Khawaja Ali Zubair

Spring break brought me back to the city of lights to find the buzz word in town was kidnap. Karachi seemed plagued with the thought of this omnipotent mystery jeep carrying an army of rapists, rapists who were deemed above the law. The citizens of Karachi were afraid and more vigilant than I have ever […]

I find strange amusement in the realisation, that my own failures have great correlation with the rain. Every time it falls, it washes away more than just streets and pavements; it takes away hopes too. The sound of rain then haunts and the failure sings loud, as it falls off the leaves onto the parched […]

What has two origins has no origin, and to the Arab philosopher, what has no origin has no end. A mighty pill is admittance to swallow: admittance that marred and misty is our beginning and greatly unknown is the purpose of the land of the pure. A visit to any federal office is incomplete without […]

Lately, the question that is most feared by a Pakistani residing abroad is that of his nationality. What translates as the ‘Land of the Pure’ in the local vernacular translates as something very unpleasant in other languages. A small prop of the mouth and our local simpleton becomes notorious, something vile, something to be feared. […]

The decade of 1938-1948, brought two significant partitions in Jinnah’s life, one that lived to be his raison d’être, and one, of which he would speak nothing of. It was at the turn of the century, when a daughter was born at the house of Sir Dinshaw Petit. The only daughter of this textile magnate, […]

Ardeshir Cowasjee was Ardeshir Cowasjee. He was a one-off model from God’s factory of procreation, and once the first one came out of the assembly line, his model was retired for good. He was kind and had a heart of gold, and his kindliness was rivalled perhaps only by the cynicism life cultivated in him. […]

The greatest principle in the world is self-interest and to think otherwise is to live in denial. Much is going on in the world and there is a lot of dust in the air. Why pen must be put to paper before it settles is in itself a reality founded in self-interest. Meet Syria, just […]

Three wine shops in Defence Housing Society Karachi got blown up on late August 6 night. Now what is common amongst all these wine shops is that they sell wine and that all of them are at a five-km radius from my own home. I was certainly not aware of the existence of the other […]

I usually don’t walk down the street at night. When I do, I never carry my cell phone and by generous habit, satiate all the lost vagabonds and frolickers seeking directions. Usually I receive a thank you after which we all head our own ways. At around 9:00 pm on July 2, 2013, I walked […]