coming out of Egypt splattered across and my mind wanders away. It
was 1 February 201 and there was a sea of jubilation across Egypt
1th
1
as Mubarak was forced to relinquish power. I joined in by cheering at
the Egyptian embassy in DC which is right to the Pakistani one. I always
viewed Egypt as the beacon which once guided the Muslim world with
its rich history of theology and education and there was hope that
now modern Islamic thought can be revitalised. Facebook feeds were
full of hope for the country itself and Egyptians felt proud.
cr?h
l d gs
ISFANDYAR ZAMAN
‘‘It probably is better not to
take off, if one is crash landing
… but then you will never fly.’’
It is 9 pm Eastern Standard Time and I settle into 3A
from Washington D.C to Reykjavik, donning the socks
from the stylised grey herringbone amenity set and
putting on some L’Occitane’s hand cream, while I think
about how much I love these kits. The plane itself
leaves much to be desired. Firstly it is named after an
active volcano and secondly it is a bit run down like
the economy of Iceland was a couple of years ago.
In any case it is a short 5 hour hop, enough to watch
a movie and catch a little shut eye. As I play with my
blackened Arctic char, which borders on being delicious, I go through the comprehensive movie selection
and settle on watching the “Bucket List”. Jack Nicholson
and Morgan Freeman star in this drama in which both
having found out they have 6 months to live, make a
list of things they would like to do before they hit the
bucket.
Fast forward 28 months and things don’t seem that rosy. Hope has
turned into despair and peace with the other a fallacy. We all know
what happened with the elections and we all know how the Muslim
Brotherhood overplayed their hand. Though a liberal at heart I firmly
believe what happened with Moorsi was wrong. There was a reason
he was elected in power and if he does not do what is good for the
nation there will be a chance to vote him out. Let us take a step back
and look at the history of this great nation. It has one of the longest
histories of any modern state, having been continuously inhabited since
10th millennium BC and a unified kingdom was founded in 3150 BC.
Given all this does one really think Moorsi would have really made
a dent in the direction of the country in a span that covers just a few
years? What disturbs me now is how some Facebook feeds paint the
brotherhood as devils and the danger is once the cloths are stitched
any amorphous organisation will shape itself to fit it. I do think that
things have gone too far and everyone in Egypt made a mistake in
overestimating their own power. It is really a time to press the restart
button. Egypt and my Egyptian friends (Kareem, Ismail, Gamila, Teymour), I wish that you take your rightful place in the world and not
have more bloodshed.
Speaking of blood, the roof garden commission at the Met in New
York by our very own Imran Qureshi is really to die for. He has transformed this space which overlooks the Central Park into something
that is jarring to the core. The red acrylic resembled the aftermath of a
bomb blast yet at the same time he has pained foliage in the cement
which blends in with the green in the park and makes the whole space
very inviting. He has taken his miniaturist techniques and exposed them
onto an architectural space yielding results that do shock the system.
Personally I felt very proud yet deeply saddened by viewing his work
and can’t wait to get my hands on one of his pieces.
Okay, the movie is now over as is the crème caramel (the crunchy
biscuits made it tasty) and it did turn out to be a slight tear jerker, if you
At we hit some turbulence at 10000 feet, Jack and
really want to see something about people dying I preferred 50/50
Morgan are checking off one of the items off the list
and do recommend it, also for your travel reading I would say pick up
which is a magical view of the pyramids. The clip shows the short stories by Jorge Borges for someone who can mix the real
the sun setting on the wonders of Giza, it looks serene with the fantastic like no other. As we land, the forecast over Iceland
and majestic. Ironically right below my TV screen is the looks gloomy as do the coming weeks in Egypt. A visit to both the Blue
latest Herald Tribune with the news of the bloodshed Lagoon and the Sinai is likely to be postponed for sunnier days.
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PAPERAZZI MAGAZINE
2013