The Express Tribune Magazine - July 11

JULY 11-17 2010

Love Story

Despite falling standards,Urdu romance digests remain popular

JULY 11-17 2010

Cover Story 12 Love Story Romance replaces reform in the Urdu digest

Feature 18 Being Bacha Pukhtun labourers find an unlikely source of inspiration

Comment 25 The Business of Freedom How much is too much of a good thing?

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Travel 22 Ball Bearings Sweden, land of problems solved

Portfolio 28 One Man’s Trash A stroll through Shershah Kabari Bazar

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Food 38 The Sultan Missed a Delight Shayma Saadat prepares Dolmeh Felfel

Up North & Personal 42 Keep Pedalling, Chaps Zahrah Nasir’s tribute to a time gone by

Review 34 What’s new in films and books

Regulars 6 People & Parties: Out and about with Pakistan’s beautiful people 10 Tribune Questionnaire: Ali Noor on talent 44 Horoscope: Shelley von Strunckel on your week ahead 46 Ten Things I Hate About: Cricket

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Magazine Editor: Muna Khan, Features Editor: Faiza S Khan, Senior Sub-Editor: Nadir Hassan, Sub-Editor: Batool Zehra Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Anam Haleem, Tariq Alvi, S Asif Ali, Sukayna Sadik Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi.

For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk

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Let Your Hair Down!

Lahore’s fashionistas trooped into Royal Palm for the launch of Balmain Hair Expressions in Pakistan by Usman Abbas and Rabia of Keune.

The show was styled by designer Ammar Belal.

1. Aamna Taseer, Maheen Ghani and Sara Taseer Shoaib 2. Designer Ammar Belal with Aaminah Haq who is all aglow 3. Hamza Tarrar and Fia at the event 4. Richard and Stephen Gulliker from Balmain 5. Alina, Mehreen, Anny and Khuban Omar smile for the camera 6. Ayaan strikes a pose on the runway.

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PHOTOS: FAISAL FAROOQUI

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To have your event featured in this section email magazine@tribune.com.pk

PEOPLE & PARTIES

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1. Aisha, Maram and Kuki 2. Carmela Conroy and Aamir Mazhar 3. Sabina Pasha 4. Mohammad, Khawar Riaz and Mahnoor 5. Farooq and actor-turned-TV host Noor 6. Sonia and Nazi 7. Mehreen (in a Sublime by Sara Shahid outfit) and Izza.

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PEOPLE & PARTIES

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1. Maryam, Saim, Binda and Usman 2. Designer Ali Zeeshan 3. Huma and Rana Noman share a moment 4. Meg, Amna, Rima, Rabiya and Sara 5. Taimur and Shazre at the event 6. Asad Mirza 7. Maryam and Sikander.

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Star alert

Bollywood celebrities were out and about to promote their films and smile for the slew of cameras that follow them everywhere.

1. Mandira Bedi poses with guests at the launch of Tod’s Special Bracelet at Trident 2. Sonam Kapoor 3. Rani Mukherjee at the opening of Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s new store 4. Imran Khan 5. Prachi Desai 6. Stereo Nation’s Taz with Anusha Dandekar’s D Major 7. Aamir Khan 8. Padmini Kolhapure and a guest at a party.

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PHOTOS: IANS

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PHOTO: KOHI MARRI / RIZWANUL HAQ

“The only talent I’d like to have is to not be impressed by talent” Musician Ali Noor on the importance of propriety, sensitivity and how keeping secrets leads to constipation.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Which talent would you most like to have?

I have to figure that out but rest assured that I will do it in this

I don’t like the word talent. Those who get hooked on to their

lifetime as it is my ultimate pursuit.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Confusion about my plans of action.

singular talent are simply ignoring their capability of learning so many other things. I never got the luxury of being called a talented person. The only talent I’d like to have is to not be impressed by talent!

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

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

Their inability to understand how insignificant they are in the

I think my aggression and impatience.

bigger logic of nature.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Electronic equipment especially computer, audio and video gear.

What is your current state of mind?

I’m in a massive transition phase: I am realising that my doing and thinking have to go hand in hand and I have to discover a solid methodology for that.

On what occasion do you lie?

I hate hate hate secrets and concealment and prefer never to be

put in a position where I have to conceal something. Keeping

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

You can’t pay attention to any achievements as it makes you ambitious. You’ll never enjoy the journey as you’ll be just too busy waiting for the destination.

What is your most treasured possession?

The times in which I’ve been born!

Who is your hero of fiction?

Inspector Jamshed from Ishtiaq Ahmed novels.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

quiet for propriety’s sake is OK but living with a secret gives me

My brother says I behave a lot like Tariq bin Ziyad.

gerate and boast at times to prove my point and that can some-

Who are your heroes in real life?

massive constipation. As far as lying is concerned I tend to exagtimes be a lie…

Raza Kazim. He has stuck to his guns without dogma. He has

Which living person do you most despise?

laid the foundations for brand new ideas for a paradigm shift

I don’t know…It’s a horrible feeling to despise someone. I dislike a LOT of people!

made many impossibles possible but most importantly he has

that I believe will pave the way for a happier future. I am very very very lucky to know him personally.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

What is your greatest regret?

His sense of propriety and responsibility.

Too much time wasted.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

What’s your favourite quote?

Her sensitivity and ability to tame monkeys and dogs like us in

The ceiling of your happiness can never exceed the quality of your

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

How many hours of load shedding did you experience yesterday?

They change pretty frequently. One time I started saying ‘so bismil-

None. These are my lucky days. a

the most affectionate way.

lah’ after every sentence and my parents made a lot of fun of me.

intellect.

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COVER STORY

love story

While standards may have fallen, the popularity of the Urdu romance digest goes on unabated

BY AROOSA MASROOR

Zindagi ki dhoop chaon mei koi bhi shaqs ek ehsaas... ek kayfiyat... ek jazba jise mohabbat kehte hain is ke baghair zinda nahi reh sakta. Mohabbat ek yaqeen hai, ek aitebaar hai...aasmano ki janib sar bulandi ka zinda ehsaas hai...ek bulawa hai bhichre huo ko milane ka...mohabbat ke alawa jo gham hain wo mohabbat na hone ki waja se hain.

No one can live without love. It is an intense feeling, an emotion that one cannot live without. Love is faith, a trust that gives one the strength to reach for the skies, the strength to deal with life’s ups and downs. Love is a call that unites lost strangers. All the sorrows in one’s life are due to the absence of love.

This passage from the story Mohabbat Humsafar Meri written by

Anjum Ansar, editor of the monthly Pakeezah digest, is typical

of the tone and content carried by the Urdu romantic digest, a popular category of fiction, boasting titles such as Khwateen, Pakeezah, Shua, Resham, Sacchi Kahania and Doshiza and consumed by a largely — but not exclusively — female readership from a wide

variety of economic backgrounds. Roughly the local equivalent of

legendary British publishing house Mills & Boon, these romantic

digests are as popular with housewives and college students as their equivalents elsewhere in the world.

From Reform to Romance Most of the stories in these digests revolve around women

who are either victims or martyrs of love. In true subcontinental

form, if women do not fail at love, or God forbid, actively pursue love, then they are villainous vixens condemned to a lonely fate.

Despite the fact that a significant percentage of the readership

of these digests are women who are no longer confined to their

homes and whose lives have expanded to encompass concerns

such as higher education, employment and financial stability, these issues are rarely highlighted. For the past few decades, these digests have only been perpetuating stereotypes because no

new writer is willing to step in and provide the audience with

some decent literature — stories that will make women think, says cultural commentator Mohsin Sayeed.

While romance is the theme of choice for current digests, this

has not always been the case. In the early days of independence,

women’s magazines were popular because they highlighted women’s issues in a progressive manner and were aptly referred to as reformist literature. Also, prolific writers such as Ismat

Chughtai and Qurat-ul-Ain Haider contributed to feminist lit-

erature by providing readers with a counter viewpoint, they were

iconoclasts who broke through stereotypes, as seen in seminal works such Bahishtee Zewar.

Stories of that era usually revolved around real-life characters

and came with a sense of history, weaving fact with fiction, un-

like the largely fictitious and comparatively insipid cast featured in modern day digests. But over the years, these stories were

transformed and romance took the place of any other concerns, such a woman’s status in society. The digests became far more domestic affairs and this trend has continued to date. As a result

what we read today in the name of literature is clichéd attempts at poetry, or thinly veiled erotica, which are as popular as one would expect in a country with Pakistan’s levels of moral policing and subsequent repression.

The relevance of romantic digests Some readers follow digests as an anthropological exercise,

looking for an insight into the concerns and pressures faced by

Pakistani women today. Along with the stories themselves, the feedback section is particularly telling.

"These stories about the exploitation of women often have

a moral as well that one tends to ignore," says Seema Samad, a housewife, who has been reading women’s magazines since the

1970s. Samad has subscribed to seven different kinds of monthly digests including Khwateen, Pakeezah, Shua, Sacchi Kahania and Doshiza.

>> Five popular digests 1. Shuaa 2. Pakeezah 3. Khawateen 4. Jasoos 5. Sachhi Kahanian

“At my age, I dont buy these to enjoy the romantic stories. I simply

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COVER STORY buy them because I enjoy Urdu literature and want to understand the social issues we are faced with, of what youngsters today are up to.”

Over the years, Samad says she has seen society change

through the writing of these authors. "Since some of the content is based on true stories, it can be helpful for a mother like me who has young daughters. It helps me give them the right sort of advice when they step out of their home."

Samad recalled a story she had read recently about the exploi-

tation of female students by their male teachers in schools or madrassahs. "These are stories which the mainstream media cannot show because most victims do not report the incident, but we all know this is happening."

Sayeed maintains, however, that issue-based stories are few

and far between, and that the bulk of digests offer nothing more than inane romantic fantasies, whereas they could instead be

used as an instructional tool, highlighting, for example, human

rights issues, and getting them to a segment of society in a way that will have a lasting impact.

Writers and their Writing Farhat Ishtiaq, Saira Arif and Bushra Masroor are some popu-

lar authors among readers whose writing focuses on the 'dreams

and desires of a woman'. Most of them write on social issues with

a romantic spin that greatly interests women who can relate to them. Their stories are about our society and the plots are based on friendship, love, hatred and injustice. Through their writing

they also bring into light the hard facts of life and teach you how to deal with people, comments a fan of Bushra Masroor, writer and managing editor of Resham Digest, on a blog.

Other readers like Sabeen Jamil, a lecturer at Jinnah University

for Women, adds that monthly magazines such as Shua, Khwateen or Kiran interest her because their writers discuss social and political issues as well. That is, however, a rarity. Most stories

revolve around the Meena Kumari syndrome where a woman is betrayed by a man, who is always very good-looking. And marriage is often the most important part of a woman’s life because she cannot survive without a man’s support. The voice of an

economically independent woman often looked down upon by

other authors can only be heard in a few stories by writers such as Aneeza Syed. The woman in her story is often a journalist or an activist, who has an independent mind and is able to think.

Anjum Ansar, writer and editor of the Pakeezah Digest, however, sticks with domestic disputes.

Apart from this, there is another class of writers that focuses

on adult content, a job for which they are paid twice as much.

“There's no harm with light romance in novels, but most of the

so-called romantic digests actually sell trash,” comments Mu-

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hammad Iqbal Qureshi, Deputy Editor Urdu Digest.

The world of Urdu literature has produced writers such as Manto,

Ismat Chughtai and Wajida Tabassum who have been known for

using themes of candid sexuality, but the 'adult content' contemporary writers are trying to sell is of another category altogether.

“What authors of romantic digests are trying to sell is actually

litter not literature,” remarks Sahar Ansari, a professor of Urdu Literature at the University of Karachi. But despite the criticism, these digests remain popular not only among locals but among

migrant Pakistanis based in the Middle East, UK and the US. Expatriate Pakistanis read the Pakeezah and Khwateen digest with great

interest in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where they are sold for 10 riyals and 10 dirhams each and Pakeezah is the most popular digest among his customers.

One feature of the stories in these monthly digests is that they

are often penned by men under female pseudonyms. Editors

believe that the popularity of their digests increases and they receive more letters when they use the female voice. This is be-

cause most women are not comfortable reading romantic stories

written by men but instantly relate to the story if the writer is a

woman. “This may sound conservative,” says Qureshi, “but that

is what our readers demand.” Those who write under pen names are sometimes paid double their usual rate for romantic stories,

taking them from Rs. 10,000 for an action-adventure story in Suspense Digest to Rs. 20,000 for a pot-boiler in Pakeezah.

Revisiting Literature Social movements such as the Women's Action Forum (WAF)

“Their stories are about our society and the plots are based on friendship, love, hatred and injustice. Through their writing they also bring into light the hard facts of life and teaches you how to deal with people.”

should target women through this mass medium because it has

the potential to change the way people think. “We need to revisit the literary works of prolific writers such as Qurat-ul-Ain Haider

who contributed towards social change through their works such as Kaar-e-Jahan Daraz Hai (The Work of the World Goes On) if we really want to create awareness about human rights,” comments Sayeed.

Gulnar Tabassum, WAF convener in Lahore, agrees. She ad-

mits that WAF has not invested time in the writers of this industry who can be major agents of social change. “Presently, women

who run WAF belong to the upper-middle or upper class and look

down upon popular literature because they stereotype women.

Most of them prefer to communicate and issue their statements in English, and only target the English media,” she says.

But there is a powerful incentive for tapping the potential of

Urdu digests — the hope that the average Pakistani woman will

read, not about the martyr who was faithful to her love after all hope was lost, but about her sister who got up the gumption to change things for herself. a

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being bacha

BY ENAM HASAN PHOTOS BY ATHAR KHAN

A veteran actor of the slums, Bacha defies our notions of success and failure

Syed Ali Shah, known as “Bacha’’, the respected one, amongst the slum-dwelling Pakhtuns of Karachi’s Sherpao Colony, has produced, acted and directed numerous video films, street theatre plays, and comedy shows for the slum locals. They are available in the colony’s video shops at an affordable price for rental. His vision has not translated to material success, but, as

triumphs of the human spirit go, Bacha’s story stands alone for not surrendering to the inexorable misery of grinding poverty.

got the opportunity to deliver a line in the Urdu film Pehchaan, starring cinematic icons Nadeem and Shabnam. “I was in Lahore when I got this chance by luck. I had to deliver a line ‘ye aurat

badkirdaar hai’ (this woman is of bad character). I would have

got more work in films, if I had not gone back home because of an emergency. Life is tricky; I lost a golden chance,” he says.

Discussing his starring scene in great detail, and none too

Born in Swat to a family of landless peasants in 1954, Bacha’s

fussed that it involved a crowd of men shouting derogatory re-

struggle, his father realised in 1963 that his family had no hope

ness in Pehchaan. He delivers the line with all the emotionally

life seemed condemned to being unremarkable. After years of for survival in Swat and would have to migrate to Karachi to

scrape out a living, or, as Bacha says, with customary lyricism, “My family moved to Karachi to try to survive the pangs of life.”

A few years after his arrival, as a young teen, Bacha discovered

his passion for Pushtu and Urdu films and with this in mind, he

decided to participate in local street theatre, “I decided to become an actor. I was the first, and thus far the last in my family, to have such a dream.”

In his youthful days, his passion invited praise and criticism

alike. Staunchly religious members of his community predictably criticised his aspirations, but he never paid much attention to them. He had enough friends and supporters who paid

marks at a woman, Bacha all but re-enacts his moment of greatcharged passion that he had gathered while delivering it the first time, during the shooting all those years ago. He said that in the

late '80s, he had wished to return to Lahore and look for more

work in this field but that he had been compelled to abandon the love of his life due to his mother’s belief that cinema was un-

Islamic and that his involvement with it was not fitting for their family nor community. And it was in adherence to these traditions and values that Bacha, unquestioningly, gave up the thing

he most wanted. His mother, now old and infirm, still considers it a matter of pride that her son bowed to her will rather than living his life.

Despite this blow, Bacha never lost hope. His passion and in-

them no heed either. “They believed entertainment was not good

spiration found different routes, and he gave to other young peo-

agreed, and discussed the matter with our audiences in our own

in which he lived, he made a name for himself by encouraging

for society,” he says, “that it would ruin young minds. We disway. As we continued to do this, eventually our critics got tired of talking about us.”

Bacha’s room is decorated with pictures of Zulfikar Ali Bhut-

to, Benazir Bhutto and Nawab Akbar Bugti, in addition to some Pakistani film posters and friends’ photographs. He seems comfortable and at peace, for this is where he comes back after spending a hectic day every evening. “This is where I like to be — this

room. This is where my friends and other people come to meet

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While Bacha conspicuously finds joy in the smallest things,

the highlight of his life by his own reckoning, was the time he

me. In other words, this is my little world.” He takes out his little keyboard and starts playing a jaunty Pushto tune on it, smiling.

JULY 11-17 2010

ple the hope that his own elders had denied him. In the colonies young Pushtoon labourers to come forward and narrate and act out their tales and entertain their friends and neighbours. His

method was simple. He would orate his own story. Sometimes, he would tell them about prominent actors from Pushto films he had met. This being greater encouragement than these slum

dwelling young men had ever known, made a crucial difference in some of their lives.

Now, there are a number of aspiring actors you can find in this

slum. They credit Bacha with igniting in them a desire to act.

Bacha tells them how to write a story for stage, besides helping

aspiring actors Bacha encourages young Pukhtun labourers to act and entertain their friends and neighbours.There are a number of aspiring actors who credit Bacha with igniting in them a desire to act. Bacha tells them how to write a story for stage and helps them in rehearsals whenever needed.

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them in rehearsals, whenever needed. “He is my guru and my

inspiration,” says 18-year old Fayyaz Pardesi, whose parents forc-

ibly made him marry when they found out last year that he was in Lahore, looking for an opportunity to work in Pushtoo films.

When asked if he ever got an opportunity to work in a film,

Fayyaz said: “No. I worked in Lahore as a labourer and looked for

an opportunity. But I never got one and then came back home

after six months.” However, all of this isn’t enough to hold him back. He seemed determined, as he said: “I will give it another

shot this year. I am planning to visit Lahore in a few months. I am very keen to work in films.” In the colony, Fayyaz’s friends joke: “The student tried to follow the footprints of his guru and got busted on his way. Isn’t it funny?”

Fayyaz now works with Muhammadzada, a scrap vendor and

father of six. He runs a street theatre group in the vicinity. Muhammadzada and his friends stage different stories based on social issues and problems concerning their slum life at a nearby

playground every Friday. Fayyaz usually plays the female lead, because, as in Shakespearian times, Muhammadzada cannot recruit a woman to do the job.

It’s important to not look at this in terms of financial gain. To

have a dream, to hold on to it, that is enough of a victory in lives like Bacha’s, which defy our notions of success and failure. Bacha’s father was a labourer who worked himself to death for a

pittance in textile factories. He was a die-hard Bhutto fan, as is

Bacha, but when he died, he left a verbal will for Bacha and his six brothers. “My father believed the Bhuttos were real sympathisers of the poor in this country. So he had advised us to vote for

PPP till the last member of the Bhutto family is alive and leading

the party. So I follow what he said, despite my reservations about what the current PPP government stands for,” he said. Ironically,

his father’s advice and his mother’s oath are enough an evidence

of how his family bond has determined, most of the time, his choices in life.

Since Bacha is an entertainer and a good anchor, he is regularly

invited by political activists in the area to motivate their voters,

to campaign for them. He addresses political functions, puts up acts at their gatherings, and thus motivates the locals to vote. He

has a theatrical voice and an engaging manner of reciting poetry as well, both qualities that have kept him popular with activists.

When not indulging his passion, Bacha can be found selling

candies at a stall in Sherpao Colony. He cannot tell you who Lau-

rence Olivier was or who Al Pacino is, but he has, in his own way, inspired those around him to the art of acting in a similar way to these thespians, with far more remarkable odds to be faced along the way. a

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The highlight of his life was when he got the opportunity to deliver a line in the Urdu film Pehchaan, starring cinematic icons Nadeem and Shabnam. “I would have got more work in films, if I had not gone back home because of an emergency. Life is tricky; I lost a golden chance,” he says.

TRAVEL

ball bearings:

a pakistani’s view of sweden

BY AHMAD RAFAY ALAM

While landing at Sweden’s Arlanda airport, some 30 minutes outside its capital Stockholm, one can be forgiven for wondering where all the people are. Coming from Pakistan, where rare is the moment one’s line of sight is not interrupted by another human being, Sweden appears to the uninitiated as unpopulated; a vast swathe of pristine forest dotted every now and then with a cottage and the odd lake. The presence of nature is all encompassing

ber of the Press invited by the Swedish Institute. My task was to

have a deep connection with their environment. But one would

from around the world into the same room as Big Business in the

— there’s forest everywhere — and it is one of the reasons Swedes be quite mistaken to think, what with nearly eight months of darkness, that Sweden is a land where nothing goes on.

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I had got myself this close to the Arctic Circle on the strength of

my dubious credentials as a columnist and was officially a MemJULY 11-17 2010

cover the young men and women of their Young Leaders Visitor Program during their participation of the Rework the World Conference held in the Swedish heartland of Leksand during the first week of June.

The Rework the World Conference takes its title from a phrase

employed by Manuel Castells, the first philosopher of the inter-

net, to describe how new networks created by electronic media had the power to rework the world. The purpose of the conference was to get some 1,700 young environmental entrepreneurs

hope that venture capital could scale up these remarkable initiatives.

Our first task as the press invited by the Swedish Institute, was

to attend the presentations prepared by the young leaders at the

end of their training. And so we were subjected to several idealistic tableaus in which things like Twitter were supposed to help

you choose the right major, or how Facebook could be retooled to

suit the needs and demands of any number of social and political activists. With most of the young leaders coming from the MENA Region, the elephant in the room was very much the oppressive nature of many of their regimes and governments. It also raised

an important question: what interest did the Government of Sweden have giving the Swedish Institute leeway to arm a bunch

of bright and motivated Arabs and North Africans with the tools

needed to fight a political campaign using social media? Gabriel Garcia Marquez may not have needed more than a prejudice to

move the world, but give me a laptop and a Twitter account and let me show you what havoc can be created.

I asked an officer of the Swedish Institute what was up and

received a we-don’t-mingle-in-other-people’s-politics type of reply. But she did admit some alumni of the Young Leaders Visitor

Program had been questioned about their activities by the intelligence agencies of their governments. But regardless of where idealism and the internet may be able to take the Middle East,

the presentations did get me thinking about the strategy of the

Swedish Institute. Reaching out to the best and brightest and arming them with tools needed to fight a political campaign us-

Sweden, the land of Vikings, Ikea, Bjorn Borg, ABBA and the sauna, didn’t really coalesce into a nation until 1521, when King Gustav Vasa unified the many other tribes of hunter gatherers and races that had collected on the Baltic archipelago.

ing social media is a bloody good idea.

Sweden, the land of Vikings, Ikea, Bjorn Borg, ABBA and the

sauna, didn’t really coalesce into a nation until 1521, when King Gustav Vasa unified the many other tribes of hunter gatherers

and races that had collected on the Baltic archipelago. A generation later, Sweden had broken with the Pope and by the end of

that century, the country officially became Lutheran Christian.

By this time, a hereditary monarchy had been introduced (it still

continues, with the marriage of Crown Princess Victoria to her former gym trainer and “commoner” boyfriend taking place last

month) and King Gustav had broken the back of the Hanseatic

League, a collection of merchant-gangsters who ensured safe

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passage through the Baltic Sea at an appropriate cost. With the

JULY 11-17 2010

TRAVEL League’s monopoly over sea routes broken, money began to flow

into Sweden’s coffers like never before and the country saw its

When to go:

speak.

The ideal time to visit Sweden is between May and August, as spring and summer are the most beautiful seasons there.

By 1540, the Swedes were relying on the Riksdag, a collection of

How to get there:

golden era. Fast forward 500 years, and you’ve got Sweden, so to

But money is not the only thing that creates great nations.

shared power with this privy council of sorts and, over the last

There are no direct flights from Karachi to Stockholm, but the most common way to get there is from Karachi to Dubai, Dubai to London and then from London to Stockholm.

of the world’s earliest systems of democracy. Practice appears to

Which cities to see:

different social groups that were called upon to discuss and de-

termine the affairs of the country. Under this system, the King half-millenium, the Swedes have basically been polishing up one

that it’s a country that has spent the last several hundred years

Karlskrona is known for its historical sites, museums and architecture. Gotenburg is a city of coastal towns and exploration sites as is Gotland, Sweden’s own city by the sea. Kalmar is famous for the landmark Kalmar Castle and its cathedrals.

haven’t come to terms with. So, for example, when it comes to

Where to go:

perfect: The Economist Intelligence Unit actually rates Sweden’s democracy as the No. 1 democracy in the world.

What that means — and this is the thing about Sweden — is

grappling with the problems that young states like Pakistan women’s rights, Sweden is up there, having legislated on equal

inheritance rights in the mid-1800s. It allowed female electoral franchise in 1921, declared rape in marriage a crime in 1965 and,

in the past decade, has passed legislation on violence against women, corporal punishment and the sex trade. In many ways, Sweden is the land of problems solved. That’s not to say there’s no

violence against women in Sweden, or that Swedish parents are totally immune from annoying children. It means that, when there is, there is at least a system you can rely on to get justice.

What they haven’t quite figured out, at least for now, is how to

The National Gallery in Stockholm is Sweden’s largest art gallery located. Be sure to check out the Vasa, a spectacular museum build around a 70-metre warship. The Gamla Stan is the royal palace which exhibits some of Sweden’s oldest and most stunning architecture. Shop at Sweden’s NK department store which sells everything one could possibly need. The grand building is designed by Ferdinand Boberg, Sweden’s leading architect. The lush, green island Djurgarden is the perfect location for a vacation spot, where one can laze around and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

integrate native Swedes with immigrant Swedes.

We were taken to visit Quick Response, an NGO whose job it is

to track down incidents of xenophobia in the press. That’s when

furniture is so expensive that one worries about letting their hair

sub-editor doesn’t have an eye for this type of stuff. Despite try-

has less than 2 million residents, the city centre is small and ev-

newspaper reporters refer to minorities as “others” and when the ing to reconcile the conflicting mental images of the name of the

NGO and the type of work it did (do alarms go off when someone comes across an offending passage, do people come sliding down poles, do people wear capes etc.), I had to say, they had a

erything’s easily walking distance. There’s an underground and

efficient bus service. The city’s cycle friendly and, in all, there’s hardly any automobile traffic.

During our tour, we were informed that Swedes had invent-

point. It was brought home to the more sceptical of us through

ed things as common as the zipper, the three-point seat belt

woman who lost her job as a school teacher because of her deci-

metaphor of what Sweden and Swedish people are like. Strong

comparison between two types of reports on the same Muslim sion to wear a nikab. On the one hand, you had the stereotypical

report of the school’s secularity and the woman’s lack of flexibility in approaching her religious beliefs. On the other, there was

a question and answer that fleshed the woman’s character and,

by revealing her dreams, aspirations, fears and desires, humanising her and her faith. Quick Response finds reporters guilty of the former and seminar and workshops them into the latter.

Later, we had some time off and took a tour of the city. Stock-

24

down lest something gets broken. The larger metropolitan area

holm has to be one of the more intimidatingly picture-perfect cities in the world. In many ways, it’s like a rich friend’s house: the JULY 11-17 2010

and ball-bearings. Ball-bearings seem to me a perfectly apt

willed, efficient and not meant to be noticeable. We were shown

a square where, in 1520, in an incident more or less similar to the Ahmadi massacres, King Kristian II (“the Tyrant”), executed

100 people. Another neighbourhood, we were told, built sometime in the Fourteenth Century, was built to house the elite,

subsequently became a slum and then a commercial zone and is now, once again, gentrified. It takes nothing less than centuries of struggle, often violent, to forge the identity of modern

Stockholm. A city doesn’t get to be so beautiful unless it’s paid its dues. a

COMMENT Withdrawal seems to be kicking in, as the country seems to be getting over its ultra euphoric honeymoon with the ‘liberating’ possibilities of ‘free’ media. An obscure body called the Media Coordination Committee on Defence Planning has suddenly reconvened to formalise guidelines for local and international print/electronic media outlets. It seems the government is becoming increasingly paranoid about its flirtations with the liberal idea of a free press. And indeed it is important to question exactly how free media should be, and if freedom is in fact a possibility.

Leaving aside urban graffiti and twitter-chatter and considering only print, broadcast, and tele-

cast, it becomes apparent that due to its nature this form of media has never really been free at all.

The fact that big media requires big investment to build the big infrastructure immediately binds

this form of media in a hydra-like web of capital relations interweaved with all sorts of political interests.

Big media is almost always either a business or strategic venture, and naturally the huge invest-

ment requires a huge pay off to make such an undertaking feasible. In that respect such operations are entirely dependent on either corporate sponsorship, government funding or a bit of both. On top of that, all this occurs within the confines of government regulation.

the business of freedom If my very own guerrilla radio station that plays rebellious rock and roll tunes out of my garage

is likely to be busted by the government unless I cough up for a permit then isn’t the free media a bit of a farce?

True, we’ve gone all the way from a government-run television monopoly with strictly conser-

vative media norms — the days of PTV anchors in starched dupattas — to an increasingly liberal, multi-polar media conglomerate with dozens of news and lifestyle channels airing highly sensationalised and largely horrific imagery 24/7 along with a bonus overdose of talk shows whose totality impeccably replicates the clamour of a vegetable market. But one must realise that this is only a

We’ve come from state-run television to media conglomerates with dozens of channels, but the media is far from free

BY ASIF AKHTAR

move from ultra-conservatism to radical liberalism — a highly dangerous endeavour! The idea that liberalism equals freedom is also a very, very dangerous misconception.

It is a fact that our many-headed media has shot up a heavy dosage of liberalism in the mainline,

but it also remains true, as always, that the infrastructure and the modes in which it operates have

always remained under strict control. Perhaps everyone got a little too high off the euphoria of the liberal-media head-rush — peaking in the midst of Musharraf’s emergency — that we momentarily forgot the dire consequences of our actions. But not to worry, the government has snapped out of its

delirium and has begun to take small cautionary measures to bring the rampant media back under the reins of power. We might consider ourselves lucky that the internet still presents a lucrative

opportunity at liberation for the select few who can afford it, primarily because the government doesn’t have the resources to monitor cyberspace (not that it isn’t already salivating at the prospect). But that too would be a short lived affair. As the authorities begin to wise up, it seems free-

dom and liberalisation are no longer flavour of the month, the new buzzwords are control and regulation. It remains to be seen whether these will be abused as much as the concept of freedom.

a

25 JULY 11-17 2010

PORTFOLIO

One man’s trash PHOTOGRAPHY & TEXT BY DANISH KHAN

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Whenever I walk into Shershah’s junkyard, known as Shershah Kabari Bazar, I am al-

ways overwhelmed by the surroundings. It is a treasure trove of rejected machinery that gets a new lease of life here. Every street

has its own specialty; every corner has something different to offer. If a few shops are littered with hoists of all makes then across

the street one might find row of shops selling vehicle engines from Japan. If one needs RX8 headlights or a bumper for a 2004 Mercedes, chances are one will find it here at a bargain price.

Despite the constant stink of Lyari River, life in Shershah

Kabari Bazar has its own beauty. It’s a place of myriad charac-

ters and despite their pressing worries — not least about the new taxes imposed in the budget — people keep on smiling. Fathers bring their sons to spend summer vacations, and for kids it is firsthand experience of business and life.

At Shershah Kabari Bazar one gets to hear the dirtiest jokes and

the most abusive words are hurled at each other for mere fun.

Mohammad Azam, a frequent customer juxtaposed the two most

common views about the place, “It is the dirtiest place in Karachi with polluted streets and the foulest language. And it is the best place to find bargain items.”

Afzai Iqbal, an importer of scrap claims, “Walking in Kabari

Bazar is like walking in a goldmine of scrap.” But the conditions

on the ground are tough for locals; a shop owner mentioned how, during last year’s rain, his shop remained submerged in rain and sewage water for several days.

What may not amuse the local workers and wanderers of the

area is the mundane and trivial in the unwavering course of their

mechanical lives. Yet this revival of junk mechanical parts into useable items exposed me to new vistas of experience; the experience of endowing the lifeless with life. a

28

Hooks and chains JULY 11-17 2010

PORTFOLIO

30 Bargain basement JULY 11-17 2010

Relaxing at Shershah Kabari Bazar

31 JULY 11-17 2010

PORTFOLIO

A day of scavenging

32 JULY 11-17 2010

REVIEW

featured review of the week

book classics according to coelho

BY RAVI MAHMOOD

Ever since Paulo Coelho published The Alchemist — a book which sharply divided the reading public into either devotees or then vitriolic critics — he has amongst a certain type of reader (one who reads infrequently) gained a reputation for his life changing, awe-inspiring novels. Yet instead of publishing another novel that would inevitably pluck at the heartstrings of his millions of dedicated fans all over the world, Paulo Coelho has chosen to share with us his collection of extracts from classic literature that, in turn, inspired him. Although Coelho has divided his anthology into four sections in attempt to organise the randomness that is his book, the chosen excerpts are far from systematic.

The first section of Coelho’s anthology titled ‘Water’ starts off with ‘The Ugly Duckling’, an appropriate if obvious choice to kick off the a section is intended to serve as a paddling pool of insightful morals. Although Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairy tale is the perfect start, it appears here Coelho has outdone himself and then scrambles to find other stories to fill the section. Coelho has thrown together Machiavelli’s The Prince in the same section — a chosen excerpt about how leaders should gain their popularity and love through fear. This seems a strangely gritty and adult intervention in Coelho’s otherwise saccharine world.

Despite the haphazard randomness of the book, a few of the stories Coelho have chosen do indeed live up to the title of the book and serve as an inspiration. Oscar Wilde’s powerful lament ‘De Profundis’ dominates the second section of his book; it is not the urbane epitaph-hurling Wilde we are all familiar with. This is a far more bitter, far more cruel, far more chilling creature, this is Oscar Wilde’s suffering.

It can be said that Coelho regains his target audience in the third section of his book, when he stops challenging them and returns to safer ground. Here we find Nelson Mandela’s inspirational ‘No Easy Walk to Freedom’, a piece of immense power that still leaves one 34 speechless. In this section Coelho also includes an excerpt from JULY 11-17 2010

an unwanted gift Coelho begins his book by telling us that his anthology is “not just a collection of texts and poems but a gift, something one arranges according to ones sensitivities to give to others”

Top Ten Books By Paulo Coehlo: 1. The Alchemist 2. Eleven Minutes: A Novel 3. Veronika Decides To Die 4. The Devil and Miss Prym 5. By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept 6. Brida 7. Manual of The Warrior of Light 8. The Zahir 9. The Pilgrimage 10. The Fifth Mountain

international phenomenon

Instead of publishing a novel that would inevitably touch millions of his dedicated fans all over the world, Paulo Coelho has chosen to share with us his collection of extracts from classic literature that, in turn, inspired him

Paulo Coelho’s novels have been translated into 42 languages, published in over 100 countries and sold over 21 million copies internationally One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s modern classic and George Orwell’s Ninteen Eighty-Four. This carefully chosen mix of genres should have been how Coelho chose to arrange the remainder of his anthology.

Coelho begins his book by telling us that his anthology is “not just a collection of texts and poems but a gift, something one arranges according to one’s sensitivities to give to others.” This gift, comprised of an assortment of fairy tales, legends, superstitions and historical stories, is one that Coelho should keep to himself. Of the dozens of pieces he has chosen, only five or six are the inspiring, stimulating pieces of writing that the title claims they are. For someone who had to solely choose the greatest pieces of literature according to his standards (and the taste of his readers), Coelho could have done a better job.

35 JULY 11-17 2010

REVIEW

book a barbecue gone bad

BY FAIZA S KHAN

The Slap is the fourth book by Australian Christos Tsiolkas, one which has pitched him into the international limelight after it won last years Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. An instant bestseller in the antipodes, it has taken some time for publishers to release The Slap to a wider, international audience, but upon doing so it has flown off bookshelves. The success of this novel brings to mind the 2001 publishing triumph that was Ian McEwan’s Atonement, a book that sells by the truckload, along with winning literary awards and critical acclaim.

The Slap opens at a suburban neighbourhood barbecue which, as anyone who watches Desperate Housewives will be able to tell you, is an accredited hotbed of hostility, hypocrisy, resentment, infidelity, suspicion and other such neighbourly activities. The gripping first chapter scans the party, providing tantalisingly brief, and always credible, character sketches and a sense of foreboding which climaxes in the incident from which the novel takes its name. A monstrously spoiled four-year-old child is slapped by a guest at the barbecue. The childs parents, hippie New Agers who teach their son mantras such as every feeling is legitimate, in turn slap their sons assailant with a law suit. The book then delves into the lives of eight characters directly affected by this incident, narrating the rest of the story from their very different viewpoints.

The cast includes Aisha, an Indian vet, Rosie, reformed white trash, Bilal, an aboriginal convert to Islam, and Richie a sensitive outsider coming to terms with his sexuality. They are largely fleshed out with utter conviction. Tsiolkas handles some characters points of view more skillfully than others, failing, for example, at convincingly humanising Anouk, the hardened career gal pondering over a distinctly modern concern, whether to have a baby and shoulder unwanted responsibility while the same energy could instead be poured into her career. This is contrasted with the selfabnegating path of social and familial obligation dutifully trod by 36 Manolis, an elderly Greek immigrant.

JULY 11-17 2010

narration The book delves into the lives of eight characters, narrating the story from their very different viewpoints Along with themes of immigration, integration and the perceived threat of Islam (handled with a level of subtlety that should make most Subcontinental authors blush at their ham-handed attempts at the same topic), the most important player in this novel is the notion of marriage. Boy, does it come off as a bleak institution, even bleaker for being necessary. The three marriages that are closely interrogated in this book do not provide romance and spiritual nourishment but instead safety, financial security, routine, an escape from individuality, a place to hide from one’s own impulses.

They are terrifyingly real, as is Tsiolkass portrait of the crisis of masculinity, whereby men flail about, no longer king of the castle, casting about for some forum in which to display their potency, be it via adultery or alcoholism and bitterness.

Discussing the origins of the story, Tsiolkas cites an incident where an elderly relative of Greek ancestry lightly smacked a child at a party. While the incident didnt explode in the same way as the titular slap of his novel, it provided the seed of a thought, it brought home to Tsiolkas the fragility of a barely-integrated society of people of vastly different values and identities, and what better place to see them in play than in child-rearing methods.

film crying wolf

BY OMAR JAMIL

Every once in while there comes a movie that raises the cinematic bar to hitherto unparalleled heights; a movie where the casts’ skill is surpassed only by the gripping storyline and well-crafted script, where all the separate elements are brought together in a gestalt of fine, award-worthy direction. The Wolfman is not such a film. In fact, despite a stellar cast, it falls far short of the mark.

For those uninitiated into all things lycanthrope, here’s the rundown: Lawrence Talbot is a British nobleman whose brother turns up dead, maimed by “some kind of wild animal”. Lawrence too encounters such an attack — only he survives it. The event leaves him altered, causing, amongst other things, an unexpected profusion of body hair, though this is one of the more benign side-effects.

The plot is a classic, and the cast has some renowned actors including Benicio Del Toro in the title role, Sir Anthony Hopkins as father to the prodigal son, Emily Blunt (be still my beating heart) and some fabulous cameos, including Geraldine Chaplin as a gypsy medicine-woman-cum-witch-doctor, and Art Malik as Singh, Sir John’s faithful servant/gentleman’s gentleman, imported directly from the Raj. But the stars seem as uninspired by the script as the viewers.

Sir Anthony lazily coasts through his performance. You can almost hear him thinking of his paycheque and gritting his teeth through it, thereby refusing to grace us with those acting talents he saves for performances he isn’t condescending to.

The much-lauded Del Toro is passable in his role of tortured, haunted nobleman-turned-actor-turned werewolf — although he has absolutely zero on-screen chemistry with Emily Blunt. This may have to do with the unvarying expression she sports throughout the duration of the film.

The acting is also not helped by the utterly ridiculous accents — Hopkins, for example, switches effortless between Welsh, Scottish and English (although Geraldine Chapman’s take at gypsy-speak had me in fits of laughter).

stellar cast; insipid movie Despite the stellar cast, the acting is uninspiring; you can almost hear Sir Anthony Hopkins thinking of his paycheque One might be inclined to afford the movie some leeway given its tumultuous release history. Originally scheduled for a November 2008 release, it was first pushed back to February 2009, then April 2009, then November 2009, following which late July 2009, before it was finally screened in February this year. Regardless of these hitches, what could have been a tight, gripping tale of an inner darkness manifesting itself as a physical beast, all set within the backdrop of 19th century feudal Britain, instead becomes an insipid story with nothing going for it at all.

There are moments though where you can almost see how this film could have been — for instance, in Hugo Weaving’s intense portrayal as the determined, yet oddly laid-back investigator, or the gripping sequence in which Del Toro’s wolf man mercilessly slaughters a roomful of psychiatrists waiting to prove that he is delusional and will not turn into a wolf when the full moon appears.

The effects are also quite incredible — although, again, I personally find the idea of an upright walking wolf man more funny than disturbing (blame Teen Wolf).

The Wolfman would have fared much better if it had attempted to stay within the realm of kitsch — sharing the joke with the audience — instead of trying to take a memorable classic and reinvent a concept for an audience that has seen far too much to be taken in by a man in a wolf mask. a 37 JULY 11-17 2010

FOOD

the sultan missed

a delight TEXT AND PHOTOS BY SHAYMA OWAISE SAADAT

The Nimat-Namah, known as The Sultan’s Book of Delights, is a late 15th Century book inscribed in Persian, for the Delhi Sultanate represented by the Sultan of Mandu, Ghiasuddin Shah, and completed under the reign of his son. Housed at the Orien-

tal and India Office Collections of the British Library, it contains page after page of intricate miniatures, painted in jewel-like tones in the distinctive Shirazi style.

The sybaritic Sultan Ghiasuddin Shah had a rather blasé at-

titude towards courtly affairs, with a preference for, “Women,

Wine or Snuff” — and, of course, culinary pleasures. He had a coterie of women swirling around him, serving him delicacies of

flaky, musk-spiced deer meat samosas and puddings steeped in essence of rose. The Sultan’s kitchen was heavily influenced by the cuisine of the Persian courts.

But the Sultan missed a worldly delight: the capsicum. This

bell pepper only came to India in the 16th century and there are

no capsicum-based recipes in the The Sultan’s Book of Delights. The

red capsicum is one of my favourite vegetables: it adds a candylike vibrancy to a salad or a sweet, caramelised note when impaled on a skewer alongside glistening onions and chicken ke-

babs. It is through my paternal grandmother, a Pakistani with

Persian ancestry, that I learnt to prepare Dolmeh Felfel, an Irani dish. Basmati rice, verdant herbs and fragrant savoury mince are

encased in a capsicum shell. I have steamed, rather than baked it, in a tomato sauce, in order to preserve the integrity and shape

of the capsicum, and perfumed it with delicate emerald leaves

of mint. When served, all this dish asks for is a slathering of creamy yoghurt.

38 JULY 11-17 2010

A few cooking notes: •Please do use the scarlet version of the bell pepper, or even the buttercup-yellow or orange ones. Perhaps one should veer away

from the green variety; it has been rightly said that green bell

peppers are “merely unripe red peppers”, with which I agree.

They impart a sour taste which, in my humble opinion, would not meld nicely with the subtly-spiced stuffing.

•I prefer steaming the pepper to baking it in the traditional manner. This helps the pepper maintain its shape, rather than

slumping down over itself with the papery skin escaping from its tender flesh.

•Insert the blade of a sharp knife to test for doneness; if it glides through, it is ready.

•Feel free to use leftover Basmati or savoury mince.

•Mint is a favourite herb in our kitchen, but you can play around with other herbs in this dish: parsely, dill, chives or tarragon.

•I do not use lean meat to prepare this dish. Because of the fat-

content of the meat, I do not add any oil when preparing the savoury mince.

39 JULY 11-17 2010

FOOD Dolmeh Felfel (Serves 4)

Preparation time: 1 hour (includes cooking time for the mince, rice and tomato base) Active Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 4 red capsicums 1 lb minced beef or lamb 1 + 1/4 tsp salt 1 + 1/2 garlic clove, minced 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 13 oz can tomato sauce (set aside 2 tbsp tomato sauce for savoury mince) pinch chilli pepper

pinch turmeric 1 cup water pinch cinnamon 2 cups cooked Basmati a bushel of fresh mint, in chiffonade form yoghurt for serving alongside dish

Preperation: Step 1: Prepare the savoury mince: * In a heavy-bottomed pan add beef (or lamb), 1 tsp salt, 1 minced garlic clove, minced onion, 2 tbsp tomato sauce, a pinch of chilli pepper and turmeric, 1 cup water. Stir, cover and leave to cook on a low-medium flame for one hour. Stir/check every 20 minutes; *When the meat looks ready, turn the heat to medium-high and stir till the water has evaporated; Step 2: Prepare the tomato base: *In a pan with a large surface area (this pan will be used later for steaming the peppers), fry on a medium flame, 1/2 clove of garlic till golden and fragrant, add the canned tomato sauce, 1/4 tsp salt and a pinch of cinnamon. Stir for 5 minutes. Leave to rest; Step 3: Prepare the Basmati rice Step 4: Assemble *Once the rice has cooled, add the savoury mince and toss lightly with a fork, so as not to break the delicate Basmati grains. Add the mint chiffonade; *Cut carefully around the bell pepper’s stem to create a lid. Remove it, and slice the thick white skin underneath it. Wash the inside of the pepper, removing any seeds; *Spoon the stuffing into the pepper and replace the lid.

Step 5: Steam *Place the capsicums upright in the pan with the tomato base, add half a cup of boiling water, cover with a lid and let the peppers steam for 25 minutes over a low- to medium-flame.

Serve with lashings of creamy yoghurt. a Shayma Owaise Saadat, a Pakistani-Afghan with Persian ancestry, is the author of the food-memoir-style blog “The Spice Spoon: Cooking Without Borders” (www.thespicespoon.com). She is a Senior Policy Advisor for the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure, Canada. Shayma lives in

40

Toronto with her husband.

JULY 11-17 2010

UP NORTH AND PERSONAL

keep pedalling, chaps

BY ZAHRAH NASIR ILLUSTRATION: ANAM HALEEM

The writer looks back fondly on the adventures her Uncle Tom had in India

A young Lancashire lad stepped smartly off a troop ship in Karachi all of 68 years ago and never forgot the thrill of what followed. The lad was my Uncle Tom, my father’s elder brother and, when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, he used to entertain us all with amazing stories of India which always somehow included cricket, football and, of all places, Rohri Junction.

Throughout my childhood and teens — indeed right until

his retirement — Uncle Tom worked away in a rambling cotton

mill in the Lancashire village of Chatburn. We kids would often

see him surfacing for a breath of fresh air and a slice of relative

quiet by the open mill door as we raced to and from school or to and from the village shop. Chatburn revolved around the mill,

the majority of the population, both male and female, work-

ing in its incredibly noisy bowels which, to our delight, Uncle Tom occasionally gave us a limited tour of. Our young eyes were

overwhelmed by the monstrous roaring machinery in between

which workers, including Uncle Ted, Uncle Alf and ‘Fish Wife Kate’, talked to each other in sign language. This Uncle Tom was a very different man from the smiling, impeccably uniformed British Air Force crewman who peered down at us from a silver-

framed photograph displayed on the polished heights of the upright piano in his and Aunty Ruth’s living room.

Not known for writing letters, it took many years to convince

Uncle Tom to sit down, put pen to paper and write a short account of his time in India and send it to me here in Pakistan.

This he did back in 1997 and I reproduce it below as it makes very interesting reading.

“It was in August 1942 that I arrived in Quetta after spending

three weeks in a Karachi transit camp out at the airport. In those days there were two airfields, the main airport and another RAF

42 JULY 11-17 2010

one very near. This was a permanent peace time one with mar-

on the other and it was a wondrous sight to see them swaying

bounds but the cantonment was a town on its own with shops,

used to ride out to it on our bikes. One time we passed by some

ried quarters etc. When we were first there, the city was out of cinema, hospital etc. If we hadn’t come through the city from

the docks, we would probably have thought that we were in Karachi. I can remember it being very hot and a lot of sand. In fact looking out of our tent we felt we were on the edge of the Sindh

desert. Up to reaching Karachi all our travel had been by ship.

past fully loaded up. Hannah Lake was a few miles away and we

tribesman sitting at the roadside with rifles across their knees so I quietly said, ‘Keep pedalling, chaps!’ I don’t think they meant

us any harm but they looked a bit grim and didn’t return our greetings.

“The tongas are something else I remember. In Bombay and

Liverpool to Durban calling at Freetown, Durban to Suez with

other places tongas were 4-seaters but in Quetta they were only

chi and all on different ships.

cause last one on had to sit next to the driver. The horses always

five weeks in Egypt, Bombay for two weeks and then on to Kara“The next part of our journey was very interesting; the train

journey from Karachi to Quetta, changing at Rohri Junction,

3-seaters and there was always a race to get the back seats behad so much wind it could be unpleasant sitting up front!

“I was a member of the squadron advance party to leave Quetta

crossing the Sukkur Barrage by lorry. The hustle and bustle of In-

on our way to Ceylon via Karachi and Bombay. We could only get

seen on television, it’s still the same today.

Indus through the floods all the way to Rohri Junction where we

dian railway stations was something to see and from what I’ve “As far as I can remember, we travelled by local train to Rohri

Junction and then by a special train to Quetta. My memories of

so far on the train and then had to travel in small boats down the managed to get on a train.

“What a change I saw in the countryside from the last time I

Quetta are very pleasant; not much work, so it could get a bit

passed through! Karachi had caught the edge of the heavy rains

RAF team that won the Military Cup. In those days Quetta was a

green grass and weeds by the side of the road.

boring, but plenty of football and cricket! I was a member of the military town with a big staff college and quite a number of bar-

and the desert had started to bloom. It wasn’t so much colour but

“While I was in Karachi this time we did get a trip in to the

racks, mostly on one level because, as you may be aware, there

city to play football against an Indian Navy team. We were in Ka-

including many army and RAF personnel.

stayed for two weeks before sailing to Ceylon. We didn’t receive

was a big earthquake in 1935 when a lot of people were killed,

“When we were in East Camp, a local policeman used to pass

by every night on the way to his village. He told us that he was

on his bicycle doing his rounds out of town when the earthquake

struck. He was flung to the ground unhurt and raced back to

rachi another three weeks before leaving for Bombay where we our aircraft until February 1943 so you can say that we spent one year wandering around in transit camps first which makes one wonder how on earth we won the war!

“Much later on, well after the war had ended, I worked with

town to find that all his family had lost their lives. When you

quite a few Pakistanis in the mill and we got along fine and then,

recovered very well.

shire town, walking around the market when I heard a shout,

think that it had only been seven years previously, Quetta had “We didn’t notice poverty so much in Quetta as in Bombay and

later in Calcutta. I was in Quetta when we were cut off for a time

because there were floods lower down and the Indus burst its

just a couple of years ago, in 1995, we were in Settle, a tiny York-

‘Idher ow, Tom!’ and it was an ex-cook from Quetta running a market stall!

“Altogether I wandered around between India, Ceylon and Bur-

banks. I remember a small quake one night, it rattled the doors

ma for a good four years and was very lucky since, if we had left

when the camp settled down for the night, the jackals and hy-

Rangoon or Singapore.”

and window shutters but people were reluctant to get up because enas roamed around looking for food. One night a hyena banged

England two or three months before we did, I could have been in

Uncle Tom always had a soft spot for Karachi and Quetta but,

against our door then let out a blood-curdling laugh and fright-

quite wisely, decided against returning for a holiday after seeing

“East Camp was about a mile out of town. There was a road to a

away, at the ripe old age of 88, on June 20th 2010. May he rest in

ened us all to death.

hill village on one side and an older road used by camel caravans

on television the mayhem these cities have become. He passed peace and his stories live on.a

43 JULY 11-17 2010

HOROSCOPE

BY SHELLEY VON STRUNCKEL

Aries Mar 20 – Apr 19 Hopefully, by now you’ve realised that while additions to your life are exciting, they also mean letting go of certain existing arrangements. In some cases this is a relief. But you’re being stubborn about certain past conquests or sentimental links. Today’s solar eclipse makes it clear what must go. Don’t battle these changes. The moment you make them, you’ll feel freer than for ages.

Taurus Apr 20 – May 20 Balancing life’s obligations and its plea-

sures is always somewhat challenging. But now, with persistent Shelley von Strunckel is an internationally acclaimed astrologer who created the first horoscope column for the London Sunday Times in 1992. A frequent lecturer, she writes daily, weekly and monthly

and often unsettling changes often forcing you to rearrange

how you live, work and even love, you’re feeling overwhelmed.

Go with the flow. Adopt a more relaxed attitude, especially about

the unfamiliar. Who and what you come across in your explorations won’t just be interesting, these encounters could completely alter your perspective.

horoscopes in publications around the world including South China Morning Post, The Gulf News, Tatler, French and Chinese Vogue and now The Express Tribune Magazine.

Gemini May 21 – Jun 20 Unexpected offers and your own ideas are

too intriguing to ignore. However, pursuing these is bound to be disruptive, and judging by the influence of today’s solar eclipse, could be costly, too — at least in the short term. Still, you’re

right to go for these. If others complain or worry, ask for their patience, since within days there’ll be no question the value of your arrangements.

Cancer Jun 21 – Jul 22 Late June’s lunar eclipse both triggered the current cycle of change and highlighted increasingly pressing issues. If you’ve been dealing with these, then you won’t be surprised when today’s Cancer eclipsed New Moon raises questions about both new and existing arrangements. Cling to the familiar and you’ll struggle. Once you begin to let go of the past, you’ll realise just how promising the future is.

Leo Jul 23 – Aug 22 You’re in no mood to discuss unfair obligations about which you can do nothing or situations that make you feel vulnerable. The irony is, doing so begins unexpectedly illuminating discussions. These, then, lead to new ideas, exciting encounters and exactly the changes necessary to free you from those restrictive arrangements. But you must ask. You seem to have it together, so much others won’t offer.

Virgo Aug 23 – Sep 22 With your ruler Mercury in the most strategic part of your chart for two weeks, you’re in for some challenging situations. But what you deal with clears considerable clutter and confusion from your life — and your mind. So when such matters arise, instead of doing the minimum, delve into their source. This isn’t just informative, you learn how to avoid similar situations in

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the future.

JULY 11-17 2010

Libra Sep 23 – Oct 23 Having struggled to find solutions for several troublesome situations, you’re realising that these increasingly tricky issues require that you be forthright, if not just plain offensive. Worrying as this is, it results in unexpectedly constructive discussions with those who only recently were impossible. While this is partly because they recognise something must be done, your direct approach makes it clear why they must be cooperative.

Scorpio Oct 24 – Nov 21 Trust doesn’t come easy to you. Yet your

instincts are correctly telling you that one particular individual

is worth talking to about situations that have been a persistent

source of concern. Remember, however, that because today’s eclipsed New Moon brings both changes in circumstance and

the resulting need for a fresh perspective, as things evolve, any plans you make will need to evolve as well.

Sagittarius Nov 22 – Dec 21 Exciting as the ideas being discussed may be, regard any plans as but one step towards changes that will be more far-reaching than you currently regard as possible. Knowing that, you’ll not only explore even seemingly unrealistic ideas or options, you’ll organise things so you can take advantage of the combination of surprising and, often, welcome developments between now and the end of the month.

Capricorn Dec 22 – Jan 19 Some of what’s being discussed seems

unrealistic. Yet you’re conscious that with so much changing, once sensible ideas may no longer be your best option. Also, with

your ruler Saturn moving into a new sign on the 21st, and begin-

ning a two year cycle during which you’ll be reviewing the structure of your life, you’re better off exploring your options than focusing on long term plans.

Aquarius Jan 20 – Feb 19 Intriguing as the events currently rearranging the landscape your own life and the world around you may be, many seem more of a disruption than anything else. Because changes continue throughout the month, you’re unlikely to see the full picture for some weeks yet. Knowing that, focus on exploring ideas as they arise, conscious that when things come together, what you’ve learned will prove very helpful.

Pisces Feb 20 – Mar 20 Obviously you want those you care about to be happy. But you’ve also realised that while certain individuals

ask for your advice, they’ll often ignore it and choose the riskiest alternative. Say nothing. They need to learn from experience.

Meanwhile, focus on pressing personal tasks. These have waited

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

for far too long. This is your chance to tackle and deal with them

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once and for all.

JULY 11-17 2010

THE HATER

10 things I hate about ...cricket

1 2 3 4 5

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BY DILEEP PREMACHANDRAN

I hate that the game is now run by administrators who

are so out of touch with what the fans want. Sport is about more than the bottom line, fellas.

If I can see you out in the middle, the light is NOT bad

enough for you to walk off. Footballers play in snow

and sleet, and some fans have eaten into their savings to come and watch you play.

I hate that cricket has become a vehicle for jingoism.

Sachin Tendulkar hitting Shoaib Akhtar for six says nothing about India’s superiority and is no indicator of Pakistan being a failed state. It’s only a game.

Yes, we know your advertisements pay for the telecast

we watch. But we don’t really want to be Fair and Lovely halfway through an over. We’d rather watch what

the captain’s saying to the bowler who’s just been whacked for six.

Man went to the moon 41 years ago. Are you telling me that you can’t make a red or pink Test-match ball that can be seen clearly under floodlights? Some people have to work for a living during the day.

JULY 11-17 2010

6 7

The game’s supposed to be a contest between bat and ball, so spare us the highway-like pitches where flat-

track bullies bat all day. Watching paint dry IS more interesting.

Spare us the sanctimony about the Spirit of the Game.

Just walk when the umpire tells you to.

8 9 10

Do you need a degree in hyperbole to do commentary?

Mohammad Aamer is not a “great fast bowler”. He’s a

tremendously promising young talent trying to find his way.

Why do we need a World Cup that lasts as long as a soap-opera season? The Olympics fit into a fortnight, and football’s World Cup lasts a month.

Note to Lalit Modi and other administrators with knife

poised at the golden goose’s throat. There’s a good reason why we never used to play cricket in the heat of late

April and May. As Shoaib Akhtar once memorably said, the players are not “donkeys”. a