By Bilal Zuberi

Since Best Pakistani Food Outside of Pakistan, here is something about food in Pakistan.

This newspaper advertisement about Bird Flu fears was published by the Pakistan Ministry of Food, Agriculture & Livestock and comes to us via Jamash on Flickr.com.

The English-Urdu rhyming in the title is cute and attractive. Interestingly, and perhaps intentionally, the layout resembles a recipe more than a health brochure. A quick glance does tell us though that the basic message is clear – keep the chicken and the eggs coming! And don’t let the poultry farms go out of business.

There are many strains of bird/avian flu and it is the H5N1 variety that is causing panic around the world due to its possibly lethal effects on humans. In most cases, the infection has spread to humans via close contact with infected birds and even though a few cases of human to human transmission have been found, the strain has not yet developed the ability to easily pass from humans to humans. If that happens, the results could be catastrophic.

The virus is not food-borne, and that is why it is still considered safe to consume poultry products. However, given the close proximity of live birds to the consumers in Pakistan, the meat-sellers (slaughtering/preparation etc) should probably exercise extra caution. WHO has recommended that to be absolutely safe all meat should be cooked to a temperature of at least 70C. Eggs (esp. if boiled) should also be thoroughly cooked. Bird flu symptoms are similar to other types of flu: fever, malaise, sore throats and coughs, headaches, sore-eyes (conjectivitis), muscle pain and viral pneumonia – but the mortality rate is nearly 50%. There is no vaccine but countries are stockpiling Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug, which is expected to ease symptoms and help reduce further spread.

By iFaqeer

I just heard that the Ma-Yi Theatre Company presented a reading of, The Good Muslim, a new play by Rehana Mirza, at the Phil Bosakowski Theatre in New York.

The Good Muslim explores the unlikely friendship that blossoms between Nora, a 25 year old club-hopping atheist, and Farzana, a sheltered 19 year old Muslim girl. The result is a humorous new take on cultural domination in the modern world.

Rehana grew up in multicultural home–Filipino mother, Pakistani father–and soon after 9/11 launched a theatrical company called Desipina, with her sister Rohi.

I have not seen the play, so I cannot comment on it yet. But there are two other pieces of theater I am familiar with and never tire of talking about. These are just some examples of the vibrant Pakistani-American theatre movement that is beginning to take roots in America.

The first is a two-act play about Muslim-Pakistani Americans called ‘The Domestic Crusaders’.

The Domestic Crusaders focuses on one day in the life of a modern Muslim Pakistani-American family of six eclectic, unique members, who convene at the family house to celebrate the twenty-first birthday of the youngest child. With a background of 9-11 and the scapegoating of Muslim Americans, the tensions and sparks fly among the three generations, culminating in an intense family battle as each “crusaders” struggles to assert and impose their respective voices and opinions, while still attempting to maintain and understand that unifying thread that makes them part of the same family. The three generations of the family include: the grandfather, Hakim, a retired Pakistani army official who harbors a terrible secret; Salman, his son, a middle-aged corporate engineer trying to maintain his pride and self-respect; Khulsoom, Salman’s wife, longing for her homeland and wishing to impart her traditions, values, and morals to her American-born children; Salahuddin, the eldest child, stubbornly clinging to his ideals of success, as well as his anger and resentment towards his father; Fatima, the middle child, passionately advocating her Islamic identity, while rejecting the traditional stereotypes and biases of her mother; Ghafur, the youngest, the golden child abandoning his family’s expectations in order to discover his own path. These individuals are “The Domestic Crusaders”!

Adil Najam

I thought a fair bit about whether I should put this up or not. Its corny. But so very funny. So, here goes. [Thanks, again, to Adnan Siddiqi’s blog for alerting me to this].

Call me what you will, but I laughed out loud when I first saw this. The song selection really fits well with the video … in some cases, eerily so (for example, when Jackson magically appears just as he should ‘Laila’). After about a minute or so the humor of the video wears off but you are still left with a really catchy Pushto pop song.

More than that, it also gives me an excuse to talk about the revolution in pop-music in regional languages going on in Pakistan. Rahim Shah (who is singing this song; new post on Rahim Shah with new video here) is an absolute phenomenon in Pushto pop music (he is of Afghan descent, born and raised in Karachi, and he also has a number of hits in Urdu, especially including Jhoola). Similar trends are seen in Sindhi pop too. Not sure about other regional languages, though.

Click on arrow at center, or view it directly here