The 55-minute PIA flight to Lahore from Delhi is short and uneventful. Perhaps aided by the recital of a selection from the Quran just before take-off. What I was not prepared for was the organised and neat airport and immigration.

For a resident of Bangalore (and a frequent flyer) Lahore airport came as a pleasant surprise! To start with, the airport is named after a poet and not, as one would expect in the sub-continent, after a politician. (For those who may not remember, Allama Iqbal is the poet who wrote the famous Saare jahaan sey achha).

The immigration is staffed by smartly-clad women with their heads covered. No fuss, no delay and we are out of the terminal building quickly. The drive into the city is smooth, largely due to the holiday that day in Lahore for their local festival Basant.

And the Bangalorean in me can not help but wonder about the quality of the roads! Six lane roads, well maintained. The trees are bedecked with lights, again for Basant.

Rang de basant

Basant is one perfect example of what a secular festival ought to be about, people celebrating and having fun on a day which does not have any religious connotation, just an occasion to have fun and good food.

This is a much looked forward to festival in Punjab. Basant heralds the arrival of the spring season and is marked by kite flying and late night revelries in the public places with famous musicians/ bands belting their stuff and food stalls doing brisk business. Women dress in their festive best and largely in spring colours of yellow, green and red.

Big Brother India

Ehtesham, our colleague based in Islamabad, is a devout Muslim, full beard (no moustache), namaaz five times a day etc. A quiet and genial sort of a person and ever willing to help.

He narrated a quaint incident where he had gone to a Nikah ceremony where after the Nikah was over a young girl interjected, “now that the nikah is done, when will the couple take saat pheras.”

This is evidence of the influence of Indian serials on the Pakistanis. Apparently, from 8 pm to 11 pm no one watches Pakistan TV channels but tune into Star, Zee et al! Far cry from the days of Doordarshan monopoly when the video cassettes of teleplays from Pakistan were much sought after in India.

The Fortress Stadium market is like an over ground Palika Bazaar with similar merchandise and scores of shops selling pirated movie and music software. And nearly 75 per cent of the software on display is Hindi movies and music.

Food, oh food!

The memorable trip to Food Street in Gawalpura! A plain, non-descript street during daytime and when the traffic is blocked at either end of the street after 7 pm, the Street bristles with gastronomic activities till the wee hours of the morning.

Eateries on either side of the street spread the rickety tables and chairs on the street and all are welcome to partake of the delicious food simmering on tawas, kadais, tandoors etc.

We settle down next to the favourite “restaurant” of our hosts, the greasy table just about able to accommodate the seven of us around it.

The waiter tenderly wipes the greasy melamine plates with an even more greasy napkin and then follows a gourmet's delight; mutton chaanp, mutton kadhai, seekh kabab, boti chicken. Hot chaanps are devoured even before the naan/roti arrives from the “dhaba” next door. Yes, you can sit at one restaurant and order dishes from others as well.

The street-side action does not stop at non-veg food. Butt Sweets and Bakeries branch at Gawalpura in the Walled City has this high shelf jutting out into the street.

On the shelf are three of the largest paraats I have ever seen, each a diameter of at least 5 feet. Moong daal halwa in one, pethe ka halwa in the other but I fall for the contents of the third one: creamy gajar ka halwa with tons of khoya and, hold your breath, slices of boiled eggs.

200 grams of this sinfully delicious stuff (Pak Rs 22; INR Rs 17) and you wonder if this is what they serve in jannat for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Across the street was this hole-in-the-wall shop with a frontage of barely 3 to 4 feet. We learnt that hot samosas were being served.

I am not a specialist food reviewer, but I would certainly like to read how a specialist would describe the thinnest crust of delicately fried casing of maida holding just the right amount of mashed potatoes seasoned with the perfect mix of salt, jeera and haldi! 

 The finale at the Food Street has to be the paan served so endearingly by the barely-out-of-teens boy who delicately rolls up the dark green leaves laden with thick chutney and gulkand and dextrously spins his right arm and inserts the beeda between the patrons lips!

Imbibing

Islam taboos consumption of alcohol. And Pakistan is a dry state. None of us had the guts to carry a bottle into Pakistan. (Not that we were checked at the customs).

But mercifully for the tipplers, Pakistan does not prohibit consumption of alcohol provided you are a non-Pakistani and a non-Muslim and you are consuming the daaru within the confines of your room.

The mini bar is bereft of any trace of alcohol, that’s the first thing I notice when I check it. The room service brochure has an elaborate list of alcohol varieties being served: neatly classified under the heads of three local breweries and under the sub-heads whisky, rum, gin, vodka, beer etc.

There is a quaint line that tells you that alcohol will be served only between 8 am and 8 pm. But helpfully the literature also adds that should you wish to have alcohol after the official hours to speak with the room service manager.

So, at midnight, after I check in I call this guy and he cheerfully wants to know what I wish to have. I ask for dark rum. He informs me that dark rum is not available and I should opt for whisky, gin or beer. He also helpfully reiterates the names of the 3 distilleries whose outputs are on offer.

Murree Distillery is the only one I have heard about and I confidently order Murree whisky leaving the choice of the brand to the room service manager. Pronto the room service boy arrives with a tray full of two wine glasses, a bucketful of ice and an opaque polythene bag clad bottle of Murree Whisky supine on the tray!

And the whisky was wonderful. The bottle cost me an equivalent of INR Rs 425. And 44 percent v/v!! What value for money!

Shopping talk

A quick visit to Shalimar Garden on a rain-soaked late afternoon and we are ready to do some shopping for our families. We find our way through the puddles of water to the shop selling women’s suit materials. Shelves upon shelves are laden with excellent quality cotton material and bolts of silk (mostly Chinese).

Perhaps the first time in decades I was buying suit material and I had a blast choosing from the wonderful colours and designs. I ended up richer by four suit pieces and poorer by pak Rs 2100 (approx INR 1650).

I was feeling elated at the splendid buy and ended up buying something for myself from the neighbouring shop! That is something I have never done in my trips, shopping for myself. Got hold of two Pathan suits for myself! Wonder when I am ever going to wear them. Maybe my next trip to Pakistan.