Serenade to the Sleepless

Hoisting her basket back on her head, Ayesha turned around, and looked over at the other side of the road, to the brick wall, where she’d left her little brother. But he was nowhere in sight. Ayesha’s heart raced.

Terrorists Have Bombed My Future by Killing My Children

This is a true story of a man who met the young boy who was bombed in Lahore. I miss him. We miss him. He died because we are silent.

An Open Letter to Mian Nawaz Sharif

Khawaja revealed that Osama gave Nawaz just a minuscule of the Rs 500 million cash that he wanted, but more importantly, for the Pakistani, what he received in kind proved to a virtual windfall.

Tale of Two Rebels

It was from Firdous market till the bridge. “Stop it�. I cried.. But at that moment I felt that there was a demon inside her.� It’s fun and stop whining�. She snubbed me with a grin on her face.

Lessons From Another Lahore Tragedy

Our whole generations seem to have been sacrificed at the altar of the Afghan ‘jihad’ and now the war on terror.

My November Rain

One's personality could be judged by choice of tea. “Light� for the kind, shy girl and “Strong� for the ambitious guy. And yours truly-Regular. As always. Life could truly be this simple.

Crumbling Away

As the first rain of winters lashed across the city, I, with a couple of colleagues and a photographer, set out to discover the Walled City of Lahore and the Gates that ‘protect’ it.

Out at Liberty Market

Let the people of Lahore march peacefully in protest on Liberty and fly the Sri Lankan flag on the streets. And let the cricketing lions of Lahore, Imran Khan and Wasim Akram, lead that march.

And the Hits Just Keep on Coming

Another day, another catastrophe in Pakistan. For all intent and purpose international cricket is done in Pakistan for years to come, you can put a fork in it.

Attack on Sri Lankan Team

From the pictures, seen by all of us, we have observed, that there was serious lapse of security due to lack of compliance on part of PCB and law enforcement agencies.

Who Keeps the Deadly Duo in Business

Salman Taseer now rules supreme in Punjab, reporting, every so often, to Zardari who now rules supreme from his hideout in the President’s House.

Lahore Terror Attack Targeting Sri Lankan Team: Who is behind it?

The killing of five policemen and two others in Lahore blows the lid off the security arrangements in the city, especially at a time when the Sri Lankan team was visiting the city.

Lighting Up My Fire

I switch on the radio, and a good song from the eighties is playing. I start reminiscing about the olden days, the fake Ray Ban Wayfarers and the Sony Walkmans...

A Staircase Connecting Three Worlds

This is a world where hopes are pinned, dreams take form and life’s problems seem to somehow droop their heads like tired banners on an old banyan tree.

Late Afternoon at Masjid Wazir Khan

“Aapni ki Bengali�? I asked him as we finally reached the lattice worked balcony that encircled the minaret from where the muezzins have been calling the faithful to prayers for centuries.

The Naval War College Bomb Blasts

I was about 800 meters away from the bomb blast. The force of the explosion was powerful enough to rattle the windows nearly a mile away.

In Search Of Baby Chips

I switched on the projector inside my head, loaded up a dusty reel from the 1960s, and began: “Once upon a time there lived a little boy who often visited Lahore's Anarkali bazaar...

The Wild Side Of The Mall

They changed the name of The Mall Road of Lahore to Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam years ago. I was too young then to object and since old habits never die, I will—with a cynical smile—call the lifeline of Lahore by its old name: The Mall.

Dreams

Even this rain…even this has changed. Even Mother Nature has started whoring around. Nothing is the same. Nothing New Jersey spits out can be like Lahore.

From Lahore with Love

Collection of poems written in Lahore, somewhat inspired by the Baba Bulleh Shah, one of the first modern poets of the Sub-Continent.

Religious Tourism

Enthralling and enchanting locations of Pakistan beckon not only domestic but also foreign tourists to great extent.

Phantom of the Opera

A quintessentially tear-jerking performance, reminded us that when a Phantom is killed, we cry at the inevitable sadness of obsession.

No Romancing the Mohallah

Recently, I declined an offer to watch a mujrah by someone who claims to value the arts and culture -- not because I am prudish, but because there was something disturbing about watching a video taped mujrah in the comfort of American suburbia.

Save this Cultural Heritage

I hope that the good people of Lahore show some concern in preserving and helping rejuvenate this cultural heritage and stand together with their brothers and sisters of Hira Mandi to have the neighborhood restored to its old glory.

Remembering a great Pakistani: Sir Zafrullah Khan

His greatest contribution came when he drafted the famous Lahore Resolution, which till this day is the rallying point of Pakistan and Pakistani nationalism.

A City of Gardens

Any reference to Lahore as the City of Gardens has a rather hollow ring these days. That proud tradition of rippling fountains and tall arching trees is all but gone, as the city develops apace.

Old Neighbors And Old Memories

What was really an eye opener was the bonhomie between the Pakistani and the Indian diplomats, who had come to the reception. I drifted towards them and it turned out they were talking about the similarity of Laxshmi Mansions with a few buildings in New D

Pakistan Travelogue II

The son of a humble weaver, he was very attached to a Brahmin named Madho Lal and to immortalize the friendship between the two, he decided to name himself Madho Lal Shah Hussain. Every year, on the last Sunday of March, Mela Chiraghan, or the festival of

Lahore Diary

Basant in Lahore, Cooco's Den, Gurudwara Dera Sahib, and Visa advise after a recent visit to Lahore

A Taste of Lahore

Since lunch in Delhi was a big affair, the officially forced frugality at weddings in Pakistan was quite welcome, as bowls of chicken corn soup was all that was served. Good soup though!

An Indian in Pakistan

Love across the Wagah border

Calculate This

Towards Greater Tolerance

Anti-Pakistanism and neo-Indian Nationalism

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

Husain Haqqani at UC Berkeley

Pakistan has to revisit its relationship with India

Islamic Utopia?

Reconciling Islam and Modernity

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?

Shadowlines (Part I)

Ehsan Jafri was killed, his decapitated head carried around the streets.

My Ruined Breakfast

After that they would like votes, please.

Deja Vu

General Musharraf should be open and honest

Empty Vessels And All That Jazz

do you think he is up to task to rid us of feudals next?

Running Naked

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

Here Are the Muslim Feminist Voices, Mr. Rushdie!

Muslim women HAVE been speaking out against the obscurantist Islam he decries

Bahr-e-Zulmaat

a mother who wears the hijab suggested to her 28-year-old daughter she take it off

Why I am leaving

There is just so much wrong with Pakistan today that we, the educated youth, find life here unacceptably difficult

Coming Home to a Foreign Land

Kirtida Oza recently crossed the border from Ahmedabad for a three week trip to Pakistan

A Medley of Internal Contradictions

Shedding tears for the plight of Indian Muslims is also a case of internal contradictions

Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, SJ

An interview with a war hero ...

An Eulogy For The Hawks

Your administrations’ talks with President Musharraf

Talking to Vajpayee

Vajpayee has demonstrated that he can be different

Welcome to the Dark Side

Uncensored .... But until we openly debate and denounce the corruption in journalism, we cannot really condemn it in other institutions.

Our Blind Nuclear Prophets

why did Indian and Pakistani defence budgets go up, rather than down, after the May 1998 tests?

Should Pakistan Honor the Lahore Resolution?

why Pakistan failed to become a confederation in accordance with the spirit and content of the Lahore resolution?.

Protest in New York!

Stop killing Christians in Pakistan ...

Negotiating Human Rights

arrested in Pakistan for saving the life of a battered woman

1971 in 2000

... this singular event is consigned to the dustbin of history.

Lahore Notes, March 2000

I took the famous Bus to Lahore

No More Hiroshimas Anywhere, Ever

Fat Boy and Thin Man, created atomic hell on August 6 and August 9, 1945

The People’s Initiative

Exposure to ordinary people serves as a powerful perception changer ...

When Pakistan Defeated Herself...

there was no way for it [India] to convincingly prove that Pakistan indeed harbored territorial ambitions on i-Kashmir

TIEcon 2000 Generates Hope

Entrepreneurship in the 21st. Century

Boundaries or Bridges?

We didn’t find the Pakistan we were looking for

The Millenium Manifesto or ’Ikeesween Sadi Dastoor’

Kashmir does not belong to Pakistan regardless of historical events during partition...

Who will Bell the Bad, Fat Cats?

A scathing look at journalism in Pakistan

Pakistan: Rapprochement with India ‘unstoppable’

One thing is clear: people want peace with India

Compilation of Opinions on the Military Takeover in Pakistan

Peoples opinions and reactions

Why An Interim Civilian Government will Fail

Putting up a front government will achieve simply nothing

Fears of a Military Coup in Pakistan

Army moves in Pakistan

Lahore Diaries III

So why was this county divided?
That was a mistake. Sorry. It won’t happen again.

Love in the Time of Kargil

I am Indian. My wife, Mona, is Pakistani. We got married in Toronto last week

India’s Failure of Imagination

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

A Visit to Pakistan

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

Why Not This One?

Of Sharifs, Bhuttos, missiles and carrots.

Murder Most Foul

A peshawarite’s look at the tragic murder of Samia Imran

Nuclear powers can count too!

Can we implement a new census at the dawn of the new millenium?

A Day in the Life of the Bus

Delhi-Lahore destination plate is no ordinary feat

Waiting Upon the Prime Miniterial Burp

In Lahore we are expecting to hear a burp

Why Vajpayee’s Trip to Lahore Was a Failure

Vajpayee’s bus trip can be described in one word: nothing

Getting Ready for ‘Bus Diplomacy’

Vajpayee and Sharif get creative. First bombs then bus rides.

A Matter of Principle

Anatomy of the governments vendetta against a leading newspaper in Pakistan

An Interview with Deepa Mehta

Of partition, hybrid filmmaking and the lack of inhibitions

The Price of Journalism

Another day in the life of a Chief Editor

Agenda for Pakistani Press

The press has no credibility

A Ray of Hope

An eye-witness account of a fund-raising dinner by Imran Khan.

The Gentleman Must Go

Crisis in the shadows of power: Is Pakistan entering an institutional crisis acknowledging Nawaz Sharif’s imperial designs?

The lack of Women’s Rights in Pakistan

Tracing the roots of oppression

Pakistan Cinema 1947-1997: A Review

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

The Man Who Stooped to Conquer

And he did it all with a smile

Cry my Beloved Country

Thoughts on the nature of democracy in Pakistan.

Damming Kalabagh

Is the state acting wisely in its insistence upon building Kalabagh Dam?

Copyright: A Source of Revenue Generation

A discussion on the advantages of protecting intellectual property rights in Pakistan.

Time For Contempt

In today’s Pakistan, the word Contempt is what the Government of Pakistan thinks of the people of Pakistan.

Sana Khwaan-e-Taqdees-e-Mashriq Kahan Hein?

Sana Khwaan-e-Taqdees-e-Mashriq Kahan Hein?

My Crimson Reality

In which the poet, in the best traditions of Meer, Dard, Ghalib, seems to prefer reality in an intoxicating red shade.

Death of the Raj: Subcontinent in the Third Millennium

The second of two articles outlining a new definition of Pakistan and the Indian sub-continent. Ready your pens for aggressive interaction.

An Analysis of The Software Industry In Pakistan

A personal perspective on the Pakistani technology industry, from an engineer based in Karachi.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

I was asked by an elderly acquaintance of mine: ’Are the Westerners more intelligent than the Pakistanis?’

Entrepreneurship Under the Microscope: The MIT Stanford Venture Lab

Learn of a place where VCs, start-up gurus, and hot-shot technocrats set young CEOs on the couch and analyze their entrepreneurial dreams for them....for free.

Islamic Economic Model: La Riba (Interest-free) Banking

No wonder, the Islamic system is gaining popularity. In Pakistan, mutual funds and industrial joint ventures on Mudaraba basis have been established...