On Monday night, I had a craving for some desi food, so my friend, two of my brothers and I decided to have one of the finest creamy chicken savoury served at Pyara Chargha , Mozang. What ought to be a simple trip, turned out to be a sort of adventure for us. We just went couple of furlong away from my home, when we noticed a punctured tyre. We removed the punctured tyre from the axle, it took us almost 20 minutes to do so as we all were first timer when it comes to remove a tyre. Cutting long story short, I volunteered to look after the handicapped car, where others get the tyre fixed. I sat on a small jutting coming out of someone’s porch. There I sat alone seeing the lanes on my left and right, and after couple of minutes a strange feeling of alienation imbued me. I have lived here for more than a silver jubilee; the lanes bears the names of my ancestors, but still I felt such an isolation there sitting alone. Suddenly I realized that this area ain’t what I used to live in, and due to my introversion and lack of ability to mingle in , I didn't feel the transformation earlier.
It was my epiphany, I was terrified to see what we have done with this city, the city has been transformed into a corpse, and we all inflicted by avarice, are eating the flesh on the carcass of once beautiful Lahore. Due to unplanned exodus from suburbs for some better living, Lahore has been crowded by all sort of unwanted population. I noticed , once a local dhabba providing food of some desirable quality; we as children were not allowed to eat food from outside, but my own cousin grew up eating the Nihari from there, now that dhabba has been converted into a sub standard and I am very positive in an illegal 5 storey building.
Allah forbid but I am seeing Lahore's culture becoming a sort of cosmopolitical amalgam , because the zest and beauty of its own culture is decaying in the mist of political ignorance. I am afraid some day Kasuri, Okarvi, Narowali, Gujrati etc culture will prevail in Lahore , and Lahore will be a mini Punjab but not Lahore as it used to be.
It was my epiphany, I was terrified to see what we have done with this city, the city has been transformed into a corpse, and we all inflicted by avarice, are eating the flesh on the carcass of once beautiful Lahore. Due to unplanned exodus from suburbs for some better living, Lahore has been crowded by all sort of unwanted population. I noticed , once a local dhabba providing food of some desirable quality; we as children were not allowed to eat food from outside, but my own cousin grew up eating the Nihari from there, now that dhabba has been converted into a sub standard and I am very positive in an illegal 5 storey building.
Allah forbid but I am seeing Lahore's culture becoming a sort of cosmopolitical amalgam , because the zest and beauty of its own culture is decaying in the mist of political ignorance. I am afraid some day Kasuri, Okarvi, Narowali, Gujrati etc culture will prevail in Lahore , and Lahore will be a mini Punjab but not Lahore as it used to be.
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