JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Baby The struggle to adopt in Pakistan
Blues
JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Feature
Cover Story Baby Blues
Adopting a child in Pakistan is an uphill battle — but some organisations are determined to make it happen
In Skardu, Siddhartha sings on The forgotten Buddha Rock in Baltistan
COVER PHOTO: ARIF SOOMRO
19 Travel
Lake lustre Winter is the best time to take a trip to Lake Saiful Malook
24
30 Regulars
6 People & Parties: Out and about with beautiful people
36 Reviews: Books, movies and TV 42 Human Resources: Resigning from a job without regrets
Magazine Incharge: Dilaira Dubash. Senior Subeditors: Sanam Maher and Ali Haider Habib. Subeditor: Komal Anwar Creative Team: Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Mohsin Alam, Talha Ahmed Khan, Hira Fareed, Maryam Rashid, Eesha Azam and Sanober Ahmed Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk 4 Twitter: @ETribuneMag & Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ETribuneMag Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com
PEOPLE & PARTIES Hush Puppies opens its new store in Faisalabad Hina
Jannat Shahid and Sharmeen
Kiran Butt
6 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Mahroosh
Ashi
Sonia
Samaa Shah
Kanwal ilyas
PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR AND MARKETING
Ayesha
PEOPLE & PARTIES Anam Javed and Ayesha Nasir
Zarpash Mustafa
Fahadullah and Ameena Khan
8 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Amer Aman and Sarah
Sehreen and Wajid Qureshi PHOTOS COURTESY REZZ PR AND EVENTS
Pepe Jeans London opens up in Islamabad
Zareesh Zaman and Belal Shahid
Bilal and Mohsina
Raheela and Baleena Khan
Amer Akhtar and Nida Amer
PEOPLE & PARTIES
School of Leadership announces the comencement of the 14th Young Leaders Conference in Islamabad
Khadeeja Khan
Mariam Irfan
10 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Maheen
Rubab
PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR AND MARKETING
Zainab Jamal and Tabindah Anwar
Urooj
Sadaf Khan and Hamid Majid
Naimat Khan
Sehrish
PEOPLE & PARTIES Taiba Malik
Zahra Naveed Iqbal
Aliha Chaudhry
PHOTOS COURTESY SAVVY PR
Sobia Nazir hosts an Eid exhibition at her outlet in Gulberg, Lahore
Rima Farid and Sobia Malik
Nazish Sameer
12 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Momina and Mahnoor Khayal
Amina, Uzma and Sam Dada
Amara Ashraf
Syed Hamad and Sarmad Khan
Ali Gul Pir
PHOTOS COURTESY XENITH PR
Prudence hosts its first comedy show in Karachi
Akbar Chaudhry
Hyder Ali and Shuja Zaidi
13 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
PEOPLE & PARTIES Phil Tyler hosts an Arabian Nights-themed event in Karachi
Hamid and Aaziqa
PHOTOS COURTESY ANASTASIA PR
Mehreen, Junii Zeyad and Fakhir Mahmood
Muzna and Sadaf
Shaheened and Maheen
14 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Ali Noor, Mandana, Eshita Syed and Shehzad
Haya, Humayoon Alamgir and Abbas Jaffri
PHOTOS COURTESY ANASTASIA PR
Reema and Minhaj
Amra Kazi and Rayyan Kazi
Fatyma and Nubain Ali
Sarah and Fareeha
Ashfan Charania and Urooj
Mr and Mrs Hussain Shareef
15 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
PEOPLE & PARTIES Wasim Akram and Shaniera Akram
Rabab and Frieha
PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR AND MARKETING
Sofia Khan
Versace launches its new fragrance for women Eros pour Femme in Karachi
Sajid Hassan, Shakeela and Moshin Feroz
Sadia Nawabi
16 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Moin Khan with his family
Sahir Lodhi
Moammar Rana and Mehnaz Moammar
PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR AND MARKETING
Mr and Mrs Emil Wyss
Saima
Humayun Saeed Ahsan Khan
Tara Uzra Dawood
Amber Khan and Kiran Khan
Nadiya Mistry
17 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
In Skardu, Siddhartha sings on The rock carving of Buddha in Baltistan serves as a window into the past BY FERYA ILYAS
Centuries have passed since Buddhists disappeared from Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), but Buddha still watches over the serene town of Skardu from the corner of a cliff. Immortalised in stone, the sage continues to radiate wisdom for those who seek it. But sadly, there are none. Resting at the edge of Manthal village on the left of a stream flowing from Satpara Lake, the granite — known as the Buddha Rock — is pale and smooth. Believed to be carved between the 8th and 10th centuries, the relic represents the glory of the past, a time when men and women meditated in the footsteps of the ‘One Who Woke Up’. It is widely believed in Pakistan that the rock was
not known to many until British traveller Jane E Duncan documented it in the early 1900s. The CEO of Baltistan Culture and Development Foundation (BCDF) Wazir Ejaz says that after Duncan failed to understand the Tibetan inscription on the rock, she copied it and sent it to German scholar August Hermann Francke who was working in Ladakh, now a part of Indian Kashmir.“Francke deciphered the script in English and published it in Calcutta and the world came to know about this magnificent carving,” says Ejaz. However, British tibetologist Philip Denwood, in his 2007 article for Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology Volume 2, wrote the rock carvings and Tibetan inscriptions were noticed by GT Vigne and reproduced in 1836 and 1838.
Images of Buddha in his different forms meticulously carved on a rock in Skardu. PHOTO COURTESY: BCDF
FEATURE Shedding light on the ancient relief, historian Muhammad Abbas Kazmi says the carving and Tibetan inscriptions were made on a 30-foot high and 20-foot wide triangle-shaped rock. “The carving depicts present time Buddha, Siddhãrtha Gautama, in the centre, 20 smaller Buddhas of the past around him and future Buddha Maitreya, standing on both sides,” reveals Kazmi. The Tibetan script on Buddha Rock, though incomplete in many places, instructs followers of Gautama to take care of this sculpture. “The faithful ones (should), from time to time, (make the colours of the sculptures) bright, and clean the place of offering that it may not decay,” reads the text, as translated by Francke in the 20th century. But today, Kazmi says only one of the three-part text is visible, but the entire script — with only a few characters missing — was on the rock when Duncan examined it. Despite the legibility of text, Duncan’s job was never easy. In her book A summer ride through western Tibet, Duncan wrote that she submitted copies of the inscription to several Buddhist scholars in London and Paris, but because of the missing characters no one could render it. “I wrote to Francke telling him of my difficulty in getting a good translation, and he immediately sent a competent Tibetan from Khalatse to Sadpor to make new copies and An older image showing the entrance to the historic site. The barbed-wire boundary has now been replaced with a concrete wall. PHOTO COURTESY: BCDF
The serene and spotless Satpara Lake in Skardu. PHOTO COURTESY: MARYAM TARIQ
this man was able to fill up many of my blank spaces, as he recognized numerous letters which had been partly destroyed,” wrote the British traveller. Buddha Rock has the makings of a heritage site and its significance goes beyond nationalities. Buddhism expert Dr Christian Luczanits says the relief is part of a larger group along the southern edge of the western Himalayas, where rocks were used to depict Buddhist imagery. “The one in Skardu is unique in its composition, high quality carving and the number of Buddhas depicted. The carving emphasises the cosmic quality of the Buddha through the repetition of his image around him,” he says. Yet, the relic sits at the border of a small village, ignored and forgotten by the world. “The sculpture should have been declared a heritage site by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) long ago, but the government and BCDF have failed to make efforts to preserve the eroding piece of history,” says Kazmi, pleading to authorities to pay attention to the relic. Ejaz says the BCDF — which has Buddha Rock on lease for 90 years — considered recommending it to UNESCO for a heritage site as well as nominating it for one of its awards, but did not do so because the relic does not fulfil the UNESCO criteria. However, BCDF’s chief says his
A copy of a portion of Tibetan text engraved on Buddha Rock. SOURCE: JANE E DUNCAN’S A SUMMER RIDE THROUGH WESTERN TIBET
The Buddha Rock should have been declared a heritage site by UNESCO long ago, but the government and Baltistan Culture and Development Foundation have failed to make efforts to preserve the eroding piece of history Historian Muhammad Abbas Kazmi
organisation has constructed a boundary wall around the rock and deployed a security guard to facilitate tourists. “The BCDF has also constructed a tourist hut nearby in collaboration with the government’s tourism department and submitted proposals to donor agencies to preserve its writings and images,” adds Ejaz. G-B was the land of Shamanism until Buddhism arrived in the 4th century with the monks from Northern India. The religion spread here first, well before it entered Ladakh and Tibet. Many monasteries were built during the Palolashahi kingdom and the religion continued to flourish after the Tibetan conquest of the region in the second quarter of the 8th century. In the 14th century, however, Ali Hamadani and his followers arrived from Iran and changed the landscape forever. Locals embraced Islam and Buddhism vanished from their daily lives. Places of worship eventually fell into despair due to neglect. “By the 15th century, no Buddhist was left in Baltistan and the Muslim population wreaked havoc on Buddhist legacy, destroying religious structures and monuments,” claims Kazmi, adding many dug out the foundations of religious sites in search for wealth believed to be buried there by Buddhist kings and lamas. ‘The Little Tibet’ — used by the Mughals to refer to Baltistan — and its Buddhist heritage disappeared over time, but what somehow did survive was Buddha Rock among a handful of artefacts. Dr Luczanits says it is not uncommon that such rock carvings were either ignored once the religion changed or reinterpreted to attain a new meaning for locals. But in this case, it appears, Buddha was simply left in peace. T *A more detailed version of the article can be viewed online: http:// tribune.com.pk/?p=922014 Ferya Ilyas is a senior subeditor at The Express Tribune. She tweets @ferya_ilyas JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
21
COVER STORY
Baby
Blues
BY HURMAT MAJID PHOTOS BY ARIF SOOMRO DESIGN BY HIRA FAREED
The road to adopting a child in Pakistan has many hurdles — but some organisations are persistent to find each abandoned child a ‘forever home’
A little bundle of joy at the Edhi Home.
Adopting a child anywhere in the world is a difficult, lengthy process. And it should be thus. Prospective parents jump through many hoops in order to prove they are the best fit for a child. However, when the hurdles arise due to the absence of legislation or social stigma, as can be seen in Pakistan, the process becomes almost impossible. ‘Closed adoption’ — sometimes called ‘confidential’ or ‘secret’ adoption — refers to an adoption process where there is no interaction of any kind between the birthmother and the prospective adoptive family. This means that there is no identifying information provided either to the birth families or adoptive families. In Pakistan, an Islamic state, closed adoption is not an option for parents, as Islamic principles stipulate that a closed adoption is not possible as a child’s parentage cannot be hidden from him/her under any circumstances. The Guardianship and Ward Act of 1890 was put in place for cases of adoption within the family in case
a minor’s presupposed guardian (the father) cannot take care of the child or is deceased. The law helps resolve guardianship disputes within the family. With the absence of any specific legislation for adoption in Pakistan, the Guardianship Act of 1890 is used as a blanket law to facilitate the adoption of abandoned children.
Becoming a legal guardian
The Guardianship and Ward Act is used to appoint the adoptive parent(s) as the child’s legal guardian(s). An appointment for a court hearing to appoint guardians is only made when the court is satisfied that this will be in the child’s best interests. Then, an application is sent to the court on behalf of the adoptive parent(s). This process seems very straightforward on paper, but the inefficient and slow process rate of adoption cases in courts means that new adoptive parents have to wait for weeks, if not months, for their case to be heard. Thus, many hopeful parents are encouraged to circumvent the courts entirely. Many couples contacted for this
COVER STORY story refused to go on the record, even when anonymity was guaranteed, as they had skipped the correct legal procedures when adopting their child. Instead of procuring a guardianship order, many new parents choose to name themselves as the child’s birth parents on the birth certificate. These parents say they are forced to do so for two reasons: to shield themselves or their babies from social marginalisation or to save themselves the trouble of enduring the cumbersome process of legal adoption in Pakistan.
Champions for adoption
Even as some parents choose to avoid going to court, many organisations are working tirelessly to ensure that thousands of abandoned or unwanted children will find legal routes into a loving home.
Edhi Foundation For 32 years, the Edhi foundation has been at the forefront of childcare services and adoption in Pakistan. The entire operation is overseen by Mrs Bilquis Edhi and the Edhi Foundation is considered to be a pioneer in creating safe havens for abandoned children. To date, the foundation has placed about 23,500 children with adoptive families. However, Mrs Edhi is not one to rest on her laurels. “We
have had to bury twice as many children,” she says with regret. “We have appealed to people for years to place their children in the jhoolas outside our centres, and this has worked to some extent. But for every life we save, two more are lost.” Once a couple decides to adopt from the Edhi Foundation, they fill a form — available via the Edhi website — and then meet with Mrs Edhi for an interview. When she is satisfied that the couple is genuinely interested in adopting a child, their names are added to a list of prospective parents. “These first interviews are very important to me, as they show how willing the husband and wife are for adoption,” Mrs Edhi explains. “Sometimes one parent is less willing than the other to adopt a child and that is when I advise them to sort out their differences before they return for another interview.” Mrs Edhi says that this is a crucial component in any adoption. “The adoption won’t work out unless both parents are interested,” she says firmly. Sometimes it takes more than one interview for Mrs Edhi to be sure that the couple is interested in adoption. Once a couple clears this hurdle, a file is created for them and they must wait for a call from the Edhi Foundation. This adoption process only takes place in Karachi. If the couple is residing in a different city or country, they
“We have appealed to people for years to place their children in the jhoolas outside our centres, and this has worked to some extent. But for every life we save, two more are lost Head of childcare services and adoption at Edhi foundation Mrs Bilquis Edhi
Keeping in touch — Parents send regular updates about their children’s achievement to the adoption agencies.
Infanticide in Pakistan The merciless killing of a child within a year of its birth has been on the rise in the country every year. In 2008, the bodies of 890 infants were recovered, and the number increased to 999 in 2009. By 2010, the number spiked to 1,210, and in 2011, 70 bodies of infants were found in Karachi alone. The numbers have been rising every year and the Edhi Foundation estimates that there is a 20% increase in the number of infanticides in Pakistan with each passing year. Although there are no fresh statistics available regarding the phenomena, the Edhi Foundation says that 60% of these infants are female.
Mrs Bilquis Edhi is the pioneer of child adoption in Pakistan.
can appoint a trusted relative in Karachi to take the baby into custody once they receive the desired call. The Edhi Foundation seeks to place children in the new parents’ care as soon as possible and thus the couple is given 48 hours to make their way to Karachi to be united with their new child. No matter which city a child is rescued from, they are brought directly to Karachi and placed in Mrs Edhi’s custody. Here, the child undergoes preliminary health exams while it waits for a match with parents. It can take five to seven days for a child to get the perfect match. Even once the child has been placed with the new parents, the Foundation can ask for its return if the biological parents come looking for it. If after three months, no one claims the child, the Foundation issues a letter stating this. Thus, no further claims of biological parentage can be entertained. The Edhi Foundation makes it a point to place nonMuslim children with families belonging to their own religion, in case the religious background is mentioned when the child is left in a jhoola or given to the Foundation. All children found are presumed to be Muslim, unless otherwise stated or found, and are placed with Muslim families. Additionally, the Foundation does not entertain adoption requests from single people hoping to adopt.
Health Oriented Preventive Education (HOPE) HOPE NGO is an organisation dedicated to the health and education of the less fortunate. Dr Mubina Agboatwalla, a well-known paediatrician in Karachi, is the founder and visionary behind HOPE Foundation, Pakistan. When children started being abandoned at HOPE hospitals, Dr
Child Protection and Welfare Bureau Punjab Since 2004, all adoptions in Punjab have been taking place through the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau. The autonomous organisation was established in July 2004 under the administrative control of Home Department after the Punjab Destitute & Neglected Children Act was passed by the Government of Punjab in 2004. It is an autonomous provincial government body mandated to protect and rehabilitate destitute, abandoned and neglected children through the provision of an environment that maximises opportunities for childhood development and promotes access to education, health care and psychological well-being. The Bureau is currently delivering child protection services in seven districts of the province including Lahore, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad and Dera Ghazi Khan. Approximately 39,270 destitute and neglected children have been facilitated by the Bureau in six years. Mubina took the initiative of putting these children up for adoption and to date, HOPE has found homes for around 50 abandoned children since 2010. “We receive around 20 applications each month from people interested in adoption,” explains Dr Agboatwalla. Once a child becomes available, Dr Agboatwalla shortlists three to four candidates and starts interviewing them until she is satisfied she has the perfect match. “Only three or four adoptions take place every year as we do not find many abandoned children anymore,” she says. Social and financial security of the child is the biggest concern here and thus, a second adoption is a possibility if the family is financially stable. “I am still in touch with all of the children that have 27 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
COVER STORY gone to live with their new families as they come visit me and their families send me regular updates,” Dr Agboatwalla says. Like the Edhi Foundation, HOPE waits for three months to lapse before declaring the child adopted, as they must wait for biological parents to make any claims. During this three month period, three letters are issued to the adoptive parents: the first states that the child was found by the organisation’s workers and is being handed over; the second letter is issued at 45 days stating that no one has come to claim the child; the third and final letter is issued at the completion of the 90-day period and states that the child was not claimed and now no claims regarding its parentage by the biological parents will be entertained. Dr Agboatwalla herself has adopted two boys and, unlike the Edhi Foundation, the organisation encourages single parent adoptions for women.
Imkaan Imkaan is a Karachi-based organisation working to combat infanticide in Pakistan. It has a network of community workers and volunteers in many low income communities working with abandoned children. Babies left here or found in such neighbourhoods are immediately taken for medical care at Imkaan’s partner hospital and then housed at the Imkaan Ghar. These children are then united with families willing to adopt them. Candidates applying for adoption fill out an extensive form available on the organisation’s website. “After the form is submitted, we shortlist and interview applicants,” explains Imkaan director and lawyer Tahera Hassan. Interviews with applicants outside Karachi are carried out via Skype as well. Members of the team interview and evaluate candidates on the basis of these discussions, and talks are indepth, modelled on home-study or home visit processes carried out by adoption agencies internationally. 28 The applicants’ homes are visited by the JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
When religion plays a role
Pakistani law dictates that only children clearly identified to belong to a specific religion can be adopted by parents belonging to that religion. Discussing adoption as an option for non-Muslim communities, director of Imkaan, a Karachi-based organisation assisting with adoption, Tahera Hassan explains, “Adoption is very much an option for nonMuslim communities, but the only issue that arises is that every abandoned child is presumed to be Muslim, unless something specifies otherwise.” In a few cases, children abandoned at Edhi shelters across the country bear a note disclosing the parent’s religious inclination, Mrs Bilquis Edhi explains. However, it is most often the case that children left without any such clues are presumed to be Muslims and thus, very few non-Muslim child adoptions go through in Pakistan every year. team and extended family members and friends may be interviewed as well. Every possible factor from emotional health to the couple’s financial situation is taken into consideration before a child is placed with the family. “As a relatively small and relatively new organisation, Imkaan does not have a huge number of adoptions at the moment. Each adoption journey for us is a very personal one,” Hassan explains. “Imkaan considers each child a part of the Imkaan family. We are in constant touch with the families and are sent updates on a regular basis.” Hassan has worked as an adoption lawyer for the past 10 years and has processed close to 60 cases — to date, she receives updates from all these families. Hassan says Imkaan has not personally taken part in the adoptions of older children, as they have yet to receive such a case. However, this option is always on the table, she adds. Discussing second adoptions, Hassan explains that Imkaan prioritises childless couples, but acknowledges that everyone has a right to add to their families. “Imkaan is supportive of second or third time adoptive parents and open to single-parent adoption for women,” Hassan says.
The Edhi Jhoolas have saved thousands of children over the years.
“Adoption is very much an option for non-Muslim communities, but the only issue that arises is that every abandoned child is presumed to be Muslim, unless something specifies otherwise Director of Imkaan Tahera Hassan
According to Hassan, while there is room for improvement in the process of adoptions in Pakistan, there have been some encouraging changes, especially for single women wishing to adopt. For instance, NADRA has very recently added a guardianship column to B-forms/ birth certificates and passports can now also be issued in the names of the child’s guardians, as a guardianship column has been added to these forms. Hassan says, “Having a formal structure makes it easier and less time consuming for single women to get these documents made now.” Previously, whenever a single woman wished to adopt, she had to make a special request and go the court for approval of documents made in her name. This case-by-case approval process took additional time that can be saved with the guardianship column now in place on these documents.
Adoption counselling
The road from deciding to adopt to having a beautiful baby in your arms is long and full of emotional and psychological obstacles. The long wait itself gives rise to doubts that must be assuaged before taking responsibility of a new life. Additionally, there are questions that new adoptive parents have. The following organisations cater to the psychological and emotional needs of new parents in the pre- and post-adoption phases.
Karachi Adoption Resource Center The Karachi Adoption Resource Center (KARC) was established in 2012 as a centre devoted to providing information and support to adoptees and adoptive families. KARC is directly linked with Imkaan although they deal with prospective parents waiting to adopt from other organisations as well. They do not provide referrals or assist in the placement of children from any facility. KARC provides pre-adoption consultancy to prospective adoptive parents as well as post-adoption counselling at different stages.
Institute of Professional Psychology The Institute of Professional Psychology operates under Bahria University. The institute provides assistance to people thinking about adoption, as well as to prospective adoptive parents while they wait for their child. The institute encourages post-adoption family visits as well, to help the family bond together emotionally as well psychologically. T Hurmat Majid is a subeditor at The Express Tribune. She tweets @ bhandprogramme
29 JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Lake lustre Lake Saiful Malook can easily take someone’s breath away
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY VASIQ EQBAL DESIGN BY SANOBER AHMED
It seemed next to impossible: finding seven days to spare out of a full schedule. However, the plan came through at the eleventh hour. Luckily, my expeditions have always taken place this way, and so I have some experience getting ready for a trip on very short notice. In the morning, I had no clue I would be in Mansehra by night, in the diverse, fine company of trekkers and adventurers. Many of my companions, including our group leader Omar Javed, were from Lahore and our destination was the Naran-Kaghan region in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. We set our sights on Lalazar, but the fantasy and romance of Lake Saiful Malook in the winter was too hard to pass. Lalazar, once famous for its wild flowers, pine forests and lush green landscape, has over the years earned a reputation for its potato cultivation fields as well. An hour by road from Battakundi leads to Lalazar, but there is another approach from Lake Saiful Malook, via the picturesque Hans Gali. Lalazar and Lake Saiful Malook are not the only attractions that Naran and Kaghan valleys offer. Only seven kilometres from Lake Saiful Malook there is another tear-shaped lake known as Aansoo Lake. Apart from the Sat Sar Mala Lakes (Chain of Seven Lakes), there are other beautiful lakes in the region such as Lulusar Lake, Ratti-Galli Lake, Dudipatsar Lake and Saral Lake. Babusar Top and Noori Top are two high-altitude trekking destinations in the area. At an elevation of 5,290 metres, Malika Parbat (Queen of Mountains) is the highest peak of Kaghan Valley and is considered one of the most technical peaks above 5,000 metres. In recent years, it has caught the attention of domestic and foreign climbers, and more than a couple of expeditions scaled the summit in 2012. A festival is held in the region every April, usually in the city centre, celebrating the anniversary of Baba Pir-e-Shah Ghazi Qalandar (Damrian Wali Sarkar), the spiritual guide of Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, the Sufi saint and Potohari poet famous for his masterpiece ‘Saiful Malook’.
The first rays of sunlight add a touch of warmth to this otherwise icy landscape.
Losing the trail I had first seen an image of hanging icicles in a photography class. I was captivated by the natural wonders, and was determined to see them in the flesh. On the second day of my travels, I came across them when I was least expecting it — inside a shop, frozen on the ceiling. The sun’s rays touched the icicles, and tiny water droplets sparkled on them. After breakfast, we started our march towards Naran. We crossed the eerie Naran city, which appeared to be deserted. A few locals and a lone dog appeared to be the only inhabitants. By mid-day, it began to snow. Once we reached the point where locals do not venture past, we did not have a trail to follow and thus, had to make our own way. This drained our energy more than we had anticipated and so, we decided to camp near a tributary. We tucked into our dinner, we huddled inside our sleeping bags, shivering in the sub-zero temperature before giving in to our fatigue. The fantasy and romantic charm of Lake Saiful Malook in the winter is too hard to pass up.
The magical lake
This was my first journey to this lake; I did not want to visit in the summer as I’d heard accounts from visitors who said that it is crowded by domestic tourists at that time. Network connectivity, easy access by road and an abundance of civic facilities make the lake an easy and attractive destination even for those who aren’t too adventurous.
We did not anticipate our third day would be tougher than the preceding two. The day had one mantra: ascend, ascend and ascend. The group was determined to reach the famed Saiful Malook Lake, and so we pushed ourselves to our limits. At several moments, I paused to catch my breath and asked myself, “Had Prince Saiful Malook of the fable undertaken this very same gruelling journey?”
The journey
A small stream running through a snow-capped landscape.
From Mansehra we travelled to Mahandri, a market along Kunhaar River. We bought fresh food supplies here and tried the delectable chappal kebab, which beat the chappal kebabs of Takht Bhai in Mardan in every way. From Mahandri, we journeyed towards Kiwai, where we had some breakfast and found our porters. Our next destination was Naran, but heavy snowfall had blocked the route to Naran for nine kilometres. Thus we had to start our trek from this point, leaving our jeeps behind. The day we set out for Naran was sunny. The sunlight warmed us just enough to leave us jubilant before we spotted the moon atop the mountains, touching the snow-capped mountains with light. I witnessed the most beautiful sunset I’d ever seen and in that moment, it felt as though all our efforts to reach Naran paid off. After trekking for a few hours, we decided to set camp. A seasoned trekker accompanying us, Javed Mehmood, prepared a delicious meal of biryani. Mehmood knows the northern areas of Pakistan like the back of his hand, and he explained it was the constant travel that taught him to be 32 an excellent cook. JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Icicles hanging from a shop ceiling. The story of Saiful Malook is a classic, written in poetic verse by Sufi Saint and poet Mian Muhammad Baksh. He wrote in Hindko and the story is part of folklore in the Hazara, Kashmir and Potohar regions to this day. ‘Saiful Malook’ is the title of the poem and the name of the main character, a prince. According to the fable, the prince fell in love with a fairy named Badi ul Jamal. He then dreamed
that a dervish guides him to look for the fairy near a lake. The prince travelled to the lake and spent 12 years waiting there for the fairy, before he finally met her. By afternoon, the warm sun disappeared behind the clouds and, when we were tantalisingly close to the lake, it began to snow. Within a short span of time, we were knee deep in the snow. Perhaps Lake Saiful Malook did not wish to reveal its beauty in its entirety to us on that day, and we could only catch a few minutes by the lake before we had to turn back. By night, a blizzard ensured we could not see beyond six feet and we laboured to keep moving. Then, just as suddenly, the wind died down and the moon shone through the clouds, a beacon atop Malika Parbat. The moonlight was so bright, I turned off my head lamp, continuing my walk in silvery light. It can take an hour to travel the nine kilometres from this point to Naran town in a jeep. However, when travelling knee-deep in snow, it can take almost a day. By 7:30pm, we heard the noises of creatures around us and spotted gleaming eyes in the dark. Unable to determine if these creatures were friendly, we doubled our efforts to walk further, fuelled by fear of the unknown. By 9pm, we were safely tucking into our dinner before we slept deeper than we had ever done before. We dreamed of new destinations and journeys, of places to explore and new people to meet. We dreamed of making memories just as beautiful as the ones we made on this trip. Vasiq Eqbal is a Lahore-based photojournalist and a travel writer. He tweets @vasiq_eqbal JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
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BOOK
An unsettling legacy Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman — the discarded first draft to the award-winning To Kill a Mockingbird — is compelling but divisive BY HALIMA MANSOOR
Go Set a Watchman — which went on sale five hours before I sat down to write this review — is expected by many to be a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. Before I unwittingly contextualise one text with the help of the other, let me advise you to do the opposite: do not read Watchman as a sequel. By all accounts, it is a discarded first draft of the winner of the US Presidential Medal for Freedom and the Pulitzer. Having said that, it really is difficult to read Watchman without constantly looking back to Mockingbird as a frame of reference. Harper Lee’s debut novel sold over 40 million copies and is integral to the western literary canon. It served up a microcosm of the effect felt in the separatist south when decisions made in US circuit courts were struck down by the Supreme Court during the Civil Rights Movement. It also had a tremendous impact on those for whom the book was a first foray to where reality and ideals meet, where centres of gravity shift and some summon an inner courage to stay and fight and others will fall into the pack and conform. Most readers who grew up yearning to be in Jean Louise ‘Scout’ Finch’s place on the court balcony as Atticus deliberately yet gently led first the witnesses and then the jury through the trail of inconsistent evidence, right up to the scene of Tom Robinson’s innocence, will be shattered by Watchman. They will not see the characters evolve in the direction Harper Lee left them at in Mockingbird because those characters were written five years after she wrote Watchman. Instead, readers will see different verdicts to the rape case, varying details and plot changes which rob Mockingbird devotees of the imagined trajectory of characters. Watchman was written in the mid-1950s and is based on the slightly hyperbolic, irrepressible narrative of 26-year-old Scout, who returns to Maycomb from New York armed with a resolve to maintain her independence. She soon realises the real battle was not with her heavily-corseted conservative
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Author Harper Lee. Aunt Alexandra but with the civil rights movement as it pressed deeper on racial fracture lines. Expecting the comfort of knowing her hero, her father, is still the man she trusted and would still be the centre of her truth, Scout (and through her, the reader) is quick to realise that Atticus is actually a bigot. He becomes Atticus the segregationist who believes the AfricanAmericans were too backward to be part of the government, to have equal right to vote. It is hard to critique someone as acclaimed as Lee, but how can the reader not cringe when, unlike the voice in Mockingbird, the Scout in Watchman can come across as slightly hysterical? Scout’s conversations with other characters zigzag through her internal monologues, challenging the reader to piece together her thoughts. Instead of letting themes come through in the knitting together of her characters and their choices, Lee tends to use her characters’ voice as a direct vehicle. Somewhere in the second half of Watchman, the themes of coming of age and a motherless child’s idolisation of her father explode into a breathless narrative, possibly best described in Lee’s editor’s words as more “a series of anecdotes than a fully conceived novel”. Yet, there is something compelling, something which resonates
when Scout happens upon the realisation of self. Her coming of age is marked by the moment her childhood heroes fall from grace and villains rise for redemption. This is powerful enough to make Watchman resonate if you have struggled with the painful dissonance between your identity and those who were thought to have moulded the very shape you so proudly took on. Scout describes this process as “making secret trips to long ago, making no journey to the present”. As we grasp at straws to understand the shift in characters in this second novel, Lee’s biographer provides some insight into the journey of Atticus. Charles Shield’s Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee was published in 2006, a year before Lee suffered a stroke which left her wheelchairbound and with some impairment of sight and hearing. Shield reveals that Lee’s father Amasa Coleman Lee was possibly the blueprint for Atticus. Coleman went from staunch segregationist in the 1950s to preaching equal rights for all. Like Atticus from Mockingbird, Coleman Lee fought for justice for African-Americans in court and lost. Reconfiguring Atticus from Watchman to Mockingbird potentially mirrors Lee’s father’s journey from segregationist to someone who wanted fairer voting rights.
Therein lies the havoc of reading nonsequential books as complementary components of a whole. Lee’s editor saw the potential in Watchman and in the two or so years that the author worked on the draft, characters were fleshed out to become the ones we grew up aspiring to be when Mockingbird was launched in the 1960s. After a book which was so magnificently received, it seems unlikely that its first draft was meant to be read by anyone, let alone millions. Pre-launch, global news outlets scrambled to find the secret behind Watchman’s unexpected release. Lee had retreated to Monroeville, Alabama after Mockingbird’s heady success. She still resides there and her lawyer Tonja B Carter, who is said to be behind the ‘discovery’ of the Watchman transcript, has been discredited as Lee gave several conflicting accounts of how and when the work came to be. Lee’s friends, according to The Wall Street Journal, question her ability to consent to publishing the book. Thus one question nags throughout and makes Go Set a Watchman a slightly uncomfortable, voyeuristic read — is this the book Lee never wanted as her legacy? T Halima Mansoor is a senior subeditor at The Express Tribune Peshawar desk. She tweets @Hmansoor JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
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The F-word
Producer Sarah Gertrude Shapiro’s television show UnReal takes on feminism BY SANAM MAHER
If I had a rupee for every time a Pakistani woman has been quick to clarify, “I’m not a feminist, but…” or ask, a bit suspiciously, “You’re not a feminist, are you?” I’d probably have enough money to bridge the wage gap between these women and the men they work with. The problem isn’t convincing these women that they need feminist principles — it’s how to package the ideas. In pop culture, feminism has been undergoing a rebranding for some time now: in 2011, Beyonce commented, “I need to find a catchy new word for feminism, right? Like ‘bootylicious’.” Three years later, the F-word towered above her in white hot lights at the MTV Video Music Awards as she performed Flawless (which began with a recording of Nigerian Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s feminist manifesto). “I’ve always considered myself a feminist, although I was always afraid of that word because people put so much on it,” Bey explained in another interview. In June, Kim Kardashian was the latest celebrity to endorse — well, sort of — the movement, explaining, “I’ve never really been one on labels, and I don’t like to push my view… But yeah, I think you would call me a feminist.” The long-winded, lukewarm affirmations always cast an eye towards those who, when hearing the word ‘feminist’, imagine a horde of bra-burning, man-hating, hairy-armed angry ladies. It wasn’t too long ago (2009) that Lady Gaga corrected an interviewer, saying, ‘I’m not a feminist — I love men.” So when a new television show hinted at an exploration of modern-day feminism, I wondered what the latest rebranding entailed. UnReal is based on the experiences of Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, a producer on the reality TV show The Bachelor for nine seasons. A tell-all, the show is a brutal behind-the-scenes look at how reality shows are scripted and their participants manipulated into giving us an hour of drama that will leave us rubbernecking. Shapiro definitely has an agenda — she was only released from her contract as producer when she threatened to kill herself if she had to keep g on The Bachelor — and the first few episodes p working leave yyou
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feeling queasy. You’ve now seen how the sausage gets made. You think of years spent gleefully, spitefully consuming the stories of Bridezillas and Honey Boo Boo. The show literally wears the feminist label: when we meet the main character Rachel (Shiri Appleby), she’s wearing a grubby t-shirt that says, ‘This is what a feminist looks like’. She’s a women’s studies major who earns her living manipulating a group of women competing for a marriage proposal from a rich Englishman, scratching ever so gently, persistently, at the surfaces of their deepest insecurities and fears in a way that will make them act like the catty, scheming women we love to watch. One character’s pills to control her bi-polar personality are switched for sugar tablets, another is coaxed to come out on national television and someone else’s daddy issues are mined to keep her competing to ‘win’ the bachelor. Even as this is a show-within-a-show about winning a man’s affection, it passes the Bechdel test with flying colours; the women are entirely attuned to the transactional nature of the ‘love story’ they’re participating in and most of them aren’t even on the show to win the guy. Some are just in it for the resultant fame (or infamy). The show criticises a system that encourages women to pursue a fairytale, but also lays bare how women — especially self-avowed ‘feminists’ — have to practice a degree of cognitive dissonance in order to maintain their ideals while living within this system. It would have been easy for Shapiro to create caricatures instead of nuanced characters in order to drive her point home, but to do so would have been to fall prey to the very culture that the show criticizes, one of cookie-cutter concepts of femininity. Instead, the show argues that while feminism may have one core rule — a commitment to equality — there are a myriad ways to get to its heart. T Rating: Sanam Maher is a senior subeditor at The Express Tribune’s magazine desk. She tweets @SanamMKhi
FILM
Tough as nails Spy shuns the chauvinism of male-dominated undercover agent films BY NUDRAT KAMAL
The key fight scene in the Melissa McCarthy-led Spy takes place in a kitchen amidst banging pots and flying knives and is between two ladies exchanging punches as well as sharp zingers at each other — with absolutely no men around. The scene, in all its ridiculous hilarity and sleek action, epitomises what the film Spy is all about: it takes the male-dominated spy film genre, which has traditionally not been kind to its female characters, and cleverly shakes it up by making the spy world a place where women have fun and kick ass and men are largely superfluous. Susan Cooper (McCarthy) is a spy who is very good in the field but sits in the basement of the CIA office, assisting smarmy agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law) via an earpiece as he engages in the typical spy-genre heroics. She chooses to do this because she is in love with him, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that she is a skilled agent: even from behind a desk, she is resourceful and manages to keep cool in a crisis. When Fine tells her he couldn’t have done it without her, the film makes it clear that this is objectively true — it’s just that the people she works with don’t seem to realise it. She gets a chance to prove them wrong, however, when a notorious arms dealer Rayna (Rose Bryne) gets the intel on all active CIA agents, and Susan, being largely invisible, has to step into the field. Soon, Susan is taking charge of the assignment, creating a new identity and infiltrating Rayna’s inner circle with the help of her CIA friend Nancy (Miranda Hart), who acts as her earpiece assistant, and an Italian agent (Peter 40 Serafinowicz). Making things difficult for her is Rick Ford (Jason JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
Statham), who spoofs the typical James Bond, spy movie hero. Ford loves to recount his absurd heroics which cannot possibly be true while really bumbling around and making a fool of himself. McCarthy brings her hallmark mix of physical comedy and heart in her portrayal of Susan, whom the film treats with respect and affection. Although there are jokes in the first half that lean a bit too heavily on her weight and appearance, the film soon makes clear that the joke is in fact on people making fun of her. The film balances humour based on her mistakes and errors with the knowledge that she is no bumbling fool. She may vomit all over an enemy agent, but only after taking him down swiftly and efficiently. McCarthy is supported by other, similarly funny actors, particularly Statham, who is clearly poking fun at the stoic, angsty action heroes he usually plays. The film does have its pitfalls, particularly the Italian agent who does nothing but sexually harass Susan throughout the film. Why a flick with such a firm handle on gender politics would include a running joke about a creepy man repeatedly and aggressively coming on to the self-assured female lead is a mystery. It is not amusing, and it is out of character for Susan to resignedly tolerate his advances when she has no problem putting idiots in their place in the rest of the film. Overall, though, Spy is clever, humorous and just plain fun. Rating: Nudrat Kamal is a freelance writer. She tweets @Nudratkamal
BOOK
A tale as old as time Anoosha Lalani’s debut novel blends the story of Adam and Eve with fantasy BY ISHRAT ANSARI
Aimed at young adult readers, Anoosha Lalani’s The Keepers transports readers into a world where anything is possible. The writer, who prefers to escape reality, has described The Keepers as a novel that “blends the biblical tale of Adam and Eve with the contemporary life of a child living in the slums”. While this historic tale may be familiar to us, the writer manages to cast the story in a new light by narrating it beautifully. Based on the ordeals of two sisters brought up in the slums of Islamabad, The Keepers revolves around 16-year-old Isra Kalb, who must deal with the turmoil in her family after her father’s unsolved murder. Isra’s mother is unable to handle the death, and suffers from a breakdown of sorts — she beats her 10-year-old daughter Zaffirah, and goes on a rampage through the house. As a result, Isra must fend for her sister and decides to flee. In her hasty escape, she remembers to take only one thing with her — an amulet that her mother had instructed her to protect above all else. The sisters’ troubles, however, do not end when they leave their home, as Zaffirah is whisked away by kidnappers. It is at this point that Isra learns the value of the amulet, which has powers of its own. The amulet transports Isra to Zarcane — the garden where Adam and Eve were born
— where she comes face to face with her destiny. She is a keeper, charged with protecting the borders of Zarcane and keeping the demon hordes lurking in the shadows from taking over realms that are not their own. The story is told through the alternating voices of Isra and Farid, another teenager who also owns an amulet that can unlock the paradise of Adam and Eve ruled by Abaddon. The keepers come with their own angels as protectors and Isra’s angel is determined to help her choose between Earth and Zarcane, while Farid and his angel
seek destruction. Overall, Lalani’s debut novel is fun to read and is peppered with thought-provoking quotes. In many instances, the author reveals her young age, as well as her great potential. While The Keepers may have required a more developed backstory to help readers fully immerse themselves in the tale, it does leave them wondering if the author withheld this deliberately in order to continue the story at a later date. T Ishrat Ansari works at The Express Tribune Karachi desk. She tweets @Ishrat_ansari JULY 26-AUGUST 1 2015
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Saying Goodbye How to resign without burning bridges BY MOEZ ALLIDINA
DESIGN BY EESHA AZAM
Gone are the days when job-hopping was considered a red flag for organisations. In today’s fast-paced work environment, everyone needs to look out for themselves and focus on career development and job satisfaction. Nonetheless quitting a job isn’t easy, no matter what the circumstances. To go about it smartly, here are some points to keep in mind:
Explore career options In order to remain motivated, it is important to question the nature of your job and whether it offers career satisfaction. Weigh the options, including both short-term and long-term goals, and then see whether it is best to look for another job.
Adequate notice period Unlike the West, giving a two-week notice is considered inappropriate. Hence, it is important to abide by corporate policies and serve a notice period, as per your contract.
titude itude of gra Have an att f the reasons for o Regardless dopt a positive a , g in n resig r wards you r coto e d u it tt e a rm fo d n ba previous jo d an internal en workers. S nk everyone, a th to il ema all ps give sm diate and perha e m im to ifts farewell g tors, and n e m , rs o supervis closely u worked anyone yo ttitude is sure to a with. This dy in the long n a h in e com run.
tle Don’t tittle-tat t the ou g in ay pl d Avoi ing ar sh d situation an new ur yo t ou ab ils deta . rs ke or -w job with co no be ld ou sh e Ther converoff-the-record can be ey th as ns satio u. yo t used agains
Be transpar en Nothing is ev t er a secret in today’s di gi especially w tal age, ith social networking websites such as LinkedIn .H transparency onesty and are therefor e crucial to pr eserve and build on a relationship cordial with your former empl oyers.
Graceful exit interviews Most organisations have an ‘Exit Interview Policy’ to tie up loose ends. When an exit interview is demanded, be calm and offer only constructive criticism. Avoid emotional conversations and share your reasons for leaving, which can be related to career development or seeking a better opportunity personally.
Keep a back-up It is best to first secure a job offer and then resign rather than leaving the company and then beginning a job hunt.
ill Strategy over sk ur yo e av Do not le er soon to be form d an rs co-worke bo manager in lim k or w g tin by neglec ead, be st In s. tie ri io pr borate willing to colla your th bo g in lp he by re tu fu d current an der to or in s er oy pl em tions. foster good rela
Practice diplomacy Never badmouth colleagues or criticise an employer, because you never know when you may cross paths again. Unloading grievances is not professional as it will only offend others and jeopardise your chances of getting a reference letter.
Moez Allidina is an OD Trainer at Maktab Learning Solutions and also teaches management studies.
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