Page 58 - 31OCT2018E

‘Lahore today is a monolithic city’

HAROON KHALID
AUTHOR

ration of up to 18 units per night over the
past 30 years complains of sleeping prob- THE PAKISTANI city, which has a multi- few decades. The legacy of the Islamiza- should have been awarded to India. There
lems has increased substantially over the cultural history, has become a monolithic tion of Zia-ul-Haq still continues to cast a are others who claim that Muslims were
same period with short sleep less than city and there is no public discourse about shadow on the cultural life of the city and in a majority in the city. Now however the
6hrs/ night in full time worker becoming its diverse past. However the traces of the the country. For example seeds of destruc- population of the city is overwhelmingly
more prevalent. As you know this alone history — abandoned temples, gurdwaras, tion for the film industry of Pakistan were Muslim, with a minute population of non-
doubles the risk of heart attack, apart havelis, etc — are scattered all over the city, sown in these years and one saw towards Muslims. There are a handful of Baha’is
from other undesirable consequences.” Haroon Khalid tells riyaz wani the end of the 1990s and beginnings of and Zoroastrians, and even Hindus. The
Dr HJ Singh from Jalandhar Punjab 2000s, the death of the Lahore based film largest proportion of non-Muslims in the
said It has been estimated that 40 per EDITED EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW • industry. There has been a recent revival city is I believe of Christians.
cent of fatal motor-vehicle crashes in in the movie industry but that has been
Punjab are due to sleepiness or driver more Karachi centric. Another major blow What has been the role of religion
fatigue. Prof Arvind Tripathi from Saras- Lahore is a trip down the city’s to culture came in the form of the dete- and religious parties in the affairs of
wati Dental College Lucknow said Sleep multi-cultural pre-partition past? riorating law and order situation. Major Lahore over the past three decades?
disorders remain poorly identified in this What inspired you to embark on this music and other cultural festivals in the The influence of the religious parties
part of world. It needs awareness in this Epidemiological 40 years of age. journey? country came under threat, thus reducing doesn’t reflect in the electoral politics
field to more number of involved clini- Pediatric Insomnia is grave threat to It was this paradoxical relationship that their frequency. Even the literary culture of the city?
cians and populations. studies from future of kids. Prevalence estimated at 1 the city today has with its multi-cultural that once boasted of stalwarts such as Faiz Lahore being the largest city in a newly
several parts of — 6 per cent in general pediatric popula- past. Lahore today is a monolithic city and and Manto, slowly began to fade away. created state became the hub of religious
Obstructive sleep apnea tion. A recent study of 46 children (5-16 there is no public discourse about its di- parties, which mind you, were not neces-
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)/hypo- India point out that y/o) found that 50 per cent of those pre- verse past. However scattered all around What was the pre-partition sarily in favor of the creation of country.
pnea syndrome (OSAHS) is an important the prevalence of senting to a pediatric sleep center for the city are traces of this history — aban- demography of Lahore like? And how Lahore was at the vanguard of 1953 anti-
and more common public health prob- insomnia had a preexisting psych diag- doned temples, gurdwaras, havelis. Some- many non-Muslims live in the city now? Ahmadiyya riots which in many ways
lem with increasing incidence. The main Obstructive sleep nosis and the remaining 50 per cent had times this heritage also survives in terms The Hindu-Muslim population of pre- paved way for the religious parties’ future
complaint of OSAHS patients is daytime elevated psych impairment scores on of its names. There are still localities in the Partition Lahore was quite evenly divided. course of action. Many of these religious
sleepiness and the Epworth Sleepiness apnea is 2.4% to psychometric measures and diagnostic city that are called Krishan Nagar or Laxmi There are some narratives that suggest parties still have a strong street presence
Scale (ESS) used for evaluation of disease 4.96% in men and interview. The boys of 3-5 age groups chowk, despite the homogenous façade of that in fact the Hindu population of Lahore in the city and there are thousands of graf-
severity. Study suggests that 648 patients who are induced to night terrors games, the city. It is these hidden aspects of the was more than Muslims, hence Lahore fiti around Lahore to highlight this, but
with complaining of snoring and apnea 1% to 2% in women 25 percent among them, mainly boys, city that I wanted to explore and discover. none of these parties have any electoral
were evaluated by Polysomonography may be found to suffer some type of sleep presence. Thus in a way due to their street
and anthropometric measurements. It 2.4 per cent to 4.96 per cent in men and problem at some point during child - You write Lahore of today is not nuisance power their voice ends up being
was found in the study that AHI is not 1 per cent to 2 per cent in women. This is hood. Complaints range from bedtime comfortable with its Hindu and Sikh louder than their due.
enough for predicting DS; anthropo - similar to the prevalence of OSAS in the resistance and anxiety to primary sleep past but the past keeps projecting into
metric measurements, apnea/hypopnea rest of the world where it has been re- disorders, such as OSA and narcolepsy the present? IMAGINING LAHORE What does the rise of Imran Khan’s PTI
index and nocturnal hypoxemia should ported to be 4 per cent in men and 2 per (a long-term neurological disorder that Yes. No city or people can erase its past. In BY: HAROON KAHALID as the dominant political force mean
Penguin
be evaluated. cent in women. involves a decreased ability to regulate many ways these stories and the past sur- 304 PP; 599 for Lahore. Will anything change?
In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults The majority of general public and sleep-wake cycles). Research is remark- vive in the forms of structures or names I The rise of Imran Khan’s PTI in fact rein-
aged 18 years and older were overweight. primary care physicians are still una- ably consistent, with parents reporting have mentioned above, but sometimes it forces the central hegemonic role the city
Of these over 600 million adults were ware of OSA. In a study done in USA, 50 per cent of preschool children, 30 also exists in terms of stories and narra- hold on the politics of the country. It is La-
obese. Overall, about 13 per cent of the nearly 93 per cent of women and 82 per per cent of school aged children, and 40 tives. Every nook and corner of the city has hore that ushered Imran Khan to centre
world’s adult population (11 per cent cent of men with moderate severe OSAS per cent of adolescents as having sleep a story to tell. These stories even though stage. His jalsa in the city in October 2011
of men and 15 per cent of women) was are never diagnosed. In OSA, repetitive difficulties. not acknowledged officially, continue to is what led to many sitting up and taking
obese in 2014. In 2014, 39 per cent of collapse of the upper airway occurs that South East Asian Academy of Sleep form a part of the folklore and its oral nar- notice. Lahore has also been the centre of
adults aged 18 years and over (38 per cent leads to snoring, frequent episodes of Medicine, a pioneering body working rative. For example even today one gets to power for Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, and also
of men and 40 per cent of women) were sleep interruption, hypoxemia (abnor- for public awareness about sleep disor- hear from the older residents of the city the home of Imran Khan, thus the city be-
overweight. It has been suggested that mally low level of oxygen in the blood), ders, has undertaken a herculean task of about what the city was like at the time of came the miniature of the larger political
with aging there is a preferential depo- hypercarbia (excess of carbon-dioxide), conducting International Conference on Ranjit Singh or the ‘Hindus’. tussle between these two parties. However
sition of fat around the pharynx that is swings in intrathoracic pressure (the various aspects of sleep disorders at Luc- whereas in the past Nawaz Sharif’s PML-
independent of systemic fat and deterio- pressure within the pleural cavity) and know with the collaboration with Surya Lahore continued to be the cultural N invested heavily on the infrastructure
ration of genioglossus negative pressure increased sympathetic activity. Foundation, Midland Healthcare and capital of Pakistan for several decades of the city, I think Imran Khan might not
reflex which is largely responsible for The co-occurrence of both Chronic Globe Medicare at Lucknow to provide after partition. What is the situation do the same given that he has always been
this trend. Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) newer developments and knowledge of like now. How is the city shaping up critical of PML-N’s Lahore centric view of
Community-based epidemiological and OSA in the same individual is termed international researches in this field. to be? Punjab and Pakistan.
studies from several parts of India have as overlap syndrome. Both are common It is not just Lahore but the entire country’s
estimated that the prevalence of OSAS is diseases affecting adult population over LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM culture has suffered immensely in the past LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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