Four Religious Communities; One Rhythm

This Diwali, we had the pleasure of welcoming many members of Pakistani Hindu community at Sol for a wholesome Diwali celebration.

The Interfaith Drum-Circle is a heart-warming tradition at Sol that usually takes place every Diwali. It involves representatives of various religious communities of Pakistan, coming together to create one distinct rhythm in friendly drum circle. The circle is organized by One Drum, often curated by Amna Qamar.

I’d especially like to thank our good friend Jayaa Jaggi for helping us bring the Hindu community together at Sol, for a beautiful celebration. It was an absolute thrill meeting young Hindu students from various universities across Pakistan; all working together to help us with the decorations and our musical activities.

Thank you so much to everyone who participated. We continue to hope for a Pakistan where no community is discriminated against on the basis of religion.

May peace prevail.

Do you play Chess? Become part of an important research project at Sol.

We are helping a team of students at the National Council of Arts (NCA) carry out an important piece of research involving an experimental chess set.

We play chess with our eyes. What if we played with our noses instead?

For their thesis, the team has developed an experimental chess board consisting of pieces that cannot be distinguished by appearance; they can only be identified by smell.

This might sound confusing, but here’s the interesting part:

Parts of our brain involved in developing strategies are linked strongly to the part of our brain responsible for vision.

Consider why Beth Harmon from the Queen’s Gambit “sees” chess pieces moving around on the ceiling when she’s strategizing and calculating possible outcomes for each move. What if we taught Beth Harmon to “smell” pieces instead of “seeing” them. How would that affect the neuronal architecture of her brain, and the associations between its various parts? Instead of vision, can the ‘strategizing’ or ‘problem-solving’ centers of our brain, re-associate itself with the center for smell (or “olfaction”)?

Cafe Sol, which proudly hosts some of the best chess and most ambitious chess players in the twin cities, is pleased to participate in this study. We just need more volunteers to play this fun, experimental chess with us.

If you’re interested, please let us know!

For science!

A Panel Discussion on the Current Crisis in Kashmir

‘Kashmir’ is not the name of a conflict.

’Kashmir’ is a mass of some of the world’s most resilient people, fighting against censorship and oppression in the most creative and inspiring of ways.

Last Sunday, we were joined by a panel of experts to help us better understand the ongoing situation in Kashmir. The panel included:

- Omair Bhatt (from Indian Occupied Kashmir)
- Fesl Khan (from the UK, via weblink)
- Syed Muzammil Shah (News anchor, via weblink)
- Nishtha Sood (Law Student and Human Rights Activist from Delhi India, via weblink)
- Sambhav K S (Rights Activist from Delhi India, via weblink)
- Natasha Noreen (From Italy, via weblink)
- Muhammad Salman (Human Right Activist, Pakistan)

Our guest speaker at the event was Ms Bakhtawar Mahmood, General Manager of DBTV Live. Her contribution to the dialogue about the media’s role in aggravating or resolving the crisis, was particularly insightful.

The event was shared live on Facebook and Instagram.
Link: /CafeSolPk/videos/384725648897398

We’d like to thank all the panelist for their time and valuable insight, and thank you to all viewers - at iO and online - for their participation.

Moderator Dr Faraz Talat, and panelist Mr Fesl Khan joining from the UK.

We need customers to say 'Walaikumusalam' to us

A customer walked into our cafe with his family. “Asalamoalaikum!” I said politely from behind the counter. The man ignored our greeting and gradually strolled to the display fridge. “Asalamoalaikum!” I repeated myself, a bit louder and with a smile. At this point, there was no doubt that he’d heard me. He ignored my greeting again.

He ordered his food in as few words as possible, while avoiding eye contact. Unsurprisingly, the rest of our experience serving the group was just as underwhelming.

This happens to us nearly everyday.

As restaurant and business grow more competitive in the twin cities, our workers are at risk of ignoring their own dignity in the interest of customer service.

We are not furniture. What occurs between restaurant staff and a customer. is a business transaction among equal citizens. We charge our customers for food, beverages, and a polite service. The bill does not include the cost of enduring disrespect attitudes.

Under an entrenched class system, we’re often made to believe that respect is a one-way lane; from the constantly overworked service class to the perpetually dissatisfied gentry. Someone must be ‘less’ for another to feel ‘more’.

We work hard to provide our valued customers the best possible service in the twin cities. It is important to us that our crew also feels respected at the end of the day.

To my team and I, this means a lot.

Why we don’t laugh at fat jokes at this cafe

Café Sol takes pride in selling homemade treats, made lovingly by local cooks in their own home kitchens. We recently lost part of our supply from one of our most skilled vendors, for the most bizarre reason.

This home cook has been forbidden to cook by her family ‘until she loses weight’. We’ve been stunned by the absurdity and injustice of it, and feel very sorry for her situation.

As an obese person, I understand that weight loss can be punishingly complicated. Will-power and determination are important, but there’s a constellation of social, financial, hormonal, biological, psychological, pharmacological, and numerous other factors that can make weight loss very difficult. To reduce this struggle to a simple matter of ‘lacking self-discipline’ is akin to arguing that the only reason you aren’t a billionaire is because you’re too lazy.

The fact this that gifted home cook is being forced to give up a meaningful revenue stream, is something we find unacceptable. For one, the move appears absurdly misguided, as being forbidden to cook is hardly a weight-loss strategy. Cooking food is a basic part of being an adult. Even the most dedicated fitness experts cook their own meals, and losing access to the kitchen is likely to do more harm than good. And secondly, losing weight largely to meet outdated beauty standards, is particularly problematic.

I sometimes meet people at the café who poke fun at my own weight problem. I do not lash out, but I don’t laugh either. I let the joke fall flat into an uncomfortable silence, as such jokes should. When I hear a fat ‘joke’, the only thing I’m reminded of is a 30-year period of discrimination, bullying, and alienation. It doesn’t necessarily make me angry, but it certainly does not make me laugh.

When I hear a fat joke, I am reminded of our vender who is being kept from doing what she loves. It’s not easy going outside every day, bracing for a torrent of shame and insult.  It’s about lacking a sense of humor. It just doesn’t make us laugh.

Not here.