It is quite clear — and totally understandable — that the poor ganDerri or gaNNa (sugarcane) does not elicit the type of interest or reaction that, for example, aam (mango) does.

But let me stick with the topic just one more day. This is partly because I really like ganDerri at least as much as aam. Call me pedestrian or proletarian. A ganDerri is a poor man’s fruit, so it meshes well with my ideological leanings; more so than the more aristocratic aam. I think of the ganDeri as a’wonder fruit’: just throw water over it and it becomes juicier than it ever was!

But I am willing to respect your tastes, if you promise to do the same.

For now, however, I have a different quetsion from the one posed yesterday.

Can you guess where this picture was taken? Where is pehalwan saab selling his gannay ka rass (sugarcane juice)?

I realize this is not easy to guess unless you know the answer already or do some creative snooping on the Internet. So, let me just say that there are at least two hints imbedded right here. Maybe, someone can identify those too.

Adil Najam

There has recently been a confluence of murmurs (and shouts) from different quarters that leads one to think that change may be brewing in Pakistani politics.

I am not suggesting that the actual political apparatus in Pakistan is about to change. It might; but probably not just yet. What does seem to be changing, however, is who is talking about democracy and how.

I am a firm believer that democracy cannot be imposed from the outside. It has to be an organic and authentic process that has to be moved by a Pakistani logic and articulated in a Pakistani vernacular (my views on democracy in Pakistan here). Maybe I am letting my optimism get the better of me (and I certainly do not think that we are ‘there’ yet), but it seems that an indigenous logic, demand, and vernacular for meaningful democracy in Pakistan is beginning to take shape and, maybe, maybe, maybe, even catch momentum.

The evidence may be circumstantial, but it is beginning to pile up.

First, of course, there is the Charter of Democracy. One of the very earliest posts on ATP was on this. I had urged people to at least read what the Charter says (because it says a lot of the right things, I had also said that “even if it is just ‘talk’, talking about democracy can only be good for Pakistan” and that while Ms. Bhutto and Mr. Sharif do not have very credible tack records as champions of democracy, “but even if they happen to be the wrong people to proclaim these sentiments, the sentiments are correct and fully worthy.”

Then there was the case of the 2006 APPNA Convention in Chicago that ATP had reported on Imran Khan’s argument for why he had changed his politics regarding the current government; and where — as one of our readers had reported and as others have since commented on (here, here and here) — Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was not just snubbed but actually booed and where the sentiment was uncharacteristically but unmistakeably anti-establishment and pro-democracy.

Then came an interview with Former Air Chief, Air Marshal (Retd) Noor Khan — a man that most Pakistanis respect as a forthright figure who has shunned pettiness in politics and elsewhere.

By Bilal Zuberi

How could one read about Fifty Fifty on ATP and not think of the guy who probably ranks among the top masters of Pakistani television comedy: Moeen Akhtar. (Read an interview with Moeen Akhtar, here).

Moeen Akhtar, a young skinny man from Karachi, started his career in 1966 with a variety show, and before long became a face familiar across the nation for acting on TV, movies, stage and theatre, hosting of variety shows, and humorous impersonations of famous personalities (including actors Muhammad Ali, Waheed Murad, Dilip Kumar, and singers Mehdi Hasan and Ahmad Rushdi).

For a sampling of Moeen Akhtar, see this segment from his more recent work in Loose Talk where Moeen Akhtar acts as a Dulha (Groom) complaining about the Supreme Court decision on serving food at marriages. [You can view it here by clicking on the play (arrow) button on the image below, or go to video.google to see this and more].

Moeen Akhtar, to my generation, is what Zia Mohiuddin was to the generation before me. In the past 40 or so years Moeen Akhtar has performed in, and hosted, thousands of shows in Pakistan and abroad, and is arguably the finest actor / comedian / host that Pakistan has produced.