http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Sun, 15 Oct 2006 10:37:10 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/10/15/103710.php S A J ShiraziA wise person once said that human beings are social animals. This axiom surely rings true for those who have integrated information technology into their lives and are forever online. Now, with the advent of cyber networking, the term socialisation is taking on a whole new meaning.Internet marketers say that social networking is one of the fastest growing online trends. The number of social networking sites seems to be growing daily. Nielson/NetRatings reported some figures in May this year showing that the “top 10 social networking sites saw traffic grow 47 per cent over the last year, with MySpace seeing the biggest growth (367 per cent increase) and MSN Spaces (286 per cent) being second on the list. Hosted blogging systems were included in the study”.So how does it work? Social networking sites allow users to create free online profiles where they can display biographical information, photos, hobbies, interests, swap information, throw trolls and flames, and much more. After completing an online profile, users can connect or network with other users’ profiles. As they connect with more and more people, their network keeps expanding. By adding just a few friends to their network, users can end up being connected to thousands of other people across different cultures and societies. These networks can then be used for fun, for bringing together specific groups and arranging activities, and also for serious business networking.The social networking trend through technology started back in 1998 when Amazon.com acquired PlanetAll. That was a pioneer site, providing the foundation of sharing contact information, basic biographies, and expanding networks through friends’ networks. This was followed by a mushrooming growth of social sites. Now social networking websites claim to have attracted millions of registered users across the globe. That is one reason marketers are looking at these sites with interest.Like many others, I have been paying attention to social networking on three different sites - Orkut, Facebook, and Gather - in the past couple of weeks. I have answered more requests to be “friends” than I ever did in the past and I have been looking at other people’s friends to see if I know anyone. I have also asked a few to join my network of friends. Who does not need more friends? In addition to this activity, I have been reading about other people’s experiences.Orkut is still an invitation-only website popular among Pakistani students and young people in general. Facebook has been opened to common users only recently and is not yet well-known in this part of the world. Previously, Facebook was for students of educational institutions that were registered with the service. Gather is more erudite and a newer launch.Orkut does a few things in different ways by trying to deal with different human emotions. It is faster than other similar social networking sites. Unlike most services focusing on promoting a single type of social connection, Orkut allows three aspects of users’ lives: personal, social, and professional. Killers like karma ratings, communities or flagging through “hot” and “crush” lists make it different (call it cool). Everything else is almost the same: the user interface with photo thumbnails and many other features are similar to that of Friendster and its predecessors.Initially, only 1,200 invitation were sent out, mostly to Google staffers. The rest followed through invitation by initial members. Orkut, like all social networking services, has been designed to promote a set of predetermined behavioural traits instead of enabling users to do what seems most interesting and useful to them.Facebook is another extremely popular site among students in a more connected world. Now open to everyone, Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg of Harvard University. It kept expanding to schools, colleges, and universities over time. None of the Pakistani universities were on the network, though.On September 11, 2006, Facebook announced that it would officially open to all Internet users, a move that was hardly met with approval by current users. Soon after, Facebook opened registration to anyone with a valid email address. It “is a social utility that connects you to the people around you,” reads the home page of the service. One of my online friends - a design student - told me that the service now lets anyone sign up outside the listed networks. Thus, I joined.Another comparatively recent entry in the ever-growing list of social networks is Gather. This site has combined features of weblogs and social sites. What’s more, Gather members are paid for their participation with “Gather Points” or cash for most frequent contributors. Though at the moment the “Gather team is working out a system to make payments to members in most countries including Pakistan,” explained a Gather staffer when I asked about payments.“Gather is a place for you to connect with people who share your passions. It is a place where you can contribute thought, art, commentary, or inspiration,” writes Thomas Gerace, founder and CEO.What are the reasons to flock to social networking sites, besides massaging one’s ego and reaching out to kindred spirits? Peter Kollock looked into the motivations for participating in online communities and interactive sites. In his research paper titled “The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in Cyberspace”, he outlined three motivations: “Anticipated reciprocity — the expectation that one will receive useful help and information in return. Indeed, there is evidence that active participants in online communities get more responses. Increased reputation — in general, individuals want recognition for their contributions. Sense of efficacy — individuals may contribute valuable information because the act results in a sense of efficacy... a sense that they have had some effect on this environment.”Here in Pakistan, we are just beginning to get ready to jump on the social networking bandwagon. User interest in social networking websites is growing with an increase in members — a great starter in a conversation that will go on for quite some time. Sci/Tech54391@blogcritics.org Sun, 15 Oct 2006 10:37:10 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/10/08/100945.php S A J ShiraziAzad Kashmir, Pakistan, where an earthquake hit hard on October 8, 2005, is known worldwide for its natural beauty and atmospheric serenity. Here I am going to explain some of the beauties that I remember from my to-ing and fro-ing in the area in the past. You have to relate this to the present day's devastation as caused by one of the deadliest earthquakes in history.The beauty of the Azad Kashmir landscape lies in the light, unlike any other tourist mountain region in Pakistan including the northern areas. Fiercer, stronger, and sharper light silhouettes the mountain resort and scattered houses on slopes in ever-changing patterns against the skyline. The sunlight plays with the green nooks and crags of the Kashmir landscape, tossing out long shadows that ripple across the green gorges, sometimes through tall pine and fir trees. It turns the hills from opal in the morning to sapphire to gold to silver and finally to dross before descending swiftly in a bright red ball in the evening.It is the light of sculptors, not painters, who love the soft diaphanous hues and tones. Out of that light comes the great image of green hills and the long, clean lines of the spurs separating craggy countryside from the plains. In the background of photogenic natural settings, Kashmir weather proves fickle, switching from sunshine to downpour and again to sunshine in minutes. The rain that falls over the land and blots out the sun can be seen in the red, grey, and brown layers in the cliffs that plunge dramatically into the horizon.Whereas the beauty in most places in the world has been marred by the detritus of tourism, one can still find secluded places in Kashmir -- relatively quiet where one can find privacy as well as unmarred vistas of the green hills. Away from the hustle and bustle of the life in the fast lane, in Azad Kashmir one can enjoy a sense of solitary elation at that height -- to meditate, and have a rendezvous with life. No hurrying up.And in Azad Kashmir one can not only see but also feel and smell Kashmir everywhere. Other than the hilly landscape, the beauty of Kashmir lies in the people who live there. In the area, one sees mostly older men and women strolling along the contours or working in fields or following fodder-laden donkeys coming down from the hills, repose written all over their faces. Younger ones usually move out to cities in search of better opportunities.Visible cultural fusion takes place in areas that see heavy tourist traffic from all over the country and abroad. Hill-village culture is gradually changing, from plain rustic to urban. Walk on any of the trails interlacing the area, talk to the locals, maybe in one of the many makeshift tea houses doing business in a nowhere kind of place, or take up any of the serene hikes, and you will find them politically alive and well aware of the hot national and international issues, discussing these in pleasant Punjabi blended with flavours of Potohari and Kashhmiri dialects.The locals are amazing people. Resilient! There are many secrets hidden behind those silent smiles -- secrets and strengths. In my experience, the Kashmiri people go to extremes to ensure their hospitality is perfect.I keep thinking about Miran Khan who told me to tire the mountains while climbing, Murad Khan who advised me to suck on lemon while walking the hills to avoid thrust and many more whom I have had the chance to meet there. I don’t have an idea about what I will see when I go to Azad Kashmir next time. Will the landscape be different or will there be a visible change in the people? Culture54040@blogcritics.org Sun, 8 Oct 2006 10:09:45 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/23/102208.php S A J ShiraziSalman Rashid’s Jhelum: City of the Vitasta is a worthy, lively, and very well-researched book that entertains as well as informs. It richly succeeds in uncovering the truth about the name of the ancient town and smashing unfounded legends while bringing an evolution vividly to life in the process.Where has the name Jhelum come from? Salman Rashid writes, Local ‘historians’ were assiduously applied to the task of inventing history. Sometime since the first European historian did his research in the area and the present, ‘Jhelum’ had become the name of Alexander’s horse. I was surprised to discover locally printed histories carrying on and on about famous horse that dies at Jhelum and gave the town its name. All of these so called histories have been printed in the last thirty or so years which implies that this industry of pseudo-history became fashionable in the recent past.From ‘an ordinary village’ Jhelum city came of age during the British Raj. Two things are evident: One, that Jhelum never matured as a trading town, that whatever scant merchandise could be seen in its bazaars was the leavings of the limited trade transiting through here. Secondly, in the presence of the busier ferries of Jalalpur, Haranpur and, even despite its bitter ground water, Pind Dadan Khan, Jhelum was the less preferred crossing point. Indeed, at the point of annexation in 1849 by the British, the town contained only five hundred houses. That is, its population was not much above three thousand souls. A far cry from a rich and prosperous town.Jhelum district lies on the route that was taken by all conquerors and invaders coming from the north. Journeying back and forth through history, Salman Rashid narrates the interesting tales the District has to tell from Alexander's era, to the Mughal period and the British Raj.The book is based upon the study of the history of the district and its people, which is then backed up by field notes and incisive observations. The writer also documents the history woven around Fort Rohtas and Till Balanath (Tilla Jogi) and how important was Jehlum on the railway map and for the timber trade.Salman Rashid is a famous travel writer of Pakistan. Remember the TV serial Nagri Nagri Ghum Musafar? He is writing in the major English-language newspapers and magazines of the country. As a travel writer he has the talent George Orwell spotted in Dickens as a novelist; for details, florid little squiggles. Since 1983 when he discovered his ability to tell a tale, he has written countless articles, and has published six books including Prisoner on the Bus, The Salt Range and the Potohar Plateau, Gujranwala, The Glory That Was, and Riders On the Wind. Sarwat Ali once wrote of him, He draws his inspiration from the writers of history who treated their subject as a grand denouement of a dramatic plot with historical personages as characters. He is thus far away from those academic historians who establish a thesis and then laboriously fill in data to prove their assumptions.Salman Rashid is not a historian, neither is he a social scientist; he basically loves to write about places and people with the zest and passion that is more the forte of creative writing. This strength can easily turn into a flaw, but he knows when to stop and puts an end to the surge of passion before it freewheels from the umbilical cord of history into fantasy.Accompanied by dozens of images, hundred of interviews with those who carry the lore (also myths and legends) and sifting heresy from what are the substantiated facts, and as a result of many visits to the dusty old record rooms, Salman Rashid’s book is much more than a history; it is a heartfelt chronicle that evokes the atmosphere of a Jhelum district that is distinctly ancient.Jhelum: City of the Vitasta is a mosaic of history, archeology, geography, folklore, and travelogue. The book is a must-read for those searching for the answers to riddles in history. Jhelum: City of the Vitasta is a smooth and enjoyable trip to the boardwalk, and is densely packed with facts and details for historians everywhere. Well-written and wonderfully presented, the book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in subcontinent history starting from Alexander’s days. I highly recommend it. Books53306@blogcritics.org Sat, 23 Sep 2006 10:22:08 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/12/133246.php S A J ShiraziWhile travelling off the beaten track, not only do you travel in a soot free and serene environment but you explore new vistas too. Interesting things come in the way which normally remain hidden from common commuters in the area. The journey on the byways embraces you with lovely colours, atmosphere, people with bits and pieces of history. Also, there is no hassle anywhere in the way.Set up in the foreground of the legendary Salt Range on the bank of River Jhelum, Mishri Mor Buss Adda (stop) is a wonderful place with a unique character. The passenger busses and wagons stop here and commuters get down to stretch their legs, have some food, do some shopping or to take another bus to a different destination. The Adda has developed into a shopping centre for the passengers and folks from nearby villages. Roads from Mandi Bauhud Din, Kharin, Jhelum and Cheri meet at this junction. Two unused railway tracks also pass through Mishri Mor: one on which a mad driven rail trolley used to play between Mandi Bahaud Din and other that was built to ferry material for the construction of Rasul Barrage. A washed up trail leaves from here for Till Jungian. Near the bus stop are Rasul Barrage Wildlife Sanctuary, a 'Siphon' where Lower Jhelum Canal passes under the Rasul Qadarabad Link Canal and shrine of Baba Noor Shah. People bring milk offerings to this shrine from far off places and the tradition is to leave the milk pot there at the shrine. The area around Wildlife Sanctuary remains alive with myriad migratory birds - chiefly coots, common teal and ducks.Standing at Mishri Mor, let your gaze slip and you will find Salt Range hillocks smoking with mist defining the skyline. Across River Jhelum, landscape appears like a shore of another land altogether: a green belt dotted with trees and interrupted by the dawn's red and blue brushstrokes. I have known this place all my adult life and have a cluster of memories attached to it. Legand has it that Mishri Khan of nearby village Kotehra opened up a small tea shop here in early 60s, hence the name. The place developed when Kharian Road improved and long route buses started plying by. This is my destination stop for going home and this is where I refashion my 'urban' attitudes before walking the remaining one and a half kilometres to my home village. Every time, day and night, the shops play music. At times you even cannot hear your own voice. Each of the shops on the Adda owns a music system. Every one competes with the rest in loudness. Business sense dictates that the music be noisy enough to invite the attention of potential buyers. I do not know what it is about this place but everyone here seems to enjoy the noise. Without it, there would be no Mishri Mor," says Nawaz, a barber and proud owner of 'the Loudest Tape Recorder'. Despite being locally assembled and crude looking, his apparatus can outlast the rest. He has also placed a Public Address System with its speakers facing different directions outside the shop. His shop is adorned with the pictures of almost all of the famous faces of the Bollywood, Lollywood and some from Hollywood. Though the buses stop here, the music does not. The digital revolution is affecting the way people listen, buy and enjoy music everywhere but not here. It may look like a strange choice but Mishri Mor is one of the best places to study the latest music trends in our rural culture in the Central Punjab. It has no warehouse or studio of some recording company. Rather, it is an open market complex spread over 700 square yards with 60 odd shops from a hotel to a barbershop to a music centre and a vehicle repairing facility. A vender Khushi sells Bhujiya Channa to passengers and earns anything "between rupees 100/- to rupees 150/- daily," he told happily. You can hear a mile away: Surayya Multanikar or Hadiqa Kiyani, Atta Ullah Essa Kkelvi or Shezad Roy, folk, classical and even English music and songs. You name it; you will hear it in a boom that you could call the Mishri Mor fusion. A third of the makeshift shops stock audiocassettes for sale. If the Public Call Office (PCO: equipped with mobile telephone because PTC has yet not made up to that remote location) cannot give you the track from 'Oh Kehndi Ae Sayan Main Teri Aan, hay' the fruit vendor certainly will. "We are generally ahead of anyone in these parts as far as getting the latest albums are concerned," says young Mian Khan, a PCO proprietor. He has the stock of over 500 cassettes and says, "The sale of cassettes is far more than the income from telephone. Acquiring latest music albums is easy. I get them through drivers who ply on these routes and stop here every time." Hundreds of busses plying on these routes halt at Mishri Mor and the passengers pile out for relaxation, food and drinks. Malik Niaz, owner of an eating joint famous for fresh fish kabab informed, "The drivers and conductors of the buses are served with food, tea and cigarettes free of cost. They not only stop but also prolong their halts that help us sell more." Even shops that do not sell cassettes play music according to the perceived preference of the commuters who stop there. "It is one way to make customers feel comfortable, and it is good for business," added Malik. With so many shops selling new cassettes, demand still outstrips the supply. That is the reason why they are ever keen on further innovation, Mian Khan has started retailing cassettes and has switched over to selling them in his cubby-hole PCO. As the profit on a cassette is anything between rupees 10 to rupees 30, Mian Khan feels it is worth investing. However, most of the shopkeepers keep 'Number 2 quality'. "We sell to every body: passengers, village folks, tractor and auto-rickshaw drivers who have installed the music systems in their vehicles. That is what keeps us going," says Mian Khan.That and there is a sense of plain good fun. Something that rubs off on anyone who stops here. "People get off here bleary-eyed and exhausted," told a passenger, "but the noise seems to wake everybody up." After stretching their legs and eating at one of the many joints that line Mishri Mor Adda, passengers return to their buses. And they resume their travel; feet tapping to a chaotic but catching beat. Maybe one of the passengers offers his newly purchased cassette to the bus driver to play instead of one from driver's collection? Culture52783@blogcritics.org Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:32:46 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/30/130451.php S A J ShiraziPicturesque Chitral town sits in Pakistan's northwest district, walled in by the Hindu Kush range. During winter the only way in is by air (weather permitting) as the two passes, the 3118-meter Lowari from Dir and the 3810-meter Shandur from the upper Gilgit Valley, are closed. The Fokker Friendships drone for 50 minutes and burst through clouds on descent to reveal white-capped mountains and red tin-roofed houses. On the small airfield, the cold wind makes you shiver. The remoteness of the district has left it undeveloped in spite of grand natural beauty, hospitable people and a long history, so the town is a base camp for tourists, adventurers and researchers from across the world. And, people seem to be living there in peace.Chitral boasts lively bazaar - a miniature Peshawar full of Mediterranean-looking faces under Chitrali caps and foreigners. Geoffrey Moorhouse in his book To the Frontier describes the town as sleepy. Now the modest bazaar is lined up with well-stocked provision shops, eating joints and souvenir shops selling many things from traditional caps to Lajvard (Armenian stone) and Zamurrad (emeralds), for the tourists mostly. The American sleeping bags and rucksacks, Bulgarian ankle boots and Korean jackets that used to be on sale in bazaar during Soviet occupation in Afghanistan are no more sold there. Mehtars' fort, on the banks of the Kunar River, is the principal building that reminds of the bygone era. Go to visit the palace and the sleeping guard, when awoken, will ask for a permit from district management. The palace-fortress, site of the 1895 siege, is still occupied by royal offspring, explaining the need for a special arrangement. The entrance of the south end is to the residential quarters. The one facing Shahi Bazaar used to be for the royal guards. The most interesting side faces the river and is best viewed from the far end of the bazaar or from across the river. The river passing through the town is called Chitral (or Kunar) River, and upstream is known as Mastuj River. Another ornate building up the road toward the police station was the royal courthouse. The spacious Shahi Mosque next door was built by Mehtar Shuja ul Mulk. New minarets and domes have been added during recent renovation, keeping the edifice in its original shape. At the south end of town is one of Pakistan's best polo grounds, where practice matches are held every few days from mid-March to early November and full-blown matches on weekends. The town has weeklong tournament in September to October. There are roaring crowds and drum and horn bands that play the signature tune of each player who scores a goal. Polo is still played in many up-valley towns too, though it's a dying sport because horses are costly to own and no longer needed for transport. One of the biggest social events for Chitralis is days of super-polo and merrymaking at Shandur Pass, which has been held every few years since 1936.The Chitral valley has a long history. It was subdued by Alexander the Great, the Chinese army and Timur in the past and was under the king named Shah Rais (descendent of Balti rulers) in the 16th century. A son of Sangin Ali -- advisor of Shah Rais and forefather of Adamzada clan -- threw out the king and took over the power. Kators (branch of Adamzada clan) ruled Chitral till 1960.In 1856, the British, who were apprehensive about Russians in Central Asia, sent an expedition to poke around Chitral and win some friends. In return for a subsidy, Aman ul Mulk -- who had taken over in 1857 -- became a British friend. After capturing Kuhswaqt (another branch of Adamzada tribe) land in the 1880, his domain stretched from upper Gilgit into Afghanistan.Aman ul Mulk died of a heart attack in 1892, one of the few Mehtars to die a natural death, since the usual way to decide succession for royal princes was to murder their father and one another until only one was left. This time 16 sons were caught unprepared. Result: a bloody power tussle.Aman's second son Afzal ul Mulk seized the family fort and began eliminating his brothers. Nizam ul Mulk fled to Gilgit. Then Umra Khan, the ruler of Dir, invaded from the south. Aman's long-exiled brother Sher Afzal (the only one he had failed to eliminate) appeared from Afghanistan with a small army, killed his nephew Afzal ul Mulk, and pronounced himself Mehtar. Finally, prodded by the British, Nizam returned. Sher Afzal ran away and everybody recognized Nizam as Mehtar.Two years later Nizam was overthrown by his half-brother Amir ul Mulk. Umra Khan also edged up the valley, taking Drosh. In a show of force, the Gilgit Political Agent Major George Scott Robertson (writer of The Kafirs of the Hindukush) arrived at Chitral Town with 400 soldiers and moved into the fort -- the ancestral home. At this time, Sher Afzal appeared again, this time joined by people of Chitral. Badly beaten in an initial skirmish, the British found themselves besieged in the fort. Four hundred people with food and ammunition nearly gone were finally bailed out after 46 days by reinforcements from Gilgit who had hauled cannons over the Shandur pass in shoulder-high snow. A bigger force fought its way over the Lowari Pass but arrived too late to help. Umra Khan fled to Afghanistan, Sher Afzal was captured, Amir arrested and his 14-year-old brother Shuja ul Mulk was commissioned as Mehtar. In the aftermath, this episode somehow got recast as a heroic British campaign and Robertson was even knighted.The British realigned Chitral from a western arm of Gilgit to a more secure northern extension of the North West Frontier Province. During the third Afghan War in 1919, Afghan forces invaded southern Chitral at Arandu – a famous crossing point during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.Shuja ruled contentedly until 1936, his son Nasir ul Mulk until 1943 and Nasir's brother Muzaffar ul Mulk (who took Chitral into Pakistan at Partition) until 1948. Saif (son of Muzzafar) was killed in 1954 in a plane crash and his four-year-old son Saif ul Mulk Nasir became Mehtar, the last one, with uncle as regent. Chitral became an administrative district in 1969.Chitral is still not accessible in winters when Lowari closes and PIA Foker cannot cross over the mountains. The word is out that government is working on Lowari Tunnel Project and one day the district may join the rest of the country. It will not only serve as gateway to Kalash Valley, but the area will open to development. Culture52239@blogcritics.org Wed, 30 Aug 2006 13:04:51 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/27/084542.php S A J ShiraziVisit Pishin at this time of the year and one will find thousands of acres of fruit orchards. The rich harvest of apples, grapes, plums, peaches, and apricots is seen everywhere. I discovered the area, and the taste of the fruit, during my stay at the School of Infantry and Tactics, Quetta when we used to walk miles and miles for training maneuvers. It is still the same.Legend attributes the origin of the name Pishin to a son of the Emperor Afrasiab. Until the middle of the 18th century, when Quetta finally passed into the hands of Brahvi rulers, the history of Pishin is identical with the province of Kandahar. The earliest mention of Pishin is found in the ancient writing in which "Pishinorha" is described as a valley in an elevated part of the country containing a barren level plain.Little is known of the history of Pishin up to the 13th century. It was in 1221 that Kandahar and its dependencies passed into the hands of the Mughals. During the first half of the 15th century, Kandahar was under the rule of the Timurs' successors. It was probably at the beginning of this century that the Tarins emigrated from their original homes in the Takht-i-Sulaiman and made their way into Pishin.Between 1530 and 1545, the province of Kandahar was in the possession of Mirza Kamran – the brother of the Emperor Humayun. After his death in 1556, Kandahar and its dependent territories were restored to the Safavid kings of Persia and they remained under Persia until 1595, when they were again acquired by the Mughals. It is mentioned in Ain-i-Akbari that Shal and Pushang (Pishin) were included in the eastern division of the Kandhar Sarkar. In 1622, Kandahar was again brought under the Safavid dynasty and, with the exception of a short period, remained under Persia. The Safavid Monarch Shah Abbas gained possession of Kandhar in 1622. He conferred the government of Pishin and tribal adjacent areas upon Sher Khan.The end of the 17th century witnessed the rise to prominence of the Brahvis power. Quetta and Pishin both suffered from the encroachment of Brahvis and fell into the hands of Mir Ahmed, whose reign lasted 30 years – from 1666 to 1696. Mir Wais obtained possession of Kandhar in 1709. It is curious that this feat was accomplished in connection with Pishin Brahvi. History relates that, around 1725, Pishin had been annexed by Mir Abdullah. However, in 1733, Shah Hussain Ghilzai made a move against the Brahavis and he garrisoned in Pishin. Moving forward, he crossed the Ghaza Bund and took Quetta. He advanced to Pishin where the Brahvai submitted. Quetta remained under Kandahar and was transferred to Nadir Shah. It is said that Ahmed Shah Durrani finally conferred it on the Brahvis after the campaign in eastern Persia in 1751, when he received gallant aid from Nasir Khan I. Pishin remained under the Durrani's control. Ahmed Shah is said to have given Pishin as a jagir with the condition of the supply of military services to Pakar Khan. From the Durrani, Pishin passed into the hands of Barakzai.During the period of the first Afghan war, Quetta was annexed by the British in 1839. After the British retired in 1842, Pishin and Shorarud were occupied by the Afghans. The first phase of the Afghan war closed with the signing of an agreement in May 1879, stating that the district of Pishin, along with some other districts, was to be ceded to the British government. It was in 1882 that final orders were given for the permanent retention of Pishin and British authority was extended over the valley.When Quetta district was handed over to the British government on April 1883, it was combined with Pishin into a single administrative charge. Before its occupation in 1878, and its subsequent assignment in 1879, Pishin always formed part of the province of Kandahar. The Batezai Tarins played an important part as governors. Before the British occupation, and up to 1882, it was under an assistant to the Governor General. From 1883, Pishin was combined with Quetta and together they fell under one political agent, the Deputy Commissioner. Until 1975, Quetta Pishin remained a single administrative unit. When Pishin was separated from Quetta, it was given the status of a district. In 1993, Pishin was split into Pishin district and Killa Abdullah district. Now there are three districts: Quetta, Pishin, and Killa Abdullah, which, before partition, came under one administrative division known as Quetta Pishin. The district consists of one tehsil, Pishin, and three tehsils: Huramzai, Barshore, and Karazat.An old Balochi war ballad describes the land of Balochistan. It reads, "Mountains are the Balochi's forts / the peaks are better than any army / the lofty heights are our comrades / the pathless gorges our friends / our drink is from the flowing springs / our bed the thorny bush / and, the ground we make our pillow." But one sees a splash of color in Pishin Valley in spring when most of the plants are in bloom. Nomadic tribesmen pass through the valley during spring and autumn with their herds of sheep and camels and their assorted wares for sale. This seasonal movement also adds color to the life of the town.Apart from fruit, the quaint little market town is famous for eating. Sitting on the ground, we used to have their famous mutton dish known as rosh, specially made in lamb fat. Curry used to be charged, whereas rotis (bread) was free. Among the delicacies, "Sajji" (leg of lamb) is the most famous, which is roasted to a delightful degree of tenderness and is not very spicy. The people also enjoy "Landhi" (whole lamb), which is dried in the shade and kept for the winters. Kabab shops in town are very popular.Water is the major problem in the valley. The groundwater present is most likely safe for irrigation, domestic, and livestock consumption. The quality of ground water also varies from place to place. In Karazat tehsil from Kily Qasim Bostan to Choormian, the water is of very good quality, whereas in Pishin bazaar and its surroundings, the quality of water is poor. The water from saline basins – Karbala, Khudaidad zai – is not suitable for drinking and irrigation. In Pishin Valley, water is supplied through different sources: tube-wells, hand pumps, wells, karezes, and springs. Tube-wells, by far, have become the major source of water supply. Children and women are still seen fetching potable water from far off areas. If the water problem is solved, Pishin can be a rich fruit basket of the country. Tastes52082@blogcritics.org Sun, 27 Aug 2006 08:45:42 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/23/085112.php S A J ShiraziTravel writing is a fine art and an accepted literary genre, written by those who are gifted with an ability to understand what they see and can breathe life into a place when they narrate their travel experiences. The Internet, wrongly considered a pedestal for instantaneous scribbles mixed with emoticons and indecipherable abbreviations, has already become a place to find some good travel literature, travelogues, and travel stories in addition to online trading of travel services. It can be one of the best places for travel writers to showcase what their countries have to offer.Travel is a prosperity and leisure pursuit, which is a result of many things: history, heritage, culture, natural beauty, a quest to know what is unknown, and meet wonderful people.Pakistan is a land of geographical, geological, and natural contrasts. It has everything nature could bestow, from the Mehr Garh in Balochistan and Harappa in Punjab, where some of the initial human activities began, to Lots Valley (NWFP), once home to the Gandhara Civilization, where Chinese Hiuen Tsiang, regarded as an early trendsetter traveler, did tread. Pakistan boasts the ancient city of Multan that, according to legend, has been around since the time of Hazrat Noah (A.S.), as well as the Kalash community, existing in an on-the-edge district of Chitral, and still waiting for anthropologists' conclusive research about the origin of their unique identity against all outside pressures for development and modernity.Additionally, Pakistan holds the unsolved riddle of rivers lost (River Hakra in Cholistan) to pristine locations in Northern Pakistan (tree line in Himalaya Range), where one can see two seasons at the same place – winter above and summer below, and the thematic pilgrims for Sikh and Buddhist communities, to name just a few.All major national publications have designated some pages for travel writing, but it is a small and competitive market. For those who write in English – a language that is understood on the World Wide Web – the market is even smaller. Experienced travel writers are associated with newspapers and magazines, and new writers get a chance to appear in print only occasionally. There should be more travel journalism and industry news. The public should know if the Ministry of Tourism reduces royalty fees by 50 percent for climbing Pakistani mountains that are above 6000 meters.On the other hand, fact-packed guidebooks with eye-catching, superb, clear, and sharp images of people and places enlivening every page provide good background information into any country's history, culture, attractions, and its people – information useful during journeys to new places. Guidebooks have their own style, quite different from travelogues and travel stories. The guidebook publishing business is totally in the hands of famous foreign companies and it is hard for local publishers to compete with them. "Only foreign tourists need and buy guidebooks and they already have one when they arrive in Pakistan," says a publisher Munir Ahmad. But, Ahmad adds, "Publishing guidebooks is not a viable option here; it is difficult to sell books." This is the same case with self-publishing by writers.Still, opportunities for travel writers do come up from time to time. Some guidebook companies also get updates and input from local writers and photographers that appear in their newer editions. Some time ago, for example, Insight Guides commissioned a local writer to revise their outdated edition. British founder/editor of Lonely Planet, Tony Wheeler, spent years growing up in Pakistan, takes pride in this, and has contact with many local travel writers for updates for the guidebooks he markets. The rate of travel industry growth and everyone's interest in knowing new places, people, and cultures, has spurred many websites featuring travel content. So far, Pakistani destinations have a scanty presence on the Web. Print publications, particularly English, get the original work and pay the writers, whereas most websites just recycle travel articles from print media.This scarcity of places to be published leaves travel writers turning to the Internet, where they can pitch their ideas to many editors of travel Websites and/or interested foreign publications who are always looking for new talent. This is encouraging, but until a travel writer is picked up in print, the Web is considered one of the best places for travel writers to start.Writers can read what has already been published there and find background material and facts. A quick search on the Internet reveals so many starting points, notwithstanding travel writing how-to services and premium travel writers’ marketers. BootsnAll Travel, where I am published, is a Web service that posts articles by writers from all over the world. I have found it writer-friendly and receptive to new locations.In Pakistan so far, not much has been presented on the Internet for others to find out about – with an aim to tempt them to come here and see (and spend their money in the process). Pakistani travel writers and photographers have a vast field of activity on hand right at home. In addition to globetrotters with a compass, a camera, and itchy feet, historians, geographers, archaeologists, geologists, naturalists, and birdwatchers also need to publish their work in order to generate a wide range of interests in offbeat, mostly obscure locations in Pakistan. I know an engineer, Itehar Mahmud, who works with an oil exploration firm and writes about places wherever he goes in connection with his duty. Retired Colonel Mobeen Ahmad has traveled all along the borders, "for recognizance purposes mostly on foot," he says, during his long service. He also writes his memories in the form of travelogues. It is in this context that the Web can be viewed as the playground for local talent.The travel calendar of Pakistan is quite impressive. Where else in the world, other than in Pakistan, is polo – the grandest of all the sports – played at the high ground like Shandor Pass, called the roof of the world? Where else is there a moving international cultural festival held but along Kharakorum Highway? All the events on the calendar go without any advance publicity or follow-ups. One wonders how interested people come to know about these events. The PTDC list of events and festivals needs to be improved so many more can be included in the list.Somebody has to write the travel literature in order to keep fueling the demand for airline seats, hotel rooms, tour operators, eateries, transport companies, porters and facilitators, guidebooks, atlases, picture postcards and posters publishers, and other affiliates of the travel industry besides those communities whose major source of revenue comes from tourism. Kim Rahan, a traveler from China who bought History of Rohtas Fort on location, said, "This buy is to promote interest of people in travel related vocations."Too often, deftly executed travelogues or a travel story can accomplish much more than any other promotional activity, particularly a story that combines passion, personality, and perspective. Every place has a story and a history. If you have a drive to write, there is a need for extensive travel writing. Tell your story. Culture51900@blogcritics.org Wed, 23 Aug 2006 08:51:12 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/17/203424.php S A J ShiraziThe virtual world is beginning to blend seamlessly with the real world. The social side of technology is making the World Wide Web much more localized by bringing like-minded people together and in the process creating closely knit online communities.A combination of features like worldwide accessibility and instantaneous communication has made it possible for backpackers, globetrotters, and other adventurers from all over the world to join together at different online platforms to exchange information, experiences, and plans in their favorite pursuit -- travel.Subscribers range from the professional travel writers to hardcore travelers and adventurers and regular folks who are simply interested in reading online. Travel communities are accessible by millions of interested people all over the world.Out of some major and lesser travel forums on the Web, I have had the good fortune to belong to a few and have been visiting some others for my travel information needs.Exceptions apart, all virtual travel communities have some common features. Communities mostly provide a warm, trusting, and supportive atmosphere. When members share information, they do it with great care and responsibility. They rely on each other more than they do on outdated travel guidebooks or on second-hand and static information from conventional travel literature.Visit any online community and one finds anything related to travel, along with flames and off topic comments, which are sometimes informative, sometimes funny, and occasionally annoying. The mutual exchange of information is not restricted only to destinations, affordable places to stay and dine in, security issues, maps, weather conditions there. and where to find the best bargains and how to find public restrooms or which Websites better describe any particular place (or which dress a female anthropologist going to study Kalash clan up in northern district Chitral should wear during her extended stay there). It goes much further to helping in finding work, selling and promoting each other in local markets.“Travel forums have become hunting grounds for meeting fellow travelers and making new friends. You really do not require any other reason to join a community or two,” says Atoorva Sinha, who intends building up the travelers’ community at Mindzwine.Carla King is a founding member of one virtual travel community called Wild Writing Women for female travelers. She emailed, “When we published 'Wild Writing Women -- Stories of World Travel' (an anthology of women’s travel stories) -- we got a lot of publicity. People wanted to know how we traveled solo and weren’t afraid, and just how we went about it. We started giving workshops. We also started giving writing workshops and hosted a free monthly literary salon. People just gravitated, and we accepted them. We made a business of it and formed the online community. So it’s a profitable business for us to expand the community, and also, happily, it’s close to our hearts.”Members are slow to respond sometime. Chris Heidrich, the director of BootsnAll says, “One has to be patient in waiting for a response from members and insiders. It should be understood that it is a voluntary favor and some people do not come on board or check email as often.” Court, who is always found on board in the same community adds, “Some time they may be away traveling to yet another location.”The recipients of information have to keep in mind that whatever comes is based upon individuals’ personal experiences or empirical observations. One member may have had different experiences than others. When I posted a query about virtual travel communities (for this article) at the BootsnAll community, the first reply referred me to Nick, the mediator at another community at Bali Blog who in turn advised me to email direct to all on his mailing list. The replies I am still receiving are varied, showing so many perspectives. “There is nothing like variety,” says Nick.The virtual world is composed of information rather than physical identities. Information spreads and diffuses. Those who belong to these impalpable spaces are also diffuse, free to take it or leave it. Sci/Tech51688@blogcritics.org Thu, 17 Aug 2006 20:34:24 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/13/090625.php S A J ShiraziPorters are the backbone of most climbing expeditions, trekking, and adventurous exploration into the mountains all over the world. The agile, tireless, hardworking people, primarily from local communities, ferry massive loads of gear on their backs. Like the more familiar Sherpa people of the Himalaya, the Pakistani porters are respected among the fraternity of mountain lovers as some of the best porters in the world. They are dedicated and know where the crevasses and icefalls are, how to acclimatize, how much food and fuel to haul up the hill, when to push on, and when to rest. They are unsung heroes of high-altitude mountaineering. Without their labour, many a base camps would never have been established and many a summit would never have been conquered.As a coordinator, I have lived some of my life in the base camps of majestic mountains in Northern Pakistan with mountaineers, explorers, and adventurers from all over the world and porters from Pakistan. During my to-ing and fro-ing in mountain areas, I have befriended many local porters. Some are still on my contact list, but I have had the fortune to know Pinion Shah, best in his trade, a little better.Pinion Shah is sturdy and knows the mountains inside out. His forefathers migrated to Baltistan over six hundred years ago. Originally Buddhist, they, along with other Balti people, converted to Islam during the Moghul period in the sixteenth century. While some of the Baltis adapted to a trading economy, many are still largely pastoralists.I first met Pinion Shah during my assignment as a facilitator with a multinational climbing expedition to Nanga Parbat from Rupal side in 1993. That is when our friendship started by chance. I was to accompany the expedition only up to the forward base camp. The hike to base camp and the extended stay there brought every kind of weather imaginable -- scorching sun, blinding sandstorms, and white-out blizzards.Although I was not one of the climbers, the weather in the base camp left me physically emaciated and emotionally wasted. With great fortune on the way back, Pinion Shah invited me to his village, situated at the edge of the Rupal Valley, to recuperate. There I was nursed back to health with a combination of goat's milk, apricots, and warm hospitality. Pinion Shah and I have been in contact ever since.While in the village, my eyes were opened to the realities of the Balti way of life. Life there is hard, graceful, and independent. Living conditions are harsh and devoid of modern day civic amenities we in urban centres take for granted. The Baltis live in isolated, remote valleys subsisting on pastoral grazing and marginal crops of barley and wheat. The climate is severe due to the high altitude. Villagers rely on their ingenuity to bring glacier melt water to their fields and homes. Medical care is almost nonexistent. Broken bones and burns often go untreated. Diseases due to malnutrition are a common fact of village life. Chronic infections often lead to blindness and deafness. The Infant mortality rate is alarmingly high, caused primarily by diarrhea-induced dehydration. In winter, villagers crawl into tiny basement dugouts and spend months huddled together, barely kept warm by smoky fires.Despite this abject poverty, I saw that the Baltis not only accept their destiny, but embrace the hardship as well as the beauty of their lives, keeping their humanity undimmed and even enhancing it. Facing an existence of privation and adversity, Pinion Shah and his family generously took me in and cared for me like their own.The traditional Balti way of life is no doubt about to change. Centuries old self-sustainable methodologies are being lost in the pursuit of the cash that expedition and trekking jobs bring. The inflow of money, material goods, and growing numbers of foreign travelers are impacting the Balti culture. In return for sharing their spectacular mountain surroundings with outsiders and for providing the strong back on which many expeditions reached their goals and many westerners realized their adventures, these Balti people deserve a decent future in which they have a voice.Pinion Shah had nine years of schooling. He is familiar with oral English and is qualified in mountain hygiene and sanitation, first aid, and crevasse rescue. Pinion Shah says, “I leave villages for months at a time to seek elusive jobs as porters. I remain busy for the trekking season and earn enough to sustain our family through winters.”“Serious mountaineering starts in the forward base camps,” narrated Pinion Shah, “I have seen climbers going back from the base camps even without attempting and team leader failing to pursue them to go ahead.” Though travel to Pakistan has declined, adventure travel has boomed in last few years. This year is being celebrated as a Golden Jubilee of conquering K 2 by an Italian expedition. “I am expecting more business in the areas this year,” Pinion Shah wrote me.Pinion Shah is aging now. He was known to carry a maximum load when he was young, literally moving the mountains of luggage and equipment on the most difficult hikes. As a person, Pinion Shah always inspires me. He remains proud, happy and ready to share despite all the hardships. There is no fast lane in his life. He has no worries, alienation, or fears. He is very contented with life and whatever comes his way. Culture51521@blogcritics.org Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:06:25 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/08/11/150112.php S A J ShiraziSometimes we know a journey will be a grand adventure. The three-week expedition this winter with my botanist friends who were to carry out some fieldwork to enchanted northern Pakistan was surprising. My friends were to work in the dispersal areas surrounding the Nagar Valley and I was content with stumbling onto a wonderful experience of seeing a new valley I had only read about.People from Baltistan who arrived over the mountains by crossing the Biafo and Hispar Glaciers might have been first to settle in Nagar, the former kingdom across the river from Hunza. A man called Borosh is said to have founded the first village in the Valley and married a Balti girl he found there. The legend has it that the girl and her grandmother were the sole survivors of a landslide that killed all the earlier Balti settlers in Nagar area.Just beyond the Ganesh Bridge across the Hunza River, the jeep track leaves the Karakorum Highway to enter Nagar. The first few kilometers of this pathway are dry and barren, and then the path bifurcates: a branch crosses the Hispar River on a bridge and climbs up into the fertile villages of central Nagar. Trees that one sees here owe their existence to the human hands and the careful construction of irrigation channels by natives. A trail to the Nagar valley winds around the mountain with splendid and ever-changing Himalayan views and arrives at a little village with apricot trees in bloom next to a huge glacier. Botanists say the original genus of apricot, the ur-apricot (also walnut and rose), comes from this area or the nearby Pamirs. The climate is certainly ideal for them.Located about 65 kilometres north of Gilgit, the capital of the Northern Areas, the Nagar Valley is a cluster of small hamlets. The Valley expands northward from these villages, adding in their summer meadows, gorges, and snow capped mountain ridges.Nasirabad is the largest village in the area with about 400 households. It has grown since the opening of Karakorum Highway, which passes through Nasirabad. The other villages of the area are smaller, dotted amongst the tapestries of fruit trees, small fields, and painstakingly structured fields. The people, forests, plants, and wild animals have all adapted to find a niche within this unique environment. Nasirabad has one such spring which is famous for having excellent mineral water. The white marble mines in Nasirabad are known to be the second best in the world. Minerals like zumurrad and ruby are also found in and around the Valley and are on sale in shops for travelers mostly.There is a cultural craft centre in Nasirabad where local women have been trained to produce local handicrafts. This is an important area of development, supporting local people. You can be sure the purchases there are 100 per cent natural, meticulously hand made and directly benefiting the communities. Local handicrafts include woolen handbags and small purses, sharma (carpet), traditional mats, rugs, and bedspreads, caps, and pattu (cloth prepared from sheep wool used to make jackets called waist coats).The only facilities on the route to the Valley are informal camping grounds and occasional huts of shepherds. Informed backpackers taking this route go fully equipped with tents and sleeping bags and other necessary accessories so they can enjoy these unfrequented destinations or they have to rely on local help that is found easily. You may find friendly locals with horses (and other offers) following at some distance, waiting for the call that you will make when tired. You are sure to make a call on Mayoon bar trail, the name given to one of the summer pastures above the village of Mayoon, leading up to Mayoon nullah. The hike passes through steep undulating areas along the valley side. In summers, pastures come to life and a whole variety of plants transform the area into a green carpet dotted with colours. Shepherds live in their huts, keeping a watchful eye on their stock. Easy access to get quality water from the torrents makes Mayoon Bar (and Rooi Bar) a wonderful camping location. Look out on the way for the birds of this area including chukar, jungle crow, yellow-billed chough, and magpie. Keep alert and you may be rewarded with a view of the Himalayan ibex or the snow leopard. It is cold in the winter with temperatures below freezing. Snows are not only confined to the peaks and ridges but also decorating the trees of the Valley bottom. The area takes on a new and stunning beauty, making it worth braving the cold. The area used to be the domain of snow leopards, now on the verge of extinction. Winter visitors stand much better chances of seeing the prized wildlife of the area as they venture much love down the slopes in search of food. Given its remarkably elusive nature, there is a good chance of actually seeing one of these great creatures in the wild, but the sighting of snow leopards depends almost totally on luck, and luck most commonly favours at dawn or dusk during winters. It is also pleasing to see areas covered with thick flocks of birds and large herds of four-legged creatures roam free. If you have any capacity for wonder, you will experience wonder. I had no difficulty satisfying my addiction during my zigzagging in Nagar. Few animals match the rare beauty and quiet mystery of the snow leopard. Seldom do people see these animals in the wild. They live in remote pockets of Asia. The big cats differ in appearance, body types and functions, live in different habitats, and prey on different animals. Scientists believe the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago, wiped out but a few species of big cats. The exact number of snow leopards is difficult to estimate. They live in rugged terrain and researchers mostly rely on indications of the animals rather than direct sightings. Snow leopards are superb jumpers and leapers. They can spring and pounce on prey up to 45 feet away. Some of them can still be found in the Nagar area. A strategic plan for the conservation of snow leopards in Pakistan was presented on April 20, 2001 by an international NGO (non-governmental organization) in collaboration with the International Snow Leopard Trust in Gilgit. The presentation was attended by a large number of potential partners and stakeholders. It was revealed that the total remaining population of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) - a globally endangered species - is estimated around 7,000-10,000, out of which approximately 300 are found in Pakistan. Some of the critical habitats of the snow leopard have been identified by the NGO and it is being planned to extend scope of activities by focusing on identifying critical habitats in NWFP, AJK, and Northern Areas. The plan also identified various threats to the survival of snow leopards. Based on these findings, various strategies were proposed which could be implemented by both government agencies and the NGOs who are interested in big cat conservation. Only last winter, a young snow leopard was caught in Nagar Valley. Work of international NGOs to save different species of big cats' family in Iran's Kavir Desert and Nakuru area in Kenya is a good example to follow. The most dominant geological feature of the area is Rakaposhi, first climbed in 1958 and ranked among the world's 50 highest peaks. The people of Nagar claim they have the best view of their peak. And it is true, stunning views of both Rakaposhi and its sister peak, Diran, can be seen from the Valley. And downwards, towards the Hunza River and the tall thin poplars way below, reminds one of the scales of the Karakorum Mountains."Tourism is like fire; you can cook your dinner on it but if you are not careful it will burn your house down," an old Asian adage reads. Tourism is the largest and fastest growing industry in the world. It has significant environmental, cultural, social, and economic impacts both positive and negative. If undertaken responsibly, tourism can be a positive force for sustainable development, conservation, and environmental protection. Conversely, unplanned tourism can be socially, culturally, and economically disruptive and have devastating effects on fragile environments. Northern Areas, to a large extent, rely on the existence of attractive, uncrowned, and clean destinations. These are often in environmentally fragile areas that are biologically significant and rich in wild life. In addition, these mountain areas have now become the object of desire of a number of competing interests: resort hotels, polo tournaments, adventure tourism, and big game hunting. What the public as well private tourism sectors in Pakistan are aiming at is a common goal: the long-term preservation of the natural environments.Go to Nagar and you may still get to see the big cat sometimes called “snow queen.” Culture51453@blogcritics.org Fri, 11 Aug 2006 15:01:12 EDT