Talal Faisal Ismaili

Jun 24, 2024 | thefridaytimes.com | Talal Faisal Ismaili |Farida Gul |Ishtiaq Ahmed |Rabia Ahmed

We all know what it feels like to be out in the open air. Yet once we try to pin it down within established categories and conventions of thought, no experience could be more elusive. What is the open air? Does it circulate in the sky or the atmosphere? Are these the same or different? If the atmosphere surrounds our planet, and the sky arches above our heads, then in what shape or form can the earth exist in relation to the sky?

Jun 20, 2024 | thefridaytimes.com | Talal Faisal Ismaili |Lubna Jerar Naqvi |Sabih Ul Hussnain |Asif Mohmand

A remarkable decrease in snowfall in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush regions has set off alarm bells for water security in regions fed by glacial waters, including the Indus River Basin. This was disclosed in a report prepared by the latest Hindu Kush and Himalayas Snow Update 2024 by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) this week.

May 31, 2024 | thefridaytimes.com | Quddus Mirza |Talal Faisal Ismaili |Raza Rumi |Tahir Imran Mian

There are multiple forms of disappearances: forced, voluntary, strategic; individual, collective, political; physical, emotional, virtual, personal, etc. EH Gombrich in The Story of Art, has included a Greek relief, “Tombstone of Hegeso,” showing the image of a seated woman next to a young girl. The elderly person, perhaps the deceased, is holding a necklace and looking at it, longingly. Both, the female who lived around 420 BC, and the piece of jewellery from Athens, have long disappeared.

May 27, 2024 | thefridaytimes.com | Lubna Jerar Naqvi |Mohammad Ali Mahar |Talal Faisal Ismaili |Meezan Zahra Khwaja

A chilled glass of water can feel like heaven on a hot day. As temperatures rise globally, Pakistan has become a bit of a hotspot, with temperatures soaring past 53° degrees recently, and the country is experiencing consecutive heat waves during the summer months.

May 7, 2024 | thefridaytimes.com | Meezan Zahra Khwaja |Talal Faisal Ismaili |Hasan Zafar |Raza Rumi

The Covenant of Water is the 715-page epic and sometimes rather tiresome novel by physician and acclaimed author Abraham Verghese, also author of Cutting for Stone, which was a New York Times bestseller. This book by the celebrated author was much awaited and even selected for the Oprah Book Club. Reader be warned, minor spoilers ahead. The novel leads us through the story of an Indian Malayali family residing on the southwest Indian coast, in Kerala.