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The unsung heroes FOR the past few weeks Pakistani newspapers have heralded the “conquerors” of K-2. Golden Jubilee celebrations have been held. Dignitaries, most of whom have perhaps never set foot on the glaciers leading up to K-2, were treated to a fine couple of days in Skardu. Mountaineers and trekkers were honoured in Skardu and Islamabad....		Porters’ plight CARRYING loads of approximately 30kg on their backs, walking over frozen glaciers and slippery terrain for weeks, they try to entertain trekkers and climbers coming from all parts of the world. They guide them and quite often lose their precious lives on duty. In case my readers haven’t yet guessed what or whom I’m...
Don’t tackle a terrorist BEFORE I narrate a true story that leaves us pondering how to tackle a terrorist, let us briefly examine two forms of terrorism. It would make our issue comprehensible. Terrorism is divisible between high-profile terrorism and low profile terrorism. Let us describe low-profile terrorism as an individual’s personal experience of terror. It hardly catches attention of the rulers, and the people at large. Hindu engineers, doctors, and businessmen are intermittently kidnapped...		Big Brother is watching IN 1948, George Orwell wrote 1984, his most celebrated novel. The book was published the very next year. George Orwell could not have imagined that his piece of fiction would turn...
A pipe-dream SINCE 1999, my husband and I have been working on a project for the construction of an orphanage in the mountainous region of Bhurban. We have named the project, The Turning...		The mystique surrounding Uch NO matter how many times one may have seen their photographs, no one is ever really prepared for the breathtaking sight when one rounds that corner and the monuments of Uch appear on the hill....
The 100-mph wizard WHAT would be a more sillier question: Who is Shoaib Akhtar or who is the fastest bowler in the world?...		To Istanbul with love IF Cairo is regarded as the “Mother of all cities”, the honour for the coveted title of “The Princess of all cities” must surely go to Istanbul. This is a fantastically — one may even say, ravishingly — beautifully city. Here, the bounties of nature and the genius of man have joined hands to invest the city with an atmosphere and an ambience steeped in history, culture and antiquity...
The mysterious organ HUMAN body is in a state of constant dynamic balance. There is building up of new tissues (anabolism) and at the same time there is destruction of old ones (catabolism) in order to maintain the body’s growth and shape....		A vanishing art form FOR centuries, malakhro has been the identity of Sindh. This indigenous form of wrestling has been around since the times of Moenjo-daro....
Re-employment galore THE new prime minister, with his cabinet of 59, is now comfortably placed to run the affairs of the state with adequate help from his colleagues in politics. But before he had even settled down, there came a report that he had granted his first extension. Knowing the lack of speed with which a summary moves, it is impossible...		A versatile storyteller ASHFAQUE Ahmad was an ambitious man not content to be known as a writer alone. And his ambition did not remain unfulfilled. He undoubtedly was more than a writer. But as...
A shrewd diplomat RECENTLY, the name of Talleyrand Perigord — Charles Maurice de, Prince De Benevent (1754 - 1838) — has been quoted in the media repeatedly in the context of American diplomacy in...		Hot Seat THE horizon of the Pakistani pop music has so far been bejewelled by only a few female singers out of which there is only one who stands out and outshines them...
Beyond the third umpire AS a general rule, we accept almost everything shown on television. The remainder is the half-truth that relates entirely to umpiring decisions. However, this also allows teh viewers and the cricket commentators to criticize umpiring decisions freely, at times, unkindly....		The wrong way to promote cricket THE ongoing ICC Champions Trophy in England has not been a great advertisement for the game. I know the tournament will have gathered much more momentum by the time these lines...
Characters on the field STILL in East Africa, there was Zulfiqar Ahmed (Gulla) who took upon himself the role of a court jester and many a tense moment would be lightened by his sardarji jokes,...		Hockey in the rot FOLLOWING the debacle of Athens 2004, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is scrambling to make amends in the team management. Former Olympians Samiullah has already been appointed the team manger while...
Iraq has a twin: Florida HAIRY — how else to explain? Nature has its direct way of punishing nations that wreak hafvoc on others. Charlie, Frances and now Ivan strike terror and cold-bloodedly illuminate how the hand of God works, a chilly reminder to the believers that they need to brush up on their holy scriptures, for mortals oftentimes forget the message in moments of vainglory. Some call it Divine Justice....		Whose idea is it, anyway? WHAT was the most memorable thing of TV series Star Trek? Mr Spock’s pointy ears or that one word that would transport the crew members from the ship to elsewhere and back ... Energize! There they would stand in the transporter, press a button, and lo and behold ... they would be transported to wherever it was they were supposed...
Darbar & hijab ALL the darbaris —- wanted, convicted and arrested at different times in their political careers -- were present there in the royal court of the Badshah to take the oath to...		Brain drain WITH reference to the article Brain drain (August 22), I would like to throw some light on the causes of brain drain....
MOSAIC: Iraqi Marshlands A multi-million dollar project to restore the environment and provide clean drinking water in the Marshlands of Mesopotamia is being taken up by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)....		Newsmaker IN situations where the rule of the jungle, that is, survival of the fittest applies, Karachiites come through very well. Over the years they have gone through so much chaos that they have become used to going about their daily businesses amidst all sorts of disorganized situations. However, the stress, trouble and frustrations...