Mast Qalandar
I must have passed by this place countless times on my way to Abbottabad and back, and was always intrigued by its name. Khota Qabar! Donkey’s grave, that is. Why, I wondered, so much reverence for a dead donkey?

Khota Qabar lies on the Karakoram Highway, about 60 miles north of Islamabad and 7 miles [...]

Aziz Akhmad
We have been seeing too many dramatic and dreadful images on our TV screens in the past few weeks. It is like watching an action packed Western movie, where, every 10 or 15 minutes, there is a gun battle, an ambush, a lynching or some other gory scene. The only difference was, in the [...]

Aziz Akhmad
Yes, communication is power, that is, if you observe certain rules. Three, among several others, are, and they are pretty basic: Avoid clichés; choose words carefully; and, in oral communication, use measured and appropriate gestures to reinforce your point.
A cliché is a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original [...]

Aziz Akhmad

I never had the privilege of meeting Khalid Hasan. I only knew him through his columns, which I usually read, and always enjoyed.
He wrote simply, meticulously, and playfully. A lifelong journalist, he observed people minutely, noting not only what they said and how they said it, but also their dress and demeanor, and commented [...]

Aziz Akhmad
While I am writing this, a young, attractive woman appears on the TV screen, on a Pakistani channel, her head partially covered in a headscarf and her wide eyes dyed in kohl. She looks into the camera and delivers the following message in Urdu to promote her own talk show:
”Khabar woh jo sachi, tabsara [...]

Mast Qalandar
As promised in my earlier post on The Caps of Pakistan, it is now time to talk about Purgees, or turbans. A turban in Pakistan is more than simple head-gear. It is also a symbol of one’s honor.

Kicking a person’s turban off his head (pugree uchalna) is tantamount to insulting him. On the other [...]