Every dog has his day on December 16, 2015Dog and man have kept company since time immemorial. It has hunted deer with the emperors and herded sheep with the prophets. It kept loyal company with mythical gods and found favourable mention in scriptures and holy books. It even went into voluntary coma with his fugitive medieval masters into Middle Eastern caves (the companions […]
You know what! II on December 9, 2015The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus is impressive and people seem to be enjoying the ride and the convenience. It rips through nine kilometers of the densest part of old Rawalpindi city flanked by thousands of shops, mohallahs (small neighbourhoods), hospitals, schools, a cricket stadium and a bustling university. Thousands of men, women, children, inattentive university students, […]
You know what! I on December 8, 2015Expressions like that denote a gentle intention to speak about things that need to be spoken about. This phrase falls into a different category of figure of speech, which carries a definite tinge of earnestness, an underlying urge to share and a desire to convey to an attentive ear. That is for a select and […]
Chanakya, rest in peace, but for a while II on November 17, 2015As anticipated — but quite unnecessarily — Pakistan has become the primary target of India’s wrongful power projection. However, its unexpected resolve to stand up to bullying has begun to tell on India’s composure and has caused quite a commotion in South Block. A review of India’s anecdotal trajectory vis-à-vis Pakistan is instructive but indicative […]
Chanakya, rest in peace, but for a while I on November 16, 2015Chanakya (350-275 BC) is among the few classic political thinkers of the world who are regarded as masters of the art of statecraft. We have the distinction of educating him in our ancient Taxilla University, where he stayed on as a teacher of political science and economics. At that time it was the Nanda Empire […]
Apex court holds fire on November 9, 2015On October 28, 2015, a learned bench of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan passed a judgment regarding NA154 Lodhran. It was a hotly contested election between Mr Jehangir Tareen and Mr Siddique Baloch. The election tribunal had not only upheld Jehangir Tareen’s contention but also debarred Siddique Baloch for life because of his fake […]
Pakistans evolving security paradigm on October 26, 2015World War II ended with a horrible bang. Nagasaki and Hiroshima were wiped out of existence with nuclear bombs and the devastation was of catastrophic proportions the likes of which the world had never seen before and one earnestly wishes never does again. Millions of people were simply incinerated to charcoal, buildings evaporated and whole […]
What have we done to ourselves? on October 18, 2015At times it helps to recollect and reflect upon missed opportunities and things that could have been but failed to be. Not that it would matter anymore but a catharsis could usefully take place instead. That is quite a few layers of dirt dusted off the looking glass. Jinnah strived hard for years almost single […]
Roses and the nightingale on September 21, 2015Nightingales have a natural preference for flowers, fragrance and rain washed shrubs and trees. My house and its neighbourhood is on the slopes of a low range of lush green hillocks overlooking the Sawan River in Rawalpindi. Small ravines and rainwater nullahs (canals) crisscross the landscape and begin to sing and then roar as the […]
The noble art of gratefulness on September 11, 2015Courtesy and courage, a sense of occasion, gratefulness and ability to instantly say sorry are some of the major character traits of noble minded men and honourable societies. Of these, being grateful, if removed, can bring down the whole tent as it has directly to do with the burden and duty of obligation towards others. […]