If Ghalib were a woman…
But sharif girls don’t write poetry It is raining outside my window in Hauz Khas Village. I’m having chai, onion pakodis and I’m thinking of my most beloved Urdu poet. Not only…
Not so patrician?
On St Stephen’s college and its evolving elitism It is the admission season in Delhi University. And according to newspaper reports, the elite St Stephen’s College, the alma mater of General Zia-ul-Haq,…
Must love dogs
In Delhi, every dog has its day Friends, today I will show you a nicer side of my city. It is 3 pm and I’m in Vasant Kunj, a posh neighbourhood in…
Delhi’s summer delight
It should be called an ice dream No birds in the sandy sky. The previous day Delhi recorded the highest temperature for the season. “If it gets very hot, I feel tempted…
In Jinnah’s honeymoon resort
Nainital, now and then It’s white-hot in Delhi and most people I know are leaving town. I’m fleeing to Nainital, the hill station where Jinnah went for his honeymoon. My Pakistani friends…
In Kashmir
In search of something This month for the first time in my life I went to Kashmir, which you Pakistanis think is yours and we think is ours. In childhood, I would…
Delhi’s stepwells
Still cool Here in Delhi, the heat is oppressive. I’m in a special place. Down the stone stairs. Shade. The wet sari clinging to her skin, Zeenat Begum is washing herself in…
Delhi’s dying delicatessen
A tea-time travesty! This is a story about food but it is also about a way of life in Delhi, which is fast vanishing. I blame our Partition. Now, please listen to…
What Zardari did not see
The Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti President Zardari should have visited Ajmer in June on the 800th Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. South Asia’s most revered Muslim, Moinuddin Chishti established the Chishti…
“Ruined by reading”
The definitive Delhi novel not yet written Last week, my spy in HarperCollins India told me that Pakistani blogger Raza Rumi is almost done writing a non-fiction book on Delhi. How on…
On the Eleventh
Of endings and new beginnings This week was like watching Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham: a little happiness, a little sadness. First, please permit me to blow my own trumpet. I’m very happy…
Dargah’s Billi…
… and a cat named Sufi I’m writing this column in the dargah of Hazrat Nizmauddin Auliya, Delhi’s 14th century saint. It is his Urs. For now I’m distracted by some other…
Depictions of a city
A Delhi long gone It’s Thursday morning. We are celebrating Holi, the Hindu festival of colours. People are throwing water colours across Delhi and India. Many are also high on bhang, many…
The Bihari cuisine
But why Bihari kebab is not on the menu Yesterday evening, I was at author Sadia Dehlvi’s home in Nizamuddin East who is on cloud seven. Her new book, The Sufi Courtyard:…
Life in a metro
Like the city’s lifelines… I wonder how Lahore will change if it gets as cool a metro train service as Delhi. The construction of the Delhi Metro began in 1998. In 2012,…
Austen or else
From intellectual discourse to intellectual intercourse This week Karachi will host its annual literature festival. This year the world is celebrating the 200th year of publication of Jane Austen’s comedy Pride and…
On rooftop living
In upper rooms, other wonders Bad news from Delhi. It’s vanishing. The barsati. The small room at the top of the house where the family could enjoy the cool breeze during the…