an itinerant observer

I heard about the second floor (T2F) in Karachi before hearing about the person behind it. Prior to relocation to Karachi, my birthplace and the city where I came of age, T2F was described to me as the reason why Karachi was still cooler than Lahore. I recalled the 80s and 90s during my school and medical college years, when there weren’t any spaces like the T2F, where one could go and immerse oneself in thinking, for oneself and for those around you.  After resettling in Karachi, I had the opportunity to visit a few sessions at T2F. It was delightful. The talks and discussions were scintillating, photographic or other exhibits impressive, and the café an oasis. But none of that even came close to the person who ran the show, Sabeen Mahmud. Every time I would see her there, I found her exuding vitality and uber enthusiasm for any cause célèbre that she hosted. She was witty and introspective, an intriguing combination - a real charmer, as they say.   Interesti...

“It’s time to put the kids in private school”, used to be Ayesha’s mantra, a few years ago. My companion and much better half of over a decade would have me believe that private schooling was exactly what the doctor ordered for our young kids. I, being somewhat twisted in logic, had a hard time coming to terms with that. I understand, thus believe, that the private versus the public school dilemma is not new and that it is faced by many people across a wide spectrum of our nation’s populace. I also feel that it is of particular interest to the über-competitive desi (South Asian) Diaspora in Houston, and elsewhere. In fact, it is of such significance that it makes for much conversation whenever there is a meet and greet, typically at a birthday party, baby shower, bridal shower, or even the fashionable  GNO  (Girls’ Night Out). The argument for private school goes somewhat like this: better teachers, better curriculum, more motivation, and more inspiration. If...

As the 1 st  year of relocation from Houston to Karachi drew to an end, I wondered what I could write to mark that milestone. As happened over the past, whenever faced with a writing conundrum, I would ask the muse.  “Write about failure, and put it in a relevant context”, said the muse this time around, without hesitation. “Who’s failed frequently enough and could be the protagonist of this story?” I asked her. No answer. And then it occurred to me that the person whom I needed to write about was closer than I'd envisioned. I am a story of failure.  I have failed a lot. In fact, I have failed so often that I will fail again just trying to quantify my failures. Below, somewhat chronologically, I relate my choicest failure stories: One of my earliest, and repeated, failing situations led to my inability to get into an elite, legacy-based school in Karachi that my older siblings and cousins had attended. I failed the entrance test for another private sc...

George Clooney wielded immense power in the very popular TV show ‘ER’. The uber confidence he exuded probably factored into my decision for that field. After all there is a certain charm in being part of an adrenaline-driven ER team that is resuscitating an adult trauma victim or a baby suffering from septic shock. I think the emergency room is a microcosm of what the outside world is really like. Working in an ER of a major metropolitan area provides a fascinating view of humanity, irrespective of location of the ER under consideration. Whether inner or outer city of a developing or developed nation, you tend to manage not only the emergent needs of your patients, but also get to learn about effective and ineffective health systems. Armed with the above awareness, I recently travelled to Dallas, Texas to attend the annual meeting of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine. I had thought that in addition to learning about improving efficiency of the emergency department t...

I recently came across an article that listed ten common parenting mistakes. It got me thinking about my own parenting skills, or lack thereof. The insecurity about parenting likely stemmed from my biases that were challenged by that article. I think parenting is made out to be harder than it actually is or should be. The point I’m really trying to make is this: in parenting misperceptions abound. The so called mistakes simply reflect the struggle that exists within all of us as human beings, compounded by the fact that we as parents are liable to err. The conflict arises when we attempt to assure a fool proof successful future for our children. Because the alternative, that is a presumably unsuccessful future for the child, is simply unacceptable to us. But what is success really? Isn’t it a perception, or contrarily a misperception? For instance, many times I have been successful only to realize that in that success I’m unhappy, so it’s really a failure. Conversely, many times I...