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Bajee: I only realised her importance after she left…
“Baba, Bajee…?” asks my two-year-old, rather inquisitively, each time I put him to sleep or wakes him up. Bajee, the nanny, had been with us since before our son’s birth and had recently left for her...
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Why was my mamoo killed?
The gunshot outside was deafening. The woman inside the house continued talking on the phone, thinking it was just one of those routine firing shots that are a norm in her area of residence. Moments...
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Shhh… my kids are sleeping… I killed them both
As I write this, my little boy sits next to me with a mango juice box in one hand and the iPad in another. I glance at him and think of how wonderful childhood is. Cartoons of five monkeys jumping on a...
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A Pakistani, an Indian and the gentleman’s game: And after the match…
Imran finished off the last bite of his dinner, washed it down with a cola and looked around the living room. It had been a long and tiring day for him, his wife and their house-maid. Their friends...
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Do you have a toilet in your house?
Almost two and a half billion people in the world do not have toilets in their homes or lack access to proper sanitation facilities. South Asia makes a significant contribution to these staggering...
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The car I bought
It was approximately 2am and the temperature was about three degree Celsius accompanied by a pitch-dark chilly night. A black coloured two-seater pickup took a sharp turn and then drove slowly into a...
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Please God, kill my children before they are born
The midwife handed her the baby. She took the tiny thing in her arms and stared at him. He was beautiful. For a fleeting moment, she felt unbound joy. He was a part of her. He was... her focus shifted....
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Do you have a Sarah in your house?
Whenever I see her, her eyes haunt me. The sadness in them is unspeakable and the horrors of her life, incomprehensible. She is young and beautiful yet her heart yearns for a minute of peace and...
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Shocking, funny and likeable experiences of Pakistan
My friends and family were concerned about my health when I told them that I would be fasting during Ramazan, but my Pakistani friends all assured me that I would go back home “fatter than ever”. Food...
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Balochistan: Self-inflicted misery?
My fondest childhood memories are of rolling down the landscaped gardens of the rest-house located beside the Quaid-e-Azam’s residency in Ziarat. The undulating open space spotted with the frosted...
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After 67 year, we are still unprepared for rain
When it rains in Pakistan, the words of Ardeshir Cowasjee seem very pertinent: “Gutter tou bana nahi saktay, atom bomb banatay hain”. (They cannot even make a gutter but are making atom bombs). Rain, a...
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The fault in our (cricket) stars
I walked into the house to the sound of my father yelling and shouting. 99 out of a 100 times, it’s usually because of something my brother had done. But when I entered the house hearing both of them...
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Privatise this, privatise that – just make me rich!
I look around my house searching for items I can sell and make a quick buck. I come across some furniture that needs fresh coats of polish before I can even present it for sale. This requires too much...
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Where are all the moderate Muslims?
History tells us a story about a woman who used to throw garbage out every morning as the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) passed by her house. This was the woman’s practice every morning, the Prophet (pbuh)...
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If A’ level schools from Karachi were houses from Game of Thrones
I am sure that anyone who has seen the Game of Thrones would love to know what house they would belong to had they been part of the series. But what if we lived in a world where houses were based on...
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Series 3 The Little Princess Part 1 Blushing with fear
Women are creatures of the spring. Their hearts do not beat, they flutter. Their dispositions are sweet like honey and their eyes deep as oceans, their smiles light up their surrounding and their...
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Series 3 The Little Princess Part 3 Nothing short of a tyrant
What came next was an eternity in hell. Her mother’s screams still pierce the air around her house. After what seemed like an eternity, the noises died out. The house seemed empty. Ammarah knew her...
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