Afrah Jamal

Thanks to the lovely Nefer & Haya for the launch Invite Published in Daily Times / Jul 21, 2012 Under the title: So You Think You Can Escape? Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal 'In this game there are no second chances. You either win or you die.’ The man who penned these words 41 years ago was busy planning his escape from an Indian POW camp that was not really supposed to exist. Today, as a defence analyst who owns a successful business empire, he sits amiably on a stage flanked by officers from his old command, some well-known personalities from the media, and at least one fiery cricketer-turned-politician who aspires for the premiership. (See Pix Here ) The extraordinary tale of a Pakistani army captain adrift in enemy territory who went knocking at the US Consulate gate and the American Marine Sergeant on duty who saved the day (part of it anyway) appeared in print a few years ago. That, however, was not the end of the captain’s ordeal. What happened in the interval b...

Received some wonderful Images through email today. Thank you Bakhtiar Khalid. They were taken by one Bill Spence(born August 12, 1940 in Iowa City, Iowa). He was with a US Army Security Agency in the early sixties and snapped his way through Peshawer (the same), Badaber Station (Bases were called Stations back then) Lahore, Rawalpindi, Kaghan Valley, KhyberPass, Kohat, Darra Adem Khel, Pak-Afghan border....all the way to Kabul, Afghanistan. Images Posted on my Facebook Page Here "A performer, teacher, recording artist and a hammered dulcimer player from New York. Spence began playing the hammered dulcimer after hearing Howie Mitchell at the 1969 Fox Hollow Festival in Petersburgh, New York. He made his first dulcimer following a plan in Mitchell's book. The only hammered dulcimer recordings available at the time were by Mitchell and another player, Chet Parker on the Folkways label. Spence developed his own style, working out tunes he heard on recordings of other instrum...

Published in Daily Times / 7 July 2012 Under the Title; The Realm Next Door Reviewed by: Afrah Jamal Many thanks to S.M. Boyce for the review copy. S M Boyce’s debut novel calls upon captivating magical backdrops to reach for those glimmering shards of whimsy, lying forgotten in the dark recesses of imagination. Seven years in the making The Grimoire: Lichgates is a heady brew that cheerfully vaults into the fantasy genre. 20-year-old Kara Magari’s hike comes to a dramatic close when she stumbles upon Ourea, the realm next door where conniving rulers, diabolical shape-shifters, conflicted humanoids and mysterious muses lurk in the shadows, and dragon sightings do not trigger alarm bells. Boyce’s sweeping epic fantasy adventure is carried on the wings of its supernatural soul suffused with mystical sensibilities. The Grimoire — a book of wisdom at the centre of this transformative experience — dictates (to an extent), the destiny of the ‘ Chosen One ’, and offers useful in...