Adil Najam
I urge you to watch this clip. Watch it in full; its only 7 minutes long. Watch it to the end please – don’t skip to the end, even if you feel it is dragging. If you have not seen it already, you will surely be surprised; and moved.
Sufi had first introduced me to this BBC series through his wonderful post called Panni ka Bulbula and had also featured this video at Karachi Metroblog many months ago. Today, as I saw it again on YouTube I thought that even as we get all excited about the high political dramas of our times, the everyday struggles for survival like this deserve our attention… and our respect.
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So much to learn from someone who has been a victim of neglect and apparently not very well read.
She is the true hero of Pakistan. Thanks for sharing it, I actually get to see it once every year.
Haunting and so true, she captured so much in what she didn’t say, she said a LOT. Great post and great film making, especially the part where she was watching a film on television and singing along, good work whoever made it.
Moving video. And very well produced. Captured my attention from beginning to end.
Excellent video. I think some time back someone had written that ATP is the voice of all of our conscience. Indeed it is. Keep forcing us to think about things we otherwise ignore, ATP.
1)Watching this means to me: ATP at its best!
2) This clip vaguely reminded me of Hillary Swank’s role in ‘Boys don’t cry’.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171804/
3) During my last trip to Karachi–about 7-8 weeks ago–I saw quite a bit of ‘Hijras’ (transvestites) roaming the streets of Karachi. Supposedly, there is a surge of these poor souls in Karachi because elsewhere they have faced repression. Our brave lady in this video also talks about southern Sindh as her way to some less suffocation. Is Sindh, then, the last battleground against the forces of bigotry? And why so?
When I started watching the video, two things struck me. One was the way ‘he’ started his story. In an easy, natural way, in short sentences. From the word go, ‘he’ grabs your attention. Two, there was something soft and pleasant about ‘him’. But the ending shakes you up. Very dramatic. Reminds me of some of Manto’s short stories.
Regarding the story itself, unfortunately, this is the story of thousands of lower income families in Pakistan. Abusive fathers, battered mothers and traumatized children.
Adil, thank u for bringing this video on ATP. I know that there are many caes of human seffering in Pakistan. What make this case unique is that she has done something for herself rather than live in pity, faced a highly male dominated society single handed and survived with honour. How can we help to at least let her mother come and meet her in Multan or her to take a holiday at her mother’s home in Karachi?