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The Cecil Hotel in Murree, Pakistan is a historic hotel that has been serving visitors to the hill station for over a century. Established in 1851, the Cecil Hotel has been a staple of Murree’s tourism industry and is renowned for its traditional British colonial architecture, elegant interiors, and breathtaking views of the surrounding hills.

The Cecil Hotel was originally built to serve as a summer retreat for British officials and European visitors. The hotel was designed in the traditional colonial style, with elegant verandas, spacious rooms, and intricate woodwork. The hotel was equipped with all the modern conveniences of the time, including hot and cold running water, electric lighting, and telephone services.

Today, more than a century later, Cecil Heritage by Pearl-Continental, stands in the hills of Murree, restored to its original grandeur with the beautiful floors, period furniture and crackling fires, maintaining its exclusivity and colonial charm and elegance. The inviting warm ambience takes you back in time as soon as you step through the front door. Located on Mountain View Road and approachable from GPO as well as The Mall, Cecil Heritage offers 14 rooms, including deluxe rooms, spacious family suites, and presidential suites, offering modern amenities, such as IPTVs, smart heating and cooling, telephones, and WiFi. Each room is decorated with period features and vintage tapestry to pay homage to Murree’s historical era. The ensuite bathrooms come equipped with a vintage claw-foot tub, a separate shower, twin wash basins, radiator, and a vanity counter. Guests can book their favorite room and relive the golden period of Murree.

Perched on a hill overlooking the valley below, the hotel offers breathtaking views of the surrounding hills and provides a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life. Visitors can spend their days exploring the surrounding hills, taking in the panoramic views, and enjoying the peacefulness of the environment while devouring delicious food available at Cecil Hotel.

Cecil Hotel by Pearl-Continental offers a range of dining options. Marco Polo is perfect for all-day dining in a comfortable environment with period furniture, handmade tiled floors, and marble-topped tables. Front Page Café has a casual lounge setting where guests can enjoy a wide selection of snacks, juices, mocktails, ice creams, tea, and aromatic coffee. Bukhara is an outdoor BBQ restaurant where guests can enjoy delicious authentic Pakistani barbeque while taking in the beautiful panoramic views of the mountains while surrounded by rose bushes and fire fountains.

With its elegant colonial architecture, breathtaking views, and cultural heritage, the hotel remains an important part of Pakistan’s history and a valuable source of cultural heritage for future generations. Whether you’re a history buff, a nature lover, or just looking for a peaceful escape from the city, the Cecil Hotel is the perfect place to visit.

Spring is here, and it’s time to update your wardrobe with some stylish and trendy lawn suits. And we have some exciting news for you! GulAhmed has launched its Red Collection and Vintage Garden Ethnic Prints Collection for women, bringing you a wide range of designs, prints, and colors to choose from.

With the unmatched quality of GulAhmed’s fabric, you can be sure that the suits you buy will not only look good but also last you a long time. Whether you’re looking for something bold and bright or something more subtle and elegant, there’s something for everyone in these lawn collections.

The Red Collection features bright, bold reds; perfect for adding a pop of color to your spring wardrobe. The Vintage Garden Ethnic Prints Collection, on the other hand, features intricate floral and paisley prints, ideal for those who love traditional designs with a modern twist.

With 3-piece suits starting from PKR 3990, these collections offer high-quality, stylish clothing at an affordable price. And the best part? You can shop for these suits from the comfort of your own home. The entire collection is available online, and you can visit the GulAhmed website to view the complete range. And with delivery charges of just PKR 99 in Pakistan, shopping online is the smart choice.

So, what are you waiting for? Head to www.gulahmedshop.com now,and discover the perfect printed lawn suit for you. Whether you’re going for a bold and bright look or a more traditional and elegant one, there’s something for everyone in these collections. Get shopping now and stay on trend all season long!

Mustafa completed his undergraduate degree with a bachelor’s degree in marketing & sales from FC College back in 2016. From young age he started his career and produced many theatres plays in Lahore from 2008 till 2013 through Mirrors Entertainment( a production house he started). He soon realized that the theatre industry needed more publicity and better strategy, thus started meeting with people to generate sponsorships for the production house.

Mustafa is a well-rounded individual with a diverse background in both the arts and business. His experience in producing plays through his own production company, Mirrors Entertainment, has not only provided him with an understanding of the importance of publicity and strategy in the theatre industry, but also honed his skills in marketing and sales. He discovered his talent in generating sponsorships for the production house, which helped him to learn how to connect with people on a personal level and build strong relationships with clients and customers.

In 2018, Mustafa founded Grey Circles, a company that specializes in advertising and marketing for clients. He is passionate about staying up-to-date with the latest advertising and marketing strategies and utilizing a creative approach to help his clients achieve their goals. As the first entrepreneur in his family, who are mostly white-collar workers, Mustafa brings a unique perspective on the challenges of building a business from scratch, especially when it comes to breaking through cultural and economic barriers. He has the ability to understand the cultural and economic dynamics of his community and its influence on business.

Grey Circles is working with some of the top industry giants, companies that have been pioneers in their fields and require a marketing agency that thinks out of the box. Mustafa excels in this aspect, using his experience and knowledge to transform a brand’s image with amazing strategies not just for marketing, but also logistics and operations. He helps brands maneuver the harsh market conditions and get to the end goal that every brand has.

Mustafa’s diverse background in both the arts and business has allowed him to develop a unique perspective and skillset that has helped him succeed in his career. His experience in producing plays and his own production company has not only provided him with an understanding of the importance of publicity and strategy in the theatre industry, but also honed his skills in marketing and sales. He discovered his talent in generating sponsorships for the production house, which helped him to learn how to connect with people on a personal level and build strong relationships with clients and customers.

In addition to his business acumen, Mustafa also has a love of food and is a huge cricket fan. These interests demonstrate his ability to balance his professional and personal life, and his ability to connect with people on a personal level. This characteristic can help him to build strong relationships with clients and customers and create a more personal and engaging marketing strategy. He has a unique blend of creativity, knowledge and experience that makes him an asset to any business or brand.

Women, trans people, non-binary folk, and men walking side-by-side through the streets, as bystanders look on, people marching in tandem to the beat of a drum and the chant of rhythmic slogans, thought-provoking placards being brandished justice are just some of the things one can expect to witness at the Aurat March.

2022 will mark the fifth year that women in Pakistan have mobilized and marched shoulder-to-shoulder in an attempt to reclaim public spaces and demand the fulfillment of rights that are extended to them by the laws of the state

Asal Insaaf or Reimagining Justice is the theme for this year’s Lahore chapter of the Aurat March. While conversing with Ajwah, who has been volunteering for Aurat March Lahore since 2019, I asked her how the volunteers of had gone about the process of drafting such a detailed manifesto and list of demands:

“The Aurat March manifesto is always a collaborative effort. Since we can’t speak for all communities, we keep contact with them, hold meetings, ask them about their problems, and what a world with justice looks like to them. This time, in the manifesto, we are not only listing problems, but also emphasizing that there can be no resolution of these issues without an attitude of care, without building up communities themselves.”

The most important demand that was put forth is for the government to make efforts to bring about structural changes. The advocates of Aurat March have called for authorities to introduce judicial reforms that will have a lasting impact, rather than implement short-term measures. They claim that changes such as greater representation of women and minorities in the legal system, although a step forward in the right direction, will not be enough to overturn or even counteract the misogyny, classism, and sexism that is prevalent in courts and the patriarchal institutions that have informed the laws and procedures of the judicial system.

As it currently exists, the Pakistani judicial system focuses heavily on punishment as a way to combat the crimes and the injustices that citizens are made to suffer through. The problem with this approach is that the fear of punishment is not a powerful enough deterrent, especially in a system that is fractured and allows criminals to walk free and whose laws leave room for impunity even when it comes to serious crimes. The manifesto states that more resources should be allocated to preventative, rather than punitive, measures.

The manifesto also claims that defamation laws are inherently anti-survivor and are often abused by perpetrators to make themselves appear as victims, which is why they should immediately be decriminalized. Furthermore, laws that exist to protect women, such as the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016, should be implemented properly to ensure the security of women in public and private spaces. Another point that is stressed upon in the manifesto is with regards to the various “safe city projects” that the government has launched and how they are a waste of public funds that could be better distributed towards creating survivor-support mechanisms and welfare programs. There are barely any shelter homes or affordable housing options that the survivors of domestic abuse and gender-based violence can seek refuge in after escaping abusive households and/or marriages.

“In the manifesto we talk about how communities have a collective responsibility, where they can be an important source of intervention. The rehabilitation of prisoners who have served their time is important and our communities can play an active role in that,” said Ajwah when I asked her about the significance of rehabilitation of ex-convicts and why this section was included in the manifesto.

The idea of Aurat March was borne out of the need to propagate feminist ideals in a country that is ruled by out-dated colonial laws and patriarchal structures. Contrary to popular belief, feminism does not aim to promote misandry and disseminate a narrative that women are superior to men. Instead, feminism is a belief system that strives for the equality of all genders and works to liberate them from confining gender roles. Feminism emphasizes the protection of women’s rights, those of the transgender community, and minority groups, in particular, and attempts to elevate their voices, because these are the sections of society that have historically been marginalized and oppressed.

Women marching on the streets and demanding their rights is a sight that attracts controversy and criticism from onlookers and the media each year. While discussing the inevitable backlash that the Aurat March receives each year, Ajwah told me about some of the efforts that volunteers had made this year to curb vitriol from the public and prevent false narratives about the March from making rounds on social, digital, and print media:

“We think that there is definitely going to be backlash and we don’t know what it’s going to look like…Almost all of our social media posts try to curb the narrative that women who march are spreading ‘fahaashi’. One of the major ways that we have tried to shift that narrative is through our ‘Collective History’ series through which we have tried to show that this is not a western movement, but something that is borne out of feminist resistance -even though it wasn’t explicitly called ‘feminist resistance’- that existed here in the past also…One of the problems we face each year on the day of the March is with regards to media reporting, so we hand out media passes to ensure that volunteers and participants of the March only speak to media outlets we trust to carry our message forward.”

Even amidst a call to ban the Aurat March and to observe “International Hijab Day” in its place in a letter penned by the Minister for Religious Affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri, to Prime Minister Imran Khan, volunteers, supporters, and prospective attendees of the Aurat March are hopeful that the March will take place peacefully and will prove to be a successful display of women raising their voice against oppression, violence, and injustice.

The purpose of the manifesto for this year’s March is to urge practitioners within the judicial system to focus on not just legal justice, but economic and environmental justice as well. While legal justice refers to effective implementation of the Constitution of Pakistan and enforcement of the Rule of Law, economic justice pertains to the condition wherein measures are taken to eradicate the exploitation of workers, ensure sufficient incomes, and bridge the gender pay gap; and environmental justice relates to the idea that every citizen of the state should have equal access to clean air, water, and unpolluted land for living.

We must realize that there is still so much work to do and a lot to overcome. Only by reimagining the idea of justice as encapsulating the resolution of legal, economic, and environmental crises in Pakistan can we move towards creating a feminist future where every person is granted their due rights and has access to a safe and healthy living.

Ayesha is always super stylish and this look is no different. She wears a red on red outfit by YBQ Designs. The rolled up sleeves, maroon khussas and chunky silver jewelry tie the look together.

Our new fave Instagram influencer Tabeer Chaudhry is right on trend with this look. She picks a bright red cropped top and pairs it with black high-waisted jeans. The red Aldo bag and shades complete the look.

Shahveer and Ayesha look absolutely fab. They’re twinning in this warm nude color for a winter wedding. Ayesha pairs her mukesh saree with gold bangles and light jewelry. While Shahveer pairs his suit with a white shirt and dark brown shoes.

Sarwat Gillani turns heads in this amazing Rastah piece from Intermission V. She looks effortlessly cool as she pairs the look with Adidas all stars and wears her hair down. This is one of our fave looks this fortnight!

Sameera chose a stunning Abhinav Mishra mirror work gharara for her sister’s wedding. She accessorized the look with a big teeka and jhumkas and wore her hair in lose waves. We love her entire look!

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