| Nadeem F. Paracha |
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| pakistani columnists | |
| pakistani writers | |
| pakistani satirists | |
| music journalists | |
| pakistani music critics | |
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| 1967 births | |
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Nadeem F. Paracha , (born November 9 , 1967 ) is a controversial Pakistan i journalist, Music Critic and short story writer. He also writes as Nadeem Farooq Paracha or simply as “NFP” EARLY LIFE His father, Farooq Paracha , was a Socialist journalist hailing from the Attock district ( Makhad ) in the north of the Punjab and a staunch supporter of the Pakistan Peoples Party . Paracha’s mother, Khalida Paracha, was born in Kolkata , India , shortly before Partition Of The Indian Sub-continent in 1947 , and came to Karachi as a Refugee . Paracha’s parents married in the early 1960s, both being Psychology students at the University Of Karachi and supporters of various Progressive and Left-wing causes. Paracha also has a younger sister who is a housewife and a younger brother who works for a reputed IT company. Paracha started his schooling at the Kabul American School in Afghanistan where his father worked as a Press Attache at the Pakistan Embassy between 1970 and 1974. After their return to Pakistan, Paracha attended the prestigious Karachi Grammar School from where he did his O-level s. He was, however, asked to leave after being caught promoting drug use among other students. He then joined Saint Patricks Government College in 1984 from where he did his Bachelors in Commerce in 1986 . It was here that he actively joined Student Politics , first by joining the left-wing National Students Federation and then forming the St. Pats Socialist Students Federation . He was arrested a number of times for agitating against the Right-wing government of General Zia and for writing and distributing Anti-state literature. After leaving college, Paracha traveled to India for many months. This was also the first time he got addicted to Narcotic Drugs . He returned to Pakistan and joined the University of Karachi as a Masters student of Political Science in 1988. He vigorously resumed his political activities by joining the left-wing Democratic Students Federation . He also started writing a column on campus politics for the Star . This got him into a number of clashes with the right-wing politico-religious student groups. At the fall of the Berlin Wall and of Communism in the former Soviet Union , Paracha started calling himself an Anarchist and with a few college friends began publishing an Underground anarchist Newsletter called The Arousal . Mostly written by Paracha, the paper started out by aggressively mocking and attacking politico-religious parties and personalities, Feudal and Capitalist interests and the many quasi- Fascist ethnic parties that had sprung up in the 1980s. It was here that Paracha started to develop his distinct style of writing that was a mixture of mock ranting, madcap humor and early Dadaist Literature . The newsletter was distributed free of cost in many areas of Karachi and Lahore . After being harassed and clamped down by the authorities, he dissolved The Arousal and joined Mag, Pakistan’s largest English weekly magazine, as a feature-writer. THE JOURNALIST After working three years for Mag and already bagging a sizable following for his sarcastic and angry tirades against the powers that be, Paracha was asked to leave after he wrote a scathing feature against one of Pakistan’s biggest politico-religious parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami , accusing them of using funds for the Afghan Jihad to meet their needs for the 1993 General Elections that were won by the Pakistan Peoples Party. After a stint as a Concept Writer in various Advertising agencies, Paracha was coaxed by his mentor, Imran Aslam , to join The News International , Karachi, of which Imran was Editor . Paracha joined as editor of the paper’s Popular Culture page, Vibes, and columnist. He got fame for trying to give the country’s growing pop culture a sense of history and socio-political purpose; and infamy for his satirical, controversial and biting columns targeted at “corporate imperialism”, the orthodox mullah lobby and what he called was the “COLAnization of middle-class Pakistan”. {Link without Title} THE ICONOCLAST In the late 1990s , though at the height of his career as an iconoclastic and influential music journalist and bohemian icon, Paracha dejected and rejecting the country’s electronic and print media as being “a culmination of cynical sell-outs" and "pompous catwalk intellectuals” quit writing and became a deluded recluse. This was also when he again started to have major problems with narcotic addiction. And though he had had numerous affairs, he married Amber Siddique, an excellent and award winning MBA student and (later) a high ranking official in a Dutch Bank . She was instrumental in cleaning up his act and prepared him to return from his self imposed exile from writing. {Link without Title} After spending almost four years secluded and in narcotic wilderness, Paracha returned to writing in 2003 after suffering a now cured drug habit and a mental breakdown. He is currently associated with Pakistan's underground music site Bandbaja and writes a regular column on the popular South Asian site Www.chowk.com. Though now in his late 30s, NFP is still notorious for his iconoclastic style and attitude. He is also widley accliamed to be a huge influence and pioneer of modern music journalism in Pakistan. In the last few years, Nadeem F. Paracha has also made a name for himself as a short story writer. His short stories and novelettes on Chowk.com have gained a strong following, especially those interested in astute social and political satire and experimental writing. His novellete Acidity written for Chowk has become a controversial cyber cult classic in both India and Pakistan. {Link without Title} THE CHAMELEON Although today Paracha is widely hailed to be Pakistan's leading and most influential music critic and an forums of which his reviews and eccentricities are hot topics. Though always in demand by local private Television channels and FM Radio stations, Paracha keeps his distance and continues his reclusive lifestyle. There are some special NFP pages on the net and orkut mostly run by Bandbaja and famous TV host and journalist Fasi Zaka and a few others. Recently according to City FM 89 website (a Pakistani FM music channel), NFP was nominated by famous music TV channel of the country Indus Music for an award in the upcoming annual Indus Music awards, but NFP declined. {Link without Title} . Paracha also got into another controversy for publicly praising the Musharraf dictatorship in Pakistan. {Link without Title} THE WORKS Nadeem F. Paracha is famous for contributing some important historical and analytical work regarding Pakistan's modern Popular Culture . The list of articles below is often referred to by most Pakistani and Indian writers and publications whenever they want to find social insights and facts about the social and political dynamics of Pakistan's popular culture. A lot of pieces Paracha did for The News International and Weekly Mag in the early and middle nineties is not available on the net and thus old copies of these articles are valued a lot by his fans. Below is a list of articles and writings available online on various newspaper and literary sites. The list also includes some of his most controversial pieces of satire. Danish Cartoons Riots South Asian Earthquake The Politics of Pakistani Popular Culture
Pakistani Pop Music
Youth
Satire
Science Fiction
Advertising
QUOTES
Answering a question about him taking money for his drug habit from pop stars on a Junoon website
On being asked why is he always attacking pop artists who are sponsored by Multinational s.
Speaking at a Youth Conference in Karachi .
Explaining a questioner on chowk.com about his Absurdist writing style which he used in Acidity (Novelette) .
On being asked by an irritated reader what made him write a bad review of a religious naat album by former pop star turned Islamic preacher, Junaid Jamshed .
Answering a reader on The News International forum who explained him how the Capitalist Economics he is always attacking is "best" and that he (Paracha) should stop attacking people who agree with capitalism and are called Yuppie s
Replying to a question on chowk.com.
Talking about commercialism in Pakistani pop scene on a music forum. (On)
Fasi Zaka on his Orkut Community.
Salman Ahmed of Junoon in an interview given to a popular Pakistani weekly, Sunday Times.
Ali Azmat in an interview on ''On The Fringe''
Junaid Jamshed writing for The News International in 1995.
Former Awaz member and solo artist, Faakhir alluding to NFP when asked by a weekly whom he would like to kill the most.
Omer Tariq, former Editor of ''bandbaja.org''.
Strings (Pakistani Pop Band) in an interview in The News International, saying in spite of the bad review, the album became the band's largest selling work.
Ali Zafar on being a good sport even when NFP gave him a bad review.
'''Irfan Kiani, brother and manager of Hadiqa Kiani . SOURCES
SEE ALSO
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