Profiles – The LUMS Post

“Well, what else are you going to do?”: Dr. Mohammad Moiz on Drag, Activism, and Spirituality in Pakistan.

26Nov

By Zoha Fareed ChistiNo Comments

Arts & Culture, Features, Profiles, Top Story

“Well, what else are you going to do?”: Dr. Mohammad Moiz on Drag, Activism, and Spirituality in Pakistan.

By Zoha Fareed Chishti '23 The GPS tells me I have arrived at the destination-- a house, in a closed-off street in Gulberg, where Dr. Mohammad Moiz (aka Unrellently Yours, Phuddina Chutney, and Shumaila Bhatti) was getting ready for their drag-comedy show happening later that evening. I call Moiz to confirm whether I am at the right destination. “Brown gate, colorful tyres on the wall?” they ask me. It is the right house. I, along with a friend, am escorted into the house, and up the stairs, to a room. Moiz, already in a bright orange lehenga-choli, is getting their make-up done as we enter the room. They apologise for the state they are greeting us in: the room is scattered with makeup products, and there is a certain sense of hustle all around. Even wit...

Art as Existence: Hum Ahang in Conversation with Dr. Muhammad Moiz

13Nov

By Zoha Fareed ChistiNo Comments

Campus News, Features, Profiles

Art as Existence: Hum Ahang in Conversation with Dr. Muhammad Moiz

By: Zoha Fareed ChishtiAt 4:00 pm, on October 16, around thirty people, including myself, sat scattered on the cushions placed on the floor of one of the rooms of Cloud 9 Wellness Centre, in Gulberg Lahore. At the front of the room, three people were seated; Arhum Sarfraz ‘23, co-president of Hum Ahang, Mahnoor Ghani ‘22, LUMS alumnus and moderator for the day, and Dr. Mohammad Moiz, Khwaja Sira Activist, Drag Artist, and an expert on Public Health and Policy. The discussion session slated under the second season of Hum Ahang’s Art as Existence series had just begun. Hum Ahang’s Art as Existence series began last year, when Ghani, then Director for Seed of Change, wanted to look at how art engaged with lived realities of people, especially during the pandemic. The series has hosted photogr...

“Home is All You Have:” Mohammed Hanif on Home, Writing and Censorship

23Jan

By Zoha Fareed ChistiNo Comments

Features, Profiles

“Home is All You Have:” Mohammed Hanif on Home, Writing and Censorship

By: Zoha Fareed Chishti At 10 PM on 16th of December 2020, in a relatively quiet corner of my house, I sit facing my laptop screen. I get a notification, “Changez is in the waiting room.” I click on admit. A few seconds later, Mohammed Hanif, author, journalist, and professor, appears on my screen. On the wall behindI thank him for taking out time to speak to me, amidst his busy schedule. He laughs and tells me to bring out the questions for him. “Toh batayen,” he says, as he takes a bite out of his breakfast. I ask Hanif what he thinks about his works being labelled as being “about home, written from away [from home], in the same line as say, Kamila Shamsie or Mohsin Hamid.” We can hear his children speaking at the back, as he replies, “Uh, I have no idea.” Hanif says he understands that ...

Q & A with Malala Yousafzai | On College, Education, and Role Models

31Aug

By adminNo Comments

Features, Profiles

Q & A with Malala Yousafzai | On College, Education, and Role Models

By: Maira Asaad“Right now, the country is walking with one foot. When the other foot joins the walk, the walk becomes easier. When women are empowered, have equal opportunities, and you give them more space in different sectors, from politics to education, they help the country progress.” – Malala YousafzaiEarlier in June, it was announced that the keynote speaker for the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) Class of 2020 would be Nobel Laureate and education advocate Malala Yousafzai. On 23rd July 2020, LUMS hosted a virtual panel discussion, moderated by Adeel Hashmi, with Malala Yousafzai, Chief Programmes Officer of the Malala Fund Dr. Maliha Khan, LUMS Vice-Chancellor Arshad Ahmad, and Founding Pro Chancellor LUMS Syed Babar Ali. During the session, Malala Yousafzai answere...

1Nov

By adminNo Comments

Features, Profiles

Liaqat Ali: Everyone’s Friend

By Maira AsaadLiaqat Ali has been working as part of the classroom staff at LUMS for the past three and a half years. These days, you will often catch him in the SAHSOL Building. When he shows up for his interview outside Bombay Chowpatty, he has his warmest, interview-ready smile on. Early into the conversation, he shares that he’s getting married in another two months. While most people will be the recipients of congratulations and well wishes, Liaqat Ali has the added benefit of being asked, in good spirits, which celebrities he’s going to be inviting to the wedding. This isn’t odd, given the fact that when you open his Facebook profile, a picture of him and Shahid Afridi is the first thing one sees. This picture is only one from the collection that he has with Pakistan politicians, cri...