Capital shock
My op-ed published in the NEWS. This was also posted at ATP and a robust discussion took place there. A week long sojourn in…
Beyond Borders – with Shubha Mudgal and Tina Sani
My article published in the Friday Times (Aug11-18) Days after the recent skirmishes at the Line of Control, when the composite dialogue between India…
Kabir, Bulleh and Lalon – Petals of a mystic lotus
The subcontinent during the 15th century witnessed the coming of age of a process that started brewing with the arrival of Central Asian Sufis,…
A brush with the new – Asim Butt’s Art
What distinguishes Asim Butt from his generation and perhaps the preceding generations of artists is the sheer originality of his vision and an iconoclasm…
Pakistan’s ruling coalition must not splinter
My op-ed piece that was published in the NEWS, Pakistan On these erudite pages, and elsewhere, there has been much ado about the fact…
Civil Service is no longer an alluring career for Pakistan’s youth
The captioned article of mine appeared in News on Sunday a week ago. I was quite glad to note that the NEWS wrote an…
My poems have been published – finally
This is the first time… Two poems of mine have been published by the international poetry digest, “A Hudson View” in its Spring 2008…
Shoaib Akhtar – a fallen hero
There have been some avoidable outbursts by both Akhtar and his disciplinarians. Akhtar has a chequered past in the conventional sense; and perhaps his…
Throw Away the Books – Bulleh Shah
Bulleh Shah (1680-1758) of Kasur in Central Punjab is an extraordinary voice that provided a mystical message beyond caste, institutionalized religion and ideologies of…
Why Jodhaa Akbar is a disappointment?
The challenge of translating a historical era into a cinematic endeavour is daunting, especially when it concerns historically contested subjects such as the fabled…
Living Histories
Essences of the past and present come alive at the Lawrence Gardens Lahores Lawrence Gardens, baptised the Bagh-i-Jinnah in the post-independence era, represent the…
An open letter to Mr Aitzaz Ahsan
Published in DAWN THAT you are principled, charismatic and right is beyond doubt. You have inspired the cynical, intelligentsia, revived a moribund civil society…
The flawed boycott mantra?
Thursday, February 21, 2008 Much has been said on how the election results are a referendum against the policies of General Musharraf. While there…
Raza Rumi was in Delhi
A budding writer from Lahore visits the city of his beloved author. I was [pleasantly -why lie] surprised this morning to discover a story…
Journeying into Mysticism
Indian Muslims blog has posted my travel piece on Delhi. “…, I tell my workmate of the 22 khawajas buried under Delhi’s soil and…
Shehr-i-Qatl ke log (People of this Murderous City) a poem
Reposting this 2007 poem: Alam kay iss jazeeray mein Jahan sab per ujar gaye Aur saari musafitan be-nishaan ho gayee Teri tasveer neechay gulab…
Meeting Sidhu Saheb in Delhi
Before I could write about meeting a fellow blogger in Delhi, Sidhu posted this account of our meeting. It was amazing to meet a…
Aaj Kay Mouzu – Behjat Gilani, Urdu VOA
Was at the Urdu VOA program Aaj Kay Mouzu with Behjat Gilani, spoke about Israel-Palestine issue.…
Finding a long lost friend
KM and I have known each other for ages. There were days when we were at school and the height of excitement of pre-globalized…
Wazir Khan Mosque – Lahore
It took us a an hour of navigating through the unruly traffic of Lahore to get to the old city. This was ostensibly a…