M.G.M. Swimming pool.

View of the domes of MGM bulding from inside the pool.

The crystal clear blue water.

Chairs lined up for the spectators.

Little pool for the toddlers.

Summer is finally here, although, the weather still turns unpredictable at times. But still, one feels like taking a dip in the cool, cool water of a crystal clear pool.

 M.G.M (Multan Garrison Mess. Commonly known among  Multanis, by its' old name 'services club'), opens up, pool doors for all its' members every 15th of April. The pool is open air, so it works on seasonal basis. From April to September/ October (if weather allows it).  Last year, the pool remained open, only till May, after that, it was shut down for renovations & could not be reopened because of the 'dengue' scare.

MGM pool has always been, undoubtedly the biggest & the best in this city, with an excellent filtration plant to boast & an extremely dedicated team of military men as workers, for maintaining the quality of water, from  colour to hygiene. But its just one pool at club. This single pool serves, both men & women. Not at the same time, though, because being Muslims, our social, cultural & religious values, do not allow this. So, there are separate timings, for men & women. Ladies timings, start in the morning, from 9 am to 12 pm. & for Gents, from 4pm, till 8pm.

As mentioned earlier, the pool is open air. Which turned out to be very pleasant for guys, who had the ideal timings in the afternoon, till late in the evening. But again, the womenfolk had to suffer, because, there was no proper shade in the mornings. Few of the very INTELLIGENT administrative officials, this club had, in early days, did consider this problem & changed the timings for women, from 6 am to 9 am. IMAGINE IT!! Anyway, from mid nineties the timings were switched to 9-12 & there were few enthusiasts like the writer of this blog, who went out to swim, under the blazing, scorching sun for many years. With the arrival of the new millennium, some real geniuses arrived in this club, who realised the importance of having a shade & a proper canopy made of a thick cloth, called 'tarpaal' was hanged over the pool, which was removed in the evenings. But it did bring a lot of comfort to the female swimmers. As we all know, these army administrative clubs & institutions, get replaced with an entire new team of officials every 2/3 years. Again, some new, wise ones arrived, who removed the thick cloth, which was tattered & torn by then & put a Green coloured NET cloth, which was not enough to keep the mosquitoes away, forget about protection from the sun. For almost 5 years, lots of requests & pleas, protests & complaints, finally, last year, the year 2011, brought the news that there is going to be an enormous fibre glass canopy to cover this pool. & as you can see in the pictures above, now, it stands there, proud & tall, adding to the enormity of the club building.

The new shower rooms.

Brand new, wash basins.

View of the new shower rooms.

In previous years, shortage of shower rooms brought a great deal of problem for the swimmers. Now, there are 8 beautiful, brand new shower rooms & big lockers to facilitate the swimmers. The changes brought to the pool are amazing & indeed increase the pleasure of a summer swim. This blog congratulates all the members of the MGM club administration, for coming up with such brilliant results. God bless you all

And a good news for all those, who want to take membership of this club, only for swimming, now, you can. By depositing a security of 20,000 rps (refundable) & paying 6000 rps each per head (Seasonal), or if you like to pay monthly then 1200 rps only. So what are you waiting for, go get ready to take a swim