Foot Series: Thar desert, Mithi, Sindh province

My foot, Thar desert, Mithi
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Date: 8th November, 2009.

Ah, the sands of my Thar desert. They are so charming, curvy, beautiful. Adjectives may soon run out but the sands remain, curvy as ever. And sometimes, treacherous.

I clearly remember the day when this shot was taken. Sky was a beautiful blue. Sands were brown. And there were people from across Pakistan. They were participating in a Jeep rally in the deserts. I have personally never approved of these rallies because they can harm local wildlife. But such rallies provide chance for the locals to interact with world-weary people from outside.

p.s This chappal I still have. Thanks to GOD!

25th December : Quaid's Tomb & The Common Man

Quaid's Tomb & The Common Man
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

On a question recently put across on the board by Pakistan Blog Awards team to all of us bloggers, 'What would every bloggers message be for Pakistan, this 25th of December, our Founding Father's birthday?', I put up this photograph, shot by me on 25th Dec, 2006, by my good Nikon and with due permission from a good, old friend in Pakistan Army. Here is what I wrote after uploading this photograph:

Via Flickr:
During the celebrations of the Birthday anniversary of Leader and Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, common men were asked to stand outside the main gate while the VIP's (Read: Dacoits and Politicians) prayed and socialized over the dead body of their leader.

I am always ashamed by the workings of this country and its politicians when I see this photograph. This country was not made for looters and politicians and army junta. It was made for common Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and for Parsis and for those who would like to live their life according to their own wishes. Unfortunately for the man who created it and for all of us, we now find ourselves among the angry mullahs and the duck-headed leaders.

- You got the point.

Langhar deghs at Shrine of Shah Yaqiq, Sindh

Langhar deghs at Shrine of Shah Yaqiq, Sindh
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Via Flickr:
All shrines across Pakistan feed poor people. This general feeding is known as Langhar and the place where the food is cooked is known locally as 'Langhar Khana'. Thousands of people are fed daily at each of the major Shrine of Pakistan. This helps greatly in a country where food may be expensive for quite a lot of people.

Here, the empty deghs (in which food is cooked) are waiting for the food to arrive at the Sufi Shrine of Hazrat Shah Yaqiq (RA).

Red chilli market, Kunri, Sindh

Red chilli market, Kunri, Sindh
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

I like this photograph for a simple reason that whenever I look at it I smile a lot. It was a nice day with lot of spices up my nose. In my whole life, I had never witnessed so many red chillies in one place. So many that I later claimed that it must be the largest chilli market in Asia, if not in the whole world. Rows upon rows of chilli would be graded, packed and loaded after intense bargaining between the owner and the middle man.

Most of the growers of chilli in Pakistan are Hindu banyas and they tend to wear starched white kamiz shalwar. They always look stately in their dresses but most of them are very down to earth. The middle man are usually very cunning and come from Punjab or Karachi. At the end of the day, everyone wins. Sometimes, un-expected rains may spoil the crop but apart from that everything is good - and red.

Minature Jholay, Tando Allah Yar

Minature Jholay, Tando Allah Yar
Originally uploaded by Ameer Hamza

Women in Pakistan, most notably those of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab regions, go to various Tombs of Muslim Holy men (also called Sufi or Aulia in Urdu and Persian) and ask for manat. They place these miniature jholas at their favourite tombs and request for the birth of a child from ALLAH via the Saint. When their wish is granted, they fulfil their promises to the Saint. That could be anything from giving charity to visiting the Tomb for consecutive months or even years. Some women even dedicate their child to the Tomb of the Saint as its keeper. Wahabis and Deobandis, both products of British rule in Saudi Arab and India respectively, reject this belief system and name it shirk (a concept within Islam which means that you place someone on the same pedestal as ALLAH or GOD).