09 must-visit places in Pakistan

Pakistan is not only what you see on the news channels every day. It’s a lot more than the terrorism, politics and all the hundreds of other problems. When we talk about visiting other places like Paris, Switzerland and America, we forget how beautiful our own country is and how much we are missing by going out to find beauty.

May it be the mountain peaks in the northern areas or the busy city lights in Karachi, the country will summon you under its charms completely!

Well then if any of you decide to take a road trip or a Pakistan tour, these places below are a must visit!

1. Concordia

A mountaineer’s heaven, the mountain top is in the far north of Pakistan where it borders China. You can have a breathtaking view of the fourteen mountain peaks our country bears.

2. Kel Valley 

One of the most beautiful and fascinating places in Kashmir, the valley looks like a miniature of heaven.

3. Deosai Plains

Also known as the land of giants, these plains are located in the region of Gilgit Baltistan, also the second largest ones in the world. The place is famous to be visited during summers and springs for its fauna and colorful flowers!

4. Kaghan Valley

One of the most striking places in the world, Kaghan valley is located in Mansehra, a small district in Pakistan. With its splendid and speechless beauty, the valley is a very famous tourist spot.

5. Baltit Fort

An ancient fort located in Hunza Valley locates back to 700 years and its beauty is incomparable.

6. Lake Saif-ul-Malook 

This beauty located in Mansehra is surrounded by many mountains, however the reflection in its lake is the most magnificent thing you’d ever come across!

7. Shandur Top

Known as the highest polo ground in the world, is located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Covered in snow during winters and sparkling with lush green grass in summers, this place is a prevalent tourist destination.

8. Hingol National Park

One of the largest national parks in Pakistan, Hingol is known to support 35 species of mammals, 65 species of amphibians and reptiles and 185 species of birds.

9. Wagah Border

This is one place where every Pakistani can feel the adrenaline rush into their veins. The air there is, is filled with zeal, enthusiasm and most of all, love and patriotism. A place bordering India and Pakistan, thousands of people all across Pakistan wish to go there once!

Things like these enlighten the pride I feel in my heart for my country. It makes me believe how there are places still completely pure of the dirt and germs spreading like wild fire among us. After all, as the famous quote goes:

“Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light.”

10 Things You didn’t Know About Kishore Kumar

Today we celebrate the 85th birthday of the singer, Kishore Kumar. The singing legend gave us innumerable hit melodies in his career spanning for decades. Even after 26 years of his demise, his melodies are still thoroughly enjoyed by all the music lovers.

Below are 10 things not everyone knows about the famous Kishore Kumar.

1. Winning the Filmfare award eight times, the man now has an award named after him. ‘The Kishore Kumar’ award is commemorated by the Madhya Pradesh government.
2. The legendary singer married four times in his life. Out of which two of them ended up in divorces.
3. Leading a solitary life, Kishore Kumar did not have many friends, which is not a surprise. Thus he called trees his closest buddies.
4. Initially, before he started play back singing, Kishore Kumar used to imitate the style of K.L Saigal. It was S.D Burman who advised him to develop his own style.
5. Also, Kishore Kumar stopped singing for Mithan Chakraborty for some time as his third divorced wife, Yogeeta Bali married the actor. However he could not do that for long.
6. Kishore Kumar’s marriage to Madhubala in 1958 was highly opposed by his family.
7. He perfected the yodeling style of singing. A unique style he learned from Australian music.
8. Rajesh Khanna and Rahul Dev Burman were two of the only closest people to Kishore Kumar.
9. Kishore Kumar died on his brother’s birthday from a heart attack, prior to which he wanted to Khandwa, his native place.
10. As fate had it, Kishore Kumar’s last song was sung for Mithan Chakarborty, alongside Asha Bhosle.

The talent of Kishore Kumar can be figured from the fact that he excelled not only as a singer but also actor, lyricist, producer, composer and writer. He truly is a pride for the Indian cinema and today on his birthday we pay tribute to him.

Akhlaq Ahmed; The Pride of Pakistan

One of the most well-known singers of Pakistan, late Akhlaq Ahmed has given many hit melodies to Lollywood like “Sawan aye sawan jaye” and “Na sona Na Chandni”. Indeed he was one of the most respectable singers of the Pakistani Industry.

He was born in Delhi and started off his career as a stage singer in the 1960s in Karachi, where he was a member of a famous singing group with two other legendary artists, Masood Rana and Nadeem. With approximately 300 songs to his credit, his voice was highly renowned in the industry.

According to a recent interview conducted with his son, we get to know Akhlaq Ahmed’s story of his first recording. According to his son, the man had a very close friend who worked at the Pakistan International Airline, who had some close contacts and got him an audition. The first ever song sung by Akhlaq Ahmed was Sawan aye Sawan jaye composed by the famous Robin Ghosh. The song was a block buster and from here started the journey for this exceptionally artistic man.

His first ever film song was Raastey ka Patthar, a track from the movie with the same title. Akhlaq Ahmed won the Nigar Award for the best singer eight times (three times in a row), his unique voice was prodigious which could never go unnoticed by many Composers, hence the number of songs he has sung.

Strictly speaking, Akhlaq was an ordinary man and a very supportive father, though a little strict, as his son tells. He was a very devoted man and his ability to devote stanch attention to his job brought him hordes of success. He always sang with understanding and depth and cast his fans in an intricate spell that lasted even after the song ended. I could safely say that his voice was a flawless and beautiful creation of God.

Unfortunately, Akhlaq spent the last few years of his life fighting the terrible disease of blood cancer. His wife, an employee at PIA admitted him at a hospital in London. She was indeed a fearless and valiant lady who stood by her spouse, steadfast in even the hardest of times.

At the time of his demise, Akhlaq was 53 years old, his son was in his late teens by then. It was 4th of August, 1999 when this great voice of Pakistan was silenced.

At an interview with The Diplomat, Afaq Ahmed, Akhlaq’s son said few things about his father.

“He was very down to Earth, would always talk to his fans and never had a “star” attitude.”

Akhlaq Ahmed, not only adored our hearts with his heartwarming voice, but also taught us a lesson before leaving the world. When things get tough, you have to believe in yourself and hang in there, along with your loved ones because they are the ones who’d give you strength. Eventually things get better.

Today on his sixteenth death anniversary, we pay tribute to the prodigious voice and personality of this man. He may not be with us today physically, but he would always be cherished in all of our hearts. After all he is our nation’s pride.

10 Inspirational Quotes from Disney

None of us is ever old enough to get over Disney. I can still not watch lion king without bawling my eyes out. Neither can I stop rooting for Anna from Frozen. In times of hardships or happiness, these movies have stuck with us through it all.

Here are 10 best inspirational quotes from your all-time favorite Disney movies.

1. “Oh yes the past can hurt. But you can either run from it or learn from it.” Rafiki to Simba – Lion King

The old chimpanzee taught us that sometimes you cannot step into the future without letting go of the past.

2. “Ohaha means family, family means no body gets left behind. Or forgotten.” –Lilo and Stitch.

Little Ohaha and Stitch taught us how family is the most important thing at the end of the day. After all blood is thicker than water!

3. “A little consideration, a little thought for others, make all the difference.” – Winnie The Pooh.

This is the basic concept of humanity we all have to grasp in today’s world. All we need is a little heart.

4. “Love is… putting someone else’s needs before yours.” – Olaf, Frozen

The snowman went ahead and told us what love is in one line. Something people have been trying to do since decades.

5. “Just keep swimming.” –Dory, Findinng Nemo.

Indisputably we all adored Dory in the movie. Thus, all we’d do is… swim.

6. “As the years go by, our friendship will never die, you gonna see it’s our destiny, You’ve got a friend in me.” – Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story

The bromance shared between Buzz and Woody is one of a kind which is unsurpassed. Atone point or the other, we all have wanted a friend like them. After all… ‘To infinity and beyond!’

7. “Adventure is out there.” – Ellie, Up.

Life is in itself a voyage. And it’s never too late to embark upon it, like Carl did.

 

8. “Never grow up.” – Peter Pan.

There is a child somewhere hidden down there in each and everyone of us. All we have to do is keep it alive and let it do its work.

9. “Different but bestfriends.” – Monsters Inc.

James and Mike show us what real friendship is. Friendship does not have specifications, its just about someone sharing the same craziness as you do, or even more!

10. “Our fate lives within us, you just need to be brave enough to see it.” –Princess Miranda

Miranda taught us how courage helps us change out own fate.

Movies are adaptations of real life people and incidents. All these characters live within us, we just have to glance in our souls and let them take over.  

5 Stereotypical Things Found at a Pakistani Iftaar

A South-Asian Pakistani iftar is the most stereotypical thing one can ever come across. Tables decorated with dishes like jalebi, dahi bara, alloo samosa and fruit chat. There’s an extremely mouth watering quality to these foods – especially around iftaar time.

The Multi colored Sharbats

One of the many iftaar traditions are the multi colored sharbats. Many Pakistanis prefer opening their fasts with these instead of water. We prefer a different color each day!

Our “Healthy” Digestive Systems

Instead of keeping a light hand at iftar preferring only fruits, we Pakistanis like to show off our healthy digestive systems as if there’s no tomorrow. No wonder the sale of hajmolas sky rocket during these months. Yours Sarcastically!

 

 

Even though we have dining tables, sitting on the floor for Iftar holds a lot more significance in Ramadan

One of the attractions of this month is the avid use of dastarkhuwaans by all types of people; may it be a small one, or the never ending large ones, signifying equality in front of God.

 

Food or Rainbow? Let’s be our own traditional self and put all the colors on the food table

Our traditional food is the most important aspect that distinguishes us from the other cultures. Tables in our households are so colorful and ravishing that one can just not resist while eating. Probably, we have a certain kind of affinity for generic colors whether it is our food, our weddings or any other event.

 

 

United we stand, divided we fall; diminishing sectarianism in the Holy Month

However, the most heart touching feature of our Ramadhan is the harmony seen at the iftars on roads set up by various trusts like Edhi and Chiipa, where all people, rich or poor sit together and break their fasts, helping and giving hand to each other. It’s places like these where the differences of sects diminish, leaving only spirituality and fraternity to exist.

 

World Book Day Event – Hotfm 105

Hotfm 105 added another stone to the wall of its milestones. 30^th April 2015, Hotfm 105 organized an event on account of World Books Day at Bahria University, Karsaz. The event was more than the conventional books selling stalls arranged by many leading book stores of Karachi this month in several universities. The event was settled for the youth audience that is apparently more interested in fiction than academic course books. The event was set keeping the youth in mind and the students celebrated it till the end. The event started at 11 pm with a stall of fiction novels and a selfie booth with props. Students enjoyed the novels collection and the crowd started capturing pictures on the booth.

There was another session called Spill your thoughts, where there was a white wall to write your favorite dialogues or lines from movies or books. Students and teachers came up with their favorite lines and spilt their thoughts. Our reason for not liking the smart phones technology was registered the moment students used their smart phones to search lines to write on the wall, Sigh!

The next session started with a buzz, it was a quiz that undoubtedly was the most successful session of the event. It comprised of questions from famous fiction novels. A specially designed mug was given as a prize for answering 4 questions correct out of 5. RJ Mirza Humanyun took auditions for RJs, news readers and voice over artists at the university. The students took extraordinary interest and hotfm 105 stood successful in recruiting new talents for the radio station.

Celebrating Second Anniversary of “Press Club”

Press Club, for its poignant and edgy debates about the current affairs has achieved a well known reputation amongst listeners. The show centers News and issues of daily life. The host, Mr. Imtiaz Khan Faran (Former President, Karachi Press Club) discusses the ongoing scenarios of the country with the participants who usually are either senior Journalists or analysts from the major media houses. The participants share their views on and about all the hot topics and affairs of the society. The show gets into a heated debate and turns out to be giving solutions to the issues being faced by the inhabitants. Mr. Yasir Qazi, the Executive Producer of the show, hosts the show in the absence of Imtiaz Khan Faran.

In last two years, Press Club has showcased numerous issues out of which many were completely ignored by the government. But, after Press Club highlighted those issues, the government had no other choice than to give ears to them. Press club has triumphantly pushed The Government of Sindh and The Federal government into solving tremendous problems existing around. After the criticism about Thar crisis in the show, the CM Sindh, Qaim Ali Shah Sahab was pressurized into visiting the victims for the first time during the disaster. Thar Development Authority (TDA) was also formed to address the drought situation in the desert. A distribution of Wheat Bags (free of cost) among the victims of Thar drought was held in 2014.

Ansoo Bai, handicapped girl from Thar was given recognition for her 2 decades long services in the field of Education, She was running a home based school on her own, without getting any remuneration. Press Club displayed the figure for her services in education. Later on, the Education minister of Sindh, Mr. Nisar Ahmed Khuhro visited her personally in Thar and appointed her as a government teacher and converted her home-based school into an institute working under the government of Sindh. Sindh Assembly then invited and organized a session to applaud Ansoo Bai’s efforts.

Several ghost schools were opened and/or given furniture and building, and numerous villages were given electricity and gas connections due to the noble attempts made by the participants of the show.

Recently, Hotfm 105 celebrated the second anniversary of the show. A cake cutting ceremony was held on air to extol the efforts of its host and participants.

The participants were:

Muhammad Imtiaz Khan Faran	Host of the show (Former President, KarachiPress Club)
Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah	Patron of the show
Khursheed Ahmed Abbasi	Analyst/Participant (Secretary General)
Altaf Mujahid	Analyst/Participant (Senior Journalist from Daily “Nawaa’ey Waqt”)
Dr. Ali Rind	Analyst/Participant (Editor, Fortnightly “Affair” Magazine)
Rashid Noor	Analyst/Participant (Senior Journalist from Daily “Nawaa’ey Waqt”)
Durdana Shahab	Analyst/Participant (Editor, Monthly “Sutoor” Magazine)
Aslam Morai	Former Host/Analyst
Yasir Qazi	Executive Producer
Yasmin Tauha	(Senior Journalist, Monthly “Sutoor” Magazine)
Shabbir Soomro	(Sub Editor, Daily “Nai Baat”)
Fawzia Khan	(Senior Educationist & Analyst)

The day stood as a milestone for Hotfm 105, Mr Imtiaz Khan Faran and all the participants as for it will always be remembered as a symbol of nobility and achievement for everybody.

Earth Day 2015 – Hotfm 105

Started in late 70s, Earth day is celebrated every year on 22^nd April to spread awareness and to appreciate the beauty of nature and to remind ourselves that Earth provides us with life and sustenance. Today, it has become one of the most celebrated days and has grown into a world-wide movement. On this day, many events and activities take place all around the world, for instance plantation, awareness campaigns about waste management, beach cleanup drive, etc. This Earth day while surfing through the internet I found this:   For initiatives like these, all we need is drive and love for mother nature. We at, hotfm 105, organized an in-house activity on air and off air to celebrate Earth day with our employees; through which we intend on spreading the message of mutual respect and love for everybody. To inculcate love and awareness for our planet earth by giving pots to each employee with a message on it, which we believe must bring harmony and peace in the environment.

“Our goal is not just an environment of clean air, water and scenic beauty. The objective is an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human beings and all other living creatures.”  – Gaylord Nelson.

Loving nature does not only mean admiring and appreciating the physical beauty of it but rather learning to see, accept and cherish the inner beauty of the residents of mother earth. Living with peace and harmony and spreading the message of love is what actually reflect one’s love for Earth. The more the respect, the more the peace. We should regard each other with respect, accept everyone despite of the differences and actually celebrate the diversity, not just on Earth day, but every day, for the rest of our lives. We are all citizens of planet Earth; the diversity might make us feel different but our shared humanity is what unites us.

Nazia Hassan – Lawyer Turned Singer

There can possibly be nobody who would say he hasn’t heard ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’, ‘Disco Deewanay’, ‘Camera Camera’ and ‘Dosti’. Nazia Hasan, with her singing skills, elegance and cuteness; has achieved her dream of spreading melody. She started singing at the age of 15 and achieved milestones one after the other for the rest of her life (on the contrary, 15 year old girls these days are getting makeovers for upcoming Halloween parties). However, Nazia with her brother Zohaib Hasan has represented Pakistan on the international ground when nobody could have imagined doing so. The duo has proved that it only takes effort and courage to bring about change. Nazia’s ‘Aap Jaisa Koi’ was featured in a bollywood movie ‘Qurbani’, which still gets into remixes by a bundle of Indian singers. Duh! (Let’s just consider it as a tribute to her from them.)

Although, the trend of lawyers turning singers is old, obviously Nazia started it. You cannot blame Ali Noor, but Nazia was eclectic. It takes a lot of effort to study law, while you have an interest in music and you want to do social work too.

Rightly said in Punjabi, “EDI TU MULTITALENTED”

Her talent did not only stay put to singing but she acted in some of her videos too. Whether it be the pink frilly long gowned Nazia in “Ankhen Milaney Waley” or the brown blue jean-ed Nazia in “Disco Deewane”, she flaunted the best of her skills and performances in all her videos too.

She has won many awards including Pride of Performance, Double Platinum Award, Golden Disc Award and a Filmfare Award. Yes, the award Fawad Khan won last year, but she won it in a female playback singer’s category. She is the first, the only and the youngest to win the award by now. Kudos to the lady! She has definitely made a mark. For singers today, it is one of the biggest issues to release a single. While she has released 5 albums within a span of 15 years from 1980 to 1995 when back in nineties music was known to a few people. It is not just luck that makes you successful; it takes talent, hard work and effort.

I’d prefer not judging Hasan for her secret marriage because then I’ll have to judge her for keeping her cancer a secret too. A lady with elegance, talent and grace, a rare combination and a real treat to ears; what gives me or anybody else the right to peer into her personal life while she wanted to keep it to herself?

When she died, Pakistan lost one of its most precious assets. For those who can understand, it was the demise of Pop music culture in Pakistan for nobody can ever deny the fact that Nazia and Zohaib Hassan were the pioneers of Pop Music in Pakistan.

The nation hasn’t forgotten her and it never will. Always remembered, always cherished, Nazia lives in the nation’s hearts – today and always.