Category Archives: Pictures

Petrol shortage in Lahore

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Hunt for petrol is becomming a norm these days. 

A couple of days back, I was hunting for petrol.

 

  • There was no petrol at Shell Petrol pump (called Battleaxe, located on Shami Road, Cantt). 
  • There was no petrol at PSO Gulberg (in Industrial Area Gulberg, near Pepsi Factory Lahore)
  • There was petrol at Shell, M M Alam Road! Thank God. The line was long, as expected:
After waiting in the line (and right after I took this picture), a fight broke out. And what a violent fight it exploded into! One guy started cursing the petrol pump staff for not getting him to check the petrol meter. The curses soon were replaced with the customer swinging wild, well-aimed punches at the employee’s face.
And that is when all hell broke lose! 
Practically all employees, with their red coats and sticks and punches and kicks, literally beat the pulp out of the customer. They ran out on the street (M M Alam road) after him. Right in front of me, one employee – as red in anger as his coat – tried to snatch the pump-action gun from the petrol pump’s guard! Thankfully, the guard was not as furious and managed to drive away the raging employee! This kind of situation could easily have lead to a person’s death right in front of my eyes. 
Right after the fight, they closed the petrol pump down! Well! What a time to pick a fight! 
I – hoping against odds – went to Total petrol station (on M M Alam). Thankfully, there was petrol there. I got out of my car, and told the event at Shell to the Total pump’s management. They seemed to take heed and immediately started regulating the hodge-podge of rickshaws and motorbikes on one of the station in to a proper line!
Finding petrol was never this eventful, I am told. What do you think? :/

Honda Sports Concept Car – woaah!

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The Honda Sports FC (more pics at end of post) is the new concept car by Honda. It looks something straight out of a futuristic sci-fi film and that is just how we like it!

The car is definitely a looker, but the most interesting part of this car is the engine. Hydrogen powered engines on a sports car, now that is conceptual alright! But Honda has done it, at least in concept:

“The Honda FC Sport explores how to satisfy automotive performance enthusiasts in a world beyond petroleum,” Dan Bonawitz, vice president for American Honda, said in a statement. “People who love sports cars will still have a reason to love in a hydrogen-powered future.”

The Honda FC Sports was revealed to the general public at the Los Angeles Auto Show this year (2008).

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Suzuki Swift Pictures

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Suzuki Swift (also known as Cultus in Pakistan) has the capability of being the fun car. Many who are aware of this car would argue that it not only has the capability but the newer Suzuki Swift is already the ultimate fun car. But I am talking from a Pakistani perspective here; the Suzuki Cultus in Pakistan has to come a long, long way to be anywhere near a great car.

The current Cultus that has graced us Pakistanis with its presence is again the local Suzuki folks trying their best to cut corners. Nothing is as ironic as a car company cutting corners (as is the case with Suzuki Mehran).

But the following is definitely not about the current Cultis, it is about the award winning Suzuki Swift that seems to be everywhere except Pakistan.

Suzuki Swift Pictures

Reviews of the Suzuki Swift

Suzuki Swift has been getting some great reviews, even from people who are damn hard to please! Check out this Fifth Gear‘s episode:

Honda Accord 2009

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The new Honda Accord (model 2008) that you can see – although not that often – on the streets of Lahore is surely a sight to behold. It is remarkably different from Honda’s previous year’s boring Accord. The new Accord 2008 is something quite beautiful indeed.

Some Tech Specs: The 2009 Accord Sedan is a 4-door, 5-passenger family sedan, available in 13 trims (yes, you read that right, THIRTEEN trims!), ranging from the LX 5-Spd MT to the EX-L V-6 5-Spd AT w/ Navigation System. (But don’t worry, dear Pakistanis, we won’t be getting more than two trims (three tops) to choose from.) Now, moving onto the more interesting features of this car…

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Barack Obama drives a what?

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With all of the USA’s brand-spankin’ new President’s talk on conserving fuel/energy and going green, it should come as no surprise that the record breaking Mr. Barack Hussien Obama drives such a cool, hybrid car. He drives an eco-friendly SUV (an apparent oxymoron, no doubt!), the great-lookin’ Ford Escape Hybrid 2008, an American car through-and-through.

Just check out how mmm, un-green the car looks! (read: great lookin’ car!)

Ford Escape Hybrid, 2008

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But it was not always like that

The new President-elect did not always drive this green beast. When he was in the car-making haven of the United States, Detroit, telling the American automakers to cut down on poisonous emissions from cars, he himself drove around in a gas-guzzler.

But my oh my, what a beautiful gas-guzzler it is!

The problem with driving an eco-friendly car is not that people do not want a hybrid or something in those lines. It is just that say, a Toyota Prius looks like, frankly, a dork car. That elusive political will has been missing for way too long. Now that the auto world has waken up and is rubbing their eyes to the new realities, it is people like Obama who will (hopefully) provide the much needed political will to make eco-conscious cars that are actually beautiful.

And this is exactly where the difference between the good and the better really is; Obama was smart enough and did not have a ballooning ego to not review his commitments with respect to his actions. He talked about fuel efficient cars but did not have one. So he changed. He got a car that is relatively at least, much more eco-friendly. Yup, change he can. :)

Perhaps someone driving a hybrid can drive the American nation to a far better place. More mileage, more traction and a helleva lot more safety.

End note: American cars in Pakistan

We have quite a few American cars roaming the streets of our country, but I wouldn’t call it a fair share. Seemingly, for good reason. The first and foremost being the one main factor that Obama promises to address: fuel consumption. Fuel here is expensive (comparitve to our earnings) and driving cars that get famous because they consume like a mmm hog is a sure-shot dealbreaker. But I am sure quite a few of us have spotted the covetted Hummer pulling out of a petrol station (how appropriate!). I have heard that there is an Escalade in Islamabad as well. That is a sight for sore eyes for sure.