Moviegoing As A Spectator Sport!

Watching a movie at the cinemas in Lahore is quite an experience on it's own. Regardless of the movie being played, there is a pulse of social energy and excitement to be witnessed and that's always fascinated me.

Growing up in a slightly different part of the world, hitting the movies, or going to theater was always very private and personal. Sure people were sitting closely and sharing the same experience, but they chose to absorb it quietly, with srare occasional bursts of laughter at best. In fact, the more 'rebellious' amongst us were those that would whisper or snicker too loudly or in an untimely fashion while everyone else was silent.

When I pulled into the premier of Iron-man last night (which by the way is a must-watch!) at one of the nicer cinemas on the posh side of town, I was expecting to religiously get my pop corn and coke (Coke is unhealthy. If it wasn't such an important, albeit cliched ritual, I wouldn't touch that liquid of death!) and finding my way to the seat for 2 hours of mind-numbing, testosterone-charged visual entertainment.

The involvement of the audience was immediately evident as they gasped, giggled, and carried on with social agendas as if they were at a buzzing college party! Believe it or not, these bunch of passionate movie-goers would whistle, cheers and applaud every good scene in the film. They even found humor in the electrical fluctuation that made the screen go blank for a few minutes. At the end of those 2 hours, people got up and gave the movie a standing ovation! haha! Needless to say, I was taken aback by this enthusiastic show of appreciation. It was almost as if they audience half expected the actors on screen to come up from behind the curtains and take a bow!

Going to the movies in Lahore is passionate business. But it's not quite as sacred and private as in many other places out there. It's certainly not the ideal place to take your date hoping for some dark-corner fun! But it does remain a popular place for young people to socialize and have a great time.

I'm rather intrigued and I think I might just dare to go to the 'other' side of town to watch a local movie with a very different crowd profile. I hear it's quite a unique and remarkable activity to undertake! ..Perhaps, next time!

Matrimonial Arcana

Two awesome friends of mine, Adeel and Hana got engaged last night!

Now, while I've attended countless numbers of weddings in the last few weeks (since Nov-Dec-Jan is wedding season here - no wonder all the kids are born in Sep-Oct [9months!]), but being a part of something involving two friends this close had a special indescribable charm to it! Besta luck you too! We're all taking notes on successful relationships here! (..And we're all trying to forget how possessive I was about my friends when it all started! -- Ignore the picture, pls, we're just posing! Hana he's all yours! Ok.. maybe not in the broader sense of the word 'All'..! Khee Khee!)


A recent survey states that on average, people fall in love 6 times in their lifetime. Woah! SIX Times?! So, while there are people like Hana and Adeel bringing down the average drastically, I guess this finding says there's still hope for us commoners!

Additionally, another dear friend of mine told me yesterday that a large majority of people in Ukraine entertain the superstition that getting married in a leap year is not lucky. That does make me wonder as to what a belief like that would do to the thriving 'wedding industry' we have down here! Phew!

Get the feeling this yr's gonna be pretty eventful!

It's the Lahore-ian Nights...!

The last three days have actually been typically representative of Lahore and its culture for me.

Event 1: Cricket Match at the Gaddafi Stadium

Courtesy proactivity (and tickets) from Sohaib, I decided to brave the heat (Yes, it's October, but the afternoons are still insanely hot) and the fact that I was fasting and running low on water reserves fast, I decided to head for a few hours of Live Cricket at the amazing Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. This place is home to some of the fondest memories I have had over the last few years. It's always a refreshing experience to be there during a nerve-wrecking fast paced international match, so my hopes from my first experience watching a Test Match that was doomed to be a draw was indeed a daring one! (For those that don't know much about cricket, a test match is one where the two teams play cricket for like 8 hours a day for 5 days!!)

However, I was pleasantly surprised since the crowd there, watching a resultless match, were still as enthusiastic as ever! Cheering and Chanting hit a whole new dimension when, bored of the match, the spectators took to cheering for every political figure you see on TV (really, for all of them, in most funny and sarcastic manner!). This was followed by a series of chants for Superman! That's right! Superman! Haha.

Anyway, this turned out to be a special experience as I got to see Inzamam-ul-Haq representating Pakistan for the last time in international cricket. Now, there's no love lost between him and I, but I was taken aback by seeing the experience this man was going through. He had worn the flag of the country for 16 years, had started his career in the same ground, been Captain, had been in the winning team of the 1992 World Cup, lost the record for highest scorer in Pakistani cricket (by 2 runs!) and had been in the center of many controversies. And here he was, saying his final words to his fans, as the song 'Stand up for the Champions' played at the back! Very moving. I remember being completely overwhelmed as I had stood saying my final few words after my term at handover at the venue I had been elected last year, having only done what I was doing for 1 year, so I cannot even begin to imagine what this guy went through! Respect to Inzi!


Event 2: All You Can Eat - KFC

I reckon all of you, sometime of the other, have come across the phrase 'Them Lahoris.. They're all about the food!'

Oh My God! While I am Lahori as hell, I swear to you I got a culture shock seeing them rip apart their Zinger Burgers and pieces of fried chicken as soon as it was time to open to final fast of Ramadan. They showed no mercy to the jugs of Coke and the bowls of Ice cream since they knew it would be an entire year before they got to do something like this. Since words do no justice, please take minute to admire the pictorial evidence, below!



Event 3: Chaand Raat, Lahore Style!

Since I am home for Eid and it's a rare occurrence, I was destined (or doomed, if you might) to be involved in the activity this year. So, what is the activity on the night before Eid? Well, it involved all the women in the city hitting the major shopping districts, purchasing like there was no tomorrow, getting Henna on their hands and devouring dozens of glittery glass bangles! So, what does a poor, straight bloak like me do there? .. He drives them around.


Now, I must say that while I do prefer this to what I was doing last year at this time - preparing for a national conference - but I don't know how all these pretty ladies have the staminas to do what they do! Respect to the very pretty ladies!


Tomorrow's Eid, the Islamic holiday, and it is sure to be a competition of who can stomach more sweets and how successfully one can evade all the family kids that ask for the customary money at Eid.

Man, I love this city, I do! :)