News from the land of the Pure 1. Update: Despite President Mamnoon's wishes, Pakistan celebrated V-Day anyway (article linked)! 2. Some of us aren't lazy. So that's good. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy got nominated for another Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for A Girl In The River (trailer linked), a documentary on a girl who survived an attempted honour killing. We hope she emerges victorious at the end of this week like she did back in 2012 - mostly so we can claim that we're related or something and get credit ("Ya bro Sharmeen's my mother's cousin's husband's sister's cat's original owner. Obviously we're tight"). Sharmeen on her motivations in filmmaking. That being said, the golden statue barely does justice to her commitment, which is to something larger than herself and the film industry. Unlike most of us who sit at home and rant about what's wrong with Pakistan (although, to be fair, that can be a lot of fun too), Sharmeen has continued to bring the plight of women in Pakistan into the limelight. She has dragged out abominable issues such as female infanticide, acid attacks and honour killings from under the carpet and plastered them on screens across the world. Some have criticized her documentaries and speeches for tarnishing the reputation of Pakistan. Um the idiot meter on this one is about to break because we reallyyyy doubt the country's reputation can get worse - trust us, munni badnam hui was actually written as an ode to Pakistan. (Still not sure who the wretched darling is but first guess: it's Bilawal) 3. Speaking of not being lazy, shoutout to Nergis Mavalvala: The Karachiite who went on to detect Einstein's Gravitational Waves (article linked) Karachi-born (note: you can already tell this particular news segment was written by a Karachiite on board, I'd like to poke in and say Lahore Lahore hai) quantum astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala, Associate Department Head of Physics at MIT is a member of the team of scientists that announced on Thursday (February 11th) the scientific milestone of detecting gravitational waves, ripples in space and time hypothesized by physicist Albert Einstein a century ago. *insert cheers* 4. A few words of optimism:
Following the optimistic trend of this edition, we'll leave you with this thought:
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. (That's from Arthur Ashe, not me).
With revolutionary fervor, I say, Pakistanis of the world: unite! Unite against the government's malfeasance. Unite against intolerance and injustice!
aaj bazaar main pa bajolan chalo
let us walk in the bazaar in shackles
Chashm-e-nam, jaan-e-shoreeda kafi nahin
wet eyes and restless soul is not enough
aaj bazaar main pa-bajolan chalo
let us walk in the bazaar in shackles
Rakht-e-dil bandh lo, dil figaro chalo
get ready for the journey of heart, go wounded heart
Phir hameen qatl ho aain yaro chalo
let me go to be executed
Woah, that was a lot of news (and I actually cut it down). Don't worry, we won't hold back on you, you'll get more next week and since Karachi and Lahore references were made, shoutout to all the cities you guys are from! We'll be back next Monday with more news to brighten up your day. Cya on Saturday at 1PM sharp and make sure to tune in to the Pak vs India cricket match the same day. Pakistan Zindabad!
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