My favourite place

 

Late lunch at Monal on a very very rainy rainy Sunday

It has been raining, thundering, hailing and lightening every Sunday of this month. Today was no different. 

I've been dreaming of a leisurely lunch at Monal for a while. I haven't been since 2019 when Haresh was here and, we had gone up there for an Iftar. 

I didn't want to go up there on a rainy day but it was now or never. I would have preferred a warm sunny day but the views of gray rain-filled clouds over Islamabad were worth it. 

Summer has been rained out and, it was quite an adventure today. Kavita and I thoroughly enjoyed the rain while eating the splendid food at Monal. 

I have to say I am always amazed at how amazing the food and service is at Monal. One always gets seated immediately and, one's food arrives before you know it. The desi food at Monal is delicious. The service is impeccable. And, this is one of the largest restaurants there are. 

Despite the rain and having to shift customers and wipe away the rain and, adjust everything , it was a pleasant experience. 

See the video I made driving up to Monal: Drive to Monal , Pir Sohawa on a rainy Sunday

We got a shahi platter which had 2 grilled batair! Shahi Platter at Monal on a rainy rainy Sunday 

Things I think about when watching these movies and shows

Want to blow your mind? Watch 90s' Agneepath and 80s' Scarface right after each other. They are truly classic films and belong almost wholly to their respective stars: Amitabh Bachan and Al Pacino. These rags-to-riches gangster films have it all: haunting soundtracks, extremely troubled protagonists with memorable stylised carriage. The violence, the origin stories, the tragedy, the memorable monologues are really worth it. I've always felt that Amitabh Bachan was inspired a lot by Al Pacino and this film is an homage to Scarface and its star. (They also both have these intense murderous big eyes)  I wouldn't cheapen Agneepath by saying it was copied by Scarface. It is still a highly compelling and powerful film with an iconic performance by the great Bachan. Do watch them together. 

You know what else I realised after watching all 3 Soderbergh Ocean movies together? Everyone has forgotten how hypocritical it is to criticise Dubai for its vulgarity, gaudiness and ridiculousness when the original sin city is Las Vegas itself. In these films, Las Vegas as excess-in-the-dessert is never once slighted in these highly stylised, entertaining and humorous films. The whole criminal gang is adorable while romping about in the desert and lights and other big towns around the world. So, why hate on Dubai? 

I love watching space movies and series. In these past months, I've seen everything from Another Life to Nightflyers, from The Cloverfield Paradox to Oxygen. I think I particularly like the crew in space stories where everyone is constantly solving problems, fighting mental space fevers or aliens and studying physics. It keeps inspiring me to get off the sofa and do something! 

My favourite new genre has to be horror. Good horror. There's classic horror which makes us afraid of haunted cupboards, demon kids and slashers. But the new horror has managed to broaden its horizons. There's Get Out and Us which truly highlight racism as horror. In India, there's also investigation of social issues using the horror genre i.e. Bulbul, Boomika, Kaali Khuhi, etc. I don't think these Indian examples have touched those sublime notes that American cinema /TV has with Get Out or the Haunted series. Mike Flanagan's Haunting of Hill House, Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass are masterpieces. There is so much grief, sadness and madness, tragedy and poetry in these series. One of the most memorable and striking moments is from Viola's transformation from a dead soul into a faceless ghost and how the force of her being and will creates a trap everyone on Bly Manor. The way in which the story is told is a haunting idea of ghosts, the dead, of unrequited desires, and families. Similarly, the tragedy that befalls characters in these series , some self-made and some out of control, wholly sucks you in and , it is hard to actually hate any character except for perhaps Bev in Midnight Mass. 

Moving on, can I say how sick I am of Meryl Streep? She seems to be everywhere. Yes, she's a grand master of cinema but it feels like she's hogging everything. Give it a rest, Meryl. 

Danny Devito's character in Jumanji 2 is exactly like Aboo! 

Finally, can I gush over Indian Netflix which killing it? I mean, where do we start? 

From Bombay Begums to Ajeeb Dastaans , from Pagglait to Ray, from Ankahi Kahaniya to Navi Rasa and, Paava Kadhaigal. I think I particularly love the story series. They are stunning. 

And, in Pakistan, our biggest star went from appearing with her covered head to wearing glasses in a new TV ghissa phitta gharailoo drama. 

At the wooden park

Our evening walks have dwindled recently, especially now that school has resumed five days a week. But anyway, here we are taking a wonderful walk to the "Wooden Park" which is on Sumbal Road, en route to F-10 Markaz. Kavita calls it the "Wooden Park" because the slides are wooden. It's quite a lovely park. Apparently, it's 'sponsored' by Al Asif Paints? 

My younger sister Saira was back in Islamabad after a long gap and , she kept pointing out similar shameless marketing. On Margalla Road, a fountain has been sponsored by Patiala Diamonds. There's another fountain by Pakistan Steel. At least the capital city should be free of such brazen marketing? 

Anyway, summer is all but gone and, the evenings are slightly chilly. It has rained so much this month and, I feel like autumn arrived earlier. I should know because I mark the days it rains on my calendars and I have the one from 2020 tacked to the bedroom door. Last year it hardly rained during October. 

The green belt in front of our house has a walking and running track. I find it all so amusing and often point it out to Kavita: "that rich people don't just need green belts but also defined walking paths while poor people don't have slums to live in because they keep getting demolished by the CDA." 

This same green belt used to have a tandoor but of course it got demolished. Because rich people don't need their servants' tandoor to be ruining the view during their evening walk. 

Anyway, it was a nice evening. Kavita tried to hang on the bars in the Park. Haresh has told her to hang so she can grow taller. 

Many other kids seemed to be trying to grow taller too! 

See this video I made at the Park: At the wooden park . 

It started to rain while we walked to F-10 Markaz and got slightly drenched. We couldn't find a table at Quetta Tea 20 and then just roamed around. We got some snacks from the bakery and then came home. 

Marigold season ! I have a feeling marigolds have more than 1 planting season, not just winter. 

I photographed this gate because it's so tropical. 

Beautiful flower beds at the park 

Getting taller, faster and better

Aboo, open the door. 

Khatooni problems require specific remedies

I personally love the artwork on the packaging of Qarshi and Hamdard medicines. The art work and writing has a classic feel to it , almost like a 70s film poster. I feel like these are the last remnants of an era in which Pakistani products weren't trying to be terribly flashy or trying to be something else. The packaging always had an English side and an Urdu side. 

However, I don't know what to make of the wordings on this Qarshi syrup: Khatooni is the name of the syrup and apparently, this is a specific remedy for various female diseases. 

Is this a hakeemi dawa? Is it something a male hakim will prescribe to a man to take it for his wife? A mixture of potions ? 

I mean, what are "various female diseases?" And, what is the specific remedy for them? 

The pharmacy too is an antagonistic space for women. We already have to suffer the idiotic brown paper bagging of sanitary pads, handed discreetly over the counter. In the fast times that we live with smart phones and speaking in a dizzying mix of Urdu and English , after all, too little time to think of the right word, who has the time to be embarrassed over sanitary pads. 

Medicine after all has no interest in addressing women's pain, either biological pain or psychological, because medicine has never been interested in treating women as equal or linked structural societal issues with women's mental anguish. Just simply take period pain - does science care? 

See these articles: 

1) Women and pain: Disparities in experience and treatment

2) Pain bias: The health inequality rarely discussed

3) How Doctors Take Women’s Pain Less Seriously 

4) Why don't doctors trust women? Because they don't know much about us 

5) Gaslighting in women’s health: No, it’s not just in your head 

6) Gender disparity in Pak healthcare system contributing to dismal health of women 

In this light, I suppose, it is a cause for celebration that a Pakistani pharmaceutical company has found specific remedy for all female diseases, whatever they may be. I hope some of the ingredients in this Khatooni concoction are: 

1) vitamins to fight affects of patriarchal conditioning  

2) supplements to strengthen resolve to destroy patriarchal bacteria

3) stimulants to stay awake and swat away mansplaining 

4) fortified calcium and zinc to fight chronic patriarchal pain 

5) muscle relaxant after performing all kinds of undivided labour 

Can Pakistani celebrities act ?

Do we have any real actors in Pakistan? Do they have any acting chops?  Have any of them made or supported any quality film or television ? 

All I see is actors from shitty melodramatic TV soaps lording over their celebrity status in shitty TV ads for hair removal cream, toilet cleaners, mattress foam, biscuits and other desi products. 

I particularly can't stand Mahira Khan, the most overrated and untalented celebrity in Pakistan. Her face is everywhere, endorsing all kinds of consumerist crap : from bottled water to hair removal cream to cars to ice cream. Just look at her choice of ads, most of them sexist. Either she is telling you that one can only be an empowered woman after removing body hair or telling her Phuppo not to mind putting on weight by eating delicious ice-cream. Most recently she is making bank from Veet Hair Removal Cream by reminding you to go get a breast scan early. Oh she is also going on about how a beautiful and healthy life is possibly by taking zinc supplements. 

By the way, Kavita and I made a parody of the Veet Commercial. See here: Bhooth is ready anytime with silky smooth skin. 

One of the frequent days the Wi-Fi goes off , I am forced to surf through local channels, taking a break from my constantly streaming Al Jazeera news or a series or film on Netflix, I glimpse the terrible awful Pakistani TV dramas. I believe Mahira Khan is on TV for a new play but one whiff of it is enough to show that it is another typical tale of family politics, drawing rooms, angry stares, limp dialogues, good versus bad woman and shitty men. One look at her face will tell you she can't act, nor does she have range. But somehow she is a big deal. Her acting chops consisted of draping a dupatta on her head in Hamsafar and, now her acting involves her wearing glasses for this new play. What progress. 

I believe same goes for any other celebrity whose face is plastered on billboards or the most banal anal TV commercials. You gotta love today's ads: they are a hideous blend of English and Urdu which I believe is how most Pakistanis now speak. 

Or, the best: getting your dumb generic Tweets quoted in Dawn Images. Yes, not only can you not act but also dwell in liberal pretence. 

It seems Pakistani celebrities aren't exactly great because they make great stuff but because they appear in ads or Tweet. And, everyone is sickeningly a nationalist. There is no artistic integrity in this group of stars. 

Both the quality of TV , film and commercials shows how poor the cultural landscape is in Pakistan. We aren't making political movies. We aren't making TV showing interesting stories about the city, working in the city, making it, the struggles of people or important events. Nothing on TV or in the cinema will give you a clue where we are in our moment in history. All we see is a woman shouting or abusing another woman for the sake of a man. 

And, the thopra of every celebrity is eager to cash in on this glorified misery fest. And, I throw particular contempt at Mahira Khan, the essence of Pakistani celebrity: can't act, can't think and, isn't original. 

A maddening numbness and numbing rage

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in mid August, a maddening numbness and numbing rage took over me.  How could this happen? The shock has singed me, like a horrible burn. I, the collective we,  all of us, witnessed the headlines now and then, that major cities were falling like paper houses the couple of weeks before. It was like watching a wreck, right next door, but I wasn't really engaging with it, following up by reading news, but just silently ignoring it , I suppose. There's a guilt in seeing bad news. On top of all the ideological  , anti-imperial rage one is constantly brewing within. And, then Kabul fell and, it was just numbing and shocking. How could it happen? Then, there were the scenes of people at the Airport, falling of planes, Americans pissing off, Facebook groups sharing information on how to get their staff and colleagues out, the American President spewing the usual criminal rhetoric, etc. This is a country we are talking about, not a burning house. But that is what we went through in August and September and now we see a headline or two about how a bomb blast has killed so many in Afghanistan or how Afghan women are protesting and so on. 

How do you deal with the anger? With the shock? 

I made a few self righteous posts on Facebook and discussed the fall of Kabul intensely in my WhatsApp and now, Signal groups.   

A few drunk stragglers, crazies stormed the Capitola and, the American liberal Democrats couldn't stop weeping. They couldn't handle it. They couldn't handle Trump. But today, as their country is pissing off from Afghanistan, a country that was invaded in their name, in the name of their safety after 9-11, all of Afghanistan has fallen to the Taliban. Condemn your leadership, Americans, you have left Afghanistan at the hands of the Taliban, who more than anything are living breathing nightmare for women.

Afghanistan was allowed to fall. The Americans and NATO made a departure deal with Taliban before they pissed off. This much seems to be clear. Now, these last few days, Americans have taken control of the Kabul Airport to ensure they flee like rats and have been firing at the desperate crowds also wanting to flee.

In our progressive ideological stance, calling out the US only is not enough nor accurate. These incompetent revengeful white supremacists are a corrupt fading empire. They spent a trillion dollars on the War on Terror and more but can't pay their teacher salaries. They are a hyper violent society. They know war. They know how to gun down black people. Or go all the way to Latin America to say "don't come, don't come." There are other players supporting the Taliban. Although not being interrogated enough in the international headlines, EVERYONE in my circles is analysing the geopolitics of this and plainly saying CHINA and RUSSIA are backing the Taliban and other regional players. Call out these too.

The grief in the feminist circles in Islamabad was palpable , raw and terrible. We all mourned at the spectre of Afghanistan falling to the very definition of modern misogyny.  There was a lot of analysis and discussion about what was going on, how and why could Afghanistan have fallen in a couple of weeks. It showed me how much if you don't follow development in the news, it's hard to make sense of reality. For example, I never really followed the talks with the Taliban in Qatar and, the geopolitics. There are places in this world which are gripped in violent conflict but one doesn't pay attention beyond headlines and, can't muster any analysis or reaction beyond an emotional or sensational one.

I didn't make any social media post since August because I was kind of engulfed with the stupidity and absurdity of making political posts on a Big Tech platform. Every day we are reminded of how we are merely helping these White Tech Boys make bank, while we fight culture wars online and live in our own self righteous ideological bubbles. What is the point? What's the point of anything honestly?

I was mad at the posts about trying to get colleagues out. Is this what we are reduced to? Getting a few people out and absolving ourselves of real responsibility as citizens of countries who are complicit in the war and occupation in Afghanistan? But at least that action is better than making stupid Facebook posts against the American War Machine and White-Aged-Vampire-Wearing-Aviators-Blood-Sucking President.

Everything is churning inside me like something rotten, putrid, angry, sick. The invasion and bombing of Afghanistan was one of the first great criminal and imperial acts of my early youth. These are the first few months of me coming back to Pakistan after completing my undergrad in London. There was 9-11 and, the fearful anticipation of the American act of vengeance. I remember standing in the kitchen on the ground floor here in Islamabad thinking about Americans carpet bombing one of the poorest countries in the world, our very neighbours, our brothers and sisters. The rage I felt , I can still remember it. Of course, then Afghanistan and its misery and Western occupation opened fat jobs in the UN as do all wars. I found myself in Kabul, Herat, Mazar, etc and, then the same UN took me to the other American mass crime , the invasion of Iraq. My early youth has totally been defined by American wars. 

I was in Islamabad back in the early 2000s when Afghanistan was being crushed by the Americans, invaded to liberate its women from the Taliban and here I happen to be in Islamabad again in 2021 when Afghanistan falls back to the Taliban. My life has come full circle. Has history ever repeated itself like this?