Update

I would like to apologise to my regular readers for my sudden dissapering act, for those who wrote to check on me, thanks for your concerns and wishes. I had some problems I had to deal with and then my internet connection died for the past one week. I hope to get back as soon as I can, hopefully within a couple of days.

Poverty

There is so much poverty that children from different households spend all day following harvesters around, after the harvest they go through the field collecting stalks of wheat which might have fallen from the harvester, in all probability they would collect less then a KG of wheat each a day through the 10-15 days of harvest, but they keep at it to feed themselves at night.

Carrying Water

Some Gypsy families lived in a camp some distance from my farm, they did not have access to any water so women used to come to the farm throughout the day to pump water from the hand pump and carry it back on their heads.

Transportation

A common transportation in the urban areas is this three wheel vehicle, with the front of a motorcycle and the back of a rickshaw, powered by a "Peter Engine" it is capable of carrying heavy loads.

Sunset

City life in Pakistan is very crowded, with buildings all over, dust and smog and you don't get so see much of nature's colors, this bright orange sky was thus a treat at the village, almost the same colors everyday.

Sunny Fields

A warm welcome to my fellow readers from the fields of "Tilwandi Bhindran" a small village 70 km from Lahore. Thank you all for visiting and commenting on the posts in my absence, blogger worked perfectly on draft mode only I overstayed my visit to the farm so missed a couple days of posts. The next week I will post pictures from the farm and the village with stories to give you all an insight into rural life in Pakistan. Even though we own land and farm in the area this was my longest stay at the farm so a lot of things were eye opening for me too. For now Enjoy this picture of a field of sunflowers, planted for its seeds which are used to make edible sunflower oil.

Books

One of my favorite stops at the Sunday market, this book stall sells used books and often you can find amazing treasures at less then a Dollar.

Selling Oranges

This man was curious as to why I wanted to photograph him when I asked his permission, when I told him that I was posting pictures of Lahore Daily he asked and what does that gain, very inquisitive fellow, makes his living selling seasonal fruit in his cycle converted into a mobile shop.

Tablas

Known as the "tabla" these are drum like musical instruments popular in the Indian sub continent.

Frescos

Like the other Mughal tombs, the walls and ceiling of Nur Jehan's tomb were also adorned with beautiful works of art from centuries back.

Studying by the grave

The grave of Nur Jehan and her daughter side by side, you can notice a guy studying in the background, I noticed several people studying in the area, and one person singing sufi music.

Entrance

This is the entrance to the tomb of Nur Jehan, there are four similar entrances on all sides of the Tomb.

ps. I will be going to my farm for the next 5-6 days for harvesting of wheat and will be putting blogger on auto mode for the first time, lets see how it goes, hope to see you all back soon with some pictures from rural Punjab.

Path

A wooded path leads to the tomb of Nur Jehan.

The Great Empress

This tomb is a short walk away from the Dilkusha Garden complex across a railway track, it is the tomb of Empress Nur Jehan, one of the most powerful women in Indian History, she is said to have ruled over Emperor Jehangir's heart, even though she was his 20th wife she was the favourite. She was the true power behind the Mughal throne. She also had the honor of being the only Empress whose name appeared on the coinage of that period.

Sarcophagus Caligraphy

The only thing intact in Asaf Khan's tomb is the marble sarcophagus with Arabic calligraphy & a plain brick floor.

Ruins Closeup

Closeup of Asaf Khan's tomb, you can see a small area of artwork that originally covered the whole building.

Asaf Khan

This tomb belongs to Asaf Khan who was the brother in law of the emperor and a noble in his court, He was also the father of Mumtaz Mahal in who's honor Emperor Shah Jahan erected the Taj Mahal. The tomb is part of the Dilkusha Garden complex where Emperor Jehangir is buried. Due to lack of funding this historical building is all but crumbled, built around the same time as Jehangir's tomb this building is in ruin compared to the Emperor's tomb.

The Door

Old doors are one of my favorite subjects to photograph, found this one at the Jehangir's Tomb.

Jehangir's Tomb Closeup

Here is a closeup of the art work on the exterior of Jehangir's tomb.

Dilkusha Garden

Emperor Jehangir is buried in a complex consisting of a huge Garden in the middle, his tomb to the right and the tomb of one of his closest advisers and brother-in-law Asaf Khan to the left, Asaf Khan was the father of Mumtaz Mahal in who's honor the Taj Mahal in Agra was built. This photograph is taken from the center part of the complex known as "Dilkusha Garden" and you can see the main gateway into the smaller area leading to Jehangir's Tomb.

Jehangir's Sarcophagus

Inside the burial chamber of Jehangir's Tomb, you can see beautiful art work on the walls and floor, all made in white marble. The sarcophagus of the Emperor is decorated in Arabic script with prayers and the 99 names of God .

Boys will be boys

Although this looks and is dangerous, it is common to see people sitting and standing on top of buses moving at 70KM/ Hour. Even though its illegal, no one bothers to check the practice.

Spreading Smiles

While taking photographs in Pakistan, I have noticed many people get very happy when you take their pictures, if you take one person's photograph the other asks you to take theirs as well. Most of these people do not own camera's and some have never been photographed or own their own pictures.

A while back in an inspirational moment an Idea was floated on Global Themes by Shaykhspeara Shaira that there should be a way to take photographs of these people and distribute them and bring some smiles to people who really deserved them, I have been acting on that idea for the past month and if I take pictures of people I can later find, I get prints made and go back and give them their photographs, the best moments have been when a small child see's his photograph and smiles an innocent smile. I encourage all of you especially if you are in an area where people are not privileged enough to own cameras to try it, it barely costs anything and bring a lot of joy to people as well as to you.

Jehangir's Tomb Fresco

As you enter through the main entranceway you come into the corridor leading to the burial chambers, this corridor is intricately painted and has been preserved for centuries, the walls are adorned with soothing geometric and floral fresco well known in Mughal architecture.

Jehangir's Tomb Exterior

A closeup of the tomb's exterior, the main gateway in the center leads to the burial chamber.

Jehangir's Tomb

Nuruddin Salim Jahangir was the Mughal emperor from 1605 untill his death in 1627, his tomb is located on the outskirts of Lahore next to the river ravi, this tomb was built by his son in the year 1637. You will remember "hiran minar" I posted about earlier the tower and the garden for the pet dear mansraj was built by Jehangir.

Punjab University

The Pharmacy department at the old campus of the Punjab University.

Only Statue

This statue of Alfred Woolner is the only statue which survived in Pakistan from the British era, the rest were all destroyed after partition.

Kim's Book shop

The Lahore museum has an art and oriental bookshop by the name of "Kims book shop".

Lahore Museum

This is a picture of the Lahore Museum, Established in 1894 this museum has a huge collection and is one of the best museums in the region. Rudyard Kipling's father John Lockwood Kipling was one of the first curators of this museum and had arranged for a job for his son in Lahore, Lahore's influence is evident in Kipling's writings, a lot of scenes from "Kim" are set around the sights near this building.

Zamzamah

"He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zamzamah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher -the Wonder House, as the natives call the Lahore Museum.Who hold Zam-Zammah, that 'fire-breathing dragon', hold the Punjab, for the great green-bronze piece is always first of the conqueror's loot." Opening from Rudyard Kipling's Kim.

Ps. Sorry for being away from the comments, I have been out of town on my farm for the past 5-6 days and didn't have access to the internet my sister has been posting posts that I had drafted before I left. The good news is I took lots of pictures on the way so the next few days are going to be a tour of some famous sights from Lahore.

Neon Coloured Lights

Neon Colored Lights to attract customers to a shopping mall in the Defence Area.

Flying Low

Spotted this Pakistan International Airlines Airbus A310-324/ET flying over head with its landing gear and flap down approaching the runway.

Shop on wheels

This young salesman and his assistants go around the city selling onions on their donkey cart, for them their way to work is wherever there are buyers.

Rose Garden

Rose Garden at the Forman Christian College Lahore.

Steeple

Looking up at the steeple of one of the oldest churches in the Indian Sub Continent. The steeple is widely believed to be also the tallest a church has in the region. Built by Lt J.Hartley Maxwell of the British Bengal Engineers on 1st March 1852, The Holy Trinity Cathedral is beautiful with a lot of history, inside there are numerous plaques dedicated to the various British casualties during the the war of independence and the rest of the British Raj. Located at Sialkot a small industrial city 2 hours from Lahore.

Chinese

Pakistan does a lot of business with China, and the Chinese are working on a lot of projects in Pakistan, spotted these two shopping at the Sunday market and they waved and smiled for the camera.

Spring is here

After the last shower it looks like spring is finally here, temperatures are expected to reach 40 Celcius (104 F) in the next week so the spring will be short and the summer hot. Photographed at Defence Park, Lahore.

Dry Fruit

Pakistan is famous for its dry fruit, here is a vendor selling, pistachios, dates, almonds, raisins, and peanuts among lots of other things.

Rain

Today has been a rainy day with dark clouds over the sky.

Sharing

This is what I caught on my makeshift bird feeder outside my window today.

Festival

These two people own this handicrafts stall in a road side festival in Lahore, Roadside festivals with small shops and stalls selling clothes, handicrafts and food are a common site in spring. This particular stall had an assortment of wall hangings, bed sheets, table cloths and cushions in wonderful colors all made by women in the rural areas of the Thar Desert and brought hundreds of miles to the city to be sold.

Ps. Blogger issues still exit but I found a proxy that is letting me post pictures as well as view and comment on blogs, so thats good.

Problems

If you have followed the last few posts you must be aware of my blogger/blogspot dilema. As of this morning I have also been shut off from http://www.blogger.com so I am not even able to post pictures. Tried using several proxies but can't seem to post from most and If I do get into the posting page I am unable to upload or host pictures. I have been on the case of my ISP since the last 2-3 days and hopefully the situation will be resolved soon, untill then I will keep on trying to find a solution via a proxy or some other alternate. Sorry Guys. Hope to be back soon.

Paying Homage

Lahore is known for its Sufi Saints and Shrines, where people come from all over pakistan to pay their respects and pray. This particular shrine is called Bibi Pak Daman, said to be the shrine of the daughter of Hazrat Ali, the first Caliph of Islam. You can see several devotees holding their hands high in prayer.

Door

An old hand carved wooden door and hand painted tiles spotted in the "Walled City of Lahore" also known as old city. The old city has structures dating back hundreds of years and thus I am not able to give a time period when these magnificient pieces of art were crafted but its safe to say these might be a couple centuries old.

Ps. From the comments on this and my other blog from Pakistani bloggers it is obvious that my access to blogspot hosted sites is not blocked because of sensorship issues by the Government of Pakistan, but some glitch with my ISP, Thankfully I am able to post but not view sites or comment on blogger, hopefully the situation will be resolved soon.

The Government has however blocked access to several video hosting sites as a means of protest against the hosting of Anti Islamic film "Fitna" by Greet Wilder.

Steam Engine

Here is one for the railway enthusiasts, Photographed at the Changa Manga, the largest man made forest plantation in Pakistan, This John Fowler steam engine built in 1927 and still in operation is the pride and joy of the forest department, which uses the railway to haul wood around the forest.

Ps. Sorry Guys I have not been able to visit other sites or comment on them for the last 2 days, reason being I can't seem to access any blogger hosted blogs. It could be a glitch with my ISP which they are denying, but most likely it is an internet censorship issue by the internet regulatory authority.

Quote

This quote by the Nation's Founder Qaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah is seen in a lot of places. At a time when Pakistan is facing difficulties in its midst quotes like these hope to encourage people to stand united against forces that are bent on destabalizing the country.

Paan Shop

This is a standard Paan Shop in Pakistan, you will find them in almost every locality, it's usually a small stall selling Cold Drinks, Juices, Ciggarettes and the infamous "PAAN". As you can see in the picture, hygene is not a priority.

Moon Over Lahore

The moon about a week back, Inspiration: numerous CDP blogs posting moon pictures.

Governor House Entrance

A few people have talked about Kipling's "Kim", so here is a site from the book, Government House where the "Sahib with the white beard" lived. As you enter the huge gates of the Governor's House this cannon is the first thing you see on the drive to the main building. No this is not the famous "Zam Zamah" it is a replica of another canon.

More Picture fom the Government house.
Sword Room
Old Guns and Trophy Head
Main Hall
Bay Window
Darbar Hall
Darbar Hall Paintings
Meeting Room
Small Dining Room
Passage to the office area

Cuckoo's Den

Cuckoo's Den located in inncer city right next to the wall of the historic Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque from the Mughal era is one of the best restaurants in town, the building is historic and tells a story its own and the walls are adorned with Paintings depicting the life on "Hera Mandi" the nearby red light area. If you are in town this is a must go.

Yummy

The neon sign for one of the most popular Ice Cream Parlours in Lahore, Called Yummy's 36 it has 36 flavors of Ice Cream served in its outlets all over the country.