Zahra Hidayatullah

Three weeks after sending in my manuscript to Hamid Akhund of EFT (Karachi), I called to very diffidently ask if he liked what I had written. The way he said he did, uplifted my spirit unimaginably. The more I write the more uncertain I become of myself.

I can’t stop thinking about Laiba. Imagine working hard your entire life, becoming a gold medalist, coming from a family where education isn’t just a degree, but the hope of changing everyone’s future. Your parents have sacrificed so much, and you finally think you’ll be able to give them the life they deserve. Then someone preys on your vulnerability and offers you a dream. Harvard. An acceptance letter. You start imagining yourself there, the life you’ll build. And then you discover it was all a lie. The devastation. The guilt and shame she may have internalised over being deceived, when she had done absolutely nothing wrong. And I keep wondering, if she had believed that our system would protect her, that this man would be caught and held accountable, might she have felt there was somewhere to turn? I wish she hadn’t left this world feeling so hopeless, believing that someone else’s crime had destroyed everything she had worked so hard for. It’s devastating.

Turns out the IIUI student who was a gold medalist had a scholarship offer to study in Saudi Arabia Alas

Looool

@ZHidayatullah A very happy birthday to you, Zahra. May you live long and prosper.

Life lessons from @rogerfederer (must watch) 1 Effortless is a myth 2 Belief in yourself has to be earned 3 Grit > Gift 4 Discipline is talent 5 Trust and loving the process is talent 6 You can do your best and still lose 7 Life is bigger than the court

Princess Diana died 29 years ago today 💔🕊️

(L-R) Satyajeet Roy, Amrita Preetam, M.S. Subbulakshmi and Indra Gandhi

Sindh Ibex herd with innocent kids at Sindh - Balochistan border - Khirthar National Park

Amitabh Bachchan’s Lahore & Faisalabad Connection Amitabh Bachchan’s mother, Teji Suri Bachchan, was born on 12 August 1914 in Lyallpur - today’s Faisalabad - into a Punjabi Sikh Khatri family. Her father, Sardar Khazan Singh Suri, was a well-known barrister. Teji was an educated, cultured and remarkable woman. She studied psychology and went on to teach psychology at Khoob Chand Degree College in Lahore. It was during this Lahore chapter of her life that she met Harivansh Rai Bachchan, then a lecturer of English at Allahabad University. They met through a college gathering, and their relationship eventually led to marriage in Allahabad in 1941. Teji wasn’t simply the mother of a future superstar. She was a lover of literature, music and theatre herself. She even played Lady Macbeth in Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Hindi adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, and later appeared with him in Yash Chopra’s Kabhi Kabhie. And here’s another fascinating detail: Amitabh was born Amitabh Srivastava, but the family eventually adopted his father’s pen name, “Bachchan,” as their surname. Harivansh Rai had used Bachchan as his literary name, and both parents opposed the caste system. So when we look at Amitabh Bachchan, there is a little bit of Allahabad, a lot of literature, and unmistakably a touch of Lahore and Lyallpur in his story. And perhaps that legendary sense of humour and quick wit? Well… Lyallpur walon ki jugaat ka bhi thora sa asar ho sakta hai! From Lyallpur to Lahore, and from Lahore to one of Indian cinema’s greatest legends - Amitabh Bachchan’s Pakistani connection is a fascinating piece of shared history.

The images out of Nepal and Tibet seem straight out of a Hollywood movie. Horrifying. This a direct consequence of climate change. Nepal contributes one tenth of one percent of global emissions but is being devastated by climate catastrophe.

1943. Two years before the Second World War ended. Four years before Pakistan was born. The Sindh Legislative Assembly voted to support the creation of Pakistan. The first legislature in the entire subcontinent to do so. Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah was at the centre of that moment. Born Hyderabad Sindh 1879. Educated at Aligarh. Called to the Bar in England. Returned to Sindh and built a political career across four decades of the most consequential period in South Asian history. He served as Premier of Sindh in 1937 to 1938 and again from 1941 to 1942. As one of the most senior Muslim political figures in Sindh he understood earlier than most what the question of a Muslim homeland meant for the province. Sindh had been separated from Bombay Presidency in 1936. It was now a Muslim majority province with its own legislature. What Sindh decided mattered. In March 1943 the Sindh Assembly passed its Pakistan resolution. First in the subcontinent. Before Bengal. Before Punjab. Before any other province gave legislative weight to Jinnah's demand. Sir Ghulam Hussain's role in building the political environment that made this vote possible placed him permanently in the history of Pakistan's creation. After August 14, 1947 he became Governor of Sindh. Overseeing the most turbulent years of the province's modern history. Millions of refugees arriving from India. A new capital city in Karachi overwhelmed by the demands of building a state. Provincial administration being constructed at the same moment it was being tested. He died in 1950. Three years into Pakistan's existence. He had given Sindh to the cause before anyone knew the cause would succeed. Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah. Pakistan Zindabad. 🇵🇰

i'm obsessed with what's happening in AI reforestation right now this Franco-Brazilian startup called MORFO took a patch of land in Brazil that was rock-hard and compacted from years of cattle farming. they replanted it using a single drone. months later the ground was covered in grass, bushes, and small trees. the land came back to life. here's how the whole thing works. 1. drones scan the terrain with high-resolution cameras and sensors 2. AI analyzes the imagery alongside soil samples, moisture levels, slope, and surrounding vegetation 3. the system picks from a catalog of 300+ native species, deciding exactly which plants will thrive in which specific spot 4. the drone fires biodegradable seed pods packed with seeds, nutrients, and moisture at 180 capsules per minute 5. satellite and drone imagery monitors regrowth over time, with AI tracking vegetation cover and biodiversity 6. two people and one drone cover 50 hectares a day. a person planting by hand manages about one hectare. and MORFO isn't alone. AirSeed in Australia drops 250,000 seed pods per day into bushfire-scarred koala habitat, replanting swamp mahogany that koalas depend on to survive. Flash Forest in Canada fires 50,000 pods daily into wildfire-destroyed boreal forest, planning the replanting alongside Cree Indigenous communities. re-green won Prince William's Earthshot Prize after planting 6 million seedlings across 30,000 hectares of Amazon and Atlantic Forest. five companies across four continents built this same approach independently. nobody coordinated. the physics of the problem demanded it. knowing which seeds belong in which soil used to require years of ecological fieldwork, manual planting crews, and budgets that made large-scale restoration nearly impossible. now two people with a drone and an AI model trained on local soil data can replant 50 hectares before lunch. this is the AI work that'll still matter in 50 years.

With all the talk of protecting jobs from AI, it's easy to forget that what we must actually protect isn't jobs – it's humans. If we protect humans, if we can be adaptable and resilient and flexible, it becomes less important what jobs will exist.

41 years ago, Carl Sagan gave a clear and elegant explanation of the science behind global warming.

Following my resolve for a Digital and Safe Punjab, we are introducing the QR Panic Button across public transport, including buses, rickshaws and taxis. The safety of women, girls, children, senior citizens and every commuter remains my top priority. With a simple scan, passengers can instantly verify vehicle and driver details, share their live location with family members, and connect with Emergency-15 through voice call, video call or live chat in any emergency. The system automatically shares the passenger’s live location and vehicle information with the Safe City Control Room, enabling real-time monitoring and rapid police response through the Safe Cities network. Vehicle owners and drivers can obtain the QR Panic Button free of cost through the PSCA website & App. Developed through @PSCAsafecities indigenous innovation and integrated with Punjab’s Safe Cities and Emergency 15 systems, this initiative transforms every public transport vehicle into a connected safety point, making help just one scan away. #DigitalPunjab #SafePunjab