The Express Tribune Magazine - October 6 by Express Tribune

OCTOBER 6-12 2013

Feature

Cover Story

Tectonic tragedy The science of Balochistan’s recent seismic activity and why it stays active

The high priestess sits not in judgment Shevy Saleem is one of Karachi’s popular tarot card readers but she won’t tell you who to marry

Society

Where did all the Pajeros go? The cars may have changed but the culture of VIP protocol is still alive

46 Regulars

6 People & Parties: Out and about with the beautiful people 42 Review: Diana and Orange is the new Black

Magazine Editor: Mahim Maher and Sub-Editors: Dilaira Mondegarian, Sundar Waqar and Manahyl Khan Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Essa Malik, Jamal Khurshid, Samra Aamir, Munira Abbas & S Asif Ali Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk Twitter: @ETribuneMag & Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ETribuneMag Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com

Mahnoor, Ayesha and Natty

Humza and Hufsa Rasool

People & Parties Super Cinemas opens its doors by hosting the Main Hoon Shahid Afridi premiere in Lahore PHOTOS COURTESY QYT EVENTS Noor

Fiza Ali

Reza, Bina, Ali and Salva

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Maria and Asim

Mr and Mrs Behroze Sabswari

Imtisal and Mariam

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Ali and Mr & Mrs Kamran Lashari

Henna, Schzreh and Sahar

Ahmed Ali and Fatima

Mrs Nouman Ejaz with her children

Shahzad Shaikh and Syed Noor

PHOTOS COURTESY QYT EVENTS

Jawed Shaikh

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Simi Raheel

Mrs Humayun Saeed, Nouman, Ayesha and an Indian guest

Vinny

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Shahida

Eema, Minahil and Alima

Saniya, Maliha and Huzaima

People & Parties The Brazilian Embassy holds a fashion event, ‘Colours of Brazil’ in Islamabad PHOTOS COURTESY VERVE Ainoa

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Zara

Ansa and Tariq

Tina and Naseem

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

PHOTOS COURTESY VERVE

Sameer, Noshi, Arsalan, Kami, Federico, Lavinia and Thomas

Cybil and Juju

Soledad and Morgane

Madiha and Fawad

Rabia

Tina Nunn

Zara Raza

Amelia

Mrs Qasim Tiwana

Adil and Sam Chinoy

Cristina

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Mr and Mrs Peter Heyward

Dianet and Joy

Sundas and Ijlal

Amna

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Fawad and Amna

Mr and Mrs Mohsin Khan

People & Parties Icepresso opens up in Islamabad PHOTOS COURTESY REZZ PR AND EVENTS Erum

Adnan and Zahra

Fatima and Ayesha

Dania and Amina

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Maria and Asim

Murad, Dania, Farah and Usman

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Rezz Aly Shah, Qurat, Ali, Natty and Neena

Mahajabeen

Aamer and Nida

Mehmood and Saima

PHOTOS COURTESY REZZ PR AND EVENTS

Shireen Khan and Ayesha

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Naila

Mr and Mrs Fakir

Samera and Bilal

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

COVER STORY

TECTONIC TRAGEDY The science of Balochistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent seismic activity and why it stays active BY MUHAMMAD ADIL MULKI DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION BY JAMAL KHURSHID

On September 24, 2013 at around 4:30 pm, an earthquake that the United States Geological Survey clocked at 7.7 on the Richter scale jolted Awaran in Balochistan. The shocks are said to have been felt as far away as New Delhi. Upwards of 400 people have been reported to have died and thousands have become homeless just a few weeks before the harsh Baloch winter strikes. The toll continues to rise as damage is assessed.

Such calamities are, however, not new to the province. Quetta, the capital, was almost completely flattened in the 1935 quake and in 1945 there was another big one that destroyed buildings, killed people and resulted in a tsunami that brought devastation to the coastal belts. These events have become part of folklore. The recent quake has also given rise to its own mythical history in the making with the surprise creation of a mysterious island off the Gawadar coast.

REUTERS

A tale of two continents So what makes Balochistan prone to such frequent and violent seismic activity? While its strategic location has been the subject of much political and social debate, the province is also interestingly situated tectonically. In order to understand the geography, we have to dive into some history or even pre-history. The Hawai’ians believe that the crust of the Earth rides on a super gigantic marine turtle and as it moves, quakes are caused and volcanoes erupt. The truth is slightly different. The crust of the Earth is made up of “tectonic plates” that ride on the free-flowing inner core. These plates are not stationary but are in constant motion as the cracked surface of ice would be, floating on the surface of water in a container. The plates rub against each other and at the seams — geologists call them ‘plate boundaries’. There are roughly seven major and several minor plates that the Earth’s surface is divided into. It is believed that, 90 million years ago, the Indian plate that carries the Indian subcontinent, was drifting somewhere in the South Indian Ocean, off the coast of Africa and started to move northwards (see map). Resultantly, the Indian Subcontinent, that looks like a triangular peninsula, bumped rather violently into the Eurasian plate and attached with it somewhere between 55 to 50 million years ago. It took the triangular Indian Subcontinent between 35 and 40 million years to cover this journey of a few thousand kilometers, which might seem a little slow, but it is breakneck speed in tectonic time. And just as if

India today 10 million years ago Sri Lanka 38 million years ago

Equator

55 million years ago

71 million years ago

INDIAN OCEAN

“India” Land Mass

Ninety million years ago, the Indian plate that carries the Indian subcontinent was drifting in the South Indian Ocean, off the coast of Africa and started to move up. It bumped into the Eurasian plate, forming the Karakoram and Himalaya ranges among others. SOURCE: RENDERED FROM PHD THESIS OF PIERRE DÈZES 1999; INSTITUT DE MINERALOGIE ET PETROGRAPHIE, UNIVERSITÉ DE LAUSANNE OCTOBER 6-12 2013

COVER STORY two trucks hit each other head-on, the pointss where the plates collide, crumple upon impact. These ‘dents’ in the geographic realm are the mountainous terrains that we see all along the seam. They start from the underwater ranges and coastal ridges of Makran and adjoining areas. The series of hills that Karachi sees rising from the coast near Cape Monze continue in ecsome form or the other, changing names, direcral tions and altitudes — the Kirthar range, Central e as Bruhui range, Sulaiman range and Salt range they traverse the length of Pakistan. onA relief (or topographic) map of the subconain tinent will reveal that the merging mountain sh, ranges continue further into the Hindukush, the Karakoram and the Himalayan ranges — the oss big boys of Asia. The mountains run on across huparts of Pakistan, China, India, Nepal and Bhunce tan before finally ebbing away into the sea once eas again near the Myanmar-Thailand border areas — all along the boundary of the Indian plate. So where did the bulk of the collision force go? The crumple zone of this collision proved to be Tibet, which became the rooftop of the world.. and The Indian plate, being such a huge land mass, has a lot of inertia, which means thatt it has still not stopped moving and is till bumping into the Eurasian plate. This one is in slowmotion, though. As a result, the Tibetan plateau continues to rise and Mount Everest keeps getting taller, by approximately 4mm each year. Tectonic plates cover the entire surface of the Earth, even the underwater sea floor is part of one plate or the other. Hence, at the time of collision, the colliding edge of both the land masses was the seabed; it is only natural that the seabed got crumpled the most. Amazingly, most of this crumpled seabed is what forms the mountains today! Thus, it comes as no surprise that explorers and mountaineers often find fossils of sea creatures embedded in rock from the Salt Range to areas near the Everest! My own humble forays into Kirthar have yielded a minor collection of fossilized sea creatures (see photo).

EURASIAN PLATE

INDIAN PLATE

ARABIAN PLATE

AFRICAN PLATE

This map shows the location of the different plates and how they converge specifically in Pakistan’s terrain.

Three plates and a province Balochistan, that forms the Western boundary of the Indian plate, is also absorbing immense 28 pressure from the Arabian plate in the south OCTOBER 6-12 2013

Three cockles and an ancient sea urchin all picked up on a visit to the Khirthar Range, formed when the Indian plate collided into the Eurasian plate millions of years ago.

that is “subducting” under the Eurasian plate in the Makran Subduction zone. Simply put, subduction occurs when, in the case of two plates, a head-on collision and crumpling is avoided as one plate starts to creep or slip under the other. This movement does not, however, come without “some” crumpling and raises the chances of frequent seismic activity. The seismic events caused by all the tectonic movements around Makran have been studied and researched, by one Charles Francis Richter, of the “Richter Scale” fame. Perhaps the most fascinating geographic phenomenon of the recent seismic activity is the emergence of the island off Gawadar’s western bay. It emerged so suddenly that several fishes, including sting rays, were found on its surface. The creatures did not get enough time to escape as the mud volcano rose. The

The seismic events caused by all the tectonic movements around Makran were also studied and researched, by one Charles Francis Richter, of the “Richter Scale” fame would have been discovered by the scores of curious fishermen and explorers scrambling over it as shown in the media. Some excited folks have even suggested it be turned into a resort. This is not the first time something like this has appeared and it is unlikely to be the last. The first recorded case came after the 1945 quakes when three of these Atlantisis made an appearance near Malan, Balochistan. Then, there was the 1999 occurrence and one in 2010. Each time, though, the islands have disappeared over time, but perhaps not as suddenly as they arose. Subduction (sliding under each other) sometimes creates layers of crystallized methane. Although Methane is a “gas”, under the right circumstances and pressure it turns into crystals called hydrates. The weight of a continental shelf near the subduction zones can perhaps exert the right kind of pressure for such a conversion to take place.

The Paddi Zirr bay and the coast off Gawadar before the earthquake

And after, with the new island now visible

A zoomed-out NASA image of the Gawadar hammerhead before the earthquake

And after, with the mud volcano island visible as a dot to the left

IMAGES: NASA EARTH

OBSERVATORY OCTOBER 6-12 2013

COVER STORY Gases leak into the atmosphere Tip of the underwater mud volcano surfaces as an island GAS

GAS

WATER LOCAL FLUIDS Gas and water force their way due to pressure aided by seismic activity

BASE OF GAS HYDRATE STABILITY ZONE

SOURCE: RENDERED FROM THE ORIGINAL INCLUDED IN “AN OVERVIEW OF MUD VOLCANOES ASSOCIATED TO GAS HYDRATE SYSTEM” BY UMBERTA TINIVELLA AND MICHELA GIUSTINIANI.

Pakistan has a considerable caché of Methane Hydrates near the Makran subduction zone. Not surprisingly, India has similar deposits near the Andaman islands, yet another subduction zone. Science is still working on how to harvest these resources in a stable manner without precipitating seismic activity or environmental catastrophes.

Nature’s mud slinging

Disturbed by seismic activity, pockets of gas around the hydrates often exploit an exposed weak spot and exert pressure for release. The results, on land, are mud volcanoes that look like regular or igneous volcanoes but spew mud, debris and gases instead of lava. When the same phenomenon occurs on the sea bed and the sea is shallow, as in the case of the Makran coastal areas, the resultant “mud volcano” often rises above the water surface, creating an island. As the gases continuously release, the underground pressure subsides and wave action in the ocean, especially during the monsoons, weakens the mud island that crumbles until only a mound of rubble on the seafloor is all that is left of our Atlantis. OCTOBER 6-12 2013

The Indian plate, being such a huge land mass, has a lot of inertia — that means that it has still not stopped moving and is still slowly grinding into the Eurasian plate. This one is in slow-motion, though. As a result, the Tibetan plateau continues to rise and Mount Everest keeps getting higher by approximately 4 millimeters each year

The writer at one of Balochistan’s two Chandragup mud volcanoes in 2010. PHOTO: G. GONSALVES. (Right) This photograph taken on September 25, 2013, shows people gathered on the island that appeared some 2km off the coastline of Gawadar after the earthquake. Experts, who found methane gas rising from it, say it is unlikely to last long. PHOTO: AFP

The island emerged so suddenly that several fishes, including sting rays, got stuck on its surface

Our recent dot in the blue might take some time before disappearing though as it is located in very shallow water and is large in size. It will take time even though the elements which could erode it have a strong presence here; Gawadar is called the Gateway of Wind (“Gwad-dar” literally means Wind-door), and monsoon currents can be quite a force here.

Treasure and trouble Mud volcanoes are only one of the many geological wonders of Balochistan which has large deposits of minerals and has seen many unusual phenomena emerge. The copper and gold deposits at Saindak and Rekodiq, the marble quarries of the south and the Sui field are some examples. However, they come at the high price of being prone to above-average seismic activity and hazards. In 2010, spewing lava from Tor Zawar mountain near Ziarat was one example. And so, while Balochistan offers us a rich example of geological science at work, for now perhaps our attentions need to be immediately focused on rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Hundreds have died, thousands are homeless and the harsh winter is only a few weeks away.

FEATURE It is no longer normal to accept some questions go unanswered. The internet has spoiled us and fastresponding technology has made us impatient. But when it comes to life’s problems, Google is hardly a comfort. So who do people turn to? Luckily for those who seek an answer, there are some guides who can help you cope.

The high priestess sits not in judgment Shevy Saleem is one of Karachi’s popular tarot card readers but she won’t tell you who to marry TEXT AND PHOTOS BY MANAHYL KHAN DESIGN BY ESSA MALIK

36 OCTOBER 6-12 2013

Shevy Saleem, who has been reading tarot cards for people in Karachi for ten years, sits before a tray of tea and plate of golden biscuits. “I guess everyone’s troubled,” she says. Indeed, she is a busy woman. Her white Nokia phone keeps ringing and between the phone calls, there are occasional knocks on the door. A woman brings her young daughter in, asking to be read. Shevy politely asks them to come another time, but they insist on waiting. Each session costs Rs2,000. The smoke from her Davidoff cigarettes mingles with that of an incense stick burning in the corner. The tinkle of her bangles punctuates the sound of her shuffling the

Everyone is dying for love. I tell them to love themselves first, because you won’t need to go looking for it. Popular tarot card reader Shevy Saleem, on lovebased questions being the most asked

cards with her bejeweled hands. There are no arcane rituals before she begins. She offers her client a cup of tea. “These cards work with energies,” she briefs a client. “As you pick the cards for the reading, I want you to think of the questions you want to ask.” The first question the 20-something client asks is: “Will you be able to tell who I’ll end up marrying?” With a laugh, Shevy explains that they will talk about work first and the reading for love will follow. Shevy can read minds just as well as cards. She learnt how to do it from a friend in Toronto who she used to go to for readings when she was having trouble herself. According to her, love-related questions are the most

Shevy once got a client who called to ask the most pointed of questions: “When will my mother-in-law die?” frequently asked. “Everyone is dying for love,” she says. “I tell them to love themselves first, because you won’t need to go looking for it.” The next most popular questions focus on money and financial situations. It applies across the board for her clients, who are mostly women from 18 years of age to 65. Not as frequent, are questions related to in-laws. As Shevy puts it, “One rotten person [comes] with your dowry!” Nothing can be done about it. But she still got one client who once called to ask the most pointed of questions: “When will my mother-in-law die?” The notion that tarot card readings can give answers to such questions is a myth floating easy in the circles of Karachi’s women. Tarot card readers identify the art more as a guideline to life and an insight into areas that need examining, unlike the popular belief that implies readings can tell the future. Some clients cannot, however, desist and take the myth of prediction quite literally and seriously. Shevy recalls a time when a woman in her sixties called at 3 am to frantically ask, “When will my boyfriend kiss me?” Shevy’s children often tell her she’s too nice to clients by allowing them to call so late at night. But she maintains that she’s available for “emergencies”, a trait that has endeared her to her clients. 38 Shevy will not, however, comment on questions about OCTOBER 6-12 2013

the in-house theft of items such as mobile phones, cash or jewelry. Though these checks can be run by a practiced reader, Shevy avoids them and limits such readings for her close friends. “If there is a chance I’m wrong, I don’t want someone to be laid off because of me,” she says. “That one [house worker] could be supporting a family of ten.” A tarot reading is ideally suggested every three months, according to Shevy. If you are undergoing a big change, such as joining a university, getting married or switching jobs, a reading can be done earlier, otherwise they offer nothing new. But given the addictive nature of the experience, many people go much more frequently than three months. It became alarming in the case of Raheen, who at 27 has given up the need to see readers and fortune-tellers. “I got greedy for answers, and I started going too often,” she says. Shevy concurs that some people are addicted to readings and place strong faith in the art. Nearly fifteen clients visit her at least once a week. “I tell them nothing changes [in such a short period of time],” she says with a laugh, “but they can’t help it!” At the heart of the matter is the need to hear something that can give you hope. Rakshi Khan, a widowed mother of three, says she used to regularly go to readers around the city. “I think people go to hear something good about their future, especially when they are facing problems.” And so many times the readings turn into a sort of therapy session. “I saw a tarot card reader when I wanted to know which route to take [in life],” explains young Aminah Akbar. “Although my reader did not give me an absolute yes or no answer, she felt more like my therapist.” The cards can thus help people navigate the uncertainties of life, especially when big life-altering decisions need to be made. This explains why Shevy is most busy during wedding season. Mothers want to know the best options for their sons and daughters and the prospective bride or groom just want to know if the match is right. Election fever also hit the business earlier this year in the months of April and May. Shevy confirms that many politicians and government-hopefuls were bursting with questions. “I have lots of famous clients and they seem to have the same problems as everybody else,” she says, without revealing any more. Her busiest time though, ironically, is on the days when there is a strike in Karachi. “Offices are shut and my day is flooded with appointments!” she says. And that, we can predict, will continue to happen fairly often in the near future for the city. T

A Pakistani love affair Despite humiliating reviews, Diana is still an amusing portrait BY BEENISH MAHMOOD The personality of Princess Diana shone across borders, making her a topic of global interest. She remains in the hearts of many, and the attention received by the movie based on Kate Snell’s 2001 book Diana: Her Last Love proves just that. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, the film Diana is an attempt to reproduce the last two years of the life of the Princess of Wales. Australian actress and Academy Award-nominee Naomi Watts plays the role of the hig highly admired princess in the film. Though know known for her talent, Watts has suffered humili humiliating reviews, as a critic said, “the much-loved Princess of Wales has been recast as a sa sad-sack singleton that even Bridget Jones would cross the street to avoid.” Watts mak makes her first appearance, giving the initial impr impression of a ‘lame’ Diana. Watts’s constricted smile almost takes away the element of sspontaneity that came so naturally to Diana Diana. However, when the central theme and love affair, between Pakistani surge surgeon Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrew drews) and Diana blossoms on-screen, we find Watts slipping comfortably int into Diana’s shoes. The turning point comes when K Khan informs the princess of his iinability to marry her because both of them lead very different lives. Khan, a heart surgeon by profession, lives a life of quietude and privacy. Diana on the other hand is a public figure and her life is alien to privacy. Khan leaves Diana alone and this is the climax of the one hour 53 minute movie. Diana is devastated and is shown playing the piano fie fiercely as her tears fall to the keys. There are ssmall moments of relief from the tragedy that w was Diana’s love affair. After the break-up, Dian Diana goes to meet her friend to confide in. That is her moment of catharsis. As Diana wr wrests control of her life we see jou her hire a journalist to take shots of her while pretending to have an affair with Dodi Fayed Anvar) She does this just to make Khan 42 (Cas Anvar).

jealous as he was her one and true love. However, as Khan realises his mistake, it is too late — Diana has already become a victim of her fate. He is left heartbroken and as he lays flowers by Diana’s pictures, he leaves her a note: “Somewhere between right and wrong there is a garden. I will meet you there.” (Rumi). With this note he declares his love for her but it can only come now as salve for her soul. The film does a good job of encapsulating the life of a princess, as a mother, as a lover and as a social worker. Because it opens in the post-Charles period of her life its d focus is not on her role as a wife, mother and princess of Wales. Instead it zooms in on her from mous a more human perspective. We see the enormous ns for compassion she displayed in her contributions humanitarian causes and the sacrifices she made in her personal relationships. We even see her cleaning her lover’s flat. We understand, however, thatt a public figure cannot have the privilege of a at leading a normal, private life, a contention that arises many times between Khan and Diana and finally severs their relationship. The script is rich and well done. Khan says to Diana at the start of their relationship, “You don’t perform the operation. The operation performs you.” And another dead winner also comes from him: “The hard part is receiving love.” As can be expected, the film has not been well received in certain quarters. Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, refuses to watch it. a“Why would I want to see a fictitious incarnation of a world I was a part of?” he argues. n Burrell has been a source of information on Diana’s life. He has spoken of how Diana and ital Khan met at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital iate and developed, according to him, “an immediate connection”. Diana apparently told Burrell: “You’ll never pital guess what happened today. I was in the hospital lift going up. The door opened and there wass the most adorable man you could ever wish to meet nt I standing there in a doctor’s coat. The moment looked into his eyes I knew that man was for me.” She said: “I have to get to know this man.” eper in And the more she got to know him, the deeper love she fell.

Colour of the season: Orange is the New Black

No sugar coating for the stories of women behind bars in this new show BY ZAHRAH MAZHAR

It isn’t easy to pull off a jumpsuit, that too in orange. But inmate Piper Chapman does one hell of a job of it. Piper and the other convicts at the Litchfield women’s correctional institute are the reason why Orange is the New Black has become one of the most popular and acclaimed shows of 2013. Taking inspiration from Piper Kerman’s memoirs on her time in prison, the show is funny, raunchy and addictive. But it isn’t over the top. The story is built around how Piper discovers the prison way of life, and eventually grows to be somewhat comfortable in an alien environment. Played by a convincing Taylor Schilling, Piper is in for transporting a large quantity of drug money a decade ago for her then-girlfriend, Alex. At the time she is given a 15-month sentence, Piper is engaged to a writer named Larry (Jason Biggs of American Pie fame) but her relationship with him almost seems half hearted on her part. Over season 1, her character grows and her life outside of the prison becomes more of a distant memory. The writers have, however, made sure that Piper’s character doesn’t hog the limelight by introducing a diverse group of women — from all backgrounds, ages and sexual preferences. Each episode gives a background of the characters at the correctional institute, providing context to their personalities.

Among them is Alex, played by Laura Prepon who is most known for her role as Donna in the sitcom That ’70s Show. Two of the most wellwritten and humourous characters would have to be best friends Poussey and Taystee, while Red, the woman who runs the kitchen, is the one no inmate wants to mess with (watch out for a rather disturbing sandwich scene in the prison cafeteria which might put you off sandwiches for a long time). Through these women, the show touches upon multiple topics, such as class divides, abortion and racial issues, which would be otherwise considered ‘unglamourous’ for prime time television. Orange is the New Black wrapped up its first season on Netflix, a streaming TV network service, ond sea and has been renewed for a second sealy 13 son to be aired in 2014. With only episodes, it has already won overr a strong fan base, and with a year to go to the second season, there iss ample time for others to catch up d with the inmates of the Litchfield women’s correctional institute. n A word of caution: these women have a lot to say and show, but do not expect them to be ladylike about it. T

For more action behind bars, watch

Wentworth

Bad Girls

Prison Break

Set in modern-day Australia, Wentworth is structured around Bea Smith, played by Danielle Cormack, and her first time at a prison. Leaving behind her daughter, Bea is sent to Wentworth on remand but initially has no idea how long her sentence is for. Like Orange is the New Black, Wentworth deals with how Bea gets accustomed to life in prison and the people she meets along the way.

Another show which makes no attempt to sugar coat life in prison is British drama Bad Girls, set in the fictional women’s prison of Larkhall. Stories of the prisoners as well as the staff at the prison are intertwined and told through dark themes, such as suicide, sex for money and terrorism. Spread over eight seasons, the show has plenty of interesting characters to keep viewers glued to the screen.

The men have their turn with Prison Break, a show that was an instant hit with global audiences, and ran for four seasons from 2005 to 2009. The series revolves around two brothers — Lincoln Burrows who is wrongfully sentenced to death and Micheal Scofield, the brains behind an elaborate plan to break Lincoln out. They do eventually make it out of the prison, but the journey of how they do so is worth a watch.

OCTOBER 6-12 2013

Where did all the Pajeros go? The cars may have changed but the culture of VIP protocol is still alive You can spot a person of social and political clout in Pakistan from a mile away. One of the most obvious signs is the gleaming four-wheeler piled high with guards who usually accompany them everywhere. And just as the culture of protocol in the country has grown from strength to strength over the years, the vehicles that accessorise these entourages have kept up with the transformations over the past three decades. From 1986 to 1991, the import of Pajeros to Pakistan shot up dramatically. Along with being the vehicle of choice for the Pakistani elite, the fourwheeler also worked its magic as a status symbol for bureaucrats, VIPs and businessmen at the time. The trend continued until April 1990, when Toyota added the worldfamous Prado to its Land Cruiser series which eventually came to dominate the Pakistani market too. Along with its high-powered engine and equally high-end pricing, the car’s prestige was further enhanced when the government of Pakistan provided these vehicles to top bureaucrats and lawenforcement agencies. Soon enough,

BY FARHAN ZAHEER

fewer and fewer Pajeros were seen on the roads, replaced by its more glamorous rival — the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. Today, the Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Land Cruiser Prado are one of the few most popular series of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) globally. The main rivals of the Pajero and the Land Cruiser Prado series in the leading world markets are the Land Rover Discovery and Nissan Patrol Y61. But, neither of these vehicles managed to make a mark in the Pakistani market which is now primarily dominated by the Vigo Champ — four-wheel drive pick-up truck assembled by Toyota in Pakistan. Used mainly for security purposes, the first A VIGO CAN COST UP TO Vigo Champ was assembled in late 2010 by Indus Motor Company (IMC) — an affiliate of Toyota Japan in Pakistan. Unlike most other making it nearly three times pick-up trucks available in the local market cheaper than a Prado or a Pajero the Vigo Champ combines luxury with ruggedness. It offers both covered and uncovered space, which accommodates armed guards. The vehicle is available in eight colors, but is mostly seen in black and white. The company has sold over 6,000 units since December 2010, a large number of which have been predictably purchased by the federal and provincial governments for VIP security, police and other law-enforcement agencies. According to officials in the automobile industry, the rise in Vigo Champ’s popularity is due to the increasing security concerns in the country. Its ability to be converted into an armoured vehicle because of its strong 2,500cc petrol engine makes it a popular choice for those at high risk. Compared to other options, the Vigo is also far more affordable. The factory price of a new imported Land Cruiser ranges from Rs8.1 million to Rs23.6 million — from the Prado to the Grand Cruiser — and a used imported Toyota Land Cruiser and Mitsubishi Pajero can cost anywhere between Rs7.5 million to Rs10.2 million. On the other hand, the factory price of a standard Vigo is a mere Rs3 million while the most expensive version of the series, the Vigo Champ Automatic, costs Rs3.5 million. According to HM Shahzad, the chairman of the All-Pakistan Motor Dealers Association, it is misleading to compare a Land Cruiser Prado or a Mitsubishi Pajero (class one category luxury vehicles), and a Vigo (class two category due to its lower price and features). “[The] Vigo Champ is a pick-up and it should be compared with the pickups of other companies, which are unfortunately not very popular in Pakistan,” he said. Currently, the Vigo Champ has no direct competitor in Pakistan as no other pick-up is being assembled or marketed here. Its closest rivals are the Land Cruiser and Land Cruiser Prado, which are not only luxury vehicles but also more expensive due to the higher engine power and additional 50% regulatory duty levied on the import of above 1,800cc vehicles in the country. T

Rs3.5m