From Food Street to Newbury Street

Random Honest Thoughts...

2007-03-15T00:54:00.001-03:00

Blogging seems like the perfect way to kill time before I start graduate school in Fall. So here I am… writing away at about 8 am, having not slept at all the previous night.

I describe myself as being happily confused at present. I have some decisions to make.. Big ones! Ones that will affect the rest of my life. My current state of mind goes on to fortify my belief in the theory that greed is insatiable, in all human beings barring a few. Considering I went to a rather not so highly ranked undergraduate school, I should be thrilled at the prospect of attending universities like uChicago, Kellogg and INSEAD. And thrilled I am. .... edited... I tend to value education more than most people I know. I think only my friend Humayun clearly exceeds me in this matter.

So much for providing insight into my mind at this hour. As far as Lahore is concerned, I am amused at observing an economic concept that I had previously thought to only exist in books of economic history… the giffen good phenomenon, where people demand more of a good when its price goes up! Potatoes, during the Irish famine of the 19^th century, form perhaps the only example of this phenomenon… until now. The restaurants on MM Alam Road are exhibiting the same traits. As new more expensive restaurants open up in L-town, the “elite” shift to these more exclusive surroundings. Obviously, the food quality has to be comparable. The movement from the 300-ruppee-restaurant zouk to the 500-ruppee-restaurant alanto to the 700-ruppee-restaurant trimasu shows that the so called elite (idiots) exhibit giffen behavior. ( if you go to trimasu for the molten cake, this logic does not apply to you.. since food quality becomes different).

According to a friend who runs a high-end design house, when he raised prices of his bridal dresses, the demand went up. A certain breed of these lahoris craves exclusivity.

The worst of these elite are the professional “socialities” (yes, some people claim that to be their profession). This is the crowd that used to wake up 8 am on Sunday to see if their picture made it in the Sunday magazine. They would, then, proceed to call up everyone they knew in town and boast about conquering mount everest! Now these people have switched to GT magazine, but the story goes the same way. They would literally die to get their pictures taken at every party, GT ( here it implies the socialite’s term for a get together!), dinner, etc etc etc. Even more sad are those that pay to buy this magazine. I am proud to say I have never bought this magazine thought I have gone through the magazine at the place of a regular subscriber. I was then simply stunned & speechless and am now wordless to describe extent of desperation that some of these “elites” exhibit. People go to HAJ, come back and throw a party to celebrate HAJ, take pictures at the party, and get them published in GT under a caption like.. home after HAJ. Excuse me but you people have surely lost it! Next thing we know… these people will start taking pictures every time they change their new born’s diapers and get them published.

I sometimes wonder if Lahoris were this pretentious when I was growing up. I am more inclined to think they were not but then maybe I was just too naïve to observe or had no exposure to such unique marvels of Mother Nature.

I have not thought hard enough about the reasons behind the emergence of these “elite” but I believe part of the answer lies in the growing income disparity in Pakistan. The government introduced some tax reforms about 5 years ago that bar tax officers from questioning the tax payers and advises the tax officers to take their word at face value. Apparently, the policy is to give businesses and rich people a lax tax environment so that they can reinvest their profits, and thus grow their businesses and make new jobs. This trickle down theory aint gonna work! It never does.

Euthanasia

2007-03-14T17:32:00.000-03:00

Recently, one of our two fish died shortly after I had very lovingly cleaned their tank. The cause remains a mystery. In reality, the other one had died, too, but somehow was brought back to life miraculously. I've been watching him closely: he scarcely moves and consumes no food. The gorgeous metallic cerulean and blood red are fast fading, making the scales ever so visible. Tiny pectoral fins make several failed attempts at transient movements. He surfaces to water faintly parting his mouth and stagnates there till I tap the edge of the fish bowl. I've found him laying horizontally on the floor of the bowl playing dead. At those intensely sad moments, I've thought it's time to bury him. But then he revives! Still...barely...living...

It's been close to two days and my poor fish still remains agonized. It's tormenting for me to watch him in the current state. At the same time, I don't have the heart to put an unnatural end to his life.

That brings me to the question in focus: should euthanasia - better known as assisted suicide - be legal? It has merits and demerits that one can weigh.

If a person or an animal has been suffering for a considerable amount of time, and medicine has not yet discovered a cure for the ailment, it might be logical to relieve the person or the animal of all the suffering. That's when religious and moral values come into play. Emotional attachments are a barrier. The major religions of the world label it as murder (without the consent of the informed adult) or suicide (with the consent of the informed adult), and hence frown upon it.

Each situation varies, and consequently the decision varies. For now, I need to decide what needs to be done with my fish. Suggestions?

Bang!

2007-03-14T17:28:00.001-03:00

...and we're here!

The way we see it now, this blog is about two parallel lives.

Shahzeb will provide an insight to what goes on in (at the risk of sounding cheesy) the heart of Pakistan. The place where we have the legendary Food Street, the best Basants (kite flying festival), rich history and heritage, and most importantly, the warmest people!

I, on the other hand, will use this as an alternative to mass e-mails. It's a wonderful forum to enlighten everybody what my journey from Lahore's Food Street to Boston's chi-chi Newbury Street has been like.

Along the way, we will talk about every random thing that demands attention. Our readers must provide us with comments and ideas. Those of you who don't, should know that we are stubborn and persistent, and you will be held in an armlock till you have something to say!