Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Sindhi Channels Misrepresenting Our Culture

There was a time when good Sindhi drama’s were broadcasted on PTV, people used to wait to watch them. There was message being given to the audience through those dramas. Good actors and actress were being given chance to grace these dramas with their talent.

One famous Sindhi drama was Marvi the whole cast were brilliant, this drama later broadcasted in Urdu as well, and caught audience attention. The cast of the drama was as follows:


Another hilarious drama of Sindh was Chotti Si Duniya, this drama contains a message which were given to the audience in a way which caught their attention. I was very young when I watched the drama but still I’ve memory of it.  Its cast was as follows:

  • Yousuf Ali
  • Sakeena Sammo
  • Noor Muhammad Lashari
Here’s a video clip of the drama I hope you’ll all enjoy watching it the way I did.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Benazir Bhutto Shaheed: The Visionary Woman of the Modern World


It was 27th December, that year, the gloomy twilight, shadowing havoc, too awful for words alarm, uncanny offshoot of the day and an eerie happening that we came across out of the blue. Birds were returning to their abodes, herds were moving towards their folds, laborers were treading wearily ways and moms were having children in their kind laps. There suddenly happened like some huntsman shoots an innocent  dove, sitting and chirping with kids. All the birds taking refuge on the trees flew in terror and scattered under the horrible sky.

Mohtrama Benazir Bhutto was taken to hospital but with the signs of agony and the same thing happened which was never welcomed in the country and abroad. She was removed from the scene physically and obviously but her legacy is lively and she is placed in the hearts of people more strappingly. This would continue to be so as long as there is breathing aspirant humanity, struggle for oppressed people, Socratic courage and faith in betterment.
    
Miss Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) opened her eye in such an atmosphere that was recent birth of a country when new born nation was finding her appropriate place in the world community. All the happenings of the greatest partition of the world were fresh and hurts were soaring to a score. In all that phenomena, she has closely seen the rising confidence of the people to put together the country with new ideologies and a faith and bloody incidents what they have experienced during all that process of crumbling at the same time. She, being a daughter of the great person who was closely sitting at such an air corridor from where every scene of millions of people could easily be seen wounding and bleeding from the horrible incident has witnessed all of that.
    
Thereafter, she came across the well known panic of her father’s trial under the tyranny of a military dictator. At that moment she was fully at her wits to judge and feel the situation. In all that prosecution she remained very close to her great father, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who had significant influence on her political career, and passed the ocean of suffering and distresses. She could not do except to accept the consequences and suppress herself. In all that she could accumulate to look to future and change the way of governance to save the people and country. Thus she knew the things practically what she had gotten from her teacher Mother Eugene. Her teacher, Benazir tells had greater influence after her father Shaheed Bhutto. She says, “My father gave me a love for books. He loved reading books and he’d make sure that I bought books and he’d buy me books. And then Mother Eugene made my imagination run wild through Shakespeare~Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar~and Keats and Browning and Byron”.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Muhammad Ali Jinnah: The Man of Resolution


Muhammad Ali Jinnah [1876-1948], well-known as Quaid-e-Azam, the great leader was, is and will be remembered in the pages of the world history. Though, he did not start his life as a politician yet he proved his competence in politics as well. It on the one hand was the thirst of a roving nation and the there was the birth of a new country on the map of the world on the other. There was a dire need of such a person who could accrue the buoyancy and conviction to a nation and provide itinerary to them. That was really a wakeup call. It was the dawning period to offer praying hands to the emerging country. Everywhere, there was a riot, confusion, bewilderment, panic, uncertainty and so on; and the things were really in a great mess; there was an immediate want of a healer to soothe all those hurts. In those crucial times, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with his firm fortification and resolution, came up to as the savior of the dusk-oriented conditions and became the morning star of the Muslim country, Pakistan. And the newly created country and the peripatetic nation sighed placidly that at last they found a person who deserved to be called the pioneer of the country, father of the nation, Baba e Qaum.
In the context of becoming founder and champion of the Muslim country, Pakistan, Jinnah can not be blamed as the leader of only of his own religious people. He was by and large a great statesman and always will be remembered positively in the world. This is not only believed by the Muslims and Pakistanis but was also affirmed by the Hindu author Jaswant Singh in his newly published book in India. If Jaswant Singh’s statement my be seen in the historical perspective that the history and the people of sub-continent may have the memory of Lukhnow pact and the joint session of Muslim League and the All India Congress in 1916. These were the days when he was titled as the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. From that, it can be construed that Jinnah had the qualities of leadership and statesmanship of not only Muslims but for larger country. He not only worked for united India to drive the British out of the sub-continent but also had the vision of the consequences of the split of the India. Same thing was seen during the time of partition which Jinnah did not want to experience. There was not only a country partitioning but millions of Muslims and the Muslim remnant of thousands of years of co-existence of the sub-continent was alienated. Muhammad Ali Jinnah worked for to strengthen the unity of Hindu-Muslims until there appeared the notorious Nehru Report in 1928, denigrating the potential existence and the rights of the Muslims.

Noor Jahan The Queen of Melody


Noor Jahan the most influential singer of South Asia, her real name is Allah Wasai. Noor Jahan was born on September 21, 1926 in a Punjabi musician’s family. She got honorific title as Malika-e-Taram(Queen of Melody). She was not only a singer but actress as well. Noor Jahan was more interested in acting and graced so many films of Pakistan with her wonderful performance.
She sung songs in many languages of India and Pakistan such as,

  • Urdu
  • Hindi
  • Punjabi
  • Sindhi

She holds the highest record of film songs in the history of Pakistani Cinema. Noor Jahan is also the first female film director of Pakistan. After she quit acting, she went for playback singing. She made her debut as a playback singer in 1960 with the film Salma.
Her first initial playback for a Pakistani film was for Jan-e-Bahar (1958), in which she sang the song Kaisa Naseeb Layi Thi.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

CO-EXISTENCE IS THE WAY TO CHANGE THE WORLD

I don’t understand the logic and reason, why I would have problem if someone wishes to practice his/her religion and live their lives according to their beliefs.
I don’t find a single State in the World which prohibits minorities from practicing their religion and implementing their religious dogmas on themselves. Whether the practices , the tenets and the code of belief are right or wrong, as long as it doesn’t materially breaches any Law or any individual s’ rights, why someone would be intolerant and rude.
Today, we are experiencing a lot of facilities due to kindness of Modern Technology, but still we have the large number of people committing Suicides. We are lacking Tolerance, so is the reason we have hatred, Jealousy, Tensions, Depressions in our Societies.
 I do believe intolerance is related to materialism, materialist thought has just destroyed human values, people are relying more on material things than on God. However, we are the most progressive nations in the human history but yet we are the most disturbed at the same time. Why Should I spread hate if I can’t spread love, Why should I be rude to my class fellow or my colleague if I can’t improve my work.. Why I’m not understanding this principle that God has created everyone differently and gave everyone different qualities and abilities. Why I should be biased about someone s’ quality of faith, God knows the things which are even in someone s’ heart so why should I blame or criticize someone about ones’ quality of faith.
I don’t get this why one is ignorant even one is highly educated, how he says he is educated where at the same time he doesn’t let others to feel freedom. Can one still be calling oneself a good human being without Co-Existence??

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

History of Sindhi Culture


The roots of Sindhi culture and civilization go back to the distant past. Archaeological researches during 19th and 20th centuries showed the roots of social life, religion and culture of the people of the Sindh: their agricultural practices, traditional arts and crafts, customs and tradition and other parts of social life, going back to a ripe and mature Indus valley civilization of the third millennium B.C. Recent researches have traced the Indus valley civilization to even earlier ancestry.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

Archaeological discoveries sometimes help to unfold the certain latent aspects of a specific culture. The excavations of Mohenjo-daro have unfolded the city life of a civilization of people with values, a distinct identity and culture. Therefore, the first definition of the Sindhi culture emanates from that over the 7000 year old Indus Valley Civilization. This is the pre-Aryan period, about 3,000 years B.C., when the urban civilization in Sindh was at its peak.




ISLAM IN SINDH
From the beginning of Muslim rule of the Sindh in 713 CE, the Muslim technocrats, bureaucrats, soldiers, traders, scientists, architects, teachers, theologians and Sufis travelled from the rest of the Muslim world to the Islamic Sultanate in Sindh, and settled there permanently. The majority of Sindhis converted to Islam by the Sufi mystics from Middle East and Central Asia. The Sindh became distinct in its identity and culture, and many contemporary writers in medieval age referred to Sindh and Hind as two different countries. The Sindhi culture flourished with a new stimulus from Islamic sources from Persia and Afghanistan. Many Baloch and Afghan tribes also settled in Sindh, adopting Sindhi culture.

Aryan Influence on Culture
The second impact on the norms and practices of Sindhis was the subjugation of Sindh at the hans of Aryans around 2,500 B.C. The Aryan impact on Sindhi culture was great and the subsequent changes imprinted on the psyche of the Sindhi people should be judged in the light of the changes which they had undergone at the hands of the Aryans. The Aryans were nomadic, but, the peace-loving Moenjodaro civilization people had been enjoying for a long time the fruits of settled urban life with municipal community-based living. The Aryans were, thus, overawed. They adopted the Sindhi cultured way of life. They had little to offer Sindh, except their fondness for the supernatural and abstraction. Though hunting the prey absorbed quite a lot of their time, their Rishis managed to solicit favours from there gods. The Aryans, in exchange for their supernatural tendencies, borrowed from the Dravidians their god of Shakti, later on canonised as Siva, in place of Aryan god Rudhra, and thus the Hindu trinity was completed. With the sway of the Aryans, the Sindhi culture underwent a big change. The adversity of subjugation made Sindhis a bit fatalistic. Much of their martial fervor was gone while the Aryans perfected, rather embellished their religion, after their contact with the indigenous population of Sindh.



Monday, December 20, 2010

Moen Jo Daro

Moen Jo Daro


In the ancient history there had been much remarkable civilization in the human history such as, Sumerian civilization, and Egyptian civilization. By the same line the Indus valley civilization has been termed as much important, significant and splendid civilization as the above mentioned ones. Indus valley civilization came to know by the ruins of Moen jo Daro, which is said to be 2500 B.C.
I am privileged to visit the ancient city several times, it is so beautiful. It is a very good site for tourism. People from all over the world come to see the beauty of architecture of the city. There is a museum where one can see idles, jewelry, crockery and much more, which belong to the people who used to live in the city thousand year ago. There is the picture of Moen Jo Daro on the note of ten rupees of Pakistan.
Lets read the details of the city.

Moen Jo Daro
Moen Jo Daro (The Mound of The Dead) is one of the ancient cities in the world. It is located in the Sindh province on the right bank of the Indus River. Moen Jo Daro was discovered in 1922 by Sir John Marshall. The city was built almost five thousand years ago. The city was approximately one square mile in size, and it had almost 35000 residents.
Mohenjodaro and Harappan Civilization are the most important places of Pakistan Heritage for Tourism.

Architecture of The City
In the found ruins at the site it seems that the city contains streets, building, houses, a granary, baths, assembly halls and towers.
Furthermore the city was divided into two parts. In the first part of the Citadel that accommodated the huge tank or bath, which had fine brickwork and systematic drainage system. This whole part was surrounded by a veranda. On the other side, there were the giant granary, well planned residential complex and two assembly halls. The lower city was build to the east of the Citadel
The streets were straight, and were drained to keep the area sanitary. The very little stones were used in the construction. Two types of bricks- mud bricks, and wood bricks, were used. The people were good at irrigation and flood control.
It is firmly believed that Moen Jo Daro was indeed a well planned city. 


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Eastern and Western Mysticism

Body and Soul in the Poetry of Shah Latif and Walt Whitman
It is calculated that literature and philosophy are the foundation stones in any nation and country of the world. By this way, literature and philosophy shape the directions of thinking and mode of progress on those basis nations set their goals and move onward. In this context, if seen the Eastern and the Western poles of the world, the above dictum comes true. Today’s Eastern nations are mostly relying on the spiritual philosophy and the Western world especially America is enjoying the materialist progress. Every pole is developing to its own sides and directions. Islam Confucianism and Buddhism provided the basis for Eastern and Asian thinking and philosophy and several materialist thinkers laid the basis of American materialist development. What we see America and the East today is the result of those philosophies. Both the sides can be understood through its classical literature and philosophy. In this context the nineteenth century well-known American Poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) can be referred to know the actual context of American development and progress in materialism. Because Walt Whitman has been claimed as America's first "poet of democracy", a title meant to reflect his ability to write in a singularly American character. A British friend of Walt Whitman, Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe, wrote: "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him."
The literary critic, Harold Bloom wrote, as the introduction for the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass: “If you are American, then Walt Whitman is your imaginative father and mother, even if, like myself, you have never composed a line of verse.” These some examples prove the importance and influence of Whitman in American political, philosphical, and cultural development. Because three themes are prediminately are found overtly in his poetry: (1) American people and American democracy (“enmasse”) (2) sex and senses; and (3) death.
On the other hand our great mystic poet Shah Latif (1689-1752) is one of representative poet of Islamic and eastern philosphies. On the one hand, one will find the Hindu mortification philosphy in his poetry and on the hand Islamic faith and eternity abudently. Both the poet have different world view which is also seen in todays world as well. At the Western side as is seen today is much selfishness and self development in the materialist philosphy as Whaitman says:

Come, I will make the continet indissoluble…

I hear America singing, the varied carlos I hear;

Above both examples illustrate the selfishness and betterment of oneself which is essence of todays American and Western priority. Whereas Islamic and Eastern philosphy emphasize the eternal and universal well-being and welfare. Shah Latif prays from God:

O my lord, bestow prosperty on Sindh for ever,
O my sweet friend, shower blessings on all the world.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Shaikh Ayaz: The poet of Life and Human Awakening

The legendry poet of Sindhi language and one of the greatest scholars of twentieth century Shaikh Ayaz (1923-1997) whose original name is Shaikh Mubarak Ali using the pen-name as Shaikh Ayaz, is the author of 75 books, of them more than 50 has been published so far. He composed his fiery, mystic and humanistic poetry and wrote much prose only one of its kinds for almost half of the century depositing enormous constructive mark on Sindhi language and modern Sindhi literature. He composed his verses almost in all literary genres. He not only composed lofty and immortal poems but also wrote in prose so excellently. He brought into play conventional meters of the language in classical genres as well as in modern poetry and formulated new experiences in meters. With regard to theme, Shaikh Ayaz worked less or more almost on all subjects from universal to territorial, from humanism to patriotism; but the bulk of his poetry is composed under the theme of saving life on the earth and awakening humanity towards the welfare and wellbeing of life. He, in this poetic expression and feelings, chanted the slogan to save life of all the creatures created by the God, he brings forward the idea like in the following verse:

Taking no pity, you slung it
Like you, the little one!
The dove, too, has a mom

It is soundly observed that the poets are sensitive in their feelings and sentiments and their message is to feel pain of others akin to one’s own. At this juncture the metaphoric use of mother’s sensitive and subterranean love sensitizes the feelings of the boy. It is for the reason that the love, wistful eyes and compassionate care of mom are incomparable towards her progeny. On the other hand it is verily said that your survival lies in your fellow men’s survival; like the famous dictum ‘جيو اور جيني دو’ (Live and let live others). This is genuine memo of our religion of Islam as well as the message of humanity. No doubt, such kind of feelings and sensitiveness in one’s being if truth be told fetch suffering. It is because this world is full of sorrows and agonies as Goutam Buddha said ‘Surrom Dukham Dukhaum’ (Every thing is a pain), yet continuing committed towards that and enduring the pain of suffering of others for oneself is really the essence of human distinctiveness. Ayaz acknowledges this as;

Tearful tales my talent has given me
I have sung the sorrows of whole country

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Being a Hindu, Living In A Muslim Society


 “I truly believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world.”
Dalai Lama

Since human beings are imperfect, any human society they create is imperfect. Hindus and Muslims have lived together for over 1000 years. There have been times when several conflicts have taken place between both these communities but today time has changed. People used to think that we being Hindus have different kind of thinking or we face special kind of problems but that is not the case in real life, the truth is totally different. We eat, we drink, we think all the same even our tensions we have in our life are same as any other community.

About ten percent of the population in Pakistan is Hindus; still few people think that we have some kind of restrictions or difficulties in living in this country. As a matter of fact there is no such thing. We are pretty comfortable living here; we face no restrictions or difficulties in the schooling of kids, our lifestyle. It actually feels good when people are so supportive of you and want to know about your lifestyle or about your culture.

Even making friends is not that big of an issue. When I was in school my friends were pretty comfortable with me. We used to hangout; we used to eat together and even have sleepovers. I don’t know the exact reason so as to why people even of my religion think that it is a big deal because my family is also friends with Muslims. We were born in this country so I guess religion should not matter much.

As far as terrorism is concerned, it exists for everyone here, be it a Hindu, Muslim or a Christian. Times have changed today and people have accepted the fact that nothing is wrong with being of a different religion. The generation today is very open minded towards these kinds of topics.

Pakistanis celebrate all kinds of festivals, such as Eid, Diwali, and Christmas. It makes no difference even if we are Hindus. Not only we but even my Muslim friends celebrate all the same festivals as I and we enjoy ourselves.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Prejudice

We often come across with the people who like us so much that whatever we say they abruptly say “YES-We agree” to everything and to those persons who doesn’t like us and will abruptly say “NO-Its lame, we don’t agree”. This is a very dangerous and alarming behavior which if carried out in masses will lead to complete choking of minds and will cause unbelievably bigger problems.

A person that assumes about somebody that he is a failure personality due to his past experiences or may be he doesn’t like him due to his religious differences, national differences, society differences or may be some personal barriers, whenever will hear a suggestion or a comment from that somebody, will abruptly say “NO”. This is because he has pre-assumed that whatever he is talking is false and “I” can’t believe him. There are so many philosophical reasons to believe that this behavior is a complete wrong. However I want to highlight just a bit of overshadowed portions, whenever we say NO or may be even YES to a comment (pre-assuming), we are actually responding to that person and not to that comment or suggestion which is totally wrong and raw behavior. Then if we argue in favor of our choice about that comment, then basically we are arguing about ourselves and not about that comment, we are trying to prove that I was right in judging you at first place (Sometimes it can come out as right, but I am talking about the approach, which is totally wrong).

Intelligently we should give more importance to an experienced person, and experience means failures and observations, so one who fails, gets experience and is bound to talk sense if he learned from his failures.

In my professional career I learned so many things but the most effective thing I’ve ever learned is “First reaction is Raw”, whenever you respond to something unusual, your first response is an emotion which contain minimal output from your thinking process. So first reaction is raw, come up with your second reaction, which is polished, more thoughtful, more decent and it has reasons.

 When the possible responses are more than one, reaction time increases and more the possible responses are more is the reaction time. There is noJHuman have response time of 250 milliseconds, this is the response time of our physical reaction to an utmost uneven or may be even action which requires spontaneous reaction e.g. when a fly is buzzing us and we want to distract it. When we listen to something and we have to react on it, the reaction time depends upon the possible responses, if there is only one response then its very minimal (reaction time) e.g. Are you a boy? authentic study how much is the response time to a suggestion (but is way more than the physical reaction time), although an algorithm is available! So whatever you do, don’t respond instantaneously, don’t pre-judge or pre-assume.



 flowers are found in bunch of thongs, pearls are found on sand ofJThere are some poetic way to explain this as well,  beaches, and you never know from where a good suggestion or idea can come, so be open minded to even your worst enemy as well.

). We are stuck with an opinion and we are biased for it and we abruptly respond in our favor. Unfortunately, today we are facing this as a global problem and can be referred as perception issue as well. Our enemies (which we think are our enemies) slap us always, no matter what we are doing or what we are saying, now people who are more inclined towards those poles will keep on slamming us and our systems and whatever we say they will say just a big “NO-its lame, I don’t agree” and people who are inclined towards these poles will always think those poles as their enemies no matter what are they doing. So if I am to implicate this scenario to Global situation w.r.t Pakistan phenomena then both parties have this pre-assumingJNow if we extend this pre-assuming behavior a bit then it becomes Extremism (our favorite topic behavior problem and are not open enough to either of the party.

If somebody gives us a suggestion and we respond him abruptly this means we are killing our thinking process, our evaluation capability and research content, and if we carry on like this we end up rusting it. Then not only we killed confidence of a person but killed our behavior as well.

In the end I think, We need to think! we shouldn’t pre-assume about anything, at any level, talking to a friend, a relative, an enemy, a stranger, or anybody. This kills his confidence and rusts our thinking process, overall behavior and personality. And when you give importance to others and their opinions, they grow in confidence Jand world is a good place to live

Happy Thinking and sweeping Pre-assuming Behaviors.

POETRY OF GREAT SUFI SAINT SHAH ABDUL LATIF BHITAI TRANSLATED IN ENGLISH


I am privileged to post, poetry of the great sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. His famous book is “Shah Jo Risalo”, this book has been translated to many languages. Shah Abdula Latif’s poetry contains great message of humanity.
Shah Abdul Latif’s native land is Sindh.
Here is the English translated poetry of Shah sahib.


The One Creator, the all greats;
Lord of the universe
The living, the original;
Ruler with power innate;
The giver, the sustainer,
the unique , compassionate;
This master praise, to Him alone
Thy self in praise prostrate..
The generous, who does create
the universe in pairs..
2
None shares His glory, "He was..is,
shall be"..who this doth say
Accepts Mohammad as 'guide'
with heart and love's true sway;
None from amongst those lost their way
or ever went astray.
3
“He is without a partner” , when
this glorious news you break
With love and knowledge, Mohammad
accept ..as cause him take
Why would you then obeisance make
to others after that?
4
From One, many to being came;
'many' but Oneness is;
Don't get confounded, Reality
is 'One' , this truth don't miss
Commotions vast display - all this
I vow, of Loved-one is.
5
The Echo and the call are same,
if you sound's secret knew
They both were one, but two became
only when 'hearing' came.

6
A thousand doors and windows too,
the palace has ..but see,
Wherever I might go or be
master confronts me there
7
If you have learnt to long, by pain
be not distressed-
Secret of love's sorrow must be
never confessed-
Suffering is by the heart caressed,
and there it is preserved.
8
The poison-drinking lovers, lured
by poison sweet, drink more and more;
To bitterness of fatal cup,
the poison-drinkers are inured,
Though wounds are festering, and uncured,
no whispers to the vulgar goes.
9
All from Beloved's side is sweet
whatever He gives to you.
There is no bitter, if you knew
the secret how to taste.
10
There is a call to gallows, friends,
will any of you go!
Those who do talk of love may Know
to gallows they must speed.
11
If you a draught desire
to tavern find your way;
Thy head do sever, and that head
beside the barrel lay;
Only when you this price do pay
then few cups you may quaff.

12
The genuine lover, for his head
care and concern has none;
He cuts it off---joins it with breath
as gift then hands it on ;
Carves down to shoulders, form loved-one
then begs for love's return.
13
To guard and to preserve the head,
the lover's business is not this---
One of beloved's glance is worth
so many hundreds head of his---
Flesh, skin and bone, and all there is ,
the 'least ' of loved-one , equals not.

Background: This chapter is Shah Latif's very enlighten chapter where he's praised the God and teach us that you may look deep inside you. There is nothing outside but your innermost. We are misguided by quacks, who have misguided us and because of their un approach theories we could not find our own wisdom, which is gifted to us by God. In every verse you will find the eternal wisdom.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Pakistan


Pakistan came into exsistence on 14 august 1947. It is known as Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the majority of the population are muslims, however there are  minority religions as well. Such as Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Sikhs, and Buddhists. In Pakistan all minorities are free to do their religious practices, thousands of Sikhs comes from India every year to Gurdwara which is located in Lahore, this shows a very positive side of Pakistan that people who don’t even belong to Pakistan are allowed to follow their religious practices.

The city of Islamabad became Pakistan’s capital in 1961. It is known for a number of mountains, including K-2, which is the second-highest mountain in the world. The population of Pakistan is estimated to be 135 million.

Pakistan’s national language is Urdu which is spoken throughout the country.
National game is Hockey.

Famous Products
Pakistan is famous for its high standard items of glass, silver, wooden furniture, pottery, marble goods and things made of camel skin. Cricket, Hockey, Football, Kabbadi, squash, badminton, and wrestling are the major sports in Pakistan. Pakistani embroidery is appreciated worldwide

Pakistan has it’s four provinces Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Khaiber Pakhtunkhwa. Every province differ from it’s culture, language, clothing style and customes.


Sindh
It is also known as Babul Islam. The land of Sindh is well known for its sufism. Geographically, Sindh is the third largest province. It’s capital is Karachi, other towns and cities include Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Tando Adam, Tando Allahyar,Nawabshah, Larkana, Shikarpur, Khairpur, Badin.
The languages which are spoken in sindh are as follows: 
  • Sindhi
  • Uurdu 
  • Rajistani

The city which is famous for sindhi products is called HALA. The sindhi products which are available in the city are as follows:

  • Ajrak
  • Rilhi
  • Traditional furniture
  • Pindi
  • Sindhi topi
  • Sagion


Balochistan
Geographically Balochistan is the largest of the four provinces. It has very rich culture. Neighbouring regions are Iranian Balochistan to the west, Afghanistan and Punjab and Sindh to the east. To the south is the Arabian Sea. The language which is spoken there is Balochi.
The famous cities of the province are as follows:
  • Quetta
  • Gwadar
  • Pishen
  • Taftan

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The decision to rename the province Pakhtunkhwa (Land of thePakhtuns), was taken by the Government of Pakistan. Before that it was known as Serhad. This has been opposed by the people of northern regions of NWFP, who are mainly non-Pashtuns.
The language which is spoked there is Pashto.

Punjab
Punjab is the second largest province. The region contains the Thar and Cholistan deserts. Its dry climate, extensive irrigation makes it a rich agricultural region. Punjab is one of the most industrialized provinces of Pakistan. The manufacturing industries of the province are as follows:

  • Textiles
  • Sports goods
  • Machinery
  • Electrical appliances
  • Surgical instruments
  • Bicycles
  • Rickshas
  • Floor coverings
  • Processed foods