Espresso Junkies Re: # 10
thanks a bunch mansoor!but to be honest,to ecah his own if people like indulging in fashion and spending money and energy on it and it makes em happy, then why not...right?but many tend to take it a little too seriously and one cant help but make them a subject of a satire!

Espresso Junkies Re: # 7
indeed your right bina its just that when i wrote it the first time around i couldnt remember the name of the thing that a freind of mine regularly eats whever we go so instead i went with what she eats in a cafe in london whenever we hangout there. error on my part!

Espresso Junkies Re: # 8
thanks a bunch aisha....you seem to be quite an over-achiever just checjed out your interactor page.goodluck with all your work and thanks for appreciating mine!

Theatre in Karachi Re: # 10
thanks kaami...will do.i think they`ll be ready for their next performance in the later part of this summer so if your`e in the city of karachi try and catch them. nothing like seeing it first-hand!

Socialist Yuppies hey real good stuff....thorougly enjoyed reading it...flowed well...hope your going to make this a regular feature...conversations between two characters on a diaspora of witty or even comonplace subjects.well done!

Theatre in Karachi Re: # 4
is that sarcasm or criticism, not quite sure?

Theatre in Karachi Re: # 3
much thanks for your appreciation for the K`la team and for my writing. you`ve actually struck me speechless...am glad you enjoy the way i write, you cant imagine what praise and encouragement can do for a writer!

Theatre in Karachi Re: # 2
its K`la as in Kull (similiar to dull) and aaaa, stretched out. make sense?

Theatre in Karachi Re: # 1
if you have any suitors in mind let me know...shall pass it on!haha...the point was to just tell you about urdu theatre in Karachi and for those who missed the debut play to introduce you to the team and thier first performance...thats all!

The House the Media Built Re: # 15
Omar...
im not equating basant with the NRA...firstly basant doesnt have a figure head like charloton heston promoting it across the region!!
anywya in all seriousness i was equating the need for people to insist that guns are a good thing even though school children use them to open fire in secondary schools just because they were lonely, were ostrasized or just had a lot of pent up aggression.
i dont undersatand how people can callously use metal wires and not even think about the consequence being so dire and so unnecessary. ofcourse thousands of children in pakistan are victimise dother ways too, theres sexual abuse, rape, murder, kidnapping, human trade, slave labour,accidents,physical handicap,begging pimps and whatnot but just because we have all those factors to blame does it justify that we cant blame the use of metal wires in kite flying as something that should be stopped.
i liked the idea of this guy on TV who said ``the only way the pak govt (supreme court) can ban the use of metal wires effectively is buying them all out``. lets see the govt do something radical and effective for a change. i dont think basant should be banned i dont think its unislamic or any of that.celebrate christmas, groundhog day, hanukkah and chinese new year if you want, just dont do it with things that can actually kill someone at the expense of your enjoyment.
somebody posed a question in dawn recently, should the death of someone by say my kites metal wire allow me to be accussed and tried for murder in the court? grave question.

The House the Media Built kulahree, i beg to differ.
Of course i do agree that we have Arab influences upon our culture,but that is more so because of the one main common factor, religion as well as a closeness in cultures as a result of migration patterns and inter-marriages. I myself am of arab descent so i have nothing against the nation or its people and didnt see the need to go blue in the face trying to defend them against the generalisation of ``camelized`` people,because as is true for every nation, be it pakistan or anywhere else we all have our gaping faults and defects and i dont want to get into a accusatory discussion of what all is wrong.
the burqa again being seen here is due to the middle eastern culture being adopted by the re-born religiois zealots, the women who attend farhat hashmis lecture or are taking quran classes and whatnot. the abaya is far more fashionable than any form of burqa pakistan has seen,therefore its increasingly popular,not to mention the indonesian jilbob.
anyhow, im sorry to disagree....heera mandi is still very much alive, it was inevitably going to degrade into what it is today as the intellectuals and poets and writers and performers of yesteryears are no more.as for basant.im horrified you can blame the government for banning a festival which is taking lives. this is like saying the anti-rifle lobbies in america are crazy because theyre infringing upon a persons right to have a rifle, even if those very rifles are abused by people in the midwest in schools, on farms over personal disputes.
come on, keep it in perspective. metal wires killing kids by slitting thier throats on the street or kite flying for the sake of celebrating basant which is more an excuse to show off male egos, drink and smoke up. make the choice.

The House the Media Built well again you cant seem to refrain from personal attacks. kulharee made a generalised assumption and thats his/her opinion, if you feel its unjust for him to call all mid-east living pakistanis camelised then give an alternative arguement. everyone has opinions form obervations and experiences they have had,you cannot just attack another`s viewpoint and come down to a personal level.
as for assuming that i know nothing about the media,again im just thoroughly appreciating how you are solidifying my case of how media is disturbing our minds,ostracising us from each other,creating fury and dissatisfacion in our lives and minds and instead of bilding tolerance its giving us more reasons to find differences and attack each other.
well done.

The House the Media Built kulharee, you said ``Being Pakistani is not being inert. Pakistani identity, like other identities is dynamic and ever changing``. i have no doubt that it is dyanmic and ever-changing but what is it changing into? a better version of itself or a morphed version of a bhujia of other cultures?there is no harm in assimiliating and imbibing good qualities from others, but what specific thing in our lifestyle, our attire or our language portrayed through the media is inherently pakistani?please ask as many people as you know who watch a lot of pakistani television and tell them to discern between an indian soap or a pakistani one running on say HUM TV or for that matter GEO - the same sarees, the same makeup, the same jewellery and the same freeze frame and zooming in camera shots with dramatic sound effects.
whatever happened to developing a bigger better modernised verison of ourselves, not of someone elses culture and ideals.
masadi....i think your offenseive remark towards kulharee is uncalled for..whats the use in personal attacks when we`re discussing how the media is brainwashing us?

Avant-garde Pakistani Women Re: # 13
heres my answer to that. i disagree. i dont think men and women are the wheels of any kind of machine. i think theyre more like a socket and switch, like oil and matches, wind and windmill, get ym drift? 2 things which complement each otehr in thier responsibilities and skill structure. but if they were both to try and somehow attain equality by measuring how much they do or what they do, then it would be disastrous. for smooth functioning, for the continuance of a healthy society men and women will define and redefine thier own roles and those of the opposite sex and will act accordingly. if a switch and a socket decide to do the same things or provide the same function how would that work? it wouldnt. as simple as that. theyre not equal, theye not the same and shouldnt be treated as such. women and inferior in certain things and superior n others and these basic differences are what eventually decide our fates and our societal responsibilities, which will shift with time and evoloution of new skills, new inventions, more stamina, more possibilities.

Avant-garde Pakistani Women Re: # 8 thanks centaur,i tried to do my best with this one.
actually not exactly 1 % of the population because there are plenty more women atleats in the cities that are studying more or working.now theres an entire section of women who do work under extremely difficult circumstances and usually have matric or BA qualification but work long hours for the sake of money. those are factiry workers, garment, textile hosiery etc etc.i will do a feature on them at some point,there are horrific stories of what goes on there.
but coming back to the point, we are responsible for the conditioning.its parents and society that does it.first women were told a marriage would identify them now they are told their career will.nobodys contemplating that both in balance could define a real women.its gone to extremes now, thats the problem.but what if dynamics change?what if family structure changes?isnt the changing world requiring that women be more educated and aware?and if they are educated doesnt that uslaly mean they would want to use thier skill and earn money?what will break this vicious cycle.

Avant-garde Pakistani Women Re: Vertex - #4
its not as simple as that. its all about conditioning. most women in eastern cultures are raised to beleive that thier real identity is when they are enjoined with someone else in matrimony.that thier accomplishemnts will always be undermined and viewed in a distorted way unless and until they are married.so no wonder women have rebelled and taken it in some cases, to the otehr extreme that they want to be ambitious and climb the corporate ladder and stand equal to men. in the process they end up sacrificing family life, children are neglected or in some cases they dont get married till thier 30`s upsetting the whole balance. but thier intention isnt wrong. all they want is to assert thier own identity,in some cases they do take it too far.bt if the whole society accepted women as a wife and as an individual then they wouldnt feel threatened enough to rebel,right?