Afia's blog

ACHIEVEMENTS: Miracle Workers

2008-11-30T22:18:00.000-08:00

Often a relentless sense of optimism, persistence and willingness to work is all you need to succeed, says Afia Mansoor

If you’re hardworking, enterprising and have a positive outlook on life, you have all the tools you need to earn your bread and butter and enjoy a decent standard of living. Sounds unbelievable? Read on and see how many people have proved this fact again and again.

Life perhaps gives all of us a chance to ‘make it’ as the saying goes. There are some who rise to the challenge and brave the odds to become successful at their enterprise. People belonging to the lower economic strata especially, need to be extremely enterprising, since the decadent state of public education and the difficulty in securing a decent job through merit ensures that the massive majority of the poor are trapped forever in the vicious circle of poverty.

This scribe talked to some entrepreneurs who started out with literally no financial resources, who belong to the lower income groups and who now manage to support their families respectably and have successfully evaded the poverty trap.

Kashif, a part-time employee in a government organisation, was financially broke eight years ago but had a burning passion to improve his family’s standard of living. He worked as a part-time computer operator in two companies, yet it was very difficult for him to make ends meet.He grew interested in the catering business and entered a partnership with a friend on commission basis. In three years, he learned how to cook as well as all the ins and outs of the business; he hired a cook and opened a small kitchen to sell a 15 rupee plate of biryani. The first day he sold 12 daigs and never looked back.As the business grew, he hired more cooks, got hold of a financier and three years later opened his new office with a custom-built kitchen. He says, “After eight years into the trade I have tremendous patronage from customers. I have come a long way and nowadays I am selling various three-course menus and have arranged food for events running into millions of rupees.

I have introduced my own improvisation on dishes like lagan gosht and shahi biryani which have gone down very well with my customers.”It has not been all smooth sailing as he explains, “I didn’t have any initial investment or monetary support which is very vital if you are opening a new enterprise. Once I lost all my money by investing in a barbecue set-up. Also, in this business you tend to sacrifice on family time as I usually get home at around 4 or 5am. However, our efforts have been gratifying as eight years ago, we lacked even the bare necessities and today I have a comfortable home, a car, my kids go to decent schools. What more could I want?”

Sultan, 20, is a tailor who learned the craft as an apprentice at the age of 14 and then decided to start his own work. He lives with his family in the servant quarters of a house in Lahore’s Defence area and this family has been very generous in permitting him to carry on his work from their house.Sultan’s modus operandi gives him the edge. He has a number of customers from whom he picks up the clothes, stitches them within two days and delivers them right to their doorstep. His clients vouch for his neat cutting and stitching.Sultan exclaims proudly, “When Begum Sahiba’s daughter was getting married she got me to stitch her daughter’s and the entire family’s clothes. I stitched some 80 dresses in a month, working as long as 20 hours a day at times. She paid me generously in return!”He continues, “I have kept my prices a little lower than the market rates and the fact that I visit clients at their home, even buy the accompanying lace or buttons for them and deliver the stitched clothes to their door saves them time and fuel and the hassle of running around after tailors.”

Bushra got married to her cousin when she was 16. In another six years she had four children. She lived in a little village near Sheikhupura where she tended to the needs of a large family. Her husband was illiterate and lacked any marketable skills. He drove a tonga and was not able to support his family due to the rising cost of maintaining the animal.Though Bushra’s in-laws were supportive, she found it increasingly difficult to fulfil the basic needs of her children. After all her backbreaking labour she still had no cash in hand to meet her expenses.

Seema, another villager, offered to teach Bushra the art of waxing which is a lucrative skill and in great demand by women who prefer to have waxing done at home rather than visit a parlour. Bushra, with her family’s consent learned the skill and was sent by Seema, along with her homemade wax, for the first appointment. Bushra was nervous but the client understood her predicament and encouraged her to go on. In fact, she paid Bushra more than she dared to demand. From that day, she never looked back. She would book appointments by using the local grocery shop’s phone who would charge her Rs2 for each call, but in spite of this investment she made a substantial profit.

For several years she persisted at the task, some times with no client for days. However, news of her skill and punctuality spread through word of mouth, and her reputation followed her even when she moved to Lahore. Her husband left work when they moved and now accompanies Bushra to every house. Today she is extremely proud of her journey. Sixteen years of rigorous labour have enabled Bushra to feed her four children, marry off her three sisters-in-law, and help her to financially support her brother-in-law’s family. She has educated all her children and is usually booked with appointments for the whole day. She says, “I have worked exceptionally hard to achieve financial stability. However, along the way I met some supportive people who gave me encouragement when I really needed it.”

Tamkeen is another ‘waxing lady’ in Lahore. Adept in the added skills of threading, facial, manicure, pedicure and massage, she is able to secure a good income each day and works only by appointments. She sends her children to a good school, swimming classes and is taking English Language tutorials herself to improve her communication skills. She has the added advantage of being able to drive, so she does not have to wait for male chaperones to accompany her to various homes.

One of the main success factors for each of these people was the availability of cell phones as this was the method through which they established and secured their business. Low calling costs have also helped these small-scale entrepreneurs who need to connect to their customers on a regular basis. Nearly all the entrepreneurs admitted that though some of their clients haggled over payments, they were largely satisfied by the money they made each day.The common factor between all the people interviewed was their relentless sense of optimism, persistence, and willingness to work hard and it is undoubtedly these traits that have made them successful. They all made adversity work for them. Perhaps this could be a lesson or two for people who end up blaming the system for their own shortcomings.

This article was published in The Review, Dawn Newspaper on November 27, 2008.

FESTIVAL REPORT: What A Show!: 25th WORLD PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL

2008-11-30T21:38:00.000-08:00

The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s World Performing Arts Festival was an eventful fare this year. It was the theatre company’s 25th festival, it was held without a sponsor in trying times of terrorist threats and recession and three explosions took place during the festival, too.

Having experienced the first explosion, I must say I have also joined the increasing league of unfortunate Pakistanis experiencing terror firsthand. Thank God there were no casualties or serious damage. But more on the blasts later.

The festival was a pleasant montage of all kinds of performing arts and some of the performances were thoroughly enjoyable. On the fifth day, the Rifco Arts from the UK presented the hour-long comedy It Ain’t All Bollywood about a girl obsessed with the artificial world of Hindi films. She is eventually brought out of her self imposed exile by her childhood Irish friend who recognises her on his frequent trips to her house as the courier guy. A beautiful story, simple and aesthetic props, brilliant acting and humour made the play fun to watch.

The first of Abbas Jutt’s solo nautanki performance was scheduled in the Punjabi Cultural Complex’s auditorium on the night of the folk music concert. It was ironic that a talented singer like Abbas was scheduled to perform in the same time slot as folk artistes like Saeein Zahoor and Arif Lohar, but in a separate auditorium where only a handful of people came to hear him. The organisers should have accommodated him in the folk concert which would have given him a bigger audience. Abbas’s renditions of the folk tales of Sohni Mahiwal and Sassi Punhu in traditional Punjabi style were sonorous yet ill-placed before a nearly empty auditorium.

The Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Foundation from Hyderabad Deccan in India performed Raat Phoolon Ki, an unscripted 70-minute act of poetry, music and dance. Qadir Ali Baig was a poet and a lover of the performing arts, and many of his poems became songs for the Indias Hindi film industry. The play was produced by Begum Razia Qadir Ali Baig, directed by Mohammad Ali Baig and the poetry was recited by well-known actor Arif Zakaria. The combination dance was derived from various Indian classical genres and it was choreographed and performed by Dr. Alekhya Punjla and her troupe. The beautiful fusion music to which the dances were performed was composed by the famous santoor player Rahul Sharma.

The Aakar Puppet Theatre from India delivered a fabulous performance in the name of Dhola Maro. It was a Rajasthani folk legend of a princess and her beloved prince who comes to marry her defying all odds including a spell-casting envious witch, a horned monster and a huge python.The props were an exquisite representation of the rich and colourful Rajasthani culture and the puppeteers handled the string marionettes very skillfully. In one of the scenes, a single puppeteer balanced the prince holding the princess on a dancing camel. Other scenes like the puppets breathing, juggling a ball and doing a peacock dance completely won the audience over. Children loved the hour-long performance and many ran to the stage after the show to check out the puppets up close.

The Ariel Theatre from Bulgaria performed Clever Peter for young children. The story was based on the Bulgarian folk tale of an adventurous, trickster peasant called Peter who goes about helping the poor and wriggles out of difficult situations by using his wits. The technique used was hand puppetry and the two puppeteers did an okay job as they fumbled with the English at times.

The Hungry Heart Festival (India) performed As The Sun Sets. It was a story of a family coming to terms with the family’s patriarch Viraj dying of cancer in old age.The play explored human feelings beautifully as in the end the daughter realises her mother’s worth. The play had some really good acting by Prabha Tonk (wife),Anjali (aunt) and Danish Iqbal (servant).

A day prior to the closing of the festival, the National School of Drama, India, presented Azizun. It was captivating play set in the 1857 period of Kanpur. The play revolved around a courtesan called Azizun who is in love with Shamsuddin, a soldier with the East India Company. Shamsuddin decides to join the rebellion and when his frequent comings to the house of Azizun get noticed by the Company officers, she decides to join the rebels and her house is used for the secret revolt movement.The play was simply enchanting as the sets were put up on three sides of the camp making the audience feel as though they were sitting in a 3-D theatre. The script was a mix of pristine Urdu and bits of Hindi. Soul-stirring dialogues such as when Shamsuddin convinced other soldiers to join his revolt against the Company and said: “Tumhain khud mein aur khuda mein faisla karna hoga” were a treat to hear. The stage was set at different elevations hence Azizun’s house was actually a two-storied building. Another platform with stairs positioned behind the audience was used effectively for the revolt scenes.During the small length of time in which I managed to watch the performance, it felt like I was transported to another world. The music, the subtle and graceful dance and the language was magical. The play unfortunately could not conclude due to the explosions even though the actors brilliantly carried on through the earlier disruptive fireworks at the match in the nearby Qaddafi Stadium.

The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s Come Back To The Coffee House One More Time Rafi Peer was also staged the same day. It was about Rafi Peer and the fact that he was far ahead of his time and believed in empowering people to be change agents themselves through the use of performing arts. The dialogue was a mix of Urdu, Punjabi and English, and set in different time periods. Rafi Peer’s ideology was narrated by the characters who themselves are trying to understand the depth of his thoughts long after he has departed the world.Directed by Salmaan Peerzada, the play made an ingenious use of props and there was attention to detail as when the coffee house setting was created there was the faint clink of real cups and silver in the backstage to bring in the real touch. Though some of the audiences found the play difficult to understand, according to Tasneem Peerzada (press director), the play was a new technique for the Pakistani audience who have not been exposed to its subtlety.

As we left the final performance and walked on the pavilion round the open-air theatre, the first explosion took place. It was definitely not a firecracker this time. But we knew it was a low-intensity bomb as the sound was not loud enough. As we stood with our back to the theatre, a woman in one of the handicrafts stall before us looked above us at the walls of the theatre and let out a most terrifying scream.

My husband and I turned around to look above us in what seemed like a moment cast in eternity as we thought there was a bomber right above our heads waiting to explode his explosives-laden jacket! But there was only smoke and dust rising and as the woman ran screaming towards the theatre, people panicked and started running towards the exit points. Some RPTW staffers got hold of the woman as she fainted and it transpired that her young son was in the theatre for the concert. What was commendable was the calm that the RPTW staff showed in treating the lady. A worker announced that the sound was that of a gas cylinder exploding, perhaps in a bid to pacify the panicking crowd.

As we left the premises unhurried, the scene outside had changed to scores of ambulances, a news coverage van, and police contingents moving into action. The second explosion took place when we were leaving the Qaddafi Stadium’s exit gate and it had been a good 20 minutes since the first one took place. Later, it saddened me to know that three people were injured, not due to of the explosions but in the panicky stampede that ensued.

This article was published in Images, Dawn Newspaper on November 30, 2008

Maria B.

2008-11-27T20:11:00.000-08:00

Maria B. the woman is a fine confluence of art and enterprise. Her fashion house by the same name is the only one in Pakistan that has a standardized sizing system, comes up with 5 new collections each year, exports 3 product lines, does textiles and couture bridals under one roof, markets 5 different product lines and is headed by Maria; a trained designer.

The enterprising woman knew what she wanted since the beginning. In 1994, she was offered a place at the prestigious St. Martin School of Fashion in London but chose to be at the Pakistan School of Fashion Design where she went on to top for four consecutive years. The staunch patriot defends her decision back then saying, “I wanted to stay in my country and be close to the people and fabrics I was to work with later. The PSFD was also syndicated with the La Chambre Syndicale in France which is the best fashion school in the world, so I didn’t need to go elsewhere.”

Her brilliance manifested while she was still in school. As a third year student in 1997, Maria represented Pakistan along with some of her batch mates at the prestigious ‘Les Etoiles de la mode’ – World Young Designers Award held in Belgium. Competing against 22 countries, Maria finished among the top three in the final world rankings. The five outfits she showed there were according to her a ‘symbolic representation of Pakistan’s evolution over the last few centuries’. One of the jurists who had worked with Versace had commented that ‘her portfolio was the best he had seen in years.’ The dye of her success was cast then, perhaps.

Back then Maria’s vision was ‘to become Pakistan’s first International brand in fashion’ and she had to start out in a country where her field of specialization was nascent. Her unique selling proposition and her individual philosophy has been in her words, ‘to provide high fashion with affordability’. According to her, “10 years ago fashion in Pakistan was in its infancy. I was the first graduate from a fashion school and my vision was to develop the ready-to-wear market. I wanted to make fashion accessible to women and not be a garage studio aunty designer making bridals. I graduated with honors from college and decided to make a difference. I went for daring cuts, international silhouettes and incorporated the latest trends into our traditional clothes. It was instant success mashaAllah. I became so confident that I opened my second shop in Karachi and that became a better commercial success than my first shop in Lahore. The key was to educate the clientele in Pakistan and it was not easy back then. There was no media exposure and no FTV. The biggest hurdle was to train women to look beyond embellishments and focus on trends and cuts that suited them. One success led to another and today Maria B. is the largest retailer of women’s designer wear in Pakistan.”

Her success is phenomenal from a business point of view. What started out ten years ago as a shop in Lahore with 10 employees is now a million dollar company; the only Pakistani designer label to have reached out to the maximum number of women through its diverse product range, affordable pricing and distribution across 4 cities in Pakistan with more outlets in the pipeline.

The spirited entrepreneur’s label holds the unique distinction of designing, manufacturing and retailing a wide range of prêt, couture and unstitched lawn. According to Maria her company’s production is the highest among the local fashion industry for these three lines on a monthly basis. The label is internationally stocked in Manchester, Birmingham, New Delhi, Abu Dhabi, Orlando, Washington, New York, New Jersey and Dallas. Maria B. is the only Pakistani Designer Label with a franchise and store in London making it the first Pakistani designer brand to go international. Maria B. is also the only Fashion House in Pakistan that sells online and gets shipping orders from as far as the Netherlands.

Her success can perhaps also be attributed partially to her philosophy of ‘making high fashion affordable. She recalls how she used to frequent a boutique in Karachi when she was in her teens and found the clothes very expensive. Says she, “The manager of the boutique used to treat me like a nobody because I couldn’t buy the stuff on my own. It really put me off and I used to tell my mother that I’d open a shop one day that would have clothes for everyone. That everyone would be welcome in it.” That is the culture she has tried to develop in her shops all over the country. Her reasonable price ranges have attracted women from various demographics to her clothes. In fact women from the middle income strata prefer her lawn fabric for its price and quality.

Introducing lawn and recently the voile fabric has been a wise business decision for Maria who saw it as a great way of bringing high fashion to the streets. She brought out lawns in 2006 when there were only three other designer lawns being sold. Today her prints are highly sought after despite four more competitors in the scene.

Maria’s consistent triumph through her career is an inspiration for both business and fashion students. She has lectured frequently on entrepreneurship at LUMS where the MBA students are required to do a case study on her. She has also conducted workshops for PSFD students besides being on PSFD’s Board of Governors and acting as Jurist for the school’s events.

Not content with lapping her prior achievements and basking in their glory, Maria keeps coming out with new brands each year. Her latest offering is the Mgirl brand for young women with a global fashion sensibility. She states, “Mgirl will be the new fun and fearless brand by Maria B. I saw the need to create a western brand within Maria B. as the younger generation is now dressing with a global sensibility, and there are no accessories available in Pakistan. Mgirl is a pioneering brand with a vast product line ranging from shoes, bags, belts, clothes, scarves and jewelry down to even rings and brooches.”

For Maria to achieve her first goal of going international has not been enough. She says, “whenever I fulfill a goal, I have 10 new goals lined up ahead. My new goal is to become a lifestyle brand within the next ten years, inshaAllah, and to retail across 5 – 6 countries in the next decade with a full line of accessories, shoes, bags, eastern and western women’s wear, menswear, children wear, home furnishings… the list goes on, and on.”

She takes a great deal of care to ensure controls with the aesthetics of her work. is concerned, for in 10 years and with a tremendous number of lines and designs being produced under her label; she still is the only one designing at Maria B. The rest are all textile designers. The 33 year old declares confidently, “I have had designers off and on for the production and pattern side but never for the creative end. I have always maintained creative control but now my systems are ready to take a new creative team of designers who can start taking control.”

“What thrills her most,” I ask, “the art or the enterprise?”

‘Actually a combination of both.’ She responds, “Allah has blessed me with a creative mind and the gut of a true entrepreneur. One cannot succeed as a designer unless you can manage the business end of your enterprise. The reason behind the success of Maria B. is the combination of a creative sense and a business acumen”.

A staunch patriot, Maria is actively involved in streamlining the procedures for the Pakistani fashion industry and wants to see its structure and approach changed for the better. She says, “We have to wake up from our egoistical slumber”, she states emphatically, “we stand no where in the international scene. We are a divided lot and if it were not the Pakistan Fashion Design Council, I would see no hope for fashion in Pakistan. But the council is the best thing that happened to the industry. I’m one of the founding members of the Council and we are all working to make fashion an industry, and promote the business of fashion in Pakistan".

The edited version of this article was published in Libas International Magazine Vol. 3 2008.

All The World’s A Stage: WORLD PERFORMING ARTS FESTIVAL 2008

2008-11-23T23:39:00.000-08:00

Amidst the bomb scare and the recession despair, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop’s (RPTW) World Performing Arts Festival kicked into action in Lahore from November 13.It was a tall order putting up the show this year with no corporate sponsorship, phenomenally expensive air fare and a tremendous risk of terrorist attacks. However the RPTW has managed to put a brave front and decided to give their best to this, their 25th festival. The only consistent assistance from the previous years was the collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and the Lahore Arts Council.

What was also notable this year was the complete disengagement with government officials. Last year’s show was inaugurated by the then Lahore Governor who also attended some of the performances. The year before that, former President Pervez Musharraf had cut the ribbon.

This year the management decided to make Begum Rafi Peer inaugurate the festival and described her as the “biggest VIP as she is the mother of the seven Peerzadas managing the event and has attended every festival since the past 25 years.” However, Faizaan Peerzada, the president of the RPTW, hoped for good support from the government in the provision of extra security.

When probed by as to how the RPTW had managed to put up a festival of such a huge scale despite the lack of sponsorship Faizaan said that his company ha had invested in acquiring its own lighting, sound, props and camps which slashed expenses almost by half. He said that the corporate that had been sponsoring the show since the past several years could not do so this year due to recession. Its ironic though as the said corporate has literally bombarded television and billboards throughout the city with its new campaign ads. Surely, priority lies with making the buck while there’s the chance and patronising the arts becomes a preoccupation for affluent times.

Coming back to the festival, despite the issues of travel advisories by international embassies, some 300 delegates from 10 countries made it to Lahore this year. Overall, some 24 theatre performances have been staged over the course of the 11-day festival that ends today by artistes from Pakistan, India, UK, USA, Afghanistan, Germany and Italy. The genres include an assortment of mime, street theatre and stand-up comedy among others. The 14 puppet performances include string, hands and shadow techniques with artistes from Ireland, Netherlands, Bulgaria, India, Iran, Czech Republic, France and Pakistan performing. A highlight this year was the Uncle Sargam Show which was missed during the past festivals.

The concert nights held under a specific theme each night included performances by Ali Azmat and Overload in Rock Night, Strings in Pop Night, Tina Sani in Ghazal Night and Abida Parveen in Mystic Night among a host of other performers.The dance performances have been dominated by India this year with five groups from the country performing genres of Bharat Natyam, Kathak and the Rajasthani folk dance. The Pakistani entries include Sheema Kirmani, Fasihur Rehman and Wahab Shah.

A total of 31 films were originally scheduled for screening during the festival with entries from Pakistan, France, Turkey and a major chunk from India’s parallel and commercial cinema such as Gandhi My Father, Chameli, Main Zinda Hoon, Dharavi, etc.

Despite, however, some great performances, the festival has not managed to pull crowds in this year and perhaps this can be attributed to not only security concerns but also the steep ticket fare (Rs500 per head for a concert night and for international performances). The Youth Performing Arts Festival held only last month had witnessed long queues outside the venue in Lahore along with jam-packed performances. However, the WPAF, despite having professional performances by international groups, has only managed to draw a handful of art aficionados. The management, realising the importance of drawing families, included folk puppetry in the schedule by the fifth day. Usually it has been an important part of the festival from the start and the cheaper tickets facilitate the people more.

There have been great crowd-pullers though like the stand up comedians Sadia Mirza from the UK and Azhar Usman from the US. While Shazia Mirza’s 60-minute performance was subtle and amusing, it was Azhar Usman who had the audience rolling with laughter. The bearded comedian who has grown up in Chicago has parents from Patna in India and hence has been exposed to desi culture. He whiplashed the quintessential desi trait of bootlegging famous brands into great imitations of ‘Tommy Hilfinger’, ‘Abhibaas’ and ‘Nice’. His anecdotes of facing discrimination, of desis distorting English pronunciation (specially the Ws and the Vs) and of desi aunties was hilarious. The comedian brilliantly handled comments from the audience, spinning a cannonball of humour back to a particular smart aleck who tried to get the better of him. The audience loved him and raised a cry for an encore.

The Jack and Joe Theatre from Italy and Germany performed Life Back about the mundane antics of two friends, one of whom is resurrected on the anguished pleas of the other. Though the performance was fine, it was the stage effects that really caught my attention. In one of the sequences, golden light thrown on to round mirrors hanging from strings tied to the ceiling created a dazzling effect into the dark hall. When a semi-reflective silver sheet was added to the background it created a surreal look. In another, the use of a falling feather, golden light, bubbles in the air and cigarette smoke looked very poetical.

Afghanistan’s Aftaab Theatre presented Tartuffe (with English subtitles). Adapted from the play by French playwright Moliere, it was directed by French director Helen Cinque. The group will also perform in India and then in Paris. Tartuffe is about a priest who manipulates his way into a nobleman’s house and attempts at having a licestious affair with his wife.

Despite this year’s annoyances of scheduling glitches and a higher performance ticket fare, the RPTW management must be commended for holding the show in the dire circumstances. The festival is a great platform to expose the public to the universal messages of life from art around the world. And it works both ways. In the innocent words of the Italian puppeteer Elizabetta Potasso who is engaged with the ‘all women’ French Compagnie Filles en Tropiques that uses its income for the welfare of street children in developing countries, “It’s important for me to come to Pakistan in this festival despite the circumstances. Otherwise who will tell the people back home that you guys also have two eyes, two ears, two legs and arms and you also laugh on the same jokes as we do.”

This article was published in Images, Dawn Newspaper on November 23, 2008.

2008-11-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

Young At Heart

With the heat and humidity taking a bow for this season in Lahore, the cultural scene is all set to pick up; amid tight security of course.The Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) held its week-long 7th Youth Performing Arts Festival at the Alhamra Cultural Complex in the third week of October in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian Embassy and assisted by the Lahore Arts Council.

The response to the event turned out to be better than expected despite the air of despair that seems to have enveloped the country along with incessant power breakdowns. Admittedly, even the organisers were afraid of putting up the show due to the security risk and publicity was minimal to avoid unwanted attention.Some 13 schools, colleges and universities participated in the event that culminated with an award ceremony for the best entries. Admission to the event was free and it was heartening to see families flock to the performances. The event perhaps lacked only in punctuality as most performances were delayed by at least half an hour. This was due to the amateur artistes taking too long in getting ready to perform. Also, as the crowd turnout was more than expected, seating arrangements became inadequate and some events held in the tented camps saw people in huge queues lined outside the entrances.

Coming back to the entries, 10 musical bands participated in the gig night, five dance performances, seven mime performances and 18 plays in all. The 30 short films screened at the festival also included documentaries and music videos.

Ajoka Theatre staged Hotel Mohenjodaro about a flourishing society decaying due to selfish collusion, sectarianism and the swollen egos of those at the helm of affairs.Other notable plays in the festival included 3 Jones by Alif Adaab of the NCA about three upcoming heroes of Happy Town in the Wild West. The play was hilarious and the techniques used included shadows, video projections and stage drama. It was followed by a puppet performance titled The Smooth Puppeteers. The Maas Foundation presented Permeshar Singh based on the short story by Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi about a Sikh who saves a Muslim boy from Partition riots and thereby his religion. The play was applauded generously by the audience who related to the theme of humanity and love for all.Beaconhouse National University’s Char Gram Performing Arts Society presented Aath Bajay, a funny story about a young man who wants to become a professional cook but his family does not approve. He eventually wins his mother’s support when she is convinced that he would commit suicide otherwise. The play portrayed our society’s narrow mindedness to creativity unconventional pursuits in a comic manner. The play was well received.

The Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi presented a creative performance called 8 Openings about eight individuals from completely different backgrounds who narrate their life experiences. Not knowing each other, yet their story is interlinked, something which is only revealed to the audience. The play had an interesting set concepts which included a very slickly shot video.The most hilarious play was by the GC University Faisalabad titled Heer Ranjha 2008, a modern take on the legendary folk tale. Heer was played by Rizwan Daawar who also directed the play. The sight of a guy dressed up as Heer and dancing to the late Malika-i-Tarannum Noor Jehan’s Mahi Aave Ga had people rolling with laughter. Jokes about rising prices, power breakdowns, mobile phones and teenage crushes were enjoyed by all and sundry, so much so that even the judges couldn’t keep a straight face.

The play by the Institute of Space and Technology, Islamabad titled Ibn-i-Kabeel oddly justified suicide bombings as a reaction to corruption in society. Madeeha Gauhar commented on the play by saying, “I was shocked that these students upheld the heinous act of suicide bombings by saying they were justified. Nobody under any circumstances whatsoever can be allowed to take innocent people’s lives. Coming from an educational institute of the country’s capital, this was very disturbing indeed. It was even more shocking to see the audience applauding the play which shows how twisted and negative we all have become, and how the TV news media has shaped our collective understanding of such situations to brutal immunity rather than empathetic action.”

The University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore’s Basti Daad was an enjoyable performance and the actors performed brilliantly, making one forget that they were amateurs. The play was about a small railway station that was soon to be closed down for trains due to thin traffic. It focused on the thoughts of the staff and the few passengers coming to the station faced with an uncertain future. The play made a beautiful symbolic reference to Pakistan.

Something notable in most plays (except for adaptations) was the frequent mention of inflation, power shortage, the dysfunctional judiciary and weak-willed politicians. The performers were discerning and witty on the collective morass befalling the country, such as in the play Leray Chor by the Islamabad-based Pattan Lok Natak. The story was about a thief who steals clothes from a policeman, a cleric and a politician and mingles with the common people to go unnoticed. The people finally identify the thief among them and give him a good thrashing.

On the contrary, western adaptations performed without adapting the story and setting to local flavour failed to find favour with the audience.

The article was published in Images, Dawn on November 9, 2008

The Mystic from Pakpattan - Amatullah Armstrong

2008-11-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

The narrow winding alleys that ascend up to the darbar of Baba Fareed Ganj Shakar in Pakpattan are abuzz with qawwali, the beat of dhol and shopkeepers calling out from tabaruk shops. It is a surreal world. Made even more so by the presence of an enchanting tall, white woman seated most comfortably before the langar khana; a place where free food for devotees is prepared.

The woman is Amatullah Armstrong. She is an Australian by birth but has lived in so many times and places all over the world that she seems to be above time and place. She is an acclaimed author and a Sufi dervish who came to Islam after 7-years of intense search for what she describes as ‘truth and the true direction of life’. Nothing about her is ordinary.

She tells enchanting stories of how she saw a whale giving birth in the Pacific Ocean while being protected by a circle of dolphins, or how Paulo Coelho met her with warm regards and compliments in Poland where she and her qawwal husband were his guests. Her books have been published in various languages and she has a terrific fan following with people yearning to know more about Islam and Sufism. Listening to her timeless tales in the darbar of Baba Farid seemed liked an incredible experience.

Smiling, she relates her story of coming to Islam that took her through dozens of countries around the world. “It was a long journey. I remember the first seeds were perhaps sown by my father who was a big lover of the poetry of Omar Khayyam. My father was a very dashing and romantic man and the way he read Khayyam’s poetry had a big impact on me. The seeds were watered further when a teacher at the school in Sydney taught me a poem ‘Abu Ben Adhem’ when I was 8. It was about the great Sufi master Ibrahim Adham; the king of Balkh. That poem had a remarkable influence on me for the rest of my life. There was a period of draught for the seeds during my teenage years, the hippie years and my Beatle fan years. I went to an Art School and married a man I had met there against my parents’ wishes. Over the years I got disenchanted by the superficiality of the Art scene with the constant ego battles and the rat race and we moved to the countryside. Exposed to the nature I began scratching the surface of various philosophies like Hari Krishna and Zen Buddhism.”

Her fascinating journey took shape when she moved to France with her first husband in 1978. She says, “In France, beautiful catholic places like the Notre Dam cathedral showed that people there took Catholicism very seriously which was not the case in Australia. I used to go to all these cathedrals but funnily I never related to the concept of Trinity. Jesus Christ was always such a beautiful, beautiful man for me and I couldn’t comprehend him being the son of God. I always connected to God alone. In retrospect, being in France played an incredible role in my journey. When I used to walk in the woods, sit at the hill top with my dog and behold the splendor I was so much in love with Allah even before I became a Muslim. It took me so many years to realize that Allah had been calling me for a long time but I never really listened.”

Amatullah took up studying religion fervently while in France. She kept trying to find a way of connecting to God. Meanwhile, her first husband was a struggling artist so the couple kept running into and out of money. Always on the look out for adventure one day they decided to buy a bicycle each and cycle all the way to Italy to visit the basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi because she had great regard of the Saint. She recalls, “On our way to Assisi, we ran out of money around Corsica and decided to stay there for a while till we had enough money. My husband found work at a building where the Morrocan laborers came to know of us and persuaded us to go to North Africa rather than Italy. So we cycled 5000 miles towards North Africa. My beloved dog died the second day of our reaching Africa and I was devastated apart from being physically exhausted. I asked my husband to take me to a Church because I needed help. A Church we found in Tunis had its doors locked and I thought that was the last chance Christianity had with me because I desperately needed to get into the Church and could not.

Some days later in Tunisia we went to a Souk and I needed to buy a souvenir. The man who took us through the beautiful ancient Souk kept turning back towards me and looking straight in my eyes said in French again and again, ‘It is God who directs’. I was fascinated by the Muslim man’s message because it came at a time when I was emotionally shattered. I went back to Australia with a urge to look into Islam which I had never ever done before for the images of repressed women and violence always kept me off. I looked through books and studied whatever little material I could find and each time I would read a verse from Quran Sharif my heart would say this is it. I was able to keep aside all the magazines which had propaganda about Islam in Iran during the Revolution and look at the religion objectively. I was enamored by works of the Sufi masters like Shaiykh Abdul Qadir Jilani because its essence was exactly what I wanted.”

After two years of intense study of whatever she could find on Islam, Amatullah went to North Africa again when her husband got commissioned to work in the Sahara desert. She says, “When I came to the Sahara, I was yearning to be a Muslim but my head was making ten million excuses. I was asking myself how l would pray back in Australia, how I would cover my head. But it was meant to be.”

While traveling through the Sahara by bus they stopped on the way for refreshments and a passenger got off to say his prayers. “The sight of the man prostrating in complete submission in the middle of the desert was like a bolt of lightening. I was entranced. In a flash I realized, this was what I was supposed to be doing. He came back to sit in the bus with the desert sand on his forehead and I was finished by the sight. I had a massive spiritual overload. When we got back to Algiers in a grotty little hotel I had a total collapse. Two years of yearning, crying and praying for guidance in my own way had got me my answer with a thunderous force. For the whole day I thought I was going to die and kept reciting la illaha illa lah in my delirium and found out much later that this was what the Muslims were required to say when embracing Islam.”

Amatullah was drawn to Sufism with a burning obsession. She read everything related to it and listened to Sufi music from around the world. She began listening to the Sabri Brothers from Pakistan and started enjoying their soulful renditions. However her coming to Islam was just the beginning of her journey towards Allah. Her first husband supported her through everything but the marriage didn’t last. He told her perhaps she never was his to begin with. She had a higher purpose.

While in Australia, Amatullah had a dream in which she saw a strange man sitting amid dervishes and telling them that she belonged to his (Sufi) Order. It was a very vivid dream and Amatullah recorded it in her diary and forgot all about it. Three years later she received a packet of videocassettes from her Australian Spiritual Guide and as she saw the Qawali of Sabri Brothers playing she was thunderstruck. The dream she had seen three years ago had the famous Ghulam Farid Sabri in it who was now playing qawali before her. She had never met him yet recognized him from the dream instantly. The day she recalled her dream was the beginning of her onward journey.

She began searching for the man even whose full name she didn’t know. Several months later to her desolation she found out from a contact in the USA that Haji Ghulam Farid Sabri had died before she saw him in the dream. In her words, “My connection with his was spiritual, across time and space.”

After writing two books on Sufism which Amatullah credits to the spiritual guidance of Haji Ghulam Farid Sabri, she finally came to Pakistan where a visit to Baba Farid at Pakpattan (the patron Saint of the Sabri Brothers) felt like a powerful homecoming. She, a white woman from distant shores of Australia decided to make Pakistan her permanent home.

For ten years Amatullah lived in Karachi after marrying the youngest Sabri brother Mehmood Ghaznavi, another celebrated qawwal. She went to Pakpattan off and on for spiritual rejuvenation often staying there for several weeks at a stretch. To her, Pakpattan is like home where she is accepted and loved as the ‘gori malang’. But despite being 60 years of age, and having found fulfillment upon fulfillment in life, Amatullah’s journey goes on.

She feels her next destination on her incredible spiritual Journey is South Africa where ‘she is being sent by Baba Farid to meet her new spiritual guide by the name of Ebrahim Schuitema’; a Caucasian Sufi Shaiykh who guides through the Shahdiliya Order of Sufis.

The incredible woman continues with her great quest defying physical boundaries to reach farther metaphysical heights.

An edited version of this article was published in Libas International Magazine Vol 3: 2008.

Photo by Ramla Akhtar.

Freak Show

2008-10-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

“A puppet may not necessarily be a human or animal figurine. Even the swirl of a sash in the air can convey an expression and hence become a puppet,” said Faizaan Peerzada at the recent theatre-cum-puppet performance at Lahore’s Museum of Puppetry.

The show was unique as it was performed by students of the Punjab University, Beaconhouse National University and Interactive Theatre (Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop) in collaboration with two German puppeteers, Heiki Ikkola and Sabine Koehler. Both the Germans had been hosted by the RPTW to train more than a dozen Pakistani students on the skills of puppetry in theatre.The group of students performed a ‘freak show’ every Sunday at the museum and at the commencement of the workshop came up with a performance of skits that they had devised over the length of the training.

The show was aptly named The Newspaper Man and Other Oddities. Most of the skits focused around mundane situations of life depicted in a humorous way, and paper was crafted into puppets or props. So the same sheet of paper swiftly became a cigarette or a peacock or a snake or even a camera. Objects like a brick, broom or pen were used with sound effects in the background to convey simple themes.Not all performances were immaculate and refined but the students seemed greatly motivated and were generously applauded.

However, one could not comprehend the story behind some of the skits. It would have been better had all the students chosen simpler themes like the one with the fashion photographer who does a lousy job of shooting her model; or the young girl addicted to drugs which eventually finish her off. Skits like these went really well with the audience some of who shared the sentiment that the simpler themes were both well-enacted and well-received.This should be considered by the students when performing in future as all professional puppeteers coming from abroad in Rafi Peer festivals make it a point to use simple and easy-to-understand ideas.

The better performed skits were placed towards the end of the show. An impressive one was the duel between two paper puppets with an actual fireball. The two puppets were handled with great skill by half-a-dozen students each making the movements of the puppets. But the audience were wowed by the ‘pyro puppetry’ sequence in the end when a huge eight-foot puppet made of paper on iron bars was lit with fire and made to dance on Nusrat Fateh Ali’s qawwali. It was a sight to behold! This act was handled by the German pros themselves since it required skill and caution.

The RPTW also took the opportunity to announce its new windows in the museum which included background props for puppets from around the world. One appreciated the amount of effort put into making the windows aesthetically pleasing.For instance the Uzbek puppets have now been given sandcastles in the background complete with turrets and domes, and the Rajasthani puppets have been given the darbar ‘putli ghar’ look. At a time when all else seems to be ruled by chaos, art initiatives such as these must be commended, especially when they involve originality and endeavour.

This article was published in Images, Dawn on Oct 26, 2008

The hand that rocks the cradle…

2008-10-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

Who has more right over the land — the owner who possesses the deed or the tiller who makes it fertile with his sweat and toil? The question has confounded answer-seekers for centuries.Raising this very issue, Ajoka Theatre recently performed the play Chaak Chakkar at the Alhamra Arts Complex in Lahore with assistance from the Lahore Arts Council.

Chaak Chakkar delved into the question of owner-versus-keeper in a thought-provoking, humorous manner. Adapted by Shahid Nadeem from the famous German playwright Bertolt Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle written in 1944, the play was typical of Ajoka’s adaptation-based performances.Taking its cue from the Pakistani context of the downtrodden masses, exploitative elite and a weak judiciary, the original play (that had been taken by Brecht from a 14th century Chinese legend) provided Ajoka the perfect story for our times.

The story of Chaak Chakkar revolves around a corrupt subedar who rules his sultanate ineffectively. He and his wife, the subedarni, are only concerned about their wealth, gardens, protocol and their infant son who is the heir to the throne.Ultimately, palace intrigues led by the subedar’s rotund, corrupt brother result in a bloody coup which sees the subedar’s decapitated head hanging at the city’s gates. The subedarni flees the palace and amid all the panic and anxiety to take her 19 trunks of clothes, jewellery and silver, leaves her infant son behind!

A peasant girl, Raano, working for the subedarni finds herself in an awkward situation as she has to decide to save the wailing infant from the clutches of the merciless soldiers thereby putting her own life at risk, or to run to a safer place and wait for her fiancé (played by Nirvaan Nadeem); the handsome soldier who is to return from war and marry her.Raano chooses the more perilous option of the two, putting her own life and future in jeopardy. What ensues is a captivating cat-and-mouse game as she escapes several times from the soldiers looking for her, disregarding her own comfort in feeding and caring for the child. She braves extremely difficult circumstances and in order to save the baby boy, proclaims him as her own, not caring for the disgrace it brings to her name. Hania Cheema did a commendable job in playing Raano and was applauded generously each time she managed to escape the murderous soldiers.

Meanwhile, the boy grows up, the war ends and her fiancé returns but finds everything changed. The subedarni is back too to claim her child. The scene changes to the rogue-turned-comedian who is installed as the new judge for the sultanate in a strange twist of events. That the judge is deposed, beaten into a pulp and then reinstated was another jibe at judicial happenings in the country. Acted brilliantly by Usman Zia, the judge had the audience in stitches with his crisp timing and expressions. Witty comments such as “pehle munsif badmashi karte thay, ab badmash munsif bane ga” had everyone in the audience cracking up.The judge sits on the big book of constitution while giving arbitrary verdicts and settling two cases in one hearing. His suo-motu actions were hilarious and made him the last hope of the oppressed masses that still look up to him despite knowing he has his fair share of flaws.

Raano refuses to give up the child she has started loving as her own. The hot-tempered, ill-mannered subedarni moves the court and the new judge has to decide who gets the child. The case is riveting, funny and captivating till the verdict is announced.High on the entertainment factor, the musical play also featured a guest appearance by Uzra Butt who plays the grandmother called dadi maan, and moves the court for one of her disputes. The 92-year-old theatre veteran played the same role a quarter of a century ago when Ajoka had launched the play. She and her sister — veteran performer Zohra Sehgal who stayed in India after Partition — are two living legends of theatre in South Asia. Ajoka’s Madeeha Gauhar, while giving the credits, remembered how Uzra in her performance 25 years ago had gotten a fracture yet did not reveal it to anyone during the play’s two-hour performance and acted flawlessly.

Ajoka also brought in an almost entirely new cast for Chaak Chakkar. This was much-needed since of late, Ajoka plays have almost had the same cast playing the main roles. Despite brilliant acting performances, one wished there were new faces on stage. Madeeha also said that Ajoka needed financial assistance as the performance of the plays required funds, though a lot of volunteers have also been working for the theatre company.In times of the current socio-political dismay and the alarming state of insecurity throughout the country, it was notable that the performance did not get the packed audience in Lahore that Ajoka plays usually do. Needless to say, the initiative must be commended and supported. To quote Madeeha Gauhar here, “the show must go on.”

This article was published in Images, Dawn Newspaper on October 19th, 2008.

2008-09-23T00:16:00.000-07:00

The Marriott Blast - the consequences could be chosen.

Some analysts describe the September 20th bomb blast that rocked Islamabad as Pakistan's 9/11.

That innocent lives were lost, that desperate people were trying in vain to call help from the windows of the doomed building, that the plan was dramatically spectacular and probably worked beyond the expectations of the conspirators, likens the tragedy to 9/11 indeed. However, like 9/11 the repercussions of the Marriott Blast should not be an excuse to set off a chain of events that bring more misery to the world.

What's done cannot be undone but its consequences can be chosen. Though horrific and brutal, the Marriott Blast should not be the precursor to unleashing a prejudiced assault on anything even remotely associated with the Tribal Belt.

9/11 was horrific and brutal too. But it fails to justify the atrocities in Bagram, Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. It does not justify the lackey governement in Afghanistan that is largely becoming a footboard for the U.S. Administration to engage in arbitrary forays into other territories. 9/11 cannot justify the premise on which Iraq was invaded and her oil was contracted out to choicest consortiums.

The Government of Pakistan right now must be commended for avoiding any 'we'll hunt down those folks' or 'we'll smoke 'em out' speeches. But what's more crucial is to approach the issue with foresight and hindsight. Should we really fight this war with the U.S. perception? Should we just stop at FATA and not go beyond why FATA became a hotbed of conspiracy? Should we not bolster our own preparedness for such tragedies and get adequate disaster management infrastructure for starters? So many lives could have been saved if the Government had effective Fire Brigade machinery. This sloppiness after the great Earthquake in Northern Pakistan is inexcusable.

As for us, the common public. Should we also look at the tragedy with colored filters? Should we think of all bearded men and 'hijabed' women as plotting fundos? Should we really think of all Pashtuns as bloody extremists? Don't their women and children die in the Army Operation? Their maimed and mutilated children have relatively no hope for future. They're still human even if not as high profile as the foreigners who lost their lives tragically in the poshest hotel of the Capital.

2008-09-23T00:12:00.000-07:00

Simi Raheal
By Afia Mansoor

Simi Raheal is one of the most sought after actors in the Pakistani media today. She has been a part of television, theatre, radio and advertising since more than three decades and interestingly that’s not all about her. She is a teacher, a gender activist and the mother of super model Mehreen Raheal. Her charisma exudes from her genuine expressions and spirited conversation; it is reflected in her heightened aesthetic sense if you see her tastefully done house. Her close knit circle of friends in the media hold her in remarkable respect which is perhaps why she has worked with nearly everyone to their satisfaction. You meet Simi and realize that she is trying to live every second of her life to the fullest and radiates her energy onto you instantly.

HUMSAY had a tête-à-tête with her on what she has been up to recently.

Q: You and Mehreen make the most successful mother-daughter duo in the Pakistani media today. To what do you attribute this success?

A: (Laughs) Lots of blessings of Allah really. And then I think a lot of diligent hard work. We are extremely conscious of our commitments and of being punctual. I guess when you work like that your credibility follows you around. That’s pretty much the mainstay of our supposed success.

Q: You have been involved with television, radio, theatre, film, music videos and commercials. Which genre do you prefer the most?

A: I have been asked that before. And the answer remains the same. I can’t pinpoint which is better. Each genre of work for me, whether it is radio, television or advertising has its own energy and spirituality. I have loved doing theatre because of the instant gratification and adrenalin rush it gives you. I have loved radio because you could be talking to the world sitting in your pajamas and pretend you have the best ball gown on. Every genre has its own novelty and if you ask me that is perhaps the ingredient to success. If you keep feeling novelty in your work you enjoy it tremendously.

Q: You’re also a gender activist. Tell us what you are up to these days on that front.

A: I believe in gender balance within the limits of a social and religious framework. I teach Gender and Ethics at the Kinnaird College because I feel Media has a great responsibility in bringing this balance. Teaching is the love of my life. It’s the most exciting thing for me. I teach at an institute called South Asian Media School, which is being monitored by the South Asian Media Committee, where a contingent of students from SAARC countries is brought in every year and given intensive classes and workshops on various media issues. This year we have students from Srilanka, Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan and I teach Media and Development. On the Development side I teach Gender and Human Rights and conduct thrice a week workshops on applying the learning tools practically in media. I have also read papers internationally and done workshops locally.

Q: How did this media school come about?

A: In 2007, SAFMA a network of journalist and media practitioners from South Asia decided to start a teaching initiative which would cultivate a new generation of media persons in the region who would be aware of the socio political nuances of the region and would pitch in their share in it responsibly. The school is an initiative to equip participants with latest knowledge on media and the social responsibility that goes with it. It’s a great grooming platform for the region and we also have a theatre festival on feminism coming up in August.

Q: What have you been involved in with HUM TV recently?

A: I recently did a serial for Hum called Najia. It was based on Razia Butt’s novel. I acted as a motherly Anglo Indian housekeeper living in Mauritius. It was a really good experience. The cast was good the production was professional and Mauritius was fabulous needless to say. Another project with Hum is lined up but lets keep it as a surprise. It is also based on a Razia Butt novel though.

Q: Which has been your most enduring piece of performance till now?

A: It was one of the most popular plays of PTV called Khwahish that was aired in 1991. I played the part of a gypsy woman who had a deformed child. I also loved Asfhaque Ahmed’s ‘Na man milay na peeh’ in which I played the part of a spirit living in a grave. The experience was so profound it re invented me as a human being. I think that is what young actors need to realize. That you need to be selective with work. That a powerful script has to be simulated in the mind and soul and so the strengths of a character can have a profound impact on your life and so can its weaknesses.

Q: You worked in Shoaib Mansoor’s acclaimed Khuda Kay Liyay. How does it feel now that the film has made history?

A: I feel Blessed. I had always wanted to do a good film. I had never imagined that one day Shoaib Mansoor would himself come to me and say I want you to be part of this film. I never asked him a single question. Because that is the track record he carried with him. I feel proud that I became a small part of history with that film. It was a great experience.
The film was a very brave endeavor considering the times we are going through. It was a passionate journey of love and patriotism.

What would you like to see changed in the Media?

A: I would like the media to reflect the reality. I would like that media represents people as who they are versus what they are perceived to be. It should potry our laughter, our tears our emotions as they are. I must say that the new generation of talk shows being aired have a lot to learn about ethics. Journalists and actors need to go back to school to learn a thing or two about ethics and morality.

What do you want to say to the educated young women of Pakistan?

A: My favourite line has always been from Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice in the Wonderland’, “If you don’t know which way you’re going, any road will do’.

And as Shakespeare says in Hamlet:

‘This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man’.

I would say don’t put barriers to yourself. Open yourselves to education, enlightenment and allow yourself to learn.

This interview was published in HUMSAY; a magazine of HUM Television in September 2008

Divine Love - A poem

2008-09-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

We become who we hate
Fine replicas of our hate-idol’s world view
Emulating the one we hate,
We see with his eyes,
Hear from his ears, speak in the same tongue,
Breathe out the same noxious air
Strike with his hand
And we still hate him

We become who we love
Fine replicas of our love-idol’s world view
Emulating the one we love,
We see with his eyes,
Hear from his ears, speak in the same tongue
We smell his fragrance in the air
We become his hand
And the love continues

Then Divine Love it should be
Love of the Beloved
For then we become Him

Is Loving the Divine not better
Than hating and loving mere mortals?
For Divine love shall make you
An embodiment of Love
For all
With all.

- Afia

The Life-Saving Committees - published in Review, Dawn on 21st August 2008

2008-08-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

By Afia Mansoor

As the cost of living continues to shoot up and so does the desire for a better lifestyle, people find it harder to fund their aspirations. The plethora of loan options, after drying peoples’ wallets, demands a pound of their flesh as they struggle to pay back. The committee therefore stands up as the no-risk, no-interest option to save money.

Committee money is utilised by people in different ways. For some it is a means to splurge on a one-time indulgence, like a vacation. For others it is a way to achieve long-term goals.

Lubna, a middle aged lady, stitches clothes for women in her locality. Her husband retired early from the air force and her daughter works for an electronics company while her son goes to primary school. She has been using her earnings as a tailor to invest in committees. Currently, she is pooling money in a committee for Rs3,000 a month, the duration of which is 20 months. With the Rs60,000 that she will get, she plans to shop for her daughter’s wedding and do up her house.

She elaborates, “I use the committee money for redoing the house and paying off my dues to various people. I have utilised this money to lay new flooring in the house, make wooden cabinets for the kitchen and the living room. One such committee fund helped me make two rooms upstairs which I will eventually build into an independent portion and give off on rent.”

Rukhsana, aged 24, has recently married and taken a break from her work as a maid. While it was difficult to make ends meet with her monthly earnings from working in seven houses in a day, Rukhsana and her mother managed to pool Rs500 per month for a committee and ended up paying their debts with it. Rukhsana’s elder sister was married off with a small dowry that was collected by some of the women who employed her and partly financed by the pool money. She is a great advocate of committees and feels it is impossible to collect amounts like Rs10,000 otherwise.

Shazia aged 36, teaches at a college and has recently started pooling money in a committee. She says, “The idea of having to contribute even after getting your total pool (in order to complete the total amount of contribution by each group member) was what had put me off committees; I used to think it’s better to save your own money in a bank. However, committees are useful when you want a large fund urgently. The advantage is that you can convince your pool partners and get your share in the month when you genuinely need it. You can also split the committee with a friend so you both pay half the monthly amount and get half the share. For instance, if the total pool money is Rs50,000 and each member has to pay Rs2,000, you could pay a monthly contribution of half the amount with a friend paying the other half and get Rs25,000 as your share.” Samina is planning to use her Rs100,000 pool money to help pay for a plot she and her husband have bought recently.

Zainab, aged 60, is a housewife who has been pooling money in committees since the past two years. She says, “The utilisation of the committee money depends on how much people can afford to set aside for the monthly contribution. If you pool in small amounts you will obviously get a small total pool and utilise it for small expenditures. People pooling in larger amounts usually use the money to buy property, jewellery or dowry items or renovating homes.” The last committee pool that she received helped to pay for Zainab’s grandson’s birthday arrangements. She plans to use the next pool for repairing her double storey house’s roof.

Tariq, an executive, aged 32, has started pooling money through his mother’s circle of committee members. He believes pool money is a great respite from the interest based options available through credit cards. He says, “I had once used my credit cards to pay for some expenses incurred during my sister’s wedding. It has been almost three years and I am still paying the interest on the paltry sum I had used. I will now pay the whole amount off with the committee money that I get and kiss my credit card goodbye. Had I originally bought the stuff with committee money I would not have had to pay so much as interest.”

An Interview of Tariq Ramadan -World Renowned Intellectual Scholar

2008-07-27T23:25:00.000-07:00

AUTHOR: Walking The Tightrope Of Peace

By Afia Mansoor

It is human nature to controvert that which questions preset notions. We don’t like to be told that the foundations we stand on are erroneous. Individuals who challenge the status quo are often ripped apart in great detail to make a judgment of their every utterance, each skeleton in the closet, and even to events affecting their lineage to hold onto some feeble thread supporting one’s challenged notion. That is how it has always been.

Author and academic, Tariq Said Ramadan is no exception to the rule. He has been walking a tightrope for he talks of building bridges while sticking to his religious principles. His challenge is monumental. On the one hand he faces ‘moderate Muslims in the West’ who demand the ‘abrogation of selected Quranic verses’ and on the other he faces Muslims who are at each other’s throats to declare their interpretation of Islam as the correct one. He is reviled by Islam haters and admired by open-minded seculars in the West.

He has been labelled various things by his critics; ‘a magician’, a ‘Janus-faced bigot’, an ‘anti-Semite’, a ‘dangerous man’. Interestingly his supporters have given him their own labels; a ‘Muslim Martin Luther King’ and ‘bridge to the chasm between the West and Islam’. Three of the World’s most influential magazines; Time, Prospect and Foreign Policy have placed him high in the top 100 contemporary intellectuals. Some in the US feared his scholarly presence so much that his appointment at the Notre Dame University was cancelled on charges that he had funded terrorist organisations. His immense popularity in France has brought him several times on state television in debates with critics. One such debate with President Sarkozy, the then Interior Minister and a staunch opponent of Ramadan, was widely publicised in the media.

He is enigmatic to say the least. Hear him and you will be impressed. Talk to him and chances are you will be floored.

Ramadan was in Lahore recently to give a talk on ‘Islam in the 21st Century — the struggle within’, arranged by the University of Management & Technology as part of its Khurram Murad Memorial Lecture Series. Here too Ramadan commanded rapt attention. His words were appreciated by all who were prepared to have their set notions challenged. The ones who weren’t prepared squirmed in their seats. For perhaps another set, his fluent Arabic was reason alone to admire him; failing to get a grasp on the essence of his message.

The man has always been a distinguished individual. He was born in 1962 in Switzerland after his Egyptian family was exiled from their native land following the murder of his grandfather Hasan Al-Banna by the Egyptian government agents. Al-Banna founded the Muslim Brotherhood which gained immense influence and was banned in 1954.

Ramadan grew up in a family that practiced Islam strictly, but never imposed the religion onto the children. So much so that one of his brothers had given up anything to do with religion. Ramadan, however, had a yearning to grasp knowledge from every source.

According to an interview with Ian Buruma for the New York Times, he said, ‘It was not easy, growing up in a committed Muslim family while dealing with people outside who were drinking, and all that. But I was protected on ethical grounds, as a religious person, first of all by playing sports, every day, for two hours or more — football, tennis, running. And reading, reading, reading, five hours a day, sometimes eight hours.’

Ramadan integrated into the European culture and yet held closely to his Muslim roots. He did his MA in Philosophy and French Literature and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva. He also went back to his ancestral Egypt to receive intensive one-on-one training in Classic Islamic Scholarship from scholars at Al-Azhar. He has taught at several universities of Switzerland and is currently the Professor of Islamic Studies at Oxford University. He also holds the chair to ‘Identity and Citizenship’ at the University of Erasmus Netherlands where he is a visiting professor. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Doshisha University, Japan and the Lokahi Foundation in London. He is currently the President of the think-tank European Muslim Network in Brussels and holds an advisory position with the EU. He has authored more than 20 books and contributed about 700 articles in books, academic reviews and magazines. The best about him is the successful balance of spirituality and reasoning that he has achieved and espouses.

At the seminar in Lahore he spoke at length of issues within the Islamic community. He said the Muslims needed to make ‘an intellectual commitment to a spiritual challenge’, they needed to accept the diversity of all Muslims who practiced Islam as per their school of thought while emphasising the need to draw a firm line to protest and stick to the fundamental principles of the Quran and the Sunnah. The crux of this highly engaging talk was that Muslims today need to accept their own diversity, open themselves to progressive knowledge of all spheres in life, provided it is not against the divine Islamic principles, even if it is coming from a ‘kafir’ mind.

He challenged the audience to bring him one ayat or hadith to the effect that women should not be allowed access to education; a reference to the tribal mullah philosophy. He said that Muslims need to act out the virtues their faith espouses such as punctuality, discipline, loyal citizenship and accountability, etc. He wished the Muslim community could open itself to critical thinking and debate.

Responding to a few questions Ramadan voiced optimism about the future of the community:

Do you foresee a Muslim renaissance ever taking place again?

TR: Yes I hope so. There is a silent revolution taking place in many countries where the community is in minority as well as the majority. There are new thoughts, understandings. We are facing the reality of crises. We don’t have all the answers but at least there is growing awareness that we have to reform ourselves. Everywhere in Australia, US, Canada, Africa and beyond Muslims are realising the relevance of their religion in modern times.

You spoke about the importance of a Muslim to be spiritual. Can you explain what spirituality is?

TR: The spiritual aspect is the heart of Islam. Spirituality is the marriage between emotion and reason. Being spiritual is to go through introspection; understanding the meaning of Allah’s ayats and then acting them out. That is why Allah has said ‘Verily, in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the succession of night and day, there are signs for those with insight.’

He wants us to ponder and draw lessons. There is another ayat which says, ‘in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find comfort.’ Hence there is this intimate dimension of spirituality in Islam. And then Muslims are asked to act out those lessons and be consistent.

When I do anything with the thought of Allah it becomes a spiritual action. Spirituality in behavior is spirit in action. Which is why there is a hadith to the effect that, ‘What is in your heart is confirmed by your action.’

The Quran is a multidisciplinary book that includes divine commandments and anecdotes to teach by explanation. Do you feel that enough research is being done into the teaching anecdotes to understand their relevance in modern times?

TR: That is a very important issue. Firstly the Quran needs to be read by all so it revives your heart and brings you closer to Allah. An individual can do lay reading (and interpretation) to draw lessons for his or her own life. Then there is the sophisticated reading and interpretation by scholars into the rules, principles and anecdotes as per the context and the present society.

We have new interpretations (tafseer) to Quran coming out every 50 years. But a lot of work needs to be done to adapt the tafseer to modern times and issues. For this the scholars need to be well versed in knowledge pertaining to all the diverse fields in order to interpret the Quran.

What is the nature of your research involvement with Japan?

TR: I am working on a book called Radical Reform: Islam Ethics and Liberation which will be out by the next September. It is about usool-ul-fiqh and will have case studies on five fields: medicine, arts & culture, gender issues, religion & politics and religion & philosophy.

I have proposed a methodology and framework of fiqh covering these areas because I think these five areas need a lot of focus and attention of Muslim scholars. These frameworks are being used by Japan’s Dosisha University.

This Article was published in Books & Authors, Dawn Newspaper

Ajoka Theatre's Hotel Mohenjodaro - a review

2008-06-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

The events of 1947 and 1971 have traumatised many a writer such as Saadat Hasan Manto and Quratulain Hyder to produce masterpieces in Urdu that elicit introspection and catharsis. Today, these events need to be looked at rationally in order to understand our social psyche and to move on progressively.

Ajoka Theatre’s Indo-Pak Punj Pani Theatre festival held this month in Lahore aimed to showcase a collaborative set of performances by Indian and Pakistani artistes to give voice to their understanding of the events of both ’47 and ’71, respectively. Sadly, the theatre company had to alter its publicised set of performances with the Indian government’s last minute cancellation of ‘on foot visa’ for the team of Indian artistes who had to cross over to Pakistan via the Wagah Border. It seems that some things never change!

According to the Ajoka, initially it was the Pakistan government’s dilly dallying with the diplomatic procedures and with much ado finally gave in to Indian artistes coming over to perform politically charged plays with content that could make diplomacy on both sides wince with discomfort. However, the Indian government’s refusal to give security clearance to the performers proved to be the proverbial last nail in the coffin of dialogue through interaction.

So what was to be a collaborative performance called Yatra — 1947 on the first day was replaced by Ajoka’s Hotel Moenjodaro. The play is based on a short story called Dhanak by Ghulam Abbas, one of the great Urdu short story writers.

Adapted and directed by Shahid Nadeem, Hotel Moenjodaro is about radical mullahs who want to take over the reigns of government in an attempt to reform and set the affairs of the state ‘right’ — as per their own radical stance. What followed was Ajoka’s trademark unveiling of a plot full of satire, music and dance. The highly-charged trio of mullahs, headed by an Ameer, succeeds in its attempt to ‘cleanse’ the state of all that is obscene and sinful. In an obvious and comical reference to the Taliban regime’s mindset, and set against the backdrop of real-life footage of Taliban and the oppressive Gen Ziaul Haq era, the new government bans everything from wine to TV, and walkman to the sari! Once everything licentious is banned, all sinners are whipped, hanged and/or stoned to death, the state becomes a paragon of righteousness for them.Such is the state of affairs until the mullahs, who belong to different schools of thought, begin to differ with each other as to how shariah should be enforced. The differences get uglier and louder till opposing factions start killing off each other. The well-meaning Ameer who tries to unite everyone is eventually murdered for being suspected of his motives.

What follows is civil unrest, murder and plunder. The lights go off to the sound of enemy planes bombarding an already dead state. Much later, some tourists visit the site to be shown the ruins of a once prosperous civilization that was destroyed mysteriously.

As with all Ajoka plays, the content was highly relevant and controversial at the same time. A lady with a headscarf by my side was terribly annoyed with her clean-shaved husband who was enjoying the satire. Both were left silent in the end. I thought the play was sensitively handled given the topic’s explosive potential to ignite opposing mindsets in our society. The radical mullah mindset was portrayed and religion or religious people were not ridiculed. Hotel Mohenjodaro is surprisingly relevant given it was written in the ’60s when hardly anyone could have foreseen the events of a polarised society today.

On the second day of the festival, a performance of Saadat Hasan Manto’s acclaimed Toba Tek Singh was held. The play has been staged repeatedly in Pakistan and India, and according to Ajoka, is particularly appreciated by Indian audiences. It depicts the anguish and suffering of a deranged man, Toba Tek Singh, who is transported away from his homeland in 1947. Manto leaves it to the audience to figure out who is more deranged — Toba or the bunch of officers hurriedly deciding the fate of refugees.

The festival concluded on the third day with the performance of Shehr-i-Afsos, based on Intizar Hussain’s masterpiece. It is about three characters who relive the nightmarish events of ’47 and ’71 that have trapped them into a ceaseless state of guilt and condemnation. With the play Ajoka attempts to present a view of Partition that, sadly, many of us do not wish to either remember or learn from.

Published originally in Images, DawnNewspaper in June 2008

Moms versus the Media

2008-05-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Over the years TV programming has changed in content, so much so that more and more mothers are losing unsupervised children to crass entertainment. Kids today are more aware of issues like intimacy and violence because of the stuff being aired on the cable, the games accessible on the computer and cheapily available DVDs of trashy films.

A few years ago I visited the temple of the Hindu deity Kali in the interior of Sindh with a group of female teachers from a local university. As we were about to enter, a Muslim lady who is also a mother and was walking ahead of me said to her kids: “What do they say (in Star Plus soaps) on such occasions?

“Om jai Jagdish hare,” the children chanted mindlessly.

Once inside, the kids informed me of the rituals they had learnt from watching the Star Plus soaps. I was amazed. Not because they were practicing a non-Muslim ritual but because they had picked it up with absolute clarity from TV programmes not meant for their impressionable young minds. It also got me thinking about what a strong impact the power of the media has on young susceptible minds and the role of parents, specially the mothers.

Interestingly, a few years back a prestigious school in Karachi advised the parents of its pre-school students to discourage them from viewing Cartoon Network because of what they alleged was “unsuitable content meant strictly for older children.”

Over the years TV programming has changed in content, so much so that more and more mothers are losing unsupervised children to crass in the name of entertainment. Kids today are more aware of issues like intimacy and violence because of the stuff being aired on the cable, the games accessible on the computer and the cheaply available DVDs of trashy Hollywood and Bollywood films.

In fact, it is pedestrian to come across small kids singing and dancing to lyrics of popular ‘item numbers’ that they don’t even know the meaning of. Little wonder one comes across numerous cases of juvenile crime in the West that is directly attributed to negative images seen in the media. A simple case in point was the number of suicides reported among children who had seen Saddam Hussain’s hanging and tried to imitate it.

Dimple Amin is a dentist and a mother of two sons, aged seven and five. She is very acerbic about the way local television channels are airing content which can be unsuitable for children. “I have blocked all unsuitable cable channels and even Indian dubbed cartoon channels because of the tapori slang that they have. My children were being exposed to words and phrases such as abay chal and premika which was a source of concern for me. I encourage them to watch Discovery Channel and National Geographic, and the local news channels instead.

“But the irony is that our own Pakistani channels air news flashes of newly released violent and sexy Indian films which my kids then pass comments on. At times, even the coverage of fashion shows in the local news has models strutting about in revealing outfits which is of serious concern for me. I do not want my kids to grow up with such role models of women in mind,” she says.

Gone are the days when the mime-like antics of Pink Panther or Tom and Jerry were all the rage. While characters like Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck and Tweety are forever enshrined in our brains they don’t quite excite young kids anymore. Today, cartoons like The Power Puff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Ed, Ed & Eddie, Cow & Chicken and many others are popular with impressionable kids and their contents range from the violent to the obnoxious to downright obscene. Some of it is not even subliminal — Cow & Chicken, for example, has a cow with embarrassingly huge udders and a big pink butt that the said cow is always using to its best advantage. As a mother, I can’t wonder where such graphic images fit into an innocent kid’s concept of entertainment.

Nuzhat Tariq is a home maker and a mother of a daughter and son aged 11 and 9. Voicing her concerns over TV and computer programmes she says, “My husband and I try to make sure that our kids watch TV with us around. We try to encourage them to watch programmes like Blazing Teens, Scooby Do and Tom & Jerry rather than the other cartoons or even the ones dubbed in Hindi. Cable TV channels that are not meant for them are a strict no-no. In fact, when they are idle in afternoons we disconnect the cable connection. But there are times when you have to trust the kids to make their own decisions after making them realise that they should not watch what’s not meant for them.”

Mozamila Saeed, a dietitian and a mother of two sons aged 9 and 7 has a 9-to-5 job and finds it impossible to keep a constant eye on her kids’ TV viewing. She says, “I have sat down with them time and again to tell them how important it is to watch good clean stuff meant for them. I have told them that there will be times when temptation will lead them to watch stuff not meant for them which is basically, violence, nudity and obscenity, and that they should turn to their grandparents for help when this happens. I discourage them from watching Indian channels since they are unpredictable with content. I have tried to encourage my kids to indulge in activities like walking, swimming and playing in the park rather than spending time staring at the idiot box. I have also done away with the TV in my room because one teaches by example.”

Some new additions to TV channels for kids like Baby TV and the local Wik Kid have, however, provided some welcome relief to concerned parents, especially mothers, with informative, entertaining content. Baby TV is a smashing hit with toddlers and pre-schoolers with its colourful and musical variety of programmes that teach kids manners, poems, songs, cooking and painting.

It is safe to assume that media trends will continue to grow more irresponsible whether in reporting gory bomb blasts or showing explicit images. The only sensible course of action left for parents, and specially mothers since they are the ones who are singlehandedly responsible for the proper upbringing of children at home, is to equip their children with a sense of good and bad, to awaken their conscience and to set an example of abstaining from watching content that can encourage negative behaviors.

Published in Images, Dawn Newspaper in May 2008

Interview of Nasreen Shaikh - Fashion Designer

2008-04-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Interview of Maria B. - The fashion designer

2008-04-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

Published in Images, Dawn Newspaper

Interview of Govind Nihalani - Famed Indian Art Movie Director

2007-12-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

Published in Images, Dawn Newspaper.

The World Performing Arts Festival 2007

2007-12-09T00:27:00.000-08:00

Published in Images , Dawn Newspaper

Jhoomar - A Pakistani film's review

2007-11-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

When watching a flick by film-maker Syed Noor you can at least be sure of one thing — that the storyline will be sensible and coherent. Jhoomar, his latest offering starring Saima (no surprises there) and Moammar Rana may not be a technical stunner with well-packaged glitz and slickly choreographed catchy numbers, but it has a plot that keeps you fairly engaged throughout its running time of three hours. Partly because it is inspired by real-life events, according to the film’s publicity.

The story written by Syed Noor revolves around Gulaab Bibi (Saima), a village belle who falls in love with a dashing army officer Shahnawaz (Momey) posted in her village along the Pakistan-India border. Shahnawaz hails from a well-off wadera family that owns, among other things, an imposing haveli complete with a done-to-death, two-way staircase in the entrance hall that serves as a vantage point for theatrical entries and exits by different characters throughout the film.

Anyway, coming back to Shahnawaz’s family, both his brothers and a heavy-duty, bedecked sister-in-law put up serious opposition to his marriage plans to Gulaab. Instead, they have their sights set on his brother’s glamorous sister-in-law (played by the late actress Aleena who recently made news with her tragic death) as a much more suitable match for him.

But Shahnawaz foils their plans by bringing the newlywed Gulaab to the haveli much to the ire of his family before setting off for a romantic honeymoon. Trouble rears its ugly head when Gulaab is supposedly found to be unable to have children and his family puts pressure on Shahnawaz to marry Aleena for the sake of carrying on the lineage. The poor girl is eventually kicked out of the house after being blamed falsely of having an affair and in a bid to commit suicide, a devastated Gulaab consequently finds herself on the wrong side of the Wagah Border. She is whisked off to jail after interrogation.

What follows in the second half of the film is the metamorphosis of Saima from a naïve village girl to a defiant and courageous larger-than-life heroine who braves horrific circumstances in prison to eventually redeem herself in the eyes of Shahnawaz, who as it so turns out, is the one suffering from infertility and not her.

In spite of a strong storyline, Jhoomar has its share of technical and conceptual bloopers. For instance, my sensibilities failed to digest the enormous and much-older-looking Saima as a potential love interest for Momey’s athletic-looking army officer. She looked a misfit for Gulaab’s character while twirling her dupatta or biting her finger while acting out the demure village belle. But her transition in the later half of the film makes you forgive both her and Noor; for it takes the amazonian Saima to fight off the advances of first the jail superintendent (played by Shafqat Cheema, I was waiting for him to make his appearance as the villain) and jail inmate Nandni.

Saima manages to look much more pretty in the later half with minimal make-up. Momey’s six-month-long honeymoon vacation is inexplicable as is his job description — he wears the badge of an army major yet is always seen hanging around the border fence. The camera is extremely jerky around the initial one hour into the film or perhaps one’s eyes get accustomed to the shaky frames afterwards. Some shots are abrupt and edited poorly leaving one wondering what the connection is. And every time Aleena walks into Shahnawaz’s ancestral haveli, the Indian film Main Hoon Na’s background score that complemented Sushmita Sen’s entry, was played which made it seem rather frivolous and unnecessary. Aleena’s English accent is also quite atrocious: “Theess iz my strutaway insselt,” she says when Momey gives her the cold shoulder.

Saima’s Gulaab calls Momey’s Shahnawaz ‘Jhoomar’ during the entire length of the film after he gifts her a gold jhoomar. It sounds quite awkward if you ask me. When Saima’s in-laws manhandle her and chop off her luxurious hair, she emerges in a dishevelled yet well-cut bob rather than an unkempt mop of hair. Then there are also the Indian prisoners who converse in fluent Urdu and a Pakistani police truck transporting Saima to an Indian prison! A plastic doll in the garbs of a Hindu deity in prison also comes across as quite absurd and an eyesore. The film-maker, it seems, is not as aware as the audiences of Hindu culture, thanks to the cable TV.

In the last few scenes of the film, the revolver in Saima’s hand miraculously transforms into a mouser in the blink of an eye. The comedy scenes between Irfan Khoosat who plays Saima’s father, and his servant are literally forced into the script. One also fails to understand the great hullabaloo about Momey having to marry Aleena when he has a younger unmarried brother. The bloodbath in the end is typical of a Pakistani film and a quick way to deal with the baddies and dispense poetic justice.

However, one does note some attention to detail paid by Syed Noor as Saima’s wardrobe is refreshingly stylish. She wears simple clothes when she lives in the village and lovely designer stuff when married. The scenes with violence are well picturised without being sleazy. However, the content may be unsuitable for young viewers. All extras cast as Indian prisoners are dark complexioned, perhaps Noor’s attempt to bring a mark of distinction. Saima’s chopped-off hair is also shown to take a year to grow back and her histrionics are quite convincing while facing the odds in jail and her fight sequence with the inmate, Nandni. The scene when she returns to her native village after undergoing immense trauma is also quite touching.

The lyrics by Aqeel Ruby and Rukhsana Noor are melodious but forgettable. Shabnam Majeed’s voice sounds beautiful but does not suit Saima. Period. The songs are situational and there are thankfully no item numbers.

Technically speaking, one can’t compare Jhoomar with Khuda Kay Liye or even Mohabbataan Sachiyaan. However, one feels Noor must be commended for using a theme that elevates the status of a woman to a gutsy, spirited individual rather than a licentious tart as espoused in numerous flicks such as Ghundi Run and Wehshi Haseena doing the rounds in the Lahore film circuit. The audiences that Jhoomar seeks to snare will definitely be educated with a bold theme of male infertility and for them Noor has also packed in ample flavour of rustic simplicity. For instance the dhamaal number filed on Saima was shot superbly.

But it would do Syed Noor and his film viewers tremendous good if he looks beyond Saima for his upcoming ventures and starts investing more money onto the film’s editing, mixing and camera work. After all, talent like Noor’s should make it to broader horizons.

Ajoka Theatre's Bala King - A review

2007-09-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

Despots usually have an astonishing way of rising from mediocre beginnings to great success. Hitler, Napoleon or the modern-day Saddam Hussein all had less-than-ordinary backgrounds. They and many others rose to power of epic proportions by usurping their successes by hook and crook.

The Ajoka Theatre presented a play called Baala King along these lines at the Alhamra Arts Council Lahore. Originally written by German writer Bertolt Brecht as The resistible rise of Arturo Ui, as a parable of Hitler’s rise in Germany, the play was skillfully adapted by Shahid Nadeem in Punjabi. Being performed for the last 10 years, the play has continued to enjoy popularity with audiences for its relevance to local society with its fair share of ambitious aspirants of power.

Baala, played by Sarfraz Ansari, is a pehlwan from the Taxali Gate of Lahore, engaged in small-time robberies and drugs dealing. He, with his gang of three other men; namely Papu Neola, Sheeda Tank and ‘Angle of death’ Manna Kharpainch, decides to move to the Badami Bagh laari adda in hopes of making it big in the world of intercity transport. The laari adda is ruled by businessmen who all have a price to them and who trade themselves and their principles for lucrative contracts and business propositions. Banking on their weaknesses, Baala and his men start to climb up the greasy pole of success and power by bribing, blackmailing and intimidating the businessmen and shopkeepers of the area.

Of particular relevance was an underpass contract that is awarded to a construction company in return for tremendous kickbacks worth millions of rupees and the underpass collapses on the day of its inaugural! Strangely though, the mention of a collapsing underpass hit the nail right on the head, seemingly referring to the tragic collapse of the Northern bypass in Karachi. One has to give it to Shahid Nadeem for adapting his plays regularly as per the socio-political scenario of the country which is why this play has been a hit for over a decade.

Baala pehlwan continues to force his way up the ladder and some light moments occur with the regular entry of his ‘madame from Taxali Gate’ aka Gogi Churi, played by Razia Malik, who wears the most gaudy outfits imaginable over dark glasses, plaits with ribbons in them and with a hunter in one hand. She keeps a stiff upper hand on Baala and is perhaps the only one Baala is scared of.

Eventually Baala makes a mockery of the pillars of the state. He is brought to court where he buys the judge and harasses the lawyer into giving him a clean bill. Anyone who stands up against him is either eliminated or made to submit before him by force. The only newspaper that writes against him is coerced to stop and when the editor refuses to, he is shot down by Baala and his gang. Afterwards Baala goes to the funeral and makes an emotional-cum-intimidating speech before the journalist’s widow which drew quite a few laughs. The audience particularly enjoyed the scenes where Baala is convinced by his gang to polish his oratory skills and how he acquires the fine skills of public speaking and diplomacy.

At the end Baala becomes the all powerful Baala King and wins the elections with a heavy mandate emerging as a well-suited, speech-savvy politician. The rise of Baala is an allegory of our own country with its fair share of Baalas. The inability of the people to stop his ascent upwards showed the weakness of society and the lack of collective will in ridding the system of its evils.

The play was well-enacted as all Ajoka plays are except that it was a tad bit too long with a duration of over two hours. The backdrop of truck art depicting the awami culture of Pakistan was very colorful. Baala’s gang provided a lot of hilarity with their dialogue and transition from lungi-sporting pehlwans to gangsters dressed in garish t-shirts and jeans. One of the pehlwans seemed the odd one out with his boyish looks and had difficulty tying his lungi in the initial scene.

The play was an extremely witty and relevant commentary on Pakistan’s current socio-political situation. The brochure of the play stated that after the play was first staged, Shahid Nadeem was fired from PTV because his wit hit the establishment pretty hard and people found it hard to believe that this play was adapted from a German story.

Ajoka Theatre's Toba Tek Singh - A review

2007-08-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

Sixty years down the road, we as a nation are facing what seems to be a mid-life crisis. The formula of Pakistan’s creation that clicked so well for the first decade or so has now been reduced to a torrent of blame debates questioning its very existence.

Some intellectuals are even of the opinion that the whole Partition business was a huge folly that had and continues to have great repercussions on the lives of humanity on this side of the world.

Holding similar views, Ajoka Theatre recently staged an adaptation of Saadat Hassan Manto’s short stories, Toba Tek Singh, Siyah Haashiye and Khol do in a production titled Toba Tek Singh (TTS).

Staged at the Alhamra Arts Council in Lahore on August 17 and 18, the play was a depiction of the monumental human losses suffered by people on both sides of the Wagah Border during the birth of the two nations. Controversial as the Ajoka plays are, the adapted version of Toba Tek Singh too contained some debatable strains of thought.

According to Madiha Gauhar the play was staged to encourage soul-searching among the audience on the events of 1947. “We need to delve into the human tragedy of 1947 in order to put our house in order and move forward,” she said, adding, “for 60 years we have been fed with the ideology that the migration was voluntary on both sides of the border which is not true. The issues of religious extremism in our country can directly be attributed to the hurried and ill-planned Partition that robbed our country of its religious diversity and reduced a multi-cultural society into a monolithic one. The scars of Partition are still not going away, which is perhaps why it is important for us to think whether it was really needed.”

Set against the backdrop of a pathway lined with barbed wires, TTS shows the fate of lunatics in the Lahore Mental Hospital and how they are treated and transported to India on the basis of their religion. The mental asylum is actually a metaphor used by Manto to describe the insanity of the human losses suffered during Partition.

One particular lunatic, Bishan Singh (played very well by Sarfaraz Ansari), keeps asking whether Toba Tek Singh is in India or Pakistan, and hurls a volley of inanity at anyone who responds to him either seriously or in ridicule. The play is interspersed with screenings of actual stills and video footage of the migration carnage. Black-and-white images of mass cremations and graves, piles of naked dead bodies heaped along roadsides and a vast sea of humanity trekking on foot to its destination casts a grim shadow, driving home the point that the Partition was creation as well as destruction. The story of Sirajuddin’s search for his beautiful daughter, Sakina, in Lahore’s hospitals and refugee camps and her eventual appearance — brutally violated by Pakistani volunteers — was particularly poignant.

In the mental asylum, the inmates are treated like animals, thrown here and cooped there on their onward journey to India, depicting that those arbitrarily deciding their fate were bigger lunatics. Two officials from both the countries are shown filling files of refugee data while a mime of lunatic refugees being dragged violently in the background depicts the callous attitude of bureaucracy towards a highly emotional affair.

The play ends with Bishan Singh alias Toba Tek Singh refusing to cross over to India. The aged Toba stands in deaf and mute grief on no man’s land till one day he falls dead on his feet between the two borders; stateless in death.

While agreeing with the play’s thrust on the catastrophic human losses of Partition and the fact that they etched deep scars on the hearts of people on both sides for years and years, I thought Ms Gauhar’s argument was flawed — that the migration of millions of people was forced and that only those people left for the new countries of their choice voluntarily who had cushy jobs or guaranteed futures. If that had been the case, we might not have survived the past six decades under some of the most oppressive political and social circumstances.

Is it really wise to slur the noble intentions of Mohammed Ali Jinnah and his league of men with integrity who gave us a blessing we haven’t really treasured?

Ajoka Theatre's Burqavaganza - a review

2007-04-08T21:59:00.000-07:00

ln our increasingly polarised world, issues once unimportant have become a great source of discord among people, irrespective of religion and/or culture. The issue of hijab, burqa or purdah, for instance, is drawing huge debates from western and as well as eastern societies.

Set against the background of this sensitive issue, Ajoka Theatre recently held the premiere of its play called Burqavaganza at the Alhamra Cultural Complex in Lahore. According to the brochure, the play is an “outrageous musical extravaganza written to challenge the mindsets, provoke the audience to rethink and break the chains of prejudice and outdated values.”

What followed was a series of skits based on national and international news clippings regarding the veil. It presented a hypothetical society where every individual is draped in yards of burqa in true Taliban-style and every few scenes ended with a popular film song. It was an incisive take on the fixation with burqa and the double standards that go with it.

To begin with, a TV channel by the name of Burqa Vision flashed the history of the burqa from the Stone Age, where a prehistoric woman is covered in a veil of leaves, to modern times where she wears the shuttlecock version of the head-to-toe veil. A take on the Star Plus soaps was particularly hilarious as all characters including men wore the hijab and acted with exaggerated histrionics in a play called Kyunke Burqa Bhi Kabhi Hijab Tha. Another skit showed two religious scholars taking live telephone calls from all over Pakistan on issues regarding the veil and answering in convoluted terms, beyond the comprehension of the callers. Politicians were shown exploiting the agenda of the purdah to their advantage, and western societies being unyielding in terms of demanding a ban on the all-enveloping veil.

A cricket match played by veiled players sent the audience in stitches. Other skits made fun of the obsession of our security personnel to go into detailed frisking and body searches of females, an astronaut holding an American flag follows local militia running after a most wanted terrorist Bin Batin symbolising that while our nation is busy with superficial issues that hardly affect us, the western societies have advanced greatly in the fields of science and technology. A love struck couple in hijab is shown courting with the parents of the girl coming to see the prospective groom and end up taking his measurements because he is fully covered. They eventually get married and after several years of marriage are sentenced to stoning to death by a jirga for wearing a revealing hijab. Another skit showed politicians and people of national fame hiding behind burqas symbolising that each had their own hidden agendas to manipulate the masses.

The play was well-researched with a witty viewpoint on an issue that has of late become a focal point of discord. Though one could not agree with all the jibes at the sensitive issue, one definitely agreed that purdah is an individual’s own choice and any compulsion to wear or discard it would foment frustration. An exhibition outside the auditorium displayed various news clippings and photographs regarding the hijab to reinforce to the audience that some of the skits were based on authentic facts.

According to Shahid Nadeem, the writer of Burqavaganza, the objective was not to hurt anyone’s beliefs or feeling. “We wanted to prompt a different thought process … one that can change the system through self-criticism. We should be able to see for ourselves where we are in the world with respect to real issues like survival, justice, freedom, human rights, quality of life and not be fixated with base issues like how much we should or should not be covered,” he said.

The Folk Puppet Festival 2007 in Lahore

2007-04-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

Culture on a string

Puppetry is a creative art form that gives inanimate objects illusory life for the purpose of telling tales that reflect the ethos of a society. Before the advent of television and even before radio arrived on the scene, folk puppetry was among the prime forms of entertainment.

Over the decades, however, puppetry in general has seen a dismal decline. The new generation of folk puppeteers are seeking out other professions to keep the kitchen fires burning with the devastating result that this rich art form now faces an uncertain future. The fact that the last of the craftsmen known for making wooden putlis (puppets) locally died some 10 years ago only serves to drive home this point.

In a desperate bid to save this art form from extinction, the Rafi Peer Theatre Workshop (RPTW) in collaboration with the Royal Norwegian embassy, recently held the fourth National Folk Puppet Festival coinciding with the World Puppet Day on March 22. The festival spread over four days was held at the Museum of Puppetry, Lahore, and dedicated to folk puppeteers and their craft. The audience was treated to the legendary folklore of Emperor Akbar’s courtroom in rustic Punjabi, to the beat of the dhol and popular filmi numbers in Madam Noor Jehan’s voice.

On a tangential note, the Museum of Puppetry is a commendable effort housing puppets from 28 countries in a three-storey structure. The collection of puppets is impressive with marionettes ranging from tiny finger-manipulated dolls to huge six-foot string puppets. Besides offering classes to aspiring students on different forms of puppetry, the museum also offers residence programmes for foreign puppeteers to come and live in for two to three months, conduct workshops, perform puppet shows, collaborate with local artistes in creating new pieces and design puppets among other activities. About 90 per cent of the puppet shows performed is free of cost, and the museum arranges free tours for schools and NGOs.

Faizaan Peerzada, the curator of the museum and RPTW president says, “Part of our work is financed by the Norwegian embassy’s assistance. To further generate funds, we have Café Peeru on the premises for a fine dining experience as well as live entertainment such as sufi, rock and ghazal nights apart from drama and puppet performances.

“I plan to get puppeteers from Rajasthan to teach the families of folk puppeteers. I want these families to learn the craft from their own people so that the art remains intact. We don’t want to modernise the art form as that license should only be with the new generation of folk puppeteers and not us,” he adds.

In a documentary called Puppeteers in the Dark, directed by Faizaan to highlight the bleak times faced by the dying craft, a folk puppeteer says, “As cities are getting larger, they are driving us out. Nobody has any interest in us anymore.” Another adds that as the craft of putli-making died with his father’s generation, he can only carry out repair work on his puppets and stitch their costumes, changing them once a year due to paucity of funds. All the folk puppeteers said they only perform if someone invites them and do not roam the streets looking for an audience as the exercise is futile.

But Faizaan is keen to make folk puppetry a viable entity once again. “People object to the rustic clothes and rural dialect of these puppeteers; I tell them it’s our culture. We take great pains in being eloquent in English while disassociating ourselves from our roots. I plan to keep at least two of these folk puppeteer families on my payroll, making elaborate costumes for them and their puppets. We have already made them popular through the World Performing Arts Festivals by keeping the tickets to their shows at a low price to encourage youngsters to watch the performances. We are also working out a plan for them to perform at private birthday parties, etc, so that they can earn a decent livelihood through their craft.”

With the new generation of folk puppeteers adding newer tales to their repertoire to reflect the moods of an ever-changing society, here’s hoping that with the efforts of the Rafi Peer team, this ancient art form will survive, evolving with time to reclaim its rightful place in our society as a popular form of entertainment.

Interview of Zeba - The veteran film artiste

2007-03-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

Till death do them part

The late veteran film actor, Muhammad Ali and his wife, actress Zeba’s marriage was the stuff that fairytales are made of. Together, they made quite a couple, with the tall and handsome Muhammad Ali falling in love with the young, beautiful Zeba at first sight and the two getting married and living happily ever after … that is until Muhammad Ali passed away this time last year. The two were married for four decades.

I meet Zeba at her residence, AliZeb, situated on a broad avenue of Lahore bearing the same name. Contrary to the image of a grieving widow I have in mind, I find Zeba dressed in a fetching ice-blue silk shalwar kameez with matching shoes worn over pedicured feet with painted toenails. With sparkling diamonds earrings and solitaires flashing in her slender fingers, she puts to shame women half her age with her captivating beauty.

The moment we start, she makes it absolutely clear: “I will talk only about Muhammad Ali sahib.” With her past obscure, and she has consciously kept it so during the length of our conversation, the reference point in her life remains her meeting with Muhammad Ali. “When he joined Radio Pakistan, his father who was a religious scholar, opposed his decision. But Ali told him: ‘I’ll never bring disgrace to your name in this profession’ and he proved it so.”

She also remembers how they ended up on screen together: “Our first film together was Chiragh Jalta Raha (released on March 9, 1962 and directed by Fazal Karim Fazli). Its first shot picturised us together. Ali sahib told the press much later that he had decided to marry me the day he first saw me.” Chiragh Jalta Raha also marked the big-screen debut of Deeba and Kamal Irani. Zeba and Mohammad Ali got married some four years later in 1966. Says she, “It took us a while as I am not the kind who trusts someone out rightly or falls in love at first sight.”

So what made her decide to marry him? “His integrity and goodness. He belonged to a deeply religious family and despite being good-looking, he was sharif and would shun the advances made by other women. Muhammad Ali sahib had a generous heart and treated everyone with nothing but respect. He treated me like a queen and loved fulfilling my whims. It was hard not to take the decision to marry him. He would hand over all his earnings to me without a question as to how I spent it.”

Zeba goes on to add that in the later part of his life, Muhammad Ali was actively involved in philanthropic pursuits, specially pertaining to the AliZeb Foundation which treats the underprivileged patients of hemophilia and thalesemia free of charge.

It is commonly perceived that Ali was immensely possessive about Zeba working with other heroes of the time. Zeba, however, has this to say about the issue: “Ali once asked me ‘Would you like it if I accompanied you on your shoots like you do on mine?’ and I thought to myself: What is the point of being married if your work keeps you away from each other? So I decided to act in films that only cast him opposite me. Also, I think our society does not accept a married actress working opposite men other than her husband. Today, I don’t have any regrets as we made super-hit films together. In fact, we worked in 75 films which is an unmatched world record, even in Hollywood and Bollywood.”

Says Zeba, “We always made it a point to have lunch and dinner together. Muhammad Ali sahib also loved to entertain guests at home and never went anywhere without me.” On being asked how Ali was as a father to her only daughter from her previous marriage (they did not have any children of their own), Zeba cuts me short. “I don’t remember anything prior to meeting Muhammad Ali. He was an exemplary father to not only our daughter but also our grandchildren. He would get them expensive gifts from abroad and where I would admonish my grandchildren at times, he would spoil and pamper them to no end.”

With tears in her eyes, she says that life without Muhammad Ali is difficult for her. “I cannot even begin to explain the anguish I have suffered with Ali’s passing away. I have tried to pull myself together with difficulty but I still feel incomplete. The shock of his death has been unbelievable and I still suffer from the stress of it all. I would visit his grave and it would just not register that he is in there. But one can’t do anything against the will of Allah. For four months after his death, I did not read a single newspaper carrying the coverage of his funeral or watch a single TV programme made in his memory. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. My grandchildren urged me to see the articles they had saved with them, saying I should see how he left this world in the grand manner that he had lived his life. I think it is only when you are so loved and admired by people that you receive the tremendous show of respect that Ali got on his last journey.”

Finally, Zeba says, “I ask Ali’s admirers to pray for his maghfirat and my forbearance to overcome the loss. I hope and pray that when my time comes, people will show me the same love and respect that they have shown to Muhammad Ali.”

Published for Images, Dawn Newspaper

Interview of Simi Raheal - Actor & Social Activist

2007-02-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

She’s all that and more
Common perception has it that celebrities take great pains to maintain carefully constructed public images for themselves. A pleasant exception to this stereotype is Simi Raheal.

Simi is supremely confident about herself. When she speaks, her eyes and smile radiate an unmistakable warmth and meeting her, it is hard not to remain impressed by the various facets of her dynamic personality. Of late, the veteran TV actress has again become a face of familiar reckoning on television, thanks to a diverse repertoire of advertisements, music videos and dramas in which she has been featuring frequently. But she has carefully refrained from being overexposured.

I meet her at her home in Lahore where she has just returned from an intensive ad shoot in Karachi. Prior to this, she was away for a long spell of shooting in Mauritius for a drama serial. Dressed in faded jeans and an overcoat, she holds back her dogs while I make my way into her cosy, artfully done up lounge. A centre table displays beautiful sea shells that she as collected “from every shore of the world” that she has been to.

Simi has been associated with showbusiness since the past three decades, while she was still studying in the textile design programme at the National College of Arts, Lahore, in 1976. She made her debut with Ashfaq Ahmed’s magnum opus, Aik Mohabbat Sau Afsaanay, two years after which she got married and her husband’s army job postings took her travelling to various military stations across the country. She talks about her marriage and motherhood (her daughter, Mehreen Raheal, is a successful fashion model today). “Thanks to my husband’s job, I got to see so much of Pakistan that I would not have otherwise. Mehreen was born in Kharian during Zia’s regime. Being an army man’s wife, I needed an NOC to work for television (read PTV). I therefore decided to take a break from acting and pay full attention to raising my kids.”

Simi returned to the tube with her serial Khwahish, in which she played a gypsy woman, wherein she delivered the gypsy vernacular and lifestyle to perfection. The attempt proved to be hugely successful and since then, there was no looking back as acting projects came forth steadily one after another.

But Simi soon realised that “there was more to life than just being a face on the camera. I am a hermit; I do not attend parties or award ceremonies and yet I love to travel. I love connecting with people through my work; it helps me know myself. I believe in what Lewis Carroll wrote in Alice in Wonderland: ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will do’. During my mid career, I was lucky to have met Muneeza Hashmi, who is my husband’s aunt, and she put me on track in life and gave me a new bearing.”

Joining her NGO, Simi got interested in gender studies and became a reproductive health and human rights activist. She is a fellow of the Harvard School of Public Health and the International Institute of Education, USA. Part of her work entails conducting workshops and representing Pakistan at national and international forums.

“I am not a feminist,” she elaborates, “I believe in gender balance and encourage women to realise their status in a religious and social framework.” She tells me that her field of interest is developmental communication which integrates social, economic and industrial channels to help mainstream communicators deal with gender issues in the development construct. She also teaches gender and media at Kinniard College where she encourages young minds to dwell on how women should be projected through media to maintain gender balance.

She likes to follow through this philosophy of hers in her acting career as well. For instance she refuses to do scripts that have discriminatory overtones. “Thank God I am now at a stage where I can redo my own scripts if they contain dialogues that might send the wrong subliminal message to the masses. I would never say a dialogue to the tune of ‘betiyaan bojh hoti hain’ (daughters are a burden). Language is important in maintaining gender balance, and slight innuendos can have huge implications.”

A recently televised talk show by the name of Hot Seat was notable for its candid approach to social issues, with Simi being its host. She comments: “I scripted and researched the 38 programmes on taboo issues myself and got them aired specially from ATV as the channel is viewed by mainstream audiences. The programmes were well appreciated for they aimed to speak about issues like incest, rape and discrimination rather than sensationalising them.”

Simi is proud of the fact that her values have naturally permeated through to her children as well: “Mehreen is a very successful model. Her colleagues often tell me that she is very professional and committed to her work and she has perhaps featured in the widest variety of ads ranging from cellular services to shampoos and cooking oils. Yet she has never compromised her principles. For instance she decided on her own never to wear revealing clothes or do ramps.”

She ruminates further: “How we lead our lives and speak through our work is very important. TV has indeed taught me more than any college could have had. While on projects, you get to live with people of all classes in perfect harmony; you share your food and even the bathroom at times with the boom operators, the camera boys. You learn the simple realities of life with people around you. Being a communicator, I do not judge people on the basis of their social status or any orientation they have as long as they are good human beings.”So what are her thoughts on the over glamorised affair that drama has become today? “Acting is not about painting yourself up like a mannequin. I do my roles with minimum required makeup. In my recent role of a Christian housekeeper, I had to wear a uniform throughout the serial and I thought it was very interesting. Unfortunately, we have made a mess of drama with soaps. I refuse point blank to do any soaps for they have no story, no direction and the acting is terrible. The lifestyle shown creates frustration among the majority who cannot afford it and the stories are full of intrigue and malice.”

She feels that through these soaps, our media is perpetuating an ideology that is widening the gulf between the classes. “What these quick buck makers don’t realise is that they are shaping the norms of society by their ventures. If you show obscenity, it gradually becomes the norm. If you show intrigue and conspiracy repeatedly, people start accepting it as part of their lives.”

On a more positive note, she talks about what she feels lies in store for the future. “I think youngsters like Jami, Saquib and Sarmad are talented and realising that their survival lies in being original. They are the future; I see this in a lot of youngsters today. My own son, Daniyal for instance, is into filmmaking. He left Canada to work here rather than for goras.”

She gives the example of Shoaib Mansoor’s film, Khuda Ke Liyay where she played the role of a mother to the two heroes. “It was a fantastic experience. Shoaib sahib comes up with one project and gets the whole nation thinking.

“Time is like a window and sometimes in that window, only one person can appear and project a needed change. We only had one Iqbal and one Faiz who got millions of people thinking. Change is brought on by only a few minds,” concludes Simi Raheal.

Published for Images, Dawn Newspaper