Our essential reads for the week
Arundhati Roy’s latest offering, Mother Mary Comes To Me, is an unflinching look at a difficult childhood and a fraught mother-daughter relationship, and its effects on a life lived in service of truth and justice. But, the author wonders if this memoir is a “safe” version of a trailblazing, resistant life.
The Indus Conclave 2025 gathered writers, artists, intellectuals and activists from the Global South and beyond in Lahore to discuss the most pressing issues of our times.
The USA, for decades, has been at the forefront of cutting edge research and tech development; the H-1B visa has arguably played a major role in this, as global talent gravitates towards leading American institutions, whether in tech, medicine or academia. With President Trump’s new $100K talent tariff policy, the world wonders whether this will lead to a brain drain away from the USA.
Manahil Tahira explores how Pakistani cinema’s quintessential comedian traded timing and set up for embodiment and sheer unpredictability
As Pakistan confronts urgent development imperatives, the fiscal burden of debt servicing leaves little space for action. Can debt swaps provide a path forward to transform crisis into opportunity?
The onslaught of ‘nostalgia-core’ makes Saba Imtiaz wonder if there’s a moratorium on new ideas across artistic and commercial spheres; if so, why?
By Saba Imtiaz
By Umair Javed
By Maryam Jillani
By Haroon Sethi
Stories, Cultures, and Landscapes
Reflecting on the Zeitgeist
In the heart of Bahadurabad, Kokan Family Park stands as a beacon of hope, where public parks are increasingly endangered by urban development and government neglect. Managed by a dedicated neighbourhood committee, the park is more than a patch of green—it is a crucial part of a community’s day.
Oct 20, 2025
A green, public space off the Islamabad Expressway in the leftover land between a highway, a looping exit ramp and an underpass, technically known as a ‘cloverleaf island’, has become a makeshift park for hundreds of people who frequent it. Marium Naveed wonders what this makeshift park tells us about the city the public wants and needs.
Sep 12, 2025
In the heart of Bahadurabad, Kokan Family Park stands as a beacon of hope, where public parks are increasingly endangered by urban development and government neglect. Managed by a dedicated neighbourhood committee, the park is more than a patch of green—it is a crucial part of a community’s day.
Oct 20, 2025
A green, public space off the Islamabad Expressway in the leftover land between a highway, a looping exit ramp and an underpass, technically known as a ‘cloverleaf island’, has become a makeshift park for hundreds of people who frequent it. Marium Naveed wonders what this makeshift park tells us about the city the public wants and needs.
Sep 12, 2025
Arundhati Roy’s latest offering, Mother Mary Comes To Me, is an unflinching look at a difficult childhood and a fraught...
Picking up George Orwell’s 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟰 as an adult, Taha Ali finds the book to be a revelation. Could it be because this nightm...
In 𝘈 𝘚𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, Dur e Aziz Amna’s second novel, she writes about Tara, a woman who, like her name, is chasing a star o...
In September 2012, over 250 workers perished in a fire at Ali Enterprises, a garment factory in Karachi working for a Ge...
Hiromi Kawakami’s Under the Eye of the Big Bird (translated by Asa Yoneda, and shortlisted for the International Booker...
‘What is and was Lahore? How has it changed in its thirteen disruptions?’ These are among the many questions that flaneu...
Satire aims to provoke, but does Percival Everett’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel go far enough?
𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘱, the first ever book translated from Kannada shortlisted by the International Booker Prize, is a collection o...
SPORTS
What explains Padel’s recent explosive popularity in urban Pakistan?
SPORTS
In recent years Pakistan has seen a bleak period in the T20I cricket arena. However, does the series clean sweep against...
The USA, for decades, has been at the forefront of cutting edge research and tech development; the H-1B visa has arguably played a major role in this, as global talent gravitates towards leading American institutions, whether in tech, medicine or academia. With President Trump’s new $100K talent tariff policy, the world wonders whether this will lead to a brain drain away from the USA.
The 19th International Architecture Exhibition, titled 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘴. 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭. 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭. 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦., curated by Carlo Ratti and organised by La Biennale di Venezia opened in May 2025. A team of eight dedicated Pakistani architects and researchers presented (𝘍𝘳)𝘈𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, while facing bureaucratic hurdles, visa and shipment delays and the four-day war back home. Zoya Gul Hasan walks us through the installation and ponders Pakistan's future at international art biennales.
Universe in a Grain of Salt’, curated by Noorjehan Bilgrami for the Pakistan Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, features pink rock salt structures and art that mesmerises audiences through the lens of geological and urban history, spanning eons with moments of serenity.
