Feb 13, 2026
For a society that loves visuals of love and the commercialism associated with it, our cities are designed to not accommodate it. The likelihood of meeting your lover at the nehr wala pul is impossible; you’re more likely to call them to the mall beyond the bridge. Why do we continue to persist with these images that have no bearing on reality?
Dec 29, 2025
Following the 25th publication anniversary of Kamila Shamsie’s novel ‘Salt and Saffron’, Saba Imtiaz muses over how well it has held up in its observations of a city that has decimated and patched itself several times over in the past 25 years.
Oct 20, 2025
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?
Aug 29, 2025
An uncontrolled bloodlust rears its ugly head after high-profile crimes in Pakistan. People, who otherwise oppose punishments such as the death penalty, are quick to be judge, jury and executioner. Saba Imtiaz wonders where this moral juggling comes from? Why is it so easy for people to make these exceptions?
Jul 28, 2025
For columnist Saba Imtiaz, a European heatwave became the key to evoking memories of home and remedy for her creative block.
May 23, 2025
After essentially stifling conversation — let alone dissent — for months, the state decided, seemingly on a whim, to unban Twitter on the eve of war, and the results were spectacular
Apr 24, 2025
Pakistani memes are arguably the gold standard and one of our finest cultural exports, but are in threat of disappearing
Mar 05, 2025
She knows how to make her way onto our playlists, and to make absolute earworms out of songs. The question is: are we ready to have her soundtrack — and art-direct — our lives? Because she certainly is.
Mar 02, 2025
The near-complete silence of literary figures and organisations in Pakistan to the genocide in Gaza has been deafening
Jan 13, 2025
It is clear we are a nation of yearning, but what exactly are we craving?
Jan 12, 2025
Grudges get a bad rap as the mark of a person who is not emotionally evolved, but they are in fact a sign of discernment
Jan 10, 2025
It is widely acknowledged that a funeral is the worst day of someone’s life, but for some inexplicable reason, funerals also tend to bring out the worst of people, and the worst in people.
Jan 07, 2025
Demands for public apologies in Pakistan, based mostly on non-offenses, are yet another cudgel used to humiliate and endanger women
Jan 01, 2025
Intoxicated by fast fashion and the allure of nostalgia, the average fashion retail consumer tends towards deluded at best and entitled at worst
