Category Archives: Culture and the Arts

Insecure rights

Balochistan, Children and Youth, Constitution, Culture and the Arts, Development and Poverty, Education, Environment, Health, Housing, Human Rights, Justice, Labour, Law & Order, Notable Personalities, Perween Rahman, Politics, Social Issues, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa

A WEEK before Sabeen Mahmud, the ever-smiling ‘active’ human rights activist was gunned down in Karachi, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan launched its annual State of Human Rights report for 2014.

It is widely believed that Sabeen’s decision to host a seminar on Balochistan invited a terrible retribution from the powers-that-be. It is indeed saddening that this staunch defender of all the rights covered by the HRCP report is no more amongst us to act as society’s conscience to remind us that each of us becomes an abettor when the state violates any right the citizen is entitled to and we remain silent onlookers. Continue reading Insecure rights →

Inspired by music

Books, Children and Youth, Culture and the Arts, Education, Health, Language, Mental health, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

HASAN is a special child. He is autistic. Music inspires him and had it not been for his love of classical music which he shares with his grandfather, his mind would have continued to be caged. ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) prevents Hasan from connecting normally with the world around him because his communication skills have been impaired.

The magical effect of music on children has now been scientifically documented. Preschool teachers testify that sound — including language, poetry and music — positively helps a child’s mental and emotional development. Continue reading Inspired by music →

What’s in a book?

Books, Children and Youth, Culture and the Arts, Education, Language, Library, Media

By Zubeida Mustafa

IT is a pleasant paradox that in recent years literature festivals have taken Pakistan by storm when our society is not exactly famous for its reading habit. For long we have mourned — and do so even today — our failure to inculcate the love of reading in our children who grow up to be adults with no interest in books.

Hence the flood of events related to books and literature for people of all ages is something to celebrate. They are designed to promote the book culture. Continue reading What’s in a book? →

Riding a pousse-pousse in Lyon

Culture and the Arts, View from Abroad

By Zubeida Mustafa

LYON (France) is not exactly new to me. Having visited this quaint town of 1.4 million a number of times since 2009, I have already been through the routine exercises a first time tourist is expected to go through. The city tour in the bus, visits to museums that bring a smirk on my daughter’s face, long walks in the parks, look at archaeological sites and buildings protected under the heritage law and so on. Even the novelty of a ride in the ‘driverless’ metro run by a computerized system has worn off.

So I wanted my trip to Lyon in the wintry February of 2015 to be different. The weather with temperatures ranging between -5 and 5 degrees Celsius provided a new topic of conversation but that changed fast when for a week it was bright and sunny as the day temperature touched 12 degrees Celsius. The dry weather more than the sunshine became an inducement for me to venture out for walks. Continue reading Riding a pousse-pousse in Lyon →

Linguistic dilemma

Children and Youth, Culture and the Arts, Development and Poverty, Education, Language, Media, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa

WE do have a language dilemma on hand, whether we admit it or not.

I attend a ceremony at a school of journalism in Buffer Zone in Karachi where 49 girls are awarded a certificate for the three-month course they had completed supported by scholarships from donors. The language of the proceedings is English and it is plain that few in the audience really understand what was being said. A translator comes to their rescue. I decide to speak in Urdu as I want to connect with these young ladies who have aspirations of joining my profession.

A few days later, I go to a conference organised by the Society for Pakistan’s English Language Teachers. I presume the audience at a moot organised by them would expect me to speak in English. But when I begin I am requested to be bilingual. I drop the English bit and stick to Urdu.

Sometimes in between these events, I visit the Ardeshir Cowasjee Writing Centre at the main campus of the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, (established in 2014). I feel I am on firm ground language-wise. Ardeshir who earned fame as Dawn’s columnist with a distinct style of his own wrote only in English. So English would be the language here and I guess correctly. Continue reading Linguistic dilemma →