Grand Dad Saeen Baba calls on Murad Shah, latest addition in the family. Hashim & Khusro share a laugh. ParNani looks on

Can't wait any longer. Let's go....

Nano is very happy to be in-charge.

Khala is interning to perfect her skills.

Proud Daddy........ well get closer........

Yes, was worth it Happy Beginning

Proud Dadi {Grandma} happy to have activity at home

The stork arrived 5:50pm July 30. Mubarak; Congratulations; where are the cigars Omar?

Oh No! After she has delivered, I'll have to be an equal parent - nappy change, bath, feed?? No way! Equal Rights!!

Omar the good hubby feeding fruit, milkshake & honey

Was still agrowing child June 9th, Karachi

Farewell till next time. Too short.

You have to be there to experience the intensity of the points made

Brave face despite being a bachelor or straw widower

Smiles galore

A happy couple on honeymoon in Karachi midst summer time

As they leave for lunch on 14th July 2004

Saeen Baba in a relaxed mood at Omar's in Karachi

Yes, It shows. Manju has the last laugh

Manju is conscious of the camera.Taniya keeps her telling tales. A good result is expected

Taniya stop pushing. You should consider having your own soonest....

Taniya is busy with Diesal & Manju relaxes.

Taniya is trying to listen to baby's breathing - Diesel will not be left out.

A month ago in Karachi, I was ready to sit in the saddle & play polo.

The girls are very solemn after a hot & uneventful but memorable day back at Jinnah Terminal.

It was sole moving experience!

We bid farewell to the Mounds of the Dead

John Murray the arhaeologist is remembered by his legacy a FORD Model T. Unfortunately it has been allowed to rot locked up in a garage.

That was refreshing & essential. Our heads were hot.

And our guide retrieved a couple of wheat grains 5,000 years old from the granary

Large cross-ventilated rooms, store room, toilet & other rooms made up a double-storeyed living unit.

Even then the chief priest & the wealthy had different quarters than the plebs

A public garbage collection point. Different to today's standard NGO dustbin USE ME written on it & the trash all around it.

Our guide stands between two public toilets, something we can still take a page from & have simple, clean & functional loos instead of one central one at the foothills of the Margallas.

We needed to support each other - we were standing at the public tandoor.

The saint in Divinity Street a celestial connection for sure the sun made its mark on us.

An open drain covered by stones to maintain hygenic conditions in the streets. For more of the Indus Valley Civilization visit

The right one is sun baked 5,000 years ago. Left one as you see is the modern kiln-fired brick. Much of the structure is made up of the old bricks, re-inforced on occasion with today's materials to protect from weather decay.

Only three of the 12 mounds have been excavated. It is expected that similar quarters would be found with relics such as pottery, jewellery of stones, ivory & items of daily use made of animal bone will be found. No money to excavate and sustain the findings!

The Indus is now further away. Water reflection in the distance past the excavations of the craftsmen quarters can be seen. However, it is still nearby & a well at the excavations can draw water.

One time the Indus banks were along the town where the trees are seen in the distance. Twice the Indus flooded the town & finally it is said it was an earthquake that buried the town under the mounds. The course of the Indus has since changed.

And we start at the Buddhist Stupa of the Kushan period 2nd AD that has a monastery, accommodations for the monks, communal Great Bath & other spaces of use for the community. These were built on top of the Mohenjodaro civilization structures that had collapsed.

The girls use their brains & stay at the Dark Bungalow. We use our brawn & set out to survey what John Marshall uncovered some 80 years ago under the Mounds.

The staff of the rest house are very friendly. We are moved into the entrance. There is a cross breeze. We are served tea. Our thaadal, cool water, chewra from Rano Mumbai come in handy to referesh

We are done at the Museum. The PTDC motel or restaurant is CLOSED no one knows why. We move from here to the Dak Bungalow of the Dept of Archaeology.

Within half an hour we had twice been around the scanty display inside the museum. Much has disappeared & we were told some treasures are on display at the museums in Lahore & Karachi, apart from much is in homes of feudals & vandals. The girls are already tired.

Haroon & I stand in front of Mohenjodaro murel inside the Museum, as imagined to be 5,000 years ago.

Sunday morn, June 13 we took off for Sukkur. Flight was on time. Car was waiting to ndrive us to the Mounds of the Dead. Enroute we stopped at Ghari Khudabux Bhutto to say prayers for the lost nation - Family graveyard of Bhutto family - I am by 'Shaheed' Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's side. Sons, wife, parents & grandparents rest there. A covered structure is coming up

Jyoti & Haroon arrived June 10 to share our warmth of Karachi

We are back before the ALTO SEASON began & we will stay put in Karachi till it ends

On June 5th flight from Lahore few Aitchison College brats returned home.

That is the beginning of the ALTO SEASON

Thousands of people from our plains of Punjab start flocking to the North in their Suzukis. On their heels are Karachiites. Sports front page of NEWS June 7, has the favourite ALTO SEASON spots which the ALTO crowds throng to during 'Happy' Summer Holidays!

That is all very well & good for the tourist industry. I wish they would not take with them or be offered obscene Indian movies on large screens by the hotel operators or play film songs at full volume causing unbearable noise pollution. Similarly waste, particularly that is not bio degradeable should not be littered as eye-sores for those who follow.

You will not find me there till ALL educational instituitions in the plains have reopend & the ALTO crowd has returned with the instruments of pollution [noise, smoke, rubbish]; or I may initiate a trip end August to where only a 4x4 jeep can get to - no ALTO!

The other advantage of being done early June is, the weather is cooler, cattle & villagers have not yet reached the higher slopes & most trekkers are yet to come. So we had the places to ourselves; no fresh cattle cake & thus hardly any flies on the paths.

June 10th Feisal, Jyoti & Haroon Shaikh from Mumbai visited us for a week.Work continues in our living & dining rooms. Another 10 days to go, at least.

Taniya & Diesel are good friends. June 3rd 2004