weddings & the current political situation of pakistan

farrah · Oct 21st, 2009, 08:10 PM

I am due to be married this coming january inshAllah ... i've been away from home (pakistan) for my study for a year now, so will be returning home after 1.5 years ...
the effect of watching.reading pakistani news, while not being in pakistan, i feel, has a more intense effect .. especially in relation to family members back home, and i am constantly worried ...
When i was still in pakistan ... i remember the day (last week of dec 07 or first week of jan 08) i had my bachelor's thesis jury ... the exhibition was in the Tollinton market on mall road (now converted into a gallery space) ... and half way through the jury i heard a huge THUD ... i thought the generator broke (those days the light was going every half-hour after one hour, or something) ... but only to realize soon ... a bomb had exploded less than a half a mile down the road on the High Court ...
we were locked in the tollinton market, and no one was allowed to come in or go out ... had a huge amount of security outside, even a metal detector gate was installed for each one of us to go through ...
i used to drive myself, my mother was horrified at the thought that i have to come home alone, and pick my brother on the way ...
but the difference then was ... it had become such a "mundane" thing for bombs to explode .. one or two had exploded in model town a few weeks back then ... and we didnt care much anymore ... yea like whatever .. another one .. whats new ...
life used to come back to normal after three days ...
NOW ... my fear has intensified .. and i am horrified for the celebration that is due in january ... for me going home, friends (whities) who will be flying there ... i am worried about all this, and scared for the worst ...

how are all of taking all this who are due to be married in the upcoming months, or those who are getting married right now ...

what is daily life like?
how do you manage preparations among all this chaos?
are you keeping your weddings low key with no lighting and stuff?
do u think it would be dangerous for white folk to be roaming around lahore (with people to keep an eye on them ofcourse) ...
what other impacts has this situation had on weddings? with halls/other bookings ,etc.

Tklucky8 · Oct 21st, 2009, 10:13 PM

I would like to know as well. My MIL is delaying her going to Pakistan for wedding shopping due to the political conditions. I just hope it all gets better soon!!

dolcevita · Oct 22nd, 2009, 12:54 AM

It is a very tensed situation, I'd like to hear as well from the guppies from Pakistan.

yasmink · Oct 22nd, 2009, 07:27 AM

My mom is in Lahore now and I know she's a bit concerned - she may leave to come back early. I think the situation is more escalated than what we may be hearing. I know they closed all the universities and schools there after an incident in Islamabad. I also heard that Emirates has cancelled flights to Peshawar, but I think they're still running flights to the other cities.

farrah · Oct 22nd, 2009, 07:41 AM

guppies in PakiLand! Wake up!!
please tell what's happening and how are you guys dealing with wedding arrangements nowadays?

AA1985 · Oct 22nd, 2009, 11:35 AM

I'm in Karachi and no bombs have exploded here recently.. so the bazaars are open. I went yesterday too. We can't stop our daily routine. I have to go to uni every day, my dad goes to his hospital. I can't say much about the other cities except what some relatives have told me. Traffic conditions were bad in Islamabad in the few days after the GHQ and university blasts. A friend in Peshawar says she hears missiles overhead and gunfire. In Islamabad, there's also gunfire in some areas. But ppl are still trying to live as normally as they can because Pakistan isn't officially "in a state of war" although the environment and tension say otherwise. I'm due to get married in Feb and I'm not going to go to a parlor, I'll call a MUA to my home. We've booked a lawn and everything. Also I'm prepared to do my makeup myself and get rukhsatied from home (as happened to a girl I know on Dec 27 2007). Who knows how worse things will get in the upcoming weeks. It all depends on what will happen in the days leading up to the wedding.

So right now, Karachi is open, there are weddings going on, bazaars are busy as usual. Can't comment on Lahore and Islamabad..!

farrah · Oct 22nd, 2009, 04:15 PM

i am so freaking upset cuz of all this STUFF

kurripunjaban · Oct 22nd, 2009, 05:09 PM

Earthquake in Pakistan - it's just one thing after the other. Allah khair karay.

farrah · Oct 22nd, 2009, 06:47 PM

earthquake? where? when? :O *shocked*

p.s. isnt there a smiley for *shocked*

kurripunjaban · Oct 22nd, 2009, 08:08 PM

Struck at 12.30am, 6.2 on the richter scale, took place in the Hindu Kush mountains (Kabul), shocks felt in peshawar, isb and lahore too. No reports of casualties or fatalities as of yet, will probs get better reports in the morning.

Pareezay · Oct 23rd, 2009, 01:48 PM

It's so sad. I guess just be very, very careful while traveling there

farrah · Oct 23rd, 2009, 04:01 PM

it's so horrible

...
i am just remembering a documentary i saw a loooooong time back ... it was about the life of occupied kashmir ... i remember a shaadi they also documented ...
God help Pakistan! cuz people have mutilated into only destructive beings ... constructive is not a trait we own anymore!