My hands are for mending
Cobblers get little work and are living below poverty line
By Tabina Sirhindi
It was an ordinary day. I was heading towards my office cursing the rise in temperature and the ordeal that one has to go through while waiting for the signal to turn green. My cursing would have been prolonged unless the scene just next to my car's window had not captured my attention.

Seventy-year-old Fida Hussain Chaudhry alias Boota is known as Fateh-e-Food Street (Conqueror of food street) by the residents of Gawalmandi residents. But the shopkeepers of the recently disrupted nine-year-old food street prefer to call him Qatil-e-Food Street (murderer of the street).

Boota is one of the 250,000 residents of Gawalmandi who opposed the establishment of food street from the very beginning calling it can attack on the fundamental right of way of the residents. From now on, the shops are to remain but the gates have been removed to allow flow of traffic.

Kamarn Lashari, the then Director General of PHA was behind the establishment of the food street in 2000, a part of Pervez Musharraf's campaign to promote the liberal image of Pakistan. Following the success of Gawalmandi Food Street -- set up in the constituency of PML-N's Mian Nawaz Sharif -- the then government opened another in the Old Anarakali.

Gawalmandi -- a food market of 45 shops that served Lahore's indigenous cuisine 24/7 -- attracted many foreigners and locals.

"Two months ago, we received a notice from the City District Government Lahore (CDGL) to close the street for four days for the installation of underground sewerage pipes," Malik Azam, brother of general secretary of the Food Street Malik Qasim told TNS, showing a copy of the government notice. "We closed the shops. After a couple of weeks, police came with CDGL staff asking us to remove the chairs from the street as they wanted to open it for traffic round the clock." A few days later the large iconic green gates of the street were dismantled.

"This is a political revenge of PML-N from PML-Q" Azam maintained. "Otherwise, there was nothing wrong for the last nine years." Azim hopes the street will be rebuilt after a visit of PPP delegation and governor Salman Taseer's assurance.

The hitherto food street now looks like a haunted place with most of the shops closed and the road damaged with the debris of the dismantled gates still lying there.

Tariq Majeed owns two food shops in the street. He predicts a complete closure of the street since "it is all about business. There is no business at a place which was once loved by the tourists."

"We had eight waiters, four cooks and two helpers for two shops but we are now asking them to look other options." Azam now has one cook, one waiter and one helper working for him. While showing the sale sheet he said that the sales "would have been Rs8,000 to Rs10,000 till noon if the old structure was there." Azam shared his disappointment with many foodies of Lahore for whom the food street was a must stop for desi food.

Kamran Lashari, in his defence said the food street was built to celebrate the liveliness of our culture and the richness of our cuisine. "It was like bringing the Old City to life. It had become a cultural heritage of the city besides being a source of livelihood for many. It did not benefit any particular group, party or government."

Those who oppose the food street are not short of arguments either. Boota is among those in the forefront of the campaign against it. He sat contently under the banner that read: "We congratulate Shahbaz Sharif from the bottom of our heart for putting an end to so-called food street."

"We have been tolerating this nonsense for the last nine years and no body, including Pervez Musharraf and Pervaiz Elahi, listened to the residents of this area." Boota said it was like a "mini-martial law all these years as the residents were always pressurised to remain quiet." Boota, who lives on the upper floor of a shop in the street, said his family had developed asthma because of the constant smoke in the street and high temperature of their rooms. It was no less than 80? Celsius in our homes due to the tandoors on the ground floor.

Boota and his friends were not comfortable with the concept of the food street, which they think promoted immorality and had become a dating spot in the area and the administration had been encouraging it. "People came here for drinking, something we could not tolerate."

The residents of the food street said they are not against the food street but this should not be done at the cost of their rights and lives. "We will challenge every effort to restore this food street by closing it for traffic again. We will not allow this. This is not a dictator's government," a resident said. "This is the electoral constituency of Nawaz Sharif and we are grateful to Hamza Shahbaz who listened to our complaints and conducted an independent survey seeking peoples' comments," said Boota who thwarted the assumption that this is a political revenge.

"11,000 KV electricity wires are passing through our houses' windows, which the government can't install here. No law allows a food street against the wishes of the residents," another resident Shariq Mehmood pointed out. These residents were also annoyed with the press for not realising and highlighting their point of view but giving only one-sided news.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Lahore, Sajjad Bhutta, talking to TNS, maintained that the food street has not been closed. "We have only opened it to traffic round the clock which is a justified demand of local residents." He said the street would soon be paved properly and people can visit "but we can't close it to traffic without the consensus of the residents. The concept of food street is very good but it should be made in a place specific for it and not in a residential area."

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Exhibition: Creative arts n crafts exhibition of children's art at 142 F, Model Town, till Aug 16.

Fahd Burki's new works on display at Grey Noise from Aug 9 to Sep 20. The gallery remains open from 5pm to 7pm daily.

Ghazal Night at Peerus Cafe every Friday at 9pm.

Jazz Night at Peerus Cafe every Saturday at 9pm featuring live

performance by Jazz Moods.

Puppet Show at Alhamra, The Mall every Sunday at 11pm.

Exhibition of Paintings by Prominent Artists today at Coopera Art Gallery, 70, The Mall, Lahore. The exhibition will open today at 5 pm. 23 Artists will participate including Ghulam Rasul, Dr. Khalid Mehmood, Muhammad Javed, Dr. Ajaz Anwar, Rahat Masud, Naila Aamir, Mahboob Ali, Ghulam Mustafa and Shehla Farooq.

Exhibition: Shedding Load at Gallery 39K, Model Town, Lahore on August 19 and 20. The gallery will remain open from 6:30pm to 10 pm. The exhibition brings together artists from different backgrounds under one roof.

Music: Care Plus Foundation Music Show on Tuesday, Aug 18 at Alhamra, Hall 3, The Mall from 7-10 pm.

Sangat Cultural Association Musical Evening on Thursday, Aug 20 at Alhamra Hall 3, The Mall from 7-10 pm.

The Religion & Culture Debate at Aiwan-e-Iqbal today from 3:30-7:30 pm.

Ajoka presents Theatre for Peace from Aug 18-20 at Alhamra, The Mall at 8 pm.

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For Lahoris, dining out is part of the pleasure of living. Despite the poverty rate escalating from 23.9 to 37.5 percent in the last three years after severe economic shocks hit Pakistan, the businesses of cafés and restaurants are thriving as usual. Here The News on Sunday talks to some restaurateurs to find out the perfect recipe for success.

A human resource development official at Avari hotel, Amir said, "The bid to hijack Sri Lankan team in Lahore had an adverse effect on hotel business here while global recession has a huge impact on hotel business internationally.

"Hotel business flourishes if the rooms are occupied. But in Pakistan after the attack on the five-star hotels Marriott the number of foreign as well as local visitors dwindled drastically." he said, "Even though, we have good security arrangement for guests and visitors."

According to manager of Downtown café, Ali, his cafe caters to the elite who are so far unaffected by the economic recession. They believe that 'the people who frequent Downtown will in any circumstance come here though Downtown does face shortage of customers as a consequence of security problem in the country.

The management of Café Zouk said that their business has been affected by 40-50%. "The weak buying power of individuals is one of the major reasons." Café Zouk staff would give away the left over food to the deprived people at the end of the day and it was their regular practise but has stopped doing so for some reason.

Definitely, Ziafat too is affected by the uncertainty in the country and feeble security measures. Their business is disturbed by 35%-40% as a consequence. The Ziafat management said, "We have decreased our charges per person which has increased the number of customers and obviously helped our business to grow and work during the slump." The management said, "Ziafat has never wasted the left over food. It has always been distributed among the deserving."

Pizza Hut is not affected as such by recession as they are multi-nationals. They have no competitors as their manager of M.M Alam Road outlet Zeeshan puts.

"Village is really not affected by any uncertainty in the country or global recession," said its manager, Muhammad Iqbal. "The people who come to dine in Village, pay no attention to whatever mess is going around," he said. He shared an observation of his that the visitors have changed up to 40-50%, replaced by fresh entrepreneurs and rural migrants, who are very simple and non- hotelier.

Nawaz Ahmad of 'Smart Chicks (a café situated in Faisal Town) said they started feeling the affects of recession in 2007 and the number of people who dine out has certainly come down. The business has been affected 25-30%. They are into business for five years. There are days when they get orders only for home delivery. To increase the demand of their products they offer different deals.

Sara and her friends (students) sitting in Hot Fusion told me, "We would often get together at cafés for studying and spending time with friends but with the increase in prices we wait for weekends to get together like this."

Farhat, a regular customer of Gourmet restaurant having 25 years of experience in hotel business himself, says, "Every business has been affected by the economic recession. Table reservations and possession tell the truth". He also added "on the one side, average people have reduced eating out while on the other side they are being replaced by new urban and the noveau riche".

I met Maryam, a working woman, at Saffron restaurant, who said, "I would eat out with family at least once a week. It's not the same now."

While apparently food spots look crowded, in reality every individual is affected at different level. Everyone said things are getting better and the situation is improving gradually, which shows a ray of hope among the people.

In this situation, Food Streets would have played a crucial role because of their reasonable rates and appeal to all classes of society but few days back the City District Government, Lahore stopped the shopkeepers from setting tables and chairs in the open. Last Thursday it pulled down the Gowalmandi Food Street's decorative gate.

Ismail Butt from Ever Green hotel situated in Food Street Anarkali said that he left automobile spare parts business and joined this hotel but that too has closed.

No one can stop eating but eating out can be reduced, as the situation says. Food businesses are suffering from recession and high prices of commodities because people have less money to spend eating out. They will just have to learn to make better meals at home. The problem is, in the last decade of excess spending, people forgot how to cook nutritious and good tasting meals at home.

On a serious note, every problem should be seen as an opportunity to make positive and sustainable changes.

It was an ordinary day. I was heading towards my office cursing the rise in temperature and the ordeal that one has to go through while waiting for the signal to turn green. My cursing would have been prolonged unless the scene just next to my car's window had not captured my attention.

Under a lush green tree sat an old man with a turban on his head. I could see drops of sweat twinkling on his lined forehead. His hands were moving briskly with the needle. A number of shoes were scattered around him. As the car regained its speed I wondered if mochis were nearing extinction.

Cobblers, intimately known as mochis used to be an essential part of the society. Just like a doctor can heal the wounds, a mochi can mend the shoes. I still remember how I used to visit the mochi baba at least once a week. My ferocious playing would hurt my dear chappli (slipper) and the mochi baba would put it together again. And here I was, ready to boast my mended chappli in front of my friends, as if it was new as ever.

However, things have changed quite a lot nowadays. Though you may find a mochi engrossed in work under the shade of a tree, he receives little work due to the changing trends in the society. The low returns in this profession have compelled them not to pass it on to their children.

Abd-ur-Razzaq, 28, has been a mochi for a decade. His father and grandfather also did the same work. However, he does not wish his children to do the same. "I don't want my children to join this profession," says a firm Abd-ur-Razzaq. "I want them to study and get good education." His children are with their mother in his village and study there, as he is not in a position to finance them in the city. When asked about any increase in rates due to inflation, he replied with a nod. Despite the increase, he only manages to earn Rs200-250 on a daily basis.

Same is the case with 25-year-old Muhammad Muneer who is in this profession for the past four years. He learnt the work from his three brothers who are also mochis. "I earn around Rs250-300 daily. There are times when I earn within this range while at other times I earn quite low. It all depends on the number of customers," says the young mochi.

Unlike these young mochis, Muhammad Din has a different tale to tell. The 70-year-old mochi reminds me very much of the mochi baba of my childhood. He has been mending shoes since twenty years now. "I earn Rs80-100 daily," says the old man while inhaling the antique huqqa placed near him. "I have not increased my charges over the years as the people who come to me are really poor. Sometimes I mend their shoes for free and give bus fare to those who have come from distant areas."

Muhammad Din has seven sons of whom no one is a mochi. Inflation has doubled his problems like many others. He earns around Rs3000 a month, which means that he is a part of the swarm living below the poverty line. Though Muhammad Din's sons earn from a paint shop, he doesn't take any money from them. "Why should I take money from my sons when I can earn for myself." When asked if he was content with his life and the profession that he had chosen, he replied with a touching Punjabi couplet, "Dil wala dukhra nai kisi nun sunaida, apnian sochan wich aapey mukh jaida." (the feelings of the heart should not be disclosed, a man should take his grief to his grave).