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Location: LUMS Campus
Time: 2:15- 3:00 PM

OBSERVATIONS

While we were in the library ground, I noticed that the library building was all covered with leaves.

When we started our walk, people were starring at us.

People were smoking, there were so many cars parked.

I noticed at the start of our walk, we all were walking in a line and towards the end we all just scattered, the straight line started to diminish.

INTERPRETATIONS/FEELINGS

I have never starred at the library building for this long, but while starring I began to think how are all these leaves attached to the building. What if they all fall of? But how? I didn't have any answer so I just ignored my own thought.

The starring part was quite un-comfortable. After I finished the walk with all my class mates, I silently began to self-relflect and started to counter question myself. Were people actually starring or was I being too conscious of them? Again I didn't have any answer.

While we were half way through, my back started hurting because I was carrying my heavy bag. I just wanted to stop and sit down but I could not. My legs also started hurting because I was wearing uncomfortable shoes. While, I was experiencing this pain, I smiled and said to myself 'abhi sey bhooday ho gaye hain.'

Oh, and while walking, I missed my phone so much. I wanted to check time and listen music. It was generally very awkward just walking.

Also, while walking silently, I really wanted to talk to my friend but I could not because of the activity protocol. But, I could not stop so I started murmuring to myself 'yeh kia kar rahay hain hum, kuch samaj nai araha, kaab bethay gaye hum.' I laughed at myself and forced myself to walk until we sat down.

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Route: Library Ground to Cricket Ground
Date: 15th February 2022
Time: 2:00- 3:15 PM

OBSERVATIONS

While we started mapping our route, we all silently began looking for 5 different objects/things in our surroundings.

Initially, I stopped and decided to pick a small leaf but I immediately changed my mind because I saw a wilted red rose lying on the bench. I instantly grabbed it and placed it in my box.

While, walking I noticed a lot of fallen leaves and cigarette buds.

As I moved forward with my group, I picked a torn and crumbled piece of paper from the ground. Out of curiosity, I instantly picked it up, un-folded the paper and looked closely if something was written on it. The paper was all blank so I dropped it.

When we reached close to Sdsb, as I was looking at the massive building, I slowly shifted my gaze to the ground and saw a brown pine cone. I placed pine cone close to the wilted red rose in my box.

We continued walking in our search for other objects/things and the next thing that caught my eye was a small white feather. I picked the feather and placed it between the rose and pine cone.

As we reached close to the cricket ground, from far behind, I saw a small blue wrapper lying on the ground. As I reached closer to have a look, I saw it was lindt chocolate wrapper. I quickly picked the wrapper and threw it in my box.

Last thing that I collected was close to the cricket ground bench. I looked at a big, brown leaf, I picked it up and placed it above the rose, feather, chocolate wrapper and the pine cone.

REFLECTIONS/ FEELINGS

As I started walking with my group, I was, initially, very uncomfortable with the idea of performing the activity. Silently, I thought to myself 'What else can I collect except for leaves' but now, while writing, I am realizing at that time all I was seeing were leaves.

As soon as I saw the wilted rose and placed it in my box, I thought about Valentines day and the exchange of roses between couples and friends. But, after this lovely thought, the wilted petals of the rose reminded me about break-up and parting.

As I was frantically walking down the footpath, I saw a pine cone on the ground. As soon as I picked it up and decided to place it in my box, I was reminded of my family vacations up north in Murree. I remembered how I went to an area where I along with my cousins took swings and saw pine cone trees for the first time.

After collecting the rose and pine cone, I began enjoying the activity because I was finding different things and as I walked further I began looking even more slowly and closely to collect more things.

When I picked up the small feather, I instantly thought about 'azaadi' (freedom). For me, the small white feather was free from everything.

By the time, I reached close to the cricked ground, I was a bit tired but I still didn't loose interest in the activity. As soon as I picked up the blue wrapper that caught my attention, while reading lindt chocolate, I thought, 'Oh, this is an expensive chocolate and such chocolates are given on special occasions'

As we decided to sit down on the bench, I glanced around the bench and very calmly picked up a big, ash-brown leaf. I just stared at the big leaf, it didn't invoke in me any kind of feelings. All I saw was a big brown leaf.

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https://open.spotify.com/track/0NsYZt7iTFoLMw3pZTQEDQ?si=sjHMVNlDQea5W6hz3S2aCg&utm_source=copy-link

After, I finished the campus walk, I was reminded of a song which I was listening on loop. While, I was blankly starring at the library building, I was reminded of the following lyrics:

جگنو پنچھی پیارے پیارے
تیرے سپنے بنیں
نیند بھری ان آنکھوں سے تیری
چپکے سے کہتے رہیں
سوجا رے سوجا رے
سپنوں میں کھوجا رے
سوجا رے سوجا رے

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Class activity | Field Notes
Location: SOE 3
Time: 2:30 - 3:00 PM
Date: 8 February 2022

REFLECTIVE RUBRIC

Reflective Practice

We were supposed to do three different activities with a piece of paper.

My role as a student was to carry out the activities and observe my work.

I carried out three activities: 1) I had to do multiple things with a piece of paper. 2) I had to do different things with the paper without any tools. 3) Lastly, I had to do different things with the paper without touching it.

When I started with the first activity, I was very confused. I didn't know what to do with the paper, all I thought was, its just a piece of paper, what can I even do with it? At the same time, I thought, why are we even doing this activity?

I think the purpose of the activity was that one must think a bit more, one must see more, observe more so that one can see that a paper is more than just 'a piece of paper.' A paper is not only on which we write, but its also with which one can make multiple things such as paper planes, fans, games, boats and other origami things.

Descriptive Reflection

For the first activity we had to do multiple things with the paper, first I drew zig-zag patterns on paper and then turned that patterned paper into a paper fan. Then, I made a game out of the paper that we used to play in our childhood. For the second activity, I really couldn't think of anything, so I just blew the paper away. For the last activity, without touching the paper, I was literally talking to the paper, what should I do with you?

About the problems, the most difficult part was thinking and deciding what should I do with the paper and even though I made different things out of the paper, I was constantly thinking, this is not so creative. I felt like my imagination, my creativity was being challenged really hard.

Analytical Reflection

Yes, to some extent, I was able to see that we can many different things with paper. We can draw, paint, write, make different things and even talk to the paper.

It was not planned, I just went with the flow.

From this activity, after I began to write my own observations and reflections, I was to make sense of my own confused and conflicting thoughts.

Evaluative Reflection

After the exercise was completed,  I realized  when I was thinking about making something, I constantly was thinking about a thing that is functionally useful, something that has an value, something that can be used and has a meaning. So, for example, I made a paper fan or a childhood game, things that have some kind of meaning for me. Some after thoughts and questions that emerged in my mind were that I wasn't able something completely new with the paper, I was trying the same things that I have done already done with the paper.

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Location: Swings - Close to the Parking Area | LUMS University
Time: 2:15- 2:45 PM
Date: 3rd- February- 2022

OBSERVATIONS

I observed that people were having conversations while taking swings.

The weather was cold and chilly. People were wearing different layers of clothes.

The yellow and red colour of the swings were most prominent under the broad day-light.

While, I walked around, I saw ash-brown dried leaves. I could hear the crunching sound while I walked on them.

Something that caught my eyes was the parking lot behind the swings where cars were parked in a symmetry.

Close to the Parking area, I saw a smoking area on which it was written '' only 6 persons allowed"

I saw orange peels around the swings area.

There were puddles beneath two swings because of which nobody was sitting on them.

INTERPRETATIONS

While starring at the swings, I was reminded of my 1st semester at Lums, when I used come with my friends and always complained how my courses are not going well and how I still feel like a stranger when I enter in Lums. But now, when in my 3rd year, I'm staring at the same swings, I no longer feel like a stranger in Lums. Everything does not seem new or foreign to me, its just so familiar.

Also while staring at the swings, I was reminded of my childhood memories, the park trips that I went with my parents. The joy I felt while I raced my swing through air. I felt like a free bird hovering around a mountain top. I felt like I could fly, I could scream as loud I wanted to, I could sing because I felt I was free.

I don't know but while standing close to the swings, everything was just so calm and serene. It was lovely, the blue sky, the yellow and blue swings, the voice of rustling leaves, I felt like I was alive.

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While I was walking, Ed Sheeran's song 'Photograph' was playing in my head. 💫

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While I was walking, Ed Sheeran's song 'Photograph' was playing in my head. 💫

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https://youtu.be/2Vv-BfVoq4g

Plain, Placid and Surreal.

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Mapping my route and the things that I collected.

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Observations

I observed that children were taking swings-  red, yellow and blue slides.

It was about to sunset so with time the sky turned orangish-yellow.

I saw some people walking really slow while they were having conversations with each other, however, some of them were walking really fast and some people were jogging.

I noticed, people who were walking alone had their ear-phones wires wrapped around their neck.

While, I was standing close to the swings area, children were shouting, some of them were running really fast so that they could catch the slide first before anyone else does.

Close to the swings area, I saw parents/ care-takers standing around the swings.

I gazed at the sky and saw many gigantic white clouds.

This was the first time, I looked closely around the greenery and saw a brown and white butterfly. Also at the same, I saw so many white jasmin flowers.

Interpretations

As soon as I entered the park, I was amazed and fascinated by how expansive and boundless is the sky. As I was staring at the sky, the clouds seemed like cotton candy to me.

I don't why but I generally felt very relieved when I was walking around the park. In comparison to my home space, in the park, I felt I could move around, walk, run or jog around freely.

While I was standing close to the swings, I felt nice when I saw kids happily running around the swings. Its true, kids were enjoying the swings without any worry, all they were concerned was 'Should I first take blue slide or yellow slide.' In this moment, I couldn't resist saying 'khabhi hum bhi bachay hotay thay.'

While I was photographing the butterfly, I was fascinated by its small wings and the variety of colors spread out on its triangle-like wings.Also, when I saw the Jasmine flowers I thought about peace and tranquility. I picked one of the flowers- I smelled it and it felt so heavenly.

When I sat down on the bench, I plugged in my ear-phones and started listening to one of the songs by Kaavish band. At the moment, I felt like the world had stopped and there was peace for 5 minutes, until my mother called my name and signalled me that we are heading home.

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Location: Lawrence Garden, Lahore
Time: 11-12:30 PM

Observations and Reflections with the Peripatetic Box

💫 Zone of Crisis

• While I was walking with my friends in Lawrence garden, for me the zone of crisis was when I did not want to walk more. My physical and mental energy had drained, firstly because of the hot weather, and secondly, because I was walking on a empty stomach.

•  I was also in a state of crisis and confusion when I started the walk because I did not know what to observe. Although I knew the observation protocol, but still, while looking around in my surroundings, I thought to myself there isn't something very unusual to observe. Initially, all I was looking at were trees, the clean path that I was walking on and some small shops which I did not find very unusual.

💫  Zone of Curiosity

• While roaming around in Lawrence garden, my zone of curiosity began when I read 'Darul-Islam, Kutub Khana.' I wanted to go inside and see what was in it. As I entered in the 'kutub khana' all I saw/observed were Urdu books stacked in white transparent cabinets. While standing there, I observed that it was a very male dominated area whereby I only saw men studying. However, as I moved past the area where men were studying, I saw a white door on which it was written 'khawateen ka area" so I immediately made my way to the small basement to see if women were actually there, but to my surprise, there was no area, it was just a dead end. The stairs led me nowhere so I just made my way back to the garden.
• While I was still thinking and trying to figure out and understand how public space is gendered, I saw a small hill just behind the green bushes. I wanted to climb the hill and see what was up there. When I was started climbing the hill, I was thinking about the very tiring hiking trip that I did with my cousins in Nathia gali. Also, while climbing, I had imagined many fantasies in my head about the hill-top which I thought would have an extremely aesthetically pleasing view where the hill top would be decorated with colourful flowers and shaded with trees. I had to shake off my head, in order to stop imagining because I had already reached at the top. At the point, one my friend said, 'Look there are so many bats', Oh! and that moment, first I covered my ears and then with my heart racing with fear I looked up. I saw bats, so many black bats. Rather than being fascinated, I was really sacred because I thought what if one of the bat falls off and lands on me.
• Another moment of curiosity for me was when I saw a lady making baskets with wooden straws. I very curiously observed the basket making activity.  It was really fascinating for me to see how she was assembling and folding the staws to make patterns and give shape to the basket.
• Another moment of curiosity for me was on our way back to the bus. As we were walking, I saw a board on which something was written. I went back to read and take a picture of what was written. On the board it was written ' Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.'

💫 Zone of Memory

• Close to the kutub area, there was an open space. As I was looking around in the open space, I thought 'Wow! there so much greenery.' While I was appreciating all the greenery, I shifted my gaze to see a large tree. As I looked up, to my surprise, it was a pine cone tree. I saw so many pine cones hanging. While seeing those pine cones, I was reminded of our campus walk in which we had to collect 5 different objects. In that walk, one of the object that I collected was a pine cone.
• Also, while I was walking around in the garden, I saw green lables on multiple trees. These labels specified the type of a tree, for example, on of the one of the lables it was written "L.N- Devil tree, F.N- Apocynaceae." While reading those labels, I was reminded of a tree at LUMS which also had a specific label on it.

💫 Zone of Irritation

• For me the zone of irritation was when I standing beneath the bats.
• Also, I was irritated, when I saw a tree bark which had spikes on it. I thought the tree was ill and I said to one of my friend 'yeh tuo mujeh bemmar laag raha hai'
• Lastly, I was irritated when I saw litter on the hill top. There were cake boxes and chips wrappers thrown around. It made me feel really sad that even though there were so many dust bins around, people had still thrown litter in the garden.

💫 Zone of awe excitement and admiration
• I was excited when we decided to climb the hill top. It seemed to me quite adventurous and unusual because we were not just walking. We had to climb to reach at the top.
• While we were at the hill top, we noticed that on  cement wall, with spray paint people had written their names, so one of my friend also decided to write something. So she wrote ' We want Gender Equality for all.' I read this line and a hopeful smile appeared on my face.
• I felt a sense of awe, excitement and also admiration when I saw so many colourful flowers. I must say it was a beautiful sight to watch. While I was walking besides the flowers, it just felt so good. As I was walking and admiring the colourful  flowers, I shifted my sight to the sky and looked up-  again I was left in awe. While looking up, I stretched my eyes to the left and then to the right - the clear blue sky, with white clouds were literally everywhere.
• While I was walking, I stopped by a path that led to the hill-top. As I was standing on the road, I saw that the path was covered with greenery. I immediately took out my phone and captured a still video of the scene. In the video, everything is still and silent, except for the leaves that are moving with the air. Now when I am watching the video, the serenity of the video reminds of an Ali Sethi's song that I have been lately listening to:

گلوں میں رنگ بھرے بادِ نوبہار چلے
چلے بھی آؤ کہ گلشن کا کاروبار چل
قفس اداس ہے یارو
صبا سے کچھ تو کہو
(فیض احمد فیض)

💫 Sounds

• Through out the walk, I could hear birds chirping, people having conversations with each other and also the sound of my own footsteps. Moreover, while I was climbing I could very clearly hear my breathing sound because I was panting.

💫 Colours

• Some of the colors that I still remember:  The blue sky, the white clouds, the colourful flowers, the green labels on the trees, the brown barks of the trees, the red tables and the white transparent cabinets stacked with books.

💫 Smell /Texture

• Honestly, I did not smell and touch anything.

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Bats hanging from the trees.

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The calming/peaceful view for me.

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PACKAGES MALL OBSERVATION

Activity: I chose to observe and immerse myself in the role of a Janitor at Packages mall.

💫 Zone of Memory

•    While I was observing one of the janitor cleaning the floor, it reminded me of the house-help that comes to my home for cleaning purposes. I then, thought, cleaning has always been seen as a feminized task whereby it is expected that women should perform such activities. However, I was thinking, this all changes in the public sphere, feminized tasks such as cooking, cleaning are being performed by men. For example, I saw only male janitors cleaning. These same tasks of cooking and cleaning are not considered appropriate for men to perform in the private home space. While thinking through the role of male janitors, the public vs private divide in terms of male and female performance became very visible to me. I came to the conclusion, in the public sphere, men will perform any society labeled feminized work for the sake of money.

•  When I saw the janitors wearing blue coloured uniform on which 'MBM' was written, it reminded of janitors at LUMS because I had seen them wearing the exact same uniforms. Then I thought, MBM is the same company that outsources janitors to LUMS.

💫 Zone of Crisis/ Confusion

•   It was very difficult for me to immerse myself in the role of a janitor. I was thinking, this state of crisis and confusing was being invoked by my class background. Because, I belong to the upper middle class, it was really hard for me to see my surroundings from a janitor's perspective. I thought, how I have been so detached from their lives and experiences that I didn't even know what to think about them. I am reminded of an idea in one of our readings (flipping things over), where the author discusses that sometimes small bits of knowledge of knowledge go a long way, sometimes when you are confused with where to look, what to think, you begin to look, think and imagine what you might have never thought.

•   Also, after we completed the exercise, on our way to back to LUMS, I was thinking, before this exercise  I had never about the role of janitors so deeply. I was ashamed of myself because I have been to Packages mall multiple times but never did I pay attention or thought about the janitors who made our walking experience so smooth in the mall.  While writing this, I am reminded of a line from one our readings. According to Horowitz, surely since childhood we are told to pay attention, but no one has ever taught us how to pay attention. A lot of times, while carrying out slow-looking walks for this course, I have experienced the crisis of 'where to look, what to see' but after all these slow-walks, I realized in this state of crisis you begin to very consciously slow-down your own thinking, you begin to un-learn the paths that you have been on or seen numerous times. In that phase of un-learning, you begin to observe something unusual in the things/walks/activities that were once boring, mundane and very usual for you. Also, in one of our readings called 'Amateur Eyes' while we go out, while we are also spending time sitting in one place, we miss out on a lot of things. I could link this to how before this observation at Packages, janitors were invisible for me, their world view, their lens from which they would observe their surroundings was unknown to me once.

• When I immersed myself in the role of the janitor, I was thinking, if I come to Packages mall every day for work and spend almost half of my day here, it would make me as a janitor feel really bad that I cannot afford any of the things that are being sold here.

•   While in the role of a janitor, an initial phase of crisis for me during my job would be the reality shift I would experience while working in Packages. As someone who belongs to the working class, I would not have enough money to afford an air condition or live in a very luxurious and posh space. However, in Packages, I would be spending my time in another world that is air conditioned and has a very posh outlook. Also, I would be observing a clientele that mostly belongs to the upper middle class which could trigger a crisis in me that I want to be one of them so that I can buy these fancy things.

💫 Zone of Excitement/ Happiness

•  When I tried to immerse myself in the role of a janitor, I thought I would have to wake up at 6 a.m in the morning in order to reach Packages mall by 7a.m. Then I would collect my cleaning essentials and start mopping the white tiles until they are squeaky clean and shining. I would be repeating this task over and over again till 3 am. At this time, a moment of excitement for me to spend some hours in an air conditioned, posh space.

•   While I mentally immersed myself in the role of a janitor, as I was passing by a clothing outlet, I saw a a really cute Chinese kid who was sitting inside the trolley. At that time, I saw the child I was like 'awww, he's so cute.' So, as a janitor, seeing cute, little kids would count as some moments of awe and excitement for me.

💫 Zone of Curiosity

•  When I interviewed two janitors at Packages mall, both of them said they were quite satisfied with their job and salary they were getting. I was just curious why were they satisfied because one of the janitors said 'bass beta guzara ho jata hai.' So I was thinking, they could have complained, but none of them did.

💫 Zone of Irritation

• I was in the zone of irritation when I decided to observe janitors. My irritation began when for like good 3-4 minutes I could not find a janitor. As I walked to the other end of the first floor, I saw a janitor in blue uniform. Thank God! I saw one and at that time I stood  approximately 150-200 meters away from him. I started observing what he was doing, I noticed that the janitor was very calmly standing close to a green, juice stall where he was talking to the sales person. I observed that he was wearing dark blue uniform and had some cleaning essentials with him which included a wet cleaning silver and white cleaning mop and   some yellow containers.

💫 Colour/Texture

•  I noticed that all janitors were clad in blue uniforms, which had orange labels on it on which in white capital letters MBM was written.

•  I noticed the yellow, plastic cleaning containers that the janitors were carrying with them. Also, I saw they were carrying a floor cleaning mop with them.

💫 Sounds

•  When I got closer to a janitor, I heard him having  a very light-hearted banter with sales person of a food stall.
• Apart from this, as a janitor in the mall, I was hearing announcements like 'apnay aur doosron ki hifazat karein, masks pehan kar rakhein' or I was mostly hearing foot-steps of people walking ahead and behind me.

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Taraweeh prayers | Slow-Looking Observation

Time: 8:00-9:30 pm.
Location: Masjid

Observations

•  After I completed my 8 taraweehs' I began my slow looking observation. The first thing that I observed was that mostly people were leaving after offering 8 taraweehs'.

•  While I was sitting on the prayer mat, I observed that there was a male and female prayer area segregation whereby men were offering taraweehs in the open veranda of the masjid, however, women were either praying upstairs in a closed room or outside in the masjid lawn which had been partially enclosed through tent.

•  I observed that while praying everybody follows the call of the Imam. For example, if the imam said a short 'Allah-hu-Akbar', people would either place their hands over their knees for ruku, or would drop down in sujood. However, after hearing a long, 'Allah hu Akbar', people would stand up for the second rakaat.

•  Moreover, I observed that the taraweeh prayer was offered in a very synchronized manner. For example, everyone went in sujood, ruku, stood up for namaz or the second rakat at the same time.
•  I noticed that some women were yawning, some were moving back and forth and some of them were fidgeting constantly.

•  Because I decided to offer my taraweeh prayer outside, as I turned back I saw a lady guard sitting. She was wearing a navy-blue uniform (shalwar- kameez) with a black scarf. As I was heading home, I saw 3 male guards who were standing outside the male prayer area. All of them were dressed in blue and black uniform.

•  When people started leaving after 8 taraweehs', I heard the imam say 'aagli safaein mukamal karein.' Also in the area where I was sitting, I observed that some women signalled and said to other women 'ajein agay, agay jaga hai, saaf mukamal karein.'

•  At the start of my taraweeh,  towards the far right corner of the tent, where no one was offering prayer, I saw 4-5 kids playing with each other.

•  While I was sitting on the prayer mat, I observed a lot of women were sitting on grey, white and skin plastic chairs offering their prayers.

•  Also, I observed that the women right in front of me was constantly adjusting her dupatta as she went down in sujood.
•  There were two pedestal fans constantly moving from left to right  in front of the first row. Because of these fans, the dupattas of women were  moving in the air.

•   As I stepped bare foot on the grass, I could feel the soft spikes of the grass in the soles of my feet. And as I took 4-5 steps on the grass, I could feel that the grass was cold and wet.

•  I observed that the area where women were offering taraweehs, the sides of the garden were decorated with yellow and purple flowers.

•  Also, from the attire of different woman and type of phone or bag they were carrying, I could infer the class they belonged to. I observed that women from a range of different classes (upper middle class, middle class, working class) came to offer taraweeh.

Reflections

• When I saw, women yawning and constantly fidgeting, I assumed that these women must have been tired after making aftaari and feeling lethargic after eating 'pakoras and samosas' in aftari. Eating after fasting for more than 10+ hours also makes me very lazy and sluggish.

• As I was staring at the pedestal fans, slowly swinging from left to right, they looked like mechanized robots to me. Just like a robot, these fans were following different orders. For example, if the button for 'swinging motion' had been pressed, the fans were constantly moving left to right over and over again. The front view of the fan with sliver lines looked like a robot's face to me, and the fan's stand looked like robots legs to me.

• While I was sitting there, for a moment, I closed my eyes and placed my head between my knees, at the moment, the Imam was reciting the Quranic verses which made me feel that the world had stopped for a moment. It was just me and God having a silent communion with each other. I have never experienced anything so peaceful than just sitting in masjid, silently sharing your worries with God and imploring Him for help. This moment, reminded me of my 1st semester at LUMS, when I used to spend literally all  my free time in Masjid, having that silent conversations with Him for hours.

• While I was going back to my home from the masjid, I found myself in the crisis of 'deen' and 'duniya.' As a 'Muslim', I have always heard, life is a test given to us by Allah, he tests us in different ways, in different situations, to see if we remember Him and our religious obligations. However, if I take moment to self reflect on my own acts, I feel like I am not a very dutiful Muslim. I have been so engrossed in the activities of this temporary world that often times I forget I have to die and stand in front of God. While walking back, I constantly ask myself: "How will you face God?"

•  The best aspect about taraweeh prayers was that I saw a range of women from different class backgrounds standing next to each other. There was no discrimination, all were standing in the same row.

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Observations

First when I looked looked at the picture, the shape of the boulder and its slight curves, it reminded me of the shape of a human heart.

I saw white, fluffy clouds, which seemed like cotton candy to me because of the clouds texture and shape.

As I see moved closer, I saw, a castle, with pointed minarets, on the big boulder.

I observed that the big boulder had been elevated in the air.

Although, I could not feel the texture of the boulder, however, through my prior knowledge of touching different rocks, I was able to conclude that the boulder's surface would be rough and dry.

Also, while I was writing my observation, in the mirror of the picture, I saw a reflection of another classmate writing.

I observed how expansive and boundless is the blue sky. Also below the elevated boulder, I saw sea waves were in motion, which I assumed were moving gently.

I also saw a reflection of the painting on the black table.

Reflections

I was thinking how was such a huge boulder elevated?

I was also thinking, where did this boulder come from? Did it just drop from the the sky and did it elevate from the sea?

The sea waves reminded of the beach in Karachi which I have only seen in pictures.

I was thinking, what kind of weather was it? After some second thought, from the picture, I inferred that air would be moving gently because the sea waves were also moving in a gentle motion.

Moreover, after moving a little closer to the picture and staring at it for 2-3 minutes, I felt like the picture was curated or photoshopped because, one thing, my mind couldn't register was that how could a boulder be elevated in the air, defying the law of gravity.

Then I was thinking about the sound of sea waves which I thought be gently crashing through the sea shore.

Lastly, I thought, what if this huge boulder falls down? As the boulder will fall down, it will cause a massive splash in the sea after which it might just float or sink in the sea.

# data[].attributes.body
This document contains, me and my group members observations at Liberty Market, Lahore.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kuDdGK6t_5i5I24qx-EnSfCzhSZ0hQU5_f7cuARMGhk/edit?usp=sharing

# data[].attributes.body
This document contains, me and my group members observations at different fashion brand stores on M M Alam Road, Lahore.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wsg9thHfWseYFEzHuWwR1cik5esnT3jbdBY5nepoDPQ/edit?usp=drivesdk

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Field Notes

Location: Food Street, Lahore
Time: 4:30-8:00pm

Observations

• Before I entered the food street with my group members, I observed different things. The first thing I observed was a very gigantic, lion's statue. The next thing I observed was a wooden stand that had multiple wooden slates attached to it on which different names of restaurants were written like Havevli, Cocoo's den or Jharoka Inn. After this, I noticed the giant, brown gate of Lahore food street. As I entered the gate, I noticed a metal detector from which all of us had to pass for security reasons.
• Now when I was inside the food street, the first thing that caught my eye was the long, plain road on which only people were walking and there was no traffic. As I was causally walking, I noticed the architecture of different restaurants, I observed that almost every restaurant had a small terrace on which different clothes were hanging. The style and structure of different buildings seemed different to me, for example, there was a multi-story buildings. Restaurant were built on the second or third floor, however, below them, on ground, I saw small shops of pakoras, lassi, chai and jalebis. Moreover, as I was standing close to a sajji shop, I observed hut like, out-door sitting places with tables and benches which were placed right in front of these eateries.

• In the backside of lahore food street, I observed something odd. A group member, pointed out, 'Oh look people live over here, inside food street, with their families- she said while pointing towards dark blue gates that had names of house owners written on them.' While we were passing, we also saw a young girl, waving us black from the balcony of her house.

• Also, at the same time, another thing that caught my eye was the food street art, I saw pictures of different poets and film stars painted on walls. While I was making the children's book for my final project, I came to know that I saw the picture of a very famous singer called Ustand Amanat Ali Khan, who in that picture on his harmonium was singing a very famous ghazal of the poet- Ibn-e-Insha. Another painting that I saw was of a very famous character of the film- Maula Jatt. The character I saw was of Noori Nath, who said a very famous dialogue 'Nawa aye hou sonyie' which went viral soon after the film was released.

• After this, we made our way to the Haveli restaurant for Aftaari. Before we entered the Haveli, I observed restaurant had been designed in such a way that it forces us to reminisce our past. For example, I saw that a laal tan was placed near a wall, I saw windows with multi-colored glass windows in it, I also saw different paintings of Mughals, and also I saw old swords hanging on walls. As we made our way to the Haveli rooftop, the red bricks stairs also reminded of the past whereby you had these untiled, very simple stairs in which bricks were very much visible.

• Moreover, while walking inside the food street, we encountered a mystery gate, which later on we came to know was called as the roshnai gate. We came to know this was one of the gate (drawaza) from the other 12 gates (darwazas) that once surrounded old Lahore. When we entered the gate, we saw multiple historical sites such as the Hazuri Baagh, Shahi Qila and the Badshahi Masjid. We did not individually visit each of these sites because our main site was food street.

• From the rooftop of Haveli, I was constantly staring at the Badshahi masjid. At the that time, under the night stars, the masjid with its intricately  designed white gumbat and minars was a sight to watch. When I peeked closer, I also saw Minar-e-Pakistan standing right besides the Badshahi masjid. As I turned to look towards my right, I witnessed an ariel shot of fort road from the rooftop. From the windows of the houses, I saw some people watching TV, some stitching  clothes and some washing dishes. Again under the night sky, these houses from afar looked like small bulbs, shinning like stars.

Reflections/ Interpretations

•  Before I entered the food street, I saw young kids begging for alms with their mothers. These kids were not allowed inside the foot street. I thought to myself how the food street has been sanitized from people that are seen as undesirable people including beggars or transgenders.

•  I also thought that the huge gate of food street granted exclusivity to that area. For me, the best part was that no vehicles were allowed in the food street. As their were no vehicles in the area, personally, I loved walking inside the food street, without worrying that some vehicle might hit from behind.

• After carefully observing the architecture and also the structure of buildings, I along with my group members speculated, these might be the building where once courtesans used to live. We were able to reach such a speculation because the structure of these buildings were very similar to that of 'khothas' where once courtesans used to live. For example, 'khotha' was considered as the 2nd or 3rd floor of a building where the courtesans used to carry out their business. However, below the 'khotha', several shops including small eateries were present.

• During our research and also from our observations, we came to the conclusion that Lahore food street is culturally and historically a very rich site. It was a culturally rich site in terms of the food, architecture and the also the street art that we saw over there. For example, in food street we saw only desi food was being served including sajji, lassi, pakoray, karahi or kababs. For the architecture, we came to know that the Badshahi mosque or the Shahi Qila surrounding the food street were made by the Mughals. The Badshahi masjid with its large white dome and intricately designed minarets spoke for the magnificence of Mughal architecture . Also I believe the street art that we saw in food street including the paintings of our famous poets, singers and movie characters was a great initiative taken by our government in order to appreciate and recognize our artists.

• When I rode the giant bicycle by myself inside Lahore food street, it was a very liberating experience for me. As a woman,  you know even driving a bicycle for fun for like 5 minutes seems very odd because of the way people stare at you. However, when I drove the bicycle, even for 5 minutes, I felt like I was involved in a transgressive act whereby I was trying to the reclaim the male dominated space, temporarily, on my own terms.

• While we were returning back from the food street, I loved how the food street looked under the night sky - the dark colours, the lights, the hustle and bustle in the area, mesmerized me the most. Honestly, I justed wanted to sit there and stare at the brightly lit buildings.