Kiya Kahe Ga Kazi

Babar is a communications professional, turned advertising journalist, turned certified lobbyist. We speak about the power of monopolies, about the spirit of giving, about reverence for the language that we use, about holding space for others in tandem with space for oneself, about legitimizing hurt, and about holding grief and gratitude simultaneously. 

Maanu is a singer, songwriter, producer, from Lahore who has captured the imagination of the pop and hip-hop audiences in Pakistan. Boasting a diverse array of music, we speak about his humble beginnings, the kindness of strangers, growing under the influence initially, and tutelage eventually of some of the biggest names in the Pakistani music industry, about the primacy of hard work and about his want to encapsulate multiple genres and paradigms of expression through his music.

Shehzad Malik is a videographer, a filmmaker, and a storyteller, he is also a member of the old guard of Pakistani Youtubers. We speak about feminism, masculinity, bullying, his approach to storytelling, stereotypes about the Sindhi culture in Pakistan, the toll of social clout on the mental health of a person, and on how the primacy of protecting one's own cognitive capital.  

Purnia Farrukh is the owner and proprietor of studio IterEight, a design studio based out of Karachi. We speak about what it is to exist in an industry that is dominated by men, as a woman, about the paradigm-shifting power of a cataclysmic event, about how important it is to have something worth fighting for, and about the irksome and insidious nature of mediocrity.

Ariba Shahid is an economics and business journalist at Profit magazine. We speak about the integral role of a healthy family paradigm in the context of empowerment, about the power and potential danger of commanding social clout, about pursuing technical skills, and the primacy of financial literacy, and about the importance of research-based writing. 

Wajiha Ather Naqvi is a singer and songwriter, she also holds a master's degree in religious anthropology. We speak about the post-modernist preoccupation with amputating Sufism from its Islamic roots in a bid to make it more palatable, about the unlikely journey that has lead to her recording multiple records with Coke Studio, about the need to be anchored in a tradition or culture, and secure in one's own identity, about contemplating immigration, and about seeking discomfort. 

Shahzeb Khalid is a teacher of film theory at The Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture. We speak about the need to productivise one's art, about the fact that Pakistan suffers from national low self-worth, about the potency of horizon expansion, and about the power of psychic flo. 

Fawad Khan is an actor, playwright, and practitioner of 'Dastaan Goi,' a unique form of oral storytelling with ancient roots. We speak about the power and differences between traditions of oral stories and literature, the fight against entitlement, the paradigm-altering strength of theatre, the costs of stardom, the general condition of the entertainment industry in Pakistan, about actors v.s. personalities, and about the importance of prioritizing your work.

Kulsoom Aftab is a poet, writer, and actor. Presently she divides her time between writing plays for theatre and teaching at The National Academy of Performing Arts, in Karachi. We speak about the cathartic nature of writing, about the entertainment industry in Pakistan, about the insidious undertones of a formulaic approach to creativity, about defense mechanisms, and about the right age to begin the pursuit of acting. 

Sadia Khatri is a writer. We speak about the dimensions of privilege, about the feminist concept of intersectionality, about tacit and non-tacit complicity in tyranny, about 'Girls at Dhabas,' about the need to tell our own stories and to right certain wrongs in our societal discourse, and about the terrifying strength of Karachi.