Beggar at Ghazi Chowk

By ZEERAK AHMED

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The Creative Rebellion to Extremism.

3 Apr 2010

It seems like newspaper blogs in Pakistan are becoming quite the trend. Unfortunately good reporting, writing and simple web design are not. But bearing the brunt of that visual torture I found this. The Pakistan Fashion Week (don’t ask which one, apparently there were two, Karachi and Lahore arch rival cities were at it again) was held quite successfully recently, and Pakistani Fashion designers have taken the movement abroad.

The article show’s how one designer label’s it a “befitting reply to extremists”.

And as much as Pakistanis will tell people abroad that life is normal, markets are open, schools are running, offices fulfilling hours, every step of the way, the war is on everyone’s mind. The war on terror, the drones, the civil war, the various political strifes, the ridiculous inflation, the load shedding (read: scheduled power cuts — which, in a funny side note, saw one of my friends waiting an extra hour for his college application decisions because his part of town lost power for that hour); all of it is on everyone’s mind. As the designers display there latest designs (duh), the subtext is this, we can be as modern as we want.

This is the silent rebellion, the little effort everyone is willing to make. From deciding to go out to eat, or to go to the Friday prayers, or to go to a fashion show, there is this little bit of resilience, of rebellion. It is a glimmer of hope in the least.

Why Taboo is Good.

1 Apr 2010

For those near or around London this would definitely be an interesting talk to go to.

The ‘Pakistani Literati’

8 April 2010, 19:00
Ondaatje Wing Theatre
Tickets: £5/£4 concessions and Gallery Supporters

Award winning authors Kamila Shamsie (Burnt Shadows), Daniyal Mueenuddin (In Other Rooms, Other Wonders) and Ali Sethi (The Wish Maker) discuss their books and the contemporary geopolitics that have changed the world’s awareness of their country and their writing. Chaired by Moni Mohsin, author (Diary of a Social Butterfly) and columnist for Pakistan’s Daily Times.

This is a new generation of Pakistani English writers, all in the same boat as Mohsin Hamid who I wrote about earlier. The language barrier with most of the population has allowed them to talk about subjects that were and still are taboo. I have read Daniyal Mueenuddin’s award winning debut, and I must say it’s brilliantly written and brutally honest.

It exposes the faults in the culture of both urban and rural Pakistan, rich and the poor. But the overall movement is that of writers being able to handle the faults of Pakistan’s culture, and hoping to reconcile with them.

Pakistani artists have often met with criticism for not dealing with the faults of their own culture. And these efforts, exploring the uneasy realities of many areas of Pakistan, alcohol, drugs and sexual relations are not just exposing the anti-stereotype of Pakistan’s image. It is equally an effort to acknowledge where and how Pakistan has drifted from its true identity.

Moni Mohsin’s book is another interesting read, though a whole different kind of read. It is satirical, hilarious, and an honest jibe at a Western wannabe in Pakistans mod-squad cites. Mod-squad is colloquial for people who try to be modern, hence “mod” squad.

Anyway, while the books may be considered somewhat against Pakistan’s traditional art forms (which is not true by the way, more on that later) they are still a positive change. It is really nice to see them being respected outside as well.

Dilemma: Two Bad Options. Good Luck.

1 Apr 2010

5 American Citizens are soon to go on trial in Pakistan for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks. Reports such as this suggest that the defense will argue that the visitors came to learn more about their culture and religion.

What a sad state of affairs. Here’s why.

If it’s not true, then Pakistani culture is now being brought down to a level of being used as a fake excuse to come pay a courtesy visit to a terrorist organization. Further propagation that our culture is nothing but terrorism and dealing with it. Of-course there’s the party crowd that everyone writes about, so it’s either stereotype or anti-stereotype. Unfortunately nothing remains in between.

Even if it is true however, then its just one more reason to not visit Pakistan. Who’ll want to know about Pakistan’s culture? If you do, beware, you might be considered a terrorist. As if that wasn’t a problem already.

It is no one’s fault, and I have no knowledge of the truth better than anyone else, but either way, the case to be made is not the happiest.

Ghee & Sugar in Your Mouth.

1 Apr 2010

That title is an example of what debauchery literal translations can be on a beautiful language. Aap ke mun main ghee shakkar, is an Urdu phrase used to express happiness when someone says something, usually when it’s what one was going to say himself.

Pakistan is obsessed with food. Sweets especially. “When in doubt, eat” is the mantra of bored citizens all over. And boy do we like talking about it. But back to the point.

In this case a sweet tooth must be presented to Irfan Hussain, columnist for Dawn. As he visits from the UK, he leaves Pakistan with this:

I attended the second and last evening of the seventh All Pakistan Music Conference at the Indus Valley School, and was very glad I did. A young sitar player called Turab Ali gave a dazzling performance that blew the audience away. Playing the raga Rageshri, the 19-year-old displayed skills and maturity far beyond his years. Improvising with great self-confidence and fluency, he mesmerised the knowledgeable audience.

During my all-too-brief stay in Pakistan, I was greatly heartened to see so much cultural activity that dispelled the earlier prophecies of Pakistan being on the verge of collapse.

The arts can do as much to counter the Taliban as military might.

Pakistani music has made headlines for its progressiveness, maturity, and just plain awesome-ness. Perhaps one of the more significant cultural movements of recent times has been Coke Studio (www.youtube.com/cokestudio), a yearly series of television and radio broadcast live studio recordings of Pakistan’s best musicians. The songs speak louder than words and my favorite is presented below:

This is Aik Alif, meaning ‘one syllable’ (Alif is the first letter of the Arabic Script used by Urdu). It draws on verses from Bulleh Shah, reknowned Sufi Poet of the Punjab, now buried in Kasur, about 30km from Lahore. It then draws on more modern verses, compiled and added to, on the whole talking about self reflection, introspection, and a need to fix one’s self.

Some lyrics and retrospect after the break. (more…)

Ask for Tourists, not Terrorists.

31 Mar 2010

An image from the Dawn.com Media Gallery caught my eye today.

It is a stunning image of an area that has been at war or under threat of war for more than 6 decades now. Known for its topographical beauty, Kashmir is no longer a tourist resort. It is just another example of a land that has lost its identity to politics and all the controversy that surrounds it.

Swat has just recently faced a similar fate. Swat is inside Pakistan, unlike Kashmir, which has been disputed territory since the end of the British Raj. Swat not only had some of the best scenery Pakistani tourists had access to, but also provided some of the best fruit to the country. Incursions by the Taliban and then the Army have left the area in shambles, orchards destroyed, infrastructure demolished, people displaced or killed.

Pictures like this are both nostalgic and hopeful.

A Kashmiri boatsman navigates Dal lake in Srinagar. Indian military recently estimated that some 400 Islamic militants are waiting to cross into Indian-ruled Kashmir from the Pakistani-zone of the disputed region, and fears an upsurge of attacks. —AFP Photo / Tauseef MUSTAFA

Why the Drones Annoy this Pakistani Novelist.

30 Mar 2010

The US drone attacks have been the subject of political debate and controversy for some time now. Some say the Pakistani Government is complicit, but whatever the case, the issue has been enough to aggravate many.

Mohsin Hamid here, gives a Pakistani citizen’s view of the drone attacks as he is invited to speak in Cleveland after the release of his second book, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Hamid writes about modern life in Pakistan, and his debut novel Moth Smoke, was an expose on life in Lahore, following people who lived there all there life, and students who come back from the United States. He’s a Princeton Grad himself (no biases).

His eloquent presentation of the argument starts at around the 7:45 mark. The rest of the speech and Q & A’s are on YouTube as well.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C4DCeAVFco]

Mohsin Hamid is one of Pakistan’s new intellectuals that have been educated abroad, and might even currently live abroad, but are significantly expanding the country’s ‘cultural capital’. Their works are centered on Pakistani issues and life, and they themselves have become well respectd voices and ambassadors. Fatima Bhutto, niece of late former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is also part of this movement as an author, poet and journalist. She writes regularly for the Daily Beast.

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