Immy’s glass slipper on April 11, 2021Poor Immy. He almost went to the ball. Indeed, all the stars were aligned just so. The collective opposition had been left on the back-foot. Their one-point agenda to oust the Prime Minister and all his good (wo)men all but forgotten in the name of in-house bickering. If only that pesky caller hadn’t asked Kaptaan […]
All Immy needs for Christmas is a Sat Nav on December 2, 2018If only young Immy had thought of it. The very instant those luxury cars had been auctioned was the time to make a canny investment. In the shape of a Sat Nav. Of course, to the untrained eye, this might look a lot like shutting the stable door after the buffalo have already been sold […]
‘East is East’ and other anecdotes on November 25, 2018As the lights began to dim, the three of us were still marvelling at how many people had shown up. And paid good money to see this. Of course, it was different for us. For me. This was the story of a family not too dissimilar from my own. That is, one with a Pakistani […]
The un-reluctant fundamentalists on November 18, 2018Boris Johnson is on cunning form. Getting off his bike to swoop down like the caring-and-sharing politician that everyone — and their cat — knows him not to be. Beseeching Britain to do the decent thing and offer Aasia Bibi asylum. That’s all it took. For Theresa May and Sajid Javid to almost both fall […]
Of Immy, Asia Bibi and feminism on November 11, 2018No sooner had the man formerly known as His Imminence arrived, then did he lose his footing to stumble and fall. Though never once dropping that weighted begging bowl; without which he never dared leave home. What better way for a former sportsman to incorporate a fitness regime in to his new helicopter lifestyle that […]
Human Development Index 2018 is sober reading on September 19, 2018The UN Human Development Index (HDI) 2018 has described inequality as the defining challenge of the time. Indeed, it finds that this phenomenon decreases the global HDI by one-fifth. Yet it also inadvertently underscores how it becomes all too easy to overlook its impact when considering purely economic indicators. For if taken at face value, […]
Of Felipe Gonzalez, Spanish bullrings and Brexit on September 16, 2018We were mesmerised. Above all by the spectacle of Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez. Nonchalantly lighting up a cigarette. What an absolute rock star. Or so we thought. Perhaps for no other reason than neither of us could picture the decidedly un-suave John Major pulling off such rebel casus belli with just the right dash of […]
Sugar in a plum, plum plum on September 9, 2018Sitting cross-legged in a small circle on the playground, we must have been no more than about seven years old. A rare English summer. In as much as the sun had been shining all day long. Which meant that we were all dressed in our PE kit: shorts and aertex top. A brief reprieve from […]
Ahmadis and Naya-Naya land on September 2, 2018It’s not easy being Kaptaan. Everyone wants a piece of him. Even when he is as happy as Larry, flourishing his magic wand, for which he will have kept the receipt, naturally, to grant overseas Pakistanis their hearts’ desire. Namely, the right to vote in Naya-Naya land. For hard currency alone is all it takes […]
The ‘barefoot colonial’ – VS Naipaul (1932-2018) on August 13, 2018Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was undoubtedly one of literature’s greats. That he enjoyed such an illustrious career ought to be a matter of pride for the Global South. Not least because it brought with it an authentic tale of success in the face of an ever-changing and, at times, inhospitable world. VS Naipaul was born […]