Fei Fei Foe FUN!

Loo jee! One day you sleep early and all the fun happens behind your back. On Saturday night when I went to my bed, I prayed for a better tomorrow. Next day, when I woke up, I ran to the computer as I knew I would have missed a lot of ASOT 550 (yes, it is still going on) Los Angeles. As soon as I logged into the di.fm forums, I came to know that something awful. The tradegy of tragedies occurred. A loss so massive that it could never be filled. It was like the end of the world for a bunch of listeners when Fei Fei, an American DJ, played an entire set filled with Dubstep, Brostep and (gulp!) Trancestep tunes.

Aray bhaiya! Kia batao! From the looks of it, it seemed that a catastrophe. I was sad too because I landed into the Aly & Fila set where they aired new ballad (of doom and distress) with Jwaydn. But, Fei Fei was the talk of the trance town. Her Facebook page was filled with activity, both good and bad.

The "Dirty" Khan

Ever since Imran Khan pulled the crowd to his October 30 rally, it seems that everyone is taking sides. While taking sides, his critics are trying to be critical at everything. Everything from his party to the family has come under the spotlight. His scandalous past along with his marriage and present family life is questioned. While one half of the critics criticize his aloofness with his party affairs, there is an another half which hellbent to show Khan in bad light.

Indeed, Khan has nothing but been scandalous in his youth, but is it too hard to accept that to err is human and one grows up over the years. It is about time that we separate the wheat from the chaff. Khan's frivolity during the epitome of his youth is not something that would disturb the matters of governance. It should be taken as a blessing that everything about Khan is almost black and white.

The matter that gets the most eyebrows raised is Jemima's association with Imran Khan. For this, let us travel back to 1995 when Khan married Jemima. Jemima was (and perhaps, still is) a Muslim when she married Khan. She readily moved to Pakistan and lived here for almost a decade. During her almost decade long stay in Pakistan, she tried her best to adjust into the society. In her public appearances, she was usually seen in Shalwar Kameez. She actively participated in the activities for Shaukut Khanum Memorial Hospital. Due to her efforts, Diana the Princess of Wales visited Pakistan twice. With Khan, she bore two sons: Sulaiman Isa and Kasim, both are now in London with their mother. During the 2010 floods, she took an active part in gathering funds from all over Europe. On various occasions, she has spoken against the American drone attacks. The sudden divorce in 2004 did raise some controversy, but for a woman who considers Pakistan her second home, we should all think before we speak.

With Nusrat Bhutto dies the People's Party

Nusrat Bhutto, former First Lady and mother of Benazir Bhutto, died yesterday in Dubai at the age of 82.

Like Zardari, Nusrat had to step into politics when her spouse died, but unlike him, she kept the party together. For almost a decade, she kept the legacy of Zulfikar Bhutto going in letter and spirit. Though her life with Zulfikar was not a bed of roses, she stayed behind her man and kept her appearances. She hid her emotional scars—as well as the ones she received from her abusive husband—gracefully. She held so many tears back.

After the death of Zulfikar Bhutto, she took the reins of the party and prepared it as a potent democratic power. Born in Iran, it could have been easier for her to leave but she stayed. She stayed because she knew that the ideology that her husband gave was a sacred trust for the people of his country. She feared less and strives harder. She marched along against the military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq. She got both the leftists and rightists talking about democracy. She became a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, she got nothing but grief. In her life, she witnessed four deaths; one difficult than the other. Till this very day, the murders of her son, Murtaza and her daughter, Benazir, have not been arrested. She was almost forgotten too till the very afternoon when she died. The actual Bhutto family received the information from the television reports.

The party she handed over to her daughter was her blood, sweat, and tears. Sadly, her hard work is now going to waste. The People's Party where it stands today was not the one she aspired to be. She was known for her close relation with her workers. She used to bread bread with them. The present situation is far bleak; the party is getting distant from the good influences of her time.

Later today, her body will be flown to Larkana. She will get buried in Ghari Khuda Baksh. However, with her body, the People's Party—of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto—will also be laid to rest.

September 11: Ten Years Later

It was a usual September evening; hot and humid. My mother and sisters were getting ready to visit a book-fair, and I was going with them. Around 0530pm, I saw the ad of the New York Stock Exchange,and thought life never stops there. Rain or shine, the city of New York just continues. I wondered if I would ever see it in my lifetime unless something awful happens there like an airplane crash.

Minutes later, the BBC interupted its regular programming for a developing story. The news anchor said that an airplane crashed into the World Trade Center. My mother sat down with me to watch the news. And, our trip to the book-fair was called off. My mother did not have the heart to go. The event that unfolded before our eyes was simply dreadful.

Ten years forward, I work for a company associated with that book-fair. A lot has changed, but yet a lot is not fixed.