Losing our dignity, one drone at a time
I still haven’t forgotten a story that my father told me about eight years ago. We were sitting outside one late night, revelling in the midst of family and friends, smoking the traditional hookah and dining the night away. I don’t remember how we reached this topic but suddenly I found myself listening to my father reminiscing about the days when he first flew to Saudi Arabia in the 1960s. He spoke of that time with great admiration and fondness, recalling how, when he first mixed in with the locals, the first question they asked him was where he was from. And ...
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A small town girl with big dreams
I am a small town girl from Balochistan, Pakistan. Six years ago, I moved to Karachi in order to achieve a better education, and a year ago I got a scholarship as an exchange student to represent Pakistan in the US. I was obviously ecstatic when I got selected. I know that everyone feels happy when they get a scholarship, but for me it was a little different. I was not just an ordinary teenager living in the big city; my life was more of a continuous battle. Against whom, you might ask? It was against my own family. So, here is my story: My arrival in the ...
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Can they call Palestine home?
11:oo pm Global Village, Dubai My sisters and I were running wildly to catch a bus. The bus was, apparently, the only cheap way home and it was to leave in the next 15 minutes. 11:15 pm My sister, laden with shopping bags, walked to the bus stand to get some information from two obscure figures seated under a dark shed – two young women wrapped in printed headscarves, wearing identical leather overcoats, bracing themselves against the chill in the air. Hey, do you know about the bus? Where is it headed? We are waiting ourselves. Don’t know. We are not from Dubai. Where are you from ...
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Image is nothing: Pakistan as Andre Agassi
Even before he had won anything of note, tennis player Andre Agassi became a celebrity thanks to his “Image is Everything” ads for Cannon, which capitalised on his ridiculous blonde locks and cut-off denim shorts. Although he would go on to reveal that the hair was augmented by a toupee and win a bunch of majors on his way to becoming a truly legendary player, Agassi admitted in his searing autobiography” Open” that he was never comfortable with his rockstar status, unearned that it was. The lesson is clear: image is a self-created ...
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US-Pak: Ghairatmand Pakistan’s right to beg
Sixty years have passed since Pakistan and the US have been in collaboration. This relationship has seen many ups and downs. History has witnessed pompous public welcomings of leaders of both countries, the ‘mi casa es su casa’ (my home is your home) attitude, and also watched hatred-filled rallies against one another. Despite the bipolar relationship, the fact is that this liaison has proven to be beneficial for both countries. Putting aside the rather tempting conspiracy theories, the US has been investing much in the economic and educational development of Pakistan. USAID spends millions of dollars for education in Pakistan. ...
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Celebrating Mother’s Day as a rejected son
As a rejected son, how do you celebrate Mother’s Day? Who enjoys the breakfast tray? Who receives the flower bouquet? That’s my story. But it’s not my biological mother who rejected me. It’s my motherland – Pakistan. So on this Mother’s Day, let me have a heart to heart talk with you – my motherland. You don’t want to accept my love; that’s your choice. I have learned to deal with that. But please answer my questions, for I have lots of them. Why did you abandon me? Why did you institutionalise hatred against me in schools, workplaces and houses of God? ...
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In our PM’s words: And why don’t they leave then?
A video showing the true colours of the Pakistani leadership is being passed around on the web. This time it’s our Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, who has shown the world why Pakistan is in such a sorry state. For the initial five minutes of this video, our prime minister makes the usual excuses that have become the trademark of the Pakistan government. In the last 15 seconds, interviewer Becky Anderson tells Gilani about poll results that reveal that about a third of Pakistanis want to leave the country. This is when the video gets really interesting. Following this remark come ...
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Is Sheryl Sandberg really an inspiration for working mothers?
Earlier last month Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, admitted that she’s been leaving work at 5:30pm to be able to have dinner with her kids. While she’s been doing this for many years, it is only in the last two years that she felt comfortable about admitting it publicly. The fact that this admission made headlines brings to light the huge hidden costs and informal penalties associated with choosing flexible hours, even if they are on your company’s official books. Sandberg was widely lauded for making this public admission, but it must be noted that she only did so at ...
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A year after Bin Laden: Could it happen again?
A year after the Abbottabad raid that plunged the US-Pakistan relationship to a new low, one big takeaway is that America’s general public is finally familiar with the name of at least one Pakistani city (though this does not mean we and our media have a handle on its geographical location). But on a more serious note, could there be an Abbottabad redux? Could there be another unannounced assault on Pakistani territory to take out a big-ticket terrorist? If there is one thing President Obama has demonstrated in recent months, it is that he is influenced by the hard-line rhetoric emanating ...
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What will Grossman’s visit achieve?
On the face of it, Pakistan and the United States are inching closer to a possible reunion as US Special Envoy for the Af-Pak theatre, Marc Grossman, is set to reset the volatile relationship with Islamabad. But there is a lot more to the equation than what meets the eye. The Parliamentary Committee on National Security has presented its recommendation to the parliament, and the defence and cabinet committees are set to endorse the new terms of engagement with the United States. Despite all the fuss, it seems that there is no fundamental change in the relations between these strange ...
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