Chapters

Along The Grand Trunk Road

These be the joys of the Grand Trunk Road; A cheery heart and an easy load; The sun by day and the stars by night; And the blaze of the evening firelight;

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The Ancient Lahore; City of Hearts

from the destined walls Of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can, And Samarchand by Oxus, Temir’s throne To Pacquin, of Sinæan kings, and thence To Agra and Lahor of Great Mogul

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Service Dress; Tales from Army

Dear father, when you’re standing over my grave, old and tired and childless and lonely, and you see them lowering me into the dirt
then, father, ask for forgiveness from me.

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وہ یار ہے جو خوشبو کی طرح؛ ہو جسکی زباں اردو کی طرح

کہیں کچھ دور سے کانوں میں پڑتی ہے اگر اردو؛ تو لگتا ہے کہ دن جاڑوں کے ہیں کھڑکی کھلی ہے، دھوپ اندر آ رہی ہے؛ کبھی کہیں سفر کرتے اگر کوئی مسافر شعر پڑھ دے میرؔ، غالبؔ کا؛ وہ چاہے اجنبی ہو، یہی لگتا ہے وہ میرے وطن کا ہے

خوش آمدید

Tales From The (British) Raj

First comes one Englishman, as a traveler or for shikar; then come two and make a map; then comes an army and takes the country. Therefore it is better to kill the first Englishman.

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Of Sufis, Sants and Folklore

A Saint in a borrowed mausoleum; The ballad of Vishnu and Prahlada; Mirza and his Sahiban from Sandal Bar; Guru’s Penance on Tilla Jogiyan; Kasur’s Chad Yaar; and more stories …

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1UP/2DN Khyber Mail; Railway Romance

For solace and relief I flee
To Bradshaw or the ABC
And find the best of recreations
In studying the names of stations.

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The Salt Range; On The Plateau

The First Victoria Cross; A Scottish Cannon in Dulmial; Our 9th Warrior from Pind Malkan; The 7th Janbaz from Mohra Hayat
and other tales from Potohar

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ONroute; Chasing True North

From the sandy beaches of Lake Huron and rocky cliffs of Georgian Bay in the north to the ghost of Grand Trunk down south, these are the tales from Ontario, Canada, my present home.

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Scouting the Frontier; Khyber Pukhtunkhwa

Here dead lie because we did not choose, To live and shame the land from which we sprung; Life, to be sure is nothing much to lose, But young men think it is, and we were young
Saragarhi and other stories…

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Shagri-La; Himalayas & Karakoram

Allah Rakhi of Khaplu, Aat’shi of Kachura and the lively banker from Skardu
and other tales from this land of rocky cathedrals that has my heart …

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Along The Shoreline; Mehran & Makran

The land of my origins; The Ordeal of Marvi and Maroos of Malir; Phoney Graves of Aghor and more.
There are more stories that need to be told and I ought to write …

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