Aysha Shafiq

Historian Environment and Spatiality

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

@mehrubawan There is no need to carve new provinces. Just decentralize, transfer more power to the divisions and let the provinces function as cultural entities.

[Safdar Yousafzai @SafdarA9577]

Kashmir is bleeding
Pakhtunkhwa is bleeding
Balochistan is bleeding
Gilgit is bleeding

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

I was born into disorder, raised in the ruins of a world that had lost its way. The ideals once held sacred had crumbled, leaving behind a landscape of weakness and decay. I saw my people humiliated, stripped of pride, their spirits crushed under the weight of an ideology that preached equality but delivered nothing but hunger and stagnation. https://t.co/kFQTaqudUg

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

I am trying to posthumously publish my mother’s novel محبت کا الجھا ریشم which is an ode to #Lahore, the city of love. I am so much in awe of this scene about Miani Sahib and the spectacles of devotion around it.
#اردوـزبان

https://t.co/Wrcteb21bF

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

X's algorithm has a quirky sense of humor. Saw a post where Dananeer trashed Devdas and then this post which trivialized an entire industry because nationalism sucks (or because Sanam Saeed is burger?)

[Sabahat Zakariya @sabizak]

The problem with romanticizing Pakistan’s film history through a nationalist lens is that it requires a lot of pretending. Pakistan never really had a great film industry even at the start. Shamim Ara the actress can still be viewed with some romance because some of those black-and-white films were somewhat watchable, and their music often managed to lift them above the ordinary but Shamim Ara the director’s work was not merely mediocre, it was actively bad.

There is also a clear disingenuous in Sanam Saeed suddenly presenting Shamim Ara as a long-term source of inspiration in a scripted tribute. Sanam Saeed as a cultural figure does not come out of that world. She is a Karachi burger who grew up watching western stuff 💯 Her own comfort zone is far closer to Hollywood and Broadway. In fact, she seemed most herself to me in the kinds of leading roles that came out of Pakistani remakes of Broadway musicals, but that stuff is not viable long term so she had to pivot and become Pakistani drama’s sati savitri (albeit less syrupy and bechaari than most).

So the idea that Shamim Ara’s legacy somehow shaped her artistic imagination growing up is hard to swallow and is just being retrofitted and packaged for nationalist purposes. I mean it’s fine, I get it, but it leave no goosebumps because it’s so obviously not true.

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

I forgot my wallet at a store in Raleigh, NC once. Went back to check if they had it, they asked me a few questions and handed it to me. Everything intact, money and cards. That being said، there were constant reports of breaking in and looting at the campus which was concerning. I was visiting for a short time so dont have the full picture.

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Lord Mountbatten visiting the riot affected areas in Lahore during his tour to the place on July 20, 1947. Perhaps Mozang

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

@kashifain I came across samosa chat for the first time in Islamabad. Never saw it in Lahore or Gujranwala. Was a staple in our college and university lunches, its wholesome and hearty.

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Love this thread for mouth watwring, absolutely amazing vegetarian menus featuring gems like lauki kofta and guramba.

[Historywali @historywali]

May ke mahine mein winter ki sabziyan - gajar & matar, more matar + bajra, AND PANJIRI! Broccoli hehe what?
Sure-shot menu for an upset tummy. My (very-Punjabi) nani would have slapped this menu, twice.

Here’s what she’d serve if she were doing a vegetarian summer menu (I mean ghar par guest aate the tab non-veg banta tha, something special - it was a reason/excuse to make mutton-chicken/fish but khair woh chodo, there’s enough to lament if you just think about the (lack of) seasonality in this menu.)

Coming back to what Nani would serve:
Aam-ka-Panna, Lauki Kofta, Bharwan-Tinday, Kathal-ke-kabab with Kairi + Pundhina chutney, Bhindi-ka-Raita/Kheere-ka-Raita, Sirka-Gud waale Baingan, Kadhi (and plain chawal), Wadi-waale Chawal, Ajwain-Mirch Paratha, Pudhina Paratha, Gudamba, and for dessert thandi thandi Kulfi or Mango Kulfi or Mango ice-cream, or Mango-cream (fresh malai).

I’d love to know your summer menus too.

That fresh-fruit better have mango in it.

Okay now about the seasonal eating - if the ‘first-kitchen’ itself is forgetting the very ethos of how we eat seasonal, and celebrate farm-fresh produce (as opposed to cold-storage produce), then we are trundling down a very sorry path: all the food & nutrition panels being organised by food & agri policy research institutes - I was part of one a couple of months ago and seasonal eating was so big on the agenda, what’s the point when this is the message going out from kitchens that have a voice?

[Audrey Truschke @AudreyTruschke]

Teaching India?

Check out the extensive resources -- images, maps, additional primary source readings, videos, and more -- available here (currently covering chaps 12–24): https://t.co/sX5cmPZAD4 #India #pedagogy #resources #highered #SouthAsia #history

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Map showing main railways and roads that lead to the main city of Lahore and its Cantonments. Huge reserve forests in North and South of Lahore and along Ravi are visible.
Source: https://t.co/6rUbzoYQhH

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Golden Mosque Lahore
c. 1912

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Map showing main railways and roads that lead to the main city of Lahore and its Cantonments. Huge reserve forests in North and South of Lahore and along Ravi are visible.
Source: https://t.co/6rUbzoYQhH

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Lahore c. 1920
Maynard owen Williams

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

@ShabnamSyedKha2 Interesting discussion by Ammar Rehmani on Weeks' art. He also provides some original photos that were used for the paintings https://t.co/k65qOdPzOQ

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

'Taxali Darwaza, Lahore',
Watercolour painting
William Simpson, 1865

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

@ShabnamSyedKha2 When it comes to attire, I love the paintings by Edwin Lord Weeks. But of course there is an orientalist angle to that.

Edwin Lord Weeks
An Open-Air Kitchen, Lahore
An Open-Air Kitchen, Lahore (1882-83)

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Samadhi Ranjit Singh, Lahore
1914 true-color photograph

[Aysha Shafiq @ayshasjk]

Watercolour of Lahore
Charlotte Canning, 1860