It was Jinnah’s birthday on 25 December, much to the relief of Pakistani Christians as this means that they can have Christmas off without the mullahs screeching blue murder. This was doing the rounds on social media – a celebration of his birthday somewhere or the other. One understands the ‘get me out of here’ […]
Peran Christmas
We had our first Christmas in Galata, Pera as was. In the morning I dashed to finish some work, and managed just as the GF arose. We went off to bring a Turkish breakfast from a nearby cafe, along with a couple of glasses of freshly squeezed pomegranate juice. Since our dining room is dark […]
Pardon power
One of the most intractable problems in Pakistani law is that the heirs the murdered can forgive murderers, and there is little the state can do about it. I know someone whose brother killed her father, but the son went unpunished not because the father was a terrible man (which he was) but because the […]
Galataport
A brief lockdown excursion today, just to investigate the Galataport, which we’ve never really walked around. Most of it is shut off of course, but the mosque, which was under scaffolding for restoration and the installation of a public convenience, was now visible (though shut) and some of the other buildings, like the art gallery […]
Claws loosened
News came from Kathmandu, the Seeker died. It had not seemed likely, when I met her, that she would live on for two more years, but then it also didn’t seem likely that she would ever die, having clung to life with fingers tightened into claws.
Break out
We broke out and went for a short excursion despite the weekend lockdown. It was the first day of any sun at all, so our resolve to stand in solidarity with the Turkish fizzled away. When we stepped outside, well, it was a rather crowded lockdown on the streets as there were dozens of people […]
Roundtable conference
We had a roundtable conference this afternoon, with the contractor, his architect daughter and our local friend. It was a very good meeting: much was clarified and agreed and we now know what the next steps are likely to be. There is one neighbour who is likely to cause trouble, even though we have all […]
Consumer drones
It’s an argument I’ve often railed against, or at least fulminated against, the plastic straw argument of disempowered consumerism. That there is no point giving up plastic straws for environmental reasons because it makes so little difference in the larger scheme, when it is corporations and governments that are responsible for climate change. Its most […]
Small victories
A few small achievements on Monday to make up for the stagnant weekend. The first was that I finally managed to call the helpline for our visas to learn that they were still being processed, and that was why we had not heard back. A relief, as it was definitely keeping me up at night. […]
Time vortex
Weekend lockdowns put me in a sort of time vortex, I have no idea when it is. This weekend was particularly grim as I had a great deal of work including a meeting, and the sky was dark and grey so there is almost no light in our flat; what there is gets sucked up […]