Maniac-Moments

Who fears Muslim League?

2012-01-19T22:28:00.000-08:00

Governance at an all-time low may be sufficient to cost PPP elections this time, but can the PMLN come back to power? Or will the “Imran Tsunami” hit the PMLN ballot box hard? Here is a brief synopsis of how PMLN has fared in the last three years.

First for a few months PMLN was in a coalition with PPP. But it had to separate paths when the "Charter of Democracy" was breached and PPP refused to reinstate the judges. However, the label “friendly opposition” did not serve PMLN well, because it meant approving and towing to PPP’s guidelines. Nonetheless, resistance over not reinstating the judges gave PMLN a political and popular edge over PPP and of course, spelled disaster for Zardari attempting to escape the corruption cases under NRO.

Lost vendors of Lahore by Dr Tehseen Aman

2011-11-22T00:19:00.001-08:00

LAHORE has grown from sober to intellectual to zinda-dillan. But for one old lady, it is nostalgic to reminiscence of the days gone by. At the time of Partition, Lahore had little to boast about except the Mughal architecture such as Shalimar Gardens, Badshahi Mosque and the Fort. The Zoo and the museum were an added glamour for the Lahorites. The old and young went to these places when they wanted an outing, otherwise they mopped round their mohalla, had charpoy talks and ate thanday golay served by vendors on hot summer days.

The ice golay wala was announced by a ringing of the copper bell and little boys and girls would gather round him, to buy ice gollay with fruity flavours or just ogle at him while he rang his bell and called out in a melodious voice “gollay danday wala aya jay.” The most spectacular vision was when he shaved a block of ice by moving it back and forth over a large razor and shaping the shavings by hand into a ball, while piercing a small round stick into it. Then he would squirt coloured sweet syrups from bottles onto the ice balls.

Such street vendors brightened the otherwise dull afternoons. These were days when Pakistan was in its infancy, innocent but alive, throbbing and pulsating with future hope. These vendors were an integral part of Lahore’s simple everyday life.

Then there was the ‘toffee candy’ man, who never lagged behind. He carried his gatta on a long bamboo and could create magic on a small stick. He would weave magic with his fingers and soon the soft candy would be twisted, prodded and turned into a horse, peacock or even a soldier complete with his cap and bayonet. The children named the image and got it. The candy would not melt or finish off quickly as did the gola. You could suck on it for a full day, keep it under your pillow for the night and again suck it in the morning. The sweet taste of both the gola and the toffee candy lasted for a long time, and both the vendors did a roaring business roaming the streets of Lahore.

Winters, on the other hand, were marked with corn cobs and long stems of ganah of sugarcane. There were no machines to prepare popcorn or to extract juice from the sugarcane. For popcorn, there was the danay bhoonnay wali mai. After the harvesting of the corn crop, she would set up a special bhatti for the roasting of corn. A simple wood fire beneath a metal wok, a metal garwi and a sieve were her main tools. The wok was half-filled with fine grey sand from the riverbed. The corn was added to the sand and fresh fire was conjured up by dry wood.

The delicious aroma tempted both the young and the old to savour the palatable roasted corns, rubbing them between their hand, blowing the chaff off and popping a handful into the mouth. Sometimes, the mai would also cook wheat grains with gur in a similar fashion, thus bringing sweet temptation on a dull, cloudy and chilly afternoon.

Traversing the streets of Lahore was another vendor, the lachaywala. His voice would mesmerize little ones. When his musical voice rang loud lal mai da chata khao, children would run out to see who this lal mai was and how they could eat her chata (hair). No matter if the children saw the chata every day, they would always be intrigued by his voice. Though this vendor is still found standing in the big bazaars of Lahore, now it has become candy floss and it is wrapped in polythene bags and only very small children, when they look at it, are enticed by the colourful floss.

These were the vendors who sold eatables, but there were others, too, like maashki and the qalaiwala. The maashki was the man with a goat-skin bag. He would carry and deliver water from far-away wells to houses in the walled city and even outside because there was a lack of taps or water tanks on rooftops. The maashki would come to the door and call out loudly. The women would go in purdah, while he would be allowed into the house and fill big copper matkas or earthenware ones. He would come twice a day, in the early morning and in the evenings, just round Magrib prayers. The maashki was given flour as payment.

Then there was the annual visit from the qalaiwala. He knew exactly which houses needed qalai polishing for utensils. He would gather the copper pots of the house round him, set up his coal fire by digging a small pit in the ground and stocking it to the required temperature with a pair of ancient leather fans. Then he would put the stained and pitted metal utensils on the fire, heat it, put a little bit of tin on the surface of the utensil and quickly rub it with Ammonium Bicarbonate, with wool all round and inside the utensils. Behold, a glistening new white utensil lay before you!

There was another vendor who charmed mostly girls and women alike, the chooriwala, with colourful glass bangles. No plastic or metal was used in those days. He had a big stand with six to seven rods on both sides. Specially before Eid he would roam the streets, calling in a melodious voice. Women would peep through their doors, call out to him and then start choosing various colours. Thus, Eid would be made more colourful at the very doorstep.

How can the cloth vendor be forgotten? The main attraction was his gabardine, which the women bought for winter and his latha and sheent for summer. Only for a special occasion could pure silk be bought. Synthetic cloth was not in vogue. He was most awaited round special occasions such as Ramazan, Eid, weddings and even deaths. These vanished visions of Lahore will never return as we move into the 21st century.

This article was first published in Dawn.

My cup of tea

2011-11-14T04:46:00.001-08:00

Agood cup of tea is a miracle and therefore very rare. The other cups are just asocial compulsion.

Ihave been having tea since the time I could talk, and that was a long time ago.Since then I have not been frugal with either words or tea. As a kid, all teawas alike. But during the time we were looking for a "rishta" (proposal)for my uncle, I realised there is as much inequality in tea as there is amonghumans. Tea too comes in many castes, creeds and colours. You can figure outits status almost immediately after the first sip, and sometimes even beforethat.

The key factor that enhances the status of tea is how fondly someone hasmade it. Even the cheapest brand of tea can do wonders, if someone really wantsto make you happy. Most cups reach you because of etiquette and you likewisetake them out of formality. It’s an impersonal interaction, like saying “hello”to a stranger on an early morning train. My advice to all half-hearted tea serversis, buy some juice or those cartons of cold drinks available at Metro and Hyperstar,and save us the torture.

My mother makes good tea. There is a delicate balancebetween the milk and tea leaves, an appropriately long time for boiling and theright ratio of ingredients. That is her winning secret. A small miss by an amateurtea-maker and a wonderful joy becomes a banal drudgery which can at bestameliorate a headache rather than become a delight unto itself.

Everytea-maker gives a distinct taste to his or her tea. I try to copy my mother buteither the water isn’t boiled enough or it gets over-boiled. In any case, thereis seldom much “felicity” as Austen would put it. My mother has aged now; sheconfuses the ingredients and timing, occasionally making it too milky, diluteor watery. But her distinct flavour is still there. For many years, I wasmaking tea in the microwave oven. There was an occasional spill and the ovenalways smelled of over-boiled tea leaves. Thankfully there is no legislationagainst such kitchen transgressions.

There are several dozen types of teas,with many flavours, scents and colours. The academy I went to in Germany hadsome eight different flavours. There was spicy tea, rosemary, earl grey, mint,mixed fruit etc. You could never guess the flavour or the colour. The black teathey served was too bitter. So I resorted to green tea with mint. Light tea,with fewer leaves and faint colour, is not very inspiring. Once in Delhi, myfriends took me to a restaurant in Khan Market, called the Shukla’s, which wasfamous for its tea. But the tea there was too light for my taste. Perhaps thereis a subtle taste that this connoisseur has yet to appreciate. Then there wasthis cook of a friend who served regular tea with cardamom. Its scent andsugary flavour struck a chord and I kept taking it till the end of the night.

Thenutritional value of tea has been in doubt forever. My mother is dead sure itgives one a dark complexion and darker lips. A teacher once taught us that teaincreases calcium removal from the body. New studies state it improves bonedensity, decreases phosphorous deficiency, has an anti-aging effect and perhapseven suppresses depression. But when I am having tea, I don’t think of phosphorousor anti-oxidants, I am merely having a taste of life.

Manyyears back, when my great grand-mother was still alive, I visited her at herplace when she was alone. It was a cold winter evening; she was sick but out ofcourtesy she went to the kitchen which was a total mess because of the unwashedutensils and old food. She washed the saucepan, boiled some water, added tealeaves and then of course milk. This “mixed” tea was never my cup of tea butshe insisted I take it. And I still remember the aroma of that tea, the textureof those leaves, the thick milky taste and the cheerful look on her face.
This piece was first published in the News on Sunday.

“The plays we do are for the ‘burger crowd’ and not a wider audience”

2011-10-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

Sanwal Tariq, an NCA under-grad, gave a sterling performance as Oscar inNeil Simon’s The Odd Couple run inAlhamra Lahore last month. Together with Felix, he dominated the stage and keptthe audience engaged in a way even actors from established theatre groupscan’t. This was Sanwal’s umpteenth time on stage and he seems better each time.An aspiring filmmaker and actor, he candidly discusses his interest in acting,future plans and challenges.

The News on Sunday: What created your interest in acting?

Sanwal Tariq: “Created” is difficult to state. I seriously have no idea. Perhaps in the7th grade when we performed ‘Royal Hunt in the Sun’, I had this reallysmall role in which I had no lines, I just came on the stage and they killed me,that’s how it began.

TNS: What otherplays have you been a part of?

ST: Neverreally counted how many plays I have done. In school I had been part ofproductions, in small roles as a news journalist and in A-levels I used to sitbehind Omair Rana when he directed plays. I also wrote and directed a playcalled ‘Bhoot Manzil”, in A-levels, which was presented from LahoreGrammar Johar Town Branch in 2008 and at LUMS in 2009. It was about a lodgenear the border area in Sialkotwhere people kept getting kidnapped.

TNS: Doyou want to learn acting from abroad?

ST: Not sure,because right now I want to move to ad-making or directing short films. One hasto be realistic and have short-term goals in Pakistan.

TNS: Do you gettraining as an actor in National College of Arts?

ST: I havejoined Neo-transitional Mime at the college. I want to learn mime because ithelps on flexibility and giving exaggerated expressions. It’s basically makinga person believe in something that is not actually there. Then I joined ‘AlifAdaab’, a theatre-based society from where I have learnt the most.

TNS: Do youwant to join TV at some point?

ST: (laughs) Ihave acted in two short episodes of a serial, it is fun and you actually getpaid. But you cannot communicate with your audiences like you do on stage.However, there are no financial returns on stage.

TNS: Do youwant to direct movies?

ST: Ten tofifteen years from now, yes, I want to make full-length feature films but rightafter graduation it isn't possible because no one will invest in me. They wantto see a very strong portfolio before offering something so big.

TNS: Willtheatre ever pay off in Pakistan?

ST: In Pakistan onlytickets will bring profits. We need a culture of ticketing. ‘Noises off’a play directed by Omair Rana and much publicised had a low turnout. People,who are even nominally successful, like Rana, are not directing playsregularly. Rana produced a play three years ago, and then last year and thisyear again he took a break. These stage successes must be frequent to reinforcea theatre-going culture.

Theplays we do are for the ‘burger crowd’, people like me, from private schoolsand colleges and not a wider audience, without much large-scale impact. Much ofour publicity is through word of mouth. For the Odd Couple we arrangedstreamers for marketing, but that can be only afforded through ticketing.

TNS: How muchtime and rehearsing does a play like the Odd Couple take?

ST: To behonest, it only took us one month of rehearsals after the cast was finalised.The production took two months. Not much effort was required, two hours ofrehearsals each day. We wanted it to be fun and easy for everyone. The lastweek we ran for six hours at maximum but everyone had to learn his/her linesfrom home. But this too takes 15 or so minutes of practicing variations infront of the mirror and that’s all. It is always fun.

TNS: How muchhas the film-making course at NCA helped you?

ST: It has helpeda lot since it prepares you for practical work. This practice helps inprofessional life. Production houses are fewer but there are many opportunitiesin TV, where even the weakest student can find a job. Independent movies shouldbe encouraged. Independent movies are private endeavours by persons who put inmoney for a feature length movie about anything, fictitious or documentary. Itwill help in encouraging the film-making and cine-going culture.

TNS: What isthe future of theatre in Pakistanas you see it?

ST: That Isee? I don’t know. We were stupid or passionate enough, my group of friend andI, that we have been trying and working. We don’t know if we will do it againbut our juniors have started working in productions. LGS people have takeninitiatives.

TNS: The lotyou come from and target (which you call ‘burger’), can afford the tickets, sowhat worries you?

ST: Yes theydo but then they also have cell-phones, cigarettes and other expenditurepriorities. They won’t go to watch a play just because the poster is appealingand we also don’t have big stars that can attract them. There are hardly anymarketable theatre actors around.

A bond of blood

2011-10-02T05:19:00.000-07:00

Dengue patients in Lahore have had a high mortality rate and usually it is the fallen platelet count in the blood that costs life. The dengue virus hampers and sometimes destroys the body’s capacity to produce new platelets. The normal body’s platelet count is 150,000-250,000 per ?l of blood. A dengue patients platelet count may have a steep fall and become lower than 100,000 per ?l (mm3). This is alarming because it can impede clotting, cause hemorrhages and result in internal and external bleeding. Once the bleeding starts, it is often irrecoverable.

“Government hospitals have a vast network of donors, emergency contacts of donors, stock of the most common blood groups and even co-ordination with other hospitals,” says Dr Syed Sohbin, the Additional Medical Superintendent (ADMS)of Jinnah Hospital. He adds that each hospital has a blood bank and a Blood Bank Officer. Usually, it is the family members who donate but the hospital can also provide donors.

There has been a dearth of blood donations in the city, which was utterly unprepared for an epidemic of this scale. However, the efforts of Lahore’s civil society have been commendable in this regard.

“We do not deal with blood donations and transmission but right now we are, due to the emergency conditions. We are doing the CBC test for blood count for Rs50. However, we cannot arrange donors and the patient has to do that himself. Usually it is a family member or relative,” says Anwar Iqbal, manager of Fatimid Foundation. He adds that the staff duty timings are 9 to 7, but these days they have to stay back late - sometimes till 2 in the morning - and they almost never refuse a patient in need.

A blood donation is not very easy to obtain because many people fear disease transfusion and any weakness that might follow. But much of this fear is baseless because blood transfusion has become rather advanced. Hospitals, even government ones are very particular and strict about hygiene, blood screening for Hepatitis, HIV, Syphilis and malaria and they work hard towards safe syringe disposal too. The syringe enters the dustbin only when its needle is broken and this ensures that it cannot be reused.

The donor is ideally aged between 20 to 40 years. This is because by the age of 20, the donor has fully grown bones, where blood is generated and past the age of 40, the donor is slightly aged and might have developed health complications already. Males are encouraged as compared to females because the latter lose blood every month and are often short of haemoglobin and iron.

One almost incorrigible problem is finding O-negative blood, a rare group that can donate to everyone but receives blood exclusively from within the O-negative group. Although a very small percentage of population is O-negative and there is a balance of donors and recipients, the dengue outbreak has caused a supply mismatch and significant shortage.

“We do not have Cell Separators, which are very swift, effective but a little expensive. Its chief benefit is that it can sieve platelets alone out of the blood, making the blood group of the donor and recipient is irrelevant” says Anwar Iqbal of Fatimid Foundation. He adds that Fatimid has a Cryofugue, which is slower and not as efficient. But it is cheaper. However the biggest disadvantage is that it cannot sieve the platelets alone and the blood groups of donors and recipients have to be compatible.

Dr. Syed Sohbin of Jinnah Hospital states that government hospitals maintain “special lists” for this rare blood group but usually someone in the family, parents or siblings is also of the same group and can help.

The cell separators are present in some private and government hospitals. The demand is however much greater than the supply, and some cell separators in the government hospitals require repair. Those in the private sector require Rs 13-15 thousand per transfusion and are unaffordable for the vast majority of Pakistanis.

Many social workers and activists utilised social networking sites to find donors, not just for their loved ones but also for a much larger network of people in need. Emails, SMSes, Facebook, Twitter and other media were used to appeal for blood donations. Most appeals have a phone number attached. On Facebook, not just personal profiles but other groups having a large following like “Go Green” and “Justice For Imanae Malik”, have been leveraged for this noble cause.

Shahid Khan, who works for ACCA, started using the online venues for his relatives in need but soon expanded his network because of the encouraging response. Now he is facilitating the treatment of his colleague’s pregnant sister and another friend’s O-negative mother who have developed complications.

“Since I use references when online, people respond to me within 3 to 4 hours” The screening and testing takes a few more hours so he is often able to help patients within 10 to 15 hours of his posting online. He praises a website called bloodforlife.com.pk - a network of blood donors that rarely disappoints one in their hour of need.

Hopefully, this new trend in community service will continue and such co-operation will extend to other spheres of medical aid - and life in general.

This article was first published in The News on Sunday.

Shoaib Akhtar's retired life crisis?

2011-09-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

If you are a baller (the chap who throws the ball in cricket), who has just ran out of work after a dozen years of perpetual hormone malfunction that caused disciplinary problems, injuries and media hype-what would you do when all that has ended? You would do what Shoaib Akhtar did.

Instead of going back to Rawalpindi and starting a bus service, you will go to India, hire an agent, get a book ghost-written and cheekily titled "Controversially Yours" and hit the jack-pot. Better still, pick at almost everyone who made it big in cricket on both sides of the border, attack the King Khan who likes to believe he is invincible and reveal the dressing room squabbles with fellow big shots, the talented yet match-fixing colleagues in a Jerry Springer-like fashion.

What will happen then? The gossip mongering, scandal starved Indian and Paki media will go gaga over you and the gullible English reading folks will fall prey and buy your book, out of social courtesy. And you will have nice money rolling in. Now check this out:

I like the way he candidly opines about Sachin Tendulkar. I agree Akhtar might be delusional when he believes Sachin feared him but he is right when he says that your favorite doesn't have to be my favorite. Sachin is great and perhaps someone's God but not his. And if his bookey bashing and dressing room leaks are welcomed, why not his bizarre opinions about his own colleagues and rivals? He thought so, he said it. This concept of a cricketer or actor (or just anyone) becoming so venerable that he or she is beyond critique is prevalent in South Asia and is very anti-free speech, bureaucratic and tacky. I am glad Akhter evades it.

The market has responded to the cricketing drama.

Akhtar goes off-limits when he justifies his own ball-tampering and alleges everyone else of doing the same along with match-fixing, which he claims to have stayed clear of. He gave out this personal detail, perhaps to balance the accusations he was levying on others and to avoid similar attacks on himself. But then he has always been erratic and this time he is making good money out of stating what many already have. He was of course not unaware of all this earlier and waited to blow the whistle after he retired. Hopefully, these very serious assertions are objective and agenda-free, and Akhtar will eventually substantiate some of these to strengthen his own case.

There is a school in Pakistan, that disapproves of any scandalous (malicious) activity that Pakis indulge in when they go to India (other than voluntary peace-keeping missions in Kashmir of course). This group is the anti-Meera, Veena, Adnan Sami and now Shoaib Akhtar's dance steps.

They want to protect Pakistan's ostensibly delicate honor. But Honestly, Pakistan's honor shouldn't rest on individuals, falling stars and neophytes seeking the Indian circus for show-casing their acrobatics.

I am glad he isn't apologetic like some people expected him to be. He is the usual headstrong, irate and attention-seeking Akhtar, oblivious to the finer aspects of thorough argumentation, openly declaring his physical conquests everywhere and fussing over PCB.

For a change, someone has taken Akhtar seriously. Now that the book is gaining publicity because of the protests against it in Mumbai, Dravid, Akram, Tendulkar and SRK might want to come out with more solid rebuttals than these. But then they are much bigger players and remaining mum might seem more dignified, to them and their mothers at least.

Here is someone who thinks Akhtar "is an embarrassment par excellence."

Tale of a silent socket

2011-09-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

The tale of Pakistan and rest of the developing world. You can be Justin Bieber on Youtube, Ashton Kutchner on Twitter or Christiane Amanpour in Syria going live from the Lasbianese border, all our cyber-activism and online glamour will crumble once the wires stop responding, which they often do in Pakistan....

Holiday Bride by Amit Kaur

2011-09-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

An amateur director from Bollywood, Amit Kaur, directed the Holiday Bride for her final film-making St. Xavier Mumbai.

The movie raises a gender issue in Indian Panjab, whereby foreign passport holders marry young Indian girls only to abandon them later. This brings a lot of difficulties for the girl, usually very young, not very educated or independent. Sometimes they end up raising their child or children alone, since divorce is often a taboo.

This short film, a little more than ten minutes long, is a brief peek into the life of such a victim. However, it is not just a tale of suffering but reinforces of the significance of individual freedom, education and equality. All the actors were natural and very Panjabi (much to my delight). Simar (Aditi Khana) must be commended for smoothly adapting to all the drastic role changes her character goes through. The direction also deserves applause because despite the pithy but ponderous script, one didn't feel hasted through the film. Though the issue was grievous, the take on it was rather fresh as it refrained from unnecessary sensationalism or melodrama(something Star Plus is very guilty of). I thought I will stop when her mother will beat her chest and whine " Hai meri beti lut gaye...!" ( My daughter is robbed). But thank God, it never materialized. Instead of focusing on the injustice, the movie depicts the situation and how the characters recover.

The fondness for foreign passport holders isn't new or restricted to India. Since the girl's parents are very obliged by the proposal, they don't make a background check. There should be one golden rule for every prospective nuptial and that is "Check and keep a copy of all the guy's documents" and in return share the girl's documents. Verify all the claims the guy makes, especially property related. And very demanding or arrogant families almost never make good in-laws so show them the door sooner. Most Pakistanis only rush into a legal ceremony and wait for the documents to arrive before they send Bridie off to her new home. No matter how mouth watering the prospects, this small delay wards off the secret sex holiday fervor some guys have.

All in all, a very sensitive issue portrayed very lightly yet effectively. A highly recommended watch.

Watch the movie here.

The dengue windfall

2011-09-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

Medical stores have doubled prices of insecticide sprays, preventive lotions and medicines. According to them, wholesalers and dealers have revised the prices. Regular insecticide sprays that were originally priced at Rs100-200, now come for a whopping Rs400 or more. Lotions worth Rs50 or more now cost more than a hundred. Since the demand is much greater than the supply, black market has also thrived, and the suppliers are minting money.

They are allegedly hoarding and significantly marking up on these items.

In the wake of the threat, private fumigation companies have had a windfall. Last Monday, the city district government registered eight cases against traders selling fumigation machines and spraying medicines at high prices. Not only private companies, but even individuals with manual pumps, insecticides and sprays are now offering their services door to door, and ask for hefty sums in return of their services. Since there is little trust in the government and yet the times are desperate, many people buy whatever is sold, often being duped in the process.

These sprays and insecticides are supposedly more efficient and kill mosquitoes and other insects quickly. And the fear of dengue drives people to take this expensive measure, especially when there are children in the family. But these private endeavours can easily prove toxic since these chemicals are not monitored by experts or regulators. Not only are many of these sprays cancerous, they also persist for a long time making underground water bodies, soil and other surfaces poisonous. Long-term exposure is hazardous. If the spray is not effective enough, it might make the mosquitoes more resistant and deadly. Therefore, if private fumigation firms are to operate, they should ideally be regulated under the law and the public should be made more aware about the usage of such chemicals.

Many people resent that the government has not been efficient in spraying and hence prefer private firms since the latter do often wipe out insects swiftly, no matter what the side effects. Nonetheless, the quicker these sprays wipe out pathogens and the wider their range, the more toxic they might be to human health. And the mosquitoes from other areas can and sometimes do re-appear in your vicinity after some time.

Rana Mehmood, owner of the fumigation company Rana Spray Corporation, says that his company is actually protecting the citizens from dengue by filling the gap left behind by the government. He particularly prides in the efficiency of his sprays as compared to the Government and denies exploiting or gouging anyone. He charges two thousand for fumigating a ten-marla building and a thousand more for a double storey building. But he admits that the spray he uses can be expensive for some.

Laboratories are adding to the patients’ miseries. Some are still charging more than the government assigned price for the CBC test. However, two of the city’s major labs have faced closure when caught over-charging by the government and apparently more people are now availing of the government subsidy. Usually, when the government fixes a price, it subsidizes for the owner too; in this case the pharmacies are paying the difference from their own pockets. Some labs have reduced their testing capacity and others don’t accept the blood samples till offered extra money. This is usually just seventy to hundred rupees more than the official price.

But all medical businesses have not thrived since the outbreak. Some have paid a heavy price.

One pharmacy worker denied any fluctuations in sales and prices. However, an official from a well-known pharmacy chain told TNS, “Small and individual stores fake shortage to ask for the price they want. The bigger stores and chain pharmacies can lift medicines from other cities, like we just attained Panadol from our Kasur outlet, where the epidemic is less intense.” He confesses that sometimes prices are increased from the distributor’s end, but the retailer can also charge an additional ten rupees. Mospel was Rs105 now it is 110; Mortein spray was Rs 160 now it is 170.

Khwaja Nazir Ahmer, the PR manager of Shaukat Khanum says the hospital was loosing 300,000 rupees (which could be used for cancer patients) daily for these dengue tests. He said the original cost is Rs240, whereas they are forced to charge only Rs90. However, Muhammad Ilyas Rana, manager Zeenat Labortries says the test costs Rs110 and the yearly profit of most laboratories can allow for such limited cross-subsidies during a genuine emergency. “It is just 10 to 15 rupees that we reduce, and we do some 35 or so tests. It is somewhat affordable for the moment.”

The prices of apple juice, papaya juice and lemon juice, which are being used to cure dengue, have also gone up in the market since the spread of dengue virus. The leaf of the papaya tree is also being sold in the market for Rs100 to Rs200 per leaf.

Since the imposition of Section 144, a ban on washing cars has left thousands of car washers for private houses and petrol pumps, jobless. This was because of the fears that standing freshwater puddles might create more dengue cases. The government has defended its situation saying these are exceptionally critical times and tough decisions have to be made. Yet these daily-wagers have been left struggling for bread and some might resort to crimes out of desperation.

The times are indeed critical and drastic policies required. But in a hurry to avoid dengue, we should not overlook the impact our short-term decisions can have on the people.

This piece was first published in The News on Sunday.

Floods in Sindh

2011-09-23T16:03:00.000-07:00

Floods have caused huge destruction in Pakistan's southern province, Sindh. One costly consequence of war, terrorism and politics is that it leaves no space for civilian causes in the international media and mindset. Last year the donations and international aid was compromised due to Pakistan's sinking image abroad. This year the help is minuscule.

Aid was blocked sometimes by the Government and sometimes the protesters. More than 8 million people, mostly impoverished, uneducated and children, have faced the brunt so far. This gap, between need and aid, is time and again filled by terrorist organizations posing as charity workers. One renowned international agency operating there is " Save the Children". Please watch the following news by CNN and donate to Save the Children if possible.

Donate at : Save the Children

The Craft of Writing

2011-09-22T11:47:00.000-07:00

Creative writing courses for aspiring writers seem like a new trend. These courses — usually — spanning two years — have no more than ten to twenty students in each batch, have accomplished writers as teachers ( big names like Salman Rushdie would prefer guest lectures while others may become artists-in-residence, though of course exceptions apply).

Eventually, the students are required to submit a collection of poems, short stories or a novel as a thesis, which is then marked. Most students abroad choose these programmes because they provide a chance to fully focus on writing without distraction. You have readings, evaluations, analysis, topics to write on, creativity boosting exercises and an academic atmosphere of peace away from the professional worries and family vows.

Just like other masters’ courses, these are also expensive. In a way these are easier to get into because often there are no mandatory GRE and other conventional application requirements — other than your published or unpublished manuscripts. Yet, such a policy also makes it harder to differentiate yourself on any standardised template because the number of seats is so limited and the selection criteria so ambiguous. Top schools can indeed be very difficult to get into. The “tilt” or “niche” of the school, say experimental fiction or Subaltern poetry also influences the student.

Bilal Tanweer, a MFA graduate from Columbia University, teaches creative writing courses at LUMS. “These courses deal with the craft’s aspects on a very basic level,” says Tanweer. “These include techniques writers use to build narratives. In writing workshops we try to study and develop an understanding of the various ways narratives in fiction are built and what are the advantages and limitations of each way.”

An MFA programme connects you to publishers, literary agents (who help in all aspects of publishing) and editors. The publishing circuits in the United States, the MFA Creative Writing stronghold, are huge, layered and highly professional. Although the publishers don’t reject your work simply because you don’t have a degree it does help one in learning some tricks of the trade and in building contacts with publishers and contemporary writers. This often results in publication success for many graduates. The tricks and tips provided for success can be very formulaic and while this isn’t necessarily positive for fiction writing, they can help in writing non-fiction and journalistic pieces.

A creative writer’s innovative and original style may only be marketable in the “long run”, and who knows, perhaps aspiring for relatively safe, formulaic, and lucrative is the realistic way to start for most writers. But an MFA from Pakistan might even beget such a result because of the limited market size. And looking westwards with Pakistani training may not garner you enough credibility.

Some of course believe that a creative writing degree is useless, partly because most great writers — from any given region or time — had no such degree. Though other arts like music, theatre and dance have had a concept of apprenticeship that goes back to hundreds if not thousands of years, writing has been free from such ostensible clutches. Some — though not all — of those who disapprove of this MFA credentialing trend also argue that talent is either genetic or natural, and cannot be taught per se.

Prof Shaista Sonnu Sirajuddin, the Head of the English Department at Punjab University, believes there is no formula for writing success and that all great writers were great readers. She added that the western curiosity regarding Pakistan due to the “War on Terror” has led to their hailing “B” grade and mediocre fiction as masterpieces; therefore the success Pakistani authors experience there now might not be based solely on the work’s literary merit. She adds that “You cannot put in what the good Lord has left out.”

Pakistan is churning out thousands of bachelors, masters and M.Phils in English Literature who eventually end up teaching English at various levels. A creative writing degree can push one a step closer to becoming an accomplished writer, but who otherwise will have more or less the same market for jobs as one with an post-graduate degree in literature. One can always go back to teaching at various levels of the educational food-chain. Also, an MFA may give one the time to reflect on one’s literary prowess (or lack thereof) and put it under the scrutiny of teachers and class-fellows. It should also further polish your grammar, expressions and teach you the structures of short stories, novellas, novels, poems etc. Reading is crucial for good writing and most courses include extensive reading lists as well as optional literature courses.

Many of the new crop of Pakistani English authors such as H. M. Naqvi, Mohammed Hanif, Kamila Shamsie and Daniyal Mueenuddin actually do have degrees in creative writing. But since their literary careers have just started, their artistic merit and legacy is still to be determined. Though most of these authors agree that the training helped them, almost all also say that it is not necessary for becoming a good writer. The older generation of writers and poets like Ahmed Ali, Alamgir Hashmi, Dr Tariq Rahman and Zulfikar Ghose didn’t have such training of course.

“Of course it’s not imperative to have an MFA/BFA to write fiction— or to paint or to sculpt, for that matter.” says Bilal Tanweer. “These are just options available to artists to study with other artists and deepen their understanding of their art.”

When asked what difference the creative writing course made to his fiction, Mohammed Hanif responded “It doesn’t really make a difference, though it does give you the time to devote yourself to writing.”

But one doesn’t have to go all the way for the two years masters. Workshops that cost much less and last only for a few days, weeks or months are readily available in almost any western university and then there are online courses. Full-time courses are available and brief workshops are available in Europe and America (London School of Journalism, University of California Riverside, and so on). Literary journals (Granta, Zoetrope: All-Story, Tin House) and non-profit organisations (Paris Writers Workshop, Lighthouse Writers Workshop) also hold regular workshops.

More and more creative writing courses have started in various universities. Although a full-time degree course has yet to materialise, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Kinnaird College, Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Indus Valley School, and Lahore School of Economics now offer short courses in creative writing. The British Council also holds workshops in creative writing.

“BNU offers two types of creative writing courses — Script Writing and Creative Writing for Mass Communication students.” says Asghar Nadeem Syed, the dean of the Television, Film and Theatre department at BNU. “We teach the basics of fiction, poetry and creative writing to the Creative Writing students in Mass Communication.” He points out that there is no such training available in Urdu and other regional languages.

Though Punjab University has no such course yet, its prestigious English department has been holding workshops under Zulfiqar Ghose’s guidance for three years now.

“The English Department feels very privileged to have had poet, critic, and writer of fiction Zulfiqar Ghose hold creative writing workshops for students on several occasions.” says Prof Shaista Sonnu Sirajuddin. His initial reluctance vanished when he saw the enthusiasm and keenness of the students to learn. Ghose loves doing these annual workshops, where he takes ten to twelve students to discuss their writings. Ali Sethi and Kamila Shamsie have also given talks.

Pakistani literature in any language will flourish only when there is a local market for it. Plus the class barriers, where students from poorer economic stratus cannot access writing training, need to be diminished. Liberal arts colleges like National College of Arts, Punjab University and even Allama Iqbal Open University and Virtual University should step forward to train young Pakistani creative writers.
This article was first published in The News on Sunday.

Suffusion of a floral kind by Dua Abbas

2011-09-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Flora infuses so much of artistic creation that if one were to surround himself with books upon books and painted panels and canvases and then close his eyes, he would actually smell all those flowers compressed into words and folded in pigment. He wouldn’t smell the paper or the paintings, that combined smell of ink and book shops, wood and oil, he would smell roses and narcissuses and wildflowers.
He could stuff all those books and paintings into a juicer and out would come not pulpy manifestos dripping ‘T’s and ‘I’s, heightened here and there with a blob of Persian Blue or Indian Yellow, but clear, perfumed flower juice.

I remember having read Emerson say that ‘flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world’. I was overjoyed at reading these words. My drawings and paintings are incomplete without flowers because they contain so much symbolic value, it’s boggling!

One of the most important symbols they stand for is, of course, man’s own mortality. Flowers enact that bloom-to-gloom journey so deftly and with so much exaggerated beauty (they’re such actors!) that it is insanity to not use them as a symbol for our own such invariable journeys, especially when ours come clanking with a heap of other things such as education, money-making, fiery brawls in the name of love, dinner concerns, hospital bills, anniversaries and anti-aging creams. We resist death till our last breath, flowers don’t.

Flowers, so authors, artists and bards have proven, are a neater and more presentable way of showing the loose-locked, haggling mortality. Fragility, vulnerability are themes that come with the package. But the best thing about flowers is that they also, like us, have a darker side. So it’s not just rosy-cheeked, wide-eyed maidens, susceptible to aging and dying, whom they represent but also temptresses with poisonous properties, old as evil,bringing death in their wake.

Gardens in literature are not exclusively happy places, that much is certain. Burnett’s Secret Garden and Wilde’s Nightingale and the Rose feature botany trailing metres of woe behind it. Poetry, too, testifies to that but the references are numberless, I wouldn’t know where to begin! In art, Chagall’s infatuated, levitating brides-in-white and flying fiddlers traverse skies spread with flowers or hover like drunk bees on summer nights around giant bouquets. And Odilon Redon’s chalky flowers manifest themselves out of dreamy, smoky backdrops of colour clouds. Innocence and purity poised against time. The passing by of things. Love fading. No, flowers are not happy props, nor gardens happy places.

But by the side we have also such darker allusions to flora as found in Hawthorne’s Rappaccini’s Daughter and Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea – gardens planted with menace, poison lurking unabashed, dressed in deceptive, flowery garb. The symbolic role of flowers broadens. The flower achieves the position of a mermaid song. Georgia O’Keefe’s ravenous botany leers and gapes. Abraham Mignon’s stagey and almost dangerous floral still lives stretch their tentacles. And then, there’s Mondrian.

How can one describe the flowers painted by this enigma? What I can gather from what I’ve seen of his work and what I’ve read about him is that he had a very, very polarized relationship with flora. He claimed to hate flowers, painting them only because they sold, and yet that quivering sincerity with which he painted them suggests otherwise. His lilies, chrysanthemums and amaryllises are like sad spectres made to pose singly in the light. Why is it that the lilies, especially, seem almost ashamed? That strange, watery way in which they stand there, quietly drooping and bleeding is more touching than some of the techniques of verisimilitude applied in paintings of great sacrifice or heroism.

And yet why, despite this near incorporeality displayed by the flowers, did Mondrian distrust them? Was it because he felt that in all their lovely pathos, they would overpower his senses and steer him away from the grid-work and geometry of logic? Or because, more like the cold-blooded Doctor Rappaccini from Hawthorne’s story, he had dissected them and discovered that there was nothing but a bare-boned, stone-faced mechanism behind their beautiful facades?

Dua Abbas is a writer and painter, NCA graduate and blogger at Artist Revelations.

Students, made in China

2011-09-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

Chinese universities are about to give Western universities a run for their money within two decades, according to Professor Richard Levin, President of Yale University. While the West battles economic recession, cuts down university grants and budgets (the UK has cut 950 million pounds) and increases student fees, China’s economy — and higher education spending — is going from strength to strength.

The Chinese now invest billions of yuan — around 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product — on higher education. China increased the number of its higher education institutions in the last decade from 1,022 to 2,263, creating the largest higher education sector in the world. Now, six million Chinese students enroll in degree courses every year compared to 1 million in 1997 — an unprecedented and exponential increase, but commonplace in China.

However, Chinese education is not as multi-disciplinary yet. Compared to Western education, it does not focus on critical thinking, liberal arts, and other international concerns like globalisation, climate change, etc. The biggest impediments might be its political system and absence of freedom of speech.

Also, though China has many courses in English, the society as a whole is far from multi-lingual. But living and studying in an exquisite society, with a unique and original culture, is a boon in itself. And just like China has opened its arms for Western languages, the World now realises the significance of Chinese, and many people don’t mind a few years in Beijing to fine-tune their Mandarin.

Pakistanis have been embracing Chinese education for decades. Now as China enters its academic renaissance and opens its generous doors to foreigners, Pakistan is likely to become a beneficiary too.

Medicine is a popular career option in Pakistan. Pakistan has far fewer colleges than China, the latter attracting students due to its world-class degrees, low cost and PMDC/WHO recognised institutes. “I graduated from Xi’an Jiaotong University in 2005,” says Dr. Baber Jadoon, based in Peshawar. “Some 100 Pakistanis studied with me, when I was graduating, there were some 4600 Pakistanis only in my university.” Jadoon adds that some 35 more universities in China cater to Pakistani students and a four-month Mandarin course resolves the language problem.

Dr. Jadoon has no qualms in stating that the Chinese medical training is more apt than the local one, stating that his professors were foreign-qualified doctorates. For example, to practise dissection the Chinese institutes have one corpse per four students as compared to the Pakistani ratio of one corpse for an entire class. Also, the Chinese degree is more economical and less time-consuming than a Western MBBS. Plus, the Chinese job market is growing and lucrative for those who decide to stay back.

In Pakistan, sometimes even the brightest pre-medical student do not secure admissions because of paucity of seats, whereas the numerous Chinese institutes open their doors for students with average grades.

“In my time, studying there was cheaper than in Frontier Medical College. But the cost has increased, now.” says Dr. Jadoon. The cost of higher education in China is regulated (like everything else) and subsidised by the Ministry of Education (MOE). Some five years ago, the tuition fee was a meager $1000. At some places it has been revised to $2500 annually, excluding other expenditure. In some medical colleges the final year is free. Short language courses, which constitute one of China’s foremost educational attractions, cost just a few hundred US dollars. The cost of living is quite low. For example, a subway ticket in Beijing is 30 cents, while the bus fare is 15 cents.

Pakistanis, especially those wanting to study in the US, often cannot due to the strict visa policies. Either they are directly refused a visa or the processing is tedious and delayed. But China is different. Despite the occasional Sinkiang and Kashgar terror strikes, almost everybody gets a visa. And the social attitude there is far from discriminatory.

“People are very kind and they love Pakistanis. When a taxi driver asks “You are from which country?” And when we say we are from Pakistan, his first expression is, “We are very good friends,” says Dr. Nadeem Akhtar who did his doctorate from Wuhan University, HUBIE. “Students from HEC or Cultural Exchange scholarships are working in good places. For example, Dr. Abdul Jalil who was on Cultural Exchange Scholarship (MOE), published more than 20 papers and is now working in Quaid-e-Azam University. Another Dr. Sahin Musarrat Ishaq was doing post-doc in Wisconsin Madison University in America.”

However, all is not rosy for aspiring doctors attempting to reach China. Some agents promising glorious dreams about the Middle Kingdom can only be called fraudsters and send students to unrecognised or fake universities. One such reported case was that of a Rawalpindi resident, sent to Changsha Medical University, after being misled about its credentials.

China seems to be quite willing to internationalise its society in order to enhance its soft power. Indeed, student exchanges serve as Track II diplomacy the world over. This year, the Chinese Embassy Cultural Counsellor, Yang Linhai, announced 500 scholarships for Pakistani students in the next three years. He hopes this will promote a deeper understanding of the two countries. Each year several doctorate and research scholarships are granted to Pakistani students through HEC.

This April, 100 Pakistani youngsters went on a week-long cultural tour of Beijing through the youth ministry. However, the transparency and selection criteria of both HEC and the Youth Ministry is under question.

Some 500,000 international students will embrace China by 2020 according to Hao Ping, the Chinese Vice Minister of Education. Almost 60 percent of those students want to learn the Chinese language also. (13.5 percent are likely to study medicine) The Chinese central government provided 800 million yuan ($121.7 million) worth scholarships to such students in 2010 and local governments offered an additional 110 million yuan in scholarships. Schools like Cornell, Columbia, London School of Economics, John Hopkins, Auburn, Nottingham and many more, have either out-sourced their campuses ( faculty and programs included) to China or offer degrees in coordination with Chinese universities.

The Chinese have established around 280 Confucius Institutes and 270 Confucius Classrooms in 88 countries and regions, training 260,000 students about China’s culture and language. In Pakistan, the first Confucius Institute was set up in The National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad in 2005, and according to NUML spokesman Muddasir Mukhtar, this institute was ranked the best of its kind in the world this year.

China is ready to invest big in education. Hopefully, Pakistanis will make constructive use of this windfall.

This piece was first carried in the News on Sunday.

Young, New and Funny

2011-09-18T04:43:00.000-07:00

B Theatre Productions presented 'The Odd Couple' in Alhamra , Mall Road, from 7th to 10th September. The play is written the Tony award-winning playwright Neil Simon and directed by Awais Azhar. It revolves around two newly divorced middle aged roommates.

Oscar Madison is lethargic and indolent and the other, Felix Ungar, is a neat freak bordering obsessive compulsive disorder. Both are struggling with a recent divorce. Oscar is flirting and dating already, is more relaxed and playful about life. Partly because he is also indifferent to his famaily. However, Felix is perturbed; the divorce is unwanted on his part and still not finalized. He is more sensitive, somewhat effeminate, deppressive and unstable. This difference in nature and situation causes conflicts between the two. The play is possibly a comment on US family set-up in the 60s when sexual revolution was still around the corner.

The team was youthful, even the director, was an NCA under-grad. It was amusing to see boys at the poker table, apparently still teenagers, discussing their marriages. The youngsters brought to it a new vivacity and spontaneity, they carried out the comedy of errors fluidly with natural comic timing. The two main lead actors, Sanwal Tariq as Oscar abd Waleed Zaidi as Felix appeared very embed in their character, due to their understanding of their roles and were probably the most experienced in the team.

Oscar and Felix, have a double date, which becomes a comedy circus in itself, because a freind of the girls and a freind of the guys crash the date one by one. Anam Ahmed and Mahnoor Khan appeared as the Pigeon sisters. Their role is rather a stereotypical, since the plot is very male-centric. Two very candid, funny but small characters were Melanie (Lamia Samdani) whi crashes the date and is a desperate seducer and Vinnie ( Sachal Tehseen) a frail and slightly feminine pocker player who becomes the brunt of many macho jokes at the poker table. The cast further included Umar Butt ( Roy), Omair Nazir ( Murray) and Huzefa Akbar ( Speed). All these were the poker players.

The whole play is restricted to one living room, with a poker table, couch, window, bathroom door, closet door and an entrance. The whole set-up was of course guided by the original theater script but the props could have been improved.

The time-period depicted in the play was confused. It could be anytime between the 60s to 80s. It wasn’t clear through the sets and the dresses didn’t clarify this, possibly due to a budget shortage. Though the time period wasn’t significant in the plot either. But since there were some attempts to depict the time-scale, by placing an old radio and other objects, it would have been much better if it had been clarified further.

There was no ticket, thanks to the entrance sponsors, we just needed passes. But just before the play, the sponsor, a pharmaceutical company gave a presentation. This became hilarious after the crowd jeering but thankfully this led to the presentation being winded up quickly. The hall was full, with almost 2 to 300 people, mostly teenagers but some families also. One often heard a chortle, giggle or chuckle in the audience, other than outbursts of hysterical laughter.

Over-all, the play was far well-performed than many of the professional endeavours seen in the city so far. A group of youngsters can perhaps bring the dying era of theater goers and light, family comedies back in fashion.

This piece was first publishes in the News on Sunday.

When the towers were falling...

2011-09-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

When the towers were falling, I found it bizarre and funny, gained a vindictive, childish pleasure. The atrocities US commited in Korea, Vietnam, Japan in 1945, its hegemony around the world, its support for dictatorships and Israel in Middle East were often commented upon. I was in Grade 9th, sitting in my living room like many others in Pakistan before the advent of private news channels, not knowing how close a link our country has with the fall.

The next day we heard the stories that the Jews were absent from the WTC and how Bush himself orchestrated 9/11 to be used as an excuse for attacking Afghanistan. For many years I bought the theory, fake documentaries and concocted evidence which followed. Only after the Taliban formed a Pakistani wing and started attacking civilians here, did I realize it isn't Muslims vs Non-Muslims. It is tolerance vs intolerance, sanity vs dogma. I am not very fond of America's self-serving policies that become barbaric when required.

Could never have anticipated how insecure and deadly this world will become. How many innocent civilians will become "collateral damage", victims of extremism. I will tell my children about it, like my dad told me of partition, but emphasize that they should prevent such a blunder from happening again.

Realized years later what a costly blunder this was, RIP the victims of New York and everywhere else in the world. President Obama should also visit those in Afghanistan and Iraq, just like he met the September 11 victims today.

Earning without deserving

2011-09-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were a teacher-student trio, called the “gang of three” by Edward De Bono, for their contribution to human knowledge.

But as the world and Pakistan celebrated the Teacher’s Day this Monday, I couldn’t help but remember, the dozens of teachers who have taught me since the age of five.

In the last twenty years, I have been to three private schools, one semi-Government college and countless tuition centres. But honestly I can remember only a handful of teachers who were kind and out of them only two stood out for their talents. The rest were insipid at best and many of them confused “authority figures” with “authoritarian figures”. A few could even make North Korean generals blush.

I understand that discipline is a problem in a class of thirty plus but our pedagogical systems over-emphasize order, and indeed hierarchy. The teachers seem to have internalized the ancient caste system - Brahmins being the top five rank holders with everyone else following them. The failures occupy the bottom of the food chain, getting minimal attention when perhaps they need it the most - or at least be treated equally.

We don’t just need more formal training and intellectual talent in teachers; instead teachers need to reform the way they conceptualize students and education. Right now it is too meritocratic - merit being defined in a rather quantitative and left-brain-centric manner. Moreover, we have devised the schooling (private and government) in a manner that a significant amount of the de facto education cost is still borne by the parents. The parents have to hire multiple tutors for their children or else the grades come tumbling down - largely because our exams are designed to test rote learning, not analytical or creative abilities. The textbooks, the school curriculum, tests and exams all require supervision. Since the curriculum is so rigid and long, teachers enjoy this diffusion of responsibility and move on from those who cannot cope.

In the west, teaching is considered more prestigious because the pay is respectable if not great and teaching even the youngest students would require serious diplomas and practical training. Teaching is considered a lifelong profession. More importantly, teachers are told to push every student without hurting their self-esteem. In Pakistan, most of my teachers were females, waiting to get married or with children studying in the same schools. For many of them, teaching was the last resort to kill time till before they got back to a “real career” or of course home-making. This adversely affected their dedication and performance, very rarely did a teacher own the failure of its students, like they prided in their success.

Every teacher, no matter how mediocre, considered themselves to be a potentate who deserved unconditional reverence. But they didn’t offer the same respect to their students, especially those whom they perceive as “losers” (I often fell in this category), bullying them, passing under-the-belt comments and retaining a bias when checking a paper.

This made progress harder. They probably told - and continue to tell - themselves that these kids should study more and its their fault that they don’t. Sometimes we are lazy indeed, but sometimes we are genuinely in trouble. My only issue with the brilliant movie Tare Zameen Per was that it had a dyslexic child with a nerve-transmission problem, whereas perfectly normal kids can become just as lost in class and teachers need to understand them more. In Class 5 geometry, I was a zombie. The teacher noticing this, started asking me questions. Several months of classes, with me being asked five or six questions and standing there clueless for the rest of the class. She probably thought that this negative reinforcement would make me study harder. In any case, she obviously liked that feel of being the master of the class and overlooked my robotic embarrassment. But I genuinely never understood geometry and still don’t. Same was the case in with my A levels’ Chemistry teacher, who not only asked me all the questions but also picked on me regularly and pestered me to leave the subject - which I ultimately did.

Teachers in college were part of a bigger game. They were more qualified, career women, with more funding and power. This just attracted more boot-lickers, blackmailing and nepotism. There were exceptions because you are a certified adult in college and teachers either become friendly or respect your talents. Since there were marks for class participation, the freedom of speech barrier was often lifted.

But during those years I was forced to question how much respect these teachers deserved, if any. Just because someone is an elder, parent, teacher or more knowledgeable shouldn’t mean we have to respect them. I obviously didn’t howl at anyone on the blackboard but I didn’t respect most of them either. They don’t just need to outsmart but also have an inherent value and understanding of us.

There are teachers I miss. My English teacher in 10th who wore sarees and discussed Virginia Wolf with us, my arts teacher in 3rd, whose zest for colors inspired me forever. My patient Physics teacher in class 9th and finally my English teacher in A levels who has improved me as a person forever.

This article was first published in The News on Sunday.

Why did the missiles go unnoticed?

2011-08-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

A rather cocky and misguided piece appeared in Times of India called "Yes, Pakistan has more bombs than us" after Hina Khar's Indian visit. Mr. Vishwanathan, in order to not sound explicitly sexist, ties himself in various contradictory contortions. He first insinuates Khar was all style and no substance, discusses her and some other beauties and even accuses Pakistan of wanting to “evade issues” by tactically using good-looking female envoys. But then he asks “why is Indian foreign policy style so dull and listless”. So does he approve of glamour or not?

The writer seems to suffer from a version of the Madonna-whore complex...

Violence in Karachi

2011-08-29T07:21:00.000-07:00

No one was speaking much about the Karachi violence. Therefore we interviewed some of the big names in the city and requested them to suggest a solution.

Hasina Moin (writer):

The resolution lies with our Government. We are disorganized, have thousands of sects, classes and divides in a cosmopolitan city like Karachi. We love our ethnicity (Sinchi, Balochi, Punjabi, Pathan) more than our religion-Islam. There is a lot of business in our city and it sparks competition. We are greedy and the common man resorts to violence on the streets, killing and looting. No one is stopping them. No one can control them. And soon it will affect the whole country because Karachi is a business and trade hub. May be foreign powers are giving these people arms. But only Government should intervene for the sake of saving this country. Not think which party they are from. The Government lacks moral strength if it waves its party flag before

Pakistan

’s.

Shaheen Salahuddin (Controller News, Indus Network):

The political machinery is criminalized and has militant wings. There is a need to de-politicize it, all political parties need to sign a resolutions that they are breaking these ties with the militants. Police and intelligence, which includes the agencies, have a soft corner and links with criminals.

The main solution is that Anti-terrorist courts be set-up. If there is no amendment so far in the constitution, then it should be made swiftly, although I believe there is one. Day and night anti-terror courts should be set-up like the west, with witness protection and the decisions should be implemented. If the decisions are not implemented or there is a time lapse, it will become useless. We should take the example of Britain and how they controlled the recent wave of terror in London.

Anwar Maqsood (Writer):

Perhaps curses will work here and not prayers. It is hard to understand what's going on. There is a limit to everything. People are so de-sensitized that people are dying and this makes no difference to others. The best time is when children come home, and now parents sit outside their schools fearing their safety. I have been writing for 35 years and always about how to improve the situation but the situation has not been improving and will not improve.

Muhammad Hanif (writer):

Three measures should be taken to free Karachi from violence. First of all there should be complete de-weaponization across the board. Secondly, the Police and law enforcement agencies should be accountable to the local government. Thirdly, the city’s infrastructure which includes its housing, transport and education should be improved on an emergency basis. The transport needs improvement because people cannot access to their workplaces or educational institutes. Illegal settlements and lack of housing space is a huge problem in Karachi, because of this housing problem these gang wars and violence has broken out. This housing problem needs to be resolved.

There interviews were first published in the News on Sunday.

That time of the year

2011-08-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Almost two hundred dengue cases have been recently reported in Lahore, in a second and more intense wave this year. The epidemic is expected to continue through September and October, monsoon months which are most conducive to mosquito breeding. The threat is higher in northern Lahore and walled city where water pools, leaking pipes and congested areas serve as safe havens for mosquito vectors.
Threatened areas include Chungi Amar Sadhu, Samanabad, Dharampura, Misri Shah, Kot Khawaja Saeed, Shadbagh, China Scheme, Engineering University and Gulshan-e-Ravi are the main clusters of dengue virus and other areas of northern Lahore.

However, dengue cases appeared throughout the year which means that the dengue virus is adapting and that mosquitoes are growing insecticide-resistant. Previously affected dengue patients are at an increased risk of contracting the more deadly Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever and Dengue Shock Syndrome.

The virus is transmitted to humans by specific mosquito specie which bites during morning hours. The mosquito transmits disease by biting an infected person and then biting someone else. The incubation period is 3 to 14 days. Symptoms of a classic dengue case usually include fever, head and joint ache, nausea, skin rash and bleeding from nose, gums or under the skin.

The Communicable Disease Control (CDC) Cell of the Health Department declared that 40 dengue fever positive patients were admitted this season in Lahore, three were in Mayo Hospital, 11 in Jinnah Hospital, 1 in Institute of Public Health, 5 in Services Hospital, three in Rescue 1122, 2 in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and at least 15 more in private hospitals. At least one person was reported dead.

One problem impeding data collection is that many patients go to private hospital or family physicians, resulting in under-estimates of patient numbers. Many clinics are not registered or lack the equipment for treatment. Also, the diagnosis is sometimes ambiguous because the symptoms vary in intensity and the test (ELISA) is expensive. Health department claims the test is done for free, however, its outreach is very limited. A dengue test costs some Rs1175 when done privately.

However, by careful estimates, thousands have been tested positive for the virus in both public and private health facilities and dengue has claimed dozens of lives. A brief visit to any emergency will show how widespread the outbreak is. Either the health authorities want to ward off any pressure they might face in times of an epidemic or they desire to prevent any public fear and frenzy.

However, Lahore’s EDO, Dr Umer Farooq Baloch denied that there is an epidemic in the province and called for Health department, Wasa, Solid Waste Management, Horticulture Authority and the community to fight dengue collectively. He added that the Health Department has so far circulated 600,000 pamphlets among the citizens to educate them about dengue.

Punjab Health Secretary Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan has assigned health directors in ten towns across Lahore to supervise preventive arrangements for dengue fever, checking mosquito growth and sending a monitoring report daily. Banners to enhance dengue awareness are also being displayed in several Ramazan bazaars.

The Mayo Hospital administration has a 40-bed strong ward and emergency centre exclusively for dengue patients, blood testing facilities and mosquito nets. Director Emergency Dr. Sabir Ali has been appointed focal person for coordinating with the Health department.

Dr. Raza Hassan of Children’s Hospital said that two or three dengue cases have been reported there so far with no fatalities. “We have diagnostic kits and platelet kits plus special counters, rooms and beds have been set up.”

The City District Government has yet to carry out fumigation, fogging and spray in different areas to eliminate the threat. The main focus is fumigation in the affected areas which has a limited impact on mosquito control pertaining to the dilution of spray, wind and timing which can cause the mosquitoes to simply disperse and return later. The best spraying hours are two hours before sunset and sunrise when a mosquito bite is most likely. To kill the mosquitoes and the larvae, four cycles of fumigation should be done in the same area for four consecutive weeks. He added that doing routine fogging is not advisable because this might make the community complacent.

Second phase of anti-mosquitoes spray would begin on August 26. Health Department had also sought cooperation of the Town Municipal Administrations (TMAs) to drain waste and rain water. Indiscriminate fumigation may also be ineffective in combating the virus because mosquitoes can form resistance to insecticide.

The mosquito-killing effect is transitory, variable in its efficiency as the aerosol may not penetrate indoors to micro-habitats where adult mosquitoes are sequestered, and the procedure is costly and operationally difficult. Regular monitoring of the vectors’ vulnerability to insecticides is essential to switch to a more suitable alternative when required. Hence, active monitoring and surveillance of the natural mosquito population should escort control efforts to establish effectiveness. Small, mosquito-eating fish have also been used to reduce mosquitoes.

Fatima Jinnah Medical College, Lahore held a seminar for Dengue-awareness on August 16, in which Principal Dr. Rakhshanda Rehman suggested:

“Platelets should be injected only when the patient starts bleeding.” She said that 163 million people have been tested positive for dengue worldwide. Dr Zarfishan Tahir, also on the same seminar, said that at bacteriologist laboratory, IPH so far one thousand tests have been conducted out of which 68 percent were confirmed positive. She informed that IPH is providing diagnostic facilities free of cost to public as well as private sector.

The Health department needs to be more transparent and collect data more accurately regarding dengue cases. The civil society, NGOs and pressure groups need to exert organised pressure on the Health department. If effective policies are not implemented, hospitals will be swarmed with patients without adequate medical supplies. Lahore is also under pressure of patients from other cities. In Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, for instance, patients from Pindi Bhattian, Mianwali and Bhalwal were also present.

Dengue has no vaccine. Removing standing freshwater, not storing it in open containers, covering it with lids, scrubbing edges of containers to dislodge eggs, using mosquito nets and repellents and remaining fully covered will help in preventing dengue. People in Faisalabad have formed an organisation to tackle dengue collectively Lahorites should follow in their footsteps.
This piece was first published in the News on Sunday.

Return of the native

2011-08-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Students from here have been going abroad for higher education for many decades. Today, however, the number seems higher than ever before. A pleasant surprise is reserved for those who decide to return to Pakistan. This is baffling. They have their reasons for doing so.

Finance is one of the major hurdles in education abroad and it determines their educational aftermath. Broadly, all around the world, there are two categories of foreign students — the self-financed (including loan seekers) and the scholarship or financial-aid holders. Generally, the self-financed candidates try to stick around for more experience and training, primarily because they can afford it and get visa extensions. On scholarship, it becomes trickier to get a work permit and arrange more finance. However, the total number of Pakistani students going to study abroad is unknown and so is the number of students returning to continue their career here.

The recession may be one reason for the students’ return. Fewer students now get financial aid because the university budgets and donations have decreased. Unemployment rates in the West have not improved recently and it is natural that they focus on hiring natives and refrain from appointing foreign students.

However, Amna, a Masters in International Development from Italy, disagrees. “Certain jobs are recession-proof. In technical majors, engineering, finance and medicine, employment is often available but the visa status isn’t updated. This often happens in the US.”

Amna admits that she too returned because her scholarship ended and would have stayed on given the chance because her field requires international exposure.

Some Pakistani academics obviously find it easier to gain employment here in Pakistan. However, some fields have seen a boom, like the Pakistani media. Print is well-known for paying very little and Pakistan Television (PTV) never had the opportunities private channels promise now. Foreign trained human resource usually has the expertise unavailable otherwise. Most channels upgrade their manpower by workshops and training sessions. Furthermore, the pay scale is very promising, on-job training and opportunities to rise up through the ranks are also plenty. People from majors like engineering, pure sciences and finance have been switching to a broadcasting career. However, the work hours are odd, lengthy and job security is almost non-existent.

“Re-adjusting to Pakistan was thorny,” says Sonia Rehman, a Columbia post-graduate in Print Journalism, 2010. “There was no job in my area of study and freelancing paid little. For the first three months after returning, I was clueless. Even now I am working on a project that has little to do with my area of study.”

She insists that the organisations that send students should also help them attain employment later or at least give them a synopsis on re-adjustment in the Pakistani workforce.

However, majority of the people still return to Pakistan for the very basic reasons. One that parents are uncomfortable about having their child settle down abroad, usually because of the distance and foreign culture. Another is that family members require caretaking. And that they miss Pakistan — the food, the family, the friends, the culture and the society.

The newly-found ‘Islamophobia’ and the consequent difficulty in upgrading visa status have made it even harder for people to stay back.

“I returned because I had graduated and gained professional experience, too,” says Muhammad Malik, a Brown University graduate and a Clarke University MBA who returned to Pakistan in 2008. “My mother was living here alone, and I persistently felt the US was not home.”

The ride was not professionally smooth either. “Pakistani companies are bureaucratic and have many management layers. Getting things done is harder. In the US, you feel you are working with people. Here you feel you are working for them.”

This piece was first published in the News on Sunday.

Bringing liberalism back to Pakistan

2011-08-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

IAF

The International Academy of Leadership in Gummersbach, Germany has dark gray rectangular buildings with huge wall-size windows that allow a view of the green hills that surround the academy. The academy is itself based on a hill that you can hike up to at any time of the day and night without much fear of safety. The worst that could happen is that you may suddenly come across a rabbit.

This May, I got a scholarship to a two weeks seminar in Theodor Heuss Akademie (an institute named after Germany’s first post-World War II President) and commonly known by foreigners as the International Academy of Leadership. This is the oldest centre of the Freidrich Naumann Foundation, which sponsored my stay there after I qualified through their online seminar.

The Academy is always in use; many seminars take place simultaneously across the year, on different topics, catering to different numbers of students from diverse backgrounds. There is a comfortable dorm in the building where students mostly stay, a huge hall which can hold up to hundred people and a cafeteria, which serves delicious but very German food. There was buffet for each meal, followed by deliciously cooked sweat dish.

The first day, rather evening, was spent in understanding the institute. We introduced ourselves through a game called “Which corner is ours?”, in which each person goes to a corner reserved for him or her. For example, which continent one is from, marital status, the kind of liberal one is (left-wing, right-wing, libertarian), favorite hobby, drink, profession etc. Corners were reserved for broad categories and each person joined his or her corner by choice.

The seminar had almost thirty people from all across the world - including around a dozen from Latin American countries. There were also delegates from countries like Ghana, Serbia, Bulgaria, Philippines, Thailand, India and Israel. The girl from Israel was an architect in her thirties, had served in the Israeli army, and was very reasonable to talk to.

The seminar was bi-lingual (English and Spanish) and there were two translators who made our life much easier through their excellent translation skills by simultaneously translating the two languages into each other. We all had wireless speakers which connected us to the translators, and we chose which translator to hear according to our linguistic preference.

The seminar was titled “Liberalism Today: Freedom First”. Liberalism, contrary to its perception in Pakistan, has little to do with obscenity (however you describe it). It is a complex - and yet, deceptively simple at times - set of philosophical arguments and values that penetrate almost all section of life and society - from economics, law, politics, to ethics, religion and individual rights.

We understood that liberalism is more a moral and political philosophy that governs the relation of man with man and man with state. It is not exclusively an agglomeration of personal attitudes towards the consummation of various relationships or the consumption of various substances (a libertine, not a liberal per se, is more likely to be passionate about those issues). There are much weightier issues attached to liberalism - property rights, rule of law, secularism, and so on.

In the two weeks that we were there, we got to discuss threadbare - and not just get lectured on - some of these principles of liberalism. The session leaders were not high priests imparting golden words, but rather moderators who facilitated active and knowledgeable discussion. They did steer the debate at times but were content to not have the final word. Most of us from developing societies were not very liberal and especially confused about socialism - an economic system looked down upon by many liberals and seen as promoting poverty and corruption.

On the second day of the seminar we discussed the qualifying round - i.e. the online seminar, its usefulness and flaws. Later we talked about the differences in political mainstreams, how they differ and why liberalism should be preferred as a philosophy. We made three working groups on property rights, rule of law and secularism.

I was part of the group discussing Secularism. In the former, my position was precarious. Almost everything on the clause sheet, though liberal, was politically impossible to implement in present-day Pakistan. Preventing public schools from including religion in curricula, removing religious symbols from schools, and not mentioning “God” in the constitution ate issues that cannot be even openly discussed in Pakistan - unless the state or vigilantes themselves accuse you of blasphemy. And ironically, I - the only Pakistani there - noticed that the Israeli delegate understood and shared my ambiguity the most - Israel being the only other state on Earth created for the followers of a specific religion.

The next day we had three presentations, one by each group on the topic they were assigned and a discussion on it. Important questions were asked during the day - for example, is free markets or economic planning the way forward; the relationship between democracy and development; introduction to liberal democracy and its link with prosperity, and so on. We debated these issues thoroughly before dinner.

The next day was yet more discussions. First, we had debriefing on the debate from the previous day. Then presentations with empirical evidence on the relevant topics were made by the facilitators. That was followed by a discussion on the major problems of developing countries and the liberal take on them, which included a search for the definition of poverty - a definition that invariably varies across countries. Then of course how to combat said poverty: we discussed the roles of redistribution, deregulation, privatisation and the relationship between free markets, poverty and unemployment. In the evening we left Gummersbach for Cologne on a short excursion.

Asdrubal

Next day was reserved for discussing the challenges to liberals in the modern world and the debate was pegged around the energy policy - how to deal with accidents like Fukushima, climate change, and the political economy of the energy sector. Each person was assigned a role - a politician, a liberal party politician, a businessman, a common citizen, an environmentalist, a policy-maker, an NGO worker, a lawyer and so on. We reflected on how the liberal perspective differed from other perspectives. Before dinner, we debated globalization and terrorism, and how different liberals found different compromises on issues regarding national security, multiculturalism and civil liberties. The conclusion of the day was that globalization is on the whole a benign force, global warming was an exaggerated fear and terrorism was very difficult to combat with liberal policies because civil liberties and the conventional judicial system may be abused in this context.

The day that followed, we discussed the very crucial role of the state, its relation with the civil society, Government and the concept of subsidiarity or federalism. To what extent the state should intervene, regulate, tax and subsidise?. After heated debates, which often became too technical for non-economics students, we had a lecture on the Federal Democratic party, German politics ad political system by Klaus Fusmann, Director of FNF Programme North Rhine Westphalia.

FDP Convention Rostok

Later that week, we left for Rostok ( North eastern German coast part of the East Germany before), Schwerin ( the capital of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state )and Diepolz, a small town in Lower Saxony. In Rostok, we reviewed how the FDP works, since it has its headquarters there and later participated in the FDP annual convention, we met the Party Whip, Otto Fricke the next day and took a guided boat trip to Warnemunde, a small city nearby. The next rainy day, we reviewed the workings of the Schwerin Parliament, it economy and met Michael Roolf, the FDP chairman there. The last day before we reached Gummersbach, we met the mayor of Diepolz called Dr. Thomas Schulze who guided us on the city politics, governance and economics.

Petra Pabst, a FDP young liberals representative lectured us the next day on how policies in FDP are developed and why they are important. Three working groups then worked on what is policy and what it should be, how it should be developed and why it is important in a political party or pressure group. At the end of the day, we also discussed the commincation problems of liberal messages in the developing world and their solutions.

There were several exercizes that we did. The first day we discussed statements about social issues and wether they are liberal or not. Exercizes on secularism, rule of law and property rights were similiar, along with the "hot chair" exercize in which one delegate was supposed to defend an issue while the rest spoke against it. Our topics were " gay marriage" and " abolition of death penalty". Another was "cafe world", in which there are three tables with a leader, and three groups visit all the tables one by one. Each table has a different topic. We had this exercize at the end of the seminar to discover the major differences in opinion, most important opinion agreed upon by everyone and the best liberal solutions of each problem we discussed.

We also had presentations from external delegates - representatives of the German liberal party, the FDP, spoke very well and we got to know that the latest president of their party was a Vietnamese-German, another encouraging sign of the relative openness of western societies.

I felt that liberals in Pakistan need to be far more calibrated and realistic, rather than utopian and inflexible. Most of the liberal ideas are defeated when starkly inserted into the Pakistani context. I remember thinking - the perfect must not be made the enemy of the good.

Nevertheless, I returned to Lahore with almost three dozen new freinds from all over the world(including an Israeli who is now connected to me via facebook), life-long memories and liberal questions that will take years to find answers to, if at all.

Parts of this piece were first published in the News on Sunday.

Speaking of Tolerance

2011-08-15T02:59:00.001-07:00

The Liberal Forum Pakistan (LFP) arranged a seminar on ‘Peace and Tolerance’ at a local hotel on Saturday.
The panel, which was opened by LFP Lahore Chapter General Secretary Alia Shah, stressed on the need for tolerance in Pakistan, linking it to the recent killing of former governor Salmaan Taseer and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti. LFP Lahore Chapter President, Muhammad Safdar, said that Pakistan could not progress without tolerance. LFP Information Secretary Ammara Ahmad insisted that the judicial system must ensure that justice prevails in the murder cases of Taseer and Bhatti.
Taranjeet Singh, a media personality and activist, traced the evolution of societies and how tolerance remains an important stone of any peaceful set-up. Coordinator to the president Naveed Chaudhry relished Asif Ali Zardari’s decision to tolerate the opposition and foil any attempts to disrupt the system. The LFP is a non-profit organisation promoting liberal values in Pakistan, and is funded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation. pr

This press release was first published in Daily Times.

Living Fiction

2011-07-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

I have always fancied becoming a character in a book. There are some existing characters I want to be for a few moments because the complete novels are usually tragic. One can play these characters on stage, but I don’t like hearing my own voice. I want a silent bond with an author that inspires him secretly and dies with him, leaving behind an immortal reminiscence. I could be Tolstoy’s or Hardy’s hero or a minor character that leaves after a few pages. Or, may be the heroine of Chekhov’s shorter pieces, a frustrated housewife who ties her hair in a bun and wins a lottery or some Petersburg elite who can’t decide which hat to wear, the blue one with feathers or the pink one with bow tie?

Become Jude the obscure, sit in fields at night gazing at those yellow lights of Christminster that flicker like stars to share his dreams of intellectual triumph, not disillusionment. I want to be Madame Bovary on the morning she goes to meet her lover for the last time. I would take off my shoes and feel the cool grass, wet with dewdrops, be Austen’s Emma when she notices Mr Knightley’s grandeur in that final ball or Mrs Dalloway, walking down the London streets with yellow flowers that I crave to smell.

May be become Anna Karenina on the instant she comes out of the train and feel Count Vronsky’s eyes studying me for the first time.

I don’t mind being a minor character either like the dog in Turgeneve’s Lady with the Dog following my mistress everywhere or that drowning lady whose scream follows Jean-Baptiste Clamence in The Fall. Maybe become one of the letters sent by Atiya Faizi, with her scent enclosed and embraced by Iqbal’s handprints.

I can accompany Pinter when he weaves those threads of silence and words and console Kafka on those unhappy nights in Prague when he penned down the unsettling and unfinished stories. Perhaps, also buy him medicine.

And escort Virginia Woolf when she goes to drown herself with stones in her pockets. If I can’t talk her out of it, I will help her find clean stones and read her favourite passage from her book The Lighthouse as she walks into the river. I will open a casino where Dostoevsky will be returned all the wealth he loses in gambling. I don’t mind being one of the courtesans who inspired Ghalib or the married lover Mir Taqi Mir acquired in Agra.

My permanent abode, as a hobbit, will be a crevice in the Faraway Tree which Enid Blyton created. I will visit the towns that arrive at the tree-top, with my friends, Moon-face, Silky the fairy, and Saucepan Man.

Sometimes, when sitting in the coffee house behind Readings, I see Marquez working on his typewriter. I yearn to talk to him, but I don’t, in case some fictional landmark gets aborted due to this interruption and literary historians curse me… Perhaps, we can have a drink later. And when someone asks me if I know Marquez, I can say: “Yes. And we had tea together.”
First published in The News on Sunday.

Jamiat in Punjab University

2011-07-04T04:58:00.000-07:00

On a cloudy day, the Punjab University’s Philosophy Department looks serene and lush, with relaxed and preoccupied students strolling down the corridors. Yet this department pertaining to Iqbal and Nietzsche became the centre of violence last week when its teachers and students came in conflict with the Islami Jamiat Talba (IJT).

According to one student, on June 21, he was sitting with a girl student at around 8am. She gave him money for medicines but this gave an IJT member lurking around some wrong idea. When the member approached this student, the two boys got into a squabble.

According to students of the Philosophy Department who don’t want to be named, on June 22, the IJT members misbehaved with some girl students of their department swho later went to the Vice Chancellor. The next day, many IJT members gathered around the Philosophy Department and misbehaved with a female teacher along with the students, who then decided to protest, along with the staff members on June 24, the students went on. The protest materialised and later that day the IJT also protested.

The situation precipitated on the night of June 25 (last Saturday) when about 150 IJT members, some of them armed, went into Hostel No.7 of Punjab University. This hostel’s superintendent Shahid Gul, also belongs to the Philosophy Department and many Philosophy students reside here.

One Philosophy student was reportedly attacked with iron chains which damaged his back and another got head injuries. Both were rushed to the Jinnah hospital. They are out of danger now and have rejoined the university.

Reportedly, on June 25 when the IJT students came to the hostel, There was a counter attack on the IJT members, who escaped by climbing the hostel walls. However, when one lone IJT member was cornered by the students, he took out his pistol. He held the superintendent at gun point asking him to open the gate. He fired in desperation and the rebound bullet hit a teacher. IJT members from outside then beat the guard and broke the gate lock to rescue their fellow.

An FIR was registered against the assailants but the victims are sure nothing will come out of it. They consider the IJT too well-connected for such accountability. The VC, heads and deans of the university the HRCP chairperson Zohra Yosuf have condemned this event.

However, the following day, IJT members came to the department and apologised for the event.

Prof. Dr. Sajid Ali, Chairman Philosophy Department, commented on the events. “The philosophy department has always had an issue with the IJT. They expect us to call their members as guests or chair seminars but we don’t do so. Neither do we let them harass our students. So this is an ego issue for them,” says the chairman.

He verified that IJT has issues with boys and girls interacting or being seen together. When they see people sitting together, they usually recommend that the students sit in classes not outside. IJT members are always lurking around the departments monitoring activities.

Students allege that organisations like University Student Federation and Insaf Student Federation were dismembered due to IJT violence and pressure. Some students are adamant upon resisting this phenomenon. “The IJT won’t let any organisation work,” says one student. “But it cannot do much about the protests and resistance. We take the threat and abuse of our teachers just as seriously as our own.”

Departments like Biochemistry, History, Political Science and Hailey College suffer such violence but stay quiet.

“The issue was a misunderstanding. Two boys had a fight, which was resolved by a faculty member within 30 minutes,” says Zubair Safdar, Nazim Punjab University IJT. “The girls protested for the next two days. On the third day some 70 students and staffers rallied to the vice chancellor. Around 70 members of IJT also protested and later apologised to the faculty.”

On being inquired about the violence in Hostel No.7, Zubair Safdar, Nazim of IJT in Punjab University, agreed they were IJT members: “They went to persuade the hostel residents against the anti-IJT protests but there was a clash. The hostel students had sticks. Four boys, including two of ours, were injured. That event took a poor turn.” He added that IJT wants to teach Islam in educational institutions so the students implement it later. He believes the USF and Insaf Student Federations did not have an ideology and were disbanded when their respective batches graduated. Safdar asserts that IJT is democratic and popular, doesn’t want resistance, coercion or media-trial.

On a bicycle, exploring Amsterdam

2011-07-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

On finishing a course in the International Academy of Leadership, Germany, we decided to go to Bonn. But on the Cologne train station, we opted for Amsterdam, a better choice, because it is in a new country altogether. And all we needed was a train ticket.

Trains in Europe are a real boon, but they can get confusing because you have to catch different connecting trains. Just two stations from Cologne we realised that the train is going back and we had to switch trains and not just
enjoy the outside view with rivers and lakes, untouched forests, fields and cattle.

Amsterdam has two important features — canals and cycling. “The Venice of the North” is makred by a huge grid of canals. An aerial view makes the canals appear as concentric circles emerging from the city centre, which Albert Camus compared to the circles of hell in his novel ‘The Fall’, “Have you noticed that Amsterdam’s concentric canals resemble the circles of hell? The middle-class hell, of course, peopled with bad dreams.” Every street either ends on a canal or runs parallel to it. Freshwater and cruises with tourists aboard can be seen everywhere.

I once met a Dutch in the US who used to bicycle very fast, even on hills and intertwining roads and it impressed me. I didn’t know that he inherits it from the country’s culture. Amsterdam is full of cyclists. Cyclists not only speed around the city but also have their children sitting on special seats at the back or baskets in the fronts. There is nothing as lovable as two blonde kids or toddlers looking around intently while their father speeds away.

Although I have had a bad cycling experience in US, I still decided to look around the city through a guided bicycle tour. A company, called the MacBike, arranges these tours. Our guide was an American who breathed out swear words eloquently and told us something bad about every place. He started by informing us that the chances of breaking your nose on a bicycle are very high. He had a tragic tale for every stop. Like how someone fell in the canal, or how a girl broke her foot when cycling drunk or how an intoxicated French girl drowned into the River Amstel by falling from the NEMO Science Museum, a huge ship like structure with an open top like the dock of a ship, where visitors sit and eat.

We passed through main roads and hilly streets next to the river. I struggled to keep pace with the fairly large and diverse group, sometimes striking a wall, billboard or getting dangerously close to the riverbank. Once I got stuck on the railway track but the train was quite far and slow.

We saw the pigeons in the Dam square, went over the Skinny Bridge which has been widened now, had several intimate views of river Amstel and the De Gooyer Windmill — one of Amsterdam’s oldest windmills — which is now brewery.

The daughter of a Dutch friend of mine lives in Amsterdam and he often mentions the city with a lot of affection. This was something I found strange. Hometowns are often not well-appreciated. Netherlands often makes it into the lists of happiest countries in the world. A few morning hours in Amsterdam are enough to discern what it meant. One can see old people in restaurants and pubs, men and women cycling, lovers sitting by the riverside eating or talking. After the grey, grim and highly industrialized Germany, this was a nice break. The entire city, foreigners and natives included, seemed adjusted to the tourist mode.

The closest bond you can strike with an artist is through appreciating his work. My eyes have been appreciating the strokes of Van Gogh’s hands for many years now. May it be the “Starry Night” or “Café Terrace at Night”, his unique blend of colours and distinctive constructs on canvas bewitch the trained and the untrained eye alike. Van Gogh’s tragic life, mental illness, self-trained, exceptional and highly prolific output makes him a plausible Ducth success story, much like Abraham Lincoln for USA and Winston Churchill for UK. For people who are academically challenged (like me) and want to make it big, Van Gogh is a sign of hope.

Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam holds the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings in the world. It includes his self-portraits (the first painting you see is the one in which he ear is bandaged), the sunflowers (many of different types of them), The Potato Eaters (with a dimensional error) and The Bedroom in Arles. The lighting reflected on the painting glass along with the music downstairs spoiled the effect. But I was dazed for hours nevertheless.

I didn’t go to the Amsterdam’s famed Red light district, taste marijuana which is legal in Netherlands or drink the Heineken beer. I am not sure as to why but it gives me a reason to return and explore it again. Another reason is that I couldn’t meet my old Dutch friend. His memories were there with me; it made the city more special and brought me closer to him nevertheless.
This article was published in the News on Sunday.

Peace and Tolerance on 25th June

2011-06-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Liberal Forum Pakistan (LFP) arranged a seminar on Peace and Tolerance at the Ambassador Hotel, Davis Road Lahore. Some hundred peprofessionals, students and youngsters from various backgrounds took part in the seminar.

The seminar was hosted by the nationally renowned anchor and General Secretary of Liberal Forum Pakistan (LFP), Lahore- Alia Shah. Muhammad Safdar, President LFP Lahore, introduced LFP- an organization funded by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and dedicated to liberal principles like human rights, democracy, free market economy, individual freedom, secularism, good governance, freedom and liberty.

The speakers belonged to civil society organizations. The first speaker was Ishrat Saleem, an Assistant editor of Dailytimes. She discussed terrorism, and was resentful of the recent Salman Taseer murder and the growing extremism sometimes sponsored by state organs.

Fatima Khan, a lawyer and Radio Broadcaster since the last 5 years, commented on individual freedom in the light of what western liberal philosophers like John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham and Adam Smith said. She focused on rights and duties, and how awareness of the two is imperative for a peaceful and tolerant society.

Yasser Laif Hamdani, the famed columnist who writes for many English dailies, was critical of the misinterpretation of Pakistan’s history. He believes only secular states can attain peace and that citizens have many needs other than religion which the state is supposed to guard- minority rights being one of them.

Asma Perveiz, the principal of The Learning School, Kot Raadha Kishen Kasur, emphasized on the need to restrict freedom in order to ensure the safety of others. Rahat Ajmal, an MP from Kot Raadha Kishen expressed shock at the new wave of intolerance in the country. Dr. Amna Butta, an MP from Pakistan People’s Party stole the show by her passionate rhetoric. She spoke in favor of minority rights, equality and against terrorism. She said that people need to clearly define their stance against the terrorists and stand against this growing fanaticism and fear.

The chief guest was Dr Mughees uddin Sheikh, an academic and former dean of Social Sciences in Punjab University. He insisted that Pakistan’s extremism and terrorism won’t end till poverty, illiteracy and injustice is removed from the society. Terrorism is an outcome of the public frustration, deprivation and anger.

Parts of this press release were published by the Dailytimes.

To every writer out there...

2011-06-25T03:51:00.000-07:00

I have been affiliated with a newspaper for almost a year now. Many people have come to me with a wish to write. Here are some guidelines for getting published in the given newspaper (TNS) :

It is not very important to get published in TNS.
If you are still motivated, then please read TNS, for at least a month and read some of the back issues.Otherwise you won't understand what we or any other paper publishes.
We don't have a very high rejection rate but we like to believe we have a standard and we are not so desperate as to take every shit emailed to us.
If you are getting repeatedly rejected, by any publication, means that you lack what the publication likes to publish and its about time that you moved on.
We are not obsessed with poor grammar and spellings, the good news is we don't gun down a piece solely because of the ordeal you made us go through, because most Pakistanis ( including me) are weak in English grammar. However, an unedited, random and ill-conceived piece has little chance of getting printed.
First-time writers need to come up with a fresh, well-written and powerful pieces...save the gibberish for the next time.
We have a 600 word informal mood street section on the Shehar page which attracts the maximum bull-shit (which is often returned). But its a very good opportunity for everyone who is serious.
We have four Political Economy pages, that publish material on politics, society and economics which includes interviews, features and essays. You are welcome to try writing here...
Most people who told me they want to write, eventually did not write-so if you want to write-please do write at tnslhr@gmail.com .
A good news is that we pay PKR 2000 or less for each publication ( unless you do a 500 word box for us). You will have to send us a high-resolution ID card copy and wait till eternity for the money to arrive. It is slightly more complicated for foreign contributors so please kill all your hopes.

Last train to Berlin

2011-06-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

Since my early childhood days I have been wondering why I am I so accident-prone. My mother thinks it’s because I am simply clumsy, but I know deep down that it is a misfortune. There is virtually no part of my limbs that has not been bruised at least once. And the places and incidents through which these wounds were acquired vary a great deal from each other. From getting stuck in train and elevator doors, tripping over hurdles in 100 meters race, standing in a falling lift and bumping into moving vehicles (rickshaws and motorcycles), I have been there and done that without any fatal damage (unintentionally of course).

However, the accidents I remember most vividly are the ones that have left no physical mark. I haven’t forgotten them because either they were very funny or else embarrassing. Sometimes I am forced to ask – why me?

Some eight years back, my mathematics tutor came to teach me. The day was unusual because I had done my homework for a change. But I had to go to the toilet first. And the next thing I knew I was locked. The bathroom was located in the room which was not being used by anyone so it took my tutor some forty five minutes to get alarmed. Every effort done by my family to open the door failed. I was rescued some two hours later by two locksmiths.

It was one of the few occasions when I did not have a book with me, so I used the time for reflection. A few years later, my younger sister was locked in the same bathroom -- just like Ted Kennedy was forced to reflect on the “Kennedy curse” once, I actually paused to wonder if the accident curse runs in the family.

Cycles and I have had a close bond for ever now. I learnt to ride a cycle very swiftly but it had two extra wheels to prevent me from falling. This might be why I kept losing balance once I bought a new cycle from the Quetta Duty Free Shop. I risked being run over by a neighbour’s car once when I was nine and he was reversing.

It wasn’t this harmless some ten years later, when I rode a bicycle in a university town of US. The bicycles in the US don’t have breaks; you just have to peddle backwards. While going downhill right into a traffic intersection, both my reflexes and my feeble attempt to land on a piece of grass failed and I landed directly on the pavement, with full force, while both my slippers flew across the road (my friend later got them for me). This accident gave me another chance for reflection -- this time to review the American healthcare system. It is expensive and unless you are clearly dying, the doctor takes several hours to reach you. A Pakistani and British friend sat there with me and gossiped about the town, while we waited for the doctors. But they genuinely try to save you from death (or suing them later) in every way possible.

In Amsterdam this year, I was able to overcome any residual anxiety pertaining to bicycles and took a guided bicycle tour across the city. Other than bumping into boards (which caused some giggles), losing my balance every now and then and getting stuck on the railway lines once, everything went well.

This was possibly the first foreign city where I didn’t have to face a mishap. Until I reached the train station and realised I had missed the last train to Berlin.

This article was first published in the News on Sunday.

Breaking the Silence

2011-06-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

Everyone (hopefully at least someone) who follows my blog and missed it- I am very thankful. I am sorry for the silence. But it was for a good reason. No. I was not pregnant. I was away to Germany for a two weeks seminar. And took an extra ten days to have a look around Europe. It was all fabulous of course.

Germany was very green and windy, almost cold in the northern parts like Rostock. They probably never see the real summer that we in Pakistan live through. Germany is very rich (this is no secret I know) and it has been recession-proof so far. As we traveled across North Rhine-Westphalia,
Germany's richest and economically most powerful state, through Lower Saxony and Hamburg to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern where Rostock and Schwerin are located. The top picture is that of the cathedral in Cologne and the lower one is Rostock, the city at the tip of the Baltic Sea.

The Germans apparently love beer, football and cars (autos as they call them). There is a Micheal Schumacher in every German, who drives at 120 MPH and desires to go at 180 MPH. If you are sitting in the front seat, like I did, you fear that the car in the next lane will cross-over. Your chances of survival are very meager in that case. However, the autobahn is safer than most road networks of Europe and US. But then a fatal accident happens once in a blue moon, shaking your confidence a bit.
One big problem with Germany is that it is full of German speaking Germans, who rarely speak anything else. Now Germany has introduced English in its school, life for tourists is just as miserable. The few German words I has collected in the last few years didn't help.
Germans look serious and stern most of the times, but usually open up slowly and become friendlier. If you are a confused foreigner on a German train with 14 stops and one random stop you have to get off at, most Germans are all smiles and helpful.
I was part of a seminar on liberalism. There were delegates from some 15 countries. There was a lot of discussion on free market economy and climate change was declared a hoax- more on all that later.

Disclaimer: These are my personal impressions about the Germans that were formed in a mere three weeks stay in which I was running around Europe haywire- please go to Deutschland and form your own original opinion.

Lure of an old book

2011-04-10T08:30:00.000-07:00

Old books have a charm of their own. As a child, I had an aversion to them and to the old, dark and dingy Anarkali streets my father went to, to buy them.

I knew lots of girls in my class who read glossy, new books. But, somehow, that’s just not the same experience! Once you hold a seasoned, colourful childrens’ classic with pictures of goblins, rabbits and witches drawn inside
you are bound to examine it. Initially, the previous owners’ names caused disapproval and envy, but eventually this became a fascinating part of the

experience. Some Paul, John or Jamila once prowled the book now so lovingly possessed by you. You are part of a ‘tradition’ of sorts, now, a living linkage where ‘owners’ own and are owned by the book it’s rather like buying an old manor house, or farmhouse, with a history of long previous ownership which nominates you to a select fellowship. Sometimes these books would carry letters, chits or phone numbers, too, which would add new mystery and allure.

Slowly, as I fell under the enchantment of these old books, I grew uninterested in new ones. New pages lack a past and character, coupled by the fact that new books are incredibly expensive in Pakistan – hence second hand books are always in demand. Every imported book eventually reaches this market, though the price varies by the locality where it is sold. These shops contain newer editions as well. And then additionally of course, there is a huge market of pirated books in Lahore, the pace and effectiveness of which never seize to surprise one. Opposite Hafeez Centre, there are some half a dozen old book shops offering a wide array of old and pirated books at reasonable prices.

Books on the Anarkali footpaths (very few left now) cost between Rs. 5 to 10 and those in up-town old book shops would be ten times more expensive. So many of my Sundays were spent on these footpaths with my father. The Lahori old book markets cannot match the variety abroad, say in the USA. Americans, unlike Pakistanis, write, print and read many more books. Once they have read one, they dispose off the book which is then available for a few cents in garages, shops and thrift stores.

Old books have an exclusive rusty colour to their pages, which give out a unique scent of wood, aging paper and ink. Once I bought a copy of. The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad from the Anarkali footpaths, in which the person gifting it requested the friend he gave it to, to never give the book away or lose it but here it was, barely three years afterwards.

It is perhaps not justified to support pirated books. But new books are way too expensive, and the third world public cannot afford it. Plus most of the masters whose classics I have enjoyed (Kafka, Hardy, Tolstoy, Dickens, Austen and many others) have long been dead and ceased to get the royalties.

I have quite a problem with books. They need a proper surrounding to be placed in. Beautiful book-racks have always struck my fantasy especially the library in the animated movie Beauty and the Beast. Books need to be treated well, deserve a beautiful (clean) book shelf, a lot of light and regular human touch. You need to open it once in a while and make it feel cared for.

I have had to struggle with my own book dilemmas. Are all books equal? Or are the loved ones more equal than the rest? Can you ever really ‘possess’ a book? Or do you just keep it for the next generation? Which book is yours, the one you bought or the one you read? That beautiful copy of City of Djins I borrowed from the library was never mine? What about all the love I bestowed on it during the one week it was on my bedside? And finally, the most potent question disturbing every book lover: what will happen to my books after I am gone?

Over the years, I have realised that almost everyone I have known so far has rolled out of a book. My best friend is Miss Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, my father has shades of Macbeth, my favourite professor is like Hamlet and my great aunt is a happier Mrs. Dalloway. And I am a Peter Pan, sadly stuck with people who cannot fly.

This article was first published in the News on Sunday on 10th April 2011.

The three Afridi girls !

2011-04-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

I am particularly fond of Shahid Khan Afridi and co. They struggled against the odds, played well throughout except for the last one inning- so kudos there! And of course- congratulations to India for taking the cake eventually.
However, throughout the final section of the World Cup - Afridi's three little girls stole everyone's heart with their lovely, positive smiles and innocent commentary! Way to go girls! Here they are, before and after the World Cup...

Loving Marquez

2011-03-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

The great South American writer and Nobel laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez celebrated his 84th birthday on the sixth of this month.

Marquez, lovingly known as “Gabo”, has been a special favorite of mine for many years now, ever since a dear friend introduced me
to his work. Though familiar with many of his works, this article will briefly dwell on some of the major highlights of his magnum opus One Hundred Years of Solitude (first published in Spanish, 1967); a multi-layered, multi-dimensional work of great beauty and
richness.

One Hundred Years of Solitude is a novel based on the epic story of seven generations of the Buendia family, in a
fictitious town called Macondo that was founded by the progenitor of the family, Jose
Arcadio Buendia, along with his wife Ursula. The town becomes the centre of remarkable and fantastical activities, along with misfortunes, war, brutality, disease and all the cycles of life and death. Eventually, it is destroyed by a fierce tropical hurricane. The saga of the family and the town is spread out over a hundred year’s period, ranging from the 1820s to the 1920s, and is “full of the variety of life itself,” as a critic remarked.

Along with the work of the earlier, influential Argentine writer, Jorge Luis Borges, this particular work by Marquez is ranked amongst the finest examples of a unique style evolved in South America, termed as “magical realism,” where elements of the fantastic, magical and illusionary quality blend almost seamlessly with everyday reality, so that readers are left baffled and enchanted--where does reality end and the magic begin? And how may one perceive such “magic” in one’s everyday life? Vital questions indeed.

During the course of the novel, many strange and bizarre events occur. Strange people come and go and the teeming life of Macondo is enlivened by these events and occurrences and we are made witness by Marquez to a whole host of exquisite, fascinating and repulsive images, a host of them that descend upon us line after line, and make this book such a wonderful experience. Indeed, as Harold Bloom, the famous American scholar and critic remarks: “the act of rereading One Hundred Years of Solitude is a kind of aesthetic battle fatigue, since every page is rammed full of life beyond the capacity of any single reader to absorb... There are no wasted sentences, no mere transitions, in this novel, and you must notice everything at the moment you read it.”

Thus, the whole tale is a literary tour de force of the highest order, calling for our full attention and involvement. Sometimes, we have a rain of flowers cascading from the skies; sometimes a beautiful maiden ascending to heaven, while doing her laundry; or a person swarmed constantly by yellow butterflies--there are no fixed patterns, no “usual” points of reference, as we are transported into another world altogether.

Marquez’s characters, too, are very fascinating, well-conceived and constructed. They range from high nobles and aloof aristocrats to simple rural shepherds and natives of the wilds of the Amazon; they are blessed with very full and rounded personalities and great complexity and depth; passionate, jolly, amorous, hungry, lively and tired, all their emotions and upheavals and joys and tragedies are intensely human and, at the same time, colored with the unique tinge of “Marquezian” fantasy.

Some of these characters are very memorable indeed. One such character, who appeals to me strongly, is the gypsy, Melquíades, who enters Macondo with a band of gypsies and several charming items from across the globe. Melquíades is said to have died in Singapore, but he returns to live permanently with the Buendias because he couldn’t bear the solitude of death. He starts writing mysterious parchments that are deciphered in the end--and we learn that he is, in fact, an alter-ego for the author/narrator himself. Two of the women characters are equally interesting, Ursula and Pilar Tenera. Ursula is the mother of all the Buendias, whereas Pilar is the local woman who mothers the children of Ursula’s sons. Ursula is the archetypal matriarch providing food, shelter and guidance throughout the novel, whereas Pilar is the sexual matriarch, a sensual creature, often the first lover of Buendia men, who eventually returns to Macondo despite being married.

Some aspects of Marquez’s works can pose difficulties for the average or first-time reader, making some of them drop the book before time. One is the lack of a linear time-frame because Marquez believes that people and history have cycles and patterns; these do not always progress along straight, neat, linear paths. Secondly, his depiction of sexuality, incest and promiscuity is also distractive, especially for readers from this part of the world. Lastly, the fusion of reality and magic is so smooth that one is truly baffled, even though we may be enchanted by the wealth and profuseness of Marquez’s imagination and creative power. The myths, illusions, legends and truth merge to give us a flavour of Marquez’s South America, and to outline the point that reality is subjective, absurd and seldom fully understood.
This piece was first published in The News on Sunday

Yallingup by Omrite

2011-03-21T15:09:00.000-07:00

I should right out confess that I’ve never been to Australia. Indeed, I know very little about the place per se, beyond what little I can remember from school geography lessons, long ago. Thus, like the redoubtable Messrs Sellars & Yeatman (who wrote those great classics, 1066 and All That, And Now All This), all that I do know about Australia (oddly referred to as ‘Oz’ by its natives) is all that I can remember.

Pakistan's Sexy Revolution

2011-03-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Two days back, a video of a well-provided but confused kid arrived on facebook. The boy starts of with saying that "We are all good people shouting slogans and our police is pushing us. For whom? Raymond Davis- an Englishman?"

He adds that our women observe parda at home but came out for the revolution today, just for all of us and our country and that Imran Khan up there is so moneyed thet he doesn't even need to do all this. Behind this maverick, you can see the flags of a religious party floating.

Now the funny part is the phrases he picked up to express himself:

" Police humein marey gi tu hum inqilab kaisey lain gey?" "If the police will beat us, how will we bring a revolution?"

" Itni garmi mein kaun jaloos kurta hai!" “Who gives processions in such heat?”( Sounds like peeing)

" Jab inqilab ki zaroorat hoti hai, sara banda nikal aata hai!" “ When we need a revolution, the whole man comes out!”( kya nikal aata hai?)

" Imran Khan uppar khra jalsey dey rehein hain." “ Imran Khan is giving procession up there.” ( Jalsey dey reha hai ya paani?)

" Yeh merey bhai garmi mein khrab hu gaye..." “ This brother of mine has gone bad in the heat…”( bhai hai ya pudding?)

A Facebook page has been created to celebrate the poor teenager's speech, probably by his school mates.

It is funny enough to give you fits of laughter. One of the posts say: "This Inquilaab is brought to you by 'Pampers'...Garmi mei bhi bachay sukoon se juloos nikalay"

The Middle East has a socio-political upheaval, and seems like some of the countries might become democracies or close to something like that. The semi-literate, quasi-Muslims of Pakistan, with a pick-and-lick, drop-and-run tendency are pregnant with fresh hopes. A fortnight back, I attended a seminar in which a political worker declared that with such high poverty and inflation rates, people will pluck these politicians and hang them with the trees.

I refuse to believe this. Firstly, Pakistan is already a democracy, something the Middle East is still striving for. Plus though ineffective and corrupt, state pillars like the judiciary, media, legislature etc are still operative. So what we are calling a " revolution" will actually be a chaos that will serve certain political parties that cannot come in power otherwise. We better improve the existing system then get used to serve the vested interests of some individual.

Meanwhile you can have fun listening to this musical version of the chappie's revolution:

Landmark turned crisis

2011-03-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

The land dug up for what was planned to be Pakistan’s highest tower has caused huge cracks in buildings near it

The construction of “Mubarak Centre”, a huge commercial plaza on Lahore’s Ferozpur Road, close to the Muslim Town area, was started in 2006. According to the Environmental Impact Assessment report of the project, the main building was going to have 74 floors (thus making it the tallest building in

Pakistan

); the other three annexes were
going to have 54 floors. It was going to be a huge structure with

a three storey basement and a group of buildings. Wikipedia claims that the centre would have a height of 1947 feet, to commemorate the year of Pakistan’s birth and would allow a glimpse of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, from its observation deck.

The company’s officials verified that 70 percent of the shares of this project are owned by a Dubai-based company while 30 percent of the shares are owned by the Punjab provincial government, with a total approximate cost of ---?--- Pakistani rupees. The construction was expected to generate considerable employment and in the long run, bring in many economic benefits to the area. However, in 2008, the project was abruptly halted.

One reason, perhaps, was the international recession that badly affected the UAE and caused the majority-shareholder company to withdraw funding. However, a government official believes that the anticipated construction of a flyover on Ferozpur Road caused the delay because the Mubarak Centre was going to connect its building to its parking plaza across the road by an over-head bridge which clashed with the flyover idea, ,and that the Punjab government was not cooperating with the company in this regard. In September 2009, Punjab opposition leader, Chaudhry Pervez Elahi, told Geo TV that the improper attitude of the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had, in fact, forced the project’s investors to depart. Yet another issue with the project is that some eight houses are directly linked to the huge plot that was dug to accommodate the projects’ three storey basement. The residents were hopeful that once the building was constructed, it would provide support to their construction but this hasn’t happened.

For the last four years now, this plot has been abandoned and the houses connected directly to this plot, have their foundations dangerously exposed.

The Sufi group of industries has its head office in this location.

“Our walls and floors are cracking,” says Ghulam Nabi, the manager and in-charge of Sufi group. “We have been filling them up with cement. We cannot shift our office because we have invested considerably in this property but the monsoons or harsh weather can have a perilous outcome.”

TNS contacted an official of the UAE company behind the project, who told us on condition of anonymity that they had no idea when the construction would restart.

Dr. Shahid Mahmood, also a resident of the area, has been displaced from his abode since the three months because the very foundations of his house have been weakened beyond repair, and it is on the brink of collapse. He has now shifted with his family to a guest house.

“We are living on the edge of hell,” says Shahid. “We don’t know for how long we have to live in this guest house. My daughter is getting married, we are having trouble arranging the wedding and meeting the demands of the medical profession.”

Dr. Shahid wrote to the company many times. Eventually he wrote to the Supreme Court’s Human Rights cell which referred his case to the DCO of Lahore city. The DCO investigated the matter and eventually wrote to the Supreme Court that Dr. Shahid’s property has been permanently damaged. In February 2010, Ziauddin Mian, an independent civil engineer and retired professor of the University of Engineering and Technology also made an investigation on request of Shahid and confirmed that the house was critically endangered. On 23rd December 2010, the UAE company sent its local engineering consultant, Akbar Shirazi, director of a construction company called SAMPAK, to make a similar check. He advised that Dr. Shahid Mahmood and his family be immediately removed from the house. Although living in a guest house provided by the company since the last three months, Dr. Shahid has not heard from them since. The DCO’s report is lined up for hearing in the Supreme Court and he is eagerly waiting this.

The company official claims that they held a public hearing on 15th December 2007 in Sunfort hotel, Lahore, where they invited all stakeholders to come and present their complaints/objections, yet no-one objected. It must be clarified here that the major problem isn’t being caused by the construction but the lack of it, in fact. Since the dug up plot is 60 feet deep, the effect on the nearby houses is the same as if they were sited on a hill about to landslide. The sides of the plot are eroding.

“Serious damage was caused when they tested the soil. It sent earthquake like tremors and weakened our construction,” says Ghulam Nabi, “they have used cement to hold the walls in place but it’s not sufficient.”

Piling of walls is a serious business. In recent times, in Lahore, the Masood Hospital’s illegal construction came to the notice of the government when the piling fell and Alamgir Plaza’s rear side collapsed and raised concerns about the construction strength of the building.

According to the No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued to the Mubarak Centre by the Environmental Protection Department, the owners will have to give compensation to any property damaged in the adjacent area.

“The NOC issued for the Mubarak Centre has to be conditional,” says Rafay Alam, lawyer and founding member of Lahore Bachao Movement. “The construction has to meet environmental mitigation standards. Above all, it has to be finished in a given period of time because if the material is left in the open, its quality deteriorates.” Rafay added that this site and would-be skyscraper is in the way of Walton airport’s runway and also requires an NOC from the airport, or the civil aviation authorities. “Any building in the 16 km diameter of the airport needs to get its height approved from the Civil Aviation Authority or else it is illegal.”

Hence, the affected can go to a court of law to get compensation for damages, or write to the Environmental Protection Department to send the owners a notice. Hopefully, bureaucratic hurdles won’t delay justice or cause loss of life.

The articled was first published in the News on Sunday

Glob by Omrite

2011-03-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

His name, he said, was Glob. I suppose I had to take his word for this.

Glob was a professional lunatic, one of many assorted beggars, mendicants, charlatans and vagabonds who sit outside the local bus-addah (bus stop) here. Glob was unique even in this motley and highly individual mob, by virtue of the fact that he declined to hide his physical self, the garb in which god had created him, with anything as contemptible as clothes.

The Kinnaird years

2011-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Places hold us, whether we like it or not…rather like barbed wires…we leave little bits of ourselves there.

— Katherine Mansfield.

Last week, Kinnaird held its 74th convocation. Almost one thousand graduates converged in the Amphitheater behind Kinnaird’s buildings and next to its famed hockey ground. I was one of the black and maroon robbed women, in those mortar board caps.

Five years ago, on a very rainy and grey day, I had entered Kinnaird’s red sandstone building for the first time. The purpose was to take a statistics test which was compulsory to get admission in the psychology department.

When I look back at myself, strolling in those long, colonial corridors for the first time, I see someone incredibly naïve. I wanted to bring a revolution, read every great literary piece, play the flute and have some leisure time to paint, despite majoring in Environmental Sciences and giving due attention to environmental activism.

Throughout the years, there was discontent among the students. Kinnaird was not popular within Kinnaird, partly because, like most government institutes, the administration was neither interested in improving it nor bothered about people’s opinion. Many of the older staff members still believed Kinnaird to be the best, and lived in oblivion of the modern and private institutes that now perforated in Lahore and attract much of the student cream.

It was however, not as bad as many students thought. Many of these students had started their lines, hoping to become doctors, go abroad or join LUMS but couldn’t. They saw Kinnaird as the outcome of their disappointment and were perpetually depressed or indifferent.

Academically, what kept me bound were the many short courses (generals) we had to complete. We could choose these, and here I studied philosophy, Oscar Wilde, theatre skills, psychology, German language and the film studies class that happened on Saturdays when the college was all empty and romantic. I had been in love with the Nobel Laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez for as long as I remember. Since he wrote in Spanish, it had always been my desire to also attain fluency in this beautiful language; this desire was fulfilled here, through my Spanish classes.

Debates had always been my passion and Kinnaird had quite a debating squad. We gathered every Saturday to prepare for the parliamentary style in which one got a topic and had to prepare one’s case on the spot, with the help of two or three team members.

Through the debating sessions, I was introduced to a girl Maria in the first semester and eventually we became best friends. I had finally discovered someone like-minded and entertaining. We skipped sports parade, sat behind the basketball court amidst trees and took long walks around the old hostels talking about everything under the sun, discussing life, love and literature, giving vent to all our youthful exuberance and idealism.

But Kinnaird was not all milk and roses we had our share of troubles and travails, in particular with tough teachers, random classes, unpleasant assignment, clerical hassles and a host of other problems that somehow still seemed to prevail in the Victorian, archaic atmosphere.

But all that was in the past; at the convocation we were on the threshold of becoming graduates. Sadly, Maria could not be with me as she is away in Germany but she was very much with me in spirit. It seemed that all the old shades of my first entry into those hallowed portals had once again collected around me.

A day after the convocation, I went to Kinnaird to return my robe and the mortar board cap. It was raining, just like my first day in Kinnaird. The first time I walked through these corridors, I couldn’t recognise any of the old faces. Now I couldn’t recognise the new ones. The grand oak in the centre, about which I had coined so many stories, was still there — old, lush and grand in its maternal benevolence.

Just as Mansfiled had suggested, a small portion of me has been left behind in Kinnaird. Amidst the rain drenched, verdant trees, the crimson building looked at me, asking me to return — someday, perhaps.

Learning to ride

2011-03-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

Journalism without training is like horse riding without practice. You tend to fall every now and then. And each time the fall hurts more. Keeping all these thoughts in mind, I joined a short course on media in the South Asian Free Media Association last December, which lasted two months.

Our class was quite diverse --a few journalists, students, housewives, one retired officer and one student leader who couldn’t stay away from his female class fellows.

The first few weeks were smooth. We had classes and lectures, sat in the safety of the class, looking attentive and occasionally asking a sharp question. Luminaries of journalism like Khaled Ahmed on current affairs, Arif Nizami on changing trends in journalism, Hassan Askari Rizvi on political reporting, Seemi Raheal on gender bias in journalism and Iftikhar Ahmad among many others came to lecture us.

In the fourth week, an advertising guru who came to teach us technical aspects of the camera work, divided us into three groups and assigned us a 3 minute long film each. We were supposed to have a story, act, direct and record it. The story we coined was about an imaginary fellow student forced to steal mobile phones due to financial constraint, how we discover her stealing and help her out. The thief was played by me, but we forgot to shoot the confession scene on the shooting day. By the time we realised this mistake, the week with the advertising guru was over (along with my hopes for an acting career).

Three weeks before the course ended, Sharmini Boyle, a Sri Lankan producer for the last thirty years, joined from Colombo to train us. On the first day she divided us into four groups and sent us all to get walk pops on a current issue. Punjab was about to get a new governor and we questioned some twenty people if they knew who the new Governor was. Most people did not know the new Governor; those who knew couldn’t name him. I held the mike in the first ten or so vox pop. Afterwards when my turn was over, it was time to relax. I took a stroll, bought some corn, quarreled over the price and even bought some socks from a vendor.

The next day when the video was reviewed, the first half was relatively smooth (if you ignore the two instances I was waving violently at my crew to stay quiet).The second part, in which I didn’t compere, was a disaster. In background, roaming around the street in a space jacket and goggles was none other than me -- first buying the corn and squabbling with a pathan and eventually buying socks. I could hear myself bargain and the whole class in a fit of laughter. There was little doubt left on how aloof and huge my screen presence was, especially when quarrelling with street vendors.

The next assignment with Sharmini was a small, 3 minute documentary. Each group was to pick its own topic and we were silly enough to pick up a broad and difficult theme the “Impact of terrorism on the entertainment industry.”

The shooting day was fun. We got to meet Usman Peerzada, the creator of the website danka.com with his four cats and guitars and finally a stage director. But the post shooting scenario was chaotic. We came back with a seventy minute footage for the 3 minute movie, had deviated from the script and forgotten to write down the shot sequence. After much effort and scolding, the movie was salvaged to some extent.

In the last week, we went to a private news channel, just to get the feel of how things are there. The building was innovative and tech savvy but somehow much smaller than we had anticipated, especially the news room. The sets were sound proof, well-lit and full of energy. In the distance, a newsreader was about to go on air with the bulletin, so they hushed us out.

Zulfiqar Khosa was the chief guest in the concluding ceremony, in which Khaled Ahmed, who was the course director, also spoke. Khosa was in a hurry and didn’t pay much attention to our short films. Mercifully, the vox pops were not screened. But to give us cold feet, the advertising guru was there, giving us meaningful glances. Before he could summon our art pieces, we all vanished through the back door.

Remembering Taseer

2011-03-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

It has taken me exactly two months to come up with this. Taseer was usually very controversial during his lifetime. He was the front-man in PPPP, fighting the opposition with often colorful, humorous, sometimes malicious comments. His in-your-face politics frequently took the limelight.

His death was shocking. It was sudden and too brutal for a man of good taste. However, what surprised me
the most was, how little known he was before he passed away. The subtle aspect of a character are ignored, especially in politics, where you are out to hound the opposition on a tit-for-tat basis.There were facets of him, for example, his jail years and loyalty to
Bhutto, his childhood spend in inner city Lahore, his father who was my dad's professor. People reminisced how they used to find him in restaurants eating, how he would dance with them or converse easily. He was a big connoisseur of art, they say. The chap who killed him had just one grievance but in the process finished everything there was to him. And now, in his death, Taseer is much greater than he was in his life. Some great obituaries followed. Linking two of them here.

Taseer- Patron of art

The lesser known side of Taseer
Once upon a time...

Sharif takes up a motorbike, Shujaat gets a tummy tuck

2011-01-02T03:46:00.000-08:00

Pakistan has a new prime minister. His name is Yousaf Raza Gilani. The name is the same but the man is different. Gilani (along with Rehman Malik) is now the alumnus of the Altaf Hussain School of Public Speaking in London. A fluent speaker now, he has all the answers and looks towards both sides of the podium.

On BB’s 4th death anniversary, President Zardari gave her the good news of Bilawal’s grade improvement in Law College with a CGPA of 3.7. He has sold his French chateau in Normandy and bought one in Swat because the close proximity means he escapes controversy when visiting it. Due to the current inflation rate, he has also decreased his fee rate from 10 percent to 7 percent.

Altaf Hussain has returned to Pakistan because the male population in Sindh declined rapidly due to target killings and he was needed to buffer the effect.

Salman Taseer has quit using the vanishing cream that makes him vanish. His daughters have guided him to revert to the ancient turmeric and gram flour.

The ministry of Religious Affairs has been abolished and replaced by the ministry of cooking affairs because unlike religion, the fervour for food is equal and across the board.

Maulvi Fazlur Rehman has updated his premiership dreams after the departure of Anne Patterson. Knowing that US ambassador Cameron Munter appreciates Tikka diplomacy, Fazlur Rehman has been sending Munter pots -- "Tittar battair" -- with cards on them saying "If you make me the Prime Minister, I will add the spices."

The best surprise came when Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain got a tummy tuck in a Gujrati hospital.

Shahbaz Sharif has quit his VIP transport and permanently taken up a

motorbike, like he did during the flood days.

Altaf Hussein and Nawaz Sharif came to visit together. Both sat in a corner and discussed power crisis and hair care products.

Chaudhry Nisar and Haider Abbas Rizvi have stopped discussing other people’s marriages on screen. Both the leaders have decided that Karachi should be a peaceful heaven on earth now.

Altaf gave Nawaz a smooch on the cheek, just like he gave Mayor Kamal Mustafa in London.

Babar Awan (who gave his Haris Steel Mills case fee as zakaat last Ramzan) came with an envelope which contained a surprise sweeter than imagined -- a doctorate degree under my name from our very own Monticello University. "Can you get me a Matric certificate also?" I requested. "Next year," he promised. And, nowadays, he keeps all his promises.

Altaf Hussein and Nawaz Sharif came to visit together. Both sat in a corner and discussed power crisis and hair care products.

Chaudhry Nisar and Haider Abbas Rizvi have stopped discussing other people’s marriages on screen. Both the leaders have decided that Karachi should be a peaceful heaven on earth now.

Altaf gave Nawaz a smooch on the cheek, just like he gave Mayor Kamal Mustafa in London.

This piece was published in the News on Sunday on 2nd January 2010.

Gabo Quote

2010-11-19T13:57:00.001-08:00

Diwali and UNICEF

2010-11-04T06:28:00.000-07:00

Dear all
May God bless you with a happy and prosperous Diwali. I wish I could be there and see all the lights. I have another appeal. UNICEF is arranging for education, food and shelter for the flood affected children but due to shortage of funds, it will close down:
Unicef to Close?

This is worrisome- and hopefully, you will help on this auspicious day.
Support Unicef

Mood Streets

2010-10-29T05:25:00.000-07:00

Mood Street is a weekly column, that runs in The News on Sunday. You can contribute to it on tnslhr@gmail.com.

All in an Apple

Apple is more then a fruit. It is, in fact, a symbol with a long heritage. One of the most familiar apple symbols is found in our holy books – most prominently in the Bible. Apple is the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and resulted in a shocking landing of man from Heavens on Earth. Had this apple not been consumed, there is a possibility that our joy-ride on planet Earth would not have materialised.

Meat Makes Meal

Even if millions of people land on the moon, they can't take their billion ton cattle along. India has recently launched their first 'moon mission'. The Indians have some advantages over the beefy Americans.

Back to Life

Who knows what the ultimate reality beyond death is? But all this speculation does make one wonder what might conceivably happen if, by some chance, some of the world's famous folk of the past might 'come back' to today's world. What would they think, what would they feel, how would (or might) they react to many things?

My First Bond

I was four years old. He was of an unknown age, a vagabond dog to which my aunt had taken a liking. He was of an orange brown colour, as if dipped in a turmeric solution. All humans and sheep of the house ignored him, alike. But I rode him like a horse on all my treasure hunts, neighbourhood conquests and expeditions.

Why didn't you do something?

Most men would readily declare that they would help a woman being assaulted in the street. Yet we know from experience that people are violated often on the street, in the midst of a crowd and no one comes to their rescue.

Them not us

A priest wanted to burn the Quran in the US. Thankfully, their president intervened to prevent the absurdity. But an entire colony of Christians was burned in Gojra and our president couldn’t even publish the official report on the carnage.

Sunbathing in July

Every tragic Shakespearean protagonist succumbs to a weakness. I too have a weakness — for certificates — and fell from grace this year, when I desired a private Punjab University degree.

Ramblings of an Environmentalist

Some four years back, everyone advised that a bachelor in Environmental Sciences is inevitable for a successful life. Before taking the plunge, I dreamt of a multinational job with a starting salary three times that of my dad's, perhaps emerging as a Pakistani Rachel Carson or Christiane Amanpour covering environmental disasters. An Oscar winning documentary on Climate Change, would have been very encouraging too.

The Art of Activism

Activism is one of the best aspects of life. It proves that we don’t merely survive the system but can direct and mould what exists according to what we think "should" exist. As a child, I was quite an activist myself. Usually I banged doors and cried. This bore fruitful results.

Learning to Ride
Journalism without training is like horse riding without practice. You tend to fall every now and then. And each time the fall hurts more. Keeping all these thoughts in mind, I joined a short course on media in the South Asian Free Media Association last December, which lasted two months.

The Kinnaird Years

Places hold us, whether we like it or not…rather like barbed wires…we leave little bits of ourselves there.

— Katherine Mansfield.

Lure of an old book

Old books have a charm of their own. As a child, I had an aversion to them and to the old, dark and dingy Anarkali streets my father went to, to buy them.

I knew lots of girls in my class who read glossy, new books. But, somehow, that’s just not the same experience! Once you hold a seasoned, colourful childrens’ classic with pictures of goblins, rabbits and witches drawn inside you are bound to examine it.

Last train to Berlin
Since my early childhood days I have been wondering why I am I so accident-prone. My mother thinks it’s because I am simply clumsy, but I know deep down that it is a misfortune. There is virtually no part of my limbs that has not been bruised at least once.

Earning without deserving
I can remember only a handful of teachers who were kind and out of them only two stood out for their talents. The rest were insipid at best and many of them confused “authority figures” with “authoritarian figures”.

Them not us!

2010-10-16T03:24:00.000-07:00

The recent protest in the US against the Islamic Cultural Centre near the site of the former World Trade towers hurt us all.

Almost a decade back, we had a performance in school. To sound unique, I presented a bible story. It was disqualified; instead a couple of puzzled faces looked at me strangely. After that, I remained uninvited to iftar parties. The issue re-emerged when I decided to stand for the school’s council election.

The opposition was about doubts regarding trusting a Christian with the student office of a predominantly Muslim school. The fellow students were further annoyed when they got to know that I had read the bible despite being a Muslim. It pinched me then that a mere school post was beyond my reach if I were not Muslim.

These days, everyone seems stunned at America’s discriminating behaviour. Yet a mere glimpse at our own history would be shocking. From extra-judicial and target killings to burning of property and restrictions on religious practices, Pakistan has it all.

Twenty years ago, Babri mosque was demolished. The news that a temple will replace the demolished mosque was distressing. The community that destroyed our religious structure wanted to substitute it with their own. The anger regarding the Islamic centre is similar.

Pakistan and the Muslim world will have to accord respect to other religions to attain it for themselves elsewhere.

Our fury on the Indian Gujarat’s massacre was reasonable but we neglect the Pakistani Hindu community which suffers regular human rights violations, especially abduction of young women and their forced conversion to Islam. On a bus to India, I met some of these Hindus and almost all of them had applied for Indian immigration. These are the indigenous communities of Sindh who have been around for thousands of years. If they want to flee now, something is very wrong.

Our social fault-lines don’t just include a split with non-Muslims but also along sectarian, creed and caste lines. We aspire for a united Muslim umah (nation) and justice for Palestine, but fear condoning attacks on ahmedis within Pakistan. A Barelvi mosque cannot operate peacefully in a Wahabi majority street and vice versa.

Perhaps it is human instinct to identify oneself with one group and disown those who appear dissimilar. But on considering the differences of religion, caste, creed and genetic make-up, the only person I can relate to is — me. My mother was born Barelvi and converted to Wahabism. My father was Wahabi but went the Barelvi pathway. Consequently, I am one of those rare Muslims who have been perpetually confused about all sects. But the world doesn’t compose of one person but many.

We need to accept the diversity of the world. The six billion people on Earth have different races, ethnicities, religions and beliefs. They outnumber us in every way. For one billion Muslims we have five billion non-Muslims. The chances are that we will have to work for and with them. Many of us have already reached their universities and workplaces. So rather than being forced to live with them, let’s learn to live with them.

One day I was eating with a friend in college. I commented on the taste of the shawarma. After giving her a bite I realised she was a Shia. Furthermore, the shawarma cook was Christian. So what to do with it? Just like all prejudices, my decision boiled down to economics. The shawarma was expensive for my student allowance so I took another bite. It tasted just the same.

Back to Basics!

2010-09-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

About 2.3 billion people (40 pc of the world) do not have proper toilets. Hence, lack of sanitation is a global issue and Pakistan also suffers from it. It has a human and environmental cost that most of us are unaware of.

"The situation is unaesthetic. Human waste is full of disease-causing bacteria contaminating the air, food and water," said Nazeer Watto, an environmental expert who works for the Anjuman Samaji Behbud (Organisation for Social Welfare) in Faisalabad.

"When waste is generated in the open and remains untreated, it interacts with the food chain through the soil, water and crops. The disease causing bacteria are incorporated in the food we consume, persisting longer and having worst effects by the time they reach humans," says Mustafa Talpur of WaterAid. "Sanitation is for human dignity; otherwise it enhances class isolation since only the lowest classes endure it."

The Sialkot Tragedy

2010-08-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

On the 15th of this month, two teenagers in Sialkot were accused of stealing and publicly beaten to death by hockey sticks. Thank God it was recorded on camera and someone submitted the video to the media.
It was of course disturbing to see it. But it caused a positive wave of resistance. People started protesting in Lahore and all over Pakistan.

The law and order situation in Pakistan is incredibly bad. Robberies, street crime and snatching have increased. Getting an FIR registered is difficult, dangerous and often useless. Therefore in cities like Gujrawala and Sialkot, the very corrupt Police of Pakistan now encourages people to attack these people and kill. Many times putting their corpses for display or burning them.

I remember a few weeks back, I spoke against it and my uncle from Gujrawala said that these people should be treated worse then this. " These criminals need to learn their lesson." he said. A very brilliant friend of mine had a support in favour of the killings, saying the boys were murderers and this street justice is people power.
She eventually declared that we people don't know what it feels like to be pointed a gun at like it happened to her.

You see, the thought that criminals are invincible until taught a lesson by the common man is deeply ingrained. The issue is that many times, these criminals are murdered by police, or allowed a public execution without a trial. This of course is illegal, challenging the writ of the Government and dangerous. Men in uniform decide who is to die and when, without much proof and trail. People don't care because the dead are suspected criminals.

Come to think of it, a society where anyone can be declared a criminal and persecuted on the streets is safe? Remember how some jirgas order public rape and murder, like they did in Mukhtaran Mai's case. Do we want this happening in our society?

Here is a piece I wrote today on the issue:
Why didn't you do something?

Donate for Flood victims

2010-08-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Kindly donate something for the flood victims. The rains and floods continue and half of Pakistan is under water. You should use credit cards to donate. Please encourage your colleagues to do so. Those without a credit card can give cash to

someone with a card, and hence contribute. Be careful that you either give it to International agencies, or to Edhi. Little money is good too.

Internationally, there is concern that donations will be used for terrorist activities. But if you donate to International agencies, through the internet, they wont. And these agencies are all foreign by origin.

Donate to Red Cross

Donate to Unicef ( more then 6 million Children Effected)

Oxfam UK

Canadian Red Cross

Doctors Without Borders

How you can help:

Besides sending cash through below mentioned charity organizations, you can support by providing following commodities. Please do not donate old/expired stuff. Make sure edible items are hygienic and properly packed.

Clothing: Clothes of various sizes, Beddings, Shoes
Utensils: Jerricans (large plastic cans that hold 20 liters of water or other liquids), Crockery, Buckets
Toiletries: Tissues, Soaps, Dettol (antibacterial cleaners), Towels
Food: Rice, Sugar, Flour (Atta), Onions, Potatoes, Cooking oil, Tea, Milk (tetra packs or powder), Safe drinking water, Cooked Food

Medicines:

Water purification tablets.
Life saving drugs.
Vaccines for malaria, cholera, typhoid, influenza.
Pain killers including strong ones like morphine derivatives, tremadol, pethadine, kinz .
Antibiotics e.g. tetnus, amoxil, gentamycin.
IV cannulas
IV Drip sets
IV drips: normal saline, ringerlactate
Local anesthetics (injections)
Cotton bandages, cotton.
Surgical instruments: e.g needle holders, forceps, tweezers.
Suturing materials, Skin staples.

Who Let the Shoes Out!

2010-08-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

Chacha Zardari!

After all the President Zardari has done to completely eradicate terrorism and poverty, this is how he got paid? ( With the kind of money you raised, I bet you can afford your own shoes). We all know Billu Bhai , ( Bilawal) sacrificed his own speech to collect funds for flood relief after the protests broke on Heathrow. But this is no sound way of donating footwear, throwing them on you.

They say the shoes were designers. And to facilitate, the chap threw two. May be it would fit you? If you checked the crowd enough to prevent them from carrying cameras, you should have also checked if they are PPP supporters. These desperate tries for public glory are not workable everywhere. Next time, only invite Babar Awan and aunt Sherry to such events. ( Beware Shery's revenge- she wears high heels.) Who writes your screenplay? You need new dialogues. And too much of in-laws love ( or lust) makes one look sissy.

Now the flood came in K.P, is that your fault? You didn't make that much water I am sure.The warning didn't come or the relief effort was slow, what has that to do with the highest authority?What do we pay the bureaucracy for?You were called Mr.10% but that's the past. Your commission has changed ever since.
(We guess). Even the UN report on Benazir's assassination declared you innocent. How much cleaner do they want you to be? After all you are the Paki President, not the washing powder Nirma.

People should appreciate your PMs visit. But the flood was in the northern provinces, what did he go to Karachi for? Oh the target killings! He is late by a week, but the public should appreciate his efforts to move here and there. The cheques for donations were false in Mianwalli- but at least he gave them. Some Governments, like those in Somalia and Rawanda, don't even give these...

My driver was chanting " Go Zardari Go"...I fired him! The new one is a pick-pocket but I ignore his small burglaries- after all, I am a Paki...
Joota Tu na Maro!,

A Healthy Vacation

2010-08-06T16:38:00.000-07:00

Chacha Zardari

I am sure you are fine, after all London is sufficiently far from the Paki floods, and you are staying in a luxury hotel (mashallah). Please do not worry about the floods. The 1500 people who died were ANP supporters.The alive ones and the soon-to-die ones are also not PPP supporters. Just Relax. Very soon, more kids will be borne and you can convert em to PPP right away!

God Forbid, if these people plan their families, PPP will have only 3 ways left of winning the next election.
1. Bribe the election commission
2. Buy the top brass of ISI
3. Ask Babar Awan and Rahman Malik to run away with every ballot box they see.( easy , easy)

That Raza Haider, who was gunned down in Karachi - remember? Why don't you meet Altaf bhai in London and request him to pray for peace in the evil-ridden Karachi, where innocent people are being targeted by God knows who?

Let me tell you the secret of a healthy vacation. Stay away from the newspapers. The opposition has hatched a conspiracy of defamation, and is vomiting poison. How did they find out about your French Palace by the way, don't tell me you paid the tax...Cameron must be obliged you took time to see him, despite your busy schedule and his rowdy diplomatic stunt in India...

I am glad you are working on the career of Billu bhai ( Bilawal). After all, people do everything for their children- send them to private schools and universities, pick-drop, help in homework. What for? The kids' career. So why this hoopla if you spent the public money of a downtrodden country on your son? You are being a good parent. And it would have been wasted by corrupt officers nevertheless. Lastly, please feed Bakhtawar baji more, she looks quite under-fed in the pictures.Oh shit! This isn't Bakhtu- this is some bloody poor girl from N.W.F.P, let me delete her!

See You Soon

POETRY FILM 03: Panun Pan Parzan (Realize Thyself)

2010-08-06T10:19:00.000-07:00

This film by journalist filmmaker Parijat Kaul interprets the message of Kashmiri saint poets Lal Ded and Nund Reshi (Sheikh Noorudin) in the context of today's violence torn Jammu & Kashmir. It won the 'Viewers' Choice Award' at 2nd Sadho Poetry Film Fest 2009-10.

Panun Pan Parzan' by Parijat Kaul was screened at a very successful two day 2nd Sadho Poetry Film Festival 2009-10 in New Delhi.The festival concluded on 27th December 2009.

For a better look, the following link could be helpful:
Omar Abdullah- Are you listening?

The Wrong (Band) Wagon by Soufia A Siddiqi

2010-08-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Lately, Ufone’s been making all of us laugh really hard. That’s ended brutally with its latest advertisement in the Saaf Awaaz campaign. A lot of people I know are still chuckling along, telling me I’m taking the ad too personally. Mikaal grimacing at the unusual voice of a stunningly fair, beautiful woman is more than slapstick, however. It’s a response typical of members of our society towards an anomaly-shock bordering on disgust. I have a congenital

vocal cord disorder called Dysphonia, which makes my voice unusually hoarse and toneless for a girl. Much of my life has been spent answering queries about it, largely by women who pity I will

never receive a decent marriage proposal because of it. I have had boys walk away from me the minute I’ve uttered one syllable. I don’t expect sympathy for a condition I didn’t choose; I expect empathy.

Accepting differences and celebrating diversity are qualities unique to the human being. That’s not what the Ufone ad tells the viewer. It stereotypes male behavior towards beautiful women (the irresistible ogling), then mocks her for her strange voice. It also blatantly disregards the fact that only mentally retarded children speak in a manner akin to the girl’s. All of this, it neatly packages into a telecommunication connection. Sure, ads can be funny, but at whose expense?

For a society as conservative as ours is about women, the corporate sector seems to be having a field day toying with the female figure. In an attempt to progress and win the economic rat race, advertisements in the country have taken objectification of 50% of the population to a new level. Fair & Lovely may be a relatively older form of this phenomenon by narrowly defining beauty in one skin tone. Hardees’ sleazy billboards in Lahore are a more recent addition. Consider the one in Model Town that declares ‘This chick won’t disappoint you’ or Gulberg’s ‘Big, juicy, messy; just the way you like it.’ The CEO of Carl’s Jr (Hardees’ sister company) admitted last year that the parent company CKE, Inc. deliberately targets ‘young, hungry men’, a double entendre on both physical and carnal hunger. The company’s Teriyaki Burger ad featuring Audrina Patridge as the ‘best bikini body’ and a more recent one with Paris Hilton seducing a, brace yourself, car, only evidences its history of foraying into voyeurism. Is that really the direction we want to head in, is what Pakistani parents should be asking themselves every time they drive past the cheery yellow star.

Ok. Sex is touchy. Let’s instead consider the effects of marketing a cosmetically perfect lifestyle with the help of skin bleaching products. Psychologically, the association of terms like ‘handsome’ and ‘lovely’ with fairness is mindboggling for a country genetically dominated by darker skin tones. Legally, such marketing amounts to misrepresentation through a product. Not only does it equate beauty with a particular skin tone, once the effect of the cream wears off (with discontinued use) one’s natural colour returns. Obviously, this is not the light tone promised by the cream to become characteristic of a face. Its continued use, according to skin specialists, results in cracks, sores and other forms of skin damage. There is even a greater tendency for the skin to darken. The unfortunate truth is that lightening creams are all the rage now in the country, especially among educated women desperate to subscribe to a fictitious ideal of beauty. The greatest targets of such ads are probably the girls ranging from early adolescence into their late 20’s (the average marriage age range in the country). Being fair, educated and holding down a ‘professional’ job is the latest best package for securing a successful marriage proposal. Companies want the young women of our country to believe a cream can do all this for them. The Journal of Consumer Policy affirms that consumers’ preferences and behavior are shaped by the size and nature of an advertising message.

Yes, ads just market products; one probably shouldn’t take them too seriously. Why, then, are advertising industries and marketing budgets worldwide valued at millions? Pigou explained that companies operating in monopolistically competitive markets such as food and personal care depend largely on advertising to differentiate their products from each other. Elements used range from humour and shock to sexuality. Company reps argue that consumers have the choice to ignore, change channels to or just tune out of ads that privatize the public domain. That’s exactly why in Pakistan billboards are often placed right behind traffic signals, radio stations will play your song request ‘right after these messages’ and cable operators will run a movie with commercials constantly appearing on horizontal and vertical panels on the TV screen. All of these are Hobson’s Choice: a consumer has no option, but to tolerate such adverts because they accompany other services he/she may desire or need.

The liberal feminist movement in the US took Burger King to task for its Super-Seven-Incher ad showing a young woman leaning towards a phallis-shaped sandwich claiming, ‘It’ll blow your mind away.’ The psychological and physical battle among Asians in the UK for fair skin has featured and been condemned on a BBC News report, Beyond the Pale; BBC2’s Desi DNA-Skin Deep; and Anita Rani’s Make Me White on BBC 1. The Australian Standards Bureau considered cancelling a Kotex ad in Australia that made euphemistic reference to female genitalia when it received a significant number of complaints overnight following its initial airing. Globalization critic, David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World argues that ads are just a part of the greater propaganda machinery controlled by corporations the world over to remind people that consumerism is the key to happy living. There seems no reason why Pakistani citizens, especially women, shouldn’t demand a similar inquiry into whether our latest ads are genuinely making us live more happily.

Apni Bitya Key Naam Kavita

2010-07-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

POETRY FILM 02: Apni Bitiya Ke Liye Ek Kavita (A Poem for My Daughter.)

A moving poem with lovely metaphors… a deliberately simple animation with the feel of children’s story-book illustrations
and an Indian look… a ‘happy film’ by Sidharth Pratap Singh based on a poem by Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena. The film won the ‘Viewers’ Choice Award’ at the 1st Sadho Poetry Film Fest 2007-08.

The filmaker, Sidhart, made this poetry film for his beautiful little daughter, whom I met in Delhi this year.

Youth Centric Culture

2010-07-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

A few months back, a friend said she will die around 50, when her kids are self-sufficient. Many days later she said, whichever restaurant or outing place she and her friends go, "aunties" come there to spoil the fun. Not that these aunties interfered or disturbed. They just changed the happy atmosphere to "middle-aged".

This is not uncommon. Many people in the world today, are stuck on this idea that youth has all the opportunities and hope, and as age deserts us, so do the perks. The aged are perceived as a liability, non-productive humans who can't have any fun or life.

Take the film industry. Very few movies, all of the world have middle aged or old central characters. In India for example, the only three examples I can come up with are Baghban, Viruddh and Shararat. None treat the ageing or old as ordinary, or allow them to represent some of the contemporary issues. For example, majority of the films, don't include the teen crisis or youngsters' issues. They cover a wide variety of topics. So why not the same for the oldies? We need movies with ageing main protagonists with old age issues. But above all, we need movies that are not obsessed with the old age of a character and explore different dimensions of her/his life and character.

One person on my list had the following status. Some two dozen people liked it and only one disagreed:

“What I hate most in life are people who are not really the peach of the day but who want to be young and sexy.You can fool nobody.There isa moment when you have to accept that somebody else is younger andfresher and hotter.Life is not a beauty contest.” (Karl Lagerfeld) . The above statement is very arrogant. We are all ageing and trying to discover what "acting our own age is like".

This idea that old age is hell, has perhaps been engrained in us through evolution. The young were self sufficient and could procreate. The old were just in the line of death. This is one of the reason menopausal women have such a low self- esteem, they are about to become non-reproductive.

I joined an upcoming literary magazine on Facebook. This is their introduction:

"The Missing Slate is not for aunties in their fifties, with all due respect to aunties and uncles in their fifties. It is meant to be a platform for creative expression of thought, speech and expression for a self aware, open-minded individual with the need to know what’s going on beyond simple fashion. It is, to put it simply, for the smart and discerning metropolitan."

We understand they are looking for fresh blood, but this is not a good way of putting it. First of all, it is they themselves who need to go beyond this "fashion" of discriminating the old. Somethings improve with age. As a professional you gain experienced, especially in arts, research based professions, science ( but of course you have to apply your mind and have a direction). Open any Forbes millionaire or billionaire list, most people would be old or middle aged.

Many Hollywood actresses today, are enjoying a mid-life career. Things are changing but not as rapidly. We have to challenge this primitive mindset of ours, especially now that the life expectancy is increasing and many old people do not want retirement, but be productive.

Rain in Lahore

2010-07-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Rain in Lahore is a fantastical phenomenon but you have to scorch in the Lahore Sun for several months like a mango to receive the final sweet pleasure.

Everything starts smelling different and you never catch a cold if you take a rain shower( though my mother is sure you can). The tea tastes better, especially when the chilly wind returns. Its like a natural, divine wash, that cleanses everything to the core ( except for the corrupt and greedy). The green becomes greener, crispier and you fall back in love with the city.

Following are some of the images of Lahore in rain.

The Race Course Park - Lahore

But there is another side too. 12, 000 medical students had to take an exam despite the dripping roofs. Some houses in Gujrawala ( a city ), two people were killed and one was injured. The inner city of Lahore which is very old of course, is literally choked with water- becomes a dirty version of Venus. But this isn't the Monsoon's fault. It is the poor, old and under-developed infrastructure. By the way, it started raining while I typed this post.

Here is a very good site to share a poem on rain. The introduction is beautiful:

http://sadho.com/?p=2415

Pakistan by Rahat Dar

2010-07-19T04:34:00.001-07:00

Kabbadi Match in Derawar. ( Kabbaddi is an indigenous sport of Punjab)

Children in Lahore

Load shedding Affected

Gypsy Children in Lahore

Rahat Dar is a veteran photojournalist from Lahore.

Minority Problem in Faisalabad

2010-07-19T03:49:00.000-07:00

Two Christians in Faisalabad facing blasphemy charges were murdered outside court today. The killing was extra judicial and Pakistan's mainstream media has yet to report it.

Asia Writes Reportedhttp:

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – A large number of Christians has fled Waris Pura, on the outskirts of Faisalabad, fearing violence, after Muslims launched a protest action that started at a local mosque after Friday prayers. The risk of attacks against Christians and their property is very high, a source in Faisalabad told AsiaNews, choosing anonymity for security reasons. Yesterday, hundreds of Islamic militants joined a protest march, calling for the death of two Christian brothers accused of blasphemy. During the procession, the mob stoned a Catholic church. An alleged booklet with offensive words about Prophet Muhammad is the reason for the rising tensions.

The AssistNEWS Reported:
Mr. Walter Naveed of Human Rights Focus Pakistan told ANS that Rashid Emmanuel, 32 and Sajid Masih, 30, had been running “United Ministries Pakistan” for the last two years in Daudnagar near the Warispura Christian colony of Faisalabad.

He said the pair was accused by Khurram Shahzad, a Muslim man, of pasting allegedly blasphemous posters in a truck station in Faisalabad.

“They (Rashid Emmanuel and Sajid Masih) received a phone call a week ago. The caller told them that he would like to meet them in connection with their ministry’s website,” said Naveed.

When Rashid went to meet the caller at the nearby railway station, the appointed venue of the meeting, the police were already there waiting for him.

Mr. Naveed said that the police took Rashid to police station and he was later charged with committing blasphemy against the prophet Muhammad.

"When Sajid, Rashid’s brother, went to tell the police that his brother was innocent, he too was arrested by the police."

There is a blasphemy law. But the accused should be tried in courts and not murdered extra judicially.

http://geo.tv/7-19-2010/68619.htm
www.asianews.it/news-en/Christians-flee-violence-by-Islamic-extremists-in-Faisalabad-18958.html

Don't Call me " Bhai"?

2010-07-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

Pakistan has been kissed ( or perhaps French kissed) by the American culture. We have all those eateries like Mcdonald, KFC, Dunkins, Burger King, Hardees etc.

One peculiar thing I have seen in all three of my recent offices, is that men frown on being called a " Bhai" ( Brother, Hermano). Probably they are ticked off by the complete impossibility of a romance with a so-called
sister. Strange thing is that they don't mind being called brother by their own sex.

Now, of course I don't call people my own age " brother". But the seniors,married and aged, won't like being called uncles. Should I call them by their first name? In the west, people either call you by your first name or last- never attach a relationship. There is also no age digression- a 50 year old John is like the 18 year old John you know- you won't call one uncle and the other son. But thats not us. We don't call our elders from their first name. This doesn't mean we respect them more- its just culture.

Secondly, in the west, same sex physical contact is not acceptable. The only time you touch or hug your same-sex friend is when you are both gays. And there is a romance blooming. This again isn't part of our culture. Here, casually walking hand in hand, hugging on meeting, touching while talking is acceptable and not homosexual. But this again is changing. It is a common joke on many college campuses, that some two friends are so touchy touchy. Most part of it has been caused by movies like " Kal Hu na Hu" and " Dostana".

Most of us need to pause on these lines. Do we want the age -digression , commonly known as " umar ka lehaaz" to be removed and go down to calling people by their first names? Secondly, casual touching between two friends is gay? Watch any cricket match audience and you will notice how common it is. Even inter-personal space is very limited in Pakistan. Do we want to be so rigid in our body language that all same-sex bodily touch is homosexual?

A Choir of Leaves By Gary Robinson

2010-07-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

I watch the girls eating ice cream,
drowsy as sunsets on this late-spring evening.

They conjure something, or are they conjured,
brought from a mirthful womb here

where they parse shrill narratives, silly riddles,
like pillows and stuffed toys on the sky's declining face.

Concatenated like bracelets or prepositions there is
always a boy's name, a place, and giggles

ferocious as paper birds fluttering in an ink
of gossip delicious as the ice cream they fall into.

They wink slyly at the purple moon, burst like
rabid streams punching through the day's wan signals.

A current to a world beyond cyber and broadband,
they bring a code of veins and breasts

knotted beneath tightly bound jeans and t-shirts,
smelling of soap and grass dark as coffee.

And even the professorial cars that light them up
seem to die in their sight.

We all wither like old cloth, expired aprons,
in the flow of their erotic blood.

They poise in a nimbus of neon pigments
as children sluice through them and for

a moment I think they'll join in this asphalt
maelstrom but the ice cream isn't done yet.

What wilderness, Roman or Canadian, antedates
that strawberry flesh, those licorice hearts?

I cannot imagine a time, a moment, a second
when these girls did not unravel in a

grinning pact of rebellion, carrying their bodies
like torches through bacchanal woods, priapic hostels.

Someone turns on some music. It rises like
a narcotic entering our aural bloodstream.

But the girls disdain this festival, they've
finished the ice cream. Seeking something

else they suspire from the parking lot,
flanks and thighs executing sighs and

shouts from youth in muscleshirts,
winking erections at the fading group.

They pass through the prosaic curtain of night,
plump and dangerous as dreams.

When I step from this tableau of hair and scent,
laughter lingers like a choir of leaves.

Gary Robinson is an Ottawa based poet, with almost a 100 poems in print, including the literary journals of Ottawa, New Brunswik, Carleton and Simon Fraser University.

Once Upon a Time

2010-07-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

A spec of poetry in your blood?" Once Upon a Time"will shake you! A film and poem by Vishwajyoti Gosh, narrated by Ramesh Venkataraman at the 2nd Sadho Poetry Film Fest 2009-10.

" Floating in some corner of the mind,
Is a home that was once mine,
Full of faces that have now become,
Addresses of a distant past,"

"The alphabets of my name,
And the wrinkles of my face,
Are signposts of a present,
That I live in,
Yet no longer relate to."

The narration was initially offered to the then Sadho curator, who refused due to the Sadho policy and instead presented to Ramesh Venkataraman. The narrator is no more, but his voice with it's beautiful intonations and expressions is with us forever.

A personal piece on India's partition and the conflict of histories and memories. Can you relate it with the partition? Reminds one of the book "Kite-Runner" in which Amir return to his Afghan home to finds strangers,the uncles migrating to the west in search of an " oblivious future", while their parents miss their pre-partition childhoods.
Why is that memories often begun with a " Once Upon a Time". Do you have the answer?

Watch the poetry film at: www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19631843019&ref=ts
http://vishwajyoti.wordpress.com

The Degree that Was'nt

2010-07-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

The Pakistani political crisis has taken a new twist. Our beloved former dictator, who now wants to come back and stand in an election made it a compulsory to have a bachelors degree to compete in elections.
The truckload of wanna-be MNAs and MPAs, in thousands, rarely had a genuine degree. So they bought one.

For the first two years, the sea was smooth. The Election Commission, Opposition and media were at peace. But suddenly this wave began and the huge secret pile ( and bile) of fake degrees was discovered. Punjab alone is said to have 350 legislators with forged degrees. Dunya tv website is reporting 49. But the honorable but Nakli Dr. Babar Awan, Mastikhel , even some women parliamentarians came under fire ( some even shed tears in the Assembly).

50% of the Paki population is not educated and this article will prevent them from attaining offices. And of course the dictator had a vested interest, of barring certain groups from elections. Well firstly, none of the working, poor or even middle class can afford a party ticket ( most parties charge you) or an election which costs a few crores ( the Q-league is said to spend billions in 2008). Secondly, the lower classes have their backs broken by the economy.

The law was standing and these people violated it, making them no less then criminals. If not for cheating or lying to the public, then for forging documents which is illegal. But in Pakistan this is a very small kind of corruption. Though it became very muddy- the worst issues in Paki Politics are:

1. Stolen Public money through corruption in foreign accounts(worth billions of US$)including Zardaari,Shaukat Aziz, Altaf Hussein,Shariff Brothers, Manzoor Watto etc.
2. Heinous crimes- Murder( MQM has 4000 FIRs of murder charges),Rape (Irafanulla Khan Marwat is said to be the chief proponent in the Veena Hyat Rape Case)etc.

These two tick me off, personally. Forging a degree is very minute as compared to eating 60 billion dollars of public money.And Pakistani politics is like a Turkish/Roman bath, everyone is nude ( and a B.A fail). For the moment, we might have to forget the degrees.
After toiling for a useless Bachelors for four years, I realize why these people choose the easy way. IF someone meets Babar Awan, please ask him where he bought his degree, me and my folks might benefit...

How to Live?

2010-07-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

The Following are some of the links that can be useful to all of us,
inspirational, self help and more. It will of course take sometime to
listen to them- but Good LUCK to those who try!

How to live before you die
http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die.html

In the happiness section you could specially look at

Habits of happiness
http://www.ted.com/talks/matthieu_ricard_on_the_habits_of_
happiness.html

Plug into your hard wired happiness
http://www.ted.com/talks/srikumar_rao_plug_into_your_hard_wired_
happiness.html

Slowness
http://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_praises_slowness.html

Why are we happy?
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_asks_why_are_we_happy.html

Our mistaken expectations
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness.html

The science of Happiness
http://www.ted.com/talks/nancy_etcoff_on_happiness_and_why_
we_want_it.html

John Wooden is the coach that Srikumar Rao refers to in his lecture
True Success
http://www.ted.com/talks/john_wooden_on_the_difference_between_
winning_and_success.html

The here are some more talks on the subject (most are repeated though)
http://www.ted.com/themes/what_makes_us_happy.html

As an aside you might also enjoy

9 ways to live long healthy lives
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100.html

6 leadership styles - 6 orchetra conductors.. (I love this one)
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/itay_talgam_lead_like_the_great_
conductors.html

The uniqueness of humans (on youtube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrCVu25wQ5s&feature=player_embedded#

Stephen Hawking
http://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_hawking_asks_big_questions_about_
the_universe.html