Amidst the crowd were mothers…

Gulshan Park...

Amidst the crowd were mothers looking for their kids…

Some have lost them forever, while some are still looking for them…

Its understandable that paramedics/surgeons are busy trying to save those at the site, but there should be a trauma desk where parents should be allowed to list names of their missing children and also submit their photos…

Redirecting them to hospitals isn’t enough…

Also, parents shouldn’t be thrashed or barred from obtaining access to the area…

This woman was looking for her 15-yr old… She found him alive the next day, with minor injuries…

Guardian Angel…

Guardian Angel

24 year old Shama and her 26 year old husband Shahzad Masih were laborers at one of the many brick kilns in Pakistan’s Punjab. Due to their inability to pay money to their employer, they were falsely accused of blasphemy and were burnt alive on 4th November, 2014. Their three children, Suleman, Sonya and Poonam were orphaned, so Grandpa Mukhtar (pictured here) stepped in and became everyone’s papa…

The Holy Trinity Church, Murree

The Holy Trinity Church, Murree
The Holy Trinity Church, Murree

While running up the stairs of a hotel to inspect a room, I caught the beautiful sight of this 159 year old church on the Mall Road in Murree.  Could’ve cropped out the window bar on the left side of the frame, but felt that it would give the true idea of being photographed from inside a building.

The Holy Trinity Church was consecrated in May of 1857, just as the “Mutiny” or first war of Independence against British rule began. Opposite the Church lay the most significant commercial establishments, the Post Office, general merchants with European goods, tailors and a millinery (hat shop) were established. The Church was the center of early colonial life and still serves the town’s remaining Christian population and expatriates.

An old photograph from ImagesofAsia.com shows a painting of the church in 1910:

The HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, MALL ROAD, MURREE in 1910
The HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, MALL ROAD, MURREE in 1910 – Source ImagesofAsia.com

Amidst the crowd of the fortunate and less-fortunate…

Amidst the crowd of the fortunate and less-fortunate, I searched for wisdom, I searched for age... I guess I found both...  The face faded into the human mass, as I hunted with my optical contraptions...   Once caught, he whizzed past me and whispered in my ears, "you got me, didn't you!" wink emoticon — ‎at ‎Darbar Hazrat Data Gunj Bakhsh رحمتہ اللہ علیہ‎.‎
Amidst the crowd of the fortunate and less-fortunate, I searched for wisdom, I searched for age…
I guess I found both…
The face faded into the human mass, as I hunted with my optical contraptions…
Once caught, he whizzed past me and whispered in my ears,
“you got me, didn’t you!” wink emoticon — ‎at ‎Darbar Hazrat Data Gunj Bakhsh رحمتہ اللہ علیہ‎.‎

The Floral Dream…

"A young man named Nasreddin planted a flower garden, but when the flowers came up so did a great crop of dandelions among them. Wishing to eliminate the unwanted guests, Nasreddin consulted with gardeners near and far, but none of their solutions worked. Finally, Nasreddin traveled to the palace of the sheik to seek the wisdom of the royal gardener himself. But alas, Nasreddin had already tried all the methods the kind old man recommended to him for eradicating such troublesome weeds. Silently they sat together for a good long time. At last, the royal gardener looked at Nasreddin and said, "Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is that you learn to love them." 'Nasreddin's Flower Garden' -  A Traditional Sufi Story
“A young man named Nasreddin planted a flower garden, but when the flowers came up so did a great crop of dandelions among them. Wishing to eliminate the unwanted guests, Nasreddin consulted with gardeners near and far, but none of their solutions worked.
Finally, Nasreddin traveled to the palace of the sheik to seek the wisdom of the royal gardener himself. But alas, Nasreddin had already tried all the methods the kind old man recommended to him for eradicating such troublesome weeds.
Silently they sat together for a good long time. At last, the royal gardener looked at Nasreddin and said, “Well, then, the only thing I can suggest is that you learn to love them.”
‘Nasreddin’s Flower Garden’ – A Traditional Sufi Story

The parable of good and bad friends…

 The parable of good and bad friends...
“The good companion and the bad companion can be compared to a man who sells perfume and a blacksmith. When you visit the perfume seller he may give you a gift or you may purchase some musk from him and at the very least you leave with a sweet trace of his scent upon you. When you visit the blacksmith his flying sparks may burn your clothes and you will leave smelling of the smoke from his furnace.” —The Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH)