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No, I’m not a football fan – bite me Suarez
I don’t follow football! Yes, I don’t have a favourite team – the closest I have ever gotten to it was when I played FIFA video games with my friends or back when Ronaldo had not gotten a hair...
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Don’t demolish Balaknash temple, Pakistan!
This year I had the opportunity to participate in the Janmashtami festival, the Hindu festival in which they celebrate the birth Hindu god Lord Krishna, the eighth avatar of Hindu god, Vishnu. The...
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No Pakistani can ever resist some palak paneer
I was in Pakistan for a few weeks to attend a sibling’s wedding. However, the trip turned out to be longer than expected because of the political situation in the twin cities that led to the...
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Entry tests and inept professionals: Another nail in our education coffin
A few days back, I came across the news that the government is considering to end the entry test system (ECAT & MCAT) for admissions in universities. The news left me utterly dismayed. The policy...
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Diwali in Pakistan, through pictures
The first day of Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – was celebrated at Krishna temple in Rawalpindi yesterday. As a budding photojournalist and having many friends who belong to minority sects, I...
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Remember, remember, the fourth of December!
I remember that day. It was December 4, 2009. The residents of Rawalpindi were in shock. How could a mosque right next to the military headquarters, surrounded by military bungalows with a busy local...
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We are solely to be blamed for the water crisis in Pakistan
The average person uses over 300 litres of water to wash their car at home. The average car wash uses half that amount. Some automated systems use barely a 10th of it, when accounting for water...
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Remembering Anwer Sultana with some Baisani roti and Afghani chuttney
Dill always reminds me of my Nani (maternal grandmother), Anwer Sultana. A couple of decades earlier, during winter vacations, all of us cousins would come down to Rawalpindi to spend winter breaks...
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Perhaps Pakistan can learn from Austria’s madrassas
A year before a mosque in Kanpur (pre-partition India) was razed by our British overlords to pave way for a road, and while a Jinnah-less Muslim League was yet to overhaul its objectives – which until...
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When six single women travelled from Karachi to Skardu
It was our Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (DDLJ) moment. Six single women, in their 20s, boarded the Business Train to Lahore – the first destination of our trip from Karachi to Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B)....
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Dear Imran Sahib, as a PTI supporter, I think you need to take a step back
Dear Sir, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters across the country celebrated the party’s 19th foundation day a few days ago. Indeed PTI has come a long way since then, through your sheer...
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Naran and Shogran, a winter wonderland
Recently, with the help of Royal Tourism Pakistan, I got the chance to visit one of the most popular and beautiful vacation spots in northern Pakistan – Naran and Kaghan. Considering it was May, and...
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In defence of Centaurus Mall – Why the hullabaloo?
“Rs100 just to enter? How dare they? It’s a public mall! I’m boycotting the mall!” The level of offence that some have taken to the recent decision by Centaurus Mall’s administration to charge Rs100...
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There will be no Eid for the families of the APS victims this year
This past Monday, my mother asked me for the third time, “What colour kurta do you want for Eid?” By now, between two aunts and a friend, I have already been gifted three new kurtas. My response to my...
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Jinnah’s letter to Pakistan: Who do I hold accountable?
My precious, Where do I begin? Where do I end? 68 years ago, you two breathed your first – I remember it like it was yesterday. It wasn’t ideal. They thought you two wouldn’t be able to make it, but...
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What a perfect Pakistan Super League could be like
Pakistan Super League (PSL) gets rolling in February next year. PSL promises to be a great Pakistani sporting spectacle, with competitive cricket and the entire sixes-for-fun (T20) aura. However, one...
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I took a roadtrip from Karachi to Muzaffarabad and discovered real Pakistan
Pakistan is a land of plains, plateaus, mountains and a rich cultural heritage. It also has an abundance of fruits and vegetables; an abundance which cannot be found anywhere else in the world. If...
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The lost Jewish history of Rawalpindi
While roaming the streets of Babu Mohallah, one singles out this old yellow building with its distinct features. The abundance of old and new buildings of Nishtar Street fails to overshadow the tall,...
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Why I will not celebrate Mumtaz Qadri’s execution
The rumours had been floating around since the beginning of the year, but not many outside a close-knit group really knew when it would happen, if at all. Then, before his crusaders could get a whiff...
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How I survived four and a half years in captivity
August 26, 2011, an ordinary day. I was driving to work on the same road in Lahore that I took every day, and my mind was busy with the mundane. A car blocked the road, but I didn’t give it much...
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