Infectious Energy

For the past few days the social media is buzzing with the wedding news of Hamza Ali Abbasi of fame Pyare Afzal. Hamza started his career with TV and after doing a few projects moved to the big screen, he is not only famous for the work he did on screen but his claim to fame is from his extremely vocal socio-political and religious views especially on social media, he is seldom politically correct and gets a lot of bashing for his opinions. This week he was again in the news for posts about his wedding announcement to Naimal Khawaar. His long post about “Platonic Relationships” has been the topic  of the grape wine. His definition of Halal relationship was a bit bizarre and was so not needed in the wedding announcement.   Many bashed him for being self righteous or holier than thou. Some called it a publicity stunt, which often the people in the media are accused off.     On August 25 th  2019, the social media was again highlighting his beau...

In January this year, Sara a transgender in Peshawar, was abducted, abused and murdered by unidentified men. Unfortunately, most transgender in Pakistan meet such tragic ends. Sadly the situation is even worse for those who are alive, they are denied all basic rights as a human being. Hospitals refuse to give them medical care.  In the above case the tortured body of the deceased was refused admission in the morgue. The society has always treated transgender as lesser Humans . The parents and families of transgender abandon them at birth. Leaving them at the mercy of beggars and sex workers. Their  fight  for survival starts at birth and  many struggles that follow throughout their non existent life. With the absence of any social status in the law they have no hope for a better future. Due to the lack of  recognition as human beings and later having no options to earn their livelihood, many turn to prostitution. The transgend...

T ickets booked, popcorn and tea bought as I settled in my seat to watch the much talked about Pakistani commercial movie released on Eid ul Adha called “ Paray hut love” directed by none other than Asim Raza of “Ho maan jahan” and ‘Behudd’ fame with an elaborated star cast. The movie started with “Natasha ki shaadi” , a larger than life set of a Haveli where mehndi was being applied on Fareiha Altaf and the maids were carrying huge thaals of mithai. The ostentatious wedding of the rich and the famous with colorful designer wear and a well choreographed mehndi night where a famous actress must make a guest appearance; a prolific formula for any commercial movie, sets the picture perfect introduction of the film.   The very next scene introduces the male protagonist of the film commonly called the hero Shahryar Munnawar surprisingly called Shahryaar in the movie too. A somewhat fresh comic scene by Hina Dilpazeer who plays the filmi over the top mom of the male protag...

So what’s the big deal about Divorce that makes it such an enigmatic human experience? simply put divorce is the ending of a very sacred relationship and it is at the very least a sad and at worst a traumatic affair. Then why is that the society generally tends to console the affected parties; with almost no empathy. A virtual lack of understanding, tendency to judge and attach stigmas leaves the one who has gone through the breakup isolated in most cases. Perhaps most people can relate easily to life setbacks such as death and disease even without actually experiencing them. They do have a general feel and idea of what one is suffering through. Divorce, however, remains a strange and alien territory. As a result many a times, even with best of intentions at heart, the way we support a person recently exposed to this trial ends up becoming a trial in itself for the poor soul. Sounds too far fetched and over sensitive? Let’s take a look at some of the Divorce dialogues aroun...

It was 3.30 in the afternoon; I sat anxiously in the waiting area of my dentist’s clinic, restlessly tapping my toes, I impatiently checked my phone for the tenth time in past 15 minutes, hoping it would distract me from the fear that I feel inside my heart. Finally a voice from behind the reception called out my name and asked me to move towards the procedure room. Spotting the discomfort on my face my cordial doctor announced “it’s a simple procedure, you will not feel any pain I promise” were his comforting words, as he wore his gloves and grabbed the anesthesia. I convinced myself that it’s a simple extraction and it will be over in no time, the images of many effective painkillers filled my mind. Taking a deep breath I sat on the chair fingers crossed, I was given anesthesia and three of my teeth were extracted as I have a severe periodontal condition leading to bone and gum loss (we will not go in the details of how or why it happened or whose fault was it). Surpri...

As I draw the curtains of my bedroom window and looked outside, once again I am mesmerized by the majestic beauty of the Arabian Sea. The sea is both, wild and calm, dangerous and beautiful. The words of a beautiful poem by Sherry Little filled my thoughts                                                                  Colors of the sky Roaring of the sea Walking in the wet sand With my hair blowing in the breeze I am among those lucky people who live in this beautiful city called KARACHI . There is nothing I can say or write about this city which has not been written before. This city is the heartbeat of Pakistan. It is diversity personified. Th...

Nach na Janaye - the prequel, is a breath of fresh air for the deprived theater lovers. (Spoiler alert!) Karachi has always been the hub to promote “ART” in the country. The people in the city have always appreciated good content in the field of performing arts. The theater lovers in K-town were delighted with Anwar Maqsood’s new play called “Nach na Jaaneye”, which is a prequel of the very famous show ' Angan Tehra.' Anwar Maqsood is a prominent name in the world of script-writing. As a writer, political satire has always been his strength. Through his work he highlights the corruption in the country in a humorist manner. Another achievement that he is accredited for is his efforts to revive the theater in Pakistan with plays like Ponay Chauda August   and Sawa Chauda August. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to get tickets for the much talked about show in K-town, as most of the shows were sold out. As I reached the famous Arts Council most of the seats wer...