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Food Stories: Sindhi Biryani
The energy was electric, dhamaal (an ecstatic Sufi dance to the beat of drums) was at its peak, the qawwali (songs sung at Sufi Shrines) was being rendered by none other than Ghulam Fareed Sabri, 'Bhar...
View ArticleFor the critics — Here's why PTI protests make sense
Several people, and especially the PML-N government, seem to be deeply irked by PTI protests regarding the rigging of the May 2013 general elections. They are apparently having a hard time...
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Movie Review: 'Holiday' – a soldier is never off duty
Director A.R. Murugadoss’s Holiday has a very specific statement: army men – even those on holidays – are above local law enforcement.In every subsequent scene, an army man named Virat (Akshay Kumar)...
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Laal's Facebook page being unblocked is not the big win we think it is
Last week, Pakistan’s social media space was dominated by anti-government sentiments following the countrywide ban on the Facebook page of progressive rock music band, ‘Laal’.In a blocking spree, the...
View ArticleMehdi Hasan — the voice that still haunts
It has been two years since Mehdi Hasan left this world and almost 14 since he last gave a public performance. It was so heartrending to see him suffer from different illnesses for at least a decade...
View Article'No Exit' for us: How Karachiites are Sartre's characters in real
Suffering does not always entail visible pain.In Jean Paul Sartre’s play “No Exit”, the characters are condemned not to the fire and brimstone of an expected hell, but rather to the company of each...
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Parents, please look — the books you've long yearned for are here
Oxford University Press holds literary sessions from time to time at their Khalid bin Waleed Road book shop and I often go there.One evening, the traffic from my office to the bookshop was surprisingly...
View ArticleFrom the tavern: The bloody tale of a zombie-city
As always, we got together at the tavern for another Alif Laila story.And as we sat with cups and glasses of whatever we were drinking, the storyteller began:Scheherzade said to the king: “Your...
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Movie Review: CityLights shows a world of fraud and hypocrisy
Big cities still hold a unique attraction for people living in rural areas. These people get blinded by the glitter of the cities and believe that it can provide them all – food, shelter, a prosperous...
View ArticleAn operation — but at a cost...
The government has finally launched a military operation against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and its cohorts. At this juncture, it is crucial that the nation resist too much euphoria over a...
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From ‘Shahi’ to ‘Awami’ — it is Pakistanis vs Lahore Fort
Say, you are in Lahore right now. Say you decide to visit the Shahi Qila (Lahore Fort). Say, that you are at the Fort and passing by the steps made for the King’s elephant to walk over at the Fort. If...
View ArticleIraq crisis: feasting on a "failed state"
Packed away in its box high on a shelf, sits my “Iraq Reconstruction Medal”. I am not as proud as Tony Blair appears to be about my initial interventions in Iraq and have been trying to make amends...
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The real Father of Karachi (it's not who you think)
'Ownership', as defined by Oxford English Dictionary is ‘the act, state or right of possessing something’. In Urdu, it translates into Milkiyyat, while in Sindhi the alternative is Maaliki.When...
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Movie Review: Tamanna is not meant for the big-screen
In Tamanna, the neo-noir adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s play Sleuth, a kooky old film director invites his wife’s lover over to his grand old house in the country for an intellectual game of cat and...
View ArticleWho will be responsible for 8 deaths?
Pakistan’s politicians had a very busy day yesterday, staging walk-outs, demanding resignations, calling for days of mourning and playing politics over the killing of eight people during violent...
View ArticleSectarianism in Iraq — is Pakistan watching?
Iraq has descended into a full-blown civil war. The Jihadists have captured three towns and are marching on to Baghdad. They claim to have killed 1,700 prisoners in violation of Islamic and other laws...
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Najam Sethi: Chirping away facts
Journalist, publisher, TV personality and former Marxist insurgent, Najam Sethi, takes great care in what he says and how he says it.Consequently In 2013 he became a caretaker par excellence. Just...
View ArticleZarb-i-Azb — Bad news for 'Good' Taliban?
The North Waziristan military offensive is on.As we all hope, it will change the militant landscape of the country besides having a far-reaching impact on the political and strategic dynamics of...
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Gullu Butt: An Auto-smashing-biography
Gullu Butt is a famous automobile smasher from Pakistan. He was born in Lahore (capital of the Punjab province) to equally famous parents, Maula Jatt and Nuri Nutt.His father, Maula Jatt, was the...
View ArticleThe Drowning Hazara
They’ve been killed in droves; dragged out of buses on blown up inside mosques, shot at roadside shops. In the days and months of this very bloody Pakistani decade, the tragedy of the Hazara is well...
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