Memories

Before Mahmood sweet shop there was a Mahmood sweet corner. I used to get the moti wali namkeen sainviyan from there on my way back from school, and it was the imaginary boundary that I allowed myself go as far as from home on my bicycle when I was in grade 4. My red cycle, the brakes were gone, but I used that as an advantage since I rolled the handle inwards and it would look like KITT's steering wheel from Knight Rider... Yep, kids imagination is weird. I was a dreamer... Spent my time day dreaming adventures... My siblings were much older than me and by that time had gone abroad, so I was a lonely kid playing in the terrace we had... It had two shades of the ventilation windows and above them two windows of the upstairs rooms... Perfect... two large computer consoles from Star Trek and the windows their screens. I loved Commander Data the most. In a way, GPT is a dream come true.

When we got satellite tv in the 90s, there was Star Movies, but it had this weird analogue encryption that the picture was scrambled but you could hear the sound... So I had it hooked to our Akai Deck with huge speakers, and and I would just put a movie on, turn off the lights of the room and lay down in the Centre and just listen to the whole movie with my eyes closed, imagining what's happening in my head, and I got pretty good at that, and I guess that actually developed some skill set that useful now in my line of work.

There were only a few hotels or restaurants in Rabwah at that time. We had Mannan, of course, we had Chargha house and Ali tikka shop, and I guess Kashmiri tikka house as well, but we never went there, so I don't remember. Eating out was not a thing, at least not in our house anyway, and if you wanted to get something fancy, that meant a trip to Chiniot and Lucky or whatever karahi spot was in its place back then. I had never seen a pizza until, I guess, I was in 10th, even higher, but not before that. Same goes for burgers or anything fast food... The only fast food we did have was shami kabab burgers around early 90s. Those were simpler times. We ate what was made at home, no ifs and buts, my mom being an exceptional cook was a bonus. I remember the first time I had chicken corn soup was in 8th grade, after my brothers got married and we went to Islamabad to see their wives off to Germany.

I wonder, do I miss my youth or the city that used to be my playground, or are they the same thing?

When MTA started, even before that, khutba transmission used to be only for an hour. Our house got the satellite Dish, among the very few in Rabwah. It was a huge 12 ft mesh dish. This was before mosques in Rabwah got their own dishes, so the houses that did have them made an effort to have people come over and view the Khutba. Our house was one of them. My cousin Gohar used to live with us back then, and me and him would rearrange furniture, get the tvs placed so that more people could watch, men downstairs and women upstairs. Even now, sometimes I meet someone and he says, we used to come to your house to watch khutba. I'm glad we got the chance like that for some time. We had a cable running to our neighbour's house so BB jaan (that what the grandmother was called) could see the khutba as well. In normal times, whatever I was watching, mostly MTV or Star Plus English, that's before Indians butchered it, that would be going there as well, and Colnol Sb would say, kabhi sports bhi dekh lia karo... lol. Eventually they got their own dish.

I don't know why I am writing this down. This couldn't possibly be interesting to anyone. Still feels good to reminisce, even to my self, I guess... Nothing remains of that time anymore except memories, and when I'm gone, they too will be gone. In a generation or two, no one will even remember my name, and that's how things have always been. I just have a wish that I do some good that's remembered.