On my perfect weekend I would see no one except my very close friends Yousaf, Moby, Zakir and Goldie. I?ve known them for more than 30 years but these days it?s so rare that I get to spend time with them. We?d go for long walks, relax in the sun and eat delicious dinners. Yousaf is one of the best cooks I know. Ideally he will prepare something from the organic produce on my farm ? I rear my own chickens, water buffalo and cows and I grow my own vegetables, wheat and fruit. If I had my way he?d make chicken in organic butter fat ? he?s a master at it. Moby produces great music. After dinner we?ll relax by the fire and listen to music and talk late into the night.
If my children Sulaiman, 14, and Kasim, 12, were there too, the weekend would be even more ideal. I always have the best time when I?m with my children. I especially look forward to them coming to stay in the winter because they can play outside with their friends for most of the day and spend time with me inside in the evenings. There?s endless entertainment for them on the farm: a swimming pool, a mini-cricket ground and acres upon acres of open space where they can run around and see birds and animals.
If we go out anywhere, it will be to one particular restaurant I love in Islamabad called Mian Jee. It?s where the truckers stop for a meal on the way into the city. The chefs there only cook four dishes but they cook them so well and everything is fresh and organic. Their channay ki daal (fried dahl) is internationally renowned.
I?m based permanently in Pakistan but I do spend a few weekends a year in Britain. I fly over every July when my children are on school holidays and stay with my ex-mother-in-law in Richmond. I?m so grateful that she lives in a place where there are plenty of open spaces where we can bowl a ball to each other and go walking in Richmond Park. I?d find it very difficult to be stuck in central London these days ? I wouldn?t know what to do with myself.
That said, I do have fond memories of my weekends in Britain when I was younger. After I?d graduated from Keble College, Oxford, in 1975, most of my weekends were taken up playing cricket for Worcestershire and Sussex or captaining Pakistan?s team. Then from 1988 to 1994, when I?d retired from county cricket, I enjoyed being a bachelor in London. All my friends were free at weekends so we would laze about together, reading the papers. A far cry from my life today!
On Sunday evenings on my farm, I always look forward to the new week with great expectation. I always have projects on the go: I?ve built a hospital, I?m building another hospital, I?ve set up a university and my book, a personal history of Pakistan, has just appeared in the bookshops. But given that weekends don?t really exist for Pakistani politicians, there?s every chance Monday will be a day of rest.
What are you reading at the moment?
The last book I read was Tinderbox: the Past and Future of Pakistan by M?J Akbar
Favourite item of clothing?
Shalwar kameez is the most comfortable clothing to wear. In summer, they fall loosely around you
What?s the most ridiculous thing you?ve ever read about yourself?
So many things: that I?m a part of a Jewish conspiracy to take over Pakistan; that I?m part of the Taliban
What irritates you most?
When people are rude
What?s the best piece of advice you?ve ever been given?
Judge a person by assessing their intelligence when they?re at their best and their character when they?re at their worst
What?s your most memorable sporting moment?
When I captained Pakistan?s cricket team to win the World Cup in 1992 ? it brought such joy to our country and it meant I could complete a hospital
What would your last supper be?
Free-range chicken with properly cooked roti, the red chapati which is cooked in certain villages in Pakistan
My favourite things
Holidays with my children
The Karakorum mountains in Pakistan, the highest range in the world
Snow leopards
Shooting partridge with dogs
Spending time with my friends
Sheep dogs from the mountains of Pakistan ? they?re so intelligent
- Pakistan: A Personal History by Imran Khan is available from Telegraph Books for �18 plus �1.25p p&p. Call 0844 8711515 or go to books.telegraph.co.uk
Dame Margot Fonteyn Glenn Ford John Forsythe Jodie Foster Michael J. Fox
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