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Nipa Chowrangi

The neighbors couldn’t hear her screaming over the sound of the building’s generator, so that particular Sunday Aslam was able to beat Tehmina for considerably longer than he usually did.

Deweaponise Your Thoughts

“..Because of the perpetual — and all-too-real — fear of being hurt, or of death, or of unbearable loss, or even of “mere” humiliation, each and every one of us, the conflict’s citizens, its prisoners, trim down our own

Girls Gone Wild

The kidnapping of civilians and policemen by the students and teachers of the madrassas associated with the Lal Masjid, as well as recent events in Tank (NWFP) is evidence of a real, escalating and dangerous movement within the ranks of the religious righ

This Really Gets My Goat

As the outcry against the Pakistani governments plan to mine the Durand Line grows, I am reminded of the title of a Ray Bradbury novel published in 1985, Death Is A Lonely Business. Death is a lonely business. Step on an anti-personnel landmine, and it

The Clash of Stupidities

Our mullahs use women’s legs as a platform, presenting their exposure in skirts etc as a sign of the west’s immorality. Conservative Indian commentators clip onto their sari wearing sister’s navels like infected belly button rings, casti

The Modern Bogeyman

Suited sadomasochists, persistent forces of nature, varied forms of organic degradation…our fascinations are becoming increasingly morbid. Instead of fearing nothing but God, we fear everything but God.

The Lament of Master Yoda

Double standards might well be the last bastion of universal brotherhood, seeing as they are practiced by all people everywhere to some degree or other.

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Did it really make sense to continuously invest belief into an enterprise that paid no dividends? Could a slaphappy PR job keep at bay the thought that it was called a ‘soft’ image because you had to be soft in the head to believe it?

Happy Days are Here Again

Who hasn’t experienced rejection? I know I have. There was that guy in class six who didn’t understand the signals I was sending him (I really should have waited for him to hit puberty first). There was that editor at the biggest daily in Kara

Doctor, Can You Give Me Something for the Pain?

If I have an accident? Aap ladies hain. I can get away with it. Reassuring it is to add this to the list of situations where my gender is actually an advantage in my homeland

The 'Ikes of March

When it was finally our turn to be interviewed we were so drained by the wait it took us several seconds to vocalize our answers to the questions the principal posed. Our son did the smart thing and slid under the table after saying hello

Sin City

I had a run-in with a Ninja Bastard a few weeks ago at a posh hotel where the PM was coming to attend a cardiology conference and I got the distinct feeling they are very clear on what is important and what is not. VIP good. Average person bad.

Faith No More

What better way to start the project than shooting the traditional family Christmas lunch, when the aforementioned Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, agnostics gathered in my khala’s house in Karachi for turkey, shandys, chai, presents and gossip?

The Not-so-happy Hooker

I have taken on family, friends, teachers, strangers, and once even a stuffed animal for sexist behavior, but my hatred of this odious man simmered beneath the surface

Revisiting Myself: a Once-potted Plant with a Dictaphone?

On Awakening

“Sheep,” I was still fuming when we finally drove up to the hospital and found a handy parking spot right by the gate, “that’s what we are.” The contractions, which had started two hours ago, were getting pretty strong now.

Land grabbing, the American way

The old U.S. Consulate, with its cement and barbed wire garland creating an effective stranglehold on a once busy road, has been a thorn in Karachi’s side for years now. A new one, if built at the proposed site, would go far beyond creating traffic

Holistic Education

Because of the very silence they believe will nurture their children’s innocence, families place their children at greater risk even as they seek to protect them... In the absence of a parent child dialogue, teachers can talk to children about cult

The Second Wave

Profiles of four outstanding filmmakers at the upcoming 4th Karafilm Festival ...

Barcodes and Bottoms

“If you had just bought one of those three thousand rupee Chinese models you wouldn’t be having this problem at all,” he told me.

What word?

“Hey so if we had a culture does that mean we’d have to give up the bits we’ve taken from other peoples?”

Searching for Infantopia

Motherhood is only one aspect of the female of the species. The growing number of early childhood care and educational initiatives is one of the most obvious indications of this shift in attitude.

Know Your Enemy

Interestingly, what I am beginning to feel more and more bothered by are the very English speaking Pakistanis I feel most similar to. Like the mullahs, they had little to do with the creation of Pakistan but now keep suggesting they are the best in

Thank you George

In the wake of September 11, the ‘Muslim world’ has fallen headfirst into an identity crisis. While falling on one’s head is generally quite painful, the fall was buffered by the fact that the ‘Muslim world’ doesn’t rea

What Cats Dream

Inspector Duffy-u-Din Bangash of the FIA (Feline Investigation Agency) versus Bhooki Aloo (It was her passion for crime, that made her a household name.)

Banish Those Teacher Blues

For several generations now, the people of my family have been educating others about the best way to do things. Some of them have been teachers too

Call to Action for Oil Spill

Please cut and paste the following text and email it to the Karachi Nazim, the Prime Minister and the Presidents offices. This is a call to sign a petition

Haseena and Jannat (on earth)

even her grim demeanor cannot hide the fact that she is very attractive

Mummy Guzzlers United

Motherhood has helped me steer clear of the highly contagious war virus sweeping the globe.

Let There be Light...

So is childbirth the ending of one story and the beginning of another?

Chowk Tale

Today is one of those days. How fortunate I am to not be a) Iraqi b) maimed c) man d) poor e) alone is quickly answered with How unfortunate am I to be a) Pakistani b) fat c) woman d) financially dependent e) lonely.

Tacoma

Last night I dreamt about a girl called Tacoma. She was small and lost in early ‘80’s Defense Housing Authority Phase 5

Return of the Blob

Mothers hold the key to heaven.

Piece of What?

I left home for a gathering of peaceniks and ended up at the social event of the year. The card in my hand said ‘Arundhati Roy: keynote speaker: seminar on peace and freedom in south Asia’

Another One Bites The Dust

General Musharrafs ‘political correctness’ made it easy to ignore questions

Bloated Woman

Bounce around ultrasound baby.

The Price

the Taliban are gone, crowds line the streets to greet victorious soldiers of the Northern Alliance. What are they saying..

Journalists or Americans?

Is Islamist even a word?

The Nature of The Sea

I mean, the boy was dead.

Karachi Dreams

Karachi thrums like the strings of an electric guitar

Spew

the city staggered to its feet like a dazed Cockroach

Karachi Dreams

a metropolis vast in size and tiny in the scope of its productivity

The Garage School

The garage school does not discriminate on the basis of religion.

An Obituary

Whatever you did to the least of my children, you did it for Me

Hidden Hindus

What is it like?

Happy Birthday Chowk ...

Chowk has punctured bubbles, compressed distances, diluted aggression, resisted definition, ridden out storms and created monsters

Why I’m proud to be a Pakistani

Sometimes it takes the kindness of strangers

Crickety Shickety

There can be no greater sin than desire for attention

Run Ayesha Run

Women are not built for speed

The Point

“main Mussalman hoon”...Can a man dressed like this do something like

The Skeletons who would be People

Ayesha came flying into the room like an Indian projectile

Relationship 2000

lost in a supermarket in my knickers

Goodbye, yellow brick road..

today is the first day of my last week as a teacher...

Deprivation

This is my story. Leave me and you die

11 Men and a Ball

For those who have missed the point so far let me state it clearly and unequivocally: Cricket retards male intelligence

The Dark Tower

The editor of Pakistani most outspoken English weekly was arrested in a most undemocratic manner for going abroad and saying what we all say in our living rooms

Black and White

The latest in trilogy, shot in black and white.

Accident

Who is going to pay the human cost of suffering?

Obituary of a Would-be-famous Writer

Poverty is to destiny what Bata is to shoes.

The Vacuous World

Perhaps I too should learn to kiss the air

The City of Gargoyles

The first thing you notice about Lahore is the posture of the men at the airport.

Builders’ Mafia

Travails of Karachi’s people and skyline.

The Boys who will be Men

The supreme guru of all things in sight was perched birdlike...

Love in the 90’s

She told the man she’d had a pig

Oxygen

This is Karachi... there is no... fresh air

The Lost Generation

You cannot throw a stone without hitting a cynic here

A Voice in the Wilderness

Humor and hope, Karachi style.

Shwot

A cat jumped through my window, landed on my bed...

This Should Do It

Confessions of the other woman we all talk about

Modern Armies and Their Invincible Plans

The minister was apparently on lunch break and had been for some years

Scaly

Running from a mob incited by hatred of
my haircut, I screeched...

Vomit

Uh.yeah..hello…I think I left my hand in your car……

Shandana Minhas

• Articles on Chowk: 72
• First article: Aug 6, 1998
• Latest article: May 8, 2008
• Times read on Chowk: 699073