JUNE 13-19 2010
JUNE 13-19 2010
JULY 25-31 2010
Cover Story 20 Letter from Berlin A scholar reimagines Partition in the playground of history
Profile 24 Against All Odds Mukhtaran Mai continues her quest for justice with grace
Feature 26 Sunday Bazaar: a change for the better? Karachi’s famed weekly bazaar make-over gets mixed reviews
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Portfolio 28 Moving Stills Insiya Syed documents many a happily ever after moment
Life 36 There’s no place like home Summer is a great time for a woman to return to her maika
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Review 38 What’s new in films and books
Regulars 6 People & Parties: Out and about with Pakistan’s beautiful people 18 Tribune Questionnaire: Shehzad Roy on his beautiful wife 35 Courtesy Call: How to invite kids or not to a baby shower 44 Horoscope: Shelley von Strunckel on your week ahead 46 Ten Things I Hate About: Writing a Column
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Magazine Editor: Muna Khan, Features Editor: Faiza S Khan, Senior Sub-Editor: Nadir Hassan, Sub-Editor: Batool Zehra Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Anam Haleem, Tariq Alvi, S Asif Ali, Sukayna Sadik Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi. For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk
REVIEW
JUNE 13-19 2010
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Fashion Frontier
Upcoming designers Zaheer Abbas and Zainab Sajid launched their new collections at the Designers with a mini fashion show. The event was attended by socialites and fashionistas.
1. Fauzia, Umaima, Amna Ilyas, Zille, Iraj, Zeba, Saima, Maha 2. Asad Tareen 3. Humaa Taher 4. Yousuf Bashir Qureshi and Uzra Dawood 5. Zainab Sajid with a guest 6. Nazish. 3
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PHOTOS: ANAITA, HASEEB AND MOHSIN JAFFERY
To have your event featured in this section email magazine@tribune.com.pk
PEOPLE & PARTIES
JUNE 13-19 2010
PEOPLE & PARTIES
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1. Guests 2. Zurain Imam 3. Nasreen and a guest 4. Vaneeza Ahmed, Madeeha Syed, Raana Khan 5. Zaheer with Umaima 6. Nazish 7. Asad Tareen and a guest. 3
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JUNE 13-19 2010
PEOPLE & PARTIES
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1. Guests 2. Humaa Taher and Tehmina Khaled 3. Zaheer and Raana 4. Ayesha with a guest 5. Mr and Mrs Asad Tareen, Sajid, Zainab and Tehmina 6. Umaima 7. Yousuf Bashir Qureshi. 3
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JUNE 13-19 2010
PEOPLE & PARTIES
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Football Fever
Magnus Communications hosted the screening of the final of the football World Cup in Karachi. Spectators came with their family and friends to support their teams wearing their team colours.
1. Guests 2. Farhad Khalid and Bilawal Shaikh 3. Ali Naqvi and Shoaib Tariq 4. Asma and Anam Asif 5. Shahrukh Farogh 6. Mahnoor Farogh and Nabiha Tariq Paracha 7. Ashraf Kalim and Samira Kalim.
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REVIEW
JUNE 13-19 2010
PEOPLE & PARTIES
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Glamourama
Bolllywood stars attended a slew of events in Mumbai.
1. Shekhar Kapoor with other Bollywood personalities at the Whistling Woods International 3rd Annual Convocation 2. Kangana Ranaut poses on the set of Indian television reality show “Boogie Woogie” 3. Mandira Bedi at the Percept Excellence Awards 4. Salman Khan attends a special screening of Tere Bin Laden 5. Emraan Hashmi poses on the set of “Boogie Woogie” 6. Singer Roop Kumar Rathod with wife Sonali Rathod 7. Sushmita Sen. 3
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JUNE 13-19 2010
PEOPLE & PARTIES
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Cine Blitz
Hollywood celebrities were out in full force, promoting their films and attending premieres.
1. Will Smith poses with his wife Jada Pinkett, Willow, Jaden and Jackie Chan to promote The Karate Kid 2. Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber at the premiere of Salt 3. Gretchen Rossi 4. Director of Salt Phillip Noyce poses with his wife Vuyo Dyasi and son Luvuyo 5. Oliver Stone poses with his wife and daughter at the Premiere of South of the Border 6. Howard Stern and wife Beth Stern. 6
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16 JULY 25-31 2010
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JUNE 13-19 2010
“I believe everything happens for a good reason and when you look back in life, mistakes make more sense” Singer and social worker Shehzad Roy on avoiding confrontation, his greatest achievement and his admiration for Jackie Chan. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Playing Xbox with my friends in a freezing cold room!
My forgetfulness.
What is your greatest fear?
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Losing dear ones.
Still waiting.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what
Being disorganised.
would it be?
What is the trait you most deplore in others? People who harm others and then try to justify it. What is your greatest extravagance? Sushi. What is your current state of mind? Busy. On what occasion do you lie? When my wife asks whether I got her work done on time. What is the quality you most like in a man? A man who thinks beyond his own interest and gain. What is the quality you most like in a woman? One who is worth more than her appearance. My wife Salma. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “I’ll call you in two minutes.” When and where were you happiest? Koh Phangan family vacation. What is your greatest regret?
Nelson Mandela. Where would you most like to live? Close to nature, like up north in Pakistan. What is your most treasured possession? It keeps changing What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Poverty and injustice. If you didn’t do your current job, what would you choose to do? Play table tennis. What is your most marked characteristic? I avoid confrontation. Who is your hero of fiction? Jackie Chan. Which historical figure do you most identify with? Akhtar Hameed Khan. Who are your heroes in real life? They keep on changing.
Honest mistakes but no regrets. I believe everything hap-
What’s your favourite quote?
takes make more sense.
all.”
pens for a good reason and when you look back in life, mis-
“The greatest sadness is not to try and fail but fail to try at
Which talent would you most like to have?
How many hours of load shedding did you experience yesterday?
Computer animation.
Three. a
19 JULY 25-31 2010
COVER STORY
letter from Berlin TEXT AND PHOTOS BY MANAN AHMED
A scholar reimagines Partition in the playground of history
There was a panic in Lahore in the early months of 1947, I read somewhere, that the city was destined to be partitioned. I have often thought of that rumour, as I traverse these now re-united bits of Berlin in my walks and train trips across the city. What would that partitioned Lahore have looked like on August 14, 1947? Which neighbourhoods would have gone where? How would the muhalla be divided? By a wall? Berlin’s partition was concretised on August 13, 1961. Neigh-
bours woke up to find barbed-wire fences, and the Wall constructed overnight and in great haste — mistries became sentries. The
wall twisted and turned, down alleys and across boulevards — a desolate space was carved into the heart of the city — at Potsdamer Platz — to negotiate the divisions elsewhere. Berlin’s partition
immediately made Berlin the global symbol of the Cold War — the ultimate custody battle between two former lovers — and the
Wall became its most potent symbol. Anyone remember that last scene of John Le Carré’s 1963 novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold?
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The Wall is now great tourist business in Berlin. Millions come
JULY 25-31 2010
to this city to trace its pathways, to see this ‘relic’. Berlin today
is a city built for such historical tourism after 1989. The Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Victory Column, the steel and
glass facades ringing Potsdamer Platz — are all awe-inspiring. They demand your eyes and your point-and-shoots. The Memo-
rial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, near the Brandenburg Gate, cements Berlin’s own vanished onto the city topography. This too draws the tourist gaze. Point, click, view.
At most sites, Berlin produces pithy tri-lingual posters which
give historical context to the site, the landmark. It is Berlin’s way
of framing history more securely into the narrative thread of a rejuvenated city, embracing its past and hurtling towards its future.
Berlin is a medieval city and Nikolai Quarters is considered the
heart of medieval Berlin — with the St. Nikolai Church attracting tourists to its fourteenth century roots. Except it is brand-new, historically speaking. Only traces of this neighborhood and the
Church remained when in 1979 the East German authorities decided to rebuild the area and restore its ‘medieval’ look — planned
from scratch by the architect Günter Stahn. Perhaps the current
day visitor knows of this new medieval, but most don’t care that this made-over, re-fabricated, re-imagined. The 13th century in
the heart of Mitte, as imagined by the East German state is now consumed by the global tourist.
I asked my friend, urban historian Dr Nikhil Rao about Ber-
lin’s many constructions. He was my earliest guide to this city
and Berlin through his eyes is rich fabric I can barely comprehend. “Few cities get to re-invent themselves within the space of
60 years,” he told me. “Fewer still get to do so twice in the same period. No city has done it three times in 60 years as Berlin has. The physical and social faces of Berlin were transformed first in the destruction of the Nazi era and World War II, followed by the
To truly feel the vibe of Berlin, all one has to do is walk through the city
rebuilding of two Berlins in the Cold War era. Each Berlin sought
COVER STORY to project its distinct ideology onto the world in its respective re-
building. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, the unified Berlin re-built itself yet again, seeking to become emblematic of the post Cold War world order.”
But not all of Berlin is re-constructed. The city leaves some
old cobwebs in the corner. I have been having fun trying to find them. In one south-western edge of the Tiergarten, which is a
very large forest preservation in the heart of the city, there lies an abandoned base. At some point maybe a statue stood here — but
now it is just two bits of steel poking the sky, with bullet holes pock-marking the base. I like this base, a lot, a reminder of some unfinished business of history-writing.
In another park, the Prussian Park, is another statue. This one
of the spirit of Prussia, called Borussia, created by the sculptor whose work dots all of Berlin, Reinhold Begas. This one sits in a park which is now known for its Thai food and drinks — a truly unique experience of the new Berlin.
But statues, or missing statues, make poor stand-ins for any
city. To feel the pulse, you have to wander past the memorials into the streets where people live, work, play. This is one of my favourite things to do in Berlin — to ride the ever-ready U-bahn to some node, and walk.
Berlin is one city that has reinvented itself with gusto
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It was one such walk in Berlin that I encountered Lahore, for the first time. A few blocks from my house, in the leafy neighbourhood of Wilmersdorf, I stumbled across a minaret lit by the sun and framed by the blue sky. But walking up to the gate, I saw a simple column rested into concrete. Built 1924-1927 by the Jamaat Ahmadiyya, Lahore It was one such walk — very early in my still-young tenure in
Berlin that I encountered Lahore, for the first time. A few blocks
from my house, in the leafy neighbourhood of Wilmersdorf, I
stumbled across a minaret lit by the sun and framed by the blue sky. I was surprised to see it in this area — the Muslim, largely
Turkic- populations live far to the east. But walking up to the gate, I saw a simple column rested into concrete. Built 1924-1927 by the Jamaat Ahmadiyya, Lahore.
Since then, Lahore is never far from my Berlin. Like Berlin,
Lahore has a vanished population, as well. Those who left in August, in September, in October, in November. Those who continued to hope that the Partition wasn’t a partition. The borders fell
outside of the city but the people inside were divided nonetheless. In Berlin, there are memorials to the departed, embedded
into the stone-street — Here lived Sara Schwersene (born Jacobowski, 1871). Deported 23.9.1942. Murdered in Auschwitz.
I try to imagine Lahore’s neighbourhoods divided as well —
maybe the Mall Road would have served as the natural barrier,
or maybe the Canal? Such a partition of Lahore never happened in concrete but it did happen. Large parts of Lahore vanished —
they left. Their houses were filled with the new residents, their streets were re-named. That Lahore vanished and left only vague, cursory traces that it ever, even existed. But no names. a
23 JULY 25-31 2010
PROFILE
against all odds BY ZAHID GISHKORI
Mukhtaran Mai remains a source of inspiration all these years later, as she refuses to relent to any pressure to withdraw her case against the perpetrators of a horrific crime 24 JULY 25-31 2010
All these years later, and Mukhtaran Mai (also known as Mukhtar) is still fighting. Despite the support she eventually gained as a cause célèbre, victim
sult of her well-documented ordeal. She is only too familiar with
spite of the help provided to Mukhtaran nationally and interna-
in Mirwala.
of one of Pakistan’s more infamous crimes against women, in tionally, her trials are far from over, and amazingly, all these
Mukhtaran’s drive to bring about change is not merely the re-
injustice and deprivation, hailing from Pakistan’s powerless. Her father is a woodcutter and her brothers have blue collar jobs
Mukhtaran staunchly denies rumours that her personal finan-
years later, the politicians of Muzzaffargarh are still pressuring
cial status is that of a billionaire as a result of the financial assis-
ran, as the world has seen, is not a woman easily bowed.
it on a school for girls and other organisations assisting women,”
her to withdraw her case or face dire consequences. But Mukhta“I want to remain a symbol for oppressed women until some-
one shoots me,” she says, without a second thought.
tance of foreign donors. “I had money in the billions but I spent she said.
Mukhtaran and her three adopted daughters subsist on the Rs
This is a very real possibility, as her persecution and by ex-
17,000 monthly stipend of her second husband Nasir Gabol, a po-
claims that Federal Minister for Defence and Production, Sar-
been made for her cause and in her name, though she has pur-
tension the persecution of her family continues unabated. She dar Abdul Qayyum Jatoi and MNA Jamshed Dasti continuously threaten her father Ghulam Fareed for a compromise with the
liceman, spending on welfare projects the donations that have chased a small flat in the Sabzazar district of Lahore.
On the subject of the law to protect women from harassment,
Mastoi clan, fourteen members of which are in jail facing life-
she said that while laws may technically be in place, a paradigm
“The culprits should remain in jail forever,” she says. “I will
be more realistic and they must do something for the implemen-
imprisonment.
never take any decision to withdraw my case from the Supreme Court of Pakistan.”
The feudal bigwigs of the Jatoi, Mastoi and Dasti clans have
shift is required to implement them. “Women legislators should tation of the laws which assure the safety of women,” Mukhtaran says.
Her efforts to change the system whereby women are other
tried varying means of intimidation, including threatening the
people’s pawns, sold into virtual slavery, or presented as peace-
they are reluctant to stand guard outside my home and at the
rary doctorate from Laurentian University of Canada.
seven policemen deployed around her house in Meerwala. “Now girls’ school,” she said.
offerings to settled disputes, are to be awarded with an honouTalking about her lawyer, the celebrated campaigner and bar-
Mukhtaran’s strongest condemnation though is still reserved
rister Aitzaz Ahsan, she says that he never charged a penny for
Pakistan which often turn the victim into the criminal — this is
of principle and an iconic character in the judiciary,” Mukhtaran
for a system which is rotten to the core, the politics of rape in
the loophole her rivals in Jatoi Tehsil are exploiting to harass her. But she is determined to fight not only for herself but for countless other women through the Mukhtar Mai Women’s Welfare
any of the work he did on her case in the apex court. “He is a man says, adding that his wife Bushra always went out of her way to encourage and help her.
Mukhtaran laments that religious conservatives wield a great
Organisation, which she claims is the only source of relief for the
deal of power which they use to effectively objectify women and
are sponsoring million of rupees annually to run it,” she says.
against injustice in rural areas, where this conservative view
women of southern Punjab. “Donors from Canada and Norway The Mukhtar Mai Girls Model School, opened with assistance
from the Mukhtar Mai Foundation eight years ago, is the first
of its kind in Punjab since it offers education to those girls who
wouldn’t otherwise have this opportunity. At least three million
rupees are spent in educating 650 girls, who would ordinarily face
a dismal future. More than 50 employees work for her organisa-
put them in a position whereby they cannot raise their voice
is the dominant one. But there is hope, as evidenced by the national and international media. “The media always stood firm
behind me for the rights of women,” she says. “It is the politi-
cal elite who support the guilty and ignore innocent, powerless women who need justice from them.”
“The local politicians termed my tragedy the Jatoi’s ‘dirty linen’
tion to run small projects in far flung areas of Punjab and there
saying that it shouldn’t be washed in the glare of local attention.
all of whom have been thrown out of their homes and disowned
rape is a ‘turban of honour for waderas’,” she says.
are 12 women in her Women’s Resource Centre and Shelter Home, by their families in the name of that old chestnut, honour.
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years since Mukhtaran Mai was raped in June 2002
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women were raped last year according to the HRCP
If my tragedy is ‘dirty linen’ then their (Politicians) act of gang She plans to open welfare centres for women in Kot Addu, Ra-
jan Pur, Dera Ghazi Khan and Layyah. “My family has no land
to cultivate and we always worked in landlords’ fields for a liv-
ing. This was why I could not go to school. But now I can make a
difference.” a
25 JULY 25-31 2010
FEATURE
Fawad Bokhari is unsure of his date of birth but can accurately recall his first day working at Karachi’s Sunday Bazaar: “I started off with a small stall in the winter of 1986 with my father. The bazaar has evolved drastically since.” From ’86 onwards, Bokhari has kept up his weekly Sunday rou-
tine of selling new and second-hand clothes to a dedicated clientele at what is colloquially known as Itwaar Bazaar.
The new home for this market is in Sector E of the rather quiet
Phase VIII of Defence. It’s spread out over 25.5 acres — almost double the size of the old Sunday Bazaar. The otherwise deserted
Sunday Bazaar : a change for the better?
BY SADIA A AHMED
PHOTOS: NOOR JAVERI
area streams with cars of all hues and sizes every weekend and has, according to Fawad, “morphed into Asia’s biggest open-air market.”
The revamped Sunday Bazaar is a far cry from the old, with
its unpaved lanes, dust-laden air from un-cemented floors and a marquee which barely sheltered one from the elements. The new bazaar has facilities for shopkeepers and buyers alike. Compared to the green traditional tents of old — which leaked during the
rainy months — the new bazaar boasts tiled floors and the coloured fibre-glass roofing is meant to protect both shoppers and
shopkeepers from both the blazing summer sun and monsoon rains, though the floor tiling actually works to retain heat in summer and one wonders what the need was to spend money on something that was functioning perfectly well already.
Comfortable resting areas with around 200 benches, a cheap
and cheerful food court, a play area for children, 1,850 shopping stalls to choose from, and two spacious parking areas are the latest additions. It isn’t just the bazaar that has been modified to facilitate shoppers, but the roads that lead to Phase VIII have also
new and improved the new Sunday Bazaar boasts of fibre-glass roofing, a food court, two parking lots and a playing area for children
been reconstructed and more street lights have been installed.
The DHA’s initiative to modernise Sunday Bazaar was based
on the idea of providing a well-designed, convenient, and comfortable shopping area for residents of Defence where they could
buy everything from household goods and groceries to books and clothes, all under one roof. Sunday Bazaar is one the few Paki-
stani public areas that is able to gather people from all walks of
26 JULY 25-31 2010
“I started off with a small stall in the winter of 1986 with my father. The Bazaar has changed several times since then and has evolved drastically,” says a shopkeeper
life with the lure of good, cheap and affordable shopping.
Regardless of the renovations, Fawad and other shopkeepers
are under continuous pressure just to make ends meet. Mohammad Sharif, who has been selling household utensils for the past decade, says, “Being a vendor at Itwaar Bazaar these days is just a little better than doing daily labour work — it doesn’t always pay off. Purchasing power has gone down, and it’s hitting us hard.”
At the same time, rents for shops have also gone up. “I remem-
ber paying Rs1,200 per month in 2003,” says Fawad. “Now the rates for a decent-sized shop like mine stand at Rs3,000. Also,
let’s say a shirt was sold for Rs500 before; now people are not willing to pay anything over Rs300 for it.”
Bargaining remains a dominant part of the culture in Sunday
Bazaar. In a country where having three meals a day is a dream for most, and sweating away for a pittance their destiny, buyers
and vendors alike haggle over every last penny. “If I don’t lower
my prices, buyers will go to another vendor and I’ll lose out on my clients,” says one shopkeeper, adding that competition was cut-throat.
What hasn’t changed at Sunday Bazaar is the tradition of child
labour. Boys as young as five roam the market with big baskets,
willing to lug around your day’s shopping in return for a hundred
rupees. Sweet-faced, shy Abdul Rahim, 11, who lives and goes to school in Sohrab Goth, works at the bazaar, along with his two brothers, as a coolie. Since his earnings can go up to Rs1,000 on
a good day, Rahim’s salary is crucial to his seven member family. Things may have changed at Sunday Bazaar but they certainly haven’t improved. a
27 JULY 25-31 2010
PORTFOLIO
moving stills PHOTOGRAPHY & TEXT BY INSIYA SYED
Looking through a lens, pictures are pictures whether they are stills or movies.
For some the motion is within the pictures but for me the real
beyond.
Having someone trust you to capture the most cherished and
impact is only defined when a still moves its audience — emo-
joyful experience of their life, the beginning of a journey togeth-
The elaborate celebration of colours blended with poetry of tra-
It takes some life for a still to move, and life through my lens
tionally, because they spell meanings in their meaninglessness.
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stuff that makes an event bloom out into a whole lifetime and
ditions, chemistry of emotions, and romance of culture is the JULY 25-31 2010
er with one’s partner is for me, a wedding high. is all so moving. a
“We’re living in a material world and I am a material girl.”
29 JULY 25-31 2010
PORTFOLIO
“It must be difficult to let go of something so beautiful.” — Pretty Woman
30 JULY 25-31 2010
“I can’t remember anything without you.” — Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind JULY 25-31 2010
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PORTFOLIO
“It’s a great thing when you realise you still have the ability to surprise yourself. ” — American Beauty
32 JULY 25-31 2010
“These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ (Or, are they?)” 33 JULY 25-31 2010
PORTFOLIO
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“This is a simple story... but not an easy one to tell.” — Life is Beautiful JULY 25-31 2010
ADVICE a I have been asked to host a baby shower for a very dear
call
courtesy
SEND ALL QUESTIONS TO OUR ETIQUETTE EXPERT AT
friend expecting her first child. I’m thrilled to host this for her and did a lot of research on the internet about baby showers and decided against inviting children since I believe this is an adult event. This has apparently offended some of our common friends who feel their children should be allowed to come. However, since I’m hosting, isn’t it my call? Baby Shower Pooper A good host always takes her guests’ circumstances into the equa-
tion. In this case, one can assume that guests cannot leave their children behind or want their child to take part in the welcoming
of a new one into the world. Perhaps you can show some tact and include some child-friendly activities at the shower to ensure no havoc is wreaked.
MAGAZINE@TRIBUNE.COM.PK ILLUSTRATION: S JAMAL K
a I am about to get married in a few weeks and my parents in law have asked me to address them as Ammi and Abbu. I do not want to and have intimated as such to my fiancé who says there’s no harm as it will them happy. But it makes me unhappy to refer to them in parental terms; it feels false, I barely know them. Could this seemingly non-issue turn into a conflict? Not Daddy-in-law’s girl Not if your fiancé is able to explain to his parents that such demands are considered ridiculous in today’s world. And that he
would appreciate if his soon-to-be wife is allowed to address
them as she pleases, and that it shall always be in a polite manner. The last bit was for you.
a Manners
are constantly evolving but some things can still be bracketed into good or bad form. Where does asking a person’s age fit into the equation: is it rude to ask a woman her age? I’m 50something and have often been asked and am uncomfortable answering but certainly don’t want to respond impolitely — two rudes don’t make a right. Do I need to get over myself? Secretive about age It is not considered rude to ask nowadays though asking questions that make people uncomfortable is never a good thing. Ask-
ing your age is no longer seen as the person being a nosy Parker. Refusing to answer, however, might be considered rude, because
as the veritable Miss Manners once said on the same subject, “[refusal to answer] indicates shame at a normal condition.” She suggests, and I concur, a laugh-it-off answer of “I’m not telling.” JULY 25-31 2010
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LIFE
There’s no place like home
BY NYLA DAUD
ILLUSTRATION: S JAMAL K
There is no better time than summer for the subcontinental housewife to make use of the maika card
Summer can be cruel in Lahore. Especially when it begins to sizzle and housewives begin to think that they can save up on gas bills by cooking chapatis on the walls instead of on the kitchen stove. This is the time of the year when I, short of any other excuse to dodge domestic drudgery, begin to consider the pros and cons of using the maika card — an eastern exclusive for women’s rights which is unparalleled by any western action front. This also makes me ponder on the abject poverty of the English
language which has no parallel to offer for concepts as powerful as a woman’s maika. The subcontinental woman’s most effective combat arsenal, the traditional maika is what probably
keeps more marriages in working order locally than any consti-
tutional draft. Additionally, it is that great leveller of the gender
issue which all homemakers can and should make good use of in the face of domestic strife. And for this there could be no better time than summer. This card gives the average homemaker an edge over her spouse, especially when tempers begin to fray in direct proportion to the summer heat.
Of course my husband DZ has habitually countered the maika
card by references to the Met office. Islamabad (from where my
parents’ house has always beckoned me for summer sabbaticals),
he has argued, is not much of a hill station; Margalla and Murree hill views notwithstanding. He calls them mere optical illusions, not really cool enough to make a trip to the capital worth
its while. With Islamabad’s temperatures rising and shining in
sizzling camaraderie with Lahore, he might have a point there
JULY 4-10 2010
but given my maika or, shall we say, the root connection with
courtesy our firstborn’s mother’s home. Which piece of singular
lessness and its proverbial distance from the rest of the country,
tled. Dadi could have added to the numbers had she been a little
that city I have been loathe to accept defeat. For all its heat, heart-
that city has always worked miracles for my summer morale … there has been a certain degree of comfort in knowing that there
still exists a home and hearth to which one can, if need be, escape for a sabbatical.
good luck (as I saw it) caused the status quo to be doubly unsetmore mandate-oriented, but she being of an age when the ‘root’
connection looses out on its charisma, simply ignored the whole reference.
DZ probably had no idea of the long term results when, so
It makes me think of the two governments either side of
many years ago, he had launched his Islamabad offensive, bring-
yet brazen, given to threats about using the maika but ready all
revellers to wed me. Neither would he have guessed then that
Wagah as manifestations of the subcontinental bride — bashful the while, to make peace.
At our house, which always takes on the ‘microcosm within
the macrocosm’ sort of geopolitical relief in the event of any argument, the maika card became even more ominous at the turn
of this century. That was when the family saw the emergence
of another vote for the maika connection syndrome. When our
son’s bride added to the demography charts in the family household in Lahore, there became two of us at the winning end every
summer, since her parents also happened to be stationed in the
capital. DZ, I guess, was not really thinking of this double vote for the capital when we reinvented the Islamabad connection
ing in his wake an entire Chenab Express-load of wedding party history repeats itself. Firstborn, who 27 years later went to wed
his betrothed in the very city that his father had taken on years ago, was just as naïve about the lethal prowess of the maika card.
Good to see that in time he too saw the light of day and is now learning the ropes of handling the maika card with as much dig-
nity as his father. Like father like son! Meanwhile, it is good to know that we have progressed in time and transportation. DZ’s retinue had had to travel from Multan to Islamabad by train — 24 hours of a jolting journey across the Punjab plains. Firstborn’s marriage-party lapped the miles across the M2 — which makes the maika even more potent! Game, anyone? a
JULY 4-10 2010
REVIEW
featured review of the week
film with or without you BY NADIR HASSAN
The best thing about Tere Bin nee Laden was its indefatigable hype machine. It produced the best — if ultimately misleading — trailer of the year, casting non-actor Ali Zafar as the lead and choosing a subject that ensured attention from even the most jaded connoisseurs of Bollywood slapstick. Then, Tere Bin got a boost from Pakistan’s censor board which, in an overreaction almost as incomprehensible as the film, decided to ban it. And as with all outlawed material, Tere Bin suddenly became ubiquitous in the media and on file-sharing websites. Publicity aside, Tere Bin did get one thing right. When making a satirical movie, your premise should be wildly implausible, but also one that can be mined for laughs while being socially relevant. Like Dr Stangelove with its automated nukes and Wag The Dog’s Hollywood-engineered war, Tere Bin’s central plotline of a television reporter who stumbles on an Osama Bin Laden lookalike and then uses him to sell a taped OBL message could have commented on our irrational, fearful world and the media circus without being overly didactic. Yet the movie manages to be both wildly unfunny and excessively preachy. The fault lies exclusively with writer-director Abhishek Sharma who chooses to pile one stereotype on top of the other without consideration for character development, logic or narrative. The character of Ali Zafar, reporter Ali Hassan, may be the most thinly sketched of all. He seems too dim to ever stumble upon the idea of selling fake OBL tapes, too naive to ever pull it off and too witless to deal with the inevitable pitfalls. He is the kind of character who can never do anything right, except that which he does for the sake of plot convenience. While Zafar may not possess many, or even any, acting skills, he wasn’t given great material to work with. His boss at the TV station is a villain straight out of central casting missing only a moustache to twirl in self-satisfaction as he torments his hapless employees. There is not much to say about the 38 rest of the characters simply because they are not characters. They JULY 25-31 2010
lacking in punch Everything about the movie is average at best and Ali Zafar’s character is the most thinly sketched one imaginable
>> Five war on terror movies that are better than Tere Bin 1. United 93 2. Khuda Ke Liye 3. Jarhead 4. Syriana 5. My Name is Khan <<
The fault lies exclusively with writer-director Abhishek Sharma who chooses to pile one stereotype on top of the other without consideration for character development, logic or narrative
serve only as props to propel the plot to its unsatisfying conclusion. It would be too much of a stretch to say that a movie as turgid as Tere Bin has a saving grace but the acting of Pradhuman Singh will at least awaken viewers from their torpor. Singh has a lot of fun with his role as Noora, a bumpkin who bears an uncanny resemblance to the Al Qaeda leader. He is a simple man, content to rear his prize-winning rooster and invokes not only humour with the incongruity of being mistaken for a terrorist but surprising pathos in a scene that involves his rooster, a hand grenade and super glue. Tere Bin is not a movie that aspires to verisimilitude so it may seem churlish to moan about its portrayal of Karachi. Just for the record, though, Karachi is not inhabited exclusively by bearded Taliban wannabes who motorcycle their way through backstreets and alleyways that are as dusty as they are narrow. This mischaracterisation is hardly surprising given a report in an Indian newspaper which quoted a crew member as saying, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The costumes were brought in from Pakistan, the costume designer, who went to markets in Pakistan that women normally do not venture out into just to source authentic clothes for the film.â&#x20AC;? If the makers of Tere Bin think there is a single market in the country that can keep out women they obviously donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t understand Pakistan at all.
39 JULY 25-31 2010
REVIEW
book hell of a room BY MAHVESH MURAD
The initial attraction to Emma Donoghue’s Room is because of what appears to be a premise similar to VC Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic: a mother and her child are locked in a room, 12 feet by 12 feet. A man comes in almost every night to bring them food. The mother keeps the child hidden inside a wardrobe while the man is there, not wanting him to see the child who is, presumably, his son. She is only ever known as Ma — because to the narrator, five-yearold Jack, that is all she is. He has never spoken to another human being and believes that the room they live in is an entire world and they are the only people in it — the people and places they see on TV are other planets altogether. Room is entirely narrated in the first person by Jack and while a child’s narrative as the only source of information can be stilted (not to mention annoying), this particular narrative bears an odd dichotomy — the child is precocious and yet very limited in his exposure to the world. The reader picks up on clues that the child cannot understand — he is not aware that he is a captive. Of course, it makes Ma an incredible mother — how do you raise a child in a single room and ensure that he is stable, healthy, sane and happy? How do you make sure, for instance, that the child has enough exercise that his muscles don’t atrophy? That his eye muscles are able to see distance, when the furthest thing away is 12 feet? How do you stay cheerful enough to raise a contended child, when you have been trapped for seven years, and are raped almost every night? The only reason for this could be her glimmer of hope for escape. Unlike Flowers in the Attic, Room is far more realistic — there is no veering off into incestuous young lust under the soft focus glaze of the ‘70s voyeuristic spectator. A closer inspiration could possibly be the case of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian who fathered seven children by his daughter, keeping her in confinement for a period of 24 years. Three of the surviv40 ing six children had never left the basement until their eventual JULY 25-31 2010
small world Narrated in the first person by the captive child, the book is a horrific but compelling read discovery and rescue — the eldest was 19 and had spent her entire life in three small, sunless rooms. Like Fritzl, Ma’s captor had also installed an automatic electronic door locking system and both rescues are similar, involving hospitals and illnesses, real or otherwise. And this is what makes Room truly horrific, not just the premise itself, not the sense of confinement and isolation experienced while reading it. What makes it appalling is there’s worse out there than this fictitious hell of a room.
book tainted love BY MAHEEN PRACHA
Naomi Alderman’s The Lessons is not a love story as much as a story about the very worst sort of love — gloriously addictive, obsessive, self-destructive love. It opens in Italy: James Stieff comes home to find the pool filled with food and his lover Mark, yet again, up to his eyebrows in drugs and alcohol. For James, who has evidently nursed Mark through a string of similar binges, how have things come to this? The reel rewinds: James, newly inducted into the arcane world of Oxford undergraduate-dom is finding his first term positively miserable. This is by no means the Oxford he had expected, the “Oxford [that] would paint me with a thin layer of gold.” Instead of making friends with the rich and privileged and breezing through his academic work in happy anticipation of a First, he is lonely, friendless, and struggling to keep up with his fellow physicists. Moreover, he sustains a bad fall while out running one winter morning, which leaves his knee shattered and the remnants of his ego all but finished. This changes when he meets Jess, an undergraduate musician, who introduces him to her circle of extraordinary friends — extraordinary that is, to the lonely James. Alderman initially etches her characters with a well-practiced hand — Jess, James’s girlfriend, kind, organised, and honest; Franny, intellectual and witty, at odds with her own Jewishness; Simon, Franny’s friend and occasional lover, and Emmanuella, Spanish and perhaps therefore predictably exotic. At the centre of the group is Mark Winters, a Sebastian Flyte for the 1980s, mercurial, lavish, and desperately lonely. Extremely wealthy, he persuades his circle of friends to come and live with him in a crumbling old Georgian mansion in a secret pocket of Oxford, where they have spent many a night drinking, laughing, and making love. They quickly grow used to Mark bringing home a string of sexual partners (on one occasion, Franny’s politics tutor). Anything goes, for it is Mark’s seemingly bottomless trust fund that is paying for it all. But not all is well in this halcyon world. Mark’s homosexuality causes friction
with his traditional Italian mother and with his love of the Catholic Church. A pot-bellied Catholic priest — a family friend of Mark’s — hints at an earlier breakdown and asks James to keep an eye out for his friend, whose behaviour becomes ever more erratic as their Oxford days draw to an end. Ultimately, their charmed life proves poor training for the world outside. After graduation splits the group, James and Jess find a flat together in London, each pursuing their own careers. But an unexpected sexual encounter with Mark has left James dangerously ambivalent in his feelings towards his friend. Mark shocks them all when, a few years after university, he marries Simon’s 17-yearold sister Nicola even while his secret affair with James continues. When tragedy strikes, it becomes a vortex from which Mark cannot escape and into which James finds himself helplessly drawn. Alderman is very good at describing the arcana and intensity of Oxford life. But her characters fade, becoming wooden, once they graduate. Simon is stripped of whatever charm he had once removed from Oxford, and Franny becomes unexpectedly erratic. Emmanuella is possibly the least interesting of the circle and is deadweight to much of the plot. Mark’s mother, Isabella, provides comic relief at the outset of her arrival but fades away as the story progresses. Alderman also struggles with the significance of the themes she tackles — the Catholic religion’s deep hold on Mark is never really explained. Nonetheless, The Lessons is well-plotted and makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read. a 41 JULY 25-31 2010
UP NORTH AND PERSONAL
sarak band, bijli band , telephone band TEXT & PHOTOGRAPHS BY ZAHRAH NASIR
Pakistan is taken over by terrorists, Indians and Americans all on the same afternoon
Laurel and Hardy were in fine fettle this morning. The five kilometre trek they’d had to endure to reach the bank in which they work seemed to have set them up for the day. They normally travel on public transport but this was a rather unusual day. I was making my weekly trip to Murree and, as I would have
lots of heavy things to carry home, had opted to hire a local cab for the duration but when we reached the one twisty-turny road there was a wooden barrier across it and a pot-bellied guy yelling, “Closed!” My immediate reaction was, “Dacoits!”
Dacoits come in plagues, especially during the summer months
when they prey on tourists. Just last week an armed, masked
gang barricaded a few miles of the main road on the other side of Bhurban where it loops around the mountain towards the border
with Azad Kashmir. They reportedly looted Rs2 million worth of cash, jewellery, cell phones et al from a total of 14 vehicles before vanishing into the forest. All of this happened less than a mile from the Paghwari police station whose duty officers took a full
“I need to make a withdrawal,” I said, handing over a cheque. “Sarak band!” laughed Laurel. “Bijli band!” squeaked Hardy.
“Telephone band!” grinned Laurel.
“No cash,” revealed Hardy with a flourish. “Sarak band,” explained Laurel.
“No cash delivery,” smiled Hardy. “Maybe later,” shrugged Laurel.
Having been in a no cash available situation in the bank be-
fore, I knew the routine.
“Try the butcher,” I suggested.
“Meatless day. Butcher band,” Hardy replied. “The property dealer?”
“Hasn’t arrived. Sarak band,” Laurel bounced back.
“The hotel?” This is actually a thriving little restaurant. “No customers. Sarak band,” they jointly chimed.
“Okay. Empty your pockets. How much have you got between
two hours to race to the scene of the crime. Mmm...one wonders!
you? Enough for my shopping, I hope.”
stashed away as being caught up in a gun battle isn’t my idea of
opened and I was back on my way.
pretty relieved to realise that this situation was pucca. The road
packed to the gunnels. The Mall was elbow to elbow with young
as the FWO were resurfacing one of the stretches they had just
kids, beggars by the score, hotel and restaurant touts yelling
Hoping that the driver wouldn’t pull the pistol I knew he had
fun, I hurriedly slid my purse down the back of the seat. I was was actually closed and had been since 11 pm the previous night
widened but, typically, no one had thought to announce this intention. Luckily, it would open for traffic in another half hour or so, therefore a stopover and a cup of tea in the bank was in order which is where I found Laurel and Hardy roaring with laughter.
“Sarak band, bijli band, telephone band,” they greeted me
with enormous grins. “Maybe all of Pakistan band today. Maybe no more Pakistan tomorrow. Everything band!”
The electricity had disappeared at around 10 pm the previous
evening but, until then, I hadn’t realised how large an area had
42
“Anda paratha,” chimed in Hardy.
been affected.
“Have some chai,” commanded Laurel.
JULY 25-31 2010
They did and, after finishing my second breakfast, the road Since it was the height of the tourist season, Murree was
punks, haggling matrons, gentlemanly strollers, demanding
their wares and a little man with a huge, wing-flapping hawk on his wrist who, quite coincidentally, walked before me clearing the way!
Entering the underground cloth bazaar I found it almost in
darkness; the power was off here too. Kerosene fumes from smoky oil lamps thickened the atmosphere, a couple of small generators adding to the choking fumes and gloom. Tightly
clutching my bag — this dark, crowded place was surely a pickpockets dream — I negotiated my way up and down invisible
steps by the tiny torch concealed in the base of a lighter. I heaved a sigh of relief upon emerging in to the relatively open air of the
narrow, mixed-up bazaar further down the steep hillside where I needed to return a pair of embroidered slippers.
Having purchased them, for the incredible price of Rs100 the
week before, it wasn’t until I got them home and put them on to admire them that I realised that the delicate embroidery on one was distinctly white, the other grey.
The shoe man was most apologetic but couldn’t set the mat-
ter right as he had also sold the other mismatched pair and they hadn’t been returned as yet. As he offered me my money back
I had a thought: the slippers were so comfortable and so pretty that what the hell. They were only intended for inside wear so
what did it matter? I could admire the left one quite separately from the right and vice versa. “Just give me Rs50 back and I’ll keep them,” I told him, much to his amusement, and, that, my friends, was that.
At each shop I stopped in I was treated to an explanation of
why the power had done a bunk. The pharmacist said, “There
was a huge breakdown in Islamabad last night and the entire region is without electricity.” The paper-seller: “A bomb went
off in Islamabad and blew up the power station so it could be days, maybe weeks before it comes back.” A cloth-seller: “The
Taliban marched on Islamabad and there is fierce fighting going
on down there and they captured the power station.” The spiceseller: “America has invaded so war has broken out.” The grocer:
“The Indians bombed Kahuta last night and power is off all over the country now.” The egg-seller: “Dammed load shedding!”
Shopping completed, it was homeward bound when the cab
developed a strange noise. Something between a rattle and a clunk.
“What’s that noise?” the driver asked me in surprise. “It wasn’t
there before.”
“Sounds like the front, passenger side wheel,” I replied. “But what can it be?”
“I haven’t got a clue,” I told him. “But it sounds serious. I think
you had better stop and take a look before it falls off or something.”
No sooner said than done...the car collapsed sideways as the
wheel gave way.
The shocked driver climbed out alternately scratching his
head, pulling his ears and yanking on his beard.
“Oh dear!” he said in a ludicrous manner. “You were right, Ma-
dame. You were right!”
After phoning for his brother — he has dozens of them it
seemed — to come and rescue me, he hopped on a bus heading in the opposite direction to go in search of a mechanic and half
an hour later I once more headed home. The road homewards, thankfully, was not band.a
JULY 25-31 2010
HOROSCOPE BY SHELLEY VON STRUNCKEL
Aries Mar 20 – Apr 19 Once you understand that each day brings a new and entirely unexpected array of events and challenges, you’ll forget about planning and live in the moment. Not everybody will be happy about that, at least initially. Soon, however, others realise that the looser arrangements are, the easier life is. And the better advantage you can take of developments that are as exciting as they are unexpected. Taurus Apr 20 – May 20 Monday’s Full Moon triggers fundamental changes in once stable arrangements. This alone revolutionises elements of your work or lifestyle. But with several of
Shelley von Strunckel is an internationally acclaimed astrologer who created the first horoscope column for the London Sunday Times in 1992. A frequent lecturer, she
the major planets moving into new positions over the coming weeks, what you organise now must be regarded as temporary.
Instead of fuming about the inconvenience, regard this as a period of exploration. What you learn could transform your thinking about the future.
writes daily, weekly and monthly horoscopes in publications around the world including South China Morning Post, The Gulf News, Tatler, French and Chinese Vogue and now The Express Tribune Magazine.
Gemini May 21 – Jun 20 Each day holds surprises, some welcome, others not so. In every case, however, events are only part of a considerably larger pattern of change. While some existing arrangements are coming apart, your attention is drawn by other more promising developments. Since these, too, are bound to evolve, regard anything you organise as a tentative plan, and
therefore, subject to change, and you’ll enjoy this thrilling cycle.
Cancer Jun 21 – Jul 22 Both personal concerns and those involving others come to a head around Monday’s Full Moon. Ordinarily, after that, the mood would be quieter. Not now. Actually, judging by the growing planetary emphasis on the structure of your life, a combination of sudden developments and your own need to make improvements, major changes are inevitable. Start, but bear in mind, that this is just the beginning.
Leo Jul 23 – Aug 22 Regard each of this chaotic week’s events as adding one more piece to the puzzle, and instead of being irritated by frequent changes, you’ll enjoy what you learn every day. More important, these developments are broadening your horizons prior to the pivotal Leo New Moon, in two weeks’ time. Since you’re unlikely to finalise anything until then, ignore those who insist on organising plans now. Keep things loose. Virgo Aug 23 – Sep 22 After a perplexing period during which lack of facts and odd arrangements have lead to feelings of guilt and frustration, your ruler Mercury’s move into Virgo on Tuesday instantly improves both your mood and the circumstances you’re dealing with. But even that can’t, and shouldn’t, halt the chaos reshaping your life and others’. Disruptive as these developments seem,
44
they’re also introducing much needed changes. JULY 25-31 2010
Libra Sep 23 – Oct 23 Only days ago Saturn moved into Libra, beginning a powerful phase of personal review and growth. This week it’s joined by Mars and, in early August, by your ruler Venus. And all this, during a cycle of dynamic change. Since much that you’ve relied on is in transition anyway, regard uncertain situations clearing the way for pursuits, some as exciting as they are unfamiliar. Scorpio Oct 24 – Nov 21 Ordinarily you’d never make a statement,
much less commit to a plan, without being sure of your facts.
But with the actual situations you’re dealing with changing, re-
liable information is in short supply. While, in personal matters, you can rely on your instincts, when others insist on guarantees, politely but firmly explain that just isn’t possible. Soon enough they’ll realise how right you were.
Sagittarius Nov 22 – Dec 21 Making your way through the minefield of obstacles you’re facing – in the form of sudden changes and others’ capricious moods – is nearly impossible. So instead of struggling with them, invest time in exploring new ideas. With changes reshaping so much, what’s impossible today could make good sense next week and be easy in early August. Remember this and you’ll ensure any plans are easily revised.
Capricorn Dec 22 – Jan 19 Now that your ruler Saturn is positioned in the crucial midheaven angle of your chart, which accents the structure of your life, and for over two years, you know what
you’re dealing with. In time, you’ll conduct a review and make plans. But this week you’ll be treading water. Changes so alter
the ground on which plans are made that arrangements are best kep loose.
Aquarius Jan 20 – Feb 19 Bear in mind that Monday’s Aquarius Full Moon could so heighten your feelings about certain personal matters and situations involving others that you’ll ask the impossible. What’s tricky is that because dramatic changes are shaking up everybody’s world, nobody – including you – is in a position to make even simple commitments. Relax. While this won’t be easy during a period like this, it’s really the only solution. Pisces Feb 20 – Mar 20 The trick to dealing with this unruly
week’s events is to forget about getting things organised just so, as is your usual habit. With virtual daily changes in the ac-
tual circumstances you and others are contending with, that’s a thankless task. Instead focus on exploration and encourage oth-
For more information, to order personal charts and to download & listen to detailed audiocasts, visit www.shelleyvonstrunckel.com
ers to do so as well. What seems least important now could, as
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situations evolve, turn into life-changing developments.
JULY 25-31 2010
THE HATER
10 things I hate about ...writing a column
1 2 3 4
Editors who call out of the blue and after ages to ask what you’re up to. It’s usually a sign that, somewhere,
a deadline is approaching and the editor needs something to publish. Thanks for not asking, but I was busy. And I’m feeling fine, by the way.
Sub-editors. Yes, you. The ones who have to go through
copy to make sure us columnists look good. Why aren’t
you doing your job? Why do I have to wake some morn-
ings to find my headline about a miraculous jet-escape
(“Plane crashes: pilot ejaculates”) turned into something borderline unprintable?
The agony of not having anything to write about. Next
time you catch a columnist on their own, ask them a question — the time, if you can’t think of anything
else — and you’ll get a 15 minute explanation to the se-
crets of the universe (we’re all experts, you see). But put them in front of a computer with a relatively simple task and a 750 word limit, and watch them wilt. There’s nothing worse than writer’s block.
Not getting to the idea fast enough. Sometimes, in the
midst of a bad bout of writer’s block with a deadline approaching fast, something happens on the news that
means, if you finish it on time, your column can have a chance at being the first and, thereby, most influential
comment on an issue. Of course, for every one time for-
tune smiles on the few, several others are left cursing their luck and swearing to do something about their
5 46
mid-week publishing date.
The embarrassment of making a mistake. Whether
you’ve got your Ionic columns mixed with your Corinthian pillars or whether a simple typo is the difference
between the President of Pakistan being a nice guy or a nice gay, making a mistake is embarrassing. Of course,
for a columnist a mistake is not just a mistake. It’s a public mistake, and that’s a different ball game.
JULY 25-31 2010
6 7 8 9
BY AHMAD RAFAY ALAM
Being asked questions that I have no idea how to an-
swer. Look, I’m a columnist. Not an expert. People who ask questions about something written four years ago clearly don’t understand the subtle, but profound, difference.
Stupid comments. Sometimes, when you’ve spent
time working on an idea and then really polishing the inflection with which it’s discussed in an article, it’s frustrating for readers to talk about why they think
Partition wasn’t a good idea and what the Two Nation Theory really means.
Competition. The readers’ comments section on The Express Tribune’s internet edition only stimulates our competitive instincts. Suddenly, one is green with envy every time George Fulton gets over 60 comments or when
Omar Bilal Akhtar racks up over 100 responses. I seem to have turned to gambling, offering my editor odds at
whether or not a particular headline would gather over 50 comments.
Getting paid late. One publication employed the tactic of paying columnists months after their piece was published. People who got their cheques often forgot that
they’d written something and were taken off guard by
what they mistook as the publisher’s generosity. I keep my column income to one side and use it to book (infrequent) holidays. When the plane takes off, I amuse
myself with the thought that I’m flying on my own hot air.
10
Not being a “writer”. I must have several hundred thou-
sand words under my belt. A veritable War and Peace. But I’m not a writer. That hallowed title is reserved for people who have risen above the confines of a word-limit
and broken off a two-thought-at-a-time style of writ-
ing. And simply bundling up old columns and putting
them into a compilation doesn’t make anyone a writer. It makes them lazy. a
REVIEW
JUNE 13-19 2010
JUNE 13-19 2010