Buttermilk Pancakes anyone?on October 25, 2020The buzz around town has been on the latest entrant here as IHOP the American Pancake House opens uptheir franchise in Pakistan. Popularly known as an all-day breakfast place; it is the truly authentic American diner experience. A bit of nostalgia for those having lived or studied in the states. As students, we would go […]
Travel Gone 2020on October 11, 2020If somebody would’ve have told us last year to invest in Zoom shares and stock up at home on pasta, tons of litres of Dettol, and toilet paper, I would’ve laughed it off as a joke. I think many memes were floating similarly on the internet about this. Unfortunately, now, it feels like the joke […]
Of administration and accountabilityon September 27, 2020As the neighbor’s help threw a bucket of garbage water out of the window, it added to the misery amidst the chaos of living in a community that happens sometimes. The admin, once told, simply looked way and ignored my request to stop it. Not a single person dared to do anything about it as […]
Paid for in the name of PRon September 13, 2020The PR business being the most happening and lucrative business these days especially in the age of social media. A wondrous world made up of brands, influencers, bloggers and all things seemingly happy and shiny. However, a dark side emerges as always as competitive streaks run a bit amuck in the game. Something once held […]
A cooperative state of mindon August 30, 2020This past week in the city of Karachi has been extremely hellish. Karachi received more rain this year than ever recorded in its history. At first the usual places flooded (as it does each year) and of course came the slew of pics with people playing the usual political blame game. But as the thunderstorms […]
Jinnah’s Legacy: A talk with Mr Liaquat H. Merchanton August 16, 2020Mr Liaquat H Merchant is a very prominent barrister currently residing in Karachi, Pakistan. He is the Managing Trustee of the Jinnah Foundation as well as being the President of The Jinnah Society. Moreover, he is the grand-nephew of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan. A family tree shows Mr Merchant as being […]
Opening up in a brave new worldon August 9, 2020The recent news of the country officially opening up has brought up some rather interesting viewpoints. All seemingly fair given the fact the world is passing through the stages or going to be living with COVID-19, the global pandemic. That, or until a cure or a vaccine is discovered. The decision could not have been […]
SMART LOCKDOWNS AND SELF REFLECTIVE MEASURESon August 4, 2020Recently, I was turned away nicely but firmly from the entrance of a shopping mall/ supermarket as the person with me could not be let in due to SOPs; him being a senior citizen. I didn’t mind as those were the rules, so we went elsewhere. In another part of the city, a pack of […]
Restructuring Karachi: getting garbage out of governanceon July 25, 2020When the electricity went for eight hours straight, life halted to an extent. When the outgoing call service of both of my cell phones was switched off, there was an acute problem (it was blamed on the rain). When our technician’s motorcycle floated away on the main Shahrah-e-Faisal due to the urban flooding, we felt […]
Swimming away from realityon July 12, 2020When a certain elite crowd requested funds to be “donated” towards a public community swimming pool area to be developed, one wondered at the sheer stupidity of the request itself at the given time. Were people blind towards the challenging conditions others were facing during the time of a global recession caused by the circumstances […]