Fearing a difficult day, but there was something to cheer me up. Possibly fictitious, but the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province had a live stream on Facebook of a press conference to announce something or other, and apparently forgot to turn off the cat filter first. To think satire is banned in Pakistan.
Chauri Chaura
Nearly twenty years ago, I took a course on South Asian history at a large university in the United States, as part of my undergraduate degree. It was a mid-sized lecture course and had weekly sections, smaller discussion groups. In my section I was the only one from Pakistan, the only Muslim. Most of the […]
Clinging on
The European election results are in, with no surprises and will be interpreted by everyone as they think best. I voted for the Greens as the Remainer party that also had a coherent EU manifesto that I largely agreed with. I’d hoped they’d pick up a third London seat, but oh well. All in all, […]
Seven forms of disappointment (at least)
SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES We watched the final episode last night, one of millions watching it as it was aired. Something I have not done for other than sport or politics in a long time, perhaps ever. It was truly terrible. I have always been a hate-watcher of GoT, but this was shameful and […]
Unwanted children
I listened to the latest Talking Politics podcast this morning, which had an interview with the historian Tom Holland about Roman collapse and the present day. One throwaway point he made was that Europe, Russia, the Islamic World, are all descendants of Rome and, before that, Greece and the Near East, and their thought descends […]
Betrayal
SPOILERS FOR GAME OF THRONES SEASON 8 EPISODE 3 So we watched the big battle last night, the one that took 55 days of filming in cold rain and more special effects than one can shake a stick at. Unfortunately the latter rather lost their impact as our TV, which is small and not the […]
Good and bad
Until I married the Gentleman Friend, and eventually became eligible for a British passport, I travelled on my Pakistani passport. Even today, years later, my heart beats faster in fear as I approach immigration at any country, including the UK. And I am the most privileged of people. I have a UK passport now, and […]
Welcome
A baby was born this morning. I won’t see him for several months at the earliest and am not much of a baby or child person anyway, but my family has grown by one. He’s born at a difficult moment for his country and for the world at large. Pakistan teeters on several verges at […]
Shame
Every time I think that I have reached the height of disgust and despair, a new height is reached. I’m used to it from Pakistan, and now buffeted by it from every direction.
Shocker
Woke up this morning, my spidey sense tingling, and yes there was an urgent work message which had me instantly awake and slaving away. Then a glance at the Guardian caused my jaw to drop. The next act in the Brexit drama: the Speaker has said that the government can’t hold a third ‘meaningful vote’ […]