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The Chai Files - Pakistan

Farewell Sir

August 1, 2010 by Imaan 6 Comments

Two weeks ago, I blogged about my favourite book haunts. I thought I would give special mention to one of them today – Alvi Book Bank.

When we first moved to Pakistan back in 2004, Mars and I had to make a few adjustments in our lives. In Singapore, we were used to going on field trips and bargain shopping sprees, visiting with friends for play dates and taking off for a meal out on a whim if we so desired. In Pakistan though, the days seemed to yawn ahead of us. There was little to do, nowhere to go and no friends to visit.

Then we discovered Alvi Book Bank and the little unassuming second-hand store made our lives more than bearable. I was a newish mum and homeschooler then trying to build a library for little Mars, who was then an only child. I had had to leave most of our books in Singapore during the move (oh! how that hurt!) so Alvi Book Bank was truly a godsend. Mr Fareed Ahmed Alvi knew his business and clearly loved books with a passion for his store was always crammed with some of the best titles for children that the literary world had to offer. My daughter and I would spend hours in there, painstakingly rifling through pile after pile of books, giggling smugly everytime we found a good book. When we weren’t at the store, we would wonder if Mr Alvi had any new stock and worried that others would get to them before we could.

When we moved back to Singapore in 2006, we missed Mr Alvi’s store. None of the second-hand bookstores in Singapore could compare in terms of price, range and charm. (We actually missed Pakistan’s dust and mess!) We continued to visit Alvi’s Book Bank every time we visited our family in Islamabad. The staff got to know us. We were such regulars that they would let us have the run of the place and even let us have the store’s only torchlight when there were power outages – they knew that not even a blackout could drive us away :)

Mr Alvi wasn’t always at his store but he too began to recognise us as faithful customers, this time with Bear in tow. Still, he maintained his reserve and barely cracked a smile, his expression always aloof. My husband joked that he was a hard businessman, never giving discounts even to long-time customers. We had no issues with that however – his books were well-chosen and equally well-priced.

Then one day, we visited the store again and found it vacated. The staff at the neighbouring stores saw us looking perplexed and told us that he had moved to a smaller place above. We trudged up the stairs and wondered how he could possibly fit all his books into such a tiny room. It turned out, he couldn’t and had had to move most of them to a warehouse. His landlord had raised the rent and he couldn’t afford it. The room was temporary till he could find new premises, he said. He looked worried but had not lost his dignified carriage and demeanor. He looked a little disappointed then, but definitely not beaten. There was something about the distinguished gentleman that assured us that he would bounce back from the setback.

In his quest for more a more affordable shop, he was to move a few more times. My family and I began to have a cat-and-mouse relationship with Mr Alvi and his books.

When we finally returned to settle in Islamabad once again in 2008, Mr Alvi had moved yet again. The tiny room he had occupied was vacant and we were left wondering where he had gone this time. We asked the other store owners and drove to the major shopping areas but we had no luck. Then one day, a friend told me about a large bookstore near a pharmacy at Blue Area, a business district. We went immediately (I know, it sounds obsessive) and were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books.

As we browsed, my husband ran up to me excitedly. “It’s Alvi!” he whispered fiercely. I was too caught up by the books to pay attention so he grabbed by arm and pointed to a gentleman in a cream hat. “It’s HIM! This is HIS STORE!” He went to talk to Mr Alvi and introduced himself. From a distance, I could see his cool veneer cracking and he seemed pleased that he had such a faithful following in my kids who looked so obviously delighted to see him.

Mr Alvi moved another two times and both times we tracked him down. His last location was at a new housing area at a sector called E/11-3, quite a distance from our home. The store was a little small and his books were stacked so dangerously high that I often wondered if he would have to call for a rescue team to extricate us if we upset the piles by accident.

By then, Mr Alvi no longer kept my kids at arm’s length and would engage in friendly chats with them. He would recommend titles to them and ask his staff to climb the mountainous piles and throw them down to my kids whom he ordered to stand at a safe distance. When the summer days were hot, he would offer the kids cold drinks and turn on the fan for them. He was well-acquainted with their preferences and saved them some wonderful gems – collections of English books and Science magazines in mint condition. He even gave us discounts without us ever hinting for them. We took this as a sign that we had officially broken the ice with Mr Alvi :)

We saw Mr Alvi a few weeks ago at another bookstore. We had not visited his shop in a while so my elder daughter greeted him. We made a promise to ourselves to visit his store once again but our plans were always on the backburner as the kids were busy with studies and classes.

My heart feels heavy as I write this. I truly wish we had managed to go. I don’t know what difference it would have made, but I wish we had.

On Wednesday, 28 August 2010, Mr Fareed Ahmed Alvi was one of 152 people who perished when Airblue’s flight ED 202 from Karachi crashed in Margalla Hills. He had been flying home after visiting his elder brother Professor Tauheed Ahmed Alvi, of DJ Science College in Karachi. I am told that he was travelling with two of children and is survived by his wife and a daughter. Inna lilla wa inna ilayhi raji`oon. Surely we belong to Allah and to Him shall we return.

May Allah forgive him and give him the very best in the hereafter … ameen.

May He forgive all who perished in the flight and grant them paradise … ameen.

May He give strength and fortitude to all the bereaved families in this time of adversity … ameen.

O Allah! Let not any of our sins go unforgiven, nor any of our worries undispelled, nor any of our needs and difficulties unfulfilled, let the end of our deeds be the best of all … ameen.

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Reading time: 6 min
Homeschool

Passing It On

January 13, 2005 by Imaan No Comments

I confess, I am not a library person. I like OWNING books and reading them over and over again.

My father encouraged my siblings and I to read … and we read voraciously. When our hobby became an extremely expensive one, he didn’t turn to the library to feed our appetite for reading. (Maybe there weren’t that many good ones in my time? I don’t know…) He took us to a quaint second-hand bookstore in a quiet housing estate in Singapore called Serangoon. It was a small outfit with wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling book shelves. The owner set up his well-worn desk outside where several baskets filled with even more used books and magazines were placed. I loved trips to that store.

I have vivid memories of that store and when I found an old picture of it online (see above), I was transported!

When my daughter was born, I used to get completely stressed out, worrying about how to entertain her. Motherhood did not come naturally to me – I had to grow into it and I confess, it took a while before I felt comfortable with being a mother. There were days when I was at a complete loss – Itsy Bitsy Spider had been done to death so what was there to do for the remaining 8 hours till her dad came home? I was (am?) a bookworm who didn’t like dealing with people, what more babies, so… I did what I did best.

I read.

Ms Marz must have been about a month and a half when I read to her “No David!” by David Shannon. It just about blew me away when she paid attention so I kept reading. I joined book clubs and when we left the USA for Singapore, I kept the supply up. I had worried that living in Pakistan would mean fewer books for Marz – she was used to getting some 15 to 20 new books a month.

But, alhamdulillah, I was delighted to find second-hand bookstores galore. I’ve been able to get a wide variety of books for Marz, from fiction to science to geography at a fraction of their normal prices.

My daughter is an avid reader, ma shaa Allah, and trips to the bookstores have been frequent so these days, I can’t help but think about my late father. I remember how he would look on indulgently as we rummaged for our favourite reads.

I remember how it was he who planted and nurtured my passion for books.

I am glad I am passing it on.

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Reading time: 2 min

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Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend wh Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend who is a member of a minority group here. (I am keeping things vague for her safety and mine.) She has a relative who is also a friend of mine. 

In both my early encounters with them, I’d always sensed an air of reserve and secrecy. I understood that we had different beliefs, but I could not understand what I perceived as fear. Not being a native here in Pakistan, I’d had my share of bewildering and unfathomable encounters, so I’d left things at that. Maybe I’d understand in time to come, I thought.

They had always been very kind to me and I tried to reciprocate as best I could. For all our (acknowledged) differences in opinion and belief, we found some common ground and focused on doing some good. My friend’s relative donated science kits as well as books for my homeschooling gang and I’ll always be grateful for that. 

I read news yesterday about how my friend and her people do in fact live in danger. She told me how she fears for her husband’s life every single time he leaves home. She jumps every single time her doorbell rings. She worries about sending her daughter to school for fear of bullying or worse… Target killings of her people are a reality.

It made me feel so ashamed because this is tragic and downright disgraceful for any country, but even more so for a Muslim one. 

It’s OK to disagree. It’s OK to debate. It is NOT OK to terrorize and it is NOT OK resort to violence. It is wrong and it is unjust and it is EVIL to do so. When dealing with people of different beliefs, can we not be civilised? Can we not be HUMAN? Can we not behave the way our deen taught us? 

We need to find a way to make things better. It is not right to allow people who know precious little about Islam to desecrate it. 

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#islam #minorityrights #knowyourreligion #pakistan
Journalists say this time it is different. Rushdi Journalists say this time it is different.

Rushdi as-Sarraj, Yasser Murtaja’s friend, told Al-Jazeera, “This task is difficult under normal circumstances, so you can imagine working under a fierce offensive that does not distinguish between a journalist, a civilian or a military leader.” Israel is working hard “to silence the image and voice, and to ban any news or information that exposes its crimes”.

He also says, “My family doesn’t stop calling me, fearing that I could be harmed. It is an endless circle of fear and exhaustion. But we must continue sharing our message.”

Praying for Muna El-Kurd @muna.kurd15 , her brother @mohammedelkurd and all the journalists putting out the truth. 

#palestine #freepalestine #freemunakurd #freemunaelkurd #savesheikhjarrah #savesilwan #savelifta #savemohammedelkurd
«THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019» «We returned «THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019»

«We returned to the park after the lockdown earlier this year… sadly our tree for all seasons is no more 😢»

FOREIGN LANDS by Robert Louis Stevenson
Up into the cherry tree
Who should climb but little me?
I held the trunk with both my hands
And looked abroad on foreign lands.
I saw the next door garden lie,
Adorned with flowers, before my eye,
And many pleasant places more
That I had never seen before.
If I could find a higher tree
Farther and farther I should see,
To where the grown-up river slips
Into the sea among the ships.
To where the roads on either hand
Lead onward into fairy land,
Where all the children dine at five,
And all the playthings come alive.
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#throwback #pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
A couple of you asked me to make a post of my stor A couple of you asked me to make a post of my story in response to LV’s despicable use of the keffiyeh design. Pictures in this post are from hirbawi.ps and @palestine.pixel … 

EDIT: yes, my second slide should have been edited and it is bugging me. I repeated 1930s… sorry! If you want a more polished version, DM me. You get my meaning anyway, right? 
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#palestine #freepalestine #keffiyeh #gaza #jerusalem #savesheikhjarrah
«YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020» I was feelin «YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020»

I was feeling a little out of sorts (again) – I’d left the house a mess (again) and the boy and I were in a rush to get to the Art Co-op. Habiba @ourlivinghomeschool was doing a session on Wassily Kandinsky that day. 

We were delayed by a massive traffic jam and our stress levels rocketed when an obnoxious motorist kept sounding his horn repeatedly as if to shoo other cars out of the way. What was everyone else to do but wait for the jam to ease? 

We made it just in time though…barely! As we ran towards the gathering, it was as if a huge weight was lifted away. This gorgeous view greeted the boy and me, alhamdulillah. When we got down to studying Kandinsky, we felt more than fine.

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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #desidiaries #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers #artcoop #artoutdoors
«THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» Once upon a time before «THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» 
Once upon a time before Covid.

The calm before…

We had our Monday meet up again at Fatima Jinnah Park. The air was cool and crisp and the skies sunny when the nature gang got together. Then, it was on to a jolly game of Simon Says – Katelynn’s @_k8erpotater clever way of teaching the kids about body parts and how they move.

The kids did their usual tree climbing and exploring. Then, the dark clouds started rolling in. We took a while to decide whether or not to leave – the park literally looked dark and ominous on one side and cheery and bright on the other. We only started rushing for home when lightning split the sky. The kids were not to be hurried, however. They felt little pellets hitting them and stopped to investigate… hailstones!

Our ramble was cut short and I got cold and wet, but I think it was a gorgeous day. We got to learn about nature in a very real way.
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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
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