The Express Tribune Magazine - December 5

december 5-11 2010

Future Phones 22

Rizwanullah on beauty 18

A feast fit for a holiday 28

FEATURES

REVIEWS

COMMENT

PEOPLE

HOROSCOPE

june 13-19 2010

june 13-19 2010

december 5-11 2010

Cover Story 22 Future Phones Mobile phones can boost services in developing economies

Feature 26 The Story of a Temple Nila Gumbad Mandar is a sanctuary that brings people together

Comment 28 A Feast Fit For a Holiday Nigella Lawson cooks up a storm this season

Review

22

32 What’s new in film and books

Regulars 6 People & Parties: Out and about with beautiful people 18 Tribune Questionnaire: Rizwanullah on his hair 36 Horoscope: Shelley von Strunckel on your week ahead 38 Ten Things I Hate About: Apple

26

18

4

Sub-Editors: Batool Zehra, Hamna Zubair 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 Printed by: Yaqeen Art Press (Pvt.) Ltd., Karachi

june 13-19 2010

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Fashion Extravaganza Sadia and Asad Alam launched “Fashion District Lahore,” bringing multiple designers together under

6

Ali and Mona

Iffat Rahim and Sonia

Madiha Ibrar and Sultanat Malik

Asad and Saadia

december 5-11 2010

PHOTO CREDIT: BILAL MUKHTAR EVENTS & PR.

one roof .

june 13-19 2010

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Mahnoor and Aamir Mazhar

Nabeel

8

Muhammad and Khawar Riaz december 5-11 2010

Ayesha and Shahbana Sher

Sahar

Atif

Mehreen

june 13-19 2010

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Omer Banday, Taimoor Banday and Zebunisa

Tabinda and Sakib

Natasha Qizalbash

10

Zarmina Khan, Ahsan Nazir and Kuki december 5-11 2010

ul

Mahag

Sonia and Bilal Mukhtar

june 13-19 2010

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Rania, Onaza and Ali Moeen

Nadia and Faisal Ali

Sarah and Suneel

12

Saeed Alam, Naheed, Farah and Aman december 5-11 2010

Shoaib

nie

and An

Monica Paracha with her daughters

june 13-19 2010

PEOPLE & PARTIES

For The Children Concern for Children (CFC) held a fashion gala to raise funds for underprivileged children in Karachi’s Machar Colony.

vv

14

Ayesha Mir with Kamal, Ayesha Tammy Haq and Asma Mir

Humma Ahmad

Mohsin Sayeed

Karim Ali with Anila and Huma Adnan

december 5-11 2010

june 13-19 2010

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Saba and Muneer Kamal

Nadeem

16

Tehmina Khaled

Yousuf receiving the best male model award december 5-11 2010

d Sonia

Mul an

Tia Noon

june 13-19 2010

“I have the privilege of being friends with the most beautiful women in the country.”

Upcoming designer Rizwanullah on his hair, learning how to say no, and his dislike for nosy people.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Happiness is found within oneself. Nobody really cares if you are

Beauty that inspires. I have the privilege of being friends with

miserable, so you may as well be happy. Good health, creativity

and the warmth of people I love in my life is my idea of perfect happiness.

What is your greatest fear?

the most beautiful women in the country.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

Humour. I am a sucker for funny people.

To lose the capacity to think and assess things the way I do. To lose

When and where were you happiest?

my mother — my life would end. I tell her this every other day.

I am happiest right now. There is no other place I’d rather be.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Which talent would you most like to have?

I am not very emotional.

I would love to be a painter, a poet or a good chef.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I don’t like it when people are too inquisitive. They want to know

I would want to learn how to say no.

want to get to know you, I’ll talk to you myself. As simple as that.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

more than they should, which is pretty futile in my book. If I

What is your greatest extravagance?

I am a wonderful son, a good brother and a great friend.

I’m not a very extravagant person. I am zero maintenance. I do

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would

have days when I feel expensive, when I wash my hair with beer.

it be?

I feel dirty but expensive. Also, it’s the best conditioner ever.

I don’t think I’d want to live again.

What is your current state of mind?

Where would you most like to live?

I am a ‘live what you do’ kind of person. I am currently working

I feel at home wherever I am. I love my country. I wish our

on a new collection which is called “Confessions”. It’s a love story.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

environment was cleaner and had more trees. Each one of us would have more oxygen.

Respect. People have strange ideas about what respect is — it is

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

want visible proof of respect which I think is very silly.

no one deserves that because then they wouldn’t be alive.

merely a feeling. It is intangible. And people somehow always

When there is no mental progression. Then you’re in a rut, and

On what occasion do you lie?

What is your most marked characteristic?

If I’m driving and I get a call, I lie about my exact coordinates.

My hair.

What do you most dislike about your appearance?

Who are your heroes in real life?

My nose, though I practice and preach that what you have is the

Whoever respects you and makes you feel good is a real life hero.

best for you.

Which living person do you most despise?

I’m a lover, not a hater. I don’t hate, I appreciate.

What is your greatest regret?

You regret a mistake when you don’t learn from it. I am a fast learner. a

December 5-11 2010

19

REVIEW

june 13-19 2010

june 13-19 2010

COVER STORY

future phones How Mobile Phones Jump-Start Developing Economies

BY ANTONIO REGALADO

22 18 december 5-11 2010

As one of the fastest-spreading technologies in history, the mobile phone has been transformative for the billions of people in the developing world who never had a landline or an Internet connection. One of the most unexpected benefits is its ability to deliver banking services.

Veronica Suarez, like some 2.5 billion other adults on the plan-

et, has no bank account of her own. Suarez and her husband run

a small grocery store in Quito, Ecuador, a city of about 1.4 million people on a plateau ringed with dormant volcanoes. In the past,

she would often spend half a day traveling to pay bills in cash.

But since June, she has been testing a mobile banking service called Mony, which is run by the Panama-based startup Yellow-

Pepper Holding. Now she can simply type out text messages that zap payments to the phones of the delivery men who bring cases

of Coca-Cola and boxes of vegetable oil to her shop. That could

enable her to save travel time, reduce the risk of getting robbed, and run her business more efficiently.

“It works pretty well,” says Suarez, whose store is one of 52

mom-and-pop shops in Ecuador taking part in the tests. “But

sometimes I am $50 short to pay the delivery man. It would be better if they loaned money, too.”

Soon, they might. Worldwide, dozens of companies are intro-

ducing mobile wallets that store money in cell phones instead

of bank accounts. Such schemes help the vast ranks of the “unbanked”—those huddled masses who yearn to easily send funds

to distant family members, pay bills, or even take out small

loans, but don’t have access to financial services. “The mobile wallet can be transformational,” says YellowPepper’s founder and president, Serge Elkiner, who was in Ecuador in November

demonstrating his system to officials from neighboring Colombia. “We have the chance to bring hundreds of millions into the banking system.”

Entrepreneurs say mobile wallets are feasible thanks to the

rapid expansion of cell phone use in poorer regions of the world.

In the past five years, operators have added more than two billion mobile accounts in developing and poor nations, according

to data from the International Telecommunication Union. That compares to 435 million new accounts in wealthy nations.

As a result, even in poor regions without clean water or elec-

tricity, most adults are now connected. “In pretty much any de-

veloping country, in any rural area, you can get the four Cs: Co-

ca-Cola, cigarettes, condoms, and cell phones,” says Robert Katz, an associate with the Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that invests in companies trying to address poverty. “The cell-phone companies

have been successful in creating ubiquity, so the challenge for the next generation of startup companies and entrepreneurs is

leveraging that installed base to deliver real economic and social value to the poor.”

23 december 5-11 2010

COVER STORY

There’s no shortage of ideas for how to do that. One company

in India is offering basic medical diagnoses over the phone to people who live far from a doctor; patients can pay with phone

credits. Others are trying to deliver market information to farmers or fishermen, so they can take their goods to the places where they are in demand.

In Ecuador, the Mony service is filling a real need, says Elkiner.

According to the consulting firm Bankable Frontier Associates, more than 75 per cent of Ecuadorians have a cell phone but only

35 per cent have a bank account, about average for poor and developing nations. To open a conventional bank account in Ecuador, you need several hundred dollars and proof of address—two

things many Ecuadorians don’t have. To sign up for a YellowPepper mobile account, all that’s needed is an ID, a $5 deposit, and a cell phone. The service is slated for launch in 2011 in partnership with mobile-phone company Porta and a local bank.

YellowPepper will charge 49 cents per cash transfer. Even

though that’s a 1 per cent charge on a transfer of $50, Elkiner says

he thinks the price is fair. It’s about a third the cost of traditional

money transfers, and he adds, “If no one does this you’ll be stuck in the Stone Age again, taking your donkey and paying your bill, and it’s going to take all day.” In October, YellowPepper received

a vote of confidence from the International Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, which invested $3 million in the company.

Entrepreneurs targeting the poor are inspired by the notion of

doing well by doing good. The business model was popularized

by University of Michigan business professor C. K. Prahalad; his 2005 book The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid surveyed

early examples of companies making profits while meeting the

basic needs of the world’s four billion “microconsumers,” who get by on less—often far less—than $20 a day.

Until recently, the poor simply weren’t viewed as real consum-

ers. But as Prahalad points out, the rapid adoption of mobile

24 december 5-11 2010

“The opportunities to reach the poor are still beyond the comfort zone of the big companies,” Hughes says, referring to mobile operators.

phones has shattered preconceptions about what the poor want, and what they can afford to buy. Now many socially minded en-

trepreneurs think mobile wallets could become the next povertykiller app. According to the GSMA, an industry group for the mobile communications business, there are now 79 mobile money

systems globally, mostly in Africa and Asia. Two-thirds of them have been launched since 2009.

To date, the most successful example is M-Pesa, which Voda-

fone launched in Kenya in 2007. A little over three years later,

the service has 13.5 million users, who are expected to send 20 percent of the country’s GDP through the system this year. “We

proved at Vodafone that if you get the proposition right, the

scale-up is massive,” says Nick Hughes, M-Pesa’s inventor. The

ability to safely save even small amounts can help the poor build assets. One study of a mobile wallet system in the Philippines found that users stored an average of $31, or about a quarter of their family savings, on their phones.

But Hughes says one major obstacle remains: mobile operators

themselves. Busy cutting costs and chasing new voice subscrib-

ers (about half of African adults still don’t have a mobile phone), operators still consider mobile money a fringe idea. “The oppor-

tunities to reach the poor are still beyond the comfort zone of the big companies,” Hughes says.

That’s why last year he left Vodafone to start a venture fund,

Signal Point Partners, whose motto is “Scalable services meeting

fundamental needs.” Hughes is now betting his own money (and that of investors) on new businesses like a telephone-based medi-

cal-advice service in Bangladesh and a mobile borrowing scheme in Kenya. “We have a technology base that is mobile, low cost,

and lets you think about something designed for mass popula-

tion,” he says. “But it starts with something simple, like sending money or calling a doctor.” a

25 december 5-11 2010

feature

the story of a temple

By Haroon Khalid

Everyday around noon Tara Chand, Shams Gill, Bhagat Lal Khokhar and Bhagat Ashgiq Ram get together at the Nila Gumbad Valmiki Mandar. This

has been their custom for as long as they can remember — they have seen their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfather gather here. But they ask themselves if they will see their sons

continue the tradition. This is more than a temple to these people: it is their home; for the downtrodden, it is a source of free

food; for travelers, it is a shelter for the night. Situated in the

heart of the new Anarkali Market, Nila Gumbad Mandar, is a sanctuary that brings people together.

Originally, the street where it is located was called the Valmiki

Street. A euphemism for untouchable, Valmiki is a caste, though

for most people in the group, it embodies disassociation from

Hinduism and hence is a different religion altogether. But for

those not attentive to detail, Valmikis are Hindus. Christians

and Muslims, who were once Hindu untouchables, are regular

visitors to the temple. A Christian cross in the temple accom-

modates the syncretism. The main room is preserved for the worship of Valmiki, the supreme untouchable deity, and the author of the Ramayana. As long as one is an untouchable, it doesn’t matter if one is a Christian, Muslim or Hindu.

Bhagat Lal Khokhar, like his father Bhagat Labha Khokhar

before him, is a priest at the temple. His family has been living

in Tollington Market for six generations. He arrives at the temple

at 2 pm and stays till late in the night. His ritual pooja at 7 pm

is attended only by a few regular visitors. Bhagat Lal used to set up a stall to sell stationery items near the old Punjab University campus. He no longer does that because business is poor. His two

sons hold private jobs and don’t have the time to attend to temple duties.

The octogenarian Shams Gill is another regular at the temple.

Once a wrestler nicknamed Hati pehlwan, nobody could best

26

him in his heyday. Now he can barely stand. Born Khem Chand,

he changed his name after the creation of Pakistan to improve December 5-11 2010

Bhagat Lal Khokhar preparing for pooja.

his chances of getting a job. He is still a Valmiki, but his children have all converted to Christianity to secure a better future.

Nonetheless, they are regular visitors of the temple. According to Shams Gill, there was a time when Hindus would treat

both Valmikis and Muslims as untouchables but post-partition,

Valmikis became untouchable for Muslims too. He recalls how, after he’d had food at a dhaba in Renala Khurd in the 1950s, the owner of the dhaba asked him to also pay for the plates they’d

just had food in. Similarly, Bhagat Lal Khokhar remembers how in his childhood, the curd-man would make sure to never

touch his pot while pouring. However, adds Bhagat Lal Khokhar wryly, the same curd-man had no scruples about touching the

money that came from his hands. Both Shams Gill and Bhagat

Lal assert, however, that things are much better now. There

Diwali at the Valmiki Temple

was a time when utensils for servants were separate; now the distinction has blurred.

Punjab University. Similarly, the statue of Krishna, sculpted out

There was a time when Hindus would treat both Valmikis and Muslims as untouchables but post-partition, Valmikis became untouchable for Muslims too.

He recalls how, after he’d had food at a dhaba in Renala Khurd in the 1950s, the owner of the dhaba asked him to also pay for the plates they’d just had food in.

pened to a small lump of gold placed in front of Valmiki’s statue.

Within three months, the authorities allotted them money for

temple was destroyed in minutes and the entire structure was

the community. Before long the temple was the centre of this

On December 7, 1992, Shams Gill and Bhagat Lal Khokhar were

at the temple along with Tara Chand and Bhagat Ashiq Ram. The Babri Mosque in India had been destroyed the day before. They

were now waiting for its repercussions in Pakistan. Whereas

normally they would have gotten together after 2 pm, today they

had gathered at 10 am in the morning. Nobody had convened a meeting; all of them knew they had to be there.

At around noon, they heard the shouts of a mob angrily march-

ing towards them. The crowd, running in the hundreds, poured

in, wielding sticks, hammers and other weapons. The Valmikis were no longer concerned about the temple — their own lives

were at stake. Bhagat Lal walked towards his cycle but was inter-

cepted by a man who seized it. Bhagat Lal did not even try to resist him. Another group attacked the community kitchen, picking up cauldrons, utensils and any other thing that they could

lay their hands on. Not even iron bars in the ceiling were spared.

Inside the main room, the mob smashed the idol of Valmiki,

a jewel-encrusted pre-Partition statue, made by students of the

of white marble, was also destroyed. No one knows what hapWhat was important to them was that no Valmiki was hurt. The set on fire. The neighboring shops, too, caught fire and it is said that it took days for the authorities to get the fire under control.

Soon after, Bhagat Lal Khokhar had to leave his ancestral

house and go underground with his family. For six months not even their close associates heard from them. Local newspapers

speculated that they had migrated to India. He only re-appeared

construction. The rest of the money came from the members of community once again. During its reconstruction, they pre-

served a part of wall from the original construction as a reminder of what had happened. The new Valmiki statue was in no way

comparable to the original, whereas framed pictures replaced the idol of Krishna.

Today, people gather at the Nila Gumbad Mandar for religious

when the temple was up and running again.

functions, and usually attendees are those whose forefathers

sive when the mob attacked, they started writing to the authori-

road, this is the only other functional Valmiki temple in the city

Even though this group of senior Valmikis had remained pas-

ties concerned to rebuild their temple as soon as the fire abetted.

had been active members. Besides the Krishna Mandar at Ravi of Lahore. a

December 5-11 2010

27

Comment

a feast fit for

a holiday

By NIGELLA LAWSON

To me, there is no important occasion, be it an anniversary, a religious festival or a simple coming together of friends, that does not beg for a meal to celebrate it. I also think that any meal, however basic, is a

symbolic celebration of being alive. I know it does not always feel this way in our harried world, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Food sustains us not only physically, but also emotionally.

At this time of year, with Thanksgiving behind us, Hanukkah

just starting and Christmas and New Year’s in the wings, we are more alive to the meaning of a feast. What I love about cooking is that we can share in other people’s festivals.

For example, Eid ul-Fitr, the feast that marks the end of

Ramazan, the Islamic month of daytime fasting, was celebrated

in September. Although it isn’t part of my own background, in the course of writing my book, “Feast: Food to Celebrate Life”

(Hyperion, $35), I eagerly researched the dishes that make up this important occasion and now cook them often.

Take the recipe here for stuffed chicken, which was inspired by

the cuisine of Georgia, on the Black Sea. A roast chicken is always

a feast, of course. It reminds us at some basic level that we are too squeamish to admit these days, that a feast is centered upon

an ancient sacrifice. We have the whole bird, presiding over the table, to be shared by all present.

The stuffing is a simple affair of rice cooked with onions, garlic

and dried sour cherries. Parsley is forked through before spoon-

ing the rice into the chickens. And yes, chickens: I take the view that one bird is a meal, two is a feast. You could turn this into a

Christmas feast by stuffing a turkey with a version of the rice,

with dried cranberries replacing the cherries. Just double the quantities: for one turkey think four chickens’ worth of stuffing.

A fundamental part of any feast is abundance that is shared.

My way is to make up little packages of cookies — the cranberry

and white chocolate cookies are a favorite — and give them as gifts.

People complain that the holidays have been ruined by ram-

pant consumerism. This is a chance to celebrate that conspicuous consumption in a most wonderful way.

28 december 5-11 2010

GEORGIAN STUFFED CHICKEN Time: 2 to 2 1/2 hours 2 5-pound chickens 6 tablespoons butter 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 cup basmati rice

1/2 cup dried sour cherries, roughly chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1/4 cup chopped parsley.

1. Remove any fat from cavities of chickens and place fat in a wide saucepan. Add 4 tablespoons of the butter and place over medium heat. When butter melts, add onions and garlic. Saute until onion softens and begins to brown, about 5 minutes.

2. Discard any remaining hard bits of chicken fat. Add rice and chopped cherries to pan. Stir well and add 2 cups water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to as low as possible.

Cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oven to 425 degrees.

3. Season rice mixture with salt and pepper to taste and stir in parsley. Spoon rice into cavities of both chickens and secure openings with toothpicks.

4. Place chickens in a roasting pan and rub with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Place in oven and roast until skin is crisp and golden and juices run clear when pierced near the thigh with a knife, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Discard toothpicks and allow chicken to rest before carving. Serve each portion of chicken with some stuffing.

Yield: 8 servings.

29 december 5-11 2010

Comment

30 december 5-11 2010

CRANBERRY AND WHITE CHOCOLATE COOKIES Time: 45 minutes

1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup rolled oats 9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter at room temperature 1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup superfine sugar 1 large egg 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped 3/4 cup white chocolate chips.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and oats. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugars. Beat until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, and mix again.

2. Add flour mixture and beat until well blended. Add cranberries, pecans and white chocolate chips, and mix gently until blended.

Refrigerate bowl for 10 minutes.

3. Line two baking sheets with a nonstick liner. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place them 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets. Press each ball gently with a fork to flatten it into a fat disk.

Place sheets in oven on two racks. Bake just until cookies are pale gold, about 15 minutes; they will still be soft when hot. Harden cookies on sheet for 5 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 3 dozen cookies.

31 december 5-11 2010

REVIEW

featured review of the week

book selling stories

By Mahvesh Murad

Salman Rushdie has been writing for a very long time. His second and best received book, Midnight’s Children, is still widely acknowledged as an incredible feat of literature, irrespective of some of his more recent disappointments. In 1990 Rushdie wrote the brilliant Haroun and the Sea of Stories — easily his most captivating writing other than Midnight’s Children. Some 20 books (and that one fatwa) later, with Luka and the Fire of Life, it is apparent that Rushdie has once again done what he does best — allegory, fable and magic realism with a very distinct sub continental flavour. But let’s be clear: Luka is and will always be Haroun’s slightly precocious and annoying little brother.

Like Haroun before him, Luka too has an adventure in the alternate reality of the World of Magic, where he must get the Fire of Life to stop his father, the Shah of Blah, from dying as a result of a curse Luka put on a cruel circus master, Captain Aag. He is accompanied by a rescued dog called Bear, a bear called Dog and a phantom version of his father called Nobodaddy who gets stronger as Rashid Khalifa gets weaker back in the city of Kahani, in the land of AlifBay. The Fire of Life is in the Heart of Hearts and is protected by various gods and monsters organised by the Aalim — they are the Fates, the learned ones who are omniscient: Jo Hua, Jo Hai and Jo Aiga. It all sounds wonderfully charming and it would have been, just as Haroun was, until Rushdie chose to play this adventure out as a role playing game.

Imagine high fantasy action adventure role-playing games; think Super Mario Brothers, think The Legend of Zelda — not Halo. Luka must collect ‘lives’ whenever he can, and he is able to bop a golden orb in order to ‘save’ how far he has travelled. He has to complete 9 ‘levels’ in order to steal the Fire of Life and make it back home — well, Rushdie gets lazy and has a friendly ally fly Luka over a few of these levels in a magic carpet. Admittedly, this is probably 32 preferable to trudging through each level with Luka, collecting lives December 5-11 2010

living up to the legend Luka is and will always be Haroun’s slightly precocious and annoying little brother

and bopping orbs. While one can appreciate that the standard role playing game is essentially just an electronic version of the classic hero’s quest, Rushdie’s choice to play Luka’s magical adventure out as a version of a RPG removes from Luka the sense of urgency that existed in Haroun.

Regardless, there are many parts of Luka that ring with Rushdie’s penchant for clever puns and satirical absurdities. He even manages to balance a great many mythologies in his World of Magic effectively, when he introduces a slew of gods who are afraid that faith in magic in the ‘real’ world is causing grievous harm to the magical dimensions. As one character says, ‘We aren’t needed anymore, or that’s what you all think with your High Definitions and low expectations’. In one wonderful bit of casting, Rushdie introduces the ‘Old Boy’ — one of the first to try to steal the Fire of Life.

He is, of course, Prometheus himself, and once unbound, he uses words of power to help Luka steal the fire. Hilariously, Prometheus’

words of Power are ‘Khulo’ and the simple yet effective ‘Dafa ho!’

But the question remains: has Rushdie lost his ability to create charming fables? Does it matter, if he can still write cleverly? Luka does not hold the same sense of immediacy that Haroun did, but why would it? Rushdie is older, calmer, presumably wiser and more indulgent with less to rile against. Haroun was written at a time when Rushdie was forced into hiding, and so it reads clearly as a fable about a storyteller’s right to create. Luka is in turn a story about storytelling itself — about the ownership of stories, about the need to continue believing in the power of ones that have lived with us for generations. As young Luka tells a legion of angry gods and goddesses, ‘[W]hen your story is well told, people believe in you; not in the way they used to believe, not in a worshipping way, but in the way people believe in stories — happily, excitedly, wishing they wouldn’t end.’ Perhaps that’s all Rushdie wants from his readers now.

33 DEcember 5-11 2010

REVIEW

film back to school

By Batool Zehra

Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) spent a perfectly fun if somewhat juvenile weekend unwinding, goofing around with her dog, painting her toenails and getting fixated on the musical card her grandmother sent her. (“Worst song ever!” she exclaims when Pocketful of Sunshine erupts from the card — then ends up setting it as her ring tone) But such are the pressures of high-school that on Monday morning, when her best friend Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) asks her how she spent her weekend, she feels compelled to spin a complicated lie about how she got it on with a guy from community college. And so starts Easy A, a sharply observed, side-splittingly funny high-school comedy.

As news of her false promiscuity spreads, the allure-less though not outright nerdy Olive acquires a newfound social standing as the school slut. Soon, she is inventing new sexual exploits to help the homos, the douches and the plain ugly — those at the periphery of high school society — acquire acceptability. For a certain sum, Olive will allow them to claim that they got to second base with her. Ironically, all this while she’s never even been asked on a date. Like 10 Things I Hate About You and Clueless, Easy A too is informed by a literary classic — Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. “Now isn’t that always the way? The books you read in class always seem to have some strong connection with whatever angsty adolescent drama is going on,” says Olive.

And as she gets mired deeper in the mess she created, she embroiders an A on her dress like Hester Prynne and like her examines what it means to be ostracised, the tolerance for sexual deviance and the pressures for toeing a social code — all this with an incredibly light touch and a lot of laughs, since the main theme, as with all teen comedies, is what it means to transform into an adult.

Casting the 22-year-old Emma Stone as a 16-year old high schooler is a stretch, but then this is California and Stone gives a breezy, charming performance. Perhaps it’s the red hair, but 34 Stone’s delightful and convincing portrayal of a person betwixt December 5-11 2010

good girl gone bad For a certain sum, Olive will allow those at the periphery of high school society to claim that they got to second base with her. childhood and adulthood makes Olive strongly reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables. Lovable, spunky and refreshingly angst-free, Olive is self-assured enough to know that she doesn’t have to be what her peers want or expect her to be, counseling an anguished gay student, “You’ve got to do everything you can to blend in or decide not to care.”

“Gossip Girl’s” Penn Badgeley stars as Woodchuck Todd, Olive’s real crush. And the funniest moments are those at home with Olive’s oddball parents (Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson) who remain unfazed when their daughter tells them to ignore a rumour that she has Chlamydia. A fitting homage to John Hughes, Easy A makes the grade . . . easily.

film a mixed bag

By A Rahim Khan

Primer (2005) was a good example of an independent sci-fi flick that managed to remain under the radar even though it had stellar special effects. Of course, Primer was cinematic gold and though I am not going say that Monsters is in the same league, I am most certainly going to laud the effort.

Made for the paltry sum of around $600,000 with most of the production done on the fly and the CGI done in the director’s bedroom, Monsters is a nice blip on the science fiction scene but unfortunately remains just that; it suffers dearly from its impoverished state.

The film starts with the premise that several years ago a Nasa probe returning from space with ‘exotic samples’ crashed somewhere in Mexico releasing its cargo over the area, infecting nearly half the country. Both Americas go into full quarantine mode, bombing colossal squid-like creatures that occasionally run the border into inhabited areas.

It is against this backdrop that photojournalist Andrew is ordered to escort Samantha, the boss’s daughter, to safety. A leads to B, slight chemistry is established, Andrew manages to get swindled out of the couple’s passports and money and the two are forced to take the most dangerous route out of the country, through the infected zone itself. Of course all this is followed by various encounters with the ‘creatures’, tender moments and a return to civilization with a lasting message. That is how the story goes and no more shall be said about it.

Before anything else, a word must be said about the very enchanting Whitney Able. With her pixie haircut, leggy slenderness and occasional pout, Able is quite the on-screen charmer. Her company was most appreciated but upon discovering her betrothal to co-star McNairy, one wondered how? Why? But I digress. Is Monsters a poor man’s District 9/ Cloverfield mash-up? One has to say yes because ultimately what brings this film down is its economy — it is woefully hampered by an empty

show me the money Made for the paltry sum of around $600,000, Monsters suffers dearly from its impoverished state pocket. The storyline of Monsters in itself is pretty straightforward; the characters are trying to keep from being bit in half. Cloverfield was very much the same; intercut with regular appearances from the nasties. Monsters paves the way with subtlety after hint, goading through inference until the main event but there is too little to go on. It doesn’t help that the creatures in Monsters are pansies.

The puny price of generating these creatures reduces their presence almost to a zero- in many places, spotty CGI can be spotted a mile away. I am not faulting the storytelling here, for it is actually good, the actors play off each other convincingly, establishing in a short while, an ill fated attachment. The movie’s guerrilla shooting is done commendably well, plus the girl is lovely to look at. But overall it leaves one wanting more. An independent success? Not really. a 35 DEcember 5-11 2010

HOROSCOPE

BY SHELLEY VON STRUNCKEL

Aries March 20 – April 19 Think twice before you tackle obstructive situations or individuals head on. Tuesday’s move by your ruler Mars to accent long term goals is bound to trigger a review, one

that could radically shift your priorities. Knowing that, focus on new and intriguing options and as yet unrealised goals. This will put you in the ideal frame of mind to begin this rewarding cycle of exploration.

Taurus April 20 – May 20 While your concerns about the activities of certain individuals are understandable, you can’t really stop 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 writes daily,

them. So explain once, and clearly, what’s worrying you. Then

back off and turn your attention to those tasks you’ve been insisting you’ve no time to deal with. Now you do. Ironically, once

you’re involved, you’ll find them so rewarding that you’ll wonder why you’ve been avoiding them for so long.

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 – June 20 The forthright discussions triggered by

Monday’s encounter between your ruler Mercury and the uncompromisingly honest Pluto may be unsettling. But they’ll also eliminate past confusion and clarify plans. But even these should

be considered tentative. With Mercury retrograde from next Friday, the 10th, until the 30th, the resulting inevitable twists,

turns and surprises will substantially alter both your thinking and the situations you’re dealing with.

Cancer June 21 – July 21 With so many things on your mind, you

wouldn’t think this is the ideal moment to analyse how wisely

you use your time and whether elements of your daily routine or other obligations should be changed. But what you learn in

the process will both highlight unrewarding activities and lead to amazingly constructive discussions - and just when exchanges of this nature are likely to prove rewarding.

Leo July 22 – August 22 As is always the case, you’re juggling a vari-

ety of obligations. However, recent developments involving people and the activities that give your life a boost are increasingly

demanding. And, frankly, more rewarding. Tricky as it may be,

aim to give each of these time every day. This won’t merely ensure you’re up to date, with frequent and often exciting developments, you’ll be reorganising those plans regularly.

Virgo August 23 – September 22 Not only is being organised important, imposing order on your life relieves anxieties. How-

ever, with your ruler Mercury retrograde from this Friday, and the eclipse, on the 21st, triggering a substantial shift in circum-

stances, even simple plans are subject to change. True, some

alternations will be minor. But others will lead to exactly the breakthrough you’ve needed ¬- although not perhaps as you’d

36

anticipated.

December 5-11 2010

Libra September 23 – October 22 By no means are you narrowminded. But the ideas or offers you dismissed recently — and

rather offhandedly — are resurfacing. They’re worth your attention. While you won’t necessarily pursue these, what you learn from exploring them will be amazingly illuminating. So much

that when Wednesday’s move by Mars triggers a cycle of intense change, you’ll be ready to respond wisely and with courage.

Scorpio October 23 – November 21 Between Monday’s encounter

between Mercury and your ruler Pluto, and next week’s between the forthright Mars and Pluto, you’ve no choice but to be upfront,

even about issues you regard as strictly private. Certain individuals

have made incorrect assumptions and, unless you explain the facts

openly, will act on those. As important, a frank exchange of ideas will prove unexpectedly profitable, and in rather wonderful ways.

Sagittarius November 22 – December 20 Urgent as the certain

tasks seem, your priority is to consider the issues raised by today’s Sagittarius New Moon. This, which both accents ques-

tions about existing concerns and highlights potential changes,

marks a sort of personal new year, complete with thoughts about what’s on its way out and new goals and objectives. What you

eliminate now will clear the way for the coming weeks’ thrilling opportunities.

Capricorn December 21 – January 19 While there’s no denying the matters you’re facing are sensitive, you owe it to yourself — and oth-

ers — to discuss them frankly. With Mercury meeting the uncom-

promising Pluto in Capricorn, this Monday, and twice more over the coming six weeks, there’s no escaping these. Ironically, what you learn once you’re actually talking things through will more than justify mustering the courage those first exchanges require.

Aquarius January 20 – February 17 Irritating as sudden changes

in plan may be, they’re not only inevitable, they’re in your best interests. Although you’re already be aware of some of the promising developments being ushered in by the encounter, in early

January, between Jupiter and your ruler Uranus, others appear from nowhere. The more flexible your arrangements — and attitude — therefore, the easier it will be to take advantage of these.

Pisces February 18 – March 19 There’s a difference between being

sympathetic to others’ dramas and getting so involved that you neglect certain of your own obligations. That’s a risk now and,

more importantly, is a prelude to dealing with several pivotal —

and persistent — issues in certain close relationships. Harsh as

refusing to get involved seems, once you’ve managed to get some

For more information, to order personal charts and to download & listen to detailed audiocasts, visit www.shelleyvonstrunckel.com

distance, you realise how much these were undermining you.

37 December 5-11 2010

THE HATER

10 things I hate about ...apple

1 2 3 4 5 38

By Amna Iqbal

It’s not a fruit.

6 7 8 9 10

The accessories. It’s not enough that you have the imac, the ipod, the ipad, the itoilet and the ideodrant. You

absolutely need to have the imouse for your imac, the

icover for your ipod, the iearphones, the itoiletpaper and ifacewash. After all, how does life make any sense

at all unless you have a room full of Apple accessories that will become obsolete an hour after you buy them?

The look. It’s sleeker, shinier, sexier, your-pc-will-nev-

er-look-like-this-er. It’s the Naomi Campbell of technology and the most you can do is get the technological equivalent of an eating disorder trying to imitate

its beauty, because nothing you ever own will look like that if it’s not a Mac.

The attitude. Remember being an overweight, nerdy

girl in 11th grade staring wistfully at the cool, skinny girls who got asked out to all the parties while you

spent Saturday nights reading Jane Austen and improving your vocab? That’s who you are doomed to be all your life unless you’re a part of the Apple clique.

The interface. Think different. Think mind boggling.

Oh, you thought pressing a button on your phone ended that call. Think again. Differently. It’s a swish of

your fingers now. Oops, your fingers weren’t swishy enough and your girlfriend overheard you flirting with her best friend while you thought the call had ended.

Oh well, at least it’s different.

The fickleness - You just squandered your life’s savings buying the latest apple product. You have nothing to

your name but you can hold your head up high because

you have an identity, a mac-ship. For like five seconds.

Because guess what, an even slimmer version of the phone you just bought has been released and it’s slimmer by a whole of 0.24536mm. So unless you have the new iphone 47thG, you`re back to being a nobody.

December 5-11 2010

The campaign — Yes, we know the Mac guy is cooler than

the PC guy. Must that point be illustrated over and over

again? We get it, even without the Drew Barrymores and the Giselle Bundchens.

The applications. Once upon a time people read books, took walks along beautiful streets, went to concerts,

called friends over for dinner, had hobbies, made conversations with passersby, collected stamps, watched

the night sky and so on and so forth. Once upon a time people were people. Now they download apps.

The ido — An apple product is not just a product. It’s a

commitment, a relationship, a marriage, a pact with the Devil. It’s an ido and once you go Mac, you can’t go back.

It’s practically a religion. a

june 13-19 2010

june 13-19 2010