COLUMNS
9 October 2012, 6:08 pm
The attempted murder of a young girl in Swat is not such a simple thing. It goes beyond the base forensics of the event. We are, after all, more than meat and ballistics. We must take into account the thoughts and feelings of the victim. Of the murderer. Of those who witnessed the crime or were connected to it. It is only then that we can hope to construct a thorough examination of the reality of the ... Read More
25 April 2012, 6:13 pm
Don’t worry everyone, the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) is on the case. Using its well-honed skills of analysis and observation, it has rooted out the main cause of Pakistan’s recent disasters. Like Sherlock Holmes, they looked at the nation and by noting the rough patches on our knees, the dirt under our fingernails, the way we part our hair and the smell of our cologne, ... Read More
11 April 2012, 4:37 pm
The world that I perceive is not the same as the one you perceive. That is the simplest explanation of ‘Umwelt’. A theory put forth by a pair of European semiotic specialists, Umwelt contends that since their senses are so individualised, different animals inhabiting the same environment perceive radically different universes. A bat that hangs upside down in a cave and experiences its surroundings entirely through sonar will have a... Read More
4 April 2012, 5:28 pm
At least we are safe if the nurses ever start rampaging. If there is ever a time when hordes of nurses and hospital attendants start a violent and bloody uprising, then we know that we can rely on the Karachi police to keep us safe. The brave warriors that comprise our local constabulary will not cower in the face of blood-tipped syringes and deadly bedpans. ... Read More
21 March 2012, 4:10 pm
Even the air is cleaner in Islamabad. It’s like they have purchased some high-end environment scrubbers that take all the carbon monoxide out and it replace it with the pine scent that you hang in your car in Karachi. This was the first thing I felt when visiting the capital city recently after entirely too long. A short work-relat... Read More
14 March 2012, 5:01 pm
Apparently the only thing we can ban effectively is internet pornography. All over Pakistan, teenage boys frantically scour the web, hoping with each new browser refresh that they will be faced with a wall of questionable thumbnails and a gallery of sad people fornicating sadly, only to be met time and time again by a tragic THIS SITE IS RESTRICTED.... Read More
29 February 2012, 5:46 pm
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won an Oscar. She held the golden figurine depicting a nude man and inspired all Pakistani women with a simple but powerful speech. If she could achieve so much, then so can they. If even one more achieves the same, then the debt of gratitude we owe her will be even more limitl... Read More
15 February 2012, 6:26 pm
Imran Khan is right, he is bringing a revolution. Unfortunately, it won’t be the kind of revolution we need. The revolution that would help us, at this point, is the same that could have saved us at any point in our past. A revolution that sees an ... Read More
8 February 2012, 6:19 pm
The ISI killed the shark. Or at least that’s the theory I am considering.
A few days ago, a whale shark over 40 feet in length turned up dead in the waters near the Balochistan coast. The product of over 60 million years of evolution died as soon as it came close to the country, its immense corpse floating... Read More
25 January 2012, 5:40 pm
Young? Bored? Lonely? Get used to it. Given the current direction that we are moving in, the only remaining option for young people to entertain themselves will be to stare contemplatively at the wall. Just fix your eye on a spot and wait for sleep to take over. If nothing else, it will help pass the time. This is not necessarily a bad thing. A strict diet of quiet meditation could have served me well in my youth. The quest for entertainment... Read More
