Category: Lifestyle

The lifestyle of millennials is underreported in our mainstream media. The Current’s lifestyle news covers social events and issues that are unique.

  • PM Imran’s weekend break: what should he be doing?

    PM Imran’s weekend break: what should he be doing?

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has decided to take a mini-break for the first time since he assumed office.

    According to reports, the PM has suspended his official and party engagements for two days, (Saturday and Sunday) and will be spending the weekend with his family members at his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad.

    The PM will take a break from his work and no government official or party members will meet the premier, neither will he chair any meeting this weekend. PM Imran often chairs Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) meetings at his Bani Gala residence on the weekends as well as receives the party leaders and government officials there.

    Considering that PM Imran is taking the weekend off, here are five things The Current recommends he does to make the most of his time off:

    1. Sleep – Is a weekend off really a weekend off unless you sleep at least 16 hours?
    2. Skype with his sons who are in London
    3. Catch up on Pakistani dramas – He must binge-watch Meray Paas Tum Ho and Alif, which starres his fav actor Hamza Ali Abbasi. After all they are creating quite a stir.
    4. Eat – We’ve heard that the PM is quite fond of haleem. The cooks in Banigala should get going on making his fav dish.
    5. Reading – What better way to spend the weekend morning soaking up the winter sun and reading That Will Never Work by Marc Randolph.
  • Dulha in trouble: Groom beaten up during doodh pilai

    Dulha in trouble: Groom beaten up during doodh pilai

    ‘Doodh Pilai’ is a tradition at all desi weddings. The bride’s sisters, cousins or friends bring a decorated glass of milk for the groom. First, the bride takes a sip and then the groom takes a sip from the same glass. The groom then gives money as a token of thanks.

    Doodh Pilai is usually a merry tradition where the bride and groom’s families share some fun moments.

    But a Doodh Pilai rasam at Maraka village turned out to be quite eventful. The groom gave Rs 1,000 to the bride’s friends while they were expecting double the amount, i.e. Rs 2,000. This led to a violent fight between the bride and groom. As a result, the bride’s family beat up the groom.

    WATCH VIDEO:

  • Celebrities, including Mahira Khan, will be at the Faiz Festival this weekend

    Celebrities, including Mahira Khan, will be at the Faiz Festival this weekend

    The Faiz International Festival is in its 5th year and like previous years, celebrities are flocking to the event. The three-day festival will take place at Alhamra in Lahore.

    Mahira Khan at the Faiz International Festival in 2016

    The event will kick off on Friday with a performance by Ali Sethi and a play dedicated to Asma Jehangir by Ajoka Theatre. There will also be an exhibition of History and Contemporary Sikh Art as part of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary celebrations.

    Celebrities like Mahira Khan, Ahsan Khan, Eman Suleman and Nimra Bucha will be part of sessions as will be journalists Hamid Mir, Nasim Zehra and Wusutullah Khan. Politicians like PTI’s Asad Umar and Yasmin Rashid and PPP’s Shazia Marri and Raza Rabbani will also be attending.

    The sessions The Current is looking forward to are:

    Stardom with Responsibility with Mahira Khan, Sarmat Khoosat and Mira Hashmi on Sunday at 3PM

    Siyasi Pabandion Kay Door Mai Azad Sahafat with Hamid Mir, Nasim Zehra, Wusutullah Khan and Wajahat Masood on Saturday at 3 PM

    Using Media to address Social Issues with Ahsan Khan, Roshanah Zafar and Seemi Raheel on Saturday at 1 PM

    Pakistan: The Way Forward with Dr Yasmin Rashid, Raza Rabbani, Nafisa Shah, Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Afrasiab Khattak and Dr Malik Baloch on Sunday at 2 PM

    The sessions are all free except for Zia Mohyeddin, Ali Sethi, Adeel Hashmi and Farah Yasmeen’s performances.

    Download the full schedule here Download
  • What you need to eat at Lahore Eat this weekend

    What you need to eat at Lahore Eat this weekend

    You know you’re saying hello to winter when it’s time for food festivals. Just days after the smog somewhat settled and thandi hawa began to blow across Lahore, the first food event of the season, Lahore Eat, started with a bang at Jilani Park.

    We visited the event on the first day and here are the only places you should visit at Lahore Eat:

    DISCLAIMER: The Current’s food reviews are not sponsored and are unpaid.

    Burger Maestru

    Pizza Paratha was divine. Crispy on the outside and cheesy inside – it was a pizza lover’s dream.

    Price – Rs 300/-

    Pizza Paratha

    A Piece of Cake

    Oh man, the Salted Caramel Brownie (Rs 180/-) and Gooey Fudge Brownie (Rs 170/-) was gooey, fudgey and so New York. They have the perfect ratio of chocolate and sweet and it’s a must have dessert with a cup of chai and perfect weather.

    Gooey Fudge Brownie
    Salted Caramel Brownie

    Didn’t try this cheesecake but it sure looks lovely.

    Awesamosas

    This fusion eatery never fails to disappoint – from their samosas to their chaats, we’re a fan. This year Awesamosas introduced a new ‘Botilicous Menu’ – Peri Patakha, Malai Tarragon and Satay Tikka – we absolutely loved. The strong flavour and spice level were perfect.

    Price – Peri Patakha, Malai Tarragon Rs 150 per stick, Satay Tikka Rs 200 per stick

    Aladdin Foods

    The bun in the bun kabab from Aladdin Foods was the real winner. It was crispy yet soft and took the entire snack to a whole new level. A must-try for anyone who enjoys street food and misses a good Karachi bun kabab.

    Price – Rs 80/-

    Apart from these, the Lahore Eat also had a variety of local eateries – there was Urban Kitchen, Burns Road, Novu, Savour Foods, Bombay Chowpatty, Delish, Upper Crust etc, restaurants you can visit everyday, which didn’t have anything new to offer. Karachi beats Lahore quite often when it comes to the food festival wars but this year, Lahore Eat did not disappoint.

    Send us your reviews and pictures and remember to take your masks along. You never know when the smog will strike.

  • Punjab bans mobile phones in schools, colleges to curb drugs menace

    Punjab bans mobile phones in schools, colleges to curb drugs menace

    Punjab Education Department has reportedly banned the use of mobile phones in all public and private educational institutions across the province in an attempt to curb the growing trend of drugs among students.

    “Under the prevailing dangers of menace of drugs in educational institutions (public and private sector) and to safeguard the young generation from this curse, it is mandatory to impose [a] complete ban on the use of mobile and other sources to use social media in the premises of educational institutions across the province,” read an Education Department notification doing rounds over the internet.

    While it also called for a ban on the use of social media for children under the age of 16, people are questioning if the move even makes any sense.

    Drug addiction in Pakistan has reached an alarming high within the past few decades, as according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
    (UNODC), the total number of addicts has reached 67 million.

    More than 800,000 Pakistani aged between 15 and 64 use drugs on a daily basis and an estimated 44 tons of processed heroin is consumed annually in Pakistan. According to another report, 57% of school, college and university students in Lahore are using at least one drug.

  • Four-day workweek increases productivity by 40%, reveals Microsoft experiment

    One of the world’s leading technology company Microsoft tested out a four-day workweek in its Japan offices and discovered that employees were not only happier – but significantly more productive.

    According to The Guardian, Microsoft experimented with a new project called Work-Life Choice Challenge Summer 2019 in the month of August. Under the program, the company’s entire 2,300-person workforce were given five Fridays off in a row without decreasing pay.

    The shortened weeks led to more efficient meetings, happier workers and boosted productivity by a whopping 40%.

    In addition to the increased productivity, employees took 25% less time off during the trial and electricity use was down 23% in the office. Employees printed 59% fewer pages of paper during the trial. The vast majority of employees – 92% – said they liked the shorter week as it led to a better work-life balance.

    Read more: ‘Burn-out’ is real, WHO recognises it as a medical condition

    This is not the first time long weekends have been experimented with in the corporate world. Previously in 2018, a New Zealand trust management company also trialled a four-day workweek over two months for its 240 staff members. Employees reported experiencing better work-life balance and improved focus in the office while staff stress levels decreased by 7%.

    Meanwhile, an experiment published by the Harvard Business Review shows that shorter workdays, a decrease from the average 8-hour workday to a 6-hour workday, increased productivity.

  • Book review: ‘The Testaments’ keeps the reader engrossed till the end

    Book review: ‘The Testaments’ keeps the reader engrossed till the end

    The Testaments by Margaret Atwood is the much-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale which has almost a cult following around the world. The book was released with much fanfare and publicity and recently also won the Booker Prize along with Girl, Woman, Other. The reactions to the book, however, have been divisive.

    The Testaments picks up fifteen years after the previous book. Gilead is still the same; if anything else the fundamentalism and extremism has gotten worse. For some reason, all of the stringent laws mostly apply to women in an attempt to suppress them further. Which is probably why this aspect resonated with me as currently many cultures are receding into their traditional roots.

    Women in this military-controlled zone are merely instruments for childbearing as in this dystopian future, humanity has self-destructed to the point of rampant infertility. Girls in schools, even the elite are not allowed to learn how to read and write in the fear that they may develop independent thought. The male commanders rule all and they use older women called ‘Aunts’ to control the younger members. The atmosphere of suffocation and fear that Atwood has created is almost palpable.

    Read more: Elif Shafak’s ’10 minutes 38 seconds’ is thought-provoking, insightful and relevant

    Without giving away spoilers, the storyline revolves around Aunt Lydia, an influential all-powerful force to be reckoned with; Agnes, a young girl in Gilead who doesn’t quite belong; and Daisy a young girl living in the free world whose story has some surprising twists and turns. Each of these women are struggling with their own troubles and adversities in an atmosphere of extreme mystery and secrecy which adds to their fear and tribulations.

    Margaret Atwood

    Is this book as powerful as The Handmaid’s Tale? Perhaps not. I reckon Atwood wrote this more for the large television viewership that the series enjoys. I found it an easier read than the prequel but perhaps less profound. However, this is not to say that it is not a good book – it brings the story to a satisfying conclusion and keeps the reader engrossed until the end.

  • Kate & William express ‘deep sadness’ over Tezgam tragedy

    Kate & William express ‘deep sadness’ over Tezgam tragedy

    The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who visited Pakistan late last month, have expressed their solidarity and sadness over the tragic Tezgam train incident which shook the country on Thursday.

    According to the Cambridge’s official website, “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge sent a message of condolence to the President of Pakistan following the train fire near the town of Rahim Yar Khan in Pakistan.”

    “Having just returned from visiting Pakistan, we were horrified and deeply saddened to hear about the tragic fire on the Tezgam train near Rahim Yar Khan.”

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people and families affected by this heartbreaking disaster,” the message added.

    Read more: Royal Visit – Kate, William bid goodbye to Pakistan

    Royal Editor at ITV News Chris Ship wrote that the couple was ‘horrified and deeply saddened’ with the news.

    Meanwhile, as per reports, the train, Tezgam, was on its way from Karachi to Rawalpindi when a gas cylinder carried by a passenger exploded, resulting in hundreds of casualties on Thursday morning. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class and one business class carriage.

  • Pakistan is one of the best performing nations for social entrepreneurship: Reuters

    Pakistan is one of the best performing nations for social entrepreneurship: Reuters

    Innovative Pakistanis are pushing boundaries by starting and leading start-ups that focus on social entrepreneurship. Along with Australia and the Netherlands, Pakistan is one of the top three countries whose overall ranking has improved the most since the first experts’ poll on the best countries for social entrepreneurs was conducted by the Thomas Reuters Foundation in 2016.

    Maheen Bashir, co-founder of Dot and Line a start-up which trains women to become tutors , was recently at the World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC to speak about their work

    In just three years, Pakistan has jumped 18 spots to place 14th among the world’s 45 biggest economies and the foundation credits a lot of this to start-ups which are focusing on pressing social issues – such as turning organic waste in fertilizers, plans for solar powered mobile carts for street vendors and helping farmers share farming equipment.

    Aerosync, founded by Neelum Hassan, in 2016 was created to design and manufacture products with a social or environmental impact.
    Photo Courtesy: Faceebook

    Young Pakistanis, are interested in creating growth and since two-thirds of Pakistans 210 million people are younger than 30, a lot more is expected from this ‘youth boom’.

  • Pakistani social media is seriously debating why we celebrate Halloween

    Pakistani social media is seriously debating why we celebrate Halloween

    On Halloween Day, while the world is breaking the internet by posting their pictures of themselves in their Halloween costumes, Pakistan is debating why a ‘foreign holiday’ being celebrated in our country?

    Wasim & Shaniera Akram with Sharmila Faruqi and Hisham Riaz at a Halloween party last year

    The debate ranges from people discussing how it’s against Islam to celebrate a ‘pagan’ holiday and others saying that ‘The West’ does not celebrate Eid, so why is Pakistan celebrating their holidays? The counter-argument to this is that if that’s the case, then we should also not celebrate birthdays.

    Sheheryar Munawar at a previous Halloween party

    Others are pressing the fact that Pakistanis need to live and let live and if people want to celebrate Halloween they should be allowed to do so; the counter to which is that celebration of the event is ruining our culture and should not be promoted.

    Ahmed Ali Butt at a Halloween celebration

    Despite people passing judgement against the celebration of Halloween, there are many events happening in major cities for children to dress up and enjoy the holidays. Some people are planning small trick or treating events in their areas, hoping it also promotes their children to get to know their neighbours.