AMIR SALEEM: BORN MARCH 3, 2076 March 3, 2105. The buzzer went off again and I sprang out of my bed; it was 8:25PM and I was late. I was supposed to be there at 8:45PM. I had to rush. I commanded the operating system in my room to pick my dress, shoes, cologne, watch, spectacles for the occasion and...

Winters were pure and long in those days; no wonder they still stick to my memory very warmly. It was the beginning of 1986; there wasn’t much of a hustle bustle even though we were moving to a newer and bigger house. Maybe, because we were to the house (in fact a servant quarter) where we had lived...

I wrote this on one of my birthdays. Dedicated to the memory of my late younger brother, Asim Saleem.  A thick silky fog swept through the street that had only one lamp-post to leave a blemish of a light on its hard trodden surface. Beside the lamp-post, rested a lazy bench, having lost one of its legs...

Sometimes I would run into a humble argument with my mother and sisters about the importance of jewelry for a woman. I just, somehow, couldn’t fathom why would gold be so dearly loved? They would often give me a million reasons and none would make me agree with them. But then one day I found out the...

Pain dares with deceit while peace lives in the company of fear. One mistake overlaps all your correct actions. One wrong step erases your righteous path. One bad intention stains your good deeds. One folly pulls you out of reason. One stupidity stamps you with insanity. One painful expression wipes...