Simply Outlandish

lt was perhaps an apt culmination of a religious expo taking place in West London that Outlandish, a trio of religious individuals — two devout Muslims and one Catholic — opting to tell their tales via hip-hop, were selected for the stage finale.

While the expo itself attracted thousands of visitors over the weekend, it was Outlandish that the 1,000 expectant attendees were saving their loudest cheers for, sitting through all that preceded such as recitations, donation speeches, The Sound of Reason, and Kareem Salama. What made the night bearable was the uniqueness delivered by the line-up; Mo Amer, a Palestinian comedian who featured on Allah Made Me Funny, the acoustics of The Sound of Reason, the country music of the Oklahoma-born Salama, all followed by the main attraction of the evening.

While the crowd, ranging from infants to the elderly and of 17 different nationalities, held back the loudest of their cheers for over two hours — including a prayer break — there was no respite once Amer introduced Outlandish (comprising of Waqas Ali Qadri, Lenny Martinez and Isam Bachiri) to a resounding welcome.

Opening with Walou (from the second album Bread & Barrels of Water), Outlandish, and most-notably Isam, made their presence felt. While Waqas, who had arrived in London from Karachi hours before the performance, utilised breaks between songs to crack jokes ranging from Test cricket to the joyous act that is driving in Karachi, it soon became apparent that neither did he succeed as a stand-up comedian nor was the crowd in any mood to see the comical side of Outlandish and more of the special Spanish rap by Lenny.

Due to their varied background and upbringing, Outlandish’s music blends in different cultures, religions and languages. Although their songs are primarily in English, they usually feature lyrics in Spanish, Urdu, Danish, and Arabic. And as a sneak preview to the new album (to be launched at the start of 2009) was capably delivered, the back-to-back deliverance of I’ve Seen and Only You neatly summed up the fine blend of cultures and languages that makes the band so unique. The sing-alongs, at times, surprised the band but did manage to spur them on towards the night’s final performance: Look Into My Eyes, the lyrics based on a poem written by a teenage Palestinian girl, Gihad Ali.

There was no sign of Aicha, Eyes Never Dry or Peelo as the clocked ticked towards the closing hour with pleas, and supplication, for one final performance going unanswered. However, for all that preceded the evening’s anti-climax, it was a case of a satisfied attendees reluctantly making for the exits in expectation of a dreaded Monday. A special Monday, however, for it followed one moving and enthralling, but short, Outlandish performance.

© Faras Ghani 2008
Published in Images (Dawn newspaper) Jul 27, 2008

Kaneria equally good for ODI, T20 cricket: Rashid

Rashid Latif, former Pakistan captain and wicket-keeper, has labelled Danish Kaneria “Pakistan’s main bowler in ODI and Twenty20 cricket” and has urged national selectors to include him in the ODI and T20 squad in order to improve the team’s performance.

Kaneria, currently playing for Essex, has not featured for his country at all this year owing to Australia’s refusal to tour Pakistan in March with that series being Pakistan’s sole Test series this year. He was also demoted to category C when the central contracts were handed out earlier this year.

“Our bowling is very weak at this point in time; there is no Umer Gul, and the future of Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar looks very uncertain,” Rashid said. “Even with them in the side, the main problem I see with the team is the absence of a match-winning left-arm spinner or a leg-spinner and that’s where Kaneria comes in.

Slamming the selectors for persisting with part-time spinners and ignoring a specialist in the side, Rashid argued that in the short forms of the game a team cannot solely rely on fast bowlers or part-timers and there comes a time when it needs to fall back on a quality spinner.

“Although the selectors have sidelined Kaneria, I think he’s our main bowler when it comes to ODI and Twenty20 cricket. Until and unless he is included in the playing eleven for these formats, Pakistan will never be able to have a strong bowling attack.”

Although Kaneria has only played 18 ODIs for Pakistan since making his debut in 2007 – with his last being in 2007 against Zimbabwe – taking 15 wickets in the process, he has been a regular for his county. In the current one-day county season, Kaneria has taken nine wickets in six matches at an average of under 20 as well as being the current fourth highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 competition with 18 wickets in 11 matches.

“Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed were made into the bowlers they became by Imran Khan and Wasim Akram. Why the same can’t be applied to Kaneria is beyond my understanding.

“You can’t label him a Test bowler sitting at home without giving him an extended run in ODIs and Twenty20 cricket. Whenever he has played, there is this sword hanging over his head that he will be ousted even if he performs. You can’t do that to someone with a caliber of Kaneria. Give him confidence and he will deliver the goods, especially when the fast bowlers are not performing.”

Rashid also shrugged aside claims that Kaneria is being left out of the ODI squad due to his lack of batting skills. “By the time it’s his turn, there is either not much time left, or that the batting line-up has failed. It’s the batsmen’s duty to ensure they perform and build up a sizeable total, not Kaneria’s so you can’t keep him out because he can’t bat well.”

Citing current and recent examples like Shane Warne, Daniel Vettori and Muttiah Muralitharan, Rashid emphasised on the need for a specialist spinner in the ODI side. “Anyone who has played cricket knows that on a spinning track, teams like Australia, England and South Africa have great difficulty playing spinners when under pressure. It is due to that we must not waste Kaneria and pick him for the next ODI series that Pakistan plays.”

Rashid also became the latest of former players to question Shoaib Malik’s captaincy as well as his place in the Test side. Under Malik’s captaincy, Pakistan won the Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka as well as reaching the final of the World Twenty20 last year. However, a Test and ODI series loss at home to South Africa and similar results on the Indian tour followed. PakistanZimbabwe and Bangladesh as well as a tri-nations win in Bangladesh but failed to reach the Asia Cup final in front of the home crowd. did manage whitewash at home against

“After the results that we’ve had, the management needs to think whether Malik deserves to be the captain or even claim a place in the Test squad,” Rashid said. “His performance has been adequate but it’s his leadership skills that are lacking. However, he has missed crucial matches and has failed to lead the side courageously when required to do so.

"There is also a need of a specialist No.6 batsman in the side. Previously we tried playing Abdul Razzaq which did not go according to plan. You look at AB de Villiers and his innings against England and that is exactly what Pakistan needs."

© Faras Ghani 2008
Published in Dawn newspaper Jul 23, 2008

Asia Cup loss no big deal: Yousuf

Senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf has downplayed Pakistan’s failure in the recently-concluded Asia Cup and termed the team’s inadequacy to beat quality opposition as “part and parcel of the game”.

Pakistan, high in confidence after their tri-series success in Bangladesh and having home advantage for the Asia Cup, failed to beat India and Sri Lanka in crucial matches and thus missed out on a place in the final.

The wins against Hong Kong and Bangladesh, and later against India, mattered little as the host’s history of poor performances in the contest continued.

Yousuf’s non-chalance, however, came as a surprise, especially as it came a day after his pulling out of the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy. “Winning and losing is part of the game,” he said. “We lost crucial encounters [against India and Sri Lanka] where we failed to score 300 and paid the penalty. It was a flat pitch and scoring 300 was like 250 any other day but for our failure to do so, especially against the Indian bowlers, and lost both key matches.

“However, with the amount of cricket we are playing nowadays, it’s not a big deal to be losing matches. We win some, we lose some. It happens in cricket,” he added.

With a below-par performance even by his own standards – 98 runs from four innings – Yousuf refused to blame the batsmen but instead chose to lament the “lack of overs” in the innings, perhaps forgetting that Pakistan managed to bat for the entire 50 overs in both losses.

“Our batting wasn’t weak,” he said. “In fact, we had a really strong batting line-up. The problem was the lack of overs and because of that we couldn’t score enough runs [against India] but we tried our best.”

By opting out of the Champions Trophy, Yousuf looks set for a long break from international cricket and is hoping that the PCB can put an end to the IPL-ICL saga that currently hounds him in the meantime.

“When I opted out of the ICL and signed for IPL, the board told me they will take care of everything and that I will be cleared to play in the IPL. However, as we all know, that is yet to be done. I don’t have anything on me, I passed on all details to the board and he probably has more updates on the situation that me,” Yousuf said.

“I cant’ understand why its taking so long after what I was told initially and now I don’t even know whether I’ll be able to play in the next edition of IPL or not, especially after they [the board] told me I have a three-year contract which will continue for that duration.”

Despite his problems and Pakistan’s poor show of late, Yousuf refused to blame the team management and predicted a much-improved performance in the Champions Trophy, shrugging aside claims of a change at the helm.

“We have home advantage and a good team and due to that I think we will perform well in the Champions Trophy.”


© Faras Ghani 2008
Published in Dawn newspaper Jul 17, 2008

Wimbledon Fashion Week: Championing couture

lt wasn’t just the tennis courts in SW19 that became a point of interest in the second week of the Wimbledon championships. A hotel at five minutes’ drive bore a few similarities; both had people queuing to enter and both had beautiful ladies and gents showing off their skills while onlookers applauded in awe.

Although not attracting visitors from all corners of the globe, the inaugural Wimbledon Fashion Week did manage an avid interest, not only from the visitors but also designers (USA, France, Kenya and Pakistan showcasing with the locals) and the multi-ethnic and multi-talented models.

Mouillé’s beachwear, Omar Mansoor’s couture, Dakou’s street fashion, Tapti Tapan’s Indian-inspired length dresses and PK Del Mar’s sari fabric-ed desi attire became huge success among a showcase of over 35 designers.

The lack of intensity in the make-up and choreography left much to be desired during the initial phase, but amends were aptly put on the plate via unique catwalk routines — including dancing and children onstage during the concluding performances.

Terming it a great success personally, Omar, the sole Pakistani designer on the entrée, was overwhelmed by the agglomerate of appreciation of his Culture to Couture, designed exclusively for WFW. Rightly so as his graceful blend of Asian knowledge and western exposure proved to be an outstanding success.

Inspired by Dr Ayaz (of Reet boutique) and Teejays, Omar took up fashion designing 10 years ago. His detour from the traditional sari and shalwar kameez may well prove to impress enthusiasts beyond the length of the event. The fact that none of his shows at WFW included a single desi model was an indication of how well his adaptation was drafted and appreciated. And he owed it much to his arrival in London three years ago.

“London has taught me so much,” Omar said. “If I had designed clothing for the event sitting in Lahore, it would’ve been near impossible to come up with something to satisfy the western audience.

“I got a favourable response, hugely favourable in fact, and I am planning to carry on my journey based in London, increase my knowledge of the world of fashion and hopefully deliver more goods in the near future,” he added.

As the six-day long event rounded off with the Miss Wimbledon 2008 award, a rounding applause — although not on the same scale as its predecessors, the London Fashion Week as well as Graduate Fashion Week — was an apt appreciation of the backstage staff that helped to make the event worth attending.

© Faras Ghani 2008
Published in Images (Dawn newspaper) Jul 13, 2008