Male writers tend to get asked what they think and women what they feel. In my experience, and that of a lot of other women writers, all of the questions coming at them from interviewers tend to be about how lucky they are to be where they are – about luck and identity and how…

Continue Reading

Elections & social media in pakistan

During the last year, we have seen immense political presence in Pakistan’s social media. It started with leaders of almost all political parties garnering an online presence to realising how to market a party as an online brand. It has not been an easy ride for these political parties because our politicians tend to be more…

Continue Reading

The power of one Pakistani

We have never given a toss about education in Pakistan. This is not a blanket statement but a fact pretty easily verified if you look at statistics of literacy in this country or the work done on education in our 65-year history. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) puts our literacy at 56…

Continue Reading

Farrukh: an inspiration for us all

I first met Farrukh when I was speaking at an International Education and Resource Network(iEARN) event in Karachi. I saw him sitting there on his motorised chair, smiling and listening attentively. As soon as I was done speaking, I stepped down from the podium and went straight over to him, to sit down and talk. Farrukh…

Continue Reading