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Hello [Digital] World
As we celebrate almost two decades of the internet’s presence in Pakistan, intuitively it makes sense to believe that as the consumer in Pakistan gets ‘Digital’ and the technologies mature, there would...
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10 things I hate about communication in 2011
Ever wondered what life was like before we got so dependent on computers? Yes, we wrote letters that took weeks to reach. We wondered who could be calling when we answered our landlines that had no...
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The PTI’s disappointing antics
On Thursday, many of us questioned the desirability of ‘democratic rights’ for certain supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI). This happened after the editorial staff at The Express Tribune...
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Hacking is painfully easy: Anybody can be you!
Having taken the day off, I was at home sound asleep. The phone rang around 10am. I did not bother to pick it up. It stopped ringing and I became half aware that it was received by our maid. What...
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Beware of email and SMS spoofing: You could be impersonated!
I recently came across an article about an ‘evil mobile software’ on sale in Pakistan that is being used to send out fake SMS messages using other people’s mobile phone number. This act is commonly...
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My mother’s lost letters
One memory from my childhood was watching my mom sit at the kitchen table with a pen and stack of lined loose-leaf sheets of paper to write one of her three sisters a long letter, handwritten in...
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Building ‘Traffic Pakistan’ and the problem with start-ups
Around three years ago M. Ali, a close friend of mine, built a very neat road traffic reporting system. This was a low tech version (dealing with real time traffic and incident reporting) over text...
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Will the Muslim women in India find protection in the courts?
One may accuse Trupti Desai’s symbolic entry to the Haji Ali Dargah, Mumbai, and her earlier attempt to enter the Shani Shingnapur temple, as a well thought out publicity stunt highlighting her...
View ArticleWith Zidane back on the sidelines, will Real Madrid make the most of the...
For much of the 2018-19 season, Real Madrid’s campaign has been driven by pessimism and trepidation. From mediocre performances on the field to a lack of purpose off it, the Los Blancos found...
View ArticleWhy is the US making a mountain out of the Masood Azhar molehill?
The United States has introduced a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution to blacklist Masood Azhar as an international terrorist. Azhar is the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (banned in Pakistan...
View ArticleKnock knock! Annabelle is coming home and things are about to get real scary
Following the Marvel path, The Conjuring universe has grown steadily over the last six years through both, the increasing returns that most films in the franchise have delivered and in stature through...
View ArticleIndia’s ‘Operation Isolation’ and the soft power of sports
“Our message is stronger than ever. Please stop the fighting. Please stop the killing. Please drop your guns.” Juan Antonio Samaranch, President International Olympic Committee speaking at the Winter...
View ArticleWhen khudkushi became her only freedom
The sky was a pool of black ink, dusted with stars at midnight. Arsh looked out from the window — she saw many little streets sprawled out below. She had only known these streets from inside the walls...
View ArticleIran and Iraq may not be tourist hot spots, but they offer a spiritual...
I was recently invited to a trip to Iran and Iraq by a group of close friends from Lahore, and as I had never been to these states before, I decided to take the opportunity to visit the shrines...
View ArticleRawalpindi: A chaotic labyrinth, caught between heritage and heresy
In the post-modern world, the topography of the city has undergone a drastic shift. Rapid urbanisation and growing job opportunities have resulted in many cities in the developing world being swamped...
View ArticleRaw and poignant, A Place for Us beautifully sheds light on familial love
It had been some time since I cried while reading a book. And A Place for Us changed that. Fatima Farheen Mirza’s dazzling debut novel tells the story of a South Asian Muslim family living in America....
View ArticleSea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini: A father’s lament of the barbarity we call...
“My dear Marwan, I look at your profile, In the glow of this three-quarter moon, my boy, Your eyelashes like calligraphy, Closed in guileless sleep. I said to you, ‘Hold my hand. Nothing bad will...
View ArticleIs Pakistan’s N-CPEC+ vision finally beginning to take shape?
Pakistan’s unique geostrategic location at the crossroads of East, South, West, and Central Asia enables it to function as the “Zipper of Eurasia”, as I wrote over half a decade ago in September 2015...
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