iBlog by Sasha

By Sasha Scheherzade April 24th marked the death anniversary of late Sabeen Mahmud (shared) and amidst the people going through this pandemic drama-in-real-life, it slipped quietly by. Gunning her down was a cowardly attempt to silence a brave woman who provided this chaotic city of Karachi with a  much needed wonderful community space for shared discourse and healthy dialogue between the have's and have-nots. It was everybody's retreat. It was my retreat. My kid and I met some like-minded happy souls and participated actively in toddlers's music, craft workshops, Sheemajis theatrical activities, Pervez Hoodbhoy's very piquant lectures and soulful Qawwalis. I made some great new friends, conceived my first Readers' Group, conducted active book sessions and stayed inspired. After the quietus of the ingenious and brave Daughter of the ever chaotic yet all embracing Karachi, which was a traumatic demise for the peaceful people of my city, I stopped m...

By Sasha Scheherzade A native language spoken by a parent/father or mother tongue, is one that an infant gets exposed to from the time of birth. In some countries, the term native language or mother tongue refers to the language of one's ethnic group rather than one's first language or mother tongue or any language that is spoken at home. . Pakistan is fortunate enough to enjoy a geographical location that not just traditionally but linguistically rich with an equally diverse nation that is known for being dynamic in all cultural aspects out of which mother language comes first and foremost. Nearly 74 mother languages are spoken in Pakistan according to stats shared by UNESCO Islamabad. The five chief regional languages Punjabi, Pushto, Sindhi, Siraiki and Urdu have more than 10 million speakers and almost all mother languages belong to a Indo-Iranian group from the Indo-Europeon family.  Ethnologue ,  an online reference print publication lists 74 spoken lan...

By  Sasha Scheherazade Not many artists have achieved success where documenting the traumatic experience of one of the most horrific and grandest migrations in history is concerned. The colonial British powers that brought Pakistan and India into being nearly seven decades back, was not without an engineered and very violent partition of the boundaries.       "I have relived 1947," says Jimmy Engineer, "although I was born seven years after the inception of Pakistan, but to me it seems that the very time of partition, with people migrating from Indian border to Pakistan by whatever means they could, is still etched afresh a memory as if I had lived through this whole process of partition, died and my rebirth happened in the year 1954," says the artist par excellence, who has proclaimed himself  as The Servant of Pakistan.   Seeing Jimmy Engineer's work on his Independence Series one can observe the trauma encountered ...

Report filed by Sasha Scheherzade Karachi, Oct 28, 2016, Friday - Bicycling season is fast catching up in the mega metropolis in recent times with bicycling enthusiasts from all quarters joining the healthier alternative offered by different bicycling groups that are acting as chief motivators. Another unique bicycling activity was organized by the Bikestan Academy, known as the Halloween Night Ride with emphasis on reclaiming public spaces in a unique manner. The sporting activity was spearheaded by Shoaib Nizami, founder and leading member of the group. The ride started at the allotted time from the group's headquarter at Bukhari Commercial, Phase VI, DHA vicinity of the city. Over 50 plus bicyclists joined this spooky riding event attired in Halloween colors and spooky costumes and masks as they pedaled towards their defined circuit, covering a distance of 20kms (approximately) whilst they followed their leader. About Bikestan Academy - Bikestan Academy i...