issue-4

ISSUE #04

WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER MEESHA SHAFI SARA SHAHID ANOUSHAY ASHRAF MAHEEN KARDAR ALI

BILALRISING

JANAAN STAR TAKES LONDON BY STORM

THE ALCHEMIST

SAMEER CHISHTY’S

PARIS

MY SQUARE MILE

HISSAM HYDER THE POLO PLAYER ON HIS FAVOURITE LONDON SPOTS

contents.

ISSUE #04

On the cover

On the cover

BILAL

RISING

MAN ON THE SCENE 32 53 59

p.116

Bilal Rising We’ve Come a Long Way Baby Not Just Another Rom-Com

LEGENDS

116 Globe Trotter Hissam Ali Hyder

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK 146 Celestial Stone

VISIONARY

126 Power Lunch with Tony Davis 134 Sameer Chishty - The Alchemist

HISSAM ALI HYDER

GLOBE TROTTER

HOW TO like

Rock Star

a

p.81

p.32

p.67

NEAR & AFAR

All that GLITTERS

Destinations Desires

26

Dream Destinations

28

How to Still Wear White Sneakers

WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER

IN LA

p.109

Dwarfed in the

Land

Giants of the

p.95

24

67

Maheen Kardar Ali All that Glitters in LA

71

Sara’s Sublime Summer

77

Anoushay Ashraf’s Mediterranean Adventure

81

Meesha Shafi How to Travel Like a Rockstar

87

A Backpacker’s Guide to the Turquoise Coast

95

Guilin, a Cradle of Contradictions

109 Dwarfed in the Land of the Giants

A WORLD OF GOOD 142 Agents of Change Beauty for a Better Life

ART SPEAKS 152 The Power of Art BNU Thesis 2016

aGuilin CRADLEof CONTRA

-DICTIONS

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PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ASMA CHISHTY MANAGING EDITOR : MARIAM MUSHTAQ FEATURES EDITOR : ZAHRA HIDAYATULLAH DESIGN & LAYOUT : USMAN MUNIR OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER : UBAID-UR-REHMAN CIRCULATION : ALI TARIQ MEDIA SALES : NAEEM ULLAH PUBLISHED BY : DAEWOO PAKISTAN EXPRESS BUS SERVICE LTD. 231, FEROZEPUR ROAD, KALMA CHOWK, LAHORE, PAKISTAN +92.42.111.007.006 , +92.42.3583.5132 LEGAL ADVISOR : BASIT WATTOO GM MARKETING & SALES (DAEWOO) : SHERIAR HASSAN CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER (DAEWOO) : USMAN HAYAT CONTACT (SALES) : +92 334 423 4681 (NAEEM ULLAH) +92 333 888 2420 (IRFAN QURESHI) CONTACT (EDITORIAL) : +92 335 455 5764 (ALI TARIQ) DISTRIBUTORS: NATIONAL NEWS AGENCY PRINTER : TOPICAL PRINTERS

destinationspk

destinations.com.pk www.destinations.com.pk

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destinationspk

contributors Aamna Haider Isani

Madeeha Syed

Momina Aijazuddin Saeed Salima Feerasta

Guilin, a Cradle of Contradictions p.95

A Backpacker’s Guide to the Turquoise Coast p.87

Dwarfed in the Land of the Giants p.109

Not Just Another Rom-com p.59

Aamna Haider Isani is a leading fashion writer and critical analyst. Her stories from fashion weeks in Mumbai, Karachi and Lahore, reports from the Lux Style Awards and high profile events and interviews with leading fashion and showbiz figures have given her an unparalleled bird's eye view of how the industry works. Having served as editor at leading English publications, she now also blogs at somethinghaute.com.

Madeeha Syed is a journalist, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and radio correspondent constantly looking for excuses to travel. She hates heights but loves mountains; is a long-distance cyclist and certified one-star CMAS diver. And by the end of most trips, a broke backpacker.

Momina Aijazuddin Saeed currently lives in Washington D.C. with her family and works in international development.

She is an avid traveller and passionate about culinary adventures, books and culture.

Salima Feerasta is a social media consultant and journalist, focusing on fashion and lifestyle.

She read Physics at Oxford and has a Masters in Shipping, Trade and Finance. She blogs at Karachista.com

How to Travel like a Rockstar Meesha Shafi p.81

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editors note from the

here’s a nip in the air. The leaves are turning colour. The evenings are definitely cooler. The heart increasingly longs to be outdoors. As we prepare to welcome fall 2016, we pause for a moment and reflect over the past season. It’s been one happening summer, to say the least. To present a compelling narrative of all that has transpired, we offer tales of adventure, tales of exploration, and tales of glory from lands far away and those close to home.

With his debut movie release this month, the leading man of Janaan, debonair Bilal Ashraf makes a splash in London’s finest neighborhood as he poses for DESTINATIONS. In his first cover story interview, the rising star talks about his love for cinema, the inspiration behind switching fields from finance to film and the big move back to Pakistan.

While in England, we meet star polo player Hissam Hyder.

With a 6 handicap, he is ranked amongst the top 5% polo players in the world and almost singlehandedly keeps the torch lit for Pakistan on some of the most prestigious polo grounds in the world. This month, he takes us on a visit across some of his favourite places in his resident town, Windsor as we get up close and personal with the man behind the fame in an exclusive interview.

Crossing the French Channel, we arrive in France to catch up with financier and FinTech investor, Sameer Chishty.

With a career spanning across the globe from NYC to Hong Kong, this Harvard alumni is a business force to

ASMA CHISHTY

PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

reckon with. Here he presents a kaleidoscope of art, history and culture reserved solely for the sophisticated traveller.

From there, journalist and adventurer, Madeeha Syed takes us to Turkey as she backpacks her way along the Turquoise Coast. From hiking to climbing mountains and walking through ancient ruins, she is left completely mesmerized by the eternal flames of the Chimaera.

Aamna Haider Isani steers us East and showcases Guilin, a place stuck somewhere in a time long forgotten, where she indulges herself in the traditional art of Chinese watercolour painting, learning Tai Chi and going bamboo rafting in the river.

These post-summer blues find a cure as we highlight some of the best holidays from sun-soaked California to the scrumptious array of street food in Spain and on board sea cruises that go beyond Greece, Italy and Croatia.

Back home, renowned columnist Momina Aijazuddin travels up north to Baltistan and finds much peace and tranquillity in an area often described as The Roof of the World while veteran travel writer Salman Rashid tries to uncover the mystery of the seven ornate, yet undiscovered, temples atop Kafir Kot, near Dera Ismail Khan.

With a global perspective on universal themes, various kinds of travel and victory in the face of all odds, there’s much to be learnt and much to be celebrated as one flips through the pages of this latest issue!

ZAHRA HIDAYATULLAH FEATURES EDITOR

MARIAM MUSHTAQ MANAGING EDITOR

NEAR & AFAR Our guide to what we’re currently loving.

The Sportsman

It takes a legend to know another legend. Celebrated cricketer Waseem Akram is candid and engaging as the host of “The Sportsman”, a show featuring Pakistan’s greatest sporting heroes. From untold stories of struggle and hardships to easygoing banter, Akram, referred to as ‘Sultan of Swing’ for his bowling prowess, brings out the best in his guests, which include greats such as Waqar Younas, Moin Khan and Shoaib Akhtar.

3

1 The Night Of

Loosely based on the BBC series “Criminal Justice”, HBO’s crime drama “The Night Of” is fast gaining a reputation as THE show to be watching these days.

The addictive thriller focuses on Nasir Khan, a 23-year-old Pakistani-American college student who becomes embroiled in a brutal crime and John Stone, the cynical attorney appointed to defend him.

The show has received praise for its taut and nuanced storytelling and its humanized portrayal of American Muslims that doesn’t resort to stereotypes.

Louis Vuitton Perfume Collection

2

4

There’s a reason why the new fragrance collection from Louis Vuitton is being coveted by fashionistas and beauty aficionados across the globe. This is the luxury brand’s first perfume launch since 1946 and a wait of 70 years has been enough to ensure a feverish response. Master perfumer Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud has created a collection that gathers hints of floral, fruity and musky scents into 7 understated yet elegant bottles that should be on your list of autumn must-haves.

The Hopscotch Blog

Being a parent can be an overwhelming task and sometimes, all that one needs to get through a particularly rough day is the knowledge that there are others who not only share the unexpected joy of raising children but also its struggles.

Hopscotch gives a voice to parents to dispense some much-needed advice through its recently launched blog. From practical tips to heartwarming revelations, all disclosed with compassion and often, a much-needed sense of humour, the blog should be every parent’s go-to option.

http://blog.ilovehopscotch.com/ 24

iPhone 7

Tech geeks can rejoice – the much-awaited iPhone 7 is finally ready to hit the market. With a sleeker design (minus a headphone jack), an upgraded camera and a variety of fun colours to choose from, the trendy smartphone is set to become the hottest accessory to flaunt this season.

5

NEAR & AFAR

, alley um V

Neel

80km

Islamabad

Whether you’re craving a domestic getaway or eyeing a more exotic trip abroad, we pick out the best places to help you plan your travels.

NEELUM VALLEY, PAKISTAN

What to do Neelum Valley is a nature lover’s paradise. Its lush green forests have an abundance of deodar, pine and fir while its sparkling lakes provide opportunities for fishing and sightseeing.

Explore the picturesque villages along the valley, such as Kel and Jagran, and take in the panoramic views of Kashmir’s majestic mountains.

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Where to stay

The Pearl Continental Hotel in Muzaffarabad provides a convenient base for exploring the valley, which can be accessed via road.

Day trips to various towns and attractions can be arranged through the hotel.

How to get there

Muzaffarbad, the starting point for a trip to Neelum Valley, is a 3-hour long drive from Murree via the Kohala-Muzaffarabad Road.

Situated amongst thickly forested hills and named after the beautiful Neelum River that flows through its length, Neelum Valley in Azad Kashmir is famed for its scenic wonders.

AMANPULO, PHILIPPINES

How to get there

Fly Thai Air to Manila via Bangkok. The island is reached through chartered flights from Manila’s international airport, the duration of which is one hour.

What to do

This is the place where you get to indulge in your fantasy of being stuck on a deserted island, albeit in style. While away your time on snow-white beaches, with no other person in sight for miles.

If lying on a hammock gets to be too much, there are options to dive, snorkel and fish as well as swim alongside turtles. The resort’s luxurious spa and various beachfront restaurants provide numerous opportunities for relaxation.

Where to stay The Amanpulo Resort is luxury defined, comprising of 40 wooden casitas modelled after traditional Philippine huts.

There are also 11 private villas, some with their own pools.

Guests are provided golf carts to move around the island.

This private island-resort, located in the island of Pamalican in the Philippines, is your quintessential tropical paradise. The name Amanpulo roughly translates to “island of peace”—an apt reference to the resort’s exclusivity and serenity.

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NEAR & AFAR

still

How to wear

White Sneakers

If you thought white sneakers were just a passing fad, think again. The footwear of choice for fashion’s A-listers since last year, they are still being sported by everyone from Gigi Hadid to Meesha Shafi and even Michelle Obama. It’s easy to understand why people are reluctant to let go – this is one silhouette that not only looks great but is super comfy too. These style stars show us how to make the white sneaker look work no matter where in the world you are.

Hasnain Lehri

Kendall Jenner Olivia Palermo

Miranda Kerr

Meesha Shafi

Gigi Hadid

Waleed Khalid

Malia Ann Obama

Michelle Obama

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MAN ON THE SCENE

BILAL

RISING

By Mariam Mushtaq

With his debut movie hitting theatres this month, actor Bilal Ashraf is set to make a splash in the Pakistani film industry. Meet the leading man as he takes you on a tour of one of London’s finest neighbourhoods.

32

Photography: Jaffer Hasan Styling: Ozzy Shah

MAN ON THE SCENE

Jumper: Hardy Amies Trousers: Bruno Cucinelle Shoes: Christian Louboutin

R

emember the game of Monopoly we grew up playing? There’s a reason why Mayfair is the most expensive and elusive property on that board. Home to high-end restaurants, fashionable boutiques and luxury hotels, the London area it represents in one of the city's most exclusive.

It sees no shortage of glamorous people walking its streets; which is why Bilal Ashraf fits right in.

He cuts a striking figure as he poses in front of the swanky May Fair Hotel for the ongoing shoot; not surprisingly, many passers-by stop to take a second glance. The ease with which he takes on the streets of London makes him the perfect symbol of the new wave of Pakistani cinema that he represents – homegrown yet equally at ease in the global arena.

With his first major release, Janaan, hitting theatres this Eid, the handsome actor is set to take Lollywood by storm.

Ashraf discovered his love for being in front of the camera much later in life than your typical star, and it was a journey that began with a personal tragedy.

Armed with a double major in Finance and Arts from Franklin & Marshall, a liberal arts college in the USA, the Karachi native worked as a hedge fund consultant on Wall Street till 2009. It was his sister who inspired him to make the drastic change in careers. “She was a director and a staunch supporter of Pakistan. She convinced me to quit my job and take up a course in visual arts so I could assist her in her projects,” he recalls. “She used to tell me, ‘I want to see you in Hollywood.’”

When she passed away in 2009, Ashraf took it upon himself to make her dream come true. “She wanted me to be an ambassador for my country.

I’m doing this for her.”

That’s a promise that keeps him on his toes.

Starting off with a behind-the-scenes gig for the upcoming war film Yalghaar as its visual arts director, Ashraf says it was his mentor, director Hassan Waqas Rana who convinced him to take on the role of an army soldier for the big-budget flick. Offers started pouring in and Ashraf currently has 4 films set for release in the coming year.

Explaining what drew him to a project like Janaan, a complete departure from the adrenaline-pumping Yalghaar, Asharf says, “I like films that challenge me.

In Janaan, I play a Pathan and I had to learn Pashto in order to make the character believable.

Learning to lip-sync to songs in pure Pashto was hard but a challenge I relished.”

More importantly, it was the message that Janaan’s filmmakers wanted to convey that really resonated with him. “The film sends out a very strong message to the world that Pakistan is a beautiful country.

Janaan is a very important story to tell because it clears a lot of misconceptions about Pakhtun culture. Whenever a Pathan is portrayed on screen you’ll hear him talking with a very strong, stereotypical accent whereas in reality that’s not the case at all! The movie will give audiences a real taste of Swat and its people.”

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MAN ON THE SCENE

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Jacket: Shirt: Trousers: Shoes:

Alexander McQueen Balenciaga Armani Christian Louboutin

MAN ON THE SCENE

Jacket: Shirt: Trousers: Shoes:

Alexander McQueen Balenciaga Armani Christian Louboutin

You’ve spent the past few months shooting in Swat, a part of the country that has occasionally been in the news for the wrong reasons. What impression have you come away with?

It’s a phenomenally beautiful place that makes you want to go back. There has been unrest there in the past but the team and I had a great experience. We felt safe; in fact my co-star Armeena Rana Khan would be jogging on the streets or enjoying parathas and lassi with us late at night and no one ever batted an eyelid. Swatis are so warm and hospitable and the food is just out of this world! Next time you’re in Swat, try a restaurant called Relax for the best Afghani boti.

pride because I would have been part of the wave of filmmakers and actors who led Pakistani films into the global spotlight.

I’m not just confident about my own projects but all the other films that are coming out. I want all films to do well and make money at the box-office.

What does the industry need in order to grow further?

Positive thinking! People need to look at the bigger picture and think about the industry as a whole, instead of just focusing on their individual projects and profits.

Was it an easy transition from behind the scenes to in front of the camera?

How was the experience of being on the streets of London shooting for DESTINATIONS?

I never thought I’d be acting one day but from the minute I stepped in front of the camera, I knew this is what I was destined to do. I love being able to portray different characters. For example, in Yalghaar I play an army officer and I had to really beef up for the role; whereas in Janaan, I’m playing an average guy. Shooting the two concurrently meant that I often had to put on and drop the pounds in the space of a few weeks. It was physically gruelling but the harder it gets, the more I realize that I love what I’m doing now.

It was a great experience, even though I have to be honest and say that I hate posing! It’s really not my forté – I prefer movement and being shot for video as opposed to stills. I remember even when I walked the ramp for HSY at last year’s fashion week in Lahore, I was so nervous and felt completely out of my depth.

Are you nervous about Janaan’s release?

Nervous and excited! I’ll finally be able to prove myself. I know a lot of people have been questioning why I keep getting offered great projects despite not having a film to my credit yet. Hopefully, this will be their answer.

Your next release is Yalghaar, where you share screen space with some of the biggest stars in the film industry. How has been the experience of working with a superstar like Shaan?

I’m getting to learn from the best… it’s an honour.

Shaan has been my biggest support in the industry.

Every time I get a new project, I call him up and discuss it with him. He breaks it down for me, guides me and then gives me tips. He’s been like a brother to me. Yalghaar is my first love, and nothing can take away from that.

With Pakistani cinema experiencing a revival at the moment, how does it feel to be part of an industry that’s slowly but surely finding its feet?

I think this is a brilliant time to be part of local cinema. It’s like making history; I know I will look back at this period 15 to 20 years from now with

Being in London, a city that I love, definitely made it easier. We shot in Central London, around the Mayfair area, which has a distinct texture that I really wanted to capture.

What’s your favourite city in the world?

Karachi, because it’s home. I love the smell in the air and the buzz that surrounds it. London, because I have been coming here since I was a kid. I’ve walked a lot on the streets of London; it’s a city that I love getting lost in. Paris, for its museums and culture.

What’s one thing about Bilal Ashraf that not many people know?

I love design and architecture and I’ve recently finished designing my own house in Karachi. I feel I have a good aesthetic sense and a good eye for colour.

You’ve been on a whirlwind of publicity tours in the past few months… does the attention ever get to be too much? What keeps you grounded?

It’s true that the last few months have been crazy, hopping between sets and now promoting Janaan internationally. Yet I’m still the guy who spends hours at the gym and hangs out with his trainer; or likes to cook a meal at home. I’ve always been quite shy and I have a core group of friends from childhood who I hang out with and who keep me grounded.

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MAN ON THE SCENE

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Jacket and Roll Neck: Trousers: Shoes:

Jil Sander Thomas Pink Christian Louboutin

MAN ON THE SCENE

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Shirt: Thomas Pink Trousers: Armani Watch: Henry

MAN ON THE SCENE

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Jacket: Roll Neck: Shirt: Trousers: Shoes:

Hardy Amies Sunspel Tom Ford Massimo Alba Jimmy Choo

MAN ON THE SCENE

Jacket and Jeans: Belstaff Shirt: Thomas Sweeney Shoes: Christian Louboutin

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MAN ON THE SCENE

Scenes the

with Ozzy, Jaffer and Bilal

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MAN ON THE SCENE

e m o c e we’v a Y A W G y N b a O b L

By Mar ia

m Mus

htaq

From artsy biopics to raunchy comedies, epic family dramas to action thrillers, the new age of Pakistani cinema is keen to explore a variety of genres and take audiences along on the entertaining ride.

MAN ON THE SCENE

Manto

ahore, 1951 – a celebrated yet controversial writer struggles with his inner demons.

Karachi, present day – a trio of ordinary men hatch a madcap scheme to earn quick bucks, with hilarious consequences. Seoul, 1988 – an impoverished boxer rises from the streets of Lyari to win Olympic bronze for his country. Khost, 1980s – set against the breathtaking scenery of Balochistan, a widower mourns the death of his wife and the loss of his livelihood.

These are only some of the powerful stories that have come out of the local film industry in the last three years. Manto, Na Maloom Afraad, Shah and Moor are part of the new wave of cinema that has swept across Lollywood and helped turn the tide for an industry that was struggling for survival till only a few years ago.

It was 2007’s Khuda Ke Liye, Shoaib Mansoor’s slick political thriller starring Shaan, that took the narrative away from the gandassa-wielding gujjar who had come to symbolize local cinema and steered it towards a more modern and nuanced approach. Come 2016 and we’ve seen everything from stylized rom-coms to sports biopics, war dramas to animated films hit the screens and in some cases, break box-office records despite clashing with imports from both Hollywood and Bollywood.

“It’s not difficult when you set your mind to it,” says filmmaker Adnan Sarwar on what it takes to be able to compete with big-budget films from across the border. His debut venture Shah, which told the story of one of Pakistan’s forgotten sports legends Hussain Shah, was made on a shoe-string budget

and went on to receive critical acclaim. “Audiences want to hear these stories; they want to hear about inspirational people from their country,” he asserts.

That’s a sentiment echoed by another young director, Umair Fazli, whose feature film Saya-e-Khuda-e-Zuljalal (SKZ) will hit cinema screens in November this year. Fazli describes SKZ as a character-driven action drama, with a strong focus on Pakistan’s history and national heroes such as M.M. Alam and Aziz Bhatti. “People need to know that these names mean more than just road signs [a reference to two of Lahore’s busiest roads being named after them]. Their stories need to be told on the silver screen so that we can celebrate our own.”

The need to own our past as well as our present, our literary and political heroes, our land and its striking beauty and traditions – all that gives Pakistan its identity today – features as a recurring theme amongst the current crop of filmmakers. So while Sarmad Sultan’s artistic Manto paid homage to one of the greatest Urdu writers of the subcontinent, Wajahat Rauf’s unabashedly commercial road trip flick Karachi Say Lahore showcased stunning locales in Balochistan, Jhelum, Lahore, Hyderabad and Karachi.

A box-office hit and the first Pakistani film to have a premiere in Hollywood, it has inspired a spin-off, Lahore Say Aagay, which is set to release on November 11. Rauf promises an even more scenic ride this time around. “The sequel is shot in the northern areas of Pakistan and given that the film is releasing worldwide, including the USA, UK, UAE, Australia and Malaysia, expats living abroad are going to be blown away with what they see. The beauty of our mountains is nothing short of Switzerland.”

The Pakistani diaspora, eager for a glimpse of home, its trends, traditions and destinations, is proving to be a ready market for locally-made fare. Case in point Bin Roye, the romantic drama starring Mahira Khan that might not have impressed the critics but was one of the highest grossing Pakistani films internationally last year. Pakistanis abroad loved the vibrant scenes showcasing wedding festivities and Eid traditions, as well as the leading lady’s designer wardrobe, provided by the likes of Elan, Sania Maskatiya and Feeha Jamshed.

If you need any more convincing that the local industry is alive and kicking, consider this: last year (2015) saw the release of a record number of local films, 12 in total. 2016 has already seen 10 films hit the big screen and many more are slated for release in the last quarter. Eid, the most profitable time of the year for box office business, is finally seeing a diverse line-up of local films clash with each other in a move that spells growth for the industry.

Lahore Say Aagay

The Pakistani diaspora, eager for a glimpse of home, its trends, traditions and destinations, is proving to be a ready market for locally-made fare.

Shah

Moor

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MAN ON THE SCENE

ReleasinDg ON EI

three ple, will see m a x e r fo , This Eid old. There’s g r fo te e f p Bilal Ashra movies com g in rr ta s , e cours nd Janaan, of ana Khan a R a n e e rm A along with the film Set in KPK, . n a m h e R g for Ali e somethin v a h to s e promis hs, an nty of laug le p – e n o at’s ry eve essage, Sw m l ia c o s t n importa of course, a d n a ry e n e c gorgeous s andy. pure eye-c s t’ a th t s a c

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d n a a m e n i c l a c lo r fo od o g s i h t d e k o lo r e v e n e v r: Things ha a t s r e v o c r u o of s rd o w the n i , n o i t i et p m o c e h t r fo as “Bring it on!”

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MAN ON THE SCENE

Not just another rom-com

By Salima Feerasta

Despite its light-hearted veneer, Janaan takes on the task of challenging stereotypes and focusing on a strong social message. The filmmakers speak to DESTINATIONS about why the film will resonate with a wide audience.

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MAN ON THE SCENE

anaan promises to be a gloriously escapist film full of comedy, romance, action and thrills. Set in Swat and Islamabad, it tells the story of expat Meena (Armeena Rana Khan) who returns from Canada to attend her cousin’s wedding. As if culture shock wasn’t enough, Meena finds out her family is plotting an engagement with either of her cousins Daniyal (Ali Rehman Khan) or Asfandyar (Bilal Ashraf).

The movie apparently features hilarious antics from Ali Rehman as cool Isloo boy Daniyal and that rom-com staple – a love-hate relationship, in this case between Meena and arrogant Pathan Asfandyar. There’s plenty of comedic potential in the expats returning to their ethnic roots and the young cast has been showing engaging comic wackiness in interviews and on social media as they promote the film.

Bilal Ashraf’s brooding good looks are belied by a ready wit while Ali Rehman seems to have one-liners on tap. Armeena Khan looks pretty as a picture but also has spunkiness and charm. Their vibrant personalities are encouraging because the producers have taken a risk with a relatively inexperienced cast – none of whom have previously headlined a film.

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“All of our leads were our first choices for their roles,” asserts producer Imran Raza Kazmi. “They combine acting ability and the look that we wanted for each character. Armeena in particular is very under-rated and has previously been given stereotypical roles that don’t do justice to her range.”

Kazmi is certainly intrepid in his casting decisions.

He spotted Hania Aamir dubsmashing on Instagram and ended up giving her a small but significant role.

“I go with my instinct. It’s easy to sell a movie with faces but for us casting is all about the story we want to tell. Every single one of our actors gave incredible auditions and our decisions were vindicated as we moved to shooting,” he says.

In one respect, fresh talent is an asset. With so few real stars in Pakistan’s newly burgeoning film industry, there’s a danger of audiences tiring of seeing the same faces over and over.

The production team, in comparison, has more experience. Director Azfar Jafri and producers Imran Raza Kazmi and Hareem Farooq worked together on the critically-acclaimed 2013 horror film Siyaah, though at that time Hareem was acting in the film rather than producing it.

“Acting is one of my passions but production is equally important. Film is a great medium to bring about change in society; it can really alter mindsets and break taboos,” says Hareem. “Moving into

production is not about making money, it’s about challenging small-mindedness and of course, telling great stories.”

She goes on to reveal that, despite being a family entertainer with plenty of romance and laughter, Janaan also has a thought-provoking social message.

“We don’t want to reveal more at this stage but suffice to say that we want to make people think about our society,” she says.

Beyond the social message of the film, the team also aims to challenge stereotypes. “We wanted to give what we feel is a proper representation of Pakistan, particularly of Pakhtoon culture, to show the world that we are as ‘abnormally normal’ as everyone else,” says Kazmi.

Hareem, Kazmi and Jafri all admitted to being frustrated by the constant depiction of Pathans as terrorists in films. They worried that, even in Pakistan itself, people seem to think that Pakhtoons are all conservative and that there are extremists everywhere in Swat. It seemed important to show that you shouldn’t stereotype by ethnicity. It was thus a conscious decision to focus on a narrative that people could relate to.

“Janaan is really about human connections and the little things in life. It centres around an upper class Pakhtoon family wedding and is full of relatable situations and characters,” Kazmi continues.

While that hints at inspiration from Bollywood, director Azfar Jafri claims differently, “I definitely am influenced by certain filmmaking styles but not by any specific country or genre. For me, it’s all about creating quality, intelligent cinema.”

Producer Kazmi is also keen to emphasize, that unlike many Pakistani directors, Jafri’s background is neither television serials nor shooting commercials. “Azfar came to filmmaking from doing animation and video effects rather than dramas. I think his career arc has given him a unique freshness of vision,” he says.

While the director veers away from Bollywood comparisons, the editor is actually a Bollywood insider. He has worked on Dhoom 3 and was an associate on Rab Ne Bana Di Jori.

The decision to bring in an Indian editor was prompted by the very nascent nature of the Pakistani film revival. Like many professionals in our film industry, the majority of editors have graduated from television. There is a palpable sense that they are adapting to demands of a very different medium, evidenced by films such as Bin Roye.

“While we have an abundance of talent, we lack the experience and depth of resources that a welldeveloped film industry has. We are constantly

“Janaan is really about human connections and the little things in life. It centres around an upper class Pakhtoon family wedding and is full of relatable situations and characters,” having to make do and improvise,” says Kazmi, who made his first film Siyaah with a budget of just Rs. 800,000. While Janaan is on a much bigger scale, no Pakistani movie can afford the sort of budgets that Bollywood films have at their disposal. Despite the success that Pakistani films have seen in the last year or two, filmmaking remains a labour of love in this country.

Tight budgets were not the only issue; shooting in Swat brought its own challenges. While the scenery is spectacular, the team found themselves struggling to make the most of the light every day as locations were often two or three hours apart and transportation was not an easy task.

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MAN ON THE SCENE

Janaan

“The scenery was simply incredible but moving all our equipment to each location along difficult roads was quite a task,” mentions Hareem.

It all seems to have been worth it though, from the few glimpses of breathtaking panoramas in Janaan’s trailer.

“When Aditya Chopra saw the footage from the movie, he didn’t believe it was possible to make a film of this grandeur on such a small budget,” Kazmi reveals with quiet triumph.

If the trailer is anything to go by, Janaan is undoubtedly going to be a beautiful film. It must be said though, as we’ve seen from films like Dekh Magar Pyar Se, stunning cinematography and a gorgeous cast are not always enough. Hopefully this team, which includes award-winning scriptwriter Osman Khalid Butt, has put together a memorable movie. Their excitement about Janaan is certainly palpable.

“We wanted to make an out-and-out entertainer with a heart. Something that you can enjoy with your family and that stays with you long after you leave the cinema. We think people will fall in love with Meena, Daniyal and Asfandyar and hope they will recognize the situations and characters from their own lives,” says Hareem.

If she’s right, Janaan could be the movie of the year.

Janaan (the beloved) is a romantic comedy that revolves around Meena (Armeena Rana Khan) and her return from Canada to attend her cousin’s wedding in her native homeland Swat.

While trying to adapt to her ethnic roots, she often finds herself caught up in hilarious situations. The story takes an interesting turn when Meena finds out that her family is secretly setting her up to marry either one of her cousins, cool “Islamabadi boy” Daniyal (Ali Rehman Khan) or arrogant Pathan Asfandyar (Bilal Ashraf).

Starring: Bilal Ashraf, Armeena Rana Khan, Ali Rehman , Mishi Khan, Ajab Gul, Nayyer Ejaz, Hania Aamir, Usman Mukhtar, Fahad Ali Panni Shoot Location: Islamabad & Swat, Pakistan.

Duration: 2hours 10minutes Editor: Mitesh Soni Music by: Salim Sulaiman, Ahmed Ali &Taha Malik Produced by: Reham Khan, Hareem Farooq, Munir Hussain and Imran Raza Kazmi Written by: Osman Khalid Butt Sound by: Ahmed Ali Directed by: Azfar Jafri

WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER

MAHEEN KARDAR ALI SARA SHAHID ANOUSHAY ASHRAF MEESHA SHAFI

WE

KNOW WHAT YOU

DID THIS

SUMMER

From soaking up the California sun to cruising along the Mediterranean coast to tasting Spain’s scrumptious array of street food, these stars give us a glimpse into their fabulous summer vacations.

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Maheen Kardar Ali

All that

Glitters

LA

in

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Bling it on

Cali!

In Los Angeles for a family wedding, designer Maheen Kardar Ali made the most of the gorgeous California summer as she took in the city’s top attractions and its picturesque beaches. In between, she found the time to dress up in all her desi finery for her cousin’s wedding and give LA a dose of Karma’s latest collection.

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1. The rocking mehndi at Newport Beach. 2. The gorgeous place setting for a wedding straight out of a fairytale. 3.

Pre-wedding lunch in Bel-Air. Wearing the Wisteria Outfit from Karma’s Studio 54 collection. 4. The Beverly Wiltshire where Pretty Woman was filmed. 5. My favourite place to work in the US, Kamal Beverly Hills, home to Karma in California. 6 & 9. Spending the day out at Universal Studios. 7. Hanging out with my hero! 8. Karma trunk show at Kamal.

10. Some much-needed retail therapy on Rodeo Drive.

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Sara’s

Sublime Summer

Designer Sara Shahid’s cruise holiday across the Eastern Mediterranean blended the best of sightseeing, entertainment and culture.

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Cruise Control

An expanse of mellow blue waters as far as the eye can see, breathtaking sunsets, quaint little cities and villages tucked along the coast – these are only some of the magnificent sights designer Sara Shahid encountered during her 7-day Mediterranean cruise on board the Costa Mediterranea. The family trip, organized to celebrate her parents’ 50th wedding anniversary, blended history, culture and entertainment with stops along gorgeous destinations in Italy, Greece, Croatia and Montenegro. “Waking up in a new city every day, exploring places that were off the beaten track or just enjoying time with the family aboard the luxurious ship, it was simply the experience of a lifetime,” sums up Sara.

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Venice, Italy

The starting point for the cruise was one of the busiest port cities in the Mediterranean, Venice.

From its glorious architecture to the romance of its Grand Canal to the delectable food, it’s a city that packs in something for everyone.

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Montenegro

This Balkan country located along the Adriatic coast is fast emerging as one of the most popular European destinations of late and it’s easy to see why – with its rugged mountains, ancient villages and picturesque coastline, it’s the perfect summer getaway.

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Olympia, Greece A place steeped in history, Olympia provides an unforgettable travel experience, allowing one to walk the site of the original Olympic Games, which began as a small festival here in the 11th century dedicated to the God Zeus.

Dubrovnik, Croatia It’s extremely hard not to fall in love with Dubrovnik. It’s stunning architecture, visible in the form of baroque churches and a medieval, pedestrian-only Old Town, will appeal to history buffs while those looking for a more laid-back holiday can while away their days on its pristine beaches.

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Anoushay Ashraf’s Mediterranean Adventure A self-confessed travel addict, Anoushay Ashraf loves to take off to faraway lands whenever wanderlust strikes. This summer saw her undertake a journey across the Mediterranean, as she travelled on a cruise ship to Spain, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece, discovering stunning port towns along the way. The adventurer and soon-to-be travel blogger gives DESTINATIONS the lowdown on her trip.

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Dubrovnik,Croatia Dubravka for the locals, Dubrovnik for us, the city is known today for being home to the Lannisters at King's Landing in Game Of Thrones. The TV show has singlehandedly turned around the economy of this town, as tourists flock to the spots where filming takes place. Dubrovnik is a warm little town on the Adriatic coast with some of the clearest waters in all of Europe.

The risotto with mussels here is amazing!

Sitges, Spain

Sitges, a seaside resort town close to Barcelona, is the perfect blend of interesting culture, a bohemian, laidback vibe and a thriving nightlife.

Cinque Terre, Italy

Italy has one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world and Cinque Terre, a collection of 5 tiny fishing villages, is a breathtakingly gorgeous place. I remember doing a puzzle about this place a couple of years ago and knew then that I had to visit some day. Here’s to one more off the bucket list.

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HOW TO like

RockStar

a

MEESHA SHAFI The multi-talented and perennially trendy diva on her international fan following, travelling the world in style and being a role model.

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2 Time Out In Bangkok and

1

San Francisco

Known for her intrepid personal style as much for her powerhouse vocals, musician/ actor Meesha Shafi shows us around two of her favourite cities in the world, Bangkok and San Francisco. In between a commercial shoot in the former

and a hectic live show in the latter, she found time to soak up the sights, get her fitness game on, sample on local delights and generally give us major fashion envy with her wardrobe choices both on and off stage.

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1. Performing solo at a concert during the US tour wearing Sania Maskatiya and Elan.

2. Out and about in San Francisco. 3. Spa time at the beautiful Bangkok Sheraton Hotel. 4. Good food is one of the biggest perks of travelling! 5. What better vacation picture backdrop than the legendary Golden Gate Bridge itself. 6. Selfie game on point at the Gentle Monster Store.

7. On stage wearing Ali Xeeshan.

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ou’ve recently wrapped up a successful concert tour of the U.S. How was that experience?

The response was absolutely overwhelming. I didn't realize I had such a heartening fan following in the U.S. It was such an amazing feeling being this highly appreciated so far from home. The tour was called the Jugni Tour and Arif Lohar jee and I did 9 shows in 12 days. It was insanely exhausting but exceptionally rewarding.

What’s the difference between performing in your own country and performing internationally?

Given the current climate at home, unfortunately, connecting with the masses when performing live is no longer considered safe. So I would say the biggest difference was that the crowd in the U.S. was a ticketed audience. It was a great opportunity to perform for my core listeners – those who would go through the trouble of investing their time and money to come listen to me sing as opposed to a somewhat jaded audience of invitees.

As one of the very few female musicians in Pakistan, do you consider yourself to be a role model?

I guess I have become a role model for many women. I take pride in this. I feel our female population needs more examples of strong, independent women to encourage them to believe in their own potential and follow their dreams.

What do you want people to learn from your extraordinary rise to fame as a multi-talented woman who juggles many roles – musician, actor, model and mom?

Dream big. Believe in yourself. Don't let people tell you you can't or shouldn't do something just because it sounds too ambitious to them.

Spread your wings and work hard.

Which musician inspires you?

Begum Akhtar. Abida jee. Arif Lohar. Nusrat Fateh Ali. Ali Azmat. Atif Aslam. Sanam Marvi.

John Mayor. Fiona Apple. Florence Welch. The list is endless.

What is your favourite city in the world to a) perform in and b) to vacation in? a) Delhi b) San Francisco/Bangkok

“I feel our female population needs more examples of strong, independent women to encourage them to believe in their own potential and follow their dreams.”

What’s the most exciting part of being on tour?

And the toughest?

The toughest part is the non-stop travelling with little to no sleep at times and of course, being away from home and family. The most exciting part is the diversity within the audience when performing in so many different cities.

Any pre-concert rituals?

Deep breathing and yoga. It helps to be centred.

What do you miss most about Pakistan when you’re away?

The food!

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Name 3 items that you can’t travel without.

1. Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Serum.

2. My iPhone.

3. Lots of hair ties.

What’s on your current playlist?

I'm listening to a lot of old recordings of ghazals and classical thumris by the female greats of the subcontinent. They were the rockstars of that bygone era.

You’re known and admired for your distinct sense of style – whose style do you admire?

Nabila. Mira Nair. Chloe Sevigny. Florence Welch. Olivia Palermo.

What’s the one style trend you wish to never see again?

Those Valentino stud shoes, with kitten heels.

What do you keep in mind when selecting an outfit for a live show?

The city I'm in. The vibe of the evening. My own mood and comfort.

If you could sing a duet with anyone in the world, who would it be?

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. But it's too late for that.

There are many others who I still aspire to collaborate with though.

How do you maintain work-life balance?

By sacrificing needless socializing. Also, I hardly network.

You’ve had the opportunity to work in Lollywood, Bollywood and Hollywood. How would you rate your experiences in these three very different industries?

I've been very lucky because all three experiences were with highly accomplished, A-list directors. Not to mention the star casts I got to work with in all three industries. Learnt so much.

If you could travel to any city in the world, which city would it be and why?

Rio De Janeiro. I'm really intrigued by and curious about the South American culture. It’s something I haven't experienced first-hand yet.

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A

’s er Backpack to Guide the

Turquoise Coast

By Madeeha Syed

Go off the beaten track in Turkey to a hidden backpackers’ paradise among ancient ruins that lead down a path to sun, sand and sea. After nightfall, climb a mountain in the dark to see the eternal flames of the Chimaera. Don’t stop there: discover how the best adventures are always in the moment and on a budget.

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I

t was as if we had walked onto the set of The Beach (2000). That scene where Leonardo DiCaprio walks into the dwelling space of the people living on the secret beach his character had set out to discover.

At least Melissa and I were in this together. I met her on the bus from Cappadocia and we immediately became friends. Both of us were travelling alone through Turkey without a real plan.

Just going where fate would take us.

We’d been on the road for 10 hours before we finally reached Olympos. We were tired, hungry and nearly broke.

Olympos is a small backpackers’ village on the Turquoise Coast of Antalya. Until a couple of years ago, only the most ardent of travellers went here. It wasn’t listed as a major destination on any map and for many years, those that ventured there knew about it purely through word-of-mouth. It borrows its name from Mt Olympos, which is roughly a 20-30min bus drive from the main backpackers’ village.

Since the region is home to ancient Lycian ruins and is considered to be an important heritage site, concrete construction isn’t allowed in the area.

Hostels and refuges give you the option of staying in tree cabins, outdoor shower stalls and wooden gazebos in the main living area. The place we were staying at, Bayrams Tree Houses, used solar panels for electricity and heating water. The lights were sensitive to movement so they would turn on when you approached and turn off when you had walked past. At first it was amusing, then it became downright creepy. Life here is completely off the grid (minus, perhaps, the internet).

Our stay cost us roughly around $10 per night in a six-bed female dorm with air-conditioning. The rate also included a hearty breakfast and a full dinner.

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The walk through the ruins to the beach

The hostel owner, Yousuf, was nice enough to give us a spare card to go to the ruins and the beach. You have to pay TL5 to go the Lycian ruins and the beach lies just beyond it. The government, however, doesn’t make a distinction between the beach and the ruins, so you have to buy a ticket to go to either. Another option is to buy a pass that costs TL7 and can be used for multiple people over a period of several days.

Off we went. It was an interesting experience, walking through a forested pathway to the ruins, along with a host of others, to an ancient heritage site… in our slippers, bathing suits and towels.

The ruins lie on either side of the road and on top of cliffs on the beach. They’re bricks and wood pieced together, but not as impressive at the ones in Ephesus, I am told. It takes just a few minutes to see them and then you can make your way to the beach.

You have to bring your own umbrella — there are no companies operating on the beach that will rent you shade. To avoid the scorching heat of the sun, some beachgoers would spread their towels under the shade of the cliff. It seemed like a great idea until I saw signs warning people not to camp out there — there is a risk of rocks falling on top of them. But if you can’t see them, then it must be okay right?

Green and cabins, Bayrams Treehouses

6-bed female dorm in a wooden cabin

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WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER What amazed me about the Mediterranean when I first came across it is how swimmable it is. The Arabian Sea has strong waves and undercurrents and we’re constantly advised not to swim — not the case here. You can go as far as you want, even up to a few ‘pirate caves’ under a cliff yonder. One even spotted wild ducks happily swimming at a calmer part of the beach and two very small turtles.

One of the things I was told I must do is climb the famous Mount Olympos. It’s called Yanartaş in Turkish and technically what they refer to as Mt Olympos is actually Mt Chimaera. Methane and other gases emerge from the rocks at the summit and burn. There is actual fire there. It will simply light up again even after you extinguish it.

It doesn’t seem like a big deal until you realise that these flames have been burning for thousands of years. The eternal flames of Chimaera are said to be the inspiration behind the myth of the Greek monster Chimera. Of course I had to go.

A bus takes you to a drop-off point about a 30-minute drive from the backpacker’s district. The best part was that it came right after dinner.

Having stuffed my face right before the bus ride, I soon slipped into food coma. The next thing I know is that I was being woken up by a driver who could barely speak English. Before I could even figure out what was going on, I was handed a torch and pushed in the direction of a dark rocky path up a mountain and told I had one hour to return.

The eternal flames of the Chimaera

It was slightly underwhelming, but I was happy at finishing the journey. Little fires may not be very dramatic, but the climb gave me excellent bragging rights.

I hurried after the other people walking in the same direction; I didn’t want to be left alone. I have an overactive imagination and this is exactly the kind of place — super dark, rocky and shaded with creepy trees — where werewolves, lurking in the shadows, attack you.

I’ve climbed mountains before. But never have I climbed in the dark. The climb had been ‘adapted’ for tourists — there were large steps with massive rocks forming them instead of a rough trail but it was still hard. The worst part was that everyone was rushing up, totally disregarding the first rule of mountain climbing: always go slow.

I felt like I was going to collapse by the time we got on to the summit: a slope with bits of fire here and there. It looked like someone had lit small bonfires and scattered them around — except they smelled of gas. There was nothing monstrous about them at all!

It was slightly underwhelming, but I was happy at finishing the journey. Little fires may not be very dramatic, but the climb gave me excellent bragging rights.

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The next day, I woke up early and packed my bags, bid Melissa farewell, had breakfast and boarded a boat cruise around the Turquoise Coast — at a grand price of TL80. This included travelling to five different islands, watching a sunken city and a trip to Lycian rock tombs in (what is now known as) Dalyan in the ancient region of Myra. The fare also included a pretty decent lunch and all overland transfers from the hostel to the boat (in the next city) and back.

Man selling mussels and rice on the beach

The coast itself is beautiful. I’ve never seen waters this blue. All we did throughout the day was hop on and off the boat. Climb to the top of an island, see an old castle, have ice cream and hop back on. Sometimes the boat would anchor and we would jump off for a quick dip. Bring your goggles. And dress light.

View from one of the castles on the island

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WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER The rock tombs, which were our last stop, are a sight to behold. Access to them comes at a steep price of TL20. But I discovered that as a journalist, I could get free access to museums and heritage sites if I produced my press card.

There was an amphitheatre in the area that looked like any other Greek amphitheatre — if you’ve seen one; you’ve seen them all. But it was a nice place to sit and absorb your surroundings.

Carved into a mountain, you can’t go inside the rock tombs; you can only see them from outside. It’s unimaginable how people in the ancient world managed to chip away the rock and stone and create them.

They reminded me of the dwarf kingdoms in the Lord of the Rings.

The majestic Lycian tombs carved into rocks on the mountainside

The amphitheatre, with a boat cruise friend walking about

While the rest of the tour group was to head back to Olympos, I wasn’t. We got to the bus station and our driver tailed a bus that was leaving and honked it to a stop.

He yelled the name of my destination to the conductor. “Yes!” came the response.

Shouting my farewell to my cruise companions, I grabbed my suitcases and ran to other bus. The fare for a three-hour journey was TL9. I was off to a place famous for having the most beautiful diving sites in all of Europe: Kaş.

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ilin:OF GA uCRADLE

CONTRADICTIONS

By Aamna Haider Isani

This city in the Guangxi province of China is home to 40,000 unique mountains with one of the world’s most picturesque valleys in their lap.

桂林

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WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER

hina is one of the most fascinating places I’ve ever travelled to. The culture, resting upon thousands of years of ancient tradition, is a yin-yang between history and futurism. When you’re in China, you can be observing the feng-shui of wooden temples one moment and the splendour of glistening, cloud-kissing skyscrapers the very next.

Between Beijing and Shanghai you literally get to see everything you’ll ever need to.

Stationed in Shenzhen, where my brother and his family have been living for almost six years, we decided to take a trip to Guilin this summer. Guilin is around 600km north of Shenzhen and is known for its natural landscape, but more on that later. To get there we booked tickets on the High Speed Train, which moves at an average speed of 300km/hr and reduces travel time from 7 hours to 3 hours. Our train was scheduled to leave at 11:47 – yes, that precise time is not a typo – and sure enough, at exactly 11:47 it took off. It’s quite an adventure because you have a window of around 10 minutes to find your platform, cabin and board before the doors close. The system is incredibly smooth, considering thousands of people travel between these stations everyday.

Fun Fact

The landscape started changing two hours into our journey and the infamous mountains of Guilin, those rounded hills that rise from the earth like sacred mounds, began dotting the scenery. It was like seeing something out of a fantasy film. These hills, also known as Guilin’s Karst Mountains, are exceptionally unique; some 40,000 of them developed from limestone formations and erosions over millions of years. At a glance they may appear like an image from a water colour painting and the shapes are so unique that the locals have named a majority of the prominent ones. The Moon Cave Mountain is a tourist destination and as our guide informed us, it generates enough revenue to feed the whole village.

Countries can be identified for their food choices. While you’d get chai and samosa on a train in Pakistan and bread and sandwiches in France, in China it’s soup and noodles galore. Our train had a hot water bar, where you could buy your choice of Ramen noodles and fill them up for lunch. Sure enough, there wasn’t a single passenger who wasn’t slurping away.

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Fun Fact A two-hour bus ride took us from Guilin’s train station to our resort in Yangshuo, which is one of district’s counties and the most popular tourist destination in Guilin. The breathtaking landscape welcomed us with outstretched clouds and bursts of fragrant rain. The sun continued to shine through the clouds, creating a perfect arch of a rainbow.

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.

Before we proceed on this magical journey, let me tell you something about China: no one speaks English. When I say no one, I mean taxi drivers, restaurant waiters and servers, domestic staff…no one. The first thing you need to do is download a translation app unless you want to end up eating fish eyeballs or monkey testicles in your soup.

Communication gets worse as you move away from cities like Beijing, Shanghai or even Shenzhen that have a sizeable foreign population. You can forget speaking to anyone in Guilin. And this is where the Yangshuo Retreat came in handy; it had an English speaking staff and a menu of services that were designed to cater to foreign guests.

If you go to China thinking you’ll get Paki-style Chinese food everywhere then you’ve got a rude awakening coming.

The food you’ll get is weirdly just weird in the sense that most times you won’t know what you’re eating. So extra caution has to be exercised. We walked into a restaurant that boasted the best beer fish in Yangshuo (it’s a specialty) and I was stupid enough to expect a crispy beer batter fish. What we got was a whole catfish, literally bubbling away in beer and spices. No wonder it’s also called the drunken fish or the boozy fish!

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WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER Back to the retreat, the image of a lazy Yulong River snaking its way around the mountains was a view to kill for. It gently passed by the resort gardens (where we’d have breakfast or coffee) and we’d be treated to sights and sounds of happy rafters under their vibrant umbrellas.

Bamboo rafting is one of the ‘must-do’ activities when you’re in Guilin. Each raft is rented to two people and it carries you along the Yulong river; the rafts are operated by men who won’t know a word of what you’re saying but will get you to the other end without letting you drown. The journey is very slow and calm until you get to a dip and your raft rushes down a mini waterfall. No need to worry; it’s just a bit of adrenalin not the Niagra Falls! You’ll find many foreigners swimming or merely bobbing around in the shallow water though I don’t think any of us wanted to trust the unknown waters that were surely inhabited by snakes.

Fun Fact

Hidden cameras photograph you through the trip and appointed cameramen take your group pictures when you pull into the bank to disembark. There are little stalls where you can choose a size and get your picture printed and laminated right there and then. It’s quick and efficient marketing which you’ll experience at every tourist spot; the cable cars even made a key chain with your picture on it!

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I had earmarked Tai Chi classes as one of the most eagerly anticipated parts of this holiday; I was determined to take back some form of wisdom on staying calm and maintaining a balance when things got impossibly frantic (that is life in general in Karachi). And the Yangshuo Traditional Tai Chi School, an ancient institute that doubled as a hostel for foreigners who wished to spend time here, was just the place to be! There was unbelievable serenity to the place, a silence broken only by the talking mynah birds that cooed us a welcome “nee hao” in Chinese. The sound of water that flowed around the school was mesmerizing; it was water that was speckled with colourful carp. Tai Chi is commonly translated to ‘meditation in motion’ and just being there was lesson one in how man and nature had the power to coexist in perfect harmony.

There were seven of us, standing in the school verandah, with an enormous yin-yang symbol painted on the floor. The Chinese characters for Tai Chi Chuan can be translated as the ‘Supreme Ultimate Force’ and the notion of ‘supreme ultimate’ is often associated with the Chinese concept of yin-yang, the notion that one can see a dynamic duality (male/female, active/passive, dark/light, forceful/yielding, etc.) in all things. It’s that force that one sets out to achieve in Tai Chi. A few lessons, needless to say, were not enough but they sufficed in putting our minds on the track to peace and calm. An evening massage on the riverbank sealed the feeling and we spent the next few days in a state of nirvana.

The yin-yang of China, like I said earlier, can be found in everything and it is a place of contradictions. So to counter the peaceful disposition of the mountains was the Western Market, a hyper-bazar that had been established in Guilin City and was as noisy as the Tai Chi School had been quiet! An ocean of people walked through the cobbled roads, snacking on chilled watermelon, grilled squid and octopus on sticks, fresh juices and all kinds of roasted nuts and goodies. We were happily digging into a bag of salted crisps until we realized they were dried (and seemingly fossilized) eels. Point: when in China never eat anything you’re unfamiliar with. We also indulged a group of cute

Chinese girls selling popsicles. Dressed in Commi uniforms (Mao caps and all) we thought they were protesting something until we realized they were just selling ice creams. So we bought the ice creams (it was pretty stuffy and hot) and then hurriedly looked for dustbins when the ‘bean’ flavoured frozen delights turned out to be not so delightful. They tasted like sweetened and frozen lobia ki chaat on a stick.

There was an entire schedule of activities we had drafted, some successfully executed and some we had to give up due to time limitation. We passed on the boat ride and opted for bamboo rafting. We didn’t enjoy the painting village so much as our painting class, by the riverside. We could not visit the rice terraces but we did take the cable chairs for

Fun Fact

The cable chairs take you up and then you can choose to come down on a slide board on a chute. It’s pretty steep and is advisable for daredevils only!

We returned from Guilin almost a week later, having exhausted our sense of adventure but strangely having rested our inner selves. It certainly was a place of contradictions; an oxymoron I would say.

Definitely a place everyone should mark down as one to visit before you die.

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Dwarfed in the

Land

Giants of the

By Momina Aijazuddin Saeed

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few weeks ago, I saw an incredible documentary on the US national parks narrated by the inimitable Robert Redford. It traces the protection and conservation efforts that led to the creation of the state parks in the US designed to protect areas of national beauty, such as the Yosemite Valley or the Redwoods of California.

Apparently Theodore Roosevelt, distressed by the successive deaths of his wife and sister, escaped to the parks and realized the healing power of nature.

The Act was sealed into law in 1916 and because of this far-sighted legislation, millions of modern day tourists can enjoy areas of national beauty in the United States.

John Muir, a famous Scottish-American naturalist and author, wrote the following about the mountains: “Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”

Though written many years ago, this hold true even today. Our exhausted family of six, ranging from ages seven to over seventy, decided collectively to disconnect from our urban lives for a week and run to the hills for family bonding. Living abroad, I wanted our children to experience the pristine beauty of the northern areas, the thrill of long mountain drives as well as the completely different cultures present in Pakistan.

Baltistan has been described by writers and explorers as the Roof of the World and a place of exquisite beauty and culture. Nothing quite prepares you for it as the landing in Skardu where one flies through mountains and lakes to land. The topography changes dramatically during the 45-minute flight from the dusty hot plains of the Punjab to the towering slate grey mountains looking imperially over their kingdom. The majestic Indus runs through the sandy plains, wavering over into smaller rivers towards Siachin and K2. Day trips included being literally breathless in the Deosai plains, which have been beautifully captured in Salman Rashid’s travelogue of the region, “Land of the Giants”, as well as swimming and trout fishing in upper and lower Kachura.

Having been a long-standing admirer of the amazing work done by the Aga Khan Foundation Network, I have come away with a renewed

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appreciation at their tireless efforts to restore history and culture whether in Aleppo, Syria or closer to home in Gilgit and Baltit. I was keen on exploring the palaces in Shigar and Khaplu. In his wisdom, the local Raja has handed over the safekeeping of these properties to the Aga Khan network, which shows farsightedness and responsibility. Too many heritage properties have fallen into ruin and disrepair by families who no longer can maintain them; whether in the subcontinent or Europe.

Nowhere is this commitment to preserve the past more dramatic than the lovingly restored old forts at Shigar and Khaplu by AKDN. Beyond restoring the authentic architectural heritage through international architects, the forts are also reflective of the Serena chain’s commitment to sustainability and stunning examples of ecotourism. Care is given to combine cultural preservation with job creation and income generating activities for the local population.

The grounds are lined with fresh fruit trees under which one can lounge around and read on old wooden day beds. We would start early mornings by picking local seasonal fruit for breakfast, guided by patient gardeners explaining that this was the last of the summer cherries in late July, the peak of the apricot season and the beginning of the apple season which lasts until autumn.

It was an idyllic retreat – one wakes to eat a breakfast of fresh apricots and cherries under lush grape vines, with organic buckwheat pancakes and fresh local honey. We would wash fruit in icy fresh river water and go for walks around the grounds and the villages. Occasionally, we would take out our watercolor paints to try to capture the beauty around us, whether the intricate Islamic geometric patterns on the ceilings of Khaplu Fort or the breathtaking views from the rooms. The Serena shops stock fresh apricot and mulberry jams as well as nutty apricot oil made by local NGOs produced according to industry standards.

My children quickly became used to being given luxurious apricot oil massages in the evening after spending their days trekking up hills like mountain goats. It felt otherworldly, a land that time had forgotten. This summer, we had been reading the Persian lyrical poetic Shahnameh and it was like stepping into that magical world of stories – of young princesses with rosy cheeks, green eyes and jet black hair, of young princes on wild horses playing polo, of spiritual men who wander the valley and dispense advice on life, of fishing and swimming in emerald lakes and of animals which could not be found anywhere else. I enticed my kids with stories of children who grew up on diets of fresh trout and apricots rather than Nutella and i-Pads.

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WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID THIS SUMMER

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.”

The Baltistan region is a well-trodden path, particularly for foreign mountain climbers and trekkers. On our way past Khaplu towards the K2 base camp, we came across a foundation in memory of Felix, a mountain climber from Spain who had spent his time trekking and climbing in the area. On his untimely death, his family still manages the Foundation, which has set up girls’ schools and other initiatives for the social and economic uplift of the local community. One of the foundation’s many recipients is a young girl who trained as a gender specialist and focuses on educating and empowering women in the area. While it appears that there is so much that can be done to drive up the Balti people’s income and living conditions, they seem to have a better life than us in so many ways.

On the way back from Skardu to Islamabad, the plane was scattered with experienced trekkers from UK, Italy and even America, who had come to trek to Concordia in the summer. We began chatting and had an interesting discussion that this would be the land we would all like to escape to – devoid of Trump making daily pronouncements about Muslims or the depressing cycle of violence that plagues the news.

So we have resolved to return to our daily lives, a little less over-civilized, armed with bottles of apricot oil to try and retain some of that magical Balti feeling. For those of you who consider a trip up there, do visit before this too succumbs to the modernity of civilization.

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HISSAM ALI HYDER Globe Trotter

By Zahra Hidayatullah

Ranked amongst the world’s top 5% polo players, with one of the highest handicaps (6), Hissam Hyder is the shining sports-star who keeps the torch lit for Pakistan on some of the most prestigious polo grounds in the world.

Photography: Jaffer Hasan

LEGENDS

Recent winner of the Coronation Cup, this polo hero serves on the Board of Directors at Guards Polo Club and is part of the HPA, the handicapping committee in England. Here he talks exclusively about his passion for polo, his love for horses, his desire for cloning and getting a proper picture taken with HM Queen Elizabeth II.

beautiful place and always buzzing with tourists, so there is not a single dull moment over the course of the summer.

ou’re ranked amongst the top 5% polo players in the world. Tell us about this journey to your sporting success. How and where did it start?

It has been a long journey; it started when I was about age 3 and I learnt how to ride. Then by age 8 I was playing polo, thanks to my dad who always pushed me towards sports. Looking back, I remember there wasn't a single sport I didn't play, that too on a good level whilst growing up. When I turned 18, I got my big break to play in the UAE and from there I came to England and have been playing at Guards Polo Club since. It's been about 15 years now and it's taken a lot of good polo ponies, hard work and dedication to get here. One has to stay focused because nothing in life is easy; every goal requires consistency and commitment.

As Asia’s first polo player to participate in the Commonwealth team against England at the Coronation Cup where you held the national flag high and won the match, how did it feel representing Pakistan at the prestigious tournament?

In regards to polo, fortunately, we have a good scene going in Lahore. I actively take part in the Lahore polo season, which is December through March, prior to which I'm in Argentina for the Argentinian season. It's quite a nomadic lifestyle; you travel to catch the polo season throughout the year, but it's like having the best of both worlds because you can live in Pakistan and when you get a little bored of that routine, you move on to the next destination. It's exciting!

You maintain a stable of 10-12 horses in Windsor.

Tell us about your love for horses.

To put it briefly, a good polo pony is everything. Half the game you play depends on the type of horse you have. It is very important for a polo player to have good thoroughbred polo ponies because those know exactly how to move; they practically run as fast as bullets, hence they are vital to success. As someone who plays polo professionally and passionately, it’s difficult not to love horses. I’ve grown up around horses. They are hardworking, strong animals that help me on a day-to-day basis.

I owe them plenty hence I give them the best life I can at the stables. The equine are well looked after and also get some time off when the season is over; they’re sent off to the paddocks to chill out until the following season.

It was one of the best feelings in the world, I always represent Pakistan but to officially represent my country was another thing altogether. I was ecstatic, especially by the support that was present. Most of the crowd was rooting for Pakistan and the Commonwealth team. There were people waving Pakistani flags all over the standees. The ambience was truly mind blowing and that put a lot of pressure on winning, especially given the fact that it was a level of polo I had never played prior to this. I mean, to play 27 goals is another ball game completely. The game is so fast paced that you're on edge from beginning to end. With skill and luck by our side, we did bring home the trophy. It took a moment to sink in that we had indeed won and that was an ecstatic feeling. It was also brilliant having family and friends fly in from all around the world to support me.

You currently live in Berkshire, Windsor. Tell us about life there. What prompted your move there?

Is it partly because polo is not a commercial sport in Pakistan?

Well, I live in Windsor for 6 months a year because I play the English polo season here. Guards Polo Club is located within Windsor, so I live here for work purposes, though I love the town. It's a 119

LEGENDS The science of cloning horses has come to polo.

Your favourite player and fellow Windsor resident, Adolfo Cambiaso is known to clone his horses. Any horse of yours you would like cloned?

My beautiful grey pony, Pampero. He is one of the strongest yet so gentle. He is getting old now so it would be great if I could clone him.

You play polo seasons in three continents – Argentina, Pakistan and the UK. How do you manage that and still stay on top of things?

It requires a lot of organization to play polo across the globe and live the life I do, but 15 years later, I have a system going so it's quite manageable at this point. I have good people that work for me and know exactly what to do.

Argentina is the mecca for polo. You often play there. Tell us about your annual quarterly trips and life in general in South America.

It most certainly is! I am there every year from September through December. The polo there is incredible. There are polo grounds in every nook and corner in Pilar, which is basically the polo hub, not to forget the huge polo ground right in the centre of Buenos Aires, with all the skyscrapers 120

surrounding it – that is where the high goal tournaments are played. When I’m in Argentina, time goes by so fast!

I also organize polo for one of the guys I work for there, who is a very close friend of mine, Satinder Garcha; so when he is there, then the days go by in the blink of an eye. We have a great time, all

polo-oriented, and we eat good food. The meat in Argentina as you may know is the best in the world.

How often do you find yourself travelling?

I find myself in an airplane cabin every couple of months, if not before.

What are some of your packing essentials?

I am the lightest packer in the world. I take a couple of tees, a few pairs of pants and toiletries – that’s most of it. I'm not fussed at all. My polo kit is the essential part and that's always ready for the next adventure.

Do you play any other sports? If so, which ones?

I love golf, and tennis. In fact, I play a lot of golf.

One has to stay focused because nothing in life is easy; every goal requires consistency and commitment.

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LEGENDS If you had not been a polo player, what else would you have liked to be?

Before I wanted to be a polo player, I thought I would grow up to be a professional golfer. Growing up that's what I wanted to do over everything else.

How would you describe an ideal day in the life of Hissam Ali Hyder?

I strive for adventure and new things, so I can't exactly say what an ideal day would be. Most of my days thankfully are ideal. Typically, I wake up early, work out, shower, then go to the stables to check on my horses. I then have brunch, followed by a polo game or practice. Then if I'm not too tired, I'll head out for dinner to central London maybe, or a fun restaurant. Something along those lines.

It is said that you met HM, Queen Elizabeth II and she even spoke with you. What is your most cherished memory as a polo player.

I have a few so far – the ones that pop from the top of my head are: winning the St. Moritz Snow Polo World Cup, then it would be the Royal Windsor final where HM Queen Elizabeth II presented me with a trophy, and lastly the final of the Coronation Cup.

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Another great day for me was getting the board of directors picture taken at Guards Polo Club and HM Queen Elizabeth was present for that as well.

Despite numerous successes and being the most valuable player in Pakistan as well as on many international circuits, you mostly remain under the radar. Is it by choice or because of the poor visibility that this exclusive ‘sport of kings’ gets on mainstream media?

Well personally, I do shy away from too much publicity at times, but I have to say, polo is a very niche sport, therefore the coverage is extremely limited. Not everyone can connect with the sport; it’s not the easiest sport to start playing either so I do think that most of the time the media doesn't see the point of covering it, which is a pity as it's a beautiful game.

We heard you are also venturing into food business soon. If it’s true, tell us about it and any other future plans.

Oh yes, cannot reveal too much at this point but I will be opening a restaurant of my own this year, so do watch this space!

ADVERTORIAL

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my SQUARE

MILE

Hissam Hyder takes us around his favourite spots in Windsor.

Oakley Court Hotel Located inside a stately Victorian manor, overlooking the River Thames, the hotel has been the setting for many a film and also has its own polo team.

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2 Fifield Polo Club Stables Home to Hissam’s beloved horses, the stables are set over 70 acres of Berkshire countryside.

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Guards Polo Club The Club was founded on 25th January 1955 with HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as President. It is now the largest polo club in Europe in terms of membership and number of grounds.

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Windsor Castle and Eton Riverside Windsor Castle is the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world and it's rich history spans almost 1,000 years.

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The Long Walk This stunning tree-lined avenue is the ideal place for leisurely strolls or a strenuous jog, as well as for a spot of riding and deer-watching.

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VISIONARY

Power Lunch

TBuilding ony D avis The Dream

By Zahra Hidayatullah

DESTINATIONS talks exclusively to retail guru Tony Davis at the site of his latest project, the Packages Mall, to get to know the man making it practically possible for the country’s investors to implement their dream projects and take Pakistan head to head with other countries.

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Photography: Ubaid-ur-Rehman

VISIONARY

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T

ony Davis is currently working in Pakistan as Retail Advisor to Packages Mall, Lahore, and the World Trade Center in Islamabad. He has previously consulted with Dolmen Mall in Karachi and the Emporium Mall, Lahore.

Tony has been in the retail industry for more than 35 years, based out of Western Australia. He has consulted on site sourcing, research, property review, development, leasing, and retail management for a wide range of commercial retail projects.

Since 2006, Tony has been a significant force in the retail transformation of Pakistan. From a culture of shopping plazas and markets, the country is progressing towards indoor malls of international standards. From Dolmen Mall in Karachi, Centaurus Mall in Islamabad, and mid-sized malls in Lahore like Fortress Square, we are now witnessing the next level of international standard retail through the recently opened Emporium Mall and the upcoming Packages Mall.

Tony’s depth of expertise and retail wisdom is reflected in the scale and sophistication of Packages Mall where local workers were self-policing their quality of work and were engaged in construction activity with building experts from around the world. Walking through the mall’s 1.2 million square foot constructed area, it was impossible not to imagine the many exciting times and experiences that lay ahead for those in Lahore and those who come to visit this new destination.

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VISIONARY You have been working with leading property and retail entities in Pakistan ever since you came here to set up Colliers International in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Which in your experience is the more relevant industry in Pakistan at the moment – property or retail?

Fundamentally, it’s all property. There are different kinds of property: agricultural, industrial, residential, commercial and so on. Shopping centres fall under the commercial category. My passion is in the retail industry. It provides me with an environment that makes me want to get up and go to work every day.

When I’m in Pakistan, I work two weeks in a row, without any off-days, from 7am to 10pm, non-stop, and I only do it because I enjoy it. I don’t think of it as work.

How would you describe behavioural differences in retail habits between Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad? The question might be more relevant for Karachi at the moment than it has been in Lahore so far. Why do you think that is the case?

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it was Nadeem Riaz. It was at that time that he set up Dolmen Mall on Tariq Road, Karachi. I would go so far as to say, Pakistan owes a lot to Nadeem Riaz who pioneered this industry and took unprecedented risks. He controlled what the tenants did, how the shops developed and how people interacted in the space. With a hands-on approach, he catalyzed a paradigm shift in the way people shop.

How are these new retail projects helping in creating new skilled labour in Pakistan?

Packages has around 3,000 on-going jobs at the mall site. We have construction specialists flown in from all over the world – Russia, Italy and Portugal – who are experts in ceilings and tiling and are training local labour to do the job themselves.

Since brands and other retail outlets are more or less similar in all malls, what in your opinion gives one mall an advantage over the other?

When I first came to Pakistan ten years ago, I was shown a shopping centre in Karachi and was told that it was the best shopping centre in the country at the moment. It was an eye opener. I was really taken aback by the standards being applied to retail quality and realized there was a lot of potential to develop this sector.

There are a lot of different operators, different shops and different crowds that determine the shopping experience in one mall and make it different from another. The requirement to go to one mall versus another depends heavily on what kind of experience the consumer is looking for. We just have to be the best at what we do so that when people come to the mall, they get a satisfying experience and find what they are looking for.

At that point the one person who understood what the retail sector was about and stepped in to develop

It is also about who does the better job of raising customer expectations. Malls will have to define

standards that customers are so far not even expecting. Once we raise those expectations, we will have to compete for achieving those standards, and whoever succeeds in doing so will get more footfall.

What is the criteria of choosing a shop location within a mall?

What matters for us is getting all the brands vertical transport. For this, we have got to make sure that we get our public facilities in the right places – restrooms, errands room, parking – so it is convenient yet people are able to walk past all of the shops giving the retailers a better opportunity to get increased footfall.

Therefore, it is really important that we accommodate all these retail requirements in the initial design and then execute them in the later stage.

What is the advantage of mall culture for consumers and retailers?

There are two distinct kinds of market places in Pakistan: the conventional open markets and the malls. As opposed to old school stand-alone shops, malls have the convenience of guaranteed traffic flow, parking space, air conditioning, a clean environment, relative safety, the opportunity for window shopping and other international retail facilities. This makes it more likely for high spenders to visit malls. Malls are also a better destination for families, because parents can feel relatively safer letting adolescent children walk about on their own. It creates a different experience for everyone in the family.

“Malls will have to define standards that customers are so far not even expecting. Once we raise those expectations, we will have to compete for achieving those standards.”

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VISIONARY

“There’s also a long term approach to training and development.

Does having a shop in an international retail environment prepare a brand better to compete globally?

Most certainly! They become more confident about their product and definitely more competitive. Having said that, a good brand is a good brand! Retailing is one of the most competitive industries in the world. In malls, there is a casualty rate of 10-15% for brands, but the strong brands survive.

How is your experience of working with Pakistani business professionals?

It’s great. There’s a lot of warmth and personal attention to the employees’ well being. I see that as a unique quality. There are some remarkable organizations and individuals here, working with a futuristic approach; investing in and growing the local economy.

Look at Packages for example; they’ve come into the retail property business with a very long-term perspective. They are looking at it professionally, not going into retail themselves but focusing on being the best property management group. I think we are really lucky to have someone like Khalid Yacob heading this project. A leader like Khalid understands that life is a cycle; you’ve got to learn, grow, and go forward. It’s because of this approach that we have such an equal opportunity work place, with everyone working together, at Packages Mall.

There’s also a long-term approach to training and development. We are developing not only the management cadres, but local contractors and suppliers too. This is essential for Pakistan. For instance, there are 250 shopping centres of different cadres in Perth, which has a population of only 1.7 million. You can compare that to the whole of Pakistan and see how this sector is going to grow over the next few years! So we are making these vendors and contractors invest in equipment and technology, making them understand the benefits.

As a frequent traveller who divides time between his hometown, Perth and currently, Lahore, what are some of your packing essentials?

Nice biscuits for my colleagues! I am not a fancy traveller. I usually stick to the essentials such as my computer, the chargers, and my toiletries bag.

How do you unwind?

For starters, I like to go to the beach. I like going fishing and have been deep-sea fishing in Karachi. But what I enjoy the most is watching a good game of cricket.

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Photography: Ubaid-ur-Rehman

Sameer Chishty The Alchemist

By Zahra Hidayatullah

With over 20 years of top-tier consulting and senior management experience, financier and FinTech investor, Sameer Chishty is a business force to reckon with.

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W

ith an overarching career spanning across prestigious institutions such as McKinsey & Company, Merrill Lynch, Standard Chartered, and Bain & Company, and through the length of the globe from New York to London, Singapore, Sydney, and Hong Kong, Sameer is currently Managing Director of Streeton Partners in Hong Kong, a firm he founded.

You wrote a wonderful travel story in The Harvard Crimson about “A Weekend in Paris” back in 1992 when you were a staff writer for the prestigious college publication. And now, you’re back in Paris with DESTINATIONS. It seems like this city has always held a special place in your heart. Tell us about your love for the City of Lights.

Most people associate Paris with romance or culture or food; my first associations of Paris were about my father. He was a naval officer, a huge military history buff, massive Francophile and one of the biggest admirers of Napoleon Bonaparte you were ever likely to meet. One of the happiest days of my father’s life was when President Francois Mitterrand awarded him the Ordre National du Merite for services to friendship between France and Pakistan. For a long time I saw Paris through my father’s eyes as the city of Napoleon. As an adult I’ve been fortunate to have visited Paris enough times to revel in its many other sights, sounds, tastes, outside of Musee de L’Armee, Les Invalides and Le Tombeau!

What’s absolutely wonderful about Paris is you can have any kind of experience you want, and it can be different each time. It can be a culinary adventure.

Or cultural immersion. Or sightseeing. Or romantic getaway. Any which way you choose, it’s going to be memorable.

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Name a few of your favourite sights and destinations you would recommend to visitors in the French capital.

I strongly recommend slowing down when you get to Paris. Not trying to hurriedly check things off some long list. I would suggest lingering in a few places, letting Paris embrace you.

Here are a few suggestions. Take in the vast spaces around Place de la Concorde and Place Vendome.

Walk across Pont Neuf and take the stairs down to the water, sit under the tree. Check out Hotel de Ville de Paris. For museums, I love Musee d’Orsay’s collection, the Orangerie, as well as Musee Rodin which is superbly peaceful, especially the gardens.

And, of course, the grandeur of Imperial France – crossing Pont Alexandre III, through Musee de l’Armee, to Napoleon’s final resting place. On our last trip this summer we spent an entire day strolling around Ile St Louis and up to Place des Vosges, eating along the way, pausing to admire the buildings and statues and churches.

Eating through Paris is a favourite recreational activity for many, of which I too am guilty. Even on short business trips, make sure you step out for lunch; few things beat a quality Parisian bistro meal. There’s an incredible amount of choice in terms of type of food and price level. As they say, it’s a gourmand’s paradise.

Musée d'Orsay

Pont Alexandre III

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Le Dôme Café

Rue des Martyrs

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What I also enjoy doing is watching the waiters in brasseries and bistros at work. They have an admirable dedication to their work, it’s like a craft.

The French call it a métier, it’s so much more than a job. You see it in how they slice up the baguettes or uncork a bottle or fillet the fish table-side. It’s a delight, almost on par with the food.

What was your most interesting Parisian moment?

Discovering Rue des Martyrs has to rank up there.

It’s a delightful street, packed with all manner of deliciousness. Locally-sourced vegetables, fruits, chocolates. Delectable food. Ice creams. I swear, you put on five pounds just looking at the food.

Sometimes it will be a large company that we transform. Other times it’s a startup that we create, nurture, advise, collaboratively build. Currently we are active in Greater China, Northern Europe, California, and New York.

What is the quintessential experience of working in the FinTech venture capital industry and what makes it a great sector to be part of?

One of my earliest happiest memories is when we celebrated my mother’s birthday at the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. Stunning views. Chocolate cake.

Sparklers. As a 12-year-old, things didn’t get much better!

I’ve worked in almost 35 countries, and discovered that all of humanity has a few important things in common. We want our children to have better lives than us; we want to live a life of dignity where we can afford some comforts and every day luxuries; and we want to retire in peace without being a burden. What unites is far greater than what divides us. Those are everyone’s dreams. In its true purpose, in its finest form, financial services companies help customers’ dreams come true.

Most recent memories are of walks around Paris, and long conversations over meals with friends. We were just at Drouant by Antoin Wassermann, which certainly is excellent food. What made it memorable was sitting outside most of the afternoon on a gentle summer day with friends, in a quiet and super pretty square. The Prix Goncourt is awarded in this restaurant, and the staff gave us a tour of the cozy salons where the decisions are deliberated by the great minds. Plus, there’s a great cigar shop next door. What else do you want?

When I was at Standard Chartered we developed a fantastic TV commercial that talked about parents making their dreams come true of their child fulfilling her potential. We ran the same ad in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and it was well received, because we all share the same dream. We developed products that helped you with disciplined saving and intelligent investing; the same products were launched across the world, in the Sub Continent, Africa, Middle East, South East China, Greater China, Korea. Incredible!

Streeton Partners, the name of your new investment firm, is a shout-out to your alma mater, Karachi Grammar School. Tell us more about it.

KGS was good to my brother and I, and we were good to it! Shaheryar was House Captain and Victor Ludorum, while I was School Captain, and we both were massively loyal Streeton House members. It’s where we first learned about teamwork, leadership, competing, winning, losing; all essential skills for life. And the simple compelling motto stays with you long after: Excelsior.

Technology has been, and will continue making financial services better for customers; successful firms will adopt it in creative and unique ways. We want to weave financial services with technology to reclaim why this sector exists – delivering better customer outcomes for their life’s dreams. We don’t waste our time trying to philosophically figure out what classifies as disruptive or entrepreneurial or award-winning or whatever. We don’t want tech for the sake of tech. If tech makes things better in terms of customer experience we like it. If tech helps customers borrow wisely, invest intelligently, transact cheaply, we like it.

Streeton Partners takes a film studio approach to financial services. Instead of films, we produce financial services companies.

As an added personal bonus, financial services and tech attract super smart, high energy, creative, driven, dedicated people. They’re inspirational.

We identify opportunities in financial services, then assemble a team of visionary investors and world-class executives to build companies that best capture that opportunity. Based on our experience, analysis, and insights on consumers, tectonic macro trends, and tech developments, we have developed a clear view of what needs to happen in financial services. Instead of waiting for the future to happen, we are creating it.

As a developing country, Pakistan still has plenty of room to grow in the FinTech industry. Do you have any plans for expanding FinTech in Pakistan?

There is already some good work being done in Pakistan FinTech by entrepreneurs and inside several incumbent financial institutions. A lot of the elements required for FinTech do exist and Pakistan is on our radar. Stay tuned.

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What’s absolutely wonderful about Paris is you can have any kind of experience you want, and it can be different each time.

Sameer Chishty and Tiffany Kwok

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Eifel Tower

Pont Neuf

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A WORLD OF GOOD

Agents of

change

By Hira Ali

Meet the dreamers, doers and innovators who not only challenge the status quo but play a key role in remodelling and transforming the lifestyle, social condition and economic standing of communities, countries and sometimes even the world at large.

These inspirational beings are identified by the projects they take on and the positive changes they help bring about.

Musharaf Hai, Managing Director L’Oreal Pakistan, Geoff Skingsley, EVP L’Oreal Middle East and Africa & Mehreen Syed, Chairperson ICARE. 142

Beauty for a

BETTER

LIFE

L’Oreal Pakistan and ICARE, an initiative by supermodel Mehreen Syed, collaborate to make a change, one employed woman at a time.

A WORLD OF GOOD

or nearly 30 years, Zareena has been struggling to find a way to support her family. It tears her apart to watch her elderly parents work tirelessly to look after her and her three younger siblings and she feels that it’s time she did something to take charge of the situation.

That’s where supermodel Mehreen Syed’s NGO ICARE comes in. Founded under the aegis of Syed’s International Fashion Academy of Pakistan (IFAP), the country’s first private training institute for professionals working in the fashion industry, ICARE aims to empower women by providing them with technical expertise in the field of hair and make-up.

“I’ve personally struggled a lot in my life,” Syed speaks in an emotional manner to explain her motivation for setting up the NGO. “Having reached this level of success, I vowed that I would make sure other women didn’t have to suffer the kind of hardships and failures that I endured. This is my way of giving back.”

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The day I meet Zareena, she is proudly gearing up for her graduation ceremony. Zareena is amongst the first batch of women to have benefitted from “Beauty for a Better Life”, a philanthropic educational programme with the mission to not only empower women but also provide them with a sense of self-esteem, through a 3-month, free-of-charge professional make-up training course. A joint collaboration between L’Oreal Paris and ICARE, the programme aims to make the participating women self-sufficient enough to support their families.

The unnervingly tall and captivatingly gorgeous Mehreen Syed, who acted as a mentor to the trainees, shows me around the well-equipped IFAP headquarters where the training course took place.

She’s been on ground since early morning, prepping the girls for the ceremony and making sure everything is running like clockwork.

She walks me into a room with work stations equipped with make-up generously provided by L’Oreal Paris. Next to each station stands a trained student responsible for the makeover of the models, bloggers and socialites filling the seats. The girls’ skills are being put to the test and along with me, quite a few models are present as supporters of this wonderful cause. I spot Zara Peerzada, Sadaf Kawal, Anam Malik and Sonia Nazir.

This particular day was the first interaction the students were going to have with clients and that too, such glamorous ones! Yet I was glad to see that the girls were confident, quick on their feet, and very excited to test their strenuous training. I introduced myself to Zareena and after a few quick words about the make-up style that I preferred, she picked up her tools. With a swift movement of the hand, a puff here and a stroke there, she read my mind like an open book.

Stealing conversation while getting my make-up done, I found out more about the women enrolled in the programme. The lack of decent employment opportunities had driven them to a point of hopelessness but “Beauty for a Better Life” had turned their lives around.

Extremely enthusiastic about the options now open to them, Zareena told me that they all have big dreams and bright plans.

exploring their talent. It is so special to achieve success after a period of tough adversity and circumstance; this is very close to my heart!”

Not only has the training programme taught these women the secrets of make-up application but it has also educated them about the importance of marketing, dealing with numbers, bits of accounting and more importantly, how to interact with clients. They were taught the paramount importance of leaving the client satisfied.

“The programme is designed in accordance with the international standards in theory and practice of the L’Oreal Foundation.”

The graduation ceremony kicked off with a welcome note delivered by Syed. She recounted her own struggles as well as those of the graduating batch and emotions ran high as the trainees received their certificates proudly, with many on stage and in the audience holding back tears.

Impressed thoroughly by my daytime make-up look, I commended Zareena on her remarkable skills. I could recognize behind that wide smile the sense of achievement she felt and how much the exposure had improved her self-confidence.

Talking about the ceremony, L’Oréal Pakistan General Manager, DPP Salman Amjad said, “The programme is designed in accordance with the international standards in theory and practice of the L’Oréal Foundation. In Pakistan, we specifically want to cater to the youth and to make them financially independent.”

Syed, overwhelmed at having accomplished a project she had dreamed of, said, “This is a very proud and emotional moment for me. These girls are now on their journey of self-reliance and

This batch is the first of many and the collaboration will continue in the months to come with the aim of making the country a better place, one employed woman at a time.

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OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

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CELESTIAL stone

By Salman Rashid

Barren and rocky, Kafir Kot – Infidels’ Fortis an unremarkable place but for the group of seven extraordinarily ornate buildings, all Hindu temples, that crown its top.

I

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

n August sparse grass provided a veneer of green to the rocky hillside. Otherwise it was barren with nary a tree for shade. But there was silence. Silence, overwhelming and complete that remained undisturbed by the distant sound of traffic. Such is the hill of – that lies outside the village of Bilot some forty kilometres north of Dera Ismail Khan on the highroad to Chashma. Barren and rocky, it would be an unremarkable place but for the group of seven extraordinarily ornate buildings, all Hindu temples, that crown its top.

Here is a flat-topped edifice whose tapering shikhara, or steeple, gave way long ago. It is likely that more than the malevolent hand of man, it was the passage to time that wrought its overthrow. A little way off behind it are two more on a high plinth. One has an angular shikhara whose unique feature are the gaping oblong windows. Barely ten metres across on the same plinth and directly facing this building is another. A couple of hundred

metres to the north, across a stretch of ground thickly sprinkled with the detritus of houses whose foundations are all that remain and broken pottery, is a group of four buildings. These too sit atop a raised plinth.

Behind these and a little to the side is the stub of yet another temple. From a visit back in December 1988 I vaguely remember seeing this complete and wonder if it fell to the vengeful hand of believers after the sacrilege in Ayodhya in December 1992.

That was when fanatical Sadhus tore down a five-hundred-year old mosque and avenging Pakistanis destroyed temples and baradaris at home. But I could be wrong. If they did indeed come with their hammers and pick axes, why would they spare the rest of the buildings? The ones that stand intact, if their condition permits calling them intact, number seven in all. Around the western and northern rim of the hill, runs a fortification wall interspersed with massive turrets.

It is impossible for even the most blasé of travellers not to be impressed by the extravagance of the construction at Kafir Kot Bilot. The façade’s intricate and repetitive horseshoe patterns or gavaksha (literally Pivot of the Sun), the cogged amlaka (fruit of the amla tree) and the symphonic repetition of pilasters with stylised capitals and bases are reminders of the fullness of the craftsmen’s vocabulary of embellishment.

Obviously whichever king ordered this extraordinary complex to be raised was possessed of a great deal of affluence. From the number of temples it is obvious, too, that this complex of fortified temples was a college for Vedic learning. If anything, the vast ruins of foundations surely mark the rooms and rooms where young students laboured away over ancient religious tomes. Strangely, however, the silence that prevails over this abandoned and ruinous site reaches far back into the annals of history: there is absolutely no mention of this wonderful place in any historical work whether ancient or contemporary. It is strange indeed that a place of such opulence should have escaped the notice of men like Mahmud the Ghaznavide or Timur the Lame – savage men claiming to be charged with iconoclastic fervour.

Interestingly John Wood, the 19th century explorer, who journeyed up the Indus on his way to discover the source of the Oxus River, paused to explore another Kafir Kot. Called Kafir Kot Tilot it lies atop a low hill smack on the Indus about 30 kilometres north of Bilot. Like Bilot it has an encircling rampart but flaunts only three temples besides a ruined double-storeyed house, all apparently contemporaneous with Bilot. Tilot also finds mention is the works of Alexander Burnes and the mysterious Charles Masson, both Wood’s contemporaries. But strangely enough all three fail even to hear of this far grander Kafir Kot at Bilot.

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“There is absolutely no mention of this wonderful place in any historical work whether ancient or contemporary.”

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK The temples of Bilot (and Tilot as well), among a chain of temples that stretch from Nandna on the eastern extremity of the Salt Range right though the hills to the Indus, are collectively known as the Hindu Shahya temples. Among this number are Ketas Raj and the exquisite beauty of Malot besides a number of others. All these are believed to have been raised by Hindu Shahya kings who ruled over Kashmir and the northern parts of Punjab and NWFP just before the Ghaznavide explosion.

The period following the end of the Mauryan empire (late 3rd century BC) right down to the 6th century AD was one of endless flux and upheaval. But after the White Huns were defeated and dispersed by a Rajput army in AD 528, there followed nearly five hundred years of peace. There were no incursions into the subcontinent from the northwest until the last years of the 10th century when

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Mahmud the robber king made his first foray. In that period of peace and tranquillity kings possessed of great wealth set to constructing these fortified temple complexes. It is remarkable that of the entire set of Hindu Shahya temples (there being eight, including the two Kafir Kots) only Nandna is clearly mentioned in history.

It is understandable if some smaller and less significant sites remain historically ignored, but it is a niggling mystery when a site as fabulous as Kafir Kot Bilot misses the glare of history. And so in the absence of historical reference, lore invents a Raja Bil who founded this complex while his brother Til founded Tilot long before the advent of Islam. A third brother, Akil, is said to have been the founder of Akilot now marked by the mound of Akra just outside Bannu.

In an age when Rajput princes were named as grandly as Lalitaditya or Yasodharman or Durlabhavardhan, even a poor potter’s son would not have such a silly, meaningless name as Til or Bil. Consequently I do not believe there were rajas called by such ridiculous names. These remain the invention of ignorant local historians attempting to explain the names of Bilot or Tilot.

That does nothing to reduce the significance of the ruins of Kafir Kot, however. Even if there has been no scientific inquiry into its history, we know from the architectural style that the temple complex of Bilot was raised sometime in the 11th century. Other than that, silence pervades the hilltop shrine.

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ART SPEAKS

Installation by Ayesha Rumi I approach visual arts as a set of experiments that test whether ideas such as authorship, nationality, borders, and democracy adequately describe today’s increasingly global and consumerist society. Meaning, for me does not exist in advance of the work in process. My interest lies in the ‘making’—the building of an object that will generate meaning— and creating a dialogue between ephemeral and eternal. Using materials that exhibit these qualities such as photosensitive pigments on plaster, I’ve created images which like the artist and his surroundings also change with time. In this endeavour I’ve abandoned standard narrative conventions in favor of an exploration of materials, processes, and structures.

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The

of

By Mariam Zulfiqar

I

ART SPEAKS

n June 2016 I visited the BNU thesis show for the School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD). My visit followed on from a guest presentation I gave at SVAD about my own curatorial work as a commissioner of art in the public realm in the UK. SVAD’s faculty, comprised of international practitioners, encourages and supports a multi-disciplinary approach to art making. The School facilitates experimentation and exploration, creating conditions where students can form connections between art and other forms of knowledge production.

I was invited by the university to write a review about the exhibition, and while reflecting on the artworks, I also considered my position as a curator visiting from London.

Being a curator involves a knowledge of artistic production, art history and the context in which art and the discourse that surrounds it are produced. As a form of specialism, it also creates conditions where the curator becomes a validator of artworks and produces a hierarchy where the few become those qualified to speak about art. With an awareness of these existing hierarchies, I look for ways in which alternative voices can be included. I am interested in the process of making art accessible and how the horizon of contemporary art discourse can be broadened. As SVAD encourages experimentation, the methodology of this piece complements their goal by experimenting with alternative modes of review writing.

Below is an extract of a conversation I had with my cousin Shahryar Beg, a 22-year-old musician and law student who visited the show with me. We discussed the various themes and approaches of the artists and the context in which young artists in Lahore are currently making work. By sharing the platform I have been given, this experimental piece is reflective of the ways in which alternative voices can be included in art discourse. The piece challenges my own position as a validator or narrator within art and this review is a deliberate collaboration with someone who falls outside the critic, curator, writer matrix.

As we drove home from the exhibition, I asked Shahryar about his initial impression of the artworks and the show as a whole…..

SB: I really enjoyed it. It had a really experiential quality to it and I felt the ideas were accessible.

Muqaddas Babar’s work for example, the purpose is to climb and engage with her sculptures on a personal level. Her work isn’t just about what she is trying to represent – it’s her capacity, through the work to alter how you feel in that moment. I climbed two of her works, they were quite tall, they didn’t feel very stable…in fact they had just the right amount of wobble to making the climb terrifying, but when you got to the top the experience was surreal.

MZ: What do you mean by surreal?

SB: The worked engaged me in a physical way – but it managed to alter my state of mind at that point. It was more than just visually or formally appealing, it was something that managed to change the way I was feeling by terrifying me and then giving me an overwhelming sense of calm.

Another artist that managed to tease out an emotional response was Naima Khan. Her work was based on her insecurities and managed to evoke a feeling of discomfort within the viewer. There was the piece where someone was having something poured into their ear. Her works drew on her own emotions while being a catalyst for those emotions to be stirred in the viewer.

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MZ: What about some of the other works that were not addressing the artists’ personal experiences or struggles? There were works that were addressing broader themes. I’m thinking in particular of the work

by Afifa Mirza. This caught my attention due to my interest in art that is located in the public realm. My interest in art presented outside the gallery space started when I first encountered works by artists like Robert Smithson. This was back in the 90s. Since then I have explored the various ways in which ‘public art’ or ideas around art in the public domain have evolved. This piece struck me because it was making an interesting point about the relationship between an object and the space it inhabits. It also got me thinking about the existence of art in the public domain and also public space itself in Lahore.

SB: Initially I did not understand her work but the last conversation I had at the show was with Afifa.

Through that conversation I realised that her work was incredible. She’s gone really far into her investigation of the relationship between space and object and the different ways one can read that relationship. I realised that this is something I had often thought about but her articulation made me consider the numerous ways in which one can think about this idea.

MZ: That highlighting of space and object and how one influences or is influenced by the other is something I am constantly reflecting on. Thinking more broadly about this, particularly from an economic perspective, some works could be seen as comments on the production of art itself; how art relates to its economic surroundings and what it has become as a result of those surroundings.

SB: I did read some of the work and their production from a Marxist perspective. In the Textile & Fibre studies part of the exhibition I saw that Asra Shahid had put price tags on the work. That was really interesting because for me art is about ideas, its value is based on the ideas it is born of and how it manages to engage the viewer with those ideas. The fact that Asra included the price tags portrays an alternative purpose of art, or a different goal altogether. The idea of an economic value was highlighted and sat alongside the presentation of an idea via the objects.

It was quite a layered work. Within the mind of the student there sits the economic value placed on their own production. But saying that, how deliberate that was, is not for me to comment on.

MZ: It was interesting how that work managed to bring together technique, weaving, carpets, design, colour, domestic object, and also made reference to the other forms of value and pressures that exist.

And like Afifa’s work – they both managed to get you thinking about wider backdrops against which these young artists are currently working. I wonder how much the artists are aware of Lahore’s own Marxist history?

SB: I know very little about Lahore’s Marxist history but not enough to be able to comment, but it’s surprising how much even students are exposed to the market. A lot of the art students I know say they are often asked if anything sold at their end of year show. The idea that your success at a thesis show is measured by whether or not you sold a work – that in itself I think may be part of the reason why so many artists are involved in the production of an object. I feel that the search to create a marketable product is potentially quite damaging for the advancement of ideas. I don’t feel that thinking at college or university level should really come with that burden or expectation. But at the same time I don’t blame an artist for it because ultimately they want to make money from their work, so at some point the economic and market forces will be something they will be considering – it’s how they navigate that and how the ideas can thrive in spite of that or make reference to that which adds more layers to the work. It’s clear that economy and art are intertwined and at the end of the day, [laughs] Marx might be turning in his grave, but you need to make money in order to survive and if you’re going to pursue something that you love, it has to, in our present time, become a commodity.

MZ: Some of the artists were not making an object for sale, for example, Sara Aslam’s work where she grew plants – the installation looked more like a garden centre or the laboratory of a botanist. One of the themes that came to my mind was time. Sara Aslam’s plants were at a particular stage at the time of their presentation and are probably already bigger just a few days later so they embody a natural time. Ayesha Rumi’s installation of images slowly fading over time and the items growing in the laboratory in petri dishes also got me thinking about time. So we caught a moment of growth and erasure which made us both witnesses at only one stage in the process or life of that work. In many ways they act as counterpoints to ideas of permanence. Neither of those two works are ever going to remain how we saw them.

SB: Yeah I loved how those works engaged you with the present moment. The fact that you were able to be a witness to work at a point in its own lifecycle made you really aware of time. Again for me they were experiential but not like the sculptures I climbed. These installations gave the illusion of permanence on first entry but when you stopped to consider what was happening in each work, plants being grown and pictures slowly fading, you started to think more about that moment at which we were a witness and the changes that came just before and those that were yet to come.

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ART SPEAKS MZ: This idea of being a witness…. we were witnesses to the works, witnessed the artists’ ability to foreground issues, and also the tools they are using today to have a voice. The tensions that were highlighted were both personal but also reflected broader social tensions and concerns...

SB: And we were also witnesses to power and the privilege of the few to be able to have a voice. It was interesting the direction and precision with which they chose to use that power. That power and capacity to comment was applied to personal issues or used to reflect broader issues, it highlighted a broad spectrum of approaches.

Power relationships exist in every structure. It’s not necessarily just in art, it’s everywhere, be it within the home, in every community and sphere. Work that we have been looking at indicates power from many perspectives. So Samia Khan’s works are a reflection of many problems that women face in a society but her narrative reflected her own life.

She made herself the subject and the author of domestic and social power issues. Another artist who tackled power and domestic issues was Hira Tahir Mirza. Her work presents two crows and a cup of tea that overflowed and eventually spilled, acting as a metaphor for the nuances and intricacies of Pakistani family life. Her articulation removed herself from the story and in doing so made space for us as the viewer to engage more broadly with the relational and emotional issues.

It’s a real skill to be able to use your own emotion as a starting point but broaden the work so people feel they can connect with the ideas.

MZ: Talking of how an artist uses their power, as a musician, what did you think about Hashir Buhkari and Alina Tauseef’s work?

SB: Hashir Bukhari produced work that focussed on the experience of music. As a musician I saw his piece as a way to make music accessible to people who don’t learn the technique on a specific instrument. For me his work removed the fear of the instrument. You didn’t think, ‘I can’t play this’ –you just sat down and worked with a familiar object like a typewriter without the pressure or fear of playing something incorrectly. Same with the drawers, you can’t mess up opening drawers so you didn’t fear the notes those drawers might play. Sure the objects were instruments of a kind, the keys on the typewriter and the drawers had specific notes assigned to them – but by placing those notes outside of the known pool of instruments, he created a platform to play music without the fear of mistakes. He basically said there was no right way to play and that is something liberating.

It’s interesting that someone from a different department also looked at music but she approached it from a different angle entirely.

Where Hashir tried to engage non-musicians to be 156

musicians via his work, Alina Tauseef tries to bring out the mind of a musician while he or she is playing.

She spoke to a bunch of drummers and asked them what they thought about while they were playing.

She devised a machine based on two drum pads and based on how hard you played, those images were revealed to you. She said her aspiration was to provide an insight into the mind of a musician. In a way they are touching on similar themes – both about how a musician’s mind works but they highlighted very different sides of that theme.

Staying on the theme of the power of the artist, another work that I engaged with in Visual Communication Design was the puzzle by Ebaa Khurram. The work points you towards overlooked aspects within our culture. It’s a work about storytelling where the audience can rearrange the outcome. Within the given parameters you’re allowed to shape the story through the visuals that were on display.

So when it comes to the power of the artist and the power of artwork to evoke a feeling, emotion, or alter a thought, I think the whole show reflects what art and artists can possibly achieve.

MZ: I’ll be interested to see where they all go from this point. These students are going to be the part of the future canon of contemporary art in Pakistan.

Part of me walked around that show and felt like I could have been anywhere in the world, I feel like there is kind of homogeneity that exists in art. I haven’t fully resolved what I think about this.

SB: I have never thought about this in the context of art production, but in human rights law there are two schools of thought – the universalists and the cultural relativists. The universalists believe that there are ‘fundamental’ human rights that transcend cultural and traditional beliefs and practices. The cultural relativists, on the other hand, criticise the universalists for propagating a purely ‘western’ conception of human rights. The problem is that neither of them can be correct because both of these schools of thought have their flaws – the bigger problem is when you decide that one is superior to the other. But that’s an essay in itself…

MZ: I’ve enjoyed our conversation because I don’t really know law in the way you do. Art theory or philosophy provides various prisms through which artistic production can be thought about, but I think in parallel to this there is room for other fields or alternative ways of thinking to help see things from a new angle. Art in itself has become a space for knowledge production, and the discourse that arises from this sphere has its own specificity and peculiarities. In a way it’s a matrix from which new modes of thinking are being produced… and of course, there are always boundaries and limitations… identifying the boundary and seeing how one might go beyond it is an interesting challenge.

ART SPEAKS

Installation by Sara Aslam Through my practice as a visual artist, I look at how we inhabit space and how we take root. Through installations, combining wide range of materials from industrial to ephemeral, I explore the notion of space that sets us to daydream. I build upon a character that has been struggling to find comfort within a self-contained structure, which becomes a battleground for ideas to survive. This space keeps on growing with its inmate, while there is a sense of anxiety and restlessness. I emphasize the very process of considering infinite possibilities to live, particularly with a hope of healing.

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ART SPEAKS

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Installation by Muqaddas Babar For me sculpture is the most successful medium that opens doors to experimentation and allows the viewer to interact with it. I look at it formally and expect the viewer to create his/her own playground around it. Ghosts of certain incidents in life never really leave one’s side.

The basic forms of my sculptures come from my childhood memories and experiences and the process of constructing them is where the childlike playfulness begins. By focusing on techniques and materials I try to develop forms that do not follow the logical criteria, but are based only on subjective associations which incite the viewer to make new personal associations. The sculptures are a blend of both art and architecture.

ART SPEAKS

Umro Aur Aap by Ebaa Khurram Urdu stories have somehow managed to get lost among the pages of books that no Pakistani child of today is interested in. Their survival is further hindered by the majority of Pakistani parents, who possess a mindset where they see nothing wrong with old English stories being repeatedly taught over generations, but feel that Urdu stories from their childhood are simply outdated. A child does what a child sees, so this in turn leaves us with a generation of Pakistani children who show no enthusiasm in reading/learning Urdu stories.

Perhaps what is really needed is a way to stir excitement of what this Pakistani parent had read/heard as a child. Could exploiting nostalgia and one’s wistful affection towards the past be the way to go about reviving generation-old Urdu stories? Could it be that the real focus of concern needs to be the disheartened parent rather than the disinterested child?

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TALK OF THE TOWN KARACHI

The 15th

Lux Style Awards

From red carpet glamour to riveting onstage performances, emotional tributes to witty one-liners, the Lux Style Awards 2016 saw it all, as the best of the fashion, film, television and music worlds came together for one starry evening.

Performance by Sohai Ali Abro

Mahira Khan

Ayesha Omer Fawad Khan

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Meesha Shafi and HSY

Urwa Hocane and Farhan Saeed

Nomi Ansari and Sadaf Kanwal Alyzeh Gabol

Javed Sheikh Sania Maskatiya

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Ali Sethi and Zeb Bangash Rehan Bashir and Kamiar Rokni

Tooba Siddiqui and Humayum Saeed

Performance by Ali Zafar

Osman Khali Butt and Maya Ali

Hasnain Lehri

Nabila

Waleed Khalid

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Shehzad Noor

Frieha Altaf

Rabia Butt

Fauzia Aman

Mawra Hocane

Fareshteh Aslam Amna Babar

Ali Zafar and Ayesha Fazli

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TALK OF THE TOWN LAHORE

Sapphire Concept Store

Launch

With the launch of its luxurious Concept Store in Emporium Mall, high-street giant Sapphire takes retail experience in Pakistan to another level. The mega store, designed

by Yousaf Shahbaz of Strata, not only houses Sapphire’s various prêt and accessories lines under one very stylish roof, it also offers an in-house café and a kids’ play area.

Jehanzeb Amin, Khadijah Shah, Kulsum and

Iqraa Mansha

Nabeel Abdullah

an Mansha

Naz Mansha and Mi

Mehreen Syed

Louise, Isabelle, Helle, Fatima, Charlotte and Simone

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Meharbano

Asma Chishty and Ayesha Noon

Aneela Shah and Yasmin

Bajwa

Natasha Saleem and Adnan Malik

Asif, Nida Bano and Jarrar Shah

Rabia Butt

Aamna Haider Isani

Attiya Noon

Hasnain Lehri

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Mariam Mushtaq

, Haiya Bokhari

Redah Misbah, Shammal, Adnan and Asma

and Mehek Saee

Mumtaz

d

Momina Sibtain

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lid and Deena

Shazreh Kha

Rehman

Maha Burney and Nadir Firoz K

Khan

d Fatima an

Nickie

d Seyhr Anis an

dy Seyham Vahi

Amber Liaqat

Moiz Ali

Maliha Rao

rming Uzair Jaswal Perfo

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Nina

Yousaf Shahbaz

Natasha Monnoo

Libah Ch

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Maheen Ghani Taseer and Rema Taseer

Meher Tareen and Samina

Khan

TALK OF THE TOWN LOS ANGELES

If M MUSIC USIC be the

FOOD of love, PL AY ON

ed…

– and play on it did and rapture flow

O

n the evening of Sunday, August 21, the Pakistan Arts Council of the USC Pacific Asia Museum and LA Grand Performances proved yet again that music has the power to transcend all boundaries. That evening, there was no creed, no colour, no religion, no walls and no language barrier as the music played, and the dancers danced, and the lovers loved. The night mesmerized and brought the crowd to their feet as Fuzon, the Pakistani band from Karachi sang of love, God and evoked saints.

The Pakistan Arts Council aims to create awareness of the arts of Pakistan in the US, and this mission was certainly accomplished as thousands gathered to hear pop songs and qawwalis rendered to perfection by the best of Pakistan. The fusion of the Ayesha Kamran, President of the Pakistan Arts LA Grand Performance and Pakistan Arts Council Council with her son Faiz and daughter Amun teams has been a collaboration that has succeeded where diplomacy and politics have often failed.

Ayesha Kamran, President of the Pakistan Arts Council said it best, “We know we have achieved our goals when we look across the thousands of Angelenos in the audience and feel the joy in their

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souls as they sway and give themselves completely to the call of the music. We can actually feel the barriers break as the music touches the deepest core of humanity.”

Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad Qawwal

Group

Mr. Jabbar Memon with guests

She elaborated that the success of the mega event was only possible through the dedication of Michael Alexander and the magnificent LA Grand Performance team, the tireless Arts Council members, and of course the generous donations and support of the Pakistan Consulate of LA and Consul General, the Honourable Jabbar Memon as well as the many magnanimous donors within the larger Pakistani-American community.

Farid Ayaz of the Farid Ayaz and Abu Mohammad Qawwal group started his performance by stating, “Pakistan is a spiritual land, a land of peace, we believe in peace, we teach peace and we follow peace.” The qawwals continued the echoes of love and ecstasy with their mesmerizing songs of devotion to God. Delivering perfection is not an easy feat. Casting a spell and transfixing a crowd is an even harder task, yet as the audience sat mesmerized while the modern and the ancient fused into one, the two organizations proved once again that they have mastered the art of flawless execution. Downtown Los Angeles was transformed into a beacon of spirituality as the crowd of thousands revelled in the beauty of the evening.

Michael Alexander , Council Member and Past Chair at California Arts Council

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TALK OF THE TOWN

WASHINGTON D.C.

Annual APPNA Convention Asimyar Tiwana presented a tribute to the legends of Pakistani cinema at the Annual APPNA Convention for an audience of over 5,000 Pakistani-American doctors and their families. The highlight of the show was the presence of leading names from Pakistan’s fashion and entertainment industries who put up riveting performances.

Cybil paying tribute to Zeba Reema with her husband Dr. Tariq Sahab

Ayesha Sana and Hamid Latif

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Cybil, Asimyar Tiwana and Maria Wasti

Adeel

Muniba Mazari

Meera

Samreen, Aamir Mazhar and Qasimyar Tiwan a

Ahsan Khan Kinza, Sarah, Elina and Nayab

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