Brides, biryani and marriage multiplexes: Pakistan’s wedding season heats up in cool weather

Pakistani Hindu couples attend a mass wedding ceremony in Karachi on January 8, 2023. (AFP/File)
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Updated 05 February 2024
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Brides, biryani and marriage multiplexes: Pakistan’s wedding season heats up in cool weather

  • During cool months from November to February, millions in Pakistan attend weddings 
  • In conservative South Asian country, weddings are where most people socialize and party 

KARACHI: There’s a scrum of people trying to get photos with the married couple at the Radiance banquet hall, and you can barely hear someone talk above the din of 400 guests tucking into biryani and chicken tikka, music and the drone whirring around the room. The bejeweled bride and her natty groom are beaming.

Outside, the street is jammed with cars heading to wedding parties in neighboring banquet halls, L’Amour, Candles and Hill Top. Hill Top, a multiplex, has three weddings going on at once.

It’s winter in Pakistan, and that means weddings. Lots of weddings. During the cooler weather between November and February, millions of people attend weddings every week. Pakistani diaspora come home from around the world for the season, packing airport arrival halls and five-star hotels.

People call it Decemberistan.

“December is when everybody has an excuse to put a pause on worrying, whatever income level you are,” said Karachi-based communications consultant Khizra Munir. “Everyone’s on the same page that we’re going to live in the moment. It’s a great time to have a reunion, a great excuse to dress up.”

Weddings are one of the few opportunities for people in the conservative Muslim country to socialize and party. So it’s no surprise that people draw them out a bit.

A typical Pakistani wedding means at least three events, and often more: there’s the engagement, the gathering when friends and family apply turmeric paste to the bride’s hands and face in a pre-glam ritual, another party for applying henna to the bride’s hands and feet — which, of course, means more music and dancing. The bride gets a procession. So does the groom.

In Karachi’s Cantonment area, Yamima Teresa Bhagtaney and Sharoon Arjumand John tied the knot at Holy Trinity Cathedral.

Guests thumbed through the order of service, which one Muslim guest in the pews said was “very helpful” for navigating the Christian ceremony.

The wedding had the hallmarks of a traditional Christian wedding — a white dress, hymns, choristers, an organist, the exchange of vows and rings — and a traditional Pakistani one, with multiple photographers and videographers capturing every detail.

They even accompanied the bride up the aisle, but stopped short when the couple and their families received Holy Communion.

The groom’s father, Bishop of Karachi the Right Rev. Frederick John, said Christian weddings were celebrated the same way as any other wedding in Pakistan, including the mehndi – when the bride receives henna on her hands and feet – and a dholki, when guests gather at a family member’s house to sing and dance.

Pakistani weddings only seem to be getting more elaborate.

Munir said she went to 10 events for the wedding of one family friend this season, wearing a different outfit each time. She said weddings have become so big and “over the top” that it’s sometimes hard to build an emotional connection. “It’s all about outfits, what you’re wearing, who you’re wearing, have you posted a picture of your outfit.” The latest trend is guests hiring a choreographer to help them perfect a dance performance.

Then there’s the cost of all those parties. A wedding event in a banquet hall like Radiance can cost upwards of 1 million rupees ($3,576), a hefty price tag in a country whose annual GDP per capita is just over $1,500 and inflation is running high. A wealthier family could easily spend 10 to 20 million on one party.

Banks offer loans and other wedding financing of up to 3 million rupees. Welfare institutions, including a Pakistani government one, support people from disadvantaged backgrounds or low-income households to pay for weddings.

But people still look forward to the wedding season, in spite of its demands on the wallet and wardrobe. “Worrying about how all of this is going to be managed and the financial burden of it, that’s all year,” said Munir. “Decemberistan is the opposite of stressing about the finances.”

The bride at Radiance is called Dua — “like Dua Lipa,” said her husband Asher — and she went to three other weddings this season. “It wasn’t really hard because I was prepared for everything,” said Dua. “I love the wedding season. It’s about people getting together to celebrate.”

Fizza Bangash expected to attend 10 to 12 events during the season. “In Islamabad, there are areas where you have lots of marriage halls in one place, so you can jump from one event to another quite easily.”

Bangash got married on Dec. 25 at The Pavilion, Islamabad’s oldest wedding hall, with 350 guests including people from Germany, Australia, the UK and the US If she had her way, it would have been closer to 100.

But good manners requires inviting extended family, work colleagues of the couple and their parents and neighbors. Host families also need to consider whose weddings they have been invited to and reciprocate accordingly to avoid a social faux pas.

Bangash has fond memories of the homespun weddings she went to as a child. People set up a tent on the ground outside their home and invited close family and friends.

“Now there are so many expectations about the food, decor, sound system and marquee,” she said.

There are a dozen venues around The Pavilion, boxy on the outside and blingy on the inside, and several more are under construction.

At Pacific Mansion, bookings are smaller than last year because of inflation and competition from the new venues, while the newest arrival – Zircon – is still accepting relatively tiny 100-person bookings to drum up custom.

The Manor hosted 35 events in December, and 28 in January. “We’ve only been open seven or eight months and this is our first season. It’s gone better than we could have dreamt of,” said the hall’s general manager, Syed Hassan Mahdi.

“The trend at the moment for weddings is for live cooking stations — steak, pasta. It’s impossible for people to do this at home,” he said.

Of course, some families still do it the old way.

In Karachi’s Lines neighborhood, a marquee sat on open ground in a residential area. There was no fancy decoration, expensive furniture or valet parking. In fact, there wasn’t a bathroom. Guests arrived on motorbikes or in brightly colored buses.

In a makeshift outdoor kitchen, the wedding caterers were preparing kebabs and flatbread by flashlight because of an hours-long power cut.

The groom’s family had rented a generator, but it broke down, leaving everyone in the dark just as the newlyweds began posing for photographs. The groom, Abdul Rehman, looked annoyed; the bride, Mehmoona, looked resigned. Guests whipped out their phones, using them as torches until the electricity came back.

The groom’s uncle, Mehmood Anwar, said the family invited around 400 people, and event cost less than 400,000 rupees. “There’s no point in spending so much money on a wedding,” Anwar said. “You can give that money to your daughter or son-in-law.

“We did everything ourselves. It took a full day to set this up,” said Anwar, pride in his voice.

By the time March rolls around, Pakistanis will go back to dealing with the warmer weather and everyday woes, including the bills for all those parties. But for now, it’s still Decemberistan.

“The whole objective is, for that pocket of time, forget about everything that’s dragging us down,” Munir said. “We’ve got political unrest. We’ve got insane inflation like we’ve never seen before... Every year we’re just like, it can’t get worse, but it does get worse. But, suddenly, December arrives.”


Pakistan PM’s recent Saudi visit ‘most successful in decades’ — information minister

Updated 02 May 2024
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Pakistan PM’s recent Saudi visit ‘most successful in decades’ — information minister

  • Shehbaz Sharif was in Saudi Arabia from April 27-30 where he met crown prince, several top Saudi ministers
  • “High-powered” delegation of Saudi businessmen due in Pakistan in “few days” to discuss private sector investments 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Friday Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia was the most successful tour to the Kingdom in decades by a Pakistani leader, with the premier holding at least twelve meetings, including with the crown prince.

Sharif was in Riyadh from Apr. 27-30 to attend a special two-day meeting of the World Economic Forum on global collaboration, growth and energy. On the sidelines of the WEF conference, Sharif met and discussed bilateral investment and economic partnerships with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and various top officials from the Kingdom. 

This was Sharif’s second meeting with the crown prince in a month. Before that he also met him when he last traveled to the Kindom on April 6-8.

“Such a successful tour of Saudi Arabia has not been seen in decades,” Tarar told a press briefing on Friday, speaking about Sharif’s recent trip to Riyadh for the WEF special meeting. “With Saudi ministers, the process of meetings went on for two days.”

Among those Sharif met were the Saudi ministers of finance, industries, investment, energy, climate and economy and planning, the adviser of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council and the presidents of the Saudi central bank and Islamic Development Bank.

“PM had twelve meetings in two days which has not happened in history,” Tarar said. “And in the meetings every minister came and told us that it was the order of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that they had to do efforts for Pakistan and cooperate with Pakistan and we have come to tell you we will do whatever we can for investments in Pakistan.”

Tarar said a “high-powered” delegation of Saudi business people and heads of major Saudi companies would be in Islamabad in the “next few days.” 

“Delegation is coming to islamabad and we have planned a big program for investment in the private sector,” the information minister added. 

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals in recent weeks, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.

Cash-strapped Pakistan desperately needs to shore up its foreign reserves and signal to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it can continue to meet requirements for foreign financing which has been a key demand in previous bailout packages. 

Saudi Arabia has often come to Pakistan’s aid in the past, regularly providing it oil on deferred payments and offering direct financial support to help stabilize its economy and shore up forex reserves.


PIA operations to Dubai, Sharjah ‘severely affected’ due to UAE rains

Updated 02 May 2024
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PIA operations to Dubai, Sharjah ‘severely affected’ due to UAE rains

  • Extreme weather in UAE expected to continue until Friday, authorities have issued safety advisories for residents
  • Latest rains come two weeks after Dubai was hit by unprecedented storms that paralyzed the emirate for days

KARACHI: Pakistan’s national carrier PIA said on Thursday its operations to Dubai and Sharjah had been “severely affected” by a latest spell of heavy rains in the UAE and would remain suspended until further notice.

UAE residents woke up to heavy rain, thunderstorms, and strong winds on Thursday morning, as predicted by the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology (NCM) on Wednesday, May 1. The extreme weather is expected to continue until Friday, May 3, and authorities have issued safety adviseries for residents.

The latest rains come two weeks after Dubai was hit by unprecedented storms that paralyzed the emirate for days.

“Air operations to Dubai and Sharjah are severely affected due to heavy rains in UAE,” PIA said in a statement. “Air operations of other airlines including PIA will remain suspended for the time being.”

The airline said passengers of affected flights should contact PIA call center 786 786 111 for their flight information and alternative arrangements.

Last month, Dubai had to endure the towering task of clearing its water clogged roads and drying out flooded homes after a record storm saw a year’s rainfall in a day. Dubai International Airport, a major travel hub, also struggled for days to clear a backlog of flights and many roads were still flooded in the aftermath of the deluge.

The rains were the heaviest experienced by the United Arab Emirates in the 75 years that records have been kept. They brought much of the country to a standstill and caused significant damage, flooding trapped residents in traffic, offices and homes and overrunning malls and roads. 
 


In scenic Abbottabad, an old church tells a tale of religious unity, colonial heritage

Updated 02 May 2024
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In scenic Abbottabad, an old church tells a tale of religious unity, colonial heritage

  • St. Luke’s Church was built in 1864 on land donated by Queen Victoria, empress of India
  • Can seat up to 150 worshippers, expanding into outdoor area to host larger crowds

ABBOTTABAD: Located in Abbottabad, a picturesque city set against the mountainous terrain of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the 160-year-old St. Luke’s Church has a tale to tell of religious unity and the region’s colonial history. 

Built in 1864 during British rule, the Anglican-Protestant church was established to serve British officials serving in the Indian subcontinent. Construction of St. Luke’s commenced in 1854-55, with initial delays due to slow fund-raising and then a brief interruption due to the Indian Rebellion of 1857. It was completed and then consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1864. 

Despite disruptions during the partition of British India in 1947 and the birth of Pakistan, the church has continued to host mass and retained many of its original architectural elements.

“During its construction, the church’s exterior was built with stones that were cut and laid by hand,” Rev. Rafiq Javed, a priest at the church appointed by the Diocese of Peshawar, told Arab News this week, explaining the history of St. Luke’s Church.

“The inner part [of the church] is built using mud, lentils, jute, sawdust, and paste made of eggs. The eggs were provided by the local people.”

St. Luke’s Church retains many elements from the time of its construction, such as stained-glass windows and old locks and their gigantic keys. A pipe organ stands in the church foyer.

Javed said the musical instrument had become unusable due to water damage some 50 years ago but its sound was once well known across the Abbottabad valley.

The church walls display plaques dating back to 1865 and serving as a memory of fallen British soldiers. One also comes across a metallic device permanently fixed on one of the stairs at the church’s entrance that was used by British troops to remove mud from their shoes before going to the main hall for worship.

The local Christian community says the church property was donated by Queen Victoria, empress of India, and one of its gates was named after her. The church property comprises the vicar’s home as well as staff quarters for caretakers of the building.

The church seats up to 150 worshippers, expanding into the outdoor area to accommodate larger crowds during special occasions such as Christmas and Easter.

Christianity, the third largest religion in Muslim-majority Pakistan, is followed by 1.27 percent of the population, according to the 2017 Census. The community has roughly equal proportions of Catholics and Protestants, with a small number of Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians as well. There are around 4,000 Christians in Abbottabad, according to local estimates.

Javed the priest said the building of the church was a community effort:

“At the time, the people who lived here included Hindus and our Muslim brothers as well and they also lent a hand in building this church. The eggs [to make paste] were provided by the local Hindu and Muslim communities.”


Google to establish fifty AI-equipped smart schools in Pakistani capital

Updated 02 May 2024
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Google to establish fifty AI-equipped smart schools in Pakistani capital

  • Smart schools incorporate technology and innovation in teaching and learning processes to improve quality of education
  • Smart schools in Islamabad will be equipped with 30,000 Google for Education IDs with AI features and digital tools 

ISLAMABAD: US tech giant Google is all set to establish 50 smart schools in Pakistan’s federal capital offering AI features and a suite of digital tools for “enhanced collaboration and productivity,” Pakistani state media reported this week. 

A smart school incorporates technology and innovation in its teaching and learning processes to improve the quality of education. Smart schools use various technologies such as interactive whiteboards, online learning platforms, artificial intelligence and virtual reality to enhance the learning experience of students. 

Experts say smart schools lead to improved student engagement and motivation, personalized learning, access to a wider range of resources, and enhanced communication between teachers, students, and parents. Smart schools also promote collaborative learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills among students.

A Google for Education team and its local partner Tech Valley met this week with the Secretary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to present its proposals for Pakistan’s education sector, including setting up smart schools. 

“50 Smart schools in Islamabad will be equipped with 30,000 Google for Education IDs which includes features, powered by AI, like practice sets and a suite of digital tools for enhanced collaboration and productivity,” the APP wire agency reported. 

“Discussions extended to several upcoming initiatives, including teacher workshops on Google for Education tools, the establishment of a public Google Reference School, the training of 2,000 youths in job-ready skills through Google Career Certificates, and the potential collaboration on hosting an Edutech event with the Ministry of Federal Education in Pakistan.”

According to the “Global Education 2020” report issued by UNESCO, there has been a significant increase in the use of technology in education worldwide. The report indicated that 90 percent of the world’s countries have launched initiatives to integrate technology into education, and 80 percent of students in advanced countries use technology in education.

As per a report by “Holistics,” a business intelligence and data analytics platform, Smart School technology has also been adopted by many countries in Asia, including Singapore, China, and South Korea, and has proven to be effective in improving the quality of education and learning outcomes.

The size of the Smart School market is expected to reach $73.8 billion by 2025 compared to a market size of $43.6 billion in 2018, marketing research company “Markets and Markets” said in a recent report. 


Pakistan inflation eases to 22-month low at 17.3% in April amid monetary tightening

Updated 7 min 34 sec ago
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Pakistan inflation eases to 22-month low at 17.3% in April amid monetary tightening

  • Pakistan beset by inflation above 20% since May 2022, registering high of 38% in May 2023 due to high food, energy costs
  • Pakistan is currently navigating strict reforms as part of an International Monetary Fund bailout program

KARACHI: Pakistan’s inflation eased off to 17.3%, the lowest since May 2022, on a year-on-year basis in April 2024 from 20.7% recorded in March 2024 and 36.4% in April 2023, official data issued on Thursday said.

Pakistan has been beset by inflation above 20% since May 2022, registering a high of 38 percent in May 2023 mainly due to high food and energy costs. 

Pakistan’s central bank, which has kept the interest rate steady at 22% since June last year amid tight monetary tightening, had forecasted that ” inflation will continue to remain on downward trajectory further moderation.”

“Besides the coordinated tight monetary and fiscal policy response, other factors that have led to this favorable outcome include lower global commodity prices, improved food supplies and high base effect,” the central bank said in its monetary policy statement issued on Monday.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation decreased to 0.4% in April 2024 as compared to an increase of 1.7% in the previous month and a hike of 2.4% in April 2023, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). 

In April on an annual basis the prices of onions increased by 156.16%, tomatoes 126.67%, chicken 33.62% and meat 22.18%. In the non-food category, gas charges surged by 318.74%, electricity charges 71.12%, accommodation services 31.50%, transport services 26.70%, cotton cloth 23.00%, drugs and medicines 22.78%, and footwears 21.38%.

Urban core inflation measured by non-food non-energy items increased to 13.1% on an annual basis in April 2024 as compared to an increase of 12.8% in the previous month and 19.5% in April 2023.

Rural core inflation measured by non-food non-energy items increased to 19.3% on a year-on-year basis in April 2024 as compared to an increase of 20% in the previous month and 24.9% in April 2023.