SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
Cover Story
22 The Glamazon next door From colouring in Spongebob to winning an international award for her film Seedlings, Aamina Sheikh has come a long way
Style
28 Snapsot of a photoshoot Shammal Qureshi shares the creative process behind a successful photoshoot
Feature
30 Just Google it Seek or rather search the Church of Google
32 A man to remember The 22-year-old from Swat who sacrificed his own life to save 14 others in Saudi Arabia
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34 The (wo)man eater Which enigmatic jungle creature has killed six women in northern Pakistan?
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Regulars 6 People & Parties: Out and about with Pakistan’s beautiful people 36 Reviews: (B)romance 38 End Of The Line: Apple’s next big thing: iSue
36
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Magazine Editor: Zarrar Khuhro, Senior Sub-Editors: Batool Zehra, Zainab Imam. Sub-Editors: Ameer Hamza and Dilaira Mondegarian. Creative Team: Amna Iqbal, Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Maha Haider, Faizan Dawood, Samra Aamir, Sanober Ahmed. Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Executive Editor: Muhammad Ziauddin. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi. For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com
Uzma and Ayesha
Eshel
Amna Malik
The Designers holds an exhibition to display the Eid collection in Karachi
Anoushey Ashraf
Marvi Sarfaraz
Nadia Hussain and Najia Anis Mathira
6 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
PHOTOS COURTESY VOILA PR
PEOPLE & PARTIES
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Hina Bayat and Fatima Amir
PHOTOS COURTESY VOILA PR
Amber and Sidra Iqbal
Ayesha Omar
Uzma, Madiha and Jia
8 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
Sana Sarfaraz
Nabeel and Zainab
Asad Tareen
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Hina
Faisal
PHOTOS COURTESY DESTINATION EVENTZ
Abdul Mannan
Rimsha
Destination Eventz celebrates Independence Day with a cake cutting ceremony in Lahore
Huma
Tariq
10
Tina SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
Samra and Haider
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Saeeda Effendi
Guests
Saeeda Effendi holds an Ajrak exhibition in Karachi
Guests
Adeela Liaquat and Marvi Tabinda
12 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Sarah
Afreen Shiraz
Afreen Shiraz holds an exhibition, Eid Fete, at Ellemint Pret in Karachi Gia Ali
Adiba and Ambareen
14 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
Sarah Yasir
Pinky and Saima
PHOTOS COURTESY IDEAS EVENTS PR
Sumeha Khalid
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Amna Zaidi and Hina Khan
Alina Asif, Zara Khan and Maheen Khan
The multi-brand store, the Designers, hosts a three-day Eid gala in Dubai
Saba Wasim
Bushra Ali Zaidi and Aymaan Zaidi
Sameena Ahmed, Shazia Aazar, Shehzeen Ahmed and Fauzia Tareen
16 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
Mahwish Shamoon and Nadia Shaikh
Shadab Nauman
Shabana
Annie Mansoor
Aana Khan and Aliya Tipu
Uzma Rao with her sister
Taniya and Khizer
PHOTOS COURTESY SAVVY PR
Mehreen Malik
Mahwish Malik and Marukh Aftab
Asmaviya and Laila
17 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
PEOPLE & PARTIES
Sophia and Mariam
Madiha and Ikram
Hira
Shamraf launches its fourth outlet in Lahore Rabia and Samia
Afshan and Ali
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Sara Gandapur and Babloo
Annie
Kuki and Bilal Mukhtar
Sana and Seher
Lubna, Maliha, Kashif and Huma
Ruqhia and Naveen
PHOTOS COURTESY BILAL MUKHTAR AND RTEAM
Maria B and Tahir
Shahzad and Samrah
Hamza and Sahir
Mariam and Aliha
Rehan, Javed and Sohail
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SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
COVER STORY
On a Tuesday morning, I opened the front door of my apartment to greet Aamina Sheikh –model, actress and leading lady of Seedlings (Lamha), a Pakistani film that screened at the New York City International Film Festival held at the Tribeca Cinema in August. The screening had officially marked a rite of passage for her
— a crossing of threshold from television to film, from theatrical actor to film actor and, possibly, a film star. Yet, standing
across from me, dressed in a baby-pink top with black polka-dot mesh covering the shoulders, blue jeans and strappy summer sandals, with hair neatly tied back was a sweet college girl or
a friend from school I could have been meeting after ages — a quintessential, archetypal girl next door who could also do high fashion.
Aamina had arrived in New York a few days earlier, along
with her husband Mohib Mirza, who is also her co-star in the
film. The trip to New York was very much about the movie, the first screening of which had run to a packed auditorium as the
Pakistani community came out in full force to lend support and
show enthusiasm for a project from home. The film was billed for a number of nominations, including best actress, which Aamina later won.
Within a span of five years, Aamina has acted in more than
a dozen television drama serials, graced the covers of fashion
glossies and bagged coveted modelling assignments — including becoming a face for L’Oreal Pakistan. Her second film Josh is in its final post-production stages and is expected to release
22
soon.
The trip sounded hectic enough — she mentioned media ap-
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
STYLING, WARDROBE AND CONCEPT BY ANNIE ALI KHAN
23 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
COVER STORY pearances, press interviews, red-carpet events and multiple screenings — but included in that schedule were reunions with old friends and family and sightseeing in the megalopolis, all within the span of 10 days before she left for Los
Angeles and Chicago. This was a girl who, in the course of our 40-minute conversation, had used the word “work” 20 times. Days after she left New York, I heard
from an actor friend that he had run into her at an audition for “Law and Order,” an American television show.
Aamina had arrived on time for our breakfast meeting — three days after the
first screening of Seedlings — but she had to leave for an afternoon meeting soon after. Not wanting to risk losing the chance to conduct the interview, I had decided to prepare breakfast at home. We were seated across from each other on a small dining table. I had prepared tall glasses of fruit smoothies and a hot mushroom
omelette, which she layered with strawberry jam and rolled together inside a piece of toast. This was our third meeting. The first time we had met was months ago in Karachi: that, too, was a meeting over plates of hot breakfast. I remember being startled by her laughter, high in pitch and perhaps meant to disarm, but
instead making me feel slightly awkward. Despite the easy-going disposition, there was a sensible air around her and the whiff of a disciplined personality. Was the friendliness a façade to not scare people away or part of the package that made Aamina one of the most sought after artists in the industry?
And she is beautiful, of course. The second time we met was the day after she
arrived in New York. I had scheduled her for a photo shoot to accompany this article. At one point during the shoot, the photographer remarked how much the woman on his camera screen resembled a famous Hollywood actress.
If she was feeling pressured or overwhelmed by the pace of her days, it did not
show. Instead I heard words, like “fantastic” and talks of finding the time to walk
around Tribeca, and how on “one or two occasions it felt like, ‘Oh my God, I’m graduating again’” because of the way family and friends had converged to be with her. New York, as it turned out, was familiar territory.
“Well I have not spent a considerable stretch here. I studied at Hampshire [Col-
lege], so I came here every break that I got,” she says, referring to her four years at university in Western Massachusetts, pursuing her undergraduate degree in film
studies. “I got a flavour of what it feels like to live in New York. The pace of the city and, you know, losing yourself in the subways and the crowd and observing the difference between the Wall Street crowd versus the SoHo crowd.”
The time spent had not been without struggles though. “I remember I used to
be so broke that I would just go by places and sort of make a mental note of things
24 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
that at that time I could not afford,” she remembers. For a weekly
$100 stipend there was work to be done that no one else wanted
to do. A particularly gruelling assignment, she recalled, involved SpongeBob Square Pants, a children’s cartoon character. For three months “I used to scan and colour every single bit of SpongeBob, and that dude has a million colours on him,” she says.
I wondered how much of that experience played into her deci-
sion to move back to Pakistan after graduation. There had been
resistance from her brothers to stay, both of whom were settled in the US, where they felt there were more opportunities for her artistic pursuits. But she had made up her mind.
“Not for a second did I miss America. I mean, there was no nos-
talgia. I didn’t regret my decision,” she says.
The second of four siblings — two brothers and two sisters —
she was, so far, the only one who had actively taken up arts as
a career. I felt family resistance was something she was used to facing, and there were hints of resistance to her career, but I did not prod her for details. Later in the conversation, however, she
did mention: “I was studying film and my dad used to tell people keh haan ye to computer graphics parh rahee hai.”
I knew that story well. It was the burden of good Pakistani mid-
dle-class girls with artistic passions, a place I too had come from, and the constant struggle to legitimise what are considered leisurely activities by grounding them in academic
platforms. Hence, a degree in film for Aamina, the aspiring actress, who returned to Paki-
stan and shipped her CV to various channels for a job.
“The next week I got a call from Geo
TV and they told me that you start as a
freelancer on this kids programme, and if everything goes well, they get you onboard full time.”
There was no SpongeBob to be coloured in
25 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
COVER STORY
26 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
here. In fact, within a week she was given the helm of a weekly television pro-
gramme, working three to four cameras, while directing 30 children and the host, her future husband Mohib. “I was amazed,” she says, “at how forann hee someone gave me a job like this, because in New York I was literally doing the kind of work that no one else wants to do.”
But with the position came its own set of challenges. Her background in the field
was limited to academic training. In Pakistan, “your production team is made up
of 20 people who are all from different places, who have different mindsets, who are all men, and who use certain lingo. To understand that and not be the person jo
amreeka se parh ke aye hai aur pataa nahin kya samajhtee hai apne aap ko, and execute a production was something I learnt in my two years at Geo.”
It was a lesson in the work environment of Pakistan, but also, perhaps a lesson
in living in Pakistan too.
One of her biggest challenges came from Mohib — who is now her husband.
Were there any sparks? Not according to her.
“We started pretty much on opposing sides, because I was there to change the
show and he was there comfortable in the show,” she says. But where Mirza was
resistant to her overzealous efforts to prove her value to the channel, he was also the one to whom she reached out for help. “At that time, the channel was paying me a certain amount and I had no idea whether that was a good amount or not and
I had no one to really speak to,” she says. “Slowly, slowly, I gathered the courage to get advice from him.”
She had run into Mohib before, when she was a student at Lyceum and would go
see his Urdu plays. “I was doing theatre in English with Rahat Kazmi, and Mohib studied at Comecs [College] and he was brought in every time Lyceum wanted to
do an Urdu language play.” He was also a witness to her struggle with her family. There was scepticism over her work at a television channel, “and then the hours …
the crazy hours which the family didn’t expect and I didn’t expect, so he was a witness to that and he sort of had my back.”
Their love for acting may have brought them together, but there was no denying
they belonged to two different worlds.
“No one points it out or talks about it, but I’m sure people pick it up,” she says.
“But I think, in general, people are appreciative. I think it sort of makes them realise that it’s possible that the integration of the two opens up so many avenues.”
But how did she herself feel about it? “Mohib is really well-exposed mentally,
although he’s very much a Karachi boy and he understands the roughness, toughness,” she says. “He’s lived Karachi inside out, but in the process of doing so he has
miraculously managed to really keep his mind open and expose himself to the outside world,” she adds. “He is very ‘Urdu Daan’ and he has used that to his advantage,
and he’s perfected it almost so that’s very intriguing for someone who lives with him ... I mean, I feel like I learn a lot from him and he learns from me.”
I had no doubt about Aamina’s ability to learn and absorb. After all, she had just
pulled off the feat of successfully portraying a mother with a lost child, notwithstanding that she has never had one in real life.
It is clear to me that Aamina Sheikh is a woman who loves challenges, and that
is how she took the mother’s role. “You know there are some roles that demand so much of you that as an actor it fulfils your desire to perform. And this role demanded that,” she says.
27 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
STYLE
snapshot of a
A fashion shoot is not a day’s work, writes prominent beautician Shammal Qureshi from Tony&Guy. In this twopart series, he shares the creative process that transpires spontaneously but takes time and planning to execute BY SHAMMAL QURESHI AND PHOTOS BY TONY&GUY
Albert Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. He was talking about scientific invention but those words are just as true for a quality fashion shoot. Images on magazine covers, billboards and ads bom-
bard us all the time. They tantalise, suggest or sometimes even offend the sensibilities of some people. But
little do people know that how these images manage to do that is the end result of a vigorous process of planning and execution.
Most people outside the fashion industry only see
the final product and never know how many hours of
research, planning and execution go into the making of that one image.
Ideally, an image should tell a story; one that reflects creativity and some trend. This is
where ‘the theme’ comes into play (I feel like there should be drums rolling or bells ringing when I say that).
How do I come up with a theme? We all pull inspiration from different sources. It could
be anything that pleases our aesthetic sense. Your unique way of seeing things helps ex-
ecute your vision, and it is what sets you apart. Personally, I find inspiration in things I find
deeply beautiful, whether it’s a piece of art or some beautiful scenery I came across when I’m travelling. It can come from a person or even a building. For instance, renowned stylist Vidal Sassoon’s iconic ‘five-point bob’, the look
that catapulted him to fame, was inspired by the Bauhaus Building in Dessau, Germany.
Once I’m struck by something, I let it fer-
ment for a few days, or even a few weeks, until I find a way to translate that aesthetic im-
pact into an actual look. It literally hits me with a Eureka moment, strangely enough
often in the shower, and I get a picture of the
final look in my head. Before the image slips out of my mind, I immediately call my wife Redah or Tony&Guy’s style director Juju and
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share it with them. SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
photo shoot Once the look is decided, the real work begins. The most important
part of it is research, where we figure out how things such as acces-
sories, clothes, colour palate, make-up, lighting, photographers,
backdrops, poses and locations are going to be done. We pore over
magazines and other media to find the right tools that will bring our shoot to life. It’s a painstaking process that sees the entire team sit around spit-balling and pinning stuff up on our mood-board.
The important thing about mood-boards is to ensure that you’re
not copying. Let’s suppose our theme is fairies. Many shoots may have been done on fairies, so we have to make sure that we come up
with something fresh and different — like our own version of what fairies would look like in 2013.
This is the point where the idea crystalises into an actual shoot.
Quite often I come across shoots with a brilliant concept behind
them but shoddy execution. I find myself thinking, “I would’ve done that better” or “this could’ve been so much better”. But I hope no one ever says that about a Tony&Guy shoot!
It’s now time to put the concept down on paper. This involves sketches, and the end result is based most-
ly on trial and error. For hairstyles in particular, we usually experiment with various styles, the team members unleash their creative monsters to come up with, for instance, new
plaiting techniques, ponytail, up-dos and sometimes even haircuts.
Now that the best looks are decided, the core team from
Toni&Guy Lahore, which includes Juju, Aiman, Peter, Sa-
dia and myself, get together and meet up with the designer, photographer, sometimes a stylist and makeup artists (who
are either in-house or external). It’s very important for us to build a team that works well together, otherwise it’s not
fun at all and that comes across in the shoot. The best shoots
are the ones where everyone is passionate about them and is fully committed.
Once the team is formed, the actual shoot is planned,
which involves finalising the location, setting a date for the shoot and selecting the models.
Now is the time to make it happen!
29 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
FEATURE
just google it BY RAKSHA KUMAR
Amid intense debate on religion’s relevance in today’s day and age, a group of Google’s ardent fans offer a tongue-in-cheek take on the issue
While people debate religion’s place in the modern world, one man decided to merge the most modern of all beliefs with the most ancient and form the Church of Google. Matt McPherson, an internet entrepreneur from Liverpool, US,
was only half-serious when he founded the “church” in 2006.
He named the new religion “Googlism,” defining it as the idea that “the search engine Google is the closest that humankind has
ever come to directly experiencing an actual god (as is typically defined).”
Since then, the church has become both famous and infamous
across the world and, not entirely unexpectedly, accumulated a
large number of hate mail. Support, however, has been slow in coming and so far, the church has amassed only 10,710 “believers” through its website (of course!).
When asked about the low number of followers, the modera-
tor wrote in an email response: “We do not proselytise. If people want to find us, they can use Google Search.”
But while it may not go actively searching for followers, the
church allows adherents of various ideologies to join in. “Goog-
lism,” the website says, “does not follow any particular ideology. We welcome all sorts of differing views into our community.
Googlism is simply the belief that Google is the closest thing to a ‘god’ our species has ever directly experienced. That’s it.”
The religion is not as unique as it may seem and retains the
original eccentricities and duality of conventional religion. The
church takes great pains to explain why it believes Google is god and, like conventional religion, it ends up using circular logic to
prove so. “Google is all-knowing and omnipresent,” the church’s website www.thechurchofgoogle.org says. “According to Google
Trends (a facility of Google Inc. that shows how often a particular search term is entered), the term ‘Google’ is searched far more
30
than the terms ‘God’, ‘Jesus’, ‘Allah’, ‘Buddha’, ‘Christianity’, ‘Is-
lam’, ‘Buddhism’ and ‘Judaism’ combined,” the website further SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
states in support of its assertion.
But even while the church distances itself from a strict ideol-
ogy, the first commandment of Googlism borders on fundamentalism: “Thou shalt have no other Search Engine before me, neither Yahoo nor Lycos, AltaVista nor Metacrawler. Thou shalt worship only me, and come to Google only for answers.”
The nine other commandments aren’t much better either.
“Thou shalt not misspell whilst praying to me,” says commandment number 6, and “Thou shalt not build thy own commercial-
free Search Engine,” says commandment number 2. The church pushes to cleanse its adherents of bad behaviour (“Thou shalt not
plagiarise or take undue credit for other’s work,” says commandment number 8) and seeks to inculcate the supremacy of knowl-
edge in the minds of its followers (“Thou shalt remember each passing day and use thy time as an opportunity to gain knowledge of the unknown,” says commandment number 4).
Googlism also has its own “holidays” such as the Google Appre-
ciation Day that falls on September 14 every year. It is an official holiday for Googlists as google.com was registered on this day.
But despite these seemingly serious attempts at establishing
the Church of Google as a real belief system, doubts and opposition persist.
By his own admission, the moderator of the Church of Google
website calls this a “parody religion.” “But,” he writes, “the point it makes is serous or at least interesting to consider.”
“It is funny,” says Sharath Komarraju, a 27-year-old software
engineer working for IBM in Bangalore. “I don’t think they’re serious, and it’s all good for a bit of fun.”
For certain others, religion and church should mean serious
business. Julia Shane writes on the church’s website: “You say
Google is all-knowing? Bah, does it know my life history? Does
it know what I’ve been through or my life experiences? I don’t think so. God (not Google) knows these things and helps us every day, Google does not. This is horribly ridiculous!”
But the ‘serious fun’ seems to reflect perfectly well in the
prayers that people have written for this church. One reads:
“Glory be to Google, As it was in 1998, Is now, And ever shall be, Searching without end, Amen.”
Gautam Buddha once observed: “Just as a candle cannot burn
without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” This is possibly the only generation in history that has access to ad-
vanced scientific inquiry irrespective of the corner of the world they live in. Perhaps, this desperate search to find the science behind the creator may have led men to Googlism.
And when American writer Robert A Heinlein said, “One
Illustration Jamal Khurshid
man’s theology is another man’s belly laugh,” he couldn’t have been more right.
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
31
FEATURE
a man to
In an act of extraordinary gallantry, Swat’s Farman Ali gave up his own life rescuing others during the Saudi floods of 2009, earning a name for posterity
remember BY FAZAL KHALIQ
At a time when all stories from Swat came through the one lens of terrorism, 22-year-old Farman Ali Khan made headlines for saving lives.
“Farman was a very kind man and could not see others in trou-
It was November 26, 2009, when Jeddah, the thriving western
trapped and drowning, he handed them his wallet and mobile
port city of Saudi Arabia, transformed into a picture of destruction and death. Ferocious flash floods swept away anything and
everything that came their way; streets were strewn with crum-
shop. His friends said that when he saw people that people were phone, tied himself with a rope and started rescuing people,” he says.
One such friend testifies to his gallant spirit and sympathetic
bled bridges, cracked roads and floating vehicles.
heart. “It was lunch time and our food was ready. I asked him to
and decided that he had to help the people stranded on Tareeq
while all I could think about was food. He did not eat, and in-
As havoc unfolded before his eyes, Farman didn’t think twice
Makkah Qadeem (old street to Makkah). He tied one end of a rope to a pipe and the other to his waist, and jumped into the roar-
ing flood water to pull them out. One by one, he saved 14 lives until, in his attempt to rescue the fifteenth person, Farman lost his own.
Farman had come to Saudi Arabia in 2001 to earn a living for
his family back home. In a family of ten children, he was the third child of Umar Rahman, a respected elder of the Khawza
Khela area in Swat valley. Farman left behind his wife and three daughters, Zubaida, Madeeha and Jaweria — now seven, six and
four respectively — in Pakistan in order to run a grocery shop located in the Kilo 13 District of Jeddah.
Farman’s elder brother Azizur Rehman, who also lived with
32
ble. That day when flash floods hit Jeddah, Farman was at his
him in Jeddah, remembers the day when he received the fateful phone call from Farman’s Egyptian friend about his death. SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
eat, but he got upset at me and said that people were in trouble
tives and friends and asked them to pray,” Umar says.
Farman’s spirit to excel and help humanity has been inherited
by his three young daughters who are all bright students and
have received accolades for their academic and extracurricular performance in school.
“He would always tell me to study hard. He wanted me to be-
come a doctor, and my aim is to fulfil this wish,” says Zubaida, Farman’s eldest daughter, a fourth grader who has received distinctions in speech competitions. His youngest daughter, Jawestead started rescuing people,” says Farman’s friend.
Even before the heroic rescues, Farman had built a favourable
reputation among both locals and expatriates who knew him for
ria, also wants to become a doctor like her eldest sister while Madiha, the middle one, who is studying in the second grade, wants to become a headmistress.
For his act of gallantry, Farman’s efforts have not gone unac-
his warmth and friendly nature. “No one has forgotten him since
knowledged. The governments of both Saudi Arabia and Paki-
fondly. “Even local Arabs cried at his death.”
awards and his family was invited by King Abdullah, custodian
his death. He is remembered by everyone,” says Azizur Rehman In his own hometown in Swat, Farman is known as a coura-
geous man and incidents of his bravery are often narrated, much like folk tales and legends. “Since childhood, he was very brave
and would always be the first to offer help in times of emergen-
cy. He would never hesitate to plunge into water or even fire to rescue people,” says Shamsher Ali, a childhood friend, adding
that Farman was always just in all his relationships and never deceived anybody in his life.
Farman received his early religious education from his mother
and then earned an intermediate degree from Matta College. He
then set up his own shop in Khwaza Kehla bazaar. “He wanted to
stan have posthumously honoured Farman with the highest civil
of the two Holy Mosques, to perform Hajj as his guests in 2011. The Saudi ambassador in Islamabad called him an “Islamic hero”
and held a meeting with his brother and father. He was posthumously awarded the King Abdul Aziz Medal of the First Order,
while President Asif Ali Zardari conferred upon him the high-
est civilian award of the country that was received by his wife. His children have been allotted a plot in Islamabad and a given a
cheque worth Rs500,000 by the government and the family has
been awarded honorary shields and cash prizes by the Saudi and Pakistani community in Jeddah.
For Farman’s humble family, the attention and honours —
go to Korea to earn a living, but I did not let him go there. I sent
that too from heads of state — are something they could never
became very successful. He was so busy in business that he came
my gratitude to the government of Saudi Arabia for honouring
him to Jeddah to his elder brother, where he opened a shop and home only twice during all this while,” says his father.
“On the day of his death, he called his mother on the phone
and informed her about the heavy rain and floods. He asked her to pray for everyone’s safety. That day he also called all his rela-
even have imagined getting. “I really have no words to express us and inviting us to perform Hajj. I will never forget the great
respect and affection they gave us,” his father says. He says the
family is also grateful to Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Dr Farooq Sattar for facilitating the honours bestowed by the Pakistani government.
As a tribute to Farman, a mosque is being constructed in his
name with financial assistance from Al Nadwa Shabab Islami, a charity organisation in Saudi Arabia. The three-storey mosque,
which will accommodate over 2,000 worshippers at one time, is being constructed to replace an old mosque which was badly
damaged in a suicide attack in 2009. Even during his lifetime, Farman had pledged to commit personal funds for its reconstruction.
For Farman’s family, his early death is an irreparable loss. His
little daughters have lost a loving father, the parents an obedi-
ent son and the family a sturdy earning arm. But it lifts their spirits when they see his heroic sacrifice being recognised and
honoured. It may not bring him back from the dead, but it will go some way in immortalising his name.T
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
33
FEATURE
the (wo)man
The common leopard, a beautiful and enigmatic jungle creature, is fast becoming notorious for its attacks on humans for reasons created by humans themselves in the northern areas of Pakistan
eater In 2005, a strange demon haunted the scenic Galiyat regions in Pakistan’s north. It was bold enough to prey on humans even during the day time. And so, children were prohibited from wandering off too far into the woods and had to stay mostly indoors. But men and women still had to venture out to perform their daily chores.
yat was so notorious and elusive that it was
The killer’s main target, it appeared, were
life due to its nocturnal hunting habits, shy
women, as it ignored the men who ventured into the woods and attacked the ‘weaker’ fe-
males only. Finding a prey was easy for men in
this part of Pakistan would often travel to other towns for a living while women would be left
nicknamed “the Ghost of the Galiyats.” After many frustratingly futile attempts, they finally managed to trap the beast.
The cat, shrouded in mystery and wrapped in
myths, was not a Lion or a Tiger, but a relatively smaller member of their family — the common
leopard. Lions and tigers kill mostly during the day or often announce their presence with loud roars. But this enigmatic cat leads a mysterious
nature and secretive lifestyle. It uses a variety
of vocalisations, including grunts, growls, meows, ‘sawing’ sounds and of course the occasional roar!
The common leopard blends in with its sur-
behind to carry out chores such as rounding up
roundings, knows how to choose its prey, has
wood in the forests.
without a clue. Such is its terror and mystique
the family’s cattle or collecting fodder and fireOne by one, it killed off six women in a span
of only 10 days. The bodies found were often
mauled with parts missing, and the wounds appeared to be inflicted by sharp canines.
learnt to conduct its kills silently and escape that it is often referred to as the “Ghost of the
Jungle.” On the Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar where, according to the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they are
Traps were set to capture or kill this beast and bounties were an-
likely extinct, but they still thrive in myths which portray them
ably lucky to avoid most of the traps and ambushes designed to
terrorise villagers.
nounced. But the killer was either incredibly smart or unbelievcatch it. It appeared from the foliage, killed its targets and went
as ghosts kept by shamans with supernatural powers to hunt and The beast in the Galiyat was so ferocious in its demeanour that
back into the jungle as if it was the forest itself that came to life
even when trapped it managed to scare the living daylights out of
Shortly after the deaths of the women, a task team was formed
cials killed the caged beast by firing at it from point-blank range.
and claimed its prey.
that included skilled hunters and trackers. To those who were in-
volved in the project of eliminating this menace, description of
34
BY ADIL MULKI
its modus operandi was reminiscent of the alien Predators from the 1980s’ Schwarzenegger movie! The man-eater from the GaliSEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
its captors. It is said that out of fear, a group of Punjab Police offiA post-mortem was carried out later, but no human traces were found in the leopard’s digestive tract!
Although, the killings stopped after the incident, some believe
that the “ghost” lives on and has only left the Ayubia National
Park for greener pastures. The ghost lived up to its name even in
the name of Haji Bachal. In the Karchat area of Kirthar Range, he
memories of the ghost for those who lived through its time and
ing off all the “cheetahs” (actually common leopards) of the area.
death. Each new episode of killings by Common Leopards evokes
many late evening conversations around bonfires in chilling
is something of a celebrity for he saved the local livestock by killMost recently, in February, the Rawalpindi district coordina-
temperatures revolve around questions like “Could it be that the
tion officer (DCO) had to impose Section 144 of the Criminal Pro-
first place?”
save leopards from being hunted down by humans during tourist
ghost is back from the dead? Or perhaps it never was killed in the The cat is now found out of the woods and in populated areas.
Deforestation and human encroachment of the forests is slowly
cedure Code in his jurisdiction (areas around Murree) in order to season.
The Rawalpindi DCO and the Dalai Lama’s initiatives are com-
resulting in loss of leopard habitat while bringing the animal
mendable but they may end in vain, unless humans learn to co-
Jammu and Kashmir are increasingly using new tools, such as
estation and irresponsible behaviour are pushing humans and
in close interaction with man. People in the Galiyat and Azad all-terrain-vehicles (quad bikes), to hunt animals such as deer,
pheasants and rabbits that are a leopard’s prey. With shrinking
habitat and diminishing food, the leopard often preys on scavenging dogs and monkeys that
exist peacefully with the environment. Garbage dumps, deforCommon Leopards on a collision course. Only one will be able to survive.
In the short run, local do-gooders like Haji Bachal will be
hailed as heroes but history
loiter around garbage dumps
books will remember them as
near human settlements.
exterminators of a beautiful
Sometimes, leopards attack
and graceful animal which
cattle which are easier to hunt
only wanted to live peacefully
than their natural prey. An old
and shyly in the environment
or injured leopard may find it
where nature had placed it.
easy to prey on weaker humans
An indication of our indif-
and end up developing a taste
ferent attitude towards the
maon district of northern In-
amusingly, but no less unfor-
for human flesh. In the Ku-
environment is the fact that
dia in the early 20th century,
tunately, the animal’s exter-
a leopard is said to have been
mination is used as a joke by
wounded by a poacher such that the animal was unable to
men given that its apparent
prey were women. When I vis-
hunt its natural prey. The leopard then turned into a man-eater
ited the Ayubia National Forest in 2008 with my wife, we went
British hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett killed it in 1910.
lometres of some of the most breathtaking views in the Galiyat
and is said to have devoured up to 400 people before acclaimed Luckier leopards are caught alive, fed on government funding
and sometimes serve a lifetime jail term in zoos. One such case is the Abbottabad leopard which killed nine-year-old Sohail on
November 12, 2011, and 12-year-old Tahira on November 18, 2011, and was trapped while chasing a dog on November 26, 2011.
Humans have turned on these leopards so ferociously that
they have almost become an endangered species. In Tibet, for in-
stance, Chuba, a long coat made from leopard and tiger skin, is in vogue and considered a symbol of prosperity. A figure no less than the highest Tibetan priest, the Dalai Lama himself, had to
issue a religious decree against wearing tiger and leopard skin to save the poor cats.
In Galiyat and Azad Kashmir, dozens of leopards are being
for a walk on the famous ‘Pipeline Track,’ which offers four ki-
region. The track ends at Dunga Gali, where the wildlife depart-
ment has constructed a small office and a museum. As we stood there looking at a stuffed ‘Suleman Markhor,’ we saw another
couple observing the stuffed “Ghost of the Galiyats” besides a sign that read, “This leopard killed six women in (the) Galiyat
tract between June 28 and July 7, 2005. It was ultimately shot
dead on July 11, 2005, under public pressure.” The wife seemed least interested in wildlife and probably wanted to go shopping in Murree. Irritated by her constant nagging, the husband patted
the head of the stuffed “ghost” and sarcastically muttered: “Jaldi mar gaya!” The lady’s ominous reply was: “You can join him on the podium if you’re that sensitive!”
Each year, several common leopards are killed in the Ayubia
killed for either attacking cattle or humans. Leopard skin is also
National Forest. Killings in Azad Kashmir are said to be higher.
respect in this region.
to be taken promptly, lest all these wonderful creatures become
a treasured item which is used as a gift of honour and a token of In Sindh, I came across an old gentleman, crooked with age, by
Measures beyond conferences and awareness campaigns need “ghosts of the past.”
SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
35
REVIEW
cuddly but crude BY NOMAN ANSARI
You know you are watching a Seth McFarlane film when you see a foul-mouthed, talking Teddy Bear (Ted) trying to party his way through life, while taking every opportunity to make hilariously obscene sexual gestures at the blonde who caught his fancy. Ted is a funny film, and in ways more than one. While it starts and ends like a clichéd romantic comedy, its center is stuffed with a script that is witty, smart and amusingly raunchy. That Ted is armed with crude jokes shouldn’t come as a surprise to fans of McFarlane, a man who has entertained viewers for over a decade with his edgy animated TV sitcom “Family Guy,” and now makes his directorial debut. For such fans, Ted carries the trademark McFarlane humour, some familiar cast members and a script with amusing moments of self-awareness. Although for “Family Guy” fans, the most noteworthy aspect of the film may be the mannerisms and personality of Ted that are so similar to Peter Griffin — a fact that Ted itself pokes fun at. The film begins with a lonely kid, John Bennett, who wishes upon a falling star for his teddy bear to become his best friend forever. Next thing he knows, his plush toy comes to life to the shock of not only his parents, but the entire world. The story then fast forwards to John in his 30s (Mark Wahlberg), who is now in a relationship with his girlfriend of four years Lori Collins (Mila Kunis), and is still living with Ted (Seth MacFarlane), whose carefree ways have a negative impact on John. Here we learn that the world has adjusted to Ted, and the only one still not accepting it is Lori, although for different reasons. Ted’s story focuses on John consistently letting Lori down with his immature actions and fear of commitment, while there is also some thoughtful social commentary on the irresponsibility of people using friends as a crutch for their own freewheeling behaviour. Although many of the performances in Ted are quite good, including the voice acting from McFarlane, the film suffers somewhat from his inexperience at directing live action. Some scenes, especially ones involving extras, suffer from wooden performances and an autopilot feel. But by and large, the largest issue with Ted is its strange finale that disappointingly takes an action film route, as many such comedies do. That being said, Ted is an endearing film, with plenty of sweet ‘bromance’ moments to complement the laugh-out-loud humour. However, potential viewers should bear one thing in mind: this stuffed toy animal is definitely not meant for kids.
36 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
a super damper BY AYESHA ARIF
To begin with, Friends With Kids is a movie that isn’t worth the film it was shot on (unless it was digital, which I’m pretty sure it wasn’t). To say the plot is flawed is a major understatement — this one’s pretty much without a plot. Jason (Adam Scott) and Julie (Jennifer Westfeldt) are two longtime friends who, after seeing how having kids have destroyed the lives of their friends, decide to make a baby of their own. That is obviously the most logical thing to do in a situation like that, right? There are problems, though: Julie’s bust size is not to Jason’s liking and Julie is not too ecstatic about sleeping with Jason. But as is the case with most problems of our century, there’s always a solution. The couple decides to take inspiration from porn. Fortunately for us, conception takes place after their very first attempt, and from there the film takes a turn to being all about raising the perfect baby. Ironically, the baby hardly ever cries and has diarrhoea only once in the first four or five years of his life. The parents take turns at ‘raising’ him while dating other, more ‘attractive’ suitors, until one day Julie realises she’s been in love with Jason all along. Eventually Jason also gives up on the dream of being with a woman whose bust size would satisfy him (Megan Fox, in this case), realising that he too has been in love with the mother of his kid without knowing it. I’m not saying I haven’t seen worse films, but Friends With Kids is definitely one of the most forgettable films of recent times. It’s the kind of film where you can’t really analyse the acting of the cast because there isn’t enough meat in the role itself. Jennifer Westfeldt is so terrible in her role, she makes you wish you were watching a Jennifer Aniston film instead. Throughout the hundred odd minutes of runtime, I found myself secretly wishing I would find a reason that justified Jennifer Westfeldt’s presence in the film, and it was only later that I realised she was the writer and director of the film as well. That explains that. Actor Adam Scott, who looks like he’s one nose job away from being Tom Cruise, is eye candy for the viewers but he doesn’t look comfortable in his role. Friends With Kids boasts of a decent cast including actors Chris O’Dowd, Maya Rudolph and Jon Hamm, all of whom are wasted in roles that don’t do justice to their potential. More than the flawed script and the terrible acting of the female
lead, the biggest problem with Friends With Kids is that it fails to serve any purpose; instead the film leaves a bad taste in the mouth. This film is as much a romantic comedy as the Taliban is a peacekeeping force. If romantic comedies are date-night films, this one’s a breakup film. So if you’ve been thinking about breaking up with your partner, do it over this film. It’ll be fun, trust me.
37 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012
END OF THE LINE
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BY ALID COMICS www.facebook.com/alid.comics
38 SEPTEMBER 2-8 2012