The Express Tribune Magazine - February 10

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

in the time of drones Of gunfire, grenades and Waziristani wedding videos

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

Cover Story

18 Love in the time of Drones Of videos, hand-grenades and weddings in Waziristan

Features

28 Pimp My (Peaceful) Rickshaw Dekh Magar Pyaar se: Spreading peace through rickshaws

Comment

34 Our Desi Valentines Tales of love and romance are very much part of our culture

Travel

37 A Brazilian Adventure Welcome to Brazil, where theology meets thongs

18

Regulars

28

6 People & Parties: Out and about with Pakistan’s beautiful people 40 Reviews: Measuring Happiness: deliciously yours 42 Healthy Living: Stop. Drop. Breathe

37

4

Magazine Editor: Zarrar Khuhro, Senior Sub-Editor: Farahnaz Zahidi, Sub-Editors: Ameer Hamza and Dilaira Mondegarian.

Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Maha Haider, Faizan Dawood, Samra Aamir, Sanober Ahmed.

Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi.

For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Saba of La Chantal celebrates the New Year be launching her rack at the Designers in Dubai Hamza Tarar

Imtiaz, Saima Yousaf and Naheed Nizami

Shahid and Meher Butt

Saba Waseem

Sam Ali

6 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

Sabah Zaman

PHOTOS COURTESY SAVVY PR AND EVENTS

Daniel

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Pakistan Society for Training & Development holds the ‘International Women Leaders Summit’ in Karachi

PHOTOS COURTESY KASHIF-UD-DIN AND M IMRAN FAREED

The energy drink Sting launches its new campaign, ‘What’s Your JHATZZZKA Dance Move’ in Karachi and Lahore

Saira Saigol

Sadia Nawabi, Yasmin Hyder and Neshmia Ahmed

8 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

PHOTOS COURTESY NEW WORLD CONCEPTS

Pouru Sidhwa

Meesha Shafi and Ali Safina

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Marzia

Laika, Pheby Haroon, Zarmeena and Breakhna

PHOTOS COURTESY PHEGENCY

Nando’s celebrates success of its World Wide Licensing initiative in Karachi

Babar Sheikh and his wife

Mr and Mrs Zain

Zubaida Tariq

10 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

Yousuf Bashir Qureshi

Shireen Anwar

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Pomme, Ayaz Anis and Abidi

Guests

12 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

Bilal and Safinaz

PHOTOS COURTESY PHENOMENA

Ayesha, Mrs Malik and Sanam

Amin Gulgee hold a three-day extravaganza at his gallery in Karachi

Mishaal, Amin and Amel

Shelly and Zurain Imam

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Sana Mehak

Areeba

Sadaf Jalil

Ayesha Farooq and Naheed Mashooqullah

Palwasha and Alishba

14 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

Peng Qureshi launches her flagship salon in Karachi

Anam Qureshi

Sana Sultan and Hena Anwar

PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR AND MARKETING

Shammal Qureshi and Saima Azhar

Amna Saleem and Amrah Khan

Shanzeh

Frieha Altaf and Peng Qureshi

Razia Arif

Sanam Chaudhri

Fariha Bawani

Abeer

15 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

COVER STORY

18 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

There’s much more to Waziristan than the Taliban and terrorism A few days before I visited Frontier Region (FR) Bannu, where the last of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s derelict roads meet the tribal areas of North Waziristan, and the endless blue sky and abundant fields dramatically transform into a dull beige panorama, a girl’s arms were broken for dancing at a wedding.

A grainy cellphone video of that dance, shot by a guest at the wed-

ding, made its way through dozens of phones and computers to her

brother and father. By the next day, seven people had been killed, including men from the host family. The video maker (fortunately

for her) remained unidentified. Unlike a very similar case in Kohistan, this one, taking place in the village of Dawood Shah Gala Khel, stayed below the media’s radar.

A few days later, there I was in the same village, a fifteen minute

drive from Miranshah, ready to attend a wedding with a camera and handycam in my hands.

Getting there had been an experience in itself. To me, the best

part about driving from Lahore to K-P (or North Waziristan in this

case) is the loud Pashto music blaring from the speakers and reverberating through the body of the car. Raees Bacha sounds good, Nazia Iqbal sounds even better.

It’s not just the scenery that changes as you get closer to the tribal

areas. Speeding vans stuffed with passengers — with burqa-clad

women stuffed further inside and men hanging from the iron grilles — become a common sight. When they race past you, the wind carries scattered notes of Pashto music to your ears. They hang in the air for a moment and then are lost; until the next van whizzes by.

Our lunchtime stop, along the banks of Lake Chashma, was quite FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

19

FEATURE

pimp my (peaceful)

rickshaw Armed with messages of peace, the Pakistan Youth Alliance is set to send out 50 rickshaws into the streets of Karachi

BY SABA IMTIAZ

Rickshaws have their own hierarchy; there are the broken down ones with ‘meters’ that last functioned when dial-up was the best way to connect to the internet and then there are the newfangled ‘CNG’ rickshaws that sport sound systems and LCD screens. And sometimes even disco lights.

Over the years, rickshaws have been used for everything from

advertising television shows to spreading hateful messages against India courtesy of the Jamaatud Dawa and other groups.

Both inspired and alarmed by this latter phenomenon, an enterprising group of youngster calling themselves the Pakistan Youth

Alliance (PYA) decided to counter the messages of hate by designing rickshaws around the theme of peace.

The PYA plans to send out 50 rickshaws — refurbished and em-

blazoned with a message of peace into the streets of Karachi. Five

28

of these rickshaws have already been redesigned at Nusrat Iqbal’s FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

chamak patti workshop in Sohrab Goth. Iqbal is the man who designed the W-11 buses being displayed across the world and also has a decorating commission in Dubai to his credit. He agreed to take on the project as a ‘good deed’.

The pimped up rickshaws scream for attention. Decorated

in the truck art style, the rickshaws are not adorned with the usual poetry about love, spirituality, women and flowers but instead bear a message of peace. Mohammad Tariq Shah, who has

been driving a rickshaw for around six months, is now behind the wheel of an eye-popping fuchsia rickshaw with the potent slogan: ‘Rickshaw chala raha hoon, goli to nahin!’ (I’m driving a rickshaw, not firing a bullet). Another rickshaw’s cover has been replaced with a print of an Urdu newspaper’s editorial page; with headlines like ‘deen mai khabar nahi’ (there is no news in religion).

“We wanted to counter extremism by using art as a medium.

Rickshaws are always on the go, everyone sees them,” says Maria Naqvi, the director of art and advocacy for the PYA.

The PYA doesn’t take credit for the designs and the slogans

though; these were decided by children from government schools all over Karachi, who were part of a workshop that preceded the

rickshaws project. “We talked to them about the problems in their area and in the country. We were amazed at how much they

knew about the ground realities,” Naqvi says, “they knew words like ‘firqa variyat’ (sectarianism).”

Over the course of the workshop, the students came up with

the catchphrases, playing on existing slogans and advertisements like: ‘Pappu yaar jang na kar’ and ‘aman ko phaila dala to life jhingalala’.

Though the jazzed up rickshaws have only been on the road

for a few weeks, people are already showing interest. Curious

rickshaw drivers have approached Iqbal to redo their rickshaws

in the same style. “It has become more beautiful than before,” Shah says of his newly refurbished ride, “the other day I had a

“It has become more beautiful than before,” Shah says of his newly refurbished ride, “the other day I had a Pathan passenger who claimed that there wasn’t another rickshaw like this in all of Karachi!”

Pathan passenger who claimed that there wasn’t another rick-

shaw like this in all of Karachi!” A pick-up driver also approached Iqbal, and said that he wanted the same peace messaging since

he travelled throughout the country. This is exactly what PYA co-

founder Maryam Kanwer hopes to achieve — that the slogans go viral and spread the message of peace.

The drivers of the five redesigned rickshaws come from what

Kanwer describes as the ‘conflicted areas’ of Lyari, North Karachi, Korangi and North Nazimabad. The drivers were found via

a member of the organisation; one was a distant relative, who brought along a cousin, and thus the word spread. Naqvi says that they picked rickshaws that operated in different parts of

the city, and ones that were pretty rundown to begin with. Each rickshaw cost Rs6,000 to Rs10,000 to redesign and to refurbish,

and if you haven’t spotted one yet don’t worry, the PYA is planning a peace march in the coming months which will feature all FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

29

FEATURE

“We understand the concerns of the rickshaw drivers,” Naqvi said, “one of them, whose rickshaw has ‘aman’ [peace] written on it, got threats from some Pathans in Lyari who thought that this was a message from the People’s Aman Committee!”

the rickshaws and the students from the workshops along with (hopefully) the citizens of Karachi.

The PYA is very careful in terms of the messages they put on

the rickshaws as they can be easily misconstrued. “We understand the concerns of the rickshaw drivers,” Naqvi said, “one

of them, whose rickshaw has ‘aman’ [peace] written on it, got

threats from some Pathans in Lyari who thought that this was a message from the People’s Aman Committee!”

But can five or even 50 rickshaws counter the messages of

hate being spread by other groups, who have more resources, manpower and reach than the PYA? Kanwer believes they can.

“I have faith that even in the darkness there is light,” she says.

The PYA is not alone, and over the past few years the deepen-

ing crisis in the country has served as an inspiration for local artists, who are actively trying to spread the message of peace through t-shirts, street art and paintings.

Kanwer’s faith

is also shared by the rickshaw drivers, who are excited about

spreading peace and, of course, about the shiny, happy interior

of the vehicles. They hope that this will not just attract custom-

ers — “people turn around and stare at the rickshaws in traffic,” says one driver — but also help change people’s mindsets.

One of the drivers of the rickshaws, Mohammad Yousaf, best

describes their intentions with a Seraiki poem from his childhood:

‘Wafadar haan mai wafadar rahsaan, Wafavah di nagri da sardar haan

Aman wandawan gunah hai jai kar

Gunahgaar haan mai gunahgaar haan’ ‘I am loyal,

the lord of all those who are loyal.

If spreading peace is a sin,

30

then I am a sinner’ FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

COMMENT The night is quiet and the huge haveli appears eerie in the cloud-filtered moonlight that blankets everything in a slight purple shade. There is a heavy

winter mist hanging over the fields between

the haveli and the river. Taking advantage of the

cover of darkness and the mist, a shadow appears

along the outer wall of the mansion and disappears

amongst the tall grass in the field. The shadow re-

appears on the edge of the river Chenab across the field,

revealing itself as a young woman of striking beauty. Using

an earthen vessel tightly pressed against her body as a floata-

tion device, she enters the icy cold water of the river which has swelled due to recent winter rains. Risking her life, she fights

with the current to cross the river to get to Mahiwal, her lover,

who is waiting anxiously for her on the other side. Something goes wrong; her vessel begins to take in water and soon dis-

solves in the unforgiving waves. As she begins to drown, her lover jumps in and dies trying to save her. Such was their union.

“But what went wrong?” asks a bewildered voice. “Her sister-inlaw had come to know of her little escapades and replaced her regular kiln-baked vessel with an unbaked [kacha] one”, croaked

the raconteur. “Her who?” asks another astonished member of

the audience. “She was forcibly married but never gave-in to the arrangement,” explains the old nomad narrating the story. “So

what? This is beyghairti,” argues another voice. Thus continued a night of bonfire-lit story-telling on an almost empty railway platform, where only a handful of people were still optimistically waiting for a Pakistan Railway train to arrive.

It is hard to believe that Pakistan, today viewed as a breeding

ground for extremism, is a land where once stories of love and romance were not only omnipresent but also celebrated and cher-

ished by the masses. No, we are not talking about Nadeem and Shabnam’s motorcycle acrobatics on the deserted Clifton roads

of the 1970s. Nor are we discussing Waheed Murad swaying by a

tree as Zeba looks on shyly. Romance has featured in the folklore and literature of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, Persia and Afghanistan for millennia. Incredible as it sounds, the sufis who graced this land immortalised many a famous romantic stories in their poetry — the same poetry which is said to have played a pivotal

role in the spread of Islam in this region. One such sufi poet was Shah Abdul Lateef Bhittai. The very-much-married-to-anotherman and very-much-still-in-love-with-Mahiwal, Sohni, hap-

pens to be one of the seven heroines of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai who feature in Shah jo Risalo. It is strange to think that, in the

land of Shah Saein, today, Sohni would probably have been declared a Kari and buried unceremoniously in the infamous grave-

34

yard of the Karis.

Heer too was married off to another man while her beloved

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

Ranjha became a “Jogie”. She re-

fused her marriage and then was set

free. Today, Sohni Mahiwal, Heer Ran-

jha and others like them would probably

have to face the Hudood Ordinance or per-

haps would have been stoned to death.

But both Heer and Sohni were lucky that

they lived in another time when love was gener-

ally accepted as a divine gift. It was a time when

people thought that it is only the chosen few who

tread the path of love and they have to pay a heavy price

for it.

“Khali dil naiyo, Jaan wi aye mangda Ishqay di gali ich koi koi langda”.

BY ADIL MULKI

(Not only the heart, but it asks for life as a toll too It is only a few who can tread the road of love)

Sohni-Mahiwal, Heer-Ranjha, and many other romantic couples from our

folk stories, are all hailed as heroes and heroines. In some cases, they were

Buried beneath the headlines of growing extremism and terror, there lies a world where the love of Sohni-Mahiwal, Heer-Ranjha and Sassi-Punho has been celebrated for centuries.

even revered as saints. Sassi from Bhambore, and Punhu, a visiting prince of Makran, fell in love and decided to marry. Their marriage never got approval

from Punho’s brothers who, helped by Sassi’s jealous friend, kidnapped Punho. He broke free while being forcibly taken back to Makran. Meanwhile Sassi

left Bhambore in search of him. After many hardships, the two lovers met in the Lasbela district of Balochistan. Mother earth is said to have provided them

refuge by splitting up and enclosing them in a single grave, which to this day

is visited and revered by thousands. In the collective conscience of our soci-

ety, the verdict on characters such as Punho’s brothers, Sassi’s jealous friend, Heer’s uncle Kaidu, who was the main cause of tragedy in that lore is very clear. They were all labeled as villains and their names are sometimes used today to express contempt.

One such villain from the folklore of Shireen Farhad has a tomb dedicated

to her near the single grave of Shireen Farhad at Lak Jao in Balochistan, but a

particular ritual is performed at her grave regularly by devoted visitors — they throw stones at her grave in contempt! This then, summarises the reaction of the masses, towards such uninvited intrusions in romances.

In recent years, the advent of February creates an interesting situation

across Pakistan’s urban centers and increasingly, even rural areas. The society gets polarised around whether to celebrate Valentine’s Day or not. Die-hard Romeos and Juliets believe that the day is meant for the expression of their

“eternal” love for a special someone. On the other hand, there are those who believe that having anything to do with the festivities will guarantee a one way ticket to hell.

Both the Cupid-struck and the V-day haters ignore some aspects. Whether

invented in the non-Muslim West or Timbuktu, Valentine’s Day is an occasion to express the universal emotion of love. Its universality not only refers

to space but time as well — why confine love to a single day? Why not honour FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

35

our loved ones every single day of our lives? Secondly, love, even the romantic

variety, is not a copy-righted invention of the West. Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Majnu, Sohni-Mahiwal, Sassi-Punho, Hani-Shehmurid, Mirza-Sahiban, Yousuf

Khan-Sheherbano were all romances that had taken place before Valentines was even heard of in this part of the world!

Room for romances and love stories has certainly shrunk over time and they

have come to be accepted as a foreign influence both by conservatives and liberals. Even the Middle Eastern romances of Aladdin and the adventures of Sindbad gain legitimacy only when dished out by Disney and Dreamworks. Interestingly, people know so little about indigenous love stories and romances that they often believe that Omar and Marvi were lovers. Whereas, the fact is that

Omar, the ruler of a state in Sindh, fell for the beautiful Marvi and upon her refusal, had her kidnapped and locked up in his palace! To Omar’s credit, he

did not force himself upon her beyond this, hoping that Marvi would give in.

Marvi remained defiant, and the impressed Omar set her free — with no love lost between the two.

Amusingly, in today’s age of fundamentalism co-existing not-so-peacefully

with liberal ideas, the Baloch love story of Hani-Shehmureed would probably not invoke the Hudood Ordinance but would certainly invite the ire of women’s liberation folk and feminists. Shehmureed had been tricked into giving

away Hani, then his fiancée, as a reward to a group of musicians. Respecting the prevailing customs, the honorable Shehmureed lived up to his word and

backed off from Hani, while she accepted the arrangement to keep his honour.

Such selfless “love” is incomprehensible today. On the other hand, in Yusuf Khan — Sherbano folklore from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sherbano was close

to receiving the ire of her father and brothers after she attended to the injured Yusuf Khan by placing his head in her lap. Yet the menfolk of her family were

sensible enough to calm down and accede when Yusuf Khan’s mother declared

to send a proposal following proper protocol. This is a surprising display of understanding and restraint by the menfolk of tribal areas.

Meanwhile, far from these debates, at Sohni’s shrine in Shahdadpur, Sindh,

a faqir sings…

Mainu Paar Laga dey way .. gharya mintan teriyan kardi Huwa wail naseebon say gharya yaar na mera chootay O! earthen float, help me across, I beg thee

O! earthen float, I fear losing my hard earned love

Here, Sohni is revered as “Maa Sohni” by some. This is how the masses own

romance and love throughout Pakistan. From the rugged hills of the Hindu-

kush through the Indus plains right down to the sands of Makran and the coastal ruins of Bhambore, lovers have been hailed as heroes and heroines of

this land. Here, indigenous versions of concerts are performed complete with

music and dance; songs of Heer and Sur Sohni ring out loud at the urs of these characters, which are usually public fairs. Can we call these celebrations our versions of Valentine’s Day?

TRAVEL

a brazilian adventure “Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute for experience.” — Paulo Coelho

BY AHMAD FARUQUI

Formula 1 racing, an impending World Cup and the world record in gun murders — these were the three takeaways from my intensive Google news search on Brazil before heading there from San Francisco.

My first stop was Sao Paulo, and it was little consolation that

the city was second in its crime rate only to Rio de Janeiro — my

second stop. But fear soon gave way to curiosity as I landed in

the bustling city in late November. Brazil is not only one of the five newly industrialised countries (BRICS) but it is also the upcoming venue for the World Cup and the Summer Olympics. Is it ready for the surge of international visitors? And how much had it changed since my last visit two years ago?

The drive to my hotel in the city centre was overwhelming, and

not in a good way. The traffic and the pollution was as bad as in Cairo, only this time I knew I would not be greeted with the ma-

jestic view of the Great Pyramids at the end of an interminable drive. The infrastructure is still undeveloped, the hotel wifi was intermittent and the elevators always seemed to be out of service.

37 FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

TRAVEL

And then there was the language barrier. Armed with a few

choice Portuguese words and a Google translation app on my

iPhone, I set out to embrace this Brazilian adventure. I soon ex-

hausted my limited vocabulary, while the Google app insisted on stringing the words of my sentences in the wrong order! But were it not for this high tech failure, I would never have appreciated the sheer beauty of sign language. After frantic gestures, I would

Festive revellers in various stages of undress dance on the evenings of the Grand Carnival around the statue of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), towering over the city of Rio with its arms outstretched 38

manage to get my point across. In return, I would get a raised thumb and a grin, meaning: I understand you!

Brazil certainly did not cease to amaze me. During one of my

excursions to the famous Copacabana beach, overflowing with scantily clad beach goers, lo and behold! I spotted a car sport-

ing the kalima printed in bold black Arabic across the rear wind-

shield. I soon learned that there is a considerable Arab influence in Brazil. Around nine million people, ie five percent of the population, are of Lebanese or Syrian descent.

It is a country full of churches and cathedrals, usually in a

blend of Byzantine and German Gothic styles; a country where almost every bookshop proudly displays the risqué Fifty Shades of

Grey. Festive revellers in various stages of undress dance on the evenings of the Grand Carnival around the statue of Cristo Redentor

(Christ the Redeemer), towering over the city of Rio with its arms outstretched.

Intrigued by the intermingling and seemingly contradictory

cultural influences at work in Brazil, I asked the tour guide how the conservative Catholic culture blended with the hedonism on

display. How on earth do thongs and theology manage to coexist?

The answer, as I discovered, was rooted in Brazil’s colonial history. When the Portuguese colonised Brazil, they observed that

the natives wore little clothing and concluded that it was a smart

way to dress given the region’s hot and humid climate. “So what we see now,” the tour guide said, “is simply the assimilation of

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

local habits into the Portuguese culture.”

Brazil’s openness to different cultures is also evident in its cos-

mopolitan cuisine. The posh district of Jardim is full of excellent Italian, French and Lebanese cuisines. Mercado Municipal also

has an authentic collection of old-style food shops and restau-

rants. Just one word of warning: never argue with a Brazilian about coffee. They are fiercely proud of their coffee traditions

and were reluctant to serve me decaffeinated coffee even upon request. It’s the closest Brazilians come to fanaticism.

So far so good. But walking in Rua Augusta one afternoon, the

heart of Sao Paulo’s night life, I felt my heart jump to my throat.

Fifty yards ahead of me, I saw a severed human head pressed to the edge of the sidewalk. My mind refused to accept the image. But relief replaced horror as I got closer to the head and saw

the rest of the body, which had been obscured by a traffic sign.

The man was very much alive and lying face down, handcuffed in brass with arms stretched backwards. Two policemen were standing guard on either side. From the neighbouring buildings, just about everyone was peering through the curtains, as

if watching a circus or a parade. It was a grim reminder of the headlines I had checked before leaving home.

But thankfully, there were many sites of unparalleled beauty

to distract you as well. In Jardim Botanica, one of the world’s biggest botanical gardens, the lake is decorated with lily pads, reminiscent of Amazonian flora. Small turtles climb slowly out

of the water to laze under the sun, while black monkeys with curvy tails emerge from the bushes.

Two years ago, I had ventured upstream in a small Zodiac boat

to view the waterfalls of Iguacu at the border of Argentina and

Paraguay. When the boat took me under the falls, I finally under-

stood why Eleanor Roosevelt, when visiting the same location, had remarked: “Poor Niagara.”

And of course, Brazil would not be Brazil without its beaches.

These beaches flow into one another, whilst retaining their distinct character. Leblon beach merges with Ipanema, and then

with the iconic Copacabana beach made famous by Barry Manilow’s song. From the fourteenth flour of our hotel at Leblon

Beach, the view of the pearly waters was mesmerising. But if you

were to tilt your head slightly sideways, you would see povertyinfested favelas. The juxtaposition of the haves and have-nots was stark.

After 11 days in Brazil, my fears had taken a backseat. There

seemed no other choice, when faced with glistening beaches,

waterfalls and a vibrant Brazilian culture. The country had one

foot in the twentieth century and the other in the twenty first

century. It was one of the world’s fastest growing economies and a country that had kissed goodbye to years of military dictatorship. Some caution and vigilance was necessary given the

omnipresence of crime, but it was hard not to admire the ethnic harmony that pervaded Brazilian society.

FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

39

REVIEW

measuring happiness

BY LAILA DHARAMSEY

What’s better than heading over to your favourite bakery to grab a warm crumbly chocolate chip cookie or a moist cupcake on a cold winter’s day? Well, bringing the bakery home, of course! And to help you do just that is a book of recipes written by none other than Lal Majid of Lal’s patisserie fame.

I consider myself something of a dessert connoisseur, and I often find myself (oddly enough) fantasising about the way a cake rises in an oven, or about mixing ingredients at various stages.

Having said that, I’ve never been a huge fan of Lal’s desserts, and I always felt there was something ‘off’ about them. This book, however, is full of marvellous and simple recipes. Personally, I believe that if something tastes good, it should be easy to make; nothing too complicated has ever tasted good to me, especially when it comes to dessert. What I loved about this book was the honesty with which the recipes were written, the simple methods and the convenient ingredients. What did turn me off a little were the

a portrait of confusion

BY AMMARA KHAN

Imran Ahmad’s memoir, The Perfect Gentleman: A Muslim Boy Meets the West is an account of his struggle for acceptance in the multiracial Britain of his childhood. At the time, Britain’s well defined class system was an impediment to immigrant families who struggled to carve an identity of their own while clinging onto their traditions.

Ahmad’s narrative deals with the dilemmas of being a Pakistani immigrant — the tension between dreams and reality, cultural conformity and individuality, and scepticism and religious fundamentalism.

Each chapter is devoted to one year of Ahmad’s life. Ahmad’s childhood role model is Spock from Star Trek, who like Ahmad always behaves logically but is an alien in a community of ‘regular’ people. Because of his fascination with material success and beautiful women, young Ahmad also idealises James Bond and believes, in his childish naivety, that he looks like the famous agent. He aspires to become a doctor because his family and Spock consider science superior to other subjects.

He always finds himself torn between what is expected of him and what his mind dictates. After high school, he secures admission in Sterling University and begins his lifelong love affair with Scotland.

There he falls in love with a girl named Janice and the readers cannot help laugh at his self-deceiving belief that one day he will marry her.

From an early age, Ahmad has doubts about what people take 40 for granted, including religion and God. However, when he finds his FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

pictures — no normal person can make a cupcake look that beautiful, or cinnamon rolls that perfect. I prefer pictures that can take you through the various stages of baking, like a picture of the batter at some stage for instance. But the truth is that presentation sells and our ‘yummy’ hormone kicks in at the sight of sumptuous-looking deserts.

Another thing that stands out is the way in which the book has been published: it’s no less in quality than any foreign recipe book. From the layout to the pictures, the font and finally the colour, it can easily be compared with a Martha Stewart or BBC Food cookbook.

So if you find this book on a shelf, do not hesitate to pick it up. I guarantee that it’s a great way for a beginner to learn the basics of baking. T

faith weaker as compared to others, he feels guilty: “I know I shouldn’t be having these thoughts. As God can read my mind and will be very angry”.

This essential dilemma as he tries to rationalise religion is encapsulated in this sentence: “How do we know we follow the right religion?” If he is scared of the absolute certainty of American Evangelists, he is equally sceptical of Islam as well: “If everyone on earth became Muslim, the world might turn into a very sombre place”.

On the other hand, Ahmad also confesses that he loves “the heady freedom and excitement of the Western world”, despite its apparent incompatibility with Islam. While he spends countless hours in the library reading about theology, especially Sufism, his secondary preoccupation is to become someone’s — anyone’s — boyfriend. He wants to experience romance though he knows that, in reality, his family would expect him to marry a woman of their choice. Ahmad’s humour is as light and pleasant as it can get. After his continuous failure at relationships, he concludes that men are stupid, whereas, he is “particularly stupid”.

The Perfect Gentleman is a coming-of-age story of a sensitive and curious mind trapped in a society divided and defined by race and religion.

HEALTHY LIVING

breathing your way to good health

BY SHEEBA GHANI

Are you under a lot of stress at work or at home? mind. All you need to do is spare a few seconds and focus on your

If you want to make the exercises a bit more fun, get your hands on a pilates ball and get rolling.

a relaxed state of mind.

1. To begin, place your mat on the floor and lie on it.

order to maximise the effects of any exercise, it is important to

mat.

You don’t need to spend lots of cash to buy yourself some peace of

breathing. It is something we can control and regulate to achieve Breathing is at the centre of any pilates or yoga exercise. In

practice deep breathing.

It is time to get to the bottom of these breathing techniques now. Follow closely; it is not as easy as it sounds!

1. Lie down on your back on the bed or an exercise mat.

2. Place your feet about shoulder-width apart. Rest

one hand on your navel and the other on your chest.

3. Slowly inhale through your nose, filtering the air, and exhale through the mouth.

4. Concentrate on your breathing for a few minutes; be aware of which hand is rising and which one is descending with each breath you take. Keep your shoulders relaxed and do not push them upwards.

5. Exhale most of the air in your lungs.

6. Now inhale slowly counting to four, with an interval of only one second between the numbers, and notice how your belly button starts to move away from the spine.

Bend your knees so your feet are firmly pressed on the Hold a small pilates ball in your hands, close to your

knees, and take a deep breath. Slowly bring your arms

over your head, lengthening the spine and pushing the belly button towards the spine.

Exhale and bring your arms back to their original position.

Repeat 10 times.

2.

For this exercise, place the short side of

your mat against a wall.

Sit on the exercise mat with your back

against the wall.

Stretch your legs before you and keep them

wide apart.

Hold the pilates ball and stretch your arms

before you.

Inhale and bring your arms over your head,

lengthening your torso.

Exhale and bring your arms back to position.

7. Then exhale and experience the reverse process where

Tips:

your belly button

Inhaling

is drawn towards

energises the

the spine to force

body and exhaling

the air out of the lungs.

Repeat this five to ten times and if you

experience difficulty while inhaling and

exhaling to the count of four, simply shorten

42

Repeat 10 times.

relaxes it. To rejuvenate

the mind and the body, take more

time inhaling and less time exhaling.

You will notice the instant calming effect.

Always keep the shoulders relaxed and do not

the count. Ideally, take 10 breaths in the morning and 10 at night,

raise your chest. Try to lengthen your torso so you can

daily routine.

to increase height.

or as many as you can, to get in sync and to make it a part of your FEBRUARY 10-16 2013

keep your spine straight. It is also one of the best ways