ARTICLE: "Hide and seek is a game that we in Pakistan never tire of playing."

"It's an ageless game."

"Indeed, and it's fun to watch as well. And to say that the one hiding is a coward doesn't cut any ice with me... I mean the one hiding is playing a game and..."

"Ha, ha, that's true and once any of our big gun politicians cease to play the game then their sightings are no fun."

"But Nawaz Sharif's sighting in London..."

"Not half as much fun as when he was playing hide and seek..."

"Did he ever play the game? I mean the difference between the two brothers so far to my mind has been that while Shahbaz Sharif plays hide and seek the elder Sharif doesn't..."

"You are right, he plays the more cerebral game of chess - whatever moves the other side makes he has always checkmated his opponents - from Ghulam Ishaq to Musharraf to The Khan and let's be honest the bird had flown the coup and the supposed big government guns went wee, wee, wee all the way home."

"What?"

"You know that nursery rhyme, five little mice went to the market and the last one went wee wee wee on the way home."

"Well, he ain't the last of the Sharifs - there are at least two contenders..."

"OK, but what about Zardari sahib? He is awfully quiet these days so do you reckon he doesn't like playing hide and seek?"

"He dances to the tune of a different drummer, he played hide and seek when he was in power unlike the Sharifs..."

"Different drummer?"

"He is the only one of the current batch of one man party leader who gets all the votes who is an Inheritor and not the first King of the dynasty."

"And an inheritor can be disinherited?"

"Nope, Zardari sahib has dealt with that threat long ago...anyway what did you mean when you said Zardari sahib plays hide and seek when he is in government."

"His spiritual guide used to advise him to seek the sea or the mountains based on his stars?"

"Ah yes I remember, so what does The Khan's spiritual guide tell him?"

"I don't interfere in matters marital."

"Wise."