I don’t know how to start writing this post. I really have no idea. I guess the best way would be to define what I shared with him.
I don’t have many friends. I prefer to have acquaintances, or close acquaintances, but seldom friends.
Musadiq was my friend – and perhaps one of the few reasons why I liked dropping by Dawn’s offices. He made the lonely walk across Dawn’s almost vacant, silent corridors worth it. There was always a smile waiting when I opened the door to his room after a knock or two.
This post updates the original post published July 24 on this blog. Additions include re-mastered videos – because who actually likes posts without some media, right?!
To There and Back Again – the “Dastaan” of a New Step
By Mohammad Kamran Jawaid
On my way back, about a few days into Ramadan (I don’t remember the Roza, but it was the 16th of July), I received a call from an unknown number.
The voice introduced herself as Sahar Taher (though, at the time, I didn’t exactly understand her name, or its relevance), and invited me to an informal get-together at their place. Back then, I didn’t understand the reason or the context of that conversation – mostly because I was preoccupied by trivial (actually, make that peremptory) matters.
My bad.
Sahar’s call was one of the most significant steps I’ve seen someone take in today’s Internet and New Media world: the direct inclusion of blogger’s for upcoming events.
There are days when I hate KESC, Karachi’s monopolizing electric supply agency. And then there are days when I totally wish we’d have someone buy them and set things straight. Wait, I think that did happen some time back.
I know its been a while since the blog was updated. Heck, life was so blinding-fast that I found it difficult to maintain my blog even as I was (and am) online 24 hours a day (through my cell phone).
Anyways, I’ve recently begun updating my Twitter on a regular basis. Just uploaded its new background design, which mimics the theme of my official website.
I plan to update this blog’s design too in the near future (as soon as I upgrade my wordpress services, that is).
In the coming weeks I’ll be updating this blog with all my printed reviews and articles and links of my YouTube updates. Sound’s cool huh…
New details of upcoming projects are also to be updated soon, so stay tuned to this blog (and my facebook and my twitter) people!
Well that’s a pretty pertinent question. And for once I have an answer other than “been exceedingly busy” or “swamped with worked” or “24 hours just aint enough”.
Ok, so it’s been otherworldly hectic trying to juggle three somewhat dissimilar duties since I joined Bakhabar Savera, the morning show at ARY News hosted by Sana Tariq, since February, especially since after a month I ended up (on my request) with the extra burden of editing the content that is played during my segment.
Now a panelist / guest editing one’s own content is a relatively unheard of concept over here (or maybe anyplace for that matter), because the norm is that the shows guest normally just pop-out at the studio about 20 minutes before their on-screen time, do their duty (either addressing politics, or matters of the skin, health, very often predicting the anxious audiences future – one things that’s become every morning show’s major draw in the last couple of years), and then get back to whatever they were doing in the first place.
Now, what makes lil’ ol me an exception: well for starters, I’ve been given this ridiculous freedom to do whatever I fancy in my on-screen timeslot – as long as it doesn’t conflict with the big bosses policies or show something that might be injurious to the health of the show’s producer (Kashif Abidi, who also happens to be an old friend of mine).
Since my segment is about films and media, it’s bound to have clips and trailers playing along with whatever I am jabbering about on the telly. So, at first I did what everyone does, I acquired the content, went to the studio to edit the stuff, lay it back to tape for the next day.
This was fine and dandy, until I found out that this is seriously affecting my work at iMAGES (for those not in the know, I have Pakistan’s first, and absolute column on film reviews, that works along the lines of actual film criticism).
To compensate this and my motion picture consultation work, I took it upon myself to edit the content, which brought back those few measly hours that I transferred back to my family. After all, what’s all the money in the world in front of spending a bit of time with the folks, right?
Getting back to the point, now that I’ve got this whole thing streamlined, I’ve found time to capitulate to the idea of that I now refer to as as “The K Initiative” (I like dressing up my projects with serious-sounding names that reek of egoism….so sue me).
If you’re asking: Now, what in hell is this “K Initiative” thingie? – then don’t because I am not answering, suffice to say that the thing, if it turns out as my business blueprint says, then it might be big. To give you a hint, it covers the spectrum of the entire entertainment media, including the internet – a little known creature that everyone knows of, uses, but, doesn’t utilize. There are local motion pictures on the horizon as well.
I don’t like to accept when I’m wrong. But when I’m wrong, I’m wrong.
Rant
Looking back, as fast paced and diverse as today’s segment was, I felt that I needed to elaborate on specifics rather than rant on my subjects. My overview of Julie Taymor’s Spider-Man musical was adequate as best; the topic about Indian television’s theory of repetition was okay up until a few minutes when it started to loop-ad infinitum; Valkyrie – a movie I both loved and hated – was lopsidedly presented (very good was repeated way too often), and Ramchand Pakistani’s analysis could have used a bit tweaking. My presentation skill needs reworking. I’ll get around to it, or maybe mess around with the show’s formatting a little (whichever comes first).
While the invective attitude is attracting audience attention – and who disagrees about watching a guy and a gal duke it out in early morning broadcasts – this is steadily, without my noticing, turning into rant-fest. Hey, but if that’s what people want, that’s what people get.
My Internet identity has a mangled conformity to it. Whenever I search my name, I stumble upon a web page or blog which discusses my existence with the factual accuracy of a chupacabra sighting.
While my urban legend has some semblance of fidelity to them – credited mostly to my bygone blog entries and (almost dead) online community listings – I feel a cringed sensation whenever I happen upon any of them.
Although misinformation is something of an Internet trait, there should be a decent source to authenticate this creeping madness, so I’m listing a bare bones re-introduction for anyone to leech from (this can also be read as a FAQ):
Holy crap. I haven’t done anything in the last 6 months. Not that I’m regretful or anything. Just a tad — what’s the word — wistful.
wistful...but just a tad
I assume a majority of everyone who’s reading this entry has known that my mother has been seriously ill since October 2007 (she’s suffering from a relapse of Tuberculosis – which she had ten years back – and acute kidney failure, embedded with other nasty inclement I’d rather not go into now). It’ll take her about 6-8 months to fully recover, so getting her back on her feet is a priority.
Like every noxious malady’s patrimonial gift, my mother’s illness produced its greatest side-effect by blurring away most of my work schedule. Major casualties being my oft contributions for iMAGES, my Karachi based film-making projects and my US based film developments (perhaps the ones greatest affected). Slightly maimed were my web-based shangians (Friendster, Myspace, Filmmaker-Space, Flixster, Orkut, WordPress, Vox, Blogger). But then again, I don’t visit most of them that much to begin with.
Another project plashed with bad-luck is Babar Buccha’s URL – The Underground Racing League, which I’m directing with Zaid-ul-Aziz.
Again, I’m not regretful. Most probably because I believe that there is a time set for everything. And it just wasn’t the right time to move ahead on most of these things. And I did get a chance to reflect on most things, which was a good thing actually, because I found out that I’d been emotionally stuck to several redundant (at least to me) plot-themes for the past year or so. I also believe that once you loose (or decide to let go of) something good, its well-grounded bigger brother finds it’s way to you.
What are these things? More details on a later date. Suffice to say, that I’ll be shooting something come may. Wish me luck.
Edit: May came and went, and I didn’t shoot anything 😦
That Critic Who Is Spontaneous and Combustible 