We eat, therefore we are on November 26, 2019Forgive me Mr. Descartes but I am a proud epicurean and a fervent believer that good food is one of the best ways to greet and please the people we love. That this notion is an essential thread of our cultural weave, that hospitality bears religious sanction and appreciation makes me happier.Eating, in my opinion, […]
Dancing in the dark on February 18, 2019I had called in sick last week due to back ache. I wanted to sleep the day, wrapped in the folds of a warm quilt. Around midday I had this terrible urge to visit a local café in Gulberg for a certain salad. The urge was overwhelming but it was pummeled into submission by sloth, […]
Embracing technology to fight corruption on January 28, 2019To be fair, I am also a part of the same rot I cry against. I willingly dish out a bribe as and when required. And I don’t mind rationalizing my actions. Let me clarify. I got my passport made few months ago. My first visit to the passport office was nightmarish given the swarm […]
Our tolerance to corruption is exceeded only by our intolerance on January 12, 2019Corruption is not unique to Pakistan. It afflicts all the countries in the world. What is alarming in our case is its pervasive incidence and widespread societal acceptance. Transparency International’s 2017 Corruption Perception Index ranked Pakistan 117 out of 180 countries. Corruption is rooted in subcontinent history, a cultural quirk, a consequence of systemic failure […]
Gods on earth on May 1, 2018Netflix and YouTube are remarkable for their ability to both entertain and enlighten. I was watching this documentary on Hitler that excavates history to unearth circumstances that brought Hitler into being. A playwright, Deitrich Eckhart meets Hitler in a chance encounter and sees in him the messiah who could bring back glory to the battered […]
Schools widening class barriers on April 2, 2018While traditional science tries to explain supposedly predictable phenomena like gravity or electricity, Chaos Theory tries to make sense of unpredictable, extremely complex systems like the weather, the stock market or society. The unpredictability is on account of what experts presume are an infinite number of variables involved in shaping these systems. To be fair, […]
Captain’s Knock or Retired Hurt? on February 22, 2018I need not wax eloquent on Imran Khan’s cricketing days. Imagine. Imran ready to bowl. Head lunging forward, piercing gaze, body curved in a magnificent arch. A long stooping run up, mane trailing, culminates into a spectacular leap, body taut and air borne. The ball released with a heave jags shattering the wickets as the […]
Memories: wine we all brew on January 31, 2018I was bitten by the nostalgia bug pretty early and remain happily infected. The affliction blossomed over the years and has been my muse, my saviour and a fuzzy source of warmth and tranquillity. Memories sweeten through the ages just like wine, Elvis would sing in his inimitable,deep drawl. I have spent many evenings driving […]
Deconstructing Zardari on September 24, 2017The recent spectacle in NA-120 is instructive for several reasons. It demonstrated that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) remains entrenched in the electorate despite being buffeting by the court. It also put a bitterly polarized constituency on display, and the credit for that goes to the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI). News channels showed impassioned voters rabidly arguing […]
Bullets alone wont do on September 8, 2017In the hugely successful Indian movie, Sarkar, Amitabh plays Sarkar, the god of the poor and downtrodden. It is an Indian adaptation of the Hollywood classic, The Godfather. One of his enemies while planning to assassinate him declares, “to kill Sarkar, we need to first kill his repute, his ethos.” And this, pretty much, sums […]