It is said that a good novel is a story of transformation. In such a novel, the protagonists are tumbled together. The reader should be able to swerve along with its drama as the story unfolds.

Following the same style, the novel How It Happened by first-time author Shazaf Fatima Haider gives a delightful and humourous take on the difficulties in simultaneously accepting the values of the varied and mostly incoherent groups in our society. Here the old order, with its belief in ‘spices, prayers and arranged marriages’ is passing with time, though it’s not going quietly into that good night.

Qurrat Dadi is a staunch believer in the ‘philosophy of a greater romance in arranged marriages than in the irrational immortality of love marriages’. Over the years, Dadi expects her grandchildren to be obedient so as to avoid the stigma of love marriage blackening the name of the prodigiously chaste family. Such is the worldview of the matriarch of the Bandian clan of Bhakuraj. Respecting Dadi’s ideologies, Haroon, the apple of her eye, agrees to roam from one drawing room to another. But fate leads him to Saima, a Shia-Syed co-worker in his office.

Falling woefully short of the expectations of her family traditions, Haroon’s sister Zeba has to face the wrath of Dadi after being caught dating a Sunni man. Zeba, who is very picky, is quite against the time-honoured traditions that Dadi loves to uphold. She agrees to the customary act of meeting suitors in the drawing room for Dadi’s sake but it is certainly not pleasant to them. Dadi is the queen of drama, wiping tears and fainting as the others try to act as negotiators. As Zeba crosses the age of twenty six, Dadi cannot stand to see her family counterpart and rival boasting about marrying off her granddaughter first. Amidst all the drama is Fati Phupps, the only person of whom Dadi is scared, though only a little, and the only voice of reason in the family.

On the sidelines is 15-year-old Saleha, the narrator of the book. By narrating from the youngest sibling’s view, the author uses Saleha’s sensitivities about negotiating with old traditions and her eavesdropping to move the plot forward. Fatima’s sparkling humour is evident and the readers will soon fall in love with the characters.

For many the story might seem ordinary but rendering it into a delightful funny book is quite a task and Fatima certainly pulls it off with aplomb and more than a few belly-laughs.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 27^th, 2013.

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‘Tahzeeb Ka Safar’ [Journey of Culture] by Abdullah Miyazawa, his Japanese wife, Fatima Miyazawa and Muhammad Iqbal aka Iqbal Barma, talks about Japanese history and culture. ‘Surkh Phoolon Ki Sabz Khushbu’ [Green Fragrance of Red Flowers] is a collection of Japanese poetry and literature compiled by Khurram Sohail.

The two books were launched at a ceremony on Friday in commemoration of the 60 years of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Japan. Several diplomats, writers and intellectuals gathered at the Japanese consulate for the launch.

Both the books will help the people of Pakistan understand the richness of the Japanese history and culture, said Japan’s consul-general Akira Ouchi in his keynote speech. Apart from comparing the two countries’ art and culture, the books portray Japan through the eyes of Pakistani journalists and Japan’s influence on Urdu literature, he said.

“Tahzeeb Ka Safar describes a journey from ancient to modern Japan,” said Ouchi, adding that it introduces the readers to not only the ancient history of their country, but also its development after World War II and the recent economic and technological progress.

For Prof. Muhammad Saleem Mughal, an associate professor at the Federal Urdu University’s mass communication department, what stood out the most was that the writers included folklore, socio-economic ups and downs, and how Japan reached new heights of success.

The book also talks about Japanese mythology of Izanagi and Izanami, two deities that most Japanese believe are the reason their country came into being.

“It is very unfortunate that the trend of reading books is declining, otherwise this book is worth reading,” said Mughal. “The writers have portrayed old traditions of Japan in a modern way.”

Karachi University’s urdu literature professor Dr Rauf Parekh disagreed with Mughal. He felt that people are still fond of reading books as long as creative works are published. “Most of the writers are involved in plagiarism so no one wastes money on such books,” he said. “There is still a dearth of valuable writers and their books are sold within a few days.”

Dr Moenuddin Aqeel, who has been teaching at various universities in Japan, informed everyone that Japanese universities have also started writing about Pakistani literature and Islam in their local language. “Here in Pakistan the recognition of Japan is because of two brands – Sony TV and Toyota Corolla – otherwise no one knows about the country.”

He appreciated the contribution that these books will make in Pakistan about Japanese literature, history and its economic boom.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2013.

Django Unchained is off the hook! Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, it is a highly engaging, well-acted and often laugh-out-loud Blaxploitation (morphing of the words “black” and “exploitation”) western film. It has all the classic Tarantino trademarks, including extremely gory action, great dialogue and one very delicious soundtrack. In typical Tarantino fashion, this is also a film that tackles the tricky subject of brutal slavery with a heavy dose of escapism, re-imaging history somewhat to allow one unchained slave the pleasure of viciously killing some very cruel white slavers.

This unchained slave’s name is Django (D being silent), who is played by Jamie Foxx in a very charismatic performance. In the opening sequence of the film, Django is freed by a dentist turned bounty hunter named Dr King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), who has a flair for comically violent executions.

Schultz releases Django from slavery because he needs assistance in the identification of three criminal slavers, and in turn promises our hero his assistance in tracking Django’s wife, Broomhilda von Shaf (Kerry Washington). Here, the film’s lead characters bond, while Django takes to the bounty hunting business with some hesitation, even though he appreciates the opportunities for vengeance.

Eventually the pair track Django’s wife to slaver Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), a psychotic and extremely wealthy plantation owner who gets his kicks through organising slave fights. Di Caprio is in top form here, and manages to somehow pull off a character who is quite sadistic, yet at the same time very charming and honourable.

Another great performance in the movie comes from Samuel L Jackson who is brilliant at his portrayal of head house servant Stephen, a black slave loyal to his white master Calvin Candie. His performance here is so convincing to the point where it is almost disturbing. In spite of this, it is amusing to note however  that Samuel L Jackson still finds a moment to utter his favorite expletive (which can’t be printed here) in Django Unchained.

If there is a weak link in this chain, it is in the length of the film and Django Unchained does lose some direction in its last act. Although, with Tarantino constantly showing off flying body parts, it is always great, explosive entertainment.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 27^th, 2013.

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Whenever I come across an English novel about Pakistan and terrorism, I dread a sensationalist generalisation of Pakistani society for a foreign audience. Although I began Thinner than Skin with the same sense of foreboding, I found myself captivated by the narrative just a few pages into the book.

Far from confirming my misgivings, Thinner than Skin sketches a rich portrait of the indigenous culture of northern Pakistan, and highlights the plight of ordinary people in a society in flux. The lives of three individuals— a photographer, a pagan woman and a nomad — are transformed in the setting of Northwest Pakistan— a region of rugged, untouched natural beauty punctured by the wounds of war and terrorism. The plot is made up of three stories: the story of Nadir, a Pakistani photographer in America who is romantically engaged with a Pakistani-German girl, Farhanna, the story of Maryam and her family from the nomad tribe of Gujjar as they struggle to hold on to their customs in a world that is rapidly changing, and finally the story of Ghafoor, man who chooses the life of a wandering tradesman over that of a nomad.

As Nadir prepares his journey to Pakistan, he is advised to forgo his passion for aesthetics and nature in photography. Instead, he is told: “Show us the dirt. The misery”. Fed with stereotypical images of Pakistan, Nadir is apprehensive but Farhana wistfully longs to “return” to the country of her origin. When the couple finally visits Kaghan valley with their friends, Irfan, a widower, and Wes, an environmentalist who is fascinated by Pakistani glaciers, they encounter Maryam and her family — a meeting that will alter their destinies.

Uzma Aslam’s prose is vivid, bringing to life the sensuous setting of the novel as well as the everyday rituals of village life. Interwoven with folk legends and superstitious beliefs, Thinner than Skin moves between a narration of the present and the past, engaging the reader in the details of the plot and yet maintaining good dose of mystery.  Although the plot starts out brilliantly, I was disappointed to note that the story loses its vibrancy as it progresses and concludes rather abruptly.

But these minor drawbacks aside, I found Thinner than Skin to be a compelling narrative and empathic portrait of a beautiful region destroyed by dark forces, and of the joys and tragedies of the individuals inhabiting it.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 27^th, 2013.

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Sidhwa, 74, who grew up in Lahore and graduated from the Kinnaird College, is flying in from Houston, Texas, where she lives. “We’re thrilled that Sidhwa will be at this year’s festival,” said Razi Ahmed, LLF founder. “There’s great excitement from people keen to hear and meet her and pick up Junglewalla.”
Along with Tariq Ali, Sidhwa is one of the first Pakistanis writing in English to win international acclaim. She has authored five books including Cracking India, which was converted into a film, Earth, by Deepak Mehta. Her books have been translated into several languages including French and Italian.
The author, essayist and playwright was an advisor to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on women’s development, and has taught at the Columbia University, Mount Holyoke, Rice University, Brandeis, and the University of Houston.

Sidhwa is a sister of the late MP Bhandara, who ran Murree Brewery and was a member of parliament.
The LLF is being supported by the Punjab government and the city administration. The festival kicks off on February 23. The open-to-public event will feature some 50 authors over two days at Alhamra Arts Centre.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2013.

What’s better than heading over to your favourite bakery to grab a warm crumbly chocolate chip cookie or a moist cupcake on a cold winter’s day? Well, bringing the bakery home, of course! And to help you do just that is a book of recipes written by none other than Lal Majid of Lal’s patisserie fame.

I consider myself something of a dessert connoisseur, and I often find myself (oddly enough) fantasising about the way a cake rises in an oven, or about mixing ingredients at various stages.

Having said that, I’ve never been a huge fan of Lal’s desserts, and I always felt there was something ‘off’ about them. This book, however, is full of marvellous and simple recipes. Personally, I believe that if something tastes good, it should be easy to make; nothing too complicated has ever tasted good to me, especially when it comes to dessert. What I loved about this book was the honesty with which the recipes were written, the simple methods and the convenient ingredients. What did turn me off a little were the pictures — no normal person can make a cupcake look that beautiful, or cinnamon rolls that perfect. I prefer pictures that can take you through the various stages of baking, like a picture of the batter at some stage for instance. But the truth is that presentation sells and our ‘yummy’ hormone kicks in at the sight of sumptuous-looking deserts.

Another thing that stands out is the way in which the book has been published: it’s no less in quality than any foreign recipe book. From the layout to the pictures, the font and finally the colour, it can easily be compared with a Martha Stewart or BBC Food cookbook.

So if you find this book on a shelf, do not hesitate to pick it up. I guarantee that it’s a great way for a beginner to learn the basics of baking.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, February 10^th, 2013.

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“I read a lot, including romance, and have always wondered about the women that were present in the books — I realised they had nothing in common with me,” says Hassan, adding there were stories of blue-eyed blondes being chased by Italian millionaires. “But I, dark-haired and certainly not blue-eyed, found it quite difficult to relate to them. I longed to read love stories from my part of the world — about people who look and speak like me.”

Indirom is an ebook publishing website that hopes to revolutionise the romance and popular literature genre in South Asia, while also providing an avenue for South Asian writers to share their love narratives. Hassan says the inspiration behind this venture came from the complete dissatisfaction with romance reading options available.

Dominic adds to the notion and says, “Indirom will showcase South Asian romance which has unique characteristics and is very different from the western concept of romance.” She feels the world has seen Bollywood romance and now it’s time to enthrall a global audience with South Asian love stories.

While Hassan has been a part of managerial and social development projects across Africa, Dominic, has spent her career in Switzerland, South Africa and UAE designing and implementing software solutions for banks. One thing these two achievers have in common is that they are avid readers and with their passion for books, then joined hands to launch their ebook publishing venture, where the novellas are solely rooted in South Asian culture and tradition.

A South Asian love abode

Indirom will serve to be a global platform to connect readers with writers — a channel for self-expression with an authentic voice for the South Asian spirit and soul. “Our tagline ‘Romance for the South Asian Soul’ symbolises this vision,” says Dominic. “The compelling stories will appeal to young, modern and urban South Asians across the spectrum as the plots are reflective of their ethos and culture.”

“We will be competing with traditional publishers of romance; we believe that the reader today is smarter and more discerning and won’t easily fall for formulaic writing that is produced in a writers’ workshop,” adds Hassan, referring to Indirom becoming the Mills & Boon of South Asia. “Every story comes from the heart so hopefully our readers will view us as a premium location for local, authentic, modern and captivating stories.”

Dominic feels Indirom will do much better than Mills & Boon and says, “Our authors are supported by a highly experienced editorial team and have a creative license in terms of stories and voice — without any formulas or rules.”

“Our aim is to nurture new South Asian writing talent that presents modern narratives, reflective of the strong, independent South Asian woman of today,” says Hassan, adding most of the authors are first time writers. “The books are very different; they span a gamut of emotions and situations from slums to monasteries and retirement homes to everything in between.” She adds that while inspiration may have been taken from the authors’ personal lives, the books are an output of their creativity and imagination.

Indirom has approximately 40 authors from all over South Asia with many of them being global citizens and second generation immigrants. The ebooks are all priced under Rs100 each.

Hassan is confident the venture will receive a positive response. “We have a strong vision for Indirom — technology has allowed us to create modern, innovative content experiences,” she says, adding she hopes women are able to stand up and admit they enjoy romance-based narratives. “We know women today want to read about love and relationships of women like themselves and we hope our books will provide an alternative to the escapist brand of western romance writing.”

While desi romance was their main entry point into the market, Dominic reveals they will be expanding into other genres as well over time.

An informal launch of Mamun Adil’s ebook Seasons of Silences, published by Indirom, will take place at the Roadside Café in Karachi at 8:30pm on February 14. The book is about Nadeem, a man whose marriage is disintegrating because he is unable to let go of his past.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2013.            

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With the return of Indian poet Gulzar and film director Vishal Bhardwaj putting the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) under a cloud, the city’s premier literary event was dealt another blow late on Wednesday when author Shobhaa De was forced to cancel.

The KLF organisers tweeted from their account:

“Shobhaa De cancelled because she said her visa was issued too late. She’d like to attend #KLF next year and we hope very much that she does”

The Mumbai-born writer tweeted from her own account late on Wednesday that the delay in her visa was the main cause for her decision. Though, she gave into some conspiracy talk speculating whether the visa was deliberately delayed.

“Pakistani visa was too late! Gulzar had his reasons for not attending the KLF. I was so looking forward to it. Someone didn’t want me there?”

Earlier in the day, Gulzar and Bhardwaj returned to India apparently over security fears.

Last month, Pakistani diplomats were unable to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival when they were not given the required travel permissions to attend the event.

KARACHI: A male writer has ventured into a territory often dominated by women – he has written a romantic novella and he is hoping that it makes it to Bollywood.

For a first-time novelist, Mamun Adil is certainly an optimist. “I hope my book gets picked up by Karan Johar. It has all the dramatic ingredients needed for a movie,” said the emerging writer, and a huge Bollywood fan. In fact, he even named a chapter in his book after a popular Kishore Kumar song ‘Sagar Kinare’.

On Valentine’s Day, Adil and a bunch of his friends celebrated the launch of his e-book ‘Seasons of Silence‘ at Roadside café. “I am single and it’s good to celebrate with friends,” he said referring to the February 14 launch.

His 80-page book has been launched on the e-publishing website Indirom.com, and can be downloaded for only two dollars.

Adil, who works at daily Dawn, said that writing a novella as a journalist has been a bit difficult. “As a person who copy edits and writes short sentences, it was a bit hard to get used to the freedom to write as much as one wants.” Yet the book is precise and to the point, he explained.

The story revolves around Nadeem, a man who is unhappy with his marriage, with the opening lines: “The music was loud, his car was smoky and rather melodious thanks to a thousand cigarettes, a fair amount of whiskey and the putridity of sex and sweat.”

Adil studied journalism in New York City (NYC), which explains the glimpses of the city in the book. With the Statue of Liberty on the cover, the main character of the book falls in love with NYC and has difficulty letting go of his past.

Adil gave his book the title, Seasons of Silence, because each chapter is placed in different seasons. The word ‘silence’ indicates the silence between two people. “Silence can be both painful and comforting,” he explained. The writer has left the ending open, as he hopes to write a sequel.

He is excited about the launch of his e-book but a bit apprehensive too. “It’s so easy to read stuff online, and the books are easily available,” he said. It took him six months to write the book and he had to rewrite it a couple of times.

Journalist Mariam Ali Baig who has read Adils work said that it takes courage to gets one work published. “He was pushed into writing, which is still in its beginning stage. A first novel is never perfect.” She did add that it is an interesting story.

KARACHI: Most writers aspiring to be in the same literary circles as Manto may want to distance themselves from pulp fiction and digests produced for the masses, but according to some of Pakistan’s famed writers, this may be a mistake.

A session on pulp fiction was organised on day one of the fourth Karachi Literature Festival on Friday in which the panellists attempted to quell perceptions that such literature is “cheap”.

At the beginning, however, there was some confusion as to what pulp fiction actually was and which breeds of Pakistani literature could be categorised under it. Academic Kamran Asdar Ali, who moderated the discussion quipped, “I was having a discussion about pulp fiction with someone and they said, ‘Wait a minute – Isn’t that just the name of Quentin Tarantino’s movie?’” He then proceeded to equate pulp fiction with the romantic digests aimed at a female readership as well as the work of Hajra Masroor and Ismat Chughtai.

It was only when panellist Zaheda Hina took the floor that this confusion was clarified. Pulp fiction, which originated in the late 19th century, takes its name from the low-grade paper it was printed on. Pulp fiction is written primarily for the masses who may not be very literate. Simple language is used and the stories have a strong flavour of sensationalism. “It does not only have to do with romantic digests, but crime stories and science fiction,” said Hina.

Once the confusion was clarified, the panellists grappled with an array of interesting themes, the biggest one being the relationship between popular fiction aimed at the masses and ala adab, or high-brow literature.

Acclaimed drama writer and poet Amjad Islam Amjad said that ala adab, with its liberal use of literary devices such as complex metaphors, is inaccessible for the masses who wouldn’t be able to comprehend it. “Ala adab is like the Olympics in which the champions, the top athletes, participate and try to raise the bar for each other. Popular fiction, on the other hand, is rather like a marathon in which everybody can participate.” He added that there was a need to shatter the misperception that literature which is produced for the masses is necessarily poor quality work.

Fiction writer and fellow panellist Shakeel Adil Zada said that his experience with Urdu digests such as Ibn-e-Insha has taught him that some novelists turn up their noses at mass literature. “Most writers view digests very negatively and distance themselves from them. But we need to realise that popular literature is actually the ladder which takes us to the ala adab.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

Journalist and writer Mazhar Laghari highlighted Dars’s style and depth. “He loved horses, the jungle, birds. Hassan believed that the Sindhi woman would be free when she would take up arms,” he said. “Hassan was poet of romance and was very liberal.”

Dars passed away on June 16, 2011. He was 45.

“I asked him before his death what he was doing and he replied that he was busy doing research on horses,” said author Mohammed Hanif, who was a friend for 25 years. “I was frankly shocked but Hassan said all Sindhis are like horses.”

‘Kandhero Hari who died of malaria yesterday’ was one the true reflections of a Sindhi person in which Dars elaborated how a person indifferently survives in a village. As his friend Iqbal Mallah put it, he had been to different parts of Sindh but it was through Hassan’s poetry that he saw the “real Sindh”.

Now, according to a close friend Masood Ahmed Lohar they plan to have his work translated into English. Lohar was the person who started the project of compiling the poetry. “It was totally scattered as he was a Malang by nature and never cared what happened to his creation,” he said. “Though he was not a Sufi poet at all, his poetry over the last two years [seems to indicate] he religious by nature as well.”

Dars has a meaningful sense of humour and friends in every nook and corner of Sindh. “He was not much worried about anything other than his poetry,” recalled Ameer Mandhro, who is know as a hafiz of Dars’s poetry. “He never thought about fame or criticism.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

According to Laurent Gayer, a senior research fellow at the Centre National de la Rescherche Scientifique in New Delhi, Muslims in some of India’s cities choose to segregate themselves because they perceive themselves to be a part of a vulnerable minority. This is one of the very few bleak realities described in the pages of the book ‘Muslims in Indian States: Trajectories of Marginalisation’. The book, a collection of essays edited by Gayer and political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot, is packed with statistics which point to the social, political and economic plight of India’s largest minority.

A book launch was organised at the Karachi Literature Festival on Saturday during which Gayer and Dr Syed Jaffar Ahmed from Karachi University’s Pakistan Study Centre spoke about the socioeconomic difficulties faced by over 150 million Muslims living in the world’s largest democracy.

Columnist Irfan Husain, who moderated the discussion said, “The introduction of the book makes for a very depressing read,” adding that the difficulties faced by Muslims in India are a mirror image of what minorities face in Pakistan.

Ahmed’s introduction on the book’s context was brief but extremely informative. He said that given the difficulties faced by Muslims in the state, the contemporary view of India as a modern democracy was challenged, specifically in the 90s. “Secularism remains a major issue in India. If it takes a backseat, the future will be very bleak.”

The discussion then drifted towards the historically frigid relationship shared by Pakistan and India and whether this had any implications for Muslims living across the border. “Honestly, I just don’t know. After the Mumbai attack in 2008, there was no backlash against Muslims. Some Muslims clerics even refused to bury the attackers,” said Gayer. “I guess that there is no systematic relationship between interstate relations and marginalisation.”

During the discussion, someone blurted that things surely can’t be that bad for Muslims across the border, given all the Khans in Bollywood. Once the ripple of laughter subsided, Gayer smiled and said that the actors hogging the television aren’t really a true represenative of the opportunities that exist for the rest of the Muslims.

Once the discussion concluded, a book signing session was held.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

“The government talks to the Taliban and they talk to a clerics,” he said referring to Minhajul Quran International’s chief Tahirul Qadri. He pointed out that the government went to talk to him even though he breached the Constitution by declaring that all assemblies were dissolved. “It was a case of treason.”

On day one of the fourth Karachi Literature Festival, Jaleel read out excerpts from his short story on extremism in a session dedicated to his writings moderated by Shah Muhammad Pirzada.

Jaleel admitted his first love is cricket but he is more widely known as the prince of Sindhi short stories. Despite the thundering clouds, scores of his fans attended the session. “I wish the programme had no time limit. I thought it was just starting but the organisers announced that the time was finished,” said a disappointed fan, Aijaz Ahmed.

Jaleel went on to talk about Sufism. “A Sufi is a rebel of a particular religion and in a particular society,” he explained, adding that one can find a Sufi in Islam, Hinduism and even in Christianity. “Even Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai was not a complete Sufi. He was partially Sufi. A real and genuine Sufi is like the Buddah.”

As the discussion became more philosophical, Jaleel said that, “The creative is only female, but we have made creative a masculine.” At this a female member of the audience, Bint-e-Maryam, insisted she was still creative. “I am universalist. I have the courage to produce. I am also a Qalandar.”

Moving on to more practical grounds, Jaleel doubted that literature can bring a solid change in the Pakistani society. Why? It’s because the government has exaggerated literacy rates. “It is not more than six percent.”

In a country of 180 million people, only one million newspapers are published daily,” he claimed. “Do you think the remaining population can even read billboards?” Jaleel finds no hope in the media either. “When television appeared before the masses, this source of educating the nation was also exploited. It is being misused.”

On the importance of Urdu language, Jaleel said that Urdu is just an official language. “Even the founder of Pakistan said that Urdu was just an official language,” he quoted. “Other languages are not regional languages but Pakistani languages. We have to change this attitude and have to respect all languages.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

The audience burst into laughter when someone announcing that the session would be an hour long fumbled over his name.

“I know many people who have read the Qur’an and Tarar saheb only,” quipped writer and journalist Muhammad Hanif, the moderator before turning serious. “Most of his time is spent on the road or at the desk,” he added while introducing the man who has been read by at least four generations.

“Some people started climbing mountains and some went to explore cities after reading Tarar saheb. He is a writer of writers,” he went on to say before recounting an anectode: “A few days back, when I called Tarar saheb and asked what he was doing, I was angrily told: ‘I’m doing what a writer does – writing,”

Tarar read a few passages from his new book, whose title he did not reveal.

“You can ask any question considered safe in Karachi,” he remarked after the reading. “I want to go to Lahore safe and sound.”

The audience was in fits of laughter again when Tarar saheb, who is deaf in one ear, was asked which ear he preferred. “Yeh meri sawabdeed par hota he, kabhi idhar wallah kam karta he aur kabhi udhar wallah.” But then he went on to say that it was up to the audience to decide which one he was able to hear from.

When a few novels were discussed, he said: “We live in an abstract atmosphere, but I don’t believe in novels written in an abstract ambiance. It is only possible to add details when you are familiar with the roads, rivers, oceans, nullahs, streets, trees, jungles, insects and what not of your country. I can’t detach myself from my soil while writing.”

He was asked what kind of writing he preferred – novels or travelogues. He picked the novel as it has more room for creativity.

“If you hadn’t gone to Europe alone and had I not followed in your footsteps, my wife would not have been angry with me,” complained an elderly audience member.

“Many of the begums, including my own, are angry with me,” Tarar replied, referring to how he had travelled along to Europe himself while writing a travelogue in his youth. And then, implying that perhaps it was more fun if your better half were left behind, he said: “If you were going to the Marriott for a meal, you would not carry your tiffin with you now would you?”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

Those who know of him and his work are aware that he is a vociferous opponent of the nuclear bomb and its destructive power.

The sizeable audience had something to chuckle about at the beginning when moderator Raza Rumi asked Hoodbhoy if he was worried whether India, with its considerable and more powerful nuclear arsenal, could annihilate Pakistan with the press of a button. Hoodbhoy swiftly dismissed such fears. “India cannot swallow Pakistan which has a population of 200 million people because it can’t swallow a small, little Kashmir of 10 million people,” he said.

When asked if it were not logical that Pakistan had pursued the nuclear bomb given that its arch rival possessed one, Hoodbhoy said India pursued it keeping China in mind as a more serious threat to its well-being. He added that the present-day Pakistan faced graver internal dangers and was far less secure than it was in the 1960s and 1970s due to the rise of domestic militant outfits.

Predicting a worst-case scenario, Hoodbhoy said the rise in militancy in the country and the number of brazen attacks on military bases, including the General Headquarters, in recent years meant Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, wherever it is hidden, could not be guaranteed to be totally secure. Such attacks, he claimed, made the world afraid of Pakistan’s weapons of mass destruction.

An audience member then posed an interesting question on roughly how much the country was spending on its nuclear programme. Hoodbhoy said no official figures have ever existed, but he added that, “rough estimates show $2 billion is spent a year”. He said the first weapon Pakistan developed was most likely funded by Libya, Saudi Arabia and some Gulf states. Shockingly, he claimed that suitcases filled with dollars would be put on Pakistan International Airlines flights on their way to Pakistan.

An international relations student present in the audience asked the one question that was perhaps on everyone’s lips. “Were nuclear weapons deployed at Kargil?”

Pausing for a few minutes, Hoodbhoy stated that his guess was as good as anybody else’s. But, he mentioned that back in 1999, former US president Bill Clinton, Bruce Riedel, a leading expert on US security, South Asia and counterterrorism and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had a meeting when Clinton asked Nawaz if he was aware of any such developments. Nawaz said he was not. Clinton and Riedel then showed him proof which suggested Pakistan’s nukes were being deployed. Nawaz then immediately withdrew from Kargil.

Hoodbhoy hoped that the day would never come when either Pakistan or India would drop a nuclear bomb on each other, saying such an event would be many times more catastrophic than the one dropped on Hiroshima. He said cities like Karachi and Mumbai would be obliterated because of their dense populations. He predicted that at least 500,000 people would die immediately upon impact in either of the cities.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

KARACHI: Twenty-two years since it was published, Tehmina Durrani’s controversial autobiography still remains relevant in Pakistan today.

It is no wonder then that ‘My Feudal Lord’ dominated a conversation with the author and activist on day two of the fourth Karachi Literature Festival on Saturday.

But the oppressed wife of prominent Punjab politican, Mustafa Khar, in the book, stood out on Saturday as, in her own words, a warrior.

Speaking less about her violent marriage, Durrani chose, instead, to speak about the consequences of writing ‘My Feudal Lord’, which describes how her husband beat her, humiliated her and had an affair with her sibling.

Her family, who hails from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, shunned her for 13 years after the book, which was initially banned in Pakistan, was published.

“The price (for writing the book) was a severe and lonely one for me,” Durrani said, adding that she had made mammoth enemies as she took on the entire feudal system.

As her sisters looked on from the front row, Durrani stated how the real consequences were borne by her family, especially her parents.

“No amount of apologies and gratitude will be enough. My family suffered much more than I did,” she said.

Durrani added that such bold actions come when one has no support system. While she was left alone to fend for herself, she was “free to become the warrior” that she had become.

“It’s taken a long time. I don’t think Pakistan was ready for someone like me. But at the same time I got a lot of support.”

On being labeled an opportunist, Durrani said it was a superficial shying away of something they didn’t like.

She added that people had, now, accepted her because of her consistency.

“I was sowing seeds that would sprout later. Everything did take time, but it was this consistency that made me acceptable.”

After her debut novel, she went on to write a book on Abdul Sattar Edhi, titled, ‘A Mirror to the Blind’, and later, ‘Blasphemy’. Durrani has also been a string advocate of women’s rights in Pakistan and has highlighted many important cases, particularly that of acid attack victim Fakhra Younus.

Durrani went on to say that her heart would always be with the oppressed, whom she feels she has complete affiliation with.

She said it was imperative for people to realise how empowered they are. The power, she said, was within herself; she did not inherit it and nobody made it easy for her.

“I am your best example… I am a success story.”

Durrani made headlines in 2003 again, when she tied the knot – for the third time – with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. “What is Shahbaz Sharif like?” moderator Ameena Saiyid asked, as the crowd broke into a controlled chuckle.

Durrani started off on a light note, saying, “People keep thinking I am going to write another book”; but went on to describe her husband as a “fine man” and a “gift of God”.

After everything she has been through, Durrani said her standards were high. “I think I married the right man for the people of my country”.

He married a twice-divorced mother of five, which shows how progressive and liberal he is, she added.

When Saiyed pointed out that their marriage said a lot about Shahbaz, Durrani was quick to question, “Because he married someone like me?”

“No,” said Saiyed. “Because he has made you happy.”

“Edhi is the best example of humanitarian Islam,” she said at the launch of another book, ‘Half of Two Paisas: The Extraordinary Mission of Abdul Sattar Edhi and Bilquis Edhi’ on day one of the fourth Karachi Literature Festival Friday. “He is a weapon against extremists and the militants who are promoting the wrong kind of religion.”

The Italian author of Half of Two Paisas, Lorenza Raponi, flew in from home for the launch of the English translation.

Raponi said that Durrani’s earlier biography became the basis of her book, and she spent ten days in Karachi interviewing Edhi and his wife, along with workers and people benefiting from the facilities. “Edhi wasn’t feeling well at that time,” she said. “I was scared that I would not be able to meet him. But it was incredible how he admitted a stranger to his house. He is a most positive example of Islam, and a star for us as well as for the entire humanity.”

The graceful Durrani expressed sadness over how the humanitarian has not received enough recognition in the country. When the audience clapped, she snapped, “Why are we clapping? Our country is suffering a loss.”

In between the conversation, Durrani would pause, her thoughts wandering off here and there. “Sorry. This is the first public forum in the country that I am speaking at,” she said. “Bigger than the book, is just his (Edhi’s) presence in the hall.”

Durrani said that Edhi was not just a social reformer and a man who buries bodies or runs orphanages, but is an agent of change. “Talking about Edhi humbles me,” she said, as the crack of lightening stunned the room into silence that was broken by the pitter patter of rain. Indeed, some sessions were delayed by the unexpected downpour.

Durrani went on to say that while her book on Edhi was confined to what he had said and wrote, she appreciated that Raponi had taken a step further and included her own opinions.

As the conversation continued between the two women, Abdul Sattar Edhi looked from side to side. It took half an hour for an organizer to interrupt the session and suggest that Edhi himself should brought into conversation on the stage.

Following a stand ovation, Edhi settled down comfortably. “I am a human. I try to make others human too,” he said. “Every religion talks of humanity. Our religion teaches love, simplicity, yet we have forgotten everything and have become artificial.”

He said that without having anyone’s permission, he was working in the country as welfare work did not need consent.  “I am fighting for the poor. I don’t drink tea or smoke. I just have two pairs of shalwar kameez, which I discard every five months. Bilquis has done so much for me. My children are with me. I have made this nation into a charitable one.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

On a surprisingly windy morning, the festival pulled in large crowds of people of all ages. As the day proceeded, the rain clouds rolled in and forced everyone to scurry for cover. The day also coincided with Basant – the first day of spring – a muse for the sub-continent’s writers and poets.

“On this spring day, we are here to do our bit to promote reading, to use books to build bridges across cultures, to share narratives and reach out to break boundaries and to connect authors with readers and bring hearts and minds together,” said Ameena Saiyid, Oxford University Press managing director and cofounder of the festival along with Asif Farrukhi, a literary critic and fiction writer.

After Gulzar’s disappointing return to India, the organisers chose Intizar Hussain – who is among the finalists for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for fiction – to give the keynote speech, along with the original choice, Nadeem Aslam, a prize-winning British Pakistani writer.

Also present were several ambassadors and diplomats, including French Ambassador Philip Thiebaud, who spoke about “their keen interest in supporting the dialogue of culture and civilisation between Pakistan and its neighbouring countries, as well as Europe.” He was joined on stage by German Ambassador Cyril Ninn, Italian Ambassador Adriano Chiodi, Russian Consul-General Andrey Dimidov and British Council programmes director Martin Fryer.

Saiyid was happy to note that the festival had grown rapidly during the past four years – from around 5,000 in 2010 to more than 15,000 last year.

In a festival dedicated to storytelling, Intizar Hussain’s narration of Alf Laylah was an apt choice. A cruel Persian king, Shahryar, would marry a virgin every day and send the previous night’s wife to be beheaded. This way he killed over a thousand women until he married Scheherazade, the daughter of his courtier, who kept the king awake and in awe for one thousand and one nights through her storytelling, until his mind and heart transformed. He shunned cruelty and becomes a wiser and kinder man.

For Pakistan’s violent society, Hussain suggested finding a remedy in the art of storytelling. “The Eastern tradition of storytelling was abandoned and vilified nearly 150 years ago after the defeat in the First War of Independence in 1857,” he said, regretting that Mir Baqir Ali, the last among the storytellers, ended up selling betel nuts (chhalia) on the streets of Delhi.

Nadeem Aslam kept his speech personal to his own experience of growing up in Pakistan till the age of 14 and then leaving for the UK. He did not have enough money so he could not return for the next two decades. Upon his return, he visited an art gallery in Lahore where he was engulfed in a strange sense of uneasiness because the people in the pictures were all like him. “For the first time, I strongly felt that there must be a place for our people in world’s literature,” he told The Express Tribune. Aslam’s fan should note that his fifth novel ‘One Thousand Miles by Moonlight’ is almost complete.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2013.

Besides one passing reference to a survey that put Pakistan among countries that have the smallest voter turnout, there was no mention of any statistical data or empirical evidence during the entire discussion, moderated by economist Akbar Zaidi. Among the panellists were self-described Marxist politician Aasim Sajjad, labour rights lawyer Faisal Siddiqi and Lahore University of Management Sciences’s economics professor Ali Cheema.

Sajjad said that state institutions, like the judiciary, military and bureaucracy, which formed the “steel frame” of society since the pre-Partition era, have now ceased to be cohesive. “People running these institutions used to be educated, westernised, secular and extremely elitist. But from the 1960s onwards, the profile of people joining these institutions has changed,” he said.

Making a sweeping statement, Sajjad asserted that each and every student at the Quaid-e-Azam University – in fact, all government universities of Pakistan, he hastened to add – get a university education only because they want to take the Central Superior Services (CSS) exam.

“State institutions are now run by those who have come from less-privileged, non-urban backgrounds and are not English medium. That’s a big change, but we don’t feel it because the apparent steel frame is still there,” he said.

Although he did not say what exactly he meant by the “middle classes”, Sajjad said their role is getting increasingly important within the ‘political, social and cultural institutions’ of the country. “Politics in Pakistan is not ideology-driven. It is based on patronage. Politics now means letting the people of your ethnic, religious or political constituency have access to the resources of the state,” he said.

Taking part in the discussion, Siddiqi said that the judiciary is basing its power on public legitimacy, which is closely linked to the media. “The media is the prism which constructs the notions of public legitimacy. It determines for the judiciary which issue is important and which isn’t,” he observed.

Cheema said there is an acute local institutional crisis in Pakistan, as their capacity to deliver has decreased to a great extent in the recent past. “Mechanisms to govern, to resolve disputes, and to manage common resources have collapsed. There is no institutional framework of the state that could respond to the increasing degree of contestation and plurality of demands,” Cheema said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2013.

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“I wanted to feel what sightlessness was like so that I could gain an insight into my character’s condition,” he said at the launch of the book on day two of the fourth Karachi Literature Festival. He also tried not to see anyone while he was writing the novel – months would go by without him even catching a glimpse of another person.

The discussion at the book launch, moderated by Kamila Shamsie, attracted a very large audience, eager to hear about the author’s journey. Aslam started off by reading excerpts from the opening chapter of the book, which is set in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months following 9/11. It chronicles the journey of an old man, Rohan, whose school is converted into a breeding ground for extremists following his wife’s death.

“I had a discussion with a friend of mine about the situation in Pakistan with reference to terrorism and the general social condition. And I said if the Taliban and these problems disappeared in five years’ time, what if while they are here, they kill my brother?” he told the audience. “It becomes philosophical – how to live, how to cope. That was the attempt in the novel – how these wounded people are trying to cope with their humanity.”

For Aslam, as a writer, one thing holds true to heart. “A novelist does not tell you what to think, he tells you what to think about.”

Back to the beginning

Shamsie asked Aslam to talk about his relationship with Pakistan and his inspiring journey from being a boy grappling with English to a seasoned writer.

Aslam, who is not from an affluent background, moved to England when he was 14 years old. He revealed that when he joined school there, he performed poorly because of his tenuous grasp on the English language. “I couldn’t read or write well. There were some things I was interested in such as literature, history and sociology, but I did really badly as you had to write essays for these subjects,” he said. “I managed to do well in science as I didn’t need to have good English language skills for it.”

Aslam eventually dropped out of college, saying that a “safety net” was not going to be an option for him if he wanted to pursue writing. It took him 11 months to finish his first novel as he worked odd jobs, telling himself and others that “an artist is never poor.”

However, he spent almost 11 years on his second novel. “I wanted to educate myself,” he said, when asked about his process of learning English and why he took so long on his second book. “I read everything by Thomas Hardy and more. I copied, by hand, novels I considered to be great to see for myself where each comma falls, where every full stop is.”

It was through Aslam’s books that he began to travel to Pakistan after two decades. He wanted to heal the “fractured” connection he had felt with his country.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 17^th, 2013.