Of Runaway Party and “Home” Bred Politics on October 16, 2022Runaway Bride was a movie featuring Julia Roberts in 1999. It was about a bride who would commit to getting married and then have cold feet and disappear. The movie attracted attention. Not just because it had Julia Roberts and Richard Gere but because it actually was inspired by a real-time story. This story was […]
Lies, Links and Leaks on October 9, 2022Audios that are barely audible. Links that are hardly genuine. Leaks that are virtually deliberate. That just sums up the current “affairs”. From the light at the end of the tunnel to the darkness at the beginning of the web, anything and everything eerie, queasy, and surreptitious imaginable is possible, probable and happening. Politics has […]
Does hypocrisy have an expiry date? on September 25, 2022Fake it till you make it. Copy it to perfection. Look it to book it. These are some clichés we have grown up with. The focus on “seeming to be” rather than “be” is at an all-time high. You are what you “are not” is in trend. Your ability to fool others is the gauge […]
Minus One, Minus All on September 18, 2022Minus One is equal to zero. Maybe, not in mathematics, but probably in politics. These are strange times. The country is in turmoil. The economy is in conflict with people. People are in conflict with the government. The government is in conflict with just “One” man- Imran Khan. The government, the establishment, the superpowers, and […]
Gagged, but Loud and Resonating on September 11, 2022Smiling is an offence. Chuckling is a crime. Whispering is an act of terror. Dare to stare is asap arrest. No, we are not talking about the Stalin era. No, we are not talking about King Louis in the sixteenth century. No, we are not talking about the Changez Khan conquests. We are talking about […]
Leadership by Trust on September 4, 2022You can be a CEO and still not be a leader. You can be a Chairman but not a leader. You can be a Prime minister and still not be a leader. On the other hand, you can be a volunteer and also be a leader. You can be a worker and also be a […]
The Psychology of Banning on August 29, 2022Ban and make it bigger. Ban and make it more attractive. Ban and make it more alluring. Ban and make it sought after. Not every time, but most of the time. Ever since Adam and Eve defied God’s will and ate the forbidden apple, the subject of limiting human choices has intrigued mankind. Human beings […]
When the Media Dynamics Change but the Media…. on August 22, 2022From physical to virtual. From home delivery to a click on the phone. From paper to online. These are just the basics of the revolution that the media has gone through. The way news is made, spread, and delivered, is a change many in the world, more particularly, in Pakistan, have not understood and adapted […]
Checkmate in political chess on April 13, 2022Surprised. Shocked. Stunned. 4th of April 2022 just left everybody nonplussed. The National Assembly was reeling. The opposition was fuming. The government was celebrating. The media was wondering. The people of Pakistan were enquiring. Nobody and nothing had prepared the political pundits for this move. This move’s unpredictability, its alacrity and its associated actions swept […]
Those Who Stand for Nothing Will Fall for Anything on March 17, 2022No confidence. No competence. No government. This is the repetitious furore in the opposition camps whose shifting, shifty and stumbling narrative is self-defeating. Demanding resignation. Threatening a march. Screaming disaster. These are the echoes in the political chambers of the country. All part of democratic traditions. All part of opposition ambitions. All in the name […]