Entertainment Week - Tassy keeps her mind, body and soul active

 Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Tassy - Karachi, Pakistan


Entertainment during the time of Covid-19 has changed drastically. Since we are starved of cultural activities here in Karachi anyway other than some theatre, the occasional good film in the cinema, and some art exhibitions, entertainment for the majority revolves around the TV, socializing, and eating out. By nature Pakistanis are family-minded, and family refers to extended family.





To give you an example, first cousins are often referred to as brothers and sisters as generally everyone is very close to each other. There is also a concept of large families here and having up to four siblings is often the norm. My own grandfather was the eldest of 18 children!! So entertainment for the majority revolves around family and friends, much of it at home. Since I have spent most of my life out of Pakistan my concept of a large dinner party is 20 people. Here, a dinner party could involve 50 or 60 people.

Since the onset of COVID-19, hosting and attending lunches and dinners for such numbers is out of the question. So my social life has been restricted to meeting a handful of my dearest friends. I would say that has been the biggest change for me. I do miss the interaction with the larger group and extended circle of friends. But what I have realized over these past few months has been how much I do enjoy the company of the friends I meet regularly. We have not tired of each other, in fact, I think it has made the friendship even stronger.

As I have mentioned in my previous stories, weddings are a big part of our culture here with wedding festivities lasting over ten days. A wedding invitation is not restricted to close family and friends. In fact, it is for everyone you know! People invite business colleagues, friends of friends, and distant relatives you may not have seen in years.


People spend their life’s savings on these events, so not surprisingly weddings here are grand and lavish affairs. They too have come to a total standstill. Although the restrictions imposed during lockdown have largely been lifted, wedding halls and hotels have been banned from hosting such events. We have a wedding in my in-laws family this December and my husband’s cousin is waiting with bated breath to see whether the situation will have changed by then.




 Prior to COVID, painting was a source of release for me giving me hours of quiet time to reflect and create. Somehow this is one area where I lack motivation and despite the free time I had during lockdown in particular,  I’m still not too sure why I wasn’t able to get myself into it.

 Although not strictly ‘entertainment’ I have Urdu lessons with my tutor on Zoom and have my thrice-weekly meditation classes also online. I enjoy both the activities and am happy to do them online as it saves me a car journey battling traffic.


One big part of my ‘entertainment’ was going to the gym every day. That has also come to a complete halt because of COVID. Gyms resumed operation here a couple of months ago but I have not had the courage to go. I have instead been working out at home on my own following Youtube videos (Caroline Girvan is fantastic!) or going for a walk to the park near my house. There is a walking track there and despite the humid weather I am enjoying being out in the open. I try and walk with a friend in the evenings a few times during the week and I enjoy the chat with her.



Our Shih-Tzu Mario, of course, remains steadfast in entertaining us and even though we have had him for 10 years he still continues to bring much joy for us presenting us with new antics each day.

 As a summary, COVID-19 has shown me that although I miss the buzz of meeting large numbers of people at any given place, I have found ways of finding meaning and fulfillment in my daily routine and developing closer bonds with smaller groups of friends.



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