tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Feb 7, 2012, 12:58 am
Way before Paris Hilton was even born, there was a Pakistani celebrity who was rocking Cheetah print and a pink Cadillac. Keeping her company is another uber cool desi Meera Syal (apart from our very obvious desiness, Meera and I have the same Alma mater hence my obvious soft spot for her). &...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Feb 3, 2012, 12:23 pm
One cannot be faulted for assuming that Difa-e-Pakistan Council comprise of officials of defence ministry, four star generals and decorated admirals who wish to ponder over the defense needs of the country and make major strategic decisions. To find out that it...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 28, 2012, 4:33 am
It has been almost two years since the Eighteenth Amendment was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan and all children aged between five to 16 years have not only gained the right to not only access, but also to demand free education, in case it is not provided. H...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 27, 2012, 6:48 am
The buffoonery of PML-N leadership is well documented in Pakistani media but the Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s interview last night with Javed Chaudhry was so gallactically stupid, it makes one want to cry – literally.  ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 21, 2012, 2:49 am
Move over Austin Powers, here is the new International Man of Mystery Mansoor Ijaz has been declared the most envied man in Pakistan according to the latest survey. The poll was conducted among married urban men aged 28-46 and they all agree that Mansoor Ijaz is indeed the lu...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 20, 2012, 7:54 am
If you are an advertiser trying to sell any product in Pakistan, what should be on your wish list? If you are smart and want to make your life easy, you would want Shahid Afridi as your brand ambas...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 20, 2012, 5:40 am

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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 18, 2012, 1:41 am
On my way back home last evening, I received a text from my colleague that Mukarram Sahab has been shot and was taken to a hospital in Peshawar.  So stunned was I with the news that I did not realize when the signal turned green and only moved when...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 14, 2012, 4:13 am
They say there is no business like show business. The case of Pakistan, however, is a tad different and here there is no business like news business. Take any newspaper for instance; the front page would be full of statements, rhetoric, hearsay and guess work. There is hardly...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 13, 2012, 6:33 am
In an innovative move yesterday, PPP co-chair and President of Pakistan Mr Asif Ali Zardari announced that he is switching parties and has now joined Mr Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf. While the general public is baffled and speculators are speculating...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 6, 2012, 2:26 pm
In the wake of the cross-border Nato attack in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in Salala, the whole country was up in arms against the aggression of the allied forces. From the political parties to lawyers associations, from banned militant outfi...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jan 4, 2012, 8:12 am
With Salmaan Taseer’s first death anniversary approaching, people started talking about that incident again and one of the strangest stories, validating the murder, came from a LUMS graduate (I, of course, do not mean to shame ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Dec 31, 2011, 3:14 am
The twittervesre is outraged at Dr Babar Awan, not because he had one of his usual bouts of tweeting with caps lock on, but because he was awarded the post of Vice President of Pakistan People’s Party. I can’t understand the animosity his appointment has garnered...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Dec 26, 2011, 7:58 am
In  Shahzeb Khanzada’s program on Express News Imran Khan, in response to a question raised by a young woman, said that if his party forms the government, they will not dictate how women should dress up. When I saw that I was quite p...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Oct 21, 2011, 7:07 am
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated the old message of doing more while meeting the Pakistani state officials here on Friday. In addition to 'doing more' she wanted Pakistan to 'squeeze the Haqqani network' from the border areas. As if 'doing more' was not an odd request to begin ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Oct 18, 2011, 2:55 am
The bad news of the day – and we get plenty of bad news everyday here in Pakistan – is that we do not have enough funds to preserve Moenjodaro. Super sad news, I know. When I read this one out loud, there was a collective aww...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Oct 14, 2011, 3:27 am
The first time I noticed Abid Sher Ali was when he made Farrah Dogar the most famous/notorious high schooler in Pakistan. As the chair of National Assembly’s standing committee on education, he went anal about her being awarded a few extra points in he...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Oct 7, 2011, 7:56 am
Who said propaganda died with Dr Goebbels? This is one picture that is doing rounds on social networking websites these days. The premise of the photograph  is that Mian Nawaz Shareef is meeting Dengue victims with a mask on his fac...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Sep 30, 2011, 3:49 am
Because I am slightly odd, I have friends who also veer in the same direction and the conversations we have are also of not you garden or average variety. Last night AB and I were having a random chat session and she came up with a c...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Sep 27, 2011, 3:22 pm
Though I have no intention of either buying or reading Imran Khan’s book “Pakistan – A personal History” the translated excerpts published in the Sunday Magzine of Daily Express are ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Sep 21, 2011, 3:33 am
Back in 2005 when the earthquake hit Northern part of Pakistan, we witnessed what was perhaps the biggest humanitarian aid effort taken up by Pakistanis. People from all over the country including Diasporas living in other parts of the world contributed to relief an...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Sep 18, 2011, 10:48 am
Along with Iqbal Day, Kashmir Day, Defence Day and what not; Jamat-e-Islami celebrated Aafia Day on September 16th this year. Pasted below is the flyer that was circulated online. What's most fascinating is that apart from being proclaimed as one of the leading scientists of Pakistan (she has ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Sep 15, 2011, 1:34 am
Earlier this week, TV presenter Fareeha Idrees (she is kinda irrelevant generally, her star shone briefly when she managed to get the first post world cup Afridi Interview) said that Altaf Hussain and Zulfi Mirza are responsible for floods in Sindh. Now we all know that B...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Sep 8, 2011, 5:31 pm
Yesterday, I participated in a BBC radio program on Tenth anniversary of 9/11 and later attended a session on Granta’s latest issue “Granta 116: Ten Years Later” where events since 9/11 were discussed and how the world has changed...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Aug 26, 2011, 3:54 am
While driving in Rawalpindi yesterday, I came across a series of wall chalking on Tulsa Road demanding the release of Mumtaz Qadri, the infamous murderer of one Salmaan Taseer. I was kinda sad with all things wrong with this country where people not onl...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Aug 11, 2011, 2:01 pm
Earlier this year, Shahid Afridi (yes the former captain of the national cricket team and part time clothing retailer) announced the launch of ladies clothing line. Earlier this month he launched his label Widyaan and now he is out with it.  ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Aug 1, 2011, 1:31 pm
I attended a dinner last night where everyone was discussing cricket and the performance of English batsmen. Bell, Pietersen and Morgan played beautifully and Matt Prior challenged the Indian bowling attack to the max and reminded us of Pietersen or Ponting on a goo...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jul 31, 2011, 2:34 pm
If you think Saudis and Pakistanis have some kind of hegemony over issuing crazy ass fatwas, you have another think coming. Malaysians are not far off the mark.   After bringing all Muslim males, females and children under the purview of rel...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jul 22, 2011, 3:52 pm
If the marketing gurus trying to make a few gazillion dollars off the religious sentimentality are to be believed, there weren’t any good Muslim a couple of decades back. People used to eat food, deposit and draw money in the banks, eat chips, drink cola, wash their hair and no one’s faith...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jul 19, 2011, 12:54 pm
I was looking for something else and found these photographs that I took last year when I got lost on my way back from the beach. These pictures are taken in parts of Orangi Town and SITE and tells us the story about another Karachi which does not get mentioned a lot in the press. ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jul 8, 2011, 8:11 am
Come October, University of Chicago is organizing a proper conference on – hold your breath – ‘Jersey Shore’. The speakers include academics on popular media and people from gawker.com. The call for papers include some interesting topics su...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jul 7, 2011, 1:14 pm
Everyone, their wives, five kids and dogs have already seen the film BOL so I decided to follow suit and headed towards the only decent cinema in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. The cinema was packed and the queue was long but my friend and I were lucky enough to ge...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jul 3, 2011, 6:46 pm
So the United States Embassy hosted first ever LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual &transgender) Pride Celebration in Islamabad last week and somehow it ended up being the front page news in Jang’s Rawalpindi edition.  According to the press release issued by the embassy, the event demonstrated continue...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jun 24, 2011, 9:51 am
When I was asked to attend Pakistan’s first ever social media summit earlier this month, I jumped to it. Because not only it gave me a chance to visit the old country (for me, Karachi would always be old country), it also gave me the opportunity to meet some old friends and make some ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jun 22, 2011, 12:36 pm
Pakistan is a strange country; the people who garner maximum news coverage are often shady. If January was the month of Mumtaz Qadri, then February and March definitely belonged to Raymond Davis and the man who hogged all the headlines across the globe in May was Osama Bin Laden. Last but not the le...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jun 13, 2011, 3:33 pm
  Yet another young man lost his life in what has become a norm in Pakistan – extrajudicial killings – and chances are that like previous incidents of such killings, the perpetrators of this crime will go free as well. It is not just a random speculation of a bitter citizen, th...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jun 10, 2011, 4:18 am
For those who flinch every time Rehman Malik makes an outrageous statement like terrorists being some kind of celestial beings in Star Wars (or was it Star Trek) sartorial finery, flinch no more as other government officials make gaffes at par with his proclamations. We already have Donald Rumsfield...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jun 8, 2011, 11:43 am
Every now and then, a woman politician in a Muslim country will rise and say things more misogynist than  most vile male chauvinists, to score points with their counterparts who want women off the roads, schools and public space in general. Last year it was our polygamy champion Ms Sam...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Jun 1, 2011, 5:43 pm
This heavenly orgy fantasy …. .... was brought to you by a maulana near you. Being a woman, I was never subjected to a Friday sermon (women don’t go to masjids in South Asians countries like Pakistan, India and Bangladesh). I have heard many a tales about the kind of hate mongering...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - May 22, 2011, 3:44 am
Most people do not know that the Baboons living in South Africa barter their food. They exchange a banana for a bag of crisps they steal from an unsuspecting tourist. Just like those baboons, Pakistan’s rent seeking elite barters power and privilege. Unlike baboons, who barter among t...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - May 20, 2011, 9:29 am
This post is dedicated to my friend P, who has been most thoughtful, esp. when it mattered most, would always say the right things to cheer me up and have been generally a great guy. Earlier today, he and I were bitching about how some people – who in our opinion are not as bright as...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - May 16, 2011, 3:01 am
Is it just me or are there others who are facing the same dilemma as I do? Am I living in the same Pakistan that I have always lived in or is it some other country?Now don’t get me wrong, it is the same country where rapists are released by the superior courts, where an enormous number...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - May 11, 2011, 6:46 am
I mean seriously. I have no respect for people who either try to live off their siblings or try to get famous because of their siblings. Ordinarily, no one would’ve hired Atif Aslam’s brother to wash their windows. But because his brother is a pop star, he not only gets to keep 10% of his famou...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Apr 30, 2011, 4:00 pm
Social networking is a bitch. There, I said it.Let’s admit it. Most of us have a facebook account with around a couple of hundred friends, but we really stay in touch with a few. The rest are there to provide us with a reality check that our paychecks are tiny, our lives are grey and o...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Apr 29, 2011, 4:46 am
A guy with a receding hairline is getting married to his college sweetheart with 2000 guests in attendance. What’s the big deal? It is the story of most well heeled follically challenged men in this part of the world. All you need is a large extended family, two older married siblings...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Apr 22, 2011, 7:01 am
A friend and I have always dreamed about opening up a PR firm where we would provide top of the shelf consultancy on rebranding, lifestyle public relations, crisis public relations, running PR campaigns to influence policymaking and creating a personal brand and image makeovers for politicia...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Apr 1, 2011, 12:34 am
Yes, it’s been over a day and I am still going through the cricket hangover. I won’t go into the result or what might have happened if we did this or that. I just want to share a couple of gems that I overheard in the match screening I went to on March 30th. When Sehwag was cl...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Mar 28, 2011, 3:04 pm
So Cricinfo tweeted this photo with a “So much love in the Pakistan team” caption earlier today. and the Pakistani twitteratti responded with this photo saying what about this one? Pakistani tweeples thought that the picture with Ajmal and Akhtar was more ...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Mar 27, 2011, 5:40 am
Back in 2006, my friends and I went to National stadium Karachi to see a match between West Indies and Pakistan. Though it had nothing to do with the match, for every Boom Boom poster we’ve made, we made one that said Darryl Hair Sucks. For cricket fans in Pakistan, umpire Darryl Hai...
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tazeen j. posted an article on A Reluctant Mind - Mar 1, 2011, 3:19 pm
For the first time in a very long time, our cricket team looks united and act like a team – considering the fact that we still have elements like Kakmal, it’s a feat. There is no news of factions or back biting and as rumor has it, all is well in the dressing room. Even the captaincy debate did ...
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