karachicharacter
Art for life's sake!
By Amina Baig
Even as a student, Syed Faraz Ali tried to delve into the deeper meaning of everyday realities. He dabbled in different mediums although he was a painting major and as one looks over at his work, he has often successfully managed to bring together the medium and his message on one surface.

"I am not happy with the way I have been misquoted in The New York Times," says Mesut Kacmaz, Principal of one of the campuses of Turk schools in Karachi. Known as Pak-Turk International Schools and Colleges, this chain of schools in Pakistan has been the talk of world media after the New York Times discussed them in an article recently.

The article titled, "Turkish Schools offer Pakistan a gentler Islam", appeared in the May 4, 2008 edition of the paper and focused primarily on the efforts on part of Turk educationists who were introducing Pakistanis to an alternate system of Islamic education. An education which is supposed to acquaint Pakistanis with religious as well as scientific knowledge - a privilege a majority of schools in Pakistan fail to offer locals.

The article not only praised Turk educationists' efforts in promoting this new system of education, but highlighted the difficulties those educationists were facing in this regard as well. Top among those difficulties was the hostile attitude of Pakistanis towards Turk educationists. The article narrated the ordeal of Mesut who looks after the school's campus in Shirin Jinnah Colony as an example to highlight this problem.

"Praying in Pakistan has not been easy for Mesut Kacmaz, a moderate Muslim teacher from Turkey," the article says about the Turk educationist who has been in Karachi for 10 months. "He tried the mosque near his house, but it had Israeli and Danish flags painted on the floor for people to step on. The mosque near where he works warned him never to return wearing a tie. Pakistanis everywhere assume he is not Muslim because he has no beard," the article continued. The article also quoted Mesut as observing that, "kill, fight, shoot" which though a misinterpretation of Islamic teachings, is prevalent among Pakistanis. The article went on to tell the readers that once just because of wearing a tie, Mesut was asked by the area people not to return to the mosque because wearing a tie was "un-Islamic."

Soon after it's publication, the article was eagerly snapped up by media all around the world, with excerpts from the article published in a lot of international, local, as well as online newspapers and posted and discussed on web blogs. Karachi once again made headlines, though not in golden words owing to the narration of Mesut's ordeal by the hands of Karachiites.

Mesut, however, denies having any such experience in Karachi or even sharing it with The New York Times. While alleging the daily of using "attractive words just to catch attention of readers," Mesut regards it irresponsible on part of the publication for having denoted things he never said to him. Through an email on behalf of Mesut, the school has asked the paper for clarification of the matter.

"I have notified the paper to publish a clarification or I will have to resort to legal help to resolve the matter," Mesut tells Kolachi, adding that most of the quotes in the article were not said by him. "Neither does the quote 'kill, shoot, fight' come from me nor was I ever stopped from coming to the mosque for wearing a tie or being clean shaved," Mesut claims. Though he admits of telling the paper that earlier locals were skeptical of the school's ambitions and did approach him for clarification, he says this was only once during 10 years of the school's history in Karachi and that too, "because people in this colony are not literate and can therefore not understand us well, nor could we make ourselves clear to them because of the language barrier." Mesut goes on to say that they never faced hostility by locals in Karachi in 10 years.

Pak Turk International School and Colleges, which has 14 campuses in seven cities of Pakistan including Islamabad, Peshawer, Quetta, Lahore, Multan, and Khairpur, has three campuses in Karachi alone. The school established it's first campus in 1995 in Islamabad and two years later in Karachi, in in the neighbourhood of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. The school continued for years in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, one of the posh neighbourhoods in Karachi famous for the number of educational institutes it hosts, and opened its campus in the poor neighbourhood of Shirin Jinnah Colony just a year ago in 2007.

"The Gulshan campus couldn't cater to the growing number of students, therefore we acquired a plot in Shirin Jinnah Colony from Pakistan Government on lease," informs Adem Kose, Regional Director of the schools.

Turk schools in Pakistan cater to almost 3100 students, while their new campus alone caters to 90 students. Among these 90 students, almost 60 students belong to Interior Sindh areas like Badin, Thatta, Larkana, Hala and Hyderabad and reside in the hostel provided by the school. "We pay for the expenses of 60 per cent of our students, especially those from the interior, as they cannot afford them," says Adem, adding that they do this "to make them good citizens of Pakistan."

Making good citizens and bringing human beings closer regardless of their religions is what described as the basic aim behind the Turk system of schools that have their sister organizations in more than 80 countries of the world including the Muslim as well as non-Muslim countries in West Africa, Central Asia and Far East. Fetullah Glen is the person behind the philosophy these schools operate on. "We follow the principals of Fethullah Glen," admits Adem, adding that Glen's basic principle is to create a world where all human beings come to one table followed by "accepting the values of others while adhering to your own."

The Turk schools in Pakistan are working hard to realize Glen's dream. "We went to interior Sindh where we convinced parents to send their children to our school," says Adem, "since they couldn't afford the expenses, we offered scholarships to them," he continues. Adem informs Kolachi that all the expenses of the school are borne by some "businessmen in Pakistan and Turkey," while no funds are offered by any government.

Apart from giving scholarships, the school provides children with state-of-the-art science labs, computer labs and free trips to Turkey. "Apart from sending children to Turkey for international academic competitions," says Adem,"we send willing students along with their parents to spend vacations in Turkey." Adem adds that this helps them interact with different cultures, making them think with a global perspective. Besides, the school not only makes students learn English and Urdu but Turk as well and aims at helping them prepare for European scholarships. "We don't have any religious or political aims," says Adem "we just want everyone to think and live in harmony."

Given the facilities it offers and the European background it has, the school is fast becoming popular in the neighbourhood of Shirin Jinnah. As one Pakhtun shopkeeper in the area remarks, "they are better Muslims than us for they not only offer prayers, but feed the poor in the hostel for free." Similarly, Ghulam Saghir, another resident of the area who has enrolled his son in the school just a few weeks ago hopes that, "the European background of the school will help groom my child." Saghir adds that he admitted his son in the school as the school promises to prepare children for tests in European universities. Earlier his son would go to a madrassah for the purpose of memorizing the Quran. "I put my son in this school because it is essential for a child to have both religious as well as worldly knowledge for which this school seems perfect," Saghir shares.

Mesut is glad that the perception of people in Shirin Jinnah about the school has changed now. "Earlier, they were suspicious about our school," he says, "but when they visited us on different occasions, their perception changed." Mesut adds that almost a 1000 people from adjacent areas came to see a recent exhibition of paintings of sacred trusts "This is a good thing," says Mesut, "I hope we will be able to promote interfaith understanding as well as providing countries like Pakistan with clear-thinking generations."

Sand, sun and sea; the perfect setting to beat summer time blues. For anyone sweating out in the sweltering heat of Karachi's humid summers made worse by KESC, a trip to the beach ensures a chance to unwind. The vast expanse of the Arabian Sea that forms the Karachi coastline may not be picturesque thanks to the pollutant laden sand and surf, yet it provides ample relief to throngs of Karachiites.

 While a controversy rages over the massive commercial developments alongside the public beach, critics speculate that it won't be long before this strip is gone for good. This may spell doom for those looking for low cost family fun but would prove to be a goldmine for those who have a stake in commercialisation of the beachfront. Speaking of which, its pretty unusual for the elite of the city to take a trip to the Sea View Beach. Last Sunday however was an exception thanks to a polo tournament that created a buzz around town. Though polo and sportsmen on horseback usually conjure up images of the overtly exotic Shandur Polo Festival, the beaches of Karachi served to be a surprisingly fertile ground for this equestrian sport.

Polo is a game that Pakistan can proudly lay a claim to. It started out in the Persian Empire as a means to train cavalry units way back in the sixth century BC. With hundreds of players taking part in one go, the scene was no less than a battlefield. Shahnama-e-Firdousi gives an epic account of the game, romanticizing the whole experience. The modern game of polo, though formalized and popularized by the British, is derived from the princes of the Tibeto-Burman kingdom of Manipur (now a state in India) in the Southeastern Himalaya, who played the game while they were in exile in India sometime during the 19th century. With arena polo being followed by snow polo and many other variants, such as water polo and elephant polo, it is beach polo that is fast catching the world's attention.

The brainchild of Sehr Ibrahim, a riding instructor and polo enthusiast, the Emaar Karachi Beach Polo Tournament 2008 had a fair sprinkling of the city's elite. Bearing the sizzling summer day, hundreds of polo fans drove to the construction site/enclave at the secluded end of the Clifton Beach to witness the first ever beach polo match in Pakistan.

 Sehr, who owns the Equestrian Riding School and also co-organized the tournament spoke passionately about her pet project, "The whole concept is to promote beach polo in Karachi. Beach polo is popular in Dubai and Palm Beach and I wanted to do my bit to promote it here." Talking enthusiastically, the blue-eyed instructor says she is looking forward to arranging another polo tournament soon, only bigger and better. "Polo is a spectacular sport and it gets people involved. The result is an adrenaline rush. Absolutely lovely!" exclaimed Sehr as she tried to contain her happiness at the success of the event.

 Her husband, Samee Ibrahim, who captained the Equestrian Team, is equally passionate about polo. "Karachi lacks the basic infrastructure for polo matches but the beaches are an ideal location. We thought of making the most of what we have."

 Though one expected to see more teams at the tournament and many hoped for the presence of international players, the three chukkar match between the two teams proved to be quite exciting on it's own. As the ball was set rolling, the mature Team Equestrian led by Sami Ibrahim, faced the youthful Team Emaar captained by Zain Khakwani. Given that it was the first time the men were playing polo on the beach, they all found it be quite a task to tackle the ball which went all over the place. It was quite a sight when the rising tide forced the teams to move back and realign their playing field. Eventually, the old guard was tamed by the young blood as they scored a victory with a 4-0 score.

 Agha Siraj Durrani, Sindh Minister for Local Government was the chief guest at the occasion. Appreciating the efforts of the organizers, Durrani said that the city was in a need to make room for sports, "the young generation needs to divert their energy positively. Rather than sitting in front of a computer screen, merrily chatting away, the youth needs to step out in the sports field."

 Designer Sonya Batla, with her riding boots and broad-brimmed hat turned quite a few heads. Talking about the match she said that she was hoping for some real action with international polo teams but wasn't really disappointed. "It was great to be here. A polo match in Karachi is rare and this tournament proved to be a treat." 

 While the adults were busy socializing, the kids at the event were utterly smitten by the well-bred geldings. With neatly braided tails and the colourful polo wraps, the horses basked in the attention they were getting. One horse even tried to whine into the mike of a TV crew covering the event. Maybe it took the adage right from the horses mouth a bit too seriously! The real star of the evening however was the four-legged charger Baluka which trotted away with the Best Polo Pony Award.

  Asma, a young mother, who had her kids pestering her to take their pictures with the horses, said that equestrian events were more a symbol of elitism but beach polo somehow could bridge the gap. "I know that polo is associated with kings and nobility, however, in a city like Karachi it can be a life changing activity." According to her, the interaction with horses and the fast-paced game helped in creating tolerance for others while sticking to one's post, "something Karachi walas desperately need to learn!"

Speaking of tolerance levels, the men had a hard time as their wives and girlfriends ogled the polo players. Handsome in their polo kits, the players did cut a charming figure, on and off the field. While one could have easily generated enough material to write the script of the desi version of Desperate Housewives (this scribe wasn't eavesdropping, the women were too loud), it was the long monologue of a couple that was hard to miss. Talking about the pros and cons of joining the riding school oblivious to those around them, the tussle turned into a full fledged argument. Given that a knight in shining armour may not be that easy to find, a polo player on horseback is not really a bad option.

 As much as the beach polo experience was new for the players, it proved to be an entertaining respite for the audience as well. With Sehr's assurance of having another polo festival soon, many old and new fans of the sport have now something to look forward to.

Behind Cambridge University's many colleges is a grassy area known as the "Backs" that leads down to the River Cam where students have been going punting for centuries. Access to the Backs has been open to everybody – students, city residents and visitors alike – for centuries. No more, however. Security concerns, in the post-9/11/2001 and post-7/7/2005 era, have led the university authorities to seal off the area to visitors and city residents, and even students have to show their ID cards to go down to the river.

"What is the world coming to?" one can imagine old-time regulars muttering into their tankards at nearby Grantchester's The Green Man, a 400-year-old inn on High Street named in honour of Robin Hood, where a crackling fire warms you in cold weather, and summer features a back beer garden, leading off towards the River Granta where your punt is waiting to take you back to Cambridge.

In the old days, students and faculty members sprawled along the banks of the River Cam on a summer's day would wait to judge and ridicule you as you manoeuvred your punt with a pole about 15 feet long. The river's floor is muddy, and many a student lost his pole in the riverbank shaded by willow trees. If your pole got stuck, it was better to leave it sticking in the mud instead of risking a plunge into the river. Not that this kept innumerable male students from recklessly diving into the water to recover a lost pole – to polite applause from pretty young ladies in the punt.

Punting on the Cam, in wood-built, flat-bottomed boats somewhat like Venetian gondolas, was a traditional pursuit of students and visitors to Cambridge. Downstream, you passed along the ivy-covered Backs of the colleges, their lush lawns sweeping down to the Cam.

The story goes that an American visitor to Cambridge was wandering along the Backs one day many years ago admiring the lush lawns when he came across one of the gardeners whose job it was to keep the grass in perfect trim. Engaging the gardener in conversation, the American said that he had a place along the banks of Pedernales River in Texas and wanted to know how he could quickly get a lawn like this one over there.

"It's very simple, Sir," replied the ancient gardener. "First, you mow it for a hundred years; then you roll it for a hundred."

Oxford University (known to Cambridge students in the old days as "the other place") slightly predates Cambridge, but by the early 13th Century scholars had also made their presence known here. Eventually, Cambridge won partial recognition from Henry III, rising or falling with the approval of subsequent English monarchs. The university consists of 31 colleges for both men and women. But it may soon consist of 34 colleges, if the university authorities are allowed to have their way to build three new colleges.

According to reports in the British press, the university has asked the Cambridge City Council for permission to develop a 57-hectare site it owns on the outskirts of the town. The university says development is essential to its future if it is to maintain its reputation and cope with an anticipated rise in students. But there would be no rise in the number of students if the proposed new colleges don't get to be built, thus obviating the need to build them. Which makes it a sort of chicken-and-egg situation, as in the age-old question: "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

And would Cambridge automatically become a better university just because it has 6,000 more students than it presently has? Not necessarily. Indeed, traditionalists would argue that quantity has nothing to do with quality. It's the quality of the education imparted at Cambridge that has made the university what it is today: one of the world's great centres of learning.

The university town of Cambridge is a collage of images steeped in history, academia and romance: the wonderfully named Bridge of Sighs; spires and turrets; drooping willows; dusty secondhand bookshops; carol singing on Christmas Eve in King's College Chapel, home to one of the world's best choirs; dancing until sunrise at the May balls; the sound of Elizabethan madrigals; narrow lanes where Milton, Darwin, Newton and Virginia Woolf once walked; the tattered black robe of a hurrying senior student flying in the wind.

As far as the locals are concerned, such alumni as Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin aren't just yesterday's students. Cambridge today continues to graduate famed scientists such as Stephen Hawking, world-renowned physicist and author of the best selling "A Brief History of Time". So, for all you know, that hurrying student you may see dashing through the portals of one of the colleges could well turn out to be a future Newton or another Darwin.

The adolescent Henry VI founded King's College on King's Parade. Most of its buildings today are from the 19th Century, but its crowning glory, the perpendicular King's College Chapel, dates from the Middle Ages and is one of England's architectural gems. Owing to the chaotic vicissitudes of the English kings, however, the chapel wasn't completed until the early 16th Century. The Christmas Eve carols concert by the King's College Chapel choir is one of the most notable events on the British calendar and is broadcast around the world by the BBC.

The famous American author Henry James called King's College Chapel "the most beautiful building in England." Its characteristic features are the magnificent fan vaulting – all of stone – and the great windows, most of which were fashioned by Flemish artisans between 1517 and 1531.

Peterhouse, on Trumpington Street, is the oldest Cambridge college. It was founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, the Bishop of Ely. Ely is famous in English history as the redoubt of Hereward the Wake, who in 1071 staged an unsuccessful uprising against the Norman conquerors of England in the fenlands (The Fens) near Ely. Although Hereward and his men held out for months against Norman assaults from both land and sea, their cause was ultimately doomed.

Cunningly, the Normans confiscated lands belonging to monks near Ely, precipitating their surrender and with that Hereward's resistance was critically weakened. Inevitably, his own men were obliged to follow suit, but Hereward himself managed to escape.

Nothing definite is known about him after this, but legends about this great hero-patriot from Lincolnshire proliferated long after he was dead. It is said that if you go to The Fens in Ely (not far from Cambridge) and listen carefully, you can still hear faint echoes on the wind of Hereward's famous battle cry "The Wake! The Wake!"

Trinity College, on Trinity Street, is the largest college in Cambridge. It was founded in 1546 by Henry VIII (he of the many wives), who consolidated a number of smaller colleges that existed on the site. The courtyard is the most spacious in Cambridge, built when Thomas Neville was master (as the heads of Cambridge's colleges are known). Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), the great architect who designed London's St Paul's Cathedral, Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre and many other notable buildings, designed the Trinity College library.

Emanuel College, on St Andrew's Street, was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, a Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I. John Harvard, founder of Harvard University, generally reckoned to be the finest university in America, studied at Emanuel – as Cambridge residents take sly delight in reminding brash American visitors.

Cognoscenti hold that Queen's College is the loveliest of Cambridge's colleges. Dating back to 1448, it was founded by two English queens, one the wife of Henry VI, the other the wife of Edward IV. From an architectural point of view, its second cloister is the most interesting, flanked by the early-16th-Century half-timbered President's Lodge. The Grove occupies the college ground fronting the west bank of the River Cam on the north side of bridge. It's a riot of blossoms in the spring.

On a visit to Cambridge on a summer's day in the mid-1970s, I saw the drop-dead gorgeous Julie Christie walking along the Backs near Queen's College. I thought of going up to her and asking her for her autograph, but couldn't quite muster up the courage to do so.

Even as a student, Syed Faraz Ali tried to delve into the deeper meaning of everyday realities. He dabbled in different mediums although he was a painting major and as one looks over at his work, he has often successfully managed to bring together the medium and his message on one surface.

Faraz has always lived in Karachi and has always known that he wants to be an artist someday. He has actively pursued this dream all his life, always striving to do better. He seems perturbed by the political situation in the country and his work is driven by the same, though he tries not to take himself or his work too seriously. Being a young artist in a city as big as Karachi, Faraz is well aware of the issues that others like himself might face and hopes to see things being made better for all soon.

Kolachi: Are you originally from Karachi?

Faraz: Yes, I was born here and grew up here though my family is from Jabalpur in India.

Kolachi: What is it exactly that you do?

Faraz: I teach Design Technology at a local school and am currently working on a two-artist show as well.

Kolachi: Had you always wanted to be an artist?

Faraz: Yes! I took drawing and painting courses in 1999 and went on to study a bit of fashion design. But fine art is what pulled me the most to it, hence I pursued a Bachelors in Fine Art (BFA) in painting, with sculpture as my minor.

Kolachi: What kind of problems do upcoming artists face in Karachi?

Faraz: I think if one is a born artist then there shouldn't be huge problems, as his skills will help him sustain himself. There are problems though. Upcoming artists have to deal with not being able to show their work as gallery space is preferably given to senior artists. This can often lead to these young artists becoming very depressed, as critique and feedback is important as far as art is concerned.

Kolachi: Is art something one can just do on the side, as a hobby?

Faraz: As a profession, well, art is a full-time job. In an ideal world, young artists in Pakistan would get the kind of start where they can just focus on their work but unfortunately to sustain one in this world, one needs to make money, so unlike the big names, young artists in Karachi need to have day jobs to support themselves and their art.

Kolachi: If art is a full-time job, then doesn't having another job distract one from that?

Faraz: Yes, of course it does. One cannot give their work as much time, or a full day or night with another job in hand but like I said, one has to earn to keep oneself and the art afloat!

Kolachi: What would you describe your work as?

Faraz: I'm inclined to do work of political nature. I often employ the human figure in my work and I guess if one was to label it, it is more pop than anything else.

Kolachi: But political work can tend to be a little depressing, how do you combat that?

Faraz: I make my work slightly tongue-in-cheek. Politics on the whole, though exciting for some, can be a dry subject for most. My inclination is towards visual satire, you can say.

Kolachi: How have you seen your own work evolve over time?

Faraz: When I was a child, I worked with my own surroundings; it was insular kind of work. Then, I wasn't aware of international art, or what the Pakistani art scene was all about. When I was about to enter college though, I started reading more, looking at more art, seeing what sells, what makes a statement and understanding a whole lot more. Now I make an effort to look at other artists' work and try to attend art festivals etc. whenever I can.

Kolachi: Is there a market for political art in Karachi?

Faraz: Not really. I think people here are quite sick of the political scenario anyway that they normally wouldn't want to put it up on their walls. Islamabad is more receptive to political art though. Of course there are art collectors in Karachi who do collect art of a political nature.

Kolachi: What advice would you give other young artists?

Faraz: I would say: read a lot, look at a lot of work, visit galleries and festivals whenever you can, this is all key to becoming a better artist.

Kolachi: Where do you see yourself in another five years?

Faraz: I'm constantly trying to improve myself. I hope to provide a platform for young artists to make and show work, which is essential for their growth. Often artists who aren't able to show work become very dejected, even if they are making work. Then they have the problem of having all the work they made lying at home, with really no space to store it!

Kolachi: Does Karachi inspire your work in any way?

Faraz: You paint what you know. I do get inspired by Karachi, especially the way politics play out here.

Kolachi: How would you use your work to contribute to Karachi?

Faraz: One can, but public art is just not something that is accepted or appreciated in Pakistan even now. I have and would like to work on some murals with a message.

Karachi is chockfull of talented young people who are working very, very hard to get where they want. Faraz has a practical view on things around him, yet at the same time wants to contribute in some manner to make them better. Pragmatic yet optimistic, such is Karachi's character.