The Heart of the Matter

By Deneb Sumbul Drama enthusiasts were given a treat on March 7-8 when the visiting Ajoka Theatre staged the play Rozan-e-Zindan Se at the Karachi Arts Council. The ensemble cast brought to life the long-distance, four-year love-letter relationship between the country’s jailed legendary poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz and his fiery Anglo-Saxon wife, Alys Faiz. Rozan-e-Zindan …

Death and Dignity

  This article was originally published in Newsline’s September 2015 issue. Text and photographs by Deneb Sumbul When entering the premises one is immediately struck by the whiteness of the Rahat Kada’s floors and walls and the immaculate uniforms of its nursing staff. Regardless of which locality it has been situated in, its facilities have always maintained the same …

City of Dreams

Text and Photographs by Deneb Sumbul This article was originally published in Newsline’s September 2015 issue. The brainchild behind painting the public walls around Karachi with vibrant, vivid art deserves major kudos. So do all those involved in trying to inject colour into Karachi’s dreary, often dark cityscape – and in doing so letting this teeming metropolis …

A Super Ride

The Super Savari Express offers a welcome opportunity to check out Karachi's landmark.  Text and photos by Deneb Sumbul   A tour with the Super Savari Express (SSE) starts bright and early around 8 am aboard a technicoloured public mini-bus with turquoise doors – the “bride of Karachi,” with its heavily embellished, ornamental décor, complete with …

The Tales of 15 Goths

By Deneb Sumbul Working closely with women home-based workers in their homes was one of the most interesting undertakings I’ve ever been a part of, or worked in.  It was Najma Sadeque’s Women’s Economic Empowerment project aiming to help one of the most economically exploited and marginalized women of the female work force in Karachi. …

The Iconic Anita with us no more.

The Iconic Anita with us no more. Today 10th August '14 is her soyem. Please recite Surah Fatiha for her. Anita Ghulamali was always a larger than life figure, from the time I first met her when I was 14. Sizing me up, she then cracked a joke to make a shy, tongue-tied kid laugh. …

Paradise Point – Then and Now

This is Paradise point - a before and after of a famous picnic spot from a Karachi beach, on the Arabian Sea shoreline – the time span is about 30 years and the by the looks of the pictures, the water level has risen, caused the erosion and deterioration. The famous arch has disappeared which …

Deneb Sumbul’s photostream

Deneb Sumbul's photostream on Flickr.

Surviving Money and the Financial System

"Surviving Money and the Financial System - and What Women can do about it”  was a series of three-part video presentation prepared specially for the AWID conference in Istanbul in April 2012 on the demystification of money and banking and how they really operate. It was made for an in-depth economic session on how money …

Why An Acre for Every Woman – Documentary

This documentary was screened last year in Lahore as part of "An Acre for Every Woman" campaign started by Najma Sadeque under the Green Economics Initiative, Shirkat Gah in 2005. Still not complete, it was  viewed with several of my other documentary-shorts and how-to films on environment and green economics through a women's perspective. I …