Blair’s legacy and Syria on April 15, 2018It is hard to believe that it all happened 15 years ago. For that evening, sitting at my cousin Nina’s house in the English countryside, was the night that I came to truly understand that hate can also make the world go round. Yet as we all huddled round the television set, none of us […]
VSO and the case of Roger’s underpants on March 25, 2018The first night at my flat in Wuhan was marred by Roger and the case of his underpants. We had heard about him from a fellow volunteer who had the misfortune of sharing a hotel room for the duration of our in-country induction training in Xi’an; the home of the terracotta warriors. Roger was that […]
Lessons from the Rushdie Affair? on March 18, 2018There was a buzz of activity in our house. All over a book. I saw it lying there on the sofa. Without a jacket and quite possibly dull blue. This may have had something to do with it being from a library that no longer wanted it returned. That both my parents were discussing it […]
‘Pakistan can’t continue with this suicidal policy’ on March 10, 2018Given that there is much hanging on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, how seriously should the key stakeholders take recent Taliban pledges to protect the portions running through territory under their control? History is repeating itself. Back in the 1990s, the US was trying to cosy up to Pakistan and the Taliban by supporting American […]
Men behaving badly at the Presidents Club on January 28, 2018Around 10 years ago or so, I was sitting with my laptop at a rather upscale coffee shop here in Lahore. When suddenly a gentleman of around my age suddenly plonked himself down, without warning, on the uneasy armchair opposite. Apologising for disturbing me, he wanted to know if I were a fortune-teller. I am […]
Taking on the far-right in Britland on January 25, 2018Theresa May’s government is in a bit of a pickle. And for once not because BoJo the clown has been caught with his hand stuck firmly in the Brexit cookie jar; scavenging around for a spare $100 million per week for the NHS. Little compensation, really, considering how he had promised that exiting the EU […]
Ode to Wahg and Tiara on January 21, 2018Hearing me fall on to the bathroom floor, Tiara stood in the doorway, little furry ears pointed forwards. The next moment she was off, howling as she dived, presumably, under the bed; thereby signalling for Wahg to come and take matters into her own paws. Taking a half-step towards me, she assessed that the situation […]
Ahed Tamimi — the face of Palestinian resistance on January 18, 2018The lives of Palestinian children don’t matter. The same is true of their security as well as their physical safety. For those who live under the ongoing military occupation are robbed of not only land and water — but also of their sentient. Sixteen-year-old Ahed Tamimi is the latest child to bear the brunt of […]
It’s still very much a man’s world on January 16, 2018Nothing crosses the manufactured East-West culture divide quite like women speaking out against misogyny and sexual violence. Sadly, this is not because the world sits up and listens intently to women; allowing them to complete their sentences uninterrupted. That really would be asking for a bit too much. But, rather, in terms of the rush […]
A very hard country on January 4, 2018I had been lounging on the sofa with my cats. I’m not sure why I had decided to work from home that day. Other than, of course, the obvious: so that I could spend some quality time with my two little furry divas. Then a ping on my phone interrupted my best attempts at cajoling […]