By Sonya Rehman I recently came across a powerful video by Vogue India’s #VogueEmpower initiative titled ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ check it out on Youtube below. However, for those in Pakistan, where Youtube remains permanently blocked, watch the clip here: I really liked the fact that the video touches upon how boys are raised in our…
By Sonya Rehman “I am delighted to know that a documentary is in the works on the life story of the great Pakistani physicist, Dr. Abdus Salam. Dr. Salam has been and continues to be an inspiration for children who have a passion for learning, discovering and inventing. His great contribution to Physics is, what he…
By Sonya Rehman Nadia P. Manzoor, a Pakistani writer and performer based in Brooklyn, New York, has made it her mission to bring to light the struggles of young Pakistani Muslims, immigrants in foreign countries, who struggle to find their identity while growing up in traditional Pakistani homes; the balance between the East and the…
By Sonya Rehman I loved the Bollywood movie ‘PK.’ Barring the fact that it stars my childhood crush, Aamir Khan (pehla nasha, pehla khumaaaar!), the movie’s message is a significant one, and what makes it even more powerful is that it was released at a time when questions surrounding religion and faith have managed to…
By Sonya Rehman Mohammad Jibran Nasir is a young Pakistani activist from Karachi, leading the popular #ReclaimYourMosques campaign in Pakistan after the brutal Peshawar attack in which more than 130 children were killed in cold blood by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Nasir’s movement was initiated after the Lal Masjid’s imam, Abdul Aziz, refused to condemn the…
By Sonya Rehman Synergy MMA Academy in Lahore, Pakistan, is almost empty this morning. But it’s early, and besides, it’s a Sunday. Sitting on the mats with a friend, the gym’s owner, Bashir Ahmad, is dressed in a black robe with the belt loosely tied around his waist, revealing a toned chest and defined abs.…
By Sonya Rehman The brutal gang rape of a young woman in Delhi, India, in December 2012, had a profound affect on Indian documentary filmmaker, Ram Devineni. The incident led to the creation of Devineni’s comic book, Priya’s Shakti, targeted towards the Indian youth. The book is about a young female superhero who tackles rape…
By Sonya Rehman The title for this blog post is borrowed from the poem by the 14th century Sufi poet, Hafiz. I’ll get to his poem in a bit. But first, the night before last. I lied to my mother on the pretext that I was going for coffee, when in actual fact, I was…
By Sonya Rehman In the closing months of this year, after a seven-year hiatus, the family-run Rafi Peer Theater Workshop (RPTW), Pakistan’s best-known theater group, has put on a number of festivals at public locations in both Lahore and Islamabad. With the beautiful Mystic Music Sufi Festival, the Youth Performing Arts Festival, and the Dance…
By Sonya Rehman Waqas Ali and Sidra Qasim, two young Pakistani entrepreneurs, are on a mission to preserve the art and craft of handmade leather shoes through their start-up, Markhor. A Persian word meaning ‘snake-eater,’ Markhor is also the name of an endangered wild goat – Pakistan’s national animal. In 2010, Waqas Ali was sitting…
By Sonya Rehman I am wondering how, It’s possible, To burn the midnight oil, And still feel a sense of connection, To the ones you love, Ah, Dear workhorse, Don’t fill each hour with to-do lists, And micro plans, Those little accomplishments, What’s it leading to? What are you leading to? Got your blinkers on,…
By Sonya Rehman This year Nigar Nazar, the first professional woman cartoonist in Pakistan and, quite possibly, the Muslim world, was named one of the 100 Women of 2014 by the BBC. Nazar began her career in the 1970s, and her cartoon character Gogi has not only been published widely within Pakistan, in an assortment…
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