Beanz Meanderings 2007 (Found More!)

October 19, 2007

A friend recently asked:

Do you think buying an iPhone in Pakistan is a good idea? I’ve asked a couple of people but they’re the types who buy anything new as soon as it’s on the shelves. Remembered you are an Apple person, would like your opinion!

My response: 

It is absolutely not a good idea to buy an iPhone right now. When it comes to software, I am an early adopter but experience has shown that it’s best to wait for second or third generation Apple hardware. The iPhone is not “officially” available in Pakistan so support and warranties will be problematic. It’s hacked to work with local telcos so every software update released by Apple will break the unlocks - as did iPhone software update v 1.1.1. Some core features such as Visual Voicemail do not work at all as they are carrier dependent.

I was at Macworld in January and saw Steve Jobs live - unveiling the beauty that is the iPhone. Got to play with it and it was stunning. Having said that, I would wait for at least the next major release of the product before plonking down so much cash. In February, Apple will release a Software Developer Kit for third party developers to write apps for the iPhone - that’s when it’s going to hit the high notes. The guys who write apps for Macs make the platform truly special - that’s what’s going to happen on the iPhone March 08 onwards. It’ll blow everything else out the window. It already does - sort of - but our indie Mac boys will change the mobile computing world. 

— sharing this as it may be useful to others considering getting an iPhone in Pakistan — 

October 20, 2007

Apple will start shipping Leopard on the 26th of October 2007. I am in the throes of a feverish frenzy and want my copy ASAP.

This is a shout-out to anyone who is leaving the US on the 27th and arriving in Karachi on the 28/29th. Amazon has dropped the price to US$ 109 and is accepting pre-orders. I’ll order via Amazon, the DVD will be delivered to you, and all you need to do is bring it along.

2 free coffees at T2F for anyone who is ready, willing, and able to do the job!

•

After bitching endlessly about Facebook, it’s about time I give credit where it’s due. Interface and interaction design issues aside, the technology foundation for this site is unbelievably solid. Like, WOW. I don’t know if the code is poetic and beautiful, but damn, it works. In August, a misconfigured server over at Facebook HQ exposed the homepage code, rendering it as text. Didn’t see it and the Facebook Secrets Blogger site has been yanked by Google. Apparently, those who saw it thought the code was pretty darn good. 

Crack coders are sexy. 

Considering that billions of people use Facebook every minute of every day for stuff ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, it’s truly remarkable that the site does not burst at the seams. The Facebook Platform enables a gazillion add-ons and the fact that people can add and remove these mini applications ad nauseam, bears further testimony to the site’s resilience. And yes, I forgot, people also “use” these apps. Super load balancing. 

CSS is also really, really well implemented.

And thank you for all the Safari testing.

October 23, 2007

In January 2007, when Steve Jobs announced that Apple was dropping “Computer” from its name, I felt - well, strange. Sitting in Moscone West, San Francisco with 3,999 people I didn’t know, I wanted to hold someone’s hand - someone who would understand, without the need for words. 

As the famed Reality Distortion Field started wearing off, I started feeling resentful. No new Macs, no Leopard, no software. Sure, we waited 3 years for the iPhone - and there it was - but, but, but Apple is a computer company. Well, WAS. 

And so, with the iPhone announcement, Apple got even cooler than before and iPod sales reached an all-time high and blah blah blah, and then one day, Steve said we couldn’t get Leopard on time because everyone in software was busy with iPhone. WTF? When newbies say, “Oh, Apple - the company that makes iPods”, I shoot them in cold blood - in my head.

Apple [Computer] Inc. is our company. We made it live when it was oozing red ink all over the planet. We bought Macs when they were not “hip”. We kept the faith - against all oddds - and even prayed in 1997 when Wired admonished us to. I’m happy about the iPods and the iPhone, really I am. BUT, the real coolness is at the heart of the OS and the mad, crazy dream - the vision that all the other “crazy ones” bought into. You know who you are. 

Enough about unlocked phones and ring tones. 

This is the real news (Oct 22 2007)

In the fourth quarter, Apple shipped 2,164,000 Macs, representing 34% growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous quarterly record for Mac shipments by 400,000.

Cupertino: YOU ROCK!

:-)

October 29, 2007

Visit "Reclaim Karachi Website" for information about a citizen-led campaign to take back our city. 

Compelling Conversations: Reporting from the Front Lines of Terror

Join us at T2F this Thursday to hear a young reporter’s experiences of Oct 18th 2007. Urooj Zia will talk about the “job” of reporting, political rallies, the “gullible” masses, and the fact that we have nothing to lose but our chains.

Date: Thursday, 1st November 2007
Time: 7:00 pm
Minimum Donation: Whatever you like

Venue: The Second Floor
6-C, Prime Point Building, Phase 7, Khayaban-e-Ittehad, DHA, Karachi
Phone: 538-9273 | 0300-823-0276 | info@t2f.biz

Seats are limited and will be available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. No reservations.

Comment found: 

1. i hope the campaign succeeds in stimulating further action of this sort. i think the only way the augean stable that is karachi can be cleaned is by a torrent of a river being ultimately formed, drop by drop, through the peaceful rejection of violence and terror and corruption and selfishness and self-service.

   Comment by kinkminos — October 30, 2007 @ 7:00 pm

*****

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!!

Have just finished installing Leopard 

I have loads of first impressions but for now, an enormous shout-out to my friends, Farah and Omer for their unbelievable generosity and goodwill. You guys have no idea what this means to me. THANK YOU, Farah, for braving the wind, rain, and cold of New York, and THANK YOU, Omer, for the family pack license and for parting with that shiny, holographic, sexy box the day you received it. Altogether too many commas in that last sentence but damn, I’m twitching all over. 

Peace!
Visit "Reclaim Karachi"

November 5, 2007

November 23, 2007

I have never been so excited to sign a cheque than I was today. I paid off the final installment for my MacBook Pro and properly own it now. I got my first Mac in 1990 and to date, have never had the money to buy a computer outright. It’s always been a struggle involving loans and credit cards and endless pay-back plans. This time, owing to a quirk of fate, I was able to pay off the MacBook Pro loan in 4 months - the quickest turnaround time for ownership in 17 years. Thank you to everyone who has enabled me to have a Mac on my desk ever since I fell in love. You know who you are.

The Macs I’ve Owned Over the Years:

- Mac Plus
- Mac SE (Best Mac EVER)
- Mac IIvx (Worst Mac EVER)
- PowerBook G3
- iBook 12″
- PowerBook 12″
- PowerBook 15″
- MacBook Pro 15″ (Sexiest Mac EVER)

No matter what Steve says, I’ll always bleed in 6 colors 

November 30, 2007

i am tired.

tired of running
tired of the struggle
tired of arguing
tired of explaining
tired of the machinations of the rich
tired of the mumbo jumbo
tired of the greedy
tired of the bored
tired of the dumb
tired of the petty
tired of waiting for another day
tired of being polite
tired of corporate crime
tired of generals
tired of taxes
tired of banks
tired of coping
tired of the silence
tired of the battles
tired of the smug
tired of the manipulators
tired of being tired
tired of life

stop the world. i want to get off.

December 13, 2007

Beanz Meanderings 2008 (Images on her blog)

Full blog coming soon

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LOVE

Beanz Meanderings 2007 (Continued)

Monday, March 19th, 2007

The Aurora Awards for Excellence in Advertising were held last night against a backdrop of the stunningly lit Mohatta Palace in Karachi. The DAWN Group went ALL OUT to honor the advertising industry by presenting 10 Lifetime Achievement Awards, an Institutional Award, and Awards in 4 categories.

Ranting and bitching is fun and finding faults is easy. The event was not without its hiccups but I am not going to mention any here. Planning and pulling off an elaborate event, tastefully, is a hideously difficult task. The stage was beautifully simple and effective, the hosts, Leon and Ayeshah did their thing without being cheesy, the sound system worked, and the gazillion musicians from all over the country came and went without dragging their feet. Being part of APMC, I know how painful it is to manage musicians. I am not a huge fan of folk; I like my eastern music shudh and challenging, but providing a platform to purveyors of a dying art is a noble act. The menu was beautifully designed as was the programme and the attention to detail was obvious and much appreciated. Abida Parveen’s sufi invocations and finale were a special treat. I do wish that those who were being honored had stayed on till the end because a number of people worked bloody hard to make this event possible.

Kudos to Hameed Haroon, my friends, Mariam Ali Baig, Mamun Adil and Leila Mahfooz, and the Great Marketing Department at DAWN

Monday, May 28th, 2007

Sometimes people ask me what my name means and, since I don’t know, I mumble something incoherent and change the subject. Today, my mother did a Google search and the first result that came up was this Urban Dictionary definition:

Sabeen

Sabeen is one of the nicest girls you will ever meet. She is cute, funny, smart and caring. Sabeen's are known to be great friends and they love their families too! The best thing about a Sabeen is probably her personality. They love animals and they love to smile and laugh!

Monday, July 2nd, 2007

T2F has turned my life upside down.

Have succumbed to Facebook but only because there were dozens of pending friend requests and I didn’t want to come across as snotty. Not too fond of Mark Zuckerberg and Kottke claims that Facebook is AOL 2.0. Ewww. Need to read up on the whole closed platform issue.

Just found out that Apple Asia may send me to Macworld 2008

Astounded at the level of discussion on Karachi Metblogs. Under duress, I’d rather troubleshoot Dot.Net code than read the profundities of KMB commenters.

Still trying to comprehend the Twitter phenomenon. What ARE you doing? WHAT are you doing? What are YOU doing? What are you DOING?

I wish I could make you understand ...

C’mon Steve, give us Leopard already. But before you do, kill that disgusting transparent menubar. Best zinger yet.

I still wonder about that Meatloaf song.

A virtual friend in Lahore has started developing for Mac OS X. If there are any indie devs out there who want to join our currently non-existent user group, shout out in the comments. Surely we can make a widget, if nothing else.

Competition is completely, totally, and utterly unhealthy.

Thursday, July 5th, 2007

Shikāyat kyā haé dardé dil ki, Fazli

Agar dil haé to dükhtā hee rahay gā

Friday, July 6th, 2007

The Wall is an interesting idea for social networking but bizarrely implemented. A “friend” writes on your wall and all your other “friends” can see what’s been written. You are meant to respond, not on your wall, but on your friend’s wall. So Facebook’s mechanism for interaction ends up creating a strange half-baked non-versation on your wall. How utterly odd.

I simply don’t get it. Well, I do actually. Techies don’t “get” human interface design and it takes time, money, and insane amounts of effort to fuss over details. And since it’s a Windows world, most people are used to tortuous interfaces and don’t even realize that they are living through a digital nightmare. So, if the users don’t care, why should the developers?

In other half-assedness, why is the primary navigation bar so sparse? Surely a number of default actions and applications could be incorporated there instead of a gazillion links being part of the content. The personalized home page and the profile page could also be better integrated. And what of the myriad hyperlink roll-over effects? Blue text that gets underlined, black text that becomes blue and underlined, blue text that turns into a block of blue with white text, black and gray text that stays black or gray but gets underlined.

Very strange information architecture decisions. Granted, Facebook is an online community with much complexity at its core but it does feel a bit like a mashup of gigantic proportions - Reader’s Digest on steroids - trying too hard to be all things to all people.

The Mini-Feed! Gosh, triviality kee bhee inteha hotee hae. Typical techie masturbation. Capture everything and then display every mundane syllable imaginable - just because you can. It’s in the database so shove it up everyone’s ass. Woke up, scratched left ball, picked nose, poked friend, and so it goes ...

LoL, Heehee, Yaay!

Of course, one can opt out. And I probably will, but for now, bitching is so much more fun.

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

Hud hae! Got to Delhi in the morning yesterday and activated an AirTel cell phone connection at around 6:00 pm. First thing this morning, I received a call from ICICI Bank asking if I wanted a loan!!!! I thought the tele-marketing scene in Pakistan was intense but this is off the charts.

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

It’s been a few weeks now and I have thought long and hard about the wall. I have attempted to understand, rationalize, justify even, the interface design decisions that power the wall. But all to no avail. I just don’t get it. Context is crucial and it’s completely missing. Content on your wall is on public display and people tend to read linearly. Responses from the owner are nowhere to be seen though, so the writing on the wall has little or no meaning. So, why is it publicly visible then? You can respond on your own wall, but I have been told that Facebook etiquette demands that when a friend writes on your wall, you write back on their wall. BAH. What stupidity.

I admit I have pedantic tendencies but how can everyone in this vast Facebook community be your "friend"? Back in the day, the word "friend" meant something a little more substantial than someone you met 7 years ago while working on a project. But I suppose if we can have a financial institution called MyBank, everyone can be your friend. This is not a valid gripe - am just being cranky.

Given that poking, defenestrating, throwing sheep, adding friends, responding to notifications, and checking whether your "friends" are looking out the window is of enormous significance in the Facebook world, shouldn’t your Facebook home page refresh automatically, every so often? Some Ajax(y) goodness would help.

Then, there’s the whole MySpace vs. Facebook debate. I don’t use MySpace but the notion of a user-defined/designed space is much more appealing to me than Facebook’s rather antiseptic template. It’s neat and clean for sure but completely lacks soul. My page looks exactly like my friend’s page. Actually, I lie. Some of my friends have SuperPoke and FunWall and Horoscope and a zillion emoticons, and I don’t. Just ain’t cool enough I guess. Of course, most MySpace pages are hideous but the potential to make them look pretty exists. This isn’t really a gripe but as a designer, I find my Facebook home page utterly bland and boring. Even my wireframes are more aesthetically pleasing!

If you aren’t someone’s "friend", you can only see a limited profile. Right? So, how come you can see their photos if you click a link from a legit friend’s page? Smells like a privacy breach.

Whilst tagging a person in a photo or a note, the search box returns live results. The regular search box in the global navigation bar has a little dropdown menu. It should have an option for "Find a Friend". Classmates and Co-workers should be a sub-group. Choosing Find a Friend should return live results like tagging. The functionality is there already so why not maximize its utility?

"Drag links [here] to hide them". When will they ever learn? Where is "Here" on a web page? It has no meaning. This text appears in a box with a border and a fill. One would imagine "here" means into the box. But it doesn’t. Whatever ...

The issue, I think, is that websites are morphing into applications and interface design and information architecture principles that worked for regular sites with some transactional components, don’t cut the mustard. I am not ready for a browser-only world. I love my client-side Mac apps, even those designed by the "delicious generation", and can’t abide browser-based apps for the most part.

Facebook isn’t totally horrific - I’m just mean and nasty, but it could be a whole lot better if someone from Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines team joined them.

And now, for something completely different!

What is Facebook’s business model?

YOU!

All this seemingly mundane drivel we "share" about our interests, activities, favorite music and movies, political affiliations, sexual orientation, how you are related to or know others, religious views, desires, schedules, needs, wants, etc. translates into SOLID GOLD that gets sold to "responsible third-parties that Facebook has relationships with". So, all your data is analyzed, collated, and presented to marketeers in the form of neat little charts that tell them which movies 18-25 year old girls like and how many 20 year old boys still don’t have Nintendo Wiis. Cool huh? And you thought Facebook was all about giving you an innocuous platform to connect with friends?

Did you know that "by posting Member Content to any part of the Web site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sub-license) to use, copy, perform, display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such information and content and to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such information and content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.

Translation: Facebook and any third-parties they choose can fuck you over because they know everything about you. Third- parties include the Government and the agencies.

The more information we feed Facebook about ourselves, the more we ramp up Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth. Facebook will soon get get sold to the highest bidder for zillions of dollars heralding the death of the resurgence of the web. 3.0 will be a long time coming.

If this sounds melodramatic, it isn’t. Just be aware of what’s going on. Read the privacy policy and terms of service and know that what you tell Facebook does not stay within the cosy confines of what you think is a closed network for you and your buddies. Mark Zuckerberg is not your friend. He runs a corporation. Enough said.

Thursday, August 16th, 2007

Just heard yet another horror story about a Karachi school for the well-heeled.

It was parent orientation day.

The Urdu teacher was addressing parents.

In English.

She said, “You must speak to your children in Urdu when they are young, because it is easier for them to pick up FOREIGN languages in the early years.

Tuesday, September 11th, 2007

Anita Roddick is dead!

She died of a brain hemorrhage last night.
Anita, how could you just drop dead? You were such an inspiration. Rest in Peace. :-(
http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2007/09/anita-roddick-obituary.html

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

The E-Crime Bill 2007, has been approved in principle by the Federal Cabinet and will be enacted soon, according to the Minister for IT & Telecom, Awais Leghari. The Bill is one of the most draconian laws yet to emanate from the Government. It conflicts with international treaties, usurps fundamental human rights, violates the Constitution and effectively lays the legal foundation for a police state. It also obstructs any international cooperation on cyber crime, terrorism and enforcement.

The legally and technically incorrect definitions in the E-Crime Bill 2007 ensure that rather than preventing cyber crimes, perpetrators will view Pakistan as a safe haven. The innocent will fall victim to its abuse, and for international and domestic businesses and investors, Pakistan will not be a destination of choice but a jurisdiction to stay away from.

T2F has hosted 2 awareness/activism sessions, DAWN TV has done a show, various print publications have written articles, and bloggers across the country have been blogging about the implications of the Bill. This is not enough. Please spread the word and help people understand that this Bill does not affect techies only. It adversely affects every Pakistani who uses a computer or mobile phone. Please watch the videos, read the blog posts, and join hands with us as we lobby for a redrafting of the E-Crime Bill 2007.

Google and YouTube Videos

Zahid Jamil’s Presentation:

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
One-to-One Q/A with Civil Society Blog Posts

Another Draconian Law In The Offing Draconian Cyber Crime Law in Pakistan
I’m Scared
I Can’t Believe The Government Is Doing This Internet Freedom, Goodbye

The Activism Continues Be Really Scared

Recommended Reading:

Cyber Crime FAQ | Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act | Letter to Cabinet

Please send links to other blog posts and articles via comments.

Sunday, September 30th, 2007

Muneer Malik (Head of the Supreme Court Bar Association) has announced a nation-wide strike call for Monday 1st Oct to protest law-enforcement/police brutality against civil society, the lawyers, and the media.

Is this form of protest meaningful in the 21st century? If so, how do we participate? If not, what are the alternatives? How can we ignite a movement to reclaim our rights? This particular post is not about “If not Musharraf, then who?” This is about registering a strong protest, rather, expressing outrage against ongoing crimes inflicted upon civil society and the media.

Would really like to hear some sane voices with ideas about how to mobilize using technology, social networking tools, text messaging, design, and the energy of the young and not so jaded. And you know what? Being apathetic is so last century.

Keeping you updated on your birthday

On one of your previous birthdays many years ago

•

Soon after you were assassinated and left us, the Government here named a Road after you … but, as usual, the name started with a 'Seen' (س) instead of a 'Suad' (ص). The Road had been named after you by Nafisa Shah (and Nasreen Jalil helped, too).

I was most upset and wrote to both of them and to Farooq Sattar to please change the name. No response.

I wrote to Awab Alvi, since his father is the President, and Awab was a friend of ours — in fact those two were the first to arrive at JPMC when we took you there — to try and intervene via his Dad. No response. 

Sharif Awan said he'd get it done and tried and tried. Nothing happened.

Isa Daudpota's father's name on the road read Dr Daud Pota. He said he had tried but no one wants to change it. I should give this up.

I tried even going there and painting it but friends told me I could be arrested … so I gave up this idea. After all, who wants to be on the wrong side of the Police, or Rangers, or worse: Bhatta-khors.

This year I started again.

I wrote on FB and Twitter that this had happened and no one has helped.

Kasim K said I should paint it. Two others also said the same thing. I said I'd like this to happen officially. Their responses were really 'snickering' for my waiting for someone to do this.

•

Then I saw a message from Sen Murtaza Wahab of PPP asking me to send him the picture of the road. I sent it to him. He said he wanted a family member to write a letter and state the wrong name and say how the person was related. I spoke to Mimi and she spoke to Marvi who wrote a letter. Mimi signed it and added pictures and off it went.

Two days later we received a picture from Sen MW saying this was temporary but it had the name spelt right. The next morning he sent the final picture and the road was now with a 'Suad'. Wow! I have never seen anyone do anything good that fast in our Governments.

Marvi has worked with Sen MW so she set up a group on What's App with Mimi and him and me … and we reached a point where Mimi said she wanted to place a tree there. He agreed. I insisted that it be before your birthday. He agreed. And it was decided by Mimi that it would be today.

We all arrived there and you'll see details through Mimi's and Marvi's pictures. The one below is the tree that I planted just behind the board, with Nuzhat joining in. The others were planted by Mimi & Marvi. Think one was done by Seema, but she was not there when Nuzhat and I arrived. May have left earlier.

Here's the 4 of us 

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Sadly Sen MW could not be there because this morning he got tested and was found to have Covid-19. We all really missed him. But a great deal of thanks, Sen MW for all your help and sending the right people to help us plant the tree. Get well soon.

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Yeh Kyā Hüā

When I was in the Merchant Navy one of the things that I did on Pakistani ships was to start a library in our Smoke Room. There were books in English and Urdu that I purchased or was given by friends who waned people at sea to read. There were a couple of ships where I had Bengali officers, so they added Bengali books. 

One day, 40 years ago, a friend sent me some books for the ship and one of the books was of short stories from an author I had never heard of. I opened it at a random page … and was absolutely thrilled. I read other short stories in it and each one was brilliant. 

Since my ship was in Karachi I asked a young cousin of mine, Zulqarnain Shahid, to find out who this guy was ... and was told that he was a personal friend. So off we went that week to meet him. 

The book was ‘Atasfishañ Mayñ Khilay Gulāb’ ... The author was 21 year old Asif Aslam Farrukhi. He was the son of Dr. Aslam Farrukhi, one of our greatest critics, a writer who also wrote children's books, and a fabulous story-teller who had a remarkable memory. 

There were several stories that I asked Asif about, including a tremendous small SF piece. But the one that fascinated me most was about him and his brother traveling to India with their father. It seemed so real and it brought back my own memories of a similar trip. 

“But I have never travelled to India. Nor has my brother. The story is fictitious and it was written about things that my father and other family members said”, said Asif. 

Those who have read the book will understand the surprise I felt. It has remained a favourite take of mine ... and the book has many other pieces I adore. I had asked to read this at T2F, but Asif said it's an old tale, let me read something new instead. I insisted … and it would be done soon online. But ohhhh …

For many years we remained in contact, specially when he had a little mahfil where many young poets were invited, since he knew of my love of poetry. People like Fahmida Riaz, Attiya Dawood, Azra Abbas, and Zeeshan Sahil were at these sessions. 

(Some of you may know that Asif wrote poetry and had a collection published. But he said it wasn’t something he was proud of ... so he continued his prose writings.) 

When T2F opened we had  Zeeshan Sahil as our first poet. Asif was thrilled at my calling ZS and said it was a great move to call him in an area where people thought Urdu was hardly ever spoken. (T2F was packed!) Later on Sabeen invited him to be a T2F advisor ... and his love of Urdu plus his moderating skills made him a favourite person to anyone who saw him at a session. 

A Medical Doctor who didn’t practice at all, he worked with UNICEF. Asif had also worked at Aga Khan Foundation. And he was now teaching at Habib University.

His love of all forms of literature was astounding ... and he read everything he could read. And he certainly directed many others to read something he found interesting. I loved that.

Asif was a genius at everything he did and his magazine (Dunyazad), his marvellous and friendly teaching at HU where students felt so comfortable with him, his sessions at T2F, his festival organization, and his channel at YouTube are ample proofs of what he could do. 

•

Two days before his death a well-known poet (a bit of a crook, as well) phoned me. I was surprised. I have known him for years. But in the last two years he has refused to answer my calls. I wanted him to come for a session about him and his book at T2F. A few friends told me that he won’t come because he thinks he ought to be paid. 

He started of by saying to me: Your friend Asif is at HU and he has no business to be there. He is a Doctor and knows nothing about literature. He hardly writes well. Most of the things he says are things that he picks up from literature abroad and translates them into Urdu as if he has written it. He takes illegal money from people to invite them to the various festivals he is involved with and has a battle with his colleague who had found this out.

My feeling is that this poet applied for a job at HU and was rejected. Possibly Asif may have known of his crookedness and didn't want him linking with the students there. I have not named the poet because I don’t want his fans and supporters starting a war of words.

•

Two days later Asif left us.

We have lost a great person. Urdu lovers feel terribly at his leaving them at such a young age. 61 is no time to die. Students at HU are completely shaken. Friends in Pakistan, India, and in many countries abroad have mourned his death in articles and posts. 

The best thing we must do is to publish all his writings into a series of books. Can Scherezade - a publishing house that Asif set up - do this if someone is now handling it after him. And can HU help with the expense?

•

Asif really loved  Karachi

 and now Karachi seems empty without him. 

Beans Meanderings 2007 (Jan)

Sab's Contagious Laughter

I decided to post the January month separately. It was an important month for Sab who was visiting Apple to join in the First iPhone Launch session at Moscone Center in SF.

'Meanderings'

Sabeen Mahmud started her Blog, titled Meanderings, in March 2003 and continued with it until September 2007 when she became far too busy with many more things.

After her death the Website where it was, was also removed and we lost all o f the items that she had written.

We did want all of them back, not just because she was no longer with us (though that was an important part) but because we wanted to read a lot of her things again.

Putting the Blog together helped us re-read some posts that we adored … but it also showed us how she and her opinions remained over those 5 years.

 Fortunately we now have all those Blog Posts back (but the comments by others under the posts have disappeared).

I shall be presenting each year in a separate blogpost here so you'll see 2003 tomorrow and the rest as soon as I put them together.

This is just to let all of you who knew her know that there's going to be much that you'll enjoy reading.

For those of you who got to know of her after her assassination and are now as fond of her as we were, you'll love seeing these posts.

For the ones who got to know her (or are getting to know her) by their frequent trips to T2F, where she is mentioned every now and then, they will get to know her through her posts.

For the many not in Karachi - wether they are in Pakistan or abroad - this will also be a way for them to see Sabeen again in her own words.

Enjoy.

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Sab, we love you more than you can even understand …

After 'After Sabeen'

Conversations with music in the background, a MacBook Pro on the cushion,
books and films around her, a cup of black coffee in her hand …
and uncontrollable laughter.

•

To those three who asked me why I was not in the film

1. Films are made by people who may or may not have known Sabeen during her life. 

2. It is up to the film-makers to decide who should or should not be in the film.

3. Film-makers also ask Sabeen's family as to who they should interview, specially if they did not know who they should include in the film. In this case the videographers were staying at Sabeen's mother Mahenaz/Mimi's house so she had to tell her who to include or not. The right obviously belongs to her. 

4. I was told by a common friend that the film was being made and I was not going to be in it because Mimi had given a list of who should be included. My name was not in the list. Which is fine, as far as I am concerned.

The Re-Writing of History is quite another matter

1. This is generally done where Governments (or the Victors in a war) have a different view than what the facts really were, or seemed to them to be very different. They must be seen to show their own viewpoint. This is always done in our history.

2. Sometimes Trauma of a major event removes the actual memory and forces to add new things over time.

3. Quite often one doesn't want all the facts to be added because they are unimportant in a video or writing that has a limited space and is already filled with similar stories.

4.  In After Sabeen another thing happens. Because you want to avoid some names and choose words like 'he' or 'X' and re-write history, it is ridiculous because people who see it for the first time do not understand the full story as it happened, or since they've heard or read other reports that say other things, they are confused. 

So here it goes, just in case someone wants to know. I'll keep it as short as possible …

•

Sab had been coming every day or every two days and called me downstairs in her car and we'd have a few words ... but she left quickly as she was so tied up in her team's work and her own for Dil Phaink in UK.

 On 24th April 2015 she walked into my room and said that she would sit for a few minutes and talk so that I wouldn't complain about her short visits.

We talked and the talks went on for hours. We discussed her college. Her friends. Some books. And then I asked her if she'd had any threats about the program that Moneeza was going to run in the evening. (She had said earlier that she was too busy and Moneeza would handle it all, which she did.) She said she'd had no threats at all. I said to her that neither Mimi nor I would object to it and she can go right ahead, but can we call Fahim Zaman so he could put a couple of people outside. She said "let's not call him for he's bound to say don't do this for a while and I think it should happen. After all T2F has done this for days earlier and we really had no problems or sorted them out by asking the objectors to come, too." (This is not verbatim but how I recall it in meaning.)

Fahim Zaman, once the Mayor of Karachi, had been a very close friend of Sab and her mother, as well as me. In fact after Sab's assassination he was constantly around and helped a lot with many things that happened after her death, some that we could not have done without him. To say that she wouldn't talk to Mr. X was a really bad spot in the movie. I think it would have been much easier if that sentence had been left out.

Of course I met her again in the afternoon at T2F  and we spoke for minutes until she said, "I must complete the Dil Phaink work now." Oh how the memories of that day haunt me constantly. 

At the event I also saw Mimi and spoke to Sab when she came down for a few minutes in the middle of the event. We felt that that part of the event was getting really stupid. In fact Sab said "Look at Amma, she's got her hands around her head."

When the program ended Sab and Mimi went out and then left (no point in talking about what the delays were, here.) She was driving, Mimi was in the passenger seat and the driver was at the back. Nuzhat driving our car was right behind her and I was in the passenger seat. When we reached the chaorāha I waived to them and turned left to go to dinner. Nuzhat asked my why they didn't come and I said she was going to drop Mimi and head for a party at Raania Durrani's house. (This was not mentioned in the film but it seemed to mention to two people that she was going to meet Marvi at her place.) 

We had travelled three houses when I got a call from Mimi saying they'd been shot. We travelled in a crowded road until we could find a place to turn back and head here. There was no one there as we arrived, so I called Mimi and she said she was taking Sab to NMC so we headed that way.

I called Marvi and said get to NMC right away. Marvi was in her car, I think. She seemed to have a cold. I said get there fast; Sab has been shot. In the film Marvi says that she was waiting for Sab to come at 8 and it had been 9 already. I wish she had called her, though.

Marvi said some friend called her (not that there were any other friends who knew then that Sab had been shot!) and omitted my name. Quite understable if you don't want to use my name, Marvi.

When we knew that Sab was dead (and had died in a second according to the doctors), Mimi had not been informed. Nuzhat had to rush her to AKU because there were 2 bullets in her, too. (One is still there since it would have been difficult to remove it without more risks.)

Marvi arrived as I was waiting in the passageway at NMC (I am not sure whether it was before Nuzhat left with Mimi or they were still there.) The first thing she said to me was "Is Sabeen OK now?". I held her and said "Sab is dead, Marvi". She cried and then left me to go see Sab. This is where Trauma happens to change the fact. She says she found out that Sab was dead when she saw her — forgetting that she had already been told about it minutes or so earlier.

 At one point Marvi does mention my name (a slight mistake?) and it is translated as Zac on the screen instead of my initials that everyone calls me: ZAK.

• 

Was Sab as amazing as the film shows?

Yes.

YES.

YES!

Why was she like this has, of course, much to do with her. But it would not have been possible with a different set of parents, I think.

Her father, Tallat Mahmud, was amazing in many ways and taught her much of her independence and helped it along. Her love of Advertising, her playing wonderful cricket which she played in the streets with servant's children and friends, her amazingly great driving abilities, her looking hard at everything, understanding it, and trying it perfectly right the first time, her ability to do whatever she wanted at anytime — all this came from him.

But much more than her father, Mimi was responsible. If Sab wanted to do something and Mimi didn't like it, she may have told Sab ... but let Sab decide to go ahead and do it. I have heard of so much of this from Sab and have heard Mimi mention this. I have seen Sab grow up from 14 to the day she was brutally killed and can recall many things that Mimi may not have wanted her to do but I never saw her stop Sab from doing. Even at T2F Sab discussed things with her mother but went ahead often and did things she really wanted to do.

•

Three days later:

Here are some comments I got on this!

https://aurora.dawn.com/news/1141129

An article by Qasim in Aurora quoted by Semyne Ahmed

Sumera

Intellectual dishonesty/apathy is a thing! For as long as I have known you, (I think it was earlier than 2005)

I have seen you & sabeen as one people. Always together. For a long time I thought she was your daughter!!!! I remember the birth of first peace niche, the sittings at your house before it. The wide eyed people around, I have always found you to be a very open inviting facilitating person even though you & I met through my random blogging, and after I stopped writing & deleted it, you would still invite me to your house & qawallis. You & nuzhat aunty have always taken outsiders even isolated people into your comforting fold and sabeen is an example of that. I really hate this country & it’s wretched people sometimes & today after reading your post I feel it one of those days & reasons to do so even more!!!

I am very angry! I hope I haven’t offended you!

Lots of love to you and nuzhat Aunty

Asmaa

And still after all this time , the Sun never says to the Earth “you owe me” look what happens with a love like that ; it lights the Whole sky...

Haféz.

I read the piece about after sabeen and felt like dedicating this quote to u.

Zak we all know Sabeen would’ve never approved of this but Duniya ka style aisay hee hai

Adnaan

I can’t account for you being omitted from her life and death. It’s implausible to even suggest that you had no hand in her life. You were her mentor and her mental solace. That relationship was a constant for you in so many formats.

You cannot edit truth. You can mould it to suit your needs. But the truth remains. You both had a magical relationship.

Zaheer

I am not in pain at all because I was not in the film. I think her mother has every right to decide that. It doesn't take me out of Sab's life or her from mine. My reason was to put things right about the re-writing because that relinks the story in different ways.

Jamal

Her story without ZAK  is incomplete ... half told truth is a lie.. irony is that no one would benefit from it .. 😞