Diwali in Khairpur, It is simple my dear Watson, Aakar Patel

Friend Aakar Patel writes: What a real hero should look like? Somebody should show him a picture of Abdul Sattar Edhi.

"Are you somewhere in Pakistan?" This was the ready response to a text message sent from, yes, somewhere in Pakistan. And where and what it was about? Well, we were sitting in a Diwali function in Khairpur, in front of a restored historical edifice now named Khazana and the entire atmosphere was almost surreal. Close to midnight, a very large gathering was enthralled by ritualistic Diwali songs and the sufi music of Sindh. In some ways, it was a sound and light show in the middle of nowhere -- because that is how interior Sindh is often regarded. Ghazi Salahuddin

President Barack Hussein Obama desperately needs allies in order to avoid his Vietnam. Pakistan can help Obama where the Pentagon is clearly failing but Obama needs to know who is in charge. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, the 67th United States secretary of state, was in Pakistan to find out for herself as to who really runs America's "major non-NATO ally" (President Bush's address at MacDill Air Force Base; June 16, 2004). Is it Islamabad or Rawalpindi? It is simple my dear Watson