The cultural Cease

So when you meet people from different countries you are bound to learn new things. Because that gives you an opportunity to see the same situation with a whole different point of view. In the course that the future of this world is going to take. I wouldnt be surprsed if say 100 years from now poeople would be blogging about alien contacts and how much we can actually learn from them.

So a columbian friend of mine who has been friends with a pakistani friend of mine makes this startling revelation. According to her people from Pakistan cant talk and walk at the same time. For example when they are walking and their mobile telephone rings they always cease all motion and talk to the person on the other side even when its a mobile phone. She has seen my friend do it. and now she saw me do it.

But in order for this hypothesis to me of some authenticty we must observe ourselves more and people from other countries more. only then we will be able to conclude soemthing with absolute certainly.

Bahn

Okay so its been 3 days in berlin. and well what can I say about that? this that the city is huge.... and the public transport system is amazing. I think if one must live in berlin one must make sure he/she has a bahnhof nearby. and if its nearby then you can reach anyplace . Another thing that I noticed about the system is that no one ever checks if you have the ticket on not. Its all based on trust. I have now been travelling for 3 days in all sorts of things. tramps busses trains underground train. and not once did anyone ask me( or anyone one) if I had purchased the ticket or not. Makes you almost sad that you did buy it.

A friend tells me that the german peope are not only loyal but also very principled. It would be agaisnt a germans conscience to ride a bahn without a ticket. I have yet to form an opinion about the germans so i cant really appreciate or criticize that statement. In due time maybe I will be able to.

Arzoo;

So what took a total of 20 hours of commuting to and from airports trains buses and planes I find myself sitting in my friends room in Berlin using his computer(because mine broke down) writing this blog entry. Looks like I have made it. The realization will take sometime to sink deeper in but it will eventually and hasnt as of right now. In this epic(only because it happened to me) journey I met someone about whom I will like to write about. but not how I see them but how it happened to me

So I land at Dusseldorf airport, a big airport( not using "huge" because I haven't seen lot of other airports and hence have little basis for comparison. So I land, have the customs people see my passport(which is exactly what they did, they see it and stamp it that's it) and then I know I have to call 2 places. Firstly I have to call back home telling them I have reached here and secondly I call Waleed because he needs to know about my flight but I don't know how to call either of the places. So I stumble upon a bar/coffee shop/bakery at the airport. I look at one of the two girls sitting there and I ask "sprechen sie englisch?" to which she says "yes I speak English German and Hindi". I am surprised and I resort to talking to her in Urdu only to find out later that although her German and English are fluent and perfect, she needs to work on her Urdu/Hindi. She seems very chirpy funny is an excellent conversationalist very helpful and may I add "extremely good looking" She tells me she speaks in those languages studies and has parents which are Afghanis. She seems to like talking to me( but certainly not as much as I like talking to her) In my heart of hearts I am thinking of asking her to get me coffee to buy time but I have important calls to make and I cant waste time like this. But in a minute or two she brings me coffee herself and happily proclaims that "Its on the house". I am pleasantly surprised. I spend another 10 mins talking to her about random things about how I can make the calls and then I get up and leave never to see or meet her ever again.
There is something about people whom you just meet and click with and know will never meet again. Its the most wonderful of encounters and no words can describe them. They can only be lived

Jalsa

If one is in Pakistan and has a blog one finds oneself blogging about todays "Jalsa" at Minar-e-Pakistan by Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf. Pakistans general elections are due in 2 months now and for many Imran Khan is the new face of change in the country
The last 5 years that Pakistan Peoples Party has been in the government of Pakistan have been quite dismal. The electricity crisis has gone worse, there is no CNG for cars and prices are sky rocketing and corruption is rampant.
The topic of corruption reminds me of something though. It reminds me that when people complain about corruption and at the same time bribe the police constable on the road so he wouldnt ticket them, get their sons jobs at places the sons otherwise wont be able to land, and run their petrol fueled generators on Gas(illegal in Pakistan now) dont they feel like there is a tinge of double standard there? Why must they then think that the government should have people that have spotless and untainted characters? I dont suppose that those people come from a different mind set. Corruption is not only in the government. Its everywhere around us.

Ich Lerne Deutsch

Learning a language is a journey in itself. It takes consistent effort, involves rote learning and revolves around being able to retrieve information at will. I have been learning German for a while now and have thoroughly loved it so far. Learning German has made me ask questions about Urdu, my own mother tongue. I ask myself how will I teach someone Urdu if I had to because It certainly would be a daunting task. I think Urdu is a difficult language to master but I must admit that the number of languages with which I can compare that statistic is quite low.

As of right now I cant think of a word that means "Hello" in Urdu. It is a most startling revelation to me. Pakistan has become so Islamised as of late that the only "Hello" we have is an "AsslamoAlikum" which is simply Arabic for "May peace be unto you". When I think  harder I come up with the word"Adaab" but thats archaic Urdu and not used anymore. I dont know if I am overthinking or not. but thats how it is.

On backpacks

The wholesale market of Lahore has something for everyone of us. Be it the merchant the trader the manufacturer the laborer the consumer the window shopper the seeker the finder the hobbyist the critique the fun lover and the traveler. Pictured above is me with the new backpack for the adventure that I, in the foreseeable future am going to embark on. Pictured above is also the shop that I purchased it from. May I add that  no grants in my favor were made by the shop owner for this publicity.
Backpacks are great things because when you wear them , you have your world in them. They are great because they remind you of things that you really really want.Things that are your need. Things you cant live without. Not that emotional mumbo jumbo but real stuff. Water food shelter. It brings us back from where we started. They also strip you of every unnecessary belonging that you over the years may have loved and thought couldn't live without.
They teach you its not true. and wonderful are those things that teach you something.

Rambling

This is the place I come from. No I dont live in a mosque but I do live in a place called Lahore which is the architectureal cultural and historical hub of the former sub continent and now Pakistan. However I will not write much about that because the internet is choking with the marvels of Lahore already. I will only add that recently I have observed an increasing number of people wanting to get their "nikkah"(signing of the formal matrimonial document) in this particular mosque called the "Badshahi Mosque". As of right now the people I speak of are not married therefore I can not say if they will be able to live that dream or not

At the time of writing this, the Pakistan general elections are due in 2 months, the assemblies were dissolved yesterday and the interim Prime Minister is yet to be selected. This will be the first time that an elected government will transfer power to another elected one. In the 60 something years that Pakistan has existed, this will be the first time. The country is ripped with sectarian violence, minority killing intolerance and religious extremism. I may also add that the difference between the rich and the poor is so large that it hardly affects me(being from a affluent family that I am) if happens simultanously in a world parralel to mine. I wish it would be like that no more.

A Not So formal Introduction

So here we are. Trying to start a blog with little or no knowledge about blogging. So I guess a little bit about myself should be a good starting point. I am Shaharyar and I hail from Lahore, Pakistan. My interests include Music, playing and listening, Astronomy, observational and theoretical and sports, cricket in particular. This blog is an attempt to jot down important and valuable knowledge,lessons, pictures videos links that I may come across during my time in Berlin, Germany.

As for writing, I have often written for personal diaries funerals political sermons and what not but never anything as serious as a blog. The hope is that in due time when enough entries have been made to the blog I will be able to look them up and notice the change in my thinking , my behavior and most importantly “the lines of worry on my forehead”. It is with this hope that I start this and hope it will be a good read for any stumbler blogger reader passerby visitor that may venture this way J

Good luckJ

Shaharyar 17^th march 13