I promised my friend Asrina from Singapore pictures of life in Pakistan. They are LONG overdue to say the least. I thought I would look into my stash of photos and revive “The Chai Files” category of this blog :)

Pakistan is very different from where I come from and the places I have been. In Singapore, I think the favourite national pastimes are eating and shopping. There are numerous hawker centres, food courts and restaurants there and a major shopping mall in every large neighbourhood. You get the same thing in Pakistan…

Well almost :P

There are lots of eateries and shopping areas, but they lack the cultivated veneer and polish of Singapore’s. If you want a brutally honest opinion, they look a right mess. LOL! Oh, there are many upmarket restaurants and stores, but they are little islands in a sea of litter and poorly maintained buildings. Still, what these places lack in appearance, they more than make up for it in charm :)

My kids love going out and are always thrilled to find bargains and curiosities. During `Eid season, we typically go to places like Karachi Company (more on this later) at G9 and the khussa shop at F10. Here are some scenes from last year:

We saw a row of women offering mehndi/henna services. They sat on the ground with makeshift tables made out of boxes whereupon they placed their supply of henna and stamps. This lady has just stamped the girl’s hand with a design. Like the other henna ladies, she was poor and had a little baby that she was rocking to sleep under her shawl.

Just ahead of the henna stalls were the choori stalls – I had written about glass bangles before in an earlier post. You can purchase them in various stores at any time of the year, but I think people have so much more fun buying them during `Eid when there are so many more stalls to choose from.

Here are Mars and her sister (OK, Bear’s a little cut off :P) looking at the bangles. Just ahead is a stall selling children’s clothing – at Karachi Company, the clothes are much cheaper than elsewhere. You just have to have the stamina to fight the crowds and the stomach to tolerate the litter!

Another view of the bangles… they come in all sizes and colours.

I have a headache getting shoes for the kids come `Eid if I am in Singapore – Mars has trouble fitting into kids’ shoes, but is not quite ready for adult sizes (she is getting there though ma shaa Allah!) while Bear seems to have a hard time choosing (I tell her she will be the Imelda Marcos from Islamabad if she isn’t careful). In Pakistan though, I have no such issues. We just head to the khussa store at F10 – the shoes are fancy enough for the ethnic clothes here and so much more affordable than Mary Janes and what not from Singapore! (The kids’ shoes cost between S$5-$10! Talk about sweet!)

OK, these are a little too ethnic for my taste :P I threaten my kids that I’ll buy these for them if they don’t make up their minds quickly.

Here are the shoes that Bear really likes – they are open at the back so they are easy for kids to wear. Matched with the right outfit, they look nice and swanky :) The soles are wooden so you’d have to get rubber ones fixed onto them to prevent slipping. Mars likes the open-toed sandals made of leather, which look nice with both traditional and modern wear, but I don’t have a pic of them.

More pics to come… stay tuned :)

I had made a vow more than two years ago to chronicle life in Pakistan with as much detail and colour as I could. The digi-cam went awry on me and, I confess, I got fed-up and left the matter. It is only now that I am leaving that I have been (frenetically) trying to recapture my life in Pakistan.

I thought I would write about glass bangles for a start – kanch ki choorian. Glassware and ornaments dating back to 800 BC have been found at various archaeological digs in South Asia. However, it was really under the Mughals that the art of glass engraving flourished. Today, bangles are an integral part of this continent’s culture. Slender and round, they are worn in the dozens, usually on the left hand since the right hand is for doing work.

My first experience with South Asian glass bangles was in Bombay (Mumbai) in 1997. I was on a 6-week backpacking trip across India – we travelled from Delhi, through several Rajasthani states, Bombay, Hyderabad, Kerala and Madras.

On our last day in Bombay, my travel companions and I explored the street bazaars. We were tempted by the pretty fabrics, sampled faluda and eventually stopped by an old lady’s stall. She had a lovely, if small, range.

One of my companions, Aiza, was interested in buying a set, but was afraid to try it on. She had had an accident earlier that day at the train station and had bruises all over her wrists and arms which were tender to the touch. The old lady insisted that she try them to get the best fit and showed her how to put the bangles on. She waved away Aiza’s protestations and gently guided the bangles up her hands and wrists. Aiza winced at first in anticipation of the pain, but then smiled in surprise – the lady had so expertly slid them on that she did not hurt her one bit!

In Pakistan, glass bangles are just as popular. I don’t wear them myself but, I admit, I did enjoy dressing up my girls with them on `Eid and hearing the musical tinkle as they shook their wrists. Bear shucked them off and scattered them all over the house once the novelty wore off, but Marz took her bangles seriously and not a single one broke!

To some these choorian may seem gaudy and I used to think the same, but I have grown to have a better appreciation of them. In a country where the majority of the population struggle to put food on the table, henna and glass bangles may be the only affordable ornaments for weddings and `Eid. Carefully chosen and matched with the right outfit, they can really add a touch of grace and glamour. They come in a bedazzling array of colours – iridescent shades of rainbow, solid jewel tones, pearly pastels – and some are encrusted with gold and silver accents, beads and jhumkas. They are versatile accessories that can be worn with both traditional and modern wear.

I hope you enjoyed this little snippet… I’ll do another on our village trip next in shaa Allah.