Sameer Ahmed

It seems like a disparate event from a couple of days ago, but let’s pair it with the Great Crisis of the age anyway. As European governments come up with ways of dealing with the migrants’ crisis and the President-elect repeats his plans to shield America, a professional photographer chanced upon an ‘uncontacted’ Amazonian tribe […]

A text message sent in near-euphoric haste led to some pert questions being texted in response. It happened this past Friday when news broke that the Lahore High Court (LHC) had barred construction work for the Orange Line Train project on sites deemed dangerously close to historical monuments in the city of Lahore. The decision […]

Is it important to preserve architectural heritage? It is much easier and perhaps cheaper to build modern structures than to maintain or renovate crumbling old buildings. Modern architecture allows for more utilitarian construction. New houses, shelters and warehouses are more spacious, at times taller and flashier than old ones. Partly for these reasons, the architectural […]

Another ignominious retreat seems to be round the corner. This time it’s the real estate sector that is forcing the government to backtrack. Reportedly, up to seven trillion rupees are stacked in this part of the economy. Most of this wealth comes from undeclared sources of income, which translates to ill-gotten capital. Furthermore, during routine […]

What would it have looked like if they had smartphones and Facebook in medieval times? People would be uploading routine killings, and pictures of dead bodies, torture victims and of the instruments employed in the business of gore. The captions would be distasteful, and the images would gain instant hits with millions of views. And […]

A week ago, ace actor Leonardo DiCaprio was rumoured to be playing the 13th century Muslim poet Jalal-ud-Din Mohammad Rumi in an upcoming movie. Screenwriter David Franzoni and producer Stephen Brown said DiCaprio was their first choice, while Robert Downey Jr was being considered for the role of Rumi’s mentor Shams of Tabraiz. While Franzoni […]

There has been plenty of noise over the referendum in the UK. They’ve quit the European Union (EU) — the English mind you; the Scots and Northern Irish have other ideas. The turnout was 72 percent. There is a petition asking government for another referendum, and it has now upwards of three million signatures; but […]

It’s that time of year again. If, like me, you don’t watch the bawdy marathon TV transmissions that have commercialised the season, the most visible reminder of the month comes in the form of sehr and iftar eat-out packages. They range from high-tea style meals to mega buffet dinners with enticing cuisine. One such iftar-cum-dinner […]

We talked about medical doctors last week. Those who after having been assigned to state-run hospitals embark upon private practice while exploiting the nomenclature that comes with a posting at say, Lahore’s famous Lady Wellington or Services Hospital. Money is aplenty at the evening gigs while working at Lady Wellington or Services in the morning […]

As if the news of the shooting of a transgender wasn’t appalling enough, the agony was piled on by the treatment meted to her at the emergency ward of a state-run hospital. Going by news stories, doctors didn’t give her urgent treatment because they could not decide whether to register her in the male or […]