A Brief History of Computers and Networks,

                                                  Part II
In 1943 development begins on the Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC) in earnest at Penn State. Designed by John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the Moore School, they get help from John von Neumann and others. In 1944, the Havard Mark I is introduced. Based on a series of proposals from Howard Aiken in the late 1930's, the Mark I computes complex tables for the U.S. Navy. It uses a paper tape to store instructions and Aiken hires Grace Hopper("Amazing Grace") as one of three programmers working on the machine. Thomas J. Watson Sr. plays a pivotal role involving his company, IBM, in the machine's development.
Early in 1945, with the Mark I stopped for repairs, Hopper notices a moth in one of the relays, possibly causing the problem. From this day on, Hopper refers to fixing the system as "debugging". The same year Von Neumann proposes the concept of a "stored program" in a paper that is never officially published.
Work completes on ENIAC in 1946. Although only three years old the machine is woefully behind on technology, but the inventors opt to continue while working on a more modern machine, the EDVAC. Programming ENIAC requires it to be rewired. A later version eliminates this problem. To make the machine appear more impressive to reporters during its unveiling, a team member (possibly Eckert) puts translucent spheres(halved ping pong balls) over the lights. The US patent office will later recognize this as the first computer.
The next year scientists employed by Bell Labs complete work on the transistor (John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley receive the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956), and by 1948 teams around the world work on a "stored program" machine. The first, nicknamed "Baby", is a prototype of a much larger machine under construction in Britain and is shown in June 1948.
The impetus over the next 5 years for advances in computers is mostly the government and military. UNIVAC, delivered in 1951 to the Census Bureau, results in a tremendous financial loss to its manufacturer, Remington-Rand. The next year Grace Hopper, now an employee of that company proposes "reuseable software," code segments that could be extracted and assembled according to instructions in a "higher level language." The concept of compiling is born. Hopper would revise this concept over the next twenty years and her ideas would become an integral part of all modern computers. CBS uses one of the 46 UNIVAC computers produced to predict the outcome of the 1952 Presidential Election. They do not air the prediction for 3 hours because they do not trust the machine.

Small portion of the IBM 701 Courtesy IBM

IBM introduces the 701 the following year. It is the first commercially successful computer. In 1956 FORTRAN is introduced(proposed 1954, it takes nearly 3 years to develop the compiler). Two additional languages, LISP and COBOL, are added in 1957 and 1958. Other early languages include ALGOL and BASIC. Although never widely used, ALGOL is the basis for many of today's languages.
With the introduction of Control Data's CDC1604 in 1958, the first transistor powered computer, a new age dawns. Brilliant scientist Seymour Cray heads the development team. This year integrated circuits are introduced by two men, Jack Kilby and John Noyce, working independently. The second network is developed at MIT. Over the next three years computers begin affecting the day-to-day lives of most Americans. The addition of MICR characters at the bottom of checks is common.
In 1961 Fairchild Semiconductor introduces the integrated circuit. Within ten years all computers use these instead of the transistor. Formally building sized computers are now room-sized, and are considerably more powerful. The following year the Atlas becomes operational, displaying many of the features that make today's systems so powerful including virtual memory, pipeline instruction execution and paging. Designed at the University of Manchester, some of the people who developed Colossus thirty years earlier make contributions.
On April 7, 1964, IBM introduces the System/360. While a technical marvel, the main feature of this machine is business oriented...IBM guarantees the "upward compatibility" of the system, reducing the risk that a business would invest in outdated technology. Dartmouth College, where the first network was demonstrated 25 years earlier, moves to the forefront of the "computer age" with the introduction of TSS(Time Share System) a crude(by today's standards) networking system. It is the first Wide Area Network. In three years Randy Golden, President and Founder of Golden Ink, would begin working on this network.
Within a year MIT returns to the top of the intellectual computer community with the introduction of a greatly refined network that features shared resources and uses the first minicomputer(DEC's PDP-8) to manage telephone lines. Bell Labs and GE play major roles in its design.
In 1969 Bell Labs, unhappy with the direction of the MIT project, leaves and develops its own operating system, UNIX. One of the many precursors to today's Internet, ARPANet, is quietly launched. Alan Keys, who will later become a designer for Apple, proposes the "personal computer." Also in 1969, unhappy with Fairchild Semiconductor, a group of technicians begin discussing forming their own company. This company, formed the next year, would be known as Intel. The movie Colossus:The Forbin Project has a supercomputer as the villain. Next year, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes was the first feature length movie with the word computer in the title. In 1971, Texas Instruments introduces the first "pocket calculator." It weighs 2.5 pounds.

With the country embroiled in a crisis of confidence known as Watergate, in 1973 a little publicized judicial decision takes the patent for the computer away from Mauchly and Eckert and awards it to Atanasoff. Xerox introduces the mouse. Proposals are made for the first local area networks.
In 1975 the first personal computer is marketed in kit form. The Altair features 256 bytes of memory. Bill Gates, with others, writes a BASIC compiler for the machine. The next year Apple begins to market PC's, also in kit form. It includes a monitor and keyboard. The earliest RISC platforms become stable. In 1976, Queen Elizabeth goes on-line with the first royal email message.

During the next few years the personal computer explodes on the American scene. Microsoft, Apple and many smaller PC related companies form (and some die). By 1977 stores begin to sell PC's. Continuing today, companies strive to reduce the size and price of PC's while increasing capacity. Entering the fray, IBM introduces it's PC in 1981(it's actually IBM's second attempt, but the first failed miserably). Time selects the computer as its Man of the Year in 1982. Tron, a computer-generated special effects extravaganza is released the same year.

K2 Dream of a 2004 season

K2 North: a Dream of a 2004 season, with a few “clouds”

Even on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first climb of K2, the mountain continues to live up to expectations as a mountain of no compromises and no gifts!

After 3 years when not a single climber was able to reach the summit of the mountain (the last being Jose Antonio Garces on July 22, 2001 by way of the Abruzzi Spur), the 2004 season has seen no less than 43 summits to date (all from the south side) [this was before yesterday]. An absolute record – never before have there been this many successful summits achieved in a single season, especially when one realizes that in total, including this year – there have only been 241.

It is a record for the number of Italian climbers on the summit this year: 11 total, 5 on the K2 – 2004 – 50 years later team, (all summiting without oxygen). Of these 11, Silvio Mondinelli and Karl Unterkircher were the first two Italians to summit since Hans Kammerlander did so on July 22, 2001.

All of this occurred in a year which initially presented itself as one of the worst in terms of weather, at least until the last days of July. This too would have been a record: 200 climbers and no less than 11 expeditions on the south side.

On the north side of the mountain, only two expeditions were present: the Korean, which concluded tragically with the death of three climbers, and the Italian K2-2004 team, attempting the North Corner route, which was climbed originally in 1996 by an international expedition guided by Krzysztof Wielicki, who reached the summit with two other Russians, an American and the Italians Marco Bianchi and Christian Kuntner.

Out team of 7 climbers, who announced that they were packing for a return home, due to the continuing weather problems, will make their way back with equipment which will first travel by camel and then by air

World Beautiful Country

Argentina
She may have wanted the country to hold back its tears, but it’s pretty certain Evita shed a few when considering its incredible beauty.
From the urban splendor of Buenos Aires, rated one of the most beautiful cities in the world, to the massive expanse of the Pampas, Argentina is a land of evocative beauty. The Iguazu Falls, which straddle, Argentina and Brazil, are generally regarded as one of the two most impressive and beautiful waterfalls in the world – with only Victoria Falls in Zambia / Zimbabwe being rated above it with frequency.
Probably the scenic highlight of the country, though, is Patagonia. It is a world of stunning glaciers and impossible towering spears that tear the sky. Monte Fitzroy and Monte Cerro are possibly the most famous of all the mountains in the area, skewering the air above them with their six thousand feet high cliff faces. Aconcagua is the tallest mountain outside of the Himalayas.
The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of only three Patagonian glaciers that is actually growing, Its average height is 240 feet above the water, and 558 feet ice depth.
Considering that it makes up an area almost five times the size of Manhattan, it’s unsurprising that this area makes up the third largest fresh water reserve in the world – and it is visually astonishing.
Namibia
The desert nation of Africa is hauntingly beautiful. It’s Germanic influence is evident throughout the country, which is one of the world’s natural treasure troves.
Etosha national park is indisputably one of the world’s greatest game reserves. Before the rainy season, it offers wildlife viewing that rivals the very best reserves on Earth. The Caprivi Strip is a water wonderland, with the Epupa falls generally regarded as the second largest waterfall in an arid area. The Erongo mountains, Spitkoppe and Brandberg are amongst the most remarkable mountains in the world, and the Namib Naukluft feature on the list of mountains that one must see, but that are often unknown.
The deserts to the South of the country are in many ways the highlights of the stunning nation. The skeleton coast, where glorious dunes plunge into stunning Atlantic waters with almost no inhabitants, is justifiably world famous. Even more so is the area of Sossusvlei, also in the enormous Namib Naukluft. It is usually seen as the single most beautiful desert scape on Earth. Dead Vlei, found within the greater Sossuvlei area, is an astounding area featuring trees petrified by centuries with little rain, and it often reduces first time visitors to speechless wonder.
Namibia is without any doubt one of the world’s most scenically magnificent countries.
 China
The world’s third largest country has some of its finest scenery. The Mekong River is one of the most extraordinary rivers in the world, arising in the vast Tibetan Plateau. This plateau is the largest and highest plateau in the world, with tens of thousands of glaciers including the Rongbuk, Midui and Hailuogou that eventually help feed the Mekong and many other rivers. If regarded as a canyon, the Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon is certainly the largest on Earth, stretching over 300 miles in length and attaining a mind boggling maximum depth of almost 20,000 feet near Mount Namcha Barwa in the Himalayas.
And of course the Himalayas are probably the ultimate visual highlight of the great country of China. Everest and Mount Qogir, the two tallest mountains on earth, are both on the border of China. Nine of the world’s fourteen ‘Eight Thousanders’ are in China or on the Chinese border.
Aside from the Himalayas, Mount Hua, Mount Tianmen and mount Tianzi are stunning. The Detian Falls, on the border with Vietnam, have been listed as some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world and the hills of Guanxi province are utterly astonishing.

As if that wasn’t enough, China has urban beauty and cultural beauty that rivals anywhere on the planet. Its cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, are world famous and in a prominent list Hong Kong has recently been rated one of the world’s most beautiful. The Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall of China are just three of the magnificent ancient structures that justify China’s place in the most beautiful countries on earth.

Beautifull World Information

Beautifull World Information
Home to stunning places like Rajasthan and Goa, India has everything from tropical beaches to the glacier capped Himalayas. From the town of Varanasi, to the great monument of love which is the Taj Mahal, to possibly the finest wildlife offered outside of Africa, the diversity, colors and frequent chaos of this nation can be overwhelming. Despite that, it undeniably has many of the most stunning places on planet Earth.
Home to stunning places like Rajasthan and Goa, India has everything from tropical beaches to the glacier capped Himalayas. From the town of Varanasi, to the great monument of love which is the Taj Mahal, to possibly the finest wildlife offered outside of Africa, the diversity, colors and frequent chaos of this nation can be overwhelming. Despite that, it undeniably has many of the most stunning places on planet Earth.
Europe’s mountain nation encompasses probably the very most beautiful parts of the Alps. The Matterhorn is listed number two on the most incredible mountains in the world list, and the Bernese Oberland makes up some of the most beautiful highlands on earth. The country has earned it’s cliché for near-perfection, as it is amongst the cleanest on earth. Wandering through the streets of some of the most beautiful towns and villages in the world, like Lugano and Luzern, one feels it would be possible to eat off the streets themselves!
The Canadian Rockies are justifiably famous as amongst the most beautiful in the world. The stunning view of the Twelve Apostles from Moraine Lake in Banff National Park is one of the most beautiful in the world, Vancouver is one of the world’s loveliest cities, the Baffin island mountains are known by few but are totally unmissable travel highlights, the country has the longest coastline in the world, and as featured in a recent list the mind bending Sam Ford Fjord is seen by some as the world’s most impressive fjord on planet earth! And you thought they only had Bieber?
Land of the Maasai Mara and image of wild Africa. The country has been rated in the top 3 wildlife countries on Earth, and Mount Kenya is the second tallest mountain on the continent. The spectacle of the great migration is one of the greatest in the world, and the views of Kilimanjaro from Amboseli National Park are ironically probably better than from Tanzania itself, in which the great mountain is situated!
Probably the most beautiful country in all of Europe, Italy is one of the world’s great tourist destinations for a reason. Not only are the Dolomite Alps some of the loveliest mountains on earth, but the Mediterranean finds its very most beautiful landscape on the Amalfi Coast, named the third most beautiful coastal drive in the world. Rome is one of the most stunning cities on earth, and Positano has been named the loveliest town in all the world. Some more of the world’s loveliest coast is found in the stunning island of Sicily, which also boasts some of the world’s most beautiful wildflowers in spring – as does Umbria! Add lakes like Como, a huge number of the most beautiful churches in the world, some of the greatest art works on the planet, and several of the most beautiful small cities on earth – including Florence and Venice – and Italy is certainly one of the most beautiful countries on earth!
Land of the Serengeti, Lake Victoria, Lake Natron and Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Crater, Zanzibar, the Spice Islands, Dar Es Salaam and a million more, Tanzania is almost beyond belief.
Mount Kilimanjaro rises over 3 miles above the surrounding plains, making it one of the world’s two mountains with greatest vertical relief, together with our own McKinley. It is also the largest free standing mountain in the world.
Birthplace of Freddie Mercury, the country is one of the very best wildlife destinations on earth. During the great migrations between Kenya’s Maasai Mara and Tanzania’s Serengeti, which means ‘Endless Plains’, the largest migration of mammals in the world takes place. This spectacle sees millions of animals moving in search of better grazing and prey, and has been called the greatest sight on Earth. In February alone, an estimated 500,000 wildeest calves are born on the planes!
The immense flamingo flocks that dominate Lake Manyara and Lake Natron are breathtaking, and this is made all the more stunning by the fact that Natron itself is a vivid pink color due to its chemical content. Tanzania is almost too beautiful to believe.
This may be an unexpected addition to the top 10, but Colombia deserves its spot! It is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, due in part to its incredible altitude differences within the tropics. The country has some of the most impressive sections of the Andes, and Santa Marta is the highest coastal mountain range on Earth. Within only thirty miles of the Carribean Coast, the range rises over 18,000 feet!
Caño Cristales is often called the most beautiful river in the world, due mostly to being multi-colored, and spots such as Cabo de la Vela Tarona National Park and Salento and the Coffe Triangle ensure this country’s undisputed place on a world’s most beautiful list.
It is not only natural beauty that defines the country though. Cartagena is one of the most beautiful small cities in the world, and the country is justifiably famous for its fascinating architecture and Spanish Conquistador influence. Las Lajas Sanctuary is one of the most incredible and beautiful churches in the world, and its location is almost unbelievable. Cali, Mompox, Medellin and Popayan are other beautiful settlements in the country that ensure its cultural as well as natural beauty.

RAW Behind Lahore Attack on Sri Lankan Team – CID Report

In an interesting development, investigative journalists of The News have collected the copies of secret report by one of the main intelligence agencies of Pakistan CID warning of an imminent attack by Indian spy aka terrorist agency RAW on the visiting Sri Lankan team to Pakistan. The details of the report dated 22nd January 2009 are as following:

The report tagged “SECRET/IMMEDIATE” with subject “SOURCE REPORT” reads:

1. It has reliably been learnt that RAW (Indian intelligence agency) has assigned its agents the task to target Sri Lankan cricket team during its current visit to Lahore, especially while travelling between the hotel and stadium or at hotel during their stay.

2. It is evident that RAW intends to show Pakistan a security risk state for sports events, particularly when the European and the Indian teams have already postponed their proposed visits considering it a high security risk to visit Pakistan.

3. RAW has also collected photographs of leaders of Jamaatud Daawa (proscribed) and its establishments to target them.

4. Extreme vigilance and heightened security arrangements indicated.” (Source: The News)

It is a shameful act and i still wonder why our government never bring out in public the facts about the involvement of Indian terrorists.

Moreover, the Pubjab Governor Salman Taseer and his PPP backers should be punished for ignoring all the security warnings and changing all the top police officials few days before the incident. Salman Taseer was too busy playing his political games and trying to outwit his rivals and ignored the warning. He replaced all the top police officers of the province and installed new people who were clearly unaware of the gravity of the situation. Therefore, i think that they should be charged for bringing bad name to Pakistan and for the death of so many brave souls. I wonder when will our people learn?

The report also pointed out that RAW intends to attack the leadership of Jamaat Ud Dawaa in Pakistan and i hope we will now take care of them at least and won’t let them fall prey to Indian terrorists.

ISLAMABAD: The Crime Investigation Department (CID), Punjab, had accurately warned the Punjab government on Jan 22, 2009 about an Indian plan to target the Sri Lankan cricket team during its visit to Pakistan.

The CID, while referring to a source report, said this terrorist attack would be carried out by the infamous RAW, especially while the Sri Lankan team would be travelling “between the hotel and stadium or at hotel during their stay”.
And the incident, which the whole world saw on March 3, precisely happened the same way, raising a hundred-million dollar question as to why the Punjab government, under Governor Salmaan Taseer, let it happen so easily despite a clear warning from the intelligence agencies of the country.

Copy of this fabulous work of the CID, which was wasted by the government in the Punjab in a sheer show of criminal negligence harming the national interest, shows that Additional Inspector General of Police, CID, Punjab, Malik Muhammad Iqbal, shared this report with all concerned in the federal and provincial governments.
The report tagged “SCRET/IMMEDIATE” with subject “SOURCE REPORT” reads: “It has reliably been learnt that RAW (Indian intelligence agency) has assigned its agents the task to target Sri Lankan cricket team during its current visit to Lahore, especially while travelling between the hotel and stadium or at hotel during their stay.

2. It is evident that RAW intends to show Pakistan a security risk state for sports events, particularly when the European and the Indian teams have already postponed their proposed visits considering it a high security risk to visit Pakistan.

3. RAW has also collected photographs of leaders of Jamaatud Daawa (proscribed) and its establishments to target them.

4. Extreme vigilance and heightened security arrangements indicated.”

The above report was sent to Syed Kamal Shah, interior secretary, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad, Javed Mehmud, Chief Secretary, Punjab, Lahore, Dr Syed Tauqir Shah, Secretary to Chief Minister, Punjab, Lahore, and Nadeem Hassan Asif, Home Secretary, Government of Punjab, Lahore, on Jan 22 with the covering letter of Additional IGP, CID, Punjab, Lahore, Malik Muhammad Iqbal.
The same covering letter also included a note announcing that the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), Lahore, and the Lahore commissioner were being informed separately for necessary action.
The same day on Jan 22, the issue because if its sensitivity was brought into the notice of the then-chief minister Shahbaz Sharif on whose instructions an urgent and confidential note was sent to the IGP Punjab, the Lahore commissioner, the CCPO Lahore, the chief secretary and the home secretary.
On behalf of the chief minister, it was said: “The chief minister has seen the enclosed source report and has desired that every effort may be made for the security of the Sri Lankan cricket team during its current visit to Lahore. He has further desired that extreme vigilance and heightened security arrangement may be made to avert any untoward incident.”

On the very next day on Jan 23, a meeting was held on the subject under the chairmanship of commissioner, Lahore, Khusro Pervaiz Khan, and attended by IB Director Mirza Tamraiz M Khan, DIG (traffic) Muhammad Ghalib Bandesha, Military Intelligence rep Col Saqib, Director ISI (Lahore) Ashraf Khan, DCO, Lahore, Sajjad Ahmad, district emergency officer, Lahore, Dr Ahmad Raza, SP/CID Lahore Azmatullah, Protocol Officer c/o DG Protocol, Lahore, Noorul Hassan, SP (traffic) Lahore Muhammad Asif Khan, SP City Lahore Rana Abdul Jabbar and others.
In the said meeting, the provincial government under Shahbaz Sharif took extremely tight security measures for the one-day international match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which was held on Jan 26, 2009.
Minutes of the meeting, as available with this correspondent, show how minutely the authorities at that time discussed each and every aspect of the terrorism threat and the security measures to be taken.
These minutes show the evolution of a comprehensive security plan and contingency plan to pre-empt the possible threat of terrorism by RAW.

The then-IG, Punjab, Shaukat Javed, personally visited the whole route of the cricket team for the one-day match and even talked to cops deployed there. The then-CCPO, Pervez Rathore, also visited the site more than once.
However, after the recent imposition of governor’s rule, not only the chief secretary and the inspector general police were changed but also the whole lot of police officers in Lahore, including the CCPO, SP (operations) and six other SPs, who were replaced by officers some of whom enjoy highly stinking reputation.

There is no explanation offered so far by any government authority as to why the warning of the CID was overlooked this time when the Punjab was ruled by Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer.
A two-day visit of this correspondent to Lahore shows the civilian bureaucracy there talking of how the civilian administration and police have been (mis)used by the provincial administration for political wheeling-dealing since the imposition of governor’s rule in the Punjab.
“Keeping in view the CID source report, the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team is a clear FIR against the Punjab governor and his administration,” one of these officials commented. (Source: The News)

Thanks to Teeth Maestro for the soft copies of the CID reports. I copied it from his site to share with our readers as well.

Aatish Taseer’s ; Stranger to History: A Sons Journey through Islamic Lands

By Mariaana Babar for The News Pakistan

Aatish Taseer, the 29-year old son of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, who is a journalist and lives in London, has written a book, a personal memoir, about his life story in which he has depicted his father in a manner that will shock and repel many of his Pakistani readers.

The book, titled “Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey through Islamic Lands”, is about to be launched in London in a week and in India a few weeks later. Indian magazine “Outlook” has acquired the rights to the book and as a gesture of friendly cooperation, the magazine has agreed to share their breaking story about the book with The News. The magazine will hit the stands in India on Friday.

Aatish has also been interviewed by the Outlook magazine, which says the book is ready to roll and Aatish is on the brink of entering a heady world of book launches and international book tours. It has been published by the Picador India.

According to the Outlook, the book is a fictional version of Aatish’s dramatic life story. Briefly, the story is this: “A short, intense relationship between a Pakistani politician, Salmaan Taseer, and an Indian journalist, Tavleen Singh, produces a child. As the relationship founders, the father (according to his son’s account) abandons the mother and the infant in London.

They move to Delhi, where the boy, Aatish, grows up in an elite Sikh family, but with an awareness of being ‘different’ because of his Muslim and Pakistani ancestry. “Twice in his childhood, he makes long-distance overtures to his father, but is rebuffed. In 2002, at the age of 21, he tries again, by simply landing up in Lahore, and meets with greater success. Salmaan’s political career has waned — the military rules; his party’s boss, Benazir Bhutto, is in exile — but he is, by now, a wealthy businessman and a media tycoon, with an elegant third wife and six other children.

“Relatives and family friends, who have known about Aatish for years, help him find a way into Salmaan’s life. So begins a father-son relationship that is, by no means, easy. And so dies a novel.

“There is this extraordinary story, but what does it mean? It’s not everybody else’s,î Aatish said, while looking back on his struggles five years ago to write that autobiographical novel.“Then came a turning point. In 2005, Aatish, now a journalist living in London, wrote for a UK magazine on the radicalisation of the British second-generation Pakistanis, making the unexceptionable liberal argument that it was linked to failures of identity on different fronts. Chuffed by his first cover story, he sent it to his father, to whom he now felt closer — and was shocked to receive a furious reply, accusing him, among other things, of blackening the family name by spreading ‘invidious anti-Muslim propaganda’.

“The accusations set off a storm of reactions in Aatish, from hurt and defensiveness to confusion and curiosity. How was his father, who (as he was to recount in his book) drank Scotch every evening, never fasted and prayed, even ate pork and once said: ‘It was only when I was in jail and all they gave me to read was the Quran…..(This portion of the text has been deleted as it was deemed unprintable.)

Defending his controversial decision to lay bare personal relationships and conversations, Aatish said it came from his conviction, after the letter incident, that “the personal circumstances contained a bigger story.” He, however, acknowledged that the writing of the book was also a way to overcome the despair he felt at having his relationship with his father suddenly run aground again — “a way to make my peace with that personal history.”

The memoir is a journalist’s engaging travelogue. But where the political and personal come together powerfully is in the last third part of the book, which finds Aatish in Pakistan among the Pakistanis.

Personal disappointment fuses with intellectual outrage in his searing final encounters with his father. And as a traveller trying to make sense of the broken pieces of his own ancestry, he takes political discoveries personally. He is wounded by reflexive anti-Indianism, which he encounters widely in Pakistan, and particularly among the youth.

The book quite clearly rejects the idea of Pakistan (while tacitly endorsing the idea of India), but Aatish still seems to be trying to keep the two. “I hope for this to be a book for Pakistan (though) I know that is a very naive thing to say—Neither with my father, nor with Pakistan, was it written to settle any scores. I hope that despite what looks like a bleak look at Pakistan, it is possible to see a genuine concern and affection for the place.”

The Outlook said the personal story of Aatish, meanwhile, had acquired new twists. Salmaan Taseer, with whom he has had no contact for the past 15 months — though he hears he is upset by news of his book — has been resurrected in the topsy-turvy world of Pakistani politics.

About six months ago, he became the Punjab governor. It is a ceremonial role, but since the dissolution of the Shahbaz Sharif government in the Punjab, the man wields real power — and controversially.

“The timing of the book is slightly insane,” he said, laughing uncertainly. “I wouldn’t have wished for it. He was just a businessman, and that was good enough for what I had to say. He didn’t need to be the governor of the Punjab.”

Is he prepared to lose the relationship with a book like this, coming especially at a sensitive time? “Whether I wrote the book or not, I am definitely pretty much persona non grata,” he said. But then he added: “My father is a bright, intelligent man, and well read. I hope he understands some day.”

Following is an extract of the book: “I had begun my journey asking why my father was Muslim, and this was why: none of Islam’s once powerful moral imperatives existed within him, but he was Muslim because he doubted the Holocaust, hated America and Israel, thought Hindus were weak and cowardly, and because the glories of the Islamic past excited him.

“The faith decayed within him, ceased to be dynamic, ceased to provide moral guidance, became nothing but a deep, unreachable historical and political identity. This was all that still had the force of faith. It was significant because in the end, this was the moderate Muslim, and it was too little moderation and in the wrong areas. It didn’t matter how someone prayed, how much they prayed, what dress they wore, whether they chose to drink or not, but it did matter that someone harboured feelings of hatred, for Jews, Americans or Hindus, that were founded in faith and only masked in political arguments.”

“I rose to leave the room. It was if a bank had burst. My father and I, for the first time, were beyond embarrassment. I returned a few moments later to say goodbye to him, but he had left for the day without a word. The now empty room produced a corresponding vacancy in me that was like despair. I wanted somehow to feel whole again; not reconciliation, that would be asking too much, just not this feeling of waste: my journey to find my father ending in an empty room in Lahore, the clear light of a bright morning breaking in to land on the criss-crossing arcs of a freshly swabbed floor.

“As the crow flies, the distance between my father and me had never been much, but the land had been marked by history for a unique division, of which I had inherited both broken pieces. My journey to seek out my father, and through him, his country, was a way for me to make my peace with that history. And it had not been without its rewards. My deep connection to the land that is Pakistan had been renewed. I felt lucky to have both countries; I felt that I’d been given what partition had denied many. For me, it meant the possibility of a different education, of embracing the three-tier history of India whole, perhaps an intellectual troika of Sanskrit, Urdu and English.

“These mismatches were the lot of people with garbled histories, but I preferred them to violent purities. The world is richer in its hybrids.

“But then there was the futility of the empty room, rupture on rupture, for which I could find no consolation, except that my father’s existence, so ghostly all my life, had at last acquired a gram of material weight. And, if not for that, who knows what sterile obsessions might still have held me fast/

The World Beautiful Country Information

The World Beautiful Country Information"

The mountain country of Nepal is predictably stunning. The capital of Kathmandu is possibly the most famous, and has exceptionally distinctive architecture, but the second largest town of Pokhara is the real jaw-dropper as it is looked upon by some of the tallest mountains on earth, in the Annapurna massif.

At the time of this list’s publication, Nepal has been rocked by a devastating earthquake that has claimed the lives of many. Our thoughts are with the people of the beautiful mountain nation.

Australia has 16,000 miles of coastline, boasting some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The Great Barrier Reef is one of the greatest natural wonders in the world, the Island of Tasmania is one of the world’s 10 most beautiful, and Sydney is one of the world’s ten loveliest cities. The Hamersley Mountain range is the second oldest in the world. The Land Down Under is over the top beautiful!

Often overlooked because of neighbouring beauty Thailand, the Philippines is one of the most stunning countries in the world. It’s made up of over 7000 stunning islands in the Pacific Ocean! Palawan in particular has been called the most beautiful island in the world!

Land of trolls and fjords, Norway is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. While fjords such as Geiranger, Nærøyfjord and Sognefjord dominate the mental images of this Scandinavian gem, the Lofoten Islands are debatably its visual highlight. If you’re surprised by the Northern Lights while taking in these stunning sights, your mind may just start playing some Edvard Hagerup Grieg in spontaneous celebration!Land of trolls and fjords, Norway is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. While fjords such as Geiranger, Nærøyfjord and Sognefjord dominate the mental images of this Scandinavian gem, the Lofoten Islands are debatably its visual highlight. If you’re surprised by the Northern Lights while taking in these stunning sights, your mind may just start playing some Edvard Hagerup Grieg in spontaneous celebration!Land of trolls and fjords, Norway is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. While fjords such as Geiranger, Nærøyfjord and Sognefjord dominate the mental images of this Scandinavian gem, the Lofoten Islands are debatably its visual highlight. If you’re surprised by the Northern Lights while taking in these stunning sights, your mind may just start playing some Edvard Hagerup Grieg in spontaneous celebration!

The world’s most biodiverse country is also its fifth largest. Within such a massive area, it is unsurprising that there are scenic highlights. Foremost is undoubtedly the unparalleled Amazon Rainforest and Amazon River. The Rain Forest is by far the largest on earth, and would be the sixth largest country in the world were it independent. The Pantanal is one of the best wildlife destinations in the world, the Iguazu falls named the second most amazing waterfall in the world, and Rio de Janeiro has been named the second most beautiful city in the world.

Chile spans almost from the equator to the sub Antarctic, making it the longest contiguous country in the world as measured by latitude. Crammed into the almost 40 latitude degrees are some of the world’s most beautiful places. Last Hope Fjord is one of the most beautiful in the world, and the Atacama desert is astonishing, partly because it is the driest non-ice desert on Earth. Parque Nacional Torres del Paine is probably the most beautiful of all Chile’s wonders, and is South America’s answer to our own Yosemite.