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Agony Lives on “Where is Dhaka Stadium?” shouted a burly, heavily armed, stoutly built young man who had just jumped out of a military truck. He was not addressing any particular person. At the...		A system in disarray THOUGH the country’s constitution does recognize the provision of primary healthcare as a basic right of the citizens, the ground realities have been much different over the years. Because of the...
Fisk’s close shave with death Last Sunday, Robert Fisk, reporting the Afghan war for The Independent, London, was assaulted by a group of irate Afghan refugees in the Quetta area....		Democratic Biryani IT so happens in the mystic world that the Faqirs of Allah behold what we ordinary mortals do not perceive. They hear spoken and unspoken words that we fail to comprehend....
Waiting for foreign investors It was an Iftar party, in fact the first of the season of VIP genre, and was hosted by chairman of Shell Pakistan, Farooq Rahmatullah, and his wife with a good...		Making haste slowly LEGEND has it that the Chinese poet, Li Po, some 1,200 years ago, went one fateful night to the banks of a river eighteen miles south-west of Nanking, where he decided...
American phobia AS I sit down to write down this article under the light of an American lamp, with a pen that my father brought me from America and taking help from an...		New thoughts on dowry A recent newspaper report from Jeddah has set me thinking about the custom of dowry in our society. Much has been written about the practice of giving (and demanding) dowry. It...
Carjacking hits Lahore ONE had thought, somewhat selfishly, that Lahore was safe from the menace of snatching and theft of vehicles. Reports of the daily toll of stolen cars and motorbikes in Karachi was...		Paris: perfumed with the aroma of food IF you are going to Paris for the first time, a mere week is simply not enough for many reasons. For me, it was fine as I had visited the place...
A dying tradition AS I entered the poolside venue of a family friend’s wedding, a beautifully-decorated stage welcomed me along with the drifting aroma of an appetizing menu. But what caught my attention for...		The dark room Khalid chose the friends his family would be visiting during holidays. By 10 am, Kiran, his wife, had packed everything necessary to take along. The two children sat in the backseat...
In search of true heroes THE word ‘hero’ has been hijacked for too long by Hollywood, Bollywood and our own Lollywood (which continues to remain in the woods). Thanks to these three ‘woods’, we associate the...		Holding memories in a closed fist IT’s a bitter fact that life goes on and nothing stops for anybody. Time’s cruel hands sweep away all the treasured moments from life. But it’s also true that the time...
On eastern etiquette After dinner at my brother’s residence, the discussion on the Afghan issue remained inconclusive. But since it was a weekend, everybody could afford to stay back, at least till midnight. Moreover,...		Honore and Sophie: a real-life story of love Honore Count of Mirabeau, the hero of the French Revolution, author of Essay on Despotism, who had told the royal emissary carrying the order of the King that the three chambers...
Nobel’s noble savages OCT 6 to 11 — the ides of October? Not really. It is the Nobel Week, when the interest on Alfred Nobel’s funds ($137 million) is distributed “...in the form of...		CHAPTERS FROM HISTORY: Muslim League and ‘Direct Action’ plan “WE want peace. But if war is forced upon us, we accept it.” With this telling couplet from the immortal Firdausi did Jinnah close his memorable speech to the Muslim League...
‘Not an oasis but a mirage’ THE fall of the Taliban has brought in its wake the death of a great romance. I am not concerned here with the political repercussions of this event. I am trying...		Wonders of the wild During October this year, I visited a countryside field near Ghulamullah, Thatta. The purpose was to observe the arrival and movement of wildfowl in the early days of their winter migration....
A farcical shortlist! THE Pakistan Hockey Federation recently shortlisted some twenty-odd players — 28, if I am able to recall the figure correctly — from which it is going to select the touring party...		THROUGH THE COVERS: Paper tigers at it again THE Indians were thrashed comprehensively during their tour to South Africa. They returned to beat the visiting English side in the first Test of their current series with equal competence. Prior...
Home for Eid THE jet airliner started to manoeuvre descent, going into a landing pattern as it approached the runway at the Jinnah Airport in Karachi. From a chink in the dark and low...		NEWSMAKER WHILE there is no immediate end in sight to the bloody strife that has over the years, unfortunately, become the hallmark of life in Afghanistan...