By Annie Ali Khan | 1 September 2013 MIAN NAZIR AHMAD SAT ON A CHARPOY on the terrace of his three-storey house, dressed in a light brown shalwar kameez; a black woollen hat pulled over his head bore the logo of the New York Police Department. Behind him was a row of rooms lined with wooden coops, filled with […]
April
04
Rickshaw Diary
posted by annieakhan
Published at Chapatimystery.com While returning home one night from a reporting trip, I found myself in a rickshaw that was going so fast that I had to hold on to the tinsel wrapped poles for dear life. M.A. Jinnah Road, the road that forms the main artery of the city, was a blur of headlights […]
March
28
Pilgrims of the Indus Highways: Photo Series for the Caravan Serai: Kabul in Karachi Festival 2016
posted by annieakhan
This series was shown, as part of a photography exhibition, at the Caravan Serai: Kabul in Karachi festival held in Karachi in March 2016. “Adda is the meeting-place of idlers and pleasure seekers. In the Platts dictionary, adda is defined as the place or shed where palanquin bearers, coolies and carters assemble. It is also […]
January
28
A Hindu Pilgrimage in Pakistan
posted by annieakhan
Published in Roads and Kingdoms “Arri Allah.” My grandfather’s face was anguished, his thick white eyebrows raised, when he saw the tiny statuette of the goddess Durga that I had taken from his friend’s house. “My god, Annie, what have you done?” I had no answer, but even as a five year old I […]
January
24
A Railway Pilgrimage in Pakistan
posted by annieakhan
Published at Roads & Kingdoms. Making my way through the traffic-choked streets of old Karachi, I arrive at the railway station minutes before the 10 p.m. Khyber Mail is due to leave. On the platform, red cloth bags filled with letters and packages are being loaded onto the train. Porters are waiting in line to […]
December
19
A Flour Seller’s Story in the Aftermath of Peshawar’s Army Public School Attack
posted by annieakhan
Published at The Caravan Altaf Hussain runs a small flour shop in the heart of Saddar Bazaar, part of a town on the outskirts of Peshawar. I met Hussain quite by chance. It was in December exactly a year ago. I was there with a colleague for a couple of days, and we were roaming […]
From the History Archives: Colonial Pint
posted by annieakhan
The above page is from a June 1978 issue of Asiaweek magazine, a Hong Kong based weekly that was owned by Time Inc. Asia Week began circulating in 1975, and ceased publication in December 2001. This is the first post in a series of excerpts from the 1978 issues of Asiaweek. The article is about […]
November
28
Mosque & Memory
posted by annieakhan
Published on Tanqeed.org The Imaam’s voice came over the mosque speaker system: “Some of us came to the United States with just two bags.” It was the first Friday of the Islamic New Year and the Khutba (the Friday sermon) at the Bosnian Islamic Center in the Queens borough of New York was about the […]
Childhood musings
posted by annieakhan
Ammi would recite this little poem to us: Chiree ki paapaa yahaan beth Chireen ki paapaa yahaan beth Daana khaa Paani pi Phhooo urjaaa She would hold out my hand, palm side up, her finger doing a tap dance in the center of my tiny palm and then with the last line she […]
Aaliyah
posted by annieakhan
“In addition to its importance in regard to social life, and the art of government, geography unfolds to us the celestial phenomena, acquaints us with the occupants of the land and ocean, vegetation, fruits, and peculiarities of the various quarters of the earth, a knowledge of which marks him who cultivates it as a […]
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