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Living in denial “PEOPLE should know when they have been conquered.” So said the Roman general played by Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator, minutes before the Romans mercilessly and systematically slaughtered and subjugated...		Of violence CLAUSEWITZ says all wars tend to the absolute i.e. the level of violence has a constant tendency to exceed that required by the aims of the conflict....
Some mothers do have them I have come across quite a few impudent, insolent persons in my life but none like her. I sincerely regret attributing these remarks to a lady, but calling a spade a...		On learning to love again “Imagine this — it’s Valentine’s Day and there he stands with two dozen long-stemmed red roses or a dozen carnations in one hand, a Khaadi shalwar kameeze suit and a beautiful...
Out of the city and playing golf for the cup TO the affluent members of the Arabian Sea Country Club, about 50kms away from the centre of the city, it is as safe as any place outside the congested city. If...		The loneliness of a long-distance runner KARDAR and I were close friends, but during the tour of East Africa, the relationship changed subtly. He was the captain of the team, and I was one of the players....
Stop tempting me! Late one night, sitting with my computer — the only love of my life and thinking .... about temptation....		Playing war! I was then seven years old. My sister was two-and-a-half and my brother, who is now a captain and transferred to Kosovo, was only six months old. It was a cold...
The cost of celebrating Basant Madness has been building up during the past few days and for almost a fortnight, and must have started hitting the climactically-exciting points from last night. Basant-propelled activities would head for...		The mystic lakes of Soan Valley FEW people in Pakistan know about the scenic valley of Soan-Sakesar and still fewer know that the valley boasts of at least five scenic and beautiful lakes. But this lack of...
Festival at Moenjodaro IT was on the next day of Eid-ul-Fitr that I visited the famed Moenjodaro Eid festival. It was a moment of euphoria for the common folk who were freely enjoying the...		Karar Lake has dried up THE historic Karar Lake of Bhitshah has completely dried up and it has been so for the last couple of months. As a result, people have made paths and pitches on...
Who has the right to possess artifacts? Britain has finally told Greece that the Elgin Marbles will not be handed over to it as loan for the 2004 Olympics. For according to Dr Robert Anderson, director of the...		Eveready with hope ONE learns something good from unexpected quarters. Once, on a visit to Lahore, I met an old friend of my mother’s whom I hadn’t met since Ammi’s death. What I learned...
Rehabilitating the hearing-impaired in Kashmir Close to the under-construction Quaid-e-Azam Cricket Stadium in Azad Kashmir’s southern city of Mirpur city, there is a building which houses an educational institution for special children. Part of the ‘Programme...		Heritage of heredity and environment IT is interesting to know that the discovery of the gene and its role in inheritance of characteristics came much before the structure and function of DNA was discovered. Gregor Mendel,...
Noor Jehan, Manto and Jalalpuri Noor Jehan first sang Faiz’s poem Mujh se pehli si muhabbat in the early 50s in one of the charity shows organized by the Punjab Red Cross at Lahore’s University Hall....		CHAPTERS FROM HISTORY: The indomitable Sardar Patel IF the Indian National Congress had turned out to be so formidable and impregnable in terms of its organization and discipline during the 1930s and 1940s, it was due to one...
POINT OF VIEW: The father who would be a mother IT is not unusual to find a son writing about his father. Mothers have been a favourite subject for character-sketches with our writers. A number of sons have written with a...		Lawn tennis in Pakistan Lawn tennis in Pakistan has been given a shot in the arm after Sindh governor brought the provincial tennis association under his umbrella at a time when Pakistan goes into hectic...
THROUGH THE COVERS: Fielding needs to be tightened THE 2-0 whitewash of the West Indies by Pakistan in the desert sand of Sharjah would not have surprised even the most die-hard of the West Indians. That they are on...		Go, fly a kite Residents of the plains of the five rivers throng parks, house tops, clubs and hotels every year without fail to celebrate the major festival of Basant in the second week of...
Disgrace of the Islamic World IT is a heartless body, unwilling to help even its own ‘family’ members. It is like a father who sees his son beaten to death in a brawl, then heaves a...		NEWSMAKER SHE was a royal caught between a private world and public duty. And much like the late Diana, the Princess of Wales, she was posed with the same question...