The Express Tribune Magazine - October 27

OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

TRAILBLAZERS AT

What successful people were doing at the age of 25 and if there are any formulas for getting it right

OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

Feature

Burnt, not broken Despite their scarred past, the people of Bosnia are determined to move on to a brighter future

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Feature

Organic Activity

Cover Story

Trailblazers at 25 Find out what successful people were doing at the age of 25 and whether there are any formulas for getting it right

With the Khaalis Food Market, Lahoris are on the right track to healthy eating

32 Feature

Record high lead levels Bilal Asif’s childhood love for pencils turns into a record-breaking obsession

36

24

4

Regulars

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

38 Review: The Kill List and 42

A tale for the time being Guide: Buying a used car

Magazine In-charge: Sarah Munir and Sub-Editors: Dilaira Mondegarian, Sundar Waqar and Manahyl Khan Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Essa Malik, Jamal Khurshid, Samra Aamir, 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

Farzana and Ayesha

Samina, Mrs Mudasir, Sama, Naveen and Natasha

People & Parties Coffee Republic and Yogland comes to Islamabad PHOTOS COURTESY REZZ PR AND EVENTS Abida Nauman

Naveen Saad

Marium and Noor

Nasreen Bilour and Sobia Zuha

Zaeina Hyder

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Uzma Abbassi , Reema Aftab and Nida Ameer

Natasha and Qurat Chaudary

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Saad, Saara, Alena and Awais

Mahjabeen and Atif Shaikh

Marium

Baila

Nosheen and Zain Kazmi

Asad and Saba Shaikh

Nada Bangash

Mariam Saigol Khan, Akber Momand and Farooq Owais

Nadia and Tahir Yasin

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Sarah Raza

Natasha and Adil Zulfiqar

Ahmed and Nadia Bilour

Sania Baig

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Aiza Khan, Minahil Ayaz and Zara Khan

Momina Waqar

Aliya Aftab and Amna Nadeem

Nimra Muzamil and Sehr Chaudhry

People & Parties Shibori opens up in Lahore Photos courtesy Bilal Mukhtar Events and PR Sana Mustafa and Hira Jilani

Mahnoor Munir and Maham Malik

Amina Saeed and Farah Asrar

Anum Zain and Rushna Khan

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Momina Malik

Hajra Saif

Beenish Farooq, Wajiha Majid and Ayesha Ghuman

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Dr Farzeen

Samra Sabir and Amna Ahmad

Sadia Waleed

Shireen Iftikhar and Madiha Iftikhar

Zainab Masood

Fariah Faisal

Fiza Zain and Mehreen Zain

Khadija Seemab

Amina Batool, Faiza Bukhari and Aliza Waqar

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Nadia Ramzan

Posha Ozair and Zaira Anwar

Gohar Sultan and Hina Mahboob

Sarah Chughtai and Sheharbano Irshad

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Guests

People & Parties Gul Ahmed launches its Fall/ Winter collection in Lahore Naeem-ul-Haq

The host

Omer Tariq’s Family

Khawar Riaz

Guest

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Muhammad Majid

Guests

Omer Tariq

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Emilia Szabo and Istvan Szabo

Alya Ahmed, Cristina Afridi, Sumaira Khan and Noshi Qadir

People & Parties The Brazilian Embassy celebrates its 191st National Day in Islamabad

Sofia and Andrzej Ananicz

Maria Eugenia Carbajosa

Alfredo Leoni, Alexandra Claes and Peter Claes

Ahmed Benflis

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

Tina Nunn and Dr Cyrill Jean Nunn

Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Al-Ghadeer

Bakhitbek Shabarbayev

Richard Olson

SEPTEMBER 22-28 2013

FEATURE

BURNT, NOT BROKEN Despite their scarred past, the people of Bosnia are determined to move on to a brighter future TEXT & PHOTOS BY KHAULA JAMIL

People reacted strangely when I announced I was going to Sarajevo with some friends.

From my parents to the immigration officers at the Karachi airport, and even the Bosnian ambassador in Islamabad, there was not a single person who did not raise their eyebrows in utter bewilderment. It’s understandable; Sarajevo has a disturbing past.

The siege of Sarajevo, which lasted from 1992 to 1995, has often been referred to as the ‘Holocaust of the ’90s, during which more than 10,000 people were killed by the Bosnian Serbs. The Srebrenica Genocide of 1995 is estimated at 8,000 Bosnian Muslims. Twenty years later, to those who have not followed how Bosnia rebuilt itself, Sarajevo is still considered ‘dangerous’.

The Sebilj is a pseudo-Moorish style wooden fountain (Sebil) in the centre of Bašcaršija square in Sarajevo.

It is also frequently called ‘the pigeon square’.

FEATURE But Sarajevo’s tainted past gives the city character.

There is a terrifying story around each corner, and to get to know them, we attempted to figure out the less-touristy locations after an initial introduction to the city.

Several companies around the city offer war tours with poignant names such as ‘Never forget Srebrenica’ or ‘Times of Misfortune’. We opted for the latter and visited Kovači, the largest graveyard of Sarajevo, with 1,487 officially buried Muslims and fallen soldiers. Standing in a graveyard dotted with white graves, it was chilling and yet inspiring to be amongst the many brave men who gave up their lives for their country.

A hill climb later, we could view Sarajevo in all its aesthetic and historic glory. The hills surrounding the city were lined with tall dark trees which concealed their own bloody tale. “Look there towards the black forests,” our guide said pointing towards the trees looming further up in the mountains above the city. “On the other side of those forests and mountains is Serbia, and that is where the Serbian snipers were always [stationed],” he said as he looked down at the exposed city of Sarajevo. “People down there were just sitting ducks for them.”

Amid the tales of bloodshed and doom, things like the famous Tunnel of Hope served as a reminder of the city’s humanity and courage. Built under the home of an elderly couple, Mr and Mrs Kolar, the tunnel acted like a lifeline for Sarajevo when the Serbs cut off all their supplies and contact with the outside world. Walking through the reconstructed tunnel, I kept imagining the soldiers who frequented the half-flooded hole with supplies every night, armed with just a torchlight and a passion to save their city.

Surrounded with memorabilia of the war, it was easy to play out in your mind hat must have happened during those nights. There is even a video of the elderly Mrs Kolar, who became affectionately known as Nana Sida after she served for three consecutive years, waiting at the mouth of the tunnel holding a jug of water and handing it out to every soldier who exited.

Scattered reminders of the war both haunt and uplift Sarajevo. On a walking tour of the Austro-Hungarian part of the city, we stopped to take in a reminder of a time when there was no violence in the name of religion. Tito Street bears the Eternal Flame, a memorial for those who died in World War II. Our guide recited what the flame stood for as written on the memorial — courage, bravery and solidarity.

The same guide took us through the old city, to the vivid stalls of fruit and vegetables at the Markale Mar20 ket. One of the biggest shelling attacks had taken place OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

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here during the siege, killing up to 66 people who had been shopping at the market. A glass case covers the shell now, which like all other shell marks on the road has been covered with resin or red rubber to preserve them.

These marks are known as the ‘Sarajevo Roses’.

While each location told its own story, the people were not too keen to speak of the past. From former soldiers who were once wounded in the war and were now working as translators, taxi drivers, memorabilia salesmen or shop keepers, to young college students, everyone was aware of the dark history but admitted that it was still very “hush hush”.

They may not be keen on talking about it, but the people of Sarajevo are determined to move on. The city has rebuilt its war-torn surroundings and its inhabitants display a high level of tolerance.

I took something back from Sarajevo that I have never taken from any other city I have visited — hope. Real hope, that if the Bosnians can figure out how to live together after a harsh war of hate, maybe we have a chance as well.

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1: The Eternal Flame.

2: Veteran of the Bosnian war who walks around Old Town in full uniform, selling an article he wrote about his experience during the war.

3: A Sarajevo Rose.

4: Area called Kundurdziluk, Bascarsija in Sarajveo.

5: Portrait display of 600 of the 8,000 Muslims massacred in the Srebrenica Genocide at Gallery 11/07/95.

6: The domed monument in the Kovaci (martyrs) Cemetery is the grave of President Alija Izetbegovic, who died in October 2003. He led Bosnia to independence in 1992.

21 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

TRAILBLAZERS

AT

Find out what successful people were doing at the age of 25 and whether there are any formulas for getting it right

BY SAADIA QAMAR, IRFAN GHAURI AND KAZIM ALAM DESIGN BY AMNA IQBAL

Certain milestones in life come with too much pressure. Turning 25 or having lived a quarter of your life features prominently on that list. Perhaps it is the pressure of graduating from adolescence to adulthood for good and having something worthwhile to show for it. Or maybe it is the looming threat of a quarter life crisis that might leave you feeling lost, lonely and confused. There is also the added pressure from those around you with countless lists defining what one should or should not have done, seen, felt o r experienced by the time they make that life-altering leap towards turning 25.

So, instead of assessing yourself using theoretical benchmarks, let’s take a look at what some accomplished people in Pakistan were doing at that defining age and whether there are any standard formulas for nailing it.

25 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

M S USHAHID HUSSAIN Politician/Journalist

AMINA PEERZADA Actress/Director

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I had just returned from the United States after completing my studies and joined the Pakistan Administrative Staff College, Lahore — the country’s premier training institution for civil servants. I was the youngest member of their teaching faculty and was training new entrants to Foreign Service.

Q. Were you involved in the same field that you are today?

Not at all. I was in the field of education and professional training of new civil servants. But since 1977 was the ‘summer of discontent’ in Lahore with the Pakistan National Alliance (PNA) agitation at its peak, I used to go to political rallies, sometimes driven by my colleague and friend, Ambassador Akram Zaki, or the now Senator Kamil Ali Agha on his motorbike because he knows the inner city of Lahore like the palm of his hand.

Q. Did you ever think you would be this successful some day?

There was always a desire to excel and an ambition to succeed in whatever one was endeavoring to do, but I had no idea that destiny would be so kind.

Q. If you met your 25-year-old self today, what advice would you give to the young Mushahid?

Treat life like a marathon race with all its twists and turns and ups and downs. Never give up, have faith in the future and, given a bit of luck, you’ll Inshallah make it!

M

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was in Lahore, working as a guest relations manager at Intercontinental Hotel. I worked there for a year and received a regional award for my performance. But as luck would have it, I was offered a role in Shehzad Khalil’s play Panah Do at the same time. I accepted the offer and my life changed completely that year.

Q. Did you ever think you would be this successful some day?

I think I was focused and confident. But it was always others people who made decisions for me. I PHOTO: PTV should have done what I wanted to do from a much earlier age.

Q. If you ran into your 25-year-old self today, what advice would you give her?

If I meet that long-haired girl with her big eyes, full of dreams, I would stop her from refusing all the opportunities that had come her way. From theatre to modelling, to films to TV, I would urge her to try everything.

AHEEN KHAN Fashion Designer

26 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was in Lahore and a mother of two at the time. I spent my days looking after them and nurturing my tiny budding tailoring enterprise that I had started in my verandah.

Q. Did you ever think you would make it someday?

I never stopped to think. I was always doing six things at the same time.

Q. If you met your younger self today, what would you tell her?

When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

Live your passion and try to get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

A

NWAR MAQSOOD Playwright/TV host/Satirist Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was playing cricket, listening to classical music by Baray Ghulam Ali sahib and Ravi Shankar along with the usual pop bands of the time such as Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Beach Boys. I also had my own band called ‘Knights’ and I used to play the guitar with them. There were five places around the city that used to host parties, with Waheed Murad’s residence being one of them. I remember performing there for Rs500 per night. When I wasn’t performing, I used to paint every night from 10pm to 1am.

Q. At the time, did you ever think you would be this successful?

Tha, yaqeen tha. Kyon kay meri per-nani kehti thin, jab mein unsay chaar annay mangta tha, tou who yeh kehti thin, hum nahin hoon gay magar tu aik din bara aadmi banay ga (Yes, I think I knew even then. When I used to go to my great grandmother to ask for money, she used to say that I would be famous one day but she won’t be around to see it.)

Q. If you met your 25-year-old self today, what advice would you give him?

Hum Musalmaan hain, humara aik hi janam hota hai! Hum doosray janam ko nahin mantay hain!

(We are Muslims, we only have a single lifetime, and hence we must achieve whatever we want in this life)

S

A

SAD UMAR Politician/ former CEO of Engro Corporation

HERRY REHMAN Politician/Journalist/Diplomat/Author

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I had just gotten done with my college in USA and had returned to Pakistan. Once I came to Karachi, I headed straight to the Sindh Assembly to see the proceedings where I met Hameed Haroon in the gallery who dragged me to the DAWN group. The rest as they say, is history.

Q. Were you clear c about what you wanted to do even then?

I was cutting m my teeth as a journalist. I loved it then, I love it even now. Ink is in my veins.

Q. Did you ever e think you would be this successful some day? tho At 25, I thought the world was my oyster. It’s better than th that today. I found the pearls with it as well, my family.

Q If you met your 25-year-old self today, Q. what advice would you give to the young Sherry?

Worry less. Stop being anxious about how much you haven’t done. Take some time out for yourself. Plant a few more trees. Back-up your files. Learn how to paint.

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was in Karachi, working as a business analyst at Engro at the time. My first job was in HSBC, which I left in February 1985 to join Engro. I became CEO of one of Engro’s subsidiaries at the age of 36 and was serving as CEO of Engro by the age of 42.

Q. Did you ever think your life would follow the trajectory that it did?

No. I was in the corporate sector back then and now I am in politics. I don’t think I ever even thought about becoming a CEO back then. It never occurred to me. I didn’t plan it.

Q. If you met your 25-year-old self today, what would you tell him?

Follow your passion and concentrate on doing things that matter, such as striving to change society for the better. Achieving goals of an immediate nature like getting a promotion or a raise are far less important than following one’s true 27 passion.

OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

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RIEHA ALTAF Former model/Event manager

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was in Pakistan until June and working as a model. I did some fantastic campaigns and shows during the time and also worked briefly at an advertising firm. Side by side, I also dabbled in TV dramas and worked on Rosy with Sahira Kazmi. In June the same year, I got married and moved to Houston, Texas. Over there, I enrolled in an art programme for painting and sculpture and also got admission for my Master’s degree in art. I was also a housewife and was cooking, cleaning and painting at the same time.

Q. Did you ever think you would become one of the pioneers for event management in Pakistan one day?

Yes! I was very ambitious then also. I had already graduated top of my class. I had honorary admissions in Ivy League graduate schools like Columbia and University of Pennsylvania, but I wanted to be an artist and sculptor. I was also a supermodel and had offers to work in Bollywood films, but I never thought I would become a producer and CEO of the leading event/public relations company, let alone the first modelling agency in Pakistan!

T

ANEEZA AHMED-ALI Model

AHER G SACHAK CEO of EFU Life Assurance Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was in London, working as a British Civil Servant in the then department of health and social security.

Q. Did you ever think your life would follow the trajectory that it did?

Absolutely not — a career in life insurance had never even crossed my mind.

Q. Did you ever think you would be this successful some day?

Success is relative. But I did have high standards, and even though I wasn’t married at that time, I always wanted to be in a position where I could provide a good quality of life for those who were going to be dependent on me.

Q. If you met the 25-year-old Taher today, what advice would you give him?

Don’t be influenced by the limited expectations of people around you. Aim high and always stay true to your commitments.

It had just been a year since I started modelling. I was only working for people I knew earlier, but that year I started doing it professionally. That year, I also acted in PHOTO: ARSHAD TAREEN my first PTV play Kal. Also, a fashion publication did the first write-up on me and my first cover for Fashion Collection was also released that year.

Q. At the time, did you think you would become a modeling sensation one day?

No, no, not at all! I had gone into modeling right after I got out of college. My friends were shocked that I’d become a fashion model because I used to be a complete introvert. But as we speak today, I think I have come full circle since I have gone back to being an introvert.

I

SHRAT HUSAIN Dean & director of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi and former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was working as an assistant commissioner and sub divisional magistrate in Nawabshah at the time.

Q. Did you ever think your life would follow the trajectory that it did?

No. I am currently engaged in academia and not in public policy and civil service, but I had set goals for myself to always strive for excellence in whatever field I chose. As a student, my degree was in chemistry. After joining the Civil Services, I found that education was of very little use and I had to acquire new skills. I had just gotten married but I decided to switch gears and went to Williams College for my Masters in development economics. My first child was born while I was studying there and that time was very taxing, emotionally and financially. But I didn’t give up the struggle and went abroad again to pursue my PhD. I had two young kids and a very minimal stipend, which wasn’t enough to support a family. But all the hard work paid off when I was selected by the World Bank through an open international competitive selection process.

S

HEIKH RASHEED Politician

Q. Where were you at the age of 25 and what were you doing?

I was a counselor and was campaigning for Air Martial (Retd) Asghar Khan’s Tehrik-e-Istaqlal.

Q. Did you ever think you would be this successful some day?

I was sure that one day I would be the MNA from Rawalpindi city.

Q. If you met your 25-year-old self today, what advice would you give to your younger self?

If I had a chance to meet the young Sheikh Rasheed, I would have told him, “Well done and thank you young man, you have provided me [a] base for my success.”

Success may take various forms. Some people grow up knowing exactly Q. If you met your 25-year-old self today, what would you what they want, and tell him? life for them is a series of Whatever you choose to do, try to put in your best efforts. Don’t carefully maneuvered steps look for shortcuts, and be sincere and committed. Allah will tailored to achieve that. Others are confer His blessings on you. wanderers, keen to carve their own path, even if that means a life of endless trial and error. Some might get it right in the first attempt while others have to continue reinventing themselves for decades. To keep trying is almost as important as getting there, and hence age, gender and social background should be treated as variables. As the famous American baseball player Satchel Paige once said, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?” A question we should all ask ourselves once in a while. T

OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

29

FEATURE

/QF@MHB !BSHUHSX With the Khaalis Food Market, Lahoris are on the right track to healthy eating and sourcing fresh, local produce

BY NUZHAT SAADIA SIDDIQI & SHAHRAM HAQ PHOTOS BY MALIK SHAFIQ, NUZHAT SAADIA SIDDIQUI AND MIR ANISUDDIN

From foraging for food to buying it off a shelf, our food sourcing habits have evolved considerably over time. The more we strive to consume conscientiously, the closer we get to an optimal food sourcing solution — a farmer’s market. And Lahore has already embraced this prospect of farm-fresh, wholesome food choices.

At a farmer’s market, one is not only ensured locally grown produce but also a chance to interact directly with farmers and get firsthand knowledge about food. You can be sure that the vegetables in your stew have been sourced from a nearby farm and have spent less time in transportation, refrigeration and storage. And with nutrition still intact, they allow you to enjoy the maximum flavour and pursue a healthy living dream for yourself and your family.

The Khaalis Food Market, initiated by entrepreneurs

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FEATURE and business partners Rizwan Naeem and Asma Shah provides you with just that. At this food market you will come across a wide selection of essentials, from organic to farm-processed foods, all under one roof. The powerful combination of Naeem’s love for food and Shah’s concerns for her family’s diet has gradually captured the imagination of most Lahoris, especially the high-income class.

The freewheeling market caters to a segment of society that wants healthier food options. It is also a social venture that, according to Naeem, was designed to inculcate a sense of community and bring together people who value health food and like knowing where all the ingredients are sourced from. “Being a vendor at Khaalis is a fantastic experience,” says food blogger Insha Bukhari. “Because I’m primarily a food blogger, setting up The Pantry [stall] by Hunger & Haw Hai, exclusively for Khaalis Food Markets [was] a great way to meet readers and food fanatics [and] give them a taste of the food they see in the pictures.”

So far three Khaalis events have been organised, each at a new location, with steadily increasing levels of interest, vendor participation and patronage. “Khaalis Food Market is a practical way to return to some of the ‘old-time goodness’ when we didn’t have to worry about chemicals, waste, additives, preservatives and other artificial things [in] food,” says Naeem.

At their recent event, nearly 45 vendors gathered at the grounds of The New School Beaconhouse in Defence, Lahore, with stalls displaying organic produce that ranged from homegrown vegetables, fruits and herbs to unconventional ostrich and rabbit meat and exotic dips and salads.

The overall variety of products was interesting enough to keep food en34 thusiasts amused and skeptics at OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

bay. “I didn’t think it would be so fragrant and fresh. [The] best part is, I get to buy the whole plant, which will keep thriving,” says Seher, a young medical student who bought nearly half the potted, fresh basil plants from a stall owing to her love for Italian cuisine. Another enthusiast was raving about the fresh figs and jalapenos she bought at their previous event. The Ostrich Company stall, selling fresh and frozen ostrich meat products, was particularly crowded with visitors sampling their burgers that were priced at a conservative Rs250. A rugby player, Umer, candidly admits that despite joking about the ostrich meat stall at the first Khaalis event, he was now convinced that it is the best alternative to traditional red meat due to its high protein content.

The market provides food connoisseurs with hard-to-find ingredients in Pakistan such as fresh figs, cherry tomatoes, avocadoes, kale, rocket, jalapenos, banana peppers, fresh mushrooms, celery, organic honey and fresh cheeses to name a few. Although these items come at a price, Naeem quite confidently claims that none of those products are overpriced. Since the vendors are mostly

small-scale farmers whose seasonal produce is personally tended to and comparatively healthier than canned options, the items are priced accordingly. And unlike the fluctuation in prices in other markets, these vendors tend to maintain a fixed price for customer convenience. A jar of honey is priced at Rs800 and desi ghee is available for Rs700 per kg, and although this may seem steep, it is an amount worth paying for food that is traceable, organic and indeed delicious.

With supply chain being one of the major obstacles in his business, his team has to keep in constant touch with more than a hundred vendors who participate in the market to keep track of the product’s availability.

Progressively, Naeem hopes to reach out to other income classes as well.

Since the organic food movement

is still in its infancy stage in Lahore, it needs constant nurturing. Not all the vendors at Khaalis events sell 100 per cent organic produce, although their aim is to go completely organic in the future and open up a permanent store — an idea inspired by the Whole Foods Market, an American chain known for its natural products. “All vendors are selling ‘next to organic’ stuff. In Pakistan no one can afford the international certification of these items to be 100 per cent organic,” Naeem adds. Even though all items are not entirely organic, they all must meet strict quality control standards to be sold at the market.

Encouraged by their resounding success in Lahore and determined to promote conscious consumption countrywide, the Khaalis team is now all set to bowl over Islamabad 35 with its organic goodness.

OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

FEATURE

Record high lead levels Bilal Asif’s childhood love for pencils turns into a record-breaking obsession

BY RABIA ALI PHOTOS BY AYESHA MIR DESIGN BY ASIF ALI

These pencils weren’t made for writing. At least not the 20,000 assorted ones that Bilal Asif has collected and neatly stacked in air-tight boxes. They serve a greater purpose: to be modelled into statement jewellery pieces.

Asif started collecting pencils at the age of 10. Every day he would take a new one to school and eventually became the envy of the class. Now, he is 19 and his passion to collect them has been channeled into fashioning jewellery out of the wood and lead sheaths. He works with all kinds of pencils: glitter pencils, regular pencils, colour pencils, eye and lip liner pencils, sketch pencils, clutch pencils, pencils tipped with erasers.

“It feels good to collect pencils and to work with them,” he says. “I feel relaxed.”

At his house in Shadman Town in Karachi’s North Nazimabad, Asif arranges his intricate designs in all their colourful glory. From floralpatterned necklaces, hoop earrings, bracelets with pearl detail and chunky rings, Asif clearly has a refined sense of fashion. “Don’t they look beautiful?” he asks, admiring his work with a smile. “One can do wonders with such simple things.”

Unlike most other boys his age, Asif, a BSc OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

student, spends his time making these beautiful pieces of art. According to him, the process is quite simple. He first shaves off the pencil skin and then dexterously reduces them to a stub with a sharp blade. He then gives them a shape and glues them together to form different designs. Lastly, to give his jewellery a finishing touch, he polishes the pieces with varnish and leaves them to dry for a day.

With pencils at the heart of every creation, one can safely assume that Asif’s ideal present is also a pencil — especially ones that are increasingly proving difficult to write with. His relatives and acquaintances are under strict instructions to return from trips abroad bearing only pencils. And as far as his travels are concerned, pencils are an essential part of his travel kit. He has even constructed a special six-feet tall pencil-shaped wooden case if he needs to travel with them.

The 9,365 pencils in Asif’s growing collection have no duplicates. “I have pencils from 15 countries,” he boasts.

The pencil from China, strategically placed next to its red and white Canadian counterpart, is inscribed in Mandarin. His favourite, however, is the blue and red graphite sketching pencil that has featured in his collection for the past six years.

Taking his pencil penchant to new heights, Asif broke the 2006 world’s tallest free-standing pencil tower record held by students at Eisenhower Junior High School in Taylorsville, Utah, US. This year on July 6, Asif took three hours and 10,000 pencils to construct the tower that was 9 feet and 7 inches high, an inch higher than the previous tower, in the presence of Guinness World Record officials at the Karachi Expo Centre.

“When I saw the pictures of the [pencil tower] record that the Americans had made, I decided to break it,” he says. In his eagerness, Asif practiced constructing the tower tirelessly for five years. “To get more stamina, I would go without food and water for five hours before working on the tower.”

But his yearning to reach the pencil pinnacle is nowhere close to fulfillment. Next Asif aims to design a gigantic Pakistani flag, with pencils of course. “I want to make my country proud and showcase the talent Pakistanis have.” T

Bilal Asif’s simple steps to make jewellery using pencils

OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

BOOK

The

hunt is on The Kill List transports you to the clandestine world of terrorists and the intelligence agencies that hunt them down

BY SUNDAR WAQAR

Available at Liberty Books for Rs695

Writing about the ‘war on terror’ without cluttering it with propaganda and conspiracy theories is not easy, but Frederick Forsyth proves that it can be done. In his latest thriller, The Kill List, Forsyth meticulously documents the man-hunt for global terrorists by delving into proper tactics and exposing threat-tracking technology in great detail. While the name of the book suggests a kill list for an assassin or a terrorist, the novel is about the top-secret catalogue bearing the names of the people picked out by the US government as they pose a threat to world security.

The intense plot follows the Tracker, an ex-Marine, as he hunts down the Preacher, an Islamic cleric, who through his sermons radicalises and brainwashes his followers in the US and in England into assassinating high-profile Western targets, including the Tracker’s father. Through a gripping story that sometimes reads like a report 38 rich with details of the processes, organiOCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

sations such as the Technical Operations Support Activity (TOSA) and equipment needed to find the terrorists — the Tracker seeks to find the cleric, equipped with no information about his target’s name, face or location. In the process he is assisted not only by the US security apparatus but also enjoys help from Mossad and various British military intelligence agencies, including a teenager who is a master-hacker.

Forsyth’s journalistic eye for detail is evident throughout the book, especially when he painstakingly describes the operations of TOSA, a secret US government organisation, which plays an integral role in tracking and eliminating antagonists.

And Forsyth does not stop there, he further dwells into the minds of the terrorists; narrating their thinking process along with what goes on behind security agency doors and computers. The insight into the psyche of terrorists is intriguing, except when Forsyth shuns the crucial question of the rea-

son behind their hatred for the West with a superficial and simple answer, providing no further explanation or reasoning.

A master storyteller, Forsyth does not shy away from placing the reader right in the middle of action. The book sends shivers down your spine as you realise that the events in its pages could very well be happening right now. The US government may be researching a potential threat or planning to hunt down one of them while the terrorists continue plotting.

If you enjoyed Forsyth’s first novel, The Day of the Jackal, based on the hiring of an assassin to kill Charles de Gaulle, the President of France, you will not be disappointed by this one either. However, the lack of detail regarding the characters and what they feel might leave you with a lingering uncomfortable feeling that while global superpowers may have mastered how to tackle terrorism, we still have no clear answers on what leads to it. T

BOOK

Nao and Forever

Available at The Last Word for Rs950

A Tale for the Time Being challenges your imagination and gets you thinking

BY NUZHAT SAADIA SIDDIQI

40 OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

Time is linear. What is happening in the present is cast onto the past with the passage of time, and the steady forward movement of time soon does away with the future as well. People exist in time, and then they don’t. But what if time is not linear but cyclical? Or what if there are dimensions to time that hold multiple versions of ourselves? What if we exist and don’t exist at the same time? Such questions have plagued philosophers, scientists, prophets and vagrants. In the same vein, Ruth Ozeki’s compelling dual narrative in A Tale for the Time Being contains a realistic and magical take on the themes of love, honour, shame, regret, life and death in the context of time — the lack of it, and the abundance of it as well.

“The past is weird. I mean, does it really exist? It feels like it exists, but where is it? And if it did exist but doesn’t now, then where did it go?”

The above question comes from a 16-year-old Japanese girl, Nao Yasutani, who is suffering through the motions of teenage life in Japan in the ’90s. Nao is the restless yet unimaginably endearing daughter of a computer scientist who has to move back to Japan from Sunnyvale, California, following the dotcom crash and the loss of her father’s cushy job. The other protagonist of the book, Ruth, is an author who moves from New York to the backwaters of Canada, following her mother’s death. Her husband’s mysterious illness keeps her at the edge of peace, teetering between productivity and madness. Unable to tackle the manuscript of her pending autobiography, Ruth finds comfort in reading Nao’s tale, becoming more and more obsessed with the idea of finding and saving the young girl from her miserable life.

Ruth doesn’t really have an answer to Nao’s petulant questions. Ruth and Nao are not just spatially separated, they are also separated temporally. Their “conversation”, or rather Nao’s monologue, begins when Ruth discovers the young girl’s Japanese diary enclosed in a Hello Kitty lunchbox during a walk at the beach.

Within the pages of the crafty diary, Nao refers to herself as a “Time Being”. A time being, according to her, is simply someone who exists in time, and by that definition she brands everyone as a time being. The words prove prophetic in the span of the tale, which oscillates between Nao’s tragic attempts to come to terms with a life as a bullied outsider at her school. Furthermore, she has to deal with her father’s depression, failure to find work in an economically stilted Japan and various suicide attempts, and her mother’s cold brusqueness when she becomes the sole breadwinner in the family.

Echoing Murakami’s ambiguous and mercurial narrative shifts, A Tale for the Time Being gradually grips the reader by exploring the increasing isolation of young Japanese men and women within the garish new take on ‘culture’, bogged down by loneliness. On the other end of the spectrum, Ruth’s marital strain and creative lull slowly reveal a quiet disenchantment with her own Japanese heritage that is revived by her careful reading of Nao’s diary.

Ozeki, who is nominated for a Booker Prize for this book, masterfully weaves the story of a girl in a country not quite out of the past and suddenly thrust into the future. The fact that you can’t figure out whether Ruth is reading Nao’s story or Nao is writing Ruth’s will make you laugh, cry, become enraged and sad in one go. It will make you wonder, analyse and keep guessing about the welfare of the protagonists and the nature of ‘time’ till the very end, and even after that, as all good yarns must.

Japan on the pages Japan, The Ambiguous, and Myself (1994) This is the respected Japanese author Kenzaburo Oe’s 1994 Nobel Literature lecture.

In a 46-minute speech, Oe recollected his hopes and fears as a young man growing up during the WWII in Japan, his spiritual affinity with American authors and living with the national regret of warmongering. It is available online as an audio recording and a transcript on the Nobel website.

Thousand Cranes (1952) A complex and dark tale of love, betrayal, obsession and redemption set in post WWII Japan by the Nobel laureate Yasunari Kawabata. The book features an emotionally tortured protagonist who embarks on a torrid affair with his recently deceased father’s mistress and how his life’s focus shifts to her daughter when she commits suicide.

Woman on the Other Shore (2005) Written by Mitsuyo Kakuta, Woman on the Other Shore is a tale of two women set in contemporary Japan, with one trying to overcome her present day woes, and the other battling demons from the past.

Deals on

BY NOMAN ANSARI

wheels Steer through the used cars market in the pursuit of your dream car, equipped with tips and tricks to avoid pitfalls

Shopping for a used car can be a daunting task — while most used car sellers are known to be unreliable, our guide can teach you how to spot the red flags and score the perfect deal.

Deciding on your car

Inspection time

The Toyota Corolla is the best-selling 1300cc (or above) locally manufactured passenger car according to the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA). The market has responded positively to the car’s supreme performance and reliability, earning it a great resale value. If this car is out of your budget, we recommend the dependable Honda City, which at a lower price is also a worthy investment.

For vehicles at 1,000cc or below, the Suzuki Mehran leads the pack in terms of sales due to its more affordable price tag.

But if you are in the market for such a vehicle, we recommend the more expensive Suzuki Alto or a Daihatsu Cuore instead.

An Imported Japanese vehicle with a modern look is another feasible option.

But the scarcity of its spare parts might make it a more expensive and time-consuming proposition in the long run.

Although common sense dictates that a car which has a lower mileage will be in a better condition than a car that has run a greater distance, in reality, it is rarely that simple. A regularly maintained vehicle which ran on smoother roads will be in a better condition than a roughly used car that has half the mileage. Keep in mind that mileage can be doctored so trust the power of your observation and keep the following tips in mind: a) While the number of kilometres on a car’s display can be reversed, natural signs of aging cannot. Compare the car to similar vehicles and watch out for signs of wear and tear on the pedals, as well as rusting under the hood. b) A large number of owners in a short lifespan for a car can be a warning sign, pointing towards a major issue — accidents. c) A car with a recorded maintenance history from an authorised dealership is a bett better buy. d) Sel Sellers who evade questions are more likely to be hiding som something. On the other hand, owners who happily allo low their vehicles to be examined by dealerships are more ttrustworthy. e) Be wary of vehicles losing radiator liquid on a daily basis, or blowing strange smoke out of the exhaust pipe. Cars with a potentially blown gasket may be due for major repairs, or worse. Moreover, if the engine oil is reducing on a daily basis or has a suspicious texture, the car has serious flaws. f) For automatic vehicles, if the car is jerking while shi shifting gears, it may require expensive repair. Keep in mind that certain automatic cars will have their transmissions ruin ruined if run on CNG. Have your fut future new car thoroughly examined by a reliable, experienced and competent comp mechanic before purchasing preferably at an authorised dealer dealership.

Finding your car Shift into first gear by exploring all available sale platforms. Websites such as Pakwheels.com, OLX.com.pk and Bolee.com have classifieds available from all across the country and are the fastest way to explore your options.

Shoppers in Karachi can visit the Sunday Car Bazaar, where thousands of serious sellers show up from locations far away. Similar bazaars are organised in other major cities as well. However, buyers should be aware that some cars presented here tend to hide major flaws and 42 should be examined thoroughly.

OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2 2013

Negotiating

Buying

Once you have found your dream car, bargain unabashedly to reduce the suggested price.

There are usually significant profit margins involved and sellers will reduce the original price by as much as Rs50,000.

Get the car’s license, engine and chassis number checked with the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) on their hotline (136) for a detailed history of the vehicle’s tax payments, traffic accidents and possible criminal activity record. Complete the transaction using official documents available at most notaries, and have the car’s registration file checked to see if it is complete before buying.