Adil Najam

The absurdity that is the off- and on-field shenanigans of the Pakistan cricketers just moved up a notch and became outright bizarre. Maybe even more.

Wicketkeeper Zulqarnain, who had been so pivotal in winning the fourth one-day against South Africa last week, seemingly disappeared before the final game today; he then appeared equally mysteriously in England; and now there is a message on what is supposed to be his Facebook page saying that he is “leaving pakistan cricket because get bad msg fr 1 man fr lose the match in last game.”

I have no idea what to make of this. Is this for real? Is this a hoax? Is this another facebook scam? Or is this another cruel joke being played by fate on cricket lovers in Pakistan. Whatever it is, it is now all over the internet and a cause of deepening despair amongst Pakistani cricket fans. Deeper now that we lost of the fifth and final one-day game, and therefore also the series after having performed so valiantly in the last games.

Adil Najam

I have been mesmerized by this voice, this music and this song. I listen to it again and again, and I think you will too. Even in the simplicity of her presentation, Jiji Zarina Baloch is a captivating voice and captivating presence.

Raza Rumi

(Editor’s Note: ATP  intends to present a series of posts with excerpts from this extraordinary book from K.K. Aziz. As a prelude to the series, we thought we should provide some context with a review of the book, The Coffee House of Lahore).

Before his death in July 2009, K.K. Aziz had accomplished one mission that he had set for himself, i.e. to write about the Lahore Coffee House, the glorious nursery of ideas. Luckily, despite his failing health, Aziz finished a draft that was meant to be a shining part of his autobiographical kaleidoscope.

“The Coffee House of Lahore: A Memoir, 1942-57” was published in 2008 and Aziz, in the opening chapters, tells us about the genesis of his passion to document this memorable phase of our contemporary history.

Whenever an intellectual, cultural and literary history of Lahore (or the Punjab and Pakistan) is written, the diverse circles which met and discoursed in the Coffee House will have to be described in detail and the ever-widening waves of their influence recorded. As nothing has been written so far on the subject and I don’t see anything in the offing, I give below a list of the important persons who I can recall.