I Can Talk English

Shehzad Roy’s Zindagi Trust must be commended for making short educational and motivational videos for children and not just children. In one of the recently released pieces, a young girl, Khadija, wearing a school uniform, is conversing with Shehzad R, who is trying to correct her English pronunciation. During the chat, the girl tells off Shehzad R for his snootiness and brings the discussion round to the concept of ‘world Englishes’, which means the diversity in English pronunciations and that ‘English belongs to everyone’. She also points out that English is her third language and she dreams in Punjabi. It is such a heartwarming video. The singer and his trust must feel proud of it. More of this, please.

Bear With Me

A couple of weeks after a bear attacked singer Quratulain Balouch while camping with friends in Deosai National Park up in Skardu, the story became a bit confusing. We say this because the disaster response service that was hosting her in the region, apparently to help with flood relief efforts, claims that Gilgit-Baltistan authorities are to blame for the mishap, whereas the latter say the vocalist and her team didn’t pay heed to their advice, resulting in the unfortunate incident. Whatever the case maybe, the good thing is that QB, as she is known by friends and admirers, is safe and recovering from her wounds. Sometimes, full stories take some time to be bared.

Media Curbs

Two months after comedian Stephen Colbert’s show was cancelled for talking about something that the American political administration didn’t like, ABC suspended its late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live because the host, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, had said on his show that the MAGA gang was trying to deflect that the kid who murdered rightwing political activist Charlie Kirk was probably one of them. US President Donald Trump then chimed in, calling the ABC decision “great news for America.” Infuriatingly for him, ABC’s parent company, Disney, reversed the decision after a week, so Kimmel is back on air. By the way, MAGA stands for ‘Make America Great Again.’ We don’t think it’s going to happen by gagging the media.

The Coachella Call

The list of artists taking part in Coachella 2026, the largest North American annual music festival, has been announced. It includes the likes of Iggy Pop, Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber, The XX, The Strokes, Young Thug, Sexy Redd, Teddy Swims, Moby and the girl group KATSEYE. Now that’s a stellar line-up that one would like to see and listen to from April 10 to 12 next year. But there’s no Pakistani or Indian artist — such as Ali Sethi and Diljit Dosanjh — this time? What the heck! It’s still a foot-tapping, finger-snapping line-up though.

The Keanu Knot

Keanu Reeves is one of the most unassuming and down-to-earth Hollywood celebs. Who would have thought that he’d do something quite celebrity-like? It has been reported that, this past summer, the actor married his longtime girlfriend, the visual artist Alexandra Grant, in Europe. Of course, it was a hush-hush event. The two have been seeing each other since 2019 and were first acquainted in 2009. We congratulate the couple and hope in the matrix of the world they choose the right pill for a happily married life.

Director’s Gone Vision

Most movie lovers must have watched the 2012 super-hit Gone Girl, based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, starring Rosamund Pike and directed by David Fincher. Thirteen years later, Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon has revealed that she had the novelist’s nod for the role, but the director turned her down. “David [Fincher] sat me down — and this is not on David — but David’s like, ‘You’re totally wrong for this part. I’m not putting you in it’.” While she felt bad at the time, now she believes that it was an ego check for her and he was totally right. Hmmm… What about Gillian F’s ego, though?

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2025