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Small things matter BY now ordinary Pakistanis have become all too familiar with the well-established pattern — a Messiah-like arrival, an increasingly disappointing performance and an unceremonial back door departure of the successive political....		Fighting God’s war JOHN Donnelly of The Boston Globe observes: “In the midst of a war on terrorism and before a war in Iraq, two combatants are not shy about invoking the name of God. And both President Bush and Osama bin Laden fervently assert that God is on their side.”...
Remembering the uncivilized IT was the age of uncivilized people.” The mystic Safa Adeshi said, “It was the age of uncultivated and uncultured people. They did not live in apartments and palatial houses. Hence, they bore the brunt of unbearable summers and winters, for their accommodations were not insulated. They were the naked dwellers of the caves, and the rugged flatlands.”...		Foreign policy under attack THEY are a set of doctors far different from the usual. Senior doctors tend to be conventional at the inauguration of their societies or at major functions. But the doctors who...
The Cairo crash ON the morning of May 25, 1965, the telephone rang. It was Enver Jamall and he asked me to get to the office immediately. It was a calm voice, but there was an urgency to it. It could be only bad news and I feared it could be worse....		On positive thinking PARADIGM is another word for perception. It is the way you see something, your point-of-view, frame of reference or belief. The way you take things and let things be done is...
A delectable deal WE had just finished our dinner and were watching TV when the doorbell rang. The boy who answered it came back with a pamphlet in his hand. The area we reside in is actually suburban and still in the process of burgeoning, albeit at quite....		Maid to order RANI (not her real name) had not even reached puberty when she was married off to a man in his 30s. “I wanted to play with dolls, but the poor have...
Birds under fire I AM a mallard. If you don’t know what a mallard is, look at my picture and you will know what a mallard looks like. But don’t call me a...		Sharjah beckons IT is a venue where world-class cricket is played, where Javed Miandad hit a sweeping six to see Pakistan thought to victory at the very last ball, where people gather from...
Gender disparity in South Asia THE gender question has seized the imagination of world-famous social scientists over the last few decades in a powerful way. There is now a general consensus that a day must be...		Tall tales “A chicken without feathers! Begum Sahib, this crazy man is telling us that there are bald chickens!” Zafar questioned with a pleading look in his startled eyes. “It isn’t true. Is...
Mela Chiraghaan: a mystical experience LAHORE, the second-largest city of Pakistan, is known for the cultural vivacity and social dispensation of its sprightly people. This historic city is also identified with the spiritual inclination of its...		Ali Ibn-i-Sina: historiographer I HAVE written earlier about the contributions of Muslim philosophers and historiographers to world history and philosophy. I suggest that our learned individuals study, research and write with devotion and...
From taboos to awareness THE term ‘handicapped’ has been used to describe biased reactions toward disabled people. Those reactions are not based on an individual’s qualities or performance, but on a presumption of what the...		Battlefields of Iraq WHEN Iraq, the cradle of human civilization, was a province of the Persian Empire ruled by Kisras, it was the first to fall before the rag-tag army of the Arabs on...
What the Urdu university must do THE Sham-i-Hamdard held this month chose to discuss the newly-established Urdu university. The participants were asked to offer suggestions, if they had any, for making this experiment successful. But the participants...		Who is to blame? WHEN Shane Warne takes drugs and tests positive, not only the Australian Cricket Board takes action against him, but the entire world comes to know about it. He is withdrawn from...
Indians came a distant second LAST Sunday, I had hoped that we will have a good game of cricket worthy enough of a World Cup final. As it appeared, I was asking for a little too much. In terms of a keen contest, the match was a mismatch. It was no different from what we had seen...		Dabbling with dope THERE is widespread shock in the sporting community as one of the world’s most famous cricketers, Shane Warne, tests positive for a banned diuretics hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride — a drug often...
Whites or Juniors? AT the time of writing, Pakistan has just won its encounter against Malaysia in the Azlan Shah Cup. With the way the team has performed thus far, I have no doubt...		A deafening silence A FEW years ago, a journalist friend of mine was offered a job by a well-reputed mainstream American newspaper. He turned the offer down without even a second thought. Bemused, I had asked him the reason. He replied that he refuses...
Road rage WHETHER driving on a road in Lahore or some other traffic-swarmed road across Pakistan, we are all vulnerable to an exchange of angry words with other drivers. Fights have erupted over...		Articles on Partition THIS refers to Unknown articles-I by M.A.H. (Magazine, March 9, 2003). I would like to point out that it is not a fact that academicians of the country are not aware...
Active learning THE teachers, while reading an article on The Sea Turtles as part of their activity, were asked by the trainers, Alison Preece and Howard Mould, to make some marks in the...		Newsmaker WITH the American invasion of Iraq in high gear, there was always the possibility of this year’s Oscars being a little different. High security, a sombre mood and anti-war protests were some of the things that were on the unwritten agenda....