Bollywood, India’s Hindi language cinema, has millions of ardent fans across the world. Among them are the people of Pakistan. People like me. Now that love affair is souring. Unlike a lot of other Pakistanis, my interest in Bollywood developed much later in life. I was already in my late 20s when I took the…
Category: Pakistan
Of Babar Azam and Captaincy
Two back-to-back home series losses. 4 consecutive defeats. At the receiving end of the first whitewash at home in history. A tame series draw vs New Zealand. A full year without a single test win at home. Calls for Babar Azam to be replaced as captain have not exactly become loud enough to bring the…
Of Ramiz Raja and Najam Sethi
Ramiz Raja is out. Najam Sethi is again in charge of the Pakistan Cricket Board. Monkeys are flying and the Brontosaurus is roaming earth again. Or so the anti-Najam Sethi camp would have you believe. People put in charge of certain positions should have some level of expertise in the mentioned field, and cricket should…
Pakistan’s Attack On Christmas
For a lot of people, Christmas this year was the first one post Covid restrictions. As people everywhere passed along Christmas wishes to others, large sections of Pakistanis moved in a different direction: Christmas is haram. Wishing it is haram. Celebrating it is haram. Doing so is Shirk for it means that Jesus is the…
My 5 Favourite Pakistani Fast Bowling Spells
As we emerge from the catastrophe that was the England test series, with a gentle medium pacer leading our fast bowling attack in two of the games, my mind went back to multiple levels of ‘what ifs’ had Shaheen, Haris or Naseem been fully fit. Nothing would have likely changed, or maybe it would have….
That Naseem Shah Spell
MCG. World Cup Final. Versus possibly the greatest white ball team in history. It’s a spell that I’ve gone back to watch, and then re-watch and then watch again one more time. Make no mistake, Naseem Shah isn’t the kind of bowler that ignited that raw Pakistani fast bowler emotion in me during the early…
The Pakistan Cricket Hangover
Here we go again. Not the first time. Definitely not the last. It’s like having a painful, toxic romance. There are time where you despise them. Abhor every iota of their existence. But then they put on your favourite cologne, utter saccharine dipped words, and it is all butterflies and rainbows again. These feelings hit…
Pakistan’s Line Of Defense
Pakistan has a robust line of defense. There is the army. Somewhat sexy, ever present, every where. There is the air force. Sexier, less visible, but still there. There is the Navy, neither sexy, not visible, but still there ( allegdley ) And there are the average every day nationalistic drum beating Pakistanis. Everytime something…
South Asia and Black Lives Matter
It’s not easy looking at images of burning, looting and rampant violence. Not today, when the modes of inflicting said damage have become faster and more co-ordinated than at any point in our history. The only thing worse than looking at those images, is living through it and that is what African Americans have been…
Trudeau and Kashmir
There is a long list of current gut wrenching headlines on our phone and TV screens currently. From the puddles of blood in Gaza to the clampdown of protest in Hong Kong, we live in times where good news is an abnormality. In the middle of all this is Indian Occupied Kashmir. It has never…
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