The World Is A Samosa (Dunya Eik Samosa Hai)

by Tazeen Bari

This is an audio piece in Urdu with video subtitles. It is intended to be a short film. The concept, direction and production was executed by me. However the actual story and dialogue was a collaborative effort between myself, Asif Akhtar and Amen Jaffer. The audio piece was recorded in a sound booth and natural sound was added afterwards.

This piece is fictional however many examples have been taken from real life such as the confusing role of double agents and intelligence agencies. The information in wikileaks about Osama’s body being taken to Delaware. Also the fact that no images of Osama Bin Laden were released shows that the Americans were concerned about the effect these images would have. The fact that terrorist organizations are making ample use of technology is also true. War in the modern world is now mediated in a completely different way. Whether it is state or terrorist propaganda and the piece touches on this theme and the role of information.

In 2011 Osama Bin Laden was killed in Abbotabad by an American operation. No images of his body were released and he was reportedly thrown into the ocean to be eaten by the fishes. My city of Islamabad became a media circus as reporters from all over the world flooded in. In the United States some people rejoiced that the enemy had been caught and killed. Revenge for the tragedy of 9/11. However in many ways Osama Bin Laden is irrelevant. Terrorist acts have spread far beyond him, as have the consequences of 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan.

The piece also hopes to show that the “war on terror” is far from over. It is immediate and present everywhere. In the case of Pakistan every other day there is a suicide attack or bomb blast.

A central theme in this piece is the ridiculousness of war. These two old friends were unknowingly both the cause of pain and misery for each other. The satire in the piece is a reflection of how senseless all of this is.