The outré life and tragic death of Iqbal Tajir

 The outré life and tragic death of Iqbal Tajir
[This post is a placeholder.  I will add more to the story later.]

Mohammad Iqbal aka Iqbal Tajir lived a short but colorful life.  Originally from Bahawalpur, how did Iqbal Tajir end up being in London is a mystery—I am sure there are people who know that part of the story.  But Iqbal Tajir’s real story starts from London where he lived an ostensibly good life owning a restaurant and hosting South Asian celebrities at his flat.  What made him move from London to Karachi is another mystery.  In Karachi he ran Shalimar Restaurant featuring exotic food and live music.  To amuse his special guests Iqbal Tajir would take the stage and start singing.  Iqbal Tajir had a charming personality and was exceptionally good at making friends, and especially in befriending famous people.  Iqbal Tajir was very generous—continuously pleasing his friends with lavish gifts and picking up their tabs when they ate at his restaurant.  Nobody knew how financially bankrupt he was: a famous man with outwardly affluent ways, but in reality, living an impoverished life.
Iqbal Tajir’s luck ran out when Pakistan Navy, on whose land the Shalimar Restaurant was illegally running, kicked him out.  Then there is a gap of a year or so during which Iqbal Tajir is trying to restart his business at a new place. And then one day he suddenly went quiet.  A few days went by and his friends--being a bachelor he had no family members besides a brother--got worried about Iqbal Tajir’s wellbeing.  Iqbal Tajir’s mutilated body was found in the underground water storage tank at his house. [June 18, 1991]

Tags: Iqbal Tajir, owner of Shalimar Restaurant, Airport Road, Karachi; businessman, columnist

Shalimar Restaurant featuring quail, teetar, rabbit, deer meat.

Syed Muzaffar Hussain Shah, CIA Inspector

 restaurateur killed by his servants

Businessman killed by domestic help for nonpayment of wages

 

محمد اقبال عرف اقبال تاجر

 لندن

شالیمار ریستوراں کراچی

تیتر، بٹیر، خرگوش، اور ہرن کا گوشت

اقبال تاجر کا سفاک قتل

تنخواہ نہ دینے پہ ملازمین نے کلہاڑی کے وار سے اقبال تاجر کو ہلاک کرنے کے بعد اس کی لاش پانی کے ٹینک میں ڈال دی۔

 

Movie Review: The Personal History of David Copperfield, starring Dev Patel

 Movie Review: The Personal History of David Copperfield starring Dev Patel

I really did not get this movie--maybe because I was tired and the movie failed to get my full attention; or it could be, had I read the novel by Charles Dickens I would have been more interested in reviewing the filmization of the story.

How does the movie start?  A young man is telling an audience. his life story. Why are people interested in listening to the childhood and coming of age experiences of a young man narrated in his own words?  Maybe it does not matter if the story is interesting; story telling skills are more important. The audience listens and listens till the movie ends with an applause.

The film further pushes the reach of the nonwhite actors in characters firmly placed in European stories. If Cinderella can be Afro-American, David Copperfield a 19th Century Englishman, can be played by a Desi actor.

Image: Film poster, courtesy of Wikipedia

Movie Review: Nomadland (2020)

 

Movie Review: Nomadland (2020)

Screenplay based on Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder

Life comes in billions of flavors.  Nomadland is the story of people living out of their cars, vans, trucks, and RVs.  Fern, played by Frances McDormand, was living a happy life with her husband in Empire, Nevada when the main employer of the town, a factory making drywalls, went out of business.  Fern’s husband died and Fern had to move.  Fern is now living out of a van, hopping from one campground to another, occasionally working on temporary positions. How are these modern-day nomads seen by their family members?  As lazy people who are running away from the responsibilities that come with a settled life.  But these nomads genuinely love their mobile lifestyles and do not want to think far enough when they will be old and frail and ready to call a grave their permanent home.

Image: Courtesy of bayshorebroadcasting.ca

Movie review: The Sound of Metal (2019) starring Riz Ahmed

 

Movie review: The Sound of Metal (2019 starring Riz Ahmed

 

A young drummer falls victim to the occupational hazard of constantly dealing with loud noise.  Only on losing most of his hearing he realizes he has been exchanging his health (hearing to be precise) with a small amount of money.  The epic advice from the doctor may make some in the audience question their own lives and the choices they constantly make on how to earn a living: “You have the responsibility to preserve what you have.”

Image: Film poster, courtesy of Wikipedia