Clouds, Rains and Rolling Darkness

Week 33	August 11, 2014	August 17, 2014

1.     Preamble:

Our farmhouse has rolling hills at its rear in the north and north east. Besides, the landmass has gentle but distinct slope towards south and south west. This, often leads to flash floods following torrential monsoon rains. As one can understand, it is inherently dangerous for the live stock and inhabitants of the area alike besides the damage they do to the standing crop. Only last week such a situation did arise when following heavy rains early in the morning two water buffaloes in the vicinity of our farmhouse were swept by an exceptionally violent and ferocious torrent rushing down the hills. 

The weather changes particularly if they last an extended period can potentially affect agriculture, live stock, human beings as well as the farm life. We may accordingly start this blog with a brief discussion on the prevailing weather situation as usual. The monsoon season, which lasts from mid July to the end of August in and around Islamabad, continues undiminished. The season, as we studied in school, comes about due to a shift in wind directions. Throughout most of the year, in areas affected by monsoon, winds blow in the direction from the land to the ocean, keeping the air dry. However, in certain months (mid July to end August) the wind starts blowing from ocean to the land, bringing in excessive rains.The monsoons of South Asia are the most famous, but they also occur in North America, Africa and South America. Here we might have a look as to how it affects the landscape around our farmhouse!

The mist hangs low from the grey cloudy skies. Dark clouds amass draping a fog or mist over the hills. In the first picture above, the weak sun is rising from behind the hills barely showing the silhouette of our farmhouse, in the rolling darkness under the cloud cover. In the second picture one can identify the farmhouse behind the sentinel Junipers and the grass savannahs around. Both these pictures reflect the ambience of our farmhouse at different times of a day during the current monsoon season. The dramatic green growth has completely obscured the farmhouse. This is particularly evident if one compares the above two photographs with earlier photographs taken last winter. 

2.     Summer Flowering Trees and Shrubs:
2.1.  Lagerstroemia:

In the edition, dated 29 June (week: 26) of this blog, the flowering plant talked about was Lagerstroemia (Crape Myrtles). There, we introduced the Double Violet Lagerstroemia in early bloom. The Lagerstremia flowers of other colours were yet to bloom. During the current monsoon season, they all are profusely flowering. Among them besides the Violet are: White, Pink, red and purple:

Read More at:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagerstroemia

3.     Fruits of Season:

3.1.  Pear:

We planted six plants of Pear two years earlier. Out of those only two survived. One of them has produced a solitary fruit this year. Both the surviving plants are healthy and doing well. We may therefore hope to gradually have more and more  pears from these two in the years to come. 

Recent studies have shown that the skin of pears contains at least three to four times as many phenolic phytonutrients as the flesh. These phytonutrients include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory flavonoids, and potentially anti-cancer phytonutrients like cinnamic acids. The skin of the pear has also been show to contain about half of the pear's total dietary fiber. All pears contain flavonoids. Intake of which can decrease risk of type 2 diabetes. 

Read More at:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pear

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=28

3.2.  Quince:

Along with Pear we had also planted a couple of Quince trees. Only one of the two however survived. It too has bore fruit this year.  Although we are familiar with pear, quince is not however well known in this part of the world. This fruit cannot be eaten like pear or apple but need to be baked or frozen to eliminate their acidity. Once ripened, the yellowish fruit still has a hard exterior. If one is not using them immediately, cooking guides recommend storing them in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. The core of the quince is very hard. 

Though the interior of the quince is white when raw, cooking will turn it a deep red. Like apples, this fruit contains a lot of  pectin so it is frequently used for jams and jellies. 

Read More at:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quince
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-quince.htm

4.     Book Review:
4.1.  Before Memory Fades: Emergence of Pakistan as Nuclear Power

This blog relates in general to the life at our farmhouse. Every thing at the farm including plants, flowers, vegetables, fruits and birds, pet or wild inspire us. We take deep interest in them. These all together form the kit of our (Anjum's and mine) survival here. One of our essential occupation and pastime is also reading books. During our once a fortnight visit to the Islamabad Club Library last week, I noticed a book, which caught my fancy. It was the memoir of the Ambassador Mian Abdul Waheed. As the memoir made special reference to the work of the Ambassador in furthering the cause of Nuclear Power for our country with a foreword by none other than Abdul Qadeer Khan, I got it issued in my name forthwith.

I am quite aware and appreciative of the fact that it is not at all the proper forum to review a book but this book kept me occupied for most of the last week. I accordingly can not help but talk about it a bit. If I publish the following comments, these might politicise the subject to my dislike. We read very good books as also good books, which often are a source of inspiration to us. I am afraid this book belonged to neither of the two.

Mr Abdul Waheed was our Ambassador to Italy and Germany during the rule of President Zia ul Haq.  He originally belonged to the police service but got himself transferred to the foreign service to, shall I say our misfortune! I do not  know him personally nor have I ever met him. I have never been introduced to his person in absentia either. I wish however he had not written the book, for in all his naivety he succeeded only in portraying himself as an incompetent diplomat without any consideration or sense of responsibility that was entrusted to him by the State. In spite of having been provided intensive training both within the country and abroad he unfortunately never attained the ability of the stature that some of his colleagues, are or were known for. It is regretful that barring a very few, he doesn't seem to have kind words for any of them. To my horror, he was also the Chairman Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs National Assembly of Pakistan.

According to my knowledge Pakistan never admitted, it was officially involved at any level in the transfer /smuggling of material(s) and components related to its nuclear programme from abroad. The ambassador goes out of his way to claim his involvement and at that with a lot of relish, deriving credit for the smuggling of special steel and magnets besides many other components in that connection.  While doing so, he goes to the extent of disclosing that he was posted as ambassador to Germany at the behest of none other than the President of Pakistan (Zia ul Haq) himself for the sole purpose to attain that objective. This tantamount to bringing the dead horse to life again and therefore besides his own disrepute (of which he is altogether unaware) also embarrassing the Government of Pakistan. It is quite clear that he got the foreword of his book signed by Mr Abdul Qadeer Khan without the scientist reading it. The Ambassador doesn't seem to have any idea as to what the nuclear programme was all about? He only used it for gaining cheap attention.

He claims that in spite of being closely related to both the President and the First Lady, he never took an undue advantage or favours from the coveted relationships but he does admit that he requested the President to appoint him the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs to which the President statedly acceded to but asked him first to get himself elected (or shall we say nominated) to the Parliament. He did succeed in doing so but fortunately for the country his benefactor perished in the tragic air accident. One can conclude from his own statements that he was unfair to his colleagues, some of them extremely respectable diplomats of their times. Quite regretfully he backbited on them by filling the ears of the President against them. I wonder if it was not the misuse of his close relationship with the President? 

It is amusing that the ambassador never failed to mention his tête-à-tête and pleasant talk with the sales girls of department stores, where ever he went. It is interesting that all those sales girls found him charming and handsome. At one stage I was appalled at him seeking suggestions from his landlady as to where he needed to go to see striptease in Paris! What an indignity! He doesn't mention  or talks about diplomatic skills if he possessed any. Had he not written these memoirs, we would never have learned why our missions abroad are so callous and are such a miserable failure as to provide any solace and remedial measures to our countrymen besides failing completely in projecting the name of our country and safeguarding its reputation. 

The memoirs in question disappointed me no ends. I feel regretful to have seen and read them. Those succeeded only in bringing remorse to me, at the misfortune of our beloved country. God bless our country!