A cynic once said Friendship is an arrangement by which you undertake to exchange small favours for big ones. Is that what is happening between a certain senator with a huge LPG whack (quota in local lingo) and a VVIP family that has the power to cancel or enhance it? Apparently this PPP senator, one of a family trio that got tickets for parliament, has been given a crucial assignment. That is, taking the VVIP family shopping and picking up bills for their retail therapy. Now we hear that though this senator is steeped in his family tradition of paying the party bosses shopping bills, he may not have encountered such shopaholics in his career as a PR man. Apparently this VVIP family goes shopping in droves and the cities of their choice are mainly Dubai and London. They shop till the senator is about to drop and they have no problem picking up the most expensive designer tags and why not when there is a friend practically itching to use his credit card. However a strange thing happened on one of their recent shopping trips, this one in London. As the VVIPs emerged from an up-market jewelry store, they were pounced upon by what seemed like muggers. Strangely these muggers made off not with the jewels but with the receipts in the shopping bags. Now who could be collecting evidence on the VVIP and Senator Money Bags shopping connection? That is indeed a million dollar question.
*.*.*.*.*.*
It seems we have a Foreign Office that does not consult a calendar and a Foreign Minister who is oblivious of the advent of Ashura. With such a union of minds and effort, it is little wonder that the date for the Chinese PMs arrival in Islamabad was fixed for Ashura. The faux pas was discovered a few days earlier but it was far too late to ask Beijing to reschedule the PMs visit. And so it happened that the visiting dignitary arrived on the 10th of Moharram and stepped out into a Pakistan that was mourning the Shaheed-e-Qarbala as was the countrys FM who stakes a claims to the Quraish tribe. Not surprisingly, there was no cultural show or banquet on the day of his arrival. However, there were many MOUs to be signed and celebrated later and that did perk up the mood. The joke doing the rounds of the business community invited to witness the event was of course sign one MOU, get one free.
*.*.*.*.*.*
Apparently diamonds are no longer a girls best friend. Her best friend and possession is a hand bag. This accessory says it all especially if it comes with the right designer tag. Not surprisingly this trend has led to some interesting incidents and two of them were reported in Lahore recently. A jeweler who is every socialites confidante claims that a valued client begged him to sell an expensive piece of jewelry so she could acquire a Birkin from the Hermes range of hand bags. A store in Liberty Market has actually picked up on this mania. It is offering Birkins in every shape and colour and at a fraction of the price quoted in Cosmo. They could be replicas or just a plain fakes but who cares except the copyright and intellectual property cops who are unlikely to come this way. You can now pick up a Birkin with your groceries and join the Birkin crowd and no one will be the wiser.
For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at [email protected]
