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Generals’ agenda THERE are many facets to the situation that we face today in Pakistan. The most important one is the crisis of confidence, which must be resolved in order to lift the gloom hanging over the heads of the people....		Politics and the army THE military history of Pakistan and India raises some interesting points. Both countries inherited armies imbued with British traditions. Yet, the army in India remained subservient to the civil-political leadership, while in Pakistan it kept disturbing....
A lurking question PROFESSOR Jhangi, now in his 80s, leads a retired life. Surrounded by books, magazines and old newspapers, he lives alone in his one-room apartment near Saeed Manzil, M.A. Jinnah Road, Karachi. About half-a-century ago, M.A. Jinnah Road was known by its centuries old name, Bunder Road....		Celebrating 200 years of success A COMPANY celebrated its 200th anniversary with a good deal of fanfare. That was not a Pakistani company as the country itself is only 55-year-old. It was DuPonts Pakistan, a private...
A day of magic THE wicket at Lords was so green, it was hard to tell it from the outfield. Pakistan won the toss and decided to bat. Had England won the toss, it would have put Pakistan in. So it worked out even. Our experts in the commentary-box...		From Lajo to Shakila LAJO was born to a Hindu family in the year 1958. Her parents were very poor. Their community consisted of only about 40 households and they had no tradition of marrying outside their limited community. Lajo was studying in class IX when her uncles brought a proposal for her marriage. The proposal was for a man who lived at Umarkot....
Travelling by the point bus WHEN I got admission in the Karachi University, my parents were leaving for the US for good. I was left behind to pursue my studies. Before migrating, they made sure that...		An assembly of graduates PAKISTAN’S first elected National Assembly of graduates was scheduled to take oath of office on November 8. The inaugural session, only unofficially called, has been put off on the request of...
Land of the lowest sea IRONICALLY, peace and tranquillity was what I experienced after stepping out of the plane that landed next to the hottest war zone in the world, at Amman International Airport, Jordan, on...		Flower children THE subject of child labour tends to bring to mind images of young boys and girls slaving away in brick kilns, carpet weaving concerns or, if one really thinks about it...
UN: bloated and bullied STOP Press! Kofi Annan is calling a meeting at the UN to discuss how to stop meetings. It’s the biggest joke about this 57-year-old house-gone-awry, that has warranted its Secretary General to issue an “agenda for further change,” to end all those....		Unexplored treasures AS old age creeps up, habits, movements and even speech articulation set in. At this juncture of age, people are generally not pronounced by their names. Rather, they are called or...
The making of a councillor THE returning officer of constituency no 4200 was getting panicky. The last hour for the filing of nomination papers was fast approaching and no candidate had yet filed the nomination form....		The Buddha’s alms bowl THE Buddha, after enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, arose from his seat and walked to a neighbouring grove. He fell into an ecstatic trance that lasted for seven weeks. During this time...
Delights of limerick ALLAMA Iqbal was much impressed and listened with rapt admiration as the irrepressible young poet/novelist — Shaukat Thanvi — recited (or rather whispered) a number of ‘bold and bizarre’ couplets of an amazingly audacious versifier from Lucknow — Rafi Ahmed Khan, a close friend of Josh Malihabadi, the great poet....		Rebellion in history THE study of history shows us that rebellion was the most effective method used by disgruntled and unsatisfied elements in the mediaeval period, both in the East and West, to fight...
He could see it coming KHALID Hasan has, in his column in a Lahore magazine, chosen the right moment to refer to a prophetic story written by Ghulam Abbas. In fact, we all should stand up in homage to him for foretelling a situation which started actualizing long after his death...		Nowhere to go from here THE game of football, in the country, is once again stranded at the crossroads, with officials of the Pakistan Football Federation playing tricks with policy matters and selection of the players...
It’s time to invest in junior strings BY the time these lines appear in print, Pakistan would have already taken the field against the Zimbabweans. Elsewhere, South Africans would be up against the Sri Lankans, Australia and England...		Act now! THE history of cricket in Pakistan is a rich and glorious one. The rich cricketing background is also reflected by the fact that the year 2002 is the Golden Jubilee year...
The bitter generation The old boys of a prominent public school were having their annual reunion dinner at the house of one of the alumnus of the school. While there was a bunter of noisy conversation outside on the well-manicured lawn among the old boys....		The sweet taste of success I HAVE always wondered how a fledgling makes its first flight from the security of its nest. What apprehensions and expectations go through its mind just before that first leap. Miraculously,...
The art of subletting SAUDI Arabia’s total population is about 22.8 million. Of this, over 4 million are expatriate workers. Many Saudis are unemployed and to resolve that, the Saudi government has ordered ‘Saudization’ —...		Imperfect relationships IN the article Imperfect relationships by Nafees Ghaznavi (October 13), Sheema Kermani has called the institution of marriage “very difficult and unnatural, specially for women who go through ‘arranged marriages’”. She,...
MOSAIC: Muslim support for Camejo THE electoral race for the next Governor of California took an interesting turn on October 25, 2002, as Green Party candidate, Peter Miguel Camejo, brought his very vocal campaign to the...		NEWSMAKER IS BEING a Parsi of Indian descent as bad as being a Muslim? Well, if you are Rohinton Mistry, who is an award winning writer and a Canadian national of Indian descent, it certainly is. The author of Family Matters and A Fine Balance...