The Gin Game

Despite being a small group, The Gate Theater surely managed to touch an emotional yet witty story through a brilliantly written piece of literature.

Nawaz Sharif’s Moment of Truth

Nawaz Sharif disqualified to run for the national Assembly by none other than the Lahore High Court. How should he react to it? How should he take it?

Dancing With Madonna

Dancing helps in developing, not only a beautiful body, but also a healthy mind, and should be encouraged in society.

PPP Isn’t Convinced!

Pandering to the presidency, appointment of Mehmood Ali Durrani and Rehman Malik, failure to remove Malik Abdul Qayyum, are signs that establishment isn’t blinking just yet.

Sustained Pleasure, Instant Gratification

So what am I supposed to do? Keep working hard to fulfill my ambitions, or worry about the state of my mind to positively influence the next generation?

Puppetry Through the Ages

Over the years, puppetry has developed into a powerful medium of communication as it offers a real challenge to the imagination of viewers and creative ability of the presenters.

Theatricality in Painting

Both meaningful genres depict emotions related to life, most of the time, emotions of tragedy, and in between cheerful emotions of joy, for a change!

The Unravelling of Project Snow

It is interesting to see the dynamics between the members of of Project Snow during the recent fracas downunder. And the cry about the great game of cricket from this old guard!

Pakistani Artist Gulgee Murdered

Pakistan's renowned artist Ismail Gulgee was found murdered along with his wife Zarine and maid at their residence in Karachi (Clifton area) on Wednesday.

Search for Origins of Mahayana Buddhism

The land of Pakistan is blessed with one of the most important treasures of the world, the glorious civilization of Buddhism flourishing in the North Western areas of Pakistan.

Why Me?

He created the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS, received the first Annual AIDS Leadership Award, and addressed the United Nations on World AIDS Day.

Search for the God Particle

Pursuit of no other scientific theory has been so intensely single-minded nor so expensive, even the search for cure for cancer, as the search for Higgs boson or the god particle.

Its Time To Follow The 'Pied Piper'

Yesterday I learnt that our own Pakistani police have taken away ‘Imran Khan’, our hero the pride of nation, to put him behind bars.

Sumera Jawad: The Excavated Linearity

Sumera, through her brush, tries to explore the true image of contemporary woman by exhuming the historical representation of the South Asian woman.

Communists and the Making of Pakistan

History of the last years of Punjab under the Raj

Superseded

A divorced woman, suspects misfortunes to rob her again in a new turn in her life; this time it didn’t end up tragic.

Farewell to Shimla

Life was normal in early 1947 till June when sporadic incidents of ethnic violence began. In July of 1947, the Muslims started leaving Shimla for Pakistan.

Old Wine, Still Older Bottles

If the people of Pakistan don’t take to the streets, the politicians are themselves to blame. They have chosen the politics of convenience and non-agitation.

Musharraf the Out-smarter

A lot is being said and written these days for and against Musharraf who first introduced the concept of ‘Pakistan First’ (keeping Pakistan before self and all).

The Green Palette

Painting in Pakistan: the legacy of Anna Molka Ahmed, Zubeda Agha, Ustad Sharif, Allah Buksh, Chughtai, Sadequian and many others.

We are family

Women's Image and Imagery

Sumera Jawad has excavated with her brush, the buried history by unveiling the “image� of women.

How Prepared are we for Earthquakes?

On October 8, 2005 we rudely awoke to our nightmare that killed 73,000 and rendered about 3.5 million homeless.

Icarus and The Filmmaker

I’ll be doing what I have a calling for, what I am most passionate about, and what makes me fly across the country just for a one hour interview, in the hopes of 'landing' the story.

Live Earth - A lesson to be learned

There should be a series of concerts that can take place in all major cities of Pakistan and they should carry ONE message, so that the awareness of that issue is raised.

Pakistans Permanent Revolution

The tradition of judicial spinelessness continued in Pakistan facilitating three martial laws and the judicial murder of atleast one prime minister till last week when it was brought to a crashing halt by the actions of one brave justice, Chief Justice of

The Role of Mystics, Artists and Scientists in Human Evolution

Creative people have been in a minority but they have lead the majority on the path of human evolution.

Pakistan Quarters

The name probably symbolized the fact that it gave shelter to the families of most of the government servants, keeping the administration of the newly formed nation running, Karachi being the capital then.

Memento Mori

Thoughtful and intriguing quotes, paintings and pictures on and about death and autopsies, gave the take-home message: live life, and embrace death.

Venus, Earth, and Mars - The Untold Story

Some scientists speculate that the three planets, Venus, Earth, and Mars, shared approximately similar geology at the time of their cooling from their molten newly-born states. The evolution of these three planets along different lines from a similar dist

A Failed Romance

He was a swarthy, handsome lad with a respectable height, husky voice and a boyish, round face. His name was Mustafa and he was proud of it.

Out of Sight

It was a fine morning of March 1963. Humayun was engrossed working in his office situated in Reagal. He was a successful businessman – a well known social-climber with all the success the previous sixteen years had given him.

A Strike Against Strike

What is one reminded of when he or she sees things like unattended garbage dumps, blackened billboards, burning buses and broken windowpanes? Things more frequently witnessed during strikes.

Understanding Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto

Trying to understand Z. A. Bhutto is hard, and to understand that period of Pakistan’s history is harder still.

Are Artists Really Mad?

Creative people are are more at risk to suffer from mental illness than general population as creativity and insanity are genetically transmitted in the same families.

Hala – City of Crafts

Once you’ve seen what poor, almost rag-tag, artisans can do with the paper, glass, cotton and wood you get convinced quite easily that art has no limits.

Indian Muslims

The Sachhar Committee report, to be released in end-November, states that the condition of the majority of Indian Muslims is worse than that of even the Dalits. It recommends, among other measures, an allocation of 15% of all government funds for schemes

Sissy Fascists

“Now I get it! If this is how our pop stars are thinking, I find myself to be wasting my time asking them to use there art for social and political causes. Of course you will never use your star status to talk about the Hudood Ordinance, now would y

The Poor of Allai

The earthquake of 8th October that affected the wealthy and poor alike in the devastated areas has once again brought out the plight of the poor.

‘Smarty’ is the word…

** Gear-up for the style business!!

How to Kill the Dead Again

What exactly was President Ahmadinejad thinking? I mean try to get into his head and try to figure out what kind of a human would like to poke fun at the murder of 6 million people?

Martial Myths

Is 'E-Art' the future for Visual Expression?

Would there be any real feel or smell of the original paints mixed with oil or water, or the electronic palette with more choice of application and modification will overwhelm the centuries old paint and brush culture?

From Kerala to Islamabad (A Journey of Nine Decades)

Memories of a life which they can only recount to their children with the hope that they will keep alive traditions they brought with them, but which are now dying away slowly

Student Politics In Pakistan

From the heydays of political activity in the 60s to the politically dormant entity of the 90s, a lot of change has taken place in student attitudes towards political activity. Who and/or what factors have been responsible for fomenting this attitude of a

Suleiman and Salman

Suleiman cycled through the waste of humanity, throwing a polite smile to anyone who bothered. As he dismounted, he could not help noticing the torn holes in the thin yellow plastic sheet, which offered the only cover to his dignity and self-respect.

Dreaming/Nightmaring in a Perfectly 3+1 Dimensional World

I was born and raised in Tehsil 786, the only place in modern-day Pakistan that was never colonized by the ‘takers’ from Britain. I’m a cow, a living organism just as you are

SP PETITION:Adoption of Earthquake Orphans in Pakistan

We would like to make a concerted effort to open up the possibility of adoption for children of all ages orphaned by the earthquake

Ba, Beti aur Bahu

Uma Bharti is putting on the loner act for only one reason – to save the BJP’s top rung. The real loner here is Sonia. Her godfathers are ghosts. Are both of them “mind-controlled victims”?

In the Dying Light

I do not see the dead bodies of Varanasi. It is like wanting to remember something that one has cherished as it was. I am not denying what happened, I know it is something that needs to be probed into, but I cannot get myself to even think

Vanishing Soul

I added up all my strength to talk to her, I never felt this hard to be with her ever….but right now I had to think of words that could convey my feelings.

The Prophet and the Cartoonist

The Danish cartoon was a faulty pin, straining on the lid of a simmering pressure-cooker.

Questions from the burning Danish Embassies

The silent, moderate Muslims need to wake up and be heard

Have Muslims Become Caricatures?
Another point of view

Omar Marzauk, a Danish comedian, used to joke that he should have born a poodle, not a Muslim [in Denmark] “Dogs in this nation have their own burial grounds, and Muslims don’t,' he would say

Infinity to present then to infinity

Hamas Treads the Political Path

The remarkable success of Hamas in municipal elections and its decision to participate in the elections at the national level constitute events that have changed the fabric of Palestinian politics in an irreversible way

Elections and Security Certificates…Rhetorically Speaking

Sarmite Bulte is asking for my vote when Canada goes to the polls on January 23 so that she can “continue to work on your behalf'. These past couple of years has seen no indication of her “working for me”. Voters need to move beyond part

Dreams Swindle

He saw himself and Sana, with collected stones in their hands, flying through the clouds. The dream went on. He never would like to wake up!

Kashmir Diary

Several Islamic radical groups have set up their tents; one cannot deny that they are filling a void and doing important work. However, they have a hidden agenda as I discovered

Another earthquake
From Balakot With Trepidation - A follow-up of Oct 8

The town of Balakot, one of the hardest hit towns in the devastating earthquake that hit Pakistan on 8th October, is no more.

Does Pain Elevate Art?

If the artist is insensitive about the process of life, he will only communicate with those potential needs that have primacy in his own unintelligent agenda.

To Hold Up the Floor

How gently you knock when your blood
courses underneath, can you teach me that?

South Asian Earthquake: Don’t care… or don’t know?

The few reports trickling in from the earthquake zone remain blips in the overall media radar.

Nostalgia, Inc.

Jaipur: where thakurs can get you bumped off for a variety of reasons.

Aftershocks and Afterthoughts

I used to have a poster up in my room that illustrated the plight of the world’s refugees, and a slogan that I think applies perfectly to this situation: 'Desperate Millions on the Move'.

Earthquake and New Tears for a Paradise Lost

Any immigrant’s distance dilemma is rejuvenated by sudden reminders and the weight of memories of a home that no longer exists. And sometimes like being in an earthquake, one is jolted into thinking back and to shed new tears for one’s peopl

Pakistan Rocked

The electric pylon with the transformer was dancing to and fro and there seemed no end.

Scream

Spare a scream for the 100,000 dead and 3 million homeless, muted out of world media.

No Burial for Balakot

Four days later, they are still not even trying to extricate the dead in the town of Balakot, flattened on the morning of October 8.

Preparing for Aftershocks to the Pakistan Earthquake

Aftershocks to the recent earthquake continue, and may continue for weeks or even months from now.

NWFP Demonstrators Fury against No Response from Army

The area, which includes the hard hit townships of Balakot, Batal, Battgram, Khanpur and Tanda, is yet to receive any substantive assistance from the Pakistan Army or governmental agencies.

Earthquake in Pakistan

Most of the worst hit areas are so remote and inaccessible that even in normal circumstances, it will need a superhuman effort by the entire relief effort to reach them in time and save precious lives.

Deadly Earthquake

This earthquake is perhaps the most intense one seen in this region for over 100 years.

From Patna to Detroit (A true lifelong migration)

The night of 20th August 1947, which witnessed violent flames holding her family until they resolved into ashes. Her baba, amma, bhayya, apya, were burnt alive in her city of innocent smiles, Patna.

Other Side of Rabbi Shergill

Punjabi pop singer Rabbi Shergill - the Bullah ke Jaane fame - talks about peace, politics, his dreams, spirituality and his next album.

A Cinephile’s Choice

These are films which I have watched again and again and which give me great pleasure whenever I watch them.

South Asia’s Clarence Darrow

An anglicized barrister who ended up founding a separate Muslim majority state is an apparent paradox but not really so...

Doves

While writing to his old friend Fazal Din, Lobh Singh remembered that even in those days he (Fazal Din) used to correct him: 'You teach Urdu, Lobhe. Don’t you even know how to spell welfare?'

The Last Moments of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

Mr. Bhutto’s back was almost touching the floor while he was being brought out of the cell. The lower part of his shirt got entangled in the warder’s shoes and I heard the sound of the shirt being torn.

Who Created Pakistan?

In 1947, India was not expected to survive as a nation

Bunty aur Babli: The latest RSS-BJP tango

The con-game has been going on for over a decade.Advani was the RSS’ foot soldier who did all he could in Pakistan to lay the foundation for the return of Hindutva. He followed his brief well: Create confusion and fulfil the mission of the hardliner

Cold Flesh

Eesher Singh looked at Kalwant Kaur but unable to bear the heat of her piercing eyes, looked the other way.

Age of the Earth and Its Measures

As a footnote, I started this essay with an ayat from the Quran, which enjoined people to study the signs of God. Ironically, it is the non-Muslim world that followed this injunction, studied the signs of nature, and developed the human knowledge to its p

Emotional Solitude

My heart and my mind are two worlds apart,
But somehow, somewhere they will have to meet

The Utility of Art

What could be the cause of an American’s life of “happy mediocrity”? Why do Americans spend their money on charity and space travel over artwork?

Talking to Sabiha Sumar about Khamosh Pani

Anil Saari Arora talked to Sabiha Sumar at New Delhi, where the Pakistani filmmaker and her husband, producer S. Sathanandan, have presently set up base.

In Defense of H

There are rumours circulating that after we rid of the waning moon on our flag ... a slight design flaw...the new emblem in the middle of the corrected rising moon would be...yes!...a shalwar...

Aftermath

Home for the holidays, the last thing I expected was to be greeted by an earthquake that hit 9 on the Richter scale.

Dystopia: After the cliché

Dystopia. The opposite of Utopia. Or a Utopia gone bad. An idea and vision of a perfect world getting lost when translated into concrete reality.

My Family Reunion

My mother handed over both me and her gold ornaments to her sister. The arrangement was that if my mother made it safely across to India, she would take back both me and her gold, if not, my maasi was to use the gold to help her raise me.

The New Beginning

My story is the story of many thousands of other people on both sides of the line. I regard myself lucky in one way that my family and I didn’t suffer any loss of limb....

What Dreams Are Made Up Of

I will disappear from your sight, but I’ll always be sneaking glances at you whenever I can. I will never call you but your voice will be playing in my head everyday. I will never write to you but will imagine what you are doing at every minute of

When the Orient met the Ox-ident

“Where are you going, sister?' asked Duby, a stray cat stuck inside a bogy of a train carrying people and merchandise from Pakistan to Amritsar. This particular bogy had a cow (an aged Bhagi), two horses (Timmy and Boby) and a mouse, Micky.

Benazir Bhutto Visits the Bay Area

One does not have to agree with her political viewpoint. But it would be extremely unwise to ignore her in the Pakistan context.

Dracula: A Toothless Tirade

A review of the currently running drama at the NIC Building Islamabad - Dracula

Does Wagah Have to be This? Or Could it be...

Why then it denies and overwrites the expectations and imaginations of people with a well-synchronized ritual of hatred?

Karachi Kamera in San Francisco

“What is Karachi?” some of the replies heard were 1) “Karachi is something you smoke.” 2) “It’s a cheese.” ...

Malka Pukhraj

She was Durga in her fearless strength and ferocious courage as a woman, and Sarasvati in her fine sensibilities and aesthetics and her desire for learning

Khamosh Pani Breaks a Long Silence

“Khamosh Pani” (Silent Waters) is a unique Punjabi movie that is slowly making ripples in the cinematic world.

In Search of Birth Places

He had left it when he was only one year old. Sure enough, as we make the final mountain turn, there is Kusik on the hilltop, visible from miles. The locals talk of it as Devi ka Mandar or Kusik fort. A 50-60-house village is located next to

Oh Myopia, Thy Name is Pakistan

Wisdom is the ability to achieve desired results in the long run; foolishness is the propensity to grab the immediate opportunity today and harm oneself tomorrow. Enlightened self-interest is not as dazzling as street-smart wizardry but it prevails in the

Charbagh

Entering Gulgee’s gallery is like stepping into a wonderful surrealistic painting in which odd shapes, images, and objects stare at you as you pass by, giving you the feeling that you’ve turned into Alice and are stepping into Wonderland.

Jaipur Dreams

If my father was an Indian until the sixties, what does that make me?

Muslim League’s Politics (1937-1947)

League’s transformation from a Nationalist party to a Separatist Party. Author's note: I want this to be first in a series of articles by Pakistanis and Indians to unemotionally reconsider the events of that very important decade in our history whic

The Enigmatic Smile Lives On

For her journey to America the Mona Lisa was in fact treated like nothing less than royalty.

Transfer of Power from the British Raj & The South Asian Politicians

While the common man went about his routine daily chores, the future of South Asia lay in the hands of the politicians of the Congress and the Muslim league.

Ghalib In California

To those of us who still retain the ability to “feel in Urdu” while writing exclusively in English, a Bazm gathering sometimes becomes a “must try to attend” part of our social calendar

Masala Art

Not a burger.

The More The Merrier?

the present state of Indian television news channels

On the Assertion of Rights

Why Pakistan’s institutions are ass backwards

Our Racism

Of course, none of us are actually of Indian descent

The Headless Chicken Returns

After having gone incommunicado, Headless Chicken returns, almost incoherent, of course -- 'you would do the same after a week on the road in Pakistan, owwwwwow baaabeh!'

Lord Krishna and St. Valentine’s Day

love is all in the air

The Test

Life, that uncompromising bitch! Hits you just when you want to sit and read

Towards Greater Tolerance

Anti-Pakistanism and neo-Indian Nationalism

Another Visit to Pakistan

What is the plight of Pakistanis in America?

Some Burning Questions

An Open Letter to General Musharraf

A Work In Progress

Jinnah put Pakistan in such a location that the future state would always be involved in the geo-politics of world

Games Generals Play

the General deserves to be applauded for forcing a semblance of democracy to the working of political parties

Sex in the Indian Family

A review of Somnath Sen’s film ‘Leela’

Lessons from Constitutional History

But we never seem to learn from history

The Daily Mullah

Life in the Jamatia Theocracy of Pakistan

Success Through Communication

Communication is not always what we say, or do, but it is also what or who we are

What I Saw In Okara

An investigation into the Okara land dispute

Road Blocks in Normalising Relations

If cross border terrorism ceases, facilitating a dialogue between India and Pakistan, will a dividend of long term peace follow?

Why Are We Killing Ourselves?

What mentality burns a human being alive?

The Future Is Another Country: 2050 And Beyond

Osama bin Laden has his own vision of a perfect world and millions will die

Enough is Enough

Some of us, like Noah’s family, will be saved

Running Naked

Looking at the current India, Pakistan conflict as Manto would have

Right Burqa, Wrong Lips

We watch the stride and the quickness of females to judge their age

Love On The Line Of Control, a Story by Col Dharam Pal

There seems to be a lot of acrimony and bad-blood between some Indian and Pakistani contributors ...

Follow the People to Peace

The future is there for all to see.

An Aside on Benazir

It was drama at high noon when General Musharraf

The Indo-Pak Summit, Kashmir and the Taj Mahal

One cannot expect a solution from just one summit on the complex Kashmir problem ...

Desi: The False Ideology

To understand what I felt as a Pakistani nationalist can be imagined by thinking of a parent raising a child who wants to have the surname of his/her neighbor

Mocking the Frontier: The Baba’s Dargah and Chamaliyal

What would the Baba have to say ...

Hazrate’ Insaan and the Image of God

The scientific ideologists consider science the answer to most things.

A Conversation with Om Puri

Sanity is very important to me

Democracy in Pakistan: The Missing Link?

Democracy has long been a buzzword in Pakistan

Elections, Pakistani Style

One moment we were leading, the next we fell behind

A Different Story

The winds of change are slowly whispering their way across the South Asian sub-continent

Hidden Hindus

What is it like?

Advertise! You fools!

Much has been written about the Indian propaganda ...

Chowk@Three: Opening Minds, Winning Hearts

Chowk is a mini world where your dreams come true at a click

Pakistani undergrads in the US

These kids are the most rabid Pakistanis you will find anywhere

What’s the future of India and Pakistan?

there are only two solutions to this problem[Kashmir]. A Change of attitude or war

Looking for Razia

Razia (Zafar) Chaudhury, are you out there?

TIEcon 2000 Generates Hope

Entrepreneurship in the 21st. Century

How I Spent Eid

How I was a Bakra at Bakra Eid

Music?

...love as defined by a 15 year old..

The Marriage Trap II

Let the (mating) dance begin ...

Save India

A martial law administration has to take over the country

Straight From the Heart: Dushman Kaun?

Moderates of our world unite. Silent majority speak up

India’s Failure of Imagination

No one in India, it seems, has a clue what people across the border in Pakistan are thinking

Lavishly Citrus

The conversation continues

A Visit to Pakistan

Could it be that there is a feeling that India does not accept the existence of Pakistan?

Balkan Tragedy: A Re-enactment of the 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh

The escalating human tragedy in Kosovo gives me a sense of deja vu

Manto versus Insha

Humour In One Act

An Interview with Deepa Mehta

Of partition, hybrid filmmaking and the lack of inhibitions

An Interview with Naseeruddin Shah

3 pages of Manto tells you what you want to know [about Partition]

A Forgotten Incident

India and Pakistan go to war!

A Line Runs Through It

Siachen-Kargil: India, Pakistan, Kashmir and forgotton lessons of history

Talking of Talks

...the Prime Ministers have had a telephone talk

Pakistan Cinema 1947-1997: A Review

Gazdar gives a first rate literary analysis of Maula Jat against the backdrop of Zia’s Martial Law

What’s in a name?

Do you think it is as simple as A B C?

Fun-Da-Mentalists

An interview with Aki from the hard hitting, dare we call them, British Asian band Fun-Da-Mental.

In Defence of Desi Pun

An affectionate look at what it means to be a Desi.

The Sindhi Ajrak: An Ancient Art Form

An informative reference article on the Sindhi Ajrak.

From One Chowkwala to Another

A chowkwala joins the stream of consciousness started in Say Something … Let’s Talk, . Why not wade in yourself?

Pakistan A in England: A Review

Mr Hussain reviews the mixed bag that was Pakistan A’s summer outing.