The Donor – A short story
by S Adil Shah It was a prominent private hospital where people from every nook and corner of the country would come to seek a cure to their ailments. The news of Mr. Abdullah’s kidney transplant surgery spread in the area like a wild fire. On the day of the operation the hospital was filled by a multitude of people, notwithstanding the efforts of the security personnel to check their inflow. Complete disorder prevailed in the hospital. Relatives, intimate friends, acquaintances and business colleagues of Mr. Abdullah rushed towards him to embrace, hug and encourage him not to lose heart just when he was heading from ward towards the operation theater. “Don’t worry man! It’ll be a matter of minutes and Dr. Tariq’s genius in such cases is known the world over,” a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fiction, Literature, New Writers, Pakistan
Follow Hollow – a short play
FOLLOW HOLLOW Characters in the play: Hollow Cribage Filmy Fulmee Bearded Fuelus Shaven Fuelus One bunk bed lies along right wall, one along the left one. The former is slightly higher than the latter. One closet lies next to the right bed, one next to the left one. The latter is slightly higher than the former. One small dressing table lies next to the left closet, a small looking glass and refrigerator next to the right one. The center of the stage is bare. Cribage is sleeping peacefully on the left bunk. Hollow is sleeping restlessly on the right one, shifting about uneasily, as one having a bad dream. He stirs, tosses, turns, and finally falls, screaming. Lands with a thud. … Read entire article »
Filed under: drama, Fiction, Literature, Pakistan, Theatre, Writers
God Revisted
posted by Soniah David Plotz knew religion in ‘bits and pieces’ –he knew a bit of this, he remembered a piece of that, the rest he picked up along the way. Then one day in adulthood he attends a Bar Mitzvah and picks up the Good Book and opens it and reads it and what he reads startles him enough to read more and record what he comes away reading. This record makes for a hysterical series called Blogging the Bible. Here’s an example: “Moses leads the Israelites into the wilderness—Day 1 of their 40-year trek. They immediately complain that they’re thirsty and the only available water is bitter. We’re a grumbling people, aren’t we? Freedom after 430 years of captivity, and nothing to do but grouse. The Israelites had crabbed to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fiction, Humor, Islam, Pakistan, Religion, Society
Nawabdin Electrician – a fine story
by Daniyal Mueenuddin – published in the New Yorker (August 27, 2007 ) He flourished on a signature ability: a technique for cheating the electric company by slowing down the revolutions of its meters, so cunningly performed that his customers could specify to the hundred-rupee note the desired monthly savings. In this Pakistani desert, behind Multan, where the tube wells pumped from the aquifer day and night, Nawab’s discovery eclipsed the philosopher’s stone. Some thought he used magnets, others said heavy oil or porcelain chips or a substance he found in beehives. Skeptics reported that he had a deal with the meter men. In any case, this trick guaranteed Nawab’s employment, both off and on the farm of his patron, K. K. Harouni. The farm lay strung along a narrow and pitted … Read entire article »
Hayy ibn Yaqzan: The Robinson Crusoe of Islamic Tradition
by Aasem Bakhshi Hayy ibn Yaqzan is a classic by Ibn Tufail – a Spanish Muslim philosopher, physician and scientist from 12th century. Simon Ockley’s translation can be found here in pdf. A better and modern translation is by Lenn Goodman but it is not available on the internet unfortunately. Its a story of a boy, the nature of whose existence was shadowy to an extent that there are two completely rivaling accounts of his origins. One … Read entire article »
Filed under: Books, Fiction, Literature, Philosophy
Dr. Enver Sajjad – An Enigmatgic Icon
temporal The first ever-commissioned play to be telecast in the subcontinent in November 1964 was written by Enver Sajjad. He was bestowed with Pride of Performance in 1989 for his valuable work in literature. And he got the ECO Award of Excellence 2004 in history, literature and culture. His screenplay are so deftly written that a prolific writer like Ashfaq Ahmed once confessed that he learned to write screenplay from Enver Sajjad I was at Riaz Rafi’s studio apartment one evening. Rafi as he likes to be called is an artist with a nagging conscience. I was in the midst of doing an in-depth profile of him. (project shelved indefinitely–cannot get permission to use some quotes.) … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arts and Crafts, Books, Dance, Fiction, Karachi, Literature, Theatre
Rishta
A short story by Pervaiz Munir Alvi PurDil Khan had been under a lot of pressure lately. Even before the month of fasting had started his wife was nagging him on a number of issues. She wanted his help to stock essentials like sugar, rice, flour and ghee before the prices would shoot up for the holidays. She also wanted him to send for their elder daughter Gul Jan and her three little children to spend Ramazan and Eid with them. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Fiction, Literature, Society
Recent Comments