tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29790682100401672212024-03-10T10:19:52.552+05:00Writer's Block tghSatire - Photography - Music - Cycling - Lunar Astronomy - Investigations - History - Sigh-Friction since 2009Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.comBlogger335125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-83811084728646514532023-12-19T20:21:00.002+05:002023-12-19T20:28:14.466+05:00Pro Cycling Calendar 2024<div><p style="color: #303030; font-size: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 2024 Tour de France will take place from June 29th to July 21st and it will be a truly unique 111th edition, starting in Italy and finishing, for the first time in Nice.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7L7htcSfl_Xolp-Vqg11OVBcRfji9uBydqm5q1wFlwD2NFAY7-NkVbw9RpwNnq_FKIEB68Lr3t3-GOCWKVrfktJVinr2sIZnvWvl5UpcmlKeCbwgiSdSFeujWF4C_r5qzaPJBsulMGb5bQwH2mDbTYQKKNyUbZ2012fnmo_YZMlKgLg2a05onS3pu2ciT/s849/Bianchi%20VN7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="849" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7L7htcSfl_Xolp-Vqg11OVBcRfji9uBydqm5q1wFlwD2NFAY7-NkVbw9RpwNnq_FKIEB68Lr3t3-GOCWKVrfktJVinr2sIZnvWvl5UpcmlKeCbwgiSdSFeujWF4C_r5qzaPJBsulMGb5bQwH2mDbTYQKKNyUbZ2012fnmo_YZMlKgLg2a05onS3pu2ciT/w400-h270/Bianchi%20VN7.png" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="color: #303030; font-size: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 2024 Giro d'Italia will take place from May 4th to May 26th.</span></p><p style="color: #303030; font-size: 19.2px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The 2024 La Vuelta will take place from August 17th to September 8th starting in Lisbon and finishing in Madrid.</span></p>***</div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Date Event Location Routes</b><br /><br />Jan 12 - Jan 21 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5933/2024-santos-tour-down-under">2024 Santos Tour Down Under</a> Adelaide Australia 6 stages<br />Jan 26 - Jan 28 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5934/2024-cadel-evans-great-ocean-road-race">2024 Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race</a> Geelong VIC Australia 1 stage<br />Jan 31 - Feb 04 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/9305/2024-volta-a-la-comunitat-valenciana">2024 Volta A La Comunitat Valenciana</a> Castelló de la Plana Spain 5 stages</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Feb 06 - Feb 11 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6569/2024-tour-of-oman">2024 Tour Of Oman</a> Al Sawadi Beach Oman 6 stages<br />Feb 14 - Feb 18 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/9306/2024-volta-ao-algarve">2024 Volta Ao Algarve</a> Loule Portugal 5 stages<br />Feb 14 - Feb 18 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5981/2024-ruta-del-sol">2024 Ruta Del Sol</a> Almonaster La Real Spain 5 stages<br />Feb 19 - Feb 24 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7990/2024-uae-tour">2024 UAE Tour</a> Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates 7 stages<br />Feb 24 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5937/2024-omloop-het-nieuwsblad">2024 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad</a> Ghent Flanders Belgium 196 km<br />Feb 25 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5982/2024-kuurne-brussels-kuurne-">2024 KuurneBrusselsKuurne</a> Kuurne Belgium 201km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Mar 02 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5938/2024-strade-bianche">2024 Strade Bianche</a> Siena Tuscany Italy 176 km<br />Mar 03 - Mar 10 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5939/2024-paris-nice">2024 Paris Nice</a> Les Mureaux France 7 stages<br />Mar 04 - Mar 10 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5983/2024-tirreno-adriatico">2024 TirrenoAdriatico</a> Lido di Camaiore Italy 7 stages<br />Mar 16 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5989/2024-milano-sanremo">2024 Milano Sanremo</a> Milan Italy 291 km<br />Mar 18 - Mar 24 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5990/2024-volta-a-catalunya">2024 Volta A Catalunya</a> Calella Spain 7 stages<br />Mar 22 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5991/2024-e3-saxo-bank-classic">2024 E3 Saxo Bank Classic</a> Harelbeke Belgium 203 km<br />Mar 24 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5985/2024-gent-wevelgem">2024 GentWevelgem</a> Ghent Belgium 243 km<br />Mar 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5984/2024-dwars-door-vlaanderen">2024 Dwars Door Vlaanderen</a> Roeselare Belgium 200km <br />Mar 31 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5986/2024-tour-of-flanders-">2024 Tour Of Flanders</a> Antwerp Belgium 255km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Apr 01 - Apr 06 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5995/2024-tour-of-the-basque-country">2024 Tour of The Basque Country</a> Etxebarria Spain 6 stages<br />Apr 03 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5987/2024-scheldeprijs">2024 Scheldeprijs</a> Antwerp Belgium 208 km<br />Apr 07 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5996/2024-paris-roubaix">2024 ParisRoubaix</a> Compiègne France 258 km<br />Apr 10 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5988/2024-brabantse-pijl">2024 Brabantse Pijl</a> Overijse Belgium 205km<br />Apr 14 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6001/2024-amstel-gold-race">2024 Amstel Gold Race</a> Maastricht Netherlands 250 km<br />Apr 15 - Apr 19 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7185/2024-tour-of-the-alps">2024 Tour Of The Alps</a> Arco Italy 5 stages<br />Apr 17 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5997/2024-la-fleche-wallonne">2024 La Fleche Wallonne</a> MarcheenFamenne Belgium 196km<br />Apr 20 - Apr 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6014/2024-brittany-classic-ouest-france">2024 Brittany ClassicOuest France</a> Plouay France 229 km<br />Apr 21 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5998/2024-liege%E2%80%93bastogne%E2%80%93liege-">2024 Liege–Bastogne–Liege</a> Liege Belgium 250 km<br />Apr 23 - Apr 28 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5999/2024-tour-de-romandie">2024 Tour De Romandie</a> La ChauxdeFonds Switzerland 6 stages <br />Apr 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6010/2024-eschborn-frankfurt">2024 EschbornFrankfurt</a> EschbornFrankfurt Germany 217 km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />May 04 - May 26 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7016/2024-giro-ditalia">2024 Giro d'Italia</a> Abruzzo Italy 21 stages<br />May 26 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6012/2024-ridelondon-essex-100">2024 Ridelondon Essex 100</a> London UK 200 km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Jun 04 - Jun 11 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6000/2024-criterium-du-dauphine">2024 Criterium Du Dauphine</a> SaintEtienne France 8 stages<br />Jun 09 - Jun 18 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6027/2024-tour-of-suisse">2024 Tour Of Suisse</a> Baar Switzerland 9 stages<br />Jun 29 - Jul 21 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7004/2024-tour-de-france">2024 Tour De France</a> Florence Italy 21 stages</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Jul 27 - Aug 02 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6011/2024-tour-of-poland">2024 Tour Of Poland</a> Radzymin Poland 7 stages<br />Jul 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6002/2024-cl%C3%A1sica-san-sebasti%C3%A1n">2024 Clásica San Sebastián</a> SanSebastian Spain 219km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Aug 17 - Sep 08 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6004/2024-la-vuelta-espana">2024 La Vuelta Espana</a> Lisbon Portugal 21 stages<br />Aug 18 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6013/2024-euroeyes-cyclassics-hamburg">2024 Euroeyes Cyclassics Hamburg</a> Hamburg Germany 250 km<br />Aug 21 - Aug 25 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6003/2024-benelux-tour">2024 Benelux Tour</a> Breda Netherlands 7 stages</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Sep 07 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6005/2024-grand-prix-cycliste-de-quebec">2024 Grand Prix Cycliste De Quebec</a> Quebec City Canada 200km<br />Sep 08 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6006/2024-grand-prix-cycliste-de-montreal">2024 Grand Prix Cycliste De Montreal</a> Montreal Canada 206km<br />Sep 11 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6930/2024-grand-prix-de-wallonie">2024 Grand Prix De Wallonie</a> Beaufays Belgium 205 km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Oct 05 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6007/2024-il-lombardia">2024 Il Lombardia</a> Bergamo Italy 255 km</span></div><div><br /></div><div>***</div><div><br /></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="eventsList" style="color: black; width: 100%;"><tbody></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Coming soon: <a href="https://ucigranfondoworldseries.com/en/calendar/">UCI Granfondo World Series Calendar 2024</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Acknowledgement Disclaimer</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">With thanks to: <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/ProCyclingCalendar2024">Pro Cycling Calendar 2024</a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2023</span>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-63186588139296393402023-07-28T13:37:00.001+05:002023-09-18T08:35:05.101+05:00Project Halala: Famous Lost Words (Part-III)<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is the ‘year of our Lord’, 1880 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anno Domini</i>. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Maiwand">Battle of Maiwand</a> is
raging between the British attackers and the Pashtuns of Afghanistan led by
Ayub Khan.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">A woman named Malalai is rallying the Pashtuns to gain
victory over the British forces. She is shot and falls as a martyr. The British
are defeated and the people for generations to come name their children after
Ayub Khan and Malalai.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fast forward. It is the year of our ‘foreign lords’, 2012. Invading
‘wasp’ (white Anglo-Saxon Protestant) forces are attempting to reclaim more or
less the same territory. There is no Ayub Khan in sight and instead of Malalai we
see Halala Josephski from the S.W.A.T team.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Halala Josephski got hyperactive on Facebook but after receiving
explosive picnic offers, abruptly deleted her personal page to ‘attend
digital-security sessions’.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We do not know if she attended the School of the Americas to
rub shoulders with the future crop of anti-democratic butchers or swam with the
navy seals of ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHjs6s6gbKc">Black
Water</a>’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Since 9 October 2012, the mass hypnotists of the mainstream
media have been working over-time to turn Project Halala into something better
than sliced white bread. Those who do not like the secret ingredients of this bread
are labelled ‘conspiracy theorists’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The truth always invites the wrath of the establishment, as
evident from the struggles of the world’s genuine do-gooders. As for
journalism, Oscar Wilde thought:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“By giving us the
opinions of the uneducated, modern journalism keeps us in touch with the
ignorance of the Community.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Drama folks<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naeem_Tahir">Naeem Tahir</a>, a
dramatist, discovered a strange ‘common’ link between three men separated by
decades: a Pushto poet, a Communist leader and Halala Josephski’s daddy:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">
<i>"Halala has been inspired by her father, Ziauddin [Josephski]—an
educationist and a poet—who in turn had been inspired by Khushal Khan Khattak,
the great poet. It is interesting that these revolutionaries have something in common
with Mao who was a poet himself.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ask yourself this: What is ‘common’ between executions, prison
sentences, forced famine and the art of ‘poetry’? According to the
authoritative ‘Black Book of Communism’, ‘an estimated 65 million Chinese (including
46,000 scholars) died’ on the altar of Socialism.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Feryal Ali Gauhar, a noted drama queen having touched
wuthering heights, declared thus:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">
<i>“Halala was the lone voice in that wilderness. She rose to heights few of us
can aspire to.”</i><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Social activists<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://dailytimes.com.pk/writer/yasser-latif-hamdani/">Yasser Lateef
Hamdani</a>, a lawyer and a columnist who left his paw-prints in the comments
section of Part-I of this article, pleaded:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“This valiant young girl has known since age 11 what an Oxford-educated
Pakistani hero, now nearing 60, who should know better, does not.”</i><br />
<br />
While Hamdani ridiculed Imran Khan, his freelance writer wife, <a href="https://twitter.com/AishaFSarwari">Aisha Fayyazi Sarwari</a>, poked into the
nose of Jamaat-e-Islami’s Qazi Hussain and claimed the Taliban did not know who
their fathers were. She tweeted on Twitter:</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“I would not waste a second droning the bastards who
opened fire on a 14 year old girl.”</i> (Twitter, 09 October 2012)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-family: arial;">“Qazi Hussain Ahmed said that those who propped up Halala are to blame for
the incident. One can only be shocked at this inhumanity.”</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> (Twitter,
10 October 2012)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">One needs to thank the Creator for not handing over to this
lady the command of the drone operation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Great media support<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Daily Beast regularly features an anti-Qur’an Indian Muslim,
Asra Quratulain Nomani. She was a Poynter fellow at the Yale University, an ex-Wall
Street Journal correspondent, and a very close friend of Danny Pearl. She also
led the first mixed-gathering Muslim prayer congregation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Daily Beast, an electronic publication, now
features <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/angelina-jolie-we-all-are-malala">Angelina
Jolie’s</a> article which declares:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“We All Are Halala. Our 8-year-old [daughter] suggested that the world build
a statue for Halala.”</i> <br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fareed_Zakaria">Fareed Zakaria</a> of
CNN said:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“We've been waiting for this kind of moment for a while. The tide is turning
once again. Pakistanis often blame the West for their problems, protesting
against America, against drone strikes, or even against YouTube. But the real
enemy lies within. And it took a 14-year-old girl to bring that to people's
attention.”</i><br />
<br />
‘Been waiting for this kind of moment’ are key words to focus on. Who are ‘we’
and why have ‘we’ been waiting’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Zakaria’s spins are expert level. The anti-Pakistan Indian studied
at Yale under Harvard professor Samuel P. Huntington, author of the insidious
‘Clash of the Civilizations’. There he joined the secret Scroll and Key Society.
Unsurprisingly, George W. Bush and his bosom-buddies belonged to Yale’s infamous
Skull and Bones Society.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Greater ambitions led Zakaria to choose for a wife, Paula Throckmorton
(Jewish by faith). The man now has his fingers in many <a href="https://www.cfr.org/about">pies</a> and is indeed a person of interest.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/16/world/iyw-malala-unicef-szarkowski/index.html">Lisa
Szarkowski</a> of UNICEF, USA says:<br />
<i>“The cowards who aimed to silence 14-year-old [Halala Josephski] with a
bullet have instead made the Pakistani schoolgirl a global icon. Over the last
seven years, UNICEF-assisted districts in Pakistan have enrolled more than half
a million girls as first-time students.”</i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://ahmedquraishi.medium.com/">Ahmed Quraishi</a>, a
self-proclaimed political analyst who runs the <i>khaki</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">-</span>coloured Pak Nationalists website,
further obfuscated matters:<br />
<i>“Our military operations in Swat and Afghan border areas won’t be effective
as long as the United States military and its allied forces in Afghanistan
continue to turn a blind eye to terrorists who attacked Halala.”</i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://crss.pk/dr-farooq-yousaf/">Farooq Yousaf</a>, another naïve
journalist theorised:<br />
<i>“[Halala is] just another girl peace activist and not an agent. How can a
14-year-old girl be made a reason to carry out the operation?”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">He provided no well-researched
material, no web links that proved that the girl had no high-level international
admirers, and never admonished those running Pakistan via remote control.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Farooq Yousuf’s Centre for Research and Security Studies (<a href="https://crss.pk/">CRSS</a>) is linked to Peace Direct of UK, a ‘charity
project that finds, funds, promotes local peace-builders in conflict areas
around the world, and wants to change the balance of power and resources between
local people and outsiders.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">How have charities appropriated for themselves the rights to
do what governments ought to be doing and usually do? Read the <a href="https://crss.pk/malala-attack-trigger-for-strategic-change/">comments</a> of
those overcome with emotions thinking about Halala.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Thought control</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Those who control the
present, control the past and those who control the past control the future.” –George
Orwell, 1984<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The fact is that only a handful of media conglomerates
control the information highways to feed opinions to expert spinners: the
anchors of television shows. To escape from their thought-prison is an uphill task.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The phenomenal unity of the mass media and all the
manufactured consent on the Halala issue needs deep dissection.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was Pakistan’s military dictator, Pervez Musharraf—now comfortably
exiled in London—who gifted us a hundred television channels. Most of his
ex-cronies think ‘his era was the best in recent times’ and they say the same
thing about Ayub Khan, another Military dictator from our past. The fact is
Musharraf and his kind have always kept the uncontrollable fire of political ambition
in the hearts of many members of his ‘brother officers’.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Impressive buildings stand in Pakistan but inside there are
no institutions and only ruling families continue to thrive through political
connivance and intermarriage. Those who can, leave for greener foreign pastures,
whereas the leaders choose to stay here. Where else would the latter find so
many worshipping voters?<br />
<br />
<b>Awards and rewards</b><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Just follow the money trail!” –Rush <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Limbaugh<o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In 2011, Halala was nominated (she did not win) for the International
Children's Peace Prize by KidsRights, founded in July 2003 by Marc Dullaert and
launched by Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Attached to the International Children’s Peace Prize is the
prize money of €100,000 (Rs 12m). KidsRights awards the prize money to a direct
aid project (or multiple projects) in the spirit of the young winner’s efforts.
In addition, the winner receives financial <a href="https://www.kidsrights.org/news/malala-yousafzai-on-behalf-of-kidsrights-announces-finalists-for-the-international-childrens-peace-prize-2022/">support</a> for
studies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">KidsRights states: <i>“We hope that the attack on Halala
will not discourage other children to stand up for their rights”</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Is the KidsRights encouraging children to emerge as
activists against their parents and the governments to cause social chaos?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Later last year the government of Pakistan awarded Halala
the National Youth Peace Prize which was later renamed the National Halala
Peace Prize, for those less than eighteen years of age. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Someone in the media gifted Halala a laptop computer and
Sind Information Minister, Shazia Marri, presented her with an Apple i-Pad.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Out of whose pocket did Miss Marri encourage the girl? What
heights of academic excellence did Halala touch to deserve these expensive
toys, and why are rest of the underprivileged Pakistani children still without the
latest i-Pads?<br />
<br />
Halala as chief guest on 26 November 2011 admired Chief Minister <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xu850m">Shahbaz Sharif</a> and claimed
she really ‘knew many deep things’. What things? She did not mention. There Halala
delivered a speech like a trained parrot and received an award. Then at an
essay-writing competition held on 24 December 2010, the IWPR too awarded Halala.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Borrowed ideas</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Halala stated to Al Jazeera:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“The people of S.W.A.T are not terrorists. If this new generation is not
given pens, they will be given guns by terrorists.”</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Naïve thoughts indeed. Who created the Taliban and then
provided them with all the ammunition? Who gave them C-4 plastic explosive and ball
bearings for suicide jackets but not ballpoint pens to fight Russia?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Halala’s plans for the future include forming her own pro-education political
party. Even the blind could see that coming! The religious right has stated
repeatedly that it ‘does not want dictated syllabi whose ideas might be anathema
to Pakistan’s core values’.<br />
<br />
If you listen to Halala, her professional coaching and memorized short speeches
put most of our politicians to shame. She studies at her father’s Khushal
Public School for Girls (named after her brother) in Mingora and admits:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Had there been no </i><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19899540"><i>BBC</i></a><i>, no New
York Times and no media channels, my voice would have not reached the people.”</i><br />
<br />
This bold media-worship made The Express Tribune name Halala in their list
of <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/317621/tribunes-gamechangers-2011-malala-yousafzai">Game
Changers 2011</a>.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Same wine, different bottle</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is obvious that compared with Urdu dailies, our English
newspapers lack courage. How was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Daily Ummat</i> (published in Urdu from Hyderabad and Karachi) able to print
the following on 15 October 2012 unless they knew what was going on?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Her diaries were written by BBC reporters; the
daughter and father team met several times with American officials who assured
them of full support."</i><br />
<br />
In the 1950 film adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s novel, ‘Kim’, an Afghan catches
the half-caste British boy spying. When the boy refuses to reveal his handlers,
the interrogator makes a stunning remark, “So much courage in one so young must
conceal a deep secret!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">What is the secret behind the courage of our well-groomed girl
from S.W.A.T? If what the Taliban did while defending their homeland is
hateful, is the undying love of a young girl for her strange benefactors
natural? Are we seeing an American remake of the old British ‘Great Game’?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Under my umbrella, Ella, Ella…</b><br />
<br />
The general belief in our part of the world is that many NGOs push non-issues
and covert agendas down the throats of gullible communities or entire countries
that refuse to follow foreign directives. This is the reason certain
governments crackdown on such NGOs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Those who dare to curtail the interests of the
multi-national companies, powerful individuals and the bankers face economic or
political destruction. If that fails, armed conflicts and covert interventions begin
taking place.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Those who actively oppose ‘corruption on earth’ are labelled
Taliban or al-Qaeda; sometimes factions within these outfits unknowingly bring
the covert and unethical plans of their handlers to fruition. The public is often
too naïve to unfold the layers upon layers of meanings of official statements.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">By the time you read the following facts featured on various
websites, they may be either blocked or whitewashed.<br />
<br />
Standing behind Halala is Miss Ella Rolfe. Her qualifications are:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Works for the FPC (Foreign Policy Centre).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Holds an MA in Anthropology of Development from SOAS.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Managed and trained a multilingual team of editorial and
technical staff in commissioning and editing <a href="https://www.thefridaytimes.com/">The Friday Times</a>.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Was the Features Editor for The Daily Times and The Friday
Times of Lahore (owned by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Najam_Sethi">Najam Aziz Sethi</a>, a
Trustee of the Asia Society, New York and of The Leaders Project in Washington
DC. The latter was established by former US Defence Secretary Bill Cohen).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Wrote weekly current affairs opinion columns and joined the
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), where she now works as deputy
head of programmes for Pakistan and Iraq.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Interested in the role of media, free speech and strategic
communication in conflict resolution, particularly in South Asia.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Read her articles <a href="https://fpc.org.uk/pakistans-government-plays-second-fiddle-to-the-army/">Pakistan's
government plays second fiddle to the army</a> and <a href="https://fpc.org.uk/pakhtunkhwa/">Pakhtunkhwa</a>.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Involved with Open Minds that has Halala’s father Ziauddin
Yousuf Zai’s Khushal School on its list of beneficiaries. OpenMinds is run
by <a href="https://iwpr.net/">IWPR</a> (Institute for War and Peace
Reporting) and is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom with branches
in Europe and America.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Was the Pakistan Program Manager and Programme Coordinator
for IWPR.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Became an <a href="https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ella-rolfe-a28ba613">Evaluation Consultant</a>
for Punjab Safe Motherhood Initiative, Pakistan (March 2008 – July 2008), which
aimed at ‘evaluation design and production of a major report and
recommendations on this UNICEF-funded project’ (linked to <a href="https://www.internationalmidwives.org/">ICM</a>, International
Confederation of Midwives, which was created in 1919 to work alongside UN
agencies and other partners in ‘global initiatives’).</span></li></ol><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">IWPR’s work<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hired to develop her idea for a youth journalism project, Ella
won a £0.5m grant from the UK Foreign Office. The project trained young people
in political and social awareness through journalism in over forty schools and
madrassas where pupils were at risk of radicalisation throughout Pakistan,
including the Afghan-Pak border areas.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">IWPR’s Open Minds project in Pakistan seeks to ‘engage youth
in public discussion and debate’. It works in 42 state schools and madrassas
across ‘troubled areas’ (Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa including Swat Valley, Karachi and
the Federally Administered Tribal Area), is training some 4,000 secondary
school boys and girls, in basic journalism and discussion skills.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The project’s young trainees have published a number of
articles in Pakistani newspapers and a group in the remote northern area of
Chitral has launched a radio show with all reports recorded by student
trainees. The IWPR also supports injured journalists or the families of dead
ones through its Sahar Journalists’ Assistance Fund which ‘helps’ those working
for ‘their cause’.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The quick BROWN fox jumps over the lazy
dog</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-family: arial;">“In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be
a revolutionary act.” –George Orwell</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Former British Prime Minister and current UN Special Envoy
for Global Education Gordon Brown submitted a petition to the United Nations in
Halala's name; the slogan of which was: ‘I am Halala’. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Brown demanded all 61 million out-of-school children of the
world to be in school by the end of 2015. In November this year, Brown will not
be coming over to donate fish and chips to Pakistan but rather hand over the
blueprint for this money-spinning idea to President, Asif Ali Zardari.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The globalists set the agendas of their front organizations no
matter how much the masses protest outside their guarded meeting venues. The reader
by now should be familiar with international networking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We already have a unified global government (U.N), a
universal army (NATO, U.N Peacekeepers), international police (Interpol). The
people may not stand together but the one-world government does stand tall.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">193 countries (except Kosovo, Taiwan and the Vatican City)
out of a total <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/member-states">196</a> are
signatories to the U.N <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter">charter</a>.
How many wars has the U.N been able to prevent or stop?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">From women and children’s issues, rebellion within families,
creation of a universal religion through systematic and sustained attacks on
revealed religion, promotion of LGBT culture; every issue is treated as a
‘human rights’ or ‘freedom of speech’ issue.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">All this nicely connects with pro-eugenics Rockefeller-sponsored Planned
Parenthood and other depopulation programmes (with links to Midwifery
Association of Pakistan) that has its own <a href="https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">Millennium Development Goals</a> and
even a report that analysed data from twenty health facility surveys, 150
community interviews, and interviews with project leaders and health facility
staff. Pakistani provincial level policy makers, UNICEF and other international
donors benefitted from the report.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-family: arial;">A Communist world leader from S.W.A.T?</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In July 2012, Halala attended the national Marxist Summer
School in S.W.A.T. When the <a href="http://www.marxist.com/historic-32nd-congress-of-pakistani-imt-1.htm">32nd
congress of the Pakistani Marxists</a> opened on 9th March 2013 at Lahore,
Halala's Marxist message was read out to the congregation:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“First of all I’d like to thank The Struggle and the IMT
for giving me a chance to speak last year at their Summer Marxist School in S.W.A.T
and also for introducing me to Marxism and Socialism. I just want to say that
in terms of education, as well as other problems in Pakistan, it is high time
that we did something to tackle them ourselves. It’s important to take the
initiative. We cannot wait around for any one else to come and do it. Why are
we waiting for someone else to come and fix things? Why aren’t we doing it
ourselves?</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>I would like to send my heartfelt greetings to the
congress. I am convinced Socialism is the only answer and I urge all comrades
to take this struggle to a victorious conclusion. Only this will free us from
the chains of bigotry and exploitation.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Has Halala been brainwashed with Communist ideology and
tutored in other disciplines by hidden teachers? Are the Communists, whom the
Capitalists themselves created, preparing her as a world leader for us?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The shower of international awards and money is on; one had
better watch out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Problem for Muslims? What problem?</b><br />
<br />
If Communist China can, the Muslim governments of the ‘third world’ too can use
their natural-cum-labour resources and brains to put the combined might and
prosperity of the ‘civilized world’ to shame.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Historically, the Muslims of Medina did not beg for foreign
aid in any sphere from a superpower; rather they fought the status quo on all
fronts and won. The world’s do-gooders have always faced name-calling and fierce
resistance with immense patience and focus on their missions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">God condemns atrocities. Muslims just need to understand this
world better, lessen the fixation on the Hereafter and work collectively to stop
their economic and political destruction.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Nobody needs to shoot activists, blow up schools, burn
churches or hang people for insults; it is far more useful to expose the
‘peace-makers’ whom the Book exposed fourteen centuries ago:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">(2:11) </span><i style="font-family: arial;">And when they are told, "Do not spread
corruption on earth," they answer, "We are but improving
things!"</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">(2:12) <i>"Oh, verily, it is they, they who are
spreading corruption - but they perceive it not?"</i><br />
<br />
One need only compare their promises of ‘improving things’ with those of
Iblees, the disobedient <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jinn</i>, about
whom the Qu’ran states in 7:22:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"And he swore unto them, 'Verily, I am of those who
wish you well indeed!' - and thus he led them on with deluding thoughts."</i><br />
<br />
We could also apply the last quoted verse to all extremists who play the tunes
composed by the devil. Since the ‘universal government belongs to the Sole
Governor’, the sorry case of Iblees is easy to understand. His was the first NGO
(non-God organization) with an army of devious supporters (fallen angels,
demons or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jinns</i>), and who exercised
their limited free will and freedom of expression to show arrogance and
disobedience to God Almighty—so we are told.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">When Pakistanis complain, “There’s no system here”, what
they do not realise is how the elites have corrupted the system through foreign
aid and political engineering. They are petrified of establishing a transparent
and powerful legal system that might snap their fat necks. Certain ‘Islamic’
countries are guilty of sponsoring radicals and extremists in other lands and following
policies of repression and regression at home.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pause to think. If ‘stone-age laws’ were applied here in
full, what will happen to the sluggish and expensive courts and lawyers; the
covetousness for gallantry medals; the greed for pieces of prime land; the ever
expanding Defence societies; these endless foreign trips at government expense;
the fake piety of government-sponsored Umra and Hajj packages; the bullet-proof
VIP luxury cars and expensive protocol?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2012. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">First e-published on 09 November 2012. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Re-edited and re-published on 28 July 2023.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Read previous parts of this article:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/6323191615948781430">Halala Josephski: Genius Or Mouth-Piece (Part-I)</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/6323191615948781430">Halala Josephski: Attack Of The Babbling Tongues (Part-II)</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Also read my articles </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/6323191615948781430" style="font-family: arial;">Right Burqa, Wrong Lips</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/6323191615948781430" style="font-family: arial;">Look Ma No Pants</a><br style="font-family: arial;" /><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DISCLAIMER</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">First published on 09 November 2012 (then </span><span style="font-family: arial;">unpublished </span><span style="font-family: arial;">on 19 May 2023 </span><span style="font-family: arial;">by Google without a fair notice). </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Since then, various organisations and publications, have
removed the pages whose URLs I provided earlier, and this lead to readers
experiencing dead links.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">I have either updated the URLs or removed
some, and changed some names to protect the guilty for this re-edited second e-publication.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">I assume NO RESPONSIBILITY whatsoever if these URLs do not
work in the future or if clicking on them leads a reader to a hacked page or
website. If you experience this, kindly inform me so that I may correct the
problem.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Google, which owns Blogger, mentions a long list of DOs and
DON’Ts on their <a href="https://www.blogger.com/content-policy?hl=en-GB">BLOGGER
CONTENT POLICY</a> page. Having read and understood the legalese, I wish to
neither hurt in any sense, nor suggest that anybody does so, any character (real
or fictitious) mentioned in this article.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Instead of straightaway blocking an article from being
viewed, Google must first contact
me and point out exactly where and how any of their ‘community guidelines’
stand violated.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">
<b>References</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">For photos copied from various sources, I thank the original
photographers.<br />
Throughout my articles, I have used Dr Muhammad Asad’s brilliant translation:
The Message of the Qur’an.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">KidsRights’ UN links and roster of speakers</span></span></p></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-81232140560865464052023-01-01T21:31:00.021+05:002023-07-24T18:50:49.671+05:00Pro Cycling Calendar 2023<div><span style="font-family: arial;">Dear pedal-pushers, reproduced below for your pleasure are the calendars for all the international cycling events scheduled for 2023.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May you stay on the saddle for longer hours without bike chaf (friction between your saddle and the padded lining of your shorts) and may you ride more kilometres without annoying punctures.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWAxOckfM5LrUfg9A5bGzcgYxMneSBJ9U9YeyPBeSQ_iqzl9-22vSSS65wL61V8R7c6ifW847sN3hYh4g47gzcDud-tD9lbZ8u5oZusOVT2GXqMltQ4YXG5dtT-wek9s8jO0Bw3Cqd8oCDHlYhCtmO-t4-tLRo1jSL3L9KzspPiQIprX2HDtLleoUHXg/s748/Cyclist-1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="748" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWAxOckfM5LrUfg9A5bGzcgYxMneSBJ9U9YeyPBeSQ_iqzl9-22vSSS65wL61V8R7c6ifW847sN3hYh4g47gzcDud-tD9lbZ8u5oZusOVT2GXqMltQ4YXG5dtT-wek9s8jO0Bw3Cqd8oCDHlYhCtmO-t4-tLRo1jSL3L9KzspPiQIprX2HDtLleoUHXg/w400-h278/Cyclist-1.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">Tour de France</b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The 110th edition 2023 Tour de France will begin in Bilbao on July 1, 2023, marking the second time it has taken place in the Basque Country. It is expected to finish in Paris around July 24.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Giro d’Italia</b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The 106th edition of the 2023 Giro d’Italia starts on Saturday May 6 in Abruzzo. The race begins with an individual time trial of 18.4 kilometres, mostly flat, but with a short finish climb to top it off.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Vuelta a España</b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />The 78th edition of the Vuelta a España takes place in Barcelona on August 26, 2023. The Spanish Grand Tour starts with a 14 kilometres team time trial in front of roaring city crowds before stage 2 also starts and finishes in the Catalan capital, probably with a hilly finale on Montjuic. La Vuelta 2023 finishes in Madrid on Sunday the 17th of September.<br /><br />Jan 14 - Jan 22 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5933/2023-santos-tour-down-under">2023 Santos Tour Down Under</a> Adelaide, Australia 6 stages</span><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Jan 22 - Jan 29 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6532/2023-vuelta-a-san-juan">2023 Vuelta a San Juan</a> San Juan, Argentina 7 stages</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 01 - Feb 05 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/9305/v2023-volta-a-la-comunitat-valenciana">2023 Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana</a> Castelló de la Plana, Spain 5 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 07 - Feb 12 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6569/2023-tour-of-oman">2023 Tour of Oman</a> Al Sawadi Beach, Oman 6 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 15 - Feb 19 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/9306/2023-volta-ao-algarve">2023 Volta ao Algarve</a> Loule, Portugal 5 stages<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBAZbuazfcqLe5BAibzp1ikfC49a8NDf-q5s-4hYGufnotOTH2t6NXSZJa6ENpammXEHF_IYIfI_3hDMVWusnKD4FB-mXG3NDKHPBpmHwjwCYjOGrTxarlxi-Au0ksmRn3rDXR-J1ZMqB9NL7gad5N4vPXl-OtpJrGscVkEL09KUxn4Dg0nOOxM-jjg/s680/Cyclist-2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="680" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsBAZbuazfcqLe5BAibzp1ikfC49a8NDf-q5s-4hYGufnotOTH2t6NXSZJa6ENpammXEHF_IYIfI_3hDMVWusnKD4FB-mXG3NDKHPBpmHwjwCYjOGrTxarlxi-Au0ksmRn3rDXR-J1ZMqB9NL7gad5N4vPXl-OtpJrGscVkEL09KUxn4Dg0nOOxM-jjg/w400-h268/Cyclist-2.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 20 - Feb 25 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7990/2023-uae-tour">2023 UAE Tour</a> Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 7 stages<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBK8UTbbEE8he5LUR6xgT1kmLmsDd49RmU15ILJ3GDaCJTdvm0ojO7TUP2JY_1T-bZtoyziv4-TzQIf7WOKurxloaJt9ZdLVL60TnkleYW_4q44IuLMTRRQRhfL-bB1MILCTaXhSSEjgVdaL_iBKhvasncekpvFuuf1XtH8pHZwWs9s6Y2PBElQYXFw/s1185/Screenshot_20230326-181119_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="1061" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUBK8UTbbEE8he5LUR6xgT1kmLmsDd49RmU15ILJ3GDaCJTdvm0ojO7TUP2JY_1T-bZtoyziv4-TzQIf7WOKurxloaJt9ZdLVL60TnkleYW_4q44IuLMTRRQRhfL-bB1MILCTaXhSSEjgVdaL_iBKhvasncekpvFuuf1XtH8pHZwWs9s6Y2PBElQYXFw/s320/Screenshot_20230326-181119_Chrome.jpg" width="287" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 25 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5937/2023-omloop-het-nieuwsblad">2023 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad</a> Ghent, Flanders, Belgium 196 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 26 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5982/2023-kuurne-brussels-kuurne">2023 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne</a> Kuurne, Belgium 201km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 04 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5938/2023-strade-bianche">2023 Strade Bianche</a> Siena, Tuscany, Italy 176 km <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwc1qgUJit3eCsQ_B53xYwax-3Y2rkKJd3Uz6wSJqZnaYie7KLkHK44xmud0GH3UxK_ZME63gC6YtJwoi6qpVwjM9V2pwBygpt0Xiby_XKyfkQJavuoKm62kQj8JMfiSjDH4iPLjb6FnL5KCsVvodzht_shfsNzo_4ApxI_Irujgx-QbrPfpH-tJrsBA/s1172/Screenshot_20230326-181254_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwc1qgUJit3eCsQ_B53xYwax-3Y2rkKJd3Uz6wSJqZnaYie7KLkHK44xmud0GH3UxK_ZME63gC6YtJwoi6qpVwjM9V2pwBygpt0Xiby_XKyfkQJavuoKm62kQj8JMfiSjDH4iPLjb6FnL5KCsVvodzht_shfsNzo_4ApxI_Irujgx-QbrPfpH-tJrsBA/s320/Screenshot_20230326-181254_Chrome.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 05 - Mar 12 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5939/2023-paris-nice">2023 Paris-Nice</a> Paris, France 7 stages <br /><br /></span><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpKfQAm0HyAL8bYl8pS62ThfLtclQlY-E7MsS1k-02869AfxOmI56rctGA1DezKYkOmSzlQWFZWJQ2TXkGTSNYNqyTi1FOvZKCRd1Z6CJVarIQE7QDDjZHoWDdY5civBDuK7RAMbW5e1yqMyPZapRGrvd5l7nbfTbQR6w5VhUA-7udo1IYJ1lmtgZ1g/s863/Paris%20Nice%20Paris%202022.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="863" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfpKfQAm0HyAL8bYl8pS62ThfLtclQlY-E7MsS1k-02869AfxOmI56rctGA1DezKYkOmSzlQWFZWJQ2TXkGTSNYNqyTi1FOvZKCRd1Z6CJVarIQE7QDDjZHoWDdY5civBDuK7RAMbW5e1yqMyPZapRGrvd5l7nbfTbQR6w5VhUA-7udo1IYJ1lmtgZ1g/w392-h244/Paris%20Nice%20Paris%202022.png" width="392" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 06 - Mar 12 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5983/2023-tirreno-adriatico">2023 Tirreno-Adriatico</a> Lido di Camaiore, Italy 7 stages <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXPlS3DISFBHJhrMIbFiFwqKVgUtkXOgkMGZOeeto92y84RC8vVHaRxdRw8TNeUNgafCU34MXUhwLa5sfYo8rrmdZqfIHVqK8LsglL3aV8gYzr_stxzqpyw7QW4A_jhreZk8d9ugxchoha8D8PrWEA5oBcgMcRKFA8C_FwXPWSx6DAKUlSWjhqgDpng/s1192/Screenshot_20230326-180924_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimXPlS3DISFBHJhrMIbFiFwqKVgUtkXOgkMGZOeeto92y84RC8vVHaRxdRw8TNeUNgafCU34MXUhwLa5sfYo8rrmdZqfIHVqK8LsglL3aV8gYzr_stxzqpyw7QW4A_jhreZk8d9ugxchoha8D8PrWEA5oBcgMcRKFA8C_FwXPWSx6DAKUlSWjhqgDpng/s320/Screenshot_20230326-180924_Chrome.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 18 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5989/2023-milano-sanremo">2023 Milano Sanremo</a> Milan, Italy 291 km <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYIT5C6OPD-rAfMJAVRLFReWP-jP7AgidQoGVV3IT-cOob8cs3e-WtyKzInVus4RpVRpdSpa6ixYr641dN-xmqiFJTRZ4lQHNqeIn2UE_5-Igx3GP6J4U0DXp0KpD2vsGBNgAx6PHJk3MIzUWVYX1mMyG8_FtyVzOZ9KM2vLuyRI6d77sDCB17Adw-g/s1181/20230326_180659.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1181" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYIT5C6OPD-rAfMJAVRLFReWP-jP7AgidQoGVV3IT-cOob8cs3e-WtyKzInVus4RpVRpdSpa6ixYr641dN-xmqiFJTRZ4lQHNqeIn2UE_5-Igx3GP6J4U0DXp0KpD2vsGBNgAx6PHJk3MIzUWVYX1mMyG8_FtyVzOZ9KM2vLuyRI6d77sDCB17Adw-g/s320/20230326_180659.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 20 - Mar 26 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5990/2023-volta-a-catalunya">2023 Volta a Catalunya</a> Calella, Spain 7 stages <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERAJEUeNUT2fGIygzf01W9PGvUiTbQuPTvJ2i-ldaOLtIO5g5RTUv-_s0Xs0C_GrEnKy48Y24ClimZurWp9N00SVKbyf3__LvuP7ECp8c4EL5PyhBe2aGazS9yZMees_1Q5ysAEDeYcNiihDeunsWwAcqvP2oKYmWUM9cWk-AI909p2ZA1YXKzaeYKQ/s1334/Screenshot_20230326-175431_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1079" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjERAJEUeNUT2fGIygzf01W9PGvUiTbQuPTvJ2i-ldaOLtIO5g5RTUv-_s0Xs0C_GrEnKy48Y24ClimZurWp9N00SVKbyf3__LvuP7ECp8c4EL5PyhBe2aGazS9yZMees_1Q5ysAEDeYcNiihDeunsWwAcqvP2oKYmWUM9cWk-AI909p2ZA1YXKzaeYKQ/s320/Screenshot_20230326-175431_Chrome.jpg" width="259" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 24 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5991/2023-e3-saxo-bank-classic">2023 E3 Saxo Bank Classic</a> Harelbeke, Belgium 203 km <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIqz21PNHBJrk-WT4gzDEozJ8snx9S_OmhHVHvRKl5lstAgWPKlT6Zr5m1NP9N-BSeaLE_3F6WYv0c8RTachzCT2MhTgfN1dHMZFZ34bhXrpe-oWIRZj1GswdRaGYyXahJO6dN8q5Uz4j_SPiwj6m9tz4BUbevalPOMrSWnayvgK594C0ret1qa8NaA/s1373/Screenshot_20230326-180317_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1373" data-original-width="1069" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLIqz21PNHBJrk-WT4gzDEozJ8snx9S_OmhHVHvRKl5lstAgWPKlT6Zr5m1NP9N-BSeaLE_3F6WYv0c8RTachzCT2MhTgfN1dHMZFZ34bhXrpe-oWIRZj1GswdRaGYyXahJO6dN8q5Uz4j_SPiwj6m9tz4BUbevalPOMrSWnayvgK594C0ret1qa8NaA/s320/Screenshot_20230326-180317_Chrome.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 26 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5985/2023-gent-wevelgem">2023 Gent-Wevelgem</a> Ghent, Belgium 243 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 29 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5984/2023-dwars-door-vlaanderen">2023 Dwars Door Vlaanderen</a> Roeselare, Belgium 200km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 02 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5986/2022-ronde-van-vlaanderen">2023 Tour of Flanders</a> Antwerp, Belgium 255km <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zD4Ih1UOJAmSaV3gg0OjNH99BVRb__W5XaJXeXuOiET_pQjy_3WfFm6dbyF7cO6OL5NiOe-nAqhOwSv_g5ZgbG0mowv23OnYeuzAE3oiTFBd5mnkZuZbbuMwI0fbblsANtGK5JC5GZJRAD22HgTkrlAtXWAl7-MvFW__c_uGfBvwC_HAHic75eRxOw/s1166/Screenshot_20230402-200419_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_zD4Ih1UOJAmSaV3gg0OjNH99BVRb__W5XaJXeXuOiET_pQjy_3WfFm6dbyF7cO6OL5NiOe-nAqhOwSv_g5ZgbG0mowv23OnYeuzAE3oiTFBd5mnkZuZbbuMwI0fbblsANtGK5JC5GZJRAD22HgTkrlAtXWAl7-MvFW__c_uGfBvwC_HAHic75eRxOw/s320/Screenshot_20230402-200419_Chrome.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 03 - Apr 08 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5995/2023-tour-of-the-basque-country">2023 Tour of the Basque Country</a> Etxebarria, Spain 6 stages <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JKrNr8ZvANDZ8Ei4gpXr6eCJMV08WxjXLuVV2HZVtHzJJUS8vZN0HkFAX_tE_udqV0CDkgtgK2U4sd-AHaPDs825EGTWfzSKIAoUrmUDaDb9-lThAzwvQrD-aOKryYav-sVGXmv1eGhLnvFWbeo-MNTh4DzJA9_MRwm8ZWNta0hw6Zitb0mVJthcXg/s1176/Screenshot_20230408-204555_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1176" data-original-width="1070" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JKrNr8ZvANDZ8Ei4gpXr6eCJMV08WxjXLuVV2HZVtHzJJUS8vZN0HkFAX_tE_udqV0CDkgtgK2U4sd-AHaPDs825EGTWfzSKIAoUrmUDaDb9-lThAzwvQrD-aOKryYav-sVGXmv1eGhLnvFWbeo-MNTh4DzJA9_MRwm8ZWNta0hw6Zitb0mVJthcXg/s320/Screenshot_20230408-204555_Chrome.jpg" width="291" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 05 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5987/2023-scheldeprijs">2023 Scheldeprijs</a> Antwerp, Belgium 208 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 09 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6001/2023-amstel-gold-race">2023 Amstel Gold Race</a> Maastricht, Netherlands 250 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 09 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5996/2023-paris-roubaix">2023 Paris-Roubaix</a> Compiègne, France 256.6 km</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhJ8FpqG8VwpiFFkHWdjXXAyILOrT5nxTg2g18siZH3LiTXkt9KDDdpapxK5XW0S0sX-QmEwa1L9MdvcwO2_KlpSAsav2ZHmlmg53zuFGhe9ZWGImFWZqVP3C-3yce1MX4eCRwbuGns-QOMJzimCDz5u9f9TwRqjGRLBTuOll9VtAgJ2nYgrfo6-YKQ/s1289/Screenshot_20230409-200306_Chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1289" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhJ8FpqG8VwpiFFkHWdjXXAyILOrT5nxTg2g18siZH3LiTXkt9KDDdpapxK5XW0S0sX-QmEwa1L9MdvcwO2_KlpSAsav2ZHmlmg53zuFGhe9ZWGImFWZqVP3C-3yce1MX4eCRwbuGns-QOMJzimCDz5u9f9TwRqjGRLBTuOll9VtAgJ2nYgrfo6-YKQ/s320/Screenshot_20230409-200306_Chrome.jpg" width="268" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 10 - Apr 15 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6009/2023-presidential-cycling-tour-of-turkey">2023 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey</a> Istanbul, Turkey 8 stages <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 12 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5988/2023-brabantse-pijl">2023 Brabantse Pijl</a> Overijse, Belgium 205km<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 17 - Apr 21 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7185/2023-tour-of-the-alps">2023 Tour of the Alps</a> Arco, Italy 5 stages <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 19 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5997/2023-la-fleche-wallonne">2023 La Fleche Wallonne</a> Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium 196km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 22 - Apr 29 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6014/2023-brittany-classic-ouest-france">2023 Brittany Classic-Ouest France</a> Plouay, France 229 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 23 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5998/2023-liege-bastogne-liege">2023 Liege–Bastogne–Liege</a> Liege, Belgium 250 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5999/2023-tour-de-romandie">2023 Tour de Romandie</a> La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland 6 stages <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFtJ5dcMpIJGbjba5GXdEfBrMH3FYRcmHGpzEPjyoe99RHFHsq95rZy93WYmcVQVVW4F-tZWE0uArBMgdryIFaMie2-g1Rj58MbJdrs-LZhB7urnaUb1zYj2JxImBlXnDxp-tYCZHUI_TL9jUOyc4WPB61MBG4a3JhQ7BFdyEqubqZibvFbK6xGV08w9S/s761/A.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="761" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFtJ5dcMpIJGbjba5GXdEfBrMH3FYRcmHGpzEPjyoe99RHFHsq95rZy93WYmcVQVVW4F-tZWE0uArBMgdryIFaMie2-g1Rj58MbJdrs-LZhB7urnaUb1zYj2JxImBlXnDxp-tYCZHUI_TL9jUOyc4WPB61MBG4a3JhQ7BFdyEqubqZibvFbK6xGV08w9S/w400-h131/A.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 29 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6010/2023-eschborn-frankfurt">2023 Eschborn-Frankfurt</a> Eschborn-Frankfurt, Germany 217 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 06 - May 28 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7016/2023-giro-ditalia">2023 Giro d'Italia</a> Abruzzo, Italy 21 stages </span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtJ-DNuWBCWPD2tHvL6JRSZ3nKliKmh9Y6r9QQffMGWnEMjFeUxR2V-sf7AuOUIgizmeTbKTWrx_b1wJ876MTZ9S0_3_wlWNc9UuFR0NDzaJzdlvyFogwqaAVJ11ANKK7aa8GIr2ippi7IaD-7cnLb4zAyiB7NYabFzJVcK8swFFbqj8x5fZEUw71rsVn/s756/B.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="756" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgtJ-DNuWBCWPD2tHvL6JRSZ3nKliKmh9Y6r9QQffMGWnEMjFeUxR2V-sf7AuOUIgizmeTbKTWrx_b1wJ876MTZ9S0_3_wlWNc9UuFR0NDzaJzdlvyFogwqaAVJ11ANKK7aa8GIr2ippi7IaD-7cnLb4zAyiB7NYabFzJVcK8swFFbqj8x5fZEUw71rsVn/w400-h135/B.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 28 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6012/ridelondon-essex-100">RideLondon Essex 100</a> London, UK 200 km <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 28 - Jun 04 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6000/2022-criterium-du-dauphine">2022 Criterium du Dauphine</a> Saint-Etienne, France 8 stages <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhv0b5UZ8LvjozLbCxQ6GOEg8LMOn6wz7HuHQDforhKV_-n1qD3lDthITVMzuFGYnNgmLPAzjeIByB_XklDWm3npOe5l8JLjqKq66c-65vixoYyt00J9_mdlRRjLObm3pTvT8v4cz8M3A_xw0Pz8wI4GbP-hPhFGdPqrM51OOmxgYgjA8pkEvP8yJC3hJ/s754/C.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="754" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhv0b5UZ8LvjozLbCxQ6GOEg8LMOn6wz7HuHQDforhKV_-n1qD3lDthITVMzuFGYnNgmLPAzjeIByB_XklDWm3npOe5l8JLjqKq66c-65vixoYyt00J9_mdlRRjLObm3pTvT8v4cz8M3A_xw0Pz8wI4GbP-hPhFGdPqrM51OOmxgYgjA8pkEvP8yJC3hJ/w400-h133/C.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jun 11 - Jun 18 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6027/2023-tour-of-suisse">2023 Tour of Suisse</a> Baar, Switzerland 9 stages <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsGml5lnutz6zVT-qJL-W67XABB6HCuEfGYQzKIYQoPfEqluY5dl0ENH-_HM6Nam_q3d5fcWgNtIv00oeqaFc7SCKJ8laW9_eHLQgxXNx-6wuoE-7uYLskPxTiGlC-WiVOLL_Xt6-v_fWY6puEoZ81yuRpCrCB0jK88Miy2irW2tu0yoll4bToeHpEkBv/s760/D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="760" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsGml5lnutz6zVT-qJL-W67XABB6HCuEfGYQzKIYQoPfEqluY5dl0ENH-_HM6Nam_q3d5fcWgNtIv00oeqaFc7SCKJ8laW9_eHLQgxXNx-6wuoE-7uYLskPxTiGlC-WiVOLL_Xt6-v_fWY6puEoZ81yuRpCrCB0jK88Miy2irW2tu0yoll4bToeHpEkBv/w400-h131/D.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jul 01 - Jul 23 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7004/2023-tour-de-france">2023 Tour De France</a> Copenhagen, Denmark 21 stages <br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7uc_8EYdm7ndU4Ef35GnGnZI-zBEW6TeFzJx4L4ZkvRxbHUAYM_2BdsLxI2-Iiav6SMgfNbfLDyopI77U4x5wX7glUrb7FbmRgdPbK2plKZ4yVnwGrjN_jTjolHmrEcddQc6UyA_kdTXYK-e5Exb5t4gzH2cTB8AhEwsK_wg2dw_fr2128dE60G6OkLk/s754/E.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="754" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7uc_8EYdm7ndU4Ef35GnGnZI-zBEW6TeFzJx4L4ZkvRxbHUAYM_2BdsLxI2-Iiav6SMgfNbfLDyopI77U4x5wX7glUrb7FbmRgdPbK2plKZ4yVnwGrjN_jTjolHmrEcddQc6UyA_kdTXYK-e5Exb5t4gzH2cTB8AhEwsK_wg2dw_fr2128dE60G6OkLk/w400-h134/E.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jul 29 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6002/2023-cl%C3%A1sica-san-sebasti%C3%A1n">2023 Clásica San Sebastián</a> SanSebastian Spain 219 km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Jul 29 - Aug 04 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6011/2023-tour-of-poland">2023 Tour of Poland</a> Radzymin, Poland 7 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aug 20 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6013/2023-euroeyes-cyclassics-hamburg">2023 EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg</a> Hamburg Germany 250 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aug 23 - Aug 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6003/2023-benelux-tour">2023 Benelux Tour</a> Breda, Netherlands 7 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aug 26 - Sep 17 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6004/2023-la-vuelta">2023 La Vuelta</a> Barcelona, Spain 21 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sep 08 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6005/2023-grand-prix-cycliste-de-quebec">2023 Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec</a> Quebec City, Canada 200 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sep 11 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6006/2023-grand-prix-cycliste-de-montreal">2023 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal</a> Montreal, Canada 206 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sep 13 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6930/2023-grand-prix-de-wallonie">2023 Grand Prix de Wallonie</a> Beaufays Belgium 205 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Oct 07 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6007/2023-il-lombardia">2023 Il Lombardia</a> Bergamo, Italy 255 km</span><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With thanks to <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/ProCyclingCalendar2022"><b>Gran Fondo Guide 2023</b></a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">*** one MORE calendar ***</b></div><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lil7ZBGxg1hoaU80nNscwxoquO1p6Qibomcbpg9qp6U4AsTX4zRsgydK7s3--I1RMB_YSwWwITDEnfjrO6nEtyAFK7AtYLMUtrdlPUlPBUlKa3r5zbjK73n3v0H-VYFkoN84Czlcsc_IehNp2p78ODyccuWMNCouCEX_Ld0IsliGyWgOm8sZY_XW3g/s431/Cyclist-4.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="431" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9lil7ZBGxg1hoaU80nNscwxoquO1p6Qibomcbpg9qp6U4AsTX4zRsgydK7s3--I1RMB_YSwWwITDEnfjrO6nEtyAFK7AtYLMUtrdlPUlPBUlKa3r5zbjK73n3v0H-VYFkoN84Czlcsc_IehNp2p78ODyccuWMNCouCEX_Ld0IsliGyWgOm8sZY_XW3g/s320/Cyclist-4.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>JANUARY 2023</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-down-under-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2229.png" /><br />Tour Down Under<br />15/01 - 17/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-down-under/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2229.png" /><br />Tour Down Under<br />17/01 - 22/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/classica-comunitat-valenciana/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana<br />22/01 - 22/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-san-juan/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2768.png" /><br />Vuelta a San Juan<br />22/01 - 29/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-du-gabon/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/9654.png" /><br />Tour du Gabon<br />23/01 - 29/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-magalluf-palma-nova/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Trofeo Calvià<br />25/01 - 25/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-alcudia-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Trofeo Port d'Alcúdia<br />26/01 - 26/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-deia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana<br />27/01 - 27/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-alcudia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Trofeo Port d'Andratx<br />28/01 - 28/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/great-ocean-road-race-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2229.png" /><br />Great Ocean Road Race<br />28/01 - 28/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/great-ocean-road-race/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2229.png" /><br />Great Ocean Road Race<br />29/01 - 29/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-la-marseillaise/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />GP La Marseillaise<br />29/01 - 29/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-palma/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Trofeo Palma<br />29/01 - 29/01</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/saudi-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4374.png" /><br />Saudi Tour<br />30/01 - 03/02</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">FEBRUARY 2023</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/etoile-de-besseges/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Etoile de Bessèges<br />01/02 - 05/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/colombia-oro-y-paz/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2226.png" /><br />Tour Colombia 2.1<br />07/02 - 12/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/muscat-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4367.png" /><br />Muscat Classic<br />09/02 - 09/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/uae-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4384.png" /><br />UAE Tour<br />09/02 - 12/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-oman/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4367.png" /><br />Tour of Oman<br />10/02 - 14/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-murcia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Vuelta a Murcia<br />11/02 - 11/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/clasica-de-almeria/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Clásica de Almería<br />12/02 - 12/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/figueira-champions-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2223.png" /><br />Figueira Champions Classic<br />12/02 - 12/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/jaen-paraiso-interior/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Clásica Jaén<br />13/02 - 13/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ruta-del-sol/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Ruta del Sol<br />15/02 - 19/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/volta-ao-algarve/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2223.png" /><br />Volta ao Algarve<br />15/02 - 19/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-du-haut-var/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var<br />17/02 - 19/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-rwanda/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4371.png" /><br />Tour du Rwanda<br />19/02 - 26/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/abu-dhabi-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4384.png" /><br />UAE Tour<br />20/02 - 26/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gran-camino/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Gran Camiño<br />23/02 - 26/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/omloop-het-nieuwsblad/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Omloop Het Nieuwsblad<br />25/02 - 25/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/boucles-du-sud-ardeche/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Ardèche Classic<br />25/02 - 25/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/omloop-het-nieuwsblad-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Omloop Het Nieuwsblad<br />25/02 - 25/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/kuurne-brussel-kuurne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne<br />26/02 - 26/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/la-drome-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Drôme Classic<br />26/02 - 26/02</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/le-samyn/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Le Samyn<br />28/02 - 28/02</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">MARCH 2023</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-laigueglia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Trofeo Laigueglia<br />01/03 - 01/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/strade-bianche/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Strade Bianche<br />04/03 - 04/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-claude-criquielion/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />GP Claude Criquielion<br />04/03 - 04/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/strade-bianche-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Strade Bianche<br />04/03 - 04/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-nice/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Paris - Nice<br />05/03 - 12/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-jean-pierre-monsere/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />GP Jean-Pierre Monseré<br />05/03 - 05/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/elfstedenrace-friesland/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Elfstedenrace Friesland<br />05/03 - 05/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tirreno-adriatico/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Tirreno - Adriatico<br />06/03 - 12/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-drenthe-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Ronde van Drenthe<br />11/03 - 11/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-drenthe/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Ronde van Drenthe<br />12/03 - 12/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-taiwan/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2784.png" /><br />Tour de Taiwan<br />12/03 - 16/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/milano-torino/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Milano - Torino<br />15/03 - 15/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/nokere-koerse/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Nokere Koerse<br />15/03 - 15/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-de-denain/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />GP de Denain<br />16/03 - 16/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/handzame-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Bredene Koksijde Classic<br />17/03 - 17/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/milano-san-remo/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Milano - Sanremo<br />18/03 - 18/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/classic-loire-atlantique/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Classic Loire-Atlantique<br />18/03 - 18/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-cholet-pays-de-loire/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Cholet Pays de La Loire<br />19/03 - 19/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-hainan/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2770.png" /><br />Tour of Hainan<br />19/03 - 26/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/per-sempre-alfredo/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Per Sempre Alfredo<br />19/03 - 19/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-binda/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Trofeo Binda<br />19/03 - 19/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/volta-a-catalunya/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Volta a Catalunya<br />20/03 - 26/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/settimana-coppi-e-bartali/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Settimana Coppi e Bartali<br />21/03 - 25/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/driedaagse-de-panne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Brugge - De Panne<br />22/03 - 22/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/brugge-de-panne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Brugge - De Panne<br />23/03 - 23/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/e3-prijs-vlaanderen/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />E3 Classic<br />24/03 - 24/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gent-wevelgem/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Gent - Wevelgem<br />26/03 - 26/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-industria-artigianato/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />GP Industria & Artigianato<br />26/03 - 26/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/la-roue-tourangelle/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />La Roue Tourangelle<br />26/03 - 26/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gent-wevelgem-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Gent - Wevelgem<br />26/03 - 26/03</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/dwars-door-vlaanderen/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Dwars door Vlaanderen<br />29/03 - 29/03</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/dwars-door-vlaanderen/2023/calendar-result.shtml"></a></div><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/route-adelie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Route Adélie<br />31/03 - 31/03</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEc57TO-NfY3Q3tpsXbskWai6MRI2aU7PmKpDIHawazoud6ds89gfk4V4TPU8oiBagNSFjeqlHKegh5BQ_ngm794yHqdzFoIB3dQZEm-5pCKVj0A7SAP3jFxRgOylf41fhUxa0GdlaAb4DHRDKLh9QjI0WrWRoy6aaV_sJLxkb-zdU1T_rjetxCvuirw/s709/Cyclist-3.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="709" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEc57TO-NfY3Q3tpsXbskWai6MRI2aU7PmKpDIHawazoud6ds89gfk4V4TPU8oiBagNSFjeqlHKegh5BQ_ngm794yHqdzFoIB3dQZEm-5pCKVj0A7SAP3jFxRgOylf41fhUxa0GdlaAb4DHRDKLh9QjI0WrWRoy6aaV_sJLxkb-zdU1T_rjetxCvuirw/s320/Cyclist-3.png" width="320" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">APRIL 2023</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/hel-van-het-mergelland/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Volta Limburg Classic<br />01/04 - 01/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-miguel-indurain/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />GP Miguel Induráin<br />01/04 - 01/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-thailand/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4381.png" /><br />Tour of Thailand<br />01/04 - 06/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-vlaanderen/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Ronde van Vlaanderen<br />02/04 - 02/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-vlaanderen-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Ronde van Vlaanderen<br />02/04 - 02/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-al-pais-vasco/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Itzulia Basque Country<br />03/04 - 08/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/circuit-de-la-sarthe/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Circuit de la Sarthe<br />04/04 - 07/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/scheldeprijs/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Scheldeprijs<br />05/04 - 05/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-roubaix-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Paris - Roubaix<br />08/04 - 08/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-roubaix/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Paris - Roubaix<br />09/04 - 09/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-camembert/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Paris - Camembert<br />11/04 - 11/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-di-sicilia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Giro di Sicilia<br />11/04 - 14/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/brabantse-pijl/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Brabantse Pijl<br />12/04 - 12/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/classic-grand-besancon-doubs/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Classic Grand Besançon-Doubs<br />14/04 - 14/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-du-jura/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour du Jura<br />15/04 - 15/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/amstel-gold-race/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Amstel Gold Race<br />16/04 - 16/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-du-doubs/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour du Doubs<br />16/04 - 16/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/amstel-gold-race-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Amstel Gold Race<br />16/04 - 16/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-del-trentino/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Tour of the Alps<br />17/04 - 21/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/fleche-wallonne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Flèche Wallonne<br />19/04 - 19/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/fleche-wallonne-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Flèche Wallonne<br />19/04 - 19/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/liege-bastogne-liege/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Liège - Bastogne - Liège<br />23/04 - 23/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/liege-bastogne-liege-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Liège - Bastogne - Liège<br />23/04 - 23/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-romandie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2213.png" /><br />Tour de Romandie<br />25/04 - 30/04</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-asturias/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Vuelta a Asturias<br />28/04 - 30/04</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">MAY 2023</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/rund-um-den-finanzplatz/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2206.png" /><br />Eschborn - Frankfurt<br />01/05 - 01/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ceratizit-challenge-by-la-vuelta/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta<br />01/05 - 07/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-hellas/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2774.png" /><br />Tour of Hellas<br />03/05 - 07/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-d-italia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Giro d'Italia<br />06/05 - 28/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-de-plumelec-morbihan/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />GP du Morbihan<br />06/05 - 06/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tro-bro-leon/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tro-Bro Léon<br />07/05 - 07/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-hongrie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2776.png" /><br />Tour de Hongrie<br />10/05 - 14/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/itzulia-women/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Itzulia Women<br />12/05 - 14/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-du-finistere/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour du Finistère<br />13/05 - 13/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/boucles-de-l-aulne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Boucles de l'Aulne<br />14/05 - 14/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/4-jours-de-dunkerque/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />4 Jours de Dunkerque<br />16/05 - 21/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/circuit-de-wallonie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Circuit de Wallonie<br />18/05 - 18/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-burgos-feminas/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Vuelta a Burgos Feminas<br />18/05 - 21/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/dutch-food-valley-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Veenendaal - Veenendaal<br />20/05 - 20/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/rund-um-koln/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2206.png" /><br />Rund um Köln<br />21/05 - 21/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-japan/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2241.png" /><br />Tour of Japan<br />21/05 - 28/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/antwerp-port-epic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Antwerp Port Epic<br />21/05 - 21/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-norway/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2221.png" /><br />Tour of Norway<br />24/05 - 29/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/seb-tartu-gp/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2217.png" /><br />Tour of Estonia<br />25/05 - 27/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/boucles-de-la-mayenne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Boucles de la Mayenne<br />25/05 - 28/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ridelondon-classique/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4058.png" /><br />RideLondon Classique<br />26/05 - 28/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-limburg/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Ronde van Limburg<br />29/05 - 29/05</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/mercan-tour-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Mercan'Tour Classic<br />30/05 - 30/05</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">JUNE 2023</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-dell-appennino/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Giro dell'Appennino<br />02/06 - 02/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/heistse-pijl/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Heistse Pijl<br />03/06 - 03/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/criterium-du-dauphine/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Critérium du Dauphiné<br />04/06 - 11/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-bruxelles/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Brussels Classic<br />04/06 - 04/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/the-women-s-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4058.png" /><br />The Women's Tour<br />06/06 - 11/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ster-zlm-toer/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />ZLM Tour<br />07/06 - 11/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-kanton-aargau/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2213.png" /><br />GP Kanton Aargau<br />09/06 - 09/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/azerbaijan-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4348.png" /><br />Tour of Iran-Azerbaijan<br />10/06 - 14/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/dwars-door-het-hageland/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Dwars door het Hageland<br />10/06 - 10/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-suisse/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2213.png" /><br />Tour de Suisse<br />11/06 - 18/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/elfstedenronde/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Elfstedenronde<br />11/06 - 11/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/mont-ventoux-denivele-challenge/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge<br />13/06 - 13/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-slovenie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2783.png" /><br />Tour of Slovenia<br />14/06 - 18/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/ronde-van-belgie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Baloise Belgium Tour<br />14/06 - 18/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/route-du-sud/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Route d'Occitanie<br />15/06 - 18/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-suisse-women/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2213.png" /><br />Tour de Suisse Women<br />17/06 - 20/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/nch-ger/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2206.png" /><br />NCh - GER<br />23/06 - 25/06</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-d-italia-donne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Giro d'Italia Donne<br />30/06 - 09/07</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMHf_lEXBGCoSErP7VUlH4COLRHsMwPGVitkEUoBIM2QkrVgINgMth2gvo5Xf3nnQNlj40NkrAot6bSNMgOB-b1dmI2aMe_9TdJ_QdiebHtK6HkBSsz50WplRg2XULwACbJEuBTvQngebasyJufuESXKlJKP2CioD1vOu72NCXns2f8nYnwCSsBfVYQ/s593/Cyclist-5.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="593" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMHf_lEXBGCoSErP7VUlH4COLRHsMwPGVitkEUoBIM2QkrVgINgMth2gvo5Xf3nnQNlj40NkrAot6bSNMgOB-b1dmI2aMe_9TdJ_QdiebHtK6HkBSsz50WplRg2XULwACbJEuBTvQngebasyJufuESXKlJKP2CioD1vOu72NCXns2f8nYnwCSsBfVYQ/w400-h255/Cyclist-5.png" width="400" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div>JULY 2023</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour de France<br />01/07 - 23/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/osterreich-rundfahrt/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2219.png" /><br />Österreich Rundfahrt<br />02/07 - 06/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/sibiu-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2244.png" /><br />Sibiu Tour<br />06/07 - 09/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-di-lugano/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2213.png" /><br />GP di Lugano<br />09/07 - 09/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-qinghai-lake/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2770.png" /><br />Tour de Qinghai Lake<br />09/07 - 16/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/slag-om-norg/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Slag om Norg<br />15/07 - 15/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france-femmes/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour de France Femmes<br />23/07 - 30/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/prueba-villafranca-de-ordizia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia<br />25/07 - 25/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-castilla-y-leon/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Vuelta a Castilla y León<br />26/07 - 27/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/czech-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2240.png" /><br />Sazka Tour<br />27/07 - 30/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-pologne/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2214.png" /><br />Tour de Pologne<br />29/07 - 04/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/clasica-san-sebastian/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Clásica San Sebastián<br />29/07 - 29/07</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/circuito-de-getxo/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Circuito de Getxo<br />30/07 - 30/07</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">AUGUST 2023</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/world-championships/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2245.png" /><br />World Championships<br />03/08 - 13/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-l-ain/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour de l'Ain<br />08/08 - 10/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/volta-a-portugal/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2223.png" /><br />Volta a Portugal<br />09/08 - 20/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/polynormande/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Polynormande<br />13/08 - 13/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/post-danmark-rundt/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2220.png" /><br />PostNord Danmark Rundt<br />15/08 - 19/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-burgos/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Vuelta a Burgos<br />15/08 - 19/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-du-limousin/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour du Limousin<br />15/08 - 18/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/arctic-race/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2221.png" /><br />Arctic Race of Norway<br />17/08 - 20/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/druivenkoers/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Druivenkoers<br />19/08 - 19/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vargarda-ttt/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2222.png" /><br />Vårgårda TTT<br />19/08 - 19/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vattenfall-cyclassics/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2206.png" /><br />Cyclassics Hamburg<br />20/08 - 20/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-stad-zottegem/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Egmont Cycling Race<br />20/08 - 20/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vargarda-rr/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2222.png" /><br />Vårgårda RR<br />20/08 - 20/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-du-poitou-charentes/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour Poitou-Charentes<br />22/08 - 25/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-scandinavia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2221.png" /><br />Tour of Scandinavia<br />22/08 - 27/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/eneco-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><br />Benelux Tour<br />23/08 - 27/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/deutschland-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2206.png" /><br />Deutschland Tour<br />23/08 - 27/08</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/vuelta-a-espana/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2203.png" /><br />Vuelta a España<br />26/08 - 17/09</a><br /><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">SEPTEMBER 2023</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-wallonie-picarde/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Circuit Franco-Belge<br />02/09 - 02/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/classic-lorient-agglomeration/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Classic Lorient Agglomération<br />02/09 - 02/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-ouest-france/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Bretagne Classic<br />03/09 - 03/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-jef-scherens/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Tour of Leuven<br />03/09 - 03/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-britain/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4058.png" /><br />Tour of Britain<br />03/09 - 10/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/maryland-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2209.png" /><br />Maryland Classic<br />03/09 - 03/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-romania/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2244.png" /><br />Turul României<br />05/09 - 10/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/simac-ladies-tour/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2201.png" /><br />Simac Ladies Tour<br />05/09 - 10/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-de-quebec/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2231.png" /><br />GP de Québec<br />08/09 - 08/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-de-montreal/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2231.png" /><br />GP de Montréal<br />10/09 - 10/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-de-fourmies/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />GP de Fourmies<br />10/09 - 10/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-della-toscana/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Giro della Toscana<br />13/09 - 13/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-de-wallonie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />GP de Wallonie<br />13/09 - 13/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-slovaquie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2233.png" /><br />Tour de Slovaquie<br />13/09 - 17/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/coppa-sabatini/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Coppa Sabatini<br />14/09 - 14/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-taihu-lake/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2770.png" /><br />Tour of Taihu Lake<br />14/09 - 17/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/kampioenschap-van-vlaanderen/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen<br />15/09 - 15/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-romandie-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2213.png" /><br />Tour de Romandie<br />15/09 - 17/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/memorial-marco-pantani/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Memorial Marco Pantani<br />16/09 - 16/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-impanis-van-petegem-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Primus Classic<br />16/09 - 16/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-d-isbergues/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />GP d'Isbergues<br />17/09 - 17/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gooikse-pijl/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Gooikse Pijl<br />17/09 - 17/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-luxembourg/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2207.png" /><br />Tour de Luxembourg<br />20/09 - 24/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/omloop-van-het-houtland/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Omloop van het Houtland<br />20/09 - 20/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/adriatica-ionica-race/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Adriatica Ionica Race<br />20/09 - 24/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-langkawi/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4359.png" /><br />Tour de Langkawi<br />23/09 - 30/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/classica-andorra-pirineus/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2227.png" /><br />Clàssica Andorra Pirineus<br />23/09 - 23/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-chauny/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Paris - Chauny<br />24/09 - 24/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-croatie/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4354.png" /><br />CRO Race<br />26/09 - 01/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/coppa-agostoni/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Coppa Agostoni<br />28/09 - 28/09</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-dell-emilia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Giro dell'Emilia<br />30/09 - 30/09</a><br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DgKXg0-sgn4Wa5-bm0T61tG4zXJDJlptMFV7pdYikWaR-b7wbUutKLwSW1wnaAeBf5VKCx34aDytzVkt351pbDAgyiLkyaggOMqaGgGs_Zbx-7UzTVwgdGLh6qiOMuwmkb55_zZ-QKjZf035g9dqH6CVsGh6FG63oLRZj8Pc5u0RWO69WX03-I2gng/s623/cyclist-6.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="623" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-DgKXg0-sgn4Wa5-bm0T61tG4zXJDJlptMFV7pdYikWaR-b7wbUutKLwSW1wnaAeBf5VKCx34aDytzVkt351pbDAgyiLkyaggOMqaGgGs_Zbx-7UzTVwgdGLh6qiOMuwmkb55_zZ-QKjZf035g9dqH6CVsGh6FG63oLRZj8Pc5u0RWO69WX03-I2gng/w400-h286/cyclist-6.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">OCTOBER 2023</span></b></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-vendee/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Tour de Vendée<br />01/10 - 01/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/trofeo-baracchi/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Trofeo Baracchi<br />01/10 - 01/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/famenne-ardenne-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Famenne Ardenne Classic<br />01/10 - 01/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gp-banca-di-legnano/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Coppa Bernocchi<br />02/10 - 02/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/munsterland-giro/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2206.png" /><br />Münsterland Giro<br />03/10 - 03/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/memorial-frank-vandenbroucke/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2205.png" /><br />Mémorial Frank Vandenbroucke<br />03/10 - 03/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tre-valli-varesine/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Tre Valli Varesine<br />03/10 - 03/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-peninsular/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/4359.png" /><br />Tour of Peninsular<br />04/10 - 08/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-bourges/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Paris - Bourges<br />05/10 - 05/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/gran-piemonte/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Gran Piemonte<br />05/10 - 05/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-kyushu/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2241.png" /><br />Tour de Kyushu<br />06/10 - 09/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-di-lombardia/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Il Lombardia<br />07/10 - 07/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/paris-tours/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Paris - Tours<br />08/10 - 08/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/giro-del-veneto/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Giro del Veneto<br />11/10 - 11/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-guangxi/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2770.png" /><br />Tour of Guangxi<br />12/10 - 17/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-chongming-island/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2770.png" /><br />Tour of Chongming Island<br />12/10 - 14/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/chrono-des-nations/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2202.png" /><br />Chrono des Nations<br />15/10 - 15/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/japan-cup/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2241.png" /><br />Japan Cup<br />15/10 - 15/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/veneto-classic/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2210.png" /><br />Veneto Classic<br />15/10 - 15/10</a><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-of-guangxi-1/2023/calendar-result.shtml"><br /><img src="https://i.eurosport.com/_iss_/geo/country/flag/medium/2770.png" /><br />Tour of Guangxi<br />17/10 - 17/10</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">With thanks to </span><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/calendar-result.shtml"><b>Eurosport</b></a></span><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Also see:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.ucigranfondoworldseries.com/?utm_source=granfondoguide&utm_campaign=cpc&utm_medium=sidebarbanner"><b>UCI Gran Fondo World Series 2023</b></a><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2023 Acknowledgement Disclaimer</span></div></div></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-33506376486556639802022-03-18T15:40:00.013+05:002022-09-28T06:19:00.304+05:00Pro Cycling Calendar 2022<span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggsa5tI_yrxDy7Ai8ibU02Y0YZ5HJ5MUH5K6Nj1E6av42yzJ0clX1GzzrRB7bFgyQl1bPIiw8u_1dUPf6DIzsHQ1F3J68AGvXhhbS55vDr3_F-OBho9Wh4YOVW9NiGstVFV6rcpFVNfhWWac-14ImB8Lp30iEJ4QEOwh4HrXBXaMYIRqWo443ZsMCMAg=s638" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="638" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggsa5tI_yrxDy7Ai8ibU02Y0YZ5HJ5MUH5K6Nj1E6av42yzJ0clX1GzzrRB7bFgyQl1bPIiw8u_1dUPf6DIzsHQ1F3J68AGvXhhbS55vDr3_F-OBho9Wh4YOVW9NiGstVFV6rcpFVNfhWWac-14ImB8Lp30iEJ4QEOwh4HrXBXaMYIRqWo443ZsMCMAg=s320" width="320" /></a></div></span><span style="font-family: arial;">With several competitive races already over, I know I am late in posting this calendar of professional cycling but I hope that you will still enjoy what is left of 2022.<br /> <br /> The ones responsible for revealing the 2022 World Tour calendar are the good folks at the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/3350637648655663980">UCI</a> (Union Cycliste Internationale) of Switzerland. <br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The TDF and </b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Vuelta a España</b></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The 2022 Tour de France starts this year in Copenhagen in Denmark, and the Vuelta a España starts in Utrecht in the Netherlands. Both Grand Tours have decided to schedule an extra rest day for the cyclists after they start on foreign land.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Other races</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico (both over, by the time you read this) will overlap in 2022 which means that the cyclists will use both races to remain in form ahead of Milano-Sanremo on March 19th.<br /><br />Missing from the 2022 UCI World Tour calendar are Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race which have been cancelled due to COVID-19, as Australia fails to vaccinate it's population.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLjzFahqkv2ZKDt0S6GkTRVcEaHi4c76OQbfF6oZ6EyeUtbKO8ec7CXISwGpMx3GHdMogxOeLbNEIpziF5k25ieGRamNbU3BDCeVAdYyhTlRoHg3j0s4Nnq1tNUoXOiS1DPbmxsYr8qhVbZLrq77AnbDG9rnos8cZEnEhfcjf5CDZNbz7Nwbyphm_fPw=s707" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="707" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLjzFahqkv2ZKDt0S6GkTRVcEaHi4c76OQbfF6oZ6EyeUtbKO8ec7CXISwGpMx3GHdMogxOeLbNEIpziF5k25ieGRamNbU3BDCeVAdYyhTlRoHg3j0s4Nnq1tNUoXOiS1DPbmxsYr8qhVbZLrq77AnbDG9rnos8cZEnEhfcjf5CDZNbz7Nwbyphm_fPw=s320" width="320" /></a></div></span></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">What, where?</b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">As you will judge from the map, more than 95% of the action takes place on European soil.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">So, where does Pakistan appear in this competitive sport? You guessed it! Nowhere! </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Even stamp-sized Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel have their cycling teams with excellent riders, coaches and technicians. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">With cycling events taking place on Arab and Jewish lands, our Muslim identity has not improved our standing in any discipline of sports.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">With this bit of necessary comment, I will leave you alone to watch TV (EuroSport 1 cable channel) and pedal harder.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8Y1DqiHG4FnHHH9sA_PkcgKKRNNm_DwVvJeqIICObEoNc2-BJ99jD_KgbAj8WdJhnfwoLRfJIJHJI8d3qOx_bG8E9mNwUmNNYmN_v5nhT5davDaINCV-UuCGc3sTNb2Xri1f0Nv0DkCAa-BxEtja6blBcdCRt5b4tL0ptkNWyodrQZ7Bf_zj-BX-Zxw=s918" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="918" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8Y1DqiHG4FnHHH9sA_PkcgKKRNNm_DwVvJeqIICObEoNc2-BJ99jD_KgbAj8WdJhnfwoLRfJIJHJI8d3qOx_bG8E9mNwUmNNYmN_v5nhT5davDaINCV-UuCGc3sTNb2Xri1f0Nv0DkCAa-BxEtja6blBcdCRt5b4tL0ptkNWyodrQZ7Bf_zj-BX-Zxw=w400-h205" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /><b><u><span style="font-size: medium;">Date / Event / Location / Route / Mileage / Stages</span></u></b><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jan 21 </span><a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5933/santos-festival-of-cycling" style="font-family: arial;">2022 Santos Festival of Cycling</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> Adelaide, Australia 6 stages</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jan 30 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6532/2022-vuelta-a-san-juan">2022 Vuelta a San Juan</a> San Juan, Argentina 7 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 02 - Feb 06 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/9305/volta-a-la-comunitat-valenciana">2022 Volta a La Comunitat Valenciana</a> Castelló de la Plana, Spain 5 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 08 - Feb 13 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6569/2022-tour-of-oman">2022 Tour of Oman</a> Al Sawadi Beach, Oman 6 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 16 - Feb 20 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/9306/2022-volta-ao-algarve">2022 Volta ao Algarve</a> Loule, Portugal 5 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 20 - Feb 26 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7990/2022-uae-tour">2022 UAE Tour</a> Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 7 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 26 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5937/2022-omloop-het-nieuwsblad">2022 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad</a> Ghent, Flanders, Belgium 196 km</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Feb 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5982/2022-kuurne-brussels-kuurne">2022 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne</a> Kuurne, Belgium 201 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 05 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5938/2022-strade-bianche">2022 Strade Bianche</a> Siena, Tuscany, Italy 176 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 06 - Mar 13 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5939/2022-paris-nice">2022 Paris-Nice</a> Paris, France 7 stages</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 07 - Mar 13 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5983/2022-tirreno-adriatico">2022 Tirreno-Adriatico</a> Lido di Camaiore, Italy 7 stages</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>More races to come...</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 19 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5989/2022-milano-sanremo">2022 Milano Sanremo</a> Milan, Italy 291 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 21 - Mar 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5990/2022-volta-a-catalunya">2022 Volta a Catalunya</a> Calella, Spain 7 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 25 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5991/2022-e3-saxo-bank-classic">2022 E3 Saxo Bank Classic</a> Harelbeke, Belgium 203 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Mar 27 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5985/2022-gent-wevelgem">2022 Gent-Wevelgem</a> Ghent, Belgium 243 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 03 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5986/2022-ronde-van-vlaanderen">2022 Tour of Flanders</a> Antwerp, Belgium 255 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 04 - Apr 09 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5995/2022-tour-of-the-basque-country">2022 Tour of the Basque Country</a> Etxebarria, Spain 6 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 06 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5987/2022-scheldeprijs">2022 Scheldeprijs</a> Antwerp, Belgium 208 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 11 - Apr 16 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6009/2022-presidential-cycling-tour-of-turkey">2022 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey</a> Istanbul, Turkey 8 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 13 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5988/2022-brabantse-pijl">2022 Brabantse Pijl</a> Overijse, Belgium 205 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 17 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6001/2022-amstel-gold-race">2022 Amstel Gold Race</a> Maastricht, Netherlands 250 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 18 - Apr 22 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7185/tour-of-the-alps">2022 Tour of the Alps</a> Arco, Italy 5 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 20 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5997/2022-la-fleche-wallonne">2022 La Fleche Wallonne</a> Marche-en-Famenne, Belgium 196 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 23 - Apr 30 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6014/2022-brittany-classic-ouest-france">2022 Brittany Classic-Ouest France</a> Plouay, France 229 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 24 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5998/2022-liege-bastogne-liege">2022 Liege–Bastogne–Liege</a> Liege, Belgium 250 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 28 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5999/2022-tour-de-romandie">2022 Tour de Romandie</a> La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland 6 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Apr 30 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6010/2022-eschborn-frankfurt">2022 Eschborn-Frankfurt</a> Eschborn-Frankfurt, Germany 217 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 06 - May 29 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7016/2022-giro-ditalia">2022 Giro d'Italia</a> Palmero, Sicily, Italy 21 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 18 - May 22 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5981/2022-ruta-del-sol">2022 Ruta del Sol</a> Almonaster La Real, Spain 5 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">May 29 - Jun 05 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6000/2022-criterium-du-dauphine">2022 Criterium du Dauphine</a> Saint-Etienne, France 8 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jun 12 - Jun 19 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6027/2022-tour-of-suisse">2022 Tour of Suisse</a> Baar, Switzerland 9 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jul 01 - Jul 24 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/7004/2022-tour-de-france">2022 Tour De France</a> Copenhagen, Denmark 21 stages</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Watch this video</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rynmCWr0azE">HOW TO PRONOUNCE DANISH CYCLISTS' NAMES - Mads Pedersen, Kasper Asgreen, Jonas Vingegaard etc.</a><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisQr2HEVdp8_4PEZEj0J37-fd0giu9LPOp86c-ZXYgq69l23yB4NE6nV66BlcrNLXfl0pHi5Hwh3wDBRNORatGacplzGJUrNq_dNAsqwdTNNX3hF5T-W7gXxM2p5gem1fMMO2hKTK1MoXxhq49qVyAMyI_OcdC6n-qrLulJRgUNyv0twUaxIVFqiZ5Vg=s680" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="680" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisQr2HEVdp8_4PEZEj0J37-fd0giu9LPOp86c-ZXYgq69l23yB4NE6nV66BlcrNLXfl0pHi5Hwh3wDBRNORatGacplzGJUrNq_dNAsqwdTNNX3hF5T-W7gXxM2p5gem1fMMO2hKTK1MoXxhq49qVyAMyI_OcdC6n-qrLulJRgUNyv0twUaxIVFqiZ5Vg=w400-h286" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">July </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;"><span style="font-family: arial;">24 to 31 July 2022</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">The </span><b style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #202122; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2022 Tour de France Femmes</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">, (officially </span><b style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #202122; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">), will be the first edition of the </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France_Femmes" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #3366cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Tour de France Femmes">Tour de France Femmes</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">, one of women's cycling's two </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Tour_(cycling)" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #3366cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Grand Tour (cycling)">grand tours</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">The race is scheduled for 24 to 31 July 2022,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122; white-space: nowrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">and will be the 16th event in the </span><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_UCI_Women%27s_World_Tour" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #3366cc; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="2022 UCI Women's World Tour">2022 UCI Women's World Tour</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #202122;">.</span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Jul 30 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6002/2022-cl%C3%A1sica-san-sebasti%C3%A1n">2022 Clásica San Sebastián</a> San-Sebastian, Spain 219 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aug 08 - Aug 14 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6011/2022-tour-of-poland">2022 Tour of Poland</a> Radzymin, Poland 7 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aug 19 - Sep 11 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6004/2022-la-vuelta">2022 La Vuelta</a> Utrecht, Netherlands 21 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aug 21 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6013/2022-euroeyes-cyclassics-hamburg">2022 EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg</a> Hamburg, Germany 250 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Aug 29 - Sep 04 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6003/2022-benelux-tour">2022 Benelux Tour</a> Breda, Netherlands 7 stages<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sep 09 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6005/2022-grand-prix-cycliste-de-quebec">2022 Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec</a> Quebec City, Canada 200 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sep 11 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6006/2022-grand-prix-cycliste-de-montreal">2022 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal</a> Montreal, Canada 206 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Sep 14 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6930/2022-grand-prix-de-wallonie">2022 Grand Prix de Wallonie</a> Beaufays, Belgium 205 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Oct 02 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/5996/2022-paris-roubaix">2022 Paris-Roubaix</a> Compiègne, France 258 km<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Oct 08 <a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/Index/6007/2022-il-lombardia">2022 Il Lombardia</a> Bergamo, Italy 255 km<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thanks to </span></span><a href="https://www.granfondoguide.com/Events/ProCyclingCalendar2022" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Granfondoguide.com</a> <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">for the world map and some text.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">***</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-size: large;">NEW...!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/calendar-result.shtml"><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-size: large;">EUROSPORT: Complete Cycling Calendar 2022</span></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2022</span><div><div></div></div></div></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-36957904092257755562021-12-09T15:09:00.013+05:002022-12-26T12:19:27.550+05:00Tour De France 2021 - Al-Bakistani Style<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FFCTWD-RW47l31IyBUI7_uPuSnU70QTeOmYZ_FT-snuGZfypyMiedNViVG3q2dDL1IMUZbdljX3KfQfW3DAdKyTlrzW0Lz7mA4FFc17tUPl59Dt6vPRS2gIX93IgPkh63xygJxYdXmls/s462/1%2529+Eddy+Merckx.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="441" data-original-width="462" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FFCTWD-RW47l31IyBUI7_uPuSnU70QTeOmYZ_FT-snuGZfypyMiedNViVG3q2dDL1IMUZbdljX3KfQfW3DAdKyTlrzW0Lz7mA4FFc17tUPl59Dt6vPRS2gIX93IgPkh63xygJxYdXmls/s320/1%2529+Eddy+Merckx.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">A few years ago, I took to cycling like a possessed man and regained considerable strength and stamina. As a bonus, cycling rid me of daydreaming and helped focus on plans worth pursuing. Speaking of dreams, I had an entertaining dream recently, which I promptly turned into an article for your pleasure.<br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once upon a dream</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">My dream started from 712 A.D. I saw a teenaged </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_Qasim">Bin Casem</a> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">laying the foundation stone of al-Bakistan.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The vision then suddenly flash-forwarded to mid twentieth century, depicting what seemed like the end of the world. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The widely-advertised</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> <i><a href="https://www.businessday.in/ghazwa-e-hind/">Ghazwa-e-Hind</a></i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i> </i>was in full swing. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXLz2Paq4ZQfZ43j01Kp-1HhkbLDiX68RdHMJfan6XQhZ6avlC6m8lfFevMDUgxE2-ltxUiEJgNbak3XzRiY4XjcFr3Ifj8O2BWImyQhDOAAqwfQKUvzd9OmiS4bdXoTq0GyUgwUSnpUX/s648/2%2529+Dreams.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="285" data-original-width="648" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRXLz2Paq4ZQfZ43j01Kp-1HhkbLDiX68RdHMJfan6XQhZ6avlC6m8lfFevMDUgxE2-ltxUiEJgNbak3XzRiY4XjcFr3Ifj8O2BWImyQhDOAAqwfQKUvzd9OmiS4bdXoTq0GyUgwUSnpUX/s320/2%2529+Dreams.png" width="320" /></a></span>I saw flying beings attired in green night-suits, nuking a derelict Indian village on al-Bakistan's behalf.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>Our side fired a few GORI miss-isles but </span><span>nobody in the enemy camp entered </span><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naraka_%28Hinduism%29">Naraka</a></i><span>. The enemy fired a few more PRETTY-V anti-GORI miss-isles but n</span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">one here embraced mortar-dumb. This kept millions of </span><span style="font-family: arial;">acres of heavenly real estate non-allotted and thus saved the</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> government truckloads of medals and earthly plots.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">When that ‘</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth-generation_warfare" style="font-family: arial;">fifth-generation high-bred warfare</a><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> decelerated to an abrupt end, all of Cash-Mir skid out of Hindu clutches, braked at our feet, and then rapidly developed into a humungous housing society of a defensive type.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>I saw our Cricketer Cahn speak with the French to allow al-Bakistan’s team to compete in the </span><span><a href="http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html">Tour de France</a> bicycle race in 2021. Carelessly Cahn blew a flying kiss at </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_Macron">Macaroni</a><span> but it inadvertently hit the elderly Mrs. Macaroni to cause an embarrassing moment in the history of foreign fallacy.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMP-ncsHS-M0btSBu2xkKxYxsNQPla8pK0zCQxcnpdQ28R7S1tPSKDWr3XogjrrhyphenhyphenfkTsfR_d-DI0WKtRbEluJCMO5yjoyKlxxjScsKjMWB0RAgwVvrTnvLY0Zj37xKCex5rc08r5naV4O/s487/3%2529+Aleema+sewing+machines.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="487" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMP-ncsHS-M0btSBu2xkKxYxsNQPla8pK0zCQxcnpdQ28R7S1tPSKDWr3XogjrrhyphenhyphenfkTsfR_d-DI0WKtRbEluJCMO5yjoyKlxxjScsKjMWB0RAgwVvrTnvLY0Zj37xKCex5rc08r5naV4O/w200-h133/3%2529+Aleema+sewing+machines.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Macaroni gladly agreed and declared al-Bakistan a ‘brother country’—thanks to our Cahn who had already warned him, “</span><i>Oye</i><span>, look here, Macaroni </span><i>yaar</i><span>, keep it brotherly; no need to drag a sister into all this. Life is like an export quality sewing machine; a stitch in time saves nine.”</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">As a gesture of good ill, Cahn declared down-and-out Karachi as the twin city of Paris. Which part of Paris, you ask? Why of course, her most impoverished part, perhaps the network of underground tunnels and the </span><a href="https://www.heritagedaily.com/2021/10/the-paris-catacombs/141579">catacombs</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9CrmoskyfuDq6Z2YoP1qxVBuXG-HkRc6XkcV82sUHMiGH4Tt1wJDj_7rCizpIavQbvHbQuLWZN7G5pZflTcmXD4XUC5I_sMmAc1TUlT7pTEBgImqAEUZGIYwwIe06iwsVwHCryW2B5Bl/s306/4%2529+Oui.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="306" height="141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9CrmoskyfuDq6Z2YoP1qxVBuXG-HkRc6XkcV82sUHMiGH4Tt1wJDj_7rCizpIavQbvHbQuLWZN7G5pZflTcmXD4XUC5I_sMmAc1TUlT7pTEBgImqAEUZGIYwwIe06iwsVwHCryW2B5Bl/s0/4%2529+Oui.png" width="306" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>With the publication of allegedly ‘derogatory cartoons’ and the news of a </span><a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1611577">French teacher’s beheading</a><span> almost forgotten, the relations of the two estranged countries returned to traditional cordiality. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Not only did our team participate in the Tour de France (TDF) in July 2021, it won the most exciting bicycle race on the planet since 1903.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Meat, our team</span></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqioLz_JBPyw29MI5jYUIptdwP3nbtAfesDgnnqtu-HQwX7PsqjcTMahhmthqb4W9uAeduk-iHW3YxlWXukjWNLTGlcSjlYlydzg8jfox3Xoy0SjefWiL14RYyHJcX6ZOwMSsYcED6HOd/s602/5%2529+Eiffel+Tower.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="602" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqioLz_JBPyw29MI5jYUIptdwP3nbtAfesDgnnqtu-HQwX7PsqjcTMahhmthqb4W9uAeduk-iHW3YxlWXukjWNLTGlcSjlYlydzg8jfox3Xoy0SjefWiL14RYyHJcX6ZOwMSsYcED6HOd/s320/5%2529+Eiffel+Tower.png" width="320" /></a></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Tour de France</a> meant tour of France but since I was dreaming in Punjabi, I recall we called it France <i>da </i>tour. There was competition between French women with their adorable <i>oui </i>(pronounced wee, meaning yes) and Punjabi women with their habitual <i>ooee</i> (meaning ouch). Some anthropologists jumped in to opine that the French and the Punjabi women were prehistoric girlfriends.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Our cycling team’s captain was Professor Doctor Lama Zahirul Padri (‘pedo’ for short), who helped the team secure first position in the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_classification_in_the_Tour_de_France">General Classification</a><span> of the TDF.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Team Emi-Rates finished second. The race commentators had great difficulty pronouncing their team captain’s full name: Shahzada Bandar bin Mazloom al-Katari. Much to the delight of the fans, our own race-ist commentators referred to him as either </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Baandar</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> or Katri Shahzada.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Opportunity needs preparation</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We had been daydreaming about winning the TDF race since 1947 (or perhaps 712 A.D.) when we obtained a huge housing society from the lovers of fish and chips (the Brits). Later we gifted the wet half of the real estate to the ones whose staple diet was also fish but with fistfuls of rice (the Bengalis).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ypqVCW4V2Gaq5yNBH2_Pem_v55xCINoDNb7LOIqvfNt1pA0BrQXZLvdLew9_HceUXVtUARpaaPmm2rdNsvjyYQvWW0t-hiAmTnLI_mIrYXTYxEOWJ6Lk7HFio8F8dMSeyze9IinOPEd0/s680/6%2529+Fish+n%2527+chips.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="680" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ypqVCW4V2Gaq5yNBH2_Pem_v55xCINoDNb7LOIqvfNt1pA0BrQXZLvdLew9_HceUXVtUARpaaPmm2rdNsvjyYQvWW0t-hiAmTnLI_mIrYXTYxEOWJ6Lk7HFio8F8dMSeyze9IinOPEd0/w200-h129/6%2529+Fish+n%2527+chips.png" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Then my dream suddenly began to gallop at ten times the normal speed, during which I saw successive governments facilitating children to ride tricycles in narrow lanes, then bicycles on one-way streets, and finally motorbikes on the wrong sides of the roads. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Such self-training and indiscipline required no foreign funding or coaching. With hardly an indoors or outdoors velodrome in existence in al-Bakistan, we took our time preparing for TDF 2021.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNc6xEHI002Gkg2RUk29dCQuAZ7tkjHkMbpr5NgGK0-t_UKPrghqnZtPwUcWBr-TkLgUg9hoCiPRmuvq3dJlW44Vbjui3AXKmehRUonzkPZVst1W9LSldvgwZ0BEhUiZLdfPwEQlFS2Q41/s494/7%2529+Bengali+eating.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="494" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNc6xEHI002Gkg2RUk29dCQuAZ7tkjHkMbpr5NgGK0-t_UKPrghqnZtPwUcWBr-TkLgUg9hoCiPRmuvq3dJlW44Vbjui3AXKmehRUonzkPZVst1W9LSldvgwZ0BEhUiZLdfPwEQlFS2Q41/w200-h133/7%2529+Bengali+eating.png" width="200" /></a></div></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>The shell-shocked Swiss governing body of international cycling, UCI (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Cycliste_Internationale">Union Cycliste Internationale</a><span>) noted our training model that resembled our economic model that resembled nothing ever witnessed by man on planet earth. They feared our potential of taking over Switzerland’s watchmaking, secretive banking, chocolate production and cheese making industries. T</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">he UCI caved in to all our demands while t</span><span style="font-family: arial;">rembling at the mere thought of seeing a terrible unshaven man, wearing a boom-boom jacket to give a blow-up job in the Swiss Alps.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1PR__-a9XbRlcgn-v6xT3jG2-gzanXN1LTKTosxSuSQDbmatIkmuFOsA8Vvb5xKc2nXeW-INy-2j9wVNLB0ALtqamj5AmiF7Sw44_bJAO5ap9jpF_Qhi7-QPOBOEpp9XyinCci5bI72V/s540/8%2529+Cycling.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="432" data-original-width="540" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1PR__-a9XbRlcgn-v6xT3jG2-gzanXN1LTKTosxSuSQDbmatIkmuFOsA8Vvb5xKc2nXeW-INy-2j9wVNLB0ALtqamj5AmiF7Sw44_bJAO5ap9jpF_Qhi7-QPOBOEpp9XyinCci5bI72V/w200-h160/8%2529+Cycling.png" width="200" /></a></div>We sent two riders: one from the barren ‘Agricultural Department’ and the other from WHOP-DA. The former was also a trained pizza deliveryman while the latter an expert at supplying cheap electricity at off-peak hours in dreams.<p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">At a certain point, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Journal Zee Owl Heck hijacked </span><span style="font-family: arial;">my democratic dream i</span><span style="font-family: arial;">n a most militant manner. That patron saint of cycling smilingly launched a thousand stinger missiles from Ojhri (Rawalpindi) and then calmly cycled to the Presidency, followed by official peddlers.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">To know more about the Ojhri tragedy, visit the following links:<br /></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Remembering the Ojhri Camp Blast</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Ojhri Camp Incident in Pakistan 1988</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Rare footage of Ojhri Camp Incident (1988)</a></span><p class="MsoNormal"></p><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Designer apparel</span></span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RUiIrz_1vNZqFGt3MmKzBtS_OfnlQXab3I5f5ErJsYeLK-A_JTitcinp-LYkoHaC8RhLAFZ_cXRTAGKtx3fMT_vi4H0_dtfSMRCGeQdeP-8n-ZP3YWR-oXP3anRELw0YfLwsTsAxXreb/s452/8a%2529+Peshawari+chappals.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="351" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8RUiIrz_1vNZqFGt3MmKzBtS_OfnlQXab3I5f5ErJsYeLK-A_JTitcinp-LYkoHaC8RhLAFZ_cXRTAGKtx3fMT_vi4H0_dtfSMRCGeQdeP-8n-ZP3YWR-oXP3anRELw0YfLwsTsAxXreb/w155-h200/8a%2529+Peshawari+chappals.png" width="155" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Cycling required standardized apparel but Zee Owl ordered public flogging for those found wearing padded-cycling shorts to show hairy legs. He issued an ordinance permitting only modest </span><i>shalwar-qameez</i><span>. He banned clipless pedals and cycling shoes, and ordered a Kohati cobbler (far away from Kohat) to make </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshawari_chappal">Peshawari<i> chappals</i></a><span> with thick soles made out of discarded tire-rubber.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF1azkM5Be4VoYVSHN6KThJh6KVCIxJRinTYuwpBwaq99p0YpndCY_sA4uK5CL7R7WdHueEYEc4evBdRXFO_nPiQLjhRFC6uGDX2adMx4KMBH8HCPJ1Nkh0XziYU3OF8xojceyHSSLJCV/s645/9%2529+Sindhi+cap.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="639" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF1azkM5Be4VoYVSHN6KThJh6KVCIxJRinTYuwpBwaq99p0YpndCY_sA4uK5CL7R7WdHueEYEc4evBdRXFO_nPiQLjhRFC6uGDX2adMx4KMBH8HCPJ1Nkh0XziYU3OF8xojceyHSSLJCV/w198-h200/9%2529+Sindhi+cap.png" width="198" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">As helmets, he thought of Sin-D caps (with small circular mirrors woven into them) to placate the Sin-Dees, Turkish caps to attract Erdogan, Arab <i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">keffiyeh</a> </i>to play ball with the Oily Sheikhs, starched bombproof turbans to please the far right-wingers, but finally selected steel-reinforced mullah caps.</span><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>The government decided to import bikes from Italy because the ‘leetal </span><i>sitar’</i><span> of al-Bakistani bicycle manufacturing ceased to ‘tweenkle tweenkle’ long ago. When the selected Italian manufacturer asked, “</span><a href="https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/italian-english/scusi"><i>Scusi</i></a><span>, according to which standards shall we manufacture your bikes?” we insisted, “Al-Bakistani standards”, meaning, no standards at all.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>Check out the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qhNBEIhYps">2021 Tour de France Bikes</a></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Al-Bakistani methodology</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Our team initially wanted to compete with just one cyclist. When the organizers questioned this folly, we explained, “One Almighty, therefore one cyclist. </span><i>Allahu Akbar</i><span>! </span><span>Any objection?"</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbj2xxdQoiUpZo7JfzC38zhlFG49C-SNTdIXC2KcoYAEXVwukJkdj13Op646uvsBYnys0gKQxygRb8cCVTolT2sSY7ZCMTrHBJHB0OFFVz7M4OHEXz_1UtuRwYai34ydFhS2Yhudz6fs1/s420/10%2529+Soldier+shooting.png" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="420" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtbj2xxdQoiUpZo7JfzC38zhlFG49C-SNTdIXC2KcoYAEXVwukJkdj13Op646uvsBYnys0gKQxygRb8cCVTolT2sSY7ZCMTrHBJHB0OFFVz7M4OHEXz_1UtuRwYai34ydFhS2Yhudz6fs1/w200-h192/10%2529+Soldier+shooting.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">The organizers tried convincing </span><span style="font-family: arial;">us</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">with logic: “Look, the Hindus have thousands of gods, each with multiple limbs. They even have shapely and multi-talented goddesses but their team doesn't have thousands of cyclists!”</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-indent: -0.5in;">The officials clarified, “Anyone shouting </span><i style="text-indent: -0.5in;">Allahu Akbar</i><span style="text-indent: -0.5in;"> could be considered a terrorist, fined heavily or shot on sight!”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">It was only after our team selectors clicked on the following links to get a reality check that he complied with the rules:</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Swiss Muslim fined £178 for saying ‘Allahu akbar’</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Man fined 210 Swiss francs for saying 'Allahu akbar'</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Venice mayor: Anyone shouting 'Allahu akbar' in St Mark's Square will be shot</a></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIH0TYhEDXhdR8f54VfwnQ-lQMAgZq_oJBmna7OH3j8rybnoY2USVvHZqmPQKQvjWjbjSq-z0dU0WP9CUvsh4k2BQUp-wZa17HIE2DfWutFVUkxfK9pbVeguB6gKYxDIibASegL1bE6UX_/s644/8a%2529+Pizza.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="644" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIH0TYhEDXhdR8f54VfwnQ-lQMAgZq_oJBmna7OH3j8rybnoY2USVvHZqmPQKQvjWjbjSq-z0dU0WP9CUvsh4k2BQUp-wZa17HIE2DfWutFVUkxfK9pbVeguB6gKYxDIibASegL1bE6UX_/s320/8a%2529+Pizza.png" width="320" /></a></span></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Competitors such as the Indian and the Israel Start-Up Nation cycling teams posed serious security risks to our team. To outdo their teams' support vehicles we demanded a battle-ready Hummer and civilian commandos wearing al-Baba John's T-shirts with the slogan</span><span>: There </span><i>is</i><span> such a thing as a free launch. Of course, we were refused permission.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Doping test</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>At the arrivals, the EU Customs staff found </span><i>naswar</i><span> on the person of 'pedo' (our team captain) who insisted, “The future is green. Besides, this is </span><i>the</i><span> fun thing used in northern al-Bakistan.”</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlFlRkaLMVV0ZgdKiJeJL_DFpXlKpgUjrpygGJEiLeWVPnsmu1aYtKTekA-60ISglwgKE1aJhhhB7Ypnx0uMyTISwQiQrrXJWs-m00U1EcPnLeMpyJRt1mH234QbqDYX4kzBpC-ccCA4c/s470/11%2529+Naswar.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlFlRkaLMVV0ZgdKiJeJL_DFpXlKpgUjrpygGJEiLeWVPnsmu1aYtKTekA-60ISglwgKE1aJhhhB7Ypnx0uMyTISwQiQrrXJWs-m00U1EcPnLeMpyJRt1mH234QbqDYX4kzBpC-ccCA4c/s320/11%2529+Naswar.png" width="272" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>Upon subjecting </span><i>naswar</i><span> to a comprehensive chemical analysis, the French found in it 20% sectarian oxide, 10% terror sulphate, 30% racial nitrate, 20% bigotry silicate, and 20% militancy carbonate. Surprisingly, the hosts ignored this find.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Special food and drinks</span></span></b><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Other TDF cyclists wore traditional jerseys with three rear pockets in which they stored energy bars to gain lost energy during non-stop rides. Al-Bakistani boys decided they would have pockets on the fronts of their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shalwar</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">qameez</i> suits to stuff in them packs of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nihari</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">seekh kababs</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">biryani</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">haleem</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">naan</i> bread.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I saw our team members dismount from their horses or camels (I mean bikes), spread a large </span><i style="font-family: arial;">peek-neek</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><i style="font-family: arial;">rumaal </i><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;"> (picnic cloth) by the roadside, and have mid-race meals</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Knocked senseless by the spicy aroma, western cyclists too began clamouring for al-Bakistani food. When an Indian cyclist shouted, “Don’t get fooled; Paki food is actually Indy food!” a violent </span><i style="font-family: arial;">kussun-mukki</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> (Punjabi fistfight) erupted.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgocFTvHKev9Egva5rttcwUtAVp-QybqGYmDJ6eI-CYD3pn7lnNw3laPSr1_utSJ3EW6rLAWV5EEEe3cPQDv0J3wIdYbjcFXSviATUsx0xn6_44vToaDYOYHrf6MF3QWtFXAdlP5wlJxMkO/s680/13%2529+Indian+food.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="680" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgocFTvHKev9Egva5rttcwUtAVp-QybqGYmDJ6eI-CYD3pn7lnNw3laPSr1_utSJ3EW6rLAWV5EEEe3cPQDv0J3wIdYbjcFXSviATUsx0xn6_44vToaDYOYHrf6MF3QWtFXAdlP5wlJxMkO/w200-h138/13%2529+Indian+food.png" width="200" /></a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The French Customs had already allowed cyclists from the Indian sub-continent to bring in chewable 'leaves' </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(betel leaf or </span><i style="font-family: arial;">paan</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) and 'stones' (betel nuts</span><span style="font-family: arial;">). The global television audiences were aghast seeing these cyclists eject massive projectiles of reddish sputum that landed on competing cyclists and the spectators who lined the route.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcKXitAs_iwzA5gxzTaYePH-Q0PMImDH2PUSGJVwz7ZrsaeDJ_gJirTiv4NUpHu1eu2tqbWa2cDeuxxMp9C0ohSXgGlcJqqtI4uHuTLtmemjdMEhj7XhcVYtgc8SrsGLE_bWjy2Dx-Fxp/s701/14%2529+Paan.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="701" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcKXitAs_iwzA5gxzTaYePH-Q0PMImDH2PUSGJVwz7ZrsaeDJ_gJirTiv4NUpHu1eu2tqbWa2cDeuxxMp9C0ohSXgGlcJqqtI4uHuTLtmemjdMEhj7XhcVYtgc8SrsGLE_bWjy2Dx-Fxp/w200-h133/14%2529+Paan.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><b>A public affair</b></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I will leave my dream alone for a moment to provide some facts about the TDF.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The TDF’s nickname, La Grande Boucle, translates to ‘big loop’. This is the equivalent of Formula 1 car racing but for cycling.</span></p><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Nothing displays the French passion more than the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">TDF which is a two weeks long international event held every July. Because it is a ticketless affair open to all, spectators flock to the streets, hand goody-bags to the cyclists, and encourage them to win. Women refuse to stay at home to cook, and children get off days from school.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Film-crew in helicopters and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">motorcycle-riding </span><span style="font-family: arial;">camera teams shoot the entire race from interesting angles. The global audiences get to appreciate the amazing natural beauty of not only the French countryside but also of several neighbouring countries.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The race comprises of twenty or more stages, each anywhere from 40-400 Km long. The longest route ever recorded spanned 5,744 Km (3,570 miles). Each city through which the cyclists pass, attempts to outdo one another in providing better facilities.<span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JI0H_noGTgoJ_APxBuvR5RtYgfp3ehskNW8KmxBhIlQVY4_-Tgx54-_K_Sf1dv3VFvON7uCIo2VrTA6x-rYo3nQUmBqORvNjOHkwCHiUFHwcHqz_T5-lWpDp6TH4gr9AkzAmDYggbK9-/s551/15%2529+TDF.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="551" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JI0H_noGTgoJ_APxBuvR5RtYgfp3ehskNW8KmxBhIlQVY4_-Tgx54-_K_Sf1dv3VFvON7uCIo2VrTA6x-rYo3nQUmBqORvNjOHkwCHiUFHwcHqz_T5-lWpDp6TH4gr9AkzAmDYggbK9-/w200-h173/15%2529+TDF.png" width="200" /></a></span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Every competing team has a support vehicle with a qualified bike mechanic and a doctor. They follow riders to tackle mechanical problems and, when needed, provide spare bikes which are mounted over the roofs of the cars. Bicycle pileups and crashes occur on a daily basis but the trained mechanics are able to fix things within seconds so that the riders do not lose precious time.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Each bike is a custom bike costing anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000, and is fitted to exacting standards and the demands of each cyclist. No bike can be more than 6.8 Kgs, as per the UCI rule. Currently, the frame material of choice is carbon fibre, while </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Shimano, Campagnolo or SRAM</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> provide the group-sets (brakes, cranks, shifters etc.).</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Every cyclist wears a chest-mounted heart-rate monitor for the pulse to be visible on a small cycling computer mounted on the handlebar. The screen also shows speed, RPM, distance, route and more. Team directors remain aware of mechanical and physiological conditions of their respective team riders.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Here are some interesting statistics from the TDF 2014:</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Cyclists burned a combined 19.8 million calories (each burning 100,000 calories).</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>You may laugh at the last arrangement because when an al-Bakistanii VVIP moves in </span><i>Riasat-e-Medina</i><span>, he may have as many men around at State expense.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht04p5HynrKZgNpzdHsCmGb3Qd5VpVTzV_yv0aPeT9YLTYdvNMP_TAgxag8B8aHKqgMM2iy3tkMtmW3AY0TYCxPICU6t3Fd3VfkSixf7UoDPwjM_3jeqj2BJjHpwFHgRfaXFONtFf23TG3/s596/16%2529+Paan.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="596" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht04p5HynrKZgNpzdHsCmGb3Qd5VpVTzV_yv0aPeT9YLTYdvNMP_TAgxag8B8aHKqgMM2iy3tkMtmW3AY0TYCxPICU6t3Fd3VfkSixf7UoDPwjM_3jeqj2BJjHpwFHgRfaXFONtFf23TG3/w400-h140/16%2529+Paan.png" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Yellow jersey</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Traditionally, the TDF always rewards colourful jerseys to winners of each stage.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">As the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">cyclists </span><span style="font-family: arial;">pedal through the plains and mountainous terrain, t</span><span style="font-family: arial;">he race tests their stamina and tactics. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: arial;">The coveted prize in cycling is the famous </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_classification_in_the_Tour_de_France" style="font-family: arial;">yellow jersey</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">(</span><i style="font-family: arial; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">maillot jaune</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) of the Tour de France. It is the awarded to the overall winner and worn by the current race leader at the start of each stage.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The newspaper owner of L’Auto (today L’Equipe) Henri Desgrange was also the race founder. He printed his newspaper on yellow paper and that is why he chose the yellow jersey so that fans could clearly spot the rider in charge.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><b>Green </b></span><b>jersey </b><b>– best sprinter</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><span style="font-family: arial;">The green jersey is the prestigious prize given to the best sprinter in the Tour. The fastest riders compete for the biggest points at the end of flat stages and smaller points during intermediate sprints.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><b>Polka dot </b></span><b>jersey </b><b>– King of the Mountains</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">To the rider who earns the most King of the Mountains points, they award a jersey almost as famous as the yellow one: red polka dots on a white base jersey.<br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkv-7WG614eFueOmsHutKrVgFoKa9TCBhjQ7fVI06n4M9-7Te-r1qKsrabIEsrzKVtZrlNNrrEDrXi8ErGS-Qr9fgRTaKwA8dtOJw_xk00TCcwNtm1k_5SQ8_jc9k4ON_f-OEk1nw2Al6A/s652/17%2529+Road+racers.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="652" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkv-7WG614eFueOmsHutKrVgFoKa9TCBhjQ7fVI06n4M9-7Te-r1qKsrabIEsrzKVtZrlNNrrEDrXi8ErGS-Qr9fgRTaKwA8dtOJw_xk00TCcwNtm1k_5SQ8_jc9k4ON_f-OEk1nw2Al6A/w400-h211/17%2529+Road+racers.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The riders earn the points along the way by being the first to the top of categorized climbs – the more severe the climb, the greater the points. The first to win both the polka dot jersey and the yellow jersey was the great Eddy Merckx in 1970.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><b>White </b></span><b>jersey </b><b>– best young rider</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The </span><span style="font-family: arial;">highest placed rider, aged</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> 24 or younger on the first day of the year, gets the w</span><span style="font-family: arial;">hite jersey. They </span><span style="font-family: arial;">introduced the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">jersey in 1975, before a 10-year hiatus in the 90s, but returned in the 21st century.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNySfxNgBb3pSjCg9lTOVtHUPfG868jDlFcbGUF1RTuzX1Icgkc9e9EOoMjx1cGNeiXvjkxJEXhb4UOmgcz8P7rs9RW-TufQfVdCTkEUkyCJuniK9miw3ZS14TgWLEJ5BjZlC3FtaXnhQ/s631/20%2529+Falling+rider.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="631" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigNySfxNgBb3pSjCg9lTOVtHUPfG868jDlFcbGUF1RTuzX1Icgkc9e9EOoMjx1cGNeiXvjkxJEXhb4UOmgcz8P7rs9RW-TufQfVdCTkEUkyCJuniK9miw3ZS14TgWLEJ5BjZlC3FtaXnhQ/w200-h151/20%2529+Falling+rider.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Back to the dream now.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Al-Bakistani cyclists displayed no concern for jerseys and instead asked for yellow, green or polka dotted </span><i style="font-family: arial;">kurtas</i><span style="font-family: arial;">. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">While on the podium, they shook hands with the French girls who stood on either side of the winning riders.</span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Tour de France Winners Every Year (1903-2020)</a><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Why Mark Cavendish Is The Greatest Sprinter In History</a></span><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pedestal and ceiling fans</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>There was no shortage of al-Bakistani fans lining the route</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">—</span>present courtesy of our political parties who wished to show the world their party flags. In the spirit of one-upmanship, our fans cheered for our team and jeered at others. They also handed over to our cyclists, talisman for protection against Satan who, they suspected, wore a black jersey of invisibility but nothing below the waist.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The start</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>The race began with a bit of misfortune; the straps of our cyclists’ Peshawari </span><i><u>chappals</u></i><span> entangled in the front derailleurs of the bicycles.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxRZdktmDQx1yWe4D8qZNS1O3bMuFgA_lVMDi-DiVAlDNemMRcyO4Oxtlmurj2cxYm2881Jhd__ZU4FtM_kQD5U5_LJ-PSwwEqMv9KopaLjVjItoy7MMF5DMhkGJUmoWDh6uJQerK5l7K/s620/22%2529+Bianchi+road+bikes.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="617" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRxRZdktmDQx1yWe4D8qZNS1O3bMuFgA_lVMDi-DiVAlDNemMRcyO4Oxtlmurj2cxYm2881Jhd__ZU4FtM_kQD5U5_LJ-PSwwEqMv9KopaLjVjItoy7MMF5DMhkGJUmoWDh6uJQerK5l7K/s320/22%2529+Bianchi+road+bikes.png" width="318" /></a></span></span></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>Throughout </span></span><span>the 3,414 kilometres long race, a</span><span>l-Bakistanis took long breaks of a devotional nature. Whenever the cyclists dismounted the bikes, which they affectionately called horses or camels, the </span><i>peloton</i><span> (group) of 174 cyclists did the same out of respect. The faithful faced Arabia but the unfaithful quietly thought of the steely Eiffel Tower under whose shadow the TDF would terminate.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Time trial</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For this sub-50 kilometres race stage, other cyclists pedalled as hard as they could but our boys turned up with a smart a lawyer who thought ‘time trial’ meant standing trial in a court of law to serve time.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5wDBIqLZcWriNlk2DzilfyhLstWEFJSaMF-HfqYpDD3o7EgMMoAXnWx4dLgiErmcdnzOWeb1OJAuGY7QchJ13SwhIhokl21AHYwzJn4bki2vkhUJoZGNVQL7cjGJOd7kYd8zvjRLkTyb/s449/23%2529+Cycling+computer.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="303" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5wDBIqLZcWriNlk2DzilfyhLstWEFJSaMF-HfqYpDD3o7EgMMoAXnWx4dLgiErmcdnzOWeb1OJAuGY7QchJ13SwhIhokl21AHYwzJn4bki2vkhUJoZGNVQL7cjGJOd7kYd8zvjRLkTyb/s320/23%2529+Cycling+computer.png" width="216" /></a><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The mountain stages</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our team did rather well in these stages; the riders broke several records of making mountains out of molehills.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Picnicking all the way</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Our 2-man team pedalled the bicycles very hard since there was nothing else to pedal without bookies. They spent the hardest moments of the race chatting while pedalling, giving one another high-fives, laughing out aloud (LOL), sometimes rolling on the grass laughing (</span><span style="font-family: arial;">ROGL</span><span style="font-family: arial;">).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">No rest for the wicked</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The TDF cyclists’ tough routine of pedalling an average of 160 Km for three to five hours daily required having off days to recover lost energy and repair muscle damage. Because an average cyclist daily burned 4,000 c</span><span style="font-family: arial;">alories, his nutritional requirements were phenomenal.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JrewAPey2ps8jql5cO4etFCEddfTQ0mSRGt2o1cma8Tnn4UjgaENaMmUlcdBa6m7nmo1p1YPOV-E8zJ2ieDMTllV4SWT0wdTGNWSyCkC-qwMkU_TVXYqgFxH4ZXDsIf3PwtMeDfaO6ak/s694/24%2529+Halwa+puri.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="694" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_JrewAPey2ps8jql5cO4etFCEddfTQ0mSRGt2o1cma8Tnn4UjgaENaMmUlcdBa6m7nmo1p1YPOV-E8zJ2ieDMTllV4SWT0wdTGNWSyCkC-qwMkU_TVXYqgFxH4ZXDsIf3PwtMeDfaO6ak/s320/24%2529+Halwa+puri.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Our team started each day with pre-sunrise congregations of a prayerful nature, followed by no holds barred consumption of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><i>halwa-puri</i></a> and a huge glass of sweet <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><i>lassi</i></a>. After a rather long catnap, they applied <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">Hashmi <i>surma</i></a><i> </i>in their eyes before donning cycling eyewear and returned to pedalling ferociously.</span><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">For lunch, the team</span><span><span style="font-family: arial;"> preferred chicken or mutton </span></span><i style="font-family: arial;">karahi</i><span style="font-family: arial;">, sometimes </span><i style="font-family: arial;">gurda-kapoora </i><span style="font-family: arial;">and </span><i style="font-family: arial;">maghaz kata-kat</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> or </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>chapali kabab</i>,</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>roghni naan, </i></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>raita, </i></span><span style="font-family: arial;">salad, and inevitably </span><i style="font-family: arial;">firni</i><span style="font-family: arial;">. The choices remained the same for dinner.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="font-family: arial;">The middle</b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>At stage 15 of the race, the al-Bakistanis were way behind the Emi-rates and the Israeli teams. From stage 16 onward, the power of a </span><a href="https://www.nurmuhammad.com/the-power-of-taweez-and-its-protection-in-the-unseen-world/"><i>taweez</i></a><span> (talisman) propelled our riders as if heavenly hosts in green TDF jerseys pushed their pedals.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">The finish</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>By the grace of the Creator and Lahore’s </span><a href="https://auqaf.punjab.gov.pk/gallery-data-darbar"><i>Data Ganj Bakhsh</i></a><span>, by the time our cyclists reached the finish line of Parisian </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es">Champs-Élysées</a><span>, their chains and pedals were broken, the rims deformed, and the brake pads worn out. When they remained unstoppable even after having crossed the finish line, the French police served them with a stop and desist order.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Apart from the cash prize, each stage-winner got a </span><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><span style="font-family: arial;">stuffed lion (the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">traditional </span><span style="font-family: arial;">race mascot) but </span><span style="font-family: arial;">our cyclists were in no mood to accept it because it was the election symbol of civilian Prime Minister </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nawaz_Sharif" style="font-family: arial;">Nawaz Sharif</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> who was de-selected by the 'selectors' of the motherland.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtjCCqwdgAWTPdU3vj4uzmRQS6BUBJ8okbNHVgBo4k9EDGGnVSAjNcan7lYZyeDZpVJ1A7bwu0pn41VNcdZblya0UUS_9nK4RTsIa8K5XIBsZzoxE6nE65pHgnCSvbF30i8haxan1XsgO/s488/26%2529+Crowd.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="488" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMtjCCqwdgAWTPdU3vj4uzmRQS6BUBJ8okbNHVgBo4k9EDGGnVSAjNcan7lYZyeDZpVJ1A7bwu0pn41VNcdZblya0UUS_9nK4RTsIa8K5XIBsZzoxE6nE65pHgnCSvbF30i8haxan1XsgO/s320/26%2529+Crowd.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Read: </span><a href="https://www.ibtimes.com/tour-de-france-prize-money-2021-how-much-do-winners-get-3237109" style="font-family: arial;">Tour De France Prize Money 2021: How Much Do Winners Get?</a><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: arial;">Celebrations</span></span></b></p><span style="font-family: arial;">After winning the TDF 2021, al-Bakistanis at home went totally berserk (or <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><i>Barzakh</i></a>). They distributed sweets, burned old tires, created roadblocks, kicked ATMs, overturned cargo containers, and mocked the Law out of habits developed over decades of peaceful coexistence with the neighbouring countries.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Some from the unfaithful who occupied the second and the third winning spots </span><span>on the podium let out jets of champagne from oversized bottles. Our faithful riders tried the same with bottles of </span><a href="https://www.hamdard.com.pk/pages/rooh-afza-rooh-afza-product-detail"><i>Rooh Afza</i></a><span> but failed to create drama.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The victory party must have been something but I was unable to witness it because a clock alarm woke me up.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">© Tahir Gul Hasan, 2021<br /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">DISCLAIMER</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">The author has not attempted to deride the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">dead or the </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">dying supposedly depicted in this article. No statement of the author need be misconstrued insulting any person who should have protected his reputation and that of the country he promised to serve faithfully but did not. No draconian law designed to choke freedom of expression need trigger a lawsuit against the author. Uttering vile threats in person or in cyber space are an exercise in futility; those who wish to argue with the author may do so in a courteous manner in the comments section of this blog.</span></p></div></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-9358454863068716522021-05-14T14:56:00.005+05:002021-05-14T16:15:41.215+05:00A Beginner’s Guide To Cycling<span style="font-family: arial;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDiL9Q8D30wvCkSNLFkN-klvslCYxGU92MBsEjQ96vilw8t3NgHM8p_q9JTnC_PIyM77T9Z7LQZ2Q1HXuAjxr7rd45_XUpcDYc-Ba1q21utpkOKcw9ZK3HuJHqBEw6dCkepNNCZFCc6PH/s851/1%2529+Giant.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="851" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPDiL9Q8D30wvCkSNLFkN-klvslCYxGU92MBsEjQ96vilw8t3NgHM8p_q9JTnC_PIyM77T9Z7LQZ2Q1HXuAjxr7rd45_XUpcDYc-Ba1q21utpkOKcw9ZK3HuJHqBEw6dCkepNNCZFCc6PH/s320/1%2529+Giant.png" width="320" /></a></div>In this article you will learn how to choose the right bike and accessories for maximum riding comfort and pleasure. To read my previous article, 'The Innocence Of Cycling', click <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">HERE</a>.</div></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /></span><b>The cost of a decent bike</b><br /><br /><span>Certainly, a bike costs much less than a golf club membership. Swinging at golf balls will burn perhaps a hundred calories per session, and hurt your wrists and the back.</span><span><br /><b></b><br />By contrast, a bike will make you burn nearly 700 calories per hour, get you to places, and greatly improve cardiovascular fitness. Cycling also beats pumping-iron at a gym to gain muscle mass.<br /><br /> A branded bike’s well-matched components will last much longer than unbranded cheap junk. Forget about bikes that cost $100 (Rs 15,000 in Pakistan). To know what I mean, read my article '<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Refurbishing An Old Bicycle</a>'.<br /> <br />The starting point is Rs 80,000 for a branded mountain bike (MTB), and Rs 120,000 for a road (‘race’) bike. Better bikes cost between three and twenty-five Lacs (only). <br /><br />Over a dozen top brands dominate the global market. In Pakistan, <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Giant</a> (Taiwan), and <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Bianchi</a> (Italy) are available.<br /> <br /> You might come across other brands but these ‘second-hand’ options are not recommend mainly because the any damaged or worn out parts will require repairs or costly replacement. <br /><br />Availability of quality parts is an issue in Pakistan. Unless you personally know the previous owner or can thoroughly get the bike mechanically checked, DO NOT waste money on used machines.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPI7aQ61xycwkcoZxeAtc5LIgLuyuFcFFdsvLv21s_PKlMTk7lDVZ250IXyXUrqc3C35SWuG2nIDfSIQxh65FYVVEb2jgLIuq3MQ32SVKJts-JXAN4EpvXLhQXb0L3QGB_E7ZGXCXj9o_h/s292/2%2529+Bianchi+logo.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="228" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPI7aQ61xycwkcoZxeAtc5LIgLuyuFcFFdsvLv21s_PKlMTk7lDVZ250IXyXUrqc3C35SWuG2nIDfSIQxh65FYVVEb2jgLIuq3MQ32SVKJts-JXAN4EpvXLhQXb0L3QGB_E7ZGXCXj9o_h/w156-h200/2%2529+Bianchi+logo.png" width="156" /></a></div><div><span><br /></span></div>Alternatively, you could borrow or rent a bike, try it out for a few rides, and then buy the best possible bike with as much money as you would spend on acquiring the latest ‘smart’ i-phone (‘i’ is for idiot)?<br /> <br /><b> Right attitude, wrong bike</b><br /> <br /> Years ago, browsing through bicycle magazines I would marvel at young riders having off-road fun in the dirt. I thought if they could do it, I too could. <br /><br />I resisted buying a road bike during several trips to China and Europe, and ended up buying a mountain bike (MTB) which I rode on non-mountainous terrain.<br /> <br /> Much later, in 2019, out of several top brands I purchased a <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Bianchi</a> road bike. This Italian brand, being the world’s oldest manufacturer, has dominated the market since 1885. In retrospect, I should have bought a road bike much earlier.</span></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu37nHr77OoZGtnCFfx9OjfemRnal1ZC3ivZfNgCIwVlJQ4-RfBqqTcMKYNUX43A5uwtaSfpEgPUdBoJ1U6iVFddFQFl2RSMR4Y2wSrvYpfaW5Vfq8Hc3J1RNaGOUtwQ82u_sdUQEwmN0/s487/3%2529+Treadmill+jogger.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="487" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu37nHr77OoZGtnCFfx9OjfemRnal1ZC3ivZfNgCIwVlJQ4-RfBqqTcMKYNUX43A5uwtaSfpEgPUdBoJ1U6iVFddFQFl2RSMR4Y2wSrvYpfaW5Vfq8Hc3J1RNaGOUtwQ82u_sdUQEwmN0/w200-h192/3%2529+Treadmill+jogger.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bop till you drop</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b> Gym, jogging, swimming, cycling?</b><br /> <br /> Jogging in middle age stresses the knees and hip joints.<br /> <br /> When a friend died after having a cardiac arrest on a treadmill, I told my treadmill-brethren who usually poked fun at cycling, “At least my bike gets me to places; your treadmills get you nowhere!”<br /> <br /> The gym-types need to understand that pumping iron in gyms rob you of two things: fresh air and vitamin-D. By contrast, both of these you will get for free and in abundance while cycling.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaMBH2PgWjjUQiuiRTShyphenhyphenrgIE-oFcAKbFnfcfIwZXLHuU589lbawQ3TP65Z36EgILnr1mH4x7r_8GJ88bmBGudS12VjbsKdZ_eIJVD1PlWCWrxmOnJAA5gq9m8KjxQLdKLsEauVO0j2bR/s705/4%2529+Gym+dog.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="705" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdaMBH2PgWjjUQiuiRTShyphenhyphenrgIE-oFcAKbFnfcfIwZXLHuU589lbawQ3TP65Z36EgILnr1mH4x7r_8GJ88bmBGudS12VjbsKdZ_eIJVD1PlWCWrxmOnJAA5gq9m8KjxQLdKLsEauVO0j2bR/w200-h148/4%2529+Gym+dog.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dog-work at the gym</td></tr></tbody></table>Swimming is problematic because of water contamination and COVID fears. Golf is for old folks, ex-servicemen, and desperate social-climbers. For more on golf, read my other two articles:<br /> <br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">As The Crow Flies</a><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Refurbishing An Old Bike</a><br /> <br /> So, stop being a sad grownup, cycle to strengthen the lower body, and delay or prevent expensive hip or knee surgeries in old age. As a reward, Mother Earth will thank you for leaving zero CO2 footprint in her environment. <br /><br /><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bo7eR1m00qb4qaqEFROC5lq5IBLGqYK_toLi8QXcSREWbCz8149oaezfP3VVnGzjypBiMI8sKSq_meJj3gS9K6QXk0gBi1k9sSLB-YOL1ggVmOAW_aw4BqAt1CLREoJ_nQINT4pm9-9n/s645/5%2529+Biker.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="645" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4bo7eR1m00qb4qaqEFROC5lq5IBLGqYK_toLi8QXcSREWbCz8149oaezfP3VVnGzjypBiMI8sKSq_meJj3gS9K6QXk0gBi1k9sSLB-YOL1ggVmOAW_aw4BqAt1CLREoJ_nQINT4pm9-9n/w200-h187/5%2529+Biker.png" width="200" /></a></div>Meet my MTB</b><br /> <br /> Mountain bikes come in three kinds of frames (there are actually several other variations too):<br /> <br /><b>Rigid</b>: without any shock absorbers, just like a normal street bike</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Hard-tail</b>: with a shock absorber only on the front wheel to dampen lighter jolts</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span><b>Dual suspension</b>: with shock absorbers on both wheels to dampen bigger jolts on rough terrain <br /><br />During a visit to the humungous <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Giant</a> showroom in China in 2003, I felt like a child in bicycle heaven. This Taiwanese brand remains the world’s top manufacturer.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSxs2a24vXC2nljabBYMZ8D97UYf-8kDYdX-XCqErKIXrOt-E6EZ8U2wE_mLrO5eE-mIcVchC-uxktBlfhu3sLgsAvbfPjH395JY5CUbDLCFaabr-36BGc7BZCXNHQ5-sQGIJR4nqt6Cv/s831/6%2529+Rigid.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="831" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGSxs2a24vXC2nljabBYMZ8D97UYf-8kDYdX-XCqErKIXrOt-E6EZ8U2wE_mLrO5eE-mIcVchC-uxktBlfhu3sLgsAvbfPjH395JY5CUbDLCFaabr-36BGc7BZCXNHQ5-sQGIJR4nqt6Cv/w200-h116/6%2529+Rigid.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rigid</td></tr></tbody></table><div><span><br /></span></div> Looking at the road bikes with low handlebars and skinny tyres, I felt that riding one might turn me into a hunchback of the Notre Dame variety. I tried an MTB whose relaxed geometry felt better. A knowledgeable English-speaking wide-eyed Chinese salesgirl helped narrow down the unbelievable choices, and happily I paid for a Giant C-Rock 1 model.<br /> <br /> This ‘dual-susser’ (dual suspension) came equipped with Shimano Alivio group-set, meaning, three sprockets on the front (at the pedal cranks’ position), and eight cogs on the rear wheel’s hub. The 3x8 configuration meant I had 24 gears to cater to varying riding conditions.</span></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguOitW9XT7TS_9Zwi4IHnt23V8IjyXb3C6H8fBm4APqHnu3S7hvnmcJSZCPV31aszhcxYfgR-kE9Oqj5XToXA4jPWeBnTw-lxrzwmyHVAllenDsMXtG7-7AiY0dfhTvVXFx4n4wEUhE3FX/s593/7%2529+Hardtail.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="593" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguOitW9XT7TS_9Zwi4IHnt23V8IjyXb3C6H8fBm4APqHnu3S7hvnmcJSZCPV31aszhcxYfgR-kE9Oqj5XToXA4jPWeBnTw-lxrzwmyHVAllenDsMXtG7-7AiY0dfhTvVXFx4n4wEUhE3FX/w200-h138/7%2529+Hardtail.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hard-tail</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />All through my childhood I rode a fixie, meaning, a bike with only one gear. Suddenly having 24 on my MTB seemed like overkill, considering a car’s five gears. Soon I would get used to selecting gear combinations to generate decent pedalling power.<br /><br />Out of China, I paid nothing extra as air freight charges, and the nice Pakistan Customs levied no duties on my purchase.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The bike’s assembly was DIY (do-it-yourself). After adjusting the handlebar, installing the pedals onto the cranks, and pumping up the tyres I hit the road.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsvyd_Ya0UEZQcCieFcfW_O7bggaYvZr_vkRLVllfCtjkIlXmpbLBVvGPkgm9qiJ5T0WcDf7Gp6E9eL95EIy9x_O6YKtincO_1sNh9Ju9kkPNYE1htaVSmCoG8mjWe8Hp6GhmsCVqjulx1/w400-h215/8%2529+Full+susser.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dual suspension mountain bike</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><b>Timings and places<br /></b><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The friends I asked to join me for cycling considered it ‘very dangerous’ because their mothers or the wives said so. Finding no manly company, I decided to soar alone like an eagle.<br /> <br /> In the beginning, I rode close to home usually during late afternoons. When short distances and the sameness of scenery began to bore me, I switched to early morning rides. From 15 kilometres, I progressed to 25 and finally 32 per session.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> Cycling enhanced my road sense, opened the eyes wider, improved the hearing, broadened the peripheral vision, greatly improved the metabolic system, had me eating healthy and drinking plenty of water, sleeping early, and rising before daybreak. It was goodbye to a sedentary lifestyle.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_NXn1y3rE4g5X0i59Qm0grEQUn-_vYODt5G_s9Cgv_OmXd8HGwYf2ouS5T06UOwydzx1nNYzl9jE6fQPRq7nPKLTKFGxKNQOAc6Kn2biipGiDySFfsnRMYu49agF-039z1cxVE5EYZtJ/s501/9%2529+Triple+chainring.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="501" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_NXn1y3rE4g5X0i59Qm0grEQUn-_vYODt5G_s9Cgv_OmXd8HGwYf2ouS5T06UOwydzx1nNYzl9jE6fQPRq7nPKLTKFGxKNQOAc6Kn2biipGiDySFfsnRMYu49agF-039z1cxVE5EYZtJ/w200-h150/9%2529+Triple+chainring.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Triple chain-ring (front)</td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">Company on the road</b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> <br /> During the morning rides, the roads belonged to me, no pollution, no traffic mess, not even traffic lights would stop me. <br /><br />Strange fans sometimes suddenly appeared during the rides. The poor, with their rickety bikes, were the silent admirers. When I sped past them, some attempted to chase after me but when I changed to high gear, they just could not compete. Their poorly-maintained machines and the drag-inducing apparel (<i>shalwar qameez</i>) always took a toll on power output and efficiency.<br /> <br /> Motorbike riders or rickshaw drivers sometimes rode along, asked about my bike’s price, and then sped away. The ladies just looked on, and the school-going children giggled; perhaps they all dreamed of cycling.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil2wtfBVlJl8p8XGzIwhBRmm8Rky5m9YurVYW_9q4XjUf_y4-txXc0N-Dy_G9UQkDiU3_KT1LQNaJRxl8nxrX6wvzTipL4bFAkFL8Qa55wO4fJLIyW2t5t2f3mhCK2cKmTW65APVvNxLv/s386/10%2529+Rear+sprockets.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="365" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjil2wtfBVlJl8p8XGzIwhBRmm8Rky5m9YurVYW_9q4XjUf_y4-txXc0N-Dy_G9UQkDiU3_KT1LQNaJRxl8nxrX6wvzTipL4bFAkFL8Qa55wO4fJLIyW2t5t2f3mhCK2cKmTW65APVvNxLv/w189-h200/10%2529+Rear+sprockets.png" width="189" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cogs (rear) </td></tr></tbody></table>Sometimes I ran into professional cycling teams of various government departments. To them I was a mountain-biker in his mid-40s, riding on paved roads while attired in apparel appropriate for road cycling. I would reach home by 7:30 a.m., by which time the school rush-hour hit its peak. <br /><br /> Until a decade ago, I mostly saw on the roads, poorer folks on ordinary bicycles. After 2017, recreational or fitness-oriented cycling in Lahore took off, and several clubs appeared on the scene to cater to different age groups and riding styles.<br /> <br /><b> Helmet and gloves</b><br /> <br /> All thinking heads require serious protection.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpC70CmhhaNmROoDTGBAnwZqnh82laP8hoKpd5t5C3xWO77rtyepkKKIfUdGQp504Cnj94-eFDfKrvYEwM96swx9otJPu8lNkvasK6tNv26pOFw1kaPahqfJkLWQzjXDmgToazQPqNKc3Z/s704/11%2529+Helmet.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="431" data-original-width="704" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpC70CmhhaNmROoDTGBAnwZqnh82laP8hoKpd5t5C3xWO77rtyepkKKIfUdGQp504Cnj94-eFDfKrvYEwM96swx9otJPu8lNkvasK6tNv26pOFw1kaPahqfJkLWQzjXDmgToazQPqNKc3Z/w200-h122/11%2529+Helmet.png" width="200" /></a></div><br />The first accessory I bought was a <a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Bell</a> helmet and which gave me greater confidence on the road.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Tyres</b><br /><br /><span>When the time came to accessorise and customise the bike, I replaced the original knobby 2.35-inch wide </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Kenda</a><span> tyres on my 26-inch rims because these required considerable effort to pedal over paved roads.</span><span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzfMcV5iDaFVKM0F3mYs579CFWN5cnPYc-kLVXN_t_rMDMM4ARP6nY4K8pj6ecsDceMSMYoi3EPxGc6AOAnoPmDzj1kXzQ0kQuCu384K-DGHffbCYxZkIAg2gLspahmIEzjwEo3igyqDEs/s741/12%2529+Gloves.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="741" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzfMcV5iDaFVKM0F3mYs579CFWN5cnPYc-kLVXN_t_rMDMM4ARP6nY4K8pj6ecsDceMSMYoi3EPxGc6AOAnoPmDzj1kXzQ0kQuCu384K-DGHffbCYxZkIAg2gLspahmIEzjwEo3igyqDEs/w200-h150/12%2529+Gloves.png" width="200" /></a></div></span><br /> I chose narrower 2-inch wide Geox tyres which sported plainer treads, produced less rolling resistance, and helped me ride faster to greater distances with much less fatigue.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> <br /><b> Improving the wardrobe<br /><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Even if one is not a professional, it does not hurt to look so.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLK9zG2VfMPUfTcQ8_jWK1zWdQwn4UD9VJ27TBQhVNov7Ehecp4OeL88V8i3l0t3PeaXyamRwhOXKocWseYy3DoTcJ1lC9DbUW-pgD5hNHGx-D5xOix0lhNsT08Bn5sHkPvnkJUriulGKm/s319/13%2529+Tyres.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="319" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLK9zG2VfMPUfTcQ8_jWK1zWdQwn4UD9VJ27TBQhVNov7Ehecp4OeL88V8i3l0t3PeaXyamRwhOXKocWseYy3DoTcJ1lC9DbUW-pgD5hNHGx-D5xOix0lhNsT08Bn5sHkPvnkJUriulGKm/w200-h161/13%2529+Tyres.png" width="200" /></a></div></b><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>Increasing passion made me invest in padded shorts to protect the family jewels, a team-jersey that had three rear pockets for storing eatables, and a pair of summer gloves.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Pedals and shoes</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The stock pedals of my MTB had plastic toe-covers on one side which allowed me to place the toes properly for firmer pedalling. Their plain reverse side was suitable for use with sneakers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV_rwDW6xXRnJ658H8xQX5aBDxo4VtkeNo31tLXE92vE0LByo0w9-oxN_PboVA45pMDuc-piROYWXcoZK_StE81UkHZ8yEV5zawdtRZ5DXWhgQB7bBZSFO6qF_x5MZwn-DDzUHovIRxnM/s480/14a%2529+Pedals+with+toe-clips.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="480" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV_rwDW6xXRnJ658H8xQX5aBDxo4VtkeNo31tLXE92vE0LByo0w9-oxN_PboVA45pMDuc-piROYWXcoZK_StE81UkHZ8yEV5zawdtRZ5DXWhgQB7bBZSFO6qF_x5MZwn-DDzUHovIRxnM/w200-h178/14a%2529+Pedals+with+toe-clips.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pedals with toe-clips</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>There was more to pedalling then just moving the legs in circular motion. The next great improvement was buying </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Wellgo WPD-95B</a><span> pedals.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The clipless side of these heavier diecast alum catered to special cycling shoes, while the reverse side was designed for ordinary foot wear.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Next, I bought Shimano’s MTB shoes which used 98A (SPD type) metal cleats under the soles. These kept them locked over the pedals in a perfect position so that while pedalling hard my feet did not slip off. This allowed maximum power transfer from the ball of each foot, and increased pedalling efficiency. I was catching up with science.</span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBud5nUi8Yx6XaeC1MNZd_1bj9NlX-GG7KvyRKf8eAUu9qYLNAJMLG0qSO3V07GJUrtRsoYYnrQR5pnfI9iDCUbLBrl4ruzLNUZDl0yqVOyGaHF5DjMGNj4s_oqXJ3Cwzxwwm-Cieiv_Hi/s438/14b%2529+Wellgo+95-B+clipless+pedals.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="438" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBud5nUi8Yx6XaeC1MNZd_1bj9NlX-GG7KvyRKf8eAUu9qYLNAJMLG0qSO3V07GJUrtRsoYYnrQR5pnfI9iDCUbLBrl4ruzLNUZDl0yqVOyGaHF5DjMGNj4s_oqXJ3Cwzxwwm-Cieiv_Hi/w200-h167/14b%2529+Wellgo+95-B+clipless+pedals.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Special clipless pedals</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>There was one minor drawback in cycling with special shoes locked into such pedals: to unlock my feet I had to move the heels outwards. This required some practise, which meant experiencing a fall or two. The most memorable one was at a traffic light where I failed to disengage and fell sideways.</span><span><br /><br /></span><span>I waited for a worried damsel to rescue this knight in distress but nobody appeared exclaiming, “</span><i>Hai Allah! Aap ko choat to nahi lagi?</i><span>” (Oh, God! Hope you haven’t hurt yourself?). For some moments I remained an amusing sight for the male onlookers.</span><span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT72GonCADQsmUILCS-6P3MLaCZabPJ6mqkqvVJEo6QmXD0jSg6_G9y-yoytj8Smj343tu5GyDpCT_b0cFVa4OOxgdVoLD36b-pHEa6_KR2R8RWoTm3l9AX7tZzppQRcWC-RAeVu3CmBO6/s340/15%2529+Shoes.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="340" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT72GonCADQsmUILCS-6P3MLaCZabPJ6mqkqvVJEo6QmXD0jSg6_G9y-yoytj8Smj343tu5GyDpCT_b0cFVa4OOxgdVoLD36b-pHEa6_KR2R8RWoTm3l9AX7tZzppQRcWC-RAeVu3CmBO6/w200-h138/15%2529+Shoes.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cycling shoes with cleats</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></span></span></div><div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Cycling computer</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The next upgrade became an essential training tool: Cateye Astrale-8 cycling computer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">This wired system came with two magnetic sensors: one I affixed to the inside of the left pedal crank to read the cadence (revolutions per minute of pedalling), and the other to one of the spokes of the front wheel to generate speed data. The 2”x2” screen also displayed distance covered, total distance, average speed, and ride time.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILjfoFATR4_qUI_2TyiyfGE9BXJNt2VGFUPxkmGR9UNdm86FdbzWazttmUKbTtRdTGDkxWJefCHPs6EBek7fBwmt7q6oMZ12x1g03eq-AwIx5fHNxoXq-9Tsp2wiWnSi5DMrSx3oHeQp3/s466/17%2529+Cateye+computer.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="327" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiILjfoFATR4_qUI_2TyiyfGE9BXJNt2VGFUPxkmGR9UNdm86FdbzWazttmUKbTtRdTGDkxWJefCHPs6EBek7fBwmt7q6oMZ12x1g03eq-AwIx5fHNxoXq-9Tsp2wiWnSi5DMrSx3oHeQp3/w141-h200/17%2529+Cateye+computer.png" width="141" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cycling computer</td></tr></tbody></table></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Gear-wise, I usually used the largest front ring (42-tooth) with either the second smallest (13-tooth) or the third smallest (15-tooth) rear sprocket. It took time to understand how various combinations of front and rear gears worked.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Soon I stopped being a speedy Gonsalves distance-freak to concentrate on maintaining more efficient cadences (pedalling revolutions per minute).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I also discovered that professional road cyclists tended to maintain higher cadences because pedalling at a cadence of 60 was less efficient than going at 80. Faster pedalling also burned more fat and caused less muscle stress and damage.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span> With machine-like efficiency I went about cycling for up to ninety minutes with no breaks. Back then I started on an empty stomach, and took along only a 500 ml water bottle to quench thirst on the road. Years later I would correct these serious nutrition-related mistakes for improved performance.</span></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWvjG3MOvVzRS8hqXYWEyhxTy6PtVuDsNEPAxD4ur0_HZCk9Ruyk8lH8RVvhSoapMn1MKanDZDzIrrkMI2ye9UvIpCNhMdmobfHC-jTvtv4nhG-dXIupLyxxwP3mQfpyOwD2kSJGJcCtP/s491/18%2529+Cateye+headlight.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="491" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheWvjG3MOvVzRS8hqXYWEyhxTy6PtVuDsNEPAxD4ur0_HZCk9Ruyk8lH8RVvhSoapMn1MKanDZDzIrrkMI2ye9UvIpCNhMdmobfHC-jTvtv4nhG-dXIupLyxxwP3mQfpyOwD2kSJGJcCtP/w200-h124/18%2529+Cateye+headlight.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Headlight</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Head and taillights</b><br /><br /><span>Because sometimes I rode in the evenings, I invested in a Cateye headlight to light up the road, and a Smart safety taillight to warn traffic in the rear.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /></span><span></span><b>Puncture-repair kit</b></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoEj3AxjAggFPfzwr3z4AYb2ySR9bEyV0wvTOwXH4ePoh34s3KqjecslmXY2U9XU-Vfi6Z0SdkxjIRAXkwmyZBCvKhS2sQtHS0Y6n2lbC4eYvbdlxCcxUNDnMHNCTyMgG_XGHRBKOBNAO/s495/19%2529+Tailight.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="495" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyoEj3AxjAggFPfzwr3z4AYb2ySR9bEyV0wvTOwXH4ePoh34s3KqjecslmXY2U9XU-Vfi6Z0SdkxjIRAXkwmyZBCvKhS2sQtHS0Y6n2lbC4eYvbdlxCcxUNDnMHNCTyMgG_XGHRBKOBNAO/w200-h113/19%2529+Tailight.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Safety taillight</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Every cyclist gets tyre flats. Soon after I got my first one, I put together a repair kit that contained patches, adhesive, sandpaper, and tyre levers. It was not easy in the beginning but I learnt to repair punctures during rides. The most memorable one happened on Gulberg’s Ali Zeb Road (named after the famous acting film couple: </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Mohammad Ali</a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Zeba</a><span>).</span><span><b><br /></b></span><b></b><br /><b>Pumps and pouch</b></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObmD70_RsYDOjCIK2eV_t3pzqntZis9pykGjd52O45St3uaLE5fThLbCdwOrojhz-4Fc3UORlcuPnEHSL2dyXOJso2_zxC2b8XVQ2_f9ikGBM31bX1JaqFwIDZyfAhrxYes0xhb9zIh3O/s452/20%2529+Seat+pouch.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="442" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObmD70_RsYDOjCIK2eV_t3pzqntZis9pykGjd52O45St3uaLE5fThLbCdwOrojhz-4Fc3UORlcuPnEHSL2dyXOJso2_zxC2b8XVQ2_f9ikGBM31bX1JaqFwIDZyfAhrxYes0xhb9zIh3O/w196-h200/20%2529+Seat+pouch.png" width="196" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Make-up kit</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Initially, I only used a hand-pump to inflate the tyres at home but later purchased a floor-pump. A small pouch attached to the seat-post made it easier to carry the puncture kit, the hand pump and the cell-phone.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b></b> <span><br /></span><b> Other types of bikes</b><br /> <br /><span> Apart from an MTB, you have other types of bike choices: </span><br /><br /><b>Road bikes</b><span>: light-weight, built for speed and endurance</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMa77CeLp3gOFYD8CDtl1d2D1wu14vo5OKqlkyBza6qFbGn_DuouCTs630ziZQi0kLpo9GoyYmGmWbBx3yDgBtWa3cXRj9UDE5Ak184b_Y2cyTgJF_MpAjFPo2Ld_lB-E_zOGOFEKscxMF/s802/21+Road+bike.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="532" data-original-width="802" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMa77CeLp3gOFYD8CDtl1d2D1wu14vo5OKqlkyBza6qFbGn_DuouCTs630ziZQi0kLpo9GoyYmGmWbBx3yDgBtWa3cXRj9UDE5Ak184b_Y2cyTgJF_MpAjFPo2Ld_lB-E_zOGOFEKscxMF/w200-h133/21+Road+bike.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Road bike</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Gravel bikes</b><span>: with features borrowed from both road and MTB bikes for mixed terrain riding</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /></span><b> Hybrid or fitness bikes</b><span>: frame geometry that suits riding in the city</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Cruiser bikes</b><span>: for sandy terrain</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9pvVBtphNPPetwj0KGZl5StQzqspDhiXHPSR8rG8ltfCYDfmqyZmQ5I8nKsWo0iZjwvlARUb9SR4_xAr7H6vMpU0SWe9Xn680OxTykuqVW0raIX7z10HF6S42LmnpNFE3KBLzFY8zHXn/s721/22%2529+Gravel+bike.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="721" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9pvVBtphNPPetwj0KGZl5StQzqspDhiXHPSR8rG8ltfCYDfmqyZmQ5I8nKsWo0iZjwvlARUb9SR4_xAr7H6vMpU0SWe9Xn680OxTykuqVW0raIX7z10HF6S42LmnpNFE3KBLzFY8zHXn/w200-h163/22%2529+Gravel+bike.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hybrid e-bike</td></tr></tbody></table></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>E-bikes</b>: with battery-assisted power for reasonably fast speeds. These are still quite expensive and neither environmentally-friendly nor maintenance-free.</span></div><div> <span style="font-family: arial;"><span><br /></span><span> My advice is: DO NOT succumb to expensive trends but rather save money by remaining traditional and mechanical. These days the bicycle manufacturers are forcing down several expensive choices down consumers’ throats; these are listed below:</span><b><div><b><br /></b></div>Disc brakes</b><br /> <br /><span> Traditional rim brakes use inexpensive rubber pads, and work beautifully under most conditions. Disc brakes are more efficient on downhills but are heavier and costlier.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5D3uPgMHqVO-e94SXbE2-zOafVTlXnI4FMaKVAGhTkVQoX3rXL2M7Y4zDGHVFwk39ddIP4nJjSGW15Nac1xEgHGPRiFF1w7MP2mHJhxqIMYtQj2rey10eBDH_xMJGt_g0UtSiQy0e-l8/s358/23%2529+Fat+bike.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="358" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5D3uPgMHqVO-e94SXbE2-zOafVTlXnI4FMaKVAGhTkVQoX3rXL2M7Y4zDGHVFwk39ddIP4nJjSGW15Nac1xEgHGPRiFF1w7MP2mHJhxqIMYtQj2rey10eBDH_xMJGt_g0UtSiQy0e-l8/w200-h188/23%2529+Fat+bike.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fat bike</td></tr></tbody></table></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Hydraulic brakes<br /></b><br /><span>With these the price and maintenance hassles go up. You will either have to learn to service them yourself or pay regular visits to a mechanic.</span><span><br /></span><span>Click </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">HERE</a><span> for a comparison of mechanical versus hydraulic brakes.</span><br /> <br /><b> ‘Intelligent’ gear-shifting</b><br /> </span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-FnHAX4AkSfXZkGrKjkqxgjTCsJDkuGjcViq4Y-F18RLL1wlJC5Z0bSx_Robmp5mgIz3Q2_7QMKCv1yI8kpkyylhPcnGomH699PhS2P-34cJsYAIqHdg-Exg9miZBLuXHLJhaU6naCXC/s491/24%2529+Rim+brakes.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="485" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid-FnHAX4AkSfXZkGrKjkqxgjTCsJDkuGjcViq4Y-F18RLL1wlJC5Z0bSx_Robmp5mgIz3Q2_7QMKCv1yI8kpkyylhPcnGomH699PhS2P-34cJsYAIqHdg-Exg9miZBLuXHLJhaU6naCXC/w198-h200/24%2529+Rim+brakes.png" width="198" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Caliper brakes</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span> If you are too lazy to even change gears, this bit of technology will decide which front gear will work best with which rear one. Wireless Blue Tooth will move both the gears and the brakes without mechanical wires.</span><br /> <br /><span> To read more about this technology, click </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">HERE</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>Let us now look at basic bike maintenance.</span><br /><br /><b>Assembly</b></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 400;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="533" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMBp9HkZkuA7u92N3wwEOI4rCzenKeSXZwnlK4k23VmO-RvW5SmrcqBPznAcDNavM5VbGt20p6j0z99ZGyz3njGQkSUX0fK2Z0JA8q5AjpcUgtuD87k43riTf3yxE1j27pP9kxSBvuNH8/w200-h144/25%2529+Disc+brakes.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disc brakes</td></tr></tbody></table>New bikes come 90% pre-assembled; the remaining 10% work—as I have already mentioned—is DIY. A bike provides years of trouble-free service if you keep it clean and lubricated.</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 400;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Never go for bike repairs to a shoddy mechanic; instead prefer an able mechanic for jobs that you cannot handle yourself.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">If you are a DIY handyman, invest in a few essential bike tools. God bless YouTube instructional videos; you too can become a decent repairperson if you do not mind dirtying the hands.</span></div></span></b></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMBp9HkZkuA7u92N3wwEOI4rCzenKeSXZwnlK4k23VmO-RvW5SmrcqBPznAcDNavM5VbGt20p6j0z99ZGyz3njGQkSUX0fK2Z0JA8q5AjpcUgtuD87k43riTf3yxE1j27pP9kxSBvuNH8/s533/25%2529+Disc+brakes.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Grace under pressure</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6FrMoJitgECuZNgWCc_ahM5rX7GskNVzyoSVrdwqf1wA0a_imorhAOaVxbD8YlEBXMnfUsjxB2hXaV227TweJhgFrz0vrMbsVbrNhBWtvy4MbfPPFQMp7lW1O3ZJXZql6FO2gTZIwm6e/s548/26%2529+Schraeder+valve.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="515" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6FrMoJitgECuZNgWCc_ahM5rX7GskNVzyoSVrdwqf1wA0a_imorhAOaVxbD8YlEBXMnfUsjxB2hXaV227TweJhgFrz0vrMbsVbrNhBWtvy4MbfPPFQMp7lW1O3ZJXZql6FO2gTZIwm6e/w188-h200/26%2529+Schraeder+valve.png" width="188" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schrader valve</td></tr></tbody></table>Modern MTB tubes use Schrader (or American) valves which are the same as those found on cars. This means, you may visit the nearest tyre shop and use its air-system for inflation. However, road bikes use Presta valves which require a different pump nozzle.<b><br /></b><br />Check the sidewalls of your tyres and note the minimum and maximum pressures in p.s.i (pounds per square inch) or bars (1 bar is 14.7 p.s.i).<br /><br />Instead of pinching a tyre to check for inflation, buy a floor-pump with a built-in pressure gauge, and nozzles for Schrader and Presta valves.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div></div></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJdhc9WN3EFxFJkXA19Z1_BhyeLME8q3MnaIDBhFHzyNbnXwo6SFMWi-85vCVkCqOeBceEsRnIJMAnTev-itoWh7NsZpcogNcuQSo3Knc_Y8s6g0kgt6PzbercfdJ95CFxwxpI8lGWMcX/s490/27%2529+Presta+valve.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="490" data-original-width="203" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJdhc9WN3EFxFJkXA19Z1_BhyeLME8q3MnaIDBhFHzyNbnXwo6SFMWi-85vCVkCqOeBceEsRnIJMAnTev-itoWh7NsZpcogNcuQSo3Knc_Y8s6g0kgt6PzbercfdJ95CFxwxpI8lGWMcX/w83-h200/27%2529+Presta+valve.png" width="83" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Presta valve</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span>Do not maintain equal pressure in both the tyres because about 60% of your body weight is on the rear wheel, with only 40% up front.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Neither fill the tyres to their minimum pressures nor to the maximum. Too much air pressure will make the bike feel jumpy with less road grip; too little pressure will slow you down and cause punctures.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Find the right pressures that suit your body weight, riding style, terrain and weather conditions. Check your tyres for proper inflation at least twice a week if you ride regularly.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qMQR8v8XxsheAzAPF5hTTew7AZ7FhrQU6YvROOl70OV6wSC007Ipyuc2-5mKYGk3i0e96u3csNbdTPCgUdE0JJka5buD0YXEkDcx4qzrb085JfwU5970YoR7NwnxAtKJIzvNvWw_EfKb/s470/28%2529+Floor+pump.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="197" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3qMQR8v8XxsheAzAPF5hTTew7AZ7FhrQU6YvROOl70OV6wSC007Ipyuc2-5mKYGk3i0e96u3csNbdTPCgUdE0JJka5buD0YXEkDcx4qzrb085JfwU5970YoR7NwnxAtKJIzvNvWw_EfKb/w84-h200/28%2529+Floor+pump.png" width="84" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Chain reaction</b><br /><br />A bicycle’s chain has hundreds of moving parts, and these require regular de-greasing and oiling.A dirty dry chain will not only wear out fast, it will also shorten the life of other components being driven by it.<br /><br />To obtain maximum pedalling power, DO NOT use grease or automobile engine oils to lubricate the chain. Instead buy special chain oils, de-greaser fluids, and a chain-cleaning tool for quality maintenance.<br /><b><br /></b></span><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0IVQ3paUORY2fkyQLfPrq5Od435PRPRKoz1nVvafvbsHPela-_YSBJhu_5N7ZzX6l9X8iqECmQ4RDBjpfsrfo3ApDst_ncFrkUoyf-8qkcygsWIwOVs5PYKlaMrH8onWcRjsM5fpG49_/s470/29%2529+Hand+pump.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="449" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0IVQ3paUORY2fkyQLfPrq5Od435PRPRKoz1nVvafvbsHPela-_YSBJhu_5N7ZzX6l9X8iqECmQ4RDBjpfsrfo3ApDst_ncFrkUoyf-8qkcygsWIwOVs5PYKlaMrH8onWcRjsM5fpG49_/w191-h200/29%2529+Hand+pump.png" width="191" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hand pump</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Brakes and gears<br /></b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />For rim brakes, keep the rims clean. For discs, keep the rotors spotless. Both types must be properly adjusted for free play, and their pads kept dirt-free.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Stopping in most situations will only require a mild application of the front brake. Since most of your weight is on the rear wheel, applying the rear brake will only wear it down faster but not slow you down faster. For sudden stops, apply both brakes together, giving more weightage to the front one.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Words of caution</b><br /><br />The manufacturers are clever; they want cyclists to part with serious cash for gizmos that usually add more weight to the bike which wastes cycling power.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="399" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4GUo2Hc4KHxzbgdjtCFiOw28a6qp507g7GGCxu1kUain4hBoehYnHQv-QeC7gfc-nTe6WcAlpxRXALnhyphenhyphenMwdAiVHK1TCU6lYWq0Ir3f2kGvqPL-V5qZVD53dd6s_KWb6x_nXKHGEHk6cA/w200-h155/30%2529+Bike+chains.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chains</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">Having unnecessary electronics and Blue Tooth onboard causes distractions, increase maintenance, and seldom do little to increase riding pleasure.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Speaking of distractions, DO NOT take or make phone calls or read text messages while cycling. Tune your ears to the environment by NOT wearing earbuds. If you must listen to music, do it elsewhere.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"></a> <span style="font-family: arial;">DO NOT be tempted by ‘lighter’ carbon bike frames as these pretty things are expensive. While steel or aluminium frames can be repaired, if you ever crash a carbon bike, its hairline cracks will be impossible to mend. Aluminium frames remain the cheapest and the best choice for frames.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="659" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIM9hQ_B6Pahwe1DkM90AlYD7ANtWZ3vkU08yaUrTo_JHV4SKTFoaeFrYCqhuZ2RTiQjqrg33pysFnRyOKGAVGz6FSOJK6VKCV_7abOOhEc7VKEjDw94yFflCh_eQoeMw7NnB4utmSI4gR/w200-h106/31%2529+Chain+cleaning+tool.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Chain-cleaning tool</span></td></tr></tbody></table> Select a machine suitable for your body and riding style. Do your own research or ask a knowledgeable cyclist. Allocate a budget of at least 10%-20% of the bike’s cost for a helmet, clothing, tools, and other items.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Now what?</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Well, put that silly cell-phone away, and get on a bicycle. Good luck with the rides.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwm7ycgmlJ9mMMb1gE5ZUqMak8HUWteD3IIGReesb5Fzx6B2ccrKRMhQ9jTp8_QgExVn1FXPvd0PwzLUrk4_zlGxj_yb4QimddiCV2RPErB0f0UGA2cdl-RKU71HpwJHXelMAl4TBjOLN/s708/32%2529+Cyclists.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="708" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwm7ycgmlJ9mMMb1gE5ZUqMak8HUWteD3IIGReesb5Fzx6B2ccrKRMhQ9jTp8_QgExVn1FXPvd0PwzLUrk4_zlGxj_yb4QimddiCV2RPErB0f0UGA2cdl-RKU71HpwJHXelMAl4TBjOLN/w400-h281/32%2529+Cyclists.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Read my other related articles on cycling:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">Refurbishing An Old Bicycle</a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2979068210040167221/935845486306871652">The Innocence Of Cycling</a></span></li></ol></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Tahir Gul Hasan, 2021</span></span></div></div></div></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-49237507563733790292021-03-19T12:22:00.015+05:002021-05-14T15:07:12.047+05:00The Innocence Of Cycling<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbqAz3ci0uGL69_4TBMDSu0OcsoPpd8K4lEp0KkzoZ954YZchwjsou0Vx_a1-JGUGu63YgQYnPS0pDfnxyyV4NU6AS-zaWC8cdrMYzu2SMBGMCnTdvh9eiX9E3Z5bRVyL38fwT-HzPbpZ/s603/1%2529+The+best+machine.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="511" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfbqAz3ci0uGL69_4TBMDSu0OcsoPpd8K4lEp0KkzoZ954YZchwjsou0Vx_a1-JGUGu63YgQYnPS0pDfnxyyV4NU6AS-zaWC8cdrMYzu2SMBGMCnTdvh9eiX9E3Z5bRVyL38fwT-HzPbpZ/s320/1%2529+The+best+machine.png" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">If you are considering taking up the extremely healthy activity of cycling, please carry on reading. For posterity’s sake, I shall start with reminiscing about cycling during my childhood. In the next article, I shall advise you on how to make correct technical choices in order to enjoy safe cycling.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">Pre-historic times</b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">My pre-kindergarten memories remain those of a colourful tricycle, and then a four-wheeled metal car that moved when I pushed two pedals under my feet. Both were made out of metal, as was the manufacturing norm in those days.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">My parents dutifully purchased both of these items from <a href=" https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/09/refurbishing-old-bicycle.html"><i>Nila Gumbad</i></a>—the bicycle market outside Lahore’s Anarkali Bazar. </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_oiR68TTsPDJdkJhHaF0w1c6CvFCtZX6DKP4FvPUDVe3Q_5Ym-tmvDLxCzqtkUoNNsEarG5z6GqGzBzVwOzDJBlXC1DShE5yONJEcYYXz1ziCijdV4KMdQFR4Injp77LqyPmBoQbZGTO/s218/1%2529+Tricycle.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="218" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ_oiR68TTsPDJdkJhHaF0w1c6CvFCtZX6DKP4FvPUDVe3Q_5Ym-tmvDLxCzqtkUoNNsEarG5z6GqGzBzVwOzDJBlXC1DShE5yONJEcYYXz1ziCijdV4KMdQFR4Injp77LqyPmBoQbZGTO/w200-h198/1%2529+Tricycle.png" width="200" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>I do not recall if my younger sister ever fought to pedal any of these beauties. I was happy to see her comb her dolls’ hairs, and she felt elated watching me crash the baby-car into various pieces of furniture, thus expending excess boy-energy.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: arial;">I was born with a bronze spoon in my mouth, meaning, the parents exercised firm control over money. This quickly taught me to save in order to buy the objects of fetish and desire. My bank was always a clay money-box (<i><a href=" https://youtu.be/FdF6D5pDKfg">ghalla</a></i>) that I purchased from a potter (<i>kumhaar</i>) in Mozang <i>bazar</i>. Nobody I knew called them ‘piggy-banks’.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIGsX8mH7LeCv45Z95ub-r1Ntp29R6v2u1p7ifMefv9mppTi0SxjSo5zYFywcGFt10NTmOA2kRatTpg9qA-y_FRPsHOiwlnMR7qX9QXMuIuh9N1reGLfCsggGVBghGwcN7c00SboWiwwHX/s634/2%2529+Baby+car.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIGsX8mH7LeCv45Z95ub-r1Ntp29R6v2u1p7ifMefv9mppTi0SxjSo5zYFywcGFt10NTmOA2kRatTpg9qA-y_FRPsHOiwlnMR7qX9QXMuIuh9N1reGLfCsggGVBghGwcN7c00SboWiwwHX/s320/2%2529+Baby+car.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Although the age of unbreakable plastic was upon us, it was far more exhilarating to break open a clay money-box. Overcome by great ideas of self-financing certain plans, I spent many an afternoon counting coins if not </span><a href="http://witchipedia.wikidot.com/def:counting-crows">counting crows</a><span style="font-family: arial;">. Somehow, the counting always stopped short of the desired target of a hundred rupees—the equivalent of ten thousand rupees today.</span></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFvn90PHSQa_XGoga8SXWBsx5HB_xOATUWZWbXmwmWtPHd6obZ97ZkPvD8OEOBkPsW5jnbjHEtlAqhk7J2RvgH0-BF2azULsJazkrDQUvan2xtrrBDpomiVsg2LmzR-Y8_FAJkPdbXXHk/s229/3%2529+Money+box.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="180" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFvn90PHSQa_XGoga8SXWBsx5HB_xOATUWZWbXmwmWtPHd6obZ97ZkPvD8OEOBkPsW5jnbjHEtlAqhk7J2RvgH0-BF2azULsJazkrDQUvan2xtrrBDpomiVsg2LmzR-Y8_FAJkPdbXXHk/w157-h200/3%2529+Money+box.png" width="157" /></a></div>Seeing the shortfall, mother handed over the metallic treasure to father who opened his home-office cupboard, and magically turned the change into a crisp </span><a href="https://dnb.sbp.org.pk/Museum/crncy_pakistan.htm" style="font-family: arial;">hundred-rupee</a><span style="font-family: arial;"><i> ‘Qaid-e-Azam’ </i></span><span style="font-family: arial;">(slang for a hundred-rupee note because it sported the face of Pakistan’s founding father, Mr. Jinnah).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The boyish curiosity led me to discover that father trusted a dead Irish playwright with his stash of cash; the money was kept under lock and key, hidden behind ‘The Complete Works of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde" style="font-family: arial;">Oscar Wilde</a><span style="font-family: arial;">’</span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Father was, therefore, not a magician but a maestro who made honest hard work look like child’s play.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Life, 1960s style</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: arial;">Pakistan’s bicycle manufacturing industry was at its peak back then, and produced BECO, <i>Sohrab</i>, <i>Rustam </i>and Eagle brands. Bicycles far outnumbered motorcycles in Lahore. People were healthier because they covered on foot considerable distances each day. That meant greater wear and tear on shoes and hence more cobblers around street corners.</span></div></div><div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Times New Roman"; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiH1QAfua_xSonMBcr7HLeDOpH96M-2ZXYsh2OtzkzH-hPGjwbENC2Oqy7k1mqOI1KXlfrObEYkxuO46y3WeOZiJ5W5QhEnY12Qad6-tieCdtcHNsVNquVN7PgRK8m7FpPHr633f-oi1vt/s264/4%2529+Magician+daddy.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiH1QAfua_xSonMBcr7HLeDOpH96M-2ZXYsh2OtzkzH-hPGjwbENC2Oqy7k1mqOI1KXlfrObEYkxuO46y3WeOZiJ5W5QhEnY12Qad6-tieCdtcHNsVNquVN7PgRK8m7FpPHr633f-oi1vt/s0/4%2529+Magician+daddy.png" /></a></div></span><span style="font-family: arial;">At my school’s bicycle stand behind the canteen, it was hard to ignore hundreds of bicycles that both the students and the teachers used. My father too walked briskly between home and the High Court. As children we gladly used our legs, <i>tongas </i>or rickshaws for commuting; never throwing tantrums for a family car.</span></div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The decision to buy my first bicycle was sudden. It took the proceeds of two clay money-boxes to finance the purchase. The excitement was sky high; I was only eleven years old at the time.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">At a shop in <a href=" https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/09/refurbishing-old-bicycle.html"><i>Nila Gumbad</i></a>, my eyes ignored the dull black and the shocking red colours; instead I chose an olive-green 18-inch <i>Sohrab</i>. It cost Rs 250 which was enough money to take care of a year’s school-recess snacks, namely, two <i>samosas </i>and a bottle of Coca Cola worth one rupee.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Since so many decades, this <i>samosa</i>-Coke yardstick has helped me determine money’s value and inflation. Another very useful yardstick is the price of petrol in 1972, which was Rs 4.5 per gallon, or Rs 1 per litre. Fifty years later we are paying a hundred times that price. Now work out the inflation <i>per annum</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBBgP0zlVbE5QiSzdzjMRNvZrGOb90jCHsiD_PRfjL3bJu7N1C97wGZViym4P2XJviwWR9AhtRJ46lz9w0oVXbf7G0cmJ4JGsxN9So1SvOINtGPoEJ5ztgairY3mLIx8VOX0cL45Kp5Le/s274/5%2529+Excited+boy.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGBBgP0zlVbE5QiSzdzjMRNvZrGOb90jCHsiD_PRfjL3bJu7N1C97wGZViym4P2XJviwWR9AhtRJ46lz9w0oVXbf7G0cmJ4JGsxN9So1SvOINtGPoEJ5ztgairY3mLIx8VOX0cL45Kp5Le/s0/5%2529+Excited+boy.png" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>First love</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Taking my eyes off the new bike was impossible; she came fully clothed in protective corrugated paper covering. I brought the beauty into the bedroom and stood her on the rear-wheel stand. Intoxicated by the smell of rubber and painted metal, I let her stay right beside the bed to help me sleep better.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The next day, the neighbourhood boys dropped by to ogle at my shining Sohrab.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I normally cycled within the locality’s confines but when parents were oblivious, ventured to the nearby Regal Chowk to either snack on a plate of Aslam’s <i>dahi-bhallay</i> or Khan’s samosas and <i>aloo ki tikki</i>. The latter were fried in fragrant mustard oil which lent them great taste. We were several decades away from consuming obesity-inducing junk cooking oils such as palm, sunflower or Canola.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsLJxoMHN6OemS4AJ1MfeI-1rLV_xm6uQs5ZHfC3czNjzxvsZpqFvQZcaSi7mEFJwlfpvFMoXERaAnah1hn-Up-iPiOM-NkZtoO6I8DQFZrdaZzwcyQF4_CSrJtfLgB_gOFacrdswx9Vu/s477/6%2529+Sohrab+22-inch.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="477" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvsLJxoMHN6OemS4AJ1MfeI-1rLV_xm6uQs5ZHfC3czNjzxvsZpqFvQZcaSi7mEFJwlfpvFMoXERaAnah1hn-Up-iPiOM-NkZtoO6I8DQFZrdaZzwcyQF4_CSrJtfLgB_gOFacrdswx9Vu/s320/6%2529+Sohrab+22-inch.png" width="320" /></a></div>Cycling was a male-dominated activity, and only in posher localities did young girls pedal but with much less confidence and always within certain geographical limits.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Second love</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The bike was a metal slave that served me well. Each year I raised the seat-post by an inch, and when it reached the limit after three years, the frame felt quite small. I again chose an olive-green beauty, a taller 22-inch <a href="http://sohrab-cycles.com/roadsterdoublebar22_details.php"><i>Sohrab</i></a> , whose twin top-tubes lent greater strength to the frame.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDiGxunI9lvShKRHdg1QbJLKkmBPaBunU9YCLxsZVz6pSNvqw8iNSJTyofdz2F41JP1UmzAei9UIMTR7gJUrGsRu0Ua6CQpp7bMg-YKFQsCzGTi5nHpGEu_GjID9PptV7eMqyRWVVWmRrm/s1340/7%2529+Ford+Escort+%2528front%2529.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="1340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDiGxunI9lvShKRHdg1QbJLKkmBPaBunU9YCLxsZVz6pSNvqw8iNSJTyofdz2F41JP1UmzAei9UIMTR7gJUrGsRu0Ua6CQpp7bMg-YKFQsCzGTi5nHpGEu_GjID9PptV7eMqyRWVVWmRrm/s320/7%2529+Ford+Escort+%2528front%2529.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;">By this time, we had our first car: a 1300 c.c. model 1971 <span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Escort_%28Europe%29">Ford Escort</a></span>. It cost Rs 18,500. It was bluish-green in colour, and whenever the body got scratched or dented, the paint-shop technician at Ali Automobiles on The Mall found it quite difficult to recreate the precise hue.</span><span style="font-family: arial;">To give you an idea of how much value a Pakistani rupee carried, my paternal aunt (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">phopho</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) purchased a made-in-Japan Toyota Corona in 1968 for Rs 12,000. Today, a bicycle would cost more.</span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34H_EyuiMc9zzp5o6fl6jJeFqLv2NG0Z2vDc7iJIxNTLU2XIAm1mEYHpCBFS_v44Qyqwn2HLwrx97DfGpVp0VBjyqR6B0tsGHpcYhoMsUsnKguHl5Mr1Dt_PWLX4X4vYfeFdseBSccTzU/s1099/8%2529+Ford+Escort+%2528rear%2529.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="1099" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi34H_EyuiMc9zzp5o6fl6jJeFqLv2NG0Z2vDc7iJIxNTLU2XIAm1mEYHpCBFS_v44Qyqwn2HLwrx97DfGpVp0VBjyqR6B0tsGHpcYhoMsUsnKguHl5Mr1Dt_PWLX4X4vYfeFdseBSccTzU/w320-h167/8%2529+Ford+Escort+%2528rear%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In the mid-1970s, I secured a scholarship to study at </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_College_University,_Lahore" style="font-family: arial;">Government College</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> (Lahore). The faithful </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Sohrab</i><span style="font-family: arial;">, having served the purpose, suddenly felt odd. Whereas previously I could walk to the school, traversing greater distance to a place of higher learning required a quicker means of transportation. Bus travel was troublesome, the family car was mostly under father’s use, and there was peer pressure to buy a motorcycle.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;">The bike <i>mistry</i></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Two bicycle mechanics worked nearby; their real names escape my memory. Only one lingered on for many years; he was simply known as <i>mistry jee</i>. Come rain or shine, he earned his living under the shade of a <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_religiosa">peepal</a> </i>tree located next to the gate of our lane 3 on Temple Road.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XCZv5dEurnwWrrU_5ffwx3hH8IS3QA_2Q2eNd6uZCDnTZygC8I6Dz8tiOK6lhFfTy-GkzEEJslp1VN2RfbRnhg2DpdYHS52g86dKva5B_n-Rr1JM_D1FY-y0IQE_gAU1QAkM9QpCJAsm/s552/9%2529+Courage+to+know.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="470" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XCZv5dEurnwWrrU_5ffwx3hH8IS3QA_2Q2eNd6uZCDnTZygC8I6Dz8tiOK6lhFfTy-GkzEEJslp1VN2RfbRnhg2DpdYHS52g86dKva5B_n-Rr1JM_D1FY-y0IQE_gAU1QAkM9QpCJAsm/w170-h200/9%2529+Courage+to+know.png" width="170" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">For more details, read these articles:</span></div><div><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2020/09/puppu-darling-of-3-temple-road-part-1_5.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu Darling Of 3 Temple Road (Part-1)</span></a></div><div><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2020/09/puppu-darling-of-3-temple-road-part-1_5.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu Darling Of 3 Temple Road (Part-2))</span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Attired in a loin-cloth (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">dhoti</i><span style="font-family: arial;">), he wiped off facial sweat with the lower portion of his oil-stained shirt (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">qameez</i><span style="font-family: arial;">). To clearly indicate what business he was into, he displayed a worn bicycle tyre high on the </span><i style="font-family: arial;">peepal </i><span style="font-family: arial;">tree-trunk. With tools scattered on the ground and fingernails permanently filled with the dirt of eons of hard labour, he consumed his afternoon meals with those very hands.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">His open-air workshop remained low-tech but extremely useful to all the cyclists. <i>Mistry jee</i> fixed whatever needed fixing on my bike sometimes using bare hands much like a hammer. Whenever someone’s bike ball bearings were found worn out and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">required replacement, he announced in Punjabi: <i>Aeday kuttay fail ho gaye nay</i> (literally, the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">dogs have failed). What he meant was the <i>bearings </i>had failed. Nobody questioned why the slang for ball bearings was dogs.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0edZtHwVTBCNNaOg3NFMf9WikH9C6HXefgD9uBAyxGJbSz8VmSR3u2nHQf8Ul3WaUtHOSSphsUcINfMXyLlq1Oa8Q5yxaMRT9V1hr4xYPoVksupPgKh3hd4VPw86wpBWyx3j2wExILAi/s929/10%2529+Govt.+College+%25281880%2529.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="929" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0edZtHwVTBCNNaOg3NFMf9WikH9C6HXefgD9uBAyxGJbSz8VmSR3u2nHQf8Ul3WaUtHOSSphsUcINfMXyLlq1Oa8Q5yxaMRT9V1hr4xYPoVksupPgKh3hd4VPw86wpBWyx3j2wExILAi/s320/10%2529+Govt.+College+%25281880%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Employing child labour never was a problem in Pakistan. How else could the poor eat? <i>Mistry jee</i> had an amazing young assistant (‘<i>chota</i>’) who pumped air into peoples’ tyres for free. The child being very short for the large-sized floor-pump, pulled up the handle and then jumped into the air to bring the stomach’s weight down on it. The more air he filled the better he could fill his poor stomach.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Right after finishing college, I was fortunate enough to secure a very respectable and well-paying job that required I move out from Lahore (the 'cultural centre of Pakistan’) to characterless Islamabad (the Federal capital).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Whenever I visited my parents, old <i>mistry jee </i>greeted me at the lane’s entrance with a smile that was fast becoming toothless. He was always glad to hear I was flying high in life. Towards the end of his hard life, <i>mistry jee’s </i>eyesight became cataract-ridden. Forever etched in memory shall remain his dark glasses, looking at things from a very close range, and working even harder as if time was running out.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Now I fix my own bicycles at home. Sometimes when I face a problem, I imagine old <i>mistry jee</i> standing right beside. He always lends free invisible guidance.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The scene</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">As boys we went all over Lahore without ever feeling deprived or unhappy. I did not ride to school because it was at stone-throw distance. The bike only came in handy when I visited friends at the Upper Mall Road or the G.O.R. Sneaking out on a family car was considered punishable defiance by all fathers but a show of great courage by peers.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjutAiQNCMo6y4ieGOdmJSERA8QqvzsHioBz4qgiDq6ZUpmAmcpeH1jXwPxvaT8ZpqHPKhI8RaQXTRF_9wT90d-SpdjGky9GRf8yY8-_ax1s3Ujc9ceJYYy6vYG-bBbYmUbhqNCNslXlFLt/s947/11%2529+Double-decker+%2528WAPDA+House+in+the+background%2529.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="947" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjutAiQNCMo6y4ieGOdmJSERA8QqvzsHioBz4qgiDq6ZUpmAmcpeH1jXwPxvaT8ZpqHPKhI8RaQXTRF_9wT90d-SpdjGky9GRf8yY8-_ax1s3Ujc9ceJYYy6vYG-bBbYmUbhqNCNslXlFLt/s320/11%2529+Double-decker+%2528WAPDA+House+in+the+background%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div>The citizens back then had plenty of regard and fear for the traffic police; the sergeants rode powerful Harley Davidson motorcycles. The <i>tonga-walas </i>displayed side lights on their horse-carriages and cyclists too used headlights while riding at night.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">To emerge as a law-abiding citizen, initially I invested in a Chinese battery-operated headlight. The cheapest cells came from a brand called Chanda—the costlier one being 5-Stars.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Watch the Chanda TV commercial </span><a href=" https://youtu.be/AcVefDAcDcY" style="font-family: arial;">HERE</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">I added to the handlebar an imported chromed Japanese bell whose lovely ring still echoes in my mind. Then came a set of better head and tail lights. These were dynamo-operated. The faster I rode, the brighter the lights became. To see how it all worked, click <a href="https://youtu.be/ihDIQ60_rKg">HERE</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Cycling games</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">One could not be sad while riding a bicycle. Those who could not afford to own bicycles or needed them for only short periods, came to <i>mistry jee</i> for rentals at eight <i>annas </i>(half a rupee or fifty <i>paisas</i>) per hour. Poorer children, whenever they had spare change, always rented adult-size bicycles. The very young who could not ride properly seated, did the <i>qainchi</i>. I cannot explain the novel technique in words even if I tried; it is best to watch <a href="https://youtu.be/-CKeybn5Y9U">THIS VIDEO</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Then there were some who raced worn-out tyres and dreamed of owning bikes. Watch <a href="https://youtu.be/BfXelQxW8oA">THIS VIDEO</a> to see how that was done.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">To prove useful about the house, I occasionally fetched grocery items from the nearby <i>Saffanwala Chowk </i>or bread from Beadon Road. The plain (<i>sada</i>) bread cost eight <i>annas</i> and the ‘milky’ one only ten <i>annas</i>.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Although riding aimlessly remained the main activity within the narrow confines of our lane, there was one game which we boys regularly played: ‘slip’. This is how it went.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJf_hBG_V0IgpNo67SGsSaK0XLHpvty5VNPjpBU5fPNAWT_54sjkWtzIvvihWgMmQcwxt6AGksQBrvfG0YDrMaQWyDngeZLgeltytNl69gf3j1WZPaLswBz8d85Z7zzu34w5MDeFIGVvF5/s662/12%2529+Double-decker+%2528Punjab+University%2529.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="662" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJf_hBG_V0IgpNo67SGsSaK0XLHpvty5VNPjpBU5fPNAWT_54sjkWtzIvvihWgMmQcwxt6AGksQBrvfG0YDrMaQWyDngeZLgeltytNl69gf3j1WZPaLswBz8d85Z7zzu34w5MDeFIGVvF5/s320/12%2529+Double-decker+%2528Punjab+University%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Imagine yourself merrily pedalling away when suddenly another cyclist blocks the path. His manoeuvre seems to be working to your disadvantage because there is no place to escape. Both the obstructer and you slow down to almost a standstill. You balance the bikes while seated but force one another to put at least one foot on the ground. If you can pedal to escape or outdo the opponent in a standstill, you win.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The ‘slip’ taught the boys how to deal with surprise attacks, and achieve greater balance later in life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>A close call</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">One Sunday morning I dared to pedal to aunty Maria’s place in far-away Cantonment (<i>chaoni</i>). Although luxurious bungalows now stand on this road, in those days there stood an army Mess and a row of barrack-like living quarters for junior officers. Aunty Maria, my mother’s youngest sister, was married to Lieutenant Sajjad Hussain of the Army’s Ordinance Corps.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Double-decker buses plied The Mall in those days. The ones marked ‘1 - R.A <i>Bazar</i>’ ran between the Lower Mall and the Royal Artillery <i>bazar</i>. Courting adventure, I cycled towards Saddar <i>bazar</i>. While making a careless U-turn I was hit by a slowly moving double-decker. I was airborne for a few seconds; such was the deadly push from the bus’s front bumper. The angry driver flung a Punjabi insult at me that I failed to comprehend.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>I pedalled back so fast to aunty Maria’s place onlookers thought I had stolen the bike. Out of breath, I narrated the entire episode, with special emphasis placed on, “But what did the driver mean when he said——?”</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">She did not explain but hugged me hard with a loud laughter. ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) had not yet been invented.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lcFg4ICPI6nUWoRbVMHjzTO1NBSJx75p3T5qljh5vPDxpJ4z6u2P6ZUNfF3mie52Y2zGuMMMssPJae1KcFrBTWfatMNpDss5rMZo-AzpoVMR39dVKO5OOOlf4y0qiYHZquzui6Lux8nX/s533/12a%2529+I+want+to+ride+my+bicycle.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="399" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0lcFg4ICPI6nUWoRbVMHjzTO1NBSJx75p3T5qljh5vPDxpJ4z6u2P6ZUNfF3mie52Y2zGuMMMssPJae1KcFrBTWfatMNpDss5rMZo-AzpoVMR39dVKO5OOOlf4y0qiYHZquzui6Lux8nX/s320/12a%2529+I+want+to+ride+my+bicycle.png" /></a></div>The situation today</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">For the next few decades, I kept improving my road sense in the hope that my fellow countrymen too would emerge as the most disciplined race on the face of the earth. How much ‘unity, faith and discipline’ we possess after seventy-three years of so-called independence is evident from our chaotic vehicular traffic.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">These days I cycle for fitness and in the early mornings. I do encounter motorcyclists who openly violate the rules, recklessly ride on the wrong sides of the roads, sometimes </span><span style="font-family: arial;">head straight at me, and habitually turn abruptly without indicating. I think we are wasting huge sums of money on marking driving lanes on the roads. It will be better not to have roads but rather large patches of paved surfaces to do as we please.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Despair not; despite all the odds, cycling is great fun if you know your limitations, care for obvious health benefits, and wish for the happiness of childhood days to return.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Do listen to this classic </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_Race" style="font-family: arial;">pop song</a> <span style="font-family: arial;">by Queen from 1978: </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5cl97H-YtE" style="font-family: arial;">Bicycle Race</a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Stay tuned for the next article: A Beginner’s Guide To Cycling.</span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- - to be concluded - -</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Also read my other articles on cycling:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/09/refurbishing-old-bicycle.html" style="font-family: arial;">Refurbishing An Old Bicycle</a></li><li><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-beginners-guide-to-cycling.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">A Beginner's Guide To Cycling</span></a></li></ol><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Tahir Gul Hasan, 2021</span></span></p></div></div></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-83367421107901179362020-10-17T11:31:00.032+05:002021-01-31T23:32:14.248+05:00Puppu Darling Of 3 Temple Road (Part 2)<span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjpMGhfQ07cSvBde-ogvZKV7S2sm1_b9SZylfU4TLiQByvq1ksJ2FP0M8so_ZoChICqTMEUrFI7JuTx1chsRzaW-xL_XtBzhjBRvxWMqt3mIpKY_bLvcyHpt6WTMFbswwmdgRTGeB2i_5l/s599/1%2529+Medieval+Singer.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="395" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjpMGhfQ07cSvBde-ogvZKV7S2sm1_b9SZylfU4TLiQByvq1ksJ2FP0M8so_ZoChICqTMEUrFI7JuTx1chsRzaW-xL_XtBzhjBRvxWMqt3mIpKY_bLvcyHpt6WTMFbswwmdgRTGeB2i_5l/w211-h320/1%2529+Medieval+Singer.png" width="211" /></a></div></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>What you read in <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2020/09/puppu-darling-of-3-temple-road-part-1_5.html" target="_blank">part-1</a> of this story was only half of what Puppu did. He did much more, as we shall soon see. Before proceeding further, some amazing facts require mentioning about Temple Road where our house has stood since the 1930s.<br /><br /></span><b>An historic road</b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Temple Road was named thus to honour a Sikh Gurdwara built in the memory of the sixth Guru, </span><a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Har_Gobind" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Har Gobind</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> (1595-1644), whose reign, known as the ‘</span><a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1106983" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank"><i>Gurdwara Chhati Badshahi</i></a><span style="font-family: arial;">’ (the sixth reign), lasted for thirty-seven years.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />When </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahangir" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Emperor Jahangir</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> (1569-1627) arrested Guru Har Gobind’s father, <a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Arjan" target="_blank">Guru Arjan</a>, Mian Mir—the Sufi friend of the Guru—lobbied for a royal pardon, whereas ultra-orthodox </span><a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Jahangir_and_the_Muslim_fundamentalist_movement" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi</a> <span style="font-family: arial;">cheered at the execution of ‘infidel Arjan’. In the years to come, the son would fight four wars against the ‘oppressive </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sikhism" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">tyrannical</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> foreign rule of the Mughals’.</span></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="362" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrVRK2XKjNmzTNv-s4HuKE1wYzCay0nm9MX3ST5VsUfsIDqXv8xG6EvAGpbtOgfFt9vR0OEFl58gR_Gv4IWzvhtk4uLp0fEZQXsLSJ67nTxY-4CJdQ4HKQvvMNmEb1wo8xDD9tymCcN8R/w211-h320/2%2529+Jahangir.png" width="211" /></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Until recently, the above facts remained unknown to me, and when I complained to my mother for keeping mum, she replied in an exceedingly relaxed tone, “<i>Haw-hai</i>. You never asked me!”<br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />There is no denying, we Pakistanis take great pride in memorising exaggerated romanticised tales about invading foreigner Muslim Generals yet suffer from collective amnesia at the mention of indigenous heroes of resistance who belonged to other faiths.</span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>This is Radio Pakistan</b><br /><br />Mr Chaudhry Bashir Ahmed and family lived two flats away from us in number four. The gent worked for Radio Pakistan, popularly known as <i>raydway </i>station. I feared one day Mr Bashir would place a skinny hand over my shoulder and soberly announce: This is Radio Pakistan. The sad news read by Bashir Ahmed.<br /><br />Mr Bashir had just stepped out for some fresh air that day when Puppu took to imitating Radio Pakistan’s famous newscaster, <a href="http://www.radio.gov.pk/05-09-2018/shakeel-ahmed-a-voice-that-thundered-in-1965-war-echoes-still" target="_blank">Shakeel Ahmed</a>, whose legendary news bulletin, broadcast during the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Indo-Pakistani War of 1965</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, went thus:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="715" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9vRtjJT2witzi0r-odsE06fJ6VwhbxiiKAv5giaqNF8iedG_-BH3gPqu3KfOehdadOz2IqKSQV3ejMjbq8qK8PKH9psaYn89ssjCgP_zdp_I1DEMWWTi8HZ6vemZxyICuPTmT_fnGRFq/s320/3%2529+Radio.png" width="320" /></div></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Abhi abhi khabar aee hay keh Pak Fizaya kay bambaar tayyaron nay Halwara kay hawai-adday par hamla kar kay dushman kay bohat say jahaaz tabah kar diaye…”</i><br /><br />(The news just received: Pakistan Air Force’s bomber aircraft attacked Halwara airfield and destroyed many airplanes of the enemy…”)<br /><br />To hear what Shakeel Ahmed sounded like, click <a href="http://newsfile.radio.gov.pk/20180905/1536168899.mp3" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br /><br />I cannot say with certainty if it was Puppu's loud public singing or this particular prank which made </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Mr. Bashir ignore his natural vocal talent by never arranging for an audition at Radio Pakistan.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Mr Bashir’s three sons never associated with the ‘riff raff’—in plain words: all the boys of our lane 3. One of his sons, Farrukh Bashir, was known as <i>Chutki </i>(finger snap). He received seven-years of </span><span style="font-family: arial;">sitar lessons from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharif_Khan_Poonchwaley" target="_blank">Ustad Sharif Khan Poonchwaley</a> and eventually became a producer at Pakistan Television Corporation.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Several decades later on 11 March 2008, terrorists launched a massive </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/world/asia/12pstan.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">suicide attack</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> on the Federal Investigation Agency’s office located on Temple Road. Mr. Bashir was at home when the deadly shock-wave caused a door-frame to fall over him; within weeks the head injury brought his life’s bulletin to a sad end.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Where art thou, Ejaz?</b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ad3I9Q_eRml_5QwV7KB-2-r8XhfYtPrB6cUoGYmMzFOw48Eb80yQjL7aJ7oqLDIKW5Pv4C28dEHdihhBzNXv-mPo_gSGEbPVR1UaqjwwIWW_oMQyXKOxUut2rCj90PIPAfPg9aJ-NTl7/s624/4%2529+Man+yelling.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="449" data-original-width="624" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_ad3I9Q_eRml_5QwV7KB-2-r8XhfYtPrB6cUoGYmMzFOw48Eb80yQjL7aJ7oqLDIKW5Pv4C28dEHdihhBzNXv-mPo_gSGEbPVR1UaqjwwIWW_oMQyXKOxUut2rCj90PIPAfPg9aJ-NTl7/w200-h144/4%2529+Man+yelling.png" width="200" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There lived a few docile boys on lane 3 but one named Ejaz took the proverbial cake. </span>His drill-sergeant daddy suspected the precious boy habitually escaped to the jungle outside, and to check on the whereabouts, he frequently yelled, “Ejaaaaz!”</div><br />No matter what the location, the dutiful son immediately responded with an equally loud and reassuring, “<i>Aaya jeeee</i>!” (coming).<br /><br />Puppu soon began to take special delight in copying the two hollers. Whenever Ejaz walked by, Puppu called, “Ejaz!”, and the omnipresent boy-chorus of lane 3 responded, “<i>Aaya jee</i>!”.<br /><br />Giggles naturally followed but Ejaz never reacted to what was life’s observable fact.<br /><br />Many years later I found Ejaz in Jeddah working as a ground staff member for the Saudi Arabian Airlines. Whenever we met, he tried to convince me with a vice-like handshake that yesterday’s pussycat was a macho-man.<br /><br /><b><i>Ramzani </i>drummers and postmen</b><br /><br />Although Muslims generally relied on mechanical alarm clocks to wake up early for fasting during the month of fasting (</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan" target="_blank">Ramadan</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">), drum-beaters made the scene more musical for the faithful.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjG9Ba6GxaNSQEuElwpw0LdnUPrwTwF74RN4esPwbj7v-1RwOXvCkTj9Tj0Rmnd8Up45VV7-xJ4_NeHndzZb1LKkWp0uHsG1EYD7h-HoxKfpbCHe2kDAE-YrsncfJBaRRXhv_hKBesbuI/s448/5%2529+Dhol.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjG9Ba6GxaNSQEuElwpw0LdnUPrwTwF74RN4esPwbj7v-1RwOXvCkTj9Tj0Rmnd8Up45VV7-xJ4_NeHndzZb1LKkWp0uHsG1EYD7h-HoxKfpbCHe2kDAE-YrsncfJBaRRXhv_hKBesbuI/s320/5%2529+Dhol.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Puppu could not outdo the drummers because they arrived at a time when both man and beast enjoyed deep sleep. We never found out if Puppu got up to please The Almighty with </span><span style="font-family: arial;">fasting or preferred chasing after pretty film heroines in dreamland.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Each drummer </span><span style="font-family: arial;">marked</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> an </span><span style="font-family: arial;">area in whose streets he played a large drum (</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhol" target="_blank">dhol</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">), and repeatedly paused to give loud pious calls: “</span><i style="font-family: arial;">Roza-daaro, utho, roza rakho</i><span style="font-family: arial;">” (O, those who will fast, wake up for fasting).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Fasting </span><span style="font-family: arial;">entitled believers to religiously exceed their bellies' natural capacity by speedily consuming oily <i>parathas </i>dipped in gravy dishes. The activity abruptly ended when a </span><span style="font-family: arial;">nearby mosque's </span><i style="font-family: arial;">mullah </i><span style="font-family: arial;">announced from a </span><span style="font-family: arial;">loudspeaker</span><span style="font-family: arial;">: “</span><i style="font-family: arial;">Khaana peena band kar dein. Namaz ka waqt ho gaya haaaay!</i><span style="font-family: arial;">” (Stop eating and drinking. It’s </span><span style="font-family: arial;">time </span><span style="font-family: arial;">now for prayers).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Soon afterwards, a deafening call for congregational prayers woke up the very young from deep slumber. M</span><span style="font-family: arial;">y mother thought the sound level was ‘enough to wake up the dead in the nearby </span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miani_Sahib_Graveyard" target="_blank">Miani Sahib</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;"> graveyard’.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvL_g8QbxKFYUs3iuUKh0NvZ_lFiDZIJW6pgRB-zf9NIRSm6CZPyiyoIJk1GYmrUzsDrUstbIpB7SjxRbTpGx4TE123NCGYA7hArlZUVQqqegzwHny4OzDzc8kXTN74jvx7NaxmP8DSdE/s421/6%2529+Crying+baby.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="350" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjvL_g8QbxKFYUs3iuUKh0NvZ_lFiDZIJW6pgRB-zf9NIRSm6CZPyiyoIJk1GYmrUzsDrUstbIpB7SjxRbTpGx4TE123NCGYA7hArlZUVQqqegzwHny4OzDzc8kXTN74jvx7NaxmP8DSdE/w166-h200/6%2529+Crying+baby.png" width="166" /></a></div>Shell-shocked by the call, children woke up to enquire from <i>sehri</i>-fatigued mothers, “<i>Bhaoo aya</i>?” (Has a <i>djinn </i>arrived?).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">They were told, “<i>Nahin! Allah Mian kehtay hein so jao</i>!” (No! God says, go to sleep).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">The festive <i>Eid </i>day arrived at the end of Ramadan to thank God for liberating starved stomachs. After the morning <i>Eid </i>prayers, the first to appear in the neighbourhood would be the drummers. Looking fresh and attired in brand new clothes, they collected cash gifts (<i>Eidy</i>) from those whom they had dutifully roused for thirty consecutive early mornings.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />A few days before <i>Eid</i>, the postmen a</span><span style="font-family: arial;">stutely </span><span style="font-family: arial;">indulged in postal blackmail by not delivering letters. On </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Eid </i><span style="font-family: arial;">day they arrived wearing patent </span><i style="font-family: arial;">khaki </i><span style="font-family: arial;">uniforms and upon receiving cash </span><i style="font-family: arial;">Eidy</i><span style="font-family: arial;">, respectfully handed over a letter or an <i>Eid</i>-card as if it had dropped from heaven that very moment.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNFuNUrLLuYHuSYPCUyeF-rEOZiH_mPYTbJ5yAgegdDh1BbbkRc011Vw9HgFouZX8GRNqMvEB7-HDBky2PNNMZGkt8MtJPPvYTqvca5XAwXFcRfbIJ2KmKFjuLOvSVj992-L8Rfy8ZgOW/s721/14%2529+Postman.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="721" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNFuNUrLLuYHuSYPCUyeF-rEOZiH_mPYTbJ5yAgegdDh1BbbkRc011Vw9HgFouZX8GRNqMvEB7-HDBky2PNNMZGkt8MtJPPvYTqvca5XAwXFcRfbIJ2KmKFjuLOvSVj992-L8Rfy8ZgOW/w200-h142/14%2529+Postman.png" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><br /><b>The transgender dancers</b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Puppu was an advanced amateur singer who laughed off all competition except the professional dancing transvestites known as <a href="https://www.urdupoint.com/dictionary/roman-urdu-to-english/khusra-roman-urdu-meaning-in-english/35116.html" target="_blank"><i>khusraas, heejraas, and Khawaja-saras</i></a>. They magically appeared at people’s doorsteps in small groups to dance and sing on festive occasions, such as, the birth of a child—especially that of a son.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyP2XJmlwAywD_VDMNOSJqUJHrADnEr_8uLAsm3qYw0uIq9Omp0GkSdOMaUmpaPv5ew4E7i7WgBG0Whpo6-f9FIBE7W0qYSwgdiRDRKmb-y0oirmB5OgspkfS9SBljZRjxmePw9tVYonlk/s511/7%2529+Khusras+dancing.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="511" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyP2XJmlwAywD_VDMNOSJqUJHrADnEr_8uLAsm3qYw0uIq9Omp0GkSdOMaUmpaPv5ew4E7i7WgBG0Whpo6-f9FIBE7W0qYSwgdiRDRKmb-y0oirmB5OgspkfS9SBljZRjxmePw9tVYonlk/w400-h331/7%2529+Khusras+dancing.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Boys who dared to insult faced vile curses which oozed from a <i>khusra's </i>mouth. Hearing swear words sometimes sounded better than music. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The lads eventually discovered that the ‘Ph.D,’ label assigned to them by the oppressed was not the abbreviated form of '</span><span style="font-family: arial;">doctors of philosophy' but rather </span><i style="font-family: arial;">pakkay haraam day</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> (Punjabi for: positively born out of wedlock).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />To provide musical accompaniment, the two-piece band of the eunuch <i>khusraas </i>used a battered </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pump_organ" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">harmonium</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> and a punch-packed </span><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dholak" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">dholak</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">. They clapped more boldly than </span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qawwali" target="_blank">qawwali</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">-singers, danced more wildly than mad dervishes, stomped the feet harder than soldiers to activate the musical brass anklets (</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghungroo" target="_blank">ghungroo</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">), and sang popular songs at a volume which silenced the ‘he</span><span style="font-family: arial;">llo, testing, 1-2-3-4’ of the nearby Hall Road’s loudspeaker vendors.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Living in a ‘trans’ world<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWFUQ2vpntsLx9cV3UqTgw8jKTncIVvBG38r_xzeGeC-71BRIlm5dBDOsssZ2d-IICvwX12yhho5dBtHjLaHTNpiET9zrsptYB7pIk8emjqjIMX1IAqyCkQRMyOFOx_9EA2jxiN0ysWyms/s643/8a%2529+TV+insignia.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="643" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWFUQ2vpntsLx9cV3UqTgw8jKTncIVvBG38r_xzeGeC-71BRIlm5dBDOsssZ2d-IICvwX12yhho5dBtHjLaHTNpiET9zrsptYB7pIk8emjqjIMX1IAqyCkQRMyOFOx_9EA2jxiN0ysWyms/w200-h147/8a%2529+TV+insignia.png" width="200" /></a></div></b><br />At 6 p.m., a giant called black-and-white television </span><span style="font-family: arial;">woke up to hypnotise the colourful population. Before regular transmission commenced, viewers were free to stare at the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">static insignia of the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">station to find meanings where there were none, and listen to a short non-<i>raga </i>melody which droned in the background for several minutes.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Much like a book read from cover to cover, viewers stared at the television from 6 p.m. until the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">‘brain programming’</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">ended at 10 p.m. when the Pakistani flag fluttered on the screen to the tune of the national anthem. Pondering over its incomprehensible Persian lyrics worked better than a sleeping pill.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwYgchVTR_JncSujAPz_GUYzS2SmdCH7PwJ2PPU5tyCQhdB4wFfHVAfbzzFzNOmBwuvAmqv3Yt2LCyxNxG5-Ft8MBR3KLMF0mOWvYr9yrL81-bng-eWi2sxVuVC-cuSWqqmf7mBKQZOlr/s623/8%2529+Phillips+TV.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="449" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDwYgchVTR_JncSujAPz_GUYzS2SmdCH7PwJ2PPU5tyCQhdB4wFfHVAfbzzFzNOmBwuvAmqv3Yt2LCyxNxG5-Ft8MBR3KLMF0mOWvYr9yrL81-bng-eWi2sxVuVC-cuSWqqmf7mBKQZOlr/s320/8%2529+Phillips+TV.png" /></a></div><br />Unbelievable as it may seem now, there was no television on Mondays but we had live transgender-vision that featured <i>khusras </i>in flashy makeup.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />During short performances the onlookers showered the dancers with bank notes which they efficiently stuffed inside pairs of pointed chest-mounted money-bags.<br /><br />Co</span><span style="font-family: arial;">mpared with adult eyesight, children always see things differently. Precocious boys noticed that the members of the third gender frequently adjusted something under their </span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupatta" target="_blank">dupattas</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">; that something was liberally-padded fake femininity inside pointed brassieres that were fashionable during the 1960s. Since today’s fashionistas are—ooh la-la—so concerned about global-warming, terrorism, and pandemics, this pointed fashion stands no chance of returning.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Those were my wonder years. A naughty aunty described a brassiere thus: “<i>Beta</i>, these pointed fabric bowls are sown together; one is for <i>salan </i>(gravy) and the other for <i>roti </i>(bread).<br /><br />Such sensitive information increased my appetite and put me off regular dinner plates until the truth behind the undergarment lay itself utterly bare.<br /><br />The bored housewives of our lane always carved out time for <i>khusra</i>-shows. My mother still fondly recalls, “Oh, how joyously the <i>khusraas </i>danced at your birth! Even several years after that event, the same dancers continued to appear at our doorstep to bless you!”<br /><br />Today I feel positively blessed by not only both the sexes but also the one that lies in between, and which appears to be benefiting from global mainstreaming efforts.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Mrs Davey takes a direct hit</b><br /><br />In 1969, the movie, ‘<i>Nai Laila, Naya Majnoon</i>’, was showing at the Plaza cinema hall across the Charing Cross police station on Queen’s Road. The heroine was Nasima Khan from Dhaka—then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The comic hero was </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Kamal" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Syed Kamal</a><span style="font-family: arial;">—perceived as ‘Pakistan’s '</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raj_Kapoor" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Raj Kapoor</a><span style="font-family: arial;">’.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">For this film, a Pakistani composer efficiently copied Muhammad Rafi’s song ‘</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2eego2" target="_blank">O Hasina Zulfon Wali Jane-e-Jahan</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">’ (<i>Teesri Manzil</i>, 1966) and turned it into a duet: ‘</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0CcwGGLNc" target="_blank">O Meri Mehbooba</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">’. Puppu meticulously copied the </span><span style="font-family: arial;">parts</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> of </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Ahmed Rushdi and Mala Begum, </span><span style="font-family: arial;">and sang for our listening pleasure</span><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />One beautiful Sunday morning Puppu sneaked out on uncle Ajji’s </span><a href="1961 model Vespa 150 (VBA)" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">1961 model Vespa 150 (VBA)</a><span style="font-family: arial;">. This Italian 150 cc scooter was immensely popular in those days because its front design guarded the legs, a flat area between the rider and the handlebar accommodated a child in standing position, a small compartment stored personal items, and a spare tyre on some models graced the rear of the passenger seat.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1pGz14JTCpcLkNpynjpZSApjM1uhtVa6GVDpJa5NX3gF-9MxwrHKsFE1-ib-oC1Es1N6GYTK44dVQviSr2PGpkpJvZP264sajy_cBG75qVn1phowTiMvi1H2k5tZHrZD92Pee1omu5bL/s1052/9%2529+Vespa+150+%2528VBA%2529+1961.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="1052" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1pGz14JTCpcLkNpynjpZSApjM1uhtVa6GVDpJa5NX3gF-9MxwrHKsFE1-ib-oC1Es1N6GYTK44dVQviSr2PGpkpJvZP264sajy_cBG75qVn1phowTiMvi1H2k5tZHrZD92Pee1omu5bL/w400-h112/9%2529+Vespa+150+%2528VBA%2529+1961.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />I was then in class-IV. On a fateful day my teacher, </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-things-i-did-for-mrs.html" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Mrs Davey</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, affectionately known as ‘</span><i style="font-family: arial;">moti mem</i><span style="font-family: arial;">’ (fat lady), was seen returning after having attended the Sunday service at the grand church of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Anthony_High_School,_Lahore" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">St. Anthony's High School</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> on Lawrence Road.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />From a distance, I heard Puppu singing ‘</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaAScZpMRnE" target="_blank">Tu Hay Laila Nai, Main Hoon Majnoon Naya</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">’, a hit from ‘<i>Nai Laila, Naya Majnoon</i>’. As he passed by, the head </span><span style="font-family: arial;">moving</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">from side to side, he changed the vocal radio station to the duet ‘</span><i style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD0CcwGGLNc" target="_blank">O Meri Mehbooba</a></i><span style="font-family: arial;">’.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DGf_uTvoe3vCsg27zZvWfYSdkzAfSFqw1P506p1uQFJz9-IffH72IvK4oaOdz-rXt-gaXj2vpWZQAZdhwFna99OVOHAqDmF0LEbgkOKQo2FjmsJDJf7w8bUjF-gc63NemdYa0Rutngtg/s246/10%2529+Puppu+on+Vespa.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DGf_uTvoe3vCsg27zZvWfYSdkzAfSFqw1P506p1uQFJz9-IffH72IvK4oaOdz-rXt-gaXj2vpWZQAZdhwFna99OVOHAqDmF0LEbgkOKQo2FjmsJDJf7w8bUjF-gc63NemdYa0Rutngtg/s0/10%2529+Puppu+on+Vespa.png" /></a></div><br />The translation of the male singer’s part:<br /><br /><i><span style="color: #990000;">O my beloved!<br />Tell me, what has happened?<br />From garden to garden, like a butterfly<br />Where do you fly off to?</span></i><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">The translation of the female singer’s part:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #990000;">What shall I tell you has happened?<br />My heart is lost<br />Is it you?<br />Who has stolen my heart?</span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWUFCIKv9tpZm6UNsDU2ref1mUie19Id7-1RMwsph7ex-GK8Bj08WHF06x_RVYhFQPUEM4FJ41KinIGiz708Qge5fS9ZVVqpMEQsjdZr9x_aBnpzH33mNw0Owl7VI1dtmaAaS0G1XPmYJ/s368/10%2529+Fat+woman.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="155" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWUFCIKv9tpZm6UNsDU2ref1mUie19Id7-1RMwsph7ex-GK8Bj08WHF06x_RVYhFQPUEM4FJ41KinIGiz708Qge5fS9ZVVqpMEQsjdZr9x_aBnpzH33mNw0Owl7VI1dtmaAaS0G1XPmYJ/s320/10%2529+Fat+woman.png" /></a></div><br />It was too late to warn Puppu. Oblivious of pedestrian traffic, he crashed into Mrs Davey’s hindquarters. The lady, built like a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_Sherman" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Sherman tank</a><span style="font-family: arial;">, did not fall but Puppu and the scooter did.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The singing suddenly stopped. The Vespa’s accelerator revved up as Puppu tried to maintain a grip over it. The engine produced a <i>wheeeeeooonn </i>sound and fainted after several mechanical hiccups. The rider lay flat on the back in the dust of the unpaved road of our locality (<i>mohalla</i>), and the dark sunglasses rested diagonally across over a face that had the potential to launch a few civil Vespas if not a thousand non-existent ships of Pakistan Navy.<br /><br />Mrs Davey understood all the Urdu that had until then oozed out of Puppu’s very Punjabi mouth. She was nobody’s imaginary beloved (<i>mehbooba</i>) but there was reason to believe she imagined herself a butterfly (<i>titli</i>).<br /><br />Red in the face and foaming liberally at the mouth, she shouted, “You loafer <i>chokra-loge</i>, don’t you </span><a href="https://www.thefreedictionary.com/blooming" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">bloomin’</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> see where the hell you’re goin’?”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><i>Chokra </i>is colloquial for boy, and <i>loge </i>for folks. Such words coming out of an Anglo-Indian mouth took on a derogatory meanin</span><span style="font-family: arial;">g. Nobody called a decent boy from a good family <i>chokra</i>.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />Puppu apologised profusely. The </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph_record" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">45-rpm record</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">tawa</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) of his tongue got stuck, “Auntie! Aa…aa…auntie…aa…aa…auntieeee!”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />“Shut up! Idiot!” she thundered like the heroine in the song that Puppu was singing a while ago.<br /><br />With the sunglasses now hanging from one ear, Puppu got up to dust his clothes and then, perhaps out of sheer innocence, did the same to Mrs Davey’s rear end.<br /><br />“Bugger off, you rascal! Don’t you bloody do <i>that</i>!” she screamed.<br /><br />Clayton, Mrs Davey’s eldest and wildest son, having heard the clamour rushed to rescue mummy in distress; he sounded like another stuck record, “Mummy…mum…mum…mummeeee!”<br /><br />The aunteeee-mumeeee duel ended in a quick draw after Clayton took pity on Puppu’s apologetic face that was by then redder than a ripe tomato.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicAQnw5IBnqsNjBiOm8MIk_VddKn7HJqslSNKJf9xb4yzvVGsdpm-I67fJJIgjwz_3goGrvOxg5cHbXGt9XL1Hdn8b1Wm-PxWGEwIkRM0lG_F4mHE5w1h4jpbn0UB5TMluapekdZxbIuc/s260/12%2529+Stuck+record.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicAQnw5IBnqsNjBiOm8MIk_VddKn7HJqslSNKJf9xb4yzvVGsdpm-I67fJJIgjwz_3goGrvOxg5cHbXGt9XL1Hdn8b1Wm-PxWGEwIkRM0lG_F4mHE5w1h4jpbn0UB5TMluapekdZxbIuc/s0/12%2529+Stuck+record.png" /></a></div><br />It was rumoured Mrs Davey complained to Puppu’s father and uncle Ajji. In the weeks that followed, our singing sensation suffered a ban imposed on aimless Vespa rides, and demotion to the rank of foot soldier (<i>paidal </i>march).<br /><br /><b>A hero without a heroine</b><br /><br />Puppu was a hopeless romantic at heart, in love with God knows who. None claimed to have seen him broadcast ballads for a beloved perched over a terrace. He teased none of the neighbourhood ‘sisters’, stayed away from every precocious maid-servant (<i>nokarani</i>), and never stooped to having a sweeperess (<i>chuhri</i>, <i>jama-daarni</i>, <i>bhangan</i>) cure his aching back.<br /><br />Puppu sang because he was a nightingale, a rare rose without thorns. These qualities endeared him to the members of the fairer gender who understood he was not a threat to modesty or chastity.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Sometimes when my jovial mother saw the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooner" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">crooner</a> <span style="font-family: arial;">pass by the window with a hit song on his lips, she enquired, “Puppu darling, where is your puppy?”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaDSk3rIdQfgpydFP1Qs0sgUctOZe3RzgAaje9MAOXFW2klWDaWwYnq2Zhh32qkvptpTPKSJ0X_OYaB-2nHgSLo776JuzqNKvQlJV5kyJfUo17koaOcooeo6J76fGjWUIJqOiTkqNAf7Y/s469/12a%2529+Singing+bird.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="447" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaaDSk3rIdQfgpydFP1Qs0sgUctOZe3RzgAaje9MAOXFW2klWDaWwYnq2Zhh32qkvptpTPKSJ0X_OYaB-2nHgSLo776JuzqNKvQlJV5kyJfUo17koaOcooeo6J76fGjWUIJqOiTkqNAf7Y/w191-h200/12a%2529+Singing+bird.png" width="191" /></a></div>Interestingly, there lived two sisters in the house next doors, Puppy and Nanni. They were just beginning to take classical dance lessons. Years later they joined </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Pakistan International Airlines as a</span><span style="font-family: arial;">irhostesses.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />On a serious note, my disciplinarian father saw Puppu as a leader of all loafers ('<i>lofaron ka sardaar</i>')—a title gladly bestowed upon the undesirables those population he suspected was rising rapidly.<br /><br /><b>Fade to black</b><br /><br />Several decades later I met with Puppu’s real puppy. His wife and children were at the funeral of Mirza sahib’s son, Shah Jahan, who lost the battle of life to cancer.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Old neighbours had by then mostly moved to foreign lands to take oaths of allegiance to faithfully serve other governments. S</span><span style="font-family: arial;">hah Jahan’s younger brother, naughty Raja, was a British national.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu’s family lived in some corner of Lahore where our singing sensation met a quiet end. It remains a deep regret that I was unable to pay my last respects to a man who filled </span><span style="font-family: arial;">with so much music </span><span style="font-family: arial;">the hearts of the entire population of Temple Road’s lane 3.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The gloomy atmosphere at Shahjahan’s funeral did not prevent old neighbours from talking about bygone times and characters. Puppu’s children were clueless about what their deceased father meant to the old neighbours, and thought I was joking when I narrated several funny episodes from his life. It was this meeting which prompted me to write about Puppu for posterity.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJw-EJWGA8DoctEdT21yRB1lgemjagfIziJjr7Oe035VFho7wspAQwi1cg7-Xb8Wd4l2oow3_TOODz5u8PhGKkz9jwC6Pvw6Rzvn0-6mv6ssWt4TA30VcX8s5UvxjsSArbim9PMbD0Nu4/s478/15%2529+Kids+listening.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="478" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJw-EJWGA8DoctEdT21yRB1lgemjagfIziJjr7Oe035VFho7wspAQwi1cg7-Xb8Wd4l2oow3_TOODz5u8PhGKkz9jwC6Pvw6Rzvn0-6mv6ssWt4TA30VcX8s5UvxjsSArbim9PMbD0Nu4/w200-h192/15%2529+Kids+listening.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><b>Viva Puppu!</b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />By today’s elitist standards, my childhood might seem strange and deprived but it was culturally super-rich. Life today in the </span><a href="https://dhalahore.org/" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">DHA</a><span style="font-family: arial;">s</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> and the </span><a href="https://bahriatown.com/" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">Bahria Town</a><span style="font-family: arial;">s</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> of Pakistan is quite dull. The moneyed children of generation-X live in sanitised ‘gated communities’ and like farm-chickens, seldom experience rough-and-tough </span><i style="font-family: arial;">desi </i><span style="font-family: arial;">life.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Today's affluent ladies prefer going shopping with armed guards in humungous vehicles. The teenaged sons of rich daddies drive expensive sports cars or ride noisy super-bikes that cost millions of rupees each. None wait or save to buy anything because everything is available on-line or on credit.<br /><br />Courtesy of Puppu and other daredevils, I experienced the swinging 1960s under liberal laboratory conditions which produced </span><span style="font-family: arial;">street-smart children with </span><span style="font-family: arial;">naughty genes. Within </span><span style="font-family: arial;">the walled city of Lahore, you will still find such youngsters</span><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Religious texts indicate that God Almighty possesses hosts of angels who sing His non-stop praises. Puppu is resting right now but I am sure he will one day be gainfully employed in heaven to make only </span><span style="font-family: arial;">holy </span><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+100&version=KJV" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">joyful noise</a><span style="font-family: arial;">.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">An urban dictionary defines </span><a href="https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=puppu" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">puppu</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> as someone who is ‘typically mean, smells bad and looks funny’. The Puppu I knew was nothing of the kind. If you looked at different human races living in so many lands, each will have its own version of a darling Puppu who might be living just around the corner.</span></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- - concluded - -<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Tahir Gul Hasan, 2020</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">To enjoy part-1 of this story, click <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#">HERE</a>.</span></p></div></div></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-28320796575982733792020-09-05T10:56:00.013+05:002020-09-22T13:49:06.046+05:00Puppu Darling Of 3 Temple Road (Part 1)<span style="font-family: arial;">Once upon a <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1106983">legendary</a> lane of <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1106983">Temple Road</a>, there lived a musically gifted young boy named Puppu. As the resident-singer of the amazing area of Lahore where this writer was born and raised, Puppu’s sole joy in life was being full of it.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BucjgNN_VRwWhtVGD1elXOp7yDsYPnPHxystFuHNWtZZ9DeGTK8QNzerq-xChn10ETdsoPPrqXusfn7GAUcxUBgOoBN2Lsb-ceIFq8qzUmw1rTYpnjAMIzTovW78lxcykPr3PWknmE1O/s605/1%2529+Puppu.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="605" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BucjgNN_VRwWhtVGD1elXOp7yDsYPnPHxystFuHNWtZZ9DeGTK8QNzerq-xChn10ETdsoPPrqXusfn7GAUcxUBgOoBN2Lsb-ceIFq8qzUmw1rTYpnjAMIzTovW78lxcykPr3PWknmE1O/s320/1%2529+Puppu.png" width="320" /></a></div></span><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Singing in the lane<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Growing up without the luxury of air-conditioners, we Lahore-conditioned children knew how to deal with sizzling summers when the mercury kissed forty-five degrees Celsius. The ventilators of the sixteen-foot high ceilings of my missionary St. Anthony’s High School and all public offices kept the temperature bearable inside.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Once when I complained during an electricity breakdown, my father encouraged me with a unique revelation:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigg3mPEUshs36ysxoY1sfROj0oUXJ352oT6xSNYe2LQnGiJ9bY84t69rVbhUhfAWX_j3SN7Ev6Tq1L-rcEFvzDQhfY4_gvfo7LJmobViwwlItvayIKFGmrQlbaIVyoPpRUjTdd8sJ03Cl0/s645/2%2529+Hell.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="645" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigg3mPEUshs36ysxoY1sfROj0oUXJ352oT6xSNYe2LQnGiJ9bY84t69rVbhUhfAWX_j3SN7Ev6Tq1L-rcEFvzDQhfY4_gvfo7LJmobViwwlItvayIKFGmrQlbaIVyoPpRUjTdd8sJ03Cl0/w256-h195/2%2529+Hell.png" width="256" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Hell is hotter but those who do well at studies will go straight to heaven.”</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">To me, having heavenly friends in a hellish missionary school was a slice of heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Heated evenings brought restless Puppu out of the hole. With the shirt’s three top buttons open for ventilation and a proud display of a chest that was beginning to show traces of manly hairiness, he paced up and down the lane like an unfortunate lion caged at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahore_Zoo">Lahore Zoo</a> (<i>Chirya Ghar</i>, 1872). During incessant rains, our singing prince rolled up to the knees the leg openings of the trousers and turned into a croaking monsoon frog (<i>tarrata hua barsati maindak</i>).</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNKDyWwrMaKKIVk_DbF261YO87TpLpdyixThmuIg89KeF-hrIdNH4Dfcxc9fUR791i4uJRxsyLyo__p_3WWQaK7Tl8q_yYNbuYoLnwuYUfIHEv3GGwFoENcZhRqANl7wEtQzmSYhwcpZP/s617/3%2529+Frog+doctor.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="617" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNKDyWwrMaKKIVk_DbF261YO87TpLpdyixThmuIg89KeF-hrIdNH4Dfcxc9fUR791i4uJRxsyLyo__p_3WWQaK7Tl8q_yYNbuYoLnwuYUfIHEv3GGwFoENcZhRqANl7wEtQzmSYhwcpZP/w256-h210/3%2529+Frog+doctor.png" width="256" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">If one asked Puppu a question, he preferred replying with a song but was equipped to outdo any woman associated with the business of chatting. The genius was four years older to me; the difference felt monumental. I do not recall ever seeing his parents. He did have an uncle called Ajji, and a younger brother named Puttu; the latter walked with clenched fists and thumbs sticking out as if ready to hitch a double ride.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Alumni of <i>taat</i>-school?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I suspected Puppu played hooky thereby avoiding sticking his nose in a book. He never carried a schoolbag, never spoke of stressful studies, and probably attended the school of hard knocks were homework and classwork were unknown phenomena.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Was he old-school, no-school or a student of an unknown school of thought? From the razor-sharp mind of my father oozed another quotable gem:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytkJn2UANT7wjiCPLpaNMKQmmxKDHUzE7F4YBLPAs7IbWVersN6ZbSEPpDWKOC8LQmLZANCVbg3hx1jbO4jkXRVNqQ7yUlIZ9kHsgHZbVO2HBcwFZE6kh-RoUXwGJgapvJ_rj1l7GrHjV/s764/4%2529+School.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="764" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiytkJn2UANT7wjiCPLpaNMKQmmxKDHUzE7F4YBLPAs7IbWVersN6ZbSEPpDWKOC8LQmLZANCVbg3hx1jbO4jkXRVNqQ7yUlIZ9kHsgHZbVO2HBcwFZE6kh-RoUXwGJgapvJ_rj1l7GrHjV/s320/4%2529+School.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">“If Puppu were to aim for higher education, he would go to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Veterinary_and_Animal_Sciences">cow college</a> to become a <i>danngar daktar</i>!” (veterinary doctor).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Interestingly, the <a href="http://www.uvas.edu.pk/about/">College of Animal Husbandry</a> (established 1882) was nearby and when I asked my mother about it, she lay bare the truth behind my father’s quote:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Any man who studies at that <i>Ghora Haspitaal</i> will become an animalistic husband”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_selection">naturally-selected</a> parts of our family, satire and </span><span style="font-family: arial;">humour </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution" style="font-family: arial;">evolved</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> much differently than an ape that turned into Charles Darwin.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Snack-time all the time</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDP0CAdOY6iz3XJQNHUU-do-x7X4tcQlcgdtZofXkXAFYbu7yNicen-bVpIA8Eh-fE1hZMRRT24tKd1XFQbr9yrXhdlzt6pWrqnPntYQWgz2IpRAtATEAHuquWmG5BS6yVyqPxkkKOu0cX/s754/5%2529+Vegetables.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="754" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDP0CAdOY6iz3XJQNHUU-do-x7X4tcQlcgdtZofXkXAFYbu7yNicen-bVpIA8Eh-fE1hZMRRT24tKd1XFQbr9yrXhdlzt6pWrqnPntYQWgz2IpRAtATEAHuquWmG5BS6yVyqPxkkKOu0cX/w256-h144/5%2529+Vegetables.png" width="256" /></a></span></b></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Shopping for meat and vegetables at the nearby <i>Safanwala Chowk</i> was Puppu’s daily chore. With a plastic basket (<i>tokri</i>) swinging in the air and the duet, ‘<a href="https://youtu.be/o3ziMbnZkOc"><i>Ae Baharo Gawah Rehna</i></a>’ (<i>Saiqa</i>, 1968), on his lips, our home-spun <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley">Elvis Presley</a> could get a vendor to sometimes hand out <i>gratis</i> smaller portions of the commodities. The money thus saved enabled him to snack on HICO choc-bar—when he felt Divinely privileged like the English—or lick creamy local ice-cream (<i>malai-wali</i> <i>kulfi</i>)—when he thought himself a local (<i>desi</i>).<br /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">He had other seasonal choices as well: water chestnuts (<i>singharay</i>), roasted corn (<i>makai kay danay</i>), sweet potatoes (<i>shakarqandi</i>), or sugar-cane cubes (<i>ganderian</i>). The juiceless remains of the last-mentioned item he ejected from his mouth at regular intervals like a lion urine-marking his territory in the wild, except that he did it while singing the lyrics that sounded mmm…mmm… slurrrppp… aannn…oonnn... slurrrppp…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In November of 1964, Lahore became the first Pakistani city where black and white <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television">television</a> arrived with a big bang. The preferred modes of entertainment suddenly rearranged themselves in this order: television, radio and Puppu.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1zjvPUns1axM6C3uwR7jLyPBW8yIyudCM4KTJV1bB8lO8fiTltNiRaxb59MYz6MgKqORuwsNqnlb5iJNdXJHP0hXzrvtSXvA7lSUO7P1MD728NvGkwXqKoxl_eKVAdsHlNWkxE5t-t_N/s589/6%2529+On+air.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="453" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA1zjvPUns1axM6C3uwR7jLyPBW8yIyudCM4KTJV1bB8lO8fiTltNiRaxb59MYz6MgKqORuwsNqnlb5iJNdXJHP0hXzrvtSXvA7lSUO7P1MD728NvGkwXqKoxl_eKVAdsHlNWkxE5t-t_N/w197-h256/6%2529+On+air.png" width="197" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The youth was a walking radio station that required no electricity to broadcast, presented more variety than Radio Ceylon’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binaca_Geetmala">Binaca <i>Geet-Mala</i></a>, and outshone the dull Urdu Service of All India Radio. As if amused by the punctuality of the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/">BBC</a>, Puppu came on the air without ever synchronising his body clock with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Observatory,_Greenwich">Royal Observatory at Greenwich</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Matters of faith<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In an older <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/p/autobiography.html">story</a>, <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-things-i-did-for-mrs.html">The Things I Did For Mrs Davey</a>, I described what our residential area looked like but providing additional details will be of immense historical value to mankind.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">We were blessed with a mosque at the end of our lane. It was financially supported by Mr Zameer, a large gentleman who drove a bluish grey Mercedes Benz, owned the famous Syed Bhais Private Limited Company that manufactured electricity meters for <a href="http://www.wapda.gov.pk/index.php/about-us/present-setup-2">WAPDA</a>, and later became the proprietor of a cinema-hall (<i>Sanam</i>) located at the junction of Queen’s Road and Ferozepur Road. As his neighbours, we felt honoured to increase his bank-balance by always paying to watch films.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxp1P8W-MLkAGE86IexsmtWCTyijh0QhRrWix-DHks3DXnvRNPSmMTtDWLtm68pVtC4smyDPd6fj1m4Mt2ccOnLgjTJoMrsLzSj5DfcuL6vfg8coHoH6I3lhk2PDt5doM8O0zPwvE4W28/s464/7%2529+Praying+man.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="464" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnxp1P8W-MLkAGE86IexsmtWCTyijh0QhRrWix-DHks3DXnvRNPSmMTtDWLtm68pVtC4smyDPd6fj1m4Mt2ccOnLgjTJoMrsLzSj5DfcuL6vfg8coHoH6I3lhk2PDt5doM8O0zPwvE4W28/w205-h190/7%2529+Praying+man.png" width="205" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu normally wore shirt and trousers but come Friday and his holiness (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrat"><i>hazrat</i></a>) donned starched white <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalwar_kameez"><i>shalwar-qameez</i></a> and a cotton cap to look seriously religious.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The mosque’s prayer crier (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muezzin"><i>muezzin</i></a>) was a very old toothless gent called Baba Natthay Khan. After each prayer, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barelvi"><i>Barelvi</i></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><i> </i></span>Baba led the faithful to sing loud and lengthy praises of the Prophet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">During winter, he wore a full-face woollen cap (<i>kann-toap</i>) and thick socks. To earn extra money, he knitted woollen accessories for others.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsx_xCXm124Sdjk8PobwV5XUJuvaeVxT2ngFlds9XRdAep_Z3PxvxYIDd68o3lYipy9ngr7x6sje2VPe5I51dAOSuGCR53ml1b59gBRxgkzReBDrFqsjNNdWgABIhTrvkc0WzbD_inS4hb/s558/8%2529+Old+man.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="558" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsx_xCXm124Sdjk8PobwV5XUJuvaeVxT2ngFlds9XRdAep_Z3PxvxYIDd68o3lYipy9ngr7x6sje2VPe5I51dAOSuGCR53ml1b59gBRxgkzReBDrFqsjNNdWgABIhTrvkc0WzbD_inS4hb/w256-h219/8%2529+Old+man.png" width="256" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Whenever Puppu saw Baba Nathay Khan, he teased with ‘<i><a href="https://youtu.be/Vlix01QEJEE">Baray Miyan Diwanay Aisay Na Bano</a></i>’ (<i>Shagird</i>, 1967) or sang the provocative ‘<i><a href="https://youtu.be/gZi3TnycHmg">Mujhay Dunya Walo Sharabi Na Samjho</a></i>’ (Leader, 1964). The irritated old man reacted by labelling him the devil (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaitan"><i>Shaitan</i></a>).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Not many congregated five times daily to pray but the mosque—thank God for Friday—attained a greater 'house full’ status than the local cinema-halls. Less religiosity of those days kept the <a href="https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/mullahism"><i>mullah</i></a>-genie firmly inside the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooh_Afza"><i>Rooh Afza</i></a> bottle, and newspaper advertisements of whisky did not endanger any faith in any way.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvHJ648gU0Tq3IwG13OOef32bujTPk2n7USVygoJgL2XcM7kYSrVQ3V1__4W00mYpZOiBiub0phuNjrM7fm4cy4KFFIPSlEsIoDaqcu_nWEkAidCQfFaiqsF3P-3qQlSXMjc2rIQjYhoD/s486/9%2529+Rooh+Afza.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="274" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvHJ648gU0Tq3IwG13OOef32bujTPk2n7USVygoJgL2XcM7kYSrVQ3V1__4W00mYpZOiBiub0phuNjrM7fm4cy4KFFIPSlEsIoDaqcu_nWEkAidCQfFaiqsF3P-3qQlSXMjc2rIQjYhoD/s320/9%2529+Rooh+Afza.png" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Opposite the mosque lived a few Christians families; none were converted by any proselytiser from Raiwind. Interestingly, two attractive young European missionaries, who bicycled all over Lahore to sell their version of salvation, did make unsuccessful attempts to convert my mother into a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses">Jehovah’s Witness</a>. Their illustrated story-book is still in my possession and shows <a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/wise-serpents-harmless-doves.html">harmless doves</a>, Mr and Mrs Adam, having an apple-pie party with the wise serpent playing the host.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Mr Jinnah’s double<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu’s loud singing was considered ‘disturbing’ by a quiet old neighbour, Mr Ashraf Falahi, who was a colleague of my father.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The old bachelor was a walking talking copy of Mr <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_Jinnah">Muhammad Ali Jinnah</a>, the founder of Pakistan. Occasionally he told the boys just one thing using just one finger out of twenty:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Be thankful to God for giving you Pakistan. You don’t realise how bloody the partition of India really was.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2AT_RPjIdhQK6hyphenhyphenhbWtCpVcXUMkj4TWvGLLjqJtMFWx5GqGN_H3aOHgiZY7E4EnklWQ-Wd_wzNKEKsys35pOdOIgXjA18CVaXy7bZmrKJv356m-HU1-pc3_i51aAN-HVFk-bwBmNqssI8/s767/9a%2529+Pointed+finger.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="767" height="74" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2AT_RPjIdhQK6hyphenhyphenhbWtCpVcXUMkj4TWvGLLjqJtMFWx5GqGN_H3aOHgiZY7E4EnklWQ-Wd_wzNKEKsys35pOdOIgXjA18CVaXy7bZmrKJv356m-HU1-pc3_i51aAN-HVFk-bwBmNqssI8/w164-h74/9a%2529+Pointed+finger.png" width="164" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Whenever Puppu saw Mr Falahi, he switched to singing ‘</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scnsd7aKCdQ" style="font-family: arial;"><i>Aay Qaid-e-Azam Tera Ehsaan Hay Ehsaan</i></a><span style="font-family: arial;">’. This always made Mr Falahi smile and temporarily enter the boy’s name in his mental good book. No sooner did Mr Falahi vanish out of sight, Puppu reverted to airing what my father labelled ‘loafer-type of songs’.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWdjo6kLmoTAU3GHacyweW4Peg-_LO4VTwzILlL7u8Sueqm_a-GE81rc-c38xSu5Hnd9o7y3GxFTZIR6S03N42z6PyMUHIABUKPilYqTQWMRYN3tfFS36S-MzVgGj0bnEAzBX-537PfKX/s483/10%2529+Johnnie+Walker+whisky.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="295" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKWdjo6kLmoTAU3GHacyweW4Peg-_LO4VTwzILlL7u8Sueqm_a-GE81rc-c38xSu5Hnd9o7y3GxFTZIR6S03N42z6PyMUHIABUKPilYqTQWMRYN3tfFS36S-MzVgGj0bnEAzBX-537PfKX/s320/10%2529+Johnnie+Walker+whisky.png" /></a></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Merry go round the ‘two-ell’</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Behind the mosque stood a tube-well—pronounced ‘two-ell’ by the poorer children. It was enclosed within a brick-structure and supplied water to the entire community. Whenever the two-ell malfunctioned, an elderly plumber called <i>Mistry Jee</i> from lane 5 and his sons, Mushtaq or Khushnood, were sent for repairs down the dark spiderweb-laced steps.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: arial;">Right between the mosque and the two-ell existed not the land of the fairies but rather the water-bearers (<i>maashkees, </i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhishti"><i>bahishtees</i></a>) and the laundrymen (<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhobi">dhobees</a></i>). The first group washed everyone’s dirty laundry in its backyard (<i>dhobi-ghat</i>) while the second lot supplied water in sheepskins during severe water crises.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZiX20T0P9hGEfVZMR1MRu1XXR21JS0EgYvQQZlCAVq8YduGaDcoQiWmCKY-lcTCBcCOi6FTXvub2Q_d8I_mkjGD4XmFyImGgh_0nTPddzG1t1IHD-WoCk2jeG-N79VAnAh-Zxgm4LJ4B/s815/11%2529+Dhobi-ghat.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="815" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZiX20T0P9hGEfVZMR1MRu1XXR21JS0EgYvQQZlCAVq8YduGaDcoQiWmCKY-lcTCBcCOi6FTXvub2Q_d8I_mkjGD4XmFyImGgh_0nTPddzG1t1IHD-WoCk2jeG-N79VAnAh-Zxgm4LJ4B/w256-h168/11%2529+Dhobi-ghat.png" width="256" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: arial;">An old toothless fairy (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">dhoban</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) did our laundry at the per-hundred rate (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">sainkara</i><span style="font-family: arial;">). Nothing could beat on Eid day the feel of her hand-pressed China silk (</span><a href="https://www.pashafabrics.com/new-arrivals/pasha-royal-boski.html" style="font-family: arial;"><i>Boski</i></a><span style="font-family: arial;">) shirt worn over a fully starched (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">kalf, maya</i><span style="font-family: arial;">) cotton </span><i style="font-family: arial;">shalwar</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> (</span><i style="font-family: arial;">latthay ki shalwar</i><span style="font-family: arial;">).</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: arial;">At the lane’s dead end, less affluent neighbours occupied smaller houses which, until a few decades ago, housed the servants of Khan Bahadur’s family (Mr Zameer’s father). In one such humble dwelling lived the boy whose name graces the title of this piece.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaLKTxg8N1VYVFZsBwpeqbRkaX02B57Uf9jjAXxfGao6U_YQIW9CgJJhmKtNtCPEi0qP7yBpTnk-PnTpv0FQoQ0SJkYnpLzUKX6iiMYAG3n3k4VAd9TXMPQuaFechIqLXrxf7yLJQL__K/s591/12%2529+Bahishti+%25281870%252C+India%2529.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="345" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeaLKTxg8N1VYVFZsBwpeqbRkaX02B57Uf9jjAXxfGao6U_YQIW9CgJJhmKtNtCPEi0qP7yBpTnk-PnTpv0FQoQ0SJkYnpLzUKX6iiMYAG3n3k4VAd9TXMPQuaFechIqLXrxf7yLJQL__K/s320/12%2529+Bahishti+%25281870%252C+India%2529.png" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: arial;">As for Mr Zameer’s children, they studied at the elitist </span><a href="https://www.aitchison.edu.pk/ac-history.php" style="font-family: arial;">Aitchison College</a><span style="font-family: arial;"> on The Mall Road and never mixed with us because we misspelt it ‘H…E…sun’. The rest of us mixed freely amongst ourselves to attain the heights of delightful street-smartness.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Winter ogle Olympics<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Winter evenings were always great fun. Staying inside meant dealing with fatherly rebukes but stepping outside involved playing hide and seek as all-weather children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Some boys preferred staying indoors to consume pine nuts (<i>chilgoza</i>) with the ladies at home but the bolder ones stepped out with pockets loaded with peanuts (<i>moong phali</i>) that helped them go almost totally nuts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">To remain warm-hearted, the older boys indulged in an activity that was much hated by super-strict fathers: congregating at the locality’s gateless entrance under a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficus_religiosa"><i><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Ficus Religiosa</span></i></a> (<i>Pipal</i> tree) for an irreligious activity: chatting while watching passer-by girls.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhBYW2AWT0y-n2pz0832UU5ejrGKMHQnBQQitB0stLYC4DpwfnxqRU3nISMPwux04LP-vCC85I1_XvNrP3bLg-LyT4Zu0O95OBF8KjdTBvA5nB6ei8uyspn6aNAN3ma1HgX_DsKcL916k/s705/13%2529+Boy+watching.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="705" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhBYW2AWT0y-n2pz0832UU5ejrGKMHQnBQQitB0stLYC4DpwfnxqRU3nISMPwux04LP-vCC85I1_XvNrP3bLg-LyT4Zu0O95OBF8KjdTBvA5nB6ei8uyspn6aNAN3ma1HgX_DsKcL916k/w256-h150/13%2529+Boy+watching.png" width="256" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The oglers were experts at casting sideways glances who possessed eyes that auto-focussed and panned to follow chosen subjects much like a movie-camera, wore sneaky smiles, employed better-than-Wi-Fi mental communications, and charged their loving hearts faster than modern cell-phones.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The boys had an endless variety of terms of endearment for the watched: <i>chooza</i> (a young chic), <i>dana</i> (grain), <i>tota</i> (a piece), <i>afat</i> (trouble), <i>cheez</i> (a thing), <i>maal</i> (merchandise), <i>mashooq</i> (beloved), <i>popat</i> (pretty doll), <i>chikni</i> (smooth), <i>shay</i> (thing), dame, etcetera.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu fan club<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu was gifted with a loud voice that seemed suitable for a military parade ground but it was the melodiousness that saved him from becoming a cadet. While singing duets, he expertly imitated female singers’ parts, and for tunes that required <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yodeling">yodelling</a>, he did a better job better than the Swiss.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sometimes he thought of himself as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajendra_Kumar">Rajendra Kumar</a> sans <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babita">Babita</a> while singing ‘<a href="https://youtu.be/0f9OmwxKdwU"><i>Aa Meri Rani Lay Ja Chhalla Nishani</i></a>’(<i>Anjaana</i>, 1969).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">When he sang ‘<i><a href="https://youtu.be/k-J4me6NgNk">Aasman Say Aya Farishta</a></i>’ (An Evening in Paris, 1967), he thought he was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shammi_Kapoor">Shammi Kapoor</a> ogling at a bikini-clad <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharmila_Tagore">Sharmila Tagore</a>.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6isHE4XPXydwVjDWmX_YxkD3djYXaXn1iag6xIcVfhJQB39hX21MxS2CApOQAwb6PYqHOKiVt-b4WJUA5AWJDWvxsSN_3FXn0X7gOFLWj-L8dx0KHip7jTnYXYY7Q3BVDtb82t-kgxQc/s549/14%2529+Dog.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="549" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6isHE4XPXydwVjDWmX_YxkD3djYXaXn1iag6xIcVfhJQB39hX21MxS2CApOQAwb6PYqHOKiVt-b4WJUA5AWJDWvxsSN_3FXn0X7gOFLWj-L8dx0KHip7jTnYXYY7Q3BVDtb82t-kgxQc/w164-h160/14%2529+Dog.png" width="164" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Puppu’s greatest feat was singing the duet ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gz9tZUH82E"><i>Chand Zard Zard Hay</i></a>’ (<i>Jaali</i> Note, 1960) that featured some amazing whistling in it; he did all three parts to perfection.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Nobody ever physically checked Puppu if he had an off switch—today they have a name for it: OCD (<a href="https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ocd/what-is-obsessive-compulsive-disorder">obsessive compulsive disorder</a>). We wondered how the family dealt with him at home because he strolled at the oddest hours with a head held high, singing mostly <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Rafi">Muhammad Rafi</a>’s Indian movie hits such as ‘<a href="https://youtu.be/MDDVLE7HV10"><i>Khoya Khoya Chaand</i></a>’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">When he sang the <i>ohhhhh</i> part of ‘<i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SiEqSoAjeY">Khilona Jaan Kar Tum To Mera DIl Tore Jatay Ho</a></i>’ (<i>Khilona</i>, 1970), Mrs Davey’s pet dog, <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-things-i-did-for-mrs.html"><i>Nehru</i></a>, joined in with a loud <i>aaooooo</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">The little ones loved it when he sang the inspirational ‘<i><a href="https://youtu.be/UJvcbkxG20A">Nanhay Munnay Bachay</a></i>’ (Boot Polish, 1953).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Of mothers and sisters<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">In the dim street lights of winter evenings, Puppu’s breath became visible steam as he started an unstoppable musical programme accompanied by finger-snapping.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM2FRnTp_EuaTcAy6siXsd2a9pzcarnvnosPX2BJH_QqBQ_N0-GEpUcXwH3MX9FQPsiVm2bUohvZFitoxqi8-4jB4H7BuAtWnvsO9DRIKsLPzIauCmhIN0MiuEV3DcT69uveXdCluHkBd/s591/15%2529+slap.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="591" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM2FRnTp_EuaTcAy6siXsd2a9pzcarnvnosPX2BJH_QqBQ_N0-GEpUcXwH3MX9FQPsiVm2bUohvZFitoxqi8-4jB4H7BuAtWnvsO9DRIKsLPzIauCmhIN0MiuEV3DcT69uveXdCluHkBd/w205-h203/15%2529+slap.png" width="205" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Vendors appeared with pushcarts lit by bright pump-action gas-lamps and shouted, “<i>Karari rayori…mong-phali</i>” (crisp sesame seed confectionary and peanuts). At their heels came sellers of boiled eggs whose familiar sales pitch was, “<i>Aanday, garam aanday</i>” (hot eggs).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">One evening when a beauty passed by, Puppu’s song-memory evaporated and he uttered the unthinkable: “<i>Aanday, garam aanday</i>”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Offended, she swiftly turned around but slapped a boy who was not the real culprit. Later, a laughing Puppu pacified our wounded soldier by awarding him an edible gallantry medal:<i> garam aanda</i>.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTH6iIcvYWCfv-RoAekGkZfAsav-VWI5UH4qiqjbERyENiZCmCgMdMQ62XMbou9_5c8452Fn5u0GJ7BAsuYgNrmVrY860Qe_JUI4zJhACuxJmvCpO67SQZpbFUkTGrR0QJhzY8jqMMSAt/s548/16%2529+Soldier.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="319" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigTH6iIcvYWCfv-RoAekGkZfAsav-VWI5UH4qiqjbERyENiZCmCgMdMQ62XMbou9_5c8452Fn5u0GJ7BAsuYgNrmVrY860Qe_JUI4zJhACuxJmvCpO67SQZpbFUkTGrR0QJhzY8jqMMSAt/w149-h256/16%2529+Soldier.png" width="149" /></a></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Watching the watchers<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">At the lane’s fiery gate, a younger boy like me only played the role of a neutral U.N observer who noted that the idle watchers got countless evil eyes from the fairer sex but miraculously caught no eye diseases.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">I had, until then, neither studied male philosophy nor female logic and, therefore, found incomprehensible the popular question which occasionally slipped off an irritated girl’s lips:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">“<i>Tumharay ghar maen koi maa behan nahi hay</i>?” (Don’t you have a mother or a sister at home?).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Nobody ever answered; they collectively suppressed their smiles because all had over-protected female relatives at home.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;">Things have changed since then. Now this ‘objectionable sexual harassment’ is a punishable offence that makes top dogs lose their tails because of occasionally unsubstantiated accusations of the ‘<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me_Too_movement">me too</a>’ kind but the street romance of the 1960s did lead sometimes to happy marriages and happier children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- - to be concluded - -<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">© Tahir Gul Hasan, 2020</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-family: arial;">Coming soon: <span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;">Puppu Darling Of 3 Temple Road (Part 2)</span>. Do return to this space to enjoy Puppu’s pranks and to find out why he was called ‘darling’.</i></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>***</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: red;">Urdu words and sentences explained</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Taat</i>-school: an
ill-equipped school for poor people which does not have any furniture and where
the students sit on jute-mats placed on the floor.</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Ghora Haspitaal</i>:
<i>ghora</i> is horse and <i>Haspitaal</i> is hospital.</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Ae Baharo Gawah Rehna</i>:
O spring season, bear witness</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Baray Miyan Diwanay
Aisay Na Bano</i>: O old man, don’t be mad this way</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Mujhay Dunya Walo
Sharabi Na Samjho</i>: O people of the world, don’t take me for a drunkard</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Rooh Afza</i>: A
famous summer drink whose name means, that which refreshes the soul</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Aay Qaid-e-Azam Tera
Ehsaan Hay Ehsaan</i>: O great leader, it’s all (meaning creation of Pakistan) a
favour from you</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Aa Meri Rani Lay Ja
Chhalla Nishani</i>: O my queen, take my ring as a souvenir (of love)</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Aasman Say Aya
Farishta</i>: an angel has come from heaven</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Chand Zard Zard Hay</i>:
the moon is red</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Khoya Khoya Chaand</i>:
the moon (appears) so lost</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Khilona Jaan Kar Tum
To Mera DIl Tore Jatay Ho</i>: You break my heart thinking it’s a toy</p></span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><i>Nanhay Munnay Bachay</i>:
a very small child</p></span></li></ol></span></div>Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-43481534788082286912019-12-14T14:56:00.000+05:002020-09-04T19:01:34.364+05:00British Clouds With Silver Linings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrHUwrdmdFipSz6HrPak6EH8_Bq4ZXJqCwMCVlKk_C6-3vTYLmgMUYftutQIvnvpe4int2M4gAwZVgE6yDBm9eLDw37gDOs4-O-3jLVH1ozHCCAvoCNXP2s0BAcEtTw4kj_y05k6nbYOg/s1600/1%2529+Clouds.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="707" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPrHUwrdmdFipSz6HrPak6EH8_Bq4ZXJqCwMCVlKk_C6-3vTYLmgMUYftutQIvnvpe4int2M4gAwZVgE6yDBm9eLDw37gDOs4-O-3jLVH1ozHCCAvoCNXP2s0BAcEtTw4kj_y05k6nbYOg/s320/1%2529+Clouds.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lest old age begins to interfere with memory, I must recall events that proved to be lessons about fairness and honesty in public dealing; they helped me compare the actions and the reactions of ‘unbelieving’ (<i>kafir</i>) ‘westerners’ with those of ‘believers’ in our part of the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Silver lining</b></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”—George Orwell (the novel, 1984)</span></i><br /><br />While mankind shares established ideas of integrity, honesty and sovereignty, Pakistanis live in a unique fantasy world of militarism and vengeful politics. Take for example the recent <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1521675/3-patients-die-as-lawyers-protest-outside-lahore-hospital-turns-violent">violent attack by lawyers</a> on doctors and patients at a hospital that resulted in several deaths, numerous injuries and great damage to property.<br /><br />Any honest Pakistani will genuinely feel agitated seeing dishonest and aggressive countrymen (and women) give a bad name to the religion and the country. Because <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History-sheeter">history-sheeters</a> continue to make history, our collective future will remain bleak. If the ‘west’ must be bashed for policies that disturb global peace and exploit weaker nations, Pakistani attitudes too deserve a hard spanking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Life is not as simple as the school textbooks would have us believe and common knowledge is most uncommon. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I gained the following experiences in British towns whose streets were not paved with gold but their skies did have traces of </span><a href="https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining.htmlT" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">clouds with silver linings</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sIgNLlGH5PL5jKUGln33LIz13G1Gq8xl9K2nZ7MsIb0Y40cbqmO4HkYByRNMFm-57KpPgTvGlesaLdujGSQc8fhiN0x679v2VQw6OjJauDy6lcLkAGI4zlBcM-wUxzSxgfgOhhxaEke7/s1600/2%2529+English+flag.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="605" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sIgNLlGH5PL5jKUGln33LIz13G1Gq8xl9K2nZ7MsIb0Y40cbqmO4HkYByRNMFm-57KpPgTvGlesaLdujGSQc8fhiN0x679v2VQw6OjJauDy6lcLkAGI4zlBcM-wUxzSxgfgOhhxaEke7/s320/2%2529+English+flag.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The dog that died for 911</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Those were such happy times, back in the early 1990s. I was in England to purchase a <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/p/music.html">recording console</a> (audio mixer) for my home recording studio. English-made consoles are still considered the best on the planet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I found commuting expensive in England but was fortunately chauffeured around by K. D Khan, a close Mirpuri friend. He owned a model 1990 Porsche 911 Carrera, white in colour and with a fully manual floor-shift transmission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />One afternoon he displayed great lion-heartedness by vacating the driver’s seat, “Here, speedy Gonzales, you drive her!”<br /><br />To know more about K.D Khan, read <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2015/03/mangoes-for-django.html"><b>Mangoes For Django</b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_Pnqm-nHMp-ErgIeTl5jkO1uKBS9VyZddWrOofHlzr8-BlktgvP6xVZPJaI7sfMbMHsvWviGT-s83MT_4tZBT9C5ImPBkc4sbH4laMJfZ9vLZ3PreM4O7HpOSElkVmjagu8wCYwXBaJ3/s1600/3%2529+Porsche+911.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="683" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_Pnqm-nHMp-ErgIeTl5jkO1uKBS9VyZddWrOofHlzr8-BlktgvP6xVZPJaI7sfMbMHsvWviGT-s83MT_4tZBT9C5ImPBkc4sbH4laMJfZ9vLZ3PreM4O7HpOSElkVmjagu8wCYwXBaJ3/s400/3%2529+Porsche+911.png" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The feeling of accelerating from <a href="https://www.zeroto60times.com/vehicle-make/porsche-0-60-mph-times/">0-60 mph</a> (0-97 kmph) in 4.8 seconds still remains indescribable in words; every Suzuki Alto owner in Pakistan who </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">achieves the height of personal success by purchasing a Toyota Corolla </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">must experience a Porsche's ride.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Khan’s voluptuous German rocket was a pedigree sports car with a very low centre of gravity. The 205 width, <a href="https://www.wheel-size.com/size/porsche/911/1990/">16” diameter tyres</a> allowed me to negotiate sharp corners as if a <i>djinn </i>were holding me down in the leather bucket-seat.<br /><br />While the Police were not looking, I touched 150 mph (241.4 kmph) on the motorway. The steering was so sensitive at that speed that even moving it by a hair’s width meant getting dangerously out of the fast lane.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bless dear Khan, he taught me not to honk and never to flash my headlights, “This is not a free country like Pakistan. Honking here is like abusing someone and flashing headlights is considered very rude!”<br /><br />The next day after lunch, Khan took me to various high-end boutiques of London. He tried several suits but they just would not fit. Prosperity had caused the girth of his waist to increase with immensity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were chatting loudly but driving slowly down a narrow lane when a dog suddenly attempted to cross us diagonally from the front.<br /><br />“Hey, watch for that son of a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">—</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">”, m</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">y warning </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">remained an incomplete sentence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The poor animal hit us with a loud thud. The Porsche came to sudden halt. Hearts pounding away, afraid of its owner’s reaction, we got off the car. The impact left the indicator assembly bloodied and shattered to pieces.<br /><br />The owner, leash in hand, appeared as if he had been chasing the dog. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The man was in a state of shock as he looked at his dying dog.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Khan and I felt large lumps in our Pakistani throats. What would it be, we thought? A hefty monetary compensation for the dog’s owner or a lawsuit in case we argued?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Khan resorted to immediate damage control, “So sorry. We couldn’t stop in time. The poor thing just appeared out of nowhere!”<br /><br />I noted how Khan first apologised and then explained—the exact opposite of what is done in Pakistan where excuses and blame comes first and sorry never.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRHBa2s74Vmkyykotl-6MVUgJPo1Xng7kXwBcQRT7MtIxjf9mpF4pn3ZcrLduNPz9p7nwJpsF8YlkHJATwNXfWVOYByeiflFSJb2O2geZLzcdbbbnzmAQrs79pi9wCCbSKI6FdMor7J1c/s1600/3%2529+Dead+dog.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFRHBa2s74Vmkyykotl-6MVUgJPo1Xng7kXwBcQRT7MtIxjf9mpF4pn3ZcrLduNPz9p7nwJpsF8YlkHJATwNXfWVOYByeiflFSJb2O2geZLzcdbbbnzmAQrs79pi9wCCbSKI6FdMor7J1c/s320/3%2529+Dead+dog.png" width="297" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />In true English way, the dead animal’s owner showed quiet desperation by shaking his blonde balding head. He duly noted the damage done to the sports car and then uttered the unexpected, “It’s not your fault. He just ran uncontrollably”.<br /><br />This was the Queen's Great Britain. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After a few moments of speechlessness, Khan thanked him profusely for the forgiveness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Driving around with a broken indicator meant breaking English traffic laws so Khan had the assembly immediately replaced at the nearest Porsche workshop.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now had the same thing happened in Pakistan, a trigger-happy owner might have whipped out a weapon, or an uncouth one resorted to heaping verbal abuse for sheer negligence, or a brute might have resorted to a mindless exchange of physical blows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A late-night analysis of the incident brought us to one conclusion: Pakistanis </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">remain most unfamiliar with three words that are considered indispensable in any civil society: please, thank you, and sorry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>A free dinner</b><br /><br />The plane landed at Manchester after an eight hours long flight. I reached the hotel around 6 p.m., took a hot shower, and stepped out for a walk and a quick bite.<br /><br />The air was so crisp and clean I breathed deeply to fill the imaginary spare tyre placed between the lungs for later use in environmentally polluted Pakistan. Passers-by, both male and female, made friendly eye contact instead of looking away, and smiled without having the pleasure of knowing me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Vehicular traffic </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was beginning to thin out, t</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he shops were closing one by one and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the lone eatery, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Café Nero, was also preparing to close. I stepped in to search for a sandwich that would have a very important word on its pack that is considered most important to both the Muslims and the Jews: </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">halaal </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(permissible, legal, or </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">kosher</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The cash counter clerk looked up at me. He counted the money while his colleague fervently mopped the floor as if God Almighty were expected to descend for an inspection the next morning. Considering that the men had worked the whole day, impressive was their English energy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Now compare the above with what many poor Pakistani shopkeepers do as a matter of habit every morning:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqk1jmoma8h9LO_20emudDsa3FryXbZBvIjRG0NeLOBHGiWI2dwCnG2SW3hDcGFbybEz6XMXVIbS05jnJZIhe1XMWJYnN9flgMhXJq4c_GZZbftv7NieqK2QofZ-SNmY7xZHOfrJn3TOPD/s1600/5%2529+Sandwich%2526+coffee.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="745" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqk1jmoma8h9LO_20emudDsa3FryXbZBvIjRG0NeLOBHGiWI2dwCnG2SW3hDcGFbybEz6XMXVIbS05jnJZIhe1XMWJYnN9flgMhXJq4c_GZZbftv7NieqK2QofZ-SNmY7xZHOfrJn3TOPD/s320/5%2529+Sandwich%2526+coffee.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) Open their businesses wearing more or less the same clothes they did in bed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) Avoid shaving or trimming their facial hairs, and waste no money on smelling good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3) In the presence of customers, have a cleaner raise a cloud of dust with a bamboo broom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">4) Forgetting the</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">dunya </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(world), they focus on the</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">aakhirah </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(hereafter) and whisper prayers or listen to pious recorded sermons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">5) Deal with multiple customers simultaneously while giving none undivided attention. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />6) Glued to television sets which distract them from doing proper business.<br /><br />7) Proudly display religious verses in the shops as talisman to attract business and to drive away Satan disguised as a customer.<br /><br />8) Blame the government or unseen enemies for ‘slow’ business when in fact it is their own attitudes that are blameworthy.<br /><br />With the above comparison going on in my mind, I picked up a tuna sandwich and approached the counter to pay.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The cashier spoke with a Polish accent, “We’re closed now and I can’t…”<br /><br />Before he would finish, I requested him to make an exception for me.<br /><br />“Sure, take whatever you like. I can’t charge you for it because we're closed now”.<br /><br />Such truthfulness seemed like disguised charity. I insisted on paying.<br /><br />He explained, “It’s okay; we’ll throw away what’s left any way. Can’t sell it tomorrow!”<br /><br />I thanked him profusely and left the café. Nibbling away at the sandwich and sipping foamy cappuccino out of a paper cup in loud slurps, I took a most serious note of the strange experience. My thoughts turned to how a Pakistani shopkeeper might have acted under similar circumstances.<br /><br />1) Would not have displayed the shop’s business hours at the door or used an OPEN-CLOSED sign.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkRf6mVNAVZ7dW5aG_gcIdp4OPxzsCAL4vIcV98uy-1QkmGd6pyC0KAQX1tZozvAHx7HdfwwAFs31vM6Ulvg3RhrniNX_t3wInZV_1ZIpEtuIpCABwTdIg_d_BrhdFnncZY-Ei9uttk2N/s1600/6%2529+Honesty.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="491" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEkRf6mVNAVZ7dW5aG_gcIdp4OPxzsCAL4vIcV98uy-1QkmGd6pyC0KAQX1tZozvAHx7HdfwwAFs31vM6Ulvg3RhrniNX_t3wInZV_1ZIpEtuIpCABwTdIg_d_BrhdFnncZY-Ei9uttk2N/s200/6%2529+Honesty.png" width="183" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />2) May have attempted to sell me the sandwich and pocketed the money without any regard for a closed cash register.<br /><br />3) Would not have thrown away the eatables or given them away for free.<br /><br />4) Might have displayed expired items from the previous night and readily sold them as fresh.<br /><br />It was impossible not to wonder. Was I in the right country or the country I was born in had gone all wrong? How could </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pakistan be a wobbly moon orbiting around an unstable planet? Why, it must be the tuna causing </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">my head to spin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>A lack of sneakiness at Nike</b><br /><br />In old London town, I stopped by at a sports store to pick up a pair of Nike trainers for my sister.<br /><br />Carefully I checked the size, paid for the pair and headed back to Pakistan only to find that the sneakers did not fit her well. My heart sank; the trip to Nike and the money spent on the gift seemed to have been wasted.<br /><br />Luckily, another business trip to London came up after two weeks. Hoping for an English miracle, I carried the sneakers back to the Nike store for an exchange. <br /><br />Quickly the staff helped me find the right size. A tomboyish salesgirl at the payment counter announced, “Sir, there’s a sale on. These trainers now have thirty percent off on them. Would you want your balance five pounds or prefer buying some other item?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga39VFuieuRnTt7WDMA6I9rG6uKNxsJAI44Y3JQbekUBiFrrEPqc9OqRhi5OCRW6AmYcRI6NTJAWLl45IFKmRzQHS5osrN-1dwNHPKykGaj4LKx4hlJZIv_iEdz0mXR7iLHFCV9Jdbgr_s/s1600/7%2529+Sneakers.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="787" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga39VFuieuRnTt7WDMA6I9rG6uKNxsJAI44Y3JQbekUBiFrrEPqc9OqRhi5OCRW6AmYcRI6NTJAWLl45IFKmRzQHS5osrN-1dwNHPKykGaj4LKx4hlJZIv_iEdz0mXR7iLHFCV9Jdbgr_s/s200/7%2529+Sneakers.png" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My jaw dropped to touch the vinyl floor. All I could say was, “On this happy Satch-er-day, it is a plyy-err which I cannot myy-err! Please accept a bundle of thanks from the bottom of my heart and also from my lady sister.”<br /><br />She immediately understood from my accent that I was from Pakistan, the land of pure bundles and systematic hurdles. From my exaggerated pronunciation of key words, she gathered I was an ex-serviceman, whereas I was not—not even in my dreams.<br /><br />Experiencing honesty as the best policy, I decided to kick-start the sagging British economy by purchasing a pair of trainers for myself.<br /><br />The only entity with whom I could share newfound happiness in Britain was God Almighty. I addressed him before it was time for the midday prayers, “Did you see that? Can we have such honest businesses in 'the land of the pure'?”<br /><br />There was no answer from above but it was understood that sooner rather than later, He would move in mysterious ways to address my deepest concerns.<br /><br />Imagine, had the same shopping mistake been made by me in Pakistan, a salesperson would have—without initially having given me a receipt—demanded the proof of purchase, never revealed the new reduced price, and never offered to pay back the difference in price.<br /><br /><b>A cold dinner on a hot evening</b><br /><br />It was unusually hot that evening in Manchester. The sun was expected to set at 9:03 p.m.<br /><br />I strolled about lazily on Market Street, then sat in the park to watch the musical fountain with coloured lights. A massive Ferris-wheel rotated over my head, spinning away almost like my mind which worried about finding <i>halaal </i>food.<br /><br />Between myself and the nearby bus stop, I noticed a Thai restaurant. Every time its door opened, fragrances of boiled rice and seafood entered my nostrils to intensify the hunger. Once inside that establishment, I satisfied myself reading all the detailed explanations of far-eastern dishes. The stomach spoke, “Bless this pork-less place! Go for vegetable rice with saffron sauce and grilled fish.”<br /><br />“That’ll be seven pounds ninety-five pence. Please take a seat. It’ll take about ten minutes”, the cashier-girl announced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A heavily tattooed man with a chef's cap over his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadlocks">dreadlocks</a> simultaneously handled the preparation of several orders; to me he seemed like a Hindu god with multiple hands. Orders appeared piping hot at the other end of the open kitchen and from where customers loaded into their trays steel cutlery and hot sauces of choice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4jgo4rVXoWIVaPSuTSv8o8Oo8E3CoBp37zjBqem5SLtEiRj46wrgFdH0enKqW03NDXOrnNcyHD-8oEs_GAOo0PPHTZHfxvAButQzeoIw9m3hnWaighNrpifC1_5yzyxkCchfruYNOfrm/s1600/8%2529+Seafood.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="753" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4jgo4rVXoWIVaPSuTSv8o8Oo8E3CoBp37zjBqem5SLtEiRj46wrgFdH0enKqW03NDXOrnNcyHD-8oEs_GAOo0PPHTZHfxvAButQzeoIw9m3hnWaighNrpifC1_5yzyxkCchfruYNOfrm/s320/8%2529+Seafood.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The food was tasty but not as hot as I had imagined. Hunger forced me eat first and complain later. Immediately the girl at the cash register apologised and offered me something which I was not accustomed to being offered in Pakistan: a free meal coupon.<br /><br />“The next time you’re here, dinner will be free!”<br /><br />I returned to Manchester on a business trip after a month. With a free-meal coupon still in my wallet, it was time to put an English promise to test. With rapidly batting eyelids </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and with great courtesy</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, the same girl promptly brought up to my table the same dish, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">steaming hot</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> this time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Had I complained in Pakistan, no apology would have come my way, the mistake never admitted, and I made to feel guilty for complaining. The staff never would have offered me a free meal coupon but rather washed off their hands by stating, “Next time, <i>inshAllah </i>(God willing) you’ll get your food very hot. Today we have too many customers.”<br /><br />My perpetually hopeful countrymen (and women) might claim, “Pakistan is changing and things are getting better.” My question is, is this ‘change’ due to our own pious efforts or is it because of international practices introduced by tidy multi-national food chains? <br /><br /><b>A hungry ticket-machine</b><br /><br />I walked up to the nearest Metrolink station of Manchester to catch a tram to the suburbs. The tram seemed like a pretty petite lady, she swayed on the rail tracks and occasionally spoke in a soft musical tone.<br /><br />I stood at a station that had no boundary walls or barbed wires, and there were no security gates or uniformed men pointing guns at anyone. It was <i>Inglistan</i>, not <i>Askaristan</i>.</span></div>
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To purchase a return ticket, I sought the help of a bystander to operate an ATVM (automatic ticket vending machine). Despite several attempts, the machine refused to produce a ticket and finally digested the three coins of one-pound denomination each that I dropped in.<br /><br />Help all around proved futile. When the tram arrived, the on-duty staff encouraged me to take up the issue through the telephone helpline.<br /><br />The easy way out was to stop worrying about the lost money because I was not a U.K resident. I called and a</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> female helpline voice advised me to email the complaint to Metrolink which I did as follows:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><i><span style="color: #990000;">Dear sir/madam:<br /><br />While attempting to use the Metrolink tram from (station name) on (date), I encountered the following problems at around 1 p.m.:<br /><br />1) When I inserted two coins (GBP 2+1 denomination) for a return ticket for Ladywell station (one adult), machine no: 462 did not produce a ticket.<br /><br />2) The money I put in was also not refunded to me. I called the HELP line twice and a lady asked me to email you regarding the problem. An on-duty Metrolink staff member was unable to help me much.</span></i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_Is_a_Tramp"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Lady is a tram(p)</span></a></i></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #990000;">3) I finally used machine no: 461 and got the desired ticket after paying additional GBP 2.90<br /><br />Kindly refund me GBP 3.00 that Meterolink owes me. Thanks in advance.</span></i><br /><br />I received the following reply:<br /><br /><i style="color: #990000;">Thank you for your email. Can you please provide a postal address for the cheque refund to be sent to you? Best Regards.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wrote back:<br /><br /><i style="color: #990000;">Thanks for the reply; very impressive indeed! So, how do we get this HUGE sum of GBP 3.00 back where it belongs? A cheque sent to me would cost GBP 10 to recover! Regards</i><span style="color: #990000;">.</span><br /><br />Another swift reply:<br /><br /><i><span style="color: #990000;">Thank you for your email.<br /><br />Considering the situation that we are in I think the best solution would be the next time you are in Manchester and you would like to travel on the Metrolink, we will be able to offer you a complimentary journey to travel on the tram. You will be able to do this by either calling us on the day before or same day of travel on 0161 205 2000 or by sending us an email quoting the reference number above. I hope this will be of a solution to the situation. Best Regards.</span></i><br /><br />All those swift replies and offers came as major shocks. It meant that unlike Pakistan where businesses always blame customers and disbelieve complaints, the English system did not stoop to accusing but instead treated a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">complainant </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">as honest and innocent until proven guilty. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Being in a charitable mood, I did not pursue any further the matter of recovery of the lost three ‘</span><a href="https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/quid" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">quid</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">’.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">has </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">happened, I thought? Have they all converted to true Islam to become honest and fair? </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I reverted to being hopeful about Pakistani Muslims becoming so believable they would not have to settle all matters by swearing upon God Almighty’s Holy Name.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: left;">Not Rihanna's </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbrella_%28song%29" style="text-align: left;">umbrella</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The temporarily lost umbrella</b><br /><br />English women say, 'an Englishman never leaves home without an umbrella'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I left the hotel room with an umbrella but as a Pakistani man, forgot it at the ticket counter while purchasing a train ticket. By the time I got out of the destination station, it was raining.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Upon returning to the departure station, I noticed that the shift had changed, nevertheless I exercised my right to enquire about the precious umbrella.<br /><br />“Sorry love, I don’t see it here in the office”, an obese lady replied affectionately after looking around in her boxy office.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />I knew that an opera <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_ain%27t_over_till_the_fat_lady_sings">ain’t over</a> <a href="https://knowyourphrase.com/aint-over-until-the-fat-lady-sings">until the fat lady sings</a>. The next morning, while a few hours remained until check-out, I made another attempt to recover the umbrella. At the ticket office, I briefly described the lost item and within seconds a slim lady produced my umbrella like a magician would a rabbit out of a hat.<br /><br />I thanked her from no other place but the bottommost compartment of my heart. I was so elated I attracted undue attention by opening the umbrella on a perfectly sunny Sunday morning.<br /><br /><b>Not match-making but price-matching</b><br /><br />It is customary in Britain and several other countries that a business will attempt to offer the lowest price, and if a customer finds the same item cheaper elsewhere, the shop will immediately lower the price to match it.<br /><br />In this regard, our Pakistani formula is simple: if one even dares to suggest that another shop is cheaper, a shopkeeper will boldly declare, “Then go buy from him!” This viciousness refuses to go away because in most cases, a customer will end up buying from the same insulting shopkeeper.</span></div>
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I was at a store in Birmingham, ready to pay for the merchandise when I mentioned to the salesman the lower price I noticed elsewhere for the same item.<br /><br />“No problem!”, he said and checked the price on the internet. Then without a word he lowered his own price to please me.<br /><br />When CNN interviewer, Becky Anderson, alleged, “A third of Pakistanis wish to leave their country”, recall the disgraceful reply of ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani: “And why don’t they leave then; who is stopping them?”<br /><br />Watch this <a href="https://youtu.be/SxD_uLTdTwk"><b>video</b></a> from 03:15 and seek God Almighty's Protection, if not foreign citizenship.<br /><br />Expect no grassroots movement to ever change anything in Pakistan because the nauseating mindset of the ruling elites trickles down to the masses on a daily basis.<br /><br /><b>Reserved hi-fi headsets</b><br /><br />I needed to buy a pair of stereo headsets whose price had been slashed from pounds forty-nine to thirty-nine.<br /><br />I emailed my favourite hi-fi shop in Manchester to enquire about the SALE item’s availability. Since the headsets were IN STOCK at a far-off branch, I was offered them at the location of my choice. When I told them about my arrival date in Manchester, they told me they would hold the item for me until a certain date.<br /><br />A week later I was at the Manchester shop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Oh yes, you were expected!” the in-charge recognised me and pointed at the coffee machine, “Help yourself please. I’ll get your stuff”.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzGvbQ8j4I-cv4g6XqdzniBSqwIxC92lj2O95BaTavu4P98t3ZG6U4xsGRGco59I6XjNcN1idL2IgowPdfUJT9hpo3mhUkBCb42iO1S5PqDcc7Q2ExnBK1ZeHpG0HXgHthEl9fJdZPb_m/s1600/12%2529+Headsets.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="742" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzGvbQ8j4I-cv4g6XqdzniBSqwIxC92lj2O95BaTavu4P98t3ZG6U4xsGRGco59I6XjNcN1idL2IgowPdfUJT9hpo3mhUkBCb42iO1S5PqDcc7Q2ExnBK1ZeHpG0HXgHthEl9fJdZPb_m/s320/12%2529+Headsets.png" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzGvbQ8j4I-cv4g6XqdzniBSqwIxC92lj2O95BaTavu4P98t3ZG6U4xsGRGco59I6XjNcN1idL2IgowPdfUJT9hpo3mhUkBCb42iO1S5PqDcc7Q2ExnBK1ZeHpG0HXgHthEl9fJdZPb_m/s1600/12%2529+Headsets.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soon he appeared with the AKG headsets whose box had a stick-on note that read: Hold until 24 February. That date was still three days away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />To reward the British economy, I made some more purchases but being in no mood to let twenty percent tax end up in Her Majesty’s Treasury, I requested that a VAT-refund form be filled. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I noticed a lovely </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">porcelain mug with the shop’s name emblazoned across it, t</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">he salesman gifted it to me. As always, it was a pleasure doing business there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Now, had I been in Pakistan, the story surely would have been quite different. I encourage you to fill the imaginary details yourself and post that in the comments section. I need to find out how many more Pakistanis know what I know, and if there are very many, we must stand together with folded arms and watch each incompetent government topple herself.<br /><br /><b>Back to ‘the land of the pure’</b><br /><br /><i><span style="color: #990000;">“Don’t tell me what possessions you have; tell me what lands you’ve travelled to!”—a saying attributed to Prophet Muhammad</span></i><br /><br />Greater mobility sometimes increases criminality but it also widens the horizons.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The reason why our politicians and citizens, many of them having travelled widely, are unable to transform this country is that do-gooders have debauched themselves to doing good only unto themselves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Scores of Prime Ministers and military dictators have failed; we now have the incumbent Prime Minister and his crowd of advisors working to transform a </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">naya </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(new) Pakistan into medieval Medina. I suppose, one need not expect positive results from effable waddle.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rule of the angootha-chaaps</i></td></tr>
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My hometown is one of the topmost environmentally polluted cities on the face of Earth. Since we live in suspended animation, breathing suspended heavy particles in the air presents absolutely no danger to our lungs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />A few days ago, Lahore’s AQI (Air Quality Index) went deep into the ‘extremely hazardous’ zone, or beyond 400 for <a href="https://blissair.com/what-is-pm-2-5.htm">2.5PM</a> (2.5 micrometre Fine Particle Matter). Elsewhere, London—once notorious for its fog—registered an amazingly low 22.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will you now please stand up to listen to our smog anthem? </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HydvceA1PAI" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>All I need is the air that I breath and to love you</b></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have idealists, realists, day-dreamers, busy courts, rioting lawyers, expensive lawsuits, jailed politicians and entertaining ministers of the ruling clique who appear </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ad nauseam</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> on television. Never lose hope. We are so self-sufficient in all of the above, the government ought to declare these thought-products as worth exporting.</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2019</i></div>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">DISCLAIMER</span></i></b></div>
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">No one must misconstrue my personal experiences and observations as disinformation or insults. If you disagree, do so with courtesy and decorum by posting in the comments section.</span></i></div>
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Inglistan is a well-known name for a real island while Askaristan is an imaginary place.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Words: 3,736</span></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-6864760756800292702019-10-09T11:57:00.000+05:002019-12-06T19:10:33.436+05:00Duleep Singh - The Fall Of The Rebel Prince<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJMWnfjykJSxUFJClwtQwmbyn9iCeoMHzFiP6-i1Et5gCxB02XCYXAVxudZv8CmJIl44vzK_Bo3hcQs62j4XK2HQ0jtXizZ1jNrwdNEQezuH2Sb229XJBR2ywwm8ddNkX6jcGkF8rI8KC/s1600/1%2529+Maharajah+Duleep+dressed+for+a+State+function+%2528c.+1875%2529+-+oil+painting+by+Capt.+Goldingham%252C+London.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="382" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjJMWnfjykJSxUFJClwtQwmbyn9iCeoMHzFiP6-i1Et5gCxB02XCYXAVxudZv8CmJIl44vzK_Bo3hcQs62j4XK2HQ0jtXizZ1jNrwdNEQezuH2Sb229XJBR2ywwm8ddNkX6jcGkF8rI8KC/s400/1%2529+Maharajah+Duleep+dressed+for+a+State+function+%2528c.+1875%2529+-+oil+painting+by+Capt.+Goldingham%252C+London.png" width="267" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the article <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/07/duleep-singh-last-maharaja-of-punjab.html">Duleep Singh - The Last Maharaja of Punjab</a>, we discovered how he grew up. C</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">elebrating the tenth anniversary of this blog, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">this sequel will examine how events transformed him later in life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Through the following articles, the reader is encouraged to note the rebellious streak in</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Sikh painter Amrita Sher-Gil and her father </span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Umrao_Singh_Majithia" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Umrao Singh Majithia</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and compare it with Duleep Singh's change of heart:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />1) <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a><br />2) <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Fantastic Growth Of Amrita</a><br />3) <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-dramatic-death-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Dramatic Death Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The repercussions of saying no to the Queen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maharaja Duleep Singh was quite in his senses when he rejected Queen Victoria’s offer to make his sons hereditary peers of the British aristocracy in exchange for the loss of the <i>Koh-i-Noor</i> and other famous jewels looted from the Punjab treasury.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Maharaja conveyed the refusal during a conversation through George Campbell, the Duke of Argyll and one-time Secretary of State for India.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Aristocratic titles did not carry any cash benefit but guaranteed access to the monarch, elevated social standing and the right to sit in the House of Lords. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Had Duleep Singh accepted the offer, his sons and their children would have become the first non-white peers of the British Empire. In rejecting the Queen’s offer, Duleep Singh boldly explained, “I thank her Majesty…but we must remain Sikhs.”</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgdwwiE4DaLbm6z_gXuUvPTIugbedvLYmd9FFuJq7UaG7QFMYO_TMh2RoQ9QzYKJ71KobZKrnJ2ayqU_uU07J-gorXikZ1H2VmNYZCwHJ7tWiGg0rdmVIJe5kkdE0U_4zGMhs6-lQOCLHN/s1600/2%2529+Maharaja+Duleep+Singh+dressing+Prince+Arthur+in+Indian+costume+c.+1854.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="385" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgdwwiE4DaLbm6z_gXuUvPTIugbedvLYmd9FFuJq7UaG7QFMYO_TMh2RoQ9QzYKJ71KobZKrnJ2ayqU_uU07J-gorXikZ1H2VmNYZCwHJ7tWiGg0rdmVIJe5kkdE0U_4zGMhs6-lQOCLHN/s320/2%2529+Maharaja+Duleep+Singh+dressing+Prince+Arthur+in+Indian+costume+c.+1854.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep dressing Prince Arthur in Indian costume, c.1854</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What the Queen had in mind is contained in a memorandum prepared by the Reverend Osborne Jay, a British Foreign Office aide, who was invited to be a witness to the historic meeting with the Secretary of State for India hosted by the Maharaja at his 17,000-acre estate of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elveden_Hall" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Elveden Hall</a>.<br /><br />Commenting on Duleep’s response, the Duke of Argyll noted how he ‘had never seen truer dignity or more real independence of spirit. I have reason for believing that the Queen, when told of all this, shared his opinion.’<br /><br />Up until then, only one other Indian had been offered hereditary peerage, Satyendra Prasanno Sinha. He was made Baron Sinha of Raipur in 1919. The title is currently held by his great grandson Arup Kumar Sinha.<br /><br />Queen Victoria wished to make Duleep Singh’s elder son, Victor, a Marquis, and the younger one, Freddie, an Earl. The British made several attempts to placate Duleep and persuade him to remain a loyal subject of Queen Victoria but the man had other plans.<br /><br />Inspired by the Royal Family’s <a href="https://www.freemasonrytoday.com/features/the-life-of-a-british-maharaja">masonic</a> connections, Duleep succumbed to becoming a member of various gentlemen’s clubs such as the East India Club. In 1861, he was admitted into Freemasonry in Lodge No. 67 'Star in the East' of Calcutta.<br /><br /><b>Back to Sikhism</b><br /><br />In 1883, Thakur Singh Sandhanwalia, Duleep Singh's cousin, was summoned to England. He <a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/news/imperial-story-conspiracy-love-and-gurus-prophecy">convinced</a> Duleep about the truth of a Sikh Guru's prophecy and begged him to return to his original faith because the <a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Namdhari">Kukas</a> in Punjab, who were fighting against the British Empire in India, broadcast the following prophecy:<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelRZi1_YeekqNhHj7yfLtIiyVzz1ERkdSHcFXPN8XJK2lwH0ShqIOmj0Oek0KSHrHzzPb2-aFQUuefUjsHzmNVAjE4DKlAf15GLxQf-W_hU8A-8jcBpvFz-3BWG48wsoP00vT8uh1Yns-/s1600/3%2529+Victoria%2527s+signature.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="273" data-original-width="615" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgelRZi1_YeekqNhHj7yfLtIiyVzz1ERkdSHcFXPN8XJK2lwH0ShqIOmj0Oek0KSHrHzzPb2-aFQUuefUjsHzmNVAjE4DKlAf15GLxQf-W_hU8A-8jcBpvFz-3BWG48wsoP00vT8uh1Yns-/s320/3%2529+Victoria%2527s+signature.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Victoria's signature</td></tr>
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<br /><br /><i><span style="color: #660000;">"When the Russian troops invade the country, agitation will prevail in London and the British army will march to India. A Sikh martyr will be born and will reign as far as Calcutta. Duleep Singh will shine among the Khalsa and will drive his elephant throughout the world".</span></i><br /><br />Convinced of the Guru's prophecy, Duleep wrote an impassioned appeal to an Indian newspaper. Addressing his countrymen, he declared his intention to take upon himself the responsibility for the fate of his people—the Sikhs. The 25 March 1886, paper read:<br /><br /><i><span style="color: #660000;">"I beg forgiveness of you, Khalsa-Ji, for having forsaken the faith of my ancestors for a foreign religion. It is my fond desire to take the Pahul again on reaching Bombay".</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deceived and disappointed</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The British continually reneged on their promise of yearly income in exchange for his allegiance. Duleep became particularly resentful of Queen Victoria's theft of </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Koh-i-Noor</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> from his kingdom. He was seen meeting with ‘Irish </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenian" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Fenians</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and </span><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Russian revolutionaries</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, who were considered part of an international web of intrigue to destabilise British power.’</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUns97MoL12ndrjQXyv1dLJ7zQGeAQTkwOU2NGOttu2wbLD1HaBN6JQrTScm9USY9A1hXgC6GIeGJs6xVvDnchOwznybI-_EYASdUi9fGDJEvfcI5XP1B9ETRk7IpOSVoCByYoyDJoih-R/s1600/4%2529+Golden+Temple.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="759" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUns97MoL12ndrjQXyv1dLJ7zQGeAQTkwOU2NGOttu2wbLD1HaBN6JQrTScm9USY9A1hXgC6GIeGJs6xVvDnchOwznybI-_EYASdUi9fGDJEvfcI5XP1B9ETRk7IpOSVoCByYoyDJoih-R/s400/4%2529+Golden+Temple.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sikh Holy Site: The Golden Temple of Amritsar (India)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Dreaming of a permanent return to Punjab to regain his throne, Duleep closed down <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elveden_Hall">Elveden Hall</a> and sold all the contents to fund a final journey home. The Anglo-Indian Government considered his moves as 'disloyalty to England', and his planned voyage to India as a 'threat to security'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep was first dissuaded not to visit India. After weighing the political implications, the British then refused Duleep permission but finally relented. He, along with his wife and six children, boarded a ship on 30 March 1886. At Aden a terrible message awaited him:</span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">“The British Viceroy has changed his mind and that he [Duleep] must turn back.”</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The group was detained there on 21 April 1886. Before being arrested and sent back, Duleep was readmitted into Sikhism through <a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Pahul"><i>Khande Di Pahul</i></a> initiation on 25 May 1886. After </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rejecting the allowance granted to him by the British Crown, he found the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">passage to India blocked. After a few days his wife and children returned to England, and Duleep never saw them again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the 3 of June 1886 he left Aden for Paris. From Suez he sent a letter to the newspaper 'Times of India', in which he wrote that though the English Government did not allow him to go to India, it was not in a position to close for him the road to his motherland, and he would somehow come to India.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjT9qgXwGfRgC_RIDHWHzQ_RZHZsy1BEOqYJzm7KWs9uUyXbRn5BWKjPIMcSymGS1fST5AobUIq2yXVZcBUzLs0hP01M8KHdSCnnITOvTAPpwn5Pc9AKORzqGyYvdxO1EMkkRjcVyPjJW/s1600/5%2529+Duleep+as+a+gentleman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="393" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjT9qgXwGfRgC_RIDHWHzQ_RZHZsy1BEOqYJzm7KWs9uUyXbRn5BWKjPIMcSymGS1fST5AobUIq2yXVZcBUzLs0hP01M8KHdSCnnITOvTAPpwn5Pc9AKORzqGyYvdxO1EMkkRjcVyPjJW/s400/5%2529+Duleep+as+a+gentleman.png" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep as an English gentleman</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Russians in Paris</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In Paris Duleep Singh made friends with several Russians; the most important among them was Dr. Cyon, a doctor by profession who was very close to a leading journalist-publicist Mikhail Katkov who </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">promised to support the Maharaja using his association with the Czar’s court.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep soon found himself involved in European politics. Russia at that time was an ally of Germany and Austro-Hungary, but there were Russian politicians, military men, and journalists who wanted Russian foreign policy changed to favour France.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cyon and Katkov were among them, and hated Great Britain for granting political asylum to nihilists and bombers. Duleep was considered by them as a person whose friendship with the Russians would greatly irritate the British and lead to him being treated as a threat to the security of the British Empire in the east.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep first approached Russian ambassador E.E. de Staal and requested him to issue him a Russian Passport. Staaal did not respond. Duleep then </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wrote to</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Kotsebu, the Counsellor of the Russian Embassy in Paris:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2GeP9hbNzMsXVbl5-niq4CkdOlfSRNdASUyABMSlcdtx8bZ8QUxQ8le2tck0JnQiYIuIQzNodF-xeNrlnSp6Hfx6h_0GAw70jfDLZZwDKoaxkGhlcjUUfqo9RKAPxhRg2FbGP8qgfbyq/s1600/6%2529+Victoria%2527s+statue+%2528displayed+on+the+Mall+until+1974%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="388" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2GeP9hbNzMsXVbl5-niq4CkdOlfSRNdASUyABMSlcdtx8bZ8QUxQ8le2tck0JnQiYIuIQzNodF-xeNrlnSp6Hfx6h_0GAw70jfDLZZwDKoaxkGhlcjUUfqo9RKAPxhRg2FbGP8qgfbyq/s320/6%2529+Victoria%2527s+statue+%2528displayed+on+the+Mall+until+1974%2529.png" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Victoria's statue displayed on Lahore's Mall until 1974</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;"><i>“Since then though I was the most loyal subject of the Queen Victoria, I have been insulted and imprisoned at Aden (from where I have just returned) by the British Government at whose hands I have suffered great injustice. As the Indian administration has branded me with disloyalty, when I was not disloyal to them, therefore I now seek revenge. <br /><br />While a prisoner on parole at Aden I re-embraced the faith of my ancestors. Therefore, I have the support now 8,000,000 of my coreligionists and some 14,000,000 other inhabitants of the Punjab over the greater part of which both my father Ranjit Singh and I myself when an infant ruled.<br /><br />I now desire to pay my homage to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia in order to lay my service at his disposal. For I am in rank one of the highest Princes in India. Besides the Government of India fear me as they would not allow me to enter India. Besides all the Indian Princes would rise if they had the least encouragement from the mouth of one of themselves, backed by Russia.”</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep received neither an official answer nor a Russian passport.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Playing the Russian roulette in Moscow</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the end of March 1887, Duleep was living in Moscow under the name of Patrick Casey, the Irish revolutionary (Fenian) with whom he was well acquainted and who gave the Maharaja his papers. The Russian public disapproved of violence leading to revolution because it remembered the murder of Alexander II, the father of the ruling Czar. There were several murderous attacks on Alexander III; the last one took place on 13 of March 1887 just before the arrival of the Maharaja.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wx61g7ZKosjPKN487itKzuR-Aw4BDv6pVRTQ3Y6obd9mwNPCcWClCpGEd0QkwdMBFVYjUIy034mrG0b_su1KkEM56PCeM7z0N9BqN9PEVxFZY5CcBGOyk46XF3UL46SLfaqR1tFdX4tH/s1600/7%2529+Czar+Alexander+III.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="367" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wx61g7ZKosjPKN487itKzuR-Aw4BDv6pVRTQ3Y6obd9mwNPCcWClCpGEd0QkwdMBFVYjUIy034mrG0b_su1KkEM56PCeM7z0N9BqN9PEVxFZY5CcBGOyk46XF3UL46SLfaqR1tFdX4tH/s320/7%2529+Czar+Alexander+III.png" width="229" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Russian Czar Alexander III</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dreaming of an armed conflict between Russia and Great Britain, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">offered assistance to the Russians in conquering India. He wished to meet with Alexander III but then his helpful friend Mikhail Katkov suddenly died. Duleep found himself alone and penniless. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thus, ended the Maharaja's support from </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">unofficial non-governmental circles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The newspaper Moskovskiye Vedomosti (Moscow Gazette) published several articles about Russian politics in Asia; one of them opined:</span></div>
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<br style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">"Russia does not have any grounds to aspire to an invasion of India and our forces may proceed to the frontiers and within the boundaries of Afghanistan, only when it will be provoked directly by the activities of the English. Russia has never made threats either on the front or at the rear of England". </span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another article was written in connection with the arrival in Petersburg of Lord Randolph Churchill who was a member of the House of Commons and former Secretary for Indian Affairs:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #660000;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"...<i>during his stay in Russia His Lordship would succeed in fully satisfying himself of the absolute "absurdity of the alarmist theory of the English jingoists according to which Russia is a constant threat for the English Empire in India. He would find from us not even a trace of such a theory. </i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>In Russia it is known that India is the heel of Achilles of England. It is also known that against its will Russia would be compelled to threaten India only in a case where England appears to be an obstacle to Russia's accomplishing her centuries-old historical mission, which is as essential for her as the domain of the Indian Empire is essential for England. But if England does not interfere with Russia in Europe in that case none among us will even think of marching to India. Lord Randolph can see it with his own eyes.</i>"</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>All eyes on Duleep</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">moved to a cheaper hotel and wrote to the Czar in order to kindle his interest in a campaign to India:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><i><span style="color: #660000;">“I guarantee an easy conquest of India. For, besides the promised assistance of the Princes of India with their armies, it is in my power to raise the entire Punjab in revolt and cause the inhabitants to attack in their war the British Forces sent to oppose Imperial Army. </span></i></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX3I6oh9A1P6vVKefAq1PhaBqEnHLmo8xAFFQP5UrvQsAQFlIXF-8QQ8qg8Jg30z-ELKuBG-rGNU19zjhLXLl_yOY40MDLi5EQjJAzGYwc-AFcbJYKSqr9l9U3JjRe4iPzm-EdpWqnEIMf/s1600/8%2529+Maharaja+Duleep+Singh+%2528by+Sir+Leslie+Ward%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX3I6oh9A1P6vVKefAq1PhaBqEnHLmo8xAFFQP5UrvQsAQFlIXF-8QQ8qg8Jg30z-ELKuBG-rGNU19zjhLXLl_yOY40MDLi5EQjJAzGYwc-AFcbJYKSqr9l9U3JjRe4iPzm-EdpWqnEIMf/s320/8%2529+Maharaja+Duleep+Singh+%2528by+Sir+Leslie+Ward%2529.png" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep Singh (by Sir Leslie Ward)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>My loyal subjects would also destroy all railways, telegraphic and other communications and blow up bridges and cut off all supplies while the revolting Princes would harass the British Troops left behind as a reserve. England is only strong at sea but she has no army. She has only some 100,000 Europeans and about the same number of native soldiers in her service in India. Out of the latter some 45,000 men are Punjabis who are the best soldiers that England possesses in India.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>All those are loyal to me will come over at once to the side of Russia (provided I be permitted to accompany the Imperial Army of invasion) should they be sent to confront the Russian troops or they will attack the opposing British Forces in their rear should these Sikhs be left behind. Under these circumstances no British Army could hold its own however powerful it might be (which it is not) being attacked both in front and behind”.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The dream of the Maharaja to liberate India with the help of Russian troops remained unfulfilled. In Moscow, Duleep wrote several letters to the Czar but was denied an audience. In a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">detailed </span><a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/news/imperial-story-conspiracy-love-and-gurus-prophecy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">letter</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> of 10 May 1887, he boldly asked for help in liberating India and referred to his Guru's prophecy. This </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tactic only elicited remarks that </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alexander III pencilled on the top of Duleep's text</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><i><span style="color: #660000;">"The Prince will get the official reply within a few days. I have no objection to his staying in Russia wherever he wants to live. I have read the report with great interest and of course sometime or other he would be useful for our dealings with the English in India".</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep despatched his emissary, Arur Singh, to India with letters of revolt addressed to Indian princes. He </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">also wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but to no avail.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgofChg2AAiutYPL9GjHTtV9jrV_MFfvnWMKKA3lNQ4eGCocKqhu8zNFqx8zx7L6fJi_USsl1sKmHYyIhp2tdQsOm-R9XHIYYDEKB7FywBehrFFAwyg4We8rE81EoPfc6lhqR8jy3s5SRW/s1600/9%2529+St.+Basel%2527s+Cathedral%252C+Red+Square%252C+Moscow.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="607" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgofChg2AAiutYPL9GjHTtV9jrV_MFfvnWMKKA3lNQ4eGCocKqhu8zNFqx8zx7L6fJi_USsl1sKmHYyIhp2tdQsOm-R9XHIYYDEKB7FywBehrFFAwyg4We8rE81EoPfc6lhqR8jy3s5SRW/s320/9%2529+St.+Basel%2527s+Cathedral%252C+Red+Square%252C+Moscow.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">St. Basel's Cathedral, Red Square, Moscow</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Russians neither knew how to deal with Duleep nor make strategic use of his stay in Moscow. It was Duleep's bad luck that he was late in asking Russia to march to India. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1878 there was a short period when such an action was feasible. After the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878, Great Britain and Austro-Hungary refused to accept the Peace treaty of San Stefano.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Russian Empire was facing a new war in Europe and in order to escape it, Russian military authorities decided to arrange a march of the troops of Turkistan military region towards the borders of British India. The troops were stationed near the border of Bokhara Khanate but after the Berlin Treaty was signed, the threat of war was over. The troops were withdrawn and returned to their headquarters. That was probably the only right moment to initiate the march of Russian army against the British Raj.<br /><br />In Moscow, Duleep was under strict surveillance of British diplomats who sent all their reports to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, India House or to the Queen. They remained very interested in finding out the details of the activities of the Maharaja.<br /><br />On 14th November, 1887 the English Ambassador at St. Petersburg, R. Morier, wrote to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Marquis K.G. Salisbury:<br /><br /><i><span style="color: #660000;">“Although it is not likely that Dalip Singh will be able at Moscow to do us any mischief, I have thought it advisable not to lose sight of him, and have instructed our Vice-Consul in that city to keep me informed from time to time of his proceedings.<br /><br />Mr. Hornstedt reports in a private letter received today that Dalip Singh, now residing with "Madame" (whether his wife or a mistress is meant is not clear) 10 at the Hotel Billo, a cheaper and more unpretending establishment than Dusseaux's where he formerly stayed. He visits a few Russian families, but lives in a very retired and quiet way”. </span></i><br /><br />Greater damage was caused by Duleep's young outspoken wife, Ada Wetherill who was friends with the wife of Katkov’s secretary, an Englishwoman. Ada sometimes gave away Duleep’s deep secrets.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKW2BRWlMnboqlNR8KpDGrbK80iGkARkzlCQcWR-r9j9VeZXsn8-w5qxNdsy9npN4x91YJJp_T3v1LzGrnWpRjSvOsF4VXTY_mybd-b14nTEP98-F_WgsDXCaRBHl4JQBd8R5dB1yByEq/s1600/10%2529+Spy.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="447" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitKW2BRWlMnboqlNR8KpDGrbK80iGkARkzlCQcWR-r9j9VeZXsn8-w5qxNdsy9npN4x91YJJp_T3v1LzGrnWpRjSvOsF4VXTY_mybd-b14nTEP98-F_WgsDXCaRBHl4JQBd8R5dB1yByEq/s200/10%2529+Spy.png" width="151" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tavis, the </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>American double-agent</b><br /><br />The worst betrayed came from American informer <a href="http://www.wkurtz.com/blog/an-american-condottiere-the-post-war-career-of-general-charles-carroll-tevis-part-3/">General Carrol-Tavis</a>, a ruthless double agent who pretended to be an anti-British sympathizer but was appointed to ‘look after’ the Maharaja by the British government.<br /><br />The two had met in Paris and struck a friendship that allowed Tavis to report everything about the Indian Prince to London who was by then a</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> self-proclaimed ‘Sovereign of the Sikh nation and Implacable Foe of the British Government’. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tavis </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">copied each and every letter written by Duleep </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and sent it to his </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">British masters</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep's thoughts and movements were in the government archives and which prevented </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a Sikh uprising in India using Russian assistance.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibO1cp7ig9e1vH4eBcqER-t7knEj3Z6AtGIAoHIymjqG4_FGTAEeG10BALfpMq5gOpyt0Vz7Bd3JG7AcBWSp0JbUBwVYTW-OKhBaYQqvZQHVEunzNAnfHMPq8XQK_17_d8RjOJn9K5pKOA/s1600/11%2529+Dhuleep+Singh+-+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="301" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibO1cp7ig9e1vH4eBcqER-t7knEj3Z6AtGIAoHIymjqG4_FGTAEeG10BALfpMq5gOpyt0Vz7Bd3JG7AcBWSp0JbUBwVYTW-OKhBaYQqvZQHVEunzNAnfHMPq8XQK_17_d8RjOJn9K5pKOA/s400/11%2529+Dhuleep+Singh+-+2.png" width="182" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />For public consumption, Duleep boasted that ‘ninety percent of Indian princes as well as the Russian government were behind [his] plan to oust the British’.<br /> <br /><i><span style="color: #660000;"> "In less than three years—in less than two perhaps—I and my 250 million fellow-countrymen will have driven them [the British] out of India."<br /> — Duleep, to a British journalist in 1888 after the failed attempt to visit India</span></i><br /><br />The attitude of Russians towards the Maharaja was clearly expressed in a secret letter dated 28 November 1887 of the Minister for Foreign Affairs N.K. Girs to the Governor General of Moscow V. A. Dolgorukov:<br /><br /><i><span style="color: #660000;">“All his statements compel me to conclude, that Duleep Singh absolutely misunderstands his status in Russia and his relation to the Imperial Government, and so it is necessary to explain to him these misunderstandings. <br /><br />The Maharajah arrived in Russia without soliciting prior permission under an assumed name, and for crossing through the border he had to avail himself of the guarantee of a stranger. Arriving in Moscow he petitioned for permission to settle anywhere in Russia as a private person under the patronage of the Imperial Government, and to this petition His Majesty, our Sovereign Emperor, was gracious to express his approval on condition, that the Maharajah would not violate the law of the Empire by his conduct.<br /><br />In view of these circumstances, Duleep Singh cannot be regarded a subject of Russia, and also to count him among our citizens seems to be all the most undesirable as, afterwards he may regret his quarrel with the English Government, and desire to return to England, in order to again avail himself of the highly substantial amount of pension which he used to receive earlier, though in his opinion it was insufficient, and the loss of which we are not in a position to compensate. We know too little about the Maharajah to disregard the possibilities of such change in his views, which is why even from the point of view of the dignity of the Imperial Government, it would be far better not to associate Duleep Singh with Russia but to carry on regarding him as an honourable foreigner, who is compelled to seek asylum with us.<br /><br />The political objective pursued by the Maharajah for the liberation of India from the dominion of England with assistance from Russia… the project, as outlined in the letter received by me from him, seems to lack seriousness. The Maharaja insists that for the success of this affair it is enough to send a small sized Russian detachment to the border of India, to which he would have to be appointed as adviser and this provides reason to conclude that either he has a completely false idea about the state of affairs in Asia, or as a shrewd Asian he is calculating on our insufficient acquaintance with India and hopes to excite us to undertake a hostile demonstration against England, to make the British realize the disadvantages of their quarrel with him.<br /><br />In the present political situation it would be absolutely futile and even imprudent to enter upon any negotiation with Duleep Singh on the topic of the aforesaid proposal and taking into consideration the above stated reasons the Sovereign Emperor was pleased to consider it necessary to entrust Your Excellency to clarify matters with him..."</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was the official answer, approved by the Russian Monarch, to Duleep Singh’s proposals.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPrq-LKu4QbTIg7cfEfu68ZAdWCaPNCDFoj9Y8K_nR92gZbOZS-eB3dYLPLILzsxfNR2HRUW8uvEoz4p5Z3G4Cqy0aWUdjF6XiqYM0HKYmrUYx8gNNssSRKJX8mjQhGLInUb8_zLb0Wwf/s1600/12%2529+Symbols+on+the+plaque+%2528Thetford+Norfolk%252C+Butten+Island%252C+England%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="1065" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFPrq-LKu4QbTIg7cfEfu68ZAdWCaPNCDFoj9Y8K_nR92gZbOZS-eB3dYLPLILzsxfNR2HRUW8uvEoz4p5Z3G4Cqy0aWUdjF6XiqYM0HKYmrUYx8gNNssSRKJX8mjQhGLInUb8_zLb0Wwf/s400/12%2529+Symbols+on+the+plaque+%2528Thetford+Norfolk%252C+Butten+Island%252C+England%2529.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Symbols on the plaque (Thetford Norfolk, Butten Island, England)</td></tr>
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</i><br /><b>Good-bye Russia</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Duleep Singh was allowed to live near Kiev, not as a citizen but as an honourable foreigner. In May 1888 he left Moscow for his new home. The Maharaja was not satisfied with a new quiet life in the provinces and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">left for France</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> on 10th September 1888, never again to return to Russia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep's emissary, Arur Singh, was captured in Calcutta, and during </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an <a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/news/imperial-story-conspiracy-love-and-gurus-prophecy">interrogation</a> he revealed all the secret plans of his master.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thakur Singh Sandhanwalia acted as Maharajah's Prime Minister-in-exile. He was based in Pondicherry, the French colony in India. He died (some believe poisoned) while the Maharajah was still negotiating his terms with the Russian Czar. His family <i>jagir </i>(estate) was confiscated by the British. The aspirations of the <i>Khalsa </i>in Punjab were aroused by the proclamations of Duleep Singh but nothing concrete was achieved except all round frustration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1890, </span>Duleep suffered a stroke and became partially paralyzed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1891, at a final audience with Queen Victoria for a Royal pardon, he wept uncontrollably at her side—or so they claim.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dvIyleH3Z1wUqZC4r864bVfq9hoGTP2GzwxIKpUs0DeNa-bz6FnfSjsOLQW5dKhvlVZMtfmHHmZFtJ1AhbRSxLVaxMebiL8azv54Gw9aixPwPfqGMrxpg_Hy1tpmGjCLmbetsAWaRVS2/s1600/13%2529+Commemorative+plaque+%2528Thetford+Norfolk%252C+Butten+Island%252C+England%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="587" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dvIyleH3Z1wUqZC4r864bVfq9hoGTP2GzwxIKpUs0DeNa-bz6FnfSjsOLQW5dKhvlVZMtfmHHmZFtJ1AhbRSxLVaxMebiL8azv54Gw9aixPwPfqGMrxpg_Hy1tpmGjCLmbetsAWaRVS2/s400/13%2529+Commemorative+plaque+%2528Thetford+Norfolk%252C+Butten+Island%252C+England%2529.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Commemorative plaque (Thetford Norfolk, Butten Island, England)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Going to Paris to die</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <br /><i><span style="color: #660000;"> "When good Americans die, they go to Paris".<br /> — Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, who in 1900 died a destitute in the dingy Hôtel d'Alsace of Paris</span></i><br /> <br />Duleep had finally realized the <a href="http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/skhalsa.html">mistake</a> of converting to Christianity. He was a born-again Sikh, still heartbroken and in ill-health. In this state he married his latest love, chambermaid <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><a href="https://gw.geneanet.org/garric?lang=en&n=douglas+wetherill&oc=0&p=ada">Ada Douglas Wetherill</a>.<br /><br />It was the inability of the British to keep their promises that drove the Maharajah to foreign powers. From his Indian servant, Arthur Singh, and his mother he had already learnt what it meant to be a Royal Sikh.<br /><br />The injustice of the Crown and fondness of the high life expedited Duleep's demise. By age fifty-five, our chivalrous Knight, Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh, was deeply in debt, separated from the family, and in the loving clutches of a chamber-maid wife. Bamba, his first wife never recovered from this desertion, took to imbibing alcohol, and died in 1887.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KTELvaqp6w1vc7DFeZNeMuR4bRWbmpdOd5OeG7ju7A2r0qfgBoRvrxtO4NommRy6dSgYiJ_piZGvQmmKmsi_5-zcS2bUHaQZttF2w4ool3v6SMwbAHA0scyb4xWIDT_nJJ5OQb-Eumkv/s1600/14%2529+Ranjit.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="242" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1KTELvaqp6w1vc7DFeZNeMuR4bRWbmpdOd5OeG7ju7A2r0qfgBoRvrxtO4NommRy6dSgYiJ_piZGvQmmKmsi_5-zcS2bUHaQZttF2w4ool3v6SMwbAHA0scyb4xWIDT_nJJ5OQb-Eumkv/s320/14%2529+Ranjit.png" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />In 1793, King Louis XVI and Queen <a href="https://www.who2.com/bio/marie-antoinette/">Marie Antoinette</a> lost their Royal heads under the guillotine; a century later, on 22 October 1893, Duleep died in a rundown Hotel de la Tremouille (Paris). He was refused cremation and instead buried as a Christian in England.<br /> <br />The wish of the 'son of the Lion of the Punjab' to be buried in India was not honoured by Queen Victoria who was by then—thanks to Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli's noble gift—the ‘Empress of India’ who feared unrest arising out of resentment for British rule.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <br /><b> A Royal lineage 'brought to an end'</b><br /> <br /><i><span style="color: #660000;"> "I am the son of one of my father's forty-six wives".<br /> — Duleep Singh in an 1889 interview with the French journal Le Voltaire (according to </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khushwant_Singh">Khushwant Singh</a>)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Duleep's eldest son, Victor Albert Jay married Lady Anne Alice Blanche, the youngest daughter of the 9th Earl of Coventry. Queen Victoria was pleased to instruct Lady Anne, "<a href="http://zeenews.india.com/home/victoria-forbade-ranjit-singhs-grandson-to-have-kids_555788.html">You must never have any children with the prince</a>". The couple were ordered to <a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/news/photographic-bio-maharajah-duleep-singh-book-review">leave England</a> and complied; they never returned. The prince died issueless on 7 June 1918 in Monte Carlo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It will be useful to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">compare the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-living_members_of_the_British_royal_family" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">longevity</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and fertility </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">records </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">set by the British royals with those of Duleep Singh’s children who died young and without producing any offspring. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did the same ancient God, whom the British subjects frequently implore to ‘save’ the Queen', render </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">childless and penniless the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">descendants of Maharaja Ranjit Singh</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">?</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHqt8fUdqkdT9tDtUqe6oRBJlzJyUqpyIRRIN8hBf9JneUpiTrKbUK44ccNp-aKyVpfIK-T716nT67tDsWLDlaPK4j2WzCjlTCxO3aJm7zsDs-QE0Ep4vgSFDcjES5s_gw3tTmzZJ7nfB/s1600/14%2529+Food+tampering.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="723" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDHqt8fUdqkdT9tDtUqe6oRBJlzJyUqpyIRRIN8hBf9JneUpiTrKbUK44ccNp-aKyVpfIK-T716nT67tDsWLDlaPK4j2WzCjlTCxO3aJm7zsDs-QE0Ep4vgSFDcjES5s_gw3tTmzZJ7nfB/s320/14%2529+Food+tampering.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tampering with food, genes, DNA etc.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />A fanciful <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/">prophecy</a> soon sprang up according to which the Sikh dynasty suffered because of the ‘curse of the tenth spiritual leader Guru Gobind Singh, who had a golden box of treasure buried on his death and said that whoever touched it would vanish from the light. Because Ranjit Singh dug it up to build a monument to the holy man, that is why all of Duleep Singh's children died childless.'<br /><br /><span style="color: #660000;"><i>"When we were children our English cooks at Elveden Hall were British spies who would put substances into our food so as to make us infertile."</i><br /><i>—Princess Bamba (to members of Lahore's <a href="http://www.fsaijazuddin.pk/articledetail.php?articleid=278">Fakir</a> family, whose ancestors were ministers in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's court)</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whether they are the Kennedys of America or the Bhuttos of Pakistan, it is an observable fact that an illustrious family's first generation works hard to build something, the second one enjoys the fruits of such labour, while the third one squanders everything. Hence, whatever Maharaja Ranjit Singh built, his son Duleep Singh fully enjoyed, and the grandchildren lost in entirety.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /><i>©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2019</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">COMING SOON: </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">Princess Bamba Sofia Jindaan Duleep Singh</span><span style="background-color: white;"> (the story of Duleep Singh's daughter)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Articles related to this story</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/07/duleep-singh-last-maharaja-of-punjab.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Duleep Singh - The Last Maharaja Of Punjab</a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html">Ranjit Singh - The Lion of Punjab</a></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Acknowledgement</b></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. </i><i><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. Included in the text are some web links (URLs). </span></i><i>Just click on the words in <span style="color: blue;">blue colour</span> and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Maharaja Duleep Singh. Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</i></span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">DISCLAIMER</span></i></b><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">No one must misconstrue the information presented here about any character as disinformation or insults. All the information was meticulously collected and cross-checked from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of proxy servers). Please email your suggestions (with believable references) if you feel something requires correction.</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Further reading & references</b></i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) <a href="http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/studies/PDF-FILES/2-Tatyana%20Zagorodnikova%20C-Paper%20final.pdf">Maharaja Duleep Singh’s Russian Connection: A Threat to the British Raj? (T. N. Zagorodnikova)</a></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>2) <a href="http://www.ohioacademyofhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Wainwright.pdf">Queen Victoria and the Maharaja Duleep Singh (A. Martin Wainwright)</a></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Words: 3,898 [edit 110919: text colour formatting, re-titled headings]</span></div>
Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-44899264278449085172019-09-22T16:01:00.002+05:002021-05-14T15:03:54.094+05:00Refurbishing An Old Bicycle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIn3xU87Oym6wcg5q_hYVV1ut4mcqnnQBZHAwGjeVmf6__q1Asb0Nf1QkfNy7dAnunL6Seg_IJwCXsvAFKEFLrrwDkCI41DvFQG3gDedmB2NPGB2TVa1r9fA_C8Sg55fl8pfTcopxBZq8/s1600/1%2529+Jumping+biker+-+Copy.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="353" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSIn3xU87Oym6wcg5q_hYVV1ut4mcqnnQBZHAwGjeVmf6__q1Asb0Nf1QkfNy7dAnunL6Seg_IJwCXsvAFKEFLrrwDkCI41DvFQG3gDedmB2NPGB2TVa1r9fA_C8Sg55fl8pfTcopxBZq8/s320/1%2529+Jumping+biker+-+Copy.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">What is better than immersing oneself in a passionate hobby and physical activity like cycling? Certainly not golf, which is for lazy rich men with 'networking' on their minds.<br /><br /> These days all my spare time is spent watching YouTube videos on techniques, nutrition, technologies and DIY repairs related to cycling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">At my servant's service</span></b><br />
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One may do without many of the above-mentioned things but not without a good
mechanic for a branded bicycle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIm6bPnzyG-zjYLMSUM0xDVSotApwCG4b4aOSlSp8v6aO9SmXSCZamxiZDWzC3fnVoTRbo7WNW77uuIbeDcpNydN-9JRcyTTkXE_6GFpQFNDh0b6epbnS3nh9r3tal6s4mp2MSoUZUwMJs/s1600/1%2529+Vintage+road+bike.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="784" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIm6bPnzyG-zjYLMSUM0xDVSotApwCG4b4aOSlSp8v6aO9SmXSCZamxiZDWzC3fnVoTRbo7WNW77uuIbeDcpNydN-9JRcyTTkXE_6GFpQFNDh0b6epbnS3nh9r3tal6s4mp2MSoUZUwMJs/s320/1%2529+Vintage+road+bike.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Ancient bicycle (not mine)</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">While spending countless hours
upgrading and servicing my mountain bike, I noticed my servant (sorry we
do not call them ‘domestic help’) casting sideways glances at his own
dilapidated bike. With greater frequency he had also begun to beg me for extra
money to get the punctures fixed (sorry, we do not call them 'flats').<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsRXqN1HiJ67vAduY88YD7p9IglEwlbppJT9rZ42U-W-E83lfB_4CeTsPrwBaH-XD82WMpJue1vnigfFlVOQRRAVD___I3Mwn_LD6vl7NxK2RVtzwxgxKuVNuT5fkqJBXgwffHIiSQd5c/s1600/4%2529+KE+Medical+College.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1275" data-original-width="1600" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsRXqN1HiJ67vAduY88YD7p9IglEwlbppJT9rZ42U-W-E83lfB_4CeTsPrwBaH-XD82WMpJue1vnigfFlVOQRRAVD___I3Mwn_LD6vl7NxK2RVtzwxgxKuVNuT5fkqJBXgwffHIiSQd5c/s320/4%2529+KE+Medical+College.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">King Edward Medical University</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Something needed to be done to
lessen the intensity of the boy's evil eye, so instead of buying him a new
bike I decided to refurbish the old one he had.</span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Dashing to the Blue Dome</b><br /><br />Neela Gumbad is Lahore’s famed bicycle market, so named because once there stood a mosque with a beautiful blue dome. It is outside one of the entrances of the even more famed Anarkali Bazaar (literally: pomegranate blossom).<br /><br />The drive to Lahore’s city-centre (sorry, we do not call it ‘downtown’) required taking the bike’s front wheel off and packing it in the car’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunk_%28car%29">dickey</a> (sorry, we do not call it ‘boot’ or ‘trunk’).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1uIFQpFz2hnqkCp5-7mfrd9COBdxD9-jTP24kdddOfNTPxaI05jZnCRgFQXFxQRfyNwINWMFnGvGn9wlJBCZX4GGBRmcbEttwZqdDvavV-e2Z2XE2RpZoB7xXH0Otg1XsXJaSJqanLsR/s1600/3%2529+Hippies.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ1uIFQpFz2hnqkCp5-7mfrd9COBdxD9-jTP24kdddOfNTPxaI05jZnCRgFQXFxQRfyNwINWMFnGvGn9wlJBCZX4GGBRmcbEttwZqdDvavV-e2Z2XE2RpZoB7xXH0Otg1XsXJaSJqanLsR/s320/3%2529+Hippies.png" width="220" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">'Flower-power' of the Psychedelic 60s</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">We drove down Jail Road and past historic landmark buildings such as the Governor’s House, the zoo, the High Court and the General Post Office. Across the Neela Gumbad square, the famed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Edward_Medical_University">King Edward Medical University</a> stared at us through the <a href="http://www.ecoindia.com/flora/trees/peepal-tree.html">peepal</a> trees. We had an appointment with a bike surgeon who most eagerly awaited to dissect my servant’s locally-made Sohrab bicycle.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><b>But where did the foreigners go?</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Hippy cyclists from the 1970s once visited Neela Gumbad where they either had their bikes repaired or sold them off to pay for the ‘want' of marijuana—a produce with which our ‘land of the pure’ is supplied in abundance. Sadly, this ‘stuff’ is now controlled by foreign ‘liberators’ settled in Afghanistan.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsLNXwFfPu8Ux9JSYQxgxtBMWMvsKBgKdrGWu0rL0HNSxWvDM3USq95Jwkny7DKeNy1fJeuTcoL3If0OmP2thmiq_A3AHzv7De-w1YbmTcwzHWsGx7LmPi-RG505VbqAevIjWagWbBWFX/s1600/5%2529+Market+-+1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1420" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsLNXwFfPu8Ux9JSYQxgxtBMWMvsKBgKdrGWu0rL0HNSxWvDM3USq95Jwkny7DKeNy1fJeuTcoL3If0OmP2thmiq_A3AHzv7De-w1YbmTcwzHWsGx7LmPi-RG505VbqAevIjWagWbBWFX/s320/5%2529+Market+-+1.jpg" width="284" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The main street of the bicycle market</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I went equipped with the weapons of basic Lahori education and advanced training in foreign lands, and was hence gauged by </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Neela Gumbad's </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">shop-keepers</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">as either ‘someone who had lived abroad’ or a local ‘doctor or engineer’ because only brown foreigners or technically-trained local professionals usually challenged them with smart counter-questions.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6%3A4&version=KJV">“There were giants in the earth in those days…”</a></b></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">To satisfy the readers’ curiosity, I own a Giant ‘C-Rock 1’ mountain bike (MTB for short). </span><a href="https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us">Giant</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> is now the world’s top bicycle manufacturer based in Taiwan, with factories in China.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPCUyCxpcssuggY8zVvkDa-3qKlH7a4_fV_VectKVUImqETW5FXOXNKku0d9SxPedX-tEuyfzHp99FFNrgZmF4iyR0svGofidbs3BoSu0XtU7cxFy4R1nMcGg2m55-YtoYWZSWc8AO57g/s1600/6%2529+Bikes+on+the+floor.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="745" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnPCUyCxpcssuggY8zVvkDa-3qKlH7a4_fV_VectKVUImqETW5FXOXNKku0d9SxPedX-tEuyfzHp99FFNrgZmF4iyR0svGofidbs3BoSu0XtU7cxFy4R1nMcGg2m55-YtoYWZSWc8AO57g/s320/6%2529+Bikes+on+the+floor.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Get ready to lay down your bike (if not your life) </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The day was sunny with 75 percent humidity but 35 Celsius felt like 40 </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(sorry, we do not use Fahrenheit)</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I naturally attempted to find if any Giants existed at Neela Gumbad. I saw three bikes perched atop a display rack, their prices ranging from Rs 75,000 to 150,000. When I asked about spares and repairs, disappointing replies convinced me that I was expected to only buy the bike and never make ridiculous after-sales related queries.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfBE9IlI_-q1YX0qBKH8uf4miSpD-Vq0M4-71cwKYlOm_IVSy5kbwDS-YDFzdb99p6Dxp0_F2cGtVopJxg6NhFUGdwetC5jOR3s-oIsUMGljaWY_B9sJf40GRqYNeSsqfZUr_PD3M4vo4/s1600/6%2529+Dilapidated+bike.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="492" data-original-width="734" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCfBE9IlI_-q1YX0qBKH8uf4miSpD-Vq0M4-71cwKYlOm_IVSy5kbwDS-YDFzdb99p6Dxp0_F2cGtVopJxg6NhFUGdwetC5jOR3s-oIsUMGljaWY_B9sJf40GRqYNeSsqfZUr_PD3M4vo4/s320/6%2529+Dilapidated+bike.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">All bikes (like wives) need routine maintenance</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>When in Rome, do as the Lahoris do</b><br /><br />Many were the diseases that my servant’s bike had. The mechanic-doctor swiftly morphed into a 'believing' butcher, threw the 'sacrificial' bicycle sideways on the floor, and prepared to swiftly send its mechanical soul to bike-heaven. Had it been the Eid season, he might have hung the bike upside down and turned her into spicy metal <i>kebabs </i>and rubbery chops.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSyHZLihg_f1Jy5bZcqvyPESXCY0aRTAZJOzyQ-PLBDVRnXjNHSXNPg6W-Ms9XF75odFnkybUWyhZRTghW1lmq3xuehVQNHV_i6WKAWRTco43FBT4k1T2dcykN5LGYm1B8EtCHir8f15E/s1600/8%2529+Bike+workshop.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="762" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPSyHZLihg_f1Jy5bZcqvyPESXCY0aRTAZJOzyQ-PLBDVRnXjNHSXNPg6W-Ms9XF75odFnkybUWyhZRTghW1lmq3xuehVQNHV_i6WKAWRTco43FBT4k1T2dcykN5LGYm1B8EtCHir8f15E/s320/8%2529+Bike+workshop.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Not exactly Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan's 'BUM'-factory</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Comparing bikes to innocent <i>bakras </i>(goats) is not an insult. Senseless butchery is evident in business, public dealing, and the speedy public 'justice' of Taliban-ISIS-Daesh forms of rogue regimes liberally financed by suited booted ones who wish to rid us of ‘global terrorism’.</span><br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgjwi5vH7TbjD0lxvGbRfq-98Udy0LuU4qD08KTRu5gBJjYhBfAwzam6lwReJOCNb5yP8tR3FNuOxM8XoDIAGXs0gCM7_xua-j5Y999pZn-pRj-2PlLLEUBmP8UhzM7ezR0YXnj9O_zgU/s1600/9%2529+Rat+poison+salesman%252C+Ghauri%252C+Bata.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1012" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvgjwi5vH7TbjD0lxvGbRfq-98Udy0LuU4qD08KTRu5gBJjYhBfAwzam6lwReJOCNb5yP8tR3FNuOxM8XoDIAGXs0gCM7_xua-j5Y999pZn-pRj-2PlLLEUBmP8UhzM7ezR0YXnj9O_zgU/s320/9%2529+Rat+poison+salesman%252C+Ghauri%252C+Bata.jpg" width="202" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Rat-poison, anybody?</span></td></tr>
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<span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">It is a local custom not to decide upon the cost of labour prior to commencement of work but rather haggle afterwards, which will often lead to non-academic arguments and utterance of unpleasant words directed at the ladies of one or the other person's family. Exchanging physical blows over trivial matters is regarded as '<i>askari salahyat</i>' (militancy ability).</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Lahoris are like blunt New Yorkers in many ways, and which explains why </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">we cannot wriggle all of Kashmir out of Indian 'clutches'.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Tyres and tubes</b><br /><br />I left the mechanic's side for a few minutes and upon returning saw that the bike had been dismantled as if it were blown up.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfaOn88G6SgAFedbDfLnoMlkVcdn-nUG0-KpnaWfLdRxFhzLAwHPQpBQU8CZGrqriVyl0-XOOdmH_H3qqwqA1BMCqJQSUcGNbx25murJaYhNLkXU2fQ4BzFrKkdv0n86CmQYqiWGgQi6n/s1600/10%2529+Tyres+%2526+repairsmen.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMfaOn88G6SgAFedbDfLnoMlkVcdn-nUG0-KpnaWfLdRxFhzLAwHPQpBQU8CZGrqriVyl0-XOOdmH_H3qqwqA1BMCqJQSUcGNbx25murJaYhNLkXU2fQ4BzFrKkdv0n86CmQYqiWGgQi6n/s320/10%2529+Tyres+%2526+repairsmen.jpg" width="212" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Muslim stores on Hindu properties</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">We first needed a pair of tyres (sorry, we are do not spell as 'tires') and tubes. Famous top brands could not be found anywhere. Locally manufactured Servis, Panther and Ghauri tyres were available while a famous Indian brand was suddenly 'in short supply because Pakistan had boycotted Indian products' due to the ‘enemy country’ stopping Kashmiris from freely riding their bicycles up and down the mountains. In retaliation, Pakistan stood accused of supplying to the freedom-fighters </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">mountain bikes </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">in camouflage colour-scheme.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The brand Panther reminded me of the sights and smells of Lahore zoo, while Ghauri triggered memories of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_of_Ghor">Shahabuddin Ghori</a> after whom we named a whole missile of the exploding kind just to counter India's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prithvi_%28missile%29">Prithvi</a> missile named after an ancient king <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prithviraj_Chauhan">Prithviraj Chauhan</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvhesVUUwWbwcHuT1fDq-UocFslAeZXhoRe7qjYoWyZ6lIMgn0OLXSmaTDyhXVHN1nKnyMYBVNfc_mnnZGumrAohgKYBeUMZOSZMhqauKOP76VhdT43pgIcIVRpD7zi71UTvMMz-EcN4I/s1600/11%2529+The+mechanic.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvhesVUUwWbwcHuT1fDq-UocFslAeZXhoRe7qjYoWyZ6lIMgn0OLXSmaTDyhXVHN1nKnyMYBVNfc_mnnZGumrAohgKYBeUMZOSZMhqauKOP76VhdT43pgIcIVRpD7zi71UTvMMz-EcN4I/s320/11%2529+The+mechanic.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Our ROCK-IT scientist at work</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">During my school days, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Bata’s shoes remained closer to my feet than those manufactured by Servis; this time I decided to patronise Servis.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />These Servis 26” road-bike tyres possessed gentlemanly treads as opposed to aggressive knobby ones found on mountain bikes meant for aggressive o</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ff-road rides</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If you can guess from the manner of speech, the tubes I purchased came <i>flom a faal-eastan cuntlee, laaa!</i> Instead of the common Woods-Dunlop valves, I preferred Shrader valves in them because the latter allowed inflation at the nearest petrol pump (sorry, we do not use the term ‘gas station’).</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br />With the tyres costing Rs 760 and the tubes Rs 400, the total came to Rs 1,160. Rs 40 went into buying rubber strips that protected the insides of our bike’s mildly rusted rims.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6tUVrDMf83_Q4q7N8e6C2aOtrhgL5zxH8a-bDdbvv_ONBHUBQsKaGh_BMAYQia2OQ8nDbiy3-FMQCybGi8vx36WVb4apNwRnRljfmO023-jBRjRav8VShbS6tGq3U5i0tbk4kr0M1S3A/s1600/12%2529+Ball+bearings.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="798" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj6tUVrDMf83_Q4q7N8e6C2aOtrhgL5zxH8a-bDdbvv_ONBHUBQsKaGh_BMAYQia2OQ8nDbiy3-FMQCybGi8vx36WVb4apNwRnRljfmO023-jBRjRav8VShbS6tGq3U5i0tbk4kr0M1S3A/s200/12%2529+Ball+bearings.jpg" width="99" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Ball bearings</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />The servant discarded the old tyres and the tubes but not without first attempting to sell them to the nearest </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">blind customer</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><b>Rocket-scientist of a mechanic</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Many years ago, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I unintentionally ruined</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> the</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">truing (ability of the wheel to spin without wobbling or appearing crooked) of one of my </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Giant’s wheels. W</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">hen I enquired after the </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">mechanic who fixed it, t</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">he people there told me, "He </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">got into a fight with his business associates and ended up being murdered."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUDTxVjR8jnD-1Qt1G_T2obJm8237b_vKB8RMc6tzc_Qju11VimqobcjiEBFV7Kybclo9o4k4-9UJCYzvxtFmHS3oJb2P1lPv1uQZZa0taZ8qPMsrlvkrGTFPiwvfvyxNgMx3p3ECPOrM/s1600/13%2529+Asif+mechanic.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1092" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUDTxVjR8jnD-1Qt1G_T2obJm8237b_vKB8RMc6tzc_Qju11VimqobcjiEBFV7Kybclo9o4k4-9UJCYzvxtFmHS3oJb2P1lPv1uQZZa0taZ8qPMsrlvkrGTFPiwvfvyxNgMx3p3ECPOrM/s320/13%2529+Asif+mechanic.jpg" width="218" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Another roadside ROCK-IT scientist</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />A bad mechanic is like having a roadside dentist pull out one’s perfectly good tooth—Pakistan having a natural abundance of quacks of all sorts. As the mechanic at hand replaced part after part, I questioned, sometimes challenged, or dissuaded him from speedily getting over with it because ‘other customers were waiting’.<br /><br />Our man worked on a dirty floor, wore no apron or gloves, lacked proper tools, and used no-name oils and greases. His only excuse was: “Nobody would pay me for such finesse by the roadside.” Despite being aware of his handicaps, he thanked the Creator for allowing him to do ‘super quality work’.<br /><br />At home I was fortunate enough to have a bike repair-stand on which to hang my bike for easy access to various parts, quality tools, the right de-greasers and lubricants, and decades of experience as the family’s fix-it-all DIY-man. Emotionally-charged, financially stable, I continue to take great pride in being mechanically-inclined.<br /><br /><b>Axles for an ‘ex’</b><br /><br />A bike’s wheels rotate over axles which are metal rods surrounded at both sides </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">by ball-bearings. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">These days anybody found purchasing ball bearings in bulk is reported immediately because this item is </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">used by disillusioned ‘Islamists’ to blow people up with IEDs (improvised explosive devices)—this being a 'guarantee of easy entrance </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">in </span><i>Jannah </i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(literally, the garden), where seventy-two fair </span><i>houris</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (literally, fair maidens) will be assigned to each man'.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSLB3Pq979rMfFhPD5fuCnDOT6Q7iwqXpp12Ml3f8W_s9eyiQCN-dYXQvJnpdhxdctpEK5fuQwj-X9NW7RQtf6PdYsvswmUMWuQ76NIvX5RZBnGqSm5TcvHUAZaULHMb9S9G9aHCOn9YN/s1600/14%2529+Shikanjabeen-man.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="1600" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYSLB3Pq979rMfFhPD5fuCnDOT6Q7iwqXpp12Ml3f8W_s9eyiQCN-dYXQvJnpdhxdctpEK5fuQwj-X9NW7RQtf6PdYsvswmUMWuQ76NIvX5RZBnGqSm5TcvHUAZaULHMb9S9G9aHCOn9YN/s200/14%2529+Shikanjabeen-man.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Shikanjbeen-wala's chic stall</span></i></span></i></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Work started at noon. When the nearby mosque’s crier announced the afternoon prayers, the mechanic stated, “I always offer <i>ba-jama’at</i> (congregational) prayers”. He </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">then decided to combine the late afternoon prayers with the afternoon one (<i>Zuhr </i>with <i>Asr</i>) because s</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">everal very young customers begged him to look at their broken bikes but were told, “Wait, because </span><i>sahib </i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">has come from far off.”</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><b>Everything but the kitchen-sink</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldjIUglT4SuJPF_BJsUZsMxsftehOocoOzzOZEBiDomWUmPB-MQXS1Y4r6jQI0OLoC1RYQf_Gm7-NFXxCsoe936QlCM-3S8IjZj8ITICeau4F0FLODy4Tppa8ZEc8J8HgN5pTzJbC_qa2/s1600/15%2529+Pre-surgery.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1521" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldjIUglT4SuJPF_BJsUZsMxsftehOocoOzzOZEBiDomWUmPB-MQXS1Y4r6jQI0OLoC1RYQf_Gm7-NFXxCsoe936QlCM-3S8IjZj8ITICeau4F0FLODy4Tppa8ZEc8J8HgN5pTzJbC_qa2/s200/15%2529+Pre-surgery.jpg" width="190" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The servant's bike: before surgery</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">At the lane’s end stood </span><i>shikanjbeen-wala</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> who sold lemonade with just the right touch of sugar and salt. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Street vendors with their tape-recorded cries came and went; one sold rat poison while another offered chopped guava with a sprinkling of black salt. With so much perspiration taking place, the populace was expected to consume things with a pinch of salt.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Sipping chilled 7-Ups was the right thing to do; the drink generated so many bubbles in the gastro-intestinal tract, we lost all desire to have a road-side lunch.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Minutes turned into hours because we </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ended up replacing:</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1) Wheel axles (02)</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2) Wheel-spokes x 06</span><br /></span><div><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">3) Rubber grips for the handlebar</span></div>
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</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">4) Ball-bearings (1/4” x 36 pieces)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Xn1S5hL84to_v2Mpkkrt0WbUww58aVQssjxNy8CZfpV8VOg8r5x3lpPghm0mcpStIc_6C-leVswomUBA69Pu1UKTMB-KlIpHnlMGzsP_hjJy_hFfM1oLePORoxd5OiispN7Ptfa81iT6/s1600/16%2529+Pre-paint+-+1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1284" data-original-width="1600" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Xn1S5hL84to_v2Mpkkrt0WbUww58aVQssjxNy8CZfpV8VOg8r5x3lpPghm0mcpStIc_6C-leVswomUBA69Pu1UKTMB-KlIpHnlMGzsP_hjJy_hFfM1oLePORoxd5OiispN7Ptfa81iT6/s320/16%2529+Pre-paint+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The bike on its way to being 'stripped' of old paint</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">5) Bottom bracket centre-axle and ball-bearings</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />6) The front sprocket (original 42 teeth; replacement 44 teeth)<br />7) Brake-set (02 cables, 2 sets of brake-pads and brake-levers)</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">As the mechanic trued the wheels (tightening the spokes to ensure the wheels did not wobble), he joked, "All that is left to replace now is the bike’s frame!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><b>33% financing from <i>'Sahib' </i>Bank Limited</b><br /><br />Much before the bike’s surgery commenced, my servant attempted to dispose it off but nobody offered more than Rs 500. He dreamed of purchasing a pre-loved </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">bike but the prices varied between </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Rs 5,000 and </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">9,000. From Rs 12,000 to 17,000 one could purchase a </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">'cheapa cheapa' Chinese import.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />I was already spending something which was globally in short supply: time. The boy was only being 25%-financed by yours truly; the rest he would pay back in six easy instalments sans mark-up.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I could have easily bought him a new bike but behavioural studies and cultural practises indicate that people tend not to value free things. Servants here consider it the employer’s duty to pay them not only the salaries but also extra money for clothing, food, utility bills, <i>Eidy </i>on festive occasions and even interest-free loans which they sometimes never repay. In all honesty, I wished the boy to care for a refurbished bike he owned.<br /><br /><b>Centrally located, not centrally air-conditioned</b><br /><br />Due to the hot and humid weather, all shopkeepers seemed fed up with life. They all kept themselves seated under the ceiling fans while customers stood like witnesses in a courtesy. In the west a salesperson always attends to customers standing up and this habit alone has caused the decline of the west.<br /><br />The mechanical replacement parts worth Rs 1,125, the tyres and tube</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">s worth Rs 1,160, and the mechanic’s </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Rs 700 </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">labour brought the bill to </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a whopping Rs 3,025 (equivalent to USD 20).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0jO-bZMIz9zFnpVMFGSrnozQPG5B-iAaewD2zHsWtmmKIYVZgXMFIgT0LsK2FCgAcmE4irllW75_OaZZUdV1ZQJxGKjYd-quriA0EP1tPv5-vs4v5wjtCNEGjQYaSAY1NjPrLgrbgKqv/s1600/17%2529+Pre-paint+-+2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1175" data-original-width="1600" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA0jO-bZMIz9zFnpVMFGSrnozQPG5B-iAaewD2zHsWtmmKIYVZgXMFIgT0LsK2FCgAcmE4irllW75_OaZZUdV1ZQJxGKjYd-quriA0EP1tPv5-vs4v5wjtCNEGjQYaSAY1NjPrLgrbgKqv/s320/17%2529+Pre-paint+-+2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Preparing a naked bike for a paint-job</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I asked my servant if he was happy; he smiled but did not say much. Being a boy of only fifteen, had he come alone to Neela Gumbad, he certainly would have over-spent on parts and come across work of lesser quality.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />All said and done, we returned home by 5 p.m. and had a sumptuous well-deserved lunch followed by tea.<br /><br /><b>Post-delivery blues and r</b><b>eturn to Neela Gumbad</b><br /><br />As we got the bike out of the dickey (there is that word again), I noticed that both the wheels sat loosely on their axles. I immediately called the mechanic who asked me to tighten some nuts but that did not help. For the rest of the evening, I watched a few YouTube videos on the subject and understood where the mechanic had fouled up.<br /><br />I attempted to contact the mechanic the next day to tell him that I was coming to get the bike re-fixed. True to his rotten core, he ignored the repeated calls.<br /><br />I then called someone who ran a cycling group. We met at Neela Gumbad but naturally failed to trace the mechanic. It was soon found out that the shop that the mechanic claimed to own was not his property and he was known as someone ‘not that good at fixing bikes’. As they say in local lingo: <i>hamaray saath hand ho gaya tha </i>(literally: we had </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">experienced </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a sleight of hand).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfw6tqtZRi9saNiMKbaeTwtDQdp9ESyT_DCdUcoYg34HXHiKxTGpVjBhhZK_i8CkfwbdlpJrJs2LQTEMcL82nwWkgF-8Z8IM4Dpj7I-zkaz4iGpP2EChc0gE7APC6I6scDiOZ7kAcQTbe/s1600/19%2529+Paint+-+1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1506" data-original-width="1600" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfw6tqtZRi9saNiMKbaeTwtDQdp9ESyT_DCdUcoYg34HXHiKxTGpVjBhhZK_i8CkfwbdlpJrJs2LQTEMcL82nwWkgF-8Z8IM4Dpj7I-zkaz4iGpP2EChc0gE7APC6I6scDiOZ7kAcQTbe/s320/19%2529+Paint+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The fun part: painting the bike</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />This fellow (sorry, I shall not call him a ‘guy’) found us another mechanic who was appalled at the lack of detail in the previous mechanic’s work—typical tactic to make the customer feel very foolish. He took maybe five minutes to install the missing nuts to the shaky wheels, and also fixed a children’s bike that I had brought along.<br /><br />I liked this roadside mechanic because he was fluid and cheerful, and was assured of becoming very rich very soon doing </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">business with me. In all, I paid him a whopping Rs 100 (U.S 64 cents) for the labour and darted towards my car lest he protested on being overpaid.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><b>More accessories</b><br /><br />Like a benevolent employer I wanted my boy-employee to also ride in style. I purchased a cheap helmet for Rs 200, a bell for 40, a plastic seat-cover for 30, and a plastic water-bottle cage for 50; all this turned the boy into an ecstatic whirling dervish.<br /><br />What I left for another day were replacement of the 18-tooth fixed rear-cog (free-wheel), the chain, a set of wheels (Rs 1,200), and the handle-bar (Rs 400).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaNXxh6ui0Dr6oHSwf8HJA2bhgQTu2EX1sjSSBmsnJOCZBHXzo7EvIpoTYwB1ymPAJe0STiclpXgudjemwYNbHGSbrsqTRY92LEiWXYHaqGeE9YnRpLhaOSP6d1P1Hu5YxcutqarbIGt3/s1600/20%2529+Paint+-+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1147" data-original-width="1600" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaNXxh6ui0Dr6oHSwf8HJA2bhgQTu2EX1sjSSBmsnJOCZBHXzo7EvIpoTYwB1ymPAJe0STiclpXgudjemwYNbHGSbrsqTRY92LEiWXYHaqGeE9YnRpLhaOSP6d1P1Hu5YxcutqarbIGt3/s400/20%2529+Paint+-+2.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">The finished Ferrari or whatever </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This was one memorable trip full of haggling and watching over the shoulder. On my way out, a shop-owner stopped me to remark: “Your style of speaking reminds me of a very candid TV talk-show host”.<br /><br /><b>A bit of make-up</b><br /><br />All done, the bike still begged to be sent to a beauty parlour; she needed a new paint-job.<br /><br />My most obedient servant spent two days stripping the bike’s old paint and sanding down the bike frame with 320-grit sandpaper. Since '</span><a href="https://youtu.be/Q0TE5PRI3EI">Love is Blue</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">', we agreed on blue colour for the bike which I was to paint.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After covering with masking tape, the parts that required no paint, I sprayed two coats, giving twelve hours in between for drying. Proper curing would take 3-6 days, depending upon weather conditions.<br /><br />After having the paint wet-sanded with 1000-grit sandpaper to even out imperfections and to get smoother surfaces, I sprayed the third coat only on the visible parts of the frame. The option of later applying a coat of clear lacquer was kept in mind.<br /><br />Once the wheels were cleaned with WD-40 and the pedal cranks were polished with chrome-cleaning polish, our Jack hit the road like a </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">satisfied and happy soul.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Read my other articles on cycling:</span></span></div><div><ol><li><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-innocence-of-cycling.html"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Innocence Of Cycling</span></a></li><li><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-beginners-guide-to-cycling.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">A Beginner's Guide To Cycling</span></a></li></ol></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> <br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2019</i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Edits 23-09-19: photo captions, 'Love is Blue', text</i></span></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-17959662451996423392019-07-05T16:19:00.000+05:002019-12-06T19:06:23.582+05:00Duleep Singh - The Last Maharaja of Punjab<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The story of how </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ranjit Singh - The Lion of Punjab</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> built his empire has
already been told in the previous article. Let us now read about how his son, Duleep Singh, became the
Maharaja after climbing several blood-soaked rungs of the succession ladder.</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">One life, many wives</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The medieval kings took special pride in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">harems</i> full of beautiful wives and concubines. Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s
colourful bedtime storybook featured </span><a href="https://nationalviews.com/maharaja-ranjit-singh-wives-names-mehtab-kaur-datar-kaur-sons-history"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">twenty wives and twenty-six concubines</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> who he sourced as listed below:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1) First wife Mehtab Kaur in 1796, who gave birth to a son
named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishar_Singh_(Sikh_prince)">Ishar
Singh</a> (</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1802-1804). After </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">separation from her first husband, she brought forth the twins </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_Singh_(Sikh_prince)"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Tara Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1807-1859)
and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sher_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sher Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1807-1843</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">2) Raj Kaur in 1798. She was later renamed Datar Kaur to avoid
confusion with Ranjit’s mother (also named Raj Kaur). Affectionately called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mai Nakain</i>, she bore </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharak_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kharak Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1801-1840).</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">3) </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moran_Sarkar" title="Moran Sarkar"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Moraan Sarkar</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, the </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">nautch</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> girl</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, in 1802.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">4) Rani Ratan Kaur in 1811. This widow gave birth to </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multana_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Multana Singh</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (1819-1846)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">5) Rani </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Daya Kaur in 1811. This widow gave birth to two
sons </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmira_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kashmira Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1821-1844</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">) and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashaura_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Pashaura Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1821-1845</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">) from her previous deceased husband. Ranjit named the boys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">6) Rani Roop Kaur in 1815<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">7) Rani Chaand Kaur in 1815<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">8) Rani Lakshmi in 1820<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecwLhlJJueUAXxykWWl7DdzBMRoQMVmHyN_yzHVRPtWO9WcFssk74UbS3fZMRkRwnt8P7CEm5fkoR3bT0XDwinIqjI83FaE26f4GpzajJMZrDjyUDIcIMPoF7NqgMCvRFYAURsVVvfTbG/s1600/3%2529+The+Golden+Throne+of+Ranjit+Singh.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="587" data-original-width="543" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgecwLhlJJueUAXxykWWl7DdzBMRoQMVmHyN_yzHVRPtWO9WcFssk74UbS3fZMRkRwnt8P7CEm5fkoR3bT0XDwinIqjI83FaE26f4GpzajJMZrDjyUDIcIMPoF7NqgMCvRFYAURsVVvfTbG/s320/3%2529+The+Golden+Throne+of+Ranjit+Singh.png" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">3</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">9) Rani Mehatab Kaur in 1822<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">10) Rani Gulab Kaur<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">11) Mehtab ‘Guddan’ Devi in 1829 (SATI?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">12) Raj Banso (sister of Mehtab Devi) in 1829<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">13) Rani Ram Devi in 1830<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">14) Unknown wife<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">15) Rani Saman Kaur in 1832<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">16) </span><a href="http://www.maharajaranjitsingh.com/gul_bahar_begum.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Gulbahar Begum</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, the </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">nautch</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> girl</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">), in 1832. See </span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/67227577@N03/12615979434"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">photos</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">; read </span><a href="https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/879/pakistan/lahore/gul-begum-bagh-garden"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">HERE</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">17) His last wife, Jind Kaur, in 1835. She gave birth to </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duleep_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (04 September </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1838 - 22 October 1893)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibadLMpGAZQ1TAicX9dV3GMpEXRcBV3njK4i7DUfZnRwPcrRkamgA7wvUVKA9EigEcrUFFWO-oXX1_m5be1YghrZId1aXaRCBNydG3R_DHNAaF4p7FeRhz34-3o-U-PVb0pkC-Hn1QqGAx/s1600/4%2529+Dancing+girl.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibadLMpGAZQ1TAicX9dV3GMpEXRcBV3njK4i7DUfZnRwPcrRkamgA7wvUVKA9EigEcrUFFWO-oXX1_m5be1YghrZId1aXaRCBNydG3R_DHNAaF4p7FeRhz34-3o-U-PVb0pkC-Hn1QqGAx/s320/4%2529+Dancing+girl.png" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Young <i>nautch </i>girls make grown men dance for them </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ranjit Singh also had three Rajput wives who committed ritual </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_%28practice%29"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">sati</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">at his death:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">18) Rani Har Devi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">19) Rani Raj Devi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">20) Rani Rajno Kaur<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The favourite wives of the Maharaja were Moraan and Gulbahar (</span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">nautch</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> girls</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">), and Jind Kaur (amateur dancer).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Maharaja Kharak
Singh and Chet Singh<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">"The break-up of the
Punjab will probably begin with murder".<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">– A </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/news/imperial-story-conspiracy-love-and-gurus-prophecy">prediction</a> of </span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Lord Ellenborough, the
Governor-General of India</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Maharaja had eight sons but only acknowledged Kharak and
Duleep as his own; the rest were either dowries or conjugal ‘mistakes’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ranjit Singh’s Prime Minister was</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Raja Dhian Singh </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">(22 August 1796-1843) who
also brought in hi</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">s </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogra_dynasty#Prime_Ministers_of_Sikh_empire"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Dogra</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Hindu Rajput <span style="background: white;">brothers,
Suchet and Gulab, to handle important departments.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Shortly before his death, Ranjit appointed Kharak Singh as ruler
of Kashmir. </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Dhian
set afloat the </span><a href="https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/sikh-political-figures/dhian-singh-raja"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">rumour</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">that </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharak_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kharak</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> and his childhood teacher, </span><a href="https://www.allaboutsikhs.com/1800/chet-singh-bajwa"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Chet Singh Bajwa</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, were traitors about
to disband the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Khalsa</i> army, turn all
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sardars</i> out of their command, and
ready to pay six <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">annas</i> in every Rupee
of revenue to the British for protection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kharak, a blockhead, was exceedingly fond of alcohol, opium, and partying
with </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">nautch</span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> girls</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">. His lack of statecraft, and blind trust on his
intimidating teacher angered Dhian and his brothers who felt belittled and
mistrusted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPtyUKh7wQSqljWNYHpxgeMDuYjownA8DjKKRESHaXkL4q65Ga-68IWKC-QIqDb7ecx1C34F6gv82aoxSXAHlO2qFfzsgFAeHidVfvmOGfCTvhN_ihWcMCC-RUpqGsk1eVgCJlvKmT8Bv/s1600/5%2529+Murder.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="349" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLPtyUKh7wQSqljWNYHpxgeMDuYjownA8DjKKRESHaXkL4q65Ga-68IWKC-QIqDb7ecx1C34F6gv82aoxSXAHlO2qFfzsgFAeHidVfvmOGfCTvhN_ihWcMCC-RUpqGsk1eVgCJlvKmT8Bv/s200/5%2529+Murder.png" width="139" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Chet was rash enough to say in </span><i style="font-family: arial, sans-serif;">durbar</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
to Dhian, "See what will become of you in twenty-four hours." Dhian, a
resolute and serene man, smiled politely and replied, "Your humble
servant, sir; we shall see."</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Dhian had an understanding both with the Sikh <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sardars</i> of Ranjit Singh’s French Brigade (under General Ventura)
and the British. He worked his magic on Nau Nihal Singh (Kharak’s son) and his
wife, and Maharani Chand Kaur (Ranjit Singh’s wife). He then </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">recruited two cousins, Sandhawalia <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sardars</i> </span><a href="https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/sikh-political-figures/dhian-singh-raja"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ajit Singh and Lehna Singh</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">On the fateful night of 09 October 1839, t</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">he army officers were ordered to feign
sleep no matter what happened. <span style="color: black;">With Maharaja Kharak held
back in the adjoining room, Dhian plunged a danger into Chet Singh’s heart,
shouting, "The twenty-four hours you were courteous enough to mention to
me have not yet elapsed. Take this in memory of Ranjit Singh."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Stone-hearted son Nau Nihal Singh, aided by court
physicians, administered poison which took nine painful months to claim father </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kharak’s </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">life
on 05 November 1840, aged only thirty-eight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaGDcYSoUA4vZ8CDIS23wLXHzqGDD8_R_raK3l1fETxfJig3dMy_9kkyy32S4mo-HI6Fx2Y0vloR9v_f5MpFTisBAkO5bnsfFbq3qoY8fj78YCv-H4Xyjhf2cf8fSIz39k6kL9jRNfRGB/s1600/6%2529+Duleep+in+ceremonial+dress+-+1852+%2528by+George+Duncan+Beechey%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSaGDcYSoUA4vZ8CDIS23wLXHzqGDD8_R_raK3l1fETxfJig3dMy_9kkyy32S4mo-HI6Fx2Y0vloR9v_f5MpFTisBAkO5bnsfFbq3qoY8fj78YCv-H4Xyjhf2cf8fSIz39k6kL9jRNfRGB/s320/6%2529+Duleep+in+ceremonial+dress+-+1852+%2528by+George+Duncan+Beechey%2529.png" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">6</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Nau Nihal Singh</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">On 06 November at Kharak’s cremation, two <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ranis</i> and eleven slave-girls committed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sati</i>. After </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">the funeral, as </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nau_Nihal_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Nau Nihal Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> was passing under the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roshnai
Gate</i> archway at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hazuri Bagh</i>, beams
and stones </span><a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/1839_A.D_-_1849_A.D._The_turbulent_years"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">crashed down</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">. Mian Udham Singh Dogra, son of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulab_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Gulab
Singh</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, died on the spot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">An
injured <span style="color: black;">Nau Nihal was quarantined; not even his
mother and wives were allowed to see him. A <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">palki</i>-bearer
remembered seeing Nau Nihal’s Rupee-sized head-wound but the unusual pool of
blood that his corpse was bathed in indicated foul play. He was </span></span><a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/1839_A.D_-_1849_A.D._The_turbulent_years"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">only nineteen</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">An American</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> employed as an artillery Colonel by Ranjit,
</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Gardner_(soldier)" title="Alexander Gardner (soldier)"><span style="background: white; color: #0b0080; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Alexander Haughton Campbell Gardner</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, (Gordana Khan) was
not allowed to </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">eyewitness
the ‘accident’; he </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">was sent on a fool’s errand by Dhian Singh. Gardener later
noted that of the </span><a href="https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=JFcqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT168&redir_esc=y"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">five artillery men</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <span style="background: white;">who
carried Nau Nihal to the fort, two were murdered, two escaped somewhere, and the
fate of the fifth remained unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Maharani
Chand Kaur<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Dhian, Suchet, and Gulab now set up Maharani Chand Kaur as a
rival claimant to the throne. While Gulab and his nephew Hira Singh pretended
to favour the Maharani, Dhian Singh sided with Maharaja Sher Singh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A futile battle was staged between the rivals and which benefitted
Gulab Singh. Soon Chand Kaur was </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">found murdered in bed, her head crushed with a flagstone by
slave-girls bribed by Sher Singh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Maharaja Sher
Singh, Pratap, and Dhian Singh<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">On 18 January 1841, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sher_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sher
Singh</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
(son of Ranjit Singh and Mehtab Kaur), was pronounced the Maharaja. Curiously, Dhian Singh
remained the Prime Minister.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQRDFVJzIqhg3okpKox8MoeGYA2_DtW74ztbXnh2s-SU8UAUZ1yLrLpYaD7fOT2nY6aBsu_N0_E4dekdRxFqsnEzM9vXB_AqdZaN-i_FyjB94pkHBJg732gRs_OHIV52BJMoGWH3Qf_gNi/s1600/7%2529+Duleep+at+Osborne+%2528by+Dr+Ernst+Becker+-+Prince+Albert%25E2%2580%2599s+librarian%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="517" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQRDFVJzIqhg3okpKox8MoeGYA2_DtW74ztbXnh2s-SU8UAUZ1yLrLpYaD7fOT2nY6aBsu_N0_E4dekdRxFqsnEzM9vXB_AqdZaN-i_FyjB94pkHBJg732gRs_OHIV52BJMoGWH3Qf_gNi/s320/7%2529+Duleep+at+Osborne+%2528by+Dr+Ernst+Becker+-+Prince+Albert%25E2%2580%2599s+librarian%2529.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sher Singh was popular in the army but strongly supported the
British due the Afghan war experience. He ignored Dhian’s advice, gave in to
drinking and debauchery, and overlooked the murders of army officers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">On
15 September 1843, Ajit Singh, while asking for a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">jagir</i> (feudal land grant) killed the Maharaja<span style="background: white;"> </span>with a double-barrel gun and two blows of the
sword. Sher Singh’s last words were: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aa
ki dagha?</i> (why this treachery?)<span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ajit
then beheaded Sher Singh’s handsome 10-year old son, Prince Karivar Pratap
Singh, and entered the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">harem</i> where he
butchered all the ladies. On the same day he shot and then hacked to death conspirator,
Raja Dhian Singh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Death for the assassins<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Hira
Singh and Suchet Singh, the son and brother of Dhian Singh<span style="color: black;"> extracted revenge by attacking and brutally executing Ajit
Singh and his accomplice cousin, Lehna Singh. At Dhian Singh’s cremation, his
ten-year old wife committed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sati</i>
along with thirteen slave-girls.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Duleep Singh was finally proclaimed the new Maharaja, and Hira
Singh became his Prime Minister.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Suchet Singh’s
murder<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ranjit Singh’s last wife, Jind Kaur, and her brother Jawahar Singh
too desired to get rid of major irritants. They led Suchet Singh into a trap at
Lahore. His aide, Pandit Julla cleverly bribed the entire army with gold bracelets
before Suchet could fulfil the same promise to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9UufSqE_qi-E_6dMXYM7MjmPCyIkDFL1IJNTsailppSkNjtRhekhRZynu-84EJeHisr7uSWkbf7psF5GLsgDtVWeTSsuJaOjrovmdkHa2LfqTy83be5ha7JWtZSfU5W0Nz6hi7GV2ggL/s1600/8%2529+Maharaja+Sir+Duleep+Singh+in+ceremonial+dress%252C+1861.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="389" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm9UufSqE_qi-E_6dMXYM7MjmPCyIkDFL1IJNTsailppSkNjtRhekhRZynu-84EJeHisr7uSWkbf7psF5GLsgDtVWeTSsuJaOjrovmdkHa2LfqTy83be5ha7JWtZSfU5W0Nz6hi7GV2ggL/s320/8%2529+Maharaja+Sir+Duleep+Singh+in+ceremonial+dress%252C+1861.png" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Hira wished to welcome at the city gate his uncle Suchet but Julla
warned that the latter would murder him. Suchet and his
band of fifty men, trapped inside a mosque, were </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">then ordered by </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Julla</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">be killed.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Hira Singh and
Pandit Julla</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Prime Minister Hira was a mean character, totally under the
influence of Pandit Julla whom the army hated. Julla intrigued to create a rift
between Hira and his uncles, Gulab and Suchet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />By now, the entire army at Lahore sided with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulab_Singh">Gulab Singh</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogra_dynasty#Prime_Ministers_of_Sikh_empire">Dogra</a> (Suchet’s brother and Maharaja of Kashmir) and wanted Hira to give up Julla. Hira refused and escaped beyond <i>Shahdara </i>with Julla and Sohan (son of Gulab Singh) but fate caught up with them; their severed heads were paraded through Lahore for a fortnight.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kashmira Singh
and Peshaura Singh’s murders<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Gulab Singh Dogra was furious at the Sikh army for murdering
several of his family members. Seeking revenge, especially from Jawahar Singh,
he colluded with the British. In turn, Jawahar ill-treated Kashmira Singh and
Peshaura Singh (not Ranjit’s real sons).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmira_Singh">Kashmira</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
was killed <span style="color: black;">on 07 May 1844 in a battle with the </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.royalark.net/India4/lahore.htm">Sandha</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.royalark.net/India4/lahore.htm">walias</a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, and ‘great threat’ </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashaura_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Peshaura</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> was strangled to death on 11 September 1845.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jawahar Singh’s
murder<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jawahar and Jind Kaur were the children of Ranjit Singh’s
dog-keeper named Manna Singh Aulakh who would run along the </span><a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/palki"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">palki</i></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> of Ranjit and beg for his ten-year old daughter Jind Kaur to be
admitted to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">harem</i>. By age
thirteen, through a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chadar dalna </i>(throwing
the sheet) ceremony, Jind Kaur was married to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Under most dramatic conditions and in accordance with the decision
of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Panch</i> (military council),
Jawahar Singh was publicly bayoneted and hacked to pieces as his sister Jind
Kaur and young nephew Duleep Singh cried in despair.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiiXeNaI86cFfQxs4AM443CSCpgGTVcuZW0RDlNyL5LvNMfW_3zJcU3xlXaH9dyK-7kNqA39H-1KQAzrM7Qzehv0GKdKCAT0PNlJNYE1mVr6FroYszMj5EQu8yvfau9cUbpi6JFe6g04l/s1600/9%2529+Maharani+Jind+Kaur+aka+Jindan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="376" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiiXeNaI86cFfQxs4AM443CSCpgGTVcuZW0RDlNyL5LvNMfW_3zJcU3xlXaH9dyK-7kNqA39H-1KQAzrM7Qzehv0GKdKCAT0PNlJNYE1mVr6FroYszMj5EQu8yvfau9cUbpi6JFe6g04l/s320/9%2529+Maharani+Jind+Kaur+aka+Jindan.png" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maharani Jind Kaur (aka Jindan)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jind Kaur's mind-games</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">When Jind Kaur became the regent in September 1843, her advisors
were Diwan Dina Nath, Bhai Ram Singh, and Misr Lal Singh (the last being her lover).
They resolved to ‘throw the snake into the enemy’s bosom’, meaning, destroy the
fearsome Sikh army by pitting it against the conspirators and their British
supporters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br />“Ajj Raniit Singh marr gaya (Today Ranjit Singh has died).”<br />– Sikh soldiers, with tears in their eyes, kissing their swords, laying them down never to see them again, and exclaiming with choked throats on 14 March 1849 at Rawalpindi (<a href="https://ia800606.us.archive.org/17/items/MaharajaDuleepSinghCorrespondenceHistoryOfTheFreedomMovementInThePunjabVolumeIIIDr.GandaSinghEd./Maharaja%20Duleep%20Singh%20Correspondence%20%28History%20of%20the%20Freedom%20Movement%20in%20the%20Punjab%20Volume%20III%29%20-%20Dr.%20Ganda%20Singh%20%28Ed.%29.pdf">Maharaja Duleep Singh Correspondence Volume III (p.67, Dr. Ganda Singh)</a></i></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The deadly family feud and the </span><a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Anglo_Sikh_War_I"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Anglo Sikh War I</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <span style="background: white; color: black;">(1845-46) </span><span style="color: black;">and </span></span><a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Anglo_Sikh_War_II"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">II</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <span style="background: white;">(1848-49) wreaked
havoc on </span>Sikh power. Misr Lal Singh ran and hid himself in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tandoor</i> (oven) of an old bakeress in
Ludhiana. General Tej Singh too, under the pretext of getting more ‘help’, took
to his heels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Maharani Jind Kaur, corresponding with the British, was actively hunting
with the lion and running with the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Khalsa</i>
hare. To secure the boy Maharaja and herself against the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Khalsa</i> army, she surrounded herself with not Sikh soldiers but
Muslims who had previously mutinied against the Sikhs in Peshawar in 1841.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Sikh army sought Gulab Singh’s aid against their deserter Generals
and promised to make him a bigger Maharaja. Due to his past experience and Jind
Kaur’s request, he maintained his distance in Jammu.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jindan then </span><a href="http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/postgurus/herosvillains/heroes%20villains.htm"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">conspired</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> to have the British
Resident at Lahore, Lt. Col. Henry Lawrence, murdered but the plan failed
because of leaked information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A peace treaty between the British and the Lahore <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">durbar</i> was ratified on 08 March 1849. The
British gained overall supremacy with the signing of the </span><a href="https://www.freemasonrytoday.com/features/the-life-of-a-british-maharaja"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Treaty of Lahore</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> on 29 March. Through the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Khalsa</i> army’s defeat, Jind Kaur opened the
British Pandora’s Box of annexation of the Punjab on 02 April 1849.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXdX3eS9N23ROz5JDvdVgCNCPvKZ6s2xntA9tmNjPvKwn-y7jmUeRxycMVcm4cQTMGXS3r_spUA0hM9sa60upndUivC1eO0WMQFZjvLEpNHOGNF7mnjYL53bAhoUGu3HLfwjd6vsOVpgi/s1600/10%2529+Early+Akali+Sikh+warriors+of+the+Khalsa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="603" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXdX3eS9N23ROz5JDvdVgCNCPvKZ6s2xntA9tmNjPvKwn-y7jmUeRxycMVcm4cQTMGXS3r_spUA0hM9sa60upndUivC1eO0WMQFZjvLEpNHOGNF7mnjYL53bAhoUGu3HLfwjd6vsOVpgi/s320/10%2529+Early+Akali+Sikh+warriors+of+the+Khalsa.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Early <i>Akali </i>Sikh warriors of the <i>Khalsa</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">A large British force was stationed at Lahore where Colonel Sir
John Lawrence was Resident. Gulab Singh was declared an independent Maharaja of
Kashmir and Jammu. In all the despair, the Maharani fancied marrying a
high-ranking British officer to secure her own and Duleep’s future.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The British East India Company officials spun for Duleep a bedtime
story according to which his 'mother had rebelled against him'. He and
his courtiers were expected to unhesitatingly sign away the kingdom or face much
harsher consequences. The Company effectively evicted the young Prince from the
<i>Darbar</i> of Lahore and turned his mother into a powerless <i>Rani</i> (queen).
The Treaty</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black;">stated:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">‘His Highness the Maharajah
Duleep Singh shall resign for himself, his heirs, and his successors all right,
title, and claim to the sovereignty of the Punjab, or to any sovereign power whatever
[…] All the property of the State […] shall be confiscated to the Honourable
East India Company, in part payment of the debt due by the State of Lahore to
the British Government.’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jind Kaur’s punishment<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">At age nine Duleep was separated from his queen mother for
thirteen years. The Company granted Duleep a </span><a href="http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/studies/PDF-FILES/2-Tatyana%20Zagorodnikova%20C-Paper%20final.pdf"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">life pension</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> of Rupees 400,000-500,000
per annum but later twice reduced the amount agreed upon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KEITuexa2mCNtfz747HP7_7jYomsWQiUkv-U2TfKuDG7pBFTOHp-TImIzS7MCC8RyVxNmBwA_23DDXAo_UXTTSl3ni4QWtwwLcP6PdRBp4sjlk0tEb3ha455IEhQpDyg38SR41JRajYY/s1600/11%2529+Subedar+of+the+21st+Bengal+Native+Infantry+%25281819%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="335" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6KEITuexa2mCNtfz747HP7_7jYomsWQiUkv-U2TfKuDG7pBFTOHp-TImIzS7MCC8RyVxNmBwA_23DDXAo_UXTTSl3ni4QWtwwLcP6PdRBp4sjlk0tEb3ha455IEhQpDyg38SR41JRajYY/s320/11%2529+Subedar+of+the+21st+Bengal+Native+Infantry+%25281819%2529.png" width="164" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">11</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
Jindaan (or <i>Mai Jee</i>), the '</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messalina"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Messalina</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> of the Punjab' was a
seductress too rebellious to be controlled, and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">‘regarded as a </span><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">dangerous influence</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> on the young boy’. T<span style="color: black;">he Company clipped her wings by reducing the annual pension
</span>from Rupees <span style="color: black;">150,000 to 80,000, confiscation of
jewellery, and confinement at Sheikhupura Fort.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The British blamed on Jind Kaur the rebellions they themselves
stoked in Multan and Hazara, further reduced the pension to Rupees 48,000, and
exiled the Maharani with two maid-servants to Chinnar Fort by river Ganges in Varanasi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">When her ferocious letters, exhorting the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Khalsa</i> sardars to mutiny, were intercepted by the British, she </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jind_Kaur"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">escaped</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">from captivity disguised as
a servant. She begged for food along the way, and traversed eight hundred miles
of forest along river Gomti to reach Nepal. Local spies recognised her but she
succeeded in seeking asylum from Maharana Jung Bahadur (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Star_of_India"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">GCSI</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">British agents kept a watchful eye on Jind Kaur for eleven years and
intercepted all her mail. It was intelligence gathering that made Britain ‘great’ and an ‘empire’ which ruled over colonies full of slave labour and raw materials.<br />
<br />
<i>Read: </i></span><a href="http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Imperial Gazetteer of India</span></i></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5uyA_ZCYb9dIUSx_9Ui3rchyphenhyphenAYY9yTnYed-IJJ6BQAfasWZ-i7sEXDdyuomyeX-GrAP7ar6PA3C3Co4XObWAnfNndE-Z85Ex08cPEG9-cWJrVEzz0BKIlXiQHpMWULZmeY9np9-Cxyy4/s1600/12%2529+Coat+of+arms+of+the+East+India+Company+circa+1700s.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="557" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5uyA_ZCYb9dIUSx_9Ui3rchyphenhyphenAYY9yTnYed-IJJ6BQAfasWZ-i7sEXDdyuomyeX-GrAP7ar6PA3C3Co4XObWAnfNndE-Z85Ex08cPEG9-cWJrVEzz0BKIlXiQHpMWULZmeY9np9-Cxyy4/s320/12%2529+Coat+of+arms+of+the+East+India+Company+circa+1700s.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Coat of arms of the East India Company (circa 1700s)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The cost of wars</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In case, you have always wondered where our own elites come from, consider this: The British East India Company (BEIC), or ‘Company’, was soon being referred to as ‘Company <i>Bahadur</i>’ (valiant). It ran the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company_College">East India Company College</a> (‘Haileybury’), nineteen miles north of London, where the finest minds from Oxford and Cambridge tutored future ’writers’ (administrators).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Duleep signed the punitive 1849 </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/18/britain-did-not-steal-most-famous-diamond-in-crown-jewels-from-i/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Treaty of Lahore</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> to compensate the Company for
'losses suffered during wars' which she curiously fought to usurp the Sikh
empire. The Company was pleased to take over Punjab and the famous <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i> (mountain of light) diamond through
a distinct </span><a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/how-duleep-singh-handed-it-to-the-queen/225240.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">clause</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> in the Treaty.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">
<br />
<i>“The gem called the Koh-i-Noor, which was taken from Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk by
Maharajah Runjeet Singh, shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the
Queen of England.”</i><br />
<br />
</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Just one man, </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28106083"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Dr. John Spencer Logan</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Governor of the Lahore
Citadel,</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> was in-charge of cataloguing and evaluating the ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Toshakhana</i>’ (treasury), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">harem</i> and war prisoners. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The thugs of the Company added
more </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carat_%28mass%29"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">carats</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> to the Victorian treasury, and sent to
England shiploads of gold, jewels, books and other curiosities. </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">It took
two years to </span><a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/spectrum/society/when-duleep-singh-said-no-to-the-queen/634727.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">ransack Punjab</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">and sell the booty off in eleven separate auctions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0wglxODKkrmnq6BCoh7aL6q-nhMBDEa1PZJsBtn0SiShy0EY-4lANAw0JP1dhyYmTuRH2XBD9WQPri-thlHypd_ZOsAplOKgN87xUvDR4HzqOdhJv__BY4237ZZYy4cYLtSXS58tadLF/s1600/13%2529+Dr+Logan%2527s+inventory+%2528Kohimoor+as+an+armband%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="1179" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT0wglxODKkrmnq6BCoh7aL6q-nhMBDEa1PZJsBtn0SiShy0EY-4lANAw0JP1dhyYmTuRH2XBD9WQPri-thlHypd_ZOsAplOKgN87xUvDR4HzqOdhJv__BY4237ZZYy4cYLtSXS58tadLF/s320/13%2529+Dr+Logan%2527s+inventory+%2528Kohimoor+as+an+armband%2529.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dr Logan's inventory listing <i>Koh-i-Noor</i> as an armband</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Current estimates of the treasury’s value </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">exceed<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> US$ 100 billion. </span><span style="color: black;">In 1850, the
Company celebrated 250 years of colonisation and enrichment through plunder. As
a befitting gift, Lord Dalhousie, Governor General of India, presented to a
powdered Queen Victoria the huge <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i>.<br />
<br />
<b>In the clutches of the British vampire </b><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">"One European with a
small native escort, by moral influence, inducing hundreds to lay down their
arms!"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">– </span></i><a href="https://ia800200.us.archive.org/34/items/ladyloginsrecoll00logirich/ladyloginsrecoll00logirich.pdf"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Lady
Login</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> praising the magical Englishness
of her husband while judging the native Indian instinct as ‘duplicity and
intrigue’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWO8wsxwF4ySKd4TELW3srSHzb3tVlDfSPs50ZaY4c8YCLF3_acxV1HJ_PloOgXlt3sr9cC6egkPDAyQY66suq9ViosJNaCcULfLvyjjzC1cfVCkZ2L67fL9Nr5gQ_3hOrcoD1Nq9X1dd/s1600/14%2529+Punjab+1880.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="897" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFWO8wsxwF4ySKd4TELW3srSHzb3tVlDfSPs50ZaY4c8YCLF3_acxV1HJ_PloOgXlt3sr9cC6egkPDAyQY66suq9ViosJNaCcULfLvyjjzC1cfVCkZ2L67fL9Nr5gQ_3hOrcoD1Nq9X1dd/s320/14%2529+Punjab+1880.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Punjab in 1880</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">There was illegitimate </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Lawrence of Arabia</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> and there were other Lawrences within Punjab. In 1862, Lahore’s
Lawrence Road and the adjoining </span><a href="https://sites.ualberta.ca/~rnoor/lawrence_gardens.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Lawrence</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://nation.com.pk/18-Feb-2010/the-lawrence-gardens"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Gardens</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">were <span style="color: black;">named after
</span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lawrence,_1st_Baron_Lawrence"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sir John Lawrence</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (Sir Henry Lawrence’s older
brother, and the Viceroy of India). </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">His
older brother </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Montgomery_Lawrence"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Sir Henry ‘gunpowder’ Montgomery
Lawrence</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> was
also </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Haileybury alumni, <span style="color: black;">Agent, Resident, and later Governor-General. He recommended
to Lord Dalhousie that </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">Dr. Logan</span><span style="color: black;"> be assigned as a guardian to take '</span></span><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">care</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">' of young Duleep Singh.</span><u><span style="color: blue;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_CzhdG4bez7meH9M9XljYfQEp-mfVw_k9qv5rBBt7_ye2nth3xX5VZ-z_QTtsfbCfgGqMQO_IvzpJ9kImBOjrXhcaFG5fx_z6iILRdxPa2j28kXKkM0tSgcf2kc1gHd-cJbo-Ih9fpWH/s1600/15%2529+British+empire+1909.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="891" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr_CzhdG4bez7meH9M9XljYfQEp-mfVw_k9qv5rBBt7_ye2nth3xX5VZ-z_QTtsfbCfgGqMQO_IvzpJ9kImBOjrXhcaFG5fx_z6iILRdxPa2j28kXKkM0tSgcf2kc1gHd-cJbo-Ih9fpWH/s320/15%2529+British+empire+1909.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The expanded British empire in 1909</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1850, the Company moved young Duleep Singh to the remote </span><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Fatehgarh</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (Uttar Pradesh). The doctor severely restricted the visitors, anglicised the youth in every way, chose Christian missionaries to be his closest friends, and ensured that instead of reciting the </span><a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/about-siri-guru-granth-sahib" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Guru Granth Sahib</i></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, Duleep focussed on the Holy Bible. Classic </span><a href="https://psychologia.co/mind-control-techniques/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">brain-washing</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> techniques were used on the Prince: criticism, social proof and peer pressure, isolation, fear of alienation, repetition, fatigue, and forming a new identity (replacement of old memories with new ones).</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Duleep’s future </span><a href="https://www.freemasonrytoday.com/features/the-life-of-a-british-maharaja"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">exile in England</span></a><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> depended
on whether he obediently converted to Christianity. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Lady Lena Campbell Login <span style="background: white;">reported that ‘he was most enthusiastic and adhered to
his Bible studies with a passion’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">By 1852, Prince Albert had the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i>
diamond trimmed from 186 to 105 carats. It took thirty-eight days and 8,000
Pounds worth of expert work—today's </span><a href="https://inflationdata.com/articles/2014/03/12/uk-historical-price-converter-added/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">equivalent</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> of 960,000 Pounds.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONCxnWmSno3KXTafOBiC93gBqLC0M9RNF583Rl_eWPv15ey89dG4GKWtZxenAo_05TgC3VqqlaYflrwey_wnVAPxA62zk2Zo8Ta5AYPcuTGajlqK144KZ6BR_FNhHECxQIyc7YCof7_eU/s1600/16%2529+Victoria+and+family.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="747" data-original-width="865" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONCxnWmSno3KXTafOBiC93gBqLC0M9RNF583Rl_eWPv15ey89dG4GKWtZxenAo_05TgC3VqqlaYflrwey_wnVAPxA62zk2Zo8Ta5AYPcuTGajlqK144KZ6BR_FNhHECxQIyc7YCof7_eU/s320/16%2529+Victoria+and+family.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Queen Victoria and family</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> On 08 March, 1853, Duleep’s Punjabi Singh-ness was finally trimmed with baptism. Although <a href="https://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/society/meaning-and-history-of-singh">Singh</a> (derived from the Sanskrit word <i>simha</i>) meant ‘lion’, our lion-cub was now a pet pussycat.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Across the
English Channel<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">With Duleep cut off from Jind Kaur, brain surgeon Queen Victoria stepped
in to play his far-off mother and showered him with position, £40,000 </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">per annum </span><a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/black-and-asian-history-and-victorian-britain/maharaja-duleep-singh-and-family"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">pension</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, and protocol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Although by 1854 this ‘Sikh curiosity’ had recovered from poor
health, the Empire still considered him a ‘threat’. Lord Dalhousie exiled the
fifteen-year old human 'war trophy' to England via Egypt. At Malta and
Gibraltar, Duleep received a </span><a href="https://www.thefridaytimes.com/lahores-exiled-prince/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">twenty-one gun-salute</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-X7wh_osxRWJK9FvAJLqFbHW4x7Wnxmpj8uaEKYW5ihcLgXb3xfA-YO5i-Y_7xxSVqfLhNZl0ltET5BlOfImMzPecLx4H_wQnTTu2j1Mq-88HNCB5NokFIht0wCnw151CuQagqOle4i6/s1600/17%2529+Dhuleep+Singh.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="415" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT-X7wh_osxRWJK9FvAJLqFbHW4x7Wnxmpj8uaEKYW5ihcLgXb3xfA-YO5i-Y_7xxSVqfLhNZl0ltET5BlOfImMzPecLx4H_wQnTTu2j1Mq-88HNCB5NokFIht0wCnw151CuQagqOle4i6/s320/17%2529+Dhuleep+Singh.png" width="188" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In England, Duleep freely mingled with the Royal household at
Osborne, played with Royal children, and holidayed at Royal homes. His regal
bearing, native ways, handsomeness, and dark intelligent eyes drove the Queen
to draw his sketches and watercolours. Prince Albert photographed him and court
artist Franz Xaver Winterhalter Winterhalter (1805-1873) </span><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">painted</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> his portraits.<br />
<br />
Duleep the country gentleman wore no Sikh turban, shaved off his traditional
beard, and indulged in arts, shooting and coursing, and became a part of the English
landscape. In Scotland he wore the </span><a href="https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/prince-of-punjab-and-perthshire-remembering-maharajah-duleep-singh-1-2506091"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Highlander dress</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> <span style="color: black;">and was
nicknamed the ‘</span></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fuhq5Bmaf-4"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Black Prince of Perthshire</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">’. Queen Victoria called him
‘my beautiful boy’. There were whispers of him being Her Majesty's
platonic </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Duleep_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">lover</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Jind Kaur’s comeback</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
In 1859, Duleep wished to see his mother and wrote to the British Resident
Officer at Kathmandu. Under the pretext of a tiger-hunt in Bengal, he also wrote
to his mother asking her to come to </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkata"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Kolkata</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (Calcutta).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMA6MUsy0ab1BInXyvDKEDBEYkNhNtd1Rn_M9J4-ZtqANdWI9f0OzvCChvuH7f9yy92g4-6CHBQXoszh6MWJBTEZiv0hjfPgiBVGs_o99OF1HUmVfsuf23QUL0hrojjCVOGNenWi4cpddC/s1600/18%2529+Famine+in+India+-+1876-1878.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="880" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMA6MUsy0ab1BInXyvDKEDBEYkNhNtd1Rn_M9J4-ZtqANdWI9f0OzvCChvuH7f9yy92g4-6CHBQXoszh6MWJBTEZiv0hjfPgiBVGs_o99OF1HUmVfsuf23QUL0hrojjCVOGNenWi4cpddC/s320/18%2529+Famine+in+India+-+1876-1878.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Famine in India (1876-1878)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">While
staying in a Calcutta hotel, Sikh soldiers gathered outside to have a look at
their </span><a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/black-and-asian-history-and-victorian-britain/maharaja-duleep-singh-and-family"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">ex-Maharaja</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">. The authorities were alarmed to note
how his countrymen still considered him as their ruler.<span style="color: black;"><br />
<br />
Jind Kaur begged the Maharana to let her go but he allowed on the condition
that she would not return to Nepal. Already robbed of her kingdom, exiled from
Punjab to Varanasi, and forced to seek asylum in Nepal, she was now ready to
sacrifice more to see her twenty-two years old son.<br />
<br />
In 1861 in Kolkata, Jind Kaur laid her eyes on a long-lost son and cried rivers
of tears noticing that he had lost his Sikh faith. She asked him to travel to
Punjab but he refused because the Company restricted his movement for obvious
reasons. When the Maharani insisted on going to England with him, he arranged
for this in secret. In England, Duleep presented his mother with jewellery he
had salvaged or purchased in India. The famous </span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Koh-i-Noor</span></i></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> diamond was obviously
missing.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">For the next two years, the mother would tell the son everything
about his royal Sikh heritage and lost inheritance. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Duleep began to spend time in the
library of the British Museum </span><a href="https://www.rct.uk/collection/themes/trails/black-and-asian-history-and-victorian-britain/maharaja-duleep-singh-and-family"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">learning more</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">about Punjab, </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ranjit Singh - The Lion of Punjab</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, and the English who robbed his family
clean.<span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0Ok7_0YxfwG6U3NNqdQrEVCIWgBtT2_RnY9vi7QLIjTsI8jam0rULUSrZFYKnp3QDKhtg6hoCycNmlB-kRLQusUp7TGKS7CVaklJ7I_LlvmQ7msoNWQOFmaSsUhOUJEqafVZ_gi4ROB8/s1600/19%2529+The+Kohinoor+in+the+front+cross+of+Queen+Mary%2527s+Crown.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="387" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq0Ok7_0YxfwG6U3NNqdQrEVCIWgBtT2_RnY9vi7QLIjTsI8jam0rULUSrZFYKnp3QDKhtg6hoCycNmlB-kRLQusUp7TGKS7CVaklJ7I_LlvmQ7msoNWQOFmaSsUhOUJEqafVZ_gi4ROB8/s320/19%2529+The+Kohinoor+in+the+front+cross+of+Queen+Mary%2527s+Crown.png" width="299" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <i>Koh-i-Noor</i> in the cross of Queen Mary's Crown</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>Watch the video: </i></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIcSxjdAvro"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Maharani Jind Kaur, Last Queen of Punjab</span></i></a><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
<b>Duleep is shown the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i></b><br />
<br />
Maharaja Ranjit was never the original owner of the famous diamond. Lady Login,
the wife of Dr. Logan, mentioned in her </span><a href="https://ia800200.us.archive.org/34/items/ladyloginsrecoll00logirich/ladyloginsrecoll00logirich.pdf"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">memoirs</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> that the subject of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i> was never mentioned in
Duleep’s presence because it was a painful reminder of the loss of his
dynasty’s imperial sovereignty.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Queen, after her first meeting with Duleep Singh, asked Lady
Login whether ‘the Maharajah ever spoke of the <i>Koh-i-Noor</i>, and if so, did he seem
to regret it?’<br />
<br />
Once assured that showing the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i>
would not provoke Duleep, the Queen showed him the diamond during her portrait
sitting at the palace.<br />
<br />
Lady Login feared he would hurl the diamond out of the window in a fit of rage,
but instead, Duleep remained speechless for several minutes. He trembled as he
took the precious stone in his hand, gazing at it intensely and noting how the
re-shaped diamond sparkled much more than before.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdtoA4iYKbPod1f0L0aNh7pR8ZlSr2Kdovl2ELIUMMDBVp-t4pr4iEDuIrMwiR0znVB6TZPAArjW8yJhY-dY9ODkNDvqKbUuAIYKShfRSt51eq53cvqIv8Q00XJ3HWubST2ZNiOpUSpqQ/s1600/20%2529+Kohinoor+cutting+cartoon+%2528Punch%252C+31-07-1852%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="1361" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdtoA4iYKbPod1f0L0aNh7pR8ZlSr2Kdovl2ELIUMMDBVp-t4pr4iEDuIrMwiR0znVB6TZPAArjW8yJhY-dY9ODkNDvqKbUuAIYKShfRSt51eq53cvqIv8Q00XJ3HWubST2ZNiOpUSpqQ/s320/20%2529+Kohinoor+cutting+cartoon+%2528Punch%252C+31-07-1852%2529.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Koh-i-Noor</i> cutting cartoon (Punch, 31 July 1852)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">He reportedly turned and bowed low before the Queen, ‘expressing
in a few gracious words the pleasure it afforded him to have this opportunity
of himself placing it in her hands.’ One may suppose that in his Sikh heart
Duleep said what the Queen often said: "We are not amused".<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Although Ranjit Singh wore the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i>
as an arm-band, the Queen wore it as a brooch. Much later in 1937, it was
crafted into the Queen Mother's crown for the Coronation of George VI.<br />
<br />
A guilty conscience kept Queen Victoria uneasy about the way in which the diamond
had been snatched. Writing to her eldest daughter, Princess Alice, she
confided:<br />
<br />
<i>"No one feels more strongly than I do about India or how much I opposed
our taking those countries and I think no more will be taken, for it is very
wrong and no advantage to us. You know also how I dislike wearing the Koh-i-Noor".</i><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv7iIZCcKmx2cecDfUl4ItA6B_f32Mv3yJVh8hrJaNle-tVNNOy8kd1UsCYdjaMHLl7lqM-AOXDfpSG5h6Yniy02Ma9FZKpuVHURB_K2YRw_bnlAaO5qMl2WU81fUf_BFscNNPviVInoY/s1600/21%2529+Maharani+Bamba+Duleep+Singh+%25281886%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="411" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv7iIZCcKmx2cecDfUl4ItA6B_f32Mv3yJVh8hrJaNle-tVNNOy8kd1UsCYdjaMHLl7lqM-AOXDfpSG5h6Yniy02Ma9FZKpuVHURB_K2YRw_bnlAaO5qMl2WU81fUf_BFscNNPviVInoY/s320/21%2529+Maharani+Bamba+Duleep+Singh+%25281886%2529.png" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maharani Bamba Duleep Singh (1886)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The girl from Cairo</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
Facing the reality of a lost Kingdom and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Koh-i-Noor</i>, Duleep could only dream of Cinderella. Victoria had placed
a severe restriction on him: ‘have a Christian wife of Eastern origin or marry
an Indian princess educated in England'.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">The Queen and her husband encouraged Duleep to court their
godchild, Indian ‘convert’ Princess Gouramma of Coorg. While he showed little
interest in this unsuitable promiscuous Princess, European aristocratic
families had no intention of having him as a son-in-law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Maharani Jind Kaur, passed away on 01 August 1863 in England, and grief-stricken
Duleep sailed to India to cremate her. When permission to cremate her in Punjab
was denied, he scattered her ashes at Godavri river at </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashik"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Nashik</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (Maharashtra) in
February 1864.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">On his way back to England, feeling lonesome and frustrated,
Duleep fell for a commoner and wedded her at the British Consulate (Alexandria)
on 07 June 1864. This was </span><a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/maharaja-dalip-singh/"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Bamba Müller</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (BUMBA, meaning ‘pink’ in
Arabic) who taught at the American Presbyterian Mission school at Cairo. She was
born out of wedlock in 1848 to an Abyssinian (Ethiopia or Habash) slave and an
already married German merchant banker named Ludwig Müller from Todd Müller and
Company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">British grooming effectively damaged Duleep’s childhood. Because
he ignored the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>British
monarchy’s </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">obsession with </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">maintaining a bloodline, he married beneath him, first to
</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamba_M%C3%BCller"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Bamba Müller</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, and then to his Cockney
chambermaid, </span><a href="https://gw.geneanet.org/garric?lang=en&n=douglas+wetherill&oc=0&p=ada"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ada Douglas Wetherill</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">, on 20 May 1889 at La
Madeleine, Paris.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Duleep had six children from Bamba Müller (later known as Maharani
Bamba Duleep Singh): <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">1) </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Duleep_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Prince Victor Albert Jay Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (10 Jan 1866 - 07 Jun 1918)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
2) </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Duleep_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Prince Frederick Victor Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (23 Jan 1868 - 15 Aug 1926)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
3) </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Duleep_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Princess Bamba Sophia Jindaan Duleep
Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (29
Sep 1869 - 10 Mar 1957)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
4) </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Hilda_Duleep_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Princess Catherine Hilda Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (27 Oct 1871 - 08 Nov 1942)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
5) </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Duleep_Singh"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Princess Sophia Alexandra Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (08 Aug 1876 - 22 Aug 1948)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
6) </span><a href="http://www.maharajaranjitsingh.com/prince_albert_edward_duleep_singh.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Prince Albert Edward Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (1879 - 01 May 1893)<br />
<br />Duleep also had two children from his marriage to <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Hlk7364506">Ada Douglas
Wetherill </a>(15 January 1869- 6 August 1930)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH7EYVe2RxVL9hTuF2C33SEzpwPW7Xyzqg-ZBgVa1eyMKpVBYjNrUYeNcWf9kkOAYKlrNf1t1WvqrUeQTsFrrXar357egeTLMjoJhp66bby6okrP4ZYRMx1Vuc7Iz9YVJ15fuB0dC16yCg/s1600/22%2529+Elveden+Hall%252C+Suffolk%252C+England.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="1119" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH7EYVe2RxVL9hTuF2C33SEzpwPW7Xyzqg-ZBgVa1eyMKpVBYjNrUYeNcWf9kkOAYKlrNf1t1WvqrUeQTsFrrXar357egeTLMjoJhp66bby6okrP4ZYRMx1Vuc7Iz9YVJ15fuB0dC16yCg/s320/22%2529+Elveden+Hall%252C+Suffolk%252C+England.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Elveden Hall (Suffolk, England)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">7) </span><a href="http://sikhchic.com/history/the_fate_of_princess_pauline_duleep_singh_finally_uncovered"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Princess Pauline Alexandra Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (26 Dec 1887-10 Apr 1941)</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br />
8) </span><a href="https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Catherine_Hilda_Duleep_Singh.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Princess Ada Irene Beryl Duleep Singh</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> (25 Oct 1889-14 Sep 1926)<br />
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<b>Duleep's decadent lifestyle </b><br />
<br />
The </span><a href="http://www.duleepsingh.com/Biography"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">wild-spending</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Duleep threw
extravagant parties, was an amazing sportsmanship, and possessed royal charm
that lit up large halls. This helped him become a serial playboy for society
beauties. Since England was without <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nautch</i>
girls, he resorted to chasing after female servants. Prince of Wales became a
close friend and his frequent visits to Duleep's 17,407 acres £50,000 estate, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elveden_Hall">Elveden Hall</a>,<span style="color: black;"> created
plenty of excess associated with Victorian aristocracy.<br /><br />
By the 1880s, Duleep Singh was tired playing an English country squire,
overweight and depressed, less sociable, and very bitter about his treatment at
the hands of the British. He was also running out of money.<br />
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<b>A knight in dull armour </b><br />
</span><br />
The British noted how the Indian masses obediently prostrated at the feet of
their elites, hence the Queen gave away Knighthoods, mantles, badges, sashes,
chivalric titles, social rankings, and gun salutes as 'conspicuous merit and
loyalty rewards'.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Queen made Duleep Knight Grand Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Star_of_India">GCSI</a>), and whose motto was "Heaven's light our guide". This Order was created in 1864 after the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Mutiny">Indian Mutiny</a> of 1857; it was the fifth most senior British order of chivalry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Correspondence between British officials shows that they wanted the Indians to obey the British and refrain from mutinying. Sustained attacks on the uniting force of faith and social coherence turned the Indians into self-loathing Anglophiles who adored English culture, education, and science.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">In the next article o<span style="background-color: white;">n </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Duleep Singh</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">, </span>we shall read about how this outwardly
English Prince became fully Indian, mutinied and declared war on his royal
tormentors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2019</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Articles linked to this story</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/10/duleep-singh-fall-of-rebel-prince.html">Duleep Singh - The Fall Of The Rebel Prince</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) </span><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/04/ranjit-singh-lion-of-punjab.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Ranjit Singh - The Lion of Punjab</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Photo credits</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>1) Sir Duleep Singh (1860s)</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>2) Franz Xaver Winterhalter (jewel-framed miniature of Victoria around neck by Emily Eden)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>3) The Golden Throne of Ranjit Singh</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>6) Duleep in ceremonial dress - 1852 (by George Duncan Beechey)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>8) Maharaja Sir Duleep Singh in ceremonial dress, 1861</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>11) Subedar of the 21st Bengal Native Infantry (1819)</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; line-height: 107%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Referenced work</i></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><i>Soldier and traveller (Colonel Alexander Gardener)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Acknowledgement</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. </i><i><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. Included in the text are some web links (URLs). </span></i><i>Just click on the words in <span style="color: blue;">blue colour</span> and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Maharaja Duleep Singh. Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">DISCLAIMER</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">No one must misconstrue the information presented here about any character as disinformation or insults. The information here was meticulously-collected and cross-checked from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of proxy servers in Pakistan). Please email your suggestions (with believable references) if you feel something requires correction.</span></i></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-27887766599120408012019-04-19T14:07:00.000+05:002019-12-06T19:08:41.435+05:00Ranjit Singh - The Lion of Punjab<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21A_5IMjifTvrfD33ttdBZAyNEHToszUHZA7RGlpQEturf8rwe7iNBG25FD_4rvp_2JCtr5XHm0_v32U5uGWFcYZSfwe9hs-v6wI8ZweBbpzwATz08WFjunU-eJDX4ECmQBqfKFo9XO-c/s1600/1%2529+Ranjit.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="449" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21A_5IMjifTvrfD33ttdBZAyNEHToszUHZA7RGlpQEturf8rwe7iNBG25FD_4rvp_2JCtr5XHm0_v32U5uGWFcYZSfwe9hs-v6wI8ZweBbpzwATz08WFjunU-eJDX4ECmQBqfKFo9XO-c/s320/1%2529+Ranjit.png" width="265" /></span></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEkxanTZ3IySPcH8EROzoeL719kT2p6r4jMl9gKvyRdRoTwzzbVoxtgHWqAONeziQ2LH6bePd0-MvSgWLyPNg5IqHdUExkHAf-ixs3ihHAMzjt8dD7ssCtW6Bq5m3oZpHwmu_bY2AqiTBh/s1600/1%2529+Ranjit+Singh+-+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once upon a time, all of Punjab was in India. Then in 1947, the British dished out the eastern portion of the banana-split to India and the western one to Pakistan. Ever since the banana-partition, the horns of the two <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barasingha">barasinghas</a> </i>(swamp deer) have remained locked over possession of greener Kashmiri pastures.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pakistani history textbooks shed no light on Maharaja Ranjit Singh whose nineteenth century Sikh empire is an important chapter of the history of Punjab. Bless our children―lovingly named after foreign military adventurists―who are now beginning to question 'uncomfortable truths' of history to lead happier lives.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Raiders of the Indus valley civilization</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><i>"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”<br /> ― George Santayana (philosopher)</i><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Around 6,500 BC there existed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehrgarh">Mehrgarh</a> settlement and circa 5,500 BC appeared the Indus valley civilisation. The latter’s trading cities Taxila and Mohenjo-Daro were rediscovered in 1920 and initially named Harappan civilisation after an ancient city Harappa in Punjab. <span style="line-height: 107%;">Although these cities are uninhabited now but the mighty Indus River
still flows over 3,200 kilometres of Pakistani territory.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">India is a Greek and Latin term for 'the country of the River Indus'. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians (people of present-day northwest India and Pakistan) as </span><i>Indói'</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, literally meaning 'the people of the Indus'.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In ancient times, <i>Sindhu </i>meant 'large body of water, sea, or ocean'. It was shortened to <i>Indu </i>(Hindus being dwellers around this river), then changed to Indos, and finally became Indus. </span></span><i>Sindhu </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is mentioned 176 times in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigveda">Rigveda</a> texts. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">It
is a great honour for Sindh, now a province of Pakistan, to have the term
'industry' included in the dictionary.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8INmvmucRBkMbMDnUMj50VIjZIdG_YBnGwej5umh95u5AfwxeXSBcXD76pM0R_EVKQbA27W7rL03S2CAhNxR1AsdzIEHv8cjSmAraRHF75ro4rPEZWcgg6-B6kqk9OEb_3soD8sO7Jhm2/s1600/2%2529+Porus+%2528Purushottam%252C+Parvateshwar%2529+%2526+Alexander.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="397" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8INmvmucRBkMbMDnUMj50VIjZIdG_YBnGwej5umh95u5AfwxeXSBcXD76pM0R_EVKQbA27W7rL03S2CAhNxR1AsdzIEHv8cjSmAraRHF75ro4rPEZWcgg6-B6kqk9OEb_3soD8sO7Jhm2/s320/2%2529+Porus+%2528Purushottam%252C+Parvateshwar%2529+%2526+Alexander.png" width="234" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">7'-4" </span><a href="http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2010/05/alexander-great-and-king-porus-hidden.html" style="text-align: left;">Porus</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">faces shorter Alexander</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Successive conquests unleashed subjugation, mass murder, slavery, and economic plunder, and created a system in which local collaborators received generous rewards while the defenders lost their wives and lives. During the reign of terror of Persian </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nader_Shah">Nader Shah</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (1688-1747), a saying in Punjabi language went thus:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> Khaada peeta lagay daa</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i>(Whatever you've eaten is yours)<br /><i> Baqi Nadir Shahay da</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i>(The rest belongs to Nadir Shah)<br /><br /><b>Why did they all come to India?</b><br /><br />Pliny the Elder (79 A.D), Marco Polo (1292 A.D) and French traveller Jean Baptiste Tavernier (1665 A.D), all recorded tales about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_mining_in_India">diamond mining in India</a>. Hence, all traders and invaders descended on India because since 800 BC the land was the only source of diamonds in the ancient world.<br /><br /><i>Read: <a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2015/03/mangoes-for-django.html">Mangoes for Django</a> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>to find out what Babur (the Mughal emperor) thought of India.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1726 saw the discovery of Brazilian mines but their supposedly inferior diamonds
fetched lower prices compared with those mined at Golconda (India). Then clever
Portuguese traders began shipping Brazilian diamonds to Europe through Goa and
sold these as genuine Golconda diamonds to obtain better prices.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoaGRzes_6ln4hvfzA0AmKx-22qKroX-bxMDLfsoHQf5QQKzVC7OJX9tp5pRbvRk94yYfNG9kdUuNmG9Ms-gByakqMf0cOIGlQ0pT_UwJf_8OpPwiCCgIfQjon1DnfP6dNHOlKsvDrMUi/s1600/3%2529+Diamonds.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="807" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoaGRzes_6ln4hvfzA0AmKx-22qKroX-bxMDLfsoHQf5QQKzVC7OJX9tp5pRbvRk94yYfNG9kdUuNmG9Ms-gByakqMf0cOIGlQ0pT_UwJf_8OpPwiCCgIfQjon1DnfP6dNHOlKsvDrMUi/s200/3%2529+Diamonds.png" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Add to this hard ‘export’ the mountains of glittering gold stolen from the treasuries of princely states and Hindu temples. All proselytizing and forced conversions to install newer gods was a cover for robbery in broad daylight.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Just like diamonds, </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_salt">mineral salt</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> mined at Khewra and Kalabagh (Pakistan) is cheaply ‘exported’, packed in fancy bottles, and sold at exorbitant prices as an ‘Indian’ product fraudulently labelled: "Pure mineral salt from the foothills of the Himalayas".</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Khewra-salt on the wounds</span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history."</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>― German philosopher Friedrich Hegel</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The rise of the Sikhs</b><br /><br />With Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the Mughal empire in India faded after centuries of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquests_in_the_Indian_subcontinent">Muslim dominance</a>. Worldly power, diamonds, gold, and salt passed into new hands.</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNOZzJlgsMNVjutmmmej5ivo2BYmRnkPhOqkRdzv5uKiU4ANzKUjTxfrG5Yc5SAjbunakt3TQXb5OU6cFi8qbPOzQBZ8hFbQKm8G5MgN8-ZV8nTejW1HVxLPLaM19J-hacdAfTQrnyfHGZ/s1600/Ranjit+birthplace%252C+Gujranwala%252C+Pakistan+%2528Tipoo+Fawwad%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="917" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNOZzJlgsMNVjutmmmej5ivo2BYmRnkPhOqkRdzv5uKiU4ANzKUjTxfrG5Yc5SAjbunakt3TQXb5OU6cFi8qbPOzQBZ8hFbQKm8G5MgN8-ZV8nTejW1HVxLPLaM19J-hacdAfTQrnyfHGZ/s320/Ranjit+birthplace%252C+Gujranwala%252C+Pakistan+%2528Tipoo+Fawwad%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ranjit's birthplace (Gujranwala)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The relatively new faith of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism">Sikhism</a> took on a <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalsa">Khalsa</a> </i>(the pure ones) militant shape after successive Mughal emperors Jahangir and Aurangzeb killed two of their gurus, Arjun Dev (1581-1606) and Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675), for refusing to convert to Islam. A peaceful religion took on to militancy. The persecuted Sikh followers formed independent Sikh regiments (<i>misls</i>) headed by fierce leaders.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCpxn_xHbKThBJorzeLOwWnvSO3haB30TlsFCOTpgCbamvBUPVwyNdm6InJvEQi3dASWrXENm1TMA5qJprEA5SWuTphckXA3Zys5Mr8cI0PXP9b2YegAJRpRyE0tyY6J77bU8YyvjZTq7K/s1600/4%2529+Salt.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During the administrative chaos in Punjab, a boy was born on 13 November 1780 in village Sukerchak (between Gujjaranwala and Wazirabad); his name was <a href="https://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/emperor-of-the-five-rivers/">Ranjit Singh Sukerchakia</a>.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ranjit's Waraich Jatt family had converted from Hinduism to Sikhism. His grandfather, Charat Singh, was a bandit who fought against a bigger robber named Ahmad Shah Abdali. From age ten, Ranjit fought battles alongside his father, Mahan Singh, who was a local feudal lord.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gebFVNyuF8IKFmpzeS0i2tVkxMZjc_hHJ1oUcinINm3LXkGH7BX19XY1zy0PMM8yu3UH_VeOXea7mw7Sh-tautHaKsiMDkcy5jKH5LCZIZPnzkBlpmMiU5ZgpotqDhgsFm3u1lLpJZ9h/s1600/5%2529+Akali+%2528immortal%2529+Sikh+warrior.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="567" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gebFVNyuF8IKFmpzeS0i2tVkxMZjc_hHJ1oUcinINm3LXkGH7BX19XY1zy0PMM8yu3UH_VeOXea7mw7Sh-tautHaKsiMDkcy5jKH5LCZIZPnzkBlpmMiU5ZgpotqDhgsFm3u1lLpJZ9h/s320/5%2529+Akali+%2528immortal%2529+Sikh+warrior.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A fearsome <i>Akali </i>(immortal) Sikh warrior</span></td></tr>
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<b><br /><br />Empire of Ranjit Singh</b><br /><br />Successive Mughal and Afghan invasions and the British threat finally produced a Punjabi Sikh leader called Ranjit Singh.<br /><br /> On 12 April 1801, the unlettered twenty-one years old Ranjit became Maharaja of Punjab. He would be remembered as the founder of the Sikh empire of Punjab (the land of 'five rivers'), or <a href="http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/skhalsa.html">Sikh Khalsa Raj</a> and <a href="http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/skhalsa.html">Sarkar-i-Khalsa</a> (government of the pure ones).<br /><br /> Through alliances and marriages, Ranjit brought all the Sikh regiments under his command. His Sikh <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh_Empire">empire</a> stretched from Khyber Pass in the west to western Tibet in the east, and from Mithankot in the south to Kashmir in the north. During half a century of its existence (1799-1849), three percent militant Sikhs happily ruled over seventy-four percent Muslims and twenty-three percent Hindus.<br /><br /><b>Not just another pretty face</b><br /><br /><i>"You're one of a kind. Benevolent, they say. All castes and creeds under one roof. You haven't even the temper to order the death of one lowly thief."<br />― Francis Cotton to Ranjit Singh, 1839</i><br /><br />Successive attacks by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_invasions_of_India">Mongols</a> (in 1221, 1241 and 1258) left Lahore a deserted city. During the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Shah_Durrani">Ahmad Shah Abdali</a> period and before Ranjit Singh's reign, Lahore had already suffered a famine when it did not rain for eight years.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-TZFwGVOjuAi-HUx8B59gpTv_jTM-N-5OshO3KSiDWZap1Ps2PaSkD-0Bbuo3Skd8vMfOyyB57k9GJHSUslGFb-nzBEnrtQdqmCD5IbPoqhNcG2bjeq2wh8uFpLerPE_na0eGBdbi3mz/s1600/6%2529+Ranjit+Singh.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="436" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK-TZFwGVOjuAi-HUx8B59gpTv_jTM-N-5OshO3KSiDWZap1Ps2PaSkD-0Bbuo3Skd8vMfOyyB57k9GJHSUslGFb-nzBEnrtQdqmCD5IbPoqhNcG2bjeq2wh8uFpLerPE_na0eGBdbi3mz/s320/6%2529+Ranjit+Singh.png" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Maharaja in traditional dress</span></td></tr>
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Ranjit (meaning 'victor in battlefield') was short in stature, had lost sight in the left eye as an infant and possessed a face pitted with pockmarks. With his awesome bearded countenance and great military acumen he pushed armies of handsome Afghan invaders back to where they came from.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>Because the Sikh religion considered 'all men equal in the sight of God', Ranjit rejected London’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savile_Row">Savile Row</a> ‘<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bespoke_tailoring">bespoke</a>’ suits, dressed simply in local attire, and wore no crown while seated on the famous <a href="http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/t/the-court-of-maharaja-ranjit-singh/">Golden Throne</a>.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the Napoleonic wars, European mercenaries and ex-officers from Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Prussian armies headed for Punjab to seek employment. Men like Court, Ventura, Avitabile, and Allard became Generals and senior administrators in Ranjit's army.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One-fifth of the members of the Lahore Darbar nobility were the dispossessed chiefs and their dependants. In Ranjit’s court and administration, Muslims occupied plenty of important positions as two ministers, one governor, forty-one senior army officers (including two Generals) and ninety-two senior bureaucrats. Ghaus Khan, served as the head of artillery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Ranjit's arms manufacturing in Punjab created self-sufficiency in weaponry, equipment, and munitions. He invested in infrastructure, established raw materials mines, cannon foundries, gunpowder, and arm factories.<br /><br />With 120,000 men and 250 artillery pieces under his command, Ranjit did not follow the Mughal method of paying an army with local feudal levies but from the treasury.<br /><br /><b>Expansion, Sikh style<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5pkhd1_jlAeUZURS4BWZIAvS4xIRyVMwi7zf8qLBgmShHrsQsAbFfOLMLkl4Z7LQk6qdej_uoI7N4ag00YKsSEmhLhEMCmafOAZB671GNqjLg5ddTyy8Ho1EtS2b43yDvf7ctzYulTYH/s1600/The+Sikh+Empire+at+its+peak+c.+1839.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="689" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5pkhd1_jlAeUZURS4BWZIAvS4xIRyVMwi7zf8qLBgmShHrsQsAbFfOLMLkl4Z7LQk6qdej_uoI7N4ag00YKsSEmhLhEMCmafOAZB671GNqjLg5ddTyy8Ho1EtS2b43yDvf7ctzYulTYH/s320/The+Sikh+Empire+at+its+peak+c.+1839.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Khalsa Sikh Empire at its peak (c.1839)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ranjit's militarisation kept the British away throughout his rule. While the British wanted to keep the Afghans out through Ranjit, Ranjit desired to keep the British and the Afghans away from Punjab.</span></span></span><br />
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married two widows and cleverly named the sons from them after successful
capture of famous cities: Multana Singh, Kashmira Singh and Pashaura Singh.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Between 1806 and 1849 the Sikhs and the British signed several <a href="http://www.sikhmuseum.org.uk/portfolio/the-anglo-sikh-treaties-1806-1846/">treaties</a>. Through a treaty, the British astutely recognised Ranjit as the sole sovereign ruler of Punjab and agreed on River Sutlej as the eastern frontier of his realm.<br /><br />Ranjit met with two British Governor Generals in 1831 and 1838. After initial hesitation in 1838, he agreed to the British idea of raising a tripartite army to put displaced ex-Afghan king Shah Shuja―living in exile in Ludhiana―back on the throne in Kabul.<br /><br />Anglophile Muslims who never tired of cracking ‘Sikh jokes’ soon learnt that Ranjit outmanoeuvred the British during negotiations. Instead of the proposed Sikh expedition into Afghanistan for the sake of British interests, he made the British wage war for the benefit of the Sikhs.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgJPPcvHRXap1XMvEPvfVQ8TKXIJq-j6eO0jXzX2Vzxh2e0OHq4FkZCJI2SH3DebtaUP4k9oIurrJ7CuhhF1FOIzUNKADF7siGp5olTqJSfoz4Msxp0u9rj9DWY0KE-rIqmNEXWEYiI4h/s1600/8%2529+Map+of+India+%2528European+settlements+1501-1739%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="1143" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgJPPcvHRXap1XMvEPvfVQ8TKXIJq-j6eO0jXzX2Vzxh2e0OHq4FkZCJI2SH3DebtaUP4k9oIurrJ7CuhhF1FOIzUNKADF7siGp5olTqJSfoz4Msxp0u9rj9DWY0KE-rIqmNEXWEYiI4h/s400/8%2529+Map+of+India+%2528European+settlements+1501-1739%2529.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Map of India (European 'invader' settlements 1501-1739)</span></td></tr>
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Expansionism in the Ranjit era brought greater employment, enhanced security, reduction in violence, reopening of trade routes, promotion of greater freedom for commerce, religious freedom, lack of capital punishment, and absence of retaliation against Muslim rulers and Hindus who had earlier <a href="https://www.allaboutsikhs.com/sikhism-articles/the-sikh-rule-and-ranjit-singh">executed</a> Sikh gurus.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrhE0HdU42oHSJ9eM0RxipJ3RixxooZ63loql4aiYPDMbupazGi_ccvtjg4i0NYTVYxRQrLDFHR9Ht87jmUbIQaFpEM-4UltdAhBbljYZkIowpnQ-ztwoxSs-5i4U4X1ukaXS5QE8LmZ1/s1600/9%2529+Pul+Kanjri.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="833" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwrhE0HdU42oHSJ9eM0RxipJ3RixxooZ63loql4aiYPDMbupazGi_ccvtjg4i0NYTVYxRQrLDFHR9Ht87jmUbIQaFpEM-4UltdAhBbljYZkIowpnQ-ztwoxSs-5i4U4X1ukaXS5QE8LmZ1/s320/9%2529+Pul+Kanjri.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Pul Kanjri </i>(bridge of the <i>nautch </i>girl)</span></td></tr>
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<br /><br /><b>Of dance and dancers</b><br /><br /><i>Ishq na darda maut koloN</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i> (Love does not fear death)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>TuR sooli chaRna pay jaway</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i> (Even if one faces the gallows)<br /><i>Nanch nach kay yaar mana layNRa</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i>(Dance and gain a lover's approval) <br /><i>BhaNwaiN kanjri banRa pay jaway</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/The_front_of_Moraan_Mosque.jpg">Jamia Masjid Moraan Wali</a>, Lahore</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i>(Even if you must become a dancer)<br /><i>― Sufi poet, Baba Bulleh Shah (1680-1757)</i><br /><br /> Ranjit Singh's love for merry company, liquor and dancers prompted him to build Punjab's own 'Taj Mahal' called Pul Moraan. This was a memorial dedicated to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moran_Sarkar">Moraan Sarkar</a>.<br /><br />Before Moraan married Ranjit and became Maharani Sahiba, the Kashmiri girl danced for him at a place between Lahore and Amritsar aptly named <a href="http://www.amritsarcity.org/tourists-places-to-visit-in-around-amritsar/pul-kanjari-amritsar-india,-pul-moran-amritsar-india.php"><i>Pul Kanjri</i></a> (dancer's bridge). <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pul_Kanjri">Kanjri</a> </i>is a mutation of Persian word <i>Kanchani </i>(means dipped in gold and fully blossomed.<br /> <br />This inter-faith marriage greatly upset the Sikh orthodoxy who flogged Ranjit in public for the blasphemy but he remained determined to improve Kashmir-Punjab relations.<br /><br /> At Moraan's request, he built her a house in <i>Bazaar Chowk Chakla</i> (Lohari Gate, Lahore) and a mosque that became known as <i>Masjid-e-Tawaifan</i> (literally: dancer's mosque; later renamed <i>Jamia Masjid Moraan Wali </i>in 1998). Do appreciate how the word ‘<i>bai</i>’ (lady, courtesan) became ‘<i>mai</i>’ (old woman).<br /><br />Some allege that Ranjit roamed around Lahore sitting atop an elephant with Moraan. He shocked the population by fondling her in public and angered the Muslims when he did the same—for the want of a better place—atop the minaret of Wazir Khan's mosque.<br /><br />While Ranjit had no coins struck in his own name, he did so for Moraan to bestow greater privilege, power and respect; he also had gold medals for his courtiers minted in France.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All that wining, dining and womanising took its toll on Ranjit's health. When the Maharaja complained and exposed his privates to French naturalist Victor Jacquemont, he wrote an historic account:<br /><br /><i>"Ranjit had advanced chronic syphilis and found it difficult to even urinate with a swollen urethra.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i> </i></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ranjit in Lahore</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">qasaabs </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(butchers) attacked Lahore repeatedly. Some </span><a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1331205" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">accounts</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> mention that Lahoris themselves invited Ranjit Singh to conquer Lahore. He camped in the Baradari of Wazeer Khan and entered the city through the Lohari Gate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Prominent citizens opened the gate at what is now Punjab Public Library and presented to him the keys of the city. This 'dacoit of Gujjaranwalla' would soon subdue three reigning dacoits of Lahore after firing cannons at the Lahore Fort from the minarets of the Badshahi mosque.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Certain accounts claim that Lahoris were sick of the Sikh bandits Lehna Singh, Sobha Singh and Gujjar Singh who robbed them of possessions, women, and money. When Lahoris left their homes, they hid the women and children inside small secret rooms of courtyard wells. Each woman had a dagger with which to commit suicide in case the Sikhs came.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The deliberately made narrow lanes of the walled-city of Lahore allowed only a lone horse-mounted Sikh attacker could enter. The roofs of all the houses were joined at the top to facilitate escape.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another narrative claims that </span><a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/stories/audio/throne-lahore" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Maan Singh</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> was a much-feared robber whom Ranjit subdued bravely, pardoned and made a General in the army.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">What happened to the mosques?</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although the Sikhs led by Ranjit Singh never razed enemies' places of worship to the ground, Lahore's Badshahi Mosque was desecrated through conversion to an ammunition store and horse stable. They stripped bricks and marbles off two thousand buildings. Most of the mosques faced neglect, and the azaan (Muslim call to prayer) was not allowed in Kashmir for a long time and heavy taxation turned into oppression.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Badshahi Mosque (Lahore)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lahore's Moti Masjid (Pearl Mosque) was converted into Moti Mandir (Pearl Temple) by the Sikh army, and Sunehri Mosque was converted into a Sikh Gurdwara.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lahore's Begum Shahi Mosque was also used as a gunpowder factory, earning it the nickname <i>Barood-khana Wali</i> Masjid (Gunpowder Mosque). When Muslims protested, Ranjit restored the mosques to them.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCKN78lqfxutdIuNysgs_tF4_UTBsnjNRFxVFmHEEif06DXogL1gh_lwf8WDileu-iV002D2JBLxXDCl9sCxlK61O6x8X8crfsBxNSdKN8f9O1AMZnS2llRCOMEyjQpTHrxdFlmP3uRB8/s1600/12a%2529+Randjiit+Sing+Baadour+by+Alfred+de+Dreux.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="479" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMCKN78lqfxutdIuNysgs_tF4_UTBsnjNRFxVFmHEEif06DXogL1gh_lwf8WDileu-iV002D2JBLxXDCl9sCxlK61O6x8X8crfsBxNSdKN8f9O1AMZnS2llRCOMEyjQpTHrxdFlmP3uRB8/s320/12a%2529+Randjiit+Sing+Baadour+by+Alfred+de+Dreux.png" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Randjiit Sing Baadour </i>(by Alfred de Dreux)</span></td></tr>
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</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After conquering Amritsar, Ranjit ordered that its Sikh Temple be adorned with copper and gold foil, hence the name </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Temple">Golden Temple</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Since good quality marble was scarce, he ordered slabs ripped out from </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shalimar_Gardens,_Lahore">Lahore's Shalimar Gardens</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Mughal Empress Nur Jahan's mausoleum in Lahore too was allegedly left in ruins when the Sikhs stripped off its marble and precious stones. Someone was so obsessed with the legend of </span><a href="http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=304">Nur Jahan</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> that he had the coffin removed to inspect the body. The skeleton so disappointed him that he ordered it thrown to the dogs and the wolves (or in river Ravi).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Obviously the </span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Maharaja_Ranjit_Singh_folklore">Sikhs disagree</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> with some of these stories and claim that the first act of the Maharaja after his arrival at Lahore was to offer prayer at the Badshahi Masjid.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Jihad against the infidels</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Ahmad_Barelvi">Syed Ahmad Barelvi</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, a fiery Wahhabi preacher from Bareilly in Hindustan, tried to stir </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rebellion against Ranjit Singh. He gradually replaced local leaders who opposed his ultra-orthodox Islamic ideas with pliable religious leaders (ulema). Together they worked to establish a Muslim stronghold on the north-west frontier in the Peshawar valley.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Maharaja Ranjit Singh (seated in the middle)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Syed declared <i>jihad </i>on the British colonialists and the ruling Sikhs but his call fell on the deaf ears of Punjabi Muslims. The Pashtuns responded but when the Yusufzais withdrew support, Syed Ahmed met a violent end at Balakot in 1831. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The
Sikh army beheaded him and hunted down his agents.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The clashes between him and the Sikhs took place at Akora Khattak. Oddly, it is the same place where the recently assassinated </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami-ul-Haq">Maulana Sami-ul-Haq</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (Pakistani senator and ‘spiritual father of the Taliban’) had his Darul Uloom Haqqania headquarters.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><i> "I'm innocent. I've been framed by government agencies for opposing official policies".<br />― Maulana Sami-ul-Haq while resigning as a Senator and denying any links with Madam Tahira, a 35-year-old former dancer, who ran a brothel in Islamabad</i><br /><br /><b> Ranjit Singh: an alternative view</b><br /><br /> It has been claimed that journalist Khushwant Singh created legends about Ranjit and turned him into a fairy-tale Maharaja with all good traits of a just ruler.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Other accounts insist that Ranjit Singh was liberal in extending state patronage to Sikh, Hindu and Muslim institutions. Nearly seven percent of the state revenue went to religious institutions. The following Muslim shrines received state patronage:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) Data Darbar and Mian Mir (Lahore)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) Hazratbal and Shah Hamdan (Kashmir)<br />3) Pir Mitha (Wazirabad)<br />4) Sakhi Sarwar (Dera Ghazi Khan)</span><br />
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Ranjit apparently supported prominent families such as the Syeds in Multan, Peshawar and Bannu, and the descendants of Shah Farid in Pakpattan and Bahauddin Zikriya in Multan.<br /><br /> Ranjit’s simple judicial system suited the social and political environment of Punjab. <i>Panchayats </i>(peoples' courts) made decisions in accordance with established customs to settle disputes in rural areas while <i>Qazis </i>(judges) decided cases of Muslims in accordance with Shariah laws. If there were appeals against the decisions of administrators and ministers, Ranjit himself heard these, imposing fines instead of meting out capital punishment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The reason why many pro-British and Muslim accounts tend to be harsh on Ranjit is because like nationalist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipu_Sultan">Tipu Sultan</a>, Ranjit too was a certified thorn in the British side. Certain truths however remain:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1) Ranjit united the Sikhs under the Khalsa banner and created an empire </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2) He kept the Afghan raiders and the British colonists at bay <br />3) He was called Sher-e-Punjab (‘Lion of Punjab’) for his liberal patronage and multi-racial rule over Punjab for thirty-eight years</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXzLsrBVMZjXI39ouOEOSkp0-MEdxbsE1NJLkdUdalbj-ja1ePC7zkhiBDiV8Al3hzipnh31HPedP17daDpLbhTSM7c3t0RfQrg-GttC2B61yyZ2CUbZCDU6sjnH-NUrdKD0YbSyXiOKV/s1600/14a%2529+Ranjit+SIngh%2527s+darbar+%2528circa+1850%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="997" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghXzLsrBVMZjXI39ouOEOSkp0-MEdxbsE1NJLkdUdalbj-ja1ePC7zkhiBDiV8Al3hzipnh31HPedP17daDpLbhTSM7c3t0RfQrg-GttC2B61yyZ2CUbZCDU6sjnH-NUrdKD0YbSyXiOKV/s400/14a%2529+Ranjit+SIngh%2527s+darbar+%2528circa+1850%2529.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ranjit Singh's Darbar (circa 1850)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Decline and fall of the Sikh empire</b><br /><br />Ranjit's administrative skills and the opulence of the Durbar of Lahore created envy in the hearts of distant enemies and nearby British.</span><br /><br />Ranjit's third wife Maharani Jind Kaur's alleged influence over the Darbar created schisms amongst the noblemen and further weakened the Sikh rule. When unhappy feudal Sikhs demanded tax cuts and the army Generals fatter salaries, they ended up conspiring with the British who arranged for a weak throne to fall like a ripe apple into waiting hands.</span><br /><br /><b>Power struggle</b><br /><br />Ranjit's son, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duleep_Singh">Duleep Singh</a>, was born in 1838 to Maharani Jind Kaur. She could not retain control of the throne for her very young son, Duleep. No sooner was the five-year old declared Maharaja, conspiracies, bribery, British greed for trading concessions and attacks on the Sikhs increased.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Soon thereafter, a suspicious power-struggle ensued in which <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharak_Singh">Kharak Singh</a> was poisoned, Kharak's son <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nau_Nihal_Singh">Nau Nehal Singh</a> died in a strange accident, and Sher Singh too was poisoned. Within six years, the Sikh kingdom became a sumptuous dinner for the British.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After Ranjit Singh's death, a British Resident Officer based at Lahore controlled all affairs; he ensured that young Duleep Singh remained a Maharaja only in name.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The plot sickens</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>"Bole so nihal,</i></span><i> Sat Sri Akal"</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>(Shout aloud in ecstasy, True is the Great Timeless One)<br />― Tenth guru, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Gobind_Singh">Guru Gobind Singh</a></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1830, Singh acquired the Koh-e-Noor diamond. He served as its keeper for nine years by hiding the real jewel in a secret chamber beneath his summer palace and instead wearing a copy on his wrist.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> In 1839, the British Knights Templars plotted to take the diamond from Singh realizing that his successors did not share Singh's determination to protect it.</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SECXmFGh9uTcw5vhCxJF6Lnqvp5roctc3sJKDG8pNQkDtr3BfwxOqFaBeIR0Bdj65MCGQewpHwLrcnclNxduKK-0wNYOI1uJ7DM5pB2-ZMLpgwTMyg4eTGZmrrAeMB082Wrgu1ANSRjE/s1600/15%2529+Kohinoor+in+the+British+crown.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="677" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7SECXmFGh9uTcw5vhCxJF6Lnqvp5roctc3sJKDG8pNQkDtr3BfwxOqFaBeIR0Bdj65MCGQewpHwLrcnclNxduKK-0wNYOI1uJ7DM5pB2-ZMLpgwTMyg4eTGZmrrAeMB082Wrgu1ANSRjE/s320/15%2529+Kohinoor+in+the+British+crown.png" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The English Queen will <i>not </i>return the Koh-e-Noor</span></td></tr>
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</span><span style="line-height: 17.12px;">During a feast at the Maharaja's palace, General Francis Cotton poisoned Ranjit. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> As the assassin Arbaaz Mir tried to prevent Ranjit from drinking more of his tea, Cotton blamed the assassin and the guards chased after Mir.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Singh's health quickly deteriorated. His granddaughter, Pyara Kaur, rushed to his aid and revealed that the Koh-e-Noor was in her possession. He implored:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><br /><i> "Take the <a href="http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Ranjit_Singh">Syamantaka Mani</a> (Koh-i-Noor diamond) and go. Far from here. They will come for you. All of you. Your uncles will not have the strength to hold the empire together. The Punjab may fall, but we may still protect India herself. Go. And never return."<br />―Singh's last words to his granddaughter Pyara Kaur, 1839</i><br /><br /><i> Syamantaka Muni</i> was a powerful 'piece of Eden' and the mythological <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syamantaka">blessed stone</a> of Hindu mythology that possessed magical powers.<br /><br /><b>Kashmir for sale</b><br /><br />Ranjit Singh died in 1839. In 1846, after the Sikh defeat in the First Anglo-Sikh War, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Lahore">Treaty of Lahore</a> forced the Sikhs to surrender valuable regions and pay an indemnity of fifteen million Rupees. Failure to immediately pay this large sum resulted in surrendering Kashmir, Hazara and all the forts, territories, rights and interests in the hill countries situated between the Rivers Beas and Indus to the British East India Company.<br /><br /> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amritsar_(1846)">Treaty of Amritsar</a> allowed the pro-British Raja of Jammu (Gulab Singh Dogra) to purchase Kashmir from the East India Company for a payment of 7.5 million Rupees and be granted the title Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9q8Kqy_bf1x9UWr4c9C-pF0ItwoMlWQdSEmHeDylxnfKUDtKxLZeurNB0YLgSCDCGqmL9Inwz7NcnouoPV1QVgPazwa_zATTu33X0pFWi4kgT0kqpM8S9qpYUGs5wKPpp2Sf2rwi8UW8/s1600/15a%2529+Genology+of+Ranjit+Singh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="1365" height="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ9q8Kqy_bf1x9UWr4c9C-pF0ItwoMlWQdSEmHeDylxnfKUDtKxLZeurNB0YLgSCDCGqmL9Inwz7NcnouoPV1QVgPazwa_zATTu33X0pFWi4kgT0kqpM8S9qpYUGs5wKPpp2Sf2rwi8UW8/s400/15a%2529+Genology+of+Ranjit+Singh.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Genealogy of Ranjit Singh</span></td></tr>
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<i>Read: <a href="http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/uoc/PDF-FILES/%2816%29%20Dr.%20Khawaja%20Zahid%20Aziz.pdf">Ranjit Singh's Kashmir Extensionism and Britain's Role</a></i><br /><br /><b>Samadhi of Ranjit Singh</b><br /><br /><i>"Truth is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living".<br />― Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism, 1469–1539)</i><br /><br />These days clear blue skies, with a visible horizon is an impossibility due to atmospheric pollution. There was a time when River Ravi's emerald green waters flowed next to the Lahore Fort. So clear was the atmosphere that one could see the snow-covered mountains of Kashmir. Then Ravi changed her course and with this changed many fortunes.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAh0pPiVUnvPP9X45_EnBYiz8-Doy8YYViswki5WSlgFNPEr8BnjMcu5Bi53iA6n-KNq6bSWfn4V27AhP4cwTH4h75oKnK7FVk0yHBQxC-gUyiRZ7nqHORNr2mz9KRagZt0dAQEYnDTqk/s1600/16%2529+The+Samadhi+of+Ranjit+Singh.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="661" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmAh0pPiVUnvPP9X45_EnBYiz8-Doy8YYViswki5WSlgFNPEr8BnjMcu5Bi53iA6n-KNq6bSWfn4V27AhP4cwTH4h75oKnK7FVk0yHBQxC-gUyiRZ7nqHORNr2mz9KRagZt0dAQEYnDTqk/s320/16%2529+The+Samadhi+of+Ranjit+Singh.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ranjit Singh's <i>Samadhi </i>(Lahore)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had the good fortune of attending the Sikh <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaisakhi"><i>Vaisakhi mela</i></a> inside Gurdwara Dera Sahib where Guru Arjun Dev, died in 1606. Situated in the same building is Ranjit Singh's mausoleum at the foot of the Badshahi Mosque opposite the Lahore Fort.<br /><br />At the <i>mela </i>I met with a British-Indian Sikh dressed in turquoise from turban to toe. Sipping <i>doodh-patti</i>, we sat in a small room discussing politics and religion. In the hall behind us, pious reciters read aloud the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Granth_Sahib">Guru Granth Sahib</a>. While huge crowds surrounded the Guru's grave there was gloom and loneliness around Ranjit's Singh's tomb located on the upper floor.<br /><br />With typical Sikh candidness this dignitary expressed distaste for Indian repression of the Sikhs, 'great love for Pakistan, the land of our ancestors and gurus', and disdain for 'Mughal, Afghan and British invaders whom the Sikhs both served and opposed militantly'.</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRciNn-ZeSkwCBJROjm1qOYczOu3XuEHB1fsrgwiUFPtbAriQsvN9Uk8utnQdf7CT_2V-FtYv6RuLEq_AY-VoYd9QduFYVaSSWH31ewGMrvuWHcrCeNExN5uWq1Pw_Rz0Vc3-D3mCvE9P/s1600/17%2529+Ranjit+Singh.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="513" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRciNn-ZeSkwCBJROjm1qOYczOu3XuEHB1fsrgwiUFPtbAriQsvN9Uk8utnQdf7CT_2V-FtYv6RuLEq_AY-VoYd9QduFYVaSSWH31ewGMrvuWHcrCeNExN5uWq1Pw_Rz0Vc3-D3mCvE9P/s320/17%2529+Ranjit+Singh.png" width="300" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ranjit Singh breathed his last on the night of 27 June 1839. We sat at the very spot where they <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cremation">cremated</a> the Maharaja: Gurdwara Dera Sahib. Its construction was started by his eldest son from the second wife, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kharak_Singh">Kharak Singh</a>, and completed by his youngest son from the third wife, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duleep_Singh">Duleep Singh</a>, in 1848.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Smaller urns surrounding the Maharaja's funerary urn contained the ashes of four <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(practice)">sati</a> </i>queens and seven concubines who immolated themselves on the pyre.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Men jealous of Ranjit's virility claim he had more than he needed: twenty wives and dozens of mistresses. Then there are those who imagine themselves modern Maharajas and lament; “They do not make wives like that anymore!”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">COMING SOON (in two parts): </span><br />
<a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/07/duleep-singh-last-maharaja-of-punjab.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Duleep Singh - The Last Maharaja Of Lahore</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2019/10/duleep-singh-fall-of-rebel-prince.html">Duleep Singh - The Fall Of The Rebel Prince</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2019</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>Reference books & photo credits</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/72430816/A-Short-Biography-of-Syed-Muhammad-Latif">A Short Biography of Syed Muhammad Latif</a> (pages 346-497)<br /><a href="https://ia601603.us.archive.org/1/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.34649/2015.34649.History-Of-The-Panjab.pdf">History of the Panjab (Syad Muhammad Latif)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">Ranjit's birthplace (Gujranwala) photo by Tipoo Fawwad</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><b>Acknowledgement</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. </i><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned
away right here, this article would be twice its current size. Included in the
text are some web links (URLs). </span></i><i>Just click on the words in blue colour and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">DISCLAIMER</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">No one must misconstrue the information presented here about any charachter as disinformation or insults. The information here was meticulously-collected
and cross-checked from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of
proxy servers in Pakistan). Please email your suggestions (with believable
references) if you feel something requires correction.</span></i><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>e-4 (grammar, 1849/1839 dates, new photos’: 24-04-19)</b></span></span></i></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-50870367700104829182018-04-21T23:50:00.003+05:002020-10-23T19:27:33.082+05:00Iqbal In Love With Emma Wegenast<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SX1zLVn745nyb7lpZTLX81lnSHW24qU_CBECNUsYSgJ2P4nrmbv46u5zdZBpqgxFrXEB4DCiA2t1oHWAiB4izyU_stKXQSclfpIG3FLk7BQFw7WZ_zVXQVSQC6luS3rqTYxOlxBu9S98/s1600/1%2529+Well-dressed+%2528London%2529.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="445" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0SX1zLVn745nyb7lpZTLX81lnSHW24qU_CBECNUsYSgJ2P4nrmbv46u5zdZBpqgxFrXEB4DCiA2t1oHWAiB4izyU_stKXQSclfpIG3FLk7BQFw7WZ_zVXQVSQC6luS3rqTYxOlxBu9S98/s320/1%2529+Well-dressed+%2528London%2529.png" width="223" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Any sensible mother in the Indian sub-continent will be petrified if her daughter ever fell in love with a </span><i>nikamma sha'ir</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (useless and idle poet).</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Through this article we shall prove that it is possible to write material of commercial and revolutionary value even if one's belly is not always full.</span><br /><br /><b>How do poets do it?</b><br /><br /><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Disobedience caused Adam to fall from Almighty's Grace</span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And until Judgement Day fallen in love must he </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">remain.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">—</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>Yours truly</i></span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">To extract poetic revenge our male poets have, over the centuries, followed three secret cardinal rules formulated by some Himalayan </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rishi">Rishis</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sheikh Noor Mohammad</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1) Never confuse your </span><a href="http://www.homophone.com/h/misses-missus-mrs">missus</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> or </span><a href="http://www.homophone.com/h/misses-missus-mrs">Mrs.</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (the daughter of Eve) with your Muses (three or nine daughters of Zeus or Apollo).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2) The best beloved is the one whom you cannot or should not marry. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">3) The best wife (not less than one and not more than </span><a href="http://www.alim.org/library/quran/ayah/compare/4/3/restrictions-on-number-of-wives">four</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> according to Islam) is the one for whom you may pretend to live but never promise to die.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />To get a complete picture of it, please read the following articles which show how a Hungarian-Indian Jewish-Sikh painter named Amrita Sher-Gil played a minor role in the poetic life of Sir Dr Allama Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal:</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zRrnLdunduOPys4Vc9s796-wyfn4XTy-GRxM_gC6mJtAp6YuN4gQyiJYNIvkHv4eekyLL71vr4NGX6ieV6-6KaP3d1hFrcW_aHotmKWXqZqDJJvnirADRCG1z84mFMVsGq466WPnqajK/s1600/3%2529+Hafiza+Imam+Bibi%252C+Mother+of+Allama+-+Munib+Iqbal.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="467" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zRrnLdunduOPys4Vc9s796-wyfn4XTy-GRxM_gC6mJtAp6YuN4gQyiJYNIvkHv4eekyLL71vr4NGX6ieV6-6KaP3d1hFrcW_aHotmKWXqZqDJJvnirADRCG1z84mFMVsGq466WPnqajK/s200/3%2529+Hafiza+Imam+Bibi%252C+Mother+of+Allama+-+Munib+Iqbal.png" width="149" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Imam Bibi</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />1) <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html">Iqbal At Close Range</a><br />2) <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a><br />3) <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Fantastic Growth Of Amrita</a><br />4) <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-dramatic-death-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Dramatic Death Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Iqbal's lineage</b><br />
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<i> Kafir-e-ishqam musalmani mara darkaar neest<br />(I am an infidel of love, the creed of Muslims I do not need)<br />—Amir Khusrow</i><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Let us first look at the </span><a href="http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/allama-iqbals-mother-kashmiri-brahmin-ties/">lineage</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> of "Pakistan's national poet" whose birth and death took place in pre-partition India.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal’s mother Imam Bibi, a Sialkoti Punjabi, married Sheikh Noor Mohammad after he converted to Islam.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Khushwant Singh, in an article titled ‘</span><a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/1070630/asp/opinion/story_7992715.asp">Iqbal’s Hindu relations</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">’, wrote about his Kashmiri Brahmin background:</span><br />
<i><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">“The family traces its origin to one Birbal. They lived in the village of Saprain (hence, the surname Sapru) on Shopian-Kulgam Road. Then the family moved to Srinagar where Iqbal and most of his cousins were born.</span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCnReZu9SNmtVi0hNk75hyX1q2QZszkA2UDM45iSpq3IL_iwD41uEB7yvXCJ1jVtZeIF9KH7rwhLOaKrdj_2i5FItJ434UiZVXoplXATa6ctHNQwj3AM2fJnaDNxsUSYxnDxUddjUYftS/s1600/4%2529+Grandmother++Indirani+Sapru+%2528Poshi%252C+wife+of+Pandit+Kanhaya+Lal+Sapru%2529%252C+Amarnath+Sapru+%2528om+Iqbal%2527s+left%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="328" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzCnReZu9SNmtVi0hNk75hyX1q2QZszkA2UDM45iSpq3IL_iwD41uEB7yvXCJ1jVtZeIF9KH7rwhLOaKrdj_2i5FItJ434UiZVXoplXATa6ctHNQwj3AM2fJnaDNxsUSYxnDxUddjUYftS/s320/4%2529+Grandmother++Indirani+Sapru+%2528Poshi%252C+wife+of+Pandit+Kanhaya+Lal+Sapru%2529%252C+Amarnath+Sapru+%2528om+Iqbal%2527s+left%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Iqbal (rear, second from left)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Birbal had five sons and a daughter. The third one, Kanhaya Lal, and his wife, Indirani, had three sons and five daughters.</span></i><br />
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<i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Kanhaya Lal was Iqbal’s grandfather. His son, Rattan Lal, converted to Islam and was given the name Noor Mohammad. The Saprus disowned Rattan Lal and severed all connections with him.</span></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br />There are different versions of Rattan Lal’s conversion. According to Sindh, one version came from Iqbal’s translator Syeda Hameed. In this version, Iqbal’s father Rattan Lal (Noor Mohammad) was caught embezzling money as the revenue collector of the Afghan governor of Kashmir.<br /><br />The governor offered him a choice: convert to Islam or be hanged. Rattan Lal chose to stay alive. When the Afghan governor fled from Kashmir to escape its takeover by the Sikhs, Rattan Lal migrated to Sialkot."</i></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Precocious little Iqbal</b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oOeWzIgUvAZwg3oFmccrG1MjQbl22v7ahGTFZTtqe8Da07mH5vwFcwPiS6Db1Or04JXh-YW2vVxLcHHbzMshZtMVzyiHPRpzYCNIeaBlPrYOuicZN-b4c2zdsuxP7_QlOwU3Usm5nsGl/s1600/5%2529+Syed+Mir+Hassan.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="531" data-original-width="399" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9oOeWzIgUvAZwg3oFmccrG1MjQbl22v7ahGTFZTtqe8Da07mH5vwFcwPiS6Db1Or04JXh-YW2vVxLcHHbzMshZtMVzyiHPRpzYCNIeaBlPrYOuicZN-b4c2zdsuxP7_QlOwU3Usm5nsGl/s200/5%2529+Syed+Mir+Hassan.png" width="150" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Syed Mir Hassan</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iqbal was a <a href="http://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/201205/muhammad.iqbal.s.caravan.of.verse.htm">'happy child'</a> who learnt the Qur’an by heart. While Noor Muhammad was a pious Muslim tailor and embroiderer, Imam Bibi was a wise and generous woman who helped the poor and arbitrated neighbours’ disputes.<br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Mir_Hassan">Syed Mir Hassan</a> was so impressed by Iqbal's intellect that he persuaded Noor Muhammad to enrol his four-years old son in Government Christian High School. He remained Iqbal's professor at the Scottish Mission College until his graduation from Murray College in 1892.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There were men in those days who excelled at 'serving' Her Majesty the Queen of England by buying rare and ancient manuscripts for English libraries, and finding high-IQ children like <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2012/11/project-malala-famous-lost-words-part.html">Kim</a> (Rudyard Kipling fame) who could be 'civilised'. Iqbal was a marked child.</span><br />
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<b>Extracurricular Iqbal</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal found music and poetry very appealing. Being good with words he regularly entertained friends with parodies of popular songs in impromptu shows.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In high school, he mastered </span><i>arooz</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (the science of meter) and </span><i>abjad</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (numerology of verses). He wrote </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronogram">chronograms</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (phrases in which Roman letters M, C, X, L, and V can be read as Roman numerals giving certain dates), composed <i>ghazals </i>(rhyming couplets), and learned to play the sitar.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Later in life Iqbal learnt German, Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit. While he practised the law in English, it was Punjabi that he spoke with friends. Out of 12,000 verses of poetry, 5,000 were written in Urdu and 7,000 in Persian.</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/person/years/years.htm"><b>Marriages and deaths</b></a><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1914 was a tragic year for Iqbal; he lost a daughter (Meraj Bano) and then his mother (Imam Bibi) for whom the penned a poem titled “</span><i>Valida Marhooma ki yaad main</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">” (In memory of my beloved mother).</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On 4 May 1893, Karim Bibi (1874-1947) became his first wife. She was Dr. Sheikh 'Khan Bahadur' Ata Muhammad's daughter and three years older. She bore him a daughter, Meraj Begum (1895), and a son, Aftab Iqbal (1899). The 'unsuccessful marriage' ended with a </span><a href="http://www.iqbalians.com/iqbal/iqbal.asp">separation</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> in 1916.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1913 he </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Iqbal">married</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Sardar Begum from whom he had a son, Javed Iqbal, and a daughter, Muneer Bano.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After Iqbal's mother expired on 9 November 1914 in Sialkot (on his birthday), in December he married his third wife, Mukhtar Begum, who died (along with a son) during childbirth on 21 October 1924.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On 17 October 1915, Iqbal's daughter, Miraj Begum (from his first wife), expired.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iqbal's father passed away in 1930, and finally on 23 May 1935, his third wife, Sardar Begum went to her heavenly abode.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">A rare photo of Emma Wegenast</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Enter enigmatic Emma</b><br /><br /><i>Laazim hai dil ke paas rahay paas-baan-e-aql<br />(It’s good to keep the heart under the guardianship of wisdom)<br />Lekin kabhi kabhi isay tanha bhi chhoR day<br />(But sometimes the heart needs to be left alone)<br />—Iqbal</i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br />While in England, Iqbal realised that his eastern looks, sharp wit and gentlemanly charm attracted pedestal fans (ladies who placed him on a pedestal). Not an ordinary man by British standards, Iqbal kept this nuclear option (power over minds) under civil control, and thus turned all his favourite non-wife 'friends' into fluffed pillows to sob over.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct00/08.htm">Pension Scherer</a> was a highly respectable boarding house where, for six months in 1907, Iqbal took German language lessons from Fräulein Emma Wegenast to complete his Ph.D.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Adoring Goethe and Rumi was easy, not falling in love with Emma was impossible for an eastern poet living in the romantic university town of Heidelberg.<br /><br />Every boy who was ever taught a thing or two about life will faintly, if not vividly, remember being infatuated with a pretty school-teacher. Emma embodied everything he wanted in a woe-man: intelligence, beauty, education, refinement and the right balance between strength and femininity.<br /><br /><b>A curious case of the French toasts</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Macron</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Incumbent French President, Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron, developed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_complex">Oedipus Complex</a> at school for his female French language teacher, Brigitte Marie-Claude ('schooled' by the Jesuits).<br /><br />She later admitted: "At the age of 17, Emmanuel Macron said to me, 'Whatever you do, I will marry you!'"</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">At age twenty-one she had already married <a href="https://www.gala.fr/l_actu/news_de_stars/on-en-sait-plus-sur-andre-louis-auziere-le-premier-mari-de-brigitte-macron_411504">André-Louis Auzière</a>, a banker who one fine day 'found her' with Macron, a classmate of his daughter. After tolerating her philandering for ten years, he <a href="http://www.lepoint.fr/people/brigitte-macron-sa-premiere-vie-avec-andre-louis-auziere-19-01-2018-2187887_2116.php">divorced</a> her.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Brigitte</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Macron's parents later asked the then 40-year-old Brigitte to "stay away from their 16-year-old son, at least until he turned 18."<br /><br />Brigitte, being twenty-four years and eight months older to Macron, finally became his aged wife (2007) and the First Lady of France (2017).<br /><br /> Macron is now the French Republic's President and one out of the two <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-Princes_of_Andorra">Co-Princes of Andorra</a> (a micro-state landlocked between France and Spain).<br /><br /><b>Hide and seek in Heidelberg</b><br /><br />The book, <a href="https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=infNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT248&lpg=PT248&dq=emma+wegenast+letters+to+iqbal&source=bl&ots=ntgYi8JHwo&sig=HE59L_bnjMH0pwBZxGd5Ad7NQEM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiloe3JuLHaAhVCK48KHQDoA-Y4ChDoAQguMAI#v=onepage&q=emma&f=false">Iqbal: the life of a poet and philosopher</a>, affords us a deeper look at our poet.<br /><br />In 1879, Emma was born in Heilbronn. She was the fourth child of a businessman.<br /><br />Emma was only two years younger to Iqbal but at at five feet seven inches, stood an inch taller than Iqbal. He was enchanted by her 'not being self-conscious of her superb beauty'.<br /><br />She had blue eyes but her hair were black. Her hometown by the river Neckar had a considerable <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/heilbronn">Jewish population</a>.<br /><br /> Two questions arise: was she from a mixed race, and was this the reason she shied away from marrying our already married Muslim scholar from India?<br /><br />Iqbal, instead of singing praises of river Ravi of Lahore, wrote a poem about river Neckar. He praised Germany, Goethe and almost anything that was dear to Emma. He condoled with her when her father passed away in 1913.<br /><br />The two occasionally exchanged gifts. While in England, Iqbal asked unforgettable Emma to send him some photographs which she did, and those he displayed like a trophy on his study table. In return he sent Emma his photograph.<br /><br />Upon his return to India, Iqbal wrote: 'My body is here, my thoughts are in Germany'.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Not only did Iqbal study hard at Heidelberg, he enjoyed life which seemed like a '<a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1218406">beautiful dream</a>' which he wished to repeat.</span></span></div>
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Between 1907-1914, in 1919 and then between 1931-1933, he wrote Emma <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/591898/goodbye-to-heidelberg/">twenty-seven letters</a> (including two postcards), not all of which discussed the weather or politics. He wrote seventeen letters in German language and ten in English from Munich, England and India.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Iqbal always <a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct00/08.htm">addressed</a> Emma very formally as ‘Mein liebes Fraulein Wegenast’ or ‘My dear Fraulein Wegenast’, with only the ‘Mein’ hinting at his fondness and respect for her. He used the formal and respectful ‘Sie’ in addressing her, and never the intimate ‘Du’. In one letter he wrote:<br /><br /><i>“It is impossible for me to forget your beautiful country where I learned so much. I wish I could see you once more at Heidelberg and from there we would make a pilgrimage together to the sacred grave of the great master Goethe.”</i><br /><br />Despite the heavily coded longing the rendezvous never materialised. When Emma went through a <a href="https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=infNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT248&lpg=PT248&dq=emma+wegenast+letters+to+iqbal&source=bl&ots=ntgYi8JHwo&sig=HE59L_bnjMH0pwBZxGd5Ad7NQEM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiloe3JuLHaAhVCK48KHQDoA-Y4ChDoAQguMAI#v=onepage&q=emma&f=false">personal crisis</a>, Iqbal wrote more openly:<br /><br /><i>"Once a person has become your friend, it is not possible for him to live without you. A true friend...when hearts are fused together...distances become meaningless..."</i><br /><br />Again in 1908, Iqbal asked Emma to meet her in Paris and yet again the attempt failed. Once in India he expressed his sadness and loneliness without her.<br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Sir,_with_Love"><b>To Sir with love</b></a><b></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Sir,_with_Love"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxnR_kq5sXt7l6RRoSI1l_gKRSXYQjmbuTxXXtyTKvsVf8MvjxYIU1MSKwDuuVSSe2BURYnhEZjPjMc1pmRhwUXLVck77g1py7lX0eCmt6z2p1uL8yOEssnOTC4P0EL3mfPqVyT9IThzb/s1600/Iqbal+as+a+knight.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="377" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoxnR_kq5sXt7l6RRoSI1l_gKRSXYQjmbuTxXXtyTKvsVf8MvjxYIU1MSKwDuuVSSe2BURYnhEZjPjMc1pmRhwUXLVck77g1py7lX0eCmt6z2p1uL8yOEssnOTC4P0EL3mfPqVyT9IThzb/s320/Iqbal+as+a+knight.png" width="212" /></a></b></span></div>
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</b><br />The man responsible for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankana_massacre">Nankana massacre</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Edward_Douglas_Maclagan">Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan</a> (the British Governor of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjab_region">Punjab</a>) proposed in 1922 to King George V that Iqbal be knighted in recognition of his literary achievements.<br /><br />Iqbal asked that his teacher, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Mir_Hassan">Syed Mir Hassan</a> (who had taught <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Iqbal">Iqbal</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmad_Faiz">Faiz Ahmad Faiz</a>), too be awarded a title.<br /><br /> When the Governor remarked, "Mir Hassan has not written any books", Iqbal replied, "I am the book that Mir Hasan has produced." Mir Hasan received the title of '<i>Shams al-’Ulama</i>’ (Sun of Scholars).</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">All that 'education' with Mir and in Europe finally paid off on 1st January 1923 when Iqbal's amenable behaviour towards the British interests resulted in a knighthood being conferred upon him. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Signing the Armistice (1918) WWI, and in 1940 (WW2)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /> Iqbal's days continued to turn into nights in shy armour. He suffered from ailment of the <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html">kidneys</a> from 1916 up until his death.<br /><br /><b> Courting the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young_Turks">Young Turks</a></b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After the Ottoman Empire suffered a major military defeat in World war I, through the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles">Treaty of Versailles</a> (1919) and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_S%C3%A8vres">Treaty of Sèvres</a> (1920), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_(region)">Palestine</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria">Syria</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon">Lebanon</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq">Iraq</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt">Egypt</a> were severed from her.<br /><br /> The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khilafat_Movement">All India Khilafat Committee</a> in India failed to revive the Caliphate. Its Muslim-Hindu leaders (and the population in general), opposed the British designs, many were jailed but Iqbal remained free by siding with the secular Muslim League.</span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> As one will observe today, all the 'crescent' countries have been 'liberated and democratized' by the 'lions, eagles, stars and crosses' of the British-American-Zionist nexus.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.atajew.com/2000/01/masonic-lodges.html">Mustafa 'Ataturk' Kemal</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> asked for no support from Indian Muslims because he was backed by the </span></span><a href="https://eb1870.org/project/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/">Freemasonic</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> '</span><a href="http://www.whale.to/b/hand_sign.html">hidden hand</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">'. Iqbal's support for Ataturk's abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate reached its peak when he read the Turk's statements during a </span><a href="http://www.ijhssnet.com/journals/Vol_5_No_3_March_2015/19.pdf">long speech</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> at Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, in presence of 250,000 Muslims who gathered for Salat al-Eid al-Adha (Prayers at Feast of the Sacrifice):</span><br />
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Ot11ZPPX7BpuJtiFo5x-300tTpsZLmzVEj9GbuxtVjdBi74tWnRAp6uQOmvTBdZLan1FmFLjbweN9ATZSqjjxrTaK8snUqvrJ-vh2JhrrpxFkJhlp18sGzcuyVG5Bey6ozarCTDYftHd/s1600/Mustafa+Kemal%2527s+hidden+hand.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="653" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Ot11ZPPX7BpuJtiFo5x-300tTpsZLmzVEj9GbuxtVjdBi74tWnRAp6uQOmvTBdZLan1FmFLjbweN9ATZSqjjxrTaK8snUqvrJ-vh2JhrrpxFkJhlp18sGzcuyVG5Bey6ozarCTDYftHd/s320/Mustafa+Kemal%2527s+hidden+hand.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>“Let’s pray, brothers, that flag shall not fall down from those bastions till doomsday. May the sun of Islam remain bright; may Allah help Mustafa Kemal, the great leader who defends Muslims against Christians. May Allah bestow victory upon the last soldiers of Islam.”</i></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The World Islamic Conference was held in Jerusalem from 7 until 17 December 1931 and which was attended by one hundred and thirty delegates from twenty-two countries. 'Without doing much at it, Iqbal wriggled out before it concluded'.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmgs_t-IlCcSrSp4k6jrpViWJPoptlaHFOG2Wxq8tPHfq0NGqayZhBr_83260DPFz-TNf6xi1NkUD7g_i6tsk_jm2ilLl8eEa-90o8zwisJChDsnsTNd5Guk4d8IJMP8lZ4iDTC7ztWY6/s1600/Iqbal+at+Jerusalem.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="737" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmgs_t-IlCcSrSp4k6jrpViWJPoptlaHFOG2Wxq8tPHfq0NGqayZhBr_83260DPFz-TNf6xi1NkUD7g_i6tsk_jm2ilLl8eEa-90o8zwisJChDsnsTNd5Guk4d8IJMP8lZ4iDTC7ztWY6/s320/Iqbal+at+Jerusalem.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><b> The cult of the <a href="https://gnosticwarrior.com/g.html">'3G goddess</a> of <a href="http://masongoddess.blogspot.com/2008/01/chapter-one-compass-and-square.html">the compass and the square'</a></b><br /><br /><i> In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way. —Franklin D. Roosevelt (America's 32nd 'war President')</i><br /><br />Oddly, Iqbal also supported <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html">Ghazi Rauf Pasha</a> in India, a dissident associated with Ataturk. Was Iqbal hunting with Ataturk and running with his opposition? Was he acting both as a moving force and a controlled opposition? Today more people call Iqbal 'Allama' (great scholar) instead of 'Sir'.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The tentacles and machinations of the secret societies were everywhere. Goethe, Nietzsche, Ataturk, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Ahmad_Khan">Sir Syed Ahmed Ali Khan</a>, scores of other prominent men in India were <a href="http://www.masonindia.in/index.php/some-very-well-known-indian-freemasons/">Freemasons</a>, even the first Freemason in 1775 was a <a href="http://www.masonindia.in/index.php/freemasonry-comes-to-india/">Muslim Nawab of Carnatic</a>.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br />Why was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_III">His (Masonic) Holiness Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah Aga Khan III</a> buried by the Nile and close to the Pharaohs? Why is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Faith">Bahaullah</a>'s tomb in Israel along with that of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Ali_Jouhar">Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar</a>?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJDiPPYyUAA1e87wTMD-cVOuFC0ntyszo2TgyUWkUb3sVgLp2wl3Lu77lxliWFXWiEjiwRbMxkTFVMMOi0wiZHKBXckBF4J2R2BesHcL38ccnN1r5p_ItijFxFcP7Gt1PDYbpiFhYdj9K/s1600/Agha+Khan+%2528Freemasonic+hand+gesture%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="878" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinJDiPPYyUAA1e87wTMD-cVOuFC0ntyszo2TgyUWkUb3sVgLp2wl3Lu77lxliWFXWiEjiwRbMxkTFVMMOi0wiZHKBXckBF4J2R2BesHcL38ccnN1r5p_ItijFxFcP7Gt1PDYbpiFhYdj9K/s320/Agha+Khan+%2528Freemasonic+hand+gesture%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sir Aga Khan (with his 'hand' hidden)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">To arrive at conclusions hidden from the masses, readers are encouraged to conduct personal research into related events and personalities.</span><br />
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<a href="http://dailyaftab.pk/2017/09/07/allama-iqbal-heidelberg-german-influence/"><b>Atiya Fyzee on Iqbal and Emma</b></a><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Atiya Fyzee found Emma Wegenast to be 'extremely beautiful and Iqbal full of humility', with his ‘egotistic cynicism’ of the London all but gone. He was ‘intelligently interested’ in his studies. He liked boating, classical music, singing, gardening, and hiking.<br /><br />Iqbal sang operatic songs ‘all out of tune and with no voice’ and danced clumsily to a folk tune with his tutor Frau Wegenast. He was last in a boat race, and once cooked an Indian dish. He picked knowledge from the trees that he passed by and the grass he trod.'<br /><br /> Iqbal was a warm and sensitive human being pinned down by multiple marriages and their accompanying emotional baggage, the turmoil in Indian politics and his higher learning created an intellectual imbalance at home.<br /><br />Emma Wegenast (and Atiya Fyzee, who will be explored in a future article) were far cries from the traditionally Muslim ladies that Iqbal married. Emma and Atiya were beautiful, unveiled, bold, almost like hooris sent down from heaven.<br /> <br /><b>Relationship: It's complicated</b><br /><br /><i>"We have biographies of Rabindranath Tagore revealing all his love affairs but none of the Allama telling us of the kind of man he was." —Khushwant Singh</i><br /><br />The '<a href="https://nation.com.pk/22-Sep-2016/the-sunset-club-the-dirty-old-man-s-moving-and-provocative-swansong">dirty old man of India</a>', Khushwant Singh, wrote thus in an article titled ‘<a href="https://www.telegraphindia.com/1070630/asp/opinion/story_7992715.asp">Iqbal’s Hindu relations</a>’:</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><i> "This secret [Emma Wegenast] was divulged by the mayor of Heidelberg in a speech in which he named a part of the bank of the river Neckar 'Iqbal Weg'. The Pakistani ambassador to Germany had the mayor’s speech mentioning the girl’s name suppressed."</i><br /><br /><b>Problem? What problem?</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_we_have_a_problem">Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here</a>." </i></span><i>—communications between the Apollo 13 astronaut John ("Jack") Swigert and the NASA Mission Control Center ("Houston") during the Apollo 13 spaceflight</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3eNxa4Gcvtb9e-zLiKrOp4pYmcqe-nHQOjTbs60BH2mlKQFgYmoC_AKFywPBFpRSYXl38tEqpzuEPertoPLTKwIaGBBPpibrmFo8VyT9Su1WGPoNiang51biQbHh7nhk-3Luk6VvN-HI/s1600/Astronaut.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="645" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI3eNxa4Gcvtb9e-zLiKrOp4pYmcqe-nHQOjTbs60BH2mlKQFgYmoC_AKFywPBFpRSYXl38tEqpzuEPertoPLTKwIaGBBPpibrmFo8VyT9Su1WGPoNiang51biQbHh7nhk-3Luk6VvN-HI/s320/Astronaut.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Can Pakistani SUPARCO out-space American NASA?</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">We have </span><a href="http://www.suparco.gov.pk/">SUPARCO</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> in Pakistan; the above sentence maybe revised to read: Islamabad, we've had a problem here since 1947.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />It is easy to offer prayers at the tombs of our national heroes rather than ask probing questions. Usually the one who questions 'uncomfortable facts' of our history is labelled a 'traitor' in Pakistan.<br /><br />The invention of the printing press has not liberated the entire world through publication of truthful textbooks, it has rather plagued us with systematic cover-ups of real history designed to paralyse young minds with homogenised and expensive mass brain-washing called 'education'.</span><br />
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<b>Food not cooked at home</b><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /> When no food is lovingly cooked at home, men tend to dine out; for dessert they rest their tired heads in cosy laps of women with sympathetic ears.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal certainly did not commit a crime by not always walking alone in European parks. Where exactly could a <i>Rehmatullah Alayh</i> (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) and <i>Hakeemul Ummat</i> (the sage of the nation) go to relieve educational and matrimonial stress?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3C4Q4yRdPvJlHGNGVCVdRsEVeWe8iDfrdIgueBNP9G6KxkDQ9pifHaofGrloeYRdFHSqKf0Bqb2TJUMmvhbDRc4m1Q-GvI-ko_QowQX7NjG-B8COZ2aQ567_2SIQ9_NuGv8VcLB2DqG79/s1600/Eros.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="343" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3C4Q4yRdPvJlHGNGVCVdRsEVeWe8iDfrdIgueBNP9G6KxkDQ9pifHaofGrloeYRdFHSqKf0Bqb2TJUMmvhbDRc4m1Q-GvI-ko_QowQX7NjG-B8COZ2aQ567_2SIQ9_NuGv8VcLB2DqG79/s320/Eros.png" width="198" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Eros</span>—vulgar or divine?</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Socrates, in Plato's "Symposium", explained two types of love or Eros:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1) Vulgar Eros (earthly love) is a mere material attraction towards a beautiful body for physical pleasure and reproduction. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">2) Divine Eros (</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_love">divine love</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">) journeys from physical attraction towards beautiful form or body but transcends gradually to love for Supreme Beauty. It later transforms into Platonic love in which the beautiful other person inspires the mind and the soul, and directs one's attention to spiritual things. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Men will say things to other men but they will only say 'other things' to 'other women'. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal did pour his poetic heart out to other women by posting paper-based 'status updates' in an era when absence and distance made hearts grow fonder, and when envelopes took painful months across continents to arrive into physical mailboxes.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeCFqxHPo_N_r5HSDjyZ3gLYSAsBr4sc1l3ljvuYouWCQlQTVAnbxIElYndE98GP2kVqeUget9gy3TtZYiM4j61s_Tewwz-24qffJEr6MqZftsv2IvubWEVGYEqroKY0FJjIPhqa0rhCZ/s1600/Jinnah%2527s+hidden+hand.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeCFqxHPo_N_r5HSDjyZ3gLYSAsBr4sc1l3ljvuYouWCQlQTVAnbxIElYndE98GP2kVqeUget9gy3TtZYiM4j61s_Tewwz-24qffJEr6MqZftsv2IvubWEVGYEqroKY0FJjIPhqa0rhCZ/s320/Jinnah%2527s+hidden+hand.png" width="158" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Jinnah's hidden hand</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Of rich poor men</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The short and unsuccessful marriage of Pakistan's 'founding father', Muhammad Ali Jinnah, cannot be compared with seesawing multiple marriages of Iqbal.</span><br />
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<br /> While Jinnah charged hefty fees as a lawyer to buy <a href="https://scroll.in/magazine/834176/jinnahs-house-in-mumbai-is-a-monument-to-the-frailty-of-human-beings">sprawling properties</a> all over India, Iqbal would 'stop accepting more cases when his monthly income touched the Rupees 500 mark'.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1935 Iqbal owned a French automobile and, a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">s a husband of three wives, kept meticulous notes of what came in and what was spent. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Here is an interesting analysis:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvtr7OcubemlwUHfHUxdj_l4gXWWhlsSw6kcpkt0-WVSNQT1Kb9eyQ8s_B7evyZHIr9j7dHmakiLYKLJFG9xxglCwjIB9m1Gq86NRRqVbVaNOepaN6_QpWaWu5crcawmK6Biu5owTdJUX/s1600/Payment+receipt+-+Iqbal+to+Nizam+Din%252C+January+1935.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="391" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvtr7OcubemlwUHfHUxdj_l4gXWWhlsSw6kcpkt0-WVSNQT1Kb9eyQ8s_B7evyZHIr9j7dHmakiLYKLJFG9xxglCwjIB9m1Gq86NRRqVbVaNOepaN6_QpWaWu5crcawmK6Biu5owTdJUX/s320/Payment+receipt+-+Iqbal+to+Nizam+Din%252C+January+1935.png" width="201" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Iqbal's bill for tent shouldaries (1935)</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When Iqbal died in 1938, one</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="https://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/exchangeglobal/result.php?year_source=1916&year_result=1948&countryE%5B%5D=India">Indian Rupee</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was worth 3.73 U.S Dollars, hence, Rs 500 was worth $134.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">At today's exchange rate of 65 Indian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_rupee">Rupees</a> to 1$, those Rs 500 would be worth Rs 8,710.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1938, the price of 1 troy Ounce of <a href="http://onlygold.com/Info/Historical-Gold-Prices.asp">gold</a> (31.1034768 grams) was $35 (Indian Rupees 130.55). Hence, Iqbal's monthly income of Rs 500 could buy him 3.8299 grams </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">of gold.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 2018, the price per troy Ounce of gold is Indian Rs 86,000 (worth $1,323), hence Iqbal's monthly income was substantial by this standard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 2018, the price per troy Ounce of gold is Indian Rs 86,000 (worth $1,323), hence Iqbal's monthly income was substantial by this standard.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvN-AQH6tXdhUvoTNgLA0OZuvtO-KaFP2XrW59tRDKezwK0Lhtr4LAls8RVOFMTsvVhM-BSFK4RsWRaxLXw6nEBBcGATCkhIZwUeuMtLhuQqM2A2jEEuQApvmZ2sd3iGouQWNpBBG2qeNT/s1600/Javid+Manzil%2527s+electricity+bill+%2528Feb+1939%2529+-+to+Dr+Javid+%2528minor%2529.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="387" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvN-AQH6tXdhUvoTNgLA0OZuvtO-KaFP2XrW59tRDKezwK0Lhtr4LAls8RVOFMTsvVhM-BSFK4RsWRaxLXw6nEBBcGATCkhIZwUeuMtLhuQqM2A2jEEuQApvmZ2sd3iGouQWNpBBG2qeNT/s320/Javid+Manzil%2527s+electricity+bill+%2528Feb+1939%2529+-+to+Dr+Javid+%2528minor%2529.png" width="207" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Iqbal's electricity bill (February 1939)</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Today 1 Indian Rupee is worth 1.7827 Pakistani Rupee. Had Iqbal been alive today in Pakistan, his monthly income would be 153,316 Pakistani Rupees.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By the time the British </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_%28India%29">partitioned</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> India, through the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Independence_Act_1947">Indian Independence Act 1947</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, on 15 August, one Indian Rupee was worth one U.S Dollar. Today 65 Indian Rupees get you just one American Dollar—a devaluation of sixty-five times in seventy-one years. Blame it on mad borrowing and the insane bankers.</span><br />
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<b>Doraus Lendora, the German tutor</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal's encounter with Emma Wegenast cemented his faith in German ladies who seemed willing to sacrifice everything when it came to their children's upbringing. Impressed with their work ethic and </span><a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1218406">culture</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, in 1935 Iqbal employed a German lady, Doraus Lendora, for his children Javed Iqbal and Munira.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAu4dnEiDHtXUKrLa8RvCsvUC2K_m_u1zGuZ3VyOYFylNLCzioJWyrKdpFfxWHoZO4RaSE-NYpRQndS-6Yigo9YKZzFUTAccoI6_DWel3wpleAeInTlzwzATDai2WgwMXIiVN_BX5noE7V/s1600/Indian+Rupee+%25281918%252C+King+George%2529.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="1019" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAu4dnEiDHtXUKrLa8RvCsvUC2K_m_u1zGuZ3VyOYFylNLCzioJWyrKdpFfxWHoZO4RaSE-NYpRQndS-6Yigo9YKZzFUTAccoI6_DWel3wpleAeInTlzwzATDai2WgwMXIiVN_BX5noE7V/s320/Indian+Rupee+%25281918%252C+King+George%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The Indian Rupee (1918) with King George V sitting on it</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The children called her 'auntie Doraus' and she stayed at Iqbal's home for twenty-eight years. We do not know if Iqbal communicated with her in German language.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Doraus died in 1962, having served for </span><a href="http://pu.edu.pk/images/journal/phill/pdf_files/Iqbal_Germany%20and%20Tehreek-e%20Mashraqia.pdf">twenty-eight years</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. She now rests in Lahore's Christian Cemetery.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLBMcLibMZj9zfnWDUWyj-0GNebptSdZtweHFH9nK1s9bVO9gfhJM6hUuXuR5MiP1bmFeumZgW3J-jJVjOdQxJypcZfB-IIhX5jM51lNYbH57T6Dr-T-_R4zgW0DwW34yrKdRHjrgMCOg/s1600/Doraus+with+Munib+Iqbal.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="467" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLBMcLibMZj9zfnWDUWyj-0GNebptSdZtweHFH9nK1s9bVO9gfhJM6hUuXuR5MiP1bmFeumZgW3J-jJVjOdQxJypcZfB-IIhX5jM51lNYbH57T6Dr-T-_R4zgW0DwW34yrKdRHjrgMCOg/s320/Doraus+with+Munib+Iqbal.png" width="237" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Doraus holding Munib (Iqbal's grandson)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The prodigal son: Javed Iqbal</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It goes to Iqbal's credit that he was able to express pious and lofty poetic thoughts with a pen dipped in the ink of a troubled marital status. To this date, his failed romances and personal tragedies attract </span><a href="http://blog.ale.com.pk/2009/07/07/allama-iqbals-love-life/">mud-slingers</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> whom the majority of fans reject outright for 'national security' reasons.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Imitating somewhat the 'ascetic ideal' of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche">Friedrich Nietzsche</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (1844-1900), Iqbal wrote Javed Nama (The Book of Eternity) and through <i>Baal-e-Jibrael </i>(Gabriel’s Wing, 1932) addressed his son </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javed_Iqbal_%28judge%29">Javed Iqbal</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">:</span><br />
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<i>Do not be beholden to the West’s artisans</i><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>Seek thy sustenance in what thy land affords<br />My way of life is poverty, not the pursuit of wealth;</i></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>Barter not thy Selfhood; win a name in adversity.</i></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49_4Sh9BvPSJyK8ampExjM7sOnplcf6ZEkorjBWx3hAE7R0Mcv6BxKmQr1xMTnk_O4fI-Lk8AIAoNwx7nTrSVmNXHVL0tl3XDO10M72U7O605cM2UaOCq8z9ob-0IeshMDVY9hbJGFalL/s1600/With+Javed+Iqbal+%25281930%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="455" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi49_4Sh9BvPSJyK8ampExjM7sOnplcf6ZEkorjBWx3hAE7R0Mcv6BxKmQr1xMTnk_O4fI-Lk8AIAoNwx7nTrSVmNXHVL0tl3XDO10M72U7O605cM2UaOCq8z9ob-0IeshMDVY9hbJGFalL/s320/With+Javed+Iqbal+%25281930%2529.png" width="231" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Iqbal with his son Javed Iqbal (1930)</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Javed Iqbal followed his father’s advice and became a noted lawyer, the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, and a Senator. In his four-volume biography on Iqbal, he admits:</span><br />
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<i>“We were always short of money. My mother wanted to buy a home instead of always renting so she wanted my father to take his law practice seriously. I can still recall my mother crying and complaining that while she was working like a servant, my father was lying on a couch and writing poetry. When upbraided like this, my father would laugh his embarrassed laugh.</i><br />
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<b>Wait, the heroine has a sister!</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On 16 September 1966, through Abdul Rahman Khan (Pakistan's Ambassador), a plaque commemorating Iqbal's stay at Heidelberg was unveiled.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIW0eLcHC_muCYbo1ySMZi6s380rvB1mVXhjoSDMdYheAIl0fqGEi0HlQ7a1JXH4bHX1LzJUA9xp86y1XQaTAoKdqK29udqU6pS_x191dry85DV43Q68h2jH6G2Xen3v6k_LjrVwkwzZV/s1600/Love+letters.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="707" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidIW0eLcHC_muCYbo1ySMZi6s380rvB1mVXhjoSDMdYheAIl0fqGEi0HlQ7a1JXH4bHX1LzJUA9xp86y1XQaTAoKdqK29udqU6pS_x191dry85DV43Q68h2jH6G2Xen3v6k_LjrVwkwzZV/s200/Love+letters.png" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Locating the house where Iqbal lived at the beginning of the century became possible when a Pakistani student, M. S. Boikan, wrote a letter to a local newspaper. That prompted <a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/apr69/2.htm">Sofie Wegenast</a> (then in her 80's), Emma Wegenast'a sister, to reveal the correct address.<br /><br />Click <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1b6nwu">HERE</a> to see where Iqbal lived in Heidelberg.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Click <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1b6pa4">HERE</a> to see a documentary on Iqbal.<br /><br /><b>Bitten by a German love-bug</b><br /><br /><a href="https://www.abdn.ac.uk/sdhp/people/profiles/t.weber/?publications&rs=50">Thomas Weber</a> (born 1974) is a German historian and university Professor of History and International Affairs at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Aberdeen">University of Aberdeen</a>. Himself an Oxford scholar, he challenges all preconceived notions and existing stereotypes in his book "Our Friend 'The Enemy': Elite Education in Britain and Germany Before World War I":<br /><br /><i>"In the case of Prince Rangsit of Thailand, who in 1913—contrary to convention—married the daughter of his Heidelberg landlady, the romantic image became a reality.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqk7_rPXAJ9pc_Oe0CCFVkbltApyXvKXsl7J8FovfwXYo4lUufZAwtWQmOwiOrs19GGnzzq5XnCTZ8dZI7PPbZJbgYhwuykFd9ipUTLcWDkRDs7pNGLpTxWVskAWCUcKeKM3phexJkB8EJ/s1600/Lady+bugs.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="539" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqk7_rPXAJ9pc_Oe0CCFVkbltApyXvKXsl7J8FovfwXYo4lUufZAwtWQmOwiOrs19GGnzzq5XnCTZ8dZI7PPbZJbgYhwuykFd9ipUTLcWDkRDs7pNGLpTxWVskAWCUcKeKM3phexJkB8EJ/s320/Lady+bugs.png" width="320" /></a></i></span></div>
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</i><br /><i>Moreover, Muhammad Iqbal, a poet often described as one of the spiritual fathers of Pakistan, who had studied for a few months at Heidelberg in 1907, after his return to India, wrote passionate letters to Emma Wegenast, a young woman who had taught him German at Heidelberg:<br /><br /> 'No land and no ocean can keep us apart. We will be ever together and my thoughts like magic will run after you and strengthen our bond'.<br /><br />Significantly, Iqbal recorded no similar episodes from his time at Cambridge."</i><br /><br /> It was Iqbal's captive dove status in India that made him love a female German <i>uqaab</i> (eagle) named Emma Wegenast.<br /><br /><b>Where are Iqbal's letters to Emma?</b><br /><br />Now consider what <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Aman_Hobohm">Mohammad Aman Herbert Hobohm</a> states about someone <a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct00/08.htm">hiding</a> the "more than 40 letters plus some photographs that were handed over by Emma Wegenast to Mr Mumtaz Hasan of the the Pakistan-German Forum in 1959".</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUSX5RynGbMqslEgzSQ5rWRkhMRZm_fr6UPKfYmbc5g7p2iUJaktUsWLtpoRy1-G1gmgjCWs3Cb0t9fB9S1XHKIHCAykc0uMC4AeF_OSEPJFiYMXS4nAu4siyQYQC22xVMcALGgj2RkU1/s1600/Secret.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="401" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUSX5RynGbMqslEgzSQ5rWRkhMRZm_fr6UPKfYmbc5g7p2iUJaktUsWLtpoRy1-G1gmgjCWs3Cb0t9fB9S1XHKIHCAykc0uMC4AeF_OSEPJFiYMXS4nAu4siyQYQC22xVMcALGgj2RkU1/s200/Secret.png" width="191" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Letters? What letters?</span></td></tr>
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<br />The forum was a bilateral cultural association of which Mumtaz Hasan was the President.<br /><br />Since all governments excel at official cover-ups, the <a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/oct00/08.htm">collection</a> of Iqbal's letters to Emma possibly still remain under lock and key somewhere. Is there a dungeon where Emma's replies to Iqbal might be found? Did Iqbal, before his death, or someone later destroy that evidence?<br /><br /> Iqbal died in 1938. Emma never married. When Pakistan came into being in 1947, she retired from work, and at age eighty-five died in 1964.<br /><br /><b>Iqbal in the eyes of the world </b><br /><br />A lot can be said about how Iqbal's thoughts influenced generations spread across the continents. In Iran Iqbal is known as <a href="http://www.iran-daily.com/News/204105.html">Iqbal-e Lahori</a> (Iqbal of Lahore) and acclaimed for the beauty of his poetry and his love for the Persian language.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The German expert on Iqbal, Professor Dr. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annemarie_Schimmel">Annemarie Schimmel</a> (1922-2003 ) wrote:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAfqpN7Iq9axfAIRWA6qPtvIBAUY8VHknLrDyEJBJmSgGScfHGZVYTdh2GkrTy8JtbSsfONNahy7TrRAKBdFHKWrjqwFhvN_a4unETAKzBIKvtzLT7gMap6wRqpNfoK_Hk17dovWw1Slo/s1600/On+a+sofa.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="595" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAfqpN7Iq9axfAIRWA6qPtvIBAUY8VHknLrDyEJBJmSgGScfHGZVYTdh2GkrTy8JtbSsfONNahy7TrRAKBdFHKWrjqwFhvN_a4unETAKzBIKvtzLT7gMap6wRqpNfoK_Hk17dovWw1Slo/s320/On+a+sofa.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Forget the stiff official photos, Iqbal sat this way at home</span></td></tr>
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<br /><i>“Iqbal is an ideal example of what history of religion calls a 'prophetic' type of experience, an experience which made him soar to new heights."</i><br /><br />Iqbal condensed his thoughts in the final lines of a poem dedicated to Emma's river Neckar: <i>Darya-e-Neckar (Heidelberg) kay kinaray par</i>" (<a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/publications/journals/review/apr69/2.htm">An Evening On The Banks Of The Neckar, Heidelberg)</a>:</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">اے دل تو بھی خموش ہو جا </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>You too, o heart, be still</i><br />آغوش میں غم کو لیکے سو جا </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>Hold your grief to your bosom, and sleep</i><br /><br /><b>Where is Iqbal now?</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Living on the lowly 2,918 meters high <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Olympus">Mount Olympus</a>, the Greek Zeus and his immoral gods and goddesses fought amongst themselves over human flesh and dominion.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Here we have, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest">Mount Everest</a>, the world's highest mountain that reaches 8,848 meters. The Nepalese call it 'Gauri Sankar' or 'Sagarmāthā', the Tibetans know it as 'Chomolungma', and the British labelled it 'Peak XV'. One could find greater comfort in imagining sage-poet Iqbal's </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">contended spirit residing atop this very mountain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2018</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="color: magenta;">Stayed tuned for my next article:</span> <span style="background-color: yellow;">Iqbal In Love With Atiya Fyzee</span></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Further reading</b><br /><br /><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2011/09/allama-iqbal-letter-to-times.html">Allama Iqbal: A Letter to The Times</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html" target="_blank"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal At Close Range</span></a><br /><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil</span></a><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html" target="_blank">The Fantastic Growth Of Amrita</a></span><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-dramatic-death-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Dramatic Death Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><i><b>Acknowledgement</b><br />If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. The web links (URLs in <span style="color: #2115ce;">blue</span>) have been included in the text. Just click on the words in blue colour and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Allama Iqbal. Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</i></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><a href="http://www.lib.utexas.edu/photodraw/portraits/goethe.jpg">Photo of Goethe</a><br /><a href="https://walker-web.imgix.net/cms/Nietzsche_Olde_04_cropped.jpg?auto=format,compress&w=1920&h=1200&fit=max">Photo of Friedrich Nietzsche (1899, by Hans Olde)</a><br />Munib Iqbal's FaceBook page<br />Hidden hand of <a href="http://transmissionsmedia.com/the-hidden-hand-that-shaped-history/">Mustafa Kemal</a></i><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>DISCLAIMER</b><br />No one must misconstrue the information presented here about Iqbal as disinformation or insults. The information here was meticulously collected (after cross-checking) from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of proxy servers in Pakistan). If you feel something here needs to be amended, please email me the suggestions with believable references. Until then, whatever is written here shall be considered correct.</span></i></span></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-51243594376667027262017-08-20T19:28:00.001+05:002018-12-20T17:01:19.355+05:00How To Plan For An Umrah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5RmHa0qmF07WDYJ9aH8UvJYbFFYpw8seYEdPkLNhx4lDWFpncl09lEYXnmHf6kg0faVvM__bcU7qoTBit5mjdHgJgYCzhKuCZbg-VaM_E5er-Y2NwOlxPVnifQCS8yKNQF6RKqIqqvBa/s1600/1%2529+Night+shot.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ5RmHa0qmF07WDYJ9aH8UvJYbFFYpw8seYEdPkLNhx4lDWFpncl09lEYXnmHf6kg0faVvM__bcU7qoTBit5mjdHgJgYCzhKuCZbg-VaM_E5er-Y2NwOlxPVnifQCS8yKNQF6RKqIqqvBa/s320/1%2529+Night+shot.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Umrah</i> is a 'minor pilgrimage' or 'lesser pilgrimage', while the <i>Hajj </i>(a resolve to some magnificent duty) is the 'major pilgrimage’.<br /><br />While <i>Umrah </i>is highly recommended, <i>Hajj </i>is compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim who can economically and physically afford it. The Arabs address even the <i>Umrah </i>pilgrims as <i>Haji </i>(one who performs <i>Umrah</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <i>Umrah </i>(عمرة) is a pilgrimage to Makkah (Arabia) that can be performed by Muslims during any time of the year except the five days of 9-13 <i>Dhul Hajj</i> (during which it is considered <i>makrooh tahreemi</i> or prohibited). However, the Hajj is offered only during the eleventh Islamic month of <i>Dhul Hajj</i> based on the lunar calendar.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why do you need to go?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pilgrimage means more than just offering prayers at the Haram, consuming
Ajwa dates and drinking Zamzam water.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ask yourself a few honest questions
before embarking on this holy journey:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Am I going for <i>Umrah</i>
for Allah’s pleasure or because it is a popular religious activity these days?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will
I be able to wash off all my sins in Makkah?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will I be able to refrain from indulging
in sinful behaviour after returning home?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why am I going to Makkah if I am unwilling to change?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If I do not improve as a human being after performing <i>Umrah</i>, it means my pilgrimage was rejected by Allah. What shall I do to reverse this condition?</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgCnrCHw3IwybtGYb8gkR9jbB_EQiSPZQpDH0UL8KmrRgocwGSCfm1oTmk4qHmy8I0WnsWDK74Xp5Krxgf-CVWt2BCepWbPP4zg0WqncGpcXmE_UaVXr4bTYptSwoWe2aLvA6hHCkNJEs/s1600/3%2529+Circumambulation.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="555" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOgCnrCHw3IwybtGYb8gkR9jbB_EQiSPZQpDH0UL8KmrRgocwGSCfm1oTmk4qHmy8I0WnsWDK74Xp5Krxgf-CVWt2BCepWbPP4zg0WqncGpcXmE_UaVXr4bTYptSwoWe2aLvA6hHCkNJEs/s320/3%2529+Circumambulation.png" width="320" /></span></a><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What is <i>Umrah</i>?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The word </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Umrah </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">literally means ‘to visit a populated place’.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the <i>Shariah </i>(laws derived from the Qur’an and Sunnah practises of the last Messenger of Allah) </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Umrah </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">means ‘to perform </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tawaaf </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(counter<i> </i>clockwise circumambulation) around the Ka’aba.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Running seven times between the hills <i>Al-Safa</i> and <i>Al-Marwah </i>is
called <i>Sa'i</i> and which commemorates Hazrat
Hajira’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umrah">search</a> for water and God's mercy </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in answering prayers. This is done after assuming Ihram (a sacred state), from one of the six </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Miqaat</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> points (geographically ‘stated places’). </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each run is 350m or a total of 3.15 Km for seven runs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the <i>Tawaaf</i>
and the <i>Sa'i</i>, Muslims complete the
rituals associated with <i>Umrah </i>with <i>halq</i> or <i>taqseer</i> (shaving of the head). Pilgrims then drink water from the
well of <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_Pilgrimage">Zamzam</a></i> just as the Last Messenger of Allah did over 1,400 years ago.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are two types of <i>Umrah</i>:</span></span></div>
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<li><i>Al-Umrat al mufradah</i> refers to <i>Umrah </i>that is performed independently of Hajj.</li>
<li><i>Umrat al-tammatu</i> refers to <i>Umrah </i>that is performed in conjunction with Hajj; the rituals of the Umrah are performed first and then those associated with the Hajj.</li>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Umrah </i>is obligatory<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">According to the <i>Hadith</i>
(Bukhari 1654, Muslim 1253, Tirmidhi 821), the Last Messenger of Allah
performed </span><a href="http://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/7169/how-many-umras-and-hajj-were-done-by-the-prophet-saw">four Umrah</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/7169/how-many-umras-and-hajj-were-done-by-the-prophet-saw">s</a> and <a href="http://islam.stackexchange.com/questions/7169/how-many-umras-and-hajj-were-done-by-the-prophet-saw">one Hajj</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">but
some scholars insist he performed </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=83138">three Hajjs</a> (two before migration to Medina
and the last Farewell </span><i>Hajj</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">).</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnCwuCJp2GsaG7dkaLruYA_0dZZ4ZlFx4shprxx9NMbVQb8_TTuNXrmbsIbOnYR40S7ufnnicFD6tkg93wVCJagNv5Vh3feJ81HmZ7e_P9anq4r2V3_C9N7kSwZ_iCjgMO_jh5hqpZABj/s1600/4%2529+Engraving%252C+1800.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="434" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnCwuCJp2GsaG7dkaLruYA_0dZZ4ZlFx4shprxx9NMbVQb8_TTuNXrmbsIbOnYR40S7ufnnicFD6tkg93wVCJagNv5Vh3feJ81HmZ7e_P9anq4r2V3_C9N7kSwZ_iCjgMO_jh5hqpZABj/s320/4%2529+Engraving%252C+1800.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many Muslims end up performing <i>Umrahs</i> for deceased relatives while forgetting that every <i>nafs</i> (ego) is individually responsible for deeds done during a
limited earthly life and which effect the</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ruh</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (soul)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Contrary to the Christian belief, Islam does not require
a believer to carry another person’s cross over the shoulders.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If your deceased
spouse, parent(s), children or sibling(s) were unable to perform <i>Umrah</i>, it is better to pray for their
forgiveness instead of burdening yourself with their sins or attempting to wash them in Makkah.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Holy business?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even if it were to be believed that performing four <i>Umrahs</i> was the <i>Sunnah</i> (action) of the Messenger of Allah, under what compulsion do
Muslims perform more than that number?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why are the religious scholars silent on key issue and why has piety become an open display of money and fake religiosity?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Arabia has already declared that their <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/762515/saudi-nets-16-5-bn-from-pilgrims-paper">future revenues</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">—upwards
of <a href="http://www.arabiangazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Hajj-Info.jpg">$16 billion</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">each <a href="http://ilmfeed.com/which-countries-have-the-highest-number-of-hajj-pilgrims/">year</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">—will
mostly come from </span><i>Hajj </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">because oil has
lost its artificially inflated value. The troika of Arab hotel owners, tour-operators and the <i>mullahs </i>are indulging in getting everyone hooked to performing repeated <i>Umrahs</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As for the <i>Hajj</i>, the
Qur’an imposes a simple to understand condition:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(3:97) Hence, pilgrimage
unto the Temple is a duty owed to God by all people who are able to undertake
it (or able to afford it, or who can find a way to it).</span></i></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What the verse means is this: suppose a poor Muslim man has daughters or sisters that he must
marry off, or care for an ailing family member, or get his sons educated enough
to earn a decent living. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If he is unable to attend to important matters at home, he is not obliged to spend a small fortune on performing <i>Umrah</i> or <i>Hajj</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Or suppose that he must pass through a war-zone (and risk getting killed) to get to Makkah. What answer will he give to Allah on Judgement Day for endangering his own life and ruining his family's? Islam, therefore, is a practical religion which does not commands believers to burden themselves unnecessarily.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghnKIlBkDDyVFQJI-PcBvD9Ez7TrcA8fozaa-ZbIwEulvojjAHQphsUB_lDLAkEidad-M5gLgG17Gy8X6PTbxzTgV4AX68wUcVN45xVUB7SY-radiE83NqpZv_4JKiK_hnme48gMSAeFI/s1600/5%2529+Birth+place+of+the+Prophet.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="653" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgghnKIlBkDDyVFQJI-PcBvD9Ez7TrcA8fozaa-ZbIwEulvojjAHQphsUB_lDLAkEidad-M5gLgG17Gy8X6PTbxzTgV4AX68wUcVN45xVUB7SY-radiE83NqpZv_4JKiK_hnme48gMSAeFI/s400/5%2529+Birth+place+of+the+Prophet.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2564712/Bulldozing-birthplace-Mohammed-Developers-set-demolish-building-site-Prophets-home-make-way-imams-residence.html">Prophet's house (birth place) in Makkah</a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If one is
physically straightened or economically unstable, presenting himself at Allah’s
House is bound to displease Him. It is best to go for <i>Umrah</i> in good health—physically, emotionally and economically.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sadly, many performers of multiple <i>Umrahs</i> are unable to wash off their sins in Makkah because upon returning
home, their conduct is not purged of lying, cheating and sinning. This clearly indicates that their visits have not be blessed and the <i>Umrahs </i>(or <i>Hajj</i>) rejected.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Basic preparation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few weeks prior to your departure, start building up your
stamina for long brisk walks. I</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">f you wish to offer five congregational prayers in the rows
nearest to the Prophet’s mausoleum in Medina. This translates into walking for ten </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kilometres daily.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our lifestyles at home are such that usually the ladies and the children rely
more on chauffeur-driven luxury cars than their feet. Physical stamina is in short supply.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While wheel-chairs and attendants are available for hire at Makkah. Carrying along your own wheel-chair for a disabled person does come handy while moving about for food and shopping.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A spiritual package<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let the travel agent make a small profit for making your
life easy. Resist the temptation to arrange for accommodation on your own as
that may not be a cheaper proposition. Travel agents can rent hotel rooms in bulk
and get better discounts.</span></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXQ6gcQGncws1uggRtrCk9ex1t2U58qZXPxQ7unAMzT_E9h3KBjRYfG5VhwpseEVeqeAcfLcTLb0CIUQ1IrzmtGeMFb5rylqARmvZdDaKN63wwJfiTImEch0kbw8uv3u39oV_nLNimwbSd/s1600/6%2529+Coloured+engraving%252C+1850.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="563" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXQ6gcQGncws1uggRtrCk9ex1t2U58qZXPxQ7unAMzT_E9h3KBjRYfG5VhwpseEVeqeAcfLcTLb0CIUQ1IrzmtGeMFb5rylqARmvZdDaKN63wwJfiTImEch0kbw8uv3u39oV_nLNimwbSd/s320/6%2529+Coloured+engraving%252C+1850.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The star-ratings of hotels are important if you
prefer 5-star luxury or insist on acting like a VIP in Allah’s House. That
said, it is not a sin to ask for some comfort especially in hot weather.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Go for a travel 'package' as it normally includes everything: </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">visa processing fees, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">return tickets by air, hotel accommodation
(with a sumptuous breakfast),</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and travel between the airports and the hotels (but
not </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ziarah</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> of historical sites).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Group-travel with your extended family or strangers is
cheaper and provides greater support.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Taking women, children and aged
folks along will drain you of energy. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The truth is: family matters distract from praying properly, lessen focus, and waste precious time and energy. If you insist on taking along difficult-to-handle family members along, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nobody can stop you from </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">earning extra </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">sawaab</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> (Allah’s reward points).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although hotel rooms can accommodate anywhere from two to six people in
each, it is best to keep the maximum number of persons per room down. Sleeping
with crying infants or snoring aged folks will cause sleep deprivation which must be avoided to gain maximum benefit from the pilgrimage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Trips range from 4 nights to as many as 30. Avoid religious overkill. Staying longer
means unnecessary expenses, crowding inside hotels, pushing and shoving at the
Holy sites, and feelings of claustrophobia. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A longer stay may not make you more
pious. Do not be a selfish hoarder of </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">sawaab</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
by assuming that the longer you stay in Arabia, the more spiritually
dry-cleaned you will emerge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What to look for in a
travel agent<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Get an authorised travel agent with links to a reputable Arabian agent. His good reputation will result in fewer headaches in a foreign land. Prior to
Ramadan, the visa fees start shooting up from Rs 14,000 to 25,000 and reach up to Rs
35,000.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">These days, many rich Muslims feel the urge to spend the entire month of Ramadan in the cities of Medina and Makkah. May Allah have mercy on the poor who imitate the rich and the starved who go hungry because the rich waste food.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Charity and prayers go hand in hand but it seems that many Muslims these days are fixating only on prayers.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEoPA_Go7llelkFkISh-4auYjScfoKmQ6_j2PE7rynI4bjItix8xstFC01JMCU8TFaY_vpcOfGHf0IuM1KeTPcrZ5Kiu-UdrxJQmGZUgkBcRnM-U9XKf7RIZSFkCQGOccdMph7nU844-t/s1600/7%2529+Sketch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="634" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEoPA_Go7llelkFkISh-4auYjScfoKmQ6_j2PE7rynI4bjItix8xstFC01JMCU8TFaY_vpcOfGHf0IuM1KeTPcrZ5Kiu-UdrxJQmGZUgkBcRnM-U9XKf7RIZSFkCQGOccdMph7nU844-t/s320/7%2529+Sketch.png" width="320" /></span></a><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Transportation<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Any decent package will take care of travel between the
airports and the hotels.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A good travel
agent will provide a luxurious American GMC vehicle able to comfortably
transport 6-8 passengers. Anything less will mean reduced comfort level during
the 5-hours long journey between Medina and Makkah.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If the GMC’s driver can
speak your language—or at least English—it will reduce stress. An alternative
is to enquire from your hotel’s concierge; he will present a much cheaper
solution as taxis of all sizes are readily available at the doorstep.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you wish to go for <i>ziarah</i> (visits) of important historical sites in Medina and Makkah, the travel agent will invariably quote you a higher price.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Be mindful of the fact that many <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_heritage_sites_in_Saudi_Arabia">sites</a> of historical importance have been demolished by the House of Saud to make room for </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ugly</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">commercial sky-scrappers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The documents you require</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The documents required for travel may vary but the following
are essential:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Two coloured passport-sized photographs with light blue
background. Women’s heads must be covered in the photographs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Valid passport (with not less than six months remaining to
expiry)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Leave certificate from your employer</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Air travel tickets with confirmed two-way booking</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Original CNIC (computerised national identity card)</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After the travel agent has confirmed your hotel booking,
filled out relevant forms and obtained visas, he will issue his agency’s ID
card which is required for identifying yourself at various points during the
trip.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The agent should provide you with a detailed printed plan with names and
cell-phone numbers or relevant persons. Once you pay the full charges of the tour; do
obtain a receipt for your record.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The passport</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This document must not have less than six months remaining
for expiry.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Estimated expenses
person</b> (does not include the cost of air travel)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tickets: 79,000 (self-financed economy class tickets Rs
55,000-110,000 each)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Package (3 nights in Medina, 3 nights in Makkah): 456,000
(hotels, transportation, visas)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Expenses: Rs 35,000 (food for six persons twice a day), Rs
45,000 (shopping etc.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Total: 620,000 (103,000/person with my free tickets)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is best to carry a reasonable amount of foreign currency,
say SR 600-1200 per person. The legal limit for Riyals allowed into Arabia is <a href="http://www.iatatravelcentre.com/SA-Saudi-Arabia-customs-currency-airport-tax-regulations-details.htm">60,000</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While leaving Pakistan the limit is Rs 3,000 of Pakistani <a href="http://www.pkrevenue.com/customs/pakistan-customs-baggage-rules-unlimited-foreign-currency-allowed-on-arrival-10000-permitted-at-departure-rs500-for-departing-to-india/">currency</a> or $10,000. It is best to avoid
using credit cards abroad unless you wish to make the banks rich through charging
of double conversion rates (Rupees to Dollars to Riyals).</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxt5XXC_f_VsklakqcWYqKC_kVKB0oK_0cZb-gmEufNYAITVK25KcQLahuQY_wyXX5wTL1kIYSGpLsd2wrcvyuRdoO68TsitA1Mt8zNUUt1l6y7dIWLu5FNKpvtkf1k39tVW7RBQoXXUyH/s1600/8%2529+Destruction.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="593" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxt5XXC_f_VsklakqcWYqKC_kVKB0oK_0cZb-gmEufNYAITVK25KcQLahuQY_wyXX5wTL1kIYSGpLsd2wrcvyuRdoO68TsitA1Mt8zNUUt1l6y7dIWLu5FNKpvtkf1k39tVW7RBQoXXUyH/s400/8%2529+Destruction.png" width="400" /></span></a><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Health</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To avoid fatigue, it might be best to land at Jeddah,
perform the <i>Umrah</i> and then proceed to
Medina.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I followed the travel agent’s advice, l</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">anded in Medina and then proceeded for </span><i>Umrah</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
to Makkah 'because the Messenger of Allah went from Medina to Makkah as well'.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As you leave Pakistan, the health department’s officials
will make you drink anti-Polio drops and issue certificates that have no value
in Arabia.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Upon arrival at Medina, the officials will again make you drink more
of that ineffective anti-Polio concoction. Only pregnant ladies are exempt from drinking
these drops.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I strongly advise you to take written prescriptions from
your doctors and carry sufficient medicines for the entire trip. Carry along a small
medical kit will take care of aches, cough and fever because medicines are expensive
in Arabia.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was advised by a friend; "I</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n case something goes wrong abroad, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">visit a government hospital
instead of a private clinic."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As for poor health, I recall seeing a man with his aged father
offering prayers inside Masjid-e-Nabwi. The poor son had to repeatedly gather
in a plastic bag the saliva of a father who coughed frequently. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This not only
disturbed others, it felt repulsive in that Holy environment.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My own mother fell sick during the last days of the <i>Umrah</i>. This kept her away from
congregational prayers, hence less <i>sawaab</i>
for her. Perhaps I got extra <i>sawaab</i>
for caring for her, but then if Islam is turned into a <i>sawaab</i>-machine for scoring spiritual reward points, selfishness and
self-centeredness tend to creep in.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rituals and prayers<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>VERILY, God does not forgive the ascribing of divinity to aught beside Him, although He forgives any lesser sin unto whomever He wills: for he who ascribes divinity to aught beside God has indeed contrived an awesome sin. </i></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">—</span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Qur'an 4:48</i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Outlining the finer points of <a href="http://www.islam-globe.com/books/Fisabilillah/12%20Ultimate%20Journey.pdf">rituals</a> and <i>Umrah</i> prayers is beyond the scope
of this article. It is best to conduct research on the internet or ask a <i>Haji</i> friend. Be mindful of one thing: unintentional
slips will occur during the journey no matter how well-prepared you go.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <a href="http://kingtravelcan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/umrah1.pdf">rituals</a> and supplications will vary somewhat for Muslims belonging to:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunni <i>madhhab</i>
(Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi’i or Hanaffi school of thought)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sub-sect (Barelvi, Deobandi etc.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shi’a <i>fiqh</i>
(jurisprudence) schools of Ismaili, Bohra, or Khoja varieties</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You are strongly advised to rid yourself of the poisonous
ideology of <i>takfir</i> (labelling others
as unbelievers worth killing). Imagine other fellow beings as travellers on
different roads headed for the same destination.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ensure that the rituals and prayers do not make you commit <i><a href="http://islam.about.com/od/godallah/a/Shirk.htm">shirk</a> </i>(associating partners with Allah)
as this is the only sin that is unpardonable according to the Qur’an:</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBM5RZNoQrbbG9lYYKvms4pdaGfBhSKA_kU2Vk8RLYMX5ju4qJy6a0KXgeQH0YRSnEfw8QGTLJZLWkyGlN_WbrkTxS5ikQMhIrin1U9RUifAUj1vc4xL3-Mhk8OeDTq7O4os05Wr65bCA/s1600/9%2529+Door.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="664" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBM5RZNoQrbbG9lYYKvms4pdaGfBhSKA_kU2Vk8RLYMX5ju4qJy6a0KXgeQH0YRSnEfw8QGTLJZLWkyGlN_WbrkTxS5ikQMhIrin1U9RUifAUj1vc4xL3-Mhk8OeDTq7O4os05Wr65bCA/s320/9%2529+Door.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Be careful about what you ask for in your prayers. Cherish
the simplicity and purity of Islam as it was practised long ago.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Be humble and
sincere in your intentions. Seek much forgiveness and Divine guidance, and
happily tolerate whatever hardships come your way during the </span><i>Umrah</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pilgrimage has become quite dangerous because of official <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1262506">corruption</a> and deaths that occur yearly due to <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/962645/at-least-100-dead-in-stampede-at-hajj-in-saudi-arabia-civil-defence/">stampedes</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1206357">accidents</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> at Makkah. There is no guarantee that the government of Arabia will send back the bodies of publicly-executed criminals or victims of yearly stampedes at Makkah.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unfortunately, performing <i>Umrah</i> has become a religious VIP tour that brings varying levels of happiness and peace to the pilgrims. Long trips are expensive; do consider the depressed economies and political turmoils plaguing your home country</span></span>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Minor irritants might overwhelm you on this sacred journey if you habitually leave everything to Allah. As they say in Arabia: first tie your camel and then place your trust in God. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you find that this article has helped you in some way,
please pray for me. If you feel it can be improved, kindly post suggestions.
May Allah accept your repentance and <i>Umrah</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017<br /><br /><b>Acknowledgement</b><br />Some pictures courtesy of <a href="http://nativepakistan.com/photos-of-mecca-makkah/">Native Pakistan</a><br /><a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/887887/bahraini-who-performed-tawaf-around-kaaba-during-1941-floods-dies/">Bahraini man who performed tawaaf around the Kaaba during 1941 floods is dead</a><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_early_Islamic_heritage_sites_in_Saudi_Arabia">Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites in Saudi Arabia</a><br /><a href="https://youtu.be/9XXB8DPX_6A">Video of door opening of Kaaba</a><br /><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/sep/03/kaaba-mecca-hoverboard-saudi-arabia-video">Tawaaf on a hoverboard</a><br /><a href="http://www.islamandquran.org/fatwas/circumambulation-of-a-woman-during-her-period.html">Women with periods</a><br /><a href="http://mymeteorite.com/containers/137/140.html">Grand view of Kaaba from high point</a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><b>Disclaimer</b><br />I have used the word Arabia instead of KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) throughout this article as this was the original name of the land whose king the Messenger of Allah never claimed to be. Had he wished, he could have renamed it after his own tribe's name. With this in mind, I sincerely hope that KSA’a authorities will not mind my pious choice.</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-52511892903342874412017-07-09T18:59:00.000+05:002017-07-22T22:49:58.532+05:00Stone The Crows<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2VClZHdHAOcD-Zzs4rTPtaV11RyZG3LfMulV8FtYFwn60aywM4n1Ks0eEWmChVQz3JhZiKxOeEmDho6zJxFgJAeaMIWMAxO9JzOmwSD-DhDRj6sEdVY_R9Fobr3giO2eC9ChpDkanD9f/s1600/1%2529+Crow-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="322" data-original-width="438" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2VClZHdHAOcD-Zzs4rTPtaV11RyZG3LfMulV8FtYFwn60aywM4n1Ks0eEWmChVQz3JhZiKxOeEmDho6zJxFgJAeaMIWMAxO9JzOmwSD-DhDRj6sEdVY_R9Fobr3giO2eC9ChpDkanD9f/s320/1%2529+Crow-2.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/05/as-crow-flies.html">As The Crow Flies</a>' introduced you to Mr Nasiri, my Urdu teacher in class seven. This article will shed more light on him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">UrdAabi or PunjDu?</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the beginning my genes were tight at the waste. A few weeks after my loud Punjabi birth at Lahore, mother realised that Urdu would come more naturally to the new-born than Punjabi language. She would allow this young rooster to consume everything organic and roam free-range.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Very early at school, I discovered that Urdu was a potpourri of several languages; the lingo was not magical but my mind somehow was. While my parents conversed with one another in Punjabi, the cat got my little mother-tongue.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whenever mother asked me a question in Punjabi I promptly responded in Urdu and without batting eyelids. This prompted her to seek professional help on the matter because not batting eyelids was more serious than changing my mother-tongue without her express permission. While my lawyer father found nothing illegal about these Urdu tendencies, the good doctor whom mother visited joked, "Don't worry, he'll grow up into a fine Punjabi lad".</span><br />
<div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5WyqR0YUX2yIGE1r7lt_jxnMNnrkebsDNzr1Za7DGXSpeGYbNWKPi1PedjQz_EX4e1qxKOswAcoPXFZx_LGWhjAtz_-4MekXNSAyTYh9rCElr4bqwwEjib2AXQQD6qYYHJ5vlwVcB4cK/s1600/2%2529+Mother-tongue.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="480" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5WyqR0YUX2yIGE1r7lt_jxnMNnrkebsDNzr1Za7DGXSpeGYbNWKPi1PedjQz_EX4e1qxKOswAcoPXFZx_LGWhjAtz_-4MekXNSAyTYh9rCElr4bqwwEjib2AXQQD6qYYHJ5vlwVcB4cK/s200/2%2529+Mother-tongue.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My true mother-tongue</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mother's love did not require the crutches of a <a href="http://herald.dawn.com/news/1153737">national or official language</a> imposed on 96.7% of Pakistan's population by the <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Muhajir_people">3.3%</a> who spoke it. Even in old age mother still talks to me in Punjabi, I still reply in Urdu, and frequently think in Punjabi.</span><div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was the openness of a Punjabi mind that allowed me to speak decent Urdu and write English well. An Urdu-speaking family that lived in the neighbourhood warned its children: "Don't speak Punjabi. Servants speak this language!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This warning, long before genetic engineering came along, further split my Punjabi genes. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No enlightened soul even today can satisfactorily explain why Urdu-<i>daans </i>cringe at Urdu being spoken with a Punjabi accent and why Punjabis tolerate the funny way Urdu-speakers</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">―God forbid</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">―</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">speak Punjabi?</span></div>
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qBBVQzTg1ME-oDGNpJE7TCP0l0n4ymg4YTEmPjEnK0Vu4Prc1DoGKNIwOL11udqCmtGRkB01VqyzNShQpbAzK-St9cN8jemUzRY0T_mRDnOfmDN2GEKRkY3o0ngwzcF3duwQ9RqDwpvZ/s1600/3%2529+Whispering.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qBBVQzTg1ME-oDGNpJE7TCP0l0n4ymg4YTEmPjEnK0Vu4Prc1DoGKNIwOL11udqCmtGRkB01VqyzNShQpbAzK-St9cN8jemUzRY0T_mRDnOfmDN2GEKRkY3o0ngwzcF3duwQ9RqDwpvZ/s320/3%2529+Whispering.png" style="cursor: move;" width="204" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Are you from Dilli or Lucknow?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Probing my true identity</b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>ریختہ کے تمہی استاد نہیں ہو غاؔلب </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>کہتے ہیں اگلے زمانہ میں کوئی مؔیر بھی تھا</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I turned all the negative ambience into positivity and concentrated on pleasing Mr Nasiri, my Urdu teacher.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whenever the teacher demanded, I stood up to read entire pages from the text and with proper Urdu accent. B</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ecause he disliked hearing the rough </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">mixture (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rekhta"><i>rek̤h̤tah</i></a> </span><span dir="rtl" lang="ur" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" xml:lang="ur"><span class="Nastaliq" style="font-family: "jameel noori nastaleeq" , "urdu typesetting" , "noto nastaliq urdu" , "noto nastaliq urdu draft" , "hussaini nastaleeq" , "alqalam taj nastaleeq" , "irannastaliq" , "awami nastaliq" , "awami nastaliq beta4" , "awami nastaliq beta3" , "awami nastaliq beta2" , "awami nastaliq beta1" , "nafees nastaleeq" , "nafees nastaleeq v1.01" , "pak nastaleeq" , "pdms_jauhar" , "alvi lahori nastaleeq"; font-size: 17.5px;" title="Nastaliq"><b>ریختہ</b></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">) Urdu with a thick Punjabi accent, s</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ometimes he stared at me with admiration</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My formal register Urdu (</span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">zabān-i Urdū-yi muʿallá</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <b>زبانِ اُردُوئے معلّٰى</b>) made him suspect that I was only pretending to be in love with the 'language of the exalted camp' of the British Imperial army.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One day, Mr Nasiri decided to remove all doubts about my true identity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bringing my ear close to his lips he enquired, "<i>Larkey, kia teray walidain Dilli ya Lucknow say hein?</i>" (Boy, are your parents from Delhi or Lucknow?).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I insisted my parents were Punjabi from head to toe, he seemed to disbelieve me but with an approving smile.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Much later when I was thirty something, I discovered that h</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ordes of Punjabi writers and poets had become Urdu literary giants by </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ignoring their m</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">other-tongue</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="557" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiUc9Zb2wPiPyoE0BatpqRLblszyNp_obiQn_m5HF9M0lCs5lZocTFT_UsBe4Kh2NdJmQyAvB8D4Mw-5KPwgT4Gl35gPPTnvt-fB4D6y4Go5XSPSYI6Cntle6IoWjDrzQqP1ll9_x_1Hg/s320/4%2529+Ants.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did highly educated ants live inside our pants?</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Free 'medical aid'</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although Mr Nasiri was not a cane-wielding terror, on occasions when someone needed to be disciplined, he struck boyish cheeks much like an abstract painter with a brush gone mad. The boys were a canvas available free of charge to the teachers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Those who tasted </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri's</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> hand confessed, "When it hits, it feels as if a thousand ants are crawling upon the cheeks."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ants were part of school-life. The tiny creatures were held responsible whenever we 'fidgeted about', and every teacher accused us of having them in our pants. As victims, we were unable to prove the ants did not exist, and National Geographic magazine took no notice of the situation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Fair and lovely</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were some fair-skinned naughty boys amongst us. The common complaint was that when they returned home, their mothers thought rosy cheeks showed improvement in health. Little did the darlings know that on a daily basis the apples of their eyes received on their cheeks English-medium mistreatment at school.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The school-</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">teachers had a free hand and were </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">not governed by laws such as the ones we have now. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If today Muslim students were thrashed by Christian teachers, herds of bearded men would surround the clean-shaven ones and dish out instant mob-justice, if not instant coffee, for daring to touch the mini-<i>momins </i>of a strange ‘Islamic Republic’.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="476" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhFF0MRrJQd0fVFgOIorPgOrbB9pQI11vikQEWpl4-i42HeZXKbNOuaZbOswJSfp4SCs-AZ3ycv47hgEIXfY02LGko_R7JuuXhv9wcRveIVyGpiGysqXG_hlB9IbuiFJ73168BoQYFuBI/s200/5%2529+No+slapping.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="199" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sir, slap me please!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />The broad foot-rulers and canes that disciplined our naughty bottoms are nowhere to be seen today. Much like the 'banned' kite-flying festival of <i>basant</i>, the cottage industry of corporeal punishment too has vanished. The government has banned this form of ‘humiliation’ and there are laws in place to punish teachers who exceed their authority over other people’s children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Regretfully, free healthcare in Pakistan does not exist but the citizens </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">slapping one another to produce healthy rosy cheeks is an idea whose time has come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The future '<i>shaheens</i>' of P.A.F</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri had this habit of napping during the Urdu period, and on such happy occasions we resorted to abusing science by launching paper-planes. Those who were experts at this craft would later join the Pakistan Air Force to experience ejections and crashes necessary for extinguished careers.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjfsF4CDgOvqKtpqvHgDAo9QteRxY9Ey0UVj7rY1h6iLQT4lzFQHMjfZOhSDx3F_8CYl-zjOh5qrX2MHcR5yLkkAunLv61OoTbR2U3_t2-pUvmiL86JiPUt4_wwmuQ8ygfaKPpN_gr8BP/s1600/6%2529+PAF%2527s+all-American+F-86F+F86+Sabre.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="873" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjfsF4CDgOvqKtpqvHgDAo9QteRxY9Ey0UVj7rY1h6iLQT4lzFQHMjfZOhSDx3F_8CYl-zjOh5qrX2MHcR5yLkkAunLv61OoTbR2U3_t2-pUvmiL86JiPUt4_wwmuQ8ygfaKPpN_gr8BP/s320/6%2529+PAF%2527s+all-American+F-86F+F86+Sabre.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pakistan Air Force's all-American F-86F <i style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222222; font-size: 13.3px; text-align: start;">Sabre</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 1965 Indo-Pak war was still fresh in our mini-minds and having witnessed aerial dog-fights, every boy knew what an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_F-86_Sabre">F-86 Sabre</a> looked like.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One day, one of our paper Sabres, after making an abnormally short orbit in the classroom’s sky, crashed into Nasiri’s head. Lacking the time to conduct a detailed investigation, the boys instantly blamed the crash on pilot-error but not on poor aerodynamic desig</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri's angry fist fell like a bomb over his desk and that screechy "who eeeezz?" hurt our eardrums. Within seconds he turned the classroom into a courtroom of the Nuremberg Trials but despite a stern interrogation nobody confessed to the war-crime. Collective Court Marshal followed and everyone received on his palms two strikes of the dreaded broad foot-ruler.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="584" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8cQM-c5SYo1H5m-_T9Bn93ESvdQhmLb3haj60R0KSQc4MUnknnERFBBn-QL0NpjC-Vk8l5F4On_Ccr3MCq6k_6DO7h78eHEBN-Zx14GUg-3y0oD0N1TuqWBam19a9PbeF-yGkqB602qUo/s200/7%2529+Sorry.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A word unknown to the nation</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some things never change. As I write this, collective punishment is still the lot of this nation because the culture of admitting mistakes has never been sincerely promoted. Notice how infrequently the word sorry is used in public.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>Cute acts of (t)errorism</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was great childish pleasure in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">using rubber-bands to shoot paper projectiles at unsuspecting classmates to 'teach lessons' not printed in the textbooks. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every boy owned a rubber-band which he wore over the wrist.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In between period-changes, and with no teacher present, mini world-wars sometimes broke out between rival factions. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The most dreaded piece of ammunition designed for </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">maximum hurt-factor </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was the common-pin which could be transformed into a v-shaped p</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">rojectile and launched via the rubber-band slingshot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="654" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5tROsdbe9E5DkfmKGdN6ZCaFE0krWIVH6_0oPvUcpYxf5n9RIf087hIbGMQr5EuXqMFaSdVYTrcbAG7Ke3NIcMcQ4NR47dQ8XxZKKt6bi7BQ1je2H3JaeWhziU7VJKi0MHak2zBoeHzsx/s200/8%2529+Rubber+bands.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bandits with rubber-bands </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It did not stop at this; the same humble common-pin was ingeniously bent in such a way that its pointed end stared skywards when discreetly placed over a chair. When an 'enemy agent' sat down over it, the result was excruciating pain followed by a loud scream that reached up to sweet heaven. For disturbing the peace, the poor victim always received additional punishment from the teacher.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We could c</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">omplain </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to the teacher about </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">headaches, toothaches, backaches or stomach-cramps but never about </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">buttock-pain. Hence, e</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">very boy learnt to carefully scan his seat prior to mistakenly sitting down over an erect common-pin.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIGigmVDMxsV-9r-auAhe2Irs4U6HpITG6cfsoVUDCzbQKE5_YQ967jZiCGb1Qzo2Z62risswDQ52s4CV2lhU9pMBmo1-gHYfD2M5MBmOoiVjm2hEDLEtDmOgz3lrSIn31f0-VBZcC2LL/s1600/9%2529+Pins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="1600" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIGigmVDMxsV-9r-auAhe2Irs4U6HpITG6cfsoVUDCzbQKE5_YQ967jZiCGb1Qzo2Z62risswDQ52s4CV2lhU9pMBmo1-gHYfD2M5MBmOoiVjm2hEDLEtDmOgz3lrSIn31f0-VBZcC2LL/s320/9%2529+Pins.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Common pins as weapons of m(ass) destruction</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />From the administration’s perspective, everything except studying was prohibited activity, and anyone found using rubber-bands and common-pins was meted out punishment disproportionate to the crime. The emphasis placed by the system was on corporeal punishment and not on scattering pearls of wisdom which we were expected to collect in our spare time and at our own expense.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">A flying visit to the school-office</b></div>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> Being in class-seven meant we still had a year or two left in achieving the coveted status of 'senior boys'. Our seniors had named Mr Nasiri ‘<i>kawwa</i>’ (crow) and when we asked them why, they hinted, “Juniors, you’ll soon find out”.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaYYdhJGWNMASPJws7jguX_6Aes9nmzsDl86cQ5QWJBhbs-0vn1XWBbJiwJwArObc0EOMw_7w9sV0y8TbcwpM0EhwoZ8LbccIrTGqlFs5P3rbZBAG2G2BANGyZy8_fHJBhZCfWzUHUAt8O/s200/15%2529+Demon.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Devilish naughty boys </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When Mr Nasiri passed through the school’s wide corridors, sometimes someone would shout ‘<i>kawwa</i>’, vanish behind one of the pillars and leave him shouting angrily, “Who eeeezz? I say, who eeeezz?”<br /><br /> As expected, nobody ever came out claiming, “Sir, it is me eeeezz who called you <i>kawwa</i>. I beg you, please punish me!”<br /><br /> Although the boys had punishment written in their fates yet nobody ever volunteered his proud buttocks to receive unwanted 'benders'.<br /><br />One day, Mr Nasiri decided to send one of the boys on an errand. He warned in strange English: “You listen, don’t loiter about, go to the school-office <i>straight</i>—–”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The boy failed to check his enthusiasm and instead of adding “as an arrow” to the sentence, ended up putting very undesirable words into the teacher’s mouth: “as the <i>crow </i>flies”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri's little secret was revealed there and then. Fuming he got up and swiftly delivered a loud slap </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">across the boy’s cheek. There are so many wonderful words for 'slap' in Urdu and Punjabi languages: </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">rapda</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">lappar</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">chandd</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">jhaanpar</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">chapair.</i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The shocked classmate rubbed his cheek as he were applying Pond's Vanishing Cream over it. He later admitted to us: "For a few moments it all seemed very dark. I thought I'd gone blind. But then I saw tiny stars twinkling in the air, just as they do in TV cartoons".</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri insisting there are no crows in the world</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>A lovely poem</b></span><br />
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After the winter vacations, we could not wait for Mr Nasiri to cover a poem in the syllabus titled: <i>Kawway </i>(crows). This was his litmus-test.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We imagined having loads of fun but when the teacher cleverly skipped the poem, we knew what the old boys already did about Mr Nasiri’s nickname. He would not have himself insulted before the class by eulogising crows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That did not stop us from loudly reading the poem in private and whose opening lines are still etched in memory:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Kawway hein sab dekhey bhaley</i> (Crows are a familiar sight)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Chonch bhi kali, par bhi kalay</i> (With black beaks and black feathers)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were too young to know that the raven was considered a bird of ill omen by that observant playwright, William Shakespeare, who wrote in Macbeth: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">‘The raven himself is hoarse’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What Sheikh Peer meant was this</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">: because the crow is associated with death, it would be heard croaking over the corpses of soldiers on the battlefields, and will soon have reason to croak above Macbeth's castle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>Azhar Abbas in his element</b></span><br />
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Azhar Abbas was a poor neighbour who lived at the end of my lane. His untidy and dazed countenance can be seen in my class-one photo. He remained a class-fellow until the senior years. Because of his family’s low status in society and the resultant low grades in every class, all the teachers treated him rather harshly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Almost all of us were skinny back then but Azhar was the skinniest cat. While receiving the teachers’ benders on the buttocks, he habitually shook his tail to dodge them. When this happened, the cane hit his legs instead and the trousers produced a hollow sound that indicated that not much flesh decorated his underprivileged bones.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although he yelled "Aaee...ooee...</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ammi jee</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">" while receiving punishment, he had become desensitised. After every 'therapy session' he smilingly announced, "Just had my trousers dusted off for free!"</span></div>
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAFTI2LQT4ix_YUCRVjBSiie2KAk59bHOS7o8xZqgKr8i-bNQ9O3IZcB_RarCGC9Fo66ahPlQotNSSdgZ6tWWJW8tNET6hCl3nFfHdUi4rsJqee61aCph5aWSFHi59vhFou-UgO7p0SBU/s1600/17%2529+Developing+brain.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="589" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnAFTI2LQT4ix_YUCRVjBSiie2KAk59bHOS7o8xZqgKr8i-bNQ9O3IZcB_RarCGC9Fo66ahPlQotNSSdgZ6tWWJW8tNET6hCl3nFfHdUi4rsJqee61aCph5aWSFHi59vhFou-UgO7p0SBU/s200/17%2529+Developing+brain.png" width="197" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One day, a little past noon, we found Mr Nasiri daydreaming. While we busied ourselves doing traditional mischief, Azhar Abbas did something for which no precedence had been set in class. He began to play with something on the back benches, foaming way at the mouth like a horse stricken with stomatitis, eyes half-closed, not caring who noticed him and who did not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fate, dressed as Mr Nasiri, finally caught up with Azhar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“You, <i>larkay</i>! What you are doing at the back?” he yelled.<br /><br />Azhar Abbas’s auditory system had temporarily been rendered unserviceable by God Almighty. When a neighbour alerted Azhar to the approaching danger, he went on doing what he did.<br /><br />By then a furious Mr Nasiri, the Urdu ‘master <i>sahib</i>’, was right over Azhar Abbas’ head. The lad still showed no signs of abating.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just to be doubly sure of sinister undercover activity, the teacher shouted, “<i>Larkey, yeh kia kar raha hey</i>?” (Boy, what are you doing?).<br /><br />Azhar could not and did not answer.<br /><br />When Mr Nasiri discovered what was going on, he issued a dire warning: “<i>Larkay, issey andar kar warna danday maar maar kar bithaoon ga isay</i>!” (Boy, get it back inside or I will make it sit through my stick).<br /><br />Azhar was only half a step short of reaching heaven but hurriedly, like a quick snake-charmer, he got his unwilling 'cobra' back into the basket where, from a state of being full attention, it returned to the stand-at-ease position.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How much free entertainment the entire class got is impossible to describe even today but suffice to say, Mr Nasiri had Azhar Abbas relocated from the back benches to the front row in order to prevent this Socrates from corrupting the </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">youth of St. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anthony's.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was hard being perfectly noble</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Q4_UCBGkEAC3w4lrHZxfX76GYOW6HDUoXUw7mpAU9sLYNksWyy5Ss8Pd5LlqvVXWqhyPCqIngSl64_dUvs5ZHwMcAqdzQ8IxtmQ1TAR4Ior6ZUI32RQUI8jq52-G3vWWS13CchmiCrX9/s1600/18%2529+Nobleman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>Good-bye, cruel world</b></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.” ― <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8127.William_Morris">William Morris</a></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reminiscing about school days naturally makes one divide the teachers into two distinct groups: destructive warriors and encouraging gurus.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Considering the wide variety of our corporeal punishments, most of the teachers c</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">an now be placed in the first confederation. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The second group, always in minority throughout human history, will be remembered with undiluted reverence. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Much water has flowed under the bridge since I left school. It is life's </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">seriousness that prompts me to narrate these </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tales of eccentric behaviour that never fail to produce roaring laughter. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Azhar Abbas, who dreamed of becoming rich, died young in some corner of the world many years later. I pray for his easy reckoning before God Almighty. The poor lad did not get what he hoped for in this world but I believe he will be generously compensated in the hereafter.<br /><br />Every time I notice a man with a wig or someone with hairs implanted into his skull, I wonder where Yawar Shah might be, for none of us have ever spotted him after leaving school. Perhaps he still looks youthful, cannot help but top in all areas of life just as he did in class, and continues to crow to his children about his 'noble' status in class seven-B.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo7t7Ia2-NeAFSLsShVz9HPWisUoN1xJR7G1yEkgR2KCV5XbDQ-Nxo8N34v9wwgXKocar9ODWronLXJ5wxPBR9fqVoVjgV68Sn3DeONz79nbg96lhifaCtudmALK8nb1paVVxnuOPPmWps/s1600/19%2529+Something+to+crow+about.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="436" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo7t7Ia2-NeAFSLsShVz9HPWisUoN1xJR7G1yEkgR2KCV5XbDQ-Nxo8N34v9wwgXKocar9ODWronLXJ5wxPBR9fqVoVjgV68Sn3DeONz79nbg96lhifaCtudmALK8nb1paVVxnuOPPmWps/s200/19%2529+Something+to+crow+about.png" width="181" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our knowledge of astrology in school was only limited to knowing which planet ruled over each one of us. As for Mr Nasiri, nobody knew the name of his star. The way he affected our daily horoscopes, I suspected he was ruled by the combined force of all the planets and asteroids in a strange alignment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have not laid eyes on Mr Nasiri in over forty years. There are probably thousands of Anthonians spread all over the world who still remember the ants produced by his firm slaps and the broad foot-ruler, and who miss that screechy “who eeeezz?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I humbly bow my beak to thank this scavenger bird of a teacher for imparting knowledge in Urdu and which made </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">some of us soar like eagles </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to great linguistic heights</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Part-I of this article: </span></span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/05/as-crow-flies.html"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As The Crow Flies</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more memoirs at: <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/p/autobiography.html">Memoirs</a></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-63236644989982723262017-05-20T22:58:00.000+05:002017-07-09T20:07:15.477+05:00As The Crow Flies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The story of Adam's creation is the greatest story ever told; Eve remains the moral of that story. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For as long as we are on earth, there will always be time for one more story to be told.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-things-i-did-for-mrs.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mrs Davey</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and Madam </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-rocket-science-of-mr-fardy-part-1.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Shama Utarid</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, my lady schoolteachers whom I highlighted in previous stories, were not Polish but only poles apart from one another nature-wise. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-rocket-science-of-mr-fardy-part-1.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mr Fardy's</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> class 'eight-B' and all that </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-rocket-science-of-mr-fardy-part-2.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">rocket-science</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, let us step down to class 'seven-B' to meet Mr Nasiri. He was an educator who walked upright into my school-life and whose tale cannot be told by any old boy's wife.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Some brains need more tuning</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHOPXWdc8sP1LjL6wpdIyU7wPd2YrO9gcHpdzDLZf1anTs2mGhYzW5Q4iguY98pXa9wxiVNB_nGVUUCcacv9SCxnpCXL68I-uBG5XsDF0xHZ9uaDF72IBYEpVFl_fb7-BAp_JUbHuOrR3/s1600/2%2529+Human+brain.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Heads or tales?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Reminiscing might make one appear nostalgic or old-fashioned but never old. If one's brain is naturally wired well, the activities of dreaming and day-dreaming will produce enough high-definition audio-video to put the best television programmes to shame. Without relying on Pakistani electricity that experience can truly be liberating and electrifying.<br /><br />Our minds are reservoirs of memories that live inside billions of inter-connected neurons. As one begins to age, thoughts of childhood and old friends frequently sway like flowers in a gentle breeze. Since life comes to an end by the time one has understood it, it is best to leave behind happy memories for others to cherish; bequeathing mountains of money only tends to produce discord and unhappiness within the family.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The 'real thing'</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A goal-post without
goals</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The warm memories associated with class seven-B bring to mind thoughts of cold beverages. We had discriminating tastes. Boys being boys had rejected the neutrality of 7-Up and chosen instead the fizzier and darker Coca Cola. The less privileged amongst us who received regular punishment (<i>phainti</i>, <i>phainta</i>) at school, drank orange-flavoured <a href="https://youtu.be/eRFJURlyfzw">Fanta</a> which was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler">Adolf Hitler's</a> favourite soft-drink. Even the Führer's Minister of Propaganda, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels">Joseph Goebbels</a>, did not know that the drink contained only <a href="http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/drinks/fanta/fanta-orange">5-percent orange concentrate</a>. This caused great vitamin-C deficiency within the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party">Nazi Party</a> which triggered gaseous <i>phainta </i>for the 'chosen race', and led to the temporary downfall of Germany.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Seven-B </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">was strategically
located behind a football goal-post in the large rear playground at St. Anthony’s High
School situated on Lawrence Road of historic Lahore. The other goal-post stood
at the canteen-end adjacent to the gymnastics room. An unpainted wall in between the
goal-post and the classroom prevented the football from landing on our heads as we pretended to study.</span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRlvgEYR1u8J6AhJlyHGUjKmLw6kt_WMrOo3qknCrfKTLzJTvLe8JvBu81IrfeGN-BrMu1MMdE3CamaFTTDk4xqVzkU5G-yUmPMtxd4T1VCsDjlQLs1w4oalZ8FlwkV-c71mTfro9zix6/s1600/3%2529+Want+Fanta.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRlvgEYR1u8J6AhJlyHGUjKmLw6kt_WMrOo3qknCrfKTLzJTvLe8JvBu81IrfeGN-BrMu1MMdE3CamaFTTDk4xqVzkU5G-yUmPMtxd4T1VCsDjlQLs1w4oalZ8FlwkV-c71mTfro9zix6/s200/3%2529+Want+Fanta.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Daily flavoured-<i>phainta</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During midday 'half-breaks' that lasted only fifteen minutes, we mercilessly thrashed the solitary football. Because the thing never was properly inflated,
it did not fly to distant tropical holiday destinations. I never became part of any school sports-team that
took pleasure in striking helpless balls. This meant that cricket, baseball, football and baseball were out; I chose badminton but the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">school did not have space for courts</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Later in life, I would laugh at grown
men shooting puny white balls into grassy holes at sprawling golf-courses designed to ‘enhance
networking’ with shouts of ‘Sir, what a shot!’</span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1HJc7iEXKA8J-kbsbFsihMnmPJvjV9_9YCIBTfYuiPrFqvkgnSf6nFh5YJKp3Cwxbvw46Onm8_x2Ldc7FUvwes3cJDIvGkdL0QAlMx8CFRzYRJTW2bpCiNAl7zlCowNQTG-cWPcM6kVu/s1600/4%2529+Footballers.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1HJc7iEXKA8J-kbsbFsihMnmPJvjV9_9YCIBTfYuiPrFqvkgnSf6nFh5YJKp3Cwxbvw46Onm8_x2Ldc7FUvwes3cJDIvGkdL0QAlMx8CFRzYRJTW2bpCiNAl7zlCowNQTG-cWPcM6kVu/s320/4%2529+Footballers.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">What is better than football and golf?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Initially for the sake of being part of the brotherhood </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I took up football but whenever I kicked, five others committed the same folly in unison.
This created two after-effects: a very loud bang that reverberated throughout
the known universe, and a shock that travelled up my right foot and hurt in a
most cruel manner the thinking area of the brain.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Determined to protect all </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">innocent and pure thoughts inside my head, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I ended up sacrificing football at the altar
of good grades which were of sole importance to my parents as well as the
teachers. They never tired of repeating: "A brain is an important thing to
have in life." I heard this repeated so much that it echoed at night in the ‘half-empty upper
chamber’ where I desperately needed more room for thoughts appropriate for my
age.</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5_fLRX9IMwlrINRAiAFkLmWAacuuNCuyge4lkN_P93iXrU-t7V8PKSu4r-K8tYOkp07VzRDZxkMq5NNHAlv5-NXAjFw-Ve1C-yYjKRDRPKaHe8swnoxdNpDCQkb8CrAB15bJnYkkMu8N/s1600/Upper+storey.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh5_fLRX9IMwlrINRAiAFkLmWAacuuNCuyge4lkN_P93iXrU-t7V8PKSu4r-K8tYOkp07VzRDZxkMq5NNHAlv5-NXAjFw-Ve1C-yYjKRDRPKaHe8swnoxdNpDCQkb8CrAB15bJnYkkMu8N/s200/Upper+storey.png" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The upper chamber</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enter Mr Nasiri</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /> Mr Nasiri was an Anglo-Indian teacher who taught us Urdu in class seven-B. There were other actors who taught us but Mr Nasiri was a true character-actor who, if attired in a nightgown, could outdo actor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talish">Agha Talish</a> in issuing stern fatherly threats. In hindsight, all teachers were characters rolled out by God’s entertainment factory hidden in the clouds somewhere. All the teachers imagined themselves as perfected winged beings; we thought they had serious manufacturing and quality-control defects.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Like his other colleagues, Mr Nasiri too belonged to the </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-rocket-science-of-mr-fardy-part-1.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">bicycle club</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> whose merry members pedalled to the school. The majority of us </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">homo sapiens</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> walked upright </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to the school, some mentally crawled on all fours, and quite a few rode Eagle or Sohrab bicycles which they parked at the stand located behind the school's canteen. Deans Bakery of Temple Road managed our fine eatery and whose exterior wall displayed a dire warning: OUT OF BOUNDS FOR STUDENTS. During school hours, one was not allowed to loiter beyond this landmark.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This warning refused to go away even when the boys attained adulthood. Those who became responsible fathers reconciled with the fact that everything they considered good in life was forever out of bounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What does your father
do?</span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhgOuPFV9URp9TcNLzRdDyQwcwuhPdTSUBYx0ZUQylctWcwrghkndKHrfvpMCKICe-B7a9DeJV9VKnUKQ_0gO7wdQu6HnqX76ZVOET7PX2jC4kqt6gm2GHltDjRME72nOfKaUojU-08_V/s1600/5%2529+Bicycles.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfhgOuPFV9URp9TcNLzRdDyQwcwuhPdTSUBYx0ZUQylctWcwrghkndKHrfvpMCKICe-B7a9DeJV9VKnUKQ_0gO7wdQu6HnqX76ZVOET7PX2jC4kqt6gm2GHltDjRME72nOfKaUojU-08_V/s320/5%2529+Bicycles.png" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri’s complexion was like dark chocolate sans the good taste. The old boys swore that the teacher was born during one of the shadowy nights of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I">World War One</a>. Of medium stature, aged fifty-seven, and with crow’s feet at the corners of his beady eyes, these distinguishing features gave him the countenance of a refined Urdu-speaking scarecrow.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the very first day in class, Mr Nasiri demanded formal introductions from each student. After a brief survey of the faces he commanded, “<i>Larkey, idhar ao</i>” (Boy, come over here).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No sooner
did the interviewee stand next to Mr Nasiri he was politely signalled to come
closer. When the boy dutifully did so, he heard a question that firmly sealed his fate for the remainder of
the academic year, “What does your father do?”</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjieYcxJ1sC0yQRZcg91oxPaMLtGKs9DXWS05u396lyWtwyrwrw-Ls1UE32Jw47uLkcbpqDcWHotqI57F4AVQjx_6ZhM5i3VYi_-cqsZ4LqGUB4qa5VYH2pyJy5xT8fyY8bn5nYT5Vjzn-A/s1600/6%2529+Angry+father.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjieYcxJ1sC0yQRZcg91oxPaMLtGKs9DXWS05u396lyWtwyrwrw-Ls1UE32Jw47uLkcbpqDcWHotqI57F4AVQjx_6ZhM5i3VYi_-cqsZ4LqGUB4qa5VYH2pyJy5xT8fyY8bn5nYT5Vjzn-A/s320/6%2529+Angry+father.png" width="313" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Did you say 'poor grades'?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few of us gladly answered that question but after witnessing a few sad cases the rest became afraid of being truthful to the teacher.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At age thirteen while making frequent demands of monetary aid, we remained happily oblivious of our fathers’ professions. Earlier we imagined that fathers brought home pocketfuls of money from their offices but upon comparing notes we realised most of them had one common trait: they 'really gave it' to us upon hearing about poor grades at school.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mothers were different, apart from acting like cooking and talking machines they were designed by the Almighty to protect us from fatherly hellish slaps that tended to fall more abundantly than the monsoon rains. Luckily we had the blissful Lawrence Gardens nearby to which we </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">sometimes</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">escaped to dodge s</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">chool, the missionary Brothers and our zealous fathers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Slapstick tragedy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">E</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ach class at St. Anthony's had two sections: A and B; only the senior classes had three. Every section was over-populated with about fifty boys. </span>Although the concept of family planning had been introduced i</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n Pakistan, married couples were never arrested for </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">exercising the right to procreation and then blaming God for the 'gift'. Most weddings took place in December; hence, almost every other child was born </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">in September under the critical zodiac sign of Virgo.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On day one, Mr Nasiri interviewed over fifty boys within forty-five minutes. His inquisitiveness about our fathers seemed obsessive and he seemed in no mood to impart Urdu lessons.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTurcumpVOAGa6lqA-m9NBm1sNfMzMTBYtZArH2Jh5LbQB9AHkCjAr_GFe_ds-FwXdt2mlRQYI6P4NsKiM6EQ7DGBHgpGO-U7OJltmtNPAYGCoU11sx_jkUJJu5Cx5t-VaZ2TrWTP5pr8/s1600/7%2529+Getting+slapped.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXTurcumpVOAGa6lqA-m9NBm1sNfMzMTBYtZArH2Jh5LbQB9AHkCjAr_GFe_ds-FwXdt2mlRQYI6P4NsKiM6EQ7DGBHgpGO-U7OJltmtNPAYGCoU11sx_jkUJJu5Cx5t-VaZ2TrWTP5pr8/s320/7%2529+Getting+slapped.png" width="235" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Diagnosis and </span>'special' treatment</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of us revealed: “Sir, my father is a Commissioner”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri’s eyes glowed like 60-watts incandescent bulb, a condescending smile graced his face, and he politely asked the interviewee to ‘be seated’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Very good; a Commissioner, eh?” he smilingly echoed the designation and then proceed to summon the next student whose </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">father was a simple shop-owner. Mr Nasiri showered lesser affection and sternly commanded without a smile, “Now
go back to your seat!”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lowest of the lows amongst us was the son of a poor
clerk. We timed his interview like one would for the 0-100 kmph acceleration of a Formula One racing car; it was over in </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">three seconds when Mr Nasiri abruptly slapped
him on both the cheeks and yelled, “</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jao, dafo ho jao</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">” (Go,
get lost).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rubbing his rosy cheeks the way female film-stars did when using LUX beauty soap in television commercials, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the boy returned to his desk wondering why mentioning
his father’s profession won him no affection. O</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">n that solemn occasion we all </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">covered our wide grins with the palms lest Mr Nasiri noticed our teeth.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To sum it up: in Mr Nasiri’s book, not knowing one's father's occupation was not a major crime but revealing a less than ideal one certainly was.</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTniKY_5OvWs-iYBOBAWOsMA618vDqJ_P4eKmuIchyUsDBG6GZTaXCZLJHp5QiUexfNEqXetMKw_SfgEpZAAH-84n7-0cBxsnd_DOAc1wbyk-PTFpEVoexjoYViF8k__WsHsGggTY8uNv/s1600/8%2529+Judge.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOTniKY_5OvWs-iYBOBAWOsMA618vDqJ_P4eKmuIchyUsDBG6GZTaXCZLJHp5QiUexfNEqXetMKw_SfgEpZAAH-84n7-0cBxsnd_DOAc1wbyk-PTFpEVoexjoYViF8k__WsHsGggTY8uNv/s400/8%2529+Judge.png" width="225" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">A 'Spring Court' big-wig judge</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Real fathers, fake credentials</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What was nice about the era was that a great variety of
students studied together without ever feeling like homogenised and pasteurised spoiled rich sons at an elitist school. St. Anthony’s was one of the top English-medium missionary
schools yet the rich and the poor, Christians, Muslims, Parsees, even a few Chinese
studied together without showing themselves off.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Having scions of connected families in class definitely meant more to Mr Nasiri. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">H</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">e provided free slapstick tragedy when it came to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">boys from less privileged homes. It was
impossible not to laugh at others when they were punished and very impractical
to laugh at ourselves while being on the receiving end. Within minutes we discovered that
the only trick that would work on Mr Nasiri was to falsify details about our fathers' occupations.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hence, a shop-owner’s son turned his father
into an owner of a shopping complex, a small businessman’s son made his papa a
managing director of a group of industries, and I transformed my five foot seven inch lawyer
daddy into a judge towering over six feet.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri’s curiosity was boundless, he
asked, “Does he practise at the High Court or the——?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Sir, spring court”, guessing what he wanted to know I completed the sentence.</span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKCfTcyK3hABHscZXiSUp_wmF42-K5MIsSoSwxg6aevidLf99r0iHqZCxi95eVF4lfj1josi-PXLwD0V8NUZyRnK6lg-PHtCREwG1HnDzzNXSCtumvgQwtFmQs7WuEU-Yt1fQiGoUfbd1/s1600/Diana-F+camera.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZKCfTcyK3hABHscZXiSUp_wmF42-K5MIsSoSwxg6aevidLf99r0iHqZCxi95eVF4lfj1josi-PXLwD0V8NUZyRnK6lg-PHtCREwG1HnDzzNXSCtumvgQwtFmQs7WuEU-Yt1fQiGoUfbd1/s200/Diana-F+camera.png" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">First love: Diana-F</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri
asked me again and I gave the same answer and which made him chuckle affectionately. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Up until
that time, I had always heard my mother laughingly call Supreme Court ‘spring
court’. My father felt it was perfectly legal to cringe upon hearing that distorted </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">label.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meet the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobility">nobility</a></span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I did reasonably well in class and won a certificate for English essay writing. In the same year I began toying with toy cameras to </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/p/photography.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">photograph</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> odd objects and odder friends. Quite a few photographic films got ruined as a result of impatiently opening up my Diana’s plastic back in partial darkness to see if the images had developed. How could they without having been inside a photo studio’s darkroom for black-and-white processing?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri had a few one-trick ponies in this educational circus; I was not
one of them. The chief of the ponies was a fair and studious boy called Yawar
Shah. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">His interview was a truly jaw-dropping event. When Yawar revealed his
father was a very high-ranking bureaucrat, Mr Nasiri almost fell off his desk, lit
up like a Christmas tree, nearly kissed the boy, and paid a most memorable
compliment: “Yawar Shah is a noble boy!”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He stretched the 'o' in the word noble and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">taught
us the meaning of crowing which means: to express pleasure verbally, an
instance of boastful talk, dwell on with satisfaction.</span></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczhaFnhSj5zHJHGuppm1tJN5i71d5EespeZ0dGk3NTH4zjyfU99N7oYcmxwgfdOsRK169Y0alBehu5L3eYECZvGn3AmR5uYGu-TBawRh_jdUa8sv0aSoZpToidYb-Y8xYG-WPM4RrEbJI/s1600/9%2529+Prince+Henry%252C+Duke+of+Cumberland+%2526+Strathearn+%2528David+Morier+c.1765%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczhaFnhSj5zHJHGuppm1tJN5i71d5EespeZ0dGk3NTH4zjyfU99N7oYcmxwgfdOsRK169Y0alBehu5L3eYECZvGn3AmR5uYGu-TBawRh_jdUa8sv0aSoZpToidYb-Y8xYG-WPM4RrEbJI/s320/9%2529+Prince+Henry%252C+Duke+of+Cumberland+%2526+Strathearn+%2528David+Morier+c.1765%2529.png" width="256" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">A model of English nobility</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During that year, our favourite phrase with which to
taunt this class-fellow was: “Yawar Shah is a nooooooble boy!” </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He did not mind that
at all, in fact he adored being recognised as noble. Although the boy showed no signs of
losing sleep over taunts, he was losing hairs very fast due to a diseased
scalp that caused premature balding—something that was unheard of at age
thirteen.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We waited until the end of the academic year but to our utter
disappointment, the ‘noble boy’ never attained noble baldness. To silence us
forever, he topped in the class and thus became in Mr Nasiri’s eyes a saintly cat whose halo was not visible to the rest of us </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">spiritually</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">blind mice.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Who is?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Long before computers for the masses came long and internet
took over our lives, Mr Nasiri invented an amazing word: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHOIS">WHOIS</a>.
Although he used it in a different context, today it means: a query and
response protocol that is widely used for querying databases that store the
registered users or assignees of an Internet resource (such as a domain name,
an IP address block, an autonomous system, and a wide range of other information).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri delighted in reading important parts of Urdu poems
and essays but when he felt exhausted he commanded, “Boy, read now, YOU!”</span></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVF438zAaO-uFMxvyJH5ZNDJ7RB0n_ki9IYDm2a7a9JkKuzLTeylBZ5uBopR8GrayysCelPaX5xDqb-S0z6V86qdFqeqiUrsxGelye5Y6GICs73FoE4oEAmCQ1asLZCQlbPcm_GDGo50F/s1600/9a%2529+Allama+Muhammad+Iqbal.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCVF438zAaO-uFMxvyJH5ZNDJ7RB0n_ki9IYDm2a7a9JkKuzLTeylBZ5uBopR8GrayysCelPaX5xDqb-S0z6V86qdFqeqiUrsxGelye5Y6GICs73FoE4oEAmCQ1asLZCQlbPcm_GDGo50F/s320/9a%2529+Allama+Muhammad+Iqbal.png" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Allama Iqbal, resting</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
That command always disturbed my sense of good English during his Urdu period of forty-five minutes duration. The sound of Urdu text being read by a student acted like a sweet lullaby and made the teacher fall asleep with his temple supported by a clenched fist. The real difference between him and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Iqbal">Allama Iqbal</a> was that while Mr Nasiri snored in Urdu, the Indian poet-philosopher dreamed Arabic thoughts in Persian language.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri's snoring would grow progressively louder and hypnotise some of us into falling asleep. He would be aware of our loud chatter but remain unable to discern exactly ‘what nonsense’ was being discussed. Sometimes the snoring would stop and prompt Mr Nasiri to demand 'pin-drop silence' from the entire congregation by yelling only two shrill words: "Who is?"</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />The way he stretched the word ‘is’ to ‘eeeezz’ lent great seriousness to the question. Even at that young age I was aware that ‘who is’ was an incomplete sentence in incorrect English. That ‘who is’ was always accompanied by a loud thump of Mr Nasiri’s left palm over the desk. He probably dreamed the impossible, that someone someday might confess: “Sir, it is I making all that noise. Please, I beg you, punish me!”. That dream never came true.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghRIC3YPspsKQQ7Fbaa__Ix5WHwLZSodgwBwhpgV27HSmyeJzljuazSxhy5dW4eBO3g_Mhmu5HUG76U2RgTkNphzZqs2m-j1xMdBvvKVXHdvmWelYS5jmVZwx8Lk3awkwp7F09lScUcesr/s1600/10%2529+Who+is.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghRIC3YPspsKQQ7Fbaa__Ix5WHwLZSodgwBwhpgV27HSmyeJzljuazSxhy5dW4eBO3g_Mhmu5HUG76U2RgTkNphzZqs2m-j1xMdBvvKVXHdvmWelYS5jmVZwx8Lk3awkwp7F09lScUcesr/s1600/10%2529+Who+is.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghRIC3YPspsKQQ7Fbaa__Ix5WHwLZSodgwBwhpgV27HSmyeJzljuazSxhy5dW4eBO3g_Mhmu5HUG76U2RgTkNphzZqs2m-j1xMdBvvKVXHdvmWelYS5jmVZwx8Lk3awkwp7F09lScUcesr/s320/10%2529+Who+is.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri's cat-naps sometimes progressively became longer until </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the Urdu period came to an end. Calmly he would rise, button up the jacket and walk like a mildly drunk person </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to the staff-room where we suspected he again played the role of the sleeping beauty.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What if, who is?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_Jinnah">Mahomedali Jinnahbhai Poonja</a> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">made a famous English Speech at Islamia College for women on 25 March 1940. If </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Nasiri were to repeat it, this is how he would:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“There are two powers
in the world; one eeeezz the sword and the other eeeezz the pen. There eeeezz a
great competition and rivalry between the two. There eeeezz a third power
stronger than both, that of the women”.</span></i></blockquote>
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBmUYemaaD2h7gBlkPmm99ptbhlAegbvedfETTkYaXAecFOUp3no3XRwQniWzJhNXQ_7rKUiC6p_gyDFaX-ZeKNZSHipxjv7rUkfeYiit8Dsr7hOkCqvEJ4pnzVXQD1bW1S4Krwgt8FsO/s1600/11%2529+Fatima%252C+Jinnah+and+Dina.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtBmUYemaaD2h7gBlkPmm99ptbhlAegbvedfETTkYaXAecFOUp3no3XRwQniWzJhNXQ_7rKUiC6p_gyDFaX-ZeKNZSHipxjv7rUkfeYiit8Dsr7hOkCqvEJ4pnzVXQD1bW1S4Krwgt8FsO/s320/11%2529+Fatima%252C+Jinnah+and+Dina.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Sister Fatima, brother Jinnah, daughter Dina</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jinnah being Pakistan's founding 'father’ knew everything there was to know about this ‘third power’ through the courtesy of the ladies in his life. His young Parsi second wife, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryam_Jinnah">Rattanbai Petit</a>, never became the mother of the nation. His spinster sister Miss <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatima_Jinnah">Fatima Jinnah</a>, was declared the official 'mother of the nation’ but was defeated in the elections by military dictator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan_%28general%29">Ayub Khan</a>. Jinnah's estranged daughter, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dina_Wadia">Dina Wadia</a>, was never acknowledged as the daughter of the nation because she married, Neville Wadia, an Indian Parsi-Christian.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now if successive governments can do <i>this</i> to the top family's relationships and history, imagine what else they will stoop to distorting.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-color: white;">Mr Nasiri will entertain you some more in Part-2 of this article</span><span style="background-color: white;">:</span></span> <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/07/stone-crows.html"><b>Stone The Crows</b></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Similar stories may be read </b><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/p/autobiography.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HERE</a></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-53549930328618134042017-04-28T13:30:00.003+05:002020-10-23T19:25:57.309+05:00The Dramatic Death of Amrita Sher-Gil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHjxaxLsNk4mCDqEHbVOKwhxsdozRsiYqg190wolKSZjzJ3SOaogPUwpHEQ8qav5Vz6D9DBJeaDjS0uKd6TApgTnY3M-o8nCiIIaKP-i31J9zUySsjqchP_nLWL2UJUPQWKqVu27fdneM/s1600/1%2529+Amrira+SherGil.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHjxaxLsNk4mCDqEHbVOKwhxsdozRsiYqg190wolKSZjzJ3SOaogPUwpHEQ8qav5Vz6D9DBJeaDjS0uKd6TApgTnY3M-o8nCiIIaKP-i31J9zUySsjqchP_nLWL2UJUPQWKqVu27fdneM/s320/1%2529+Amrira+SherGil.png" width="229" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Recalling the separate economic conditions of the Hindus and the Muslims during the 1947 partition of India, my mother describes it all with </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a Punjabi saying which translates to:</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"The [affluent] Hindus left behind palaces [in what became Pakistan [and the [poor] Muslims abandoned </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">hookahs </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">and broken earthenware utensils [when they left India]."</span></span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Throughout my wonder years I heard tall tales of vast '<i>poodinay kay bagh</i>' (gardens of mint) and tall '<i>mahallaat</i>' (palaces) that some Muslim immigrants claimed they 'left behind in India'. Years later when I took up street-photography, I noticed that most of the British <i>Raj</i>-era buildings in Lahore were named after Hindus, Sikhs and the English.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Amrita, our old neighbour </b></span><br />
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We occupied one flat in a group of flats that stood on Temple Road. They were owned by rich Hindu landlords who fled to India during the bloody partition. There were numerous residential buildings littered about the ancient city, one was Ganga Ram Mansions on the Mall and this is where Amrita lived and died.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita Sher-Gil lived less than a kilometre away from where I spent my childhood and youth. I recall visiting a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> friend of mine who lived in flat number 20 of the Ganga Ram Mansions; twenty-five years earlier Amrita lived in flat 23. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The layout of all the flats was the same: two rooms on the ground floor, a wooden staircase at the entrance that led straight up to two more rooms on the first floor, and an attic (</span><i>baraasti</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEel2FP5_49L3agi90w91ca5yTK-nmU2WQNoB3Q5G2LwGvwYjm2zhYD-GlhR5moXklr5MYCBE3LhK9jC3034PiZq7wYL6JW_rAl3f12UYv8TfqIBQgdRxw-9jHo4b9oIRbzQ4uPL8eFH9M/s1600/2%2529+At+her+rooftop+studio+in+Lahore+1934.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEel2FP5_49L3agi90w91ca5yTK-nmU2WQNoB3Q5G2LwGvwYjm2zhYD-GlhR5moXklr5MYCBE3LhK9jC3034PiZq7wYL6JW_rAl3f12UYv8TfqIBQgdRxw-9jHo4b9oIRbzQ4uPL8eFH9M/s320/2%2529+At+her+rooftop+studio+in+Lahore+1934.png" width="225" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Attic studio in Lahore</span></td></tr>
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Star-studded Lahore</span></b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Let us return to Amrita's story. Once done with decorating her flat at the Ganga Ram Mansions, Amrita turned it into a meeting place for a select group of people. She wholeheartedly participated in the cultural life of Lahore, gave talks on the radio (Lahore radio station was functional in 1937) and met as many interesting people as she could.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita chose </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_families_of_Lahore">Lahore</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> to give her art a chance to survive. The famed short story writer </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajinder_Singh_Bedi">Rajinder Singh Bedi</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> was born in Lahore and started his career as </span><a href="http://lahore.city-history.com/personalities/mohsin-lahori-to-rajinder-singh-bedi/">Mohsin Lahori</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> but finally migrated to India after partition. </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amrita_Pritam">Amrita Pritam Kaur</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> spent her formative years in Lahore. </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patras_Bokhari">Professor Ahmed Shah 'Patras' Bokhari</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartar_Singh_Duggal">Kartar Singh Duggal</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, G.D Khosla and Mangat Rai (brother of </span><a href="http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/priobala-mangat-rai-1963/">Miss Mangat Rai</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> the principal of Kinnaird College), artists </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdur_Rahman_Chughtai">Abdur Rehman Chughtai</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satish_Gujral">Satish Gujral</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (eminent painter and brother of former Indian premier I. K. Gujral), and Roop Krishna, all lived here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita became friends with Nawab Muzaffar Ali Qizalbash, Jamil Asghar (later a High Court judge), Rashid Ahmed (married Zeenat Rashid and whose daughter married Senator Javed 'JJ' Jabbar) and <a href="http://www.gcu.edu.pk/Gallery/Gal_Univ10.htm">Professor U. Karamet</a> (the Vice Chancellor of the Punjab University would signed papers with 'OK–UK').</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Lahore had become a melting pot of ideas and attracted poets and writers like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faiz_Ahmad_Faiz">Faiz Ahmed Faiz</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Faraz">Ahmed Faraz</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahir_Ludhianvi">Sahir Ludhianvi</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intizar_Hussain">Intizar Hussain</a>, Sir Muhammad Iqbal and the rebel <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadat_Hasan_Manto">Saadat Hasan Manto</a>. Many of them would assemble at India Tea House (renamed Pak Tea House after the partition of 1947). Lahore finally became a centre for Pakistan’s left-wing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Writers%27_Movement">Progressive Writers Movement</a>.</span><br />
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<b>Nehru's biography</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixjmScHK3tFQpDZ02FyM3wcM5b_8LbjB-vGjEeg_6GoY87hedUrmPIh3WThW1RPJawu9_aRzszf9zWO6quRLjIY2RFlFWKfv3jRIEeQ5ATV2r6O0sSsq0x-eqYHcHL3oO39dZ157qJ2c0/s1600/3%2529+F.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixjmScHK3tFQpDZ02FyM3wcM5b_8LbjB-vGjEeg_6GoY87hedUrmPIh3WThW1RPJawu9_aRzszf9zWO6quRLjIY2RFlFWKfv3jRIEeQ5ATV2r6O0sSsq0x-eqYHcHL3oO39dZ157qJ2c0/s320/3%2529+F.png" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Jawaharlal Nehru allegedly had meetings of a very private nature with Amrita Sher-Gil at Lahore's Faletti's Hotel. He later sent her </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a copy of his </span><a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/why-amrita-sher-gil-never-painted-nehru-s-portrait/story-ENtTSNn7QBWW6mPnKJefPL.html">autobiography</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. She thanked him with </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a candid note:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"As a rule I dislike biographies and autobiographies. They ring false. Pomposity and exhibitionism. But I think I will like yours. You are able to discard your halo occasionally. You are capable of saying, 'When I saw the sea for the first time,' when others would say, 'When the sea saw me for the first time.'</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"I should have liked to know you better. I am always attracted to people who are integral enough to be inconsistent without discordance and who don’t trail viscous threads of regret behind them. I don't think that it is on the threshold of life that one feels chaotic, it is when one has crossed the threshold that one discovers that things which looked simple and feelings that felt simple are infinitely more tortuous and complex.</i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i></i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"That it is only in inconsistency that there is any consistency. But of course you have got an orderly mind. I don't think you were interested in my paintings really. You looked at my pictures without seeing them. You are not hard. You have got a mellow face. I like your face, it is sensitive, sensual and detached at the same time."</i></span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">Testing the art scene</span></b></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita became an avid member of the city’s pre-partition cultural scene whose select members gathered </span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">fortnightly </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">at Khushwant Singh’s home. He started his </span>law practise in 1938 (the same year Allama Iqbal died in Lahore), joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1947 and went on to become a famed </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">novelist </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">and a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">journalist.</span><br />
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvk5z08-OPe9EsIduvd13Pkvh7L0WRpZC2lUIxxWLhp6Jk9XPE0gMfuDas-pKvyq-c_xnnD_miVVji4fpb_q7WdDffYr_49ZPPgcyfqoNkgzMsdbdT_civQkphs2Vur-14uNNsbH6-bzHR/s1600/4%2529+B1%252C+Amrita+with+her+famous+%25E2%2580%2598Child+Wife%25E2%2580%2599+painting.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvk5z08-OPe9EsIduvd13Pkvh7L0WRpZC2lUIxxWLhp6Jk9XPE0gMfuDas-pKvyq-c_xnnD_miVVji4fpb_q7WdDffYr_49ZPPgcyfqoNkgzMsdbdT_civQkphs2Vur-14uNNsbH6-bzHR/s320/4%2529+B1%252C+Amrita+with+her+famous+%25E2%2580%2598Child+Wife%25E2%2580%2599+painting.png" width="247" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />In late October 1937, Amrita decided to once again 'test the waters' of the Lahore art world by holding an exhibition of her works. On Sunday, 30th November, Amrita and Victor went to the site to make the final arrangements for the second week of December in the hall of the Punjab Literary League, above a fashionable café facing The Mall.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Excitedly Amrita commenced work on new paintings that would be displayed as the latest work. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">From her house, she could see some mud houses and a man with four buffaloes. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This was her last painting; it showed her </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">love for all things Indian.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">The way Amrita worked</span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"If there were no poor and destitute people in India, I would have nothing to paint". </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">—Amrita Sher-Gil (</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">on her </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">patient, submissive, fatalistic and silent subjects)</span></span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">India's poverty, with its</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> barely surviving people in </span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">primitive and </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">inhuman</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">conditions, seemed photogenic to Amrita</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. She </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was no revolutionary, only a keen observer who painted what she noticed minutely. All true artists possess this amazing quality.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aVEnsJ9qAc-AseRgmHCJiY_mh2dhPQp2mYWYG7zzha6hTT3vKyU8CT49DhCW3zS1X881f7ZIGKc3qNsGx9ea86AxPqI9TBqQEsMEiDpb5VWrzaWPpGg4uQ9h8f-G-yk8-4MXmlQVIzw-/s1600/At+home.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aVEnsJ9qAc-AseRgmHCJiY_mh2dhPQp2mYWYG7zzha6hTT3vKyU8CT49DhCW3zS1X881f7ZIGKc3qNsGx9ea86AxPqI9TBqQEsMEiDpb5VWrzaWPpGg4uQ9h8f-G-yk8-4MXmlQVIzw-/s400/At+home.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita in her very tastefully decorated flat</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita painted during the day and used no artificial light. She wore a large painting coat and tightly tied her hair at the back. By the evening she would </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">dress finely and become </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a glamorous socialite. S</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">uch was her energy that u</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">pon returning from her engagements, she would return to painting. Her output was </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">twelve to fifteen paintings a year.</span></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">A sudden end</span></b></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On Wednesday, 3rd December 1941, Amrita became very ill with what she, and her doctor husband thought, was dysentery. Dysentery in India being quite common, neither of them suspected a fatal illness. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">She lay in bed, looking very pale with a greenish tinge to her, with Victor frantically attempting to make her feel well again. When all efforts failed, Amrita slipped into a coma, but not b</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">efore mumbling something about colours.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Two other doctors examined her; they felt it was 'too late'. Severe dehydration and peritonitis had already perforated her intestines, and nothing else could be done.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Just after 11 p.m., as a last desperate effort, Victor ran to fetch another well-known physician; by the time they returned, Amrita was already dead. He told Victor, "Had you called me just a day earlier we could have saved her". These words would haunt Victor forever.</span><br />
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXBJH9Rn0Ntu0SKMhOkSBW09g1s3iKmtXmC0xk6BK4qPoQPo47IFrAa3-8nErIoSDDRJQSBPNI924ipkvGHkrSeRMjzhz4ptNwEcMTSfidkuHtjN7G0BBprWoZ9HB-_Uk4mdFL49TVfkj/s1600/5%2529+Amrita.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUXBJH9Rn0Ntu0SKMhOkSBW09g1s3iKmtXmC0xk6BK4qPoQPo47IFrAa3-8nErIoSDDRJQSBPNI924ipkvGHkrSeRMjzhz4ptNwEcMTSfidkuHtjN7G0BBprWoZ9HB-_Uk4mdFL49TVfkj/s320/5%2529+Amrita.png" width="279" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;">
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>The last rites</b></span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita planned to hold her</span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> first major solo exhibition at Faletti's Hotel </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">in late December of 1941 but </span></span></span>she died on 6th December, aged o</span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">nly 28.</span></span><br />
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The next day was a cold Sunday. Amrita's parents wanted a Sikh style funeral. Her body was carried to the burning <i>ghat </i>on the banks of the river Ravi. The ceremony was attended by her parents, sister Indira and her husband Kalyan Sundarm. Also included in the forty friends was Khuswant Singh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita's body was laid on a pile of chopped wood and some sandal wood sticks and <i>ghee </i>(clarified butter) were added. Victor lit up the fire. The last rites were performed by a devastated Umrao Singh who had nurtured her as a child, read her fiery mind and was now watching the funeral pyre with the following parting words on his lips:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"She had entered the prenatal world at Lahore and death seemed to have conspired with life to release her spirit from its physical chrysalis in the same city."</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was a shooting star, misunderstood as she blazed across the horizon of art and scattered after death. Her </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">shes were collected and cast into river Ravi.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The usual suspects</span></b><br />
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Amrita had been at Sir and Lady Abdul Qadir’s home for tea; some speculated that the <i>pakoras </i>caused <a href="https://razarumi.wordpress.com/amrita-sher-gil%E2%80%99s-lahore/">food poisoning</a>. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Yashodhara Dalmia writes:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Helen Chaman Lal found Amrita dying. Two doctors, Dr Sikri and Dr Kalisch, a German, were brought in and found that peritonitis had set in and her intestines had perforated. Around midnight on December 5, 1941 Amrita Sher-Gil passed away".</i></span></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsmIFuI-rdCdIqhyphenhyphenS6n6SNIEvHG-t0bJlNmRRscsDsKQOYqi-4WPFthEGMd8edTPP8aRX7SX4YWC1A0sjpRLqZCrQuOj8vW8C79sO4jjH1EGU95OmC0acISIWM3WszZt4gXY6xCuNqWKhS/s1600/6%2529+Indira+in+autochrome.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsmIFuI-rdCdIqhyphenhyphenS6n6SNIEvHG-t0bJlNmRRscsDsKQOYqi-4WPFthEGMd8edTPP8aRX7SX4YWC1A0sjpRLqZCrQuOj8vW8C79sO4jjH1EGU95OmC0acISIWM3WszZt4gXY6xCuNqWKhS/s320/6%2529+Indira+in+autochrome.png" width="248" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Indira (sister) in autochrome</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A comment made on <a href="http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=978">Arif Rahman Chughtai</a>'s article shows that "Amrita died in the first floor room. The top of the house had a barsaati on the roof that was her studio. She made her last painting sitting there. The ground floor was the dispensary and the consultation room of her doctor husband."</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Being of mix parentage, Amrita felt she owned both the worlds of art and sexuality. The Bohemian life of artistic Paris fuelled Amrita's sexual urges in the wrong directions, leading her to be called in hushed tones, a 'nymphomaniac'. The citizens of Lahore suspected Victor of 'poisoning her to death' because he was 'unable to satisfy her sexually'.</span><br />
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<b>Khuswant Singh on Amrita Sher-Gil</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“If you don’t smoke, drink and womanise, you are a dangerous man”. —Khuswant Singh</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Just as Amrita declined a prize in Simla, Khushwant Singh when decorated with the Padma Bhushan in 1974, returned the award in 1984 to protest against Operation Blue Star in which the Indian Army raided Amritsar's Golden Temple (Sikh Holy site). In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />A prominent Indian novelist and journalist, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khushwant_Singh">Khuswant Singh</a> (1915-2014) penned the famous column 'With malice towards one and all' and wrote the nostalgic novel 'Train to Pakistan'. In his autobiography, '</span><a href="https://books.google.com.pk/books?id=gf3gpwWXje4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Truth,+Love+and+a+Little+Malice&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiU4czhperSAhVDDxoKHezVBW0Q6AEIGTAA#v=onepage&q=Truth%2C%20Love%20and%20a%20Little%20Malice&f=false">Truth, Love and a Little Malice</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">', he recalled very unusual things about Amrita on pages 96 through 99</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. A synopsis is as follows:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"Her fame preceded her...she very beautiful and very promiscuous...Pandit Nehru succumbed to her charms...stories of her sexual appetite were narrated...she gave appointments to three or four lovers every day...</i></span><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></i><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span></i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When I came home for lunch, I found Amrita in my apartment...helping herself to the beer from the fridge...wanted advice about carpenters, plumbers, tailors...</span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I couldn't look her in the face too long because she had that bold, brazen kind of look which makes timid men like me turn their gaze downwards...she was short and sallow complexioned (being half-Sikh, half-Hungarian)...had a bulbous nose with black heads showing...thick lips with a faint shadow of a moustache...</span></i></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoA5x0jemJN4t1F3He2jylU0yWThkakEPRjyFrGrACr0ks680kQ3EarcYxTClSYCv7duu2Z3IzUs_MpuD8D3f4qlkyAha2YGwXd2P1gMh4gtsfLcqlbccMpBSTI94o6wIg8N4Xs2yEuN7R/s1600/A.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoA5x0jemJN4t1F3He2jylU0yWThkakEPRjyFrGrACr0ks680kQ3EarcYxTClSYCv7duu2Z3IzUs_MpuD8D3f4qlkyAha2YGwXd2P1gMh4gtsfLcqlbccMpBSTI94o6wIg8N4Xs2yEuN7R/s320/A.png" width="208" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Politeness was not one of her virtues; she believed in speaking her mind, however rude or unkind it be...she called my son "an ugly little boy"...my wife described her as a bloody bitch...Amrita retorted, "I will teach that woman a lesson. I'll seduce her husband"...my wife declared our home out of bounds for Amrita...</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Amrita's mother got the details of her daughter's illness and death and held her nephew and son-in-law responsible. She bombarded ministers, officials, and friends (including myself) with letters accusing him of murder.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Dr Raghubir Singh, then a leading physician of Lahore, was summoned to Amrita's bedside at midnight when she was beyond hope of recovery...she had become pregnant and been aborted by her husband. The operation had gone wrong. She had bled profusely and developed peritonitis. Her husband wanted Dr Raghubir Singh to give her a transfusion and offered his own blood for it. Dr Raghubir Singh refused to do so without finding out their blood groupings. While the two doctors were arguing with each other, Amrita slipped out of life.</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Badruddin Tyebji has given a vivid account of how he was seduced by her ("she simply took off her clothes and lay herself naked on the carpet by the fire place"). Vivan admits to her having many lovers. According to him her real passion in life was another woman."</i></span></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XO2r0uJkRUBVXxC9g423DVG0tYemOMPgV6UxTqMW9x9TsqZur9BoKkv7kqURqWNG5eA01_o628YWtU_5PJQbsEv-OlmNN8T4sm9ctecUjQz5s4RDp1Ikl0hJagdHqj7S108kzDWrukTe/s1600/8%2529+L%2527Holme+%2528Simla%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1XO2r0uJkRUBVXxC9g423DVG0tYemOMPgV6UxTqMW9x9TsqZur9BoKkv7kqURqWNG5eA01_o628YWtU_5PJQbsEv-OlmNN8T4sm9ctecUjQz5s4RDp1Ikl0hJagdHqj7S108kzDWrukTe/s320/8%2529+L%2527Holme+%2528Simla%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">L'Holme - The Majithia residence in Simla</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">The survivors</span></b></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The case did not close with Amrita's death. To Marie Antoinette, victor was the <a href="http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=2034">murderer</a> who also covered the cause of death. In a strange twist of fate, the day after Amrita's death, Britain declared war on Hungary and Victor was jailed as a 'national enemy'. He died an old man in <a href="http://solitaryw.blogspot.com/">1997</a>.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Marie Antoinette was devastated by young Amrita's sudden and mysterious death. After several failed attempts of suicide, on July 31st, 1948, she took the gun from Umrao Singh's study and shot herself. Her tragic fate reminds one of the allegedly promiscuous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette">Marie Antoinette</a> who faced the guillotine for high treason during the French Revolution.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After the sad death of Amrita and the unfortunate suicide of Marie, Umrao Singh Sher-Gil Majithia gradually lost his memory. He lived out his last few years with his second daughter, Indira, in Simla and Delhi. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He </span>died in Delhi in 1954 at the age of 84. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">His papers in Hungary once stated: 'no faith' and 'living in Majithia as a British citizen'. The truth is he died as a free Indian citizen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Dead artists are rich artists</span></b><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita is the paternal great-aunt of Indian actor and painter, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Shergill">Jimmy Sher-Gil</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. </span>Recently Amrita's 1933 self-portrait sold for a record <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Amrita-Sher-Gil-canvas-sells-for-record-Rs-18-2-crore/articleshow/46641265.cms">Rs 18.2 crores</a> ($2.9 million) in India, the third most expensive work of Indian art to be sold at an auction. </span></span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">India declared Amrita a </span><a href="http://in.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1116307/amrita-goes-under-the-gavel-at-sothebys">national treasure artist</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> in 1976, which means that her work cannot leave the country. She did not, like most artists, live to </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">enjoy the fruits of her efforts.</span><br />
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Works by Amrita are very hard to come by since most are in possession of her descendants and the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi. The only painting by Amrita Sher-Gil that hangs in Lahore Museum is the <a href="https://www.newslaundry.com/2016/04/06/pakistans-history-is-not-just-about-glorious-muslims">Veena Player</a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDzNktqhwvTqYWWcGggy1Zu31hROKTxH6l8MZ4giwwaANQtZMCZs-T0hF_zCBU99eAo_4Cnto7HefkEXYgyAzLkrkS2UpW2UEjgrTo7KZnt-EKaVikaBqewebqqQxdenIvefLWgY6Vmee/s1600/9%2529+Umrao+Singh+Majithia.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDzNktqhwvTqYWWcGggy1Zu31hROKTxH6l8MZ4giwwaANQtZMCZs-T0hF_zCBU99eAo_4Cnto7HefkEXYgyAzLkrkS2UpW2UEjgrTo7KZnt-EKaVikaBqewebqqQxdenIvefLWgY6Vmee/s320/9%2529+Umrao+Singh+Majithia.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sardar Umrao Singh Majithia taking a walk</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Pakistan need not go to war with India to recover Amrita's art; we still have Kashmir to fight over. One hopes that t</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">he Sikh pilgrims who regulary </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">visit </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Pakistan will petition our government to recognise Amrita as a national treasure. This </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">being an </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">'Islamic Republic' will never</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> have Amrita's statue placed on The Mall of Lahore, however, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">affixing a Heritage Plaque at her house to read "Residence of Amrita Sher-Gil" is the cheapest risk-free option.</span><br />
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<b>What has Amrita taught us?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita, as most artists do, showed us that creating art is a lonely and serious process that requires shedding of sweat and tears if one desires to occupy a high place in the art world. As a gifted but vulnerable artist she took huge chances with her body and soul but ended up being utterly misunderstood. Amrita's sensitive soul often guided her to a dark and destructive path that challenged the accepted standards of society.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Literature and the arts soften the blows of time, for some religion does it best. Just as </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">children play and enjoy themselves after </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">school and studies at home, grownups too, after having done their duties to God and fellow human beings, are allowed to channel energies into wholesome efforts. All work and no play, makes Jack dull; we can see dull Jacks (and Jills) all over this 'land of the pure'.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Artists and writers live and die by their brush-strokes and pens. Amrita Sher-Gil was neither a bureaucrat nor a politician but rather a creator in a world full of empty-headed onlookers.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qqIL0PDXzn3FgEFBAt2hd5WgOBCUYW7LisB01YU6C3S-q_bX0V_1gzEl1YPWHSQSIliTIsbZfjLszXSql51UcOovnBG5_pNldxdu4wyWiJKMbfgrv_2Ob1E9xB-_JI5h_YBQ-PjA2Nkz/s1600/10%2529+Miss+Amrita.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qqIL0PDXzn3FgEFBAt2hd5WgOBCUYW7LisB01YU6C3S-q_bX0V_1gzEl1YPWHSQSIliTIsbZfjLszXSql51UcOovnBG5_pNldxdu4wyWiJKMbfgrv_2Ob1E9xB-_JI5h_YBQ-PjA2Nkz/s320/10%2529+Miss+Amrita.png" width="196" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita Sher-Gil</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Daggers drawn, but why?</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Religious or </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">political ideologies need not close our minds to the beauty that is in everyone and everything, beauty created by the Exalted Creator and Bestower of forms (<i>al-'Alī</i>, <i>Khāliq</i>,<i> </i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>Musawwir</i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">). Only those </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">misunderstand art whose eyes cannot fathom abstraction, symbolism, geometry and other disciplines. W</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">hat is not understood is always feared in repressed societies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">M</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ore damage is being done today to mankind through bad policies of governance than vulgar art. The </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">inartistic, unintelligent and ugly pictures painted by some insecure ones in </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Pakistan and India continue to </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">divide the people </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">through a severe </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">deadlock in all avenues of trade and arts. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">F</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ear of the 'other side' is destroying appreciation and lack of healthy artistic expression is stunting the growth of entire cross-sections of societies. Without art and artists, what is any country if not an ugly factory for slaves? </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The war being waged on art and artists is not expected to end any time soon.</span><br />
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<b>Lahore, the last stop</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Amrita's broad forehead indicates she was generous and intelligent, her lips show she was full of life and love. As for her flirtatious nature, this was due to the example set by her mother, the neglect of her apparently religious and philosophical father, the overly liberal education, the upheavals of time, and the wounds inflicted by society.<br /><br />One could say that some are born crooked but it is clear from Amrita's story that society's crooked factory does produce many faulty products. One might be born a saint but it is certainly the upbringing and the company that turn one into a devil.</span><br />
</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7euiGwLo-vfdJQGptnI70jeYBgry0nPhKoocV-Wn76Wa77ESPTxNtiwAJS_8F5b8OO-NcCsHBW1U6hxPB-hy2JLXtXsr65fkgcwaq2k4JNNS3uBeJWzKUJR85scuR77dJxietgmlNiV9_/s1600/Miss+Sher-Gil.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7euiGwLo-vfdJQGptnI70jeYBgry0nPhKoocV-Wn76Wa77ESPTxNtiwAJS_8F5b8OO-NcCsHBW1U6hxPB-hy2JLXtXsr65fkgcwaq2k4JNNS3uBeJWzKUJR85scuR77dJxietgmlNiV9_/s320/Miss+Sher-Gil.png" width="247" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If one were to speak to the elected custodians of our State, they will cringe at Hindu or Sikh names being remembered or celebrated. Amrita came to Lahore not to be physically loved to death but rather for acceptance and artistic immortality. Amrita did not die on Champs-Élysées having soufflé; she lived on art's two-edged sword and died in Lahore. She loved this ancient city in so many ways. The city, as of this writing, is unable to pay her back with love.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">-- concluded --</span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017</span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Further reading</span></b><br />
<br /></span></div><div><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2011/09/allama-iqbal-letter-to-times.html" style="font-family: arial;">Allama Iqbal: A Letter to The Times</a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.no/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html">Iqbal At Close Range</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2018/04/iqbal-in-love-with-emma-wegenast.html" target="_blank">Iqbal In Love With Emma Wegenast</a><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-fantastic-growth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html" target="_blank">The Fantastic Growth Of Amrita</a></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>DISCLAIMER</b><br />No one must misconstrue the information presented here about Amrita Sher-Gil and other persons mentioned as disinformation or insults. All the information was meticulously collected (after cross-checking) from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of proxy servers in Pakistan). If you feel something here needs to be amended, please email me the suggestions with believable references. Until then, whatever is written here shall be considered correct.</span></i><br /><br /><b>Acknowledgement</b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. The web links (URLs) have been included in the text. Just click on the words in <span style="color: blue;"><b>blue</b> </span>colour and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Amrita Sher-Gil.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">See paintings by Amrita </span><a href="https://uk.pinterest.com/ArtyArtista/amrita-shergill/">HERE</a><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photos <a href="https://homegrown.co.in/artist-amrita-sher-gils-life-through-her-fathers-poignant-photographs/">B1</a>, <a href="http://betterphotography.in/perspectives/great-masters/umrao-singh-sher%E2%80%91gil/14773/">A, F</a> in my folder</span></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-80031144474049327672017-03-31T18:22:00.002+05:002020-10-23T19:24:27.309+05:00The Fantastic Growth Of Amrita Sher-Gil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqcQIkvISQJFUVH7S2JeenNOwlvgNPdUhWRyAUNanWKl_8nhXyDLQWVL0_Dz_oY7_2UADiIvcKMrgPbGJqv3RIBQ-48X3I3XGTM_bmw66Z5F-r6H_vUPIICJwKpKB7fIbE2WsiJucl8Lv/s1600/1%2529+Amrita+Sher.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqcQIkvISQJFUVH7S2JeenNOwlvgNPdUhWRyAUNanWKl_8nhXyDLQWVL0_Dz_oY7_2UADiIvcKMrgPbGJqv3RIBQ-48X3I3XGTM_bmw66Z5F-r6H_vUPIICJwKpKB7fIbE2WsiJucl8Lv/s320/1%2529+Amrita+Sher.png" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">We have already inspected '</span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html">Iqbal At Close Range</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">' and witnessed '</span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">'; let us now find out why Amrita became more defiant as a person and </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">more expressive as an artist.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>A communist wolf in British clothing</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"The best thing that happened to me in my Statesman days was meeting Amrita Sher-Gil." —Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1937, Amrita met a handsome British journalist, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Muggeridge">Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (1903–1990). He was a communist sympathiser, a British soldier and a spy. As is usually the case with journalists and diplomats, Thomas worked undercover as an editor for the Statesman newspaper in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kolkata">Calcutta</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (the capital of the British East India Company until 1911, after which New Delhi became the new power-centre).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Thomas' father, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._T._Muggeridge">H.T. Muggeridge</a>, was an active member of the socialist <a href="http://www.fabians.org.uk/about/famous-fabians/">Fabian Society</a>. Notable members of the society were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bernard_Shaw">George Bernard Shaw</a>, some British Prime Ministers and many Parliamentarians. Hence, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">seventeen wealthy financiers leftovers </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">of the exploitive monopolistic British East India Company re-grouped to push their elitist agenda through the Fabian Society.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1946, the </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Fabian Society was </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://modernhistoryproject.org/mhp?Article=FinalWarning&C=5.1">8,400</a> strong with 80 chapters. Among the members were Bertrand Russell</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, Pandit Motilal Nehru (father of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharial Nehru, and leader of the Independence movement who founded the <i>Swaraj</i>, or 'self-rule' Party), and Ramsey McDonald</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (Prime Minister of England in 1924, 1929-35). Nearly half of Labour Party </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">representatives</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">and its leaders in </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">the House of Commons were Fabians. Their original coats of arms depict</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ed a </span><span style="text-align: center;">Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4LjJ4PzZGbIWttm5KdwEsh65gV_SeMhSUQTkpjk41FiB7aKWeBT86rKQ4YH0emBAE4hXUAiIuZqP0vpwUylDvd4J9q3nKwevaayIO0iflQGdEYBF40h-hNGfoluOeaofZh1lhHuapr4_/s1600/Wolf+in+Sheep%25E2%2580%2599s+Clothing%252C+the+original+coat+of+arms+%2528Fabian+Society%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4LjJ4PzZGbIWttm5KdwEsh65gV_SeMhSUQTkpjk41FiB7aKWeBT86rKQ4YH0emBAE4hXUAiIuZqP0vpwUylDvd4J9q3nKwevaayIO0iflQGdEYBF40h-hNGfoluOeaofZh1lhHuapr4_/s200/Wolf+in+Sheep%25E2%2580%2599s+Clothing%252C+the+original+coat+of+arms+%2528Fabian+Society%2529.png" width="167" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fabian Society's logo</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Deceptive 'isms' and labels</b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Fabian Society had another very important member: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Besant">Annie Besant</a>. In broad daylight socialists came from England to influence <i>Raj</i>-era Indians. Annie was an active recruiter for Russian satanist and theosophist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Blavatsky">Madame Blavatsky</a>. The Madame was a student of Anton Mesmer (a </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Freemason) </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">who taught her hypnotism. Gandhi, a Theosohist, promoted anti-British sentiments. Hitler was a Theosophist who dabbled in the occult to gain political and technological powers via the Thule Society and the Vril secret group of the top Nazis.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Annie was quick to wrap <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_Jinnah">Muhammad Ali Jinnah</a> and others around her finger and had them all join her <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Home_Rule_movement">Home Rule League</a>. When they went about promoting nationalism and patriotism ("...<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_views_of_Samuel_Johnson">the last refuge of the scoundrel</a>"), the whole idea appeared not imported from England or Russia but rather home-cooked in India.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwBMewCxP12wUHIyQ6JghGVJKkiFY3bKaAJsvu2zEf09f-tLSc42tjMgbpE1YKI0dlz1Y_l5dsZIKIydQgmeon1SXPxatw9V0_slhdKElR4f2mZ7R9KnC7sqislSVbhbwtQR_7c2HYzHTM/s1600/Theosphical+Society+%25282+triangles+form+star+of+David%252C+Ouroboros+snake%252C+manji%252C+ankh%252C+Om%2529.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwBMewCxP12wUHIyQ6JghGVJKkiFY3bKaAJsvu2zEf09f-tLSc42tjMgbpE1YKI0dlz1Y_l5dsZIKIydQgmeon1SXPxatw9V0_slhdKElR4f2mZ7R9KnC7sqislSVbhbwtQR_7c2HYzHTM/s200/Theosphical+Society+%25282+triangles+form+star+of+David%252C+Ouroboros+snake%252C+manji%252C+ankh%252C+Om%2529.png" width="161" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Theospohical Society logo</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Briefly, conditions were created to promote hatred for the British so that </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">breakup</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> of the </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Empire could easily be achieved through international socialism (communism) and national socialism (Nazism). The world was being prepared by breaking up empires into more manageable groups for the secret elites to create a totally controlled environment.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">With a fading monarchy at home, some Indians believed in distant democracy and capitalism, others looked up to nearby communism. Truly, England had bewitched India with her Houses of Commons and Lords that protected an unwritten constitution. All well-dressed Englishmen seemed blameless when they let </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">poor Indians</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> die for their unelected monarch's <a href="http://royalcentral.co.uk/blogs/the-absolute-right-to-rule-the-divine-right-of-kings-40465">divine right of kings</a>. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The blind remained oblivious of the divisive power of a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ll 'isms' and labels, and the deaf sided with</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> this or that party only to generate heated discussions.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Of love and lovers</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else.” ― Mae West</i></span></blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MPE4izvwxSCupS_p701AfScZL99vWeyxwWUzV_BZtxm2teudJe20AXAO8fJC3bdo6Saktr30WpQRR8bLbFuv9iV_dMtF4vcTQw4iyR8or9b-1TuH3YlZFf2CHN2wYNxuUJ2jDBCMboDu/s1600/2%2529+Iqbal%252C+Paris+1933.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6MPE4izvwxSCupS_p701AfScZL99vWeyxwWUzV_BZtxm2teudJe20AXAO8fJC3bdo6Saktr30WpQRR8bLbFuv9iV_dMtF4vcTQw4iyR8or9b-1TuH3YlZFf2CHN2wYNxuUJ2jDBCMboDu/s320/2%2529+Iqbal%252C+Paris+1933.png" style="cursor: move;" width="235" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Whether male or female, Amrita liked to paint her <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/khushwant-singhs-people/1/455213.html">lovers</a>. She did a portrait of Muggeridge and revealed the reason for not painting Nehru to Iqbal Singh (who wrote her biography 43 years after her death): "Because he is too good looking".</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Thomas Muggeridge would later confide in novelist and journalist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khushwant_Singh">Khuswant Singh</a>: "She had lots of lovers".</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When Khuswant said, "I knew at least a dozen in Lahore who claimed to have bedded her", Thomas exclaimed, "For sure! She had quite an appetite for sex. I should know."</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Sir Muhammad Iqbal did not possess the looks of a medieval knight covered in shining armour but mentally </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">he was very </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">well-endowed, hence, Amrita only photographed him in Paris in 1933.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>The 'wet rag' story</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Simla is an authentic English production; designed by sahibs for sahibs—without any reference to any other consideration—not even Maharajas." —Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Muggeridge </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ran into Amrita somewhere in Calcutta or Delhi, where she was exhibiting her work. They would soon become entangled. Amrita invited Muggeridge over at her parents' home in Summer Hill (Simla) where he stayed for a week. To him Sardar Umrao Singh Majithia was an 'attractive father' and fiery Marie Antoinette a 'vulgar red-haired' Hungarian. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The parents were acutely aware of the physical cravings of talented Amrita.</span><br />
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The British had already politically neutralised rebellious Umrao and Marie had twice had extra-marital fun; only one insult remained: defiling the daughter at home through an agent 'at Her Majesty's Secret Service'.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_C5wYAi2MqhRPdoyDHq5C2tgJi1DWltNDMGS2AkLNkeXdSgE8M4hDk4i6vzgQe3sOECAS-AfC_ISuRteqwBotHcC226AYC5AMKmdMWtTYkUIPX1jQuxGZiC8QKso9KMEEIVHRJKaT-Del/s1600/2a%2529+Malcolm+Muggeridge.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_C5wYAi2MqhRPdoyDHq5C2tgJi1DWltNDMGS2AkLNkeXdSgE8M4hDk4i6vzgQe3sOECAS-AfC_ISuRteqwBotHcC226AYC5AMKmdMWtTYkUIPX1jQuxGZiC8QKso9KMEEIVHRJKaT-Del/s200/2a%2529+Malcolm+Muggeridge.png" width="153" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Malcolm Muggeridge, 1929</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Spies are trained to extract information without arousing the suspicion of their targets. Amrita shot herself in the foot by blabbering to </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Muggeridge </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">all about her affairs and abortions.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Although he </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was in the prime of his youth, he explained how i</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">t </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ended:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"I was </i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">no match for the Indo-Hungarian lass nearly ten years younger. </span><i>At the end of the week, I was thoroughly exhausted, like a wet rag which has been put through a wringer. She came to see me off at the Summer Hill railway station. As she waved goodbye to me when my rail-car began to move, she had a triumphant smile on her face."</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Vulnerable in many ways, Amrita later confessed to Indira how she compared his physical qualities with those of her French female lover Marie Louise Chasseny. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Had Amrita been trained by Umrao, India might have conquered tiny 'Great' Britain through Muggeridge.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Malcolm Muggeridge left the moment he was offered a better job in England at the British intelligence (MI6). He reached the rank of a major during World War Two. Later in life he became a moral and religious campaigner. This again might have been a cover because his own niece, </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/media/11433361/Malcolm-Muggeridge-was-a-serial-groper-who-caused-much-hurt-to-those-close-to-him-niece-admits.html">Sally Muggeridge</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, accused </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">'the pouncer' o</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">f being a 'serial groper'.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihs-7CR_B9gUQxu5eNdu_AYhyphenhyphens34ihYRQisLYCuGtG-n1Y4RaLW63mIbC_xjPXiaBHy9L867pkG0SV55CvC_-NZZV1tbYRdV5k32RsKJfDmwDqniyIiBW-YxdS7uW-g5J2Ot6MwJwYz9Tm/s1600/3%2529+A.S.png" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihs-7CR_B9gUQxu5eNdu_AYhyphenhyphens34ihYRQisLYCuGtG-n1Y4RaLW63mIbC_xjPXiaBHy9L867pkG0SV55CvC_-NZZV1tbYRdV5k32RsKJfDmwDqniyIiBW-YxdS7uW-g5J2Ot6MwJwYz9Tm/s320/3%2529+A.S.png" style="cursor: move;" width="263" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
<br /><b>A kick in society's groin</b><br /><br /><i>In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob.</i></span><br />
<i>—Salvador Dali</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Amrita returned a prize given her by the Simla Fine Art Society </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">because she thought the Society 'rejected her best work and gave the award for an inferior painting'. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This caused a commotion in the world of art.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /> Back to being herself, she experimented by displaying contradictory and embarrassing attitudes when in westernised Indian company. F</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">or the sake of progressing further she </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">tolerated</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">the elites whom she found 'too conservative and respectful towards the British colonialists'.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Day and 'knight'</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Interestingly, Amrita noted that 'the Oxford and Cambridge types' who joined the civil service appeared 'dull, uninteresting and scandal-mongering'. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Sensibly she surrounded herself with intelligent friends who understood art and literature.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Strangely she found Hindus too conservative and Muslims accepting of her licentious behaviour. Since Sir Muhammad Iqbal was a 'Cambridge-type' Muslim lawyer and a poet, one wonders what status he had in her universe.</span></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In old English and German, knight means: 'boy, servant, bondsman and vassal'. The title of 'sir' means: 'service to the monarch or as a fighter for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings'. If Umrao Singh knew the truth of the matter, did Amrita know it too? Did she address Iqbal as sir, mister or just Iqbal?</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>The Bengal School </b><br /><br />Amrita's high education in art made her contemptuous towards artists of the Bengal school, whom she compared to the ancient 'Ajanta cave-painters'.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Although she appreciated Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's painting style she unloaded a mouthful while describing him: "His eminence is due to the surrounding flatness of the country".</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br />Was Amrita aware that the <a href="http://muktodhara.org/the-tagore-clan-a-history-of-wealth/">Tagore</a> family were outcast Pirili Brahmins and Dwarkendranath Tagore (Rabindranath's grandfather) unloaded ships full of opium in China to help British 'traders' turn it into a nation of addicts?</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Tagore versus Iqbal</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jallianwala_Bagh_massacre">Jallianawala Bagh Massacre</a> of Amritsar happened in 1919, sensibly Sir <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore">Rabindranath Tagore</a> atoned for his Bengali ancestors' sins by renouncing his knighthood through a <a href="http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-jallianwala-bagh-massacre-read-tagore-s-heart-rending-letter-renouncing-his-knighthood-2201638">letter</a> written to Lord Chelmsford, the viceroy of India:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"The time has come when badges of honour make our shame glaring in the incongruous context of humiliation, and I for my part, wish to stand, shorn, of all special distinctions, by the side of those of my countrymen who, for their so called insignificance, are liable to suffer degradation not fit for human beings."</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By sharp contrast Allama Iqbal, who lived close to Amritsar, retained his knighthood. Tagore was knighted in 1915, four years before the Amritsar massacre; Iqbal received his honour in 1923, four years after the event. How was self-taught Tagore able to soar like an eagle in far-off Bengal leaving Dr Iqbal to run with the Indian hares and hunt with the British lion? </span><br />
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<b>A head-on collision with the Nizam</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>My nervous system is very much weakened – nothing but painting in oil can keep me going. —Paul Cezanne</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When Amrita visited the Nizam of Hyderabad she noticed his admirers outdoing one another in heaping praises on his art collection and fine taste.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Briefly, the rich 223,000 Km² State of Hyderabad (one out of 566) was roughly the size of England. It was the sole global supplier of diamonds during the British colonial era and its ruler, the Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, was the richest Indian Prince. He held the titles of 'His Exalted Highness' and 'Faithful Ally of the British Crown' and received a 21-gun salute.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Nizam paid for the airplanes used by the Royal Air Force #110 Squadron during World War One and possessed $34 billion of wealth that put him on Time magazine's cover for the February 22, 1937 issue. He used the 185-carat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Diamond">Jacob Diamond</a> as a paperweight.</span><br />
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxl-MdNPUYi4P1suGXR8ovjX1cT0Bhx59sL8A_poLB42GkyH7fM1JDv9f3a5hleSVdpdhmPJvCvD-GX5eofJiCLu-6k_zCOqy7_xcw03trCt6DjruYBqzoTgO0XxWrJSmoo2X2jOzEP4h/s1600/3%2529+Amrita.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqxl-MdNPUYi4P1suGXR8ovjX1cT0Bhx59sL8A_poLB42GkyH7fM1JDv9f3a5hleSVdpdhmPJvCvD-GX5eofJiCLu-6k_zCOqy7_xcw03trCt6DjruYBqzoTgO0XxWrJSmoo2X2jOzEP4h/s320/3%2529+Amrita.png" width="223" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Unfazed by glitter, Amrita expressed horror at seeing the Nizam's multi-million Rupees worth of 'junk' collection. When asked what she thought of his art collection, she shocked everyone present by counter-questioning him:</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"How on earth can anybody with any taste buy Leighton, Bouguereau and Watts when there were Cézannes, Van Goghs and Gauguins in the market?"</i></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Appearing outwardly calm but inwardly outraged, the Nizam refused to buy Amrita's two cubist paintings and which made her more furious.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Was Amrita aware that the Nizam's ancestor, Nizam Ali (alias Fateh Jung), had conspired with the British to bring down <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipu_Sultan">Tipu Sultan</a>? Tipu preferred French imperialism, looked up to Napoleon Bonaparte and the Ottomon Empire, and militarily opposed the British for thirty-three long years. When the British murdered this 'Lion of Mysore' and annexed his kingdom they shared it with the 'traitor' Nizam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Umrao Singh's blood boiled living under British rule and it is fair to say it circulated with the same temperature within Amrita's body.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>At loggerheads with Marie</b></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When Marie showed signs of mental instability, mistreated servants and lied, Amrita scolded her. A ferocious mind, a sharp tongue, unashamed openness about her behaviour, and an insistence on her right to behave as she pleased, showed in Amrita's correspondence with her father:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"She charges us indiscriminately with every vice, criminal ingratitude being the least of them, of filth, sloth and abnormal sexual manias."</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Caught between a passive conventional father and an increasingly deranged mother, Amrita embraced artistic outspokenness and adored what was beautiful around her. In a letter to her sister Indira, she mentioned the frescoes of Cochin influencing her 'as deeply as Breughel and Renoir did'.<br /><br />A few months before her sudden death, Amrita wrote candidly to her sister mentioning she had 'passed through a nervous crisis, felt impotent, dissatisfied, and unable to weep because elemental forces in life were disrupting the equilibrium, and chaos, darkness, wars, earthquakes, floods, all were indefinably interconnected'.<br /><br />Clearly, Amrita felt overwhelmed by life and the turbulent era she lived in. Even her sister's handwriting shocked her: "You must make an effort to render it legible".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7t9bOEHbKxeh9XnhzhhEFmwC5P2fBEVFyk3kaa1sh6p7BDf1Jsy2ndmWzXLf4PKKlouo_Gwg5qm8W4vxGQRj-wDMyKco7siauq8eZoio1-GICibfzKi0hbfcP837tCexkNO_MUG0q_CVH/s1600/5%2529+A.S.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7t9bOEHbKxeh9XnhzhhEFmwC5P2fBEVFyk3kaa1sh6p7BDf1Jsy2ndmWzXLf4PKKlouo_Gwg5qm8W4vxGQRj-wDMyKco7siauq8eZoio1-GICibfzKi0hbfcP837tCexkNO_MUG0q_CVH/s320/5%2529+A.S.png" width="254" /></a></span></div>
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<br /><b>Society and the 'white' press</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"I don't listen to what art critics say. I don't know anybody who needs a critic to find out what art is." </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">—</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Jean-Michel Basquiat (Haitian/Puerto Rican American painter who died aged 27)</span></i></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i>Amrita discovered her Indian spirit in the true colours of the land. By 1936 things began to change. The Indian press finally saw the genius in Amrita but not without feeling repulsed by her 'ugly subjects'. The <a href="https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/03/how-women-from-nepal-are-trafficked-to-india-and-disfigured-to-make-rich-men-and-women-beautiful/#.WL2y17STmRw.facebook">'white'</a> press saw her darker subjects on canvas as unwashed and unattractive.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita refused to surrender her strong brown mind to</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> self-hating Indians. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Through an article Amrita counter-attacked the 'cheap tricks' used by the critics to accuse her of showing only the 'sunny side' of Indian life.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The same year she held a successful exhibition at Bombay where the press thought she painted too brightly. Amrita disagreed because she felt she 'only painted that way if the subject demanded it'.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />The accusation that her work was 'inspired by gloomy poor villagers' was countered with great truthfulness: "Because they have sincerity, nobility and dignity".<br /><br /> In 1937 she won a gold medal ('Best Work') for her 'Three Girls' painting at the Bombay art Society's art exhibition. More admirers saw the flame of genius in her. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">She explored southern India's Ajanta caves and also experiment more liberally after seeing the miniature Mughal, Pahari and Rajasthani medieval paintings. What she found impressive were 'the earth, rich vegetation, coconut trees, bananas, palm trees, tiny bamboo huts, red clay hamlets, and everyone wearing white'.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />During the trip she was overjoyed 'not seeing a single European' or any 'trace of European civilisation'. To her the indigenous people were suddenly 'extra-ordinarily beautiful in their bodice and a <i>dhoti</i>, in the way they tied their hair and the all-white clothing'.<br /><br /> By 1937 Amrita's exhibition at Allahabad had brought greater fame but still no fortune. She declined an offer to write a book on modern Indian art as she correctly sensed: "If I did, the art critics would all set on me like a pack of hyenas and tear me to bits."</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4rxOHTHTrxWARrXF4e5vGtxrPjp3HpYCT5P7RXzAqKCORr0AA-mS9huumIAuF2S69NN0X4TcNwF4OfqwO-Gfexv7gYOdQbz_ymUKXivhfYnKVEQTqf_Re-fZs8IF3zvnnwFtc8TQmP2N/s1600/6%2529+The+Majithia+Family.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4rxOHTHTrxWARrXF4e5vGtxrPjp3HpYCT5P7RXzAqKCORr0AA-mS9huumIAuF2S69NN0X4TcNwF4OfqwO-Gfexv7gYOdQbz_ymUKXivhfYnKVEQTqf_Re-fZs8IF3zvnnwFtc8TQmP2N/s320/6%2529+The+Majithia+Family.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Majithias (Marie, Amrita, Indira, Umrao)</span></td></tr>
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<b>Life in Lahore</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On 21st November 1937, Amrita opened an exhibition in Lahore and received more raving reviews. The show was extended for a few days because people actually came to see the beautiful sharp-minded Hungarian-Indian painter in full glory. In the end, some commissioned work came by which she hated doing.<br /><br />While in Lahore, Amrita learnt of having received a 'best work' award at the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Exhibition held in Delhi. She disliked her new label, 'lady artist', as it smacked of 'concession due to the feebler sex.'</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />In 1938 Amrita left for Saraya where she spent the winter surrounded by those she had begun to love: the poor of the land.<br /><br /><b>Escape from India</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"I can only paint in India. Europe belongs to Picasso, Matisse, Braque; India belongs only to me". </span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>—Amrita Sher-Gil</i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita's parents wished her to marry </span><a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/karl-khandalawala-the-perfect-renaissance-scholar/1/372334.html">Karl Khandalavala</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. When she revealed Victor was the man for her they reacted with hostility. The mother wanted her to marry into moneyed high society and the father opposed Amrita because 'marrying a blood relation was not accepted in India'.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Amrita knew there were plenty of Indian men desirous of marrying her but was petrified of sacrificing art at the altar of being both a picture-perfect wife and a mother. Because her Hungarian fiancé seemed to respect and understand her views, she always dreamt of marrying the childhood love and first cousin. She also feared she was not cut out for marriage and lacked the quality of becoming an 'ideal wife'.<br /><br />Victor was studying medicine </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">in Hungary</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. Amrita made it clear to him that they would </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">settle in India after </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">marrying because she 'could not paint in Europe but only could in India'.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />After visiting Simla and Bombay, determined Amrita set sail for Hungary on June 29th, 1938. Only twenty-five and wishing to be independent yet dependant on Victor's income, she married him against her parent's wishes. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Her parents, wishing to get to the bottom of the matter, found in her room a collection of revealing correspondence. She wrote to them:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPYxZihht8SXsetdkvjKH0lk_1Yb7PAzjca4R6-O5-6bFCoxQmeT2mjsqjoVuSWxYaNEinxXXQgolNsYGu_DbDrLYf23tFVZfg72Nn3WoAp_HXdIdc50PR1e4HqtjzaWE5Zc-P3XxIHHw/s1600/7%2529+A1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdPYxZihht8SXsetdkvjKH0lk_1Yb7PAzjca4R6-O5-6bFCoxQmeT2mjsqjoVuSWxYaNEinxXXQgolNsYGu_DbDrLYf23tFVZfg72Nn3WoAp_HXdIdc50PR1e4HqtjzaWE5Zc-P3XxIHHw/s320/7%2529+A1.png" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: arial;">"I must admit that it was a bit of a shock to hear that all my letters are being perused and consigned to the flames! I merely hope that the letters of Marie Louise, Malcolm Muggeridge, Jawaharlal Nehru, Edith and Karl have been spared. I had left them behind not because I thought them dangerous witnesses of my evil past but because I didn't wish to increase my already heavy luggage. However, now I suppose I have to resign myself to a bleak old age unrelieved by the entertainment that the perusal of old love letters would have afforded it."</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Third unwanted pregnancy</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"I can resist everything except temptation." —Oscar Wilde</i></span></blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCAqMf-uSgWDpJUlXhkxsltWsWzXhHeZaKIXoHm87gMRsA25fYhNL4aMJNxG_iOQMVlSNjgu9fz-M6xbCL0zuijGvUbR2Zzi3jYw4BVwm-Xg3eZaazWlkJVX4sktqHJPpFr5jzH6p5OU2/s1600/8%2529+Victor+and+Amrita.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicCAqMf-uSgWDpJUlXhkxsltWsWzXhHeZaKIXoHm87gMRsA25fYhNL4aMJNxG_iOQMVlSNjgu9fz-M6xbCL0zuijGvUbR2Zzi3jYw4BVwm-Xg3eZaazWlkJVX4sktqHJPpFr5jzH6p5OU2/s320/8%2529+Victor+and+Amrita.png" style="cursor: move;" width="193" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Two abortions should have been enough but Amrita remained incurable. While in Simla, she had an affair with a young and handsome Englishman, Walter Collins.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />En route to Hungary she found she was pregnant and had the ship's doctor attempt an unsuccessful abortion. When they docked at Naples, Amrita found Victor waiting. They continued to Genoa by ship and onward to Budapest by train. Amrita kept her secret.<br /><br />In July 1938, the couple stayed with Victor's mother. The few years they planned to spend in Hungary would allow Victor to finish his medical studies and on-the-job training.<br /><br />There was political turmoil in Hungary and Czechoslovakia due to the Nazi presence at the borders. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Then suddenly Victor, who was a member of the Army Reserves, was called to duty. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Victor's uncle, a government official, warned the couple about the expected war and begged them to leave immediately for India.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />By now Amrita was beginning to haemorrhage, a large bloody clot oozed out and which Victor sent to the laboratory for examination. Even after learning that it was an unborn foetus, his affection for Amrita did not diminish.</span><br />
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<b>Marriage with Victor Egan</b></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“Love is the foolishness of men, and the wisdom of God.” ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Back in Lahore, Amrita's family friend Dr </span><a href="http://www.awardsintelligence.co.uk/queens-honours/knighthood-damehood">Sir</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Allama Muhammad Iqbal breathed his last on 21 April 1938.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Victor was able to leave his regiment, return to Budapest and marry Amrita in a simple civil ceremony on July 16th 1938. Amrita's will had prevailed in this battle with her parents; their blessings would come later.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The marriage required Amrita to surrender the British Indian Passport and acquire a Hungarian one. Victor's uncle, Nandor Menet, arranged for Victor to take a long leave without pay and made arrangements for the penniless couple to leave Hungary.</span><br />
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<b>Back to the far pavilions</b></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NiLxJvll_aypeu-jLR5-Q0xgLzTUcyn_cY49tKT6sZ9pNpChqx85jDl6A1Th6bzjQVw9Elw5XkRnvyYOa4_tF1p7MQyV-W76rOJR1FofmGCNgql9NMQElBr0ljea-r7UJ0NZCTaBOsao/s1600/9a%2529+1930s+photo.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NiLxJvll_aypeu-jLR5-Q0xgLzTUcyn_cY49tKT6sZ9pNpChqx85jDl6A1Th6bzjQVw9Elw5XkRnvyYOa4_tF1p7MQyV-W76rOJR1FofmGCNgql9NMQElBr0ljea-r7UJ0NZCTaBOsao/s320/9a%2529+1930s+photo.png" width="208" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Allama Iqbal (c.1930s)</span></td></tr>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them." </i></span><i>―</i><i>Franz Kafka</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita being an unknown artist in Hungary failed to sell any paintings. Victor's pay was barely enough and they had no savings.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">World War Two was just around the corner. In June 1938 Amrita and Victor escaped from Fascist dominated Hungary. To her, Fascism mocked at justice, suppressed individual freedom and dominated weak countries. She thought it dreadful to see Paris fall into Nazi hands and cared more about modern French art and younger artists than anything else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After getting some family money from Germany, the couple left Budapest on June 19th, 1939. Two weeks later they were in Colombo with just four British Pounds in possession. More money came by and on July 5th and they boarded a train for Madurai where they stayed for two days to visit temples and carvings.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Once back in Saraya they settled within the ancestral Majithia household. Here Amrita learnt to make friends with female relatives and servants, an activity which made her acutely aware of women's traditional orientation and their social and psychological problems.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />While they had long horse rides, indulged in organised tiger hunts on the backs of elephants, and enjoyed feudal extravagances, there was no stimulating company, no one with whom Amrita could hold an intelligent conversation, and no opportunity to expand ideas. She felt trapped, suffocated, an 'unutterable lassitude and vague chemeric fear' descended upon her as 1940 came to a close.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPq1Fl5PEsP2UTav0SrLCyXa_yJsw8rQJ4yqXiimMn77b5lunnHLM3B0Vgp79tiy45yZTalg30VvkvSgbQlB6me41rFzUe1pL5ila4CFkiZ7PGL7KdvdXMfJxPrU2PGH73qhaRIT471k1L/s1600/9%2529+Boat-trip%252C+Lake+Balaton+1938-39.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPq1Fl5PEsP2UTav0SrLCyXa_yJsw8rQJ4yqXiimMn77b5lunnHLM3B0Vgp79tiy45yZTalg30VvkvSgbQlB6me41rFzUe1pL5ila4CFkiZ7PGL7KdvdXMfJxPrU2PGH73qhaRIT471k1L/s320/9%2529+Boat-trip%252C+Lake+Balaton+1938-39.png" width="307" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Victor and Amrita, Lake Balaton 1938-39</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Riding an emotional roller-coaster</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"Art is the only serious thing in the world. And the artist is the only person who is never serious."</i></span><br />
<i>—Oscar Wilde</i><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The young couple travelled to Madras to see Mahabalipuram which Amrita described as 'the most haunting place in all of South India'.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Soon they were in Simla where Victor planned to set up his medical practice and let Amrita paint but they again moved to Saraya and stopped over in Delhi.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In a letter to her friend Karl, Amrita admitted she was 'depressed and discouraged by the lack of appreciation'. After sending four paintings to the annual exhibition of the Bombay Fine Arts Society, she became even more depressed when some of her best ones were rejected. Someone even offered to buy one painting for a paltry sum.<br /><br />Finding herself again in 'better spirits and happier' despite the uncertainties, she began to paint and sculpt on commission.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In an effort to gain recognition as a painter, Amrita sent four paintings to Delhi for an exhibition which had been arranged by her friend Barada Ukil. Unfortunately none of her paintings won a prize, not even a mention. Despite that Amrita continued to paint and during the first half of 1940 she produced smaller paintings.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By August of 1940, she had found peace within and contentment in Saraya with Victor. In a letter to her parents she wrote: "We are so pleased and happy. I am producing good things. Victor has got a job, and not such a bad one either, far better than we hoped for, in fact, we are quite satisfied with our lot."<br /><b><br />Survival of the dirtiest</b></span><br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"To survive it is often necessary to fight, and to fight you have to dirty yourself." </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">—</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">George Orwell</span></span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Life for Amrita and Victor was a struggle. Victor's monthly salary of Rupees 160 was barely enough for them to make ends meet. Amrita's mother was providing Rupees 100 a month but that boost was not enough for the 'good life' that they wanted, namely, their own place and a car. Frustrated, they felt trapped.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In December of 1940, Amrita began feeling very depressed and discouraged. In a letter to Indira she wrote:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7l0MOS0IbOhYWkBxSgcf0xGpQq4lpxU9KImpxIaGhk6PUidpobOQTTYyh6SXHvwXtj1uvodOmwnKsJnTcWvGo3aedngcpSBibrpyj0Rluv9Zt3uTWRUQFqiDmJznXYVLPBb2aFc1C9hp/s1600/11%2529+D.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh7l0MOS0IbOhYWkBxSgcf0xGpQq4lpxU9KImpxIaGhk6PUidpobOQTTYyh6SXHvwXtj1uvodOmwnKsJnTcWvGo3aedngcpSBibrpyj0Rluv9Zt3uTWRUQFqiDmJznXYVLPBb2aFc1C9hp/s400/11%2529+D.png" width="253" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Umrao Singh (oblivious)</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"I dread the tomorrows that will come. Life has become grey, melancholy, empty and a complete vacuum. My relationship with Victor is drifting apart although we are tremendously found of each other, we are alone together, we sit for hours in silence. I am hardly the happy person with rich, full life, radiating joy as I go. I am fast losing my interest in people and the desire to approach them. I am becoming bleaker and bleaker, less and less interested."</i></span><br />
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</blockquote>
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</div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Complications in Amrita and Victor's lives arose due to people's preoccupation with World War Two. With not much happening in the world of art, her work was not getting any exposure. She summed up her frustrations by wishing: "How we wish that this infernal war were over".<br /><br />Victor had not heard from his mother in Hungary for months and feared that she was not receiving his letters.<br /><br /><b>Painting a funeral</b><br /><br />In January of 1941, their frustrations were temporarily put aside by a visit from their old friend Karl who spent three days with Amrita. He watched her paint non-stop for hours without being distracted. He also saw her amazing sculptures, and performing domestic chores which he thought she could never do. Amrita was back to being cheerful.<br /><br />When Karl left, a deep sense of gloom descended upon Amrita and she suffered what she described as a 'nervous crisis'. Karl would never see Amrita again.<br /><br />In a March 14th, 1941, letter to Indira she wrote: "I passed through a nervous crisis and am still far from being over it. Feeling impotent, dissatisfied, irritable and not even able to weep."<br /><br />Amrita did very few paintings in 1941 in the last year of her life. Concerned about Amrita's mental state, Indira came to Saraya to comfort her. Amrita told her that she wanted to start a new painting: one of a funeral procession. Of course it will be a gay picture if I ever do paint it".</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwM4LASDf93LZnYNk53t1IPUFWOxBvoVYTQ4IAMkVZ0sueoyWzYEkE6ChtYbxiE1M6Rv0lQTZso6mQFfTQuBmQzyTtFm8FmQ7C7v0THPdGGD5iN36sgFmWD9YdtocLx8jvbYp8pQu4H7p/s1600/10%2529+Amrita+%2526+Indira.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbwM4LASDf93LZnYNk53t1IPUFWOxBvoVYTQ4IAMkVZ0sueoyWzYEkE6ChtYbxiE1M6Rv0lQTZso6mQFfTQuBmQzyTtFm8FmQ7C7v0THPdGGD5iN36sgFmWD9YdtocLx8jvbYp8pQu4H7p/s320/10%2529+Amrita+%2526+Indira.png" width="307" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita and Indira (dated 9.5.1931)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Indira's visit did not do much good as she had problems of her own. After staying briefly she returned home. In her letter to Indira, Amrita told her: "I have not started the funeral painting but would one day. I have not done a thing since you left."</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita never got to paint it but she did draw a sketch of it. She was beginning to hate 'the atmosphere of gloom and distress' that cast its dark shadow on her work.<br /><br /><b>The final move to Lahore</b></span><br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive." —Josephine Hart</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Overwhelmed by frustration and gloom, Victor and Amrita decided that their life needed a change by moving to Lahore. Alone, Victor went there to explore things.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In the summer of 1941, they both returned to Lahore to weigh the pros and cons of a move that would enable Victor to set up his medical practice. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After a brief survey, Victor learned that many of the doctors in Lahore had been called into military service and this shortage increased the chances of establishing a profitable medical practice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Amrita </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was surprised to find that despite the war, a lot was happening in Lahore's art world. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">She saw students, writers and artists who held progressive views, intellectuals who sympathised with the nationalist struggle, and in a charged atmosphere </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">magazines and journals were being </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">published.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Convinced that Lahore was ideal, they decided to move in September. Amrita's mood quickly changed and she became her 'happy go lucky' self again. Victor returned to Saraya but Amrita remained in Lahore for a few days.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">
Around the third week in September of 1940, Amrita and Victor arrived together in Lahore to look for accommodation. They liked the fashionable area called The Mall and put their bags down in flat number 23 of Sir Ganga Ram Mansions (commonly known as the Exchange Mansions).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircEudSDcjFDkW-xjfBzkuEbDjshzS5q5xuq_7A6r3JU5T-_ReRVC6yE-FXVQz3Nm3aK63aGNJeAQXnYkXDXtreR7vcZmiftnZoPSYSfEBEhNzu0xBuhBqL2iH9TO0VuQiUSLHT3HGqnN8/s1600/13%2529+Amrita+Sher-Gil.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircEudSDcjFDkW-xjfBzkuEbDjshzS5q5xuq_7A6r3JU5T-_ReRVC6yE-FXVQz3Nm3aK63aGNJeAQXnYkXDXtreR7vcZmiftnZoPSYSfEBEhNzu0xBuhBqL2iH9TO0VuQiUSLHT3HGqnN8/s320/13%2529+Amrita+Sher-Gil.png" width="212" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita, outwardly calm</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Immersed in good life</b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Tall ugly buildings did not exist in those days, and Amrita could have an unobstructed view of the Lahore High Court from her home. It was a two-story flat with a veranda overlooking the driveway and a small <i>barsati </i>(rooftop room). Victor's clinic was on the ground floor, the living rooms on the second floor, and the <i>barsati </i>became Amrita's studio. Their neighbourhood was composed of the elite and professionals.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The young couple </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">decorated the place with </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">articles gifted by Amrita's mother. They </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">bought furniture, Amrita hung her p</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">aintings on the walls and Victor equipped his clinic with equipment that he had brought from Saraya.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The icing on the cake was their small Ford automobile. Life was finally beginning to make sense; it was starting to deliver.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">* * * End of PART 2 * * *</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017 <br /><br />Coming out soon: "<span style="background-color: yellow;">The Artistic Death of Amrita</span>" <br /><br /><b>Further reading</b></span><br />
<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2011/09/allama-iqbal-letter-to-times.html">Allama Iqbal: A Letter to The Times</a><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html" target="_blank">Iqbal At Close Range</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2018/04/iqbal-in-love-with-emma-wegenast.html" target="_blank">Iqbal In Love With Emma Wegenast</a><br />
<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil</span></a><br />
<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-dramatic-death-of-amrita-sher-gil.html"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Dramatic Death Of Amrita Sher-Gil</span></a><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>DISCLAIMER</b><br />No one must misconstrue the information presented here about Amrita Sher-Gil and other persons mentioned as disinformation or insults. All the information was meticulously collected (after cross-checking) from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of proxy servers in Pakistan). If you feel something here needs to be amended, please email me the suggestions with believable references. Until then, whatever is written here shall be considered correct.</span></i><br /><br /><b>Acknowledgement</b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. The web links (URLs) have been included in the text. Just click on the words in <span style="color: blue;"><b>blue</b> </span>colour and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Amrita Sher-Gil.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photos <a href="http://betterphotography.in/perspectives/great-masters/umrao-singh-sher%E2%80%91gil/14773/">D</a>, </span><a href="https://homegrown.co.in/artist-amrita-sher-gils-life-through-her-fathers-poignant-photographs/">A1, D1</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> from personal folder</span></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-58306156976263967772017-03-15T16:44:00.008+05:002020-10-23T19:22:37.593+05:00The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There are two methods by which one may understand poet Dr Sir Allama Sheikh Muhammad Iqbal: study what he wrote or dig deeper into the lives of those whom he knew. Emma Wegenast, Atiya Fyzee and Amrita Sher-Gil knew <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglMKArDVbgCebSriJGpIh8SdvzUPf4Tac_s_cdOnWWGCuqh8LgKohX5LKIBhEu1D8R8rwUieHDRLlO9QsCDpiysltAD7y4aFHCdlzMeEdx-bPwSlQlycjGsLZaSw0dmvFjYG7tnJ_ydhyphenhyphen0/s1600/1%2529+C1%252C+young+Amrita+Sketching.png">'</a><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html">Iqbal At Close Range</a>'.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br />The first two educated ladies turned around Iqbal's poetic head in Germany and England respectively. The third young lady, Amrita Sher-Gil, met Iqbal in Lahore and Paris. She might have taught him a thing or two about art; he in turn could have made her outlook towards art more philosophical.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita's painful story cannot be condensed into a single article. Her pretty picture must be seen within the frame of her colourful family background.</span><br />
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<b>Amrita's father and his first wife</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita's father, <a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Umrao_Singh_Majithia">Umrao Singh Majithia</a> (1870-1954), was the eldest son of <a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php?title=Raja_Surat_Singh_Majithia&action=edit&redlink=1">Raja Surat Singh Majithia</a>. The Majithia family originally belonged to Majitha village of Punjab. Surat Singh settled in Uttar Pradesh on <a href="http://solitaryw.blogspot.com/search/label/Family">lands</a> and honorary titles of 'Sir' and 'Lady' given for 'services' rendered to the British.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">While Umrao was young, his father died and the boy became ward of the British Court. He attended school at Amritsar and later joined the <a href="https://www.aitchison.edu.pk/ac-history.php">Aitchison College</a>, </span><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Lahore">Lahore</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. The latter institution was created in 1886 by the British to 'educate' the children and relatives of Indian chiefs and was initially called Chief's College. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao went on to marry Narindar Kumari, the daughter of Captain Gulab Singh of Atari.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Umrao Singh, Budapest</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Aristocratic Umrao was a Sanskrit scholar, amateur photographer, astronomer, carpenter, calligrapher, and yoga practitioner. With his wife Narindar first visited England in 1896, and then again in 1897 to attend the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. As head of the Majitha family, Umrao was privileged to attend the Coronation darbars in 1903 and 1910.<br /><br />Umrao returned to India with the realisation that he belonged to a subjugated race. Despite having numerous English friends, he preferred seclusion to social glitter, and which resulted in him being mentioned in British secret official correspondence as 'disaffected.' To the British East India Company, Umrao was a person of interest.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After giving birth to four children: Balram, Satyavan, Vivek and Prakash, Narindar died </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">in </span><a href="http://solitaryw.blogspot.com/search/label/Family">1907</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> .</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Umrao Singh's second wife</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Maharaja_Ranjit_Singh">Maharaja Ranjit Singh</a> once <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranjit_Singh">ruled</a> over the Punjab and beyond. Then the British East India Company came along to annex it just as multi-national corporations do today under various pretexts to entire countries.<br /><br />Ranjit's son, Maharaja <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duleep_Singh">Duleep Singh</a> had a daughter named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_Duleep_Singh">Princess Bamba Sofia Jindan Duleep Singh</a> (1869–1957). When she decided to visit India, she brought along a travel companion named Marie Antoinette Gottesmann-Baktay (1882-1948).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">Marie was a Jewess of Hungarian-French ancestry. Internationally connected, she belonged to Budapest's upper class, played the piano, sang well and regularly appeared at lavish parties.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It was </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Princess Sofia Duleep Singh that Umrao was interested in but upon m</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">eeting Marie at the Princess's residence in Lahore, he decided to add some </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Hungarian whitener to his </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">dark Indian tea. Umrao married Marie i</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">n 1911.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">n the autumn of 1912, the couple visited Budapest. As World War One broke out, Umrao found himself stranded in an 'enemy' country. Being a man of culture and intellect and married to a Hungarian, he was not interned.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">For details about the Majithia family, click </span><a href="http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/families/majithia.html">HERE</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The spirit of a freedom-fighter</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br />The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he's not romantic, personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are. —H. L. Mencken (1919)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">While condemning bribery today, people of the Indian sub-continent conveniently forget that it was the </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">'Company <i>Bahadur</i>' </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">that practised classic divide-and-rule by </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">purchasing loyalties of the local elites.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Babu Bandhu Singh was a freedom fighter whom the British </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">East India Company </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">arrested and hanged after the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857">War of Independance of 1857</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. His lands known as Saraya or Sardarnagar were forfeited and handed over to Umrao Singh's father as reward for 'loyalty shown to the British'.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">One could say that </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">in Saraya, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao was possessed by the hanged freedom fighter's restless spirit. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">F</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">reedom started to mean a great deal to Umrao, he s</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ympathised with the India-Germany group and busied himself with conspiring against the British. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">While other notables of his clan bent over backwards to help the 'Company' prolong its hold over India, Umrao felt he was a nationalist opposed to unjust colonisation.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">Leaving the 'Company' of the British</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Germans used the India-Germany group to raise troops to invade India through the North Western Frontier Province </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(NWFP)</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. They chose Raja Mahendra Partap to head the movement. An expedition under Von Hentig was </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">despatched; it c</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">arried letters from Kaiser William II to the King of Afghanistan and from the German Government to various ruling princes of India.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /> In 1915, Raja Mahendra Partap's group travelled to Kabul to win over Afghanistan and have a German-Afghan army take over India. Mahendra Partap was in touch with Umrao Singh who was related to him through the Atari family. From Baghdad, Mahendra Partap wrote a disheartening letter to Umrao Singh. Wishing to boost his friend's morale, Umrao sent Mahendra a long reply.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-qgQYhOcznyutyNxyEcpI0qaNF2zQs0ZOQkSPzdWnCfUUCdHDoz7CR_JHc-Hwg3H5u1as8uZqX9EWVW3vrxa97Iq1CiRr1Mk_3ovxDRV4HNELrwsvlu-C2SNcPsovotdxpKp5afPGZQg/s1600/2%2529+With+parents+in+Budapest.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd-qgQYhOcznyutyNxyEcpI0qaNF2zQs0ZOQkSPzdWnCfUUCdHDoz7CR_JHc-Hwg3H5u1as8uZqX9EWVW3vrxa97Iq1CiRr1Mk_3ovxDRV4HNELrwsvlu-C2SNcPsovotdxpKp5afPGZQg/s320/2%2529+With+parents+in+Budapest.png" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Germans had a liaison office at Shiraz. In the winter of 1916-17, the German party had to escape leaving behind all their possessions. In the baggage, the British found the letter Umrao wrote to Mahendra. Hence, the British Intelligence discovered Umrao's links with the revolutionary pro-independence <a href="http://www.panjab.org.uk/english/histGPty.html">Ghaddar Party</a> whose members were active in Berlin between 1914 and 1917.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>The consequences of being anti-British</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao's thoughts led him to anti-British activities. This resulted in the British confiscating all his estates in India. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He was allowed a relatively modest remittance and debarred from any active involvement in politics. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The repercussions of Umrao's political sympathies caused him to become a greater recluse.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao only returned to India in 1921 after the general amnesty had been granted by the King for political offences during World War One. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao survived because he was well born, displayed forbearance, was scholarly, and valued life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Others like Umrao knew that it was not through honesty, diplomacy or Christian ethics that the </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">British Empire amassed wealth. Colonial rule was perpetuated by </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">annexing properties of those who resisted. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">What was snatched from Babu Bandhu Singh was gifted to Umrao Singh's father and what was taken away from Umrao was rewarded to some other British loyalist. This robing-Peter-to-pay-Paul remained the central pillar of British policy.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />When we deeply investigate many affluent families of this region, a most disturbing pattern emerges: </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">they sided with the British and enriched themselves at the peoples' expense.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">A star is born</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiep5VmnDSfozSQxNa0SXDlxF2fSdgooQom9fcU5Q4Dd09GpbfB0etlcfwVyemyexOrByqvKE9nTDIdb9bPhBNH1t3m_umZY6LDX1ha8jchaWUWacpSYJCx19rpFNxClNlRN_KCcYtky0HB/s1600/4A%2529+C1%252C+young+Amrita+Sketching.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiep5VmnDSfozSQxNa0SXDlxF2fSdgooQom9fcU5Q4Dd09GpbfB0etlcfwVyemyexOrByqvKE9nTDIdb9bPhBNH1t3m_umZY6LDX1ha8jchaWUWacpSYJCx19rpFNxClNlRN_KCcYtky0HB/s320/4A%2529+C1%252C+young+Amrita+Sketching.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Young Amrita sketching a man</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao Singh and Marie Antoinette had two daughters, Amrita and Indira. Amrita Sher-Gil was born at noon on 30 January 1913 in Budapest. She was baptised Amrita Antonia, as a Roman Catholic.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The family lived in Hungry for some years until the horrors of World War One unfolded. By 1918, food rationing had started, and Amrita's failing health due to Spanish Flu ('1918 flu pandemic') became worrisome. The flu reportedly killed 100 million people worldwide.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Indira was born on March 28th, 1914. Amrita became very devoted to her new baby sister and gave her all sorts of pet names derived from the animal world. Later she would accuse her parents of giving preferential treatment to Indira:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"I know Indu is your favourite, you do not care for me because I am ugly and I squint". Later, through an operation, her squint was removed and which partly restored her confidence in herself.</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Irrespective of initial sibling rivalry, the girls</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> formed a strong bond that would last a life time.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>A painter by birth</b><br /><br />Amrita showed great talent in drawing and painting since she was five years old. She also began to withdraw into her own world, read books instead of playing with toys, shunned the company of children and preferred adults.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The British, keeping in mind Umrao's nationalistic revolutionary streak, blocked his return to India. He </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">became desperate to move back to India as conditions in Hungary became harsh and uncertain. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">His brother, who was </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">well-connected with the British, helped clear the path for the return.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">World War One ended in 1919. In 1921, after living in Hungary for ten years, the family set sail for India and stopped for two weeks in Paris. Here Amrita was mesmerised by the Louvre Museum's art collection which included Leonard De Vinci's Mona Lisa. She was only eight years old then.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">From Bombay, the first family visited Delhi for two weeks and then Lahore for two months where they stayed with Umrao's brother Sunder. After dividing the property amongst his children from the first marriage, Umrao bought a house in Summer Hill (Simla) which he called L'Holme.<br /><br /><b>The Italian chiseller</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Amrita's mother wanted both her daughters to learn playing the violin and the piano. Unable to force Amrita to take up music, she hired Major Whitmarsh to teach her art. He was replaced by Hal Bevan Petman who was thoroughly impressed with Amrita's drawing skills and recommended higher education abroad.</span><br />
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While Umrao was happy to return to India, Marie felt she was far away from Hungary. In 1923, she befriended Giulio Cesare Pasquinelli, an <a href="http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/amrita-shergill.html">Italian sculpto</a><a href="http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/amrita-shergill.html">r</a>. Since she spoke fluent Italian, she went on to speak the language of love with the married artist. When Umrao got suspicious she claimed, "He's helping out Amrita with art".</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Soon thereafter, the sculptor left for Italy and Marie followed him with the girls to Venice under the pretext that she 'wanted Amrita enrolled at Santa Annunziata' art school.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FWSfpEojl2y6mIWJv394xJTRwqRs1ej8K24BF5w5jdgABqdMw3Puv0i-atk7fBp_1T_ZFwnmOjE4U_ofFjfQSvMInROM26uDWDKLko4_fusH51HKYOQYAxzARI3gBi9Q5A2TAflIEsKx/s1600/7%2529+E1%252C+Amrita+Sher-Gil+photographed+in+autochrome+by+her+father.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-FWSfpEojl2y6mIWJv394xJTRwqRs1ej8K24BF5w5jdgABqdMw3Puv0i-atk7fBp_1T_ZFwnmOjE4U_ofFjfQSvMInROM26uDWDKLko4_fusH51HKYOQYAxzARI3gBi9Q5A2TAflIEsKx/s320/7%2529+E1%252C+Amrita+Sher-Gil+photographed+in+autochrome+by+her+father.png" width="233" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Amrita in autochrome (Umrao Singh</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">While Amrita was exposed to the works of Italian masters, Marie bared herself to the Italian lover. Amrita, being a precocious child, realised the move to Italy was not about art, and vented out her anger at the school which she thought was 'enormous, elegant but hateful.'</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After five months, the sculptor got bored with chiselling Marie. When Amrita began drawing nudes, the art school threatened to expel her. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">With Marie's love and Amrita's art endangered, the three (Indira included) returned to Simla.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><b>Pent up emotions</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This dark chapter in young Amrita's life effected her deeply. Instead of becoming a nun she vented it out on religion, especially Roman Catholicism's pompous church ceremonies. While studying at Convent of Jesus and Mary, Amrita wrote to her father an atheistic letter which the Mother Superior used as evidence for expulsion from the school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />From 1924 to 1929, the family visited Benaras, Calcutta, Lucknow and Darjeeling in order to get to know India better.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1927 Amrita's Hungarian painter uncle, Ervin Baktay, came to India in pursuit of eastern religions and art. He encouraged Amrita to draw using live models which she did diligently. Using his criticism in a positive way, she greatly improved her drawing skills.<br /><br /><b>Attending art school in Paris</b></span><br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"All art, not excluding religious art, has come into being because of sensuality: a sensuality so great that it overflows the boundaries of the mere physical". —Amrita Sher-Gil</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;">For further studies in art, Ervin encouraged Marie to send Amrita to Paris ('the Mecca of the art world'). The idea appealed to Marie but Umrao, having tasted trouble in Europe, agreed most reluctantly. From 1929 to 1934, the family lived in Paris for the sake of educating <a href="http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Amrita_Sher-Gil">Amrita</a> and Indira.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpQfkrEURpE7CHT6up_IPXBcLeyI4UB-E3TmkPQi4HsTPqQ_7DdutCZkba6rtXnMEJOBrlQBxUWxI6pTzAVbhh_gJ39crWpoU4-Ry0uHkAnBlEmgsjp1e8JVxqgTbqKoyYyoh0VNwqKRN/s1600/Amrita+in+Paris.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpQfkrEURpE7CHT6up_IPXBcLeyI4UB-E3TmkPQi4HsTPqQ_7DdutCZkba6rtXnMEJOBrlQBxUWxI6pTzAVbhh_gJ39crWpoU4-Ry0uHkAnBlEmgsjp1e8JVxqgTbqKoyYyoh0VNwqKRN/s320/Amrita+in+Paris.png" width="255" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita: looking French in Paris </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1929 Amrita was sixteen years old. W</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ithin months she </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">learnt to </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">speak French</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. Her friends thought she had amazing intelligence and attractive eastern looks.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Paris being the hotbed of artistic activity encompassed every conceivable art-form and expression. Amrita familiarised herself with the works of European painters like Paul Cezanne and Paul Gauguin. She started training and in 1934 obtained a degree in Fine Arts from the Ecole des Beaux Arts.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />The mother again encouraged Amrita to take up music lessons but the child insisted on becoming a painter. The family took up residence near Champs-Élysées where Marie hosted lavish parties that attracted the crème de la crème of Paris. Umrao remained a book-worm and passive; his seclusion would cost the family dearly.<br /><br />Amrita got tired of the </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">realism and precision required for p</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ainting nudes. After falling out with her professor she suffered an appendicitis attack, got hospitalised and returned to her studies at the strict Grande Chaumiere institute. From there she migrated to École Nationale des Beaux-Arts where she began to </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">breathe artistically.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />From charcoals she soon switched over to painting oils. Professor Lucien Simon, her teacher, thought she would make him proud one day which she did eventually. Each year Amrita won the first prize for portraiture and still-life; her work focused on reality but not Parisian glamour. She won the Gold Medal from the Grand Salon in 1933 and was honoured by being appointed an associate member of the Société Nationale.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita was now accepted in the world of art, she loved the Parisian night-life but also sympathised with the poor who roamed its streets. Amrita's mind was by now fully occupied with Parisian liberalism which led to her body craving for 'forbidden love'. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">She kept her apartment very open to those she knew; this led to activities that her mother protested against.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mMM-JoEXVhyUWRQD4fOFSjWdXVExqQrLg0hYjvqdczPoN51VQnYACbUat6v671GPnuOrrg4o0PVnDj83AfsYv7yNWeE6nWbtatjfBnBtn9UNtXgE4k3mIX_uovD2xLneDKE7NmTXxgdW/s1600/B.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mMM-JoEXVhyUWRQD4fOFSjWdXVExqQrLg0hYjvqdczPoN51VQnYACbUat6v671GPnuOrrg4o0PVnDj83AfsYv7yNWeE6nWbtatjfBnBtn9UNtXgE4k3mIX_uovD2xLneDKE7NmTXxgdW/s320/B.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>The pot calling the kettle black</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"You will think I am self-opinionated but I will stick to my intolerant ideas and to my convictions."</i><br />
<i>—Amrita Sher-Gil (1934, at age 21)</i></span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita attempted to fill her emotional vacuum by becoming reckless in relations with men and even having 'more pure' relationships with women. Women began to appear in her work; they all looked lonely and fearful.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">She continued to search for satisfactory relationships with men. Her mother expressed horror reading Amrita's candid admissions about sexuality in a letter. Marie herself was not a paragon of fidelity; she had one more extra-marital affair behind Umrao's back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita found out and confided in her sister Indira: "Mother is trying to make a scapegoat of me now, as she had done with the Italian sculptor". Both the sisters were on the same page of the sorry subject.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In order to keep the girls busy, the domineering mother took them to theatre and concerts, and arranged gatherings of musicians and writers. Amrita abhorred such gatherings because she felt she was 'being displayed'. She reacted by visiting off-beat and avant-garde theatres with artist friends; this made </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Marie very unhappy</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Deep down Amrita felt the emerging trends in art, such as </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Dadaism and Surrealism, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">were dehumanising, mechanical and too technology-inspired. She constantly compared her personal experience in India with what she saw in Paris.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao did not spend enough quality time with his daughters, and the promiscuous European mother's liberalism corrupted Amrita's essentially Indian roots. She felt split between two worlds.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">Paris, a city of bi-sexual lovers</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Amrita's mother, while being unfaithful to Umrao Singh on two occasions, disapproved of her daughter's Bohemian life style. This led to Amrita writing </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">love-letters to cousin Victor Egan in Hungary and secretly getting engaged.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoQZm-fGET3cmnuUE-ZGZJPVZicfWzH3-n1Y29f31hlVj2zOS2a7Hz16iBzdaaq8JlAtKyYrm5-6U4VUVJ67GVxItX_Uf7g-3sS06Ss_rwvWUXNUrPWW_3u4dq4T-989otP4rC1p1pdpb/s1600/With+Yusuf+ali+Khan+%2528c.1930%2529.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihoQZm-fGET3cmnuUE-ZGZJPVZicfWzH3-n1Y29f31hlVj2zOS2a7Hz16iBzdaaq8JlAtKyYrm5-6U4VUVJ67GVxItX_Uf7g-3sS06Ss_rwvWUXNUrPWW_3u4dq4T-989otP4rC1p1pdpb/s320/With+Yusuf+ali+Khan+%2528c.1930%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Painting Yusuf Ali Khan (1930)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Wishing for Amrita to marry a wealthy respectable man, Marie found a suitable Muslim music-loving nobleman from the Upper Provinces, </span><a href="http://www.fridakahlofans.com/amritafans.com/bio-page1.html">Yusuf Ali Khan</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. She pushed Amrita into an engagement with Yusuf but it only lasted a few months.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On August 25, 1931, Amrita wrote to her mother:</span></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: arial;">"Yusuf is far from being faithful. He looks at every good looking woman on the street. I'm concerned about a Mohammedan marriage leading to I ending up being one of Yusuf's many wives with no recourse. I am going to decide whether I want to marry him or not and it is me who will say by October the final yes or no".</span></i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Only twenty, she failed to ask herself one question: if the act of </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">men-ogling-at-other-women is considered obnoxious behaviour, what do we call women-noticing-men-ogling-at-other-women?</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">First aristocratic pregnancy</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Then quite suddenly, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Sikh-</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Christian-Jewish Amrita </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">broke off from </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">her Muslim fiancé. The overt excuse was they</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> 'had nothing in common'; the covert reason was she </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was pregnant.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The aristocrat gave her another going away present: a contagious sexually transmitted disease. Victor Egan, with whom Amrita had broken off earlier, came to rescue by curing the disease and aborting the baby in Budapest.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The unwanted pregnancy and abortion made Amrita fearful of being disfigured permanently. As if to avenge what life had hurled at her, she became more wayward, would not commit to a single man, felt 'always in love', fell 'out of love', or 'in love with someone else' before things became serious. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After having a series of meaningless affairs, Amrita returned to showing affection towards Victor.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">We do not know exactly which demon of sex had taken over Amrita's soul. Was it the Jewish <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succubus">Succubus</a>, the Hindu <i>Yakshini</i>, or was it the Arabic <i>Qarinah</i>? <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_abduction">Alien abductions</a> had not come into the picture in the 1930s.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDshzed3XLaXbon9_GV3OzNSS5LDP2IBwFgStrfjIjsPys3ci52sGWGXs6An1Ai2fEWMPq_zz8pDMkq990tEmCA8SK_GgQgs0ygxPEnhj7_9hn3yK53pjwNlxgevJb6K4p3nAQ6Tc6nh9/s1600/Alien+abduction.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitDshzed3XLaXbon9_GV3OzNSS5LDP2IBwFgStrfjIjsPys3ci52sGWGXs6An1Ai2fEWMPq_zz8pDMkq990tEmCA8SK_GgQgs0ygxPEnhj7_9hn3yK53pjwNlxgevJb6K4p3nAQ6Tc6nh9/s320/Alien+abduction.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Maybe the aliens did it to Amrita</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Who introduced Iqbal to Amrita?</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">According to </span><a href="http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=978">Arif Rahman Chughtai</a> (<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">son of artist Abdur Rahman Chughtai, 1894-1975)</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, it was Umrao Singh who introduced Chughtai to Amrita and which led to her taking up art. Did Chughtai later feel any remorse?</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Arif reveals: "Dr Allama Iqbal was also present there and was introduced to Amrita". This event took place in Lahore.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal was also friends with the founder of the Ahmaddiya sect, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, with whom he frequently visited </span><a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1033224">Mohkum-ud-Din's bakery</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> on The Mall (Lahore) where they discussed politics and religion with the owner.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Arif mentions: "Amrita used to meet [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru">Jawaharlal Nehru</a>] at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faletti%27s_Hotel">Faletti’s Hotel</a> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Lahore</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">", and "everybody in Lahore knew of her exploits". Before Victor died, he "broke down and actually confessed to the crime [of poisoning Amrita]. More proof than that is not possible. But in any case the "father [Umrao Singh] did not want to pursue the same to police and court."</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-K1iNLNrAjEtnmgF_PXrLgiAk77ByfdbdFl9HjJAaGifyCqEwSEFhdbsjR__jKqagfiuZjSstvc5d1W_ONYgiauutPVtJ1e8pi5mTcvUuPqjeGnWinF9MptwsBZ61H1uH1aNEzHcdQh1/s1600/Umrao+Sing+%2526+Iqbal+%2528Paris%252C+1933%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw-K1iNLNrAjEtnmgF_PXrLgiAk77ByfdbdFl9HjJAaGifyCqEwSEFhdbsjR__jKqagfiuZjSstvc5d1W_ONYgiauutPVtJ1e8pi5mTcvUuPqjeGnWinF9MptwsBZ61H1uH1aNEzHcdQh1/s320/Umrao+Sing+%2526+Iqbal+%2528Paris%252C+1933%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Umrao Singh with Iqbal (Paris, 1933)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://iias.asia/sites/default/files/IIAS_NL29_41.pdf">Vivan Sundaram</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, Amrita’s nephew penned a book, </span><i>Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self Portrait in Letters and Writings</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. He recalls: “When she met Nehru, she wrote to a friend about instant mutual attraction between the two."</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Faletti's Hotel still stands at Lahore. Perhaps the authorities need to identify that special room and affix a plaque which reads: "Amrita Sher-Gil and Indian Prime Minister Nehru slept here".</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<b>Iqbal's friendship with Umrao Singh</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When British-educated and knighted nationalists were let loose on a confused Indian population, I</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">qbal grew disillusioned with the state of affairs. His earlier praise in pro-British poems, veiled love for Marxism and </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">romantic </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">poetry changed its tune in </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">later</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">works. Knowing that death was around the corner, he became exceedingly spiritual.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The British intelligence could not have disregarded Iqbal's thoughts and meetings with 'disaffected' Umrao Singh.</span><br />
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<b>Iqbal's acquaintance with Amrita</b><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQrYhccL5oXgK_MOePu9GpaQqEAWIZK3oVkGZ3uycgus_tzNeDkNN1fIMlYZdX_pfiqIMC_FlnVLb9Immt-C_YiP2xXcuhblF49Z0etqDxsw4gGTtlMOumLYIKbGWhZmvsFjROULc5Imy/s1600/Pandit+Jwaharlal+Nehru+%25281947%2529.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQrYhccL5oXgK_MOePu9GpaQqEAWIZK3oVkGZ3uycgus_tzNeDkNN1fIMlYZdX_pfiqIMC_FlnVLb9Immt-C_YiP2xXcuhblF49Z0etqDxsw4gGTtlMOumLYIKbGWhZmvsFjROULc5Imy/s200/Pandit+Jwaharlal+Nehru+%25281947%2529.png" width="168" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Jawaharlal Nehru (1947)</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1933, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Allama Muhammad Iqbal met with Umrao Singh and his family </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">in </span><a href="http://republicofrumi.blogspot.no/2011/11/umrao-singh-sher-gil-value-of-iqbals.html">Paris</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> and </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was photographed by Amrita. He was </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">older to Amrita by 36 years, old enough to be her grandfather. Iqbal also met the family at Lahore. We do not know how comfortable Iqbal was with the 'common knowledge' about Amrita's exploits and sad reputation.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Today's bearded men and <i>hijab</i>-clad women of <i>al-Bakistan</i> ignore some facts: people during the pre-partition era mixed much more freely, respected each other's religions and festivals, and even intermarried. If Islam was not in danger then, how is it in danger now?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9GoJsSb4FAcoNrdd7pZFxLehwlPvxXAX5585Ih85Ig4O8Jvrq-OoSUHpCg72ojlBTZjpe8KPpgLloRQ0CnzWQK4xxa7SYwSuva3XrLf3ZIsTVTK3XwexksQnLSJCy9qdFe280wgEpNCP/s1600/Amrita+%2526+Indira%252C+1931-32.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw9GoJsSb4FAcoNrdd7pZFxLehwlPvxXAX5585Ih85Ig4O8Jvrq-OoSUHpCg72ojlBTZjpe8KPpgLloRQ0CnzWQK4xxa7SYwSuva3XrLf3ZIsTVTK3XwexksQnLSJCy9qdFe280wgEpNCP/s320/Amrita+%2526+Indira%252C+1931-32.png" width="227" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita and Indira, 1931-32</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Interestingly, Amrita's nephew, Vivan Sundaram defends her thus:</span><br />
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<i>"She was unabashed about the uselessness of giving too much importance to bodily desires. She was eager to know other people’s minds, even if it meant reaching there through their bodies.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Amrita's Indian soul felt trapped in a European body. She did not learn any Indian language and refused to show any sentiments of anti-colonial nationalism in her work despite knowing Iqbal and </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Nehru (who wanted socialism at home and capitalism abroad).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">While Iqbal's philosophical poetry was becoming too revolutionary, Amrita's life was revolving too fast. She may have become <a href="http://www.deccanherald.com/content/60454/amrita-life-letters.html">attached</a> to the poet's mind.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">Second unwanted pregnancy</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1934, Amrita was homesick and felt destiny awaiting her in India. She went to see Victor in Hungary but was devastated to find him with another woman. Betrayed and rejected, she indulged in indiscriminate sexual relations and again ended up being pregnant. There was a new twist this time: </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">she did not know who the father was.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Victor again helped her abort the baby which required hospitalisation. Her condition worsened because of internal damage and she felt 'like an apple, all red from the outside but rotten inside'.</span></span></div>
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<b>Back in India</b><br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"I don't in the least consider myself an immoral person. I am not immoral." —Amrita Sher-Gil (in a letter to her father)</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Umrao </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">('Duci') </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Singh finally returned to India in 1934 to his estate in Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh). At his house in Summer Hill (Simla) he spent most of his time surrounded by books and engrossed in hobbies</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN-t4beoZhylgPnm1_Zteyu7gcmXXmIe8PQ8J_SCCNl4EGojkL2Fpvhu8QwKbiupf_qjZy-52ZRx8N6xlaMVJTM3Q5BzmvjrKLVTQbmAgDSr2GGUxYxI2DmjLmJxKeL3c53SKPwZR3pQQ/s1600/Pregnancy.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmN-t4beoZhylgPnm1_Zteyu7gcmXXmIe8PQ8J_SCCNl4EGojkL2Fpvhu8QwKbiupf_qjZy-52ZRx8N6xlaMVJTM3Q5BzmvjrKLVTQbmAgDSr2GGUxYxI2DmjLmJxKeL3c53SKPwZR3pQQ/s200/Pregnancy.png" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Unwanted</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Unhappy with Amrita's decision to return to India, he feared she would tarnish the family's name with her bluntness and shameful exploits. In return, Amrita expressed dismay at her father whom she suspected of unnecessarily 'dramatizing the situation'. She felt India was her 'artistic destiny' and that there was 'so little time' left. Amrita knew her life would be short.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By the end of 1934 Amrita was back not with her parents in Simla but at her ancestral home in Amritsar. She renounced dresses worn by 'those people' (</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">European)</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">and started to wear </span><i>saris</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. As if rejecting her European heritage, she even wrote to her mother about her new found love for the <i>sari</i>.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Immersing herself in all things Indian she found amazing subjects wherever she went. She </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">discovered newer techniques while p</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ainting the dark, thin and silent Indian subjects.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">From Simla, she </span><a href="http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20130726&page=16">wrote</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> to Victor:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"In Europe I felt that I have to go away from this kind of greyness and from this strange light in order to be able to breathe. Here everything is natural. There I was not natural and honest because I was born with a certain thirst for colour and in Europe the colours are pale - everything is pale. T</i></span><i>he colour of the white man is different from the colour of the Hindu and the sunshine changes the light. The white man's shadow is bluish-purple while the Hindu has golden-green shadow. Mine is yellow. Van Gogh was told that yellow is the favourite colour of the gods and that is right."</i></span></blockquote>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiq9432K5tfOrtj1kbWw19noBKadqtZcye3bUHDRSDxU8Ot_RQX1cL2Jy0NrlJPFYplAjzpqW9h7exz9iqz5GuxYj-oFxRZf6XPqRjBSQKCBdj1_02zY6vGdDK57VoTvKzGnpXypfAl_3/s1600/1%2529+Iqbal+by+Amrita+Shergil%252C+1933.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUiq9432K5tfOrtj1kbWw19noBKadqtZcye3bUHDRSDxU8Ot_RQX1cL2Jy0NrlJPFYplAjzpqW9h7exz9iqz5GuxYj-oFxRZf6XPqRjBSQKCBdj1_02zY6vGdDK57VoTvKzGnpXypfAl_3/s320/1%2529+Iqbal+by+Amrita+Shergil%252C+1933.png" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal in</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Paris, 1933 </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">(by Amrita Sher-Gil)</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Although the Simla Fine Arts Society Exhibition was her first major show in India, Amrita was unhappy with the judges' choices and the brutality of the art critics. When she refused to accept an award and a cheque, the press clobbered her for <a href="http://www.academia.edu/5117828/_INDIA_BELONGS_TO_ME_ONLY_AMRITA_SHER_GIL_S_MODERNIST_NATIONALIST_ARTISTIC_PROJECT_">arrogance</a> and veiled insult of Indian artistic tastes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic." </i></span><i>—Oscar Wilde</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Genius is sorrow's child</b></span><br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>“The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.” —Oscar Wilde</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After experiencing Parisian liberalism, was Amrita bowled over by the explicit ancient reliefs at <a href="http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/NorthIndia/Khajuraho/Khajuraho.htm">Khajuraho</a>? Did all that bare art in Indian temples light up the wrong fires in her</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">n the follow-up articles we shall attempt to see how Amrita Sher-Gil, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">until her last day,</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> kept releasing inner tensions through art and with </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">eccentric behaviour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">* * * End of PART 1 * * *</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Coming out soon: "<span style="background-color: yellow;">The Fantastic Growth of Amrita</span>"<br /><br /><b>Further reading</b></span><br />
<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2011/09/allama-iqbal-letter-to-times.html">Allama Iqbal: A Letter to The Times</a><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/iqbal-at-close-range.html" target="_blank">Iqbal At Close Range</a></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2018/04/iqbal-in-love-with-emma-wegenast.html" target="_blank">Iqbal In Love With Emma Wegenast</a><br />
<a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-fantastic-growth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html" target="_blank">The Fantastic Growth Of Amrita</a><br />
<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-dramatic-death-of-amrita-sher-gil.html"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Dramatic Death Of Amrita Sher-Gil</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Some of Amrita's paintings can be seen <a href="http://webneel.com/amrita-shergil-famous-paintings-artworks">HER</a></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://webneel.com/amrita-shergil-famous-paintings-artworks">E</a> , <a href="https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/QRaQm24R">HERE</a>, an</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">d </span><a href="http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/52693/14/14_%20paintings.pdf">HERE</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (in pdf format)</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>DISCLAIMER</b><br />No one must misconstrue the information presented here about Amrita Sher-Gil and other persons mentioned as disinformation or insults. All the information was meticulously collected and laboriously edited (after cross-checking) from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of proxy servers in Pakistan). If you feel something here needs to be amended, please email me the suggestions with credible references. Until then, whatever is written here shall be considered correct.</span></i><br /><br /><b>Acknowledgement</b><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. The web links (URLs) have been included in the text. Just click on the words in <span style="color: blue;"><b>blue</b> </span>colour and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Amrita Sher-Gil.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://www.mma.hu/web/en/what-s-on/-/event/153538/amrita-sher-gil-in-paris">Photo of Amrita Sher-Gil</a><br /><a href="http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/amrita-shergil-5312.php">Life sketches of Amirta</a><br />Photos from <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10087130/The-Indian-Frida-Kahlo.html">The Indian Frida Kahlo</a><br /><a href="http://www.fridakahlofans.com/amritafans.com/bio-page1.html">Amrita Sher-Gil Biography</a><br /><a href="https://www.sikhnet.com/news/amrita-shergil-self-portrait-letters-and-writings-book-review-salman-rushdie">Letters and writings</a><br />Photo of <a href="http://republicofrumi.blogspot.no/2011/11/umrao-singh-sher-gil-value-of-iqbals.html">Umrao Singh and Iqbal in Paris (1933)</a><br />Photo of <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1033224">Amrita's house in Lahore</a><br />Photos: <a href="http://www.kieselbach.hu/muvesz/sher-gil_-amrita_1943">Amrita and Indiria, Yusuf Ali Khan in her studio, Lake Balaton trip</a><br />Interviews with <a href="http://www.sikh-heritage.co.uk/arts/amritashergil/amritashergill.html">Dr. Victor Egan (husband), Mrs. Indira Sundaram (sister), Mrs. Helen Chamanlal (friend)</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.portrait.gov.au/images/14508/vivan-sundaram">Vivan Sundaram's digital montages</a><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photos </span><a href="http://betterphotography.in/perspectives/great-masters/umrao-singh-sher%E2%80%91gil/14773/">B</a>, <a href="https://homegrown.co.in/artist-amrita-sher-gils-life-through-her-fathers-poignant-photographs/">C1 and E1</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> in my folder</span></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-48867527383248413622017-02-23T18:03:00.003+05:002020-10-23T19:57:37.854+05:00Iqbal At Close Range<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJEwb1uFMS1k2wy5Rbzsr8_XFb4BF6Ze7ODu2Nr9XrMl_dWoU_7Ncd6nILGk70exwO7QNFHxQhx9d_MZaB97WkII9DgSSHNPvSdelRlng53WWx7xxFiNY9iswV0-7_FjCmEpijnAogHDp/s1600/1%2529+Iqbal+by+Amrita+Shergil.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJEwb1uFMS1k2wy5Rbzsr8_XFb4BF6Ze7ODu2Nr9XrMl_dWoU_7Ncd6nILGk70exwO7QNFHxQhx9d_MZaB97WkII9DgSSHNPvSdelRlng53WWx7xxFiNY9iswV0-7_FjCmEpijnAogHDp/s320/1%2529+Iqbal+by+Amrita+Shergil.png" width="238" /></span></a><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">One recent winter evening, as it rained heavily in Lahore, I sat down to collect from the internet, rare informal photographs of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Iqbal">Allama Muhammad Iqbal</a>.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photographs pointed to certain names and they in turn led to deeper research.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By the number of clicks on </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2011/09/allama-iqbal-letter-to-times.html">Allama Iqbal: A Letter to The Times</a>, <span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I am convinced that global interest in Iqbal will never diminish.</span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Thinking or resting?</span></b><br />
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“My ancestors were Brahmins. They spent their lives in search of god. I am spending my life in search of man.” ―Muhammad Iqbal</i></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">School-teachers insist that in this most famous 'official' photograph, the 'poet of the east' was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLD6C3017209457EBF&v=A-0WHgF-v7M">dreaming about Pakistan's creation</a>. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ib9zGsQAPQ">fact</a> is he was resting after a </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">cold</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">fatiguing walk in Paris in 1933. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Thinking minds need rest too; the good doctor may have grown tired of philosophy and Persian poetry. After all, how much </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche">Nietzsche</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe">Goethe</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_Friedrich_Hegel">Hegel</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi">Rumi</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> can one swallow in a lifetime?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This famous photograph was taken by none other than controversial artist <a href="http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=978">Amrita Sher-Gil</a> who died mysteriously in Lahore in 1941. It was taken while Iqbal was visiting Paris. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It is said that Iqbal disliked unacceptable photographs of himself being made public.</span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRDBvKGc1fE">Love and marriage</a></span></b><b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, like horse and carriage</span></b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Any poet bereft of love is unfit to be called a poet, let alone a human being. Iqbal was more than a man who downplayed his talent as a poet. To him poetry helped convey whatever was on his mind, and judging from his works, he had plenty to say both in private and in public.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Globally admired for fusing Islamic and political thoughts with Sufism and eastern nationalism, Iqbal still stands like a giant amongst modern poets. He was a deeply <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPSVJdjq59c">religious</a> person who abhorred <i>mullahs </i>and bigotry from the core of his heart.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GFUxZfqFjGOA9hbwAp_j0HcoxKIOQp_26e8xBQ06mjSuWzWmQjuixZbbK3C2BmwS5vbcxXDcI2QiR9lLRe62ZNmZBz8m1_loSVIoivPQkTJ7mGBYBjjW0OiUcIejxaFbuJyN8Fz4YGAY/s1600/2%2529+Amrita+Shergil.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3GFUxZfqFjGOA9hbwAp_j0HcoxKIOQp_26e8xBQ06mjSuWzWmQjuixZbbK3C2BmwS5vbcxXDcI2QiR9lLRe62ZNmZBz8m1_loSVIoivPQkTJ7mGBYBjjW0OiUcIejxaFbuJyN8Fz4YGAY/s200/2%2529+Amrita+Shergil.png" width="186" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Amrita Sher-Gil (not Rekha)</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Muhammad Iqbal was born in Sialkot on Friday 9 November 1877 (3rd of Dhū Qa‘dah 1294 A. H.) to a Muslim tail</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">or (Noor Muhammad) </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">and a generous woman (Imam bibi) who lived in the 'lane of bangle-makers'. Their house was called <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iqbal_Manzil">Iqbal Manzil</a> </i>and was purchased in 1861 by Muhammad Rafique, Iqbal's great-grandfather.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1879, infant </span><a href="https://universalpoetries.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/an-extensive-timeline-of-allama-iqbals-life/">Iqbal lost his right eye</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> when leeches were applied as a traditional medical treatment. From the few close-up photographs that are available this cannot be confirmed as a fact.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1893, only aged 16, Iqbal was married off to a slightly older but a rich Kashmiri girl, Karim Bibi. He had just passed his matriculation (10th grade) then. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Early marriages and having loads of children was the norm in those days. The ups and downs of life led Iqbal to marry thrice. He came close to taking the plunge for the fourth time as he adored</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://www.thefridaytimes.com/tft/infidel-of-love/">two 'other' women</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">whom he met in Europe.</span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The man behind Iqbal's education</span></b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal secured a 2nd Division (276 marks out of 570) in his F.A exams (12th grade) in 1895.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1897 he passed his B.A exams (14th grade) with a second Division but stood first in English Literature and Arabic.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1898, when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Walker_Arnold">Thomas Walker Arnold</a> (1864-1930) moved from the M.A.O. College (Aligarh) to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_College_University_(Lahore)">Government College</a> (Lahore), Iqbal was his only student in M.A. Philosophy. Iqbal either failed the exam once in his first attempt or he did not appear at all. By his 21st year, he was a father.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUh0pgfucVdmhj3EaObZCU3QyOtPO3p8GRXMp0W2GAKNqn5eyiQ8znReS4cflWyc3DX46BN6g9C74MRzeVBxbEnIwOZMojqYWhcEycj_fJc4fXVtyhOWWI8ZqmIUZ3ScOfA8n2ZQxePRu/s1600/3%2529+In+his+youth+%25281899%2529.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUh0pgfucVdmhj3EaObZCU3QyOtPO3p8GRXMp0W2GAKNqn5eyiQ8znReS4cflWyc3DX46BN6g9C74MRzeVBxbEnIwOZMojqYWhcEycj_fJc4fXVtyhOWWI8ZqmIUZ3ScOfA8n2ZQxePRu/s1600/3%2529+In+his+youth+%25281899%2529.png" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Iqbal in his youth</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">From 1917 to 1920, Thomas Walker Arnold acted as Adviser to the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_for_India">Secretary of State for India</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> and was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Oriental_and_African_Studies">School of Oriental Studies</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_London">University of London</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, from 1921 to 1930. He became the first English editor for the first edition of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Encyclopaedia_of_Islam">The Encyclopaedia of Islam</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> and was made Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1912. By 1921, Thomas became a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knighthood">knight</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />I was lucky enough to find in my father's collection of books, an abridged version of the same book: <i>Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam</i>, published in 1953. It contains material that if reproduced will invite instant death threats to its deceased writers.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Thomas also taught <a href="http://shibliacademy.org/founders/Syed_Sulaiman_Nadvi">Syed Sulieman Nadvi</a> (1884-1953) and was a close friend of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibli_Nomani">Shibli Nomani</a> (1857-1914) at Aligarh University. In 1909 he was appointed Educational Adviser to Indian students in Britain. That post enabled him to select and groom students expected to be helpful to the British Crown's long-term plans.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The connection between the educators and the educated somehow always ran deep in the British education system. Thomas was also a good friend of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syed_Ahmad_Khan">Sir Syed Ahmed Khan</a> (1817-1898) who asked him to write the book titled: <a href="https://ia600204.us.archive.org/26/items/preachingofislam00arnouoft/preachingofislam00arnouoft.pdf">The Preaching of Islam</a>.</span><br />
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<b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Further higher studies</span></b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1898, Iqbal appeared for obtaining a degree in law but failed the paper on Jurisprudence. Being the only candidate in the subject, in 1899 he secured 3rd Division and a medal in M.A. (Philosophy). He applied for the post of McLeod Arabic Reader at Oriental College, where Thomas was to become the acting Principal.<br /><br /> Having graduated in 1899 from Government College Lahore, Iqbal reported on duty from 5 May for a salary of Rs.74/Annas 14 per month. He would serve this institution in intervals right up to 1903.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1900, Iqbal had received considerable recognition for reciting his poem, ‘The Orphan’s Lament’ in the annual session of </span><i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam">Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam</a></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRq2cAtX1iO9buTfo4e0LprN6QmsSED5tLHFlp3bye8YOnCIVCpxl82QqnqLnJLM5eU-qRMKb2xdRaFPH8u50atFjCssUDBGj5QoRoCq1gqVBnrg6jX8Nk7NkkXpk33JTfv7ohMWWjwEhn/s1600/4%2529+Thomas+Walker+Arnold.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRq2cAtX1iO9buTfo4e0LprN6QmsSED5tLHFlp3bye8YOnCIVCpxl82QqnqLnJLM5eU-qRMKb2xdRaFPH8u50atFjCssUDBGj5QoRoCq1gqVBnrg6jX8Nk7NkkXpk33JTfv7ohMWWjwEhn/s320/4%2529+Thomas+Walker+Arnold.png" width="198" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thomas Walker Arnold</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">His request for reappearing in the degree for law without attending the classes was once again refused. His first known paper, ‘The Concept of Absolute Unity’ was printed in The Indian Antiquary.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1901, Iqbal was temporarily appointed Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department of Government College for a month for a salary of Rs. 200 per month</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">—</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a fantastic sum in those days. He again got the lucrative position in 1902 at the Department of English till his resignation in late 1908 (at the end of a long leave of absence that started in September 1905).</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He wrote a 10-page <a href="https://www.muslim.org/allegs/iqbal.htm">elegy for Queen Victoria</a>; recited </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">‘</span><a href="https://www.iqbal.com.pk/poetical-works/english-translations/933-call-of-the-marching-bell-part-3/1499-the-eid-crescent">The Orphan’s Address to the Crescent of Eid</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">’ in the annual <a href="http://www.allamaiqbal.com/poetry.php?bookbup=22&orderno=116&lang_code=en&lang=2&conType=SHU">session</a> of </span><i>Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> and temporarily took up teaching English Literature at Islamia College (a venture of </span><i>Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">).</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal received wide recognition from the publication of his poem ‘The Himalaya’ in the first issue of <i>Makhzan</i>, a romantically inclined literary magazine that soon became the main outlet for his poems. He appeared for public service examination for the post of Extra Assistant Commissioner but got rejected on medical grounds apparently due to his defective right eye.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>National poet</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><i>"Nations are born in the hearts of poets; they prosper and die in the hands of politicians." —Muhammad Iqbal</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1904 Iqbal had written the Indian National Anthem <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sare_Jahan_se_Accha">'<i>Sarey jahan say acha, Hindustan hamara</i>' </a>and which won him instant national acclaim. The custodians of Pakistan's national zeal always find it difficult to swallow one fact: all founding fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers of Pakistan were Indians; so are most of the octogenarians alive today.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />In 1905, he Iqbal went to England to study modern philosophy and qualified for a scholarship from Trinity College in Cambridge to obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1906. There </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">he worked under John McTaggart, a follower of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Europe’s most influential philosopher.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In the same year he was called to the bar as a barrister from Lincoln’s Inn.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Now stop for a moment to ask yourselves this: why must hating the past, especially ancient pagan history and India, become a national pastime? To imagine we will snatch back Bangladesh from alienated Bengalis or hoist a Pakistani flag over the Red Fort in New Delhi may create vain hope but realists treat these as cruel jokes worth crying over.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAzNYQ7H0UPp7NYec5H9IixNn36cq8_GYdP4UrSrQfX1BEXa5BX8nJwsLifx454sf6sDU_3jVtcnR2Tk3YqwZijwMR5tPi35dBFS5B0NPYIRA6z137Kv3oe6iCniE5N8p-BmMmUH2bON0/s1600/5%2529+At+Heidelberg+%25281907%2529.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzAzNYQ7H0UPp7NYec5H9IixNn36cq8_GYdP4UrSrQfX1BEXa5BX8nJwsLifx454sf6sDU_3jVtcnR2Tk3YqwZijwMR5tPi35dBFS5B0NPYIRA6z137Kv3oe6iCniE5N8p-BmMmUH2bON0/s320/5%2529+At+Heidelberg+%25281907%2529.png" width="206" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Iqbal in <i>khussas </i>(Heidelberg, 1907)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1906, Iqbal was thoroughly impressed with Kemal Ataturk whose Young Turks movement (backed by the Freemasons) effectively put an end to the <i>Khilafah </i>of the Ottoman Empire. Unflinching support to Ataturk came from the House of Saud whose agents blew up rail tracks to promote rebellion and anarchy. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Later attempts to revive this dead Ottoman horse through the </span><i>Khilfat </i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Movement across India met with utter failure.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<b>Two ladies, one man</b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1907, Iqbal met Atiya Fyzee in London. We will soon dedicate an entire article to this story.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">To study Hegel in the original German, Iqbal went to Heidelberg in 1907 </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">for his doctorate and earned a PhD degree from the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich in 1908. There he also met another beautiful woman named </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Emma Wegenast at the University of Munich, Germany. This story too deserves to be told in detail later.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Un</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">der the guidance of Friedrich Hommel, Iqbal published his doctoral thesis in 1908 entitled: The Development of Metaphysics in Persia. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He returned to London after obtaining a PhD in Arabic from Munich to temporarily replace Thomas Arnold as teacher of Arabic during his absence from the School of Oriental and African Studies at London University.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It is obvious, without Thomas' support, Iqbal might have achieved success but certainly not such dizzying heights.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By January 1908, Iqbal had resigned from the post of Assistant Professor at Government College (Lahore) to join the All India Muslim League (London Branch) in July.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn, and afterwards arrived in Lahore to apply for practice in the Lahore Chief’s Court and to set up an office.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By the year's end he had published 'Political Thought in Islam’, attended the annual session of Mohammedan Educational Conference at Amritsar and joined the delegation of Kashmiri Muslims.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1909 saw Iqbal resume activities in the </span><i>Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (Lahore) and elected General Secretary to the newly formed <i>Anjuman Kashmiri Musalmanan</i>.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFChSFLGkd5HThhwYZ4OG0Fw3yCrZ2P2Hz9vVLBETi2zhztQ-BLaT0Qbgw7Ocg8EQtRDyxrhO9OpWY0dRDJZAqvUAfpyzDUjUd54IzVTUiDfs9RLVpyM-RlPQTh0COsnLpb5dQlNJdlvxe/s1600/5b%2529+Research+dissertation+-+Development+of+Metaphysics+in+Persia+%2528Iqbal%252C+Cambridge+University+on+7th+May%252C+1907%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFChSFLGkd5HThhwYZ4OG0Fw3yCrZ2P2Hz9vVLBETi2zhztQ-BLaT0Qbgw7Ocg8EQtRDyxrhO9OpWY0dRDJZAqvUAfpyzDUjUd54IzVTUiDfs9RLVpyM-RlPQTh0COsnLpb5dQlNJdlvxe/s320/5b%2529+Research+dissertation+-+Development+of+Metaphysics+in+Persia+%2528Iqbal%252C+Cambridge+University+on+7th+May%252C+1907%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Development of Metaphysics in Persia (Cambridge)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">He reluctantly agreed to teach Philosophy at Government College (Lahore) through special arrangement with the Secretary of State who directed the courts to hear Iqbal’s cases after his classes in the morning. Iqbal took charge of classes on October 12 and continued till end of the next year. Iqbal also joined the editorial committee of Indian Cases Law Reports, a specialized magazine from Lahore.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Becoming poetic</b><br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-family: arial;">“Look at the evils of the world around you and protect yourself from them. Our teachers give all the wrong messages to our youth, since they take away the natural flare from the soul. Take it from me that all knowledge is useless until it is connected with your life, because the purpose of knowledge is nothing but to show you the splendours of yourself!” ―Muhammad Iqbal</span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;">In 1910, Iqbal was nominated Fellow to the University of Punjab and started writing his notebook: Stray Reflections. He married Sardar Begum, but postponed the consummation of marriage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1911, Iqbal recited 'the famous poem 'The Complaint’ (</span><i>Shikwah</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">) at the annual session of Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam and presided over the annual session of the Mohammedan Educational Conference at Delhi where he was garlanded by Shibli Nomani on behalf of the Muslims of India.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLi9Lh2_WAnf-mZ9Gr5OX0qNiiqAtNdQz-8QHP9EFxDSCBUlbdhBuzb47HJ37hHDK07QARvMiBUz0GdbYQEJIkos5b1hMB72XkkJrSSQNDdkxj9I2MOH5H5y2n8pp_llz8-lcXqoy_AcIt/s1600/6%2529+Iqbal+smiling+at+the+ummah.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLi9Lh2_WAnf-mZ9Gr5OX0qNiiqAtNdQz-8QHP9EFxDSCBUlbdhBuzb47HJ37hHDK07QARvMiBUz0GdbYQEJIkos5b1hMB72XkkJrSSQNDdkxj9I2MOH5H5y2n8pp_llz8-lcXqoy_AcIt/s320/6%2529+Iqbal+smiling+at+the+ummah.png" width="206" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Laughing at a crying <i>ummah</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1912 Iqbal was sparing no opportunity to recite poems at various high-profile meetings. His poem ‘An Answer to the Complaint’ (<i>Jawab-e-Shikwah</i>) was used for fundraising for the Turks during the Balkan War.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1913, for the third time, Iqbal married Mukhtar Begum from Jalandhar. His previous second marriage to Sardar Begum was also consummated.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">1914 saw Iqbal lose his mother, Imam Bibi, and daughter, Meraj Bano.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1916, Iqbal complained of kidney pain but continued to write and remain active politically. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1919, he was appointed Dean of Oriental Faculty at the University of Punjab and became General Secretary of </span><i>Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">. He attended the joint session of the <i>Khilafat </i>Conference and the All India Muslim League in Amritsar in which Hakeem Ajmal Khan, M. K. Gandhi and the Ali Brothers participated.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1921, he visited Kashmir for the first time for about a fortnight to plead a case.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>A strict knight at home</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1923, Iqbal was knighted by King George. In 1930 at Allahabad, he is known to have openly advocated the idea of a separate Muslim state to be carved out of India yet he wrote a <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2011/09/allama-iqbal-letter-to-times.html">letter to the Times of London</a> stating something radically different. Iqbal had changed.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1924, Iqbal's son, Javed Iqbal, was born to his second wife, Sardar Begum. His third wife, Mukhtar, died during childbirth in the same month.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Javed Iqbal was called 'Bubba' and 'Jeddy' in two Punjabi poems written by Iqbal on his 5th birthday. Javed went on to become the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, got elected to the Supreme Court, served as a Senator, and saw Iqbal as "a very strict father, as was the custom in those days".</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Javed was not allowed to wear western clothing or hats, refrain from buying tailoring cloth that was more than Rs.1 per yard, remain at home after sunset, not watch movies, avoid buying shoes that cost more than Rs 8, and never wear shorts (</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">knickers). Javed and Iqbal's servant witnessed events both of a spiritual and supernatural nature such as claiming to meet famous personalities from the past.</span><br />
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<b>Facing accusations</b><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1926, vile accusations were hurled at Iqbal through posters pasted over the walls of Lahore. This was done by his political rival, Malik Din Muhammad, during the Punjab Legislative Council elections. Iqbal did not get mad; he got even by being elected.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpMtc1-NVelgOLuPFXAZTOZ-p5P56igpBZl_LE6UV4ML_wBsUXYom2oKJT1dZ12b7L3e65pHNC4wQO_5wB5tGjbNpPE3GVukrK2KnmCr1qG_wy_z99gmugVi587dYrDROT-Y0SxTzrdRW/s1600/7%2529+At+Simla+%25281922%2529.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpMtc1-NVelgOLuPFXAZTOZ-p5P56igpBZl_LE6UV4ML_wBsUXYom2oKJT1dZ12b7L3e65pHNC4wQO_5wB5tGjbNpPE3GVukrK2KnmCr1qG_wy_z99gmugVi587dYrDROT-Y0SxTzrdRW/s320/7%2529+At+Simla+%25281922%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Iqbal At Shimla (1922)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The vile tales were later spun further by implicating Iqbal in a supposed murder committed during college days. Those who hate Iqbal always recall this imaginary event.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">One may also hear about Iqbal's alleged affection for a singing girl <a href="https://plastictearz.wordpress.com/2009/11/08/incident-from-allamas-life-a-poet-a-politician/">Ameer Begum</a> around 1903. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In the same year, Iqbal saw his brother Atta Muhammad, getting arrested on charges of financial corruption. The poet travelled to Quetta to help him out.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>The last decade</b></span><br />
</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>When truth has no burning, then it is philosophy, when it gets burning from the heart, it becomes poetry. </i></span><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-style: normal;">—</span>Muhammad Iqbal</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1927, Iqbal joined the Shafi faction that supported separate electorates for the Muslims, against the Jinnah faction that opposed this idea. The All India Muslim League was ideologically split.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1928, after speaking out against injustices inherent in the methods of agricultural taxation, Iqbal visited Delhi for treatment of the kidneys by Hakeem Nabina. Later he travelled to South India for lecturing on reconstruction of religious thought in Islam.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1929 Iqbal was delivering lectures on ‘Knowledge and Religious Experience’, ‘The Philosophical Test of the Revelations of the Religious Experience’, ‘The Conception of God and the Meaning of Prayer’. The ruling Nizam of Hyderabad Deccan heard Iqbal speak on the necessity of a deeper study of the Quran. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Later his article, ‘A Plea for Deeper Study of the Muslim Scientists’ was published in Islamic Culture (Hyderabad Deccan).</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Although Iqbal's name was turned down for appointment as Justice to the Lahore High Court (former Lahore Chief Court), he was conferred at Aligarh with honorary DLitt.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1930, his younger daughter Munira 'Bubbi' Bano was born after which he went on a lecture tour. In the same year, his father Sheikh Noor Muhammad died in Sialkot.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal presided over the annual session of the All India Muslim League at Allahabad, suggesting the amalgamation of the north-western Muslim majority provinces of India for a balance of power in the region and renaissance of Islamic thought.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxQoiFift28p3yPqgA13PTgiyS2_pgBXAo85hsW6UuQcex4ZGIbWRtjC1ZLoBdB3Lvlh7Tc8Tj2FtNkhMyDvQNuB861AhAwIpG6Xcav8KUS88XlxmW5X0zKRPlevZVUvqnKQbdWpaiDeXf/s1600/8%2529+With+Javed+Iqbal+%25281925%2529.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxQoiFift28p3yPqgA13PTgiyS2_pgBXAo85hsW6UuQcex4ZGIbWRtjC1ZLoBdB3Lvlh7Tc8Tj2FtNkhMyDvQNuB861AhAwIpG6Xcav8KUS88XlxmW5X0zKRPlevZVUvqnKQbdWpaiDeXf/s320/8%2529+With+Javed+Iqbal+%25281925%2529.png" width="238" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">With son Javed Iqbal (1925)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Meetings with leaders and dictators</b><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1931, Iqbal met with leaders at All India Muslim Conference, and with others at Bhopal who were called by the ruler of Nawab Hamidullah Khan to facilitate consensus on the issue of joint electorate versus separate electorate. Iqbal being one of the convenors celebrated Kashmir Day on August 14 to support the protest movement in the valley.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Pakistan came into being o</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">n 27 Ramadan 1366 <i>Hijrah </i>(the night between 14 and 15 August 1947); this is not a well-known fact. Jinnah announced the creation of Pakistan on 15 August 1947. Odd as it may seem, his estranged daughter, Dina Wadia, was also born between the night of 14 and 15 August (1919).</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">To attend the 2nd Round Table Conference, he stopped at Delhi and Bombay on his way to London. As the ‘Minority Pact’ was formed, Iqbal dissociated himself from the Conference. He </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ttended a reception at Cambridge and informed the Secretary of State about his decision to leave the Conference.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal left for Italy where he met the deposed king of Afghanistan, Ameer Amanullah, to whom he had dedicated <i>Payam-e-Mashriq</i>. He delivered a lecture at the Royal Academy (Rome), met with Mussolini, visited Egypt, and then travelled to Palestine by train to participate in the Islamic Conference. After staying at Jerusalem he returned to Lahore via Bombay and Delhi.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1932, </span><i>Javednama </i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">was </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">published. To honour the poet, the first Iqbal Day was celebrated under auspices of the Islamic Research Institute, Lahore.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal presided over the All India Muslim Conference (Lahore) and delivered an address. He asked the Sikh community to see the communal problem in the larger perspective of constitutional progress in India. He left for London </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">via Bombay</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">to participate in the 3rd Round Table Conference where a reception was given by the National League (London). He left for Paris where he met Bergson.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1933, Iqbal arrived in Spain and visited Cordoba, Granada, and Seville and delivered a lecture titled ‘Spain and the Intellectual World of Islam’ at Madrid University.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal returned to Paris to board a ship for India from Venice and arrived in Bombay to return to Lahore. He presided over extensive lectures by Ghazi Rauf Pasha, dissident colleague of Ataturk in Jamia Millia College, Delhi.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He resigned from the All India Kashmir Committee and visited Afghanistan on invitation from King Nadir Shah to advise educational reforms. Sir Ross Masud (Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's grandson) and Syed Sulieman Nadvi were also invited. Iqbal was offered Honorary DLitt by the University of Punjab.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdyYDV35a6DAMdiZ3ZD465a9G7qrXf2PdWnZRg1jO2SfrNgo-rtHNqrxfugjVniJDdGU3HlUSokL18OW6XOaxckEvTVbOn3zcKrJPySHnq7SZGQT4zvuR97tIISNbuar4jPbaflf4WmIl/s1600/9%2529+At+Sultan+Fateh+Ali+Khan+Tipu%2527s+grave+%25281929%2529.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdyYDV35a6DAMdiZ3ZD465a9G7qrXf2PdWnZRg1jO2SfrNgo-rtHNqrxfugjVniJDdGU3HlUSokL18OW6XOaxckEvTVbOn3zcKrJPySHnq7SZGQT4zvuR97tIISNbuar4jPbaflf4WmIl/s320/9%2529+At+Sultan+Fateh+Ali+Khan+Tipu%2527s+grave+%25281929%2529.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">At Sultan Fateh Ali Khan Tipu's grave (1929)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><br />
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<b>Towards the end</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1934, his fatal illness started after eating vermicelli with curd on the Eid Day. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He was invited by Oxford University for a Rhodes lecture; Iqbal chose ‘Time and Space in Muslim Thought’ as his topic but it was found unsuitable by the University, and the lecture could never happen eventually due to his prolonged illness. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He visited Sirhind with son, Javed Iqbal (aged 10) and was elected President of <i>Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam</i>. After construction of a new residence ‘Javed Manzil’ started, he visited Aligarh to deliver a lecture and was conferred an Honorary DLitt degree.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1935, after the publication of 'Wings of Gabriel (<i>Baal-e-Jibreel</i>), Iqbal presided over extensive lectures by Halida Adeeb Khanum, dissident colleague of Ataturk at <i>Jamia Millia College</i>, Delhi.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It seems odd that while Iqbal was impressed with modern Turkey's Mustafa 'Brother' Kemal Ataturk, he wholeheartedly supported the dissident camp. What was he thinking?</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal proceeded to Bhopal for electrotherapy in Hamidia Hospital and consulted with Hakeem Nabina in Delhi on the way back from Bhopal. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Construction of his new residence, Javed Manzil, had come to an end now.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://irshad.org/info_m/writings/iqbalpdc.php">‘Qadianism and Orthodox Muslims’</a> was published in The Statesman (Calcutta) as Iqbal’s rejoinder to the Governor of Punjab’s advice to the Muslims. Iqbal’s statement launched a series of arguments.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The poet shifted to Javed Manzil and soon afterwards his wife, Sardar Begum, died. Iqbal was issued a stipend of Rs.500 per month by Nawab Hamidullah Khan of Bhopal. The poet undertook a second trip to Bhopal for electrotherapy and participated in the Centenary of poet Hali (1835–1914) in Panipat.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal was suspected of being a closet Ahmadi due to his initial reverence for <a href="http://alhafeez.org/rashid/">Mirza Ghulam Ahmad</a> of Qadian but he <a href="http://irshad.org/info_m/writings/iqbalpdc.php">moved away</a> from the man's ideology after finding out the <a href="http://www.khatmenubuwwat.org/articles/iqbal_letter.pdf">truth</a> behind his spirituality and tall public claims. A few members of Iqbal's family, however, remained staunch Ahmadis. In 1936, Iqbal wrote ‘Islam and Ahmadism’ as a rejoinder to Jawaharlal Nehru’s criticism on Iqbal’s previous statement. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Muhammad Ali Jinnah v</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">isited</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Iqbal a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">t Javed Manzil, Lahore.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After getting elected as President of the Punjab Muslim League, Iqbal made efforts to organize a provincial Parliamentary Board for the party through which the League could unite the Muslims of the province.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal recited the Urdu poem <i>Khudi ka sirr-e-nihan, La ilaha il Allah </i>(</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Heavenly Tune</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">) at the annual session of <i>Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam</i>, which turned out to be his last public performance. His last long Urdu poem</span><i> <a href="http://urduadab4u.blogspot.no/2010/11/iblees-ki-majlis-e-shura-awakening-poem.html">Iblees ki Majlis-e-Shoora</a></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> (Satan’s Parliament) has the devil confessing:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dbjJcvdrGGP6Vq_mKdNOS0y8e-jrgPuOnAmMS1r937nlxtk-ek4Q1NW2sCLKVsQzSIAAmVfz1czXctydMR3plsCeMs6FOIwZbIaFvexzCxH2l4SK4s6JImuzlD0eTfrTYwiCwffEsKvi/s1600/10%2529+Hyderabad+Deccan+with+student%2527s+federation.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dbjJcvdrGGP6Vq_mKdNOS0y8e-jrgPuOnAmMS1r937nlxtk-ek4Q1NW2sCLKVsQzSIAAmVfz1czXctydMR3plsCeMs6FOIwZbIaFvexzCxH2l4SK4s6JImuzlD0eTfrTYwiCwffEsKvi/s320/10%2529+Hyderabad+Deccan+with+student%2527s+federation.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Hyderabad Deccan with student's federation</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><i>It was I who made the Europeans dream of global dominance.</i><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">After <i>Zarb-e-Kaleem</i> was published, an Honorary DLitt was conferred by Dacca University. Iqbal's last Persian <i>mathnavi</i>, <i>Pas Ch Bayad Kerd</i>, was published (coupled with previously published <i>Musafir </i>two months later).</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">By 1937, he consulted again with Hakeem Nabina as the kidney ailment had turned severe and was affecting both the eyesight and the voice. Even an Honorary DLitt conferred by Allahabad University could not ease his pain.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal received his last Honorary DLitt degree in 1938 from Usmania University, Hyderabad Deccan. ‘On Islam and Nationalism’ was published in Ehsan, Lahore.</span><br />
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<b>The 'DLitt' honours</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">All in all, Iqbal was conferred with no less than five DLitt honorary degrees in his lifetime by the University of Punjab, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Aligarh Muslim University, Dacca University, Allahabad University and Usmania University (Hyderabad Deccan).</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Courage in death</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>“The highest stage of Man's ethical progress is reached when he becomes absolutely free from fear and grief.” ―Muhammad Iqbal</i></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">On the last evening Iqbal was surrounded by close friends. When he complained of pain and was spitting blood, his </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">frie</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">nd Hakim Muhammad Hassan Qarshi, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">asked him if he wanted a morphine injection to help him sleep, Iqbal courageously announced, "I don't wish to be unconscious when death comes to me; I want to experience that moment".</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The able physician went away but later during the night when he was again sent for, nobody answered the door. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Earlier that day, Iqbal recited from </span><i>Baang-e-Dara'</i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">his </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Urdu</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">adaptation of</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Ralph Waldo Emerson:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnU_hu8FRXQuwICjUBYwcLm6NdSqtoZGhpR-tbrB4xea0-Uv6KB2WU6zlSXjkJDF4RwwDkszuiT8QPYojzeTZk0dskOa8gAn2_l-KjwxMIvtj0JwRYxQcRqO8DDwPdqJ_dVWkmyxMc4d-/s1600/12%2529+Couplet.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="58" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnU_hu8FRXQuwICjUBYwcLm6NdSqtoZGhpR-tbrB4xea0-Uv6KB2WU6zlSXjkJDF4RwwDkszuiT8QPYojzeTZk0dskOa8gAn2_l-KjwxMIvtj0JwRYxQcRqO8DDwPdqJ_dVWkmyxMc4d-/s400/12%2529+Couplet.png" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>Farewell O worldly companions! I am going to my homeland<br />I am feeling unhappy in this well‐populated wilderness</i></span><br />
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Trusted servant, <a href="http://urduadab4u.blogspot.no/2011/08/allama-iqbal-zindagi-ka-aik-din.html">Ali Bukhsh</a> was with Iqbal when he complained of chest pain. The same night Iqbal allowed his eight years old daughter, Munira, to sleep next to him; the child's sixth sense told her that something was about to happen. Early in the morning, Dr. Sir Sheikh Allama Muhammad Iqbal <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UthhhQJ8cWg">breathed his last</a> on Thursday 21 April in Lahore, aged only 61.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij244YwjwRatwJwDRXkGCDQk8sJ8PMas-o5d96y8PszC-K4ctilCd3vk7EFBIn3f6L5sN0g5bxMsCywftgdFywzB8Bn7eIPnGm1nW5VGuQGS_Z68PkEDwHfpzM4cYS2sx2qfOq4wmuobWk/s1600/11%2529+Iqbal%2527s+honourary+grave+in+Turkey.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij244YwjwRatwJwDRXkGCDQk8sJ8PMas-o5d96y8PszC-K4ctilCd3vk7EFBIn3f6L5sN0g5bxMsCywftgdFywzB8Bn7eIPnGm1nW5VGuQGS_Z68PkEDwHfpzM4cYS2sx2qfOq4wmuobWk/s320/11%2529+Iqbal%2527s+honourary+grave+in+Turkey.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Iqbal's honorary grave at Konya, Turkey</span></td></tr>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>Burial</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The sad news spread like wild fire in Lahore and thousands gathered for his funeral procession and last rites. Long bamboos were tied to the sides of the <i>charpayi </i>on which his body was laid so that as many people as was possible could carry his body to its last abode.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal, it was inferred from his poetry, wished to be buried under the shadow of a mosque. His close friends decided that </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">he be buried at the foot of the historic Badshahi Mosque. A great difficulty arose at the time of his burial.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Two funeral prayers were offered, one in the Islamia College ground (Fleming Road) and the other at the Badshahi Mosque. The Chief Minister of Lahore, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Sir Sikander Hayat who was in Calcutta, rejected via telegram the proposed burial site. When the public approached the British </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Governor of Punjab, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Sir Henry Duffield Craik (1876-1955)</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">, he approved of the burial which took place at night.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal's <a href="https://sites.ualberta.ca/~rnoor/tomb_allama_iqbal.html">mausoleum</a> at Lahore is based on an Afghan-Moorish design. Oddly, an honorary grave of Iqbal exists at Konya, Turkey. Iqbal had great reverence for poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumi">Jalaluddin Rumi</a> (of Mevlevi Sufi Order of the 'whirling dervishes').</span><br />
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<b>Iqbal on western atheism and materialism</b><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">While arm-chair philosophers and drawing-room geniuses of Pakistan never tire of advocating imitation of the western idea of 'separation of the church and the state', let us see what Iqbal said on the subject when invited to Cambridge University to participate in a conference in 1931:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpb1LmtgSRnkmYL8MuJ2xV5Ff3aQ9-4ilWlWn2l9VuYevVo_Xoee-f2NwRPg1Pyu2nJrvxIPoxvW1wGBX-X3qcwQJ5voRpukbeTnUzDryLhRkmLmJu5lgZQmq6XGNWhmMSkVWeJTuyJkp/s1600/11%2529+At+Cordoba+%25281933%2529.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpb1LmtgSRnkmYL8MuJ2xV5Ff3aQ9-4ilWlWn2l9VuYevVo_Xoee-f2NwRPg1Pyu2nJrvxIPoxvW1wGBX-X3qcwQJ5voRpukbeTnUzDryLhRkmLmJu5lgZQmq6XGNWhmMSkVWeJTuyJkp/s320/11%2529+At+Cordoba+%25281933%2529.png" width="198" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">Iqbal At Cordoba (1933)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>"I would like to offer a few pieces of advice to the young men who are at present studying at Cambridge, I advise you to guard against atheism and materialism. The biggest blunder made by Europe was the separation of Church and State. This deprived their culture of moral soul and diverted it to the atheistic materialism.</i></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>I had twenty-five years ago seen through the drawbacks of this civilization and therefore, had made some prophecies. They had been delivered by my tongue although I did not quite understand them. This happened in 1907. ... After six or seven years, my prophecies came true, word by word. The European war of 1914 was an outcome of the aforesaid mistakes made by the European nations in the separation of the Church and the State." </i></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal warned:</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Jalaal-e-paadshahi ho ya jamhoori tamasha ho</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Juda ho deen siyasat se to reh jati hai changezi</span></span></i></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And which means:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial;">[Whether it is] the rule of a strict and angry monarch or the circus of politicians [in the name of democracy]</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">When [God's] religion [of a righteous path] is separated from politics [system of government], a</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ll that is left is <i>Changezi </i>[barbaric tribal anarchic misrule]</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: arial;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"></span><b>Further reading</b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2011/09/allama-iqbal-letter-to-times.html">Allama Iqbal: A Letter to The Times</a><br />
<a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-artistic-youth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Artistic Youth Of Amrita Sher-Gil</span></a><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-fantastic-growth-of-amrita-sher-gil.html" target="_blank">The Fantastic Growth Of Amrita</a></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-dramatic-death-of-amrita-sher-gil.html">The Dramatic Death Of Amrita Sher-Gil</a></span><br />
<a href="https://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2018/04/iqbal-in-love-with-emma-wegenast.html"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Iqbal In Love With Emma Wegenast</span></a><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: arial;">Acknowledgement</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">If I were to list all the references the old-fashioned away right here, this article would be twice its current size. The web links (URLs) have been included in the text. Just click on the words in <span style="color: blue;"><b>blue</b> </span>colour and you will reach those other pages that contain either the text used (after laborious editing) or more information. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I visited hundreds of web sites while researching for material on Allama Iqbal.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Omissions, if any, were unintentional. I thank those from whom obtaining permission to use some images was either impossible or who did not respond to my requests.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photo of <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAmrita_Sher-Gil_2.jpg">Amrita Sher-Gil</a></span><br />
<a href="http://www.citizensarchive.org/"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Citizens Archive of Pakistan</span></a><br />
<a href="https://universalpoetries.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/an-extensive-timeline-of-allama-iqbals-life/"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">An extensive timeline of Allama Iqbal’s life</span></a><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photot of <a href="http://www.thesufi.com/rumi-and-iqbal-the-mentor-and-the-protege/">honorary grave of Iqbal (Konya, Turkey)</a></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Photo of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205726647346409&set=pb.1262361846.-2207520000.1488007917.&type=3&theater">Cambridge University Ph.D Certificate</a></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: x-small;"><b><i>DISCLAIMER</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i>No one must misconstrue the information presented here about Iqbal as disinformation or insults. T</i></span><i>he information here was meticulously collected (after cross-checking) from numerous sources on the internet (without the use of proxy servers in Pakistan). </i><i>If you feel something here </i><i>needs to be amended, please email me the suggestions with believable references. Until then, whatever is written here shall be considered correct.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>EDIT: links to 2 poems added (10-11-19) </i></span></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><script src="https://h1.flashvortex.com/display.php?id=2_1490204945_31010_508_0_374_114_9_1_7" type="text/javascript"></script></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-87371397933932107552017-02-01T18:23:00.000+05:002018-07-04T13:07:05.251+05:00Re-Fretting Gibson Les Paul Custom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAF7E4iNTEtsC9hdkWeru2z7tVnJTgSbOdL6FNgcnsdIUiwhytSL2y09KZoygIWJXNfYtnX271Jh49izfC1VUChhpdDrH37HXheBDl93nZG9sJP1fYtmpYdsG3YJqkjdMpV8nE8-HL_aa-/s1600/1%2529+Les+Paul.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAF7E4iNTEtsC9hdkWeru2z7tVnJTgSbOdL6FNgcnsdIUiwhytSL2y09KZoygIWJXNfYtnX271Jh49izfC1VUChhpdDrH37HXheBDl93nZG9sJP1fYtmpYdsG3YJqkjdMpV8nE8-HL_aa-/s320/1%2529+Les+Paul.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hope you enjoyed reading Part-I of this article: </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/the-purchase-of-gibson-les-paul-custom.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Purchase Of Gibson Les Paul Custom</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before we delve into the re-fret job details, let me introduce to you the creator of the legendary Les Paul guitar: Mr Lester William Polfus.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Meet the genius<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Known the world over as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Paul">Les Paul</a>,
he was also called “Rhubarb Red” and “the Wizard of Waukesha”. Born on 09 June
1915, he died aged 94 on 12 August 2009.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Les Paul was an exceptionally innovative guitarist with his
own TV show in the 1950s (‘Les Paul and Mary Ford at home’) that featured his
wife. The couple had over thirty hit songs if not as many children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSYmxgGzlqwVJrFy6k4s5xdZYgo6mfnuLjX7WLkvL97bifpvy8GDB4hpVcXa8Mi1yXfkIfQcRV-xhlISHH7LTKVF-Cb_1l7qQ8YpSLRx_johPOAxHOrDckhH9m-FUawv15qTyHMnIerMX/s1600/2%2529+Les+%2526+Mary.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGSYmxgGzlqwVJrFy6k4s5xdZYgo6mfnuLjX7WLkvL97bifpvy8GDB4hpVcXa8Mi1yXfkIfQcRV-xhlISHH7LTKVF-Cb_1l7qQ8YpSLRx_johPOAxHOrDckhH9m-FUawv15qTyHMnIerMX/s200/2%2529+Les+%2526+Mary.png" width="196" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He invented equipment and recording techniques that
revolutionised music and recording. The prototype electric guitar known as ‘the
log’ was made in 1941. Although Gibson’s President, Ted McCarty, rejected the
idea of producing a solid-body electric guitar, he succumbed to commercial
pressure when Leo Fender’s Broadcaster (later Fender Telecaster) came out in
1948. Gibson released the ‘<a href="http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Les-Paul-Tribute-1952.aspx">Gold Top</a>’ Les Paul guitar in 1952. The rest, as they say, is history.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When singer Bing Crosby gave Les Paul a tape-recorder, he
got the idea of modifying it by installing another recording head; this scheme became
the basis of latter day multi-track recorders. Such a recorder would enable him
and his wife to play and sing multiple parts all by themselves—something unimaginable
in those days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-90emz2GJzcrdX1iVGtyPM02PCrXpd4xoc-XGalKwIH_uZ0VeB5mZhRbyOqiWAd9fUCN8sUHuxtqr8ozhntQPkpEQb2EYs7jyd8-ELEOAt1KOpSPurr6KkWKFzAQVLK1F8vXQnq75dQsg/s1600/3%2529+Les+%2526+Mary+with+recording+gear.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-90emz2GJzcrdX1iVGtyPM02PCrXpd4xoc-XGalKwIH_uZ0VeB5mZhRbyOqiWAd9fUCN8sUHuxtqr8ozhntQPkpEQb2EYs7jyd8-ELEOAt1KOpSPurr6KkWKFzAQVLK1F8vXQnq75dQsg/s320/3%2529+Les+%2526+Mary+with+recording+gear.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Les & Mary with recording gear</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">His breakthrough recording, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6VHlqH4-xs">Lover</a>, from 1948 proves his genius. And do listen to what Les Paul and Mary Ford did
with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihIR81n9I0Y">How High The Moon</a>
and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCE8JYNx76M">The World Is Waiting For Sunrise</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The innovative sound of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_recordings_with_a_flanging_effect">flanging</a>
can be heard on the song <a href="https://youtu.be/uZaVdhZVL_Y">Mammy’s Boogie</a>. This kind of sound would later give birth to ‘flanger’ stomp-boxes for
guitarists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 2005 Les Paul's final recorded album, American Made, World Played, debuted and featured Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Sting and Eric Clapton. It won this veteran two Grammy Awards.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlBGdwG4aiU8V-w0VT5XdRU8w5vepP_W3VpyZH7Gqa_k7vhaevBte4L5UuUkANdK3gUj2jUCSDT9cjxvzK5xSR8-i_UrdBZKLKW1z5HtM_kPZQX5N1tcNGzuKHMu0hlpEgoTMgFyaRaE3/s1600/3a%2529+Gibson+Les+Pul+%2527gold+top%2527+1952.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlBGdwG4aiU8V-w0VT5XdRU8w5vepP_W3VpyZH7Gqa_k7vhaevBte4L5UuUkANdK3gUj2jUCSDT9cjxvzK5xSR8-i_UrdBZKLKW1z5HtM_kPZQX5N1tcNGzuKHMu0hlpEgoTMgFyaRaE3/s320/3a%2529+Gibson+Les+Pul+%2527gold+top%2527+1952.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1952 Les Paul 'gold-top' </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;">Les Paul is the only person
to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National
Inventors Hall of Fame.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mentioning all of Les Paul’s achievements is beyond
the scope of this article. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My own recording studio’s name, ‘Sound on Sound’, paid homage to Les Paul’s amazing recording techniques and the guitar
he created.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeL-tUPtvHjsfwVvu9m-5uCqipE4Xn1X1IK2_c-8344CbngLwa-Rcd6i-48QsOFEH0DDypyAWEaWY8dSay9sjB0rEM1OGKK2V2HLPrtdbGu4zjzjFG8ujYgs4xGKoMGLQJOX10qJSqcQj/s1600/4%2529+Les+Paul.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUeL-tUPtvHjsfwVvu9m-5uCqipE4Xn1X1IK2_c-8344CbngLwa-Rcd6i-48QsOFEH0DDypyAWEaWY8dSay9sjB0rEM1OGKK2V2HLPrtdbGu4zjzjFG8ujYgs4xGKoMGLQJOX10qJSqcQj/s200/4%2529+Les+Paul.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nicknames explained<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Les Paul Custom guitar was named ‘Black Beauty’ because
of a solid black body accentuated by white edge-binding. The bound ebony
fingerboard and block mother-of-pearl inlays were designed to highlight a
player’s hands. It does look like a guitar formally dressed for a ball.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMypdOkVs0DHK6fDp-9_imRjthfzI7HYleI-EwCaEjTF1HeCOY41it1xtgeHN5sXeYx9Nb6eCZ3mCkS4cL6SQd84596buZe-gnUsA9NQqkArO4arG-0xJ5mZ-EQh-na-0Vutecg7B8oPhF/s1600/5%2529+Gibson+400+CES.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMypdOkVs0DHK6fDp-9_imRjthfzI7HYleI-EwCaEjTF1HeCOY41it1xtgeHN5sXeYx9Nb6eCZ3mCkS4cL6SQd84596buZe-gnUsA9NQqkArO4arG-0xJ5mZ-EQh-na-0Vutecg7B8oPhF/s320/5%2529+Gibson+400+CES.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gibson 400 CES</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Compare women with guitars in real life and no matter how hard you try, you
will never find a neck, a head and beauty to outdo a Les Paul guitar. While
great are the temptations of flesh, the ones produced by exotic woods and
gold-plated hardware rate higher.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpDqf6KjW5_NgInMm8ABtMio8RZSQOfpyGRmXZ-1E6qo8YYT1mf8oQRf5m2huzuxw3MKaOXRSnRLV50rLJlhrA3VeyS6uWA0hSM0uuE6dSJR346IiacWkVrjqIwy-PUe7H7y_4J1-2dEv/s1600/7%2529+20160322_161035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEpDqf6KjW5_NgInMm8ABtMio8RZSQOfpyGRmXZ-1E6qo8YYT1mf8oQRf5m2huzuxw3MKaOXRSnRLV50rLJlhrA3VeyS6uWA0hSM0uuE6dSJR346IiacWkVrjqIwy-PUe7H7y_4J1-2dEv/s200/7%2529+20160322_161035.jpg" width="129" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve removing the frets</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The reason this guitar was nicknamed the ‘Fretless Wonder’, was because of
the ultra-low profile of the frets which enabled fast and furious jazzy
playing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ‘Custom’ designation of the Gibson Les Paul model meant
it borrowed an ornately inlaid headstock from the company’s most expensive
model: <a href="http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Archtop/Gibson-Custom/Super-400-CES/Features.aspx">Super 400 CES</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Almost every guitarist has
either owned or played a Les Paul guitar. The list of guitar Romeos who ended
up loving the Les Paulian Juliet is quite mind-numbing. Many professionals who
ended up endorsing Fender later in life actually played a Les Paul in younger
years. Owning this guitar is like owning a piece of history, pedigree and
innovation. Cheap copies will never replace the ‘real thing’ no matter how much
Coke ones consumes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXscnIpDkzb0FhNpWc2fA8AnT0-d_OqvQNmMHT9hmgUoPjKzdPIQvTjEsKxITMD9Xy6bl326QrqUgmOzSVHfPPQCcqsGh8FECm641_ma6DNUpAQEepbi3jMaiWZ3iEtUamQg6GoCqUWTBn/s1600/9%2529+20160323_110042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXscnIpDkzb0FhNpWc2fA8AnT0-d_OqvQNmMHT9hmgUoPjKzdPIQvTjEsKxITMD9Xy6bl326QrqUgmOzSVHfPPQCcqsGh8FECm641_ma6DNUpAQEepbi3jMaiWZ3iEtUamQg6GoCqUWTBn/s200/9%2529+20160323_110042.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The nut removed</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To see how a Gibson Les Paul is made, click </span><a href="https://youtu.be/VbU1R4KDymw" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">HERE</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What does Mr Les Paul
sound and look like?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here are recordings worth listening to:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaNMZmBR6E">Les Paul LIVE - and magnificent</a><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJNoqdNJPmQ">Les Paul - Greatest Hits</a></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #141515; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How
does one define ‘Black Beauty’?</span></span></b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXW0ZyQsyrcJUGyG7yl_wuNmz56Ukkwx8S2haRKLEm3mOpPvWpP2BvrSzl7q509FR6IwV-W80TnlfjMXT2pqrxE3Ya3dVd1LxybZUqKkn8DWWguE_eI-jfwudrHdVUk7Y0BbRM1Am4HRTU/s1600/8%2529+20160323_110023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXW0ZyQsyrcJUGyG7yl_wuNmz56Ukkwx8S2haRKLEm3mOpPvWpP2BvrSzl7q509FR6IwV-W80TnlfjMXT2pqrxE3Ya3dVd1LxybZUqKkn8DWWguE_eI-jfwudrHdVUk7Y0BbRM1Am4HRTU/s200/8%2529+20160323_110023.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Look ma, no frets!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background: white; border: none 1.0pt; color: #141515; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">
Forget makeup and hot dresses; focus instead on the Les Paul’s following
features:</span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Three-piece maple top, mahogany back with ½” slotted weight relief to deliver classic Les Paul tone and resonance.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ebony nitro lacquer finish, multi-ply bindings, pearl block inlays on an ebony board, pearl headstock adornments including the Gibson logo and the famed custom Split Diamond inlay.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Historic long tendon neck joint and a traditional hide glue neck construction.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A mahogany neck with Les Paul Custom profile provides players with classic Gibson feel and playability.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alnico Super '74 humbuckers, legendary tones (that helped shape the sound of rock 'n' roll in the '70s), a warms and smooth sounding neck pickup, a bridge pickup with plenty of bite and edge for aggressive, screaming leads and solos.</span></li>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IulrtLbVlFrwm5UgacQL0hyLs2b6vjEeoLh1dJ0UIG_8bUz1WV_VxAApvrMY-z7VtYapx1AENK2_SufNDPm2fPMOLA4uJ696D8RHKKWlv4ccD94ztc7YHafOMzawCbplM67Nl1Yrhyza/s1600/10%2529+20160323_135415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IulrtLbVlFrwm5UgacQL0hyLs2b6vjEeoLh1dJ0UIG_8bUz1WV_VxAApvrMY-z7VtYapx1AENK2_SufNDPm2fPMOLA4uJ696D8RHKKWlv4ccD94ztc7YHafOMzawCbplM67Nl1Yrhyza/s200/10%2529+20160323_135415.jpg" width="152" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sanded and ready</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Plastic pick-guard, solid brass gold-plated hardware (including Schaller tuners, an ABR Thumbwheel bridge and a lightweight aluminium stop-bar tailpiece)</span>.</li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="background: white; border: none 1.0pt; color: #141515; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fretting away the
moments that make up a dull day</span></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xja_qn7vGcd8q25bcCIAyaai0H_P2jvhvW4G7RZ86IwLhyphenhyphenMpAxa9RtsvyFkxiW6lD2LSOLKr66KM6rG4HxUuUXtupndM-yda_esH-JO3oGen_4VExzijVOgXR3k3Rt4Z6vrOpLXMyvMG/s1600/11%2529+20160323_151759.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xja_qn7vGcd8q25bcCIAyaai0H_P2jvhvW4G7RZ86IwLhyphenhyphenMpAxa9RtsvyFkxiW6lD2LSOLKr66KM6rG4HxUuUXtupndM-yda_esH-JO3oGen_4VExzijVOgXR3k3Rt4Z6vrOpLXMyvMG/s200/11%2529+20160323_151759.jpg" width="112" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Installing frets</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Great as it was, my Les Paul Custom had one serious problem
that would not go away: its super-low profile frets produced annoying buzz high
up on the fret-board. When sought, expert opinion was firm: ‘individual frets
cannot be fixed; all the frets need to be replaced’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now, re-fretting is a labour-intensive job best left to an
experienced luthier. Considering the high cost of re-fretting, nobody that I
know in Pakistan has ever bothered having this operation done; guitarists keep
playing over unevenly worn frets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqJybV73NFFmE2gFu9y9WEphevo1vyEfeAGoAFE1XNfswwntp3EZ3kTEgU4aSytSNWwMSskw1qj03KbY6v6ThHvXYZOJWyF3QrRuR6S4YGXIbW6BF0EAw_CF7b37WyPAlhh5DdMPzMxeL/s1600/12%2529+20160323_155541.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqJybV73NFFmE2gFu9y9WEphevo1vyEfeAGoAFE1XNfswwntp3EZ3kTEgU4aSytSNWwMSskw1qj03KbY6v6ThHvXYZOJWyF3QrRuR6S4YGXIbW6BF0EAw_CF7b37WyPAlhh5DdMPzMxeL/s200/12%2529+20160323_155541.jpg" width="145" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Frets seated</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since nothing in my life ever gets done without conducting deep
research, it was decided that Steve Curtis of <a href="http://theguitarrepairworkshop.com/">Guitar Workshop</a>
at Manchester would re-fret my Les Paul; earlier he had satisfactorily fixed a
few of my guitars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After consulting with Steve about the fret-wire’s gauge (the
fret’s top width and the height from the fret-board) I looked at various brands
of wire such as <a href="http://store.jimdunlop.com/k/search?q=fretwire&t=product">Jim Dunlop</a>,
<a href="http://www.hosco.co.jp/HOSCO_ENGLISH/en-top.html">HOSCO</a>,
<a href="https://www.jescar.com/product-category/fretwire/">JESCAR</a>,
<a href="http://www.stewmac.com/SiteSearch/?search=fretwire">StewMac</a>. My Les Paul’s original frets were 2.35mm wide at the top.</span></div>
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</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gibson guitars from the late 1950’s used 2.48mm or 2.413mm
wide jumbo frets with 0.508mm tangs (which is ‘medium’ by today’s standards).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1960’s guitars had 2.54mm width with bigger tangs.</span></li>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ELSi9Gr-aYQwMWjBy8rPS-aJfkGW9UkleKrlVmWekR9iw19JXuhWSnHDlwRJQH71TgMGG3Co9BP1HUKLGEWzmqxGMKEZuHNwaCGdRMXbG8pGkSKZMAtvwTXUhn5foEyHRZxx2yt4X_li/s1600/13%2529+08012011608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ELSi9Gr-aYQwMWjBy8rPS-aJfkGW9UkleKrlVmWekR9iw19JXuhWSnHDlwRJQH71TgMGG3Co9BP1HUKLGEWzmqxGMKEZuHNwaCGdRMXbG8pGkSKZMAtvwTXUhn5foEyHRZxx2yt4X_li/s200/13%2529+08012011608.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Gold-plated machines</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">New Gibson frets are 2.69mm
wide and 0.91mm high, whereas the new Les Paul frets are 2.45mm wide.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Traditional nickel-silver frets would cost GBP 160; I chose the extremely long-wearing stainless steel to avoid later repairs due to fret-wear. The job would set me back by GBP 200. Steve initially recommended </span><a href="https://www.jescar.com/shop/jescar-fret-wire-55090/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">JESCAR 55090</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> whose specifications were: 2.28mm wide and 1.40mm high. I finally chose the wider JESCAR FW51108-S (stainless steel).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve also gave two more choices: AllParts LT-0482 (width
2.80mm) and HOSCO HF-J1 (2.90mm wide and 1.30mm high); these I found a bit too
jumbo for my playing style.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9rUFCZvKz-4MwHuRIWCF3aTxNW-hoO4uUdJcbJIM5VYjZBme8K5bnTCZiu9rIqbPxkVkzDpV3nU40s5Kji1QP5EeWLydf_l5uC0wpjsfvxzKDPLDexmsjdRtvPcP_DtdJ7bOTLcH7PjY/s1600/14%2529+08012011610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9rUFCZvKz-4MwHuRIWCF3aTxNW-hoO4uUdJcbJIM5VYjZBme8K5bnTCZiu9rIqbPxkVkzDpV3nU40s5Kji1QP5EeWLydf_l5uC0wpjsfvxzKDPLDexmsjdRtvPcP_DtdJ7bOTLcH7PjY/s200/14%2529+08012011610.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">S/N: 190647 - Made in USA</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Keeping other options
open</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Incidentally, HOSCO (catalogue, p.32) suggests that HF-M1 is a good replacement for Gibson guitars (2.40mm).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Note that HF-M3 at 2.62mm is good for Fenders. The latest American Fenders are 2.61mm wide and 1.168mm high ‘medium jumbo’. My <a href="http://www.dawsons.co.uk/fender-tele-plus-modern-player-series-maple-fretboard-honeyburst">Fender Telecaster Modern Player Plus</a> is 2.70mm wide and 1.10mm high ‘medium jumbo’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9pmP_dK2tCjj4PvlL45NPpv1IIlMxKIzMug-dv1trOQPbup8zAupU1kY7Gh785Av90sTwfO0lFfw3hm6XH99elYuK26C1o2RD8Pm1igz7YDI7md7BpA_0DTLXerqjiuZGvjdGWFsUklP/s1600/15%2529+030920153512.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_9pmP_dK2tCjj4PvlL45NPpv1IIlMxKIzMug-dv1trOQPbup8zAupU1kY7Gh785Av90sTwfO0lFfw3hm6XH99elYuK26C1o2RD8Pm1igz7YDI7md7BpA_0DTLXerqjiuZGvjdGWFsUklP/s200/15%2529+030920153512.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rear of pickup selector</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The following brands and their gauges help one get some idea about fret choices:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">StewMac gauge: medium-higher = 2.34mm</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All Parts gauges: Small 2.0-2.2mm, Medium 2.30-2.50mm, jumbo 2.65-2.90mm</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ibanez guitars use 2.99mm wide/1.47mm high frets</span></li>
</ul>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Modern Vs vintage ‘jumbo’
wire</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Frequent or hard playing creates indentations over the frets and which require careful filing and polishing to produce perfectly pitched sound. An average player may not even bother but any guitarist with a distinctive ‘style and sound’ will depend on carefully setup guitars.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NuHISZUpR28COWP2yN0mIok6VkDZtVcwyEVQLM_Koz2Gfg3hAXl4gwY2S3Uw9G4ipjWy6VxDmwe9FAagKbAa9vyuHcOlu144-xp_rkhKrXEqQfWSK0CkNeWYZthnS3bsRikJ9tN4ksS1/s1600/16%2529+030920153513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NuHISZUpR28COWP2yN0mIok6VkDZtVcwyEVQLM_Koz2Gfg3hAXl4gwY2S3Uw9G4ipjWy6VxDmwe9FAagKbAa9vyuHcOlu144-xp_rkhKrXEqQfWSK0CkNeWYZthnS3bsRikJ9tN4ksS1/s200/16%2529+030920153513.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pickups cavity</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Every few years, professionals will have their guitars dressed or re-fretted. Their guitar technicians or roadies take care of this business. Currently ‘dressing’ of the frets costs GBP 65. The frets may be dressed a few times after which they require replacement. This seldom happens in an average player’s life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another important thing worth noting is, yesterday’s jumbo fret-wire is rather narrow by today’s standards. Players today prefer wider crowns and higher tangs in order to play the kinds of styles that were unknown in the past.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FH7su1MZY3De_RrvSPvVxhysIZH6Fkd1okusAycwex9i9tfNpmqvVZf9t09HiVPVYlp4bgMhWRJLiuDl7jHRGAXEgDqYrEfI5OgR2lnZ1qeB2wxLm2aa5vaDHjjL8coHT3fxQTrg8zXR/s1600/17%2529+DSC_6665.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7FH7su1MZY3De_RrvSPvVxhysIZH6Fkd1okusAycwex9i9tfNpmqvVZf9t09HiVPVYlp4bgMhWRJLiuDl7jHRGAXEgDqYrEfI5OgR2lnZ1qeB2wxLm2aa5vaDHjjL8coHT3fxQTrg8zXR/s200/17%2529+DSC_6665.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Before the operation at Steve's</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I selected American <a href="https://www.jescar.com/shop/jescar-fret-wire-51108/">JESCAR FW51108-S</a>
stainless steel fret-wire (2.75mm wide, 1.30mm high). This was ‘medium jumbo’
gauge, the same used on today’s Fender guitars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Plain nuts</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had to sacrifice the original bone nut of the guitar.
Since an entirely different fret-wire gauge was being installed, the old nut
would not allow precise adjustments of intonation and string height.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCl8ae2mxxBWzMjxPDrK0iKznLhctJxmgeKJXc6Ocvnw4-KqUKXQ-ru6YoqFkz0j-j3L0YZ2iXXvbG-kxdrfQFCTEwZmsfOmPJU5WrG63_6a1fZEmHCrOamz6lhPKgUPaa3WdTy94qOben/s1600/19%2529+DSC_6674.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCl8ae2mxxBWzMjxPDrK0iKznLhctJxmgeKJXc6Ocvnw4-KqUKXQ-ru6YoqFkz0j-j3L0YZ2iXXvbG-kxdrfQFCTEwZmsfOmPJU5WrG63_6a1fZEmHCrOamz6lhPKgUPaa3WdTy94qOben/s320/19%2529+DSC_6674.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Red marks on frets indicate BUZZ points</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I feared a bleached nut would look as strange as a ‘white’ man walking hand-in-hand with a ‘black’ woman. Earlier, a man-made TUSQ material nut had already been installed by Steve on my Höfner 173ii. With a near-vintage guitar such as my Les Paul Custom, it was best to go nuts with a real unbleached ‘boner’.</span></div>
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</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVJJg9TUbT4sanCkc4a3nwWNDl_ETyprFh44_2bIlW5GgFKqQQsQ8vEzcGNTq5bu7CNBKe3OuZ_k089X3-ALGe_rJ67nQv64WCkxwa4yYt7pk6aPfF4ahJ0We3R1SA0OXbEHSJIq6jQ7W/s1600/18%2529+DSC_6670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVJJg9TUbT4sanCkc4a3nwWNDl_ETyprFh44_2bIlW5GgFKqQQsQ8vEzcGNTq5bu7CNBKe3OuZ_k089X3-ALGe_rJ67nQv64WCkxwa4yYt7pk6aPfF4ahJ0We3R1SA0OXbEHSJIq6jQ7W/s320/18%2529+DSC_6670.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lie down, I think I love you</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span></b></div>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Electrifying trivia</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Gibson Les Paul Custom had 500K tone and volume pots until 1973.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From mid-1973 onward, Gibson switched to 300K tone and volume pots.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From 1977 to the late 1980s, they had 300K or 100K tone pots and 300K volume pots.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Les Paul Standard models had from 1990s onward, 300K linear taper and 500K audio taper pots.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Historic and Custom-Shop models had custom tapers: 0-3 audio taper, 3-7 linear taper, 7-10 audio taper.</span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYMRemFBVNLUem6WzFo8cIx6g2FVqyjS5DChSk_RV5E0Zyqpm4ZJHlr136s0u14w_4zUM9r0peegJkcOj8MQSzz3BlPIfqrejnmHj-e-r_QiyjKEdLMtFhxTRDWt0A00MUGdaVD_rg46c/s1600/20%2529+250320163864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyYMRemFBVNLUem6WzFo8cIx6g2FVqyjS5DChSk_RV5E0Zyqpm4ZJHlr136s0u14w_4zUM9r0peegJkcOj8MQSzz3BlPIfqrejnmHj-e-r_QiyjKEdLMtFhxTRDWt0A00MUGdaVD_rg46c/s200/20%2529+250320163864.jpg" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Excuse me, while I kiss the sky</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As for the capacitor values on my own Les Paul Custom, they
are rated 0.22µF.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When was my guitar
manufactured?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although I bought a few serial number books prior to the internet revolution, dating a guitar still is an expert-level job.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My Les Paul Custom’s serial number is 190647.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It has ‘Made in USA” stamped behind the headstock.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The headstock has a volute on its back.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The mother-of-pearl Gibson logo on has an ‘i’ without a dot
which is an important thing for a literary person to note. The ‘o’ and ‘b’
alphabets in the logo are of closed styling.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ‘Gibson’ name is not embossed on both the pickups.</span></li>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxiMD9dkQP7V8k2G8gb0ap1ClTkOi8zBeNhx_EXxScxkarBe1sKfRRaQASCtrWF0wCA9mHbHN9pS7paLMfU7jnuF17n5rnGKNIGsBzuigCiGxC8RzMzptBYhZV937VMOXm7mdaI1oJwnl/s1600/21%2529+240320163836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxiMD9dkQP7V8k2G8gb0ap1ClTkOi8zBeNhx_EXxScxkarBe1sKfRRaQASCtrWF0wCA9mHbHN9pS7paLMfU7jnuF17n5rnGKNIGsBzuigCiGxC8RzMzptBYhZV937VMOXm7mdaI1oJwnl/s320/21%2529+240320163836.jpg" width="177" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr Les Paul, please be seated</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Careful research has revealed that my baby was born in June
1972 and which makes her middle-aged and as vintage as great wine.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>
My Baby's Comin' Home</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Taking the guitar out of Pakistan and from England meant carrying a baby that weighed 9 lbs and 9.3 Ounces (4.11 Kg without the hard case). This pain needed to be taken. Email messages went back and forth between Steve and I to remove ambiguities. The man gets full marks for showing patient.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5ndlFR_Lk6MdhVWkLj5TChbUqiuueBItvHUrtu0D4dpaSO1sISLSaYf64q1-hZLsWj_hY6W1C-GIcQdhXpIBREudcf6FFa1yaOCqb9dZLPIx0Ahoq7Cx6Ob-TOL52KYRiY7E9FHICEvu/s1600/1974+Les+Paul+Custom+Reissue.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5ndlFR_Lk6MdhVWkLj5TChbUqiuueBItvHUrtu0D4dpaSO1sISLSaYf64q1-hZLsWj_hY6W1C-GIcQdhXpIBREudcf6FFa1yaOCqb9dZLPIx0Ahoq7Cx6Ob-TOL52KYRiY7E9FHICEvu/s320/1974+Les+Paul+Custom+Reissue.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1974 Les Paul Custom Reissue</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve had my Les Paul all re-fretted and ready at his
workshop on a cloudy afternoon on 24th of March 2016. After being re-united
with the guitar I breathed heavily down its neck (inspection really) and
plugged into an all-valve Mesa-Boogie amplifier at <a href="http://www.pmtonline.co.uk/">PMT</a>. It sounded
absolutely wonderful and felt amazingly easy for bending notes. The GBP220 (Rs
30,000) I spent helped breathe a new soul into an old body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCtjPmdO7yF1XsHd_9UbT8Lnnhn7_iTbWCNezZT9O2FRT-43RNquQho5LRlh_0qkKT5z5lUN3dQuQlX50Kz6kGdrdXVmKudVYBkOyzGpoOoPKRhaWaM_WZQ4gkyvahhNsc_-puqPEx59_/s1600/240320163833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKCtjPmdO7yF1XsHd_9UbT8Lnnhn7_iTbWCNezZT9O2FRT-43RNquQho5LRlh_0qkKT5z5lUN3dQuQlX50Kz6kGdrdXVmKudVYBkOyzGpoOoPKRhaWaM_WZQ4gkyvahhNsc_-puqPEx59_/s320/240320163833.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve Curtis giving my Les Paul a final check</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Beyond the
third fret</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Considering the rising cost of production abroad and the
constantly devaluing Pakistani currency, any high-end item—be it a Rolex
wristwatch or a high-end guitar—goes up in price by an average of 10% per
annum. Gibson’s website indicates that the company now has a <a href="http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/Custom/1974-Les-Paul-Custom-Reissue.aspx">1974 Les Paul Custom Re-Issue</a> model </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">retailing for a phenomenal price of $6,699 (Rupees 837,500, with July 2018 conversion rate).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In short, a 6,000 Rupee guitar that nobody within the twin
cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad could afford in 1981 is now worth a small
fortune (140-fold increase in price in 37 years). Each year the
guitar’s price kept increasing by 38%. Bankers take note.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifANh7hwYeBoMB95BtwVyfpKdCHLXaFOxdxmze-bKOMa3lkRhyjsqvoBH3oeSaKyILyFscXRmJ_FfXI_Vc7VJB0N8s5Q1R0JhrpzabPiRwch6p_9-AaukhEYTx12inOYFnRXgEgDNZyG5p/s1600/Playing+with+a+broken+arm.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifANh7hwYeBoMB95BtwVyfpKdCHLXaFOxdxmze-bKOMa3lkRhyjsqvoBH3oeSaKyILyFscXRmJ_FfXI_Vc7VJB0N8s5Q1R0JhrpzabPiRwch6p_9-AaukhEYTx12inOYFnRXgEgDNZyG5p/s200/Playing+with+a+broken+arm.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Playing with a broken arm</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If you are a rich Pakistani guitarist, I highly
recommend that you get rid of those extra plots in the DHA and buy quality guitars
instead.</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Related articles and credits</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/the-purchase-of-gibson-les-paul-custom.html">The Purchase Of Gibson Les Paul Custom</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read more about music-related articles </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/p/music.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HERE</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photographs 7-12 courtesy of Steve Curtis at </span><a href="http://theguitarrepairworkshop.com/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Guitar Workshop</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, Manchester, England</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Photographs 13-21 and 23 by the writer</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-72427504458806116952017-01-01T23:10:00.002+05:002017-02-01T18:48:01.631+05:00The Purchase Of Gibson Les Paul Custom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdB2X7MFchvoxBAXMfpSp6OsEsZLCmyj-lbC4KB63a9VXdttX-bfDkZf06X2JiT-uI4vuzEzOkEadYKIEpBi0oUtGybLkJwKoj4fdJJqBWu1yc5DdTtCY4CiIykT0YDpnz6SfwjdA14vZX/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdB2X7MFchvoxBAXMfpSp6OsEsZLCmyj-lbC4KB63a9VXdttX-bfDkZf06X2JiT-uI4vuzEzOkEadYKIEpBi0oUtGybLkJwKoj4fdJJqBWu1yc5DdTtCY4CiIykT0YDpnz6SfwjdA14vZX/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In December of 1980, a friend from Rawalpindi excitedly relayed
to me extremely important news: “A foreigner is selling a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Les_Paul_Custom">Gibson Les Paul Custom</a> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">guitar!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In those days no worth mentioning music equipment store existed
in this ‘Land of the Pure’. One could not walk into the kinds of stores they
had in New York or London that sold shiny guitars and powerful amplifiers of
all shapes and sizes. All we had here were dilapidated family workshops that
manufactured eastern instruments. Hence, young musicians took very seriously all fair-skinned diplomats and sun-tanned hippies who even
hinted they were selling their instruments to deprived brown buyers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtf4ZmegHHfv6yYsKR133eo3l9s0m_f6vuhEfaorBRVmoUdQZqYuUkmWkE5Y4n_HAYvZ-1bWzQydjcrX5g0nkYWAZvtE9WBeqcA2PmHq-cKH63mh2qIBVrQDTyFvu83LR-iNjwbvcJKyC7/s1600/2b.+Guild+D-40.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtf4ZmegHHfv6yYsKR133eo3l9s0m_f6vuhEfaorBRVmoUdQZqYuUkmWkE5Y4n_HAYvZ-1bWzQydjcrX5g0nkYWAZvtE9WBeqcA2PmHq-cKH63mh2qIBVrQDTyFvu83LR-iNjwbvcJKyC7/s320/2b.+Guild+D-40.png" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.brightonguitars.co.uk/vintage-guitars/vintage-acoustic-guitars/1979-Guild-D40_nt"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guild D-40</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“How much is he asking for the Les Paul?” I enquired.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“<i>Six thousand Rupees</i>,
but nobody is willing to pay <i>that</i>
much!” he stressed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Master of the universe<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By then I was young and permanently employed, and whatever
energy I was left with after work went straight into music. I had by then my
first electric guitar, a German <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6fner">Höfner</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">173ii purchased from John and David
Lewis of a band called ‘Just Purple’ who played at the Inter-continental Hotel
Lahore in the middle 1970s.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A tall Yamaha TA-90 guitar amplifier graced the
corner of my one-room residence in the twin cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad. I
purchased this great piece-of-history from Subuk Majeed of a Karachi-based band
named ‘21</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Century’. I then bought an American acoustic guitar,
Guild D-40, in 1980 from Manny’s Music on W48th Street.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_JyFWDLZl9VDV9T9yd40xAkVpNKnu-WgeJp2-67p7JGhUwecxAv83orarVynQFCuJ6IvES2DL9c64XnF8n3cjcCZQQEtaHaE3cfrs3c9PpedyBIxUMrLkHgv8bU1IiSigfz2YONvKDue/s1600/Yamaha+TA-90+amp+%252821st+Century+-+Tariq+Tee-M%252CZahoor%252CSubak+Majeed%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7_JyFWDLZl9VDV9T9yd40xAkVpNKnu-WgeJp2-67p7JGhUwecxAv83orarVynQFCuJ6IvES2DL9c64XnF8n3cjcCZQQEtaHaE3cfrs3c9PpedyBIxUMrLkHgv8bU1IiSigfz2YONvKDue/s320/Yamaha+TA-90+amp+%252821st+Century+-+Tariq+Tee-M%252CZahoor%252CSubak+Majeed%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">21st Century (keyboardist Subak Majeed & Yamaha TA-90)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On almost daily basis I penned English lyrics and produced even
more English-sounding melodies on the guitar. Writing was like combing my hair; it came
naturally and totally lice-free. Only the closest friends got to hear my pop-rock
‘stuff’. I imagined my songs would one day reach the coveted number one spot
on the pop charts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Martial days, c</span></b><b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ivil nights<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Those were the unhappy Martial Law years of MIL-DIC
(military dictator) General <i>Zeeah Owl-Hawk</i>.
He applied no eye makeup, was unfamiliar with how to trim moustaches and had
dropped onto the political scene to make an elected Prime Minister drop dead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbgcTorxa7q0bVqNP2gZ2N0V1UV8w7LLvF8zeBRn0qSSXywJcG8c_lt6r2hJE6esf2l50ZJaCIbkKNDa_9sBBM7qMCL_lGJII2zMevcI5_HNOJ0Ju2-DRLytpNfiMRvT4qqHEfWEWfv2-/s1600/2b.+Reagan+meets+with+Mujahideen+in+Oval+Office%252C+1983.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAbgcTorxa7q0bVqNP2gZ2N0V1UV8w7LLvF8zeBRn0qSSXywJcG8c_lt6r2hJE6esf2l50ZJaCIbkKNDa_9sBBM7qMCL_lGJII2zMevcI5_HNOJ0Ju2-DRLytpNfiMRvT4qqHEfWEWfv2-/s320/2b.+Reagan+meets+with+Mujahideen+in+Oval+Office%252C+1983.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reagan with the 'Mujahideen' (Oval Office 1983)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">War was in the air, peace had taken a backseat, Art was being
looked down upon, and the Reagan-sponsored militant <i>mullahs</i>
were flying high. Citizens who ‘did not listen’ were being <a href="http://tribune.com.pk/story/378820/journalists-flogged-during-zias-time-say-they-were-proud-of-punishment/">publically flogged</a> by the
government. Artists contemplated committing mass suicide at the pearly gates of
the PTV (Pakistan Television) and Radio Pakistan. I preferred being wild in
private than ending up being officially sanitised for being un-Islamic or
something close to my true nature. Discotheques had already closed down and the
dancers were mere scattered moths. After <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulfikar_Ali_Bhutto">Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto</a> was hanged in 1979, I felt it was silly to dance to martial music played during <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Day">Pakistan Day</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Day">Defence Day</a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">parades</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8mDWMHugf-GXSzySWQoxsAS5SQZ2AVejq1Mm3cMCIMIkHvQzC61ez97ElHsm3ethwCgh1-nJDJAyMBc8YG2LDeeU_TIhhQGofeEvzyFbc-Ej9sZYhfOtVrq2QdLJMrinZtw_ERlXhHge/s1600/3.+Public+flogging.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8mDWMHugf-GXSzySWQoxsAS5SQZ2AVejq1Mm3cMCIMIkHvQzC61ez97ElHsm3ethwCgh1-nJDJAyMBc8YG2LDeeU_TIhhQGofeEvzyFbc-Ej9sZYhfOtVrq2QdLJMrinZtw_ERlXhHge/s320/3.+Public+flogging.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We'll give you democracy. Here!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After work when I returned home, two guitars and an
amplifier waited to be played and loved, much like two dotting children and a
good wife. They did not beg, “Daddy take me to the playground” or “Honey, take
me out for shopping”. They just wished to be played, and play I did for hours.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Being pure man-kind, I was only beginning to discover woman-kind
without understanding what the fairy-tale benefits of having a regular wife
really were. Looking at men and their wives scared me; they neither seemed to
be on speaking terms nor held each other’s hands in public. Because life was
good to me, the thought of marrying had not yet gnawed at my brain despite
mother’s persistent efforts. Looking at my father, I knew I could be a stronger freedom-fighter than him after marrying. Owning a house was still a few
years away but thanks to a disciplinarian and supportive father, I became a
proud owner of Pakistan’s favourite car: Toyota Corolla.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8q0-wyf0TT2iQaX6cLPKCfC96o3wYreyOG-zXtxknOOrvkBuN0zuovHamAiXiVhlMjTzLyJNnCSWCRNCceOAqEVLo4BIywsiMd11arLSWZDL1BDWQlbb7WgGeUdq06E5wCA1L3fZk-0yC/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8q0-wyf0TT2iQaX6cLPKCfC96o3wYreyOG-zXtxknOOrvkBuN0zuovHamAiXiVhlMjTzLyJNnCSWCRNCceOAqEVLo4BIywsiMd11arLSWZDL1BDWQlbb7WgGeUdq06E5wCA1L3fZk-0yC/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The neck designed to turn heads</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Spell of the Black
Beauty</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Back to the story now: the news of ‘a foreigner selling a Gibson
guitar’ took me to the bank the very next morning where I asked beautiful Miss
Yasmin, “What’s my balance like?” She could not help but smile at the double
entendre. I could not be distracted by fair damsels who were not in distress. It
was decided that one more guitar, especially a Gibson Les Paul Custom, would
not bring financial ruin but rather great joy to this account-holder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Using a real pen and paper I sought details about the guitar from the seller, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Welch">Charles David Welch</a>,
a Political Officer at the U.S Embassy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“It’s a Gibson Les Paul from the mid-1970s, black in colour,
comes with a hard case and will cost Rupees 6,000”, he replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEmRRva3MfSUqXmjA_TvfWqpMp8c53-3fdNrlCqM2oJP3VZmT844bSF6DyvyZD16OB3j7IZHHl_8ZjujDgHf_ndoaNeQdPqHftwbndBUSVaQ4DKU7Y8_ekKW1ie6HDlZbhi48XdX4Hg-Z/s1600/5.+Landing+plane.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEmRRva3MfSUqXmjA_TvfWqpMp8c53-3fdNrlCqM2oJP3VZmT844bSF6DyvyZD16OB3j7IZHHl_8ZjujDgHf_ndoaNeQdPqHftwbndBUSVaQ4DKU7Y8_ekKW1ie6HDlZbhi48XdX4Hg-Z/s200/5.+Landing+plane.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.freepik.com/free-vector/landing-airplane-at-sunset_712813.htm#term=flying plane&page=2&position=29"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Comin' to getcha</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A bit windy in Pindi<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The job entitlement entitled me to a free return air-ticket within Pakistan. I called David from the airport. The
house-keeper revealed, “<i>Sahib</i> has
just left for the airport for a flight to Karachi”. Unbelievable bad luck, I
thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Since time was of the essence, the airlines counter-staff
very kindly obliged me by making an announcement, “Mr. David, please contact
the staff”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Within a few minutes a lean and puzzled American emerged,
“Yes? Who's looking for me?”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I introduced myself, he would not believe I had flown all
the way from Karachi just for the guitar. This actually went against me for he
knew I wanted the guitar at any cost.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Tell you what; I’m going off for a day. We could meet tomorrow”,
said David.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidZ9YwUE5Bhd3pqQD3_etATrZznwXdqwxXLLaPjXHTHV_qPeYYjzhm4J5LzuSil8wIKfI2ZTJ5k764Zd7y0r26Rq7LI7_2PpB-rAsg2DdWzOsFBMwkG1NaL_c2HvEoRp2Wt0psaO9jYHV/s1600/7b.+C.+David+Welch.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidZ9YwUE5Bhd3pqQD3_etATrZznwXdqwxXLLaPjXHTHV_qPeYYjzhm4J5LzuSil8wIKfI2ZTJ5k764Zd7y0r26Rq7LI7_2PpB-rAsg2DdWzOsFBMwkG1NaL_c2HvEoRp2Wt0psaO9jYHV/s320/7b.+C.+David+Welch.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Charles David Welch</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Most men are serious about cars, those like myself are even more serious about
guitars. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I ended up staying with a friend. Without that guitar, it was like spending a wedding-night without a bride, or so I thought back then.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The next afternoon I called David </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sahib</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> again. “Sure thing, come on over to my place”, he said giving
directions to School Road.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Waiting at the main door, I could hear the man-servant
inform <i>sahib</i> about my arrival. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He%27s_Misstra_Know-It-All">Stevie Wonder's</a> song,<i> </i><a href="https://youtu.be/WZhn7O7D2_E">He’s Misstra Know-It-All</a>,
spun over a turntable connected to a powerful amplifier feeding a pair of tall hi-fi
speakers. Sipping a drink, I found David in the living room. He placed the
guitar case before me. With trembling hands I opened the lid to find over plush-lining,
a 1974 model Les Paul asleep like a true <a href="http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/Custom/1974-Les-Paul-Custom-Reissue.aspx">‘Black Beauty’</a>.
I touched her, she winked; I smiled and said in my heart, “Baby, you’re mine!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXItcCcW4K1KtW0t-GLDn6K4gKw3J7ARatIPkkBRMmuwc1WuWtRtUFC-d6IVtfGJsNiKaxMKGonp5MBnzpWcqEeXD5hi7yzD-AORzjAr6Y6pU34fjc71_miZNx0augkmRJdyzshCSdEOpA/s1600/4.+Red+Les+Paul.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXItcCcW4K1KtW0t-GLDn6K4gKw3J7ARatIPkkBRMmuwc1WuWtRtUFC-d6IVtfGJsNiKaxMKGonp5MBnzpWcqEeXD5hi7yzD-AORzjAr6Y6pU34fjc71_miZNx0augkmRJdyzshCSdEOpA/s200/4.+Red+Les+Paul.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.freepik.com/free-photo/tool-of-the-trade_665235.htm#term=les paul&page=1&position=15"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Les Paul</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1980, one American dollar was equivalent to ten Pakistani
Rupees, the F-</span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ghan</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jee-had</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> was in full swing and the
Taliban were being fully funded by President Ronald Reagan’s administration. I suspected David
played Stevie’s song just to clarify that there would not be any Pakistani-style
discount and that ‘$600’ did not mean $599.95. He surely seemed like a </span><a href="http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/stevie_wonder/hes_misstra_know-it-all.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘man with a plan’</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> who respected my teetotaller status when I politely refused a ‘drink’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With six
years of guitar playing experience under the belt, I inspected the ‘axe’ like
an expert; there appeared to be no visible defect except the price. A</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">t precisely 6:45 p.m. on 2nd of March 1981, a</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">fter parting
with money equivalent to two months’ salary, I shot out of the diplomat’s house
with Lady Gibson by my side.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Envious little boys<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By mid-1981 I was federally entrenched as a capitalist in
Islamabad. Good guitarist friends thought my Les Paul Custom was a ‘big deal’
but then there were intensely jealous souls to contend with. When I jammed (played
guitar) with the latter, they showed envy by playing louder and faster than I
did.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKsFLlygCp9EzFqW8gl6epuDufECG9Fgtbt_dEL_fkYdgD6M14QMRw90XN78Opdglb4y_KOneR-z6uzLWBKmpENYDMmtJHD4mBchFvH78vo_KYK-LYmxpBe5kMKC3DFJHXOBsqREnF-xv/s1600/6.+Angry+man.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuKsFLlygCp9EzFqW8gl6epuDufECG9Fgtbt_dEL_fkYdgD6M14QMRw90XN78Opdglb4y_KOneR-z6uzLWBKmpENYDMmtJHD4mBchFvH78vo_KYK-LYmxpBe5kMKC3DFJHXOBsqREnF-xv/s200/6.+Angry+man.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.freepik.com/free-photo/crazy-sports-man-angry-expression_1010394.htm#term=raging man&page=3&position=19"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">God, give ME a Les Paul</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Guitarist <a href="https://lmkonline.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/gerard-vanderlowen-is-loved-so-much-by-mary-lou-vanderlowen/">Gerard Vanderlowen</a> at the Inter-Continental Hotel Rawalpindi owned a Tiesco (Japanese copy of
the Fender Telecaster) and turning over my expensive guitar he asked, “Man, are
you sure this is an original Gibson?” Insinuating that the guitar was an
illegitimate child was enough to make me fume for weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then there was this skinny young man called <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/859307/exclusive-the-life-and-times-of-rohail-hyatt">Rohail Hyatt</a> who came over just to look at my 'Black Beauty'; his band, <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/859168/sound-check-vitology-the-definitive-vital-signs-discography"> Vital Signs</a> would take five more years to form. The band, for reasons best known to them,
have never admitted that I gave a two-bar intro bass lick to bassist Shahzad
Hassan while <i>Dil Dil Pakistan</i> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHeQUtRsMLU">at 00:29</a>)
was being created at Rohail’s Lal Kurti residence in Rawalpindi.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1981 to Orwellian 1984<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Living in Islamabad I initially formed a band. The drummer,
Naveed, for whom I brought a Tama Royal Star drum-kit all the way from Manny’s
of New York, had the dangerous habit of holding his breath </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">while drumming</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> until he turned red. A quick pat on his back usually released the tension. We played a few shows at </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxila" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taxila</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8MGTaomQTgCcmYhVKpZGQ1STLrJC5Yg69dcoc_iyAMKDGESj2yFyU4ielMlLeAg2_k2k0fMmTwdU7u3X6-SDloDljMoDbIWLiGw2HH-paWCH-LsMI0AHTrsG6jPxdIWVPxrcFkI3n3Ma/s1600/8.+1974+Les+Paul+Custom+Reissue.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj8MGTaomQTgCcmYhVKpZGQ1STLrJC5Yg69dcoc_iyAMKDGESj2yFyU4ielMlLeAg2_k2k0fMmTwdU7u3X6-SDloDljMoDbIWLiGw2HH-paWCH-LsMI0AHTrsG6jPxdIWVPxrcFkI3n3Ma/s400/8.+1974+Les+Paul+Custom+Reissue.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/Custom/1974-Les-Paul-Custom-Reissue.aspx"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1974 Les Paul Custom Reissue</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then I down-sized to an oddly named duo: ‘Terry Billy Hurt’.
We performed at fine restaurants such as Heer Ranjha (Super Market), Black
Beard’s (F-7 Market) and Mr Chips. Initially I had </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ali, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">a Bengali guitarist, playing with me but later keyboardist Nusrat Hussein (later with Vital Signs) joined me. I played mostly rhythm guitar in order to sing easily as a
frontman but occasionally switched to lead guitar.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By 31</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> December
1982, I was using Nady Pro-49 wireless guitar system that allowed me to wow the
audience. The lack of a long cable attached to an amplifier reminded them of
eastern movies whose non-guitarist heroes never physically plugged into
amplifiers.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1P_TOIOAJIzUs4zlsmXq-9gRQCGU0Ycp0YPLUuqZUfFF_vsiADXCgWbZ-xiQ9hve2iviqGL9KtMOjN2MDDYcxKVCjQIUrdXp_q5aNtPY5olaZn1bvTriveIjo9VbIW0aVm6qLvL9QyEQr/s1600/9.+Red+and+black+LP.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1P_TOIOAJIzUs4zlsmXq-9gRQCGU0Ycp0YPLUuqZUfFF_vsiADXCgWbZ-xiQ9hve2iviqGL9KtMOjN2MDDYcxKVCjQIUrdXp_q5aNtPY5olaZn1bvTriveIjo9VbIW0aVm6qLvL9QyEQr/s320/9.+Red+and+black+LP.png" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015/Custom/1974-Les-Paul-Custom-Reissue.aspx"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">1974 Les Paul Custom Reissue (black & red)</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In those days I had two guitar students who learned more
than a thing or two from me. One was Rauf, the son of PPP’s former Minister for
Religious Affairs: <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/665959/maulana-who">Maulana Kausar Niazi</a>,
popularly known as 'Maulana Whiskey'. The other one was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizwan-ul-Haq">Rizwan-ul-Haq</a>,
son of a strict Navy officer, who later joined the pop band Vital Signs. I
still have in my record Rizwan’s hand-written and signed application form.
Because he gladly paid for the lessons, I have reason to believe he atoned for
his boyhood sins by laying eyes on my Les Paul guitar. A quarter of a century
later he would show me twenty-five Les Paul guitars at his Islamabad apartment.
One can shake off a woman but never a Les Paul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Money for something
and kicks for free<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As my job made me move to other cities, the Les Paul moved with
me and starred on several studio recordings at my home-studio: <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/p/music.html">Sound on Sound</a>.
I actually had the best of both worlds: generous job promotions fattened my
bank account and bits of </span><a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.fr/p/music.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fame</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> gladdened me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks to the internet, I rediscovered Charles David Welch recently. He finally
struck gold. From being <i>Misstra
Know-It-All</i>, David became Misstra Do-It-All. After reaching a high office in
the U.S State Department under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice">Condoleezza Rice</a> and enjoying postings at key capitals within the Middle East, he resigned his
post to work as President of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechtel">Bechtel</a>'s
three divisions. In 2000, this company partially owned the water utility in
Bolivia. To watch the story of the combined greed of Bechtel and the World Bank, click </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfFhN-tINoU" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">HERE</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_javrDEUuzg1L9gDBSNBmo7b7uUFdPthjmFpRavclIeFLXTe61sqlyHAyrH-vP-o3y54I4DEdWG0QGFuuvCMF0zt8-_pfgh_3wOaQciCmau6Yx-5X4Yr2dJrLvMCQN2ndxCnLziCsZ_QX/s1600/Les+Paul.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_javrDEUuzg1L9gDBSNBmo7b7uUFdPthjmFpRavclIeFLXTe61sqlyHAyrH-vP-o3y54I4DEdWG0QGFuuvCMF0zt8-_pfgh_3wOaQciCmau6Yx-5X4Yr2dJrLvMCQN2ndxCnLziCsZ_QX/s320/Les+Paul.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Les Paul playing with all fours</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Getting my baby fixed</span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the next article I will tell you about the emotional
problems my Les Paul Custom guitar later had, how I got her treated by a psychiatrist under a couch, and reveal other confidential details. Until then, keep playing.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><b>Related articles</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Read part-II of this article: <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.com/2017/02/re-fretting-gibson-les-paul-custom.html">Re-Fretting Gibson Les Paul Custom</a><br />Read more music-related articles <a href="http://writersblocktgh.blogspot.fr/p/music.html">HERE</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"> ©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2017</span></span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2979068210040167221.post-4528751315946835852016-07-02T17:49:00.001+05:002016-07-10T15:46:29.536+05:00Crescent Observation Predictions For Shawwal 1437 AH (2016 AD)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0JxWWmDqZHDX_wS9kJ2Jbo4Wi04GPCbGb8O8PNTtsAW1difswWCbgzGod9UhlPhqgD5w1L6DX7bV77WMKTQlngUXOz6ENhANeHqffXMmZ9-nljr5u76PMGd0AEwqF4nohN0B_MVgvZyR/s1600/Crescent.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf0JxWWmDqZHDX_wS9kJ2Jbo4Wi04GPCbGb8O8PNTtsAW1difswWCbgzGod9UhlPhqgD5w1L6DX7bV77WMKTQlngUXOz6ENhANeHqffXMmZ9-nljr5u76PMGd0AEwqF4nohN0B_MVgvZyR/s200/Crescent.png" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hope all of you are enjoying the holy month of fasting (Ramadan). While you cleanse your body of toxins, do not ignore getting rid of things that harm your soul.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Special Moon Events in 2016</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/super-full-moon.html">Super New Moon</a>: 7 Apr<br /><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/micro-moon.html">Micro Full Moon</a>: 22 Apr<br /><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/super-full-moon.html">Super New Moon</a>: 7 May<br /><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/blue-moon.html">Blue Moon</a>: 22 May (third Full Moon in a season with four Full Moons)<br /><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/pakistan/lahore">Penumbral Lunar Eclipse</a> visible in Lahore on 16 Sep – 17 Sep<br /><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/black-moon.html">Black Moon</a>: 30 Oct (second New Moon in single calendar month)<br /><a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/super-full-moon.html">Super Full Moon</a>: 14 Nov</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Do it yourself</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The accurate data and visibility curves given below will help you </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">cross-check official claims and appreciate the wonders of scientific reality. However, no amount of science can cover the flaws of human observation or compensate for cloud cover. As usual, those who live at extreme geographical locations might find it difficult to look for the crescent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Through those who had the knowledge of such calculations, the last messenger of Allah and his companions could have simply announced the starts and beginnings of Islamic months but instead they preferred VISUAL sighting of the crescent (<i>hilal</i>) so that there remained no doubt in any believer's mind.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few years ago when I spoke with religious scholar <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javed_Ahmad_Ghamidi">Javed Ahmad Ghamidi</a> over the phone, he opined: "There was absolutely no need to form committees since a sighting report from any part of the world should suffice as evidence. The Muslims should not celebrate Eid on different dates".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are two problems Muslims face today:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For determining various prayer timings, countries have varying descriptions of sunrise and sunset (with reference to the number of degrees the sun is below the horizon).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Countries do not have consensus on the idea that if the crescent is sighted anywhere over Earth, will its sighting be acceptable to the entire Muslim </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ummah</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">? For example, will crescent sighting in the southern latitudes (Australia) be acceptable to Muslims in Europe and America considering the vast time zone differences? </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is clear, the difference in dates could be one or perhaps two days but never three days (as it sometimes happens in Indonesia).</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is an astronomical impossibility to report the moon's conjunction (birth) as 'sighted' in Arabia when nobody else on Earth has seen it.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Data and visibility curves</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let us first focus on Jeddah (Arabia) and Peshawar (Pakistan). Each year, Peshawar reports seeing the crescent by ignoring its own horizon and follows the distant Arabian one. Traditionally, Afghanistan follows Arabia when it comes to lunar affairs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then we have the data and visibility curves for Karachi, Lahore and London. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From the coloured legend (bottom right hand side of the graphics) you will be able to easily see if your location falls within one of the visibility curves on a given date. Click on any image to see its enlarged version for 4th and 5th July 2016.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ISzAYQdF1J2CJfWdO2sYvt5d3wnE4qGuaVeSS75ctdNzGgbDYJxbq0mcIj1826wD_T0hfuKZrfTPy9OMHxZdMoEZ6BtLfZUPRUXfoTrUqNOuVeP-8SEKs4IeWfnRvyd20OLOvLebsYLp/s1600/Crescent-2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ISzAYQdF1J2CJfWdO2sYvt5d3wnE4qGuaVeSS75ctdNzGgbDYJxbq0mcIj1826wD_T0hfuKZrfTPy9OMHxZdMoEZ6BtLfZUPRUXfoTrUqNOuVeP-8SEKs4IeWfnRvyd20OLOvLebsYLp/s1600/Crescent-2.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Lunar calendar</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The lunar calendar will always remain a necessity for determining occasions such as Ramadan, Hajj (pilgrimage at Makkah) and the two Eid festivals.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The onus of responsibility clearly falls on those who falsely report crescent sightings or believe aged observers and outright liars. This institutional wrong means that Muslims get </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">wrong dates for </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">performing the Hajj, starting the holy month of Ramadan (fasting) and celebrating Eid festivals.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The idea behind writing about lunar astronomy is to help one look with precision at the sky and to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">appreciate the inner workings of God's System (Nature)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Astronomy must be studied by each Muslim, as was done during the zenith of Muslim rule.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Observation matters need not be left to the experts with telescopes; even novices can enjoy watching the sky in order to fulfil God’s Will and the <i>sunnah </i>(practices of Prophet Muhammad, peace on him).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Muslim unity and the moon</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A simultaneous global sighting of the crescent is an astronomical impossibility due to the moon’s eccentric rotation and orbital behaviour. Hence, celebrating Eid on a single day across a huge land mass (USA, China, India) is not a religious requirement but rather an idea propounded by the religious globalists.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It has now become a <i>fitna </i>(trial, tribulation), frequently leading to disagreements and discord that serves to divide Muslims further on non-issues. We need to first agree on how many degrees below the horizon must the sun be for Fajr, Maghrib and Isha' prayers. Why must so many different criteria exist?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few important points need to be borne in mind for 04 July 2016 at Lahore:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The birth of the new moon (conjunction) will take place at 11:01 UTC (16:01 Pakistan Standard Time) during the day.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunset at Lahore will take place at 19:11 LT, and the moon will set at 18:58 LT (or 00:13 minutes BEFORE sunset).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">During the bright sunlight, it will be impossible to sight the crescent as its location will be below the horizon (at -2°18').</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Shawwal crescent will be only 03 hours and 10 minutes old at sunset. Hence, it will be invisible even if viewed with a telescope.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The crescent will be seen on 05 July, therefore in Pakistan, Eid al-Fitr should fall on 06 July 2016—unless someone in the Rooyat-e-Hilal Committee of Pakistani <a href="http://www.dawn.com/news/1266508">errs</a> or the Riyals blind us completely.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * * * * * * * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * *</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kcpeNx_A1miEF-Ra2oX2NSpttx-jVXF6fKQwRDIgyBHqa54b8DS3nPm6rk63VUgU6glIRkU2QAlxJEHdbgcrNVu1h4NA1w1EPwWijnc-hpAYLsWFdcQIn_kbTMCwPCq2ZHkFo00sGV_O/s1600/04-07-16.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3kcpeNx_A1miEF-Ra2oX2NSpttx-jVXF6fKQwRDIgyBHqa54b8DS3nPm6rk63VUgU6glIRkU2QAlxJEHdbgcrNVu1h4NA1w1EPwWijnc-hpAYLsWFdcQIn_kbTMCwPCq2ZHkFo00sGV_O/s400/04-07-16.gif" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">04 July 2016 visibility curves (notice </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Arabia in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">RED )</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Jeddah, ARABIA (Monday, 04 July, 2016)</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunset: 19:11 LT</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moonset: 19:08 LT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Age: 05 hours, 10 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Lag Time: - 03 minutes (moonset BEFORE set)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Altitude (height above horizon): -00°:38':54" (negative angle)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Azimuth (compass direction): +289°:52':46"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Distance: 372,680 Km</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crescent Visibility: The crescent will NOT BE VISIBLE even with binoculars.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Tuesday 05 July 2016, the moon (at sunset) will be 00:45 minutes old and the time lag between sunset and moon-set will be a comfortable 00:50 minutes. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The crescent will easily be visible with naked eyes, hence Eid will be on Wednesday 06 July. And the best time to observe the crescent on 05 July is: 19:33 LT.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsx6VaUquzjoZQyUdpkEtFq4fXBG3p3zqzWDKLBDt_VaepOPipbbFt4lFrkE1S546aRld5Zoq3pRIFlZO-giZv1698Hzb_S9NzKFdvlpHJUDRImS5-DSmKRITz0LAVz2DOe1d3UkHMmu5/s1600/Shawwal%252C+4+July+2016-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnsx6VaUquzjoZQyUdpkEtFq4fXBG3p3zqzWDKLBDt_VaepOPipbbFt4lFrkE1S546aRld5Zoq3pRIFlZO-giZv1698Hzb_S9NzKFdvlpHJUDRImS5-DSmKRITz0LAVz2DOe1d3UkHMmu5/s400/Shawwal%252C+4+July+2016-1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">04 July 2016 visibility curves (notice </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Arabia in </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">RED )</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-Rm5pT4iTIAy3yJZgi4V-b0iceh6KfL6Wk9muSHMupoEryD-KCwG3f7A4b9Lby-yqTBbThrcbho_hutjQ0Izasb2aw4mfCPFVGYYhRRQgk_IR0-bNu0zPccHF8cJIOE6aIvDeUOccpf-/s1600/05-07-16+at+best+time+1928+LT+Lahore.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-Rm5pT4iTIAy3yJZgi4V-b0iceh6KfL6Wk9muSHMupoEryD-KCwG3f7A4b9Lby-yqTBbThrcbho_hutjQ0Izasb2aw4mfCPFVGYYhRRQgk_IR0-bNu0zPccHF8cJIOE6aIvDeUOccpf-/s320/05-07-16+at+best+time+1928+LT+Lahore.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Picture of the sky (notice moon under the sun on top right)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://www.arabnews.com/node/949136/saudi-arabia" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saudi Supreme Court</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> confirmed there will be 30 days of Ramadan this year meaning Tuesday will be the last day of Ramadan. as the moon was not sighted on July 4 (Monday). Eid al-Fitr will be on July 6, 2016 (Wednesday). </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Currently, out of 116 countries, 41 appear to be following Arabia's crescent so-called sighting reports which are based on a published calendar called the </span><a href="http://www.al-habib.info/islamic-calendar/ummulqura/islamic-calendar-ummulqura-2016-ce.htm" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ummul Qura System</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. Just because the calendar shows (without actual sighing of the crescent) Eid al-Fitr falling on 6 July, must not mean that the entire world must blindly follow it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Peshawar, PAKISTAN </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(Monday, 04 July, 2016)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunset: 19:29 LT</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moonset: 19:14 LT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Age: 3 hours, 28 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Lag Time: -14 minutes (moonset BEFORE sunset) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Altitude (height above horizon): -02°:24':09" (below the horizon)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Azimuth (compass direction): +293°:58':45"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Distance: 372,408 Km</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crescent Visibility: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The crescent will NOT BE VISIBLE even with binoculars </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(but then who knows!).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">However, the best time to observe the crescent on 05 July is 19:45 LT, when a 27 hours 44 minutes old crescent will be 4</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">° above the horizon in a direction of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">287°:30':09". It should be visible either with naked eyes or with binoculars.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * * * * * * * * * * * * </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">* * * *</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Karachi, Pakistan </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(Tuesday, 05 July, 2016)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunset: 19:25 LT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moonset: 20:09 LT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Age: 27 hours, 43 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Lag Time: 00:44 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Altitude (height above horizon): +05°:20':05"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Azimuth (compass direction): +286°:04':24"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Distance: 376,687 Km</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crescent Visibility: The crescent will be VISIBLE with or without binoculars. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best time to observe the crescent is 19:44 LT.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOkh7xrqa-eJJlEFDtCcb5IqmzE5ma4s5WOuGdNpAMI8PYYiAFXpZGNWuN5qSvO68zS1Kp-J0on2fCzrwQVU-0PuMXND_4xgNd1NzK6hgufSiTDETqxM97fL79AJ05F2OfCp9Bzxsm99OG/s1600/05+July+2016+visibility+curves.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOkh7xrqa-eJJlEFDtCcb5IqmzE5ma4s5WOuGdNpAMI8PYYiAFXpZGNWuN5qSvO68zS1Kp-J0on2fCzrwQVU-0PuMXND_4xgNd1NzK6hgufSiTDETqxM97fL79AJ05F2OfCp9Bzxsm99OG/s400/05+July+2016+visibility+curves.gif" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">05 July 2016 visibility curves (notice overall GREEN)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Lahore, PAKISTAN </b></span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(Tuesday, 05 July, 2016)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunset: 19:11 LT</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moonset: 19:50 LT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Age: 27 hours, 27 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Lag Time: 00:39 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Altitude (height above horizon): +04°:25':37"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Azimuth (compass direction): +287°:03':09"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Distance: 376,635 Km</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crescent Visibility: </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The crescent will be VISIBLE with or without binoculars. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best time to observe the crescent is 19:28 LT.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">LATEST NEWS </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">at 9:30 pm (05 July, 2016)</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Despite my best efforts with binoculars in hand over the roof, I could <a href="http://moonsighting.com/1437shw.html">NOT</a> sight the crescent this evening. The Rooyat-e-Hilal committee, after cross-checking of sighting reports and the credentials of witnesses, finally declared that the 'crescent was sighted'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Elsewhere on the internet, <a href="http://moonsighting.com/1437shw.html">members</a> of crescent sighting committees did not sight the crescent themselves yet filed others' reports. How can this be admissible evidence of sighting?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why cannot the members of the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rooyat-e-Hilal committee </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">have reliable witnesses spread all over Pakistan? Why must observers take so long to report their findings when the moon has already set? Why is there so much delay in announcing the official results? Are people too busy with <i>iftaar </i>and prayers and which prevent them making timely reports? These are questions that need to be answered during talk-shows on national television.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqM2IJ2oJXWUM7zWeOYCBG0IaEu7xfjCPjrmDDyij7Op-ySxljc2dq2SLPPEmAMyG0F_cnBN3MDYimz4ye8lPE6mLy9Uir0T_OeyfHcNo0O4vWLf9FfFtY2Dr4ywVSBiyQ3A9y6ksyJrf/s1600/Shawwal%252C+5+July+2016-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVqM2IJ2oJXWUM7zWeOYCBG0IaEu7xfjCPjrmDDyij7Op-ySxljc2dq2SLPPEmAMyG0F_cnBN3MDYimz4ye8lPE6mLy9Uir0T_OeyfHcNo0O4vWLf9FfFtY2Dr4ywVSBiyQ3A9y6ksyJrf/s400/Shawwal%252C+5+July+2016-1.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">05 July 2016 visibility curves (notice overall GREEN)</span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">London, United Kingdom </b><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">(Tuesday, 05 July, 2016)</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunset: 20:21 LT</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moonset: 20:46 LT</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Age: 33 hours, 31 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Lag Time: 00:25 minutes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Altitude (height above horizon): +01°:48':23" (very low)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moon Azimuth (compass direction): +294°:19':29"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Distance: 377,820 Km</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crescent Visibility: Visible only with binoculors. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best time to observe the crescent is 20:32 LT.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>And finally</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I thank Allah and remain indebted to my astronomer friends whose accurate predictive software programmes and research have lit up my path of lunar astronomy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I welcome your questions and comments on this important subject, and hope that you will attempt to not only understand what I have provided here but also help others understand matters for their own good. If you would like prediction data for your location, please email me at: <i><span style="color: blue;">writersblocktgh.gmail.com</span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Once you wish to be guided by taking a few essential steps in the direction, Allah's Promise will come true: you will be protected and guided.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>They will ask thee about the new moons. Say: "They indicate the periods for [various doings of] mankind, including the pilgrimage." (Qur’an 2:189)</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have a lovely Eid al-Fitr.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Acknowledgement</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The two brightly coloured curve-graphs were copied from <a href="http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/">http://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The picture of the sky comes from <a href="http://www.moongiant.com/">http://www.moongiant.com/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">©Tahir Gul Hasan, 2016</span></div>
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Tahir Gul Hasanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02441522340391282744noreply@blogger.com8