My View on the World @musingsfromthenight - Tumblr Blog

Of Brothers & Sisters

Wrote this a few years ago and found it in my drafts. Posting now - perhaps it’ll encourage me to actually build a story around it.

Thoughts on Tere Bin

Its a Thursday night as I sit down to write this piece about the immensely popular Tere Bin - a drama which I probably would have passed up if it wasn't for the lead pair. I am not a fan of Siraj ul Haq's style of direction and had never heard of the writer before. However, the cast drew me in - and what has kept me coming back. I have to say though, the script also has quite a bit of jaan. On the surface its an enemies to lovers story - but do they both really hate each other? I think Meerab does but as we wait for Murtasim's backstory to unfold, I am actually of the opinion that Murtasim has admired Meerab for some time. To me he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would be attracted to flakey girls so it makes sense that he admires her for who she is but is caught in this web of familial rights and wrongs. My theory ,then, is that the only reason he so vehemently refuses to marry her is because of this conversation in episode 2 and the knowledge that Meerab would never want to marry him and stay in this house she calls Qaid numa.

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He uses very similar language when he tells Maa Begum that he will not marry her - meri qaid se bacha lein - and his refusal moving forward is very driven by Meerab's. He's got too much ego to accept a girl who doesn't want him

Now, lets talk about Meerab. If you've read enough romance novels, like me, you know what's going on here. She's bothered by Murtasim. He's everything she doesn't want to like and yet she's drawn to him - this both confuses and angers her when she is in his presence. Which brings us to THE scene - I speak of the slap followed by the fainting.

When this initially played out, I was enraged - rightfully so - even though I wanted to trust Yumna & Wahaj and their good sense. However, after this week's episode I'm going to forgive the slap and actually believe it may have served a purpose.

First, going back to the romance novels (I profess to reading too many), this is the point in the story where the heroine would have bothered the male protagonist so much that he would have kissed her "roughly" , without consent, and she would have given into it. Then, both would gone their separate ways but unable to forget what had transpired. Do you see the symbolism - he slaps her, she faints pliant in his arms.

Enter the revenge angle in Tere Bin. Seems now that the slap was deliberately out of character - the guilt of it is what is driving Murtasim's softer behaviour and driving him to acquiesce to Meerab's requests. It is also what legitimizes Meerab's vengeance towards Murtasim - else she really wouldn't have a leg to stand on when it came down to why she was making his life difficult along with the lives of everyone else in the house. He's clearly smitten.

Just like the kiss in the romance novel, nobody can forget about the slap. Question is, when do the two finally give in and what finally breaks the camel's back? As the OST suggests, something really traumatic and heartwrenching will happen tab woh samjhein ge. Here for ALL THE DRAMA and the shadeed filmy handling of the story.

#terebin #wahajali #yumnazaidi

Rebirth

Almost 8 years since I wrote my last piece for this tiny little blog of mine. So much has changed since then. New company, lots of professional growth, another kid, home ownership. Its no wonder I haven't been able to find the time to write. But I always find myself coming back to writing when I'm in a period of self discovery. So here I am. Back again to exercise those writing muscles and to make sense of everything that's going on around me. Believe me, as I sit here at the edge of my firstborn's bed typing this, a LOT is going on in the world around me but I don't want to focus on that right now. I want to use writing as a form of self care. I have not had much time in the last 8 years for self care but at the tail end of the Covid-19 pandemic, I value self care more than I ever have and am taking steps to make time for it. This resurgence is but a small part of that effort.

Kyun ke abhi Zindagi Gulzar Hai

I have never really quite understood why people write episode by episode reviews of TV serials. An episode does not stand alone and, in the case of most Pakistani dramas, often several episodes go by before something worth talking about occurs. Thus, the review I am now penning is rather out of character for me because I was planning to sit on this till the end and then write something.

Episode 19, however , has thrown a curve ball and I can't NOT write about it. What an extremely well done episode. Starting with the script and the directions, and finally the acting. The brilliance that is Shahzad Kashmiri I will save for another post because the man deserves an entire post to himself. I am a huge fan of the work he does.

So, let's start with Umera Ahmed's script. There are many things in this script that I love - not the least of which are the beautiful sibling relationships. I am sure I'm not the only one who is sick of sisters ruining each others' lives. I'm sure sisters like that exist...somewhere. Watching TV, however, would have you believe that Sidra and Kashaf are the anomaly instead of the norm. One of the other things I really love about the script is the fact that it is humorous. Why our dramas have become either serious tear jerkers or over the top and chichora I will never understand. This has definitely been a welcome change. Many comparisons were drawn last year between the popularity of Humsafar and Tanhaiyan. However, I feel that one is able to draw more parallels between ZGH and the Hasina Moin classics we are still aspiring to. Hasina Moin wrote strong female characters which can also be found in this serial. She wrote about the relationships that bind us and Umera Ahmed has expanded her original story to include many beautiful scenes between Kashaf and her siblings as well as between Zaroon and Sara. Hasina Moin was able to make us, and her characters, laugh even through the darkest of times in Tanhaiyan. Over the years, dramas lost their ability to do this.

I do have one issue with the script and it only popped up in Episode 18 so now I have to mention it: What was the purpose of bringing in that whole masjid scene in episode 18? Can someone please tell me? I mean, yes, we may all have had a few laughs at Zaroon's expense but really, what was the purpose of that scene? I'm getting kind of tired of Umera Ahmed's preachiness. If the azan was the only way she could think of to cut short the previous scene, then she should have just shown the guys going to the masjid. Why must the rich guy with the liberal family be unaware of which namaz it is time for and how to do wudhu properly. I don't recall seeing Kashaf praying at any point throughout the serial so why start with Zaroon? Like this nation isn't judgemental enough...

Let's get to the direction. Hat's off to Sultana Siddiqui for a job extremely well done. If you've read any of the reviews for this drama, you will definitely have heard people going on about the timeline and how it progresses in this play. I actually have no issues with how the timeline is done. I actually like how an episode may move the story forward several years whereas the next will slow down and only show the events of two days. The director must also be applauded for the sensitivity with which she has shot the seriously romantic, blush-inducing scenes in the last two episodes. Eik episode 19 ne 18 episodes ka gham ghalat kar diya.

Finally, the performances...holy smokes! yes, smokes indeed. Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed seriously set the screens on fire. Over the course of the serial, the two have only shared the screen a handful of times. The story has mostly been the two story of Kashaf and the story of Zaroon but hasn't really been Zaroon and Kashaf's story till now. Both Sanam Saeed and Fawad Khan are such powerful performers that their scenes together are an absolute treat to watch - regardless of whether they're ripping each others' heads off or falling head over heels for each other. But the falling in love is definitely more fun to watch. Sanam Saeed's expressions, as the girl who is too afraid to admit the depth of her feelings, are flawless. And Fawad Khan...what do I say about him? Zaroon was a jerk till about the 14th episode and has he ever redeemed himself. He still has serious douche tendencies but for now, he can do no wrong. Fawad Khan is an extremely emotive actor and the playfulness we saw in Dastaan's Hasan is back! The way he makes overly romantic, cheesy gestures to illicit a response out of Kashaf, are hilarious and then when he makes his voice husky over the phone....yes, I know we all blushed and wiped the sweat off our face much like Kashaf. This man is brilliant. Bus. Khatam...I will go back to re-watch episode 19 now.

#Fawad Khan #Sanam Saeed #Zindagi Gulzar Hai #ZGH #Umera Ahmed #Sultana Siddiqui #Pakistani Drama

No government admits any more that it keeps an army to satisfy occasionally the desire for conquest. Rather, the army is supposed to serve for defense, and one invokes the morality that approves of self-defense. But this implies one’s own morality and the neighbor’s immorality; for the neighbor must be thought of as eager to attack and conquer if our state must think of means of self-defense. Moreover, the reasons we give for requiring an army imply that our neighbor, who denies the desire for conquest just as much as our own state, and who, for his part, also keeps an army only for reasons of self-defense, is a hypocrite and a cunning criminal who would like nothing better than to overpower a harmless and awkward victim without any fight. Thus all states are now ranged against each other: they presuppose their neighbor’s bad disposition and their own good disposition. This presupposition, however, is inhumane, as bad as war and worse. At bottom, indeed, it is itself the challenge and the cause of wars, because as I have said, it attributes immorality to the neighbor and thus provokes a hostile disposition and act. We must abjure the doctrine of the army as a means of self-defense just as completely as the desire for conquests.

Nietzsche

"They" don't represent us

“What’s wrong with our country?”, “What’s wrong with my countrymen?”, “What’s happening to our country?” – all common questions I found posed by people on Facebook and Twitter as the events of Friday the 21st of September unfolded in Pakistan. There were people all over the world talking about how a certain group of people was hijacking the situation and making us (Muslims, Pakistanis) all look bad. Everyone was saying that this was not the response Islam and the Prophet (PBUH) had guided us to. There was also discussion about how all the rioting in Pakistan (atleast and possibly even across the Middle East) was not just about a film anymore. That the film had acted as a trigger and people were now just venting their anger and frustration about everything else in their lives that was messed up.

Almost as a method of self-preservation, it would appear, most of us quickly condemned these actions and (as a result) the people carrying them out. We, the Muslim/Pakistani elite, are better than this we tried to show. However, I feel that therein lies the problem. We are quick to distance ourselves from their actions and by so doing perhaps feel that we are not responsible for their actions.

We are all familiar with Newton’s third law which states that “to each action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” I don’t believe that is true in the world of physics alone but also with regards to everything we do. Whether we call it karma, consequence, or reaction, the truth of the matter is that even the smallest of our actions and even our choices has an impact on the world and the people around us. We may not always know what kind of effect our actions have on another person’s life, especially in this global village we now live in where we no longer always know the person growing our food, or making our clothes, or making all the gadgets without which life for us is so hard to imagine. However, we DO affect them with our choices.

Usually when I start off on this topic, people think I have a problem with the rich, so let me just say that I have nothing against people with wealth. If anything, they inspire us, give us hope for a better tomorrow, and drive us to aim to be the best that we can be. The problem I have is with the people who flaunt their riches in the faces of people who barely have enough to survive – some with barely enough to hope even. Even more so, in a society where the gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow larger and larger. In my opinion, this gives rise to social ills like jealousy and desperation which then gives rise to the displays of frustration we witnessed in Pakistan this Friday. Earlier last week, I was in an argument with Person A who claimed that the rich were justified in spending their money however they liked as long as they were doing their duty – paying their Zakat, giving to charity. According to this person, it was their wealth and they were allowed to spend it wherever and however they chose to. The poor were in the situation they were in because of the ineptness of the government. I’m sure we can all agree that the government of Pakistan is useless and also that the people of Pakistan are extremely philanthropic. However, I feel that just as with knowledge comes responsibility, so is their greater responsibility places on those with greater wealth. In no way am I suggesting that they give away all their wealth and start living like paupers but I do feel that they can be leaders of change if they only chose. People with more disposable income can afford to pay their servants living wages instead of paying them the market rate. In the businesses they own, they can raise wages at the lowest rungs – distribute the profits instead of hoarding them at the top. Wealthy factory owners can lead the way in implementing safety standards and workplace safety rules that prevent incidents like the factory fire in Karachi that killed over 200 people.

The rich exploit the poor and reduce them to a state of desperation that results in angry mobs that destroy any and all signs of wealth and affluence (cars, banks, restaurants) and then sit in air conditioned café’s with their laptops and their Iphones tweeting away about how these mobs are shaming us all. I think it is time that we all took responsibility for our actions – shame on us all. I am in no way saying that all privileged Pakistanis are the same because there is a lot of good work being done by Pakistanis for Pakistanis. What I am saying is that instead of donating and cleaning up after the mess, we need to become more proactive so there are fewer such incidents for us to react to in the future.

“Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious”– Rumi

“Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself” – Also Rumi

All this new age huey

“If you can’t change the world for the better, the least you can do is not leave it any worse than when you found it”. I don’t know when in my formative years I heard this statement or who I heard it from. It may have been a good teacher or Bambi’s mom (or perhaps Captain Planet). That I don’t remember is not important. What is important is what this statement means. And especially what it has meant to me. This statement has been one of my guiding principles for most of my life.

For me, the world I received was the world I saw through the pictures in my elementary school geography books - pictures of the pristine Arctic, the prairies, the oceans, and the sea. Every time I now see pictures of the Arctic it usually has something to do with a news story about the melting glaciers and the animals that are endangered because of the thawing Arctic permafrost (today's latest here is the worse thing yet). The animals that live in the oceans and seas suffer as a result of our trash and oil spills. Let's not talk about the prairies - what is considered "conventional" farming today is such a huge topic that that would require an entirely separate post. Suffice it to say that today's farming methods and the amounts and types of chemicals being pumped into our food chain both through GMO crops and pesticides are not only hurting us but is killing good farmland and rendering it un-usable for future generations. So, when I go on and on about living greener, leaving a smaller footprint, eating organic, it's not just this new age huey, it's me trying to do what little I can to leave the world as I received it. You may think this whole green, organic thing is a marketing gimmick. You may be right. But I would rather do something rather than go on living in a fashion that is KNOWN to be harming the world. The other thing that for me is a BIG issue is consumption. No matter how much we reuse or recycle, we're not really going to make a difference till we reduce consumption. The less we buy, the less that gets produced, the less harm we do to the environment whether its through production or landfills. We can all live with less if we chose to. It wouldn't kill us but if we continued on the way we are then it certainly will kill this beautiful planet of ours.

Often, I feel that as a Muslim, I should be more worried about these things but am often disheartened to find few other like-minded Muslims. We are told that we will be asked about wasting resources, walking heavy on this earth, hurting other creatures and yet, we don't realize how our choices about what we consume affects resources and this earth. I was recently listening to a lecture series from an organization called Seekers Hub that aims to disseminate free Islamic knowledge regarding various topics (check out www.seekersguidance.org). The person delivering the lecture was talking about how there are seven limbs as defined in Islamic thought which affect the heart and its condition. One of these limbs is one's stomach and as important as it is to make sure we eat halal, we are way beyond topics of just halal and haram. As a people we need to move beyond just halal and haram and look at the ethics behind what we are eating. When we eat good food, it affects our overall being and our heart as well. When you choose to eat free run eggs, your heart feels bad for the poor chickens that are crowded together in cages on poultry farms around the world. You feel empathy towards God's other creations. Yes, He put them on this earth and allowed us to consume them but He also laid down rules regarding their slaughter and I don't just mean whether the blood has drained or not. There are rules about the conditions an animal intended for slaughter must be kept in and how no other animal must be slaughtered in front of it because this scares them and tells them that this is to be their fate as well. I have often overheard people saying about animal rights people "insaanon ko chorr kar ab kuttay billiyan hee reh gayay thay" (aren't enough people suffering that we now must think about cats and dogs). It's not about the cats and the dogs, it's about humanity. They are God's creations and we must be kind to ALL His creations because that's what He wanted.

Often I feel that this world would just be so much better a place to live if people felt a little less sympathy and little more empathy. I feel sympathy gets us nowhere. It doesn't incite action whereas empathy does. Empathy stays with you while sympathy disappears once the issue disappears. What do you think?

A Response

This post is a response to the video posted below where Mr. Faisal Qureshi and his co host Ayesha, along with a guest are having a discussion about a) whether the Pakistani youth lacks the perogative to be better and b) if they DO indeed lack the drive to better themselves, who is responsible? Is it the youth itself or is the generation before to be held accountable for not doing a good job of parenting/teaching/mentoring? Very quickly all three come to the conclusion that yes, the youth lacks the desire to better themselves. Then begins the blame game. While the two ladies on the show believe that some blame must be placed on today's parents for not stressing good ol' fashioned middle class values, Mr. Qureshi's staunch opinion is that in this day and age, the onus for the lack of perogative lies squarely on the shoulders of the individual. While I agree with some of what Mr. Qureshi says on the show, I have to disagree with him when he absolves the parents and society of blame concerning an individual that has crossed the age of majority. An individual comes into this world with certain personality traits that are genetic and others s/he picks up from the society around them. In my opinion, in order for a person to be better in certain aspects of their life, they need to be able to see other people around them who they can emulate. When there exists among you an individual of calibre that you respect then the aspiration to become like them and the will to be like them follows. What the previous generation has failed to provide, I feel, are individuals with good values who could be good role models in this regard. The youth today DOES have the will to be better but the examples they see around themselves are mostly successful people who lack good character. So, a young person with the will to progress will not care about whether his English or his Urdu is good or not. He won't care if he is well mannered or not. He will care to acquire the skills that will make him successful. Therefore, I don't think it is fair to blame the youth when in fact the previous generation failed to complete the pre-requisite. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YTKgwKMxMxQ

My love affair with Pakistani music

From very early on in my life I have been fed a very steady diet of Pakistani music. As a child I recall falling asleep to my mom singing Madam Noor Jehan’s lullaby from the 1960’s film Lori and to the song “Do akhiyan yeh do sakhiyan” from the Waheed Murad starrer Ehsaan. In the years that followed we often heard our mother singing along to old Pakistani songs while she cooked. It was always “ae abre karam aaj itna baras” whenever it rained and the songs from the film Armaan were so much of a mainstay that to this day I often find myself humming them despite having never watched the movie myself. As I grew older my mom always bought us Pakistani music albums – Nazia & Zoheb, the Vital Signs and as my own taste in music started developing I bought pretty much every music album that was released in Pakistan – everything from Fringe Benefits to Arid Zone to Junoon and beyond. I never bought pirated albums knowingly. Even as a teenager I insisted on paying a few rupees extra but making sure that the tapes weren’t pirated. Yes, I had an ulterior motive - the unpirated tapes had full album liners with the lyrics, the messages, etc. However, I also did this because I knew that this would help support the artist.

In the 90’s when FM 100 was launched in Pakistan, I was an avid listener. Although we lived in Saudi Arabia at the time, I was always glued to the radio whenever we visited Pakistan. While all of the chatter and the constant talking on all the shows was highly annoying, I waited for that 15 minute slot every hour when they would play songs. While I was in boarding school in Islamabad in the late 90s I spent many a night huddled under my blanket, hidden from the warden’s watchful eyes, with my walkman listening to the English songs that they played after 10pm. Once my family moved to Canada, I must credit the internet for keeping me up to date with the happenings in the Pakistani music industry. I found many like-minded people on the internet and we shared information about new releases and shared new music. Fast forward several years and there were many websites boasting an excellent collection of Pakistani music (unfortunately, many of these are now defunct). So you can well imagine the joy I felt when, a few months ago, I discovered the TuneIn Radio app for smartphones. I searched out various Pakistani radio stations to add to my list of presets and expectantly tuned in to hear some new Pakistani music. I was utterly disappointed as I tuned in day after day to Indian songs, English songs, more Indian songs, English songs, and the insufferable Sahir Lodhi. After about a week of this I thought that maybe I was just not listening at the right time. Considering I usually listened to these radio stations while I was at work, I figured that maybe all the music I wanted to hear was probably being played while I slept. In order to test out this theory, I upgraded to the TuneIn Pro app so I could record what was being played while I slept. A week later I realized that aside from an hour or two of dedicated time once or twice a week, most of these stations just didn’t play much Pakistani music – new or old. The playlist consisted of maybe one Pakistani song every two hours.

I am a radio junkie. I listen to the radio all the time – NPR, local talk radio, local music radio, radio stations from around the world. To me radio is a way to discover music I may never have found otherwise. For this reason, I was extremely disappointed to find that there are no regulations governing the content radio stations play in Pakistan. I understand that a dedicated English or dedicated Bollywood channel would play just that but if a radio station plays English, Bollywood, and Pakistani songs (as few as they may be) then such radio stations should be mandated to play a certain amount of Pakistani music over the course of the day. In Canada, radio stations are required to play 60% Canadian content during prime listening times. What does this mean for Canadian artists? This means more money for Canadian talent such as Justin Bieber, Nelly Furtado, Nickelback, etc. More money means that these artists are able to produce more music and earn more recognition. Some may argue that Pakistani artists don’t produce enough music to fill enough hours on the radio waves. I am not an authority on the matter but I feel that it is a cycle that needs to be set in motion. I’m not even sure how the compensation system works in Pakistan for music that is played on the radio but if there is a compensation system then as artists get more airtime and thus more money, eventually in a few years there will be enough Pakistani content to fill more hours of airtime.

I can only hope that regulation comes soon. Till then God bless the Internet and websites such as www.pakium.com for keeping me in the know.

Here’s a gem from the early 90s and the days of the Music Channel Charts…Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1DmKkGhoWE (Gotta love the very "special" effects)

#Pakistan #Music #Radio #Media

The Art of Reading

I recently read The Hunger Games Trilogy in a marathon I haven’t pulled since the carefree days when I was still in school. 5 days 3 books which is a remarkable feat considering I was at work for atleast two of those days and had to care for a toddler on all five. The last book I remember reading like this was probably Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the days before I got married I would often spend entire days completely lost to the world with whichever book I was currently hooked on. I would read by the light of a flashlight buried within the depths of my blanket so my mom wouldn’t see the light in my room still on at 4 in the morning. During the day, I would read while I ate and I would...actually, there really was nothing else I did besides reading. For that day and a half to two days after I got my hands on a highly anticipated new book my mom knew it was pointless to try to get me to do anything else. She knew I was barely even hearing her when she left instructions with me. So, how'd I manage a marathon given my current situation? By the power of my smartphone ofcourse. Downloaded an ebook and just kinda read in every second I could spare. Whether it was while I was riding the elevator up to or down from work, huddled in my blanket, driving places (i volunteered to let my husband drive whenever he was around) and even while I was putting the lil one to sleep. I have always been anti ebook readers but given the current situation I'm starting to think I could maybe get through a lot more books if I considered reading some of those electronically.

The End of Another Obsession

I fully understand that this is my second post about the phenomenon that is Humsafar. But, I'm not surprised that this is the case considering that it has occupied more parts of my mind and more hours of my days and more days of my weeks than I usually allow anything.

With the play having finally come to an end this past Saturday, the social media world is abuzz with people mourning the loss of what had become a Saturday ritual for millions of people around the globe. And, ofcourse, with the accolades have also come a stream of criticism. Some of it legitimate and some not so much. Some of the most popular ones - and my favourites:

It re-inforces gender stereotypes - the drama, by showing that all the women are vying for the affections of one man, further re-inforces in the desi minds that women are nothing without a man. If the people criticizing the drama of doing this had their way, Khirad would have never forgiven Ashar. Check: she never said that she forgave him. She decided to give her life with him another shot and the only fair way to do this (in any case) is if you truly put the past behind you. She was willing to walk away from him but the reality of her situation (a life without her child) compels her to reconsider.

The drama plays up the stereotype that the professional, pant-wearing female is evil while the "dupattay mein lipti hui" housewife is the innocent and shareef one. To this, I really have no rebuttal but rather an observation. While this may be a stereotype widely found in Pakistan, I don't think the production team was really trying to play up this stereotype. The story showed many contrasts between Khirad and Sarah and I feel the attire was just another layer of this contrast. Khirad was strong while Sarah was weak. Khirad had too much pride to go after a man who told her he no longer wanted her while Sarah left no stone unturned in an effort to get what was never hers. Khirad was a stereotypical small town, urdu speaking girl while Sarah is the stereotypical big city girl. I think it's also unfair to say Sarah was evil. In ways she was also the victim. All the characters had shades of grey except Farida and Khirad who were the only black and white characters.

Its nowhere close to being Tanhaiyan and people need to stop saying "not since Tanhaiyan". Agreed. The story and the characters of Humsafar are nothing compared to the characters created by Hasina Moin. What I believe the comparison is about is the fact that this drama came along and re-ignited the passion in people that Tanhaiyan last illicited out of the country. And that is a major accomplishment for the team.

Work life balance

The term work life balance gets thrown around a lot but my question is: is it really achievable? If yes, then what is it that i must do to achieve this balance which to me has started to look increasingly like an illusion. People often tell me that i'm in the wrong profession. That there is no such thing as a work-life balance in the financial services industry. As i type this post sitting in the backseat of a cab heading home at 11pm, I'd like to believe this. Believing would mean I just have to find a profession that is more conducice to achieving balance and then I have to somehow find a way into this field. However, I know other people in various other fields facing the same challenge. Several times a year I find myself envying my brother for the fact that the engineering firm that employs him, closes shop for a week between christmas and the new year and has shorter hours during the summer months. But, despite this, I have rarely seen my brother leave early on fridays in the summer. I have also known him to work on average around 70 hours a week for months and months. I don't think months upon months is occassional. It is the norm.

Which brings me to my next question. Is it the over-achievers, the ones who are out to prove something, make a name for themselves, etc. the ones that suffer the most when it comes to trying to achieve a balance? Do people that are less driven lead a more balanced life? Please don't say yes to this question. I don't think I'd be a very happy camper if I weren't constantly trying to be more.

Is it more a matter of managing my time better? Perhaps if i lived closer to work I could be home an hour sooner every night and be able to squeeze more in. Is there more to life than the constant juggling act I'm barely managing to pull off?

My Humsafar Review

Since September Pakistan has been gripped with Humsafar mania. Not Pakistan alone, but women everywhere with access to the internet. 100% guilty but I feel most women (and a lot of men too) are just suckers for a good old fashioned love story. So, what’s so special about this love story? Not much is what I thought when I read the novel. Yes, I read the novel. Hadn’t read any books in Urdu in all my life and the promos for the dramatization got me to read one. Go figure. I guess that’s the power of good advertising. As I was saying, I didn’t think the story was all that special when I read it. I thought there wasn’t any depth to the characters and that the only redeeming factor was the way the author made the story unfold. Since the novel is written partially in flashback mode, the reader doesn’t find out till the very last chapter what really transpired between Ashar and Khirad. As I read the novel, I did not question whether they would be together in the end or not, I was just curious to find out why they separated. Had the author given that away one chapter sooner, I would have stopped reading then.

If I didn’t think the novel was all that special, then why am I watching the dramatization and why in the world are you reading a review I wrote? Confession - I’m a bit of a Fawad Khan fan. I’ve been watching his plays since Jutt & Bond and really became a fan after watching Satrangi. At that time nobody appreciated him when I said he was gonna go places. But then, that’s what happened when I declared that I loved Saif Ali Khan after watching him in Yeh Dillagi –the one that was a copy of Sabrina. Anyhow, so that’s the reason why I really started looking forward to the dramatization of Humsafar – the director picked one helluva good looking Ashar. And then the soundtrack to the show was released and Quratulain Balouch floored an entire nation with her rendition of Naseer Turabi’s ghazal “Woh Humsafar Tha”. I had also recently seen “Pani Jaisa Pyar” which was directed by Sarmad Khoosat and when I found out that he was directing Humsafar as well, I knew it would be good and that he’d make the necessary adjustments to give the characters the depth they were lacking in the novel.

So, that Saturday in late September came and the first episode aired and people were hooked. A few more episodes and I came to the realization that the story and characters had been greatly improved and expanded upon for the dramatization. Sarah’s character which was barely mentioned in the novel had more substance. She didn’t seem like a complete psycho for being obsessed with just another guy. It made more sense for her to have such strong feelings for someone who had always been her bestfriend. Even Khizar’s character got a little more dimension and depth added to it. All these things make the dramatization much better than the actual novel. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that when the child’s character is introduced she’s not half as annoying as she was in the novel. I’ve seen internet forums where people go on and on about how much they love Hareem (Khirad’s daughter). Without giving away the story, I thought the child’s character was extremely annoying. The whole time I remember thinking that if my child was ever this ziddi and whiny I would slap them. Yes, I understand that the child was facing some special circumstances but still. Here’s to hoping that the child’s character has been improved upon for the dramatization as all the other characters have been.

The only thing about the dramatization which I dislike thus far is that several times scenes appear very choppy because they don’t flow or don’t add to the progression of the story in any way. I understand that this is owing primarily to the fact that the writer is trying to turn what in the book were snippets of memories into a sequence of events for the dramatization. A lot of these scenes are trying to build Khirad’s character (since her’s will be the one on trial starting next week) so that the viewer sees her and understands her for who she is. A bunch of the other scenes and dialogues will become important to the story in the coming weeks although thus far they appear to not have any value. So, I guess one can’t really blame the director. It is what it is. Hopefully this will be remedied in the coming episodes.

So, overall what’s my take on this latest venture from Hum Tv? I think its popularity is owing very much to the right mix of people. Had any one of them been missing from the scene, the drama would not have reached the heights of popularity it currently enjoys. After Dastaan, I believe it is safe to say that Fawad Khan now enjoys a very loyal fan base that will watch anything that he’s in. The producers haven’t forgotten the guys. While the girls enjoy their share of eye candy the guys get their share.

While I don’t completely agree, there’s definitely some truth to this statement that I read somewhere: “Humsafar is no more than a bunch of pretty people”. Humsafar would not have the fan base without the pretty faces, without Sarmad Khoosat’s excellent direction, and without QB’s beautiful vocals promoting the show better than any billboard could. The story is ordinary but the rendition is beautiful and that’s what makes Humsafar special.

#Humsafar #Humsafar review #fawad khan #fawad afzal khan #mahira khan #hum tv #pakistani drama

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So, I'm always listening, reading, watching, observing things that I want to rant an opinion about. I figured I'd give this tumblr thing a try so here I am. You can look forward to book reviews, show reviews, random rants, observations, and whatever else I feel like writing about. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing.

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