|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
  |
anticlimax MOOD
STREET TOWN
TALK review It’s
very Fair Performing
the art Letter
bomb?
anticlimax Hunger strike…while the iron is hot! The young doctors taking up arms against government hospitals not providing proper healthcare facilities is seen by many as a ‘ploy’ to redeem themselves in the public eye By Khalid Khattak As it enters
week 2, the hunger-strike by the Young Doctors Association (YDA), outside
Services Hospital on Jail Road, continues to attract mixed reviews in the
media. More so, because it provides a kind of an anticlimax to YDA’s
earlier protest for their own rights which had seen the young doctors
making themselves scarce in public hospitals, at the expense of the OPD
patients. To many, the current
phase is a face-saving ploy. For the young medics, it’s about poor
patients who are denied free treatment at public facilities. Their cause may be
supreme but it does not serve to win the junior doctors the sympathy of
the public who still remembers their blatant antipathy. (In the
not-so-distant past, this lot of doctors had boycotted their duties even
in emergency wards of public hospitals on several occasions.) No wonder the common
people did not join in the protest. YDA’s demand is too vague, they say.
No government, at least in Pakistan, would ever acknowledge not fulfilling
its constitutional responsibility. Interestingly, there are
political parties — mostly belonging to the opposition — that have
registered their support for the protesting doctors. For obvious reasons,
of course: the members of these parties are not just expressing solidarity
with the young doctors’ community verbally but also taking active part
in demonstrations and rallies organised by the latter. One wonders how the
Punjab government shall be able to convince the protesting medics in
particular and the public in general that it has never failed to provide
free treatment to the poor patients visiting the public health facilities
across the province. “If the [Punjab]
government can give a reassurance in black and white that free healthcare
and medicines shall be provided to patients in public hospitals, we
promise to end our hunger strike there and then,” states Dr Aftab Ashraf,
the founding member of the YDA. When asked as to how the
young doctors would determine that their demand regarding the provision of
free healthcare to patients was actually met, Dr Aftab says, “The media
people can visit the hospitals and check for themselves whether the
promised facilities are being provided to the patients or not.” According to him, the
previous “successful” strikes by the YDA encouraged the young doctors
to stand up for “the oppressed people who are denied free healthcare at
government-run hospitals.” On the other hand,
Punjab Chief Minister’s Special Assistant on Health Khawaja Salman
Rafique sees the ongoing hunger strike as an effort by the young doctors
to win public sympathy for the sake of their own vested interests. “They
have actually been calling for the reinstatement of 17 young doctors
against whom the department had taken action following the Gujranwala
incident,” he tells TNS. Rafique adds that in the
past two or so years the Punjab government has expended Rs7-8 billion in
connection with the YDA’s demands which include announcing a special
package for them regarding service structure and various professional
allowances etc. The YDA is not willing
to buy the claims made by the representative of the provincial government.
It insists that the Association’s “only demand vis-à-vis the
Gujranwala incident was the registration of their cross version which was
our right and not a demand.” Besides, it declares
that never did the young doctors stop performing their duties at
hospitals. Khawaja Salman Rafique
is ready to come halfway. He calls on the YDA to come up with
recommendations on how to improve upon the system in case the government
has actually failed to provide free treatment and medicines to the poor
patients. They should quit the politics of hunger strike and get back to
their duties, he exhorts. Regarding the progress
vis-à-vis the service structure demand of the doctors, Rafique says,
“All clauses [of service structure], which needed immediate
implementation, have been implemented.” He also speaks of
committees that have been constituted to look at the “remaining
points”. Nonetheless, the poor
patients remain the ultimate losers in this tug of war between the Punjab
government and the YDA. A mere visit to any public hospital in the
province is enough to understand the plight of the poor patients whose
time is consumed being dragged from one point to another in search of
doctors and free medicines. caption The YDA’s demand is
too vague, says the public.
Rickshaw driver: “What
do you think of Pakistan?” “The people are good,
the food is good and the system is bad.” “People are greedy.
Can you tell me how to get to your country? Can you tell me how to make
money?” ********** “Is this OK Pumps?” “Yes.” “Is Mr Najeeb not here
today?” “No.” “I sent you this email
and you did not reply; I am looking for a pump with this spec.” “You want this
pump?” “Yes.” “I will tell you
tomorrow.” “By email?” “Yes.” ********** I leave. Two doors down
the road, I find the OK Pumps. Mr Najeeb is sitting at his desk. I tell
him about the other shop. “Sometimes Pakistan is strange,” I say. “Not sometimes, all
the time,” he says. I visit a compressor
shop. They do not understand cubic feet or cubic metres. They understand
‘dryer’ but not ‘cooler’. They cannot tell me the weight of the
compressor or how much it would cost to ship it, they cannot send an
engineer to install it. “Do you want any business?” I ask. They do not
understand the insult. I find another
compressor shop. It is closed but there is a security guard outside. “It
will open in one hour,” he says. “Can you give me a
business card?” I ask. “No.” “Do you have a
website?” “It is on the business
card.” I find a third shop.
“We have a Chinese compressor.” “Do you have Puma
compressors from Taiwan?” “Puma compressors are
not made in Taiwan, they are made in China.” “I had an email from
someone who uses them in Taiwan and said that they were good.” “I know better because
this is my business area, they are made in China.” As he seems more
interested in arguing about this than selling me a compressor, I leave. ********** I phone my mechanic
friend who had told me that he has a car for me to look at. “I will come
in 30 minutes,” I tell him. “Fine.” I arrive. He disappears
for five minutes and comes back. “The man has gone to get the car.” “I thought that the
car was here.” “No, he has no driver
so he has gone to get it.” “Where to?” “Faisal Town.” “That will take him at
least 45 minutes, I cannot wait. Next time only call me when the car is
here.” ********** On the walk back home I
phone my medical engineer friend. “Are we still OK to view the
ultrasound machine tonight?” I ask. “I am in Faisalabad, I
will come back to Lahore tomorrow, then I will arrange.” ********** The writer has lived in
Lahore for several years. This column details his experiences as a
foreigner in Lahore
*Lahore Literary
Festival 2013, a high-profile, two-day event, the first of its kind in the
city, kicks off Feb 23, at Alhamra The Mall, with a speech by Tariq Ali on
‘Politics and Culture: Past and Present’ in Hall I. Time: 9:30am. This
will coincide with a talk on ‘Lahore in Literature’ by Bapsi Sidhwa,
Intizar Hussain, Majid Sheikh, Pran Nevile in Hall II, to be moderated by
Rafay Alam. Other highlights of Day 1 include a discussion with Basharat
Peer, Lyse Doucet, Mohammed Hanif and Selma Dabbagh on ‘Literature of
Resistance’, at Hall II. Time: 10:45am; ‘Zehra Nigah in conversation
with Intizar Hussain and Samina Rahman’ at Hall I at 12:00pm; and Shehan
Karunatilaka on ‘Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew’, at Hall II.
Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm. *Rock On 2.0: A musical
night with the Humsafar title track famed singer Quratul Ain Baloch (aka
QB) together with EP at SICAS, on Feb 23. Time: 5:30pm. This year’s
theme is ‘Baaghi’ (rebel). Other acts include Beghairat Brigade (of
‘Aalu anday’), Laal The band, Uzair Jaswal, Soch-The Band and Ali Gul
Pir (‘Waderay ka beta’-famed).
review FiLUMS, a
three-day, annual event comprising film screenings, workshops and
interactive activities at Lahore University of Management Sciences, came
to a glorious end with a star-studded ‘Oscar’ night. Touted as an
“International Film Festival’ — the organisers claimed to have
received entries from all over the world — FiLUMS saw the participation
of independent filmmakers as well as premier academic institutions like
Beaconhouse National University (BNU) and National College of Arts (NCA)
both of which now boast established departments of Film. LUMS Media Art Society,
a student body composed of film enthusiasts, was the main force behind the
event which is fast earning a place for itself, especially in the absence
of KaraFilm, an international festival that took an unfortunate leave for
fear of terrorist attacks a couple of years back. A major highlight of
FiLUMS was the audience’s chance to interact with some of the better
known names in the local film industry — producer-director Syed Noor and
Shahzad Rafiq. The workshops these people conducted were a source of
enlightenment for the participating teams, with their special focus on the
production hassles in Pakistan. The Q&A sessions at
the end of each workshop usually invoked the same lingering queries, from
“Why should we copy Bollywood?” to “Is there a need to be
pessimistic about box office results when our investment is also very
small?” and so on. Nabeel Khan, the model
turned actor who debuted in 2011 with Reema Khan’s Love Mein Ghum,
raised a more fundamental concern during the course of his workshop, “We
are not able to create our own superstars?” Nabeel’s hour-long
workshop, on Day 2, also had a participant sharing her reservations
regarding Reema’s narcissistic hogging of the limelight. She drew a
pertinent parallel to Indian actor Aamir Khan’s self-effacing portrayal
in his own production Taare Zameen Par.
Manto’s influence
loomed large at the FiLUMS. Manto’s presence is a constant muse for
young filmmakers, a number of whom — including music whiz-kid Usman Riaz
— had either gone for adaptations or inspired versions of the short
stories by the late legendary Urdu writer. Wajahat Kazmi’s
special screening of Blue Veins was no exception. Although the film
struggled to show a sort of an artistic ingenuity, beyond the background
alaap, it was well shot and neatly packaged. Kazmi presented his hardline
view rather articulately, urging the students to approach the “universal
language of film” which, he said, “works on ‘subtleness’ as
opposed to the candid Saturday-night television approach of a Shoaib
Mansoor feature. “So many students want
to make films but they are not well versed [in the language of film],”
he said, talking to his audience at the time of the screening. Kazmi was also wary of
the introduction of the DSL-R cameras and took to task the wave of
“pseudo-filmmaking” it has given rise to. “You cannot just grab a
DSL-R, with its limited depth of field and image quality, and become a
filmmaker,” he thundered. “Here, you will have a great looking product
with a core which is complacent at best.” The judges for the
categories of Shorts, Documentaries and Feature Films included stalwarts
like Seemi Raheel, Bushra Ansari, Syed Noor, Bilal Lashari and Omair Rana.
Kashmakash won the award for the best feature film, whereas Tharparkar was
adjudged the best documentary. In the much-contested
Short category, it was the 17-minute long Pagal which went away with the
honours. Animation, another popular category that has seen a rise thanks
to educational institutions offering this as a course of study, had the
team of School Diary taking home the Best trophy. The red carpet
reception, however, as it turned out, was best kept for the Lahore
premiere of the New York City International Film Festival winning film
Seedlings, on the second night of FiLUMS. The screening was followed by a
session with producer Meher Jaffri. caption Clockwise from Top:
Films screened were from “all over the world”; Seedlings
producer Meher Jaffri; actor Nabeel Khan
conducting a workshop; filmmaker Bilal Lashari.
It’s very
Fair The 27th Lahore
International Book Fair (LIBF), starting Feb 14 through 18, is the perfect
antidote for the sickening boredom and the nothing-to-do syndrome that has
gripped the city for quite sometime now. With nothing at hand to uplift
the city’s sombre mood — there will probably be no Basant this year or
any worth mentioning events for the general public. It is nothing short of
a respite and one leaves the venue with the feeling largely because of the
attendance it has received. Do not let the
‘international’ in the name befool you. There is nothing international
about the event in the true sense of the word. All the details available
on the event quote ‘international publishers’ or ‘publishers from
across the globe’ or ‘international presence’ but none elaborates
the international-ness, not even the couple of helping desks at the event.
According to local laws, only companies registered with the income tax
authorities can buy or sell books in the country. When asked for a copy of
the publishers or stalls, the representatives had but each copy for
themselves and nothing for the visitor. That said, Indian and Turkish
publishers were like a few awkward dots on the otherwise event dominated
by local publishers, predominantly from Lahore and Karachi. The only
Turkish stall (representing Turkey’s Kaynal Publishing Group) Harmony
Publications’ collection, stood out namely for local range and
collection with surprising polarity between the prices of Urdu and English
books. The festival’s
administrator Saleem A. Malick told TNS that there were more than forty
international publishers at the book fair who were stocking their books at
the local stalls such as Allied, Pak Book Corporation and some Indian
publishers. If these international giants, he argued, were allowed to have
independent stalls it could be detrimental for the local publishing
market. Like every year, the
festival had little new to offer. Internationally, book fairs and
festivals are a platform for big and small publishers, writers and traders
to exhibit their endeavours (where a children furniture brand can probably
be accommodated), but LIBF is strictly a book fair in the true sense of
the word. Competitions and reading
sessions or art tutorials are just some of the options here.
The trends were similar as previous years — a clear domination of
children and religious literature. One of the stalls in the latter
category carried a complete section denouncing a certain religious sect as
imposters and kafir with offensive, bold titles like the ones one would
expect anywhere but at an international book fair. Malik honestly expressed
his ‘helplesness’. “If I go and single out the books, I’d be
labelled a heretic which will lead to an unnecessary conflict,” he
argued while trying to explain why these publishers and stall organisers
can’t be stopped from displaying this cadre of books as it leads to more
damage than good. On the flip side, seeing
children going wild with books is always a pleasing sight. The substantial
number of children books at the event is a clear indication of the
organisers’ target audience. From Rs1,500 to Rs150, the children
literature is safe play every time. Expectations should be
kept in check when looking for big discounts on books. Bigger publishers
particularly have little to offer in this respect. The organisers claim
that they “can’t force but definitely ask them” to offer special
prices on the merchandise leaving the prerogative entirely on the seller
to do so. Special and discount may sound good to you, if there are kids in
the family with some of the book as low as Rs100. Of their worth, only you
can be a better judge. The organisers have also
allowed old book sellers to deal in what they call “remainders.” This
could be a conflict with their ‘fight against piracy’ mantra. The Lahore International
Book Fair (LIBF), despite all its downs and lows, has managed to come back
every year, and the future seems promising. A book fair in isolation
cannot be perfected. With the general landscape of literary culture,
bigger and better publishing market and international-friendly trading the
book fair and any other such event can exhibit their potential of
attracting larger audience and better appreciation. For now, it is an
excellent opportunity for families to go bookish, and see the results of
an evening spent among books. Things to do when
hanging out with friends Joyland Book club at Readings Visit the Zoo Walk around the Walled
City on a Sunday Visit a Park with Swings Visit the Anarkali book
stalls on a Sunday Play dumb charades Watch a play Visit the landmarks of
Lahore Water fight/ cook a meal
Performing
the art Theatre has seen
a revival of sorts in the city where it has long been synonymous with
slapstick Punjabi commercial theatre. This newfangled interest in theatre,
to a large extent, is fostered by a generation that has grown up on texts
of classic as well as modern plays in literature. There was a time when
the two most prominent names on the amateur theatre scene of Lahore were
Shah Sharabeel and Omair Rana. While Sharabeel indulged in glamour, Rana
was training young talent at the school level, both generating an interest
in the field. This is also a generation that has worked hard to bring
theatre to a commercial level by producing and directing their own
scripts. The question now is how far have they brought theatre? Today, we see young
people pursuing theatre if not as a career, then as a passion. They may
gain little or nothing — in terms of money — but they continue to do
theatre for its sake alone. Every year, Lahore is
witness to 4-5 plays, majority of which is produced, directed and acted in
by people in their twenties or younger. The themes may be dark, but the
veneer is mostly comic. According to Waleed
Zaidi, one of the founders of B-Theatre that produced plays like Lend Me a
Tenor and Odd Couple, “I want people to come and watch something away
from the drudgery of their everyday life. So I prefer to provide
entertainment which comes with a strong script, not necessarily something
with a strong social message.” There is little
experimentation with genres in amateur theatre. To quote Omair Rana,
“Most people go for fun and laughter, something light; they’re limited
to the genre.” Sohail Haider, who
produces plays under the banner of Mirrors Entertainment, thinks a
humorous play is easy to pull off, “because with a serious play it is
difficult to capture the audience attention. People want to leave the
theatre hall laughing. So, even if it is not a funny script you can add a
few jokes.” Having said that, the
plays being produced these days differ from each other on various levels.
Some are large productions focusing on detailed technical aspects, others
are smaller and may be without the same grandeur but will definitely show
a fair level of commitment. Producers, directors and
actors would have different measure of success for a theatre play —
while some will calculate the amount of potential fulfilled, others will
count on media attention. To some, the audience reaction plays an
important part, whereas for others critical acclaim matters the most. While amateur theatre
has come to the fore in the city, it still receives little attention from
people who are not involved in it but who matter big-time — be it the
media or the sponsors. In the words of Zaidi,
“Sponsors are extremely difficult to get, regardless of what type of
play you are doing. As in any other business, it has a lot to do with
networking and PR.” Zaidi has been producing
plays for the last seven years now. Rana seconds him, “The
producers don’t have a clue where they will get their money from. In the
1990s, there was still a ticketing mechanism in place. From the
production’s perspective, looking for sponsors is still a viable
financial option but it’s a very flimsy gain because when the economy
falls the sponsors are not interested. “Our organisations are
not cultured enough to have a separate budget for these activities,” he
continues. “And, then, you also can’t sell tickets because there is
the entertainment tax. There is also a tax if you want to perform at
Alhamra.” Hashim Imran, a theatre
actor, explains the situation by calling it “volunteer work. But then,
again, it’s about passion which pulls us actors to stage.” There are other
challenges the producers have
to face, such as the unavailability of venue, the menace of load shedding
and security issues. Some of the challenges continue to grow, such as the
reluctance of sponsors and a limited capacity to experiment. While more
people now want to be a part of it, their capacity to pursue the field is
still limited. Some take it seriously, but others consider it a mere
hobby. Eventually, at every
play, the audience and the team comprise the same familiar faces, proving
that only a limited circle of people are actually engaged in production. caption Hashim Imran (L), in
this click from Dengue-The Play, one of the most successful in recent
times, terms it “volunteer work.”
The forsaken letterbox
in Mohallah Pir Gillania, inside Mochi Gate, receives 'daak' (mail) rarely
but it is regularly visited every year at the outset of Moharram, by the
concerned authorities meaning to search this good ol' container for a
bomb.
|
|
Letter
bomb?
