The Hutchbustle birthday party came and went. I went with perhaps my closest friend, Lady Lala. We first stopped in Main Market at Jalal Sons (a large shop recently in the news for a massive fine for mixing dye into their daal to make it appear fresher) where I bought a basketball and hoop and […]
Catfish waltz
I finally gave in to the weather gods and borrowed a sweater from my sister. The next step will probably be to buy socks to prevent the chilblains that are a perpetual feature of Lahore winters. Not that Lahore winters are particularly cold but houses are designed for summer so are cold, covered in marble […]
Step 1
It’s 0230 and I’m halfway through the first long airport stop of the journey. I arrived at the airport half an hour earlier than needed to find a very long hydra headed queue consisting of Pathans pushing trolleys heaped with shrink wrapped blankets. Pakistani men’s vaunted respect and deference to women can rarely be depended […]
Last days
On Saturday, after breakfast the GF and I took out the kayak and paddled to the two islands in the bay where, we were told, there was snorkeling. I went in front and took the role of steering, while the GF provided the power, the speed and, if one must be honest, most of the […]
Last generation
I went to get my waxing done at a new place, conveniently located at the end of the street. The woman who did the waxing was a Sikh who had arrived from Indian Punjab four years ago. I felt a little hesitation, as I always do, when meeting those on the other of Partition. All […]
Not my Islam
I thought this had some interesting things to say about the conflation of hijab with Muslim women. The one thing possibly more harmful than invisibility is simplistic or tokenistic representation. I am torn between acknowledging that in L’Oréal’s campaign there is a value for people who don’t see themselves represented in the mainstream media, and […]
Goodbye
Goodbye Ursula Le Guin. You shaped my teenage years and since then your meaning has only changed, not diminished.
Bills bills bills
Paid off a bunch of bills, welcome home indeed. This is a brief respite before travellers and visitors return. Indeed, much of the afternoon was spent arranging flights for an uncle who will fly through Kuala Lumpur in March. I also rather regretfully told a much beloved aunt that I am not in town this […]
Class component
I’m troubled about the classist nature of some of Pakistan’s answer to #MeToo – the women (only women that I have seen so far) telling stories about being molested as children. They are all stories of molestation by domestic servants or other lower class individuals. Cooks, drivers, gardeners, qaris. I imagine that there is more […]
Again, get out
Rewatched Get Out. What a fantastic film. This time, of course, I watched it knowing what was to come, having thought about it for many months and read other people’s thoughts, so it was interesting to see how it was all put together. I also noticed the careful, confident ratcheting up of absurdity this time, […]