When even videogames target Muslims, you know you live in an age of hate
I love gaming. We gamers don’t just play games for the sake of venting our frustration on remote control buttons and enjoying the graphics of a particular game; we follow the storylines as well and the characters become idols. Don’t believe me? Consider the example of a cousin of mine who came to meet me after many months. The first thing he did – without any greeting whatsoever – was blurt out, “Arey yaar Zain Bhai, apko pata hai Walking Dead mien Lori mar gayi?” (Oh man, Zain Bhai do you that Lori from Walking Dead died?) It is an obsession, yes and our tech ...
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A news anchor isn’t just a pretty face
‘Bottom feeders in the TV news industry’, ‘bimbos’ and ‘talking heads’ – that’s how I have often heard news anchors being described as. Some have even been accused of looking constipated on TV. Take my word – no news anchor deliberately puts on this expression on TV. Sometimes, it just happens! News anchoring in Pakistan is a relatively new concept. It emerged with the advent of cable TV news. Before the concept of sensational 24-hour Urdu TV news came to Pakistan, all one could find for decades was the poker-faced news readers only on Pakistan Television (PTV) news. In those days, they ...
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Yes, I still love going to the circus!
The memories of visiting a circus as a child have been my fondest to date. Only my mom, dad and I used to go, because my older siblings (three of them) thought it was a waste of time. Dad used to say the circus was reality TV of its day. Some of its features could be unsavoury, pandering to base urges and ignoble impulses. For a commoner, a circus show at one time was more eagerly awaited than a national holiday. Along with being the most-anticipated form of entertainment, the circus was also viewed with some trepidation. Fires had broken out in many circus tents ...
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Pakistan inspires Hollywood, but for all the wrong reasons!
Spoiler alert: Contains Law & Order SVU spoilers from episode 299 ‘Acceptable Loss’. Also contains several cringe-worthy face-palm moments. TV’s new villain is a virginal seductress from Waziristan. Hollywood is making efforts to humanise militants and would-be terrorists from this part of the world. A recent Stanford-NYU study might have had something to do with this. Call me masochistic, but I love crime (as long as it’s within fiction). I grew up reading Agatha Christie and have had more than my share of Law & Order shows, whose story-lines are often inspired by actual news reports. SVU marathons sometimes make me sick to my stomach, but ...
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Cry over a charred cinema but not a dead human being?
The six cinemas that were torched during the rather ill-fated Ishq-e-Rasool Day, marked the decline of cultural tolerance in Pakistan. However, going by news coverage of that day, it seemed that this incident was more important than anything else that happened. However, there was another side to the story, too. The sun that went down on Ishq-e-Rasool day, held as a mark of protest against an anti-Islam video, took away many other things along with it; including 26 lives — lives which did not spark a debate in the news media. One can posit that these 26 lives belonged to ...
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Comic relief: A day at the circus
Mounting security concerns in recent years have meant fewer opportunities for citizens to leave their homes without fear and festivals that were once a part of Islamabad’s culture have been far and few for these reasons. A few winters ago, a traveling circus came to the capital, bringing with it some comic relief and affordable entertainment. Here are the most memorable moments: A vendor lures customers to his gol-gappa stall at the Saanwan Mela. A young female acrobat is seen elevated in the air during an act. A girl watches in rapt attention as the circus performances commence. A lion parades lazily around a ...
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Let’s love Pakistan: A new resolution (V)
Here are the next 15 reasons that compel me to love Pakistan… 36. Faisal Masjid: The national mosque of Pakistan isn’t just a landmark my generation and I grew up admiring for its majestic splendour; it’s also significant to Pakistan’s identity as the largest mosque in South Asia and the fourth largest mosque in the world. 37. The intelligentsia that were our poets: Right from Allama Iqbal to Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Faraz and Parveen Shakir, Pakistan has been truly blessed when it comes to poets and philosophers that have literally inspired the nation in times of need. The aforementioned are just a few ...
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TOPICS
Karachi Zoo: A threat to endangered animals?
The other day, my two-year old nephew would not let go of The Express Tribune. On the front page, there was a picture of a large white lion. While he didn’t understand the headline “South African white lions to land in Karachi”, he sat transfixed on the floor with the page and roared over and over again like he was the big bad Scar from The Lion King. Unfortunately, I could not be as ecstatic about the picture as my nephew. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation imported these white lions at a price of Rs10 million. A glass enclosure is being built from a special ...
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Dolly bigmouth: Thumbs down for vulgartainment
Last year, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), following the directions given by our government, blocked over 1,600 words on SMS that were unethical or against the wider interest of our nation. Later, PTA blocked Twitter over blasphemous tweets for one day. PTA took such admirable action when it came to national interest, or shall we say our beloved government’s interest. Having said as much, I believe that the quality of programs aired on TV channels nowadays is far more poisonous than these banned words. For the last couple of days whenever I switch my television on, I find myself looking at either ...
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Coke Studio Ep 1: Thank you for ‘Larsha Pekhawar Ta’
The first episode of “Coke Studio” season five has lead to an interesting debate amongst its fans. Did the studio do justice to rap with Bohemia’s rendition? Has Hadiqa Kayani come of age? These questions and others have been making the rounds. One thing that is glaringly obvious is that an artist’s sincerity can be judged from behind the scenes (BTS) clips. For instance, Humayun Khan sounded like a mature artist when he spoke about his experience of completing his education first and then switching to music, that too, at a time when the music landscape of Peshawer was changing. But ...
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