The Pakistan Experience

Danish Husain is an actor, poet, Dastango, and a theatre director. He lives in Mumbai, India & runs a theatre company called The Hoshruba Repertory. He was instrumental in reviving the lost art form of Urdu storytelling, Dastangoi. Later he initiated a multi-lingual storytelling project called Qissebaazi. Lately his screen works like Bombay Begums & Taj Mahal 1989 on Netflix & Mee Raqsam on Zee5 OTT platforms have attracted attention.   Danish Hussain joins us on  The Pakistan Experience to discuss Theatre, his acting process, pursuing passions, the art of storytelling, philosophy of art and being an ally in the #MeToo movement. 

 Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience   

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 The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.   https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh 

 Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 4:20 Why do I tell stories? 8:00 My philosophy of theatre 26:30 Comedy and Satire against the Powerful  39:26 The art of storytelling 44:20 Performing during the Pandemic 48:30 The Acting Process  1:01:00 Commercial Work vs Pursuing Passions  1:05:00 Embodying Characters 1:15:00 Pursuing your passion 1:20:00 MeToo and the Film Industry

None of us realizing the toll this pandemic has taken on our mental health. We are all feeling burnout, done with this and looking to put the pandemic behind us.   Sharmeen Khan, Clinical Psychologist and a Therapist, comes on The Pakistan Experience to discuss how to protect your mental health through this. How to recognize a burn out? What to do when you feel one?   We get into a deep dive discussion about trolling, suicide ideation, mental health,  personal relationships, toxic behaviour and shared trauma.

 And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience 

The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.  https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

0:30 Work-Life Balance

8:00 Burnout

15:00 Working Out to relef stress

19:00 Depression and Buray Din

30:00 Personal Relationships

36:00 Shared Trauma

45:00 How not to internalize hate

58:00 Covid Anxiety

1:04:00 Suicide Ideation

1:11:00 Drugs

1:13:00 Clinical Diagnoses of Mental Illnesses

1:28:00 Empathy, Compassion and Boundaries

1:40:00 Toxic Families

1:48:00 Don't judge your thoughts

The podcast ends at 2:04:33 but there is ten minutes of dead space after that, sorry about that, I put the outro at 2:13 but I forgot about it and when it rendered it rendered till then. 

  Natasha Humera Ejaz is an indie musician who shot to fame with "The Right Way to Fall", and she has continued to soar over the past decade with her music, acting and comedy. She recently launched her alter ego, Stupid Happiness Theory, an ambient/chill wave electronica music act.  Natasha has also been a permanent in the live performance scene in Islamabad for the past decade or so.  

Natasha comes on the podcast to discuss her artistic process, dealing with grief, getting over being bullied as a child, 'making it' in the media industry and the need for spaces for the arts in Pakistan. 

 Intro Song: Hum Bhaagay by Natasha Humera Ejaz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_ZCR8MSWb8 

Outro Song: Have a Little Faith by Stupid Happiness Theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtfM1zXLj5U Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience  

And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience 

The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.  https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh 

Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 4:00 Natasha's Journey as a musician 6:40 Indie vs Mainstream 10:20 Uth Records and The Right Way to Fall 12:30 The Journey 16:00 Being told you're not pretty 19:00 Marketing Yourself and the Performing Arts Market 28:00 Spaces for the Arts 35:30 Facing Criticism  37:00 Being Bullied and feeling beautiful 44:00 Perform for us entertainers! 51:00 Dealing with Grief 58:30 Take your broken heart and turn it into art 1:03:00 Comedy as a coping mechanism 105:30 Roles for Actors in Media 109:00 Natasha's Artistic Process 1:16:00 Dealing with the Quarantine 1:21:00 Manifesting  1:25:30 'Amad' of Music 1:32:00 Horcruxes of Myself 1:37:00 Imposter Syndrome 1:43:00 Doing Comedy in Pakistan 1:54:00 Why aren't we produced artists? 1:58:00 Ranjha Ranjha Kardi

Starting our second hundred episodes with a bang, and a very special episode with Physicist, Intellectual, Academic, and Professor, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy.   

On this episode of The Pakistan Experience, Pervez Hoodbhoy exposes the corruption of HEC, the involvement of the Government in it, Ata-ur-Rehman, and we go deep into a discussion on the ideology of Pakistan.  Do we need a national ideology? Will a Pakistani identity ever emerge? How damaging has it been for us to  The two nation theory  The podcast ends with a discussion on Quantum Physics, Black Holes and Parallel Universes.  

Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy (Urdu: پرویز امِیرعلی ہودبھائی; born 11 July 1950) is a Pakistani nuclear physicist and activist who serves as Zohra and ZZ Ahmed Foundation distinguished professor at the Forman Christian College and previously taught physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University.[4][5] Hoodbhoy is also a prominent activist in particular concerned with promotion of freedom of speech, secularism, scientific temper and education in Pakistan.  Please consider supporting us on

 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience     

And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience  

The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.  https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh

Chapters:

6:55 Corruption of Ata ur Rehman and HEC

28:27 Imagined Communities

36:12 Two Nation Theory

44:00 Ideological States: Pakistan and Israel

Imaan Zainab-Mazari Hazir, an activist and a lawyer, comes on the podcast to discuss why the comments of Prime Minister Imran Khan about 'Fahashi' are problematic, what women face when they go to the courts after facing harassment, the disinformation around the Meesha Shafi-Ali Zafar case and living as Shireen Mazari's daughter. 

 From facing backlash online to being in the public eye since she was a teenager, from family debates to learning and growing in public spaces, on this podcast we get into a deep dive podcast discussing the law, harassment, r**e culture, and PTI.   Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience   

 And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience     

   The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.     https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh

 Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:00 Imran Khan's 'Fahashi' comment 4:00 Rape Culture 5:50 Imran Khan polarizes everyone 7:10 Khooni Liberals 8:00 Objectification of Women 12:32 School, Segregation and Sexualization 16:30 Parents talking to children about how to dress 19:00 Sexual Harassment 22:03 Ali Zafar and Meesha Shafi case 28:07 Harassment and Problematic behaviour 31:00 BTS Army 32:20 What happens when you go to the court? 39:12 The Ayesha Gulalai allegations 40:45 Cynthia's allegations 46:40 Asim Sajjad Akhtar's allegations  49:50 Far Right Co-Opting Cancel Culture  53:50 Facing Backlash Online  1:00:00 Shireen Mazari's daughter 1:05:10 Saad Aziz 1:08:00 Echo Chambers 1:11:00 Disagreeing with Family members 1:16:30 Trevor Noah 1:18:00 Fawad Chaudhry 1:20:00 Maulana Fazlur Rehman 1:29:00 Zartaj Gul and Sexism 1:31:00 Bullying and Punching up 1:34:00 Imran Khan and Sita White 1:36:00 Questioning the credibility 1:38:30 Facing abuse online 1:44:00 The law is patriarchal  1:48:00 State trolls 1:49:30 wHy YoU loOK lIkE b

Tariq Ali is a British political activist, writer, journalist, historian, filmmaker, and public intellectual. He is the author of many books, including Pakistan: Military Rule or People's Power (1970), Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1983), Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002).   

Tariq Ali comes back on the podcast to discuss dynastic politics, the PPP that was, if there is any reason to be hopeful in PDM, 1971, Fatima Jinnah, and the Pakistani left.  

 Does the left in Pakistan need to consolidate? Does it need to update its manifesto?  Do we need a revolution in Pakistan?  Did India want to take over West Pakistan in 1971?  Watch on this deep dive podcast with the legend himself, Tariq Ali. There is also a hilarious Hamlet story in there.  

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience   

 And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience  

      The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.     https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh

Uzair Younus is a senior fellow at The Atlantic Council looking at the region of South Asia.  Uzair Younus comes back on the podcast to discuss why Bangladesh is surging ahead of Pakistan, the geoeconomics of South Asia, what impact Biden's presidency may have on Indo-Pak relations and if the recent comments by Pakistan suggest a strategic policy shift.  

We also discuss the new State Bank provisions, whether Pakistan should have gone to the IMF, food inflation, the eroding purchasing power, the petroleum crisis and rising extremism.

  We get into a deep dive discussion about the sociopolitics and the economy of Pakistan - is there reason to be hopeful or are we headed for an economic disaster? What are the biggest economic challenges facing PTI right now? What are the potential solutions?   

 Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience    

And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience       

 The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.     https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh

A lot is said about Partition, Pakistan and the role of Quaid-e-Azam; we had the pre-eminent scholar on Partition, Ayesha Jalal, come on the podcast to set the record straight.  

On this deep dive podcast, Ayesha Jalal discusses writing history, 1947, 1971, the role of Bhutto, Fatima Jinnah, the legacy of colonialism, whether writing Peoples History is actually writing History,  The Sole Spokesman, what Pakistan did Quaid-e-Azam want and the division of provinces during Partition.  Ayesha Jalal also responds to other historians who have challenged her work. Despite 30 years passing since its publication, The Soles Spokesman, remains the gold standard in academia on Jinnah.

   Ayesha Jalal is a Pakistani-American historian who serves as the Mary Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University, and was the recipient of the 1998 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship

Please consider supporting us on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience

And Please stay in touch:

https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1

https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience

https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience

The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.

https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/

https://twitter.com/shehzad89

https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction

0:20 Academic Freedom

2:20 Why are we afraid of history

8:00 Decolonizing the mind

12:30 Imposing Urdu on Bengalis

15:20 Was Bhutto to be blamed for 1971

18:20 Is Fauj to be blamed?

22:20 Fatima Jinnah

24:10 Quaid-e-Azam was not a British agent

27:30 Was Muslim league anti-colonial

28:30 Separate Electorates

32:20 Writing History of the Marginalized

37:10 Quaid-e-Azam and Trial of Ilm-ud-din

38:00 Peoples History and Partition

43:00 The Sole Spokesman

45:12 Responding to Venkat Dhulipala's book

46:30 What Pakistan did Quaid-e-Azam want

50:00 Sikhs and Pakistan

54:00 Aurangzeb

55:20 Dividing Provinces during Partition

58:00 UP, Muslim League and Pakistan

1:01 Did Quaid-e-Azam leave Politics when he was in London?

1:05:00 What forced Quaid-e-Azam's hand

1:06:30 Quaid-e-Azam and Gandhi

1:09:00 Punjabi

1:10:30 Pakistan ko banaya tha Punjabio nay aur Bengalio nay

Kanwal Ahmed is the founder of the Facebook group, Soul Sisters, and the creator of the show, 'Conversations with Kanwal, aimed towards breaking stigma around certain issues and openly talking about them.  Soul Sisters was created as a community and a safe space for women to discuss their lives. Kanwal Ahmed comes on the podcast to discuss her entire journey - from being misunderstood, bullied, labelled and the burn out that comes from managing all of that.  In this deep dive podcast, we discuss the backlash against the Aurat March, online communities, dealing with hate online, Crowdsourcing Conversations with Kanwal and the journey of Soul Sisters.

  Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience

And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience 

The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.  https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh 

Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 1:00 Why Kanwal Created Soul Sisters 5:00 How to keep spaces safe 7:45 Is Soul Sisters Progressive or Regressive? 13:30 Administering Facebook Groups 18:30 Sourcing Stories from Soul Sisters 22:00 Capitalism and Community Building 25:30 Jealousy in Pakistan 34:00 Do people grow or is it performative? 36:20 How to know your worth 43:20 Crowdsourcing Conversations with Kanwal 50:20 Exploitative nature of media 1:01:00 Emotional Labour 1:13:00 Backlash online 1:18:00 Conversations with Kanwal 1:22:00 Facing hate online 1:39:00 Awareness vs Civic Engagement  1:44:00 Conversations with Kanwal 1:45:10 Talking to Men 1:48:00 SSP is Trans inclusive 1:50:00 Closing remarks

Ali Usman Qasmi, Professor (History) at LUMS comes on the podcast to unpack the history of Pakistan, starting from discussing the varied perspectives of Muslims pre-1947. On this podcast we discuss the Pakistan Resolution, the Punjabi Identity, whether Muslim League was a movement of the elites, how Pakistan came to be, the anti-Ahmadi riots, election rigging, Fatima Jinnah, Ayub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.  Qasmi sahab also goes into detail of the Ahmadi issue as we unpack the history of Pakistan 1940-1971.   

Ali Usman Qasmi, Associate Professor (History) at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, joined LUMS in January 2012. He received his PhD from the South Asia Institute of Heidelberg University in March 2009. Before joining LUMS, he was a Newton Fellow for post doctoral research at Royal Holloway College, University of London. He has published extensively in reputed academic journals such as Modern Asian Studies and Journal of Islamic Studies. He is the author of Questioning the Authority of the Past: The Ahl al-Qur’an Movements in the Punjab (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2011). His second monograph, The Ahmadis and the Politics of Religious Exclusion in Pakistan (London: Anthem Press, 2014), was the recipient of Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) Peace Prize in 2015. Dr. Qasmi has co-edited several edited volumes as well, which include Revisioning Iqbal as a Poet and Muslim Political Thinker (Heidelberg: Draupadi, 2010), The Shi‘a in Modern South Asia: Religion, History and Politics (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2015) and Muslims against the Muslim League: Critiques of the Ideas of Pakistan (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2017).   

Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thepakistanexperience  

And Please stay in touch: https://twitter.com/ThePakistanExp1 https://www.facebook.com/thepakistanexperience https://instagram.com/thepakistanexpeperience  

The podcast is hosted by comedian and writer, Shehzad Ghias Shaikh. Shehzad is a Fulbright scholar with a Masters in Theatre from Brooklyn College. He is also one of the foremost Stand-up comedians in Pakistan and frequently writes for numerous publications. He can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tinder.   https://www.facebook.com/Shehzadgs/ https://twitter.com/shehzad89 https://instagram.com/shehzadghiasshaikh  

Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 3:00 Muslims Against the Muslim League 6:20 The model of the nation state 10:30 How was Pakistan imagined? 13:40 Pakistan: Provinces or sovereign states?  14:00 Pakistan Resolution 17:00 Two State Theory 20:30 Anti-Democratic Traditions 25:00 UP kay laundo kee saazish 33:10 Was Muslim League an elite movement? 35:00 Separate Electorates  36:30 Punjabi identity and Inferiority Complex 50:00 Dividing Provinces during Partition 58:00 Quaid-e-Azam's 11th August Speech 1:01:00 Was Quaid-e-Azam sidelined? 1:06:30 Liaquat Ali Khan  1:08:30 1953 Anti-Ahmadi riots 1:20:00 Ahmadi conspiracy theories 1:25:00 Allama Iqbal's Conspiracy Theory 1:26:40 The Ahmadi Question 1:36:00 Bhutto and Ahmadis 1:40:00 Ahmadis and the law 1:54:00 History of Election rigging 2:01:30 Ayub Khan