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Be My Valentine!Loving is not just looking at each other, it’s looking in the same direction. ~Antoine de Saint

It’s Valentine’s Day – the day we profess our love to that special person. A Day we celebrate love, though we should not wait for a special day to let our loved ones know that we love them. We can make every day, Valentine’s Day. Keeping the approaching day of love in mind, Lounge asked some celebraties to reminisce about their favourite Valentine’s Day. Excerpts:

By Sumeha Khalid

Afreen ShirazCreative Director/Consultant Ellemint Pret, Ellemint Salon et Spa)Q: Best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?A: Beautiful long stem red roses.

Q: Most memorable Valentine’s Day?A: Valentine for me is red roses, a touching card and a romantic dinner.

Q: Who will be your Valentine this year?A: Always my hubby Shiraz.

Q: Message for your Valentine...A: Till death do us part… Lolz!!

Q: What would be your dream Valentine’s Day gift?A: I enjoy the same each Valentine’s Day – my room filled with red roses, cards and a cosy dinner!

Faakhir MehmoodSinger/Composer

Q: Best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?A: I am blessed to be with the love of my life - I guess that is the best gift ever for me.

Q: Most memorable Valentine’s Day?A: Would be to enjoy a lazy romantic day with the one you really love - make a conscious effort to make her feel special. I plan to cook for my wife this Valentine’s.

Q: Who will be your Valentine this year?A: Needless to say - my wife.

Q: Message for your Valentine...

A: Wherever I go whatever I do; I will be right here waiting for you.

Q: What would be your dream Valentine’s Day gift?

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A: My dream valentine gift would be endless, unconditional love and care from the one I love.

Sofia Naveed LariDesigner at SNL Design Studio

Q: Best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?A: A wonderful treat by my husband on our honeymoon. Our first Valentine’s Day together!

Q: Most memorable Valentine’s Day?A: A well planned romantic, candle lit dinner arranged by my husband on a private beach in Lankawi. Dinner was followed by surprise gifts to come after every course. Along with a beautiful ring embedded with rose petals that came with dessert. My most memorable Valentine’s Day ever!

Q: Who will be your Valentine this year?A: My husband of course.

Q: Message for your Valentine...A: Love you to the moon and back! Thank you for always being there with me through thick and thin.

Q: What would be your dream Valentine’s Day gift?A: Haven’t thought of it yet!

Sahar AtifDesigner

Q: Best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?A: A bunch of red roses.

Q: Most memorable Valentine’s Day?A: Once when a huge anonymous bouquet was sent to me.

Q: Who will be your Valentine this year?A: The same as always.

Q: Message for your Valentine...A: I love you! Always and forever!

Q: What would be your dream Valentine’s Day gift?A: I’ve always felt red roses make Valentine’s Day complete.

Nazia MalikHost/designer

Q: Best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?A: My husband’s love!

Q: Most memorable Valentine’s Day?A: Each and every Valentine’s Day

spent with my hubby.

Q: Who will be your Valentine this year?A: The love of my life – my better half!

Q: Message for your Valentine...A: I love you to bits.

Q: What would be your dream Valentine’s Day gift?A: My husband’s company – I don’t believe in materialistic things. They mean nothing to me.

Kausar AhmedProprietor Kitchen Craft Studio

Q: Best Valentine’s gift you’ve ever received?A: Best Valentine’s Day gift for me are always flowers, and lots of them!

Q: Most memorable Valentine’s Day?A: It’s always been with my kids before they left for college.

Q: Who will be your Valentine this year?A: This year my love affaire goes on with Kitchen Craft Studios.

Q: Message for your Valentine...A: Stay healthy and happy, enjoying life to the fullest.

Q: What would be your dream Valentine’s Day gift?A: My dream gift would be a trip to Hague.

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Red Velvet Valentine’s Day Macaroons

Recipe

Tant pour tantIngredients:300 grams almond flour300 grams confectioner’s sugar110 grams aged egg whites1/2 teaspoon cocoa powderred food coloring (I used a gel coloring)Method:Sift together the almond flour and

confectioner’s sugar. Mix in the egg whites to create the “mass” (mixture will be very thick). Add in your desired amount of red food coloring and mix well (keep in mind that the color will be diffused a bit when the Italian meringue is added.)

Italian meringueIngredients:300 grams granulated sugar75 grams water110 grams aged egg whites

Method:Bring water and sugar to a boil and

simultaneously whip your egg whites till soft peaks start to form. Once the sugar and water mixture comes to boil, remove from stove and let the bubbles settle. Pour in your sugar syrup mixture while continuing to beat the whites on medium speed.

Preheat your oven to 350F.

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Fold in 1/4 of your meringue mixture into the TPT “mass” to lighten the mixture. Gently fold in the remaining meringue until the mixture “flows like magma”. Transfer to two pastry bags with a plain tip.

Making the heart shapes can be bit difficult to pipe so gently freehand them in a gentle ‘V’ shape.

Allow for shells to dry at room temperature for at least 30 minutes – 1hour then bake at 350F for 12-20 minutes (depending on your oven).

Cinnamon ButtercreamIngredients:3/4 cup sugar1/8 cup flour3/4 cup milk1/8 cup heavy cream3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool,

cut into small pieces1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method:In a saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together.

Add the milk and cream and cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl and beat on high speed, until cool. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the butter, piece-by-piece, beating until thoroughly incorporated. Add the vanilla and cinnamon. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy. If frosting is too soft, chill in the refrigerator and then beat again until proper consistency.

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The ‘Masood Khaddar Poosh Award’ winning journalist, Karamat Ali Bhatti’s ‘Kesay Kesay Chehray’ contains lucid profiles of over sixty notable figures from the world

of academe, law, literature, journalism, social work, art and architecture, and much more. Being high achievers in their respective fields, they naturally command respect and recognition and thus what they think and feel permeates through different echelons of society. In a way, these figures are the intellectuals towards which people look as role models. As almost all of these personalities are from Punjab therefore it would not be out of place if we refer to their ideas as the collective thought of the Punjabi intelligentsia. As a probing interviewer Karamat Bhatti has done a wonderful job to elicit their views on issues of national interest for posterity.

One issue of concern has been to define the role of religion and the associated militancy through the Punjabi prism. To Hamid Khan, who is a senior leader in Imran Khan’s ‘Tehrik-i-Insaf’, religion is a relationship between God and individual. To the octogenarian novelist and short story writer, Altaf Fatima, there is no compulsion in religion and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) never resorted to force in the observance of religion. Availing her study of literature, she adds that evil and vice have remained present in all times and space and there has been no society that only consisted of angels (p56). K M Azam, who has worked for nineteen years at the United Nations, opines that the Taliban have not understood the spirit of Islam, particularly, their treatment of women has been against the teachings of the Prophet (PBUH) (p19).

The question arises that generally Pakistan has been a religiously pluralist and tolerant society then when and how did extremism and radicalism take roots here? Professor Hassan Askri Rizvi states that religion has always been and will enjoy a central place in the lives

Profiles of intellectuals Basharat Hussain Qizilbash

Books

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of the Pakistanis. Before the rule of General Zia, the state understood that the Islamic tenets should be the guiding moral principles of the society but the power of their justifiability was kept by the parliament and the judiciary and not given to the ulema. So, the state acted just as an ‘enabler’ of religion, however, since Zia’s time, it also became the ‘enforcing’ agency. Before Zia, the state did not impose any particular brand of religion on society. During his time, the state as a policy patronized religious conservatism and militancy. The root of current malaise can be traced in this tectonic shift. (p28)

The next question that begs an answer is that how the Punjab that has traditionally been the land of sufis and peers can become a recruiting ground for religious militants. Karamat Bhatti went in search of an historical explanation of this phenomenon to a historian Dr Tahir Kamran, the former head of history department at the Government College University, Lahore and presently heading the ‘Iqbal Chair’ at Cambridge University. He identified several strands in this regard. Firstly, militancy started with the ‘Reshmi Romal Tehrik’, whose leading figure Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi was Sialkot born. Secondly, Maulana Obaidullah was the favourite pupil of Maulana Mahmudal Hassan, who was a leading light of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind and an early graduate of Darul Uloom Deoband. Thirdly, like Saharanpur and Delhi, south Punjab has also served as an important centre of the Deoband Movement. Fourthly, the radical anti-Qadiani movement was spearheaded by Majlis-i-Ahrar. Its top leader Maulana Attaullah Shah Bukhari hailed from Multan. Fifthly, before partition of the subcontinent, the focus of the Deoband Movement was on the Indian Punjab and so it had set up its ‘madaris’ in Jallundur and Ludhiana. After the creation of Pakistan, the Deobandis set up ‘madaris’ in Multan, Bahawalpur and Chistian. Sixthly, one should

not forget that Maulana Haq Nawaz Jhangvi also belonged to Punjab. Lastly, over the years, the Barelvi ulema have seen a considerable decline and as a result the Punjabi lower and middle classes have begun to look towards the Deoband school of thought. The only exception has been Allama Tahirul Qadri but he exercises limited influence.

Other issues boggling Karamt Bhatti’s mind are the ‘fatwa’ of jehad and suicide bombings. He approached Dr Sarfraz Hussain Naeemi in this regard, who is the head of Jamia Naeemia and has

been a member of the Council of Islamic Ideology from 1999 to 2002. Dr Naeemi thinks that suicide bombings have no justification in a Muslim country and those behind it are serving foreign interests. He also holds that the declaration of jehad is the prerogative of the state. Presently, this concept is disabused in Pakistan (pp 57 to 59).

Yet another issue that deserves deep thinking is the future of democracy in Pakistan. It is pertinent to note that radical extremist do not believe in it. Those Islamists who do not participate in democratic process wish to use it as a ladder to impose their brand of ideology on the whole society. The relevant examples are Hitler’s Germany and Mussolini’s Italy where, after grabbing power through democratic elections, these leaders set up fascist states where dissent against the official directives was brutally

crushed. Dr Rizvi concludes that the more religious a state would be, the more undemocratic it would become (p32).

At the same time, he admits that democracy must ensure good governance which has remained a distant dream in Pakistan. The first test of democracy is the holding of fair elections but fairness and impartiality has been the first casualty. Badar Munir, a senior analyst and journalist who was very close to the Bengali leader Sheikh Mujib and his Awami League stated that General Azam Khan once

confided to him that the list of the winners was finalized in the Qurban Lines four days before the voting had actually taken place (p48). The retired Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, Justice Mian Allah Nawaz, while recalling his yester years revealed that he was a polling agent of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah during her presidential contest against Ayub Khan and had elections been fairly held, she might have polled 75 per cent of the votes but she lost because the election results were tabulated by G Moeenuddin at his residence (p74).

Related to transparent elections is the tolerance of opposition in a democratic set up. From the beginning Pakistan has a poor record. One is dumbfounded to read from Badar Munir’s interview that just because of political differences Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur, an ex-Speaker of the Sindh Provincial Assembly was tied to a camel’s back and pushed into desert from where he was recovered half-dead after three days (p249).

All in all, Karamat Bhatti’s work has been a valuable addition to the corpus of literature on the contemporary political history of Pakistan. Anybody who is somebody in politics, history, art social work, etc in Lahore could not remain hidden from his penetrating gaze.

(The writer is an academic and journalist. He can be reached at qizilbash2000@yahoo.com)

In a way, these fi gures are the intellectuals towards which people look as role models. As almost all of these personalities are from Punjab therefore it would not be out of place if we refer to their ideas as the collective thought of the Punjabi intelligentsia.

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