Although it is hard to accept the fact that a resident of Islamabad is allergic to something in the Capital, apart from the babus, pollen allergy takes its toll on the asthmatic Islooites every year. It is now becoming part and parcel of life in the Capital. In March and April, when most Islooites enjoy the blossoms and garden parties in the peak spring season, there are also those who dread its advent. Some even leave the Capital and move to other areas just as during the Raj, the Brits sought refuge from the scorching heat of Delhi and moved to the cool hills of Simla for summer. The few capitalistic pollen patients head for other close-by areas to spend the two months, before it’s over.
Several deaths have been recorded due to extremely severe pollen allergy in recent years. Newspapers carry special columns indicating the daily pollen count, just like the one used for SARS. Special news items appear when the level increases the normal limit, and one can also see it mentioned in the television’s weather report.
After several studies, researchers have identified that the pollen from Paper Mulberry trees is the source of the allergy. Although there are various other pollens from different grasses and weeds that also cause allergic symptoms, they are relatively mild and do not cause asthma.
Much to the annoyance of environmentalists and in spite of the strong resistance put up by the Environmental Protection Agency, the past two months have witnessed an enormous amount of cutting down of trees by the CDA in the name of allergy. Besides Paper Mulberry, these also included a large number of Sumbul trees. Although the beautiful Sumbul trees and their fluff rarely cause severe allergy, they became innocent victims in the process.
Industrial exhibition
The cry of “Baji behtareen lawn; Baby ke liye chips; loot lo; sasta, sasta” made my day as I entered the much-talked-about industrial exhibition. Christened as SAF Expo, the industrial exhibition has fallen flat just like the SAF Games. With all due respect to General Arif Hassan, Core Commander Rawalpindi and also Chairman, SAF Games, he fathered this child, nourished it, saw it grow and is now taking it to the grave. SAF Games have been a bad omen for Islamabad. Will they see the light of the day this time? No one knows. The General, in his entire career, wouldn’t have rescheduled his appointments as many times as he has rescheduled the dates for the SAF Games.
Spread over the vast ground next to Shakarparian and an annual feature of Islamabad, the industrial exhibition is an enthusiastically awaited event. The venue is quite central to both the cities, making it easily accessible for residents of both the cities.
People wait for months to shop for the items on sale at company prices. You can get everything from pottery from Gujrat, lawn from Faisalabad, Khaddar from Kamalia, etc. There are also stalls set up by multinationals exhibiting and selling their products. Besides the swings and merry-go-rounds, the place has a special section for food stalls of known kebab and sajji wallas. In short, the exhibition is a sophisticated reincarnation of the Lucky Irani Circus that provides healthy and affordable entertainment to the have-nots of this elite city.
Like everything else, the SAF Games also became casualties of the Iraq war, but the exhibition continued. Although a lot of money went into it, the exhibition was also overshadowed by the Iraq crisis.
Anti-US protest
The saying: “Better late than never” was well-followed by the proud Pakistanis’ offsprings when they started to disinfect themselves from the addiction of Zingers and the colas. The motivation did not come from either the President’s “Sab say pehle Pakistan” or the Prime Minister’s “Sab ko sath lay kar chalein gay,” and was an in-built, spur-of-the-moment thing.
Hundreds of students from different educational institutions staged a protest demo at China Chowk to boycott products ‘Born in the USA’. Organized by the students of some elite schools, the demo was also joined in by madressah students. They comprised both boys and girls who carried banners and placards inscribed with anti-war and anti-US slogans. Their posters had visuals with names of leading US products and companies, convincing people that they could do without them. Instead on raising slogans, these children quietly formed a long queue while displaying the placards.
This young, patriotic lot showed solidarity not only with the Iraqis, but also among themselves as one could feel similar sentiments in all the children, no matter which class or school they belonged to. The call, in general, was well-received by the locals who cut down on their visits to fast-food joints. Even the cream de la cream of the capital participated in the boycott and stopped sending their chauffeurs for takeaways.
Although it is hard to accept the fact that a resident of Islamabad is allergic to something in the Capital, apart from the babus, pollen allergy takes its toll on the asthmatic Islooites every year. It is now becoming part and parcel of life in the Capital. In March and April, when most Islooites enjoy the blossoms and garden parties in the peak spring season, there are also those who dread its advent. Some even leave the Capital and move to other areas just as during the Raj, the Brits sought refuge from the scorching heat of Delhi and moved to the cool hills of Simla for summer. The few capitalistic pollen patients head for other close-by areas to spend the two months, before it’s over.
