7 ages of Pakistan cricket on September 16, 2017The First Age (1952-58): A Meteoric Rise Pakistan became a Test playing nation in 1952. Despite the fact that its cricket board at the time was extremely short on funds and resources, the cricket team between 1952 and 1958 managed to win Tests against all Test-playing countries. Captain: AH Kardar (1952-58) Top players: Hanif Mohammad; […]
Coke & PBOTB: Battling for the soul of Pakistani music on August 29, 2017Coke Studio (CS) is in trouble. And the freshly baked Pepsi Battle of the Bands (PBOTB) has completely failed to garner the ratings it was hoping for. Thing is, this has little to do with the quality of music and acts being showcased on both the shows. CS – launched in 2008 with former Vital […]
The do-it-yourself history of Pak-US relations on August 25, 2017Relations between US and Pakistan were first cemented in 1951 when the Pakistani PM visited Washington and met the then US President Harry Atomic Truman. Truman is said to have asked the Pakistani PM: ‘Do you do?’ The Pakistani PM replied: ‘Of course we do.’ Truman then said, ‘Done,’ and a friendship was struck between […]
The nephew and I on August 21, 20171. My 7-yr-old nephew loves cricket. But he’s also a huge IPL fan. So he switched on the TV and wanted me to discuss an IPL game that was being beamed live. I don’t watch IPL. So I frowned. He noticed the frown and asked, what the matter was. I sank in my sofa and […]
Pakistan at 70: A visual journey on August 14, 2017Trials & Tribulations … Pakistan’s founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and the country’s first PM, Liaquat Ali Khan, hold a press conference on the eve of Pakistan’s creation in August 1947. (Pic: LIFE) Trains packed with Muslim refugees arrive in Karachi from India. Thousands were killed along the way in the ensuing violence between Muslims, […]
All in a days plays on August 5, 2017Former President and expert wedding-dancer, Parvez Musharraf, recently stated that Pakistan only enjoyed progress under dictatorships and that civilian regimes created political and economic chaos. He was talking to a local TV channel from his resident in Dubai where he is undergoing treatment for his ailing back. Talking to an interviewer, Mushrraf added that had it not been […]
History fit to print: 70 years of Pakistan through print ads on August 4, 2017August 1947: An image published in a Pakistani newspaper of a Rs. 5 currency note issued right after Pakistan’s independence in August 1947. The note was issued by the Reserve Bank of India. It had King George’s image on it because at the time Pakistan was ‘an independent dominion of the British Commonwealth’. King George […]
The tragic life & death of Shahnawaz Bhutto on July 23, 2017Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), had four children. Stories of three of them have been told from multiple angles, including that of a daughter, Sanam, who, unlike her siblings, never ventured into politics. However, the story of one of his sons, Shahnawaz, has never gone any deeper than the sad fact that […]