Raja's home based on Rajasthani architecture

The architecture of Rajasthan has mesmerised people worldwide, including former Pak captain Rameez Raja who redesigned his home after his visit to Jaipur in the 1980s.

The architecture of the Indian desert state of Rajasthan, famous for its arches and other traditional designs, has mesmerised people worldwide, including a Pakistani cricketer who redesigned his home after his visit to Jaipur in the 1980s.

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After his first visit to Rajasthan's capital to play a Test match against India in 1987, Rameez Raja left the Pink City completely captivated by the designs of its age-old buildings and palaces.

So much so that when he returned home, he had his Model Town home in Lahore specially redone on the pattern of the arches and other deigns for which Rajasthan is well known.

"I wish you could come over and see what he has got done at home," said the wife of Raja, a former Pakistan captain and currently chief executive of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

"We don't have a big house but it has been neatly done," added the lady who is also a keen cricket follower.

Window with a view for Kirmani: Some people are quite particular about which direction their window opens to. Former India wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani, for instance, seems to prefer the window of his room opens on to a green field rather than a concrete wall.

Currently chairman of India's senior selection panel, Kirmani, who was here to watch the second Test, stayed at the beautiful residential complex of the PCB's National Cricket Academy (NCA) before travelling to Karachi to meet his relatives.

He was initially put up in a room whose windows faced the building that housed the indoor net practice facilities. Using his forthright and friendly demeanour, Kirmani requested the administrators to shift him to another room whose window faced the cricket field.

And the administrators readily obliged, leaving Kirmani, who was already impressed with the NCA's state-of-the-art facilities, much happier.

Lahore's penchant for exposed bricks: People in Lahore do not seem to get tired of building their houses and offices - and even hotels - with exposed red bricks. From the Gaddafi Stadium to Hotel Holiday Inn, there are any number of buildings in Lahore made in this way.

The entire circular outer wall of the gigantic Gaddafi Stadium is made of dull red, exposed bricks that give it a royal, distinct look.

The vast National Cricket Academy, which came up adjacent to the stadium last year, is made on the same pattern.

Hotel Holiday Inn makes up to an extent for the lack of a front lawn with its beautiful front wall, which is again of reddish-maroon exposed bricks.

There are many other prominent buildings that have copied the same design. From the Capital Police Headquarters of Lahore to several colleges, all have emulated the same architecture.

A letterbox in a hotel: You rarely see a letterbox in a hotel. But Avari Hotel of Lahore is different from others as it boasts of a yellow letterbox right in the middle of its portico.

When one enquired if they there was any particular reason for the letterbox to be installed at a place where it does not really add to the hotel's looks - rather it looks odd - no one had a straight answer.

Steward Gul Mohammad attempted an answer, but could only say that it had been there for at least 16 years. "I am working at this hotel for 16 years and it was there when I joined the hotel," he said.

Another oddity is the hotel's foundation stone, located next to the main entrance, which is the first thing a guest notices on alighting from a vehicle in the spacious portico.

The stone was laid in 1973, but according to shoeshine man Abdul Sadiq, the hotel started its operations only in 1978.