A Time of Transitions.

Anchorage Crescent on Google Earth.

My Mum lives in Anchorage Crescent, Doncaster. The house has a very long garden looking onto a line of poplar trees. Nearby is Cusworth Hall, one of the local big houses. I am used to Reading, so Doncaster is really new for me. This movement up north in Britain will also cause a shift from Heathrow to Manchester Airport. After a reasonably short break, I am back in Karachi which I am beginning to think of as my new and second home. England remains a place of idyll, a romantic dream. Green fields, clean air, holidays.

Cusworth Hall and Grounds near my Mum's house.

Back in the huge flat in Karachi, the place has an empty feeling. Vacant rooms and very little to do outside of work. The library is no longer there and Niggle has left. I spend time with the chowkidar downstairs. His name is Abdul Rahim and he has one aim: to make me a Muslim. I still go to Omer's place in the afternoons. After a while, the flat begins to depress me. The school remains a kind of haven of work - the students are really good. I am teaching geography to Class VI as well as English to Class IX.

It has been announced that Intermediate Colleges will only accept candidates if they have done local examinations - Islamiyat and Pakistan Studies. So there is news that Cambridge International Examinations are introducing these subjects as O levels. Some students won't mind as they are planning to go on straight to A-levels after their O level examinations. However, this will lead to control problems in a classroom with students with mixed aims. I shall be teaching the geography aspect of Pakistan Studies. It will mean learning/ teaching from scratch.