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March 21, 2004
In brief
IF you live in Islamabad or its sister city, Rawalpindi, and love getting onto a bicycle to explore the countryside, or you are just a cycling buff, then a handy booklet produced by the Asian Study Group (ASG) is just the thing to have for easy reference. Titled Cycling in and Around Islamabad, this well-formatted book gives you an introduction to the delightful sport of cycling and the many different kinds of rides — from the easy to the very tough — that are there for you to enjoy.
Compiled by Nadeem Ryaz, who is an avid cyclist and has been riding around Islamabad for over a decade, this guide helps fill an information gap for cycling enthusiasts. Sports clubs in general and cycling clubs in particular will find it very helpful, especially if they are beginners in the field.
In the preface, Ryaz says Islamabad provides one of the best training grounds for an ardent cyclist. Giving credit to Parveen Malik, who was also the president of ASG (1999-2003), for suggesting that he work on a simple guide as a joint contribution towards introducing another unusual aspect of Islamabad, he has regretted the unavailability of authentic maps for ‘off the road’ tracks but hopes his descriptions will help cyclists to find their way around the city and its environs. The guide begins with a brief history of Pakistan and follows with general information about Islamabad and its climate.
The next chapters give advice on the purchase of equipment, both essential and protective; clothing; accessories, maintenance; safe riding; the author cautions against buying hi-tech equipment because there is no mechanic to repair faults — unless of course you can manage to do the fixing yourself! The use of a support vehicle on long rides is recommended, unless the terrain forbids it. There is sound advice that makes for a sensible guide to an enjoyable outing, whether you are going alone or with a group of friends.
The next pages detail rides under different categories. Family rides; short trips; challenging rides; truly tough rides and the ultimate challenges for experts — or the very daring! Then, off road rides have also been listed, one, for instance, being Quaid-i-Azam University to Shahdara. Last but not least, there is a map of Daman-i-Koh and a sketch map of Murree, with important road signs also featured to make them easily recognizable.
In her acknowledgment, adviser to ASG, Parveen Malik, says Nadeem has kept in mind the differing abilities and categories of cycling aficionados and worked out routes that will satiate the most critical of devotees.
Cycling In and Around Islamabad
By Nadeem Ryaz
ASG, PO Box 1552, Islamabad
Tel: 051-2875891
46pp. Rs80
DEDICATED to all the working women in Pakistan, Human Rights Education Programme’s first exhibition of Women @ Work, a six-week long display, was put up in the British Council of Karachi on International Women’s day in 2002. In all there were 62 posters of working women out of which 36 were developed by HREP and curated by Rumana Husain and Neda Mulji. The British Council developed the remaining 26. Apart from giving bilingual captions to their posters, HREP also prepared the Urdu translations for the British Council posters.
An expanded version of the exhibition (72 posters) was relaunched in December last year on Human Rights Day. Now it has been converted into a travelling exhibition that is being taken to schools. For this purpose the development of a manual for teachers was necessary. The manual has two volumes — the first contains teachers’ guides and the second contains reproductions of all the posters.
The study aids in the first volume will assist teachers while discussing the exhibition with their students in class. Each lesson plan has been specifically designed for a particular age level, which has been indicated along with the time duration for an exercise. Thoughtful discussions and brainstorming sessions are directed at creating awareness about women and their status in society. A sample question and answer session between a man and a doctor titled “She doesn’t work” may open minds as to how homemakers who work from dawn to dusk running the house are not appreciated for their contributions. A primary and secondary level activity asks children to make a list of all the jobs women do at home. Like the posters, which are bilingual, the teacher’s guide too is in English as well as in Urdu.
The posters in the second volume are in alphabetical order and they cover a wide variety of professional careers for women — way more than anyone probably knew existed. They are role models, which apart from arousing awareness would specially benefit girls whose young and impressionable minds have to be made aware, encouraged and inspired to try to live up to their potential. There are no limits attached to what they can do in their lives. Hurdles or barriers are not for bringing a stop but are to be climbed over. And thanks to the activities in the teacher’s guide, the images of these role models and the stories attached with their lives will remain with them even after the exhibition is over.— Shazia Hasan
Women @ Work — Manual for Teachers to Accompany Travelling Exhibition
Volume 1: Lesson Plans & Teachers Notes
By Rumana Husain
48pp.
Volume 2: Posters Included in the Travelling Exhibition
77pp.
Human Rights Education Programme (HREP) in partnership with the British Council, Karachi. Available with HREP, 9C/1, 8th East Street, Phase 1, DHA, Karachi 75500
Tel: 021-5800245, 5886481 Email: info@hrep.com.pk Website: www.hrep.com.pk
Price not listed
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