The Flowers’ Stalks: selling books on Lahore’s streets
By Behzad Taimur The Sun is mellow and the early Sunday morning birdsong comes drifting down slowing through the air, and settles softly on a small street just off of Lahore’s famous Anarkali bazaar, like dust settles down once a gust of wind has blown past. The street is littered with small stalls of old books – each stall is a sheet of paper or a clump of rags with innumerable books lying on top. This, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arts and Crafts, culture, Education, Heritage, History, Literature
Death of a Nation
by Hafsa Khawaja Holding on in the midst of political, social and economic storms, the Pakistan of today is an illustration of an almighty bedlam. Unsurprisingly, death and destruction have now eased into humdrum routinely occurrences for most people; Predictably throwing a cloak of desensitization over them; giving rise to chronic apathy. A common trend that has been nurtured in this environment is the juxtaposition of tragedies for comparisons to exhibit selectivity of people’s reactions and responses. To question … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, culture, drama, History, human rights, Identity, Opinion, Pakistan, Society, violence, war
Greasing the wheels
By Saad Hafiz: The view that corruption is widespread in public places is generally held around the world, but it is not just in governments that corruption is found. It has permeated all levels of society. Corruption has been around for just about as long as institutions and opportunities of any sort. [The King] shall protect trade routes from harassment by courtiers, state officials, thieves and frontier guards…(and) frontier officers shall make good what is lost…Just as it is impossible not to taste honey or poison that one may find at the tip of one’s tongue, so it is impossible for one dealing with government funds not to taste, at least a little bit, of the King’s wealth. –From the treatise The Arthashastra by Kautilya (chief minister to the king in ancient … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture
Thumbs Down Part I
I was in the United States for one month on an exchange program for youth leaders from Pakistan. Apart from innumerable things that I liked while I was there, some aspects of American life did not appeal to me as much as the rest of them. Following are some of those snippets of Daily American Life that I noticed and was not too pleased about. Extravagance United States, unlike Pakistan, has abundance of many things, including food … Read entire article »
Filed under: Blogroll, Citizens, culture, Economy, Education, History, Imperialism, Multinational Corporations, USA
Orientalism Today
About three weeks ago, in an interview that was part of a tour to launch his latest book, Salman Rusdhie was asked about what he thought about the protests that erupted in Muslim countries as a result of the film, “Innocence of Muslims” (or the “Life of Muhammed,” or “Muslim Innocence, depending on reports). He responded by calling the video a “disgraceful little malevolent thing ” and the violence that erupted as a consequence of the film, “the release of a much larger outrage.” Rushdie went on to comment on the topic, saying “He’s clearly set out to provoke, and he’s obviously unleashed a much bigger reaction that he hoped for. One of the problems with defending free speech is you often have to defend people that you find to be … Read entire article »
Filed under: Colonialism, culture, Media, Uncategorized
Culture Shock – American Lifestyle
By Kashif: A life-changing event for me was a trip to the United States of America (USA), when I was selected as a Fulbright Scholar. The US is a dreamland for almost everyone; considering the number of visitors in New York and Chicago per day waiting in a queue would certainly testify my above mentioned assertion. I couldn’t believe I am in the US until the first day at the school. The whole system, the organized processes, students’ maturity, students’ goals, professors’ friendliness and among others, impressed me a lot and instantly broke the prejudice being carried in my mind about America and American people. The mind-change was a little bit quick and I realized I am still in a danger zone as my friends and family members kept on calling and … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture
Manto: An Author of Tales for Children
By: Josh Shahryar It was with much sorrow that I learned that Saadat Hasan Manto has been posthumously awarded the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest civilian honor. Too late? Maybe. However, that news opened too many old wounds in my heart. Wounds that I had to write something about if I was to find some closure. You see, to the rest of the world, Manto is a fearless story-teller, who spoke to adults, aiming to open their eyes to endemic oppression around them. To me, though, he will forever be a writer who spoke to children. The news of the posthumous – and might I add tragically late – recognition he received from the government of Pakistan took me back down memory lane to the moment I first encountered his words that seemed so out of … Read entire article »
Filed under: culture, Literature, Pakistan, Writers
Fashion week pakistan
By The fashion police The wait is finally up!!! Fashion Pakistan Week 3 is coming back with a bang! Fashion Pakistan proudly announces the date of Fashion Pakistan Week 3 is this April 2012, now all you fashionistas need to save this date! This is one fashion week you won’t want to miss, as Pakistan’s most powerful and influential designers will all be under one roof for one week only! Fashion Pakistan Week 3 is a … Read entire article »
Dismantling the barriers of hate
By Ghazala Akbar Midway between the cities of Lahore in Pakistan and Amritsar in India each about 25 km away is the village called Wagah. It stands on an ancient pathway that stretches from Kabul in the North West to Calcutta in the North East and beyond to Shonargaon in Bangladesh. Known variously in history as Uttara Patha, Sadaq – e -Azam or the Grand Trunk road, it was until very recently, the only road link … Read entire article »
Filed under: Citizens, culture, Democracy, India, Pakistan, Politics, secular Pakistan, Society
Interview: Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, the First Pakistani Oscar Nominee
by Nadia Rasul Visual storyteller and Academy Award nominee Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy spoke to Asia Blog recently about the strong tradition of storytelling in Pakistan, the need for spreading awareness and generating dialogue about critical social issues in the country, the impact of digital media technologies on her work and what an Oscar nomination means to her. Chinoy is the first Pakistani to be nominated for an Academy Award for her film Saving Face. Her film, which … Read entire article »
The Lavish Wedding in Dubai…
Jang group is the largest media group in the country and in recent times its power has only increased. Its electronic arm, GEO TV, is one of the most influential television stations in Pakistan and is known to promote populist narratives according to which politicians are corrupt and operate with no accountability. Lifestyles of politicians is often targeted and any “exuberance” is projected as complete insensitivity to the plight of the suffering poor of the country. … Read entire article »
The ‘F’ word*
You tell a male that this day forth he must not go out to work, he must marry to support himself, he must take permission from his wife or parents before he goes out, that he doesn’t need education… he would find such restrictions ridiculous. When a female has the same sentiments, she is thought to be ridiculous. The sentiments of the sexes can be the same, because as humans we are similar and equal. This … Read entire article »
The novelist – chapter 3
“Old coot, bastard” exclaimed Jalal having inhaled some of the dust kicked up “Well what do you except man, after the way you spoke to him we could have at least gone back with him” muttered zarmina, knowing they would probably have to in the next hour or so as the afternoon sun was burning fierce in the sky without any clouds in sight. “Cmon zari don’t be so naive, all of these places are extremely expensive … Read entire article »
Sleep my darling – chapter 2
By DELILAH It is difficult to do much when one has three children under the age of five. I called up Dr. Baji in the afternoon but I couldn’t explain anything to her on the phone. She said she would speak to Sarmad and set up a time when he could take me to her. Dr. Baji had become a very important person in our lives. She had been our savior once we had migrated to Karachi … Read entire article »
The novelist – chapter 2
“You really cannot be serious” she looked at her husband in a mixture of shock and more than a little bit of nervousness as they sat at the real estate agents office. A dingy mixture of island green artificial carpet and too bright yellowish walls. “Well if you have an idea that wont let go, you might as well follow through no?” Jalal said as he thumbed through some house guides lying next to them on … Read entire article »
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