song is a Punjabi song called ‘Ja Veyria’. I was able to find it online and listened to it. Its not bad; very 1960s.
But here is the odd thing. You listen to that song and you look at the picture of this Pakistani girl, and the two just do not mesh. Maybe she was singing something else here. Or, maybe, just as it is now kind of mandatory on Pakistan TV to throw in English words and phrases whether they are needed or not, similarly in music they have to perform ‘rock’ even when they are singing folk.
Anyhow, a Google search tells me that she is the sister of singer Humaira Arshad, who became quite popular for singing old Madam Noor Jahan songs; in particualr her rendition of ‘sada houn aapne pyar ki’ is a masterpiece that even madam ji would have been proud of. I have had that song on replay for the last half hour!
Adil Najam
According to the Associated Press of Pakistan, as reported in the Daily Times (22 June, 2006):
Members of the National Assembly were upset after Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Dr Sher Afgan pointed out that sand-contaminated ‘halwaââ ‚¬â„¢ was served in the house cafeteria…. Dr Sher Afgan said that the situation posed a health 
risk to members who dined at the cafeteria. “This morning when I tasted the ‘halwaâ⠂¬â„¢ I noticed that one-fourth of its contents included sand. The sand was removed only after I got it checked and confirmed,â€Â? he said.
The minister called for taking stern action against the caterers and said that a case should be registered against them. He said that a caterer had been changed earlier, after he was charged with similar complaints and urged the speaker to take notice of the situation and order an inquiry. The speaker immediately asked the secretary National Assembly to look into the matter.
MMA’s Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said that the matter should be taken up seriously as it was not only a question of the health of 342 members but also a matter of their security. “This time it was sand, however it could easily have been laced with poison. This matter should be taken very seriously,� he added.
