All that glitters 8

Bridal Couture Week –

Falling short of expectations 20

Snapshots of Bridal Couture Week 25

Massarat’s makeovers 33

Travel: Exploring the ghost town 34

Health: Echocardiogram 37

Books 38

Heritage: Victoria School 40

Recipes 42

Films 44

Legally Speaking 46

Glamstock 47

Tarorscope 48

Aunt Athena 50

EditorInjila Baqir Zeeshan

Sub EditorsFatima Zehra NaqviSahar Iqbal

Creative HeadBabur Saghir

Graphic DesignersJaveria MirzaSana AhmedMian Nasir

PhotographerMohammad Amir Baba

Contents

20expectationsCover picture and Bridal Couture Week coverage(Ramp shots, All

that glitters) by Lounge photographer Mohammad Amir Baba

Bridal Couture Week –Falling short of

The much talked about Bridal Couture Week was held last week in Lahore. The participat-ing designers

were Nomi Ansari, Ali Xeeshan, Mehdi, Amna Ajmal, Saher Ali, Shazia’s, Nargis Hafeez, Fahad Hussayn, Lajwanti, HSY, Asifa & Nabeel, Hoorain, Muzaffar Ali, Shafaq Habib and Nilofer Shahid.

Vaneezeh, who has mode-ling, acting and lawn production

Falling short of expectationsBy Injila Baqir Zeeshan to her credit has now branched out into

productions, the couture week being one of her ventures. Style 360 along with Pantene and J&S Events staged this three day long event, which met a lot of harsh criticism from the crowds both in terms of organi-sation and production. Though industry bigwigs like HSY, Nilofer Shahid, Ather Shahzad and Khawar were involved, the event did not manage to attract the kind of attention that it should have, considering how colossal the bridal fashion industry has become.

During a mismanaged entrance, a near stampede was barely avoided, leaving some frail ones bruised. The footage of previous days, shown in full, interspersed between the shows not only wasted everyone’s time but became a source of frustration for the

disgruntled crowd on the rooftop of Royal Palm as the previously pleasant evening progressed into a chilly night.

The beginning of the finale was the high point of the couture week with six stunning models, walking down the ramp sporting some groovy hairstyles and superb makeup by none other than the guru of the fashion industry, Shahzad Raza. He is also the brand ambassador for Pantene. Eman looked ravishing in red with Cybil, Mehreen Syed, Rachel, Neha, Nadia Hus-sain and Nadia in beige sensual attires by Mehdi. Another highlight was the exciting HSY segment very well choreographed and Reema, as the show stopper won a huge round of applause. The styling for the male models was done by Khawar who, as ex-pected of him, had done wonders.

Bridal Couture Week –

20 I December 5 - 11, 2010

Designers on Style 360 Bridal Couture Week

HSYHassan Sheharyaar Yasin, also the brilliant choreographer for the shows at

Bridal Couture Week in Lahore showcased pieces which have been closest to his heart from the past 10 years. The Collection called ‘Retrospect – a decade of luxury’ enthralled the audience. Each of the pieces held a specific value for its creator – perhaps embroidery in one and the cut or colour combination in another. Commenting on the Couture Week he said, “It may be tiring, but I have to do it. We all need to leave the comfort of our homes if we want to take the fashion industry forward. After years of experience it has become much easier for me to stage these shows now and my team including the models is just like a family. We must focus on fashion if we want to take our country’s image improved and create goodwill for ourselves.”

The crew of Style 360 with HSY and Jalal

HSY’s Designs

I 21December 5 - 11, 2010

Nilofer Shahid Nilofer Shahid of Meeras Couture showed a never before displayed collection of brid-

als in the grand finale. Commenting on the couture week she said, “A lot has been put into these shows in terms of effort and planning by everyone involved. The market for bridal dresses is huge and if the industry is doing well it will automatically filter down to the lower levels, providing opportunities to all those linked to this field. So be it future orders or be it the continuous improvement of our work, a bridal couture week was a bril-liant idea as in this area lies our bread and butter.”

Nilofer is a designer who has won standing ovations from crowds all over the world for her remarkably magnificent creations. The range she showed at the Style 360 Couture Week took its inspiration from five flavours of the subcontinent – Luckhnow, Hyderabad, Bhawalpur, the Northern Plains and Kashmir. Enough can never be said about the lim-itless talent of this woman who certainly uses some of the most artistic and intriguing sources for selecting her design themes.

Nomi Ansari Nomi Ansari brought the Sindhi flavour of his ‘Ajrak Collection’ to Punjab. The

silhouette was very Eastern and the burst of colour which has now become synonymous with Nomi’s name captivated the audience.

“My collection has a lot of variation in style and cuts and it’s meant for all ages,” said Nomi. But he sounded a little disappointed with the organisers of the event. “Whatever you saw on the ramp was good, but off the ramp it was pure chaos!”

The show became stressful for Nomi as he found it difficult to manage with the ill organized help he was provided with. Moreover, he is not hopeful about the results of the show, “I saw hardly 30 percent women in the crowd, the social crowd was not selected wisely and it was mostly boys all around. The couture week was meant to bring us clients and business, but I think it was for the benefit of the TV channel only. Other than the mismanagement, the event went well. I believe Sheroo (HSY) did a wonderful job.”

Nilofer’s Design Nom

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22 I December 5 - 11, 2010

MehdiThe very talented designer Mehdi who has a solid reputation for turning

dreams into reality, showed his stunning bridal couture collection on the first day of the fashion week.

Talking to Lounge he said, “Every woman who has fantasized about the timeless wedding dress good enough to be passed down generations can rest assured that their wishes have been materialized.”

Turning out a regal collection in pure white and gold fused with festive shades of red, pink and green, Mehdi has played with embellishment and sil-houette to add drama and glam to each piece. Intricate craftsmanship with innovative designs brought forth an explosion of colour defining style and tra-dition. “It was truly a wonderful show and a commendable effort was put in by the team behind the couture week,” says a satisfied Mehdi.

Asifa NabeelDesigners Asifa & Nabeel showed their bridal collection on the last day

of the couture week. Commenting on the event they said, “We think this is a very positive step that channel 360 has taken. It will definitely take the fashion industry to another level. This is the peak season where the brides are on a look out for the designers to create something fabulous for them to select for their big day. This event will definitely do wonders for them in terms for giving them a large variety of options to choose from and where to go for placing their orders.”

Mehdi’s Design

Asifa & Nabeel’s Designs

I 23December 5 - 11, 2010

Massarat Misbah is a very talented beautician. She has the ability to transform any face to make it look appealing and charming. Her magical touch can do wonders for any woman belonging to any age group. Lounge brings you makeovers of real women and not just fashion models.

Massarat’s makeovers

We begin with cleansing and moisturising the face.

Hair is cut according to the girl’s face shape and size.

Different colours of bases are merged to get the shade best suited for her complexion.

Grey, black and orange eyeshades are blended to enhance the eyes.

Contouring is done to give a proper shape to the nose. Pink blush-on is applied to create a youthful look.

We choose a light pink lipstick to go with the dark eyeshades.

Eye pencil, kohl and mascara are applied to define the eye shape and size.

You are invited!to send in your picture with a few words

about yourself and you can

WIN A FREE MAKEOVER

to be featured in this column. Just write to us on:

lounge@pakistantoday.com.pk

After makeover

After makeover

I 33December 5 - 11, 2010

Travel

Exploring the ghost town!

All around is a country of low hills. Rolling here, jagged there, but hills everywhere in every direction. And yet politicians carp on about the possibility of the Sindhu downstream of the dam drying up in consequence of the water that the Punjabis will skim off at KalabaghW

h e n K a s h i f N o o n , who works for the Postal De-partment,

was transferred to Mianwali recently, he said the most exciting item he had seen in his district was the abandoned colony established for the staff of the Kalabagh Dam Project. His description made it sound like something out of a film and that was enough to betake me out to Mianwali which is, from Lahore, harder to reach than Timbuktu.

The colony lies north of Kalabagh town, by a road that was specifically built for it. As one travels this winding black ribbon, now falling to pieces, through the brown hills, an-ticipation builds up. To reach a ghost town, a road that passes through several miles of unpopulated and wild country is an experience in itself. En route we passed a smaller walled-in colony also built for the same purpose, also aban-doned, but with a padlocked gate. We

paused briefly and contemplated climb-ing over the wall, but gave up and car-ried on.Another few miles and we were inside the gateway of our colony where build-ings bordered the gravel road. To our left were family quarters and to the

By Salman Rashid

Landscape near the Kalabagh Dam site

34 I December 5 - 11, 2010

right the offices and bachelors’ quarters. All in ruin, with broken doors, missing panes and empty, littered rooms.If the cross-river cable car had looked new, the yellow crane behind the two Core Box Sheds was even newer. Only its tyres were completey deflated and perhaps rotten. It seemed to have been in service only spar-ingly. Nearby the tarpaulin-covered air conditioning plant of the padlocked labo-ratory was equally prim. From the dusty windows we could see shiny new gadgets that appeared to be weighing scales and shelves lined with all sorts of beakers and dishes they use in chemistry labs. The Core Box Sheds captivated us: their roofs had caved in and their large sliding doors were padlocked. From a chink in the door we could see shelf after shelf in rows and tiers all lined with wooden crates each holding several cylinders filled with samples of earth that had been bored deep out of the crust.Kashif said if they could have so many thousands of core samples, a good deal of preliminary work must already have been done on the building of Kalabagh Dam. I couldn’t have agreed more. I wondered how many of those thousands of samples stored there were tested in the lab before work was abandoned years ago. Kashif suggested I ought to go back and find out from the concerned WAPDA department when work was stopped and the colony abandoned. I agreed, but later gave it up as a futile exercise. All that matters, so far as I am concerned, is that a good deal of the nation’s money was used up and then nothing came of it.We worked out way over to the Officers’ Hostel. The building makes a hollow square with an open grassy plot in the centre. Through broken doors we went in to check out the rooms. The switchboards were broken, but the lampshades on most walls were still intact. In the recesses between the two sides of the wardrobes many looking glasses still had the sticker that said that the glass was manufactured by Avon of Belgium. The dusty fittings in the toilet had no markings, but we were convinced that they too were imported.As we were pottering about one of the married officer’s quarters, the watchmen who we could hear loudly talking in their quarters came around to investigate. If it hadn’t been for Kashif with his civil servant’s demeanour I would surely have been marked as an Indian spy and my camera perhaps confiscated. But now the two men were talking: the place was all right, one of them said, until the army and the militia moved in. I very nearly blurted out that even the country was in pretty good shape until the army got its hands on it, but sensing that the

man was a retired soldier kept my mouth shut. When they left, the man continued, the place was in shambles.The erstwhile presence of the militia explained the graffiti in the kitchen of the accommodation we had been exploring: the phrasing and style of the Urdu film songs was clearly of a native Pukhtu speaker – which most of the soldiers of the militia are. Kashif gave perspective to the military presence. Many years ago Nawab Muzaffar Khan of the powerful Kalabagh family, he reminded me, was gunned down in cold blood not very far from this colony. Whatever the cause of that heartless and dastardly act, following it, this part of the country hastened to anarchy. The militia was called out and there being no other billets; they put up in the abandoned Kalabagh Dam Colony.The watchman then pointed out the tin parasol up on a hill to the southeast. If we climbed up there, said the man, we would be able to see where the dam would be – if it were ever built, and how the lake would stretch out. We drove up the winding road.

The line of whitewashed rocks marks the line of the Kalabagh Dam – if it would ever have been built.

I 35December 5 - 11, 2010

The view was remarkable: the blue arc of the great Sindhu made a lazy curve to the left and disappeared behind the low hills. In the middle distance, a gash in the left bank marked the inflow of the Soan River. Distance lent the vile Soan a benign blue appearance. But the Soan is not toxic for some natural fault. It has been pumped full of the effluent of Islamabad and Rawalpindi by our unthinking municipal administrators. May the good God above never smile upon them!Once a living stream teeming with aquatic life, it is now a stinking, dead sewer. Even as we watched from the van-tage of the high bank, we could see sew-age floating on the water near our bank.Immediately below us was a small mound of whitewashed rocks, the first of a straight line of similarly washed boulders stretching to the river and across on the far bank as well. Kashif said this marked the line of the dam. This was where the giant dyke would go up whenever it did. Upstream of it the

lake would stretch out for heaven knows how many miles. Makhad, that magical little village, smack on the left bank of the Sindhu would be drowned, as in-deed a number of other habitations. I wondered if distant Sojhanda would go too. And what of that enchanted place called Bata with its deserted houses made of red sandstone blocks, where those magnificent shisham trees shade a bubbling spring of good clean water.These are only places on the Punjab side of the river. There are equally in-teresting little villages across the river as well. Of them I only know Nizam-pur and Khushalgarh. But I lament the drowning of that magnificent span of the Khushalgarh railway bridge. No longer will the Kohat-bound train from Rawalpindi go thundering across its steel trusses. The next few generations will grow up without knowing there was a rail connection between these two towns.As we viewed the surrounding from our vantage, Kashif pointed out that, given

the kind of topography it is situated, in it would very nearly impossible for the best engineers in the world to take ca-nals off the dam: all around is a country of low hills. Rolling here, jagged there, but hills everywhere in every direction. And yet politicians who have probably never left the comfort of their drawing rooms carp on about the possibility of the Sindhu downstream of the dam dry-ing up in consequence of the water that the Punjabis will skim off at Kalabagh.So far as the two of us, non-technical tourists, I must confess, could see there was no possibility of canals leaving Kala-bagh Dam. And we had not gone out there to either vindicate or indict pro-ponents or opponents of the dam. We were simply there to explore the ghost town. The dawning of this truth was purely incidental.

Salman Rashid is a travel writer and photog-rapher who has travelled all around Pakistan and written about his journeys. He is rated as the best in the country.

The machinery to work the cross-river lift.

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36 I December 5 - 11, 2010

An illustration showing how an echocardiogram is performed.

E c h o c a r d i o g r a m A vital prognostic tool

By Dr Omar A Rana

This can be seen on the screen of the machine.

What useful information can be obtained from an echocar-diogram?

An echocardiogram can be used in several ways to aid in clinical management. It allows imaging the structure of the heart.

In addition, perhaps the most important application is to assess the contraction of the heart musculature. The heart is a muscle pump that contracts continuously allowing un-interrupted blood supply to human organs. Following a heart attack, a part of this muscle may die and hence lose the ability to contract. This can be superbly assessed by the use of an echocardiogram.

Are there any specific precautions?There are no specific precautions

to be taken. You will usually be asked to lie at a 45° angle and slightly turned on to your left side. The operator will routinely record the tracing of your heart (ECG/EKG) by placing three

electrodes onto your chest.

Are there any risks involved?There is a theoretical risk of some

local irritation (where the probe is placed) due to the small amount of heat emitted but this is exceedingly rare.

When can I expect to receive the re-sults?

If a doctor is performing your test you may be able to know the results as soon as the test is completed.

Dr Omar A Rana MBBS (Pak), MRCP (UK), Specialist Registrar in Car-diology (UK) is a visiting Cardiologist at Omar Hospital, Lahore.

An echocardiogram employs high frequency sound waves to generate images of the heart and to detect blood flow within the cardiac chambers

Following a heart attack, it is vital to establish the extent of damage caused to the heart muscle. Your cardiologist would want to initiate investi-gations that would allow the imaging of your heart. This

is of prognostic importance in planning short-and long-term management and risk stratification. One such test is called an echocardiogram.

What is an echocardiogram?Sound travels in the form of waves

much akin to the waves we see crashing onto the seashore. The human ear can hear between 20 Hertz (Hz, denoting number of cycles of sound waves per second) to 20,000 Hz. An echocardiogram employs high fre-quency sound waves to generate images of the heart and to detect blood flow within the cardiac chambers.

How does an echocardiogram work?Ultrasound waves are transmitted into

the body from a source (known as a probe). This probe is held by the person perform-ing the test. The surface of the probe that is in contact with human skin is smooth and almost the size of a small bar of soap.

To form an image of the heart, a stream of very brief ‘pulses’ (each lasting less than a second) are transmitted into the chest. As the waves come into contact with various layers of human tissue, for example, skin, muscle, bones, pericardium (the sac in which the heart lies), heart muscle, valves and blood within the heart chambers, these are reflected back at different time intervals and help form an image of the heart.

Health

I 37December 5 - 11, 2010

Books

By Beenish Mehmood

‘The Grass is Sing-ing’ is Lessing’s first novel in which she ex-plores the colo-nial psyche of the crumbling

white civilisation and the deposing of his domination by the black man’s po-tential. The stereotypical behaviours of both the whites and blacks are reversed in the novel to present the possibility of the black man’s strength to gain power over the white. Lessing’s intentions are depicted from the very epigraph which talks of ‘empty chapels’, which have no ‘window’ and the title of the novel is also suggestive of the hopeful future for the black man.

From the very beginning of the first chapter of the novel, the conscious white washing of the colonial mind of Charlie Slatter is at work who structures the account of Mary Turner’s murder. “Mary Turner… wife of Dick Turner… was found murdered… the houseboy, who has been arrested, has confessed to the crime. No motive has been dis-covered. It is though he was in search of valuables.” So we are told of a mur-der mystery, which would be later dis-covered by the reader that it was not a mystery rather conscious white washing

by a white man in order to conceal the relationship of a white woman with a black man. Lessing endeavours to make her readers see as well as realise that behind every dark skin there is a whole new world waiting to be ex-plored. And in ‘The Grass is Singing’, the character of Moses fully succumbs to this definition. Through Moses, Lessing is represent-ing ‘a Black man’ who has so far, been only known as someone with no identity and no voice of his own. The writer makes an in-depth study of the stereo-typed who are considered as nothing but savage, barbaric, primitive, rapist, uneducated and the dreaded ones. And in this un-precedented excursion into the vision-less, voiceless darkness (of a black man), Lessing puts a big question mark over the labels attached with them.

Lessing specifically puts into spot-light this undiscovered world of dark-ness in her novel as she notices that there is a lot more than what meets the eye. Lessing re-visits history to un-fold what lies latent in the chronicles of literature. To a colonial mind, the face of a black man appears as a thick forest containing nothing but wild and poi-

sonous creatures.This takes us to ‘Martha Quest’,

Lessing’s novel based on a woman named Martha who acts as a rebel against society. Like Mary Turner, who violated the norms of the white society by getting involved with a black man, Martha too breaks the set defines and limitations of society and culture hence going through Jung’s process of indi-viduation – the quest for self discovery.

The quintet, ‘Children of Violence’, has been described by Doris Lessing as a ‘bildungsroman’. In this series, Less-ing traces the gradual evolution of the

No half measures for Doris LessingReview of ‘The Grass is Singing’, ‘Martha Quest’ and ‘Under My Skin’

Martha herself is aware of the multiple selves within her: ‘it was as if half a dozen entirely different people inhabited her body and they violently disliked each other’

38 I December 5 - 11, 2010

identity or ‘self’ of the female protago-nist, Martha Quest, after whom the first novel in the series is also named. The impulse behind Martha’s consciously undertaken search, the motif of which is inherent in her surname, Quest, is the need to find her proper place in space and time. Born to British parents living in colonial Zambesia, she is nei-ther here (Africa) nor there (Britain). She is a child of violence since the First World War haunts her childhood and the Second looms like an inevitability before her. In such unstable conditions, her need to know who she is, is an at-tempt to find security and peace.

However, Lessing warns of falling prey to the temptation of considering ‘Martha Quest’ as an autobiography. In her autobiography, ‘Under My Skin’, Lessing comments, regarding Martha Quest, “If I had wanted to write auto-biography then I would have done it, I wouldn’t have written a novel.” Martha herself is aware of the multiple selves within her: “it was as if half a dozen entirely different people inhabited her body and they violently disliked each

other”. Some of these selves, as revealed in opening novel of the series include the intellectual girl with radical views, the new girl in town who enjoys being the centre of attention and lastly, a tru-er and deeper aspect of her is that of the girl on the farm capable of having epiphanic experiences, who has a vision of a Golden City, but who does not know how to get there.

Throughout the novel her personal-ity expands and contracts incessantly; she makes herself only to unmake herself in order to remake herself all over again. Throughout, she is striving to attain a sense of self that will make her feel secure and comforted. ‘Under My Skin’ is a factual autobiography of Doris Lessing whilst ‘Martha Quest’ is interwoven fiction and fact. It is only through a coalescence of art – ‘Martha Quest’ – and autobiography – ‘Under my Skin’ – that the gaps between the overlapping details can be discerned. Moreover, the difficulty of expressing the inexpressible or conveying the “rich-ness of experience” through words re-mains a problem for a writer.

Like Sartre, Lessing too was made and created by books. Lessing’s search for the truth and her need to explore herself is apparent from the fact that she did not stick to the answers which she had discovered were false or were not right for her. During her convent days she went through a conversion to Ca-tholicism; later she took music lessons but stopped taking them all of a sud-den, when the realisation sank in that it did not hold any answers for her. This tendency is later apparent when she begins to wholeheartedly participate in Marxist activities, leaving her domestic life and her children. Later she explains that she felt that one could not be a Red while being married to a civil servant. Hence, Lessing believes in complete commitment to a cause or belief: half hearted measures are not for someone like her. Her strength lies in her abil-ity to admit her flaws and weaknesses, as well as her strengths. Thus, ‘Under My Skin’ and ‘Martha Quest’ need to be read simultaneously for the reader to be able to understand the truth of Less-ing’s life.

I 39December 5 - 11, 2010

Heritage

40 I December 5 - 11, 2010

glorious past V i c t o r i a S c h o o l :

Remnants of a

By Mariam Qureshi

Situated in the heart of Lahore’s historical Mori Gate, the Victoria School, stands tall and proud exuding the majesty and grandeur of a bygone era.

Originally, the residence of Naunehal Singh, Ranjit Singh’s grandson, the haveli was taken over by the British and converted into a girls’ school. It was named after Queen Victoria in 1849.

The Mori Gate area has lost its former glory; slums and narrow dirty alleys abound everywhere. The local residents, therefore, take much pride in this one remnant of history and are keen to preserve it as part of their heritage. Crisscrossing through the narrow alleys, flanked by slum dwellings, one comes to a large courtyard, called the ‘Bhaion wala maidan’ inside the Mori gate. It takes its name from the traditional meetings held here by the elders brothers of the community. The school stands to the south of the courtyard. The facade of the school is decorated with mehrabs and floral patterns. The building itself is painted in frescos all over.

However, one of the main, eye-catching features of the building remains the elephant sculptures supporting the jharokas. These are made in cement and wood. The designing and sculpting gives the school building a very oriental feeling.

The building has three stories

with a total of forty rooms and a basement. Housed inside the school building is a local ‘sheesh mahal’, which although a sight to cherish, has been closed for public viewing. Housed in the upper most storey of the building, Kangra paintings line the entire walls of the ‘sheesh mahal’.

In 1956, it was made a world heritage site and around five million rupees were spent in renovation.

There is a vast assembly hall, on whose left is an open courtyard with the recently established college. On the right is the historical school. In 1992, the school was upgraded into a higher secondary school, offering FA and FSc with pre-engineering and pre-medical subjects. Furthermore, by the year 2011, the school management also plans on making the English language the medium of teaching. At the moment, the institution has a faculty of 18 members.

This is a huge call for an institution positioned far away

from the hub of the city’s educational institutions. It is almost thriving on its own accord. What is more remarkable is that most of the faculty members hold at least a Master’s degree which speaks volumes of the quality of education that the school has achieved. The teachers maintain that their science laboratories, computer labs and the library are real assets.

The entire ambience of the institution is very quaint, with the four storeys, and a central courtyard. Adding to this old fashioned design are the pews, which are still being used for desks and chairs in the classrooms. The paint from the walls is peeling off but instead of giving it a decrepit look it only adds to its old world charm.

I 41December 5 - 11, 2010

42 I December 5 - 11, 2010

Chef Abdul Manan has worked with Royal Palm, World Fashion Cafe, Hot Wok Cafe in Lahore, Eye Television Network, ALite, Masala, Style360 and APlus, and also runs his own catering business by the name of Urban Gourmets.

Mexican Chicken Wraps

Method

Mix all marinade ingredients in bowl. Beat chicken breast with hammer to flatten them. Apply marinade and leave it for two hours. Grill on grill pan till done. Take out and slice them. Mix all salsa ingredients and refrigerate for two hours. Mix all tortilla ingredients and knead to soft dough. Let rest for one hr, then make 8 balls out of the dough and roll them into 8-inch discs and cook on a hot griddle. Take out on platter and cover with plastic wrap.

To make the wraps

Take one tortilla, spread a little sour cream and a little bit of salsa as per your taste on one end. Place all the veggies and grilled chicken on top, roll, and wrap towards the other end to form a sausage roll. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Recipes

Ingredients Chicken breast, boneless 4 piecesCapsicum 2 medium,julienne, stir fried with 2 tsp oilTomato 2 large julienneCilantro ½ cup choppedIceberg lettuce 1 bulb torn to pieces

Marinade Red chilli powder 2 tspSalt 1 tspLemon juice 2 tbspOil 2 tbspOregano 1 tspCilantro 2 tsp

SalsaOnion 1 small, mincedGreen chillies 2 large, mincedHot sauce 4 tbspChilli ketchup ½ cup

Sour creamFresh cream 1 cupYogurt ¼ upLemon juice 2 tbsp

TortillasPlain flour 250gmsYogurt 2 tbspSalt 1 tspBaking powder ½ tspLuke warm water

Tiramisu Trifle

INGREDIENTS

Sponge cake 1 pound

Coffee syrupInstant coffee 2 tbspSugar 4 tbspHot water 1 cup

Tiramisu creamCream cheese 400gmsFresh cream 400gmsCastor sugar 1 cupInstant coffee powder 1 tsp

ToppingChocolate syrup as requiredGrated chocolate 1 cupRed cherries 12Pistachios ½ cup

METHOD

Beat cream cheese, fresh cream, sugar and coffee until light and fluffy. Take a transparent bowl and put a layer of half of the sponge cake cut into fingers. Soak the cake with cof-fee syrup. Put tiramisu cream on top of the cake, sprinkle some grated chocolate and nuts. Repeat the process. Finally put tiramisu cream on top, sprinkle chocolate and pistachio nuts, drizzle chocolate syrup and lastly put cherries on top. Serve chilled.

MethodPlace the meat in a non-reactive bowl. Mix together the lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, one tablespoon

oregano, garlic, and grated onion, and pour over the meat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. Thread the meat onto metal or bamboo skewers. Heat the oil on a griddle or in a large skillet over high heat.

Add the onions, remaining oregano and essence to the griddle and cook light brown, stirring occasion-ally. Remove from the pan. Preheat a grill. Grill the

skewers, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides. Remove from the grill. Quickly heat the pita bread on the grill until just warmed through and pliant. Hold-ing a pita in the left hand, and the skewer in the right hand, pull the contents from the skewer into the pita bread. Repeat with the remaining skewers. Divide the cooked onions among the pita, and top with Tzatziki

(cucumber sauce). Serve immediately.

Celebrity’s favouriteRup Magon likes to cook the Greek dish:

Lamb Souvlaki Ingredients

2 pounds lamb, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch strips

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp plus 1 teaspoon fresh oregano2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup grated onion2 tsp olive oil

1 large white onion, thinly sliced1 tsp Essence, recipe follows

Pita bread rounds

I 43December 5 - 11, 2010

‘The Fighter’Release date: December 10, 2010Director: David O RussellStar cast: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa LeoGenre: Action

Synopsis: From acclaimed director David O Russell comes ‘The Fighter’, the power-ful true story of professional boxers Dickie (Bale) and Micky (Wahlberg). Although they are half brothers, their careers take very different courses. Older brother Dickie does not suffer from a shortage of talent or confidence, but his lack of judgment and humility lead him down a path of self-destruction. Younger brother Micky, whose talent never seems to match the size of his heart, vanishes into early retirement. But his itch to fight never goes away, and when a rehabilitated Dickie is released from prison and takes over as Micky’s trainer, Micky transforms himself from an under-dog into a world champion prized pugilist.

‘No Problem’Release date: December 10, 2010.Director: Anees BazmeeStar cast: Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Kangana Ranaut, Neetu Chandra, Paresh Rawal, Sushmita SenGenre: Comedy Synopsis: ‘No Problem’ trails the misadventures of Yash Ambani (Dutt) and Raj Ambani (Khanna), two childhood friends and small-time crooks. Raj contemplates changing tracks and leaving the world of crime. Yash on the other hand always man-ages to do something which closes all doors for Raj to change his life. After these two engage in their latest bank robbery, Zandulal (Paresh Rawal), the bank manager, is accused as their accomplice. It is a hilarious trail of love, missing diamonds and the mysterious murder of a white collared mafia

In cinemas now!Films

‘Band Baaja Baraat’Release date: December 10, 2010.Director: Maneesh SharmaStar cast: Ranveer Singh, Anushka SharmaGenre: Drama

Synopsis: ‘Band Baaja Baraat’ showcases the life of two Delhi University graduates, Shruti (Anushka Sharma) and Bitto (Ranveer Singh) who start their career as Wedding Planners. The device involves having two characters who are very different, and who, despite all odds, end up falling in love and “living happily ever after”. In romantic comedies using the trope, the char-acters often start out by sharing a mild or intense dislike of the other and,

through the course of the film, slowly succumb to their charm.

44 I December 5 - 11, 2010

Synopsis: Maanav is a struggling filmmaker who is unwilling to compromise on the script he has written. His girlfriend Ruchi, a successful film editor, arranges for him to meet Nitin, a film producer. Nitin likes the script, but is not very sure of its commercial prospects. Maanav then suggests a story from the Panchtantra, a woman is caught red-handed with her lover by her husband and yet manages to wriggle out of it scot-free! Nitin loves the story, but finds it too short for a feature film. Maanav then creates three more stories based on the same premise. The four stories are woven together by a com-mon story. ‘Mirch’ itself echoes this structure, with four stories mingling with the main narrative.

‘Mirch’Release date: December 10, 2010.Director: Vinay ShuklaStar cast: Shreyas Talpade, Mahie Gill, Shahana Goswami, Konkona Sen SharmaGenre: Drama

The Chronicles of Narnia:The Voyage of the Dawn TreaderRelease date: December 10, 2010Director: Michael AptedStar cast: Ben Barnes, Georgie Henley, William Moseley, Will Poulter, Skandar KeynesGenre: ActionSynopsis: In this new installment of the blockbuster ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ motion picture franchise, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their cousin Eustace and their royal friend King Caspian, find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to the Dawn Treader. As they embark on an incredible adven-ture of destiny and discovery, they confront obstacles beyond imagination.

‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’A Yash Chopra film, ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’ is about the diaspora faced by the first generation of British Indians brought up and living in London. Simran and Raj, played respectively by Kajol and Shah Rukh

Khan, struggle to find truce in the conflicting values of the British identity and Indian values.

Simran belongs to a conservative family and fantasises about her prince charming – a stranger whom she will wait for in earnest. As she travels to Europe with her friends, she comes across Raj. Unable to hold back her emotional self she falls madly in love with him and him with her. But

there’s a hitch – Simran is engaged to a man in India whom she has never even met. But Raj abides by all the laws and norms of society, and like a

true (Bollywood) hero, is able to attain his love. ‘DDLJ’, as it is popularly known, is a classic for all times. A spirited and light-hearted comedy, it is an enthusiastic love story that sees two lovers

meet and reunite in a fashion that is heart rendering. Beenish Mahmood

Timeless Classics

I 45December 5 - 11, 2010

Law

Anum had been gifted with two love-ly daughters. Unfortunate-ly, she lost one of them,

after a few days of her delivery. She blames it on her husband’s ill treatment of her, during her pregnancy. She was then aban-doned by her husband and she feared that she would never get to hold her first born child again. Having tasted such grotesque abuse, Anum vowed to free her child from her husband. She took the support of the law. She was advised to obtain custody of her child by filing a case in court under the Guardian and Wards Act, 1890.

Fighting a custody battle can be a nerve-wracking experience. Therefore, it is always advanta-

46 I December 5 - 11, 2010

Custody:Fight a winning battle!

By Azmeh Khan geous to know the law. Anum, before she sought legal advice, thought that she will lose the custody of her daughter because she had left her husband. Here are a few pointers that will help those in need to un-derstand the situation better:1- In deciding custody cases, the court is

guided by the welfare of the minor.2- Precedence has shown that the court

considers the minor’s age, sex, and reli-gion.

3- The character and capacity of the pro-posed guardian is considered.

4- The minor’s wishes are taken into ac-count if he/she is old enough.

5- Most laws and communities presume mothers should have custody of young children and are only denied so in ex-treme cases.

6- The mother will not lose the custody bat-tle based on the fact that she is not living with her spouse.

7- Mostly, whoever has actual custody when the couple separates retains cus-tody until the other parent files a claim for custody. In recent decades case law in Pakistan

has progressed to encompass a myriad of

reasons upon deciding the well being of the child and there have been landmark chang-es by granting custody to mothers in the best interests of the child. This has been particularly so where court interpretations are, at the very least, partially based on the ‘best interests’ or the ’welfare of the child’.

There have been considerable devel-opments in the understanding of the best interests’ principle. Factors taken into ac-count while deciding custody are:1- The need to keep siblings together.2- The need to ensure stability for the child

and the child’s emotional well-being.3- The mother’s ability to contribute to

schooling and general upbringing. 4- The attitude and actions of the father

are also taken into account so that de-ciding custody becomes a complex inter-action of qualifications and disqualifica-tions. Equipped with the right kind of knowl-

edge through adequate counseling, Anum was able to fight for a better life for her daughter by obtaining the support of the legal system, which awarded her sole cus-tody, and in turn, paved the way to a better future for her child.

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I 47December 5 - 11, 2010

The card of the week is Irtiqa (the growth card) that will keep you active and energetic. Financial gains will ex-ceed your expectations. This week is good for invest-ments. Hectic activities will continue and health will remain fine. A proper evaluation of your work set-up will reveal quite a number of lapses and shortcomings. You may receive a congratulatory note from some dis-tant person for your recent achievements.

Your spread indicates that this is a very comfortable time for you and should get in touch with family. Get out there and play games and indulge your love for new ideas. You will be ready to stay up all night chat-ting with some friends or guests. Use your emotions to gauge your direction and you don’t need to be a hero this week, so relax.

The self-card Jan 21 - Feb 19DUA/AQUARIUS

JAL/PISCES

The aura card Mar 21 - Apr 20FIZA/ARIES

The strength card Jul 24 - Aug 23QUWAT/LEO

The growth card Jun 22 - Jul 23IRTIQA/CANCER

The love card May 22 - Jun 21

ASHIQ/GEMINI

WISAAL/TAURUS

Your spread indicates that you’ll get an added boost of energy and you’ll find it much easier to concentrate on small pro-jects that need to be done at home and at the workplace. You will find some inner comfort this week. You can even deepen your relationships with those you love. This week is also good for investments. Things will be a little tense with others though your friends are solidly on your side.

In numerology this week your lucky number is 5. You will get along well with your colleagues this week. If you have been thinking of starting a new venture, then take quick decisions, as stars seem favourable. Don’t be afraid to do what you want. You will be in a mood to celebrate this week, but you should curb your tendency to overspend. New romance is inevitable, especially if you go socialising in the even-ing.

Your spread shows that on the outside you will appear happy-go-lucky this week but underneath you’ll be broiling with intense emotions. Competition and indecisiveness will make you angry and frustrated even as you realise that it does happen occasionally. Try to be nice and you’ll not dam-age your career with a premature explosion. Cleanliness and orderliness is needed for emotional well-being. Your concern will turn towards diet, health and quality of work.

Use Amethyst stone for special surpris-es. Your spread indicates that your kind nature will bring many happy moments this week. Control your expenses and try not to be too lav-ish in your spending. Your communication techniques and working skills will be very impressive. You will receive very exciting news from your close relative. This week is good for fun and entertainment activities. Initial A is highlighted in the emotional area.

Your spread indicates not to disclose your plans until they are fully developed. Your knowledge and positive attitude would impress those around you. You might be focused on some issues around the house. Your sense of security should be bolstered by your connection to your family and loved ones. It is a good time to lay the foundation for some new beginnings. Stone of the week is Jasper.

The card of the week is Fiza (the aura card); it indicates that you will be feeling a little more socially inspired. The intel-lectual focus will continue. You will need to make some creative compromises. You will be strong emotionally, but avoid rash decisions. Any legal problem can confuse this week. Short travel for spiritual purpose is highlighted in your spread.

THE ZODIAC AND EASTERN TAROT By Mariam Aftab

Dec

embe

r 05

- 1

1, 2

010

The ambition card Dec 22 - Jan 21

AFTAB/CAPRICORN

The sensitivity card Feb 20 - Mar 20

The physical change card Apr21 - May21

48 I December 5 - 11, 2010

The patience card Aug 24 - Sep 23THEHRAO/VIRGO

The magician card Sep 24 - Oct 23SAHIR/LIBRA

The confusion card Oct 24 - Nov 22

INTISHAR/SCORPIO

The luck card Nov 23 - Dec 21KISMET/SAGITTARIUS

Tel: +92 (42) 35751231, 35710452Websites:www.mariamhealingcenter.com, www.innerstrengthhome.org

Celebrity Couples&

CompatibilityPrince Charles and Camilla Parker

Bowles

Camilla Parker BowlesJuly 17, 1947

London, EnglandBirth time: 7:00 amSun Sign: Cancer

Moon Sign: Cancer

Prince CharlesNovember 13 1948London, England

Birth time: 9:14 pmSun Sign: ScorpioMoon Sign: Aries

Q: My name is Yasir and my date of birth is October 20, 1975. Can you recommend some

other spellings for success?A: The other spelling should be yaseer

Mariam Aftab is a renowned healer offering self-help courses and counselling services. Readers can send in

their questions regarding any problems at mariamhealingcenter@gmail.com

Ask the Expert:

Mariam Aftab

Your spread indicates that you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed by endless in-terruptions and distractions this time. Try not to get too tense or stressed out if you find yourself frustrated in your efforts to make progress at work. Just be prepared to go wherever the opportunities are right now. Your creative energies could be amazingly high and your romance should be on the rise as well. Stone of the week is Aquamarine

The card of the week is Asl (the reality card), which indicates that you will need to be flexible. It might be fun to make some changes in your career plans. Watch what you say to your loved ones, they might be highly sensitive. New partnership offers for some, but don’t be eager to sign financial papers without consulting a professional. Lectures and seminars on spiritual topics will bring new ideas for educational growth.

Your spread says that you should focus on important issues. Blessings of some saint-ly or a highly influential person will give a big boost to your life. Guests may crowd your house later this week. Evenings will be ex-citing if you spend them with friends. Sudden roman-tic encounter will lift your spirits.

Your spread indicates that pressure from seniors at workplace and discord at home might bring some stress, which would dis-turb your concentration at work. Unexpected travel for some will prove hectic and stressful. Assist your wife/partner in domestic chores to lessen their workload. It would encourage a sense of sharing and happiness. Lectures and seminars that you attend this week will bring new ideas for growth. Personal charm will increase during this week.

Both of them have strong, deep feelings and thus bond very intensely. Consequently they can attach to each other and cling tightly. However, their

emotional natures are different in many ways. Camilla often feels more compassion and sympathy for someone, while Prince Charles may view

Camilla’s feelings as sentimentality. When wounded, Prince Charles becomes resentful and vindictive. Camilla, on the other hand, cries or sulks, and usually lets the other person know (verbally or nonverbally) about it.

I 49December 5 - 11, 2010

Dear AA,I am frustrated and depressed because my parents keep on blaming me for everything. They are forcing me to get married but I want to enjoy my independent life as I am working too. I want to make a career first but they don’t understand this. I am 23 and can wait a couple of years for a good proposal. Please enlighten me with your advice. Career woman

Dear Career woman,Your parents are justified. All parents are concerned and protective about their children. They have the right to look for your spouse. The other side of the picture is different. You should continue your work until your parents come up with a nice and suitable partner for you. Secondly, you should have faith in God that he has chosen the very best for you and you will get married when He wills. I will suggest you continue your job and start looking for the spouse get engaged to him even if you don’t want to get married right away. Once you get engaged, it will ease your parent’s worry too.

Dear AA,It’s so excruciating to define my pain in words because I can’t explain the feeling that I am going through. I am a 24-year-old girl; I am not pretty at all and inherently lean. I can’t gain weight no matter how much I eat. Everyone is blaming me for this shortcoming. Even my parents are giving me a tough time because I am not getting any suitable proposals. They don’t understand me and say bluntly that they’ll find any ordinary person for me and get me married because I am not pretty. So now it’s my punishment to accept the person they will select for me. This criticism from people I love the most is such an ordeal, sometimes I contemplate suicide. Please help me. Ugly stick

Dear Ugly stick, Don’t get depressed. I know our society judges by appearances. It’s very hard to block your mind from the criticism you receive on such low priority things. It’s not your fault that God has created you in that way and honestly no one is ugly; it’s the people around you who make your life miserable. My advice to you is to pray before God that you find a nice husband. Don’t bother about what people are saying. Try to spread love around you. Seriously inner beauty is far better than outer and in the end this inner beauty will reflect on your face as it affects your aura. You should also try to make your connection strong with God because it helps a lot. It’s your life live it the way you want too by spreading love around you. Trust me people will love you for this.

Dear AA,I am sick of my work environment. My boss is giving me a tough time. He is insecure because people usually like my work, and give my work priority over his work. But the other side of the coin is that he always criticises me for no good. I hate this. I can’t bear his presence. Please help me. Furious colleague

Dear Furious colleague, I must say the boss is always right and he has the right to order you. I will suggest you to say yes to everything he says because it will save you trouble. You’ll do this by putting your ego and irritation aside while on the other side start looking for a better opportunity. If he criticises you again, don’t retaliate.

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