My Moments # 3

Its time for me to continue on with my recollections. I am overwhelmed with the response I am getting from everyone who is reading them. One nice comment was that once I am done writing these thoughts on Blip, I might compile all of them together to form a book ... well, that is a great idea and I might end up doing that.

These are the ruins of our ancestral house on Temple Road. I woke up early in the morning at about 5am and saw that my mother was also up. We both decided to drive to TPRd and grab a few shots a little while after sunrise and take advantage of the natural light and the fact that on a Sunday morning the roads would be almost empty. As soon as we saw the house from far away, driving in our Red little Chevy, our hearts sank and both of us wanted to weep. We have so many memories attached with this places and it breaks our heart to see it in shambles, left all alone to rot away. 11th March 2008 was the day when this house was blown up as a result of the shock waves of a massive attack that took place in one of the neighboring buildings which was a Government Office. This house is situated in the same lane and is just one house away from the building under attack. My uncle's family (my father's younger brother) was inside it at 9am in the morning when the attack took place and they came out miraculously along with their black Labrador completely unharmed. The rest of the family including us have our own houses in various parts of Lahore and this family was the only one residing there at that time.

On our way back, there was an old ghazal "Dasht-e-tanhai" playing on the Radio written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz. For some odd reason, it seemed relevant to me in the early morning after visiting the ruins of a once alive and full of life and energy house, a home for many including me.

Listen to the Ghazal on youtube

English translation of the poetry

Though I have digressed from the chain of memories that I started recollecting from the time when I was a child, I decided to upload this today as I wanted to see this place. I am now thinking of my life in Kharian, but have decided to cut short this episode of My Moments series this time and leave the merry memories for My Moments # 4.

For those who have just joined in:

My Moments # 1

My Moments # 2

P.S. Sunday morning, shops closed. So no batteries and am still using my father's LUMIX.


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