The best of Mumbai posts
My friend Annie’s post on Mumbai is a remarkable piece of writing. I am cross-posting it here: The other day, I went shopping for…
Policy shifts not war
First published in The NEWS The dastardly attacks in Mumbai have irritated the old wounds and replayed the familiar, jingoistic tunes across the Indo-Pak…
Islamabad: This too shall pass
Bemoaning Islamabad’s fall from grace Not long ago, Delhi and Lahore were vulnerable to hordes of foreign invaders. The Mongol fear was overwhelming and…
The native returns
Unaffected by the prophets of doom, a Lahori decides the city is the place to be Twenty years ago, I left Lahore. Excited by…
Nayyara singing timeless verses
Meray Derd ko jo Zuban mille Mujhe apna naam o nishan milay Mujhe raaz jo ye pinhan milay mujhe Kainaat ki sarvari Mujhe daulat…
Christian Fundamentalism, the Global Crusade and Muslims
Yoginder Sikand, the Indian analyst sent me this well written expose on problem that we all confront – of coping with fundamentalism. Now let…
Amir Khusro’s lasting tryst with love
PRANAV KHULLAR writing here At the heart of the Sufi mystical experience lies the Zikr or remembrance of God. In its musical expression through…
On Damadam Mast Qalandar
Renuka Narayanan writing for the Hindustan Times So many wake-up calls The unrelenting terror trail across India recalls young Pakistani author Raza Rumi’s wistful…
Fahmida Riaz: A neglected genius
Whilst my earlier piece on the IMF programme and the tremendous discussion it has invoked deserves a rejoinder, I want to write on a…
More on the debate on IMF
I had posted my piece on the forthcoming IMF programme and expressed fears as a citizen. The op-ed that was published in the NEWS…
The words of others
My piece published in the Friday Times last week For decades, Pakistan’s poets and writers have defied conventions and the almighty establishment. Rooted in…
In City of Tolerance…
I was quoted in this NYT article on Lahore Still, Raza Rumi, a writer and blogger who takes great pride in his city, insisted…
Pakistan: IMF Programme needs to be debated
Debating the aid plan The not-so-inevitable is about to happen. After weeks of groping in the darkness of global financial mess, the Pakistani government…
Happy Diwali – on light and triumph
Indians and Hindus in Pakistan are celebrating Diwali today – I wish them a very happy Diwali. There will be fireworks and festivities signifying…
Ajoka Theatre and the Caucasian Chalk Circle
Who is entitled to keep the child – one who is a better, nurturing mother, or the one who may be the natural…
Poverty and Inequality – the brewing storm
My op-ed first published here As I sipped the tenderly brewed coffee facing the lush green golf course of a relatively new Lahore Country…
Confronting militancy
The unedited version of my op-ed published in the NEWS today: It is time that the vocabulary introduced by the global imperial projects is…
Ode to Benaras – Ghalib’s grand vision
The cancer of communalism and bigotry in South Asia continues to haunt us. These days, the Muslims are once again a subject of intense,…
Lahore blasts fail to terrorise Lahoris
Having lived two days in Lahore as a ‘resident’, the three low intensity blasts are a rude reminder that there is a war all…
The pampered Islamabadites
My piece published by Himal Southasian Islamabad is a very peculiar urban space. Though no longer a town, it is still struggling to become…