Adil Ahmad

My Subaru is a 1984 Model, made in Detroit , USA , the result of a joint ventured between General Motors and Subaru to manufacture sub-compact cars in the USA following the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s. It has a 1.6 Liter engine, with the spare wheel positioned under the bonnet in the middle of the engine. It’s a large Hatchback, and the back seat folds out to make for a roomy double bed. It has automatic transmission and a power-steering that makes the Subaru a sheer joy to drive. It’s been a love-hate relationship of an intense kind. In the early 1990s I acquired this stately estate-wagon courtesy my elder sister who had managed through her insider government connections to get a preferred ringside seat at the IPS auction of private cars belonging to diplomats that had completed their mandatory five years of stay in Pakistan . The Subaru’s owner had been an American lady working in the US Consulate in Karachi . She had bought the Subaru brand new back home in the USA a...

CONTENTS AUTHOR’S NOTE CHAPTER ONE “DRAW OF THE UNIFORM” PMA Kakul CHAPTER TWO “MARTIAL INDULGENCES” Punjabi Saudagran Punjabi School Akhlaqi Fauj ‘Attaturk’ the Trader Stammer Subdued Cambridge Blues & Enforced Romance! Fakir Of Ipi University Officers Training Corps (UOTC) CHAPTER THREE “CHANGING LANDSCAPES” Bhawali OUTC Camp Blues Kashmir Sojourn House-Boating on Dal Lake Moon Sneaks a Peak Death of a Mule Sheep Hunters of Zojela Pass CHAPTER FOUR “THE TRAUMA OF PARTITION” Train to Delhi Devastation and Massacre Enroute Ram Lal Distress in the Family Phuppa Lends a Hand New Roots in Karachi Analyzing Sacrifice CHAPTER FIVE “ ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY DAYS” Two ‘Rotis’ & Two ‘Botis’ Aligarh Musings Tight Routine & Limited Social Circle Colonel Haider’s Sharp Crack of Thunder Repulsing the Attack of the Burqa Clad Setting High Standards Turki Topis & Jinnah Caps Goo...