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The year of suicide THE year 2001 was the year of suicide. Through suicides, people attempted to make political, moral and even socio-economic statements. There were some high-profile suicides that shook the world...		It’s the Wild West again I THINK it was Bertrand Russel who said that with the passage of time the erstwhile USSR would become more open a society and that the USA would adopt repressive measures to curb the civil...
Change: the essence of life SITTING around the dinning table the discussion somehow turned towards the inventions that once dominated human development — things that reached their zenith within a short time, occupied such an important...		The agony of jobless graduates MY eldest son did his FSc in A-I Grade from one of the best colleges of Pakistan in 1992. Then he waited for one whole year to get admission in an...
A fine book on Kashmira shawl PEOPLE of Karachi know much about Kashmir. They know so much as Kashmir is always in the news and because of its centrality in our foreign policy. But few have heard...		Functioning like ball-boys ONE evening, Afzal Lala and I went to the airport, for the heck of it. I liked to be among people and there was a special excitement about an airport, aeroplanes...
On gender-based violence THE world has stepped into the 21st Century in a troubled, unsettled and complex environment. Human rights are facing new and serious challenges from the forces of nationalism, fundamentalism, intolerance, separatism,...		The crazy English language ENGLISH is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. More than half of the world’s books and three-quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages...
A year seen off by fog WHAT happened in between the fading in and fading out of the year 2001? The list of events is, locally as well as internationally, long, depressing and disturbing and it contains...		The hidden valley of Chitral THE beautiful valley of Chitral surrounded and hidden in the mountain peaks of the Hindukush is accessible by road only through its two famous high-altitude hilly passes — Lowari Pass (above...
Living with a special child FORTUNATE are the parents who are blessed with normal and sane children. I sympathize with those who have a special child....		Going abroad? MOST of the time you come across newspaper articles with titles like, “Why the West attracts us so much?” or “Is going to the West the answer?”...
How much is a housewife’s job worth? WHY do women do the household work? Is it because they want to or because they have to? There are many women who have abandoned their careers because they thought their house needed...		In limbo ADOLESCENTS are usually viewed as a menace to society. However, youth cultures are essential to any modern society....
Many mesmerizing masks IT all started a quarter of a century ago when we bought a tiny mask from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Everywhere we turned in that city, these colourful works of art, in...		The present-day Urdu mushaira THESE days, lovers of Urdu organize mushaira which is usually “Ghair-Trahi”. That is, there is no given “misra-trah” according to which the poem has to rhyme with given meter (bahr) of...
Abdullah Malik alive and kicking ABDULLAH Malik is now in his eighties, but still carries with him a bit of the fire of youth. Eighty years is, no doubt, a long life, and Malik has lived these years not with a whimper but with a bang. He started his literary-cum-political career as a heroine on the stage....		Aga Khan III’s bid to save the Ottoman Empire HIGHLY revealing details of the late Aga Khan III’s (b.1877: d.1958) bold bid to save the Ottoman Empire from defeat and disintegration in the First World War (1914-18) have surfaced in...
Jinnah’s strategy during 1937-39 IN driving Sikander, Fazlul Haq and Sadulla, the premiers respectively of the Punjab, Bengal and Assam into the lap of the Muslim League (AIML), the Congress’s mounting campaign against their ministries...		Elections and sports bodies THE elections for sports bodies to implement devolution of power at provincial and district level appear to be heading towards complete confusion and chaos, following announcement of the election schedule by...
Mental toughness holds the key THE second Test between Australia and South Africa reminded me of the final of the 1999 World Cup that was played between Australia and Pakistan. On both occasions, the tussle was...		Cricket scorers take another step forward THE cricket scorers of the country took another step forward at the Pakistan Cricket Scorer’s Workshop, which was held at the National Stadium, Karachi, on December 9 and 10, 2001. The...
A remedy for racism THE minorities in the UK are struggling with a new world all together since the attacks of September 11. There are new challenges and new fronts....		US media’s cherished ideals IN 1968, when I was doing my Master’s in Journalism at the Karachi University, I read in one of the prescribed books written by an American that an editorial writer must...
If women matter ... I WAS sitting happily in the principal’s office after conducting a successful workshop, treating myself to the customary biscuits and tea, when I asked for a glass of water. On...		Including the excluded FIRST, L.K Advani and Vajpayee had been saying it. Now, as if to dispel any remaining Pakistani illusions, the former Indian prime minister, I. K. Gujral, too has said it: “We...
MOSAIC: A musical feast ECLECTIC in repertoire, and renowned for innovation, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is doing a series of concerts at the Royal Festival Hall since September 2001, as a prelude to its 70th...		Newsmaker VETERAN actress and writer Joan Collins is to get married for the fifth time — to a man 32 years her junior. And it will be done in style. Although the venue and the exact date are yet to be finalized...