History I Politics I Religion I Society I Books I Travel I Culture I Current affairs I Quotes I Sports I Traditions Personalities
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Sunday, 3 July 2011
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Trans-Siberian Railway
Its my dream to travel from Moscow to Vladivostok by Trans-Siberian railways, 7 days train journey, more than 9000 km and you have to keep a close eye on the time as it crosses 7 time zones from Moscow to Vladivostok. On its way it passes through various cities with diverse culture, beautiful grass lands and meadows, different mountain ranges including Ural mountain range which is considered as natural division between Europe and Asia.
Ural Mountain Range |
on this Route you will cross a number of rivers and lakes including three of the longest rivers in world Yenisey, Ob and Amur, and the world's deepest lake Baikal. Its so big that at times it was assumed to be sea.
Lake baikal and Rilway line |
This railways line splits into three lines
1. Tran-Siberian (Moscow-Vladivostok)
2. Trans Manuchurian (Moscow-Beijing)
Trans-Manchurian lines begin from Chita, a city in Siberian region.
3. Trans-Mongolia (Moscow-Mongolia)
This track begins from Ulan Ude, a city in siberian region, a large population of this city follows Buddhism.
Notice Time zones |
Great Construction work began in 1891 and within 12 years more than 7500 km track was laid, construction work completed in 1916. A large number of prisoners from the Siberian prison camps participated in the construction of this track. it must be very hard for the workers to carry out the construction work in such extreme weather, where temperature during winter drops to -40 in some region, laying track in such harsh condition must be very tough.
Vladivostok is on the far east of Russia on the Pacific Ocean,close to china,Korea and Japan, it was home to the Soviet Union Pacific fleet.
Vladivostok |
In early 19th century eastern russia which included vladivostok and and whole region of Siberia was under developed and almost cut off from the Western Russian cities it was essential for the russian empire to have control of this region and to connect the European part of russia with its eastern part. development of this railway line helped in improving the economic and social condition of local population, it facilitated the transportation of good and helped in effective management of natural resources.
This railway line was also important from defence point of view, as Russian empire had some conflicts with Japanese empire.
Kolsharif Mosque-Kazan |
People of this region embraced Islam about 1000 years ago and it this region is home to many Muslims.
Trans Siberian served as life line for Soviet during the German occupation in world war 2, known as Operation Barbarossa and in Russia it is known as Great Patriotic war,( by the way Barbarosa was Muslim Naval Commander in Ottoman Navy, it is said that he was a pirate before joining Navy) , this railway supplied reinforcement and equipments to the front troops that eventually led to decline of German Army in western Russia. In 1939 Japan invaded Mongolia from Manchuria, Soviet union provided financial and military assistance to Mongolia that eventually led to Japanese defeat, and this railway line played a critical role.
Currently this track is not only being used for trade, and transportation of resources but it also attracts a lot of tourist, which was almost impossible during Soviet era as alot of cities were closed for foreigners during that time but now tourism is flourishing in this region, its an opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty and to meet new people and make new friends.
Friday, 1 April 2011
Ashfaq Ahmad-Zavia
میں نے کہا، اماں! اتنی بارش کیوںہو رہی ہے؟ اس نے کہا، بیٹا! پودے پیاسے ہیں۔ اللہ نے انہیں پانی پلانا ہے اور اسی بندوبست کے تحت بارش ہو رہی ہے۔ میں نے کہا، ٹھیک ہے! پانی تو پلانا ہے، لیکن یہ بجلی کیوں بار بار چمکتی ہے؟ یہ اتنا کیوںکڑکتی ہے؟ وہ کہنے لگیں، روشنی کر کے پودوں کو پانی پلایا جائے گا۔ اندھیرے میں تو کسی کے منہ میں، تو کسی کے ناک میں پانی چلا جائے گا۔ اس لئے بجلی کی کڑک چمک ضروری ہے۔
ٹھیک چوالیس برس بعد جب میرا پوتا جو بڑا اچھا، بڑا ذہین لڑکا اور خیر و شر کو اچھی طرح سے سمجھتا ہے، وہ جاگنگ کر کے گھر میں واپس آتا ہے، تو اس کے جوگر، جو کیچڑ میں لتھڑے ہوئے ہوتے ہیں، وہ ان کے ساتھ اندر گھس آتا ہے اور وہ ویسے ہی خراب جوگروں کے ساتھ چائے بھی پیتا ہے اور سارا قالین کیچڑ سے بھر دیتا ہے۔ میں اب آپ کے سامنے اس بات کا اعتراف کرنے لگا ہوں کہ میں اسے برداشت نہیں کرتا کہ وہ خراب، کیچڑ سے بھرے جوگرز کے ساتھ قالین پر چڑھے۔ میں نے اپنے پوتے کو شدت کے ساتھ ڈانٹا اور جھڑکا کہ تم پڑھے لکھے لڑکے ہو، تمھیں شرم آنی چاہئے کہ یہ قالین ہے، برآمدہ ہے اور تم اسے کیچڑ سے بھر دیتے ہوں۔
میں نے کہا کہ تمہیں اس بات کا احساس ہونا چاہئے۔ اپنے اندر تبدیلی پیدا کرو، چنانچہ میںاس پر کمنٹس کرتا رہا۔ ٹھیک ہے مجھے ایک لحاظ سے حق تو تھا، لیکن جب یہ واقعہ گزر گیا تو میںنے ایک چھوٹے سے عام سے رسالے میںاقوالٍ زریں وغیرہ میں ایک قول پڑھا کہ“
جو شخص ہمیشہ نکتہ چینی کے موڈ میںرہتا ہے اور دوسروں کے نقص نکالتا رہتا ہے، وہ اپنے آپ میں تبدیلی کی صلاحیت سے محروم ہو جاتا ہے۔“
ابھی میں اس کا کوئی ازالہ نہیںکر سکا تھا کہ اگلے دن میںنے دیکھا میرے پوتےکی ماں (میری بہو) بازار سے تار سے بنا ہوا میٹ لے آئی اور اس کے ساتھ ناریل کے بالوں والا ڈور میٹ بھی لائی، تاکہ اس کے ساتھ پیر گٍھس کے جائے اور اندر کیچڑ نہ جانے پائے۔ سو، یہ فرق تھا مجھ میں اور اس ماںمیں۔ میںنکتہ چینی کرتا رہا اور اس نے حل تلاش کر لیا۔
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Monday, 7 March 2011
'O' Kenyan Surnames
ouma
odoyo
Otieno
Obuyo
and we all know another famous kenyan 'OBAMA'
O the most common alphabet in kenyan Names :)))))
Thursday, 3 March 2011
Rodrigo y Gabriela - 'Tamacun'
Thursday, 17 February 2011
American Dream--Transcontinental Railway
I believe transport network of any country is an indicator of the development and growth of that country, Countries which lack in transport infrastructure struggle to manage there resources. Railway holds a vital place in transport system and Pakistan need a hell a lot of improvement in there Railway network, I wish one day Pakistan will be connected to Europe, China and Russia through Railway.
Two historical events that changed the course of history, that definitely changed the life of a common man and country, that changed the dynamics of economy, trade, market and sociology are linked to railway, this blog is about the first one, second will be discussed later, these two events are source of inspiration for me, i want Pakistan to focus on it transport set up.
Complete Route L-R (California-Nevada-Utah-Wyoming-Nebraska-Iowa. |
Tunnel Start-Sierra Nevada |
'they are a great army laying siege to nature in the strongest citadel, the rugged mountains look like stupendous ant hill, they swarm with chinese workers tunneling, wheeling, carting,drilling and blasting the rocks and earth'
Chines Labour-look at there Hats,they arr Chinese not Irish :) |
Eastern patch-Nebraska-Irish Labour |
Work on eastern patch was also in progress most of the labour was Irish, they had relatively easy terrain but they faced continuous resistance from the Indians and other insurgents, but they killed almost every native who came in there way while moving towards west, for sure the track in central america was built on the bodies of native American but sometimes you have to take stern decision and when it is national issue than one should go for it.
It is said that chief engineer responsible for this patch Grenville Dodge manipulated the route to favour his land holdings, but what they achieved at the end worth a lot more than that little corruption.
Congress decided a common point known as Promontory Point in UTAH, and now the race began between the western and eastern team that who will reach the point first, interestingly it was the western team with chinese labours who got there first.
i think after two or three days eastern team reached there and honestly speaking no one can measure the joy on the faces of those who worked for so many years and who lost many of there friends.
We did it Men at there best!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Formula1-----Engineering Marvel
Somiani--Place to visit.
Karachi mein rehtay huay muje apnay dost Karrar Naqvi or Umer Latif ke sath aik bar baluchistan ke aik chotay se area Somiani Jane ka itefaq hua, Somiani mein Pakistan ka Satellite launch centre hai, that was developed by NASA in the year 1962, it also has a firing range operated by Pakistan Ordinance factory.
we went to somiani beach and i was amazed to see the sandy beach and colour of the water, it was Greenish-bluish, and i must say that so far i have not seen a more beautiful beach than somiani, i am saying this because in the past i had the opportunity to visit few beaches of East china sea which is a part of pacific ocean, Mediterranean and some beaches of Baltic sea, and without any doubt somiani was best among those.
How can i rate somiani ahead of Mediterranean, people all over the world rush towards Spain, Greece, Italy and other coastal cities which are on Mediterranean, you might not agree with me but you have to go to somiani and then you can realize the beauty of that place. and yes one more thing Crabs are white in colour and they are in abundance, pick, cook, enjoy delicious Crab, free of cost.
unfortunately i do not have any pic, i could not find it on net, may be its because that hardly anyone knows about somiani in Pakistan.
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Majlinda kalmendi---Kosovo
Few days ago I watched a video on BBC about an athlete from Kosovo, her name is Majlinda kalmendi. She is a Judo player and she has won quite a few junior and senior tournaments.She has a bright chance of winning Gold Medal at London Olympics in 2012. The problem with her is that she does not have a country to represent at olympics. She is passionate about her sport and she dearly wants to represent Kosovo at Olympics but Kosovo is not recognized by majority of the countries in the world. European Union and USA have recognized Kosovo but Russia and China are against its recognition. Pakistan is also among those who didn't recognize this small and only Muslim Majority state of Europe.
Now Majlinda kalmendi is planning to represent Albania, and she said number of times in her interview that she would love to represent Kosovo but if not than she is willing to be part of albanian or any other team. Surely she is never going to represent Serbia even if they pay her big money as they fought against Serbia for so long. I liked the way she talked during the interview, she was confident and determined to go to olympics. May God help her....Come on Majlinda we support you.......here is the interview link
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/world_olympic_dreams/9386477.stm
Stockholm-Metro-tube-Ubahn
stockholm transport network consist of
buses (red & blue colors)
under ground trains-Metro- (in swedish Tunnelbana),
above ground trains (in swedish Pendaltag),
Trams (in swedish LocalBana),
Inner view of train |
Access Card |
And yes you need a Transport access card to use any of the transport facility, you can not purchase tickets on-board, so better buy an access card (ya phir ap atleast train station per chalang maar ker barrier cross ker sakte hain agar app ke pass ticket ya acces card na hoo, checking is a rare incident so agar ap ke pass ticket nahi hai to just Chalang :) ya phir ap tang be maar sakte hain that is a special techniques can not explain here, waisay mere pass access card na hoo to mein chalang marta hoon, sir is good in tang, alot of practice is required to be good in this trade of opening barrier through Tang)
once me Aamir and sir we went to the one of the last stop of a commuter train, station name was BALSTA,, khair hum station ponch ker bahir niklay aur thori der tak ghomtay phirta rahe, jub hum wapis jane ke liye station per ponchat tu our card did'nt work, we asked the person there tu us ne kaha ke you are out of stockholm zone C, now you have to purchase 40 kron ticket to get in, hum ne ussay kahan ok, or phir hum ne aik dosray ke tarf dekha and beghair koi lafz kahe aik dosray ko, we jumped the barrier and ran to the platform, wo banda humay dekh raha thaa and we were laughing madly..shuker hai wo humare peechay nahii.
stockholm city mein hotay huway kisi be thoray bohat parhay likhay insaan ke le ye mumkin nahi hai wo rasta bhool jai ya ghum ho jai, her jaga bus stops tu nazar aa he jain gay per near every area you can find a Tunnelbana (underground train), bus app ko thori bohat nazrein ghumana parein gee and you can find a T sign some where there, just go in and than the life is easy.
Transport ka koi be mode use kerain app ko bus ye pata hona chahii ke ap jis stop per ja rahe hain us tarf jane wali bus ya train ka akhri stop kya hai this will help you in determining the right direction, some time it happen ke you know the bus number but you dont know the direction ke kis tarf janay wali bus mein bhaitoon.
Kehtay hain ke Moscow key Under ground Train stations kisi Art gallery se kam nahi, and it is also termed as longest art gallery and same is the case with stockholm metro stations, every station has its own unique style, you can find different paintings, graffiti, carved out rocks, statues and other such stuff, stockholm metro stations are quite deep as well.
Above all you can always trust stockholm transport system, app stockholm transport ke website per jain and enter you current and final destination and you will get the shortest possible route to your final destination, note down that route and go ahead, or ye baat mein app ko yaqeen se keh sakta hoon ke app ko her bus ya train website per mentioned time ke mutabiq he milee gee na aik min pehlay na late.
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Stockholm 2010-Summer cycling trip
Huts& barley fields |
Khair it was an unforgettable trip, we did around 210 Kms in 3 days and had alot of fun on the way, kutch patches tu bohat he zabardast thee, pehli bar europe ke village life qareeb se dekhnay ka ittefaq huwa, sweden ke population intehai kam hai, rastay mein jo chotay villages thee wahan per be 15 se 20 gheroon se ziada abadi na thee, horse stables and cattle forms are common sight, landscape is beautiful, or ap ko akser angraizi films ke wo scene yad a jate hain jis mein charoon tarf pehlay huay fields ke centre mein aik hut hota hai, ya door kise chimney se dhuwan nikal raha hota.
Scene from our camp, |
FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
Nykoping Centre |
Start Of Last Leg, |
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Pakistan-sweden
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Idher Udher (Urdu-hebrew-arabic)
Word | Urdu | Hebrew | Arabic |
Peace | Salam | Shalom | salam |
Day | Yom | Yom | Youm |
Death | Mot | Mot | Mawt |
World | Alam | Olam | Alam |
Father | Abu/aba | Aba | Ab |
Mercy | Reham | Reh'manut | Ra'hma |
Olive | Zaiton | Zayit | Zaytoun |
Revenge | Intiqam | Neqama | intiqam |
Word | Urdu | Turkish |
Lion | Arslan | Aslan |
Ambassador | Ailchi | Elci |
Elder sister | Baji | Baci |
Gun Powder | Barood | Barut |
Multiplication | Zarb | Carb |
Week | Hafta | Hafta |
Confirmation | Tasdiq | Tasdiq |
Intention | Niat | Niyat |
Master | Ustad | Usta |
Earth | Zamin | Zemin |
Strange | Ajab | Acaip |
Slowly | Aahista | Aheste |
Mirror | Aaina | Ayna |
Hate | Nafrat | Nefret |
Strangling Corona
In the current scenario, when whole world is screaming to avoid social gathering, we in Pakistan are adamant to go against it and are on th...
-
I like to read and keep myself updated with the ongoing sports events around the globe. Few days ago I watched a video on BBC about an ath...
-
Earlier i discussed Trans-Continental Railway in USA, this time its Trans-Siberian railway is Russia, following this track you can actually ...
-
Earlier i discussed the Local transport network in Stockholm, This blog is in continuation of that. I believe transport network of any cou...