Waheeda Shah may not be dumber than a cow, but then she is not smarter than one either. What politician, in her right mind, would make a public spectacle of herself before the media, even in a place like Tando Muhammad Khan? What was she thinking? Perhaps there was a mutiny within; a small mind [...]

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Pakistan woke up to a zingy Monday morning with journalist and documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy grabbing the golden statuette at the 84th Academy Awards. Column inches have been filling thick and fast since then. Doubtless more is in store in the coming days and weeks to feast on the latest odds-defying story from Pakistan that [...]

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Love recognizes no shackles of society or conventions. Thus it was in the case of a mistress and her slave. When Zulaikha could no longer resist the base urges of her love for Yusuf (AS), she lured him to a room in the viziers palace. But before her attempted seduction there, she covered the face [...]

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  In the dark alley, My soul wanders. And up on the blue velvety sky, The cloud thunders. At a distance I hear, Quick steps on the pavement, A shouting woman around the corner, A wailing baby in some hospital room, A police siren or an ambulance.   A big cold drop falls on this [...]

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This last and final part summarizes the conclusions and learnings that can be drawn from the report. Primarily, the responsibility rests on the sheer failure of civil administration to control this matter in time, despite a multitude of alarming signals from all over the country. Having said that, a key player in the entire game [...]

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This part will explore the ideology behind the various demands in the context of the inquiry, in continuation of Part I… During the course of the inquiry, a large number of Ulama were interviewed to understand the ideology behind the demands along with important concepts such as characteristics of an Islamic state, democracy in an Islamic [...]

This part will explore the ideology behind the various demands in the context of the inquiry, in continuation of Part I… During the course of the inquiry, a large number of Ulama were interviewed to understand the ideology behind the demands along with important concepts such as characteristics of an Islamic state, democracy in an Islamic [...]

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This 3 part series recounts religion based disorder that unfolded in Punjab, particularly Lahore, between 1950-53 resulting in several hundred deaths, violent street agitation and imposition of first martial law in our history. It also covers the religious, political and administrative deficiencies in the system which led to general deterioration of law and order, and [...]

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Following is a light rendezvous with the Director of one of the oldest libraries in Lahore, Dyal Singh Library. The general trend of reading books is fast declining with the advent of ‘internet’ and other modern gadgetry. The focus from ‘book reading’ is being shifted to ‘reading stuff on the internet’. Where a lot of [...]

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Presenting a Strategic Plan is something of a poisoned chalice. On one hand it is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the business and impress pretty senior people about your business acumen. On the other hand its very nature, unlike that of operating plans, invites very wide-ranging intellectual discussions with executive management during [...]

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I remember my Pakistan Studies Teacher relating an incident . Gandhi was addressing a press conference when a snake crawled out of somewhere and passed the leader without biting him. The next day the incident made it to the papers. Later at another press conference this time addressed by Jinnah the journalists asked him what [...]

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Somewhere in the long list of things we lost in blood and fire is the joy of poetry. It is a loss I cannot reconcile with. My memories get in the way. It was through poetry, that I learnt to think, feel, mean and be. Words existed in our household with an identity of their [...]

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Philosophers are a breed apart and reign supreme as far as brainy reputations go. Reading the thoughts and ideas of such great minds spread over history tends to create an aura of awe around their persona. We are inspired by how they have discussed and resolved seemingly intractably difficult moral or other questions with the [...]

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I have been following stories of different mafia groups for a while now. One reason is the sheer dramatization of their stories that can attract anyone, but there are other reasons as well. The mafias give you an interesting account of the parallel economy or commonly known as the ‘black markets’. Another interesting aspect of [...]

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