A summer-time Ramzan can turn people into vampires - dark-lidded creatures who shun the light and rise at sunset with insatiable hunger in their bellies. I have adjusted my timings and eating habits accordingly, using the month as a communal diet plan of sorts to inspire my ongoing health goals. It’s working and I am very proud to announce that through a measured regimen of running, weight-lifting, and substituting self-hatred for dinner, I have dropped 19 lbs since I got back to Lahore a few weeks ago. I know! Sadly, there is no secret method to weight loss that allows you to do it enjoyably and without some kind of pain. The bottom line is if you want to lose weight, you have to cut what you eat. That’s it in a nutshell, and it sure is painful.
Another thing that helped me is this rather somber app that tracked my eating and drinking habits (why don’t they tell you that lemon squash is basically lemon fat in a bottle?). It creates alerts for when you should be eating and plays pre-recorded messages to appear at times you’re most likely to break your diet. My current message is an agonized whisper of “swimsuits fat rolls” that pings me at midnight, just before I am most tempted to stick my head in the fridge and stay there till it’s empty. Using tech is new for me, since I don’t use that many apps on my phone other than for the news and a few (ok, 6) for horoscopes.
There is no secret method to weight loss that allows you to do it enjoyably and without some kind of pain
But apps have becomes a big thing in Pakistan in the six months since I have been away. Not the general apps that people use on their phones to visit gossip sites or kill angry birds that have always been the rage, but rather brand-name service-based apps that act like businesses here.
Case in point: one of my friends arrived at my place the other day in an unusual car, and I found to my delight that she was using the app Uber. For those not familiar with its glory, Uber is an app that lets you order a car to pick you up from location A and drop you off at location B. It’s a blindingly lucrative idea because it’s often cheaper than taxis and is linked to a credit card so you don’t have to carry cash. I use it in New York frequently for these reasons, where getting a cab at rush hour is like winning a lottery, and although I knew the app had gone global, it only came to Pakistan in the last few months or so. It allows ordinary cars to become taxis, and like Air BNB does for houses, converts your fixed capital into earning potential.
This is tremendously exciting. The car my friend was using was nice and clean and for the most part she’s had a good experience with the people driving her around (it helps that the app allows you to rate drivers and passengers, thereby offering a modicum of accountability). Because the credit-card system isn’t widely used here, the app allows people in Pakistan to pay in cash. In a city where public taxis are not so much a thing, the application has massive - but I mean massive - earning potential.
Apps that watch your diet for you - now endorsed by the author
People have picked up on the idea behind Uber - customised delivery - and adapted it to a whole host of things, like booking massages or “housemaid” services. A few years ago, when I was in the throes of my Lahori road rage, I had a similar idea for a company that would rent out drivers on a day-to-day basis. Not cars (or at least, not yet) but just certified drivers who could be employed for anything from one day to two weeks, depending on your need. Like most of my good ideas, I’ve done nothing with it, and so if any of you want to go ahead with it, I give you my blessing (perhaps in exchange for equity?).
That’s the wonderful thing about personalised applications - you can adapt them to any market and make them work. I recently came across news of another app in development, which would be like an Uber for beauticians. I mean, think about it. I know lots of women who hire beauticians to come over to their house for anything from a blow-dry to a full-on spa-day. Through this app, which recently won a competition for entrepreneurship at LUMS, you can book one of their registered, certified people to come to your house without getting up from your couch. I myself am waiting for when the marvelous company Road Runner becomes an app in Lahore and I can have someone deliver both an external hard-drive and beachwear to my house in one package, or better yet, home-cooked food. (mmmm).
I take the existence - and in some cases creation - of these apps in Pakistan as a tremendously good sign that our economy is developing in a positive way (as opposed to our social fabric, which looks like acid-wash jeans). The government has been going on about things like low interest rates, stock prices and budget deficits with something approaching optimism. And although we take whatever official statement we hear with a pinch of salt dipped in incredulity, I am really hoping that they are right. As we know from the food and clothing industry, there is a lot of money to be made in Pakistan and there are so many good ideas here just waiting for the right environment to flourish to Uber dimensions. That said, if someone comes up with an Uber-style app for lawn outfits, I will hunt you down and fight you.
