MARCH 23-29 2014
Surreal Beginnings Countering extremism with music
MARCH 23-29 2014
Travel
Cover Story
How the Swiss roll
Surreal Beginnings Melody breeds tolerance at the Lahooti Music Aashram
Get high on the glorious peaks and sink into natural bliss
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Feature
Book R[age] Only the old and the wise make an appearance at the Readers Club
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4
Regulars
6 People & Parties: Out and about with beautiful people
48 Review: The Last Word 50 Tech: Reading with the Spritz app
Magazine In-charge: Sarah Munir and Sub-Editors: Dilaira Mondegarian and Zehra Qureshi Creative Team: Essa Malik, Jamal Khurshid, Samra Aamir, Kiran Shahid, Munira Abbas, S Asif Ali & Talha Ahmed Khan Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk Twitter: @ETribuneMag & Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ETribuneMag Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com
PEOPLE & PARTIES The launch of Bonanza, English Boot House and LifeStyle Collection at Central Avenue, Lahore
Alyzeh and Madiha
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Kanwal
Sana and Zainab
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PHOTOS COURTESY FAISAL FAROOQUI AND HIS TEAM AT DRAGONFLY
Faryal and Su
PEOPLE & PARTIES
PHOTOS COURTESY FAISAL FAROOQUI AND HIS TEAM AT DRAGONFLY
Zara Peerzada
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Asraa, Sunea, Anam, Sab
Hannah Butt
Maheen Kardar Ali
Sarah Gandapur
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Anny and Anmber
PEOPLE & PARTIES Amin Gulgee holds an art performance titled ‘Paradise Lost’, in Karachi
Samira Raja
PHOTOS COURTESY PHENOMENA
Pomme Gohar and Sharmila Faruqi
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Sherry Rehman, Marvi and Bilawal Bhutto
Ayesha with a friend
Sheheryar Taseer and friends
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PEOPLE & PARTIES Dawood Global Foundation hosts the sixth LADIESFUND® Women’s Awards in Karachi
Maliha Bhimjee
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Frieha Altaf
Farkhanda Bawany
T U Dawood and Rubina Qaimkhani
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Nadia Hussa
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PHOTO COURTESY FAROOQ USMAN AND TUD PR
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PEOPLE & PARTIES Sanam Saeed
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PHOTO COURTESY FAROOQ USMAN AND TUD PR
Nilofer Saeed and Bus
Alycia Dias
Batool Sayeed
h her daughter Shamsha Hashwani wit
Safinaz Muneer
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Sabera Tapal
COVER STORY
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Surreal Beginnings Music forms a counter-culture against extremism at the Lahooti Music Aashram BY RAFAY MAHMOOD PHOTOS BY IBBAD QURESHI AND ARSHMAAN ALI DESIGN BY SAMRA AAMIR
It is not easy to be a visionary and a rock star when you are based in a small city like Jamshoro. Taking up any larger cause instantly raises suspicion and risks being dismissed as a manifestation of your ‘elitist’ or ‘feudalistic’ tendencies. Saif Samejo, lead vocalist for The Sketches, has had his fair share of criticism on both fronts, musical and reformist, but that hasn’t stopped him from making ‘The Lahooti Project’ a success. He started it to record and document indigenous musicians from all over Sindh but the project later took the shape of a movement. It is a movement that highlighted discrimination against the muchneglected Dravidian tribes of Sindh, and put the folk musicians of rural Sindh on the world map via Coke Studio. But its biggest milestone yet is the launch the Lahooti Music Aashram — the first formal music school in the history of Jamshoro and Hyderabad.
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There is a dire need to provide a counter narrative to this multiplication of religious seminaries in Sindh or maybe just revive its original narrative which was all about dance and music Saif Samejo Founder of the Lahooti movement
Mai Dhaee at Lahooti live session.
The Elvis of Jamshoro Samejo, who grew up in Khairpur, recalls the enthralling music performances that took place in the city every other night as the biggest charm of living in Sindh. This land’s people have generally preferred musical congregations to that of any other kind. It was this art-friendly environment that played a key role in his choice of taking up a parallel career in music. Creating a platform where indigenous musicians can be highlighted and folk tunes documented was always a part of The Sketches’ journey that began almost eight years ago. The years passed by reveling in the fame, resolving band issues and learning from the immaculate exposure that they got through Coke Studio. All this combined with Samejo’s job as a marketing director at the Daily Kawish, a regional language newspaper, had made life easy sailing for the musician. His social concerns never took a backseat but were sidelined temporarily, as life became comfortable. However, it was a visit to Thar on a bad day two years ago that turned things around. On September 20, 2011, Samejo was driving to Thar along with Jono Manson, an American musician who 30 was visiting Jamshoro for a collaborative music project. MARCH 23-29 2014
Coincidentally, this was also Ishq-e-Rasool (pbuh) day, which had sparked a series of violent protests across the country. While they were well aware of the situation across the country, Thar was the last place where Samejo expected any sort of hostility. What he witnessed though was quite the opposite. Around 300 to 400 fierce-looking men with weapons and burning torches in their hands welcomed Samejo and his friend. They instantly rushed back to Jamshoro but the image left a lasting impression. “I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of my eyes,” recalls Samejo. “I kept wondering how someone could even gather so many angry people in the most neutral part of Sindh and more so in an area which has a zero crime rate.” In Samejo’s eyes, this particular event coupled with the growing number of madrassahs in Sindh painted a dismal future for the region, especially for its artists. “There is a dire need to provide a counter narrative to this multiplication of seminaries or maybe just revive its original narrative which was all about dance and music. This is where the project Lahooti comes into play.”
Lahooti — a timeless tune ‘The Lahooti Project’ takes its name from the Arabic word
Guitarist Nomi Ali who has also designed the curriculum for the music school.
Lahooti which means endless or limitless in Sindhi and is also the surname of people belonging to the caste group of Maheshwaris. Primarily used to signify people who are on an endless journey — an interpretation that is supported by the use of ‘Lahooti’ in some of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai’s poetry — the word has now lost its original meaning. Today, it is commonly associated with drug addicts or those who are lazy, unproductive and mostly a bad impact on society. “Even my mom calls me Lahooti when I am procrastinating and this misrepresentation of the term baffles me every time I hear it,” says Samejo with a laugh. Associating the term Lahooti with a dedicated project for arts was a conscious effort to reclaim the word. This was also the inspiration for releasing a song called Darawar. Though Darawar is the Urdu equivalent for the Dravidian tribe, the aim was also to create awareness about the discriminative behaviour towards some particular Dravidian tribes of Sindh. The issue was highlighted in October last year when the body of Bhuro Bheel was dug out from a graveyard in Badin. The victim was a member of the Hindu Bheels, and the desecration was the work of the Muslim majority of the area. Samejo along with
some friends went to meet the family of the deceased to offer condolences and later released their song Darawar. “Sindh is a place where Ramdas and Allahdita are buried together and nothing should threaten such pluralistic values. That is why we made that song,” says Samejo. The band found that even though the campaign was restricted to social media, it still managed to open up a few minds, at least on Facebook. Over time, the name of the project has become a lucky charm for Samejo and his team since their journey has literally become endless especially after the success of the live sessions and the formation of the school.
Breeding tolerance through music The idea behind the ‘Lahooti live session’ was to arrange an event where folk musicians from all over the province would get together every week to play music and have a good time. The audio and video of the performances was recorded and released on social media and its popularity quickly skyrocketed. Currently, their Facebook page boasts over 22,000 likes. Around 50 different folk musicians have been recorded and released as part of the Lahooti live sessions and most of them have never been ex- 31 MARCH 23-29 2014
A three-month session costs Rs18,000 but Samejo also offers financial support to those who have a passion for melody but lack the means to nurture it
Faiz Muhammad Qambrani, first registered student for guitar classes and the first sponsored student.
The school provides state-of-the-art music equipment and facilities to students.
posed to the camera or the recording equipment before. Some prominent names include Manjhi Faqeer, Mai Dhai, Talib Talari and Mohammad Hassan. “It is not the first time that people have labeled me as a US agent, our Facebook page is full of such haters,” says Samejo. “But I am proud of all the people who have been there with me and made ‘Lahooti’ something more than a catch phrase.” Increasingly, a large number of folk musicians from rural Sindh have started switching jobs to earn a living. “Folk music is dying in its places of origin such as Badin, Thatta and Tharparkar to the extent that it is hard to find a proper chung player these days, an instrument that Sindh and Balochistan were once known for,” laments Fakir Zulfiqar Loond, a folk musician discovered through the Lahooti live sessions and featured in Coke Studio. The overwhelming success of the live sessions eventually paved way for the Lahooti Music Aashram. The school which is the first of its kind in the area, kicked off classes earlier this month, with an initial batch of nearly 25 students, including five girls. “It was the school’s positive reputation that convinced my parents and allowed me to enroll here,” says Sana Khwaja, a recent graduate who plans to finish the three-month music course before en32 rolling for her MBA. The curriculum comprises a 36-hour MARCH 23-29 2014
learning module in keyboards, guitars, bass guitars and drums among western instruments and chung, boreendo, shehnai, danbooro, sarangi, narr, sitar, flute and dholak/tabla, along with other percussion instruments closer to home. For those who can afford to pay, the three-month session costs Rs18,000 but Samejo also offers financial support to those who have a passion for melody but lack the means to nurture it. Once students have mastered the basic playing skills, live shows will be arranged where they will perform alongside seasoned folk and pop musicians. This will not only boost their confidence but also attract more students. Ustaad Abdullah Khan who has been associated with Radio Pakistan for more than 42 years and has received accolades for his prowess with the shehnai has been employed as an instructor by the school. The job is a welcome respite for the seasoned but underpaid artist — a 10-minute music segment on radio would barely pay him Rs3,000. “Both the floods were very harmful for folk musicians; the water damaged a lot of villages where artists used to live and the flood of clerics has frightened the upcoming generation,” says Khan. “Now the key is to make the best of what you have.” While it may be too late to inculcate a love for folk music in the average modern music listener, it is still possible to mentor and provide
a learning space to those who are interested. And seeing the response the music school has generated, Khan seems optimistic. Before the Lahooti Music Aashram was formed, Khan also taught at the Mehran Arts Council in Hyderabad, which offered short courses in folk instruments. But it was Samejo’s youth-friendly vision that attracted Khan to the new school. “The Mehran Arts council is more like a blast that was never heard,” says Samejo. “But we will consult even them for guidance because if we look at the bigger picture, the school is going to expand with time with bigger and better facilities for the artists.”
Dancing to a different tune “Music can counter any narrative no matter how extreme it may be because it is the perfect relief for the human soul,” says Samejo. “Even if the school manages to produce 30 to 40 dedicated musicians over a decade, I’d be the happiest man on earth. These musicians are going to take the Lahooti
thought forward and preserve Jamhsoro and of Sindh’s original identity.” Samejo sounds ambitious and also seems to echo Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s thoughts as seen with the 15-day long cultural coup in the shape of the Sindh Festival. While Samejo appreciates the efforts by the Sindh government, he feels a lot more can be done. “A 15-day festival is fine but it’s not the solution,” he says. “The government should open more places of learning and shelters for artists because that is what they need the most and it will create a systematic method of cultural preservation.” He adds that the most effective way of fighting the extremist mindset is to counter it with an equal number of cultural hubs. And that is precisely how Samejo wants to soldier on with his music aashram — without any investment or government interference that could perhaps turn the place into a profit making entity. T Rafay Mahmood is an Arts and culture reporter for The Express Tribune. He tweets @Rafay_mahmood
Saif Samejo, lead vocalist for The Sketches and the man behind the Lahooti Music Aashram.
The most effective way of fighting the extremist mindset is to counter it with an equal number of cultural hubs. This is precisely what the Lahooti Music Aashram seeks to achieve
Mai Hanjoo performing during a Lahooti live session.
TRAVEL
How the Swiss roll
It goes without saying that I set off for Zurich, Switzerland with a lot of expectations. Everything I had heard about the land of snow-covered mountains, endless pine trees and breathtaking scenery made the place sound nothing short of a fairy tale. And as soon as I landed in Zurich — the international point of entry in Switzerland — I let the proverbial magic wash over. I picked up my four-day Swiss flexi pass which needs to be ordered in advance and allows unlimited travel on trains, ships and buses along with free entry to over 470 museums across Switzerland. After checking in my luggage, I immediately caught the train bound towards the French part of the canton of Valais, one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland. As I got off the train at Sion, the capital of Valais, the glorious mid-summer vibe instantly energised my senses. Vast stretches of vineyards, lined with orchards of more than 10 varieties of apricots rolled down the lush valley slopes. Along with apricots, other fruits such as apples, strawberries and cherries were found in abundance. The first day whizzed by as I soaked up in the mouth-watering fruits of natural beauty. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, I set off for an adventurous trip to Mont Fort, the highest point in the Verbier-Nendaz holiday and skiing resort, and accessible only by cable car. It holds a special significance for off-piste skiers (skiers who ski on unmarked rugged slopes) since the winter and early spring season allows them to ski between the mountain and the Glacier de Tortin. As we made our way to the cable car terminal, we stumbled upon the Sculptor Park which in itself is quite an experience. The park showcases contemporary art combined with nature and you can enjoy a hearty picnic at the end. The return journey is almost as exciting as the ride up. The Col du Grand Saint Bernard or The Great St Bernard Pass, the third highest road pass in Swizerland, offers an incredible view of the Rhone River and valley located at the border between Switzerland and Italy. This landmark also plays an interesting role in this country’s history. Not only 36 was its ninth century monastery converted into a hospice MARCH 23-29 2014
Get high on the glorious peaks and sink into natural bliss TEXT AND PHOTOS BY MARIA SAIF DESIGN BY ASIF ALI
Over 550 alphorn players and more than 5,000 visitors bear witness to the world’s longest playable alphorn.
Lake Tracouet in Nendaz.
One of the many varieties of apricots that grow in the capital of Valais.
This water rivulet forms a backdrop next to a cycling/walking trail in Nendaz. 37 MARCH 23-29 2014
The world renowned mountain rescue dogs, St Bernard dogs, are raised to guard the hospice of St Bernard of Menthon. circa 1050 AD by Saint Bernard of Menthon but is also synonymous with a special breed of dogs. They are aptly called the Dogs of St. Bernard and are renowned world over as mountain rescue dogs. The Barry foundation has been established just to ensure the survival of this breed, which was originally raised to guard the hospice. Upon returning to Verbier, I got a transfer to Champex Lac, a picturesque lake village fringed by pine forests. Within the vicinity of the lake, there is the Swiss heritage Alpine Botanical Garden located at a height of 1,500 metres. The gardens not only exhibit an impressive collection of the local flora but also those from neighbouring countries and continents. With more than 3,000 species of plants, including Edelweiss, the national flower of Switzerland — and different breeds of roses, these gardens formed the impromptu stage for Maria Von Trapp from The Sound of Music. It seemed impossible to top the wonders of the botanical garden but a trip to the Haute Nendaz resort the next day nullified my claim. Nestled above the Rhone valley, the resort offers the perfect getaway for visitors to wander along luscious trails and go cycling along a backdrop of water rivulets. Along with natural beauty, Zurich is also dotted with magnificent architecture. Finding the time to explore both was daunting but one I was prepared for. I reserved a day for a walking tour of the Old Vil38 lage and ended up at the Saint Michel Chapel. The monument was MARCH 23-29 2014
Montana Lounge Bar at hotel Alex in Zermatt resort located on the Matterhorn peak.
constructed in 1499 and later renovated in the Baroque style during the 18th century. Next on the list was the Zermatt resort, located on the Matterhorn peak at the height of 4,478 metres, which jolted me back to the age of modernity. The most attractive part of the resort is the fact that it is completely car-free and only allows green energy buggies to pick and drops tourists. I was also fortunate enough to attend the annual Gornergrat Alphorn Festival which not only highlights the Swiss folk culture but features more than 300 musicians who sing and play on a stage set by nature. This unique stage is surrounded by more than 20 Pennine peaks, including the highest Monte Rossa range and the symbolic Matterhorn peak. Over 550 alphorn players and more than 5,000 visitors bear witness to the world’s longest playable alphorn measuring a whopping 47 metres which guaranteed an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. As my trip came to an end, the last few days seemed like a daze. Switzerland turned out to be everything that I had expected, if not more. I packed up my bags with the resolve to re-visit the land of silk-smooth chocolate and cheese as there was a lot more that needed to be seen and checked off the bucket list. Maria Saif is a a freelance writer and business student.
One of the chapels in the Old Village, Zurich.
A local delicacy found in Montana Lounge Bar at hotel Alex.
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FEATURE In this bookish romance, age is increasingly becoming a defining factor. At the Readers Club tucked away in a secluded corner on an otherwise bustling 13th Commercial Street in Defence, Karachi, only the middle-aged and seniors are in attendance. Mature enough to understand the underlying messages and draw parallels with real-life experiences but young enough to share hearty laughs over frivolous reads, this group of men and women relish the simple joys of reading. Deceptively quiet on the outside, the club harbours a group of mostly retired professionals with a zest for life coupled with a quick intellect. Everything from the ingredients of happiness, to daily struggles and the importance of retaining a positive outlook on life is on the table. Midlife and Naked, by Shaista Ayesha, the book under discussion for the week, elicits jokes about being ‘naughty at 40’ and ‘men will always be men’ among the group of nearly 20 men. Coming from different backgrounds, one a cardiologist cum historian, some business executives, ex-NASA employees, civil servants, retired military officers and writers, they all unite under the banner of their common love — reading. “Some of them have been with the club since its inception in 2001 while others have joined subsequently in the past 13 years of meeting every Friday for the love of books,” says Azmat Khan, the club’s co-founding member. Along with Abbas Hussain — who established the NGO Teachers’ Development Centre (TDC) in 1999 — the duo turned their dream of setting up an exclusive reading space into a reality of a non-profit, well-networked club of nearly 300 members today. The club falls under the umbrella of TDCs numerous engagements and hence all expenses are paid for. The club does not charge its members any fee as it aims to promote a reading culture. Weekly emails are sent out informing members about the selected book for the upcoming meeting held every Friday, except gazetted holidays, from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. Members meet to discuss the book selected by the facilitator, and after a brief synopsis, engage in a moderated discussion on the book in which everyone is welcome to express their opinion and ask questions. Over time, the club has emerged as a breeding ground for intellectual discussions and cultural integration for people with varying opinions and diverse experiences. The club caters to the reading interests of a wide audience, with themes ranging from politics to history and science to spirituality. Books in both English and Urdu language are preferred to draw more and more people in. Often, however, more interesting than the books are the 42 discussions and the thoughts that reverberate in the room MARCH 23-29 2014
Book R Only the old and the wise make an appearance at the Readers Club BY NOREEN MUMTAZ PHOTOS BY ATHAR KHAN
R[age]
Some of them have been with the club since its inception in 2001 while others have joined subsequently in the past 13 years of meeting every Friday for the love of books Azmat khan A co-founding member during the dialogue session. For example, during the discussion on Midlife and Naked, a tale of two Pakistani entrepreneurs, facilitated by the author, the theme of selfdiscovery was effectively highlighted and discussed. According to an attendee, while the protagonists in the book can write about certain values now, he perhaps wouldn’t have met success had he walked down that path earlier on in life. And others soon jump in to present their stance on the subject once the debate is sparked. Although the club is open for all book lovers, spotting a younger member at the meeting is almost close to impossible. “With the easy availability of eBooks and audio books, the few youngsters who love reading these days just don’t take time out for these things,” claims Azher Tahir, a social media representative for the club. During the tea break that follows a stimulating discussion each week, members sometimes ponder over the absence of younger members while making up with each other for having a difference of opinion during the sometimes heated discussion. “It is [essential] that reading habits [be] instilled in children from a young age and [it should] also be promoted in schools. Parents should encourage children [to] read,” adds Pervez Iqbal, a member of the club who is of the strong opinion that children whose parents read are more likely to pick up a book. And while the members grieve the loss of young minds during the meeting, they inadvertently play their part in reinforcing the timeless appeal of books and reading. You can also visit their site at http://e.readersclubpak.org/ Noreen Mumtaz is a student at the Limkokwing University, Malaysia. MARCH 23-29 2014
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BOOK
An obscene act
The book is available at The Last Word for Rs1,995.
In his overtly explicit novel, The Last Word, Kureishi leaves nothing to the imagination BY ANAM HAQ
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Author Hanif Kureishi MARCH 23-29 2014
The wisdom of The Last Word by Hanif Kureishi is not a single strand of thought. Rather, it tries to unflinchingly recognise the past and the present as an organic continuation through the politics of biography, the process of shared introspection and a reminiscence of the good old days. This is Kureishi’s first novel in six years and is an extended musing on an artist’s undoing — dependencies, demons and all. Although it is not a triumph, it contains inspired moments of black humour and some nod-worthy aphorisms that are Kureishi’s trademark. It loses out completely on basic writing devices, such as characters that are dull or annoyingly incongruous and dialogues that make the reader cringe. Instead of a cohesive background, the novel focuses on the dark side of lovemaking addiction, glorified in the artist’s livery. The Last Word is an audacious reimagining of the relationship between the controversial author VS Naipaul and his biographer Patrick French. But given that Kureishi denies this, despite the overwhelmingly numerous parallels between his protagonist Mamoon Azam and Naipul, it means that the only explanation for this disappointment of a novel is uninspired laziness. The eager beaver biographer, Harry, arrives in rural Somerset, to live with his subject Mamoon and his flighty Italian wife, Liana, in their country mansion. Liana lives the legacy of Sophia Tolstoy but aspires to be the American writer Gertrude Stein in glamorous London. Since her husband’s royalties cannot achieve that, she decides to turn Mamoon into a brand through his biography. There is a hilarious exchange in the book in which Mamoon asks Liana if she means a brand like Heinz ketchup, and she replies with brand Roald Dahl. The two bulwarks of this work are Mamoon and Liana. Mamoon lives two lives; one of a disillusioned writer whose inability to live up to his younger glory frustrates him endlessly and that of a cranky old bugger, complaining about the cold, his knees, imminent death and avoiding
Harry’s questions by “running to the hills.” Liana, on the other hand, moves the story forward. She is the catalyst and the life of this otherwise bland narrative. An unnecessarily forced exercise in psychoanalysis; sex is an overdone preoccupation in the novel. The point seems to be not so much that sexuality is important, but that it is only the forbidden form that inspires the artist and forms the crux of his ‘elevated’ thought processes. The shame is that Harry’s inner thoughts form the essence of this book, but are devoid of any real moving sentiment. Remembering the past, and re-writing it in the present gives the novel a semblance of a central thought. The act of biography is very important, and there are moments between Harry and Mamoon that sparkle with humour and at other times are very moving. For instance, an exchange about literature roars with life, where Harry calls Mamoon’s reaction to his contemporaries, “more road rage than literary criticism.” The novel touches on the politics of biography and the dynamics between biographer and the subject and what it means to narrate a life still in progress. There are some valuable reflections from Mamoon about the teleological nature of the narrative, especially with regard to the biography — in the sense that everything the biographer finds must fit into a narrative which is written with a fixed beginning and end points. There is no room for idiosyncrasies or irregularities in these pre-ordained narratives, and especially not for open ends. Finally, there is a turning of the tables at the end, which is a flash of brilliance in this otherwise uninspired work. There is little to redeem this book, but if you read it, do so simply to witness the undoing of a writer — Mamoon or Kureishi — the choice is yours. Anam Haq has a degree in literature and runs her food business.
TECH 1000 wpm
Need for speed Will speed boosting apps like Spritz make us better readers? BY NOMAN ANSARI DESIGN BY MUNIRA ABBAS
If you have been following the hype generated by the developers of the speed-reading application Spritz, you would think that the software might very well be the invention of the year. Certainly in theory, this app has the potential to revolutionise the way we read. The technology behind the app boasts impressive results, allowing readers to read at a breakneck speed of a 1,000 words per minute (wpm). Just to give you an idea as to how fast that is, many experts agree that the average reader absorbs words at a speed of 200 to 300 words a minute. What does a speed of 1,000 wpm mean in real terms? Well, using Spritz, a reader could finish JK Rowling’s 309-page book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, in 77 minutes. Meanwhile, the movie clocks in with a running time of 152 minutes, which means that lazy readers may no longer be able to resort to the excuse that watching the cinematic adaptation saves time. Similarly, the 1,225-page long Russian novel, War and Peace, which is considered a must-read by literary critics is not an easy read. Yet, with the Spritz app, the 560,000 word English translation could be consumed in a day. How is Spritz managing this? Well, according to the developers, readers only spend 20% of their reading time actually processing content. The other 80% is wasted shifting eyes from one word to the next and between the letters. Spritz isn’t the first application to try and improve reading speed, but it is the first to employ its Optimal Recognition Points technology. Spritz says that when readers read a word, their eyes naturally pinpoint an area on the word, which allows the brain to recognise and understand the meaning
of that word. Their technology simply aligns words so that the reader’s eyes see optimal recognition points faster, without actually wasting time shifting between letters. With every readjustment made by Spritz, readers gain seconds, and these seconds eventually add up. When I first started experimenting with Spritz I was overwhelmed, as it felt like I was reading the words faster than I was processing them. After making an effort to relax, I was processing faster, but it still felt
Spritz allows readers to read at a breakneck speed of 1,000 words per minute (wpm). And many experts agree that the average reader absorbs words at a speed of 200 to 300 words a minute. like I was skim reading at best. As an avid reader of books, I feel the largest issue with the technology is that it works only for digital reading. This means that old-fashioned readers who like to curl up with a physical copy of a book are obviously out of luck for now. Spritz will also only be available for future Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S5, which means that those with other devices will have to wait. While Spritz may prove to be an excellent application for readers interested in pouring through mindless material which requires little comprehension time, I feel that readers who wish to truly enjoy their digital books will steer clear. Noman Ansari is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to several publications. He tweets @Pugnate
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