Islamabad Metblogs » ism_imran

Damn-e-Koh at night

ism_imran — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 22:27:38 +0000

Using slow shutter speed to capture the night scene. Visit Damn-e-Koh to get away from city life and look at Islamabad laid out in front of you. You will be pleasantly surprised on the improvements made in the past few months. Larger version of the above image is at http://www.flickr.com/photos/imrankw/123680225/

Spring is in the air

ism_imran — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:29:08 +0000

Bright yellow flowers and dark roses … its spring time again!

Basant’s kite flying mishaps

ism_imran — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 23:40:39 +0000

Last week (thursday) a 19 year old student died of excessive bleeding in Islamabad’s twin city Rawalpindi as a result of a “chemically coated / ground- glass covered” kite wire sliting his throat. As colorful and cultural this old Pakistani tradition might be, the stigma of kite-flying-related deaths has come to haunt Basant this time with a vengeance. Lets hope that people enjoying kite flying on rooftops waiting for a “Bo-Kata” learn to be responsible for their actions.

The increasing rents

ism_imran — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 19:15:29 +0000

One of the unfortunate aftermaths of the Margalla Towers collapse was the skyrocketting of house and house-portion rents in Islamabad. The Margalla / Mustafa and Pak Tower evacuees had to face rents pushed up by as much as 30% immediately by that fateful October 8th afternoon. Personally I found portions in F10 that were around 25k climbing to 35k and 30k to 40k per month immediately (some magic figure of 10,000 was in play). And lets not talk about renting an entire house!

Although the prices have fallen back by about 5%-10% after that day, it was sad to see landlords and property agents taking advantage of the situation. It kind of showed the “thinking” of this group of people.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Islamabad is become more and more unaffordable to live in for salaried individuals. CDA (Margalla ppl refer to it as Criminal Development Authority, check the banners posted on that site!),or any toher government arm that is applicable in this situation, needs to do something to curb this rent hike.

To Bush or not to Bush?

ism_imran — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 16:53:24 +0000

Leader of the free world, or the Dictator of the world, depends on how you look at him, arrives in ISLOO tomorrow. Let me hear some comments from the Metroblog readers on what they think about his visit.
I personally think his Indian visit was successful and very significant due the Nuclear deal. Bush recognized India as a “responsible state with advanced nuclear technology” and promised to adjust U.S. and international laws, to give India’s civilian facilities unrestricted access to imported nuclear technology. Pakistan will soon follow suit with a nuclear “sho-sha” of its own.

Bush stops in land of the Pure (read it as Pakistan) to show a few things:
1. Pakistan is an ally.
2. Pakistan needs to do more on war on “Teh” (thats how Mr Bush pronounce Terror in his Texan accent).
3. Pakistan cannot be ignored in the region.
My head hangs in shame when I read “Bush Comes Calling” Page 5 in “The News” today.
Islamabad residents - get ready for couple of days of road jams, strikes etc etc. Its time to be strangers in Islamabad!

Margalla Road’s rich colors

ism_imran — Tue, 28 Feb 2006 21:37:55 +0000

This photo (posted on my Flickr site) was taken over the last weekend after rain washed Islamabad clean. Travelling on Margalla Road (actually named Khayaban-e-Iqbal, but who cares!) is one of the best experiences in Islamabad.