JANUARY 12-18 2014
The Silent Crusaders Celebrating unsung Pakistani heroes who have made the country proud
JANUARY 12-18 2014
Feature
The Last Word A web developer from Peshawar develops a digital, multi-purpose Pashto dictionary to keep the language alive
Cover Story
The Silent Crusaders Celebrating unsung Pakistani heroes who have made the country proud
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Feature
Soldier On A crackdown on terrorism might also put an end to many livelihoods in Rawalpindi’s Kabari Bazaar
30 Regulars
6 People & Parties: Out and about with beautiful people 34 Review: Celine Dion’s Loved Me Back to Life and Seating Arrangements 38 Framed: Power Play
Magazine In-charge: Sarah Munir and Sub-Editors: Dilaira Mondegarian and Manahyl Khan Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Essa Malik, Jamal Khurshid, Samra Aamir, Kiran Shahid, Munira Abbas, S Asif Ali & Talha Ahmed Khan Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk Twitter: @ETribuneMag & Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ETribuneMag Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Ayesha and Saeed Chaudhry host their house-warming party
Sammy Asad
Saima Zafar, Jaria Asim and Ayesha
Ijaz and Hina
Aamna Taseer and Anila Shah
6 JANUARY 12-18 2014
Uzma Saima, Amina and Ayesha
PEOPLE & PARTIES
PHOTOS COURTESY XENITH PR
Intel Pakistan hosts a seminar at the Toni&Guy flagship salon in Karachi
Saeeda Mandviwalla and Asma Aziz
Wajiha and Maham Guests at the event
8 JANUARY 12-18 2014
PEOPLE & PARTIES
PHOTOS COURTESY NUCLEUS EVENTS AND PR
Cinegold Plex hosts the premiere for Waar
Annabel Symington
Ayesha Khan
Irum Khan Almeenah
Abbas Ali Khan and Shaan
10 JANUARY 12-18 2014
Mariam Rehman
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Masoma, Mehreen, Kaukab and Pomme
Menal and Noreen
Saba
Nadda Norulan
12 JANUARY 12-18 2014
Saba and Uzma
PHOTOS COURTESY ADNAN @PHENOMENA
Peacock holds winter festivities at its outlet in Port Grand, Karachi
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Myra Riaz and Sharmeen Hassan Amna Babar
Nida Azwer
Saira Shehzad Alizeh Waqar
14 JANUARY 12-18 2014
Mahwaish and Aliaya
PHOTOS COURTESY LOTUS PR
Nida Azwer Atelier holds a couture soirĂŠe in Lahore
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Sharmeen Hassan and Mehreen Danish
Roomi
Mehek and Sameen Rizvi
Alieya Aftab and Amna Ali Bushra, Afshan and Beenish
16 JANUARY 12-18 2014
PHOTOS COURTESY LOTUS PR
Asma, Maham and Wajiha
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Sonya Battla launches her retail outlet Kaju in Karachi
Laila, Manal and Husna Farah Haq and Uzma
Nabila
Humaima and Malahat Awan Afshan
18 JANUARY 12-18 2014
Anum and Sonya Battla
The Silent Crusaders
BY RAFAY BIN ALI DESIGN BY SAMRA AAMIR
U
nlike their depiction in popular culture, heroes have no fixed templates. They may not always pop out at you with their billowing capes, larger-thanlife personalities and overnight revolutions. Instead, you may have to look around carefully if you want to find these undiscovered visionaries. They are the ones you should listen to attentively as their powerful dreams might often be cloaked in softspoken voices. You may rarely see them in the spotlight but the impact of their work is bound to catch your eye. This is a list of 26 such Pakistanis who have been quietly making the country proud but deserve to be in the limelight for their outstanding contributions.
COVER STORY
Dr Umar Saif
Dr Umar Saif was named one of the top 35 innovators of the world who are radically transforming technology by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in August, 2011. Along with being known for his work on using Information and Communications Technology solutions for developing world problems, he is also a part of the faculty at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, the founding vice chancellor of the Information Technology University Punjab and established one of the first start-up incubators in Pakistan.
Naila Alam and Yasmeen Durrani These two Pakistani women have been honoured by the White House for their philanthropic venture called Express Care which focuses on providing daily essentials such as food and medicine to the under-privileged. Additionally, the Virginia-based organisation also trains low-income individuals, refugees and immigrants and helps them secure employment.
SOURCE: REUTERS
SOURCE: EXPRESS CARE
Ayesha Farooq The sky was never the limit for 26-yearold Ayesha Farooq who created history by becoming the first woman assigned to one of Pakistan’s front line fighter squadrons. Hailing from Bahawalpur, she is one of the 19 women who have achieved the rank of pilot in the Pakistan Air Force over the last decade — there are five other female fighter pilots but they have yet to take the final tests to qualify for combat.
SOURCE: REUTERS
Faizan Buzdar Faizan Buzdar’s visionary start up Convo. com even had the United States President, Barack Obama, marveling at his work and commenting on why people like Buzdar were the reason why immigration reform in the US was necessary. His innovative startup that provides a collaborative workspace for global organisations has led to five million dollars in funding from venture capitalists in the US, including Morgenthaler Ventures, which has significant holdings in tech giants such as Apple.
SOURCE: TWITTER
Dr Arjumand Hashmi Being a Pakistani-born-Muslim, a Texan and a Republican may sound like an odd combination, but Dr Arjumand Rahim has managed to turn it into a winning formula. Along with being an accomplished surgeon, he is also the mayor of a town called Paris, in Texas, USA and is known for creating a community and inculcating a pro-Pakistani image in the southern state that has been a hotbed of anti-Pakistan sentiments, especially during the tenure of President George W Bush Jr.
SOURCE: AFP
Mehak Gul Thirteen-year-old Mehak Gul is the youngest Pakistani to have qualified for the World Chess Olympiad. Gul, who started playing chess at the age of six, has also won several provincial and national chess championships.
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SOURCE: AFP
Saba Gul Saba Gul is the founder and CEO of Popinjay, a social enterprise that provides education and employment to underprivileged girls in Pakistan. She was an MIT Public Service fellow in Sri Lanka, where she worked on low-cost solar lighting for post-Tsunami refugees and has also conducted workshops on entrepreneurship at universities in Africa.
JANUARY 12-18 2014
SOURCE: VIMEO
Naiza Khan
SOURCE: NAIZA KHAN ART
Karamat Ali
SOURCE: FILE
Karamat Ali, the executive director of The Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER), was awarded the South Asia Peace and Justice Award in India for his role in leading peace and labor movements in Pakistan and linking them with their regional and global counterparts.
Naiza Khan’s extensive artwork displaying the paradoxes of the Pakistani society, especially the social status of women earned her the 2013 Prince Claus award that celebrates individuals whose efforts have had a positive impact in their respective surroundings. She is the third Pakistani after Arif Hasan and Madeeha Gohar to have received this award.
Ali Moeen Nawazish
Ali Moeen Nawazish did not slow down after he set a world record of acing 21 subjects in the Cambridge Advanced Level examinations in 2009. He went on to set up initiatives such as StepUP Pakistan, which trains teachers and works towards improving the academic curriculum in impoverished areas. His efforts towards uplifting the state of education in the country also earned him the honour of being one of the youngest recipients of the Pride of Performance award.
SOURCE: AFP
Waqas Ali SOURCE: BUSINESS INSIDER
When young entrepreneur Waqas Ali saw experienced craftsmen from small towns in Pakistan losing business because they could not keep up with the changing times, he decided to step in. Ali launched Hometown Shoes, an online shoe store that has not only generated business but has also preserved a century-old craft that would have been lost otherwise.
Sabia Abbat It was Sabia Abbat’s curiousity to find out why women could not ride a bicycle that made her a national cycling champion in 2013. Hailing from a small village in Haripur, she would practise cycling on her grandfather’s bike, as women are not usually encouraged to pursue a sport in these areas. In the process, she fell many times and also sustained multiple injuries but finally found the answers she was seeking. SOURCE: SHAFIQ MALIK
Parveen Saeed
SOURCE: FILE
Rafiullah Kakar
Parween Saeed is the mastermind behind Khaana Ghar, a small dhaba in Khuda ki Basti, Karachi that provides meals to low-income individuals for three rupees. Over time, it has become a lifeline for hundreds of poor men and women who are unable to make ends meet otherwise.
Rafiullah Kakkar is Balochistan’s first Rhodes scholar in 40 years. Hailing from one of the most volatile regions of Pakistan, Kakkar belongs to a humble background where no one has been to college before him. His journey from the boy who did not know Urdu until the seventh grade to securing one of the most prestigious scholarships in the world is remarkable. SOURCE: FILE
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COVER STORY
Faisal Mirza Faisal Mirza is the recipient of the 2008 ECHO Awards that recognise the contribution of immigrants of nonwestern descent on the basis of their talent in higher education. Mirza received a scholarship for a summer course at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he chose to study English and Public Policy.
SOURCE: DUTCHEDU
Sarmad Tariq A swimming accident at the age of 15 left Sarmad Tariq paralysed and confined to a wheelchair. Today, he is a professional and personal success story and an inspiration for people with disabilities. He represented Pakistan in the ING New York City Marathon in 2005 and finished with a medal. His dream is to inculcate a positive attitude in people and help them lead a fulfilling life.
SOURCE: AFP
Namira Salim Namira Salim is the first Pakistani to travel into space and has been recognised as the first Pakistani astronaut by the government of Pakistan in 2006. She is also a peace activist and was awarded with the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 2011.
SOURCE: AFP
Dr Naweed I Syed Dr Naweed I Syed is a globally acclaimed scientist of Pakistani origin and head of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the University of Calgary’s Hotchkiss Brain Institute in Canada. He is the first scientist to connect brain cells to a silicon chip which has paved way for progress in artificial intelligence computing. SOURCE: CALGARY.EDU
Sameen Shahid Sameen Shahid is the first Pakistani to win the OFID scholarship in 2009 for a master’s degree in Public Administration at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Shahid was selected from a pool of 3,000 applicants from over 100 developing countries.
Maria Toorpakai Wazir
SOURCE: ALLVOICES.COM
It is very difficult to nurture your love for a sport if you are born as a girl in South Waziristan. But Maria Toorpakai Wazir defied all odds by training and competing as a boy in Peshawar until she could not hide her gender any longer. Today she is Pakistan’s top female squash player and is ranked 54th in the world.
Professor Asim Khawaja
SOURCE-FILE
Asim Khwaja is the first professor of Pakistani descent who has been employed by the Harvard University’s prestigous John F Kennedy School of Government. His research centered on issues such as finance, education and political economy among other areas has been featured in prominent publications including The Economist, New York Times,Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Al Jazeera, CNN and BBC.
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SOURCE: HARVARD.EDU
Rosheen Khan SOURCE: NEWSLINE
Rosheen Khan is Pakistan’s first female master scuba diver and the only Nitrox diving instructor in Pakistan. Hailing from a poor farming background, Khan had to go through a great deal of struggle to acquire an education and a job.
Ali Rehan Ali Rehan is the co-founder and CEO of Eyedeus Labs, a tech start-up by Pakistani students that developed an innovative mobile application which caught the eye of major tech giants such as Google, Samsung, Huawei and LG.
SOURCE: CNN
Mir Zafar Ali Mir Zafar Ali is an Oscar-winning movie visual effects curator who has given life to characters such as Venom in Spider Man 3 as well as several other Hollywood flicks such as X-Men and The Mummy. He won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 2007 for his immaculate work in the movie The Golden Compass. SOURCE: FILE
Syed Fahad Ali Instead of complaining about everything that was wrong in the country, Syed Fahad Ali decided to make the best of his circumstances by setting up the Aghaz School that provides free education to children residing in the informal settlements of Karachi. The project was initially started in Karachi but has now spread to Islamabad, Lahore and Nawabshah. SOURCE: PAKISTAN YOUTH FORUM
Bilal Masood
SOURCE: FILE
Bilal Masood is a young change agent who has represented Pakistan on various global platforms and is raising awareness about key problems that the country faces. A student of Crossing Border Global Studies in Denmark, Masood is also a certified trainer at the School of Leadership in Karachi.
This is not the end of the trail. In fact, it is the beginning of celebrating the passion and unwavering commitment of countless other such unsung heroes. They are the ones who have kept hope alive for the nation in the darkest of hours. Margaret Mead sums it up best in the following words: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
The writer is a Karachi-based software developer who is also pursuing his MBA. He tweets @rafayali
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FEATURE Despite being our primary source of communication with the outside world, language is often taken for granted. It is estimated that one language dies every 14 days, according to a National Geographic report. To bridge the existing linguistic gap in Pakistan between Urdu and regional languages, a young boy from Peshawar and three others have found a dynamic way to bring Pashto to speakers and non-speakers alike. Their unique online dictionary, thePashto.com, has gathered loyal users and a growing database.
After completing his Masters in Computer Sciences from City University Peshawar in 2011, 24-year-old Abdul Muqsit from Chamkani village (seven kilometers outside of Peshawar) collaborated with three of his colleagues to launch a software house called SoftEmblems. Though the original trio of colleagues moved to Kabul and Muqsit moved to the UAE for work, marking the end of the software house, he was soon joined by three others whom he
met through the internet. Muqsit’s new team consists of Tayyab Khan, a Pashto poet based in Islamabad, Farhad Malakzai, a Linguistic Studies student in India, and Shafiq Gigyani, an MBA student in Peshawar, who now run the Pashto.com using their diverse linguistic backgrounds and expertise. The Pashto dictionary is hosted by Pukhtoogle — Muqsit’s first successful digital project focusing on Pashto and Peshawar which now has the largest photo gallery of Peshawar and Pukhtuns on the internet with more than 1,500 pictures submitted by photographers and artists. The Pashto dictionary aims to put Pashto on the linguistic map by allowing both Pashto speakers and non-speakers the chance to explore the language and its grammar. Allowing room for beginners, the handiest feature of the dictionary is the ‘Roman Pashto’ option, which allows users to spell Pashto words in Roman script and eliminates the need to learn the Pashto script. There is another provision to cater for the differences between Pashto speakers. “There is conflict between Pukhtun tribes regarding dialect, so on the Pashto.com, we placed a
THE LAST WORD A web developer from Peshawar develops a digital, multi-purpose Pashto dictionary to keep the language alive BY KAMRAN KHAN DESIGN BY KIRAN SHAHID
28 JANUARY 12-18 2014
Next steps Android App: The Pashto dictionary has an Android app which can be found in the phone’s PlayStore for free. Book: A New York-based publishing house, Hippocrene Books, will soon publish a hard form of the dictionary. Abdul Muqsit hopes that it will be available in print form within the first quarter of 2014. Pashto language spellchecker: Abdul Muqsit wants to create the first ever Pashto language spellchecker and plans to launch it for the Android, iPhone and Windows.
There are nearly 200 names for boys and girls with meanings on the website and more than 300 proverbs with translation and description
Features of the dictionary •
Multi-search: The dictionary has a three-way search option where a word can be searched in Pashto to English, English to Pashto or in Roman Pashto.
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Auto-suggestion: If a non-speaker is confused about a new word, just typing the first two or three characters is sufficient as an auto suggestion pops up.
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Pashto Phonetic Keyboard: This keyboard (available on thePashto.com) allows a non-Pashto speaker to type Pashto without installing a script-specific keyboard. For example A can be used for alif and B for bey.
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Graphic User Interface & User Dashboard: There is a process to add new words or fix incorrect words on the dashboard. The submitted word is first verified, and then approved by the moderators.
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Pulse System: To cope with such digital menaces such as spamming and incorrect words, a pulse system was developed. If 20% of a user’s submissions have been incorrect, the system will freeze the account.
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Foreigner-friendly: There are more than 100 daily life sentences which were suggested by some foreigners in a previous version of the dictionary, such as “I am going to Peshawar” (za Peshawar ta zam).
says Abdul Muqsit section listing 114 tribes and allow for people to discuss the origin and history of the words to refine the list,” explains Muqsit. With constant improvements and room for change, the Pashto dictionary now has over 16,000 word entries. “We get lots of new and missing words which were not present in the dictionary earlier, we keep adding them to the list once we have verified them,” he says. Muqsit’s brainchild is not limited to everyday words and basic Pashto as it has room for more complex additions such as names and proverbs. “There are nearly 200 names for boys and girls with meanings on the website and more than 300 proverbs with translation and description,” he says. Passionate about innovation, Muqsit first discovered his interest in computing when he swapped art for computer studies in the eighth grade after an NGO visited his school in the village. Despite failing to get admission into engineering for his bachelors, he went on to study computer science for his masters. Considering himself lucky in a country where education is not a right but a privilege, he notes that a lot of children miss out on opportunities to grow and innovate. “We just don’t have the resources to the nurture the extraordinary talent of these web developers in Pakistan. I would love to go back home and train, but the violence in Peshawar leaves me speechless.” Keeping resource limitations and accessibility in mind, he shares his motivational secret. “I watch a lot of TED talks; they make me think over and over again about creating something unique. These talks are accessible to all and are full of ideas about technology and innovative design.” He says his mission is not complete, but has a clear vision for the future. “As a web-preneur, I have a long way to go. I want to match the uniqueness of web services like Khan Academy, which is beneficial for visitors and of course, free of cost.” T
Abdul Muqsit, the web-preneur and Pashto enthusiast.
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Kamran Khan is a sub-editor on the Peshawar desk of The Express Tribune. JANUARY 12-18 2014
Soldier On
30 JANUARY 12-18 2014
A crackdown on terrorism might also put an end to many livelihoods in Rawalpindi’s Kabari Bazaar BY ZAHID GISHKORI PHOTOS BY MUHAMMAD JAVAID DESIGN BY ASIF ALI
Business takes a massive hit in Kabari Bazaar, Rawalpindi as terrorists turn to used military uniforms for cover. The business venture that was conceived to provide secondhand and tailored uniforms at lower rates to police and army personnel now finds itself in the line of fire after being accused of selling wares to potential terrorists.
The city that has mourned the lives of many is now caught in a moral dilemma — to sustain the business that is a source of livelihood for many or to padlock the shops that are inadvertently providing a supporting crutch to terrorists. And while the shopkeepers and authorities are gripped in this heated argument, a lull prevails over the market that was ironically established in 1959 by a group of army men to cater to the needs of the defence forces. The bazaar has always been a one-stopshop for uniforms, from the Pakistan Army to the Air Force and Navy to the
police, inductees sold their old supplies or torn jackets in the market that were bought by those looking for cheaper joggers and sweaters for the harsh winter. Established by and for the military, the shops are also run by retired military tailors who had to obtain a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the army headquarters to start their business. “We [shopkeepers] have been directed to stop this business at all cost,” says a tailor, Jamal Ahmed, 37, bundled in an army jacket, waiting for customers on a Sunday morning. Displayed at his shop is a notice issued by the police, directing shopkeepers to gather complete identification details, such as a valid computerised National Identity Card, from customers before selling uniforms to them. Failure to do so could result in a fine of up to Rs5o,000. Although Ahmed terms the concerns of the law-enforcement agencies “valid”, he worries about the long-term survival of his business. “I have been tailoring uniforms for [the]
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FEATURE police and army personnel since 1988 and never found any civilian who wanted the uniform,� says Umar Afghan, 71, while ironing black police caps. Afghan stitches uniforms between the range of Rs1,700 and Rs3,500 and buys old uniforms between Rs500 and Rs1,100 to sell to soldiers who cannot afford to buy a new one. Troubled by the prospect of finding himself jobless, he informs how shopkeepers are constantly being harassed by the police who serve notices almost every week. Resentful shopkeepers believe that this was a deliberate attempt by the intelligence agencies to discourage sales. Niaz for one, who refers to himself as a stitch master, believes that the rumour that terrorists frequent these shops for uniforms was spread by the intelligence agencies themselves. And while fearing the worst, Harris Aziz, 29, who now runs the shop his father opened in 1963, says, “Starvation is upon us.� He now stitches uniforms for security companies who supply guards to private companies. Others like Amir Hussain, at the Khalil Walaity Army and Police store in Kabari Bazar have given up all hope after rounds of inconclusive negotiations with the police who fail to suggest any alternative to selling uniforms. Although successful in driving business away, the authorities have failed to completely uproot the sale of uniforms in the market. Rawalpindi teems with markets that have sprawling displays of old military and police uniforms, including boots, joggers, gloves, mittens, badges and even firearms, used by soldiers. Mobee Plaza, Haider Road, Saddar, Barkat Plaza, Bank Road, Saddar Bazar, Chowk Kabari Bazar and Saddar Chotta Bazar are just some more names where this trade takes place. Along with wearable items, the markets also stock household provisions, kitchen appliances, sports equipment, computers and toiletries for retired and active military personnel. And while the city is a booming market for local military supplies, it is not un32 common to stumble upon supplies used JANUARY 12-18 2014
Making new army beret caps at Kabari Bazaar.
A notice by the SHO of Cantt Police Station displayed at a shop, saying shopkeepers must gather complete identification details from customers before selling uniforms to them.
by foreign troops. The shops tucked deep inside the market are pouring with supplies smuggled from Afghanistan or stolen from Nato troops. From backpacks to sleeping bags, belts to boots and leather pistol covers to hunting kits, the shops are brimming with wares that could easily draw attention from terrorists. “One can obtain the used stuff despite [strict vigilance from the authorities]. We must [keep a] check on it as terrorists can easily buy the stuff from this bazaar,” said Asim Ali, a student at Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, who regularly visits Kabari Bazaar where his uncle runs a shop. He states the potential threat of the flourishing business by citing numerous examples of attacks that were conducted by terrorists, such as the one on the Pakistan Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi, disguised as police or army personnel. In a bid to deter crime, some shopkeepers, allegedly selling uniforms to civilians, were also arrested last year, reports Amir Gill, a resident of Saddar, Rawalpindi. Crackdowns were ordered against the illegal sale of military uniforms, badges, boots and jackets only after the attacks, confirms a senior officer at the military headquarters. Since shops could not be shut down immediately, shopkeepers were strictly advised to keep a record of all their customers and to submit them to the GHQ. Similar crackdowns were also launched in Peshawar, Lahore and various cities of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) has said, “[The] local police is dealing with it.” To prevent duplication, the army made changes in the printed design on the jackets and opened its own stores for soldiers to buy readymade and tailor-made uniforms. The Canteen Stores Department (CSD), a chain of retail stores run by the Pakistani Ministry of Defence, facilitates all military personnel. It not only supplies in bulk but also at concessional and subsidised rates in all major cities across Pakistan.
A worker embroidering a badge at his shop. The CSD Army Store has bound all army personnel to purchase their uniforms from their outlet. Regardless of rank, all of them have been advised to strictly observe this new rule or face disciplinary action. Muhammad Maqbool, a Rawalpindi-based senior police superintendent, says shopkeepers are warned not to sell used uniforms or purchase them from the armed forces. “We served notices to shopkeepers selling or purchasing uniforms. If they continue, action will be taken in [the] future.” According to Maqbool, negotiations with shopkeepers to entirely put an end to this security hazard are also underway. Despite the ban on the sale of military uniforms in the open market following a 2009 attack on a series of sensitive installments, 60 shops are still operational. But, according to Major (retd) Sarfraz Ahmed, one president of the Kabari Bazar Shopkeepers Association, many of these shops, whose businesses are at a decline, will soon be forced to shut down. The business that was allegedly assisting terrorists now needs assistance. T
I have been tailoring uniforms for [the] police and army personnel since 1988 and never found any civilian who wanted the uniform Shopkeeper Umar Afghan
Zahid Gishkori is a correspondent for The Express Tribune in Islamabad. He tweets @ZahidGishkori
33 JANUARY 12-18 2014
MUSIC
Oldmeets
bold
Dion adopts a more youthful and contemporary approach in her new album and succeeds BY KATHERINE TRIA KEHOE
After a six-year absence, Canadian pop singer, Celine Dion is back with a youthful approach in her new album, Loved Me Back to Life. The songs are raw, edgy and modern with buzz centered on eclectic collaborations with Ne-Yo, Sia, Eg White and others. The pop-icon best known for her powerful and soaring vocals downshifts into a contemporary voice, one that is not immediately recognisable as Dion. Although, she pushes into riskier territory, competing with contemporary artists, the album is as powerful as ever. The songs are current, classy and still play to her strength of having one of the best voices to date. The lead single Loved Me Back To Life, written and produced by Sia, is the most drastic departure from Dion’s trademark sound making it a fitting and questionable choice at the same time. It’s a song that requires multiple listens, making the collaboration duet with Ne-Yo, Incredible a better choice for a lead single. Incredible lives up to its title and is the catchiest tune of the album. It is contemporary and radio-friendly opening up an entirely new fan base while also appealing to those who love Dion’s traditional ballad style. The song is a mix of both worlds — pop and R’nB with Ne Yo’s soulful humming perfectly counterbalancing Dion’s varying and bold vocals. Another highlight of the album is Water And A Flame, inspired by Daniel Merriweather and teamed with Eg White. The song takes 34 Dion down an entirely different path. The JANUARY 12-18 2014
vocals, strings and soulful retro make it sound like a song by Adele but work in favour of Dion, making it one of the top songs of the album and a style she should repeat in her future albums. However, Dion does not disappoint with mixes of her original style as well. Somebody loves somebody is an aggressive and addictive song true to Dion’s pop style of the 90s, a treat and throwback for her old fan base. Although, there are odd beeps in the song, the vocal breakdown is tremendous. Unfinished songs, the round-up of the album is also reminiscent of Dion’s traditional tune with her voice echoing repercussions of inspiration and happiness to match the lyrics of the song. This song, however, sounds a little out of place in an album that reinvents
Did you know? Celine Dion’s album Loved Me Back to Life was originally titled Water and a Flame, after the track in the album, written by Daniel Merriweather along with Eg White and first performed by Merriweather and Adele. However, when Dion played a recording of her song in an interview in April 2013, musician Samantha Ronson, a friend of Merriweather (and whose brother, Mark Ronson, produced the original version), wrote a blog post that included the video of the interview and asked her
and tries to change her public perception. You loved me back to life is an album that will stay with you as another hit, simply because of Dion’s genuine ability to be honest with her fans, especially through lyrics about the challenges of stardom and finding love. Her collaborations show that she is able to be current in today’s music scene while also remaining true to her traditional style that we know and love. The songs aren’t overwhelmed with her powerful voice in the album and are livelier, conveying their messages clearly while being catchy. Dion’s comeback has once again proven that she can do anything with her voice. Katherine Tria Kehoe is a writer from Toronto, Canada. She majored in professional and creative writing with a specialisation in book publishing.
to give credit to the writer of the song. In June, Merriweather linked to Ronson’s post criticised Dion asking for credits for his work. In response, Dion’s management claimed that while Dion often does not mention the writers of her songs, she has always been very open about the fact that she doesn’t write them herself and that all of the writers and producers were always credited on the liner notes. Despite this, on 25 July 2013, her website confirmed that the album was re-titled to Loved Me Back to Life.
BOOK
Confetti Implosions A well-written social satire that will take the edge off your boredom BY NUZHAT SAADIA SIDDIQI
Maggie Shipstead’s debut novel is a flippant, irreverent and utterly hilarious yet subtly dark take on the upper echelons of American society, where people still cling to old world ideals to pass off as rich quasi nobility and the affluent try their hands at irony to pass off as common folk. Confused? Don’t be. The book under review steers so far away from the average chick lit bestseller that you’ll be left with a grin on your face and satisfaction over time well spent. Seating Arrangements starts off as a simple story about a family gathering at the New England island of Waskeke to celebrate the wedding of Daphne Van Meter to Greyson Duff. Daphne is seven months pregnant and knee-deep in wedding related paraphernalia and shenanigans. She is too busy to worry about the ripples her impending nuptials is creating in the lives of people who have come together for the event. There is Biddy, Daphne’s straightforward and uncomplicated mother, Celeste, her perpetually drunk aunt who is a bit of a serial bride with a few marriages behind her and perhaps a few ahead of her, the bridesmaid Dominique, whose Egyptian heritage and worldly knowledge are at odds with the general silliness that abounds in the house full of estrogen and wedding gifts, Piper, who is a smidgen of pale limbs, utterly unremarkable save only her loyalty to Daphne, and finally Agatha, who is the ‘troublesome one’, with a husky voice and dirty blonde hair. And alongside them is Daphne’s maid of honour and younger sister Livia, who has brought her environmental warrior and recently heartbroken self to the occasion, much to everyone’s dismay. The superbly written cast of female characters, however, is set around the central figure of Winn Van Meter, Daphne’s father who has long suffered teetering at the edge of being a part of the upper crust of East Coast. Despite his lifelong affiliation with all the right social circles and clubs, he finds himself denied the membership of one of the most prestigious social clubs on Waskeke, and the failure to receive an invitation has opened up old wounds. It has also brought into focus Jack Fenn, a man Winn considers a sworn enemy for the
Available at The Last Word for Rs850
Author Maggie Shipstead JANUARY 12-18 2014
The familial intrigue, the constant unabashed flirtations, the resolutely uncouth manner in which old family feuds are hashed again is almost familiar to those of us who have had a chance to participate in large family weddings fact that he denied him a membership for the Harvard fraternity in their youth, and just happened to have dated his wife, Ophelia, before she met him. It is Winn’s own insecurity at the end of his fifties paired with the psychological turmoil of knowing that, despite his staunch control of his life, his daughters have stubbornly careened out of the axis of propriety defined by him. Pair that with his long suppressed lust for Agatha rearing its ugly head in the most inopportune of times, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Spanning over three days of the wedding weekend, the well-constructed blocks of the Van Meters’ lives seemed to be fitting in all the wrong sequences like a long ignored game of Tetris. As Shipstead writes in one of her masterfully concise paragraphs, “Spending so much time with the Van Meters was like returning to a cherished childhood home and discovering that either her memory had been wrong or time had taken its toll, and the place was not magical or special at all but ordinary, flawed — a revelation doubly offensive because it made a certain swath of past happiness seem cheap, the product of ignorance.” The book is a lighthearted yet pensive read for autumn when even our own country turns into a giant marriage hall. Culturally, many people will find a lot of similar social nuances that plague most of us halfway across the world when it comes to wedding parties. The familial intrigue, the constant unabashed flirtations, the resolutely uncouth manner in which old family feuds are hashed again and how only a few sane voices try to make peace rule over the proceedings is almost familiar to those of us who have had a chance to participate in large family weddings. This book delivers hilarious twists and studded with retellings of Winn’s humble heritage, Biddy’s quiet longings, Livia’s desperation, Dominique’s ennui, Agatha’s waywardness, Piper’s cluelessness, Celeste’s drunkenness, and the Duff family’s failing pact to ‘be pleasant’, it makes for a uniquely fulfilling read that will be quick and fun to digest, like a slice of good quality wedding cake. Nuzhat Saadia Siddiqi is a Lahore-based writer and book hoarder. She tweets @guldaar
Wedding Woes That Old Cape Magic (2009) Pulitzer Prize winning Richard Russo’s eighth novel is about an ageing Hollywood writer and professor who travels to New England to attend two weddings after losing both his parents in quick succession. The witty book revolves around the idea of ageing, fidelity and familial affinity, while ensuring that at no point the reader forgets that the book’s protagonist is a malicious, old coot.
Madras on Rainy Days (2004) Samina Ali’s story revolves around the arranged marriage of an Indian-American Muslim woman, whose wedding in Hyderabad sets into motion a curious chain of events that are rooted in ritual and tradition, clashing with the protagonist’s burgeoning sexuality. An excerpt from the book can be read on the NPR website.
Wedding Babylon (2009) Ever wondered what goes into making a super expensive wedding? In this book, Imogen Edwards-Jones and an anonymous author go in-depth to explore the wedding industry, and how prices of everything are inflated to cheat gushing couples out of their money. A witty and sardonic book, this is a must-read companion in the wedding season.
JANUARY 12-18 2014
FRAMED
POWER
PLAY TEXT & PHOTO BY ARIF SOOMRO
38 JANUARY 12-18 2014
Hawkes Bay, Karachi: Children of a nearby locality play under a high-power electricity pylon; unaware of the danger they are exposing themselves to. With no designated areas for children’s entertainment in the area, the younger ones often find joy in unconventional settings like these and end up putting their lives and safety at risk in the process. These pylons are hightension power lines, conducting nearly 11,000 volts of electricity and can be deadly upon exposure. Hence, it is highly unadvisable to even stand near these high-tension power lines, let alone play on them. T
Arif Soomro is a photographer for The Express Tribune.