Eid accessories

Published in Unique Pakistan blog:
http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/eid-accessories/

After doing ibadat and fasting for whole month now it’s time for Eid-ul-Fitr, everyone from big or small has their own wish list or special shopping list for Eid. But the shopping list of women is the biggest and never ending one. Apart from Eid dresses, accessories and jewelery, women love to wear bangles and have mehendi tattoos on hands. There’s a wide collection of bangles present in every girl’s wardrobe which she wears with matching dresses and mostly girls have a great collection of mehendi designs in their mobile gallery which they usually explore on eid occasions or shadi functions for having the same design imprint on their hands.

The chan chan sound of bangles is considered as women’s best belonging and is always associated with females. The main wholesale market of bangles is present in Hyderabad. It is a big market or factory consisting of bangles of various styles and materials. These glass made bangles are used to be imprint with numerous designs and shimmer which is available in various colors and from there it travels to different cities of Pakistan. The fashion of bangles is not new, it’s an old one which has its history but everything gets modified and becomes better with time so as bangles. Now there’s a wide range of bangles  available in the market ranging with different materials and designs. The sweet chan chan sound has been replaced by the thick sound of plastic, steel or simple bangles wrapped with cloth or threads. To make it trendy usually beads work is done on the outer shell and other decorative items are used to stick to make it more attractive. Bangles are the ever-green accessory of women which makes her a complete bride, yes, none of the bride is complete without these particular hand circles.

Another charming spark of eastern woman’s beauty is mehendi, hands locked with bangles and palms imprint with elegant design of mehendimakes a woman complete. Traditionally, mehendi was made by grinding green mehendi leaves and applying their paste on palms without giving it any specific shape or design with the passage of time the raw mehendi take the form of cone which helps in making unique and delicate designs. Generally, the fresh grinded mehindi shade is light green which later turn to dark green but now different chemicals are used to be fixed in the making ofmehendi, therefore, now it is available in black and red color. However, there are certain myths associated with black cone like one can’t do ablution after applying black cone or most of the women having palm allergy after applying red cone. But there are females who have rejected such allegations and are satisfied with the material as it gives dark color in less time.

For females Eid is incomplete without bangles and mehendi and mostly women remain busy on chand raat while buying bangles or applyingmehendi. The color of mehendi and chan chan of bangles doubles the fun of Eid!

Wish you a blessed Eid!

Eid Mubarak 

Eid cards

Published in Unique Pakistan blog:

http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/eid-cards/

In this digital age of technology into how many ways could you wish a person Eid Mubarak?  There are various ways, through sms, e-mail, fax and tcs etc. Thus, technology gives us thousand ways to greet a person. But amongst these fancy technologies, there is a simple and easy way to wish a person and that is an Eid card. Yes, Eid cards who have lost their value and significance after the arrival of digital technologies but the charm of giving Eid card on Eid day doubles the fun and pleasure of the event.

Sharing Eid cards on Eid day is an old tradition which has a long history. The card sheet made greeting cards, imprinted with Eid wishes, works as the messengers of love and harmony. They are crafted in different beautiful and unique styles which attract a person to buy them just in a glance. Along with the funky and fancy crafted cards, there is another entity known as post cards. These cards are usually having pictures of Bollywood stars or cricketers and sometimes having beautiful scenery imprinted on the front. However the purpose is the same to write message on the back and give it to your loved ones.

In schools, there are usually Eid card competitions arranged which gives students a chance to show their creativity and kids come up with new ideas and techniques of card making. A handmade card would be the best Eid gift for anyone. Sharing of Eid cards is very common among school going students. Let’s recall the old memories. I am sure, you must have given cards to your school friends and fellows. Didn’t you? I remember, I used to write Eid related asha’airs (poetries) in the message portion and some of them are:

• Eid card hai riwayat ess zamanay ke,

Ek dastak hai un k zehnu per, jinhein adat hai bhool janay ke

• Aam key ras ko juice kehty hain,

Jo Eid card na dey usey kunjos kehtay hain

• Jhoomantar jhoomantar,

Jo yeh Eid card kholay wo Bandar

• Dabbay mein dabba, dabbay mein chuqandar,

Eid walay din tumhein le jayiengay bander

• Dabbay mein dabba, dabbay mein injection,

Eid wlaay din dekho (name) ke action

• Phool tu buhut hain likin gulab sa nahi,

Dost tu buhut hain lnkin aap sa nahi

• Eid aye hai atak atak ker

(Name) chalet hai matak matak ker

• Chotie se guriya, gaate hai gana,

Eid walay din tum mere ghar ana

• Siwaeyaan paki hain sab ne chakhe hain,

Tum kyun udaas ho tumahrey liye bhe bache hain

• Eid Eid na karo Eid ajayege,

Etne fashion na karo nazer lag jayege

These were some of the asha’airs (poetries) that I and my friends used to write on Eid cards and with a gift inside the envelope, we share them which conveys the message of Eid along with smiles of joy.

With the sighting of moon, a number of Eid greeting message will circulate from one mobile to another, many e-mails will be forwarded from one e-mail address to another and many people will send e-greeting cards to their loved ones but the charm that an Eid card brings is incomparable  with this dry technology.

Lets’ revive Eid card culture,

Let’s share Eid cards!

Eid Mubarak 

Eid and markets.

Published in Unique Pakistan
http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/eid-and-markets-2/

The festival of Eid is the gift and reward from God to the people who have fast whole month of Ramazan. These are actually the people who have put their personal desires and pleasures aside and spent whole month in worshipping God and asking for the repentance of sins and refuge from hell fire. With the beginning of last 3^rd Ashra, the hustle and bustle in markets start to reach its peak and on chand raat there’s mostly no space in markets to roam about. However, there are many people who complete their Eid shopping before Ramazan which has its own benefits. Above all, it saves time for doing more ibadat and prevents one’s pocket from excessive charges.

Ramazan is the month of blessings which gives the message of love, patience, harmony and brotherhood but ironically in this month exorbitant prices tramples the little joy of eid that a poor man wishes to have. Whether, they are fruits and other iftar items or Eid dresses everything mostly get double in price in this Holy month of Ramazan. One can stop eating expensive items in iftar to save money for buying an Eid dress. Yes, Eid is the festival in which everyone wants to be clad with new and stylish outfits.

Karachi is the city of mix-ethnicities. People from different cities are residing here in search of daily bread. Mostly there are three classes living in Karachi, upper class, middle class and lower class. Therefore, there are different shopping areas, markets and arcades are present catering all the class. Upper class usually shop from air-conditioned big malls, middle class moves to renowned markets and there are different cheap markets for lower class and lunda Bazar, Light house market is above all.

Lunda Bazaar, the second hand cloth market is place where you can buy designer garments or different brands at very cheap coast. The faded jackets, used sweater, woolen caps, mufflers all are available at Lunda Bazaar. This market is heaven for the people who can’t afford buying expensive clothes. On the other hand, Liaquatabad market is another whole sale market for poor. From needle to grinder machine, from blankets to wedding dresses all are available under one roof. This is the quality of this market that people from middles class also prefers it as it saves time.

Likewise, there are different bazaars in different areas of Karachi on daily basis like hafta bazaar, itwaar bazaar, peer bazaar, mangle bazaar, budh bazaar, jumerat bazaar and jumma bazaar. The purpose of these bazaars is same to give relief to poor people and mostly, people prefer these markets for buying house hold stuff as it saves money.

Markets is a very vast topic to discuss and markets of Karachi is a wide topic because Karachi city is embracing so many big and small markets in its bosom which caters people from every class that is a fact to appreciate. Everyone enjoys Eid according to their capacity but being Muslims we are brothers so it’s our duty to fulfill the need of our Muslim brothers through Zakat or other cash donations. Let’s have a look in your circle, is there anyone who is waiting for your mercy?  If yes, then go an make their Eid memorable.

Stop dividing my motherland!

Published in Unique Pakistan:
http://blog.uniquepakistan.com.pk/stop-dividing-my-motherland-by-noor-ul-ain-hanif/

Pakistan:  “The land of pure”. Its soil is fertile as the blood of our fore-fathers is fused into the mud. This land gives birth to multi-talented stars as talent and struggle is circulating in its blood. Yes, we are Pakistanis, who got independence on 14 August 1947. This year we are celebrating its 65^thbirthday. On Independence Day we usually talk about “what Pakistan has given to us? Or what we have given to Pakistan? Which is actually a good idea; we should review ourselves but this year I am not going to ask such questions. Today, I am writing this blog post to make an appeal “Stop dividing my motherland”.

People from different ethnicities took part in the war of independence. They were unconcerned with the idea of language, race or sect. Everyone was fighting for one cause that is for one country where they can practice their religion “Islam”. At the time of independence, Pakistan was a big and densely populated country consisting of two wings; Eastern wing and western wing. Generally, Eastern wing or East Pakistan is known as “Bangladesh”. A large number of people migrated from India to Pakistan in search of their homeland. Leaving their properties, wealth and inheritance of fore-fathers behind they entered Pakistan. Moreover, during migration they lost their loved ones too. They bring nothing with them but dreams of a new land in eyes, struggling, talented and hardworking blood. In spite, of all the tears of pain, they stepped in Pakistan with a hope and dream of a homeland.

After independence, Pakistan has gone through many hurdles and troubles but the fire of religion and teachings of Quaid-e-Azam has kept us together. After the death of Quaid-e-Azam, the politics of Pakistan took a new turn. Western and Eastern wings of Pakistan should work with mutual consensus but due to the political drawback Pakistan lost its Eastern wing which affects Pakistan’s economy. A bird can fly freely in an open sky if its both wings are strong and healthy but if one wing is broken or becomes weak the bird will fall down on earth. The same happened with Pakistan. In 1971, the bird Pakistan got injured and lost its Eastern wing. Losing someone is the greatest pain and the pain of losing a loved one can’t be measured same as with Pakistan. The economy of Pakistan was gradually increasing but with this incident everything was changed people lost their loved ones and property as they lost at the time of independence.

After losing the Eastern wing, Pakistan’s economy was completely down but with the passage of time Pakistan overcome it but as we all are familiar with the quote “history repeat itself” whatever happened it repeats itself. Now once again, history is repeating itself. We lost Bangladesh in 1971 and today we are living in 2012, we should think rationally but none of us wants to think by facts and logic. Today, we are living in Pakistan labeling ourselves as Muhajir, Pathan, Sindhi, Saraiki etc but not as Pakistani which is the biggest drawback of our country. At the time of partition people from all ethnicities participated in the movement, through collective efforts we have achieved Pakistan. But today we are living apart from the bond of brotherhood.

Pakistan is the country of multi-culture, multi-talent and multi-ethnicities. Let’s combine the talent and vision together, let’s gather the brains and minds from all over Pakistan, let’s start a campaign to make Pakistan strong. Dividing Pakistan into ethnicities or sects is not the solution. If we want to make Pakistan stable then we have to come out of the boundaries of province, ethnicity, race or sect.

Think for Pakistan,

Think like a Pakistani!