The Express Tribune Magazine - September 27

SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

A

free Dancer and actor Joshinder Chaggar constantly pushes past her own limitations

SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Spotlight Cover Story

The stuff of fiction

Joshinder Chaggar is not one to let others dictate the course of her life

An online forum for South Asian writers rapidly grows to include a magazine, podcast and international book club

A free spirit

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24 Feature

Day tripping

Discover Rawalpindi’s abandoned heritage sites through Disco Laari

34

Feature

The tales walls tell Delhi’s monuments reflect the city’s glorious past

32 Regulars

6 People & Parties: Out and about with beautiful people

40 Reviews: TV and Movies 42 Framed: A songbird from South Asia

Magazine Incharge: Dilaira Dubash. Senior Subeditors: Sanam Maher and Ali Haider Habib. Subeditor: Komal Anwar Creative Team: Jamal Khurshid, Essa Malik, Mohsin Alam, Talha Ahmed Khan, Hira Fareed, Maryam Rashid, Eesha Azam and Sanober Ahmed Publisher: Bilal A Lakhani. Editor: Kamal Siddiqi For feedback and submissions: magazine@tribune.com.pk 4 Twitter: @ETribuneMag & Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ETribuneMag Printed: uniprint@unigraph.com

Ali Noor and Hasan Rizvi

Ahmed Muneer and Amna Ahmed

Pepsi Unplugged hosts musical performances in Lahore

Hajra Hayat

6 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Ahmar Farooq and Ijlal Choudhary

PHOTO COURTESY BB EVENTS & PR

PEOPLE & PARTIES

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Babar and Anam Siddiqui Ahmed and Saira Harris

Shahid and Rushna Malik

8 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Danial and Fiza Bawaja

Ahsan and Sanober Moorad

PHOTO CREDITS KASHIF RAFIQ UDDIN

Young Presidents’ Organization hosts a dinner in Karachi

Owais Pardesi and Tara Uzra Dawood Umair and Iman Baig

Irfan and Aisha Muneer

10 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Fawad and Rabia Jawed

Danish and Natasha Iqbal

Noman and Mariam Shaikh

PHOTO CREDITS KASHIF RAFIQ UDDIN

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Fatima Munir and Fauzia Naqvi

Sameera Raja and Cyra Ali

Marvi

Saira and Yasmin

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Faiza, Hina and Saima

Canvas Art Gallery showcases the art exhibition ‘The Fine Line’ in Karachi

PHOTOS COURTESY NEW WORLD CONCEPTS

PEOPLE & PARTIES

PEOPLE & PARTIES

PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR

School of Leadership organises the 14th Young Leaders Conference in Islamabad

Tooba Kamil

Mustafa Chaudhry , Murtaza Chaudhry and Asma Mustafa Khan

Asad Chohan

16 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Marwah, Komal and Maryam

Hina, Sonya and Hira

PHOTOS COURTESY CATALYST PR

Asma Jahangir

Saad and Anmol

Urooj Mazhar

Yousuf Bashir Qureshi and Hamza Ali Abbasi

17 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

PEOPLE & PARTIES

Atiq and Urooj

PHOTOS COURTESY PHEGENCY PR

Insignia launches its store in Karachi

Huzaifa

Amna Malik and Nausheen Shah

18 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Guests

Eman

the

stuffof

FICTION An online forum for writers from South Asia rapidly grows to BY AFIA ASLAM include a magazine, podcast and international book club DESIGN BY EESHA AZAM

It’s probably fair to say that all entrepreneurial ventures are slightly absurd.

Until they succeed, that is, after which they’re automatically rebranded as visionary ideas. But the start-up I helped found with other amateur writers nine years ago defies such easy definition. In fact, I’d say that the team at Desi Writers’ Lounge (DWL) — a platform for new writing from South Asia — positively revels in absurdity, and does not overly concern itself with traditional models of success; and this is why it works.

The way we function at DWL is unusual, to put it mildly. We work for free — in fact, we put in our own money — to help writers other than ourselves. Our decisions usually go pointedly against established industry norms. We prefer developing genuinely respectful relationships rather than seeking strategic “friendships”. We champion a culture of supporting our peers unreservedly, rather than holding back opportunities from others.

We resist putting advertisements on our website. And to date, we have not solicited any grants, preferring at times to go into debt rather than to lose our editorial integrity and independence.

In short, we don’t follow a model; we’ve made our own model, and hope others have the courage to follow. To our delight, we’ve found that an approach of being true to your ideals

and principles can deliver amazing results. In less than a decade, Desi Writers’ Lounge has expanded from a simple, online peer-review forum to a full-fledged literary startup with a literary magazine, poetry and fiction contests, writing awards, a blog, merchandise, an international book club, writing workshops, performance events, and an upcoming podcast. What’s more, all of this required much less investment than one might expect.

Although money is naturally a factor in many decisions, the DWL team always prioritises passion, and then thinks about the finances. We have never let funding define who we are or what our activities will be, and the biggest example of that is the Papercuts print project.

Taking our literary magazine, Papercuts, into print was a longstanding dream for the DWL team. Founded as a little quarterly e-zine in early 2007 to showcase work by DWL forum members, Papercuts was revamped in the summer of 2010, introducing thematic, biannual issues. A year later, the magazine began soliciting public submissions. A print issue, however, remained a distant reality.

When the 43-day Papercuts print campaign wrapped up, our total funding stood at $13,050, the top contribution a whopping $3,000 from Japan There were many reasons not to go into print at all.

The entire world was shifting from paper to digital.

Newsweek famously did away with its print edition in 2012, strengthening the case for online publishing. Then there was the issue of readership and sustainability. An English literary magazine for new writers, published out of Pakistan?

How many readers could it have, after all? Definitely not enough to pay for a big print run. There were no economies of scale to be had. Not to mention, the print edition would become one more thing for a thinly stretched, volunteer team to manage.

As is usually the case with DWL, passion won over reason.

Even after all the drawbacks had been discussed to death, every person on the team still wanted a print magazine. We also realized that until there was a Papercuts print copy, we 20 would never really be considered a ‘serious’ magazine. This SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

had to be done. It was crazy, and most likely impossible. But then, making things possible was something our team was exceptionally good at.

Thus started our most spectacular journey to date. After considering several funding options, we decided to put up a campaign on Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform that allows entrepreneurs, creatives, and philanthropists to collect seed money for their projects by appealing to the Internet public for individual donations. Our research showed that in most cases crowdfunding campaigns don’t take off, and many campaigners end up with a fraction of the money, or nothing. Our only hope was to make a convincing campaign and make it go viral.

The Papercuts Indiegogo campaign turned out to be one of the most challenging projects in DWL’s history. We learnt how to put a campaign video together, how to make the right pitch to an online audience, how to budget intelligently for a big project, how to market the campaign, and — most importantly — how to ask for money. Failure was not — could not be — an option. Team members were cajoled, cheered on, shamed, scolded — anything that worked in the moment to motivate them. We all had to discard any notion of an ego during those days. All of us were forced to re-evaluate our personal relationships: people we thought we could depend on didn’t step forward to help, while others we barely knew exhibited extraordinary generosity.

For example, a group of us went to the Goa Arts and Literary Festival to represent DWL, and gave a presentation there on our on-going campaign, sharing crowdfunding lessons for indie publications. At the end of the presentation, to our utter astonishment, members from the audience came forward to contribute hundreds of dollars to the campaign.

I still get goosebumps when reliving the highs and lows of that month.

Our goal was $12,000, enough for two print issues. On 20th December, when the 43-day Papercuts print campaign on Indiegogo wrapped up, our total funding stood at $13,050, the top contribution a whopping $3,000 from Japan.

Designing and printing the magazine was a whole new learning process. Waqas, our Director, recalls racing between the printer’s office in Rawalpindi and our Creative Lead Osman’s apartment in Islamabad, trying to fix colours,

makeit

work 1

1

Keep evolving: There is a real chance that you may outgrow the project with time, if you don’t allow it to grow with you. Let your project breathe. Keep your vision vast, and your goals short-term. Don’t be afraid to let the project take on new directions. Keep reinventing.

Papercuts Editor Afia Aslam, poet Ilona Yusuf, and actor Adnan Jaffar at the Goa Arts and Literary Festival in December 2013.

PHOTOS COURTESY: DWL

2

Find your people: You are not as invincible (or even perhaps as competent) as you think. Get others on board. Find people you can trust to take your work as seriously as you do. Then don’t let go.

3

Keep your people happy: If there is no serious money to be had, and you’re not on speed dial with the president of the country, then you better start thinking hard about what incentives you can offer your team (and yourself).

4

Know what “success” means to you: Have a clear feel for what counts as collective achievement, and what counts as failure. Don’t look for instant gratification, and never panic. The high of achieving something that seemed impossible will outweigh the panic/dejection before you made it possible. Make your team believe this.

5

Get some financing: You may not be earning from your passion project, but it helps to have costs covered. Apply for a grant, make some merchandise, convince others to donate their services to you. But always keep it classy. Don’t let the money demean you or your project.

photos, layouts, etc. When the file finally left his hands for the last time, he stood paralyzed for a moment (surely there was still something else to be done?). That’s when the printing press manager told him to please take a sleeping pill and go to bed.

The second issue of Papercuts was a much better-looking product, and we finally felt we had reached the production level that we wanted for the magazine. Osman was in Karachi at the time, shooting for a major television serial. He remembers receiving a call on set that the cover image had to be adjusted. Unfortunately, his laptop was out of battery

Sherry Rehman picks up an edition of Papercuts at the Islamabad Literature Festival in 2014.

Actor Salman Shahid buys Papercuts at the Lahore Literary Festival this year.

and there was no electrical outlet to be found. Meanwhile, I was sitting at the printer’s, waiting for him to send the file.

Osman threw what he calls “a mini-tantrum”, and started storming into various rooms, looking for an outlet, while the rest of the cast and crew looked on, dumbstruck. At some point, he overheard someone in another room saying, “God, this guy is such a drama.”

But that’s what starting something new is about. It’s about the drama, the experience, the risk, the learning, the laughter, and the frustration. It’s about finding co-workers who would put their reputations on the line and storm from room to room, looking for an electric outlet. It’s about caring enough to put oneself out there, shamelessly and repeatedly.

If there’s anything DWL has taught us over the years, it’s that few things in life genuinely deserve your all. For us, this is one of those things. And it’s because we give it our all that it works. That’s the first and only rule for a start-up, I think: give it everything you’ve got. If you can’t, then wait until you can.

Afia Aslam is an editor, freelance writer, and co-founder of Desi Writers' Lounge.

DWL tweets @desi_writers and can be found on Instagram @dwlpapercuts SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

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COVER STORY

A

free Dancer and actor Joshinder Chaggar constantly pushes past her own limitations

BY KOMAL ANWAR | PHOTOS BY ARIF SOMROO | DESIGN BY MARYAM RASHID

She dances to her own tune. Actor, dancer, choreographer, painter, co-writer and co-producer for the upcoming film Downward Dog Joshinder Chaggar is not one to let other people dictate the course of her life. And in carving out her career as a dancer, she strives to constantly push the boundaries of her own limitations.

When I meet the multi-hyphenate artist at her apartment overlooking the beach at Karachi’s Seaview, she is wearing a bright orange dress with black tights and has a warm smile that accentuates her sunny attire. We walk past a number of expressive paintings hung on the walls as she takes us to her living room. I later learn these are her works.

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I never thought about money, about my career or my future.

People say that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, and I found that to be very true

Photo shoot of Joshinder Chaggar in Karachi.

PHOTO CREDIT: FARZAD BAGHERI

Chaggar’s home is bathed in sunlight — it is difficult to avert your gaze from the beautiful view that lies beyond the glass windows in her living space. Turn your eyes from the clear ocean you can glimpse from these windows and you find yourself distracted by the pretty blue eyeliner Chaggar has worn. There is something about her that makes one feel immediately at ease and her positive energy feels contagious.

“Dance is in my soul”

Chaggar’s can-do attitude was a driving factor in her decision to become a dancer. “I have been dancing all my life,” she explains. “I learned Bharatanatyam when I was five but I don’t come from a family of artists so the idea that I can dance as a child was unthinkable.” Chaggar enrolled at Deakin University in Melbourne to undertake a two-year Diploma in Business Marketing. She didn’t like the course and after working for a year, she joined 26 the university again to study Bachelors in Contemporary SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Dance. “I remember reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and it changed my thinking completely,” she says. In the book, Coelho famously wrote, “Everyone, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible.

They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realise their Personal Legend.” This idea struck a chord with Chaggar, giving her the impetus to study dance. “It didn’t matter how I would make a career out of dancing,” she says. “Dance is in my soul, that is just who I am so whether I earn from it or not, these questions are very secondary,” At a time when Bollywood was booming in Australia, Chaggar would go to weekend dance workshops, and attend dance classes at Dance Central in Sydney. She took Jazz/Funk, Salsa, Hawaariin, Belly dance, Dance hall, Samba and Afro Cuban dance classes in Sydney

and would perform whenever she got the opportunity.

“I never thought about money, my career or my future.

People say that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity, and I found that to be very true,” she explains. “I became a trained dancer by default because I never stopped learning and then things changed.” Later, she worked with a dance company ‘Melange Dance’ for a few years in Sydney. She misses her dance classes the most in Karachi, hence she has taken up yoga to keep learning and evolving constantly.

“It is a privilege to live in Pakistan” Dancing is a niche industry in Pakistan and has not been given a chance to truly flourish. Hence, Chaggar’s choice to live in Pakistan despite having spent the majority of her life in Australia, and pursuing a career in an art form that is not widely championed here, is curious. “I came to Pakistan in 2007 for personal reasons,” she explains. “I

am a very in-the-moment kind of person and I never came here to establish my career. I thought I would go back to Australia after one year but I got offered so much work in Pakistan and I enjoyed it. It was challenging and the learning curve was amazing. I realised that there is so much that I can do here.” In fact, on her very second day in Pakistan, Chaggar received an offer from MTV to perform and choreograph at the Indus Style Awards. “When I came here, I had no idea what I would do. I never knew that dance would exist in Pakistan,” she recalls.

Upon hearing her doubts about the field of dancing in Pakistan, I ask about her preconceived notions about Pakistan in general as she has spent most of her life in the West. With a little pause, she answers, “I think my views of Pakistan were in line with what other people in the West think about it and frankly, it is no one’s fault to think like that because you are constantly showed only one side of Pakistan.” Being a risk-taker and a free spirit, Chaggar travelled to Pakistan without being overly concerned about landing in a country she had primarily

Dance performance at Blah & Blah, an original theatre piece, at the NAPA International Theatre Festival 2014.

PHOTO:FILE

COVER STORY known through the prism of violence.

Contrary to her expectations, she found Pakistan quite welcoming, and she grabbed the chance to present an alternate image of the country to friends and family abroad. “It is a privilege to live here and when I go abroad, I feel like an ambassador and educate others because if I was in their place, even I wouldn’t have known what Pakistan is truly like,” she tells me proudly. She recalls her time at ActOne, a dance and exercise studio in Karachi where she taught dance in January 2009, where she was surprised at the number of people who were eager to dance. “I used to have a waiting list of 50 people for my classes,” she says.

“Some would say that they were willing to stand next to the bathroom just to be a part of the class!” Contrary to popular belief that Pakistanis are not interested in formal dance training, Chaggar shares that she didn’t come across a single person who thinks that dancing is taboo. When asked if people would take their classes with her seriously, she exclaims, “Oh totally!

They were addicted to it. Dancing is like therapy and helps you find out so much about yourself and your confidence level rises.”

Chaggar’s pride in Pakistan is tempered, however, by her disappointment in official recognition of the work dancers do. Chaggar shares that Pakistan has 44 different forms of folk dances, but many are gradually losing their identity because of lack of interest and promotion. “In all the countries where art is flourishing, it is because of the government’s support,” she feels. “Literature and dance, it is all part of our heritage and the government is obviously not doing anything to preserve it.” Giving the example of India and Australia, she shares that dance is part of the regular school curriculum, a testament to the importance given to the craft.

“She Flies with the Swallows” Speaking to Chaggar, one realises that dancing is not as glamourous as it looks — it is a gruelling passion.

For instance, there have been times when she has had a 20-hour shoot and has to rehearse continuously.

Even so, she recalls that every moment of honing her craft has been enjoyable as it was about getting to know herself. This brings us to Chaggar’s realisation that she also wanted to act, not just dance. “I started acting in Australia and I did a couple of short films.

28 It is something I stumbled onto,” she explains.

SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Dancing is like therapy and helps you find out so much about yourself and your confidence level rises

She recalls an audition where she had to prepare a monologue. “I was so nervous while giving it that I had tears in my eyes but they thought that I gave a brilliant performance,” she laughs.

This year, Chaggar can be seen on the silver screen in Jami’s Moor, in which she plays Sarah, a daughter whose loyalties are divided between family commitments and her father. Chaggar says that her interest in Moor was driven because she was eager to work with Jami, as she is a big fan of his work. Working on the film was just as exciting as she had hoped, she says. “I spent a week in Quetta for workshops and just under a month in Muslim Bagh in the city, as half of the movie has been filmed in Balochistan,” she says.

Chaggar’s latest project, ‘She Flies with the Swallows’, is a 20-minute solo contemporary dance performance, which she eventually hopes to extend to 40 minutes. “I am on a mission to do 100 performances and to date, I have had 22 performances,” she says.

“The show is about the emotional migration from a place where you are not happy and finding the courage to search for a better place.” Chaggar has taken the performance to schools for hearing impaired children in Karachi and her first performance was on August 14, 2014 at Headstart School in Karachi Additionally, Chaggar is also working on an upcoming movie Downward Dog, slated for release at the end of 2016. The film has been written by Jami, Fawad Khan, and herself. “It is a really exciting project and I am the lead actor in this,” she says.

Even with her plate full with acting and dancing commitments, Chaggar is eager to look to the future.

She wants to pursue comic roles in films, while pushing her acting and dancing career further.

As my chat with Chaggar comes to an end, I find myself feeling even more energised than I was when I first walked into her home. As she walks me out, I feel pleased that there are people like Chaggar bold enough to follow their passion and live life to the fullest and take risks. After all, if Chaggar wouldn’t have dared to come to a country which she had never explored before, she would have never got the chance to discover the side of Pakistan hidden away from those who do not live here. And we would never have had the chance to witness the joy that this discovery brings to her work.t

Komal Anwar is a sub editor at the Express Tribune’s magazine desk.

She tweets @Komal1201 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

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Jama Masjid is one of the largest mosques in India.

Delhi’s monuments reflect the city’s glorious past, one which is now being reclaimed through extensive preservation efforts

BY NAEEM SAHOUTRA | PHOTOS BY ATHAR KHAN | DESIGN BY HIRA FAREED

Dilli has always dreamt big. It ruled over the sub-continent, from the sprawling deserts to the lush green plains, cliffs kissing the skies to the depths of the Arabian Sea. The faces of rulers may have changed, but what remains unchanged is Dilli’s nature to rule.

The corridors of power have also shifted: from the walled city of Dilli to Britain’s colonial settlement of New Delhi. And as with any city, Delhi’s monuments are a symbol of its glorious past.

One such towering structure is the 15th century tomb of second Mughal emperor Humayun. On this particular balmy Sunday afternoon, a thumping sound punctuates the chirping of birds. Three young craftsmen are at work at the tomb, recreating a part of history.

FEATURE “These craftsmen are making different colourful tiles which will replace the ones on the tomb’s façade,” explains Salahuddin Saifi, who supervises a small factory. Around nine young local men are making the tiles using techniques taught by craftsmen from Uzbekistan.

One can imagine similar sounds reverberating through the neighbourhood when the tomb was first being built in 1572. Four and a half centuries later, the monument has been declared a world heritage site.

Unlike their predecessors, the craftsmen working on the tomb’s renovation are aided by a machine that mixes materials and gives the tiles their different shapes. The tiles are then baked in a small kiln for three days.

“The tiles first used to decorate the tomb lasted for over 400 years. We’re using the same material and expect the new ones to survive another 400 years,” says Saifi.

The tomb is among the 6,000 other historic monuments being repaired in Delhi under a massive renovation project, believed to the first of its kind in regional countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma and Bangladesh.

“They (the workers) don’t even know the importance of the job they’re undertaking.

They are preserving history,” Ditti Ray, programme officer for Cultural Revival at the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, told The Express Tribune.

The trust is one of the groups providing technical and financial assistance to the Indian government to preserve

Parliament House in New Delhi was constructed in 1921.

We do not only want to the see the heritage as monuments, but instead as a mixture of daily activities. You talk of intangible heritage, the songs, the music, the paintings and the dance.

We are able to look at it as a composite whole AGK Menon Convener of the Delhi chapter of INTACH thousands of monuments across the country. The Indian National Trust for Art and Culture (INTACH), an NGO, is leading the project.

Through the times

Historians speak of the seven cities of Delhi at the time of the Muslim conquest of Northern India at the end of the 12th century. However, there were actually eight cities from 100 and 1947 AD. These included the oldest city near the site of the Qutub Minar, Siri, Tughlaqabad, Jahanpanah, Firozabad, the city around Purana Qila, Shahjahanabad and New Delhi.

AGK Menon, a professor of conservation architecture, says Delhi has a rich and varied history. “It’s very complex and tangible, it’s intermingling: the crafts, dance, music, etc. But it was slowly vanishing because no one was paying a t t e n t i o n ,” adds Menon, who is the convener of

the Delhi chapter of INTACH. “We do not only want to the see the heritage as monuments, but instead as a mixture of daily activities.

You talk of intangible heritage, the songs, the music, the paintings and the dance. We are able to look at it as a composite whole,” says the convener, proudly sharing that INTACH has successfully documented 12,000 monuments in Delhi alone, of which more than half are those built by the Mughals.

A matter of faith

“This is where the composite nature of heritage emerges. It’s not about Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism or Christianity. This is very clear in our architecture, which may be called IndoIslamic,” explains Menon.

The places where conservation work is underway include three UNESCO world heritage sites of the Red Fort, Qutub Minar and Humayun’s tomb. Other famous heritage sites include Jamia Masjid and Sikandar Lodhi Gardens, among others.

“Once we withdraw from a site after completing restoration work, community members are engaged to ensure sustainability,” says Ajay Kumar, Director Operation of INTACH’s Delhi chapter.

“The heritage does not have any religion. Whenever such questions arise, we say we’re preserving heritage, not religion,” reiterates Kumar.

Mohammad Shah’s tomb at Lodi Gardens.

On the flip side, Professor Menon maintains that the preservation of both Hindu and Muslim monuments can help foster interfaith harmony. “People forget that Islam is also a diverse religion and has diverse expression. We need to have things that bind us and these monuments remind us that we really are one people with one culture,” he says.

“Somehow, in our countries, we do not feel a city can be a heritage. For us, heritage is just monuments. But go to Lahore’s Walled City and you’ll find the craftsmen, musicians, literary people and painters. You don’t look at it as a heritage, but it is.”T Naeem Sahoutra is a Karachi-based reporter for The Express Tribune.

He tweets @NaeemSahoutara

FEATURE

Day tripping Discover Rawalpindi’s abandoned heritage sites through the Disco Laari project TEXT AND PHOTOS BY HUMA CHOUDHARY DESIGN BY SANOBER AHMED

It’s 10:20am, and much of the group that signed up for the first Disco Laari trip in the twin cities has boarded the brightly coloured bus, which is buzzing with excited chatter. A few people are, of course, fashionably late.

The full-sized open bus, decorated with rainbow lights and multicolored bunting hanging from the ceiling, is set to begin its much-awaited tour of Rawalpindi’s heritage sites. The tour guide tries working the sound system but there is a technical glitch. Unfortunate, since he had arranged a line-up of upbeat, Pakistani songs to go perfectly with the vibe in the bus.

“Dekhne main bholi, chalne main goli”, Disco Laari, is the first initiative organised by Keys Foundation, in collaboration with Clippings, to discover abandoned heritage sites in Rawalpindi and its outskirts. Travel enthusiasts, who had registered for the trip beforehand, assembled at Fatima Jinnah Park’s parking lot for this journey, which begins via the Grand Trunk Road as soon as all the participants arrive.

“We work on heritage and peace-building and Disco Laari is one of the many initiatives we’re working on,” shares Sarmad Saeedy, CEO of Keys Foundation, a nonprofit organisation. The idea is to raise awareness about these archaeological assets and work on their preservation, he adds.

The ride is bumpy and airy, giving a real feel of a laari (lorry), as the bus passes through different bazaars and landmarks in Rawalpindi. The first stop is Mankiala Stupa, which is located off Rawat Road, approximately 30 36 kilometers from Islamabad.

SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

Mankiala Stupa is the first stop on the tour.

The full-sized open bus, decorated with rainbow lights and multicoloured bunting hanging from the ceiling.

Rawat Fort from the inside.

The entrance to Rawat Fort.

37 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

The Khem Singh Haveli constitutes 22 rooms and three basements, and has four storeys.

According to archaeologists and historians, the Mankiala Stupa dates back to the Gandhara period. One of the most fascinating tales about Mankiala Stupa is that Buddha sacrificed some of his body parts at this place to feed hungry tiger cubs. It is made out of red stones and has a protective iron grill around it. However, it is in dire need of restoration, as excessive wild grass and shrubs grow all around the stupa.

“Chalain jee chalain,” yells the energetic conductor after about 30 minutes. The bus covers another 30 kilometers 38 from Rawat, while food vendors eagerly offer items SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

through the bus windows each time the vehicle stops or slows down. We reach Kallar Sydean, a small town where the Khem Singh Haweli, our next stop, is located. A short walk through the local market takes one to the haveli. The eye-catching fresco work immediately grabs the visitors’ attention as they step inside the carved wooden door.

Constructed by Baba Khem Singh Bedi in the late nineteenth century, the ancient structure constitutes of 22 rooms and three basements and has four storeys. Despite their dilapidated condition, the stunning jharokas (overhanging enclosed balconies) are a treat to look at. The rooms are

Located on the outskirts of Rawalpindi in Pothohar, the Rawat Fort was constructed in the early 16th Century by Gakhars, a designated warrior clan raised by local tribes to defend the Pothohar plateau

The entrance to Khem Singh Haveli, constructed by Baba Khem Singh Bedi in the late nineteenth century.

adorned with paintings depicting Sikh gurus, saints, and heroes of the Khalsa movement of Guru Gobind Singh.

Lunch and drinks are included in Disco Laari’s Rs1,500 fare and are served at a public school located adjacent to the haveli. The spicy biryani further enriches the cultural experience.

After lunch, the last stop is Rawat Fort. Located on the outskirts of Rawalpindi in Pothohar, the fort was constructed in the early 16th century by Gakhars, a designated warrior clan raised by local tribes to defend the Pothohar plateau.

Apart from the walls and chambers within the building,

the two main attractions are the mosque and the octagonal single-domed mausoleum. In the courtyard of the fortress lie scattered graves, including those of Sarang Khan and his 16 sons, who died here during battle.

“I have been in Islamabad for two years but haven’t been able to see these historic monuments on my own,” shares one laari passenger Harry Hoste. “The tour was a tremendous experience for my wife and I; we learnt a lot about this area,” he adds.

Nimre Shahzada, another participant, says, “It’s a brilliant project, but more tours should be organised during the winter. It’s a hot day and one doesn’t enjoy the tour as much as they should due to the scorching heat.”

The tour ends around 5:30pm and gives you a taste of the region’s culture and heritage. It is organised every other weekend, with photo walks held on the weekends in between. The overall experience is a must-have for all travel enthusiasts. T Huma Choudhary is a photojournalist working for The Express Tribune in Islamabad.

SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

39

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

A promising new series pits a disgruntled animal kingdom against the humans

BY HURMAT MAJID

Based on the novel of the same name by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, Zoo is fun and almost believable. Directed by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, the TV show brings us the story of the rise of the animal world, and a revolt against the ruling race, which just so happens to be us. As Jackson Oz (James Wolk), a zoologist running a successful safari business in Botswana, Africa, finds the only survivor of a lion attack (a DGSC operative on vacation, played by Nora Arnezeder) with the help of his native friend Abraham (Nonso Anonzie), he wonders if there may be more to the attack than meets the eye.

Incidentally, Jackson’s retreat into the wild is an effort to distract himself from the grief caused by the loss of his father, a zoologist who took his own life when the mainstream scientific community dismissed his theories, focusing on — that’s right — an animal uprising.

In a parallel story, journalist Jamie (Kristen Connolly) is seeking to link the incident of a lion escape to a multinational, Reiden Global.

In her efforts, she meets Mitch Morgan (Billy Burke), a brooding doctor/scientist/ veterinary specialist and forces him to 40 help her in exposing Reiden, a task that is SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

obviously more difficult than it seems to her at the time.

As fate has it, when these attacks are linked with various other incidents involving abnormal animal behavior, these five people are called upon by a ‘concerned party’ to form a covert team to investigate the shift in animal behavior, discern a cause and then find a solution. Unlikely as the bunch is, they find a way to make do with their limited skill set and successfully tackle the problems they face.

The series brings us face to face with an array of angry animals displaying unusual behaviour — there are lions that kill for sport, bats that swarm over an island in broad daylight, rats that hunt humans and birds that communicate interspecies and crash into airplanes on purpose.

Unbelievable as all of this may sound, the directors have found a way to keep it all as close to reality as possible. Almost every episode in the season ends on a cliffhanger that leaves viewers on the edge of their seats with their mouths hanging open.

The chemistry between the team members builds quite naturally as the season progresses. Both Jamie and Mitch, and Jackson and Chloe seem destined for

romance, even though that aspect of the chemistry is a little off, seeing that there are sudden — and not always appropriately placed — fleeting moments of intimacy that mark their conversations. But then can normal flirtation be expected in such abnormal circumstances?

It is true that there are scenarios in the drama that seem farfetched, such as the fact that a zoo reopened the day after two lions escaped and killed two men on the street or that two characters survived a fall from a cliff with nothing more than a few superficial bruises. Additionally, despite the show’s global scope, Zoo feels awfully insular, almost like the ensemble cast of a summer catastrophe blockbuster had half its population wiped out. That, however, may change if there is a second season in the works, what with the eye-popping cliffhanger that the finale leaves us at. All in all, even with these blind spots, the series provides enough drama and thrill to leave us waiting for the next season.T

Rating: Hurmat Majid is a subeditor at The Express Tribune.

She tweets @bhandprogramme

A REDUNDANT REBOOT Jason Statham’s loss means The Transporter Refueled is the worst of the series

BY SAMEEN AMER

Ed Skrein takes the driver’s seat in The Transporter Refueled, a reboot of the French franchise spearheaded by Luc Besson. But EuropaCorp’s decision to resurrect the mediocre series sans its star doesn’t really pay off, not just because Jason Statham is no longer behind the wheel, but because the project, on the whole, is even less entertaining and more ridiculous than its three predecessors were.

Directed by Camille Delamarre, the fourth Transporter film — potentially the first instalment in a planned trilogy — finds driverfor-hire Frank Martin (Skrein) recruited by vengeful prostitutes on a mission to destroy the gangster (Radivoje Bukvic) who victimised them. But after being tricked into serving as their getaway driver in a bank heist, he discovers that the women who have employed him are holding his father (Ray Stevenson) hostage as leverage; he must, therefore, acquiesce to their demands and assist them in accomplishing their mission.

Silliness abounds as the frantic action ensues, with car chases, shootouts, and handto-hand combat sequences cropping up every few minutes throughout the film. The result just feels hectic instead of exciting. Coherency has been chucked out the window, and the threadbare plot serves only to connect one action sequence to the next. No attempts are

made to add depth to the proceedings, nor to define the main characters and give them any sort of personality, which is why there is no reason to be invested in anyone’s story or care about their fate.

Then again, this is the fourth film in the series, so by now you know not to expect any brains from the franchise. What you do expect is a certain amount of exciting, albeit brainless, fun, but that too is in scant supply here. Jason Statham’s absence doesn’t help; while he may not be a terrific actor, he does have this role down pat. Skrein isn’t appallingly unsuitable for the part, but ultimately doesn’t have the charisma to convincingly pull off all this ridiculousness with any kind of grit or nuance.

On the whole, The Transporter Refueled is an unnecessary, forgettable addition to a series that wasn’t very good to begin with. If you want any kind of plausibility or originality to go with your action, then this isn’t the movie for you. If you do, however, like generic, derivative action films and don’t mind ludicrous plot developments, cringe-worthy dialogue, and unconvincing characterisations, then there is a chance you might mildly enjoy this film; just go in with very, very low expectations and they will be met.

More EuropaCorp films Taken (2008) A former CIA agent Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) sets out to track down his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), who has been kidnapped by human traffickers while travelling through Europe.

Lucy (2014) A 25-year-old American woman Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) develops enhanced physical and mental capabilities after a drug is accidentally absorbed into her bloodstream, and transforms into a merciless warrior.

Brick Mansions (2014) An undercover cop (Paul Walker) and an ex-con (David Belle) reluctantly team up to stop a sinister plot that involves a stolen bomb set to destroy the city.

Rating: Sameen Amer is a Lahore-based freelance writer and critic. She tweets @Sameen

41 SEPTEMBER 27-OCTOBER 3 2015

A songbird from South Asia The stringed taus is played by only a handful of musicians today

BY JAMEELA SIDDIQI PHOTO: V&A MUSEUM

T

he taus is a string instrument played with a bow and gets its name from the Persian word for “peacock”. In India, it is also known as the Mayuri Veena and again, “mayur” is the Hindi word for “peacock”. An instrument associated with North and central India, the taus generally has very specific connections with the Punjab, in particular with the Sikhs, whose sixth Guru, Har Gobind (1595 — 1694), is said by some to have been directly responsible for the invention of the instrument.

The taus produces a unique, deeply resonant and mellow kind of sound, particularly in the lower octaves, owing to its large soundchamber which is shaped like a peacock. It is said to have the most beautifully moving and evocative sound of all the instruments that fall roughly into the same category (that is, string instruments played with a bow). The taus can have anything between 28 to 30 strings on a neck with heavy metal frets.

Today, there are only a handful of folk taus players in the world but none perform at the classical level.

Jameela Siddiqi is an expert in Indian music and has collaborated with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London for its show, ‘Musical Wonders of India’ (16 September 2015 — 31 October 2016).