Baithak - A place where Pakistani Bloggers get United.
Adil Najam
A recent cover story in the prestigious journal Science reports that the scientific view of the Indus Civilization, of how it compares to its other two contemporary civilizations (Mesopotamia and Egypt), and of what might have happened to it is undergoing a stark and important reconsideration. That scientists consider it to be “Boring No […]
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By Baithak.Net
Owais Mughal
While browsing youtube I came across this very thought provoking documentary on depleting water resources of our cities. Even though the documentary talks about Karachi in specific, the problem of pottable water and conservation is equally valid for any other city and town of Pakistan. According to current estimate, Pakistan is world’s 6th most […]
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Owais Mughal
Outside Pakistan any reference to mother land naturally catches our attention (see Beijing’s Pakistani Connections). Last week I got chance to visit Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). This museum was opened in 1910 and was among the first building built for Smithsonian to house national treasures. Among other treasures of […]
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Owais Mughal
Outside Pakistan any reference to mother land naturally catches our attention (see Beijing’s Pakistani Connections). Last week I got chance to visit Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). This museum was opened in 1910 and was among the first building built for Smithsonian to house national treasures. Among other treasures of […]
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Adil Najam
These pictures are of the violence and mayhem that erupted outside the Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Stock Exchanges on Thursday after the market plunged yet again, to a 18-month low. Look at them carefully. What is wrong with them?
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By Baithak.Net
Adil Najam
Despite an erroneous news earlier that renowned poet Ahmed Faraz had died in a Chicago hospital, the news right now is that Ahmed Faraz is still alive, but not at all well, struggling for his life in a Chicago hospital.
Here is the latest from The News:
CHICAGO: Renowned poet Ahmed Faraz is alive and still […]
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Raza Rumi
What distinguishes Asim Butt from his generation and perhaps the preceding generations of artists is the sheer originality of his vision and an iconoclasm that is neither trumpeted nor made visible until the subtext of his lines is closely studied.
This is why Asim has undertaken bold strides during the last 10 enriching years […]
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By Baithak.Net
Darwaish
I am also an old Kulfi lover like Owais. This photograph, from Lahore Nama, immediately got my attention and brought back so many childhood memories.
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Adil NajamWe know that Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari prefer Dubai as a ‘neutral’ meeting ground. Last week Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani and his entourage, including Information Minister Sherry Rehman, made a very public stop-over in Dubai to meet Asif Ali Zardari and family and (presumably) discuss important policy issues. Now, one reads […]
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Junaid N. SahibzadaIt just happened to be a co-incidence that I met Benjamin Gilmour, a Sydney paramedic by profession and a movie maker by passion.A friend of mine had sent me an email telling me of some one who had visited Pakistan and fell in love with the culture and people of the North West […]
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Owais MughalThis photo appeared in The Daily Times of June 2, 2008. It shows 3 cycles getting a tow from a motorcyle on a Lahore Road. What attracted me to the photo was this dedicated show of friendship, which is all so part of our Pakistaniat.
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Adil NajamA friend sent these to me as examples of Pinglish. Supposedly, they are examples of actual language used in letters and applications of various types. Even if they are not real, they are funny.A candidate’s application:“This has reference to your advertisement calling for a ‘typist and an accountant–Male or Female’… As I am both […]
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Adil Najam(ATP Note: On July 11, 2008, Samad Khurram broke his public silence on this episode in an op-ed published in The News. This post has been updated to include the op-ed in full, at the end of the post).Islamabad, from where I write this, is abuzz with talk about Samad Khurram, the Pakistani student […]
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Owais Mughal If you think I am going to tell you a curry recipe’ then you are mistaken. Eventhough there is gallons of curry involved in this write-up but wait till I get to it. Let me build up the background first. Our home in Karachi has a cricket ground located next to it. Being […]
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S.A.J ShiraziComfortably tucked in green hills north of Islamabad, Hasan Abdal is situated right on the Grand trunk Road. The town’s claims to fame are Cadet College and temple of Panja Sahib. This small and clean historic town neat is sacred for Sikhs.Hassan Abdal is famous for its cadet college and also serves as the […]
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Aisha SarwariIn an exciting new technology launch at Marriott Islamabad on July 1st, ICT R&D Fund sponsored the Campus Career Portals initiative, with 6 leading university rectors and other EVPs of leading Industry present at the launch. The aim was to officially begin the roll out of giving away costly technology to Universities completely free […]
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Mast QalandarLast week, I went to Washington DC on personal business. I stayed at the Marriott Hotel on Woodley Road off Connecticut Avenue. When I arrived at the hotel, and was taking out my luggage from the car, I could sense a commotion in the hotel — the sort of benign commotion that you see […]
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Owais Mughal and Adil NajamFollowing yesterday’s murderous attack on Islamabad, Karachi has been rocked today by a series of blasts (seven reported till now).
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Manzoor Ali ShahThe 2008 edition of Pakistan’s famous Shandur Polo festival starts today. It will continue for three days. This polo tournament, organized by Gilgit and Chitral polo clubs, will be played at Shandur Pass which is considered as the the highest Polo Ground in the World. The game of polo has been played for […]
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Owais MughalA friend who survived today’s ghastly and cowardly attack on innocent people in Islamabad wrote this:Today my belief in Allah’s power and what we call qismat(fate) was re-enforced. One of the things I learned while in overseas (i.e. to stop when a traffic police man tells me to stop) literally saved my life. I […]
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A friend who survived today’s ghastly and cowardly attack on innocent Pakistanis in Islamabad sent this email to a group of friendsToday my belief in Allah’s power and what we call Qismat was re-enforced. One of the things I learned while in overseas (to stop when a traffic police man tells me to stop) literally […]
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Owais MughalThe citizens of Lahore saw a Railway Locomotive for the first time in their city in March 1862. Lahore at that time was connected via Railways to Amritsar and rest of the India but not to the port city of Karachi. The Lahore-Amritsar line though complete, was not inaugurated yet. It was to be […]
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DarwaishI am watching television right now and every news channel is reporting the latest interview by father of Pakistan’s nuclear program, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. This interview came as a surprise to many people here in Pakistan and is sending shock waves around the world (wait and see after 4th July holiday in US). […]
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Raza RumiOn these erudite pages, and elsewhere, there has been much ado about the fact that now the ruling coalition should split in response to the great betrayals perpetrated by Asif Ali Zardari. In classic machismo laden bravado, the honorific narratives have been urging Nawaz Sharif and his party to take the bold step and […]
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Owais MughalATP’s regular contributor Mast Qalandar introduced us to this poetry clip. The poem is recited by the poet Dr. Nausha Asrar himself. The sub-title on the video suggests this poem was recited in Aligarh alumni’s aalmi mushaira 2007.WPvideo 1.10
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Mast QalandarThis poem was recited by Dr. Nausha Asrar at an aalmi mushaira 2007.WPvideo 1.10
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By Baithak.Net
Asma MirzaIts the season of sun shining brightly one moment and heavy rains pouring the other. Monsoon (barsaat), the season of rim jhim, is bright here. And when you get to see pictures like this, it’s a bit confusing whether to laugh your heart off or feel sorry. Have you ever spotted not one, not […]
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Owais MughalWhen Younis Khan hit a 4 off Piyush Chawla to take his score to 37 in today’s match against India, he completed his 5000 runs in ODIs. He went on to score 123 not out in today’s innings.He thus became Pakistan’s 9th and World’s 45th batsman to reach this milestone.Following is the updated list […]
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Adil NajamIt is not often that one dares to place a headline as bold as the one above. We have used such superlatives a few times before, but very few: for the dialogues from Maula Jatt, for the blockbuster movie Aina, twice for the PTV show Fifty-Fifty, once for the show and once for its […]
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Adil NajamIt is not often that one dares to place a headline as bold as the one above. We have used such superlatives a few times before, but very few: for the dialogues from Maula Jatt, for the blockbuster movie Aina, twice for the PTV show Fifty-Fifty, once for the show and once for its […]
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Manzoor Ali ShahThe situation in NWFP is gradually slipping away from the control of government in the face of mounting militant’s attacks in the province and FATA. Amid the fears that the Peshawar too could fall to the militants, authorities have launched an operation in the neighbouring Khyber Agency against a militant organization Lashkar-e-Islam (LI), […]
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Raza RumiA little news item that appeared a few weeks ago was ignored by our all-knowing analysts and TV channels. Reportedly, the Federal Public Service Commission failed to recruit all the vacancies that were advertised for the CSS competitive examination held in 2007. Out of 290 available posts, the number of successful candidates in the […]
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Pervaiz Munir AlviFred Bremner was not born or raised in Pakistan. In fact during his life time there was no country on the map by the name of Pakistan. Yet, for thirty five years he lived and worked among, owned studios and properties at, and traveled through out the areas that would later become Pakistan.He […]
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Owais MughalFollowing photo is courtesy of Farhan Khan of APP. You can make your own story of what is going on but here is my ‘tasweeri kahani’ (photo story). Letters in bold are facts. Rest is fiction. On the hot sunny afternoon of June 27, 2008, some nieghborhood boys gathered under a tree on Airport […]
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Owais MughalIn April 2008, we had a post on Eight Bazaars of Faisalabad, and we presented it as one of the best examples of town planning in Pakistan. We would like to develop this topic into a whole new series about the best planned localities of Pakistan. Among many examples of fine town planning in […]
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Owais MughalMany years ago, before I became a proud owner of Yamaha 100, I used to have a Yamaha 50. It was red in color and many a times the person riding on it also used to get shades of red. These red shades sometimes came in anger and sometimes as blushes. This motorcycle made […]
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Syed Ahsan AliNo matter what higher officials of Pakistan Hockey Federation and coach of Pakistan’s national hockey team say about the chances of Pakistan in upcoming Beijing Olympics 2008, unfortunately things are not looking too rosy. It has been a long while since we did anything memorable in the Olympics. To be specific, it was […]
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Raza RumiI grew up watching an amaltas (Cassia fistula) grow in our side-garden in Lahore. Each spring would bring flowers on the creepers and shortly thereafter the Amaltas would start blooming with yellow flowers setting fire to the little garden adjacent to my room. Lahore’s roads would also glow in the summer adding much zest […]
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By Baithak.Net
Mast Qalandar“What is common between President Pervez Musharraf, Imran Khan, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry?” Even a schoolboy knows the answer: They are all members of the Kala Kola Klub.This was the question that Khalid Hasan asked and answered in a delightful column last week in Daily Times. Khalid Hasan […]
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By Baithak.Net
Asma Mirza The much fussed Long March to Islamabad ended without any concrete changes. Though it left behind many speculations, good, bad and a few worst.I was flickring through pictures when this picture sent me in a fit of laughter. Irony and Spirit: All Together.Apart from the brilliant idea to get a clear and uninterrupted […]
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Raza RumiTHE enthusiasts for the long march towards Islamabad are justifiably feeling let down by the grand posturing, thundering rhetoric and the subsequent retreat from agitation outside the dreary citadels of power in Islamabad’s dark heart.A Bastille, which was not meant to be? Interpretations abound and explanations are flowing in from the motley groups who […]
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Adil NajamIslamabad, from where I write this, is abuzz with talk about Samad Khurram, the Pakistani student currently at Harvard University, who snubbed the U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, by refusing to shake her hand or accept an award for Pakistani students from the Roots Academy - a top-notch private school - who […]
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Owais MughalJust like the Billboard painting performed in Pakistan, there is another indigineous form of art performed in Pakistan and it is the Truck Painting. With its all colorful floral patterns, depiciton of human heroes with creative aspect ratios, calligraphy of poetic verses and driver’s words of wisdom, this form of art is truly a […]
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Owais MughalJust like the Billboard painting performed in Pakistan, there is another indigineous form of art performed in Pakistan and it is the Truck Painting. With its all colorful floral patterns, depiciton of human heroes with creative aspect ratios, calligraphy of poetic verses and driver’s words of wisdom, this form of art is truly a […]
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Owais MughalThere are 4 songs in this post.While surfing on YouTube, I was happpily surprised to find followng songs by Runa Laila. Many of you may know that she is the world famous singer from Bangladesh. She has a huge contribution of singing Urdu songs in Pakistani movies. She has also sung Punjabi, Pashto and […]
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Owais MughalWhen Salman Butt played an unbeated innings of 129 against India in the Finals of Kitply Cup, he also completed his 2000 runs in ODIs. While Salman’s innings saw Pakistan lift the tournament trophy, he became the 19th Pakistani to reach 2000 runs milestone in ODIs. It is generally said about ODIs that after […]
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ATPs Previous Father’s Day Posts here: 2007 and 2006Muslim RizviIt was just another ordinary Tuesday evening in a typical suburban Toronto neighborhood. It has been a cold harsh winter and the early April showers were turning out to be cooler than usual as well. I hate to be whining about the weather. When I moved […]
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Nadeem Omar and Adil NajamThe scenes we are seeing in the current lawyers movement for democracy, including the ones seen most recently at the Long March to Islamabad, reminds one that our memories are short but are struggles for democracy are not.These two news photographs from the F.E. Chaudhry of protests outside the Lahore High […]
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By Shahab RiaziWe all hear about high performing Pakistanis in their respective industries and areas all around us but we rarely get to hear about success stories for Pakistanis as a community. There will be an opportunity to do exactly that this weekend at the OPEN Forum 2008.OPEN, the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North […]
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Owais MughalThe long march which started at Karachi and Quetta on June 9, 2008 is near Islamabad now. It is scheduled to reach Islamabad on June 13. The photo below shows Ali Ahmed Kurd, Nawaz Sharif and Aitzaz Ahsan showing solidarity with each other at Azadi Chowk, Lahore on June 12, 2008.According to Daily News […]
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By Baithak.Net
