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Ahmer Naqvi

15 Oct, 11 tweets, 5 min read

8 areas, 8 biryanis, 8 chefs.

On why Karachi is home to the greatest biryani in the world.

fiftytwo.in/story/rice-fat…

#story52

This article was at least three years in the making. That was when I moved back to my city after almost a decade of biryani exile. One thing I wanted to address was how I felt very few Pakistanis, and people in general, really understood what made Karachi such an amazing city.

Eternally grateful to my friend Zahra Malkani (few people know Karachi as well as her) who first came up with the idea to explore as many Karachi biryani places as we could. I made a highlight on my insta documenting that.

instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0…

@abdullahkasumbi

At first, I wanted to make a show. Even shot a pilot with the wonderful Irfan Junejo as a guest. It was shot by @abdullahkasumbi, a little while before his fame would explode as a producer. Sadly, covid and other issues put that to the side.

@supriyan

It was around then that one of my favourite writers, someone whose writing and insights I absolutely adore, reached out to me with a project she was working on. I immediately knew I wanted to write for @supriyan. Her and @vikramshah1991 were just the most perfect editors.

I wanted to be able to show Karachi's diversity, it's vastness, it's obsession with food and its capacity to constantly surprise, and a plate of biryani felt like the perfect way to do so.

Here is a map of the places covered in the story.

google.com/maps/d/u/0/edi…

One of my obsessions had been trying to trace the history of biryani, and the varieties that exist in Karachi. What I had expected to emerge (and which did) was how Partition had made Karachi like an all-star gathering of all the subcontinent's biryanis. What I hadn't expected...

...was how uncovering that history would bring me back to this city's origins. Stick around till the end of the article to figure that out. It was easily the most fascinating thing I discovered in what was a really fun set of interviews.

@FiftyTwoDotIn

Absolutely thrilled to have written the one year anniversary piece for @FiftyTwoDotIn, a website that I have loved since the day it was launched.

With this, I declare the biryani wars over and Karachi as the sole, undisputed winner.

@FiftyTwoDotIn

Oh also, while @FiftyTwoDotIn were amazing with letting me keep urdu words and phrases in the translated text, I feel you really truly feel them in urdu. Here are four of my favourite.

@dr_salikahmed

Postscript

I love the internet so much. Re the Bambino Cinema line in the piece, @dr_salikahmed sent me this 1963 photo of its opening, attended by Nusrat Bhutto.

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More from @karachikhatmal

Ahmer Naqvi

@karachikhatmal

30 Mar

I have some thoughts on musicians from the 80s and 90s, and their longterm impact on Pakistani music itself.

I say this as someone who grew up idolising most of these musicians, and then as an adult reported on and worked in music.

There have been two main waves or bubbles for what I call pop music* in Pakistan - from Dil Dil Pakistan to the late 90s (PTV89, NTM, MCC etc) & then the noughties (start of Indus Music till end of Fire Records).

pop music* refers to urban musicians using western instruments.

When Fire Records collapsed in late 2000s, it was when Pakistan was wracked by terrorism, and all media spend had shifted to news. Since then, a variety of factors has meant that music has never been as immediately relevant as it was during these times.

Read 19 tweets

Ahmer Naqvi

@karachikhatmal

14 Feb 20

those of you who know me, know that i don't need valentine's day to obsess about love. but given that there is so much discussion on it on my TL today, i thought of writing out something that I've been trying to teach myself, and that might make sense to you on this day.

because of our social conditioning and capitalism and everything we know, there is a desire and expectation inculcated for romantic love.

not having romantic love, being single and alone, often causes despair and deep longing. and that's fine.

but in doing so, we can lose sight of all the love that there is around us. love from friends, from family, from those that matter.

i realise not everyone has that either, but even then we come to experience forms of love.

Read 5 tweets

Ahmer Naqvi

@karachikhatmal

11 Sep 19

@swineryy

Some thoughts on the expanded @swineryy Instagrammic Universe. A thread.

As we learnt today (sorry to those who I spoilt it for, for those who haven't seen #SpoilerAlert) that Shazia Dottuh Hater has been banging Abu Koala. Previously, we have also met SDH's mother in law. This allows us to make the following shajra.

However, until today we weren't aware of these links, which makes me wonder which other ones are we missing out on? One of those from canon is that SDH's husband would be prone to give too much attention to Shazia's Dottuh.

Read 10 tweets

Ahmer Naqvi

@karachikhatmal

28 Jun 19

Given we're all back in 1992, I wanted to share a story about that year, the World Cup final in particular.

[thread]

I was 8 when the World Cup happened, and was immediately enthralled by it. The timings meant I was often at school for the day matches, and the night match I remember most vividly was vs England when we were bowled out for 72. I remember imagining playing a match in which...

I helped defend that target. Thankfully rain intervened IRL.

Khair, no one in my family was into cricket. Abu was a hockey person, Ami had a passing interest, grandparents didn't care and siblings were all toddlers.

Nevertheless I was glued to every bit of action I could catch.

Read 24 tweets

Ahmer Naqvi

@karachikhatmal

9 Apr 19

Going to bring up a graphic incident to start off this thread, so please be warned.

About 7-8 years ago, I was going to Boat Basin and standing at the signal. There's a lot of port-bound traffic on that road, with large trucks whizzing past. Right in front of me...

...there were a bunch of motorbikes. What happened next is a blur - my mind remembers flashes and I suspect that something like a tangled shalwar or a sudden tip to one end happened - but one of the bikes fell over and ended up being trampled by a passing truck.

The male driver was badly injured but the woman was completely crushed. Again, I can't recall what specifically happened, I am sure my mind blocked out the horrific details. What stayed with me was how that woman was sitting.

Read 14 tweets

Ahmer Naqvi

@karachikhatmal

22 Feb 19

I have spent the last few months listening to nursery rhymes that my niece plays on repeat and as a consequence I have very, very strong feelings about the nursery rhyme "Nan Teri Morni"

[thread]

Let's start with the first line.

"Nani teri morni ko morr le gaye"

Let's face it, these are animals who are probably mating. Attributing lack of consent and/or agency to the peahens is insulting, and a rejection of how animals normally behave.

"Baqi jo bacha tha kaalay chorr le gaye"

First up, is this racial profiling helping solve the case? Secondly, and my biggest pet peeve, WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAD WITH THE FACT THAT NANI HAS BEEN COMPLETELY ROBBED?!?!

Read 15 tweets

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