The Express Tribune Magazine - June 9

‘A little party never hurt nobody’ JUNE 9-15 2013

The reckless rich of Pakistani high society could have walked off the pages of F Scott Fitzgerald’s novel on America’s roaring 20s

31 MAY 19-25 2013

JUNE 9-15 2013

Feature

A Barbie Dreamhouse nightmare The opening of the Barbie Dreamhouse in Berlin has been marked by protests

18

Feature

Person behind the pen Create a personality profile with a basic lesson in graphology

36 Health

Killer shoes

Cover Story

28

Reading Gatsby in Pakistan Pakistan’s elite are as decadent as the characters in Fitzgerald’s novel...

COVER PHOTO: MALIK SHAFIQ/EXPRESS

4

High heel horrors combined with flat shoe woes make footwear choices a painful task

42 Regulars

6 People & Parties: Out and about with the beautiful people

38 Review: Inferno and Amour

Magazine Editor: Mahim Maher and Sub-Editors: Ameer Hamza, Dilaira Mondegarian, Zainab Gardezi and Mifrah Haq. Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Jamal Khurshid, Anam Haleem, Essa Malik, Maha Haider, Faizan Dawood, Samra Aamir, Asif Ali. Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi.

For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk Twitter: @ETribuneMag & Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ETribuneMag Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Irfan and Nafisa

Mariam and Maria

Noor and Fatima

The wardrobe label Uniworth Black launches in Islamabad

Roohi Shaikh

6

Meeshi JUNE 9-15 2013

Natasha and Fatima

Sadia

Fari and Murad

PHOTOS COURTESY REZZ PR AND EVENTS

Neena, Ayesha and Mariam

JUNE 9-15 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES Garnier launches its new product, the Garnier BB Cream, in Karachi

Kokiez by Sana Mazher opens in Islamabad

Nimra and Rubab PHOTOS COURTESY HUNAR

Huda

Marvi Santosh, Wardah Saleem and Adeela Liaquat PHOTOS COURTESY LOTUS

Fauzia, Laila, and Sana

8

Zainab Pasha JUNE 9-15 2013

Nighat Misbah

Kashmala and Alina

Fehmida

JUNE 9-15 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Ayesha and Alizeh

Ayesha, Keyaan, Aahil and Ranya

Nadia and Azad

Cinnabon celebrates Mother’s Day in Lahore and Islamabad

Shameel, Snea and Anny

10 JUNE 9-15 2013

Ibrahim and Sadia

PHOTOS COURTESY BILAL MUKHTAR EVENTS & PR

Aima, Anaya, Emaan and Madiha

Sidra and Hassan

Zaair, Zahra and Faaiz

JUNE 9-15 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Samiha and Emaan

Wardha Saleem

Markings Publishing debuts Tapulicious 2 in Karachi

Anushey Ashraf PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR AND MARKETING

Areeba, Schaz Khan and Shehla Chatoor

12

Sadaf Mehmood JUNE 9-15 2013

Rabya Chaudhry and Maida Azmat

Hiba and Ali

JUNE 9-15 2013

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Sadaf Fia, Nadia and Kiran

Nadia and Kiran Chaudhary

Huma Adnan

Ayesha Noon and Mahgul

Frieha Altaf

Diet Pepsi unveils its new slim can in Lahore

Neha

14

Mehreen Syed and Cybil JUNE 9-15 2013

Zainab and Shehla Chahtoor

Sundus and Zahra

Natasha

Sara Shahid and Maria B

PHOTOS COURTESY VERVE

Nina, Anila, Nickie and Mariam

Mehreen and Momina

Madiha, Nadia Hussain and Imtisal

Amina

Neha and Saleeha

Sadaf and Sana Hashwani

Zoe and Zainab

Samira and Ayesha Haswani

Jania and Zarashahjahan

Maram and Abroo

15 JUNE 9-15 2013

JUNE 9-15 2013

JUNE 9-15 2013

FEATURE

A Barbie Dreamhouse nightmare

The opening of the Barbie Dreamhouse in Berlin has been marked by protests

TEXT & PHOTOS BY ROMA RAJPAL

Barbie, the iconic doll, recently checked into her Pink Villa in Berlin.

The launch of her 2,500-square metre life-sized Dreamhouse located in the city centre literally turned into a nightmare for the organisers.

Its opening on May 16 was sabotaged by a FEMEN activist who ran around naked burning Barbie’s effigy. It was followed by a peaceful demonstration of 300 people organised by a leftwing group, Die Linke, which launched the ‘Occupy the Barbie Dreamhouse’ campaign. It has over 2,500 followers and the support of the Teachers Association in Berlin.

After all the uproar in the media, I had to go to find out for myself what the fuss was all about.

On a grey Saturday morning, it is pour18 ing in Berlin as I make my way through its JUNE 9-15 2013

overcrowded shopping mecca, Alexanderplatz, till I reach a scrap of wasteland with a makeshift house in pink. A dozen little girls wait, eager-eyed, clenching their mothers’ hands in one and an umbrella in the other.

To my relief, the line moves quickly. Girls and women alike are mesmerised at the entrance which is a long pink corridor that leads to the ticket counter and is lined with dozens of Barbies dressed in all shades of pink.

The ticket costs a whopping 15 Euros (Rs1,920) for an adult and 12 Euros (Rs1,536) for a child. You can add on an electronic bracelet for a deposit of 5 Euros (Rs640). This bracelet is used for the interactive expe-

rience that is enabled through LED screens in the Dreamhouse. You could also choose a VIP package for 29 Euros (Rs3,713), which includes a Barbie Career Experience.

Gateway to Barbie’s pink world There are two floors and a Penthouse to discover. The first floor is a kitchen, where you can virtually bake cupcakes in a series of interactive games. Barbie’s fridge becomes a page out of her week planner with a list of things to do, such as ‘Buy the latest pink nail polish’ along with date invitations from Ken and other invites and postcards from friends.

This is followed by the leisure activity section, which for Barbie is the Beach, where she hangs out in fashionable bikinis with her friends and Ken (her boyfriend who dotes on her). And to top it off is the penthouse where her bedroom is located along with a wardrobe closet on display in glass panels.

The penthouse opens into a large hallway where stylists and make-up artists are primping up girls and picking out outfits to get them ready for a catwalk. You are only allowed in if you have the VIP package. The rest are allowed to watch or you can colour Barbie drawings. There is also a stage where girls can become rock stars like Barbie by lip-synching to popular songs as they follow the

instructor’s choreography.

All throughout the Dreamhouse experience, Barbie is omnipresent, gazing out of cabinets and swathed in enthralling fairytale outfits. But the doll is out of reach. She can’t be touched or felt. The little girls can look but not touch.

A bad role model?

Is the blue-eyed blonde doll then just a shallow role model with no real career to offer inspiration? Is her image pushing girls towards consumerism? I ask Katja, the mother of two girls and a secretary in a multinational company. She is out on a Saturday excursion with her five-year-old daughter. “A lot of girls like to dress up, put on make-up, like the colour pink and love to play with dolls,” she says. “There is nothing wrong with it. But, the problem arises when girls are not engaged in other activities by their parents. As a parent, it is my responsibility to give other important values to my daughter and help her shape an all-round personality.”

But what about the fathers? Little girls have a lot of leverage when it comes to these doting parents. Christian is out with his sixyear-old daughter. He works as a caretaker for mentally challenged people. “It is my job to teach my daughter that there are other achievements in life that are more rewarding and worthwhile than being like Barbie,” he remarks. “This is just a day out. The ticket is so expensive that I have set a limit of 5 Euros in pocket money for my daughter and she can pick up whatever she likes in that budget.”

All throughout the Dreamhouse experience, Barbie is omnipresent, gazing out of cabinets and swathed in enthralling fairy-tale outfits.

But the doll is out of reach. She can’t be touched or felt. The little girls can look but not touch 19 JUNE 9-15 2013

FEATURE After talking to them I stroll into the gift shop, munching on my strawberryfrosted cupcake. I overhear snippets of private conversations “Mum, I promise to finish my homework as soon as I am back from school.” A little girl is negotiating good behaviour in exchange of a new Barbie. Deals are being made. Parents extract promises from their children while opening up their wallets to pay for the Barbies their daughters won’t let go of. Some are guilty for not having spent enough time with their children. Others are simply being bullied and embarrassed by spoilt wailing brats.

Life in plastic is not all fantastic The ‘Occupy the Barbie Dreamhouse’ campaign continues to protest against gender stereotypes, a shallow lifestyle and Barbie as a role model that puts pressure on young girls to be skinny and to look beautiful. The group’s leader Michael Koschitzki said, “Our protest is not directed against kids playing with Barbie or against parents going there. The Barbie Dreamhouse presents a very narrow role model for women. The Dreamhouse experience shows cooking, make-up and singing as the fulfilment of a woman’s life.”

Thus, for many, Barbie is in many ways still stuck in the 1950s and has been reduced to her looks. Many feminists have

20 JUNE 9-15 2013

protested over the years against this stereotype image that she projects.

Koschitzki adds that Barbie’s ideal could become life-threatening for many girls.

He refers to a study conducted by doctors in Germany. “As a real woman, Barbie would be anorexic. She would have a Body Mass Index of 16.24, which is medically categorised as anorexic. She wouldn’t have a normal menstruation cycle and she would be infertile.”

Despite the protests, Mattel moves forward and Barbie is set to tour many European cities this year. She is in Berlin until the end of August. Another Barbie Dreamhouse was opened early May in Florida.

Strangely though there have been no protests in the US yet. In the meantime, Berlin’s protesters hope that their campaign will push down the number of visitors and help create awareness among parents about the perils of selling Barbie’s dreams to their daughters.

COVERSTORY

30 28 JUNE MAY 19-25 9-15 2013 2013

The nouveau riche, the valley of ashes

Girls from good families must marry by the rules in Pakistan as well

BY DR ISHRAT LINDBLAD

F Scott Fitzgerald may have set his all-American novel, The Great Gatsby, in the roaring 20s with its decadent parties, reckless rich, corruption and class differences but as two academics find, it has surprising similarities with Pakistani high society today

“Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do/I’m half crazy, all for the love of you/It won’t be a stylish marriage/ For I can’t afford a carriage...”: the familiar words of this children’s rhyme neatly encapsulate one of the main themes in The Great Gatsby; the conflict between an idealised love and a crassly materialistic world.

Baz Luhrmann’s recent film version of Scott Fitzgerald’s classic story of the corruption of the “American Dream” has hit the headlines as one of the most-talked about movies this year, but what does this story have to do with us? A great deal, it would seem, for classic works can outlive their original contexts and make us see our own world afresh.

First of all take Daisy, who like our well-brought up girls from “good families”, is the aristocratic Southern belle in Fitzgerald’s novel who has to abide by the rules of her “East Egg” family. She has to marry a wealthy, aristocratic, top university-educated man who has won their approval. She is not capable of giving a “true answer” like the innocent Daisy in the above-mentioned rhyme. She cannot say: “We’ll run away on a summer’s day/On a bicycle made for two”.

Why should her parents care that their daughter is weeping before the wedding with Tom Buchanan as she reads a letter from her beloved Gatsby, telling her that he has devoted his life to deserving her?

Even the contrast between the landed East Egg families with with their their elegance, ele egance, good goo od taste e and leisure leiisurre and an nd the newly newly rich ricch families fam milies who who have have had ha ad to work wo ork hard hard to to amas ss their wealth h is too to oo easily easiily identified iden ntified in in our ou ur own ow wn amass societ ty and d the way wa ay the e people peop ple who consider consiider themthem msociety selvess to have hav ve “good breeding” bree eding” look k down n upon upo on the th he nouveau ric che: “W Who on n eearth arth do theyy think th hey are?” ” riche: “Who they The en we h ave th he “Val lle ey off Ashes s” in the boo ok — a Then have the “Valley Ashes” book verita able in ndustria al was ste eland d wher re the p oor p eople veritable industrial wasteland where poor people try to o make e a living g for tthemselves hemsselves w hile m illlion naire es while millionaires drive by at a crazy sspeed peed th hrou ugh the dirt an nd the e litte er through and litter

31 29 MAY JUNE19-25 9-15 2013

COVERSTORY in their super-luxury cars, showing no awareness whatsoever of the men and women whom they ruthlessly exploit.

In our world today, it is only too easy to find frustrated poor men like the garage mechanic, George Wilson, and his wife Myrtle… people of whose deaths we read in our newspapers every day and try to forget as fast as we can.

Are we so different from Tom Buchanan and Daisy who solve problems by refusing to get involved and simply moving away to another neighbourhood?

And Gatsby himself? The extravagant drunken parties that he throws and the criminal means he has embraced in order to amass the wealth he knows he needs to be able to woo Daisy, is all too easily recognised.

Especially ironic is the fact that prohibition in the 1920s could not stop the American elite from becoming drunk any more than it can stop us from indulging in similar excesses. Gatsby’s dream leads to corruption — a symbol perhaps for the shattered dream of the founding fathers of America. This country was also established in the name of a dream, but where are we today? Are we not becoming as decadent as the characters in Fitzgerald’s novel?

A few honest observers who believe in moral values and try to keep a distance, like Nick Carraway, the narrator of Gatsby’s story, often become disillusioned with what they see and decide to opt out and like him, go west!

Finally we have the compelling symbol of the eyes of Dr TJ Eckleburg: in reality a derelict billboard, but for poor mechanic George Wilson the all-seeing eyes of a transcendent power. George uses the language of the fundamentalists, telling his unfaithful wife, Myrtle, that God sees her sin and will punish her. When she runs out of their home in desperation and is driven over and dies, Wilson convinces himself he is God’s instrument and goes out to seek vengeance on her lover. Daisy’s husband Tom Buchanan has lied to George in order to protect himself and believing this, the mechanic goes out to first shoot Gatsby and then himself.

And, to end on a frivolous note, consider the hellish heat that drives the characters into a frenzy as they confront each other in the climactic scene in a luxury hotel.

Haven’t we all felt desperate when the temperature hits 40 degrees in the shade and the electricity fails yet again?

30

Dr Ishrat Lindblad is settled in Sweden but visits Pakistan on a regular basis. She taught English literature at the Department of English, Stockholm University, from 1976 until her retirement in 2007. During a period of sabbatical leave in the 1990s and after her retirement she has worked part-time as principal at The Lyceum in Karachi.

JUNE MAY 19-25 9-15 2013 2013

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. Photos: Bazmark Film III Pty Limited

F Scott Fitzgerald, Munir Niazi, and the illusion of progress The last line of The Great Gatsby resonates vividly with a Munir Niazi couplet

Top: Joel Edgerton as Daisy Buchanan’s husband Tom and Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker

BY AMIR JAFRI Pakistani poet Munir Niazi was born about the time American novelist F Scott Fitzgerald died. And while the two men shared little in terms of geography and culture, they had in common, in my view, a certain aesthetic, a bleak worldview, a romantic notion, and a precocious talent for creating vivid imagery with a few words.

Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, has received renewed interest with Baz Luhrmann’s film and it is perhaps worth highlighting the loaded last line of the book because it bears similarities to something written closer to home. Consider: So, we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

This is about as heartbreaking a coda as has ever been delivered at the culmination of a tale about a man’s driving material ambition in the service of his unrequited love. In this case, that character is Jay Gatsby.

The fundamental existential paradox of toil without redemptive hope, the human predicament of hovering between the badlands of predestination and freewill, the ultimate existential morass, all hang timorously in the alliterative resonance of that summing up.

For our existence as individuals, F Scott Fitzgerald uses the metaphor of the illusion of progress, the futility of motion, of our life as nothing but toil on the tireless treadmachine of time which, like a bad dream, moves a bit faster than our efforts to gain distance. Inevitably and poignantly it throws us back constantly, and reduces life to little more than a vapid, almost nauseous chore.

It is an instance of curious serendipity that Munir Niazi uses in one of his maqtaas (the last couplet of the Urdu ghazal) an idea similar to this one employed by Fitzgerald in the last line of The Great Gatsby.

Munir is mulk par aasaib kaa saaya hai ya kiya hai Kay harkat taiz-tar hai, aur safar aahista aahista Fitzgerald gives us the image of individual lives as boats thrown back by tsunamic waves as a symbol of the futile struggles of the individual. On the other hand, Niazi 31 MAY JUNE19-25 9-15 2013

COVERSTORY

chooses an otherworldly image and frames it in a broader, national context. Niazi uses the disturbing supernatural images of shadows and phantoms under whose spell his beloved country has fallen. (He wrote umpteen love poems for Pakistan).

Fitzgerald’s individual, in spite of his grueling drudge, is persistently thrown back in the course of his life’s journey. The journey of Niazi’s dear country is more of a trance-like stupor. The words aahista aahista give us the eerie sense that we are constantly on the move, but really on our way to nowhere.

While Fitzgerald’s expression is beautified by the thudding alliteration of “beat,” “boat,” “borne back,” Niazi’s couplet draws its aesthetic mojo from the hissing conspiratorial alliteration of is, aasaib, saaya, safar, aashista aahista, not to mention the venomous zing of tez.

As the excitement of our 2013 election ebbs so does — aahista aahista — the exhilaration that fleetingly touched the nation. The all-too familiar aasaib of nepotism, greed, corruption, thievery, wild spendings, abject poverty start to rear their heads again with the news of million-dollar coat with which the prime minister of one of the poorest nations in the world will adorn himself on his coronation, the scandal at the milk plant in Lahore, the shameless bargaining for parliamentary seats and other cushy jobs, the jostling for lucrative situations, the all-too depressing quid pro quos, the endless blame game.

So, we vote on, desperately hoping against devastating hypocrisy, returning wearily into the lap of the same — as Jalib put it — Zardaris, Mazaris, Madaaris, Jatois, Chaudrys, Pagaarhas, Qureshis, Makhdooms, Khattaks, Khans, Shahs, Sharifs, and not so shareefs, on and on goes the circus.

After completing his doctoral work in Rhetoric at The University of Oklahoma, Amir H. Jafri has taught at various universities in the US and Pakistan. Currently, he teaches at COMSATS in Islamabad. His book Honour Killing: Ritual; Dilemma; Understanding was published by Oxford University Press.

Are we so different from Tom Buchanan and Daisy who solve problems by refusing to get involved and simply moving away to another neighbourhood?

30 32 JUNE MAY 19-25 9-15 2013 2013

Beautiful losers Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic interpretation of The Great Gatsby is beautiful but perhaps too perfect

BY TOOBA MASOOD We loved Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge not just because of its jeweled tones and the chemistry between Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor but because it was an unpredictable delight.

In his latest cinematic offering, director Luhrmann delivers another lush, bejeweled spectacular with his attempt to interpret F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gastby. But something isn’t quite right.

The plot is simple enough but it is Fitzgerald’s exposé of the reckless rich and the portrait of a time that drives it forward.

It opens with Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) moving into a cottage next to the mysterious palatial home that Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) has bought to be opposite his long-lost love Daisy (Carey Mulligan). He hopes to win her back but she is a married woman now. Gatsby’s formula is to throw mad parties in the hope that Daisy will turn up one day. Nick accepts an invitation to attend one of these soirees where he (and we) meet Gatsby (around half an hour into the film and worth the wait).

Gatsby was rumoured to be a German spy, an assassin, a millionaire bootlegger. He was made of new money, something Daisy’s husband, a nasty, brutish old money Ivy-league graduate, Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton), detested. What Buchanan was unaware of was that Gatsby had courted Daisy as an officer in the First World War. But he was unable to marry her then because he was penniless. Gatsby gets Nick to help him reconnect with Daisy. He wants to recreate the past. And is where the story starts to fall apart.

Don’t get me wrong, it is still a pleasure to watch this film and worth the money. DiCaprio carries off the Brooks Brothers suits with aplomb. No one else can give pink linen such machismo. The fountains of Moët & Chandon delight. The pulse quickens, we are drawn into the party scene by the systolic thump of Jay-Z’s No Church in the Wild. And where did that lighting come from? Why aren’t our lives bathed in that light?

Pace and literal interpretation are the two major pitfalls Luhrmann has been unable to sidestep. Unless you are a blind Gatsby fan who wanted the film to be exactly like the book which you re-read before watching the movie, you might be a little irritated with the tempo. It moves a tad slow because every scene is covered as is.

It doesn’t help that the romance between DiCaprio’s Gatsby and Mulligan’s Daisy feels like a limp towelette. Oh, she looks at him all misty-eyed and his gaze is piercing — but when it came to connecting, these two characters would have been closer standing on the opposite shores of the lake that separated their mansions. Their individual performances shone — in isolation.

You will not mind this disappointment, however, as DiCaprio’s performance more than compensates. He is the consummate Gatsby, insecure, inscrutable, blinded by his inexplicable love for Daisy. His golden-jowled grimace is only as perfected as the blonde cowl that strays from his Adonic helmet as he stifles his frustration.

Special mention must be given to Elizabeth Debicki who plays Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker in all her imperious leggy hauteur.

She, more than Mulligan, captures the sashay, flip of the wrist, frenetic flip-flopping and lanky larking around of the socialites of the 1920s. Tobey Maguire plays a whiny Nick Carraway, the story’s watchful narrator. But he does manage to summon our sympathies. I forgot to mention Amitabh Bachchan. He was there for all of 15 minutes as a Jewish gambler who has lunch with Nick and Gatsby at a barber shop. Yes, that was it.

The film’s triumph, though, is its dirty, nasty, brilliant soundtrack in which popular contemporary tracks have been re-spun, shot through with Jazz and gashed with Goth. Techno is laced with trumpet and rebels the likes of Jack White have been given free rein to beat out ballads such as Love is Blindness. You will keep coming back.

31 33 MAY JUNE19-25 9-15 2013

Le ft t en de ncy , de cre Fin al s asi tro ng kes lef mo tm vin Rig arg g ht for ins wa Sla rd a nt nd

rs ba ‘t’

Midd le base zone ups line t o th trokes a gardin g any e apex of re measu red fr th curva om t ture e middle he in be z twee one disre n.

-

s& ot

Midd le an d up upst per z roke one s me asur eme nt

t s d e n ke ‘i’ on e z m tro e te ns th to er re ra ow om one ng pp su cu a u e d fr r z rdi en. e Ac d m on red pe ga e an e r z su up re tw k e pe ea he dis be dl stro Up m f t ine e in e id o ar ex asel atur M wn s p b rv ke a e do u ro st he to th y c an wn t ne do rom zo ing . ne d f le rd en zo re idd ga e le su m sre betw idd ea he di M e m of t line re in ar ex ase atu ap b rv e th y cu an

left Rig ht s em o lan ily. tiona ted w Th ey l leve riters lau l gh . They respo mo n re r show d imm ead fee ily a ling ediate s l nd cry quick y on t mo ly a he re e nd e asi a ly. s-

Uppe r base zone upst line t rokes ot ing a a ny cu he apex o re measu rvatu f the red fr re in u betw pper zon om the een. e disr egard -

Angelina Jolie’s signature

36 JUNE 9-15 2013

Person behind the pen

BY MUHAMMAD KAZMI

Learn how to create a personality profile with a basic lesson in graphology Whether you are an employer making an important hiring decision, an interrogator extracting information from a suspect or a lawyer negotiating a settlement, the ability to measure a person’s personality is imperative.

Instead of referring to a plethora of complex personality theories, you can simply take a lesson in grapholog ogy that acts as a window into a personality by analysiing their handwriting. in There is some debate on what is the best place to start: the speed of handwriting or the emotional energy of the writer (this entails the physical pressure exerted to write). Looking at speed helps you draw a detailed sketch of the writer.

While fast writers are often taken to be spontaneous, impatient, ambitious, negligent and quick thinkers, average writers are considered to be cautious, creative, organised and slow thinkers. To be able to profile your writer, it is important to examine speed using an objective criterion — correlating the speed of writing to the speed of thought of the writer. Factors which serve as distracting influences must also be taken into account. In Your Character from your Handwriting: The New Graphology, Harry Brooks makes this easier by establishing the 18 indicators of speed, half of them used to identify slow writers and the other half for fast writers.

For instance, frequent corrections or readjustments, lines sloping towards the right, accurate placement of the tittle for the ‘i’ (dot on top) and ‘t’ bars and strokes moving towards the left are all characteristics of slow writing with the reverse holding true for fast writing.

And as a rule, two or more indicators of any style will determine the speed of the writer.

Crossing t’s to the right indicate temper

Entangled loops indicate confusion

Broad humps indicate methodical thinking

Down-slanted lines indicate pessimism

After establishing the speed, the next step is to determine the emotional responsiveness of the writer.

This involves observing the strokes: upstrokes (measured from the baseline to the apex of the letter) and the downstrokes (measured from the apex to the baseline of the letter). For instance, while writing the letter ‘j’ you are making a downstroke on the lower part of the letter and making an upstroke in the upper part while writing an ‘h’. The strokes represent life force and energy flow and the slant of the two strokes in particular, represents emotional responsiveness or reactions to immediate circumstances. In this regard, Angelina Jolie comes across as determined because of the pointy downward strokes at the end of her signature. The more the letter slant leans toward the right, the more an emotional response can be expected.

Such writers often show a willingness to comply and possess the ability to get along with co-workers while extreme left-slanted writers are sometimes antisocial, non-communicative and even defiant at times.

With the two fundamental calculations out of the way, the spotlight can be cast on the intensity of certain traits in individuals. Each behavioural trait can be represented graphically and this is determined by the structure pattern for each letter and its frequency of occurrence.

Although this science of character reading has come under great criticism in the recent past, being labelled as a pseudoscience, its value in the workplace as an additional method of gaining an insight into the personality of others cannot be written off. The claim that “handwriting is brainwriting” therefore continues to play a significant role in mapping the inner self.

Looped stems indicate sensitivity to criticism

Up-slanted lines indicate optimism

Left slanted writing indicates withdrawal

37 JUNE 9-15 2013

BOOKS

TO HELL WITH IT

If you like Dan Brown, you will love Inferno even though it’s formulaic and over-the-top

BY SAMRA AMIR

Inferno is 461 pages of predictable, formulaic, unbelievable, breathless action that starts with Robert Langdon, our invincible Harris Tweed-clad academic, who sprints injured from a hospital bed in what he discovers is not New England but Florence, Italy. Only, this time he also has amnesia!

This book’s plot is overly ambitious even by Brown’s standards. Yet, more than 200 million copies of his books have already been sold. Indeed, the writer continues to command a fan-base for whom he is a demagogue. Hence, what critics think may be one of his worst works is already a chart-topper.

Brown’s readership is already acquainted with Langdon, art historian cum symbologist cum iconographer cum world-saviour, all in one. He lands in the most unthinkable situations with the world’s most gorgeous, brainy and spirited women (in Bond 007 fashion), and together they solve hidden mysteries, connecting the dots of symbology, just in the nick of time to ward off an apocalypse plotted by crazed men. With the blonde doctor, Sienna Brooks, the lucky-in-love Langdon finds himself racing through Florence, Venice and Istanbul. Istanbul clearly steals the show from Italy here.

Brown’s books are inspired by some of the most influential individuals, cults or books of the past. This time, as the name suggests, it is part one: “Inferno” of Dante Alighieri’s 14th century epic poem Divine Comedy.

In a standard Dan Brown 24-hour time limit, Langdon with his beautiful side-kick races to find a weapon of mass destruction created by a mad scientist as a solution to over-population in the world that is threatening the human species with extinction. This weapon is created to cut down a major chunk of the human population. Here, we see dark and twisted reflections of the neo-Malthusian theory at work.

Despite all the predictability, Brown’s art reigns over boredom. He manages to keep the reader glued.

His earlier books brought to life the Illuminati and the Holy Grail. This time round, global interest in Dante’s Inferno has re-surfaced. Dante has risen yet again, which more than the book itself, might be an off-shoot contribution from Brown. In a world that is quickly losing touch with epic poetry, the return of classics to the sphere inhabited by the mainstream reader is a good thing. It has certainly helped revive tourism in Florence, as Dante fever grips the city beside river Arno.

In Inferno, we see Brown struggling with his malapropistic tendencies, having fallen into the rut of predictability. But as long as Brown has a die-hard readership that enjoys the conspiracy theory formula, he is still in the running, and some of the flack he gets is a bit unfair, as his novels are fun reads. A The Divine Comedy

by Dante Aligheiri

Manuscripts and mysteries, ancient and modern 38 JUNE 9-15 2013

Divided into three Canticas (hymns), The Divine Comedy is a poem about Dante’s journey through the three domains of the afterlife; Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory) and Paradiso (Paradise).

The first Cantica, Inferno sees Dante descend into the depths of Hell. Guided by Virgil’s ghost, he goes through nine circles of Hell. The poem is a literal and allegorical attempt to find God and seek redemption.

The Psalter

The prophetess

by Galen Watson

by Barbara Wood

An ancient manuscript, the Psalter, is discovered by Michael Romano, a sceptical custodian of the Vatican library. An ancient manuscript expert, he is known to be inquisitive and meddlesome, traits the Church Inquisitors do not appreciate and for good reason. The manuscript leads Father Romano down a path of secrets and betrayals. It also brings to light medieval secrets that have long been buried.

Set in the Sinai Desert at the onset of the millennium, The prophetess, narrates the story of archaeologist Catherine Alexander who has just discovered six ancient scrolls. These scrolls contain secrets that governments desperately want to know. There is however a missing seventh scroll concealing an even more important secret.

Catherine battles super powers and intelligence agencies to get her hands on this scroll before they do.

FILM

Love in a time of suffering

Amour contains stellar performances and a critical look at the nature of love

BY DANYAL ADAM KHAN

It is easy to understand why Amour won some of the most coveted awards of the year. Not only did it bag Best Foreign Language film at the Academy Awards, it was also nominated in four other categories, among them Best Picture — not a common feat for a foreign film. Amour went on to win at the Golden Globes, the Palme d’Or at Cannes and a plethora of other accolades. Michael Haneke with his trademark directorial style has struck gold again after The White Ribbon (2009).

Georges and Anne are an elderly couple, retired piano teachers living in a cozy Paris apartment. One morning at the breakfast table, Anne suffers a silent stroke and sits in a daze, unable to respond to Georges.

She comes around shortly but has no recollection of the event. She is subsequently admitted for surgery on a blocked artery, but the operation goes wrong and leaves half her body paralysed. As she is confined to a wheelchair with her desire to live waning, Georges does more than he can to care for her. But the true strength of their marriage is tested when Anne suffers a second stroke which leaves her with minimal movement and speech. What follows is a harsh but silent struggle to maintain their relationship in the face of impending death.

Amour is thus mostly a tale of persevering love — a tale of how two people deal with life, death and everything else in between. It is a film that unforgivingly challenges pivotal aspects of our existence and does not shy away from forcing us to face the answers. Amour is a true representation of life, and it is also probably the most undramatic portrayal of it that I have chanced to see in recent times. It speaks volumes about the fragility of life and importance of patience in any relationship. Most importantly, Amour is exactly what any work of art should be: both disturbing and comforting.

Jean-Louis Trintignant (Z) and Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima mon amour) in their respective roles as Georges and Anne are the highlight of the film with their spectacular performances. Riva, in particular, earned widespread acclaim and even an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for it. Haneke has once again shown his intelligent filmmaking skills and has taken some beautiful shots. The principal photography of the film has mostly been kept very fixed, composing of long shots, which go well with the theme. Almost the entire film has been shot in the same apartment. Considering Georges and Anne are both piano teachers, a soundtrack of classical pieces was aptly chosen.

Amour is peppered with many silent moments between the couple which display the burden of their unspoken frustration. There are a few strong scenes but nothing to upset the otherwise calm pace of the film. Since this is a true story based on events in the director’s own family, Haneke explains the crux to be, “How to manage the suffering of someone you love.” There are a number of choices to be made, but it must be up to the viewer to judge them as necessary or selfish. Amour is a must-watch for anyone who appreciates the art of cinema and is best explained by its own title: love.

Strong performances

40 JUNE 9-15 2013

The White Ribbon

Z

The White Ribbon (2009) is a black-and-white German film directed by Michael Haneke. Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, it is the story of a family and village in Germany just before the outbreak of the First World War. Dark and mysterious in its genre, it has been described as being about, “the origin of every type of terrorism, be it of political or religious nature.”

Z (1969) is a French film directed by Costa-Gavras and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant. Based on a novel and winning multiple Academy Award nominations, it is a political thriller about the assassination of the Greek politician Gregoris Lambrakis and the subsequent military dictatorship in the country. Dripping with satire and dark humour, it is a brilliant watch.

Hiroshima mon amour This (1959) French film is directed by Alain Resnais.

It is a highly innovative and conceptual film; the first to come out of the French New Wave. It is about a series of conversations between a French actress and a Japanese architect concerning ‘memory and forgetfulness’. The film has several flashback sequences and uses the bombing of Hiroshima as a backdrop.

Killer shoes High heels, kohlapuris and khussas are all health disasters for your feet, say the experts

Calcaneal spur Painful bump at the back of the heel bone

BY DILAIRA MONDEGARIAN

If Sarah Jessica Parker can do it, so can we. That is what women tell them-

selves when it comes to high heels. But Parker quietly shelved her Jimmy Choos and Manolo Blahniks after she developed an extra bone in her foot from constantly wearing heels. She now says they mangled her feet.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr Abdul Haseeb Qureshi explains that the trouble starts when you mess with the natural distribution of weight on your feet by wearing high heels. “Your forefoot and the heel are [then] not on an equal level which is important to transfer equal pressure from both legs onto the spine” he says.

As a result, too much pressure is put on the front of the foot, possibly leading to severe ankle, knee and spine sprains, as high heels throw off kilter the alignment of your hips, shoulders, back and spine.

Prolonged wear also leads to the formation of a painful bump at the back of the heel bone. “This is called a calcaneal spur, or heel spur,” says Qureshi. “It is common in European countries where

High heels throw you forward, putting pressure on the front of the foot. women often wear high heels.”

Experts also warn that wearing high heels with narrow toes can thicken the nerves, as a result of which you can develop a lump on the underside of your foot.

In the long term, women who wear high heels will find their calf muscles become more rigid. “Since the calf muscles in your legs aren’t strong enough, they naturally contract when you wear high heels,” says Qureshi. They actually become shorter over time so when you do wear flats it is painful.

And while you may think that high heels flatter your silhouette, be prepared to suffer from calluses, corns and blisters when the heels throw your weight on to the ball of your foot.

Ironically, the kolhapuri chappal and khussa are not much better for your foot.

“Flat shoes don’t give you enough support,” says physical therapist Dr Usman Ghani, who has worked with the Pakistan cricket team. “Khussas have no arch support; they’re merely ‘cosmetic’ chap-

Ball of the foot pain Pain in the metatarsal area

pals that should not be worn when you’re on your feet for a long period of time.”

The lack of arch support and an inappropriately hard sole are the main causes of foot pain in the metatarsal area, the area just before the toes, explains Dr Ghani. “When you raise your heels, the toes go into extension mode and so the sole of the shoe needs to be flexible to allow this extension.”

Along with high heels, perfectly flat shoes also cause heel pain and tighten calf muscles. “This is commonly known as plantar fasciitis. It is essentially an irritation of the plantar fascia tissue, which runs along the bottom of the foot, connecting the heel to the arch,” says Dr Ghani. Thus doctors recommend that in many cases, two-inch heels can be healthier for your feet than flats.

Pregnant women are advised not to wear flats during their first trimester.

Ballet pumps and flip flops are unsuitable for daily wear in pregnancy as they don’t provide your feet the necessary support.

“During pregnancy it is preferable [for women] to wear low-heeled, comfortable shoes to tone up your back muscles,” explains Qureshi. They are ideal to wear till the time your baby bump starts exerting pressure on your back. T

An x-ray of a right foot in kolhapuri chappals which lead to flat feet or loss of the arch. IMAGES: RADIOLOGIST NASIRUDDIN AT SOUTH CITY HOSPITAL