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