Adil Najam

Dear readers, please give me just 85 seconds of your time.

Take a deep breath, and then take a listen to the audio recording below. It will take all of 1 minute and 25 seconds.

[Audio:http://www.kidvai.com/windmills/Media/Latee fah.mp3]

And, then, if you can give me just 30 seconds more, take a deep breath and think about what you have heard.

If you wish to share that thought with other readers, we will be delighted. But even if you don’t, do please think.

Bilal Zuberi

My narration below traces back to a recent Iftar/dinner conversation with a non-Muslim, non-Pakistani friend. She wanted to know how I would spend a typical Ramzan day in Pakistan. Innocent question, but one that took me on a delightful, and extremely nostalgic, trip down memory lane since I have spent the last 13 Ramzans outside Pakistan.

Simply narrating a typical Ramzan day during high school made me realize what all I have missed for so long now. I narrate here what I told her because I think a few readers may find it interesting, or nostalgic. Most will find it rather ordinary. Maybe that is the point: I really miss the Ramzan in Pakistan.

Adil Najam

I must confess that the response to our last ATP Quiz came as a bit of a surprise.

The picture was taken in 2005 and is a birds-eye view of Abbottabad. As readers have pointed out, there is plenty wrong with it. What had prompted me to ask the question was that this picture was so very (and sadly) different from whatever Abbottabad is in the imagination of most Pakistanis.

Maybe it is only our imagination playing games with us, but even so, what a sad thought that is!