Category Archives: The Other Column (Archived)

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-3-2004_pg3_4 In postulating his theory on whether tragedy is possible in the modern period, Raymond Williams worked his way through various stages of reasoning, one of which, under the heading of Order and Accident, is very interesting. “The … Continue reading →

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-4-2004_pg3_4 Triumph has an ad in this week’s The Friday Times about its new line of push-up bras, the ‘Maximizer’ it is called, no less. But make no mistake: ‘Maximizer’ in this case is not about maximising advantage … Continue reading →

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_12-4-2004_pg3_4 Will Cuppy wrote this unputdownable book called The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody. He didn’t say it but I have a hunch he wanted it read by all those who take themselves too seriously. I wonder … Continue reading →

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_16-5-2004_pg3_5 A couple of weeks ago when the Times of India asked me to do a piece on the Indian elections, I went into a trepidation mode. How could I stick my Pakistani neck out and hold forth … Continue reading →

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_9-5-2004_pg3_5 Mian Shahbaz Sharif says he is coming. The chief minister of Punjab, the redoubtable Chaudhry Sahib Jr, thinks Mian Sahib is bluffing and won’t come. He has been trying to come for a long time, Chaudhry Sahib … Continue reading →

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_2-5-2004_pg3_5 Jeremy Bentham tried to create a felicitous calculus. Since he believed more in the quantitative aspect of felicity, he thought that “The amount of pleasure being equal, pushpin is as good as poetry”. This conclusion of sorts … Continue reading →

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_25-4-2004_pg3_5 It looks like Peter Cottontail (‘Hippity Hoppity’; Daily Times, April 18) has stirred not one but two bees in two bonnets (oops, is that PC?). The decision to respond to the letters (‘EH down the (man)hole,’ by … Continue reading →

Ejaz Haider http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-4-2004_pg3_5 The palladium of my youth during Gen Zia’s time was the Bunny, not the Easter kind but the one created by Hugh Heffner — may the Muse, or whatever it was that put the idea in his … Continue reading →