Tag: life-stories

  • Bombay Chowpatty Faisalabad is pleasantly surprising

    Bombay Chowpatty Faisalabad is pleasantly surprising

    We’ve all visited Bombay Chowpatty in Lahore several times but we recently got a chance to visit Bombay Chowpatty in Faisalabad and it made us very happy.

    Faisalabad’s Bombay Chowpatty is not a fast-food joint but is a proper restaurant offering a wide variety of cuisines. From Continental to Pakistani, from South Indian dishes to thaals (combos) of all sorts, the food there is quite diverse along with being delicious. Located at Kohinoor City in Faisalabad, it is also centrally located. The ambiance is also very nice and service on the dot.

    Being a chaat lover, I first ordered a Raj Kachori and a chaat platter. We were not disappointed. Everything was fresh and crispy with just the right amount of spices and sweet tangy flavour. The serving sizes were also quite big.

    Bombay Chowpatty is famous for its dosas, which is a desi version of a crepe. Making dosas is an art and if you have had dosas at a proper South Indian place, you usually don’t find dosas elsewhere authentic. But the dosas at Bombay Chowpatty were crisp and well-made. The good thing about this branch is that they customise the dosas. We had children with us who wanted cheese dosas and that’s what they got even though cheese dosa isn’t on the menu. We, on the other hand, ordered masala dosas and they were finger-licking good!

    If you’re a tea lover, you would enjoy their refreshing Karrak Chai and if you’ve got a sweet tooth, you won’t be disappointed with their desi desserts. We didn’t try out their western desserts – cakes and ice-cream – as we had had too much of desi meetha.

    If you’re in Faisalabad, we highly recommend Bombay Chowpatty. Despite visiting the place after a shaadi and eaten already, we couldn’t resist their delicious dishes and stuffed ourselves till we literally couldn’t breathe. You won’t regret it.

  • Secret to a happy marriage!

    Secret to a happy marriage!

    A woman in UAE has asked for divorce because her husband loves her a lot and is too obedient.

    Most women would not want any other type of husband — one who cooks, cleans and does not argue at all! But a wife in the UAE has sought divorce for this very reason!

    Apparently, she felt choked by his affection and wants to divorce him. She says her husband’s love was choking her.

    “He never yelled at me or turned me down,” the woman told the court.

    “I was choked by extreme love and affection. He even helped me clean the house.”

    In their year-long marriage, the husband sometimes cooked for her and there were no disputes.

    The wife complained that her life turned into “hell”. Why? Because the husband was so good to her.

    “I long for one day of dispute, but this seems impossible with my romantic husband who always forgave me and showered me with gifts.

    “I need a real discussion, even an argument, not this hassle-free life of obedience.”

    The husband said he did nothing wrong. “I wish to be a perfect and kind husband,” he said.

    The husband has asked the court to advise his wife to withdraw the case.

    “It’s not fair to judge a marriage from the first year, and everybody learns from their mistakes.”

    The court ordered the adjournment of the case to give the couple a chance at reconciliation.

  • Amazon forest burns, President Jair Bolsonaro accuses NGOs of setting fires

    Fires are raging at a record rate in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, and the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has accused environmental groups of setting fires, international news media outlets have reported.

    According to the reports, the skies darkened over San Paulo, Brazil, for an hour Monday afternoon after winds carried smoke from about 1,700 miles away.

    Dramatic images and videos on social media show giant plumes of smoke rising from the greenery and the hashtags Pray for Amazonas and Amazon Rainforest started trending on Twitter soon after.

    Environmental groups blame Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, for the endangerment of the vital rainforest as they accused him of relaxing environmental controls in the country and encouraging deforestation.

    The scientists have warned that the increasing number of fires will strike a devastating blow to the fight against climate change.

    The research data shared from the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) shows that Brazil has seen 72,843 fires this year, with more than half in the Amazon region, making it an 80% increase compared with the same period last year.

    The Amazon is often referred to as the planet’s lungs, as it produces 20% of the oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere and is considered vital in slowing global warming.

    It is the largest rainforest on the planet and is home to uncountable species of fauna and flora.

  • The Laddoo Diet

    The Laddoo Diet

    There is a new diet in town. It’s called the ‘Laddoo Diet’. We all love laddoos — especially the moti-choor variety — but we thought it only piles up pounds! Well, maybe that’s not the only thing it does. The Laddoo Diet can also lead to divorce.

    An Indian man from Uttar Pradesh has sought divorce on the grounds that his wife was feeding him laddoos every day.

    The couple has been married for 10 years and they have three children. Unfortunately, due to the advice of a tantric (shaman), the UP man’s wife was giving him four laddoos to eat in the morning and four laddoos in the evening. He was not allowed to eat anything else in between. The man approached a family court and said that he wasn’t feeling well for some time and his wife approached the ‘tantrik’ who asked her to make her husband eat only laddoos.

    Officials at the family counselling centre don’t know what to do about the wife’s superstitions.

    “We can call the couple for counselling, but we cannot treat the woman for being superstitious. She firmly believes that laddoos will cure her husband and is unwilling to accept otherwise,” said a counsellor.

    Well, who thought yummy sweets can actually lead to divorce!

  • The best drinks for your heart

    The best drinks for your heart

    We are all obsessed with tea, coffee, soft drinks and juice. But which drink is good for your heart?

    Coffee and Tea are good for you says Harvard University

    The Harvard Medical School, in its Health Publishing article, says that tea and coffee are actually good for you. They contain healthy compounds which help with artery inflammation and some studies show that people who regularly drink either coffee or tea have lower rates of heart disease. Over time, caffeine also raises your resting metabolic rate which can help with weight control (if you don’t add cream or sugar).

    Juices isn’t really the best for you. Better to eat fruit

    Juices, even 100 percent juice boxes, are not good for you. They have lots of sugar which are easily broken down in your body and spikes your insulin. You’re better off eating whole fruits than having them in liquid form.

    Soft drinks are terrible for you

    Soft drinks are terrible for your diet (but you knew that already). The added sugars contribute to weight gain, heart disease and diabetes.

    Popular Sport drinks aren’t the best for your body

    Sport drinks also have added sugars and artificial flavors and even though the electrolytes are good for your body, you’re better off drinking water and getting electrolyte nutrients from food.

  • Pakistani Candles – which one is worth the smell?

    Pakistani Candles – which one is worth the smell?

    DISCLAIMER: This review is not sponsored. The Current has done its own independent research for this review.

    After Pakistanis became candle crazy, different local companies started introducing their own scented candle lines as an alternative for people who were used to lugging candles from abroad to fulfill their candle needs. We tried four scented candles from different Pakistani brands to find which one has the most long-lasting smell.

    Not taking how long the candle lasts or the type of smell into account, our only focus was, can you actually smell the candle for a long period of time. They rank as follows:

    4. AURA

    Aura, a natural, toxin-free skincare brand branched out into candles and we tried out their scented candle called Eden. Sadly, it didn’t smell of anything, despite being lit for a few hours. Sticking your nose close to the candle won’t help much either. It emits a faint scent of flowers (or are we imagining that?)

    Price – Rs 700

    3. BATH AND BODY WORKS

    YES, believe it or not, two local candle brands outranked the foreign candle giant, Bath and Body Works. We tried out their Fresh (spring blue skies) scent and although you can smell it (and it smells a lot like the men’s cologne Aqua Di Gio and should be a huge hit with the boys) it doesn’t beat the top two.

    Rs 3900 (but if you get it from abroad, its usually on sale for half price)

    2. Karachi Candle Company

    We are very sure you thought the Karachi candles would win. We were surprised by the results too. As loyal Karachi candle company followers, we love their Motia Noir scent which took Karachi (and then other cities) by storm. It smells exactly of Karachi Jasmine nights and lingers and lasts for a long time.

    Price – Rs 2000

    1. Meem

    A young company, we bought the candle on a whim, after hearing murmurs of how good their Mulberry scent was. It smells exactly like bubble gum and can fill an entire office space with its scent. Strong and powerful, Meem is not one for the weak and lives up to its promise. We can’t wait to try other scents from them.

    Price – Rs 800 (small)

  • Sheikh Rasheed, and the three essential oils he should be buying

    Sheikh Rasheed, and the three essential oils he should be buying

    Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed was spotted buying what looks like aromatherapy essential oils with PM Imran Khan’s buddy Aneel Mussarat in London. While we don’t exactly know what he bought we can recommend oils we think would work best for his personality and job.

    Sandalwood Oil

    Used to calm nerves. Sheikh was in big trouble after the Railway’s Rs 28.62 billion loss was made public. So he could do with something to calm his nerves.

    Lavender Oil

    Helps with stress relief. Opposition parties were asking for Sheikh’s resignation after 80 train accidents took place in his first year.

    Rosemary Oil

    Helps with focus. We all need more of Sheikh’s famous predictions.

  • Popular Fiction: Don’t feel like you’re Normal?

    Popular Fiction: Don’t feel like you’re Normal?

    It’s a trend now. To talk about the non-conformists, the ones who don’t fit in and the ones who don’t want to.

    In her 10th novel, Japanese fiction author Sayaka Murata doesn’t make up a story. She calmly and incredibly coolly takes us into the world of the straight face life of a “convenience store woman” in her internationally best-selling book of the same name.

    Stores of Convenience

    It’s a weird book and it’s so much fun. We enter the world of a convenience store worker, Keiko, who is 36 years old and single, has never dated anyone and has worked part-time at the same store for the past 18 years.

    No one seems to understand why she has worked in the Smile Mart for so long, why she yearns to be there and how it literally becomes her day and her night. But then she isn’t one to do things normally.

    The first blow that Keiko gives us is a memory of her childhood, when, to break up a fight, she hits one of the boys on the head with a spade and doesn’t understand when everyone is shocked by what she does. They did say they wanted the fight to stop.

    Deadpan and almost robotic, Keiko is the person we would tend to avoid — lacks emotion, copies emotion, and doesn’t get angry. You can’t trust Keiko but you can’t help but like her. Murata has so beautifully carved out Keiko’s character that you somehow don’t feel bad for her at all. Perhaps because you know that she already has everything; a job she lives for, a convenience store she loves and that’s enough for her.

    Murata, through Keiko, takes us through the experience of milestones that are part of every single society in the world. Work, life-partner, marriage, children and how we tend to isolate and judge people who don’t fit in society’s norms.

    Keiko’s counter, the young, lanky, and smelly Shiraha, is full of disdain. He joins the store and soon gets fired from the Smile Mart for not doing his duties. Figures that his only reason for taking the job was to find a woman, stalk her and marry her.

    The utter stench his words produce when we meet him is more effective than repellent. He is a loathsome character and as we move through the book, and discover that he might be important, we try to like him when there is nothing at all to like.

    But to be fair, Murata rushes through the existence of Shiraha. Maybe because she doesn’t want to marry the crazy beauty she has created with Keiko and perhaps she realises that the reader might relate more to Shiraha; whether they like him or not.

    It’s a short read, ends in 162 pages, bound to finish in a few hours because of how perfectly normal it is. It’s not at all a judgey book but it takes us into such a quirky and strange journey through Keiko that we can’t help but reflect on how judgemental we can be. How she, without question, anger, regret, tries to adapt to her society, where she doesn’t fit in. She cleverly and poignantly highlights what we all do: mirror others, judge others for not fitting in molds and feel happy for them when they do.

    At one point of the book, Keiko is told off by Shiraha who says, “You’re not human” to which Keiko thinks, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” a thought which will leave you with a smile and simple reflection on life’s ambitious rat race and the simplicity of the convenience store worker. For a moment you’ll want her contentment, her creepy thoughts (inertly thinking that you might have had one or two of those yourself) until you conveniently forget and go back to ignoring the simple, convenient things.

  • Shehre Khamoshan founder seeks donations to run model graveyards

    Shehre Khamoshan founder seeks donations to run model graveyards

    International public policy and gender reforms specialist Salman Sufi has appealed to the masses to donate for the well-being of hundreds of Punjab Shehre Khamoshan Authority (PSKA) staffers, working unpaid for months.

    Lahore’s Shehre Khamoshan Model Graveyard, an initiative of chief minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU), contains all burial and funeral-related services required by families facing the loss of a loved one.

    These include hearse service, janazgah, ghusal and mortuary services, free of cost.

    While the project was considered a milestone achieved in facilitating the masses as it aimed to establish cemeteries and crematoriums to facilitate all citizens irrespective of any religious, socio-economic or caste-wise distinctions, it continues to face an uncertain future as its employees remain unpaid amid “lack of funds”.

    Continuing to highlight PKSA employees’ ordeal over the past few months, ex-SRU director general (DG) and founder of the project, Salman Sufi, has now appealed for donations for the staff.

    Tweeting his video message, Sufi wrote:

    In an earlier tweet, he had stated:

    “The government is not stepping in to solve the issue, therefore we are [now] collecting donations from people,” he tweeted.

  • Does No Lies Fries live up to the hype?

    Does No Lies Fries live up to the hype?

    No Lies Fries is late to the game. The gourmet burgers and fries came into existence a century ago and left Karachi two years ago with Burger Lab, Oh My Grill and Juicy Lucy. Though some did come close to the Holy Grail of burgers – Shake Shack – others were a miss. After hearing rave reviews on No Lies Fries, I wondered could it be? Had they cracked the Shake Shack code?

    The NLF: beef patty, lettuce and secret sauce

    Sadly, no. They’re close. But they’re drying their meat out by overcooking it and assuming their secret sauce will hold it together. But those extra 40 seconds on the grill only shock the patty into becoming plain boring. The ‘secret sauce’ doesn’t really need to be a secret since it’s nothing earth-shattering.

    The only shake in their shack is that perfectly perfect potato bun. Oh my, what a bun. I disassembled the burger and tried the soft potato goodness on its own and it’s legit, the best bun in town.

    The Crispy Chick: fried chicken, secret sauce, jalapenos and cheese

    The Crispy Chick, a fried chicken burger, didn’t get the slather of the secret sauce that was needed but it was fried to perfection. Depends on how crisp you like your chicken though. This was perfect. A not so thin layer of breadcrumbs resulted in a perfectly cooked chicken breast with that oh-so-delicious potato bun. The Crispy Chick isn’t KFC level, but then again I don’t particularly enjoy the fat layer of crispy crumbs which tend to overcook the chicken.

    Coming onto their main item. The guy taking the order recommended the Authentic Canadian Poutine but I really wish he hadn’t. The dish on its own didn’t come together and it seemed that the creators of this one expect that customers, (mostly Canadian returns) will be wowed by the thought of Canadian poutine rather than the work that goes into it.

    A decent (but too thick) beef gravy, cheese curds and fries, it lacked the flavour of traditional Canadian poutine, which is made by the gravy.

    Authentic Canadian Poutine Fries

    So are they lying? People expect that the juiciest details, the final verdict is usually delivered in the first few paragraphs. But something as inconsequential, as common, as Alanis Morrisette Ironic can be picked up, bitten into and make you do a 180.

    Belgian Frites

    No Lies Fries Belgian Frites are out of this world. Thick cut fries, Gordon Ramsay level cooked, crisp and aggressively seasoned, they are without an atom of a doubt, the best fries in Karachi. Their burgers might lie, but those simple fries definitely don’t. This just goes to show that secret sauces, shake shack references, Canadian copies won’t get you anywhere but a side item can make you live up to your name.

    (On a side note: the burger doesn’t come with fries; they are sold separately. And with a burger starting at Rs. 560, it’s really not the best deal in town).