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homistan
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homistan
The Third Migration
06.30.08 | Permalink | 8 CommentsAn edited version of below appeared in The Guardian’s Comment is Free 06/27. I decided to post the longer version here. Think of this as the first of many posts to come. Maybe even one of those book thingies…
“Pakistan is in a leaderless drift four months after elections” concludes Carlotta Gall in the New York [...] -
homistan
Lahore Snaps VIII: Dupata
05.22.08 | Permalink | 6 CommentsThe shuttle-cock burqas that now envelope our collective imagination as womanly garb across the Islamicate society was rarely seen in Lahore during my childhood. It was all light as breeze, translucent, brightly hued flags wrapped around jet black hair - effortlessly matching the shalwar-kameezs. Dupata, itself, is more than a simple matching wrap; it has [...]
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homistan
Huqqa
My grandfather’s huqqa held unbelievable degree of fascination for me. I would often request that he smoke it - if only to hear the gurrhgurrhgurrh of the water. He often obliged. When he died, I was in the States. On my next trip, I asked what became of his huqqa - and no one seemed [...]
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homistan
Tick Tock XII: May 12
From Dawn: Pakistan judges to be reinstated May 12: Nawaz Sharif LAHORE, May 2 (AFP) - Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif announced at a televised Press conference on Friday that the ruling coalition will reinstate judges sacked by Pervez Musharraf on May 12. The chief of the Pakistn Muslim League (Nawaz) said the government will [...]
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homistan, imperial watch
New Prisons for Old
04.14.08 | Permalink | 2 CommentsThere was a news item in a Lahore daily, a few days ago. In the Daily Waqt, the un-named reporter, sought to highlight destruction and disappearance of the Lal Qila dungeons in Lahore. These dungeons, the article stated, had housed political prisoners and criminals for centuries - since Lodhi to Akbar to Shah Jahan to [...]
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homistan
Lahore Snaps VII: An Afternoon Out
04.04.08 | Permalink | 9 CommentsThere wasn’t much time to visit anyone or any place. I saw maybe a fraction of Lahore, and that maybe on two trips. Even if I had time, I had little inclination to go places. I am a nostalgic guy but I hate nostalgia. You feel me? Not to mention that Lahore was cordoned off [...]
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homistan
Lahore Snaps VI: How We Roll
04.02.08 | Permalink | 5 CommentsI have a great story … from when I was 10 … and it involves a tanga, ice-cream in a cone and Fortress Stadium at night. There are no tangas left in Lahore anymore. Below is the only one I saw. The story is meaningless, without a tanga, isn’t it?
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homistan
Lahore Snaps V: Signs
Some signage from Lahore. The translations are on the flickr site. (Also additional shots).
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homistan
Lahore Snaps IV: We Eat
03.29.08 | Permalink | 6 CommentsLahore, should you be curious, is a food-lover’s paradise. The traditional North Indian cuisines (your biryanis and your karahis and whatnot) get augmented with Sindhi and Pashtun varieties of preparation and serving. Various streets and muhallahs (neighborhoods) are famous for various types of foods. I didn’t sample anything, this trip. The most daring I got [...]
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homistan
Lahore Snaps III: Marks It Bears
03.27.08 | Permalink | 7 CommentsI have been having these vivid dreams. Places and conversations continued from Lahore. Waking up every morning is quite a disorienting experience. The landscapes are stuck, the tape paused. I guess it can all be ascribed to jet lag or to this rather unmoored feeling that envelopes me. Whatever the case may be, I find [...]
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homistan
Demystifying Pakistan
03.26.08 | Permalink | 2 CommentsMy dear friends will be casting the harsh light of scholarship and analysis onto the murky swamp of Pakistan. Do attend. Spread the word. I surely wish I was there.
The Center for Place, Culture & Politics Presents
Demystifying Pakistan: Understanding the Current Crisis
A panel discussion on the military in Pakistani politics, society and economy; emergency, martial [...] -
homistan, optical character recognition
Monsoon Chutney
03.24.08 | Permalink | 2 CommentsCM reader JM sends in this note for all you gentle readers.
Hi! Hoping you Chapati Mystery readers can help me find a publisher for my first novel, Monsoon Chutney. It’s the multi-generational tale of an upper-caste Indian-American family. What’s really fresh about this work, I feel, is that each generation has its own unique [...]
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homistan
Announcements
03.06.08 | Permalink | 5 CommentsGentle Readers,
I ask so little of you. And I give you so much.
Well, the fairy tale has to end some day, right?
So.
CM will be largely silent for the next few weeks and I need to make some announcements for your help.
discussions