ISLAMABAD: “We are hoping to spread awareness of the importance of education, to inspire and motivate girls to go to school regardless of hurdles, to emphasize the strength of Pakistani women who choose education and to acknowledge the resilience of Pakistanis. Profits from book sales will go to charities benefiting girls’ education in Pakistan,” Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy told Arab News.
On World Book Day Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s SOC Outreach, a community engagement platform started by the award-winning director, announced they were releasing a novella written by Sanam Maher titled “Knowledge is Bulletproof,” and that the book would be bulletproof as well.
The 150-page story of Ramzan and Riaz, the other two schoolgirls who were shot alongside Malala Yousafzai and who today are tireless activists for education is bound in bulletproof materials, the first book of its kind.
Maher joined the project because of its unique premise and the story it promised to tell. This is the journalist’s first foray into book publishing, alongside her own first finished book.
“I got involved in the project when the artists behind it approached me with the idea. They had a very clear vision of what they hoped the campaign would achieve, and when they told me they wanted to work on something about the two girls who were also injured in the attack on Malala in 2012, I was immediately intrigued,” said Maher.
“I hadn’t seen much about the girls in the media -– even though, as I later discovered, they had been covered quite a bit in the British press -– and I relished the opportunity to tell their story. We have read and heard so much about Malala, and rightly so, but covering Shazia and Kainat’s story gave us the chance to look at Malala’s story from a slightly different perspective: these two girls were witnesses to an event that really brought home the brutality of the Pakistani Taliban to so many people, both within the country and abroad. I wondered what it would be like to be just slightly removed from the center of a story with such far-reaching interest and implications, just inches away from the girl we cannot stop looking at and wanting to know more about: Malala.”
The opportunity gave Maher the chance to meet the two attack survivors and understand the story known worldwide from their perspectives.
“I traveled to Mingora to meet Shazia and Kainat, and their families, with the photographer Insiya Syed. Shazia and Kainat were very keen to have their story told. We met them at a time that was stressful for them –- their visas to travel to the UK for further education had been rejected and they were waiting for word on their appeals -– but they were very generous with their time. Don’t worry, their story ultimately has a happy ending, and it was so moving to be there at a moment when their lives were going to change. I’m so excited for them to read the book and to hear their thoughts on it.”
In collaboration with BBDO (advertising agency) they plan to print a number of the books and have the proceeds of the sales go toward rebuilding schools in Northern Pakistan where areas were particularly affected by the presence of the Taliban.
“The initial thought was to tell the inspiring story of Shazia and Kainat, and how they braved it through the violence and continued to fight for girls’ education. The design of the book cover being bulletproof was a natural and relevant extension of the message ‘Knowledge is Bulletproof’,” said Chinoy.
“The goal was to be impactful not only with the story that had to be told, but also with the design of the book itself. It made perfect sense to use material that is symbolic of the brave resistance that the girls so admirably demonstrated. To show that knowledge is indeed bulletproof, it was thus ideal to design an actual bulletproof cover for the book,” said Maher.
This book will be the first of its kind, a novel encased in bulletproof materials to enable those reading it or encountering it to understand the message of the pages clearly.
“I thought it was a wonderfully impactful way to get people to sit up and take notice,” continues Maher. “Once you meet the girls, and so many other girls and women in Swat and other parts of the country who are all striving to complete their education despite the odds stacked against them, the message that the book’s design carries becomes even more important. The book’s design and the idea at its heart — it cannot and must not be enough for Pakistani women to rely on luck or chance or privilege in order to receive an education that will carry them forward — came together beautifully. It was a pleasure to be involved in a project where every element of the final product was so thoughtful and considered the nuances of Shazia and Kainat’s story.”
And though SOC Outreach, Chinoy and Maher hope the campaign and the book bring them results to continue their good work, there is also hope for Maher that these projects are needed less and less.
“I do hope that people will be interested in the campaign and there will be many, many more projects dealing with the subject of access to education, particularly for women in Pakistan. I also hope that there will be a time when the need for such projects will be obsolete.”
‘Knowledge is Bulletproof’: A bulletproof book for education
‘Knowledge is Bulletproof’: A bulletproof book for education
- Sanam Maher and Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s SOC Outreach teamed up to produce a one-of-a kind novella, “Knowledge is Bulletproof,” which tells the story of activists Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz, who were shot alongside Malala Yousafzai but survived
- The book is bound in bulletproof materials, a significant move by the producers
Book Review: ‘White Nights’ by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “White Nights” is a hauntingly beautiful novella that captures the delicate interplay of dreams and reality, love and loneliness.
Written in 1848, this early work by the Russian master offers a poignant exploration of human emotions, showcasing his remarkable ability to delve into the complexities of the heart.
Told in the first person, the novella invites readers into the world of a nameless narrator, a dreamer who yearns for connection yet struggles with isolation.
Set against the ethereal backdrop of St. Petersburg’s white nights, where the sun barely sets and time feels suspended, the story unfolds over the course of four evenings and one morning.
The narrator, a solitary figure lost in his own fantasies, encounters Nastenka, a young woman whose vitality and vulnerability draw him out of his shell.
What begins as an unlikely meeting blossoms into an intense, fleeting relationship, marked by confessions, shared hopes, and the bittersweet promise of love.
Dostoevsky’s prose is lyrical and evocative, capturing the dreamlike atmosphere of the city and the emotional turbulence of his characters. The narrator’s voice is filled with longing and naivety, his idealism and vulnerability making him both endearing and tragic.
Nastenka, meanwhile, is a figure of contrasts — at once strong-willed and dependent, hopeful and heartbroken. Together, they create a dynamic that is as tender as it is heartbreaking.
At its core, “White Nights” is a meditation on loneliness and the human desire for connection. Dostoevsky paints a vivid picture of the narrator’s internal world, a place filled with grandiose dreams but devoid of real companionship.
The fleeting relationship with Nastenka becomes a mirror for his yearning, offering him a taste of the intimacy he craves while underscoring its impermanence. Their encounters are imbued with a sense of fragility, as if the story itself might dissolve with the dawn.
The novella also explores the tension between reality and fantasy, a theme that runs through much of Dostoevsky’s work.
The narrator’s idealized view of love clashes with the complexities of Nastenka’s situation, creating a narrative that is as much about disillusionment as it is about hope.
In this way, “White Nights” reflects Dostoevsky’s early interest in the psychological struggles that would later define his great novels.
Though brief, “White Nights” is rich in emotional depth and literary beauty. It captures the universal experience of longing, the ache of unfulfilled dreams, and the bittersweet nature of human connections that are as fleeting as the white nights themselves.
For readers new to Dostoevsky, the novella serves as an accessible entry point to his work, while longtime admirers will recognize the seeds of the psychological insight and moral complexity that define his later masterpieces.
In “White Nights,” Dostoevsky creates a timeless portrait of the human spirit — its capacity for love, vulnerability to heartbreak, and endless yearning for something just out of reach.
It is a story that lingers in the mind, much like the soft glow of a St. Petersburg summer night, leaving readers both moved and reflective.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Birds at Rest’ by Roger Pasquier
“Birds at Rest” is the first book to give a full picture of how birds rest, roost, and sleep, a vital part of their lives.
It features new science that can measure what is happening in a bird’s brain over the course of a night or when it has flown to another hemisphere, as well as still-valuable observations by legendary naturalists such as John James Audubon, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Theodore Roosevelt. Much of what they saw and what ornithologists are studying today can be observed and enjoyed by any birder.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Dynamical Systems Theory of Thermodynamics’
Author: Wassim M. Haddad
“A Dynamical Systems Theory of Thermodynamics” develops a postmodern theory of thermodynamics as part of mathematical dynamical systems theory.
This book merges the two universalisms of thermodynamics and dynamical systems theory in a single compendium, with the latter providing an ideal language for the former, to develop a new and unique framework for dynamical thermodynamics.
In particular, the book uses system-theoretic ideas to bring coherence, clarity, and precision to an important and poorly understood classical area of science.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘What Insects Do, and Why’
Author: Ross Piper
“What Insects Do, and Why” takes you on an unforgettable tour of the insect world, presenting these amazing creatures as you have never seen them before.
This stunningly illustrated guide explores how insects live, ranging from elegant displays of courtship to brutal acts of predation, and provides insights into the marvelous diversity of insects all around us.
Along the way, Ross Piper discusses insect evolution, reproduction and life cycles, feeding strategies, defenses, sociality, parasite-host interactions, human impacts on insects, and more.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Brainjacking’
- The book examines how techniques such as storytelling, advertising and political strategies are used to inform, influence, and manipulate people
Author: Brian Clegg
The 2024 book “Brainjacking: The Science of Influence and Manipulation” by Brian Clegg delves into the ways science and technology influence human behavior and decision-making.
I read this fascinating 288-page book cover-to-cover in one go. The writing style is fluid and not too cumbersome.
“‘The Matrix’ film portrayed a visceral, fictional kind of brainjacking, which is the term I’m using to indicate mechanisms that enable our brains to be changed by others, often without conscious awareness that this is happening,” Clegg writes, explaining his choice in title.
“This is entirely different from brainwashing,” he continues. “Brainjacking is a more subtle, far more widespread, and more interesting activity.”
The book examines how techniques such as storytelling, advertising and political strategies are used to inform, influence, and manipulate people. The book connects hot topics like artificial intelligence, big data, and subliminal messaging to reveal both the obvious and subtle forms of manipulation in modern life.
Clegg, a writer known for making complex scientific ideas accessible to general audiences, is the perfect author for this topic. Two of the British author’s previously published books were longlisted for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books.
With a background in physics, Clegg explores the intersections of science, technology and human behavior.
At the end of “Brainjacking,” he writes: “If there is one takeaway, I would like to stress that it is to be more aware of ‘brainjacking’ as it happens all around — both to you and by you. Embrace it where it's good; reject it where it is negative. But most of all, enjoy this particularly human activity.”
