Of teens and charity : ‘Like OMG, I work for an NGO’
Areeba, not her real name, is a bright, conscientious 18-year-old off to college this September. She works on and off rebuilding a girls school in rural Sindh in an effort guided by her school. “I know all the girls names, they teach me Sindhi and mark my progress, I distribute sweets,” she says, her enthusiasm apparent. But then comes this observation: It’s something I’m really into, not like, I don’t know, wannabe hipsters who’re just in it for the certificate and the photo ops. Wannabe hipsters in it for the photo ops? I told my father what she said and his first ...
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Here’s the evidence on Hafiz Saeed
The US has been generous enough to announce a hefty $10 million bounty for information leading to Hafiz Saeed’s conviction. After the embarrassment the Americans faced by announcing a reward for collecting information about someone who lives like any free human being without any court-admissible evidence, I felt the need to enlighten them with some hard-hitting, and much needed, evidence. Listed below is what I found after a great deal of research. Some of the figures quoted are mentioned in media reports while a great deal of the record has been shared by JuD themselves, which they claim can be independently verified. Education Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) runs 140 ...
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The dilemmas of a Muslim shopper
Over the past couple of weeks my sister was in town,and along with my mother, we spent a good deal of time in shopping malls, taking advantage of discounts during a seasonal sale. Having lost a few pounds in the past couple of months, and after starting a new job in December, I had no qualms about treating myself to some new clothes, shoes, and accessories. Like many women, I find buying new items quite gratifying. This is especially so because in the past two to three years, I managed to work towards having financial freedom for the first time. ...
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Hafiz Saeed: The (10) million dollar man
Ten million dollars. Not one, not five, 10! This is it Pakistanis. If you don’t take this opportunity, you have no one else to blame but yourself for not winning this lottery. Easier than any question asked by Amitabh Bachchan on KBC, this is the fastest, surest way to the top guys. America has answered your prayers and you can get out of poverty – now! Even with the usual 10% ‘charges’, this would leave you with a cool $9 million. Move to Karachi, officially the world’s cheapest city, and live the rest of your life in a nice bungalow with ...
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Unchanging and endless: Abandonment
A woman is as fragile as flowers, or so states every romance novel that I have ever read. It was during the later stages of life that I began realising that the opposite is true. However, I will compare women to one flower in particular, the Purple Iris. Delicate and soft, the Purple Iris pushes itself skyward without waiting for the snow to completely vanish, to embrace sunshine and the approaching warmth of spring. When I was studying to earn a postgraduate diploma in photographyat Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, I participated in a three month long project for my ...
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The not-so-desperate housewives
Steve Jobs is dead. There was a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, will be released against the freedom of over a thousand Palestinians. There are a huge bunch of protesters that have occupied Wall Street. The Yemeni president is back. 28 people are dead in Baghdad. Thismakes the total Iraq body count well over ten thousand in less than ten years. And somewhere in Pennsylvania, a paralyzed man high-fived just using his thoughts. None of these possibly world-changing events matter to the average Pakistani housewife. Call it what you may, but most ...
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No more loans, please
It’s common to hear people quote the dollar amount the United States spends annually on its wars and homeland security — and put next to it the money needed to end world poverty, Aids, cancer or malaria. One such comparison is that the US has spent $980 billion in Iraq since 2003, which is enough to wipe out world poverty for 10 years. According to another estimate, the United States can control malaria deaths in Africa by diverting 3.7 per cent of its $81 billion annual budget for national intelligence. I’m not pro-war. Neither do I approve of heavy military spending ...
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Edhi: “I’m not God, just a humanist”
This video shows a discussion with the philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi. The viewer is shown an ordinary day in his life and taken in to his office. One observes the incredibly humble life-style lived by this humanist. Edhi states humanity is the essence of all religions. The Holy Quran, too, he says teaches Muslims to feel for other human beings. However, it is a trait that most people have forgotten. He is critical of Muslims in Pakistan and states that he has yet to come across a single true Muslim in his entire life. Capitalists, according to him, indulge in ...
Read Full PostCharity clubs: Everybody’s got a plan
There are six people seated around a table, each with paper and pencil in hand. There’s the quiet hum of an air conditioner and the rustle of paper and a serious, practical kind of silence in the air. A paper with questions listed on it is passed around the table for verification- these questions are to be asked in the interview conducted by these six people. Someone giggles, which is immediately cut short with “Seriously, please.” Is this a top secret board meeting of a corporation? Has someone died? No, it’s a meeting of a few 17 and 18-year-olds… ...
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Marketing Pakistan: Know your product
On the one hand, it seems that Pakistan doesn’t have much to offer travelers these days with the exception of expats visiting their families, Lonely Planet reading backpackers, Sikh pilgrims and cricket-mad Indians—many of whom have waned from the ‘insecurity’ situation. Then, on the other hand, the ‘Ministry of Marketing’ (let us suppose that one exists) has plenty of underutilised fodder to attract positive international interest, if only they would. From an ancient civilization that’s older than the Pyramids (the Indus Valley along with Buddhist and Gandhara aren’t adequately promoted like the Mughals as they’re pre-Islamic), historical architecture (including pre-Partition buildings that ...
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