Yearbook : Departmental Treats
By Muhammad Shaafay Saqib
Photo Credits: Talha Rehman, Marium Ejaz
Graphics: Alizah Gul Memon
Aunty’s Pulao at SNS
Tucked in SNS’ old building is a homely aura; a number of seats, a number of friends, and one kitchen is all it has and all it needs. Especially the kitchen. Don’t forget the kitchen. The kitchen has food, good food, since who doesn’t prepare a more wonderful, mouth watering, flavorsome pulao on campus than the Aunty who cooks there? Some people at SNS don’t even know her name yet, but they all call her Aunty and they all savor her pulao.
The pulao kindles a rigid temptation; the window to her kitchen is where hungry students go to order it, and they really do sense the aroma. It is convenient that her simple stove is placed so close to the window. It attracts them all, be it students, teachers, or even the visiting faculty; the pulao just so hard to resist! It is made homespun, often accompanied with raita and a small kabab — nothing too fancy, everything too quintessential.
While Aunty’s pulao is an all-time favorite, there may be days when one craves something else. It is for such days that Aunty has a variety of other delectable goodies in store in her homey little kitchen. With spicy macaroni, steaming spring rolls, or just plain sandwiches with a nice cup of tea, everyone at SNS loves Aunty and her food, and it’s easy to see why.
NICE Shawarma
You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? They all talk about it. Its review is in the name – it’s nice. It’s inviting, succulent, and savory, and the delicacy is often considered to be the very best that the NICE cafe has to offer.
Not only does it bring hungry civil engineering students to strut up the stairs towards the cafe just to savor it once more, the masses around campus sometimes make the trip to NICE for their own bite. It is not uncommon to hear of a NICE student gobble a shawarma every other day; some even go as far to have it twice on some days. It’s a delectable dish, it really is, filled with chicken, mayonnaise, the typical salad-esque choice of vegetables, and a great choice of sauces. The adventurous ones will opt for the spicy option, and they’ll try to enjoy it while their mouth steams and their eyes water before they eventually conclude that there only so much one can handle.
In the end, they’ll enjoy it while they sit amongst good friends and engage in great banter; it’s a NICE shawarma, after all.
S3H Café
S3H’s cafe has a lot to offer, most of which falls under the banners of savory, piquant and sweet! That can’t be doubted, surely not when the cafe serves the school in the way it does. The students at S3H treat themselves to savory shawarmas, be it standard or Zinger, or they’ll have a delicious mini samosa or mini roll under the shed with their friends. It’s important, don’t you think, to enjoy a bite, whether it’s during a conversation about the state of the economy or just mindless gossip.
Soon, when their thirst need be quenched, the window of the cafe is available to serve cool, fresh juices reflecting whatever fruits are in season. If juices aren’t their thing, they really can’t go wrong with a nice cup of tea, or another carton from the seemingly unlimited stash of Milos. Coffee is always there, too; they can have them whir the coffee machine to satisfy their caffeine needs when they were up all night writing a paper or three. Or five.
The brightest light is for the sweetest tooth — often the students of S3H themselves will sell some of their delicious homemade brownies at the cafe, bringing an elegant taste for everyone’s taste buds. Oh, if it couldn’t get any better, what would they do?
It is a special place, it really is.
Khaapa! – SEECS
For being what is perhaps the largest school on campus by student numbers, SEECS may not be the department to have that large, famous, highly esteemed cafe. Khaapa, as they call it, may not bring over people from all over campus, like the cafes at S3H or NICE, but it nevertheless occupies a special place in the hearts of SEECS’ pensive student body. It’s the quick snack shack that sits next door to Concordia 2. Khaapa is a perfect place to grab biscuits, juice or candy in between classes, be it because you’re peckish again, or because you forgot to have breakfast. Sometimes, you just have to blame your lack of concentration in class on something other than your teachers, and hunger is your next best bet!
The department makes sure to add light to the tiny corner in their undergraduate block. Whether the shelves are sometimes stocked or empty, every fixed period of time, Khaapa’s “ownership” is rotated, and an undergraduate class is assigned to take the reins. They’ll be creative – it’s their food corner now (!), so they’ll make it fancy. Posters are designed to give the shack a fresh look, and new menu items are added that are even better than C2 at times, and so they become changes worth welcoming.
The students at SEECS may not recount the little place much in their daily university life, but sure do they know, they will probably miss the tiny store once they leave.
SBS at NBS
SBS does have a nice aura to it. Some of us may still not know what it stands for (Sarfaraz Business Services, apparently), but we do know that we like it. It expresses a flailing, laidback atmosphere, with seats around tables, and flora around seats, and the constant friendly chatters of NBS students. In pleasant weather, it offers itself as a mini getaway. In terrible weather, whether extremely warm or aggressively rainy, it’s still a wonderful retreat. Some may even say that it is the one departmental cafe that is very easy on the eyes.
One can treat themselves to rolls and samosas, or they could get the typical packaged snack to lighten up their day: Cocomo, Kurkure, popcorn… you name it. While they’re at it, they can also pick up a print-out of that paper they pulled an all-nighter to complete. To help with that all-nighter, they can surely grab a nice, hot, cup of coffee. Customizing it to their will is not a problem, either. When the weather gets sweltering, SBS keeps ice cream stocked to serve the masses, along with a kulfi stall, and of course, it’s famous iced tea.
It is these simple, little, but important things that make SBS special to a lot of students at NBS. Undoubtedly of course, it is especially useful when they’re too lazy to walk all the way to C1 – you can’t argue with that!
