ISLAMABAD: 2021 — another year of the pandemic — was not easy but here at Arab News Pakistan, we tried to bring our readers some of the most awe-inspiring tales of struggle, bravery and resilience from around the country — a reminder that the show must go on. We hope you’ll find some moments of joy as you look back at this selection of our best, most read features of the year.
– Editors
‘Wish my father were alive’: Bangladeshi woman sold as slave bride in Pakistan returns home
A woman from Bangladesh who was sold as a slave bride in Pakistan in 1983 and flew to Dhaka last week said on Wednesday she wished her father were still alive to see her return to her homeland and be reunited with her family.
Septuagenarian Pakistani with record for crushing apples throws down gauntlet to India
Naseem Uddin, an iron-fisted 70-year-old Pakistani welder who has made a Guinness World Record for most apples crushed in the hand in one minute, says he now aims to break any record held by his country’s archrival, India.
In Pakistan’s Balochistan, one woman grows her ice cream business, scoop by creamy scoop
When her husband lost his job in 2001 and Lubna Farooq set up a pushcart selling ice cream churned out from an old-fashioned, hand-cranked machine, little did she know she would one day run one of the most successful ice cream businesses in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
Demand for sweet raisins turns impoverished Pakistani region into key grape producer
Two remote districts in southwestern Pakistan have become the country’s top producers of sweet raisins in recent years, according to officials and farmers who hope government support for the industry in the future could turn it into a major player in the region.
‘Golden Man of Islamabad’ brings peculiar street art of living statues to Pakistani capital
When 18-year-old Muhammad Ahsan arrived in the Pakistani capital to find a job, little did he know that a series of coincidences would soon turn him into the city’s new and unique performance artist, the “Golden Man of Islamabad.”
A stone’s throw from extinction, Balochistan’s ancient Sang Gerak game makes comeback
As the sun began to set on Friday behind the western terrain of Koh-e-Chiltan in Quetta city, dozens of old men from the Hazara community entered Zawar Shah Stadium, a small ground flattened out in the heart of the rocky mountains, to watch the All Hazara Sang Gerak Tournament.
Looking up an old love, food, on a historic street in Pakistan’s Karachi
An iconic street in Karachi, for decades the hub of traditional foods in the port city, had lost its appeal, and thousands of customers, in recent years due to traffic congestion and decaying buildings.
Pakistani scientists harness power of virtual reality to bring new hope to dementia patients
Two Pakistani scientists have published the results of a study that shows the decline in brain functions of dementia patients could be controlled, or slowed, with the use of virtual reality, offering new hope to sufferers of a neurological disorder that afflicts 55 million people worldwide.
Dr. Ali Jawaid tests a program and equipment for VR-based therapy for dementia patients during a study at Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan, January 2021. (Photo courtesy: Walid Riaz)
Can ‘win hearts, not medals’ given poor sports facilities in Pakistan — Arshad Nadeem
Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem, who had his dreams of javelin gold dashed on Saturday, said he felt “ashamed” that he did not win a medal for Pakistan, but lamented that it was only possible to “win hearts, not medals” given the inadequate training facilities and government support currently available for sportspersons in the country.
Arshad Nadeem, of Pakistan, competes in the men's javelin throw final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP)
Inspired by Disney princess Elsa, three-year-old Pakistani girl gets ‘magical’ blue prosthetic arm
Three-year-old Momina Aamir’s father was overwhelmed with emotion in August this year when his daughter, who was born without her right arm, asked her father if she could borrow his hand so she could prostrate properly while performing the Muslim ritual of prayer.
Missing K2 climbers knew weather wasn’t on their side for long — expedition co-leader
Three mountaineers who went missing on February 5 while attempting K2’s winter summit knew the weather would soon deteriorate even as they were just a few hundred meters from the peak, the co-leader of the winter expedition has said, raising questions about whether the climbers pushed on with their mission despite knowing they did not have enough time to summit, and safely descend, before the weather became unsuitable.
For the vinyl DJs of small-town Pakistan, a musical evening like no other
In a small southern town steeped in history, hundreds of men from across Pakistan gathered last week for the love of old music, huddled all night in blankets and holding mugs of warm tea as they swayed to records spinning on antique gramophones.
Two young participants from Chambar, Sindh, pose with their records at Shahpur Chakar Town in Sindh, Pakistan on Jan. 9, 2021. (AN photo by Zulfiqar Kunbhar)
A case of growing mangoes: New farming method promises to multiply Pakistan's yield
After a decade of declining harvest, mango growers in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province are pinning their hopes on a new farming technique that would allow them to increase their fruit yield up to six times, several growers and experts said.
A group of young workers pose for a picture with freshly harvested mangoes at a farm in Tando Allahyar in Pakistan's Sindh province on May 24, 2021. (AN photo by Zulfiqar Kunbhar)
