Said to be Pakistan&rsquos second largest city, Lahore is also effectively the cultural capital of the nation. Home to various monuments, including the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Lahore Fort and Shalimar Gardens, it is also a popular destination for tourists. But how many of us know the people who form the core of the city It was a question that struck Faizan Ahmad, photographer and visual artists, over five years back.

A resident of Basirpur, in Pakistan's Punjab, Ahmad moved to Lahore to attend college. &ldquoEveryday, I have been using Metro Bus to get to my college,&rdquo he writes on Facebook. &ldquoThe big city and its experience has been very exciting to me. Out of curiosity, I started talking with the fellow passengers and asking them simple questions about their daily life.&rdquo

To Ahmad, the Lahore Metrobus, the city&rsquos mass rapid transport system, was like a microcosm of the city, and he started meticulously recording people&rsquos lives through conversations and photographs. It was not easy to make his fellow passengers talk, especially women. Ahmad would have to think of ways of winning people&rsquos trust. But when they opened up, he was privy to their family history, their daily activities, personal experiences, etc.

&ldquoSometimes people really started to open up and share their personal stories such as an old man telling me about his golden youth days or a group of students on why they are studying particular subjects, writes Ahmad. &ldquoThese conversations were very humbling and interesting, so one day I decided to share them with the world. I created an Instagram and Facebook page and started featuring the people I encountered in Metro Bus or its stations.&rdquo

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when people were not able to commute, he even invited people across the globe to send their short stories by email.

Inspired by the tales of the people and works of famous photographers, Ahmad has decided to publish his work as a coffee table book through crowd-sourced funds.