Sleeping on containers leads to strange ideas
“Surely we are not as bad as Nigeria?”, asked an op-ed piece in an English language daily on Sunday, which reminded me of my sojourn in Nigeria, and how I…
For better or for verse
In a national newspaper one of our leading intellectuals and historians celebrated for popularising pro-people history by writing scores of books in Urdu has very recently penned an article against…
Militancy and media-lingo
A few years ago, a non-government organisation held a seminar to discuss its research on literature produced by the local militant organisations. The seminar was titled ‘Jihadi media in Pakistan…
Rituals and values
The month of fasting has begun for Muslims. Fasting is perhaps the profoundest of rituals in spiritual terms as it is fundamentally about two things. First, learning to regulate our…
FBR’s flawed strategy
During his visit to Washington two weeks ago, the Finance Minister took a quick about-turn by promising that, unlike FY14, when a 17 percent rise in tax revenue owed itself…
A nation’s narrative
In a recent essay ‘Draws and Drawbacks of Success’ in the New York Times, author Mohsin Hamid discusses the conundrums faced by writers. Questioning the somewhat arbitrary nature of commercial…
Body without soul
The other day a friend texted: “Why do books often bring tears to my eyes...reading Jhumpa Lahiri's ‘Unaccustomed Earth’ again!” I wrote back saying it happened to me all the…
3G/4G: strategy and impact
In the absence of a well-thought out strategy, society will not benefit fully from the 3G/4G mobile technology rollout. Access to cost-efficient electronic communication is a citizen’s right and such…
Being a national security state
If you’re going to be a national security state, you have to do it better. You have to be scary, but scary to the point of reverence, not scary to…
Fascination with Shakespeare lives on 450 years after his birth
The impact of Britain's most famous playwright, poet and actor upon the English language remains enduring, and as the country prepares to mark the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth on…
