The year of manscaping, selfie sticks and organic food

1 . Fresh food fetish
The organic craze seems to have infected Pakistan, with regular Farmers’ Markets being set up in Karachi and Islamabad. On offer, an ever-growing variety of organic produce from serious farmers to dabbling hobbyists. Next up: artisan cheese!

2 . Lollywood as Lazarus
After some fits and starts last year (Waar), the local film industry is experiencing a genuine mini-renaissance with several ventures opening to positive reviews and success. Between Manto, Moor and Bin Roye, this revival may be here to stay.

3 . Selfie sticks
Contorting yourself into unimaginable positions just to take that perfect pic is finally obsolete; now you can use a flexible stick that twists around so you don’t have to – all in the quest for that ideal photo!

4 . Manscaping
It started with facials. Now the list is exhaustive; from waxing to eyebrow shaping to a host of other facilities, male beauty and grooming has entrenched itself firmly in Pakistan. I say it is high time men were subjected to the same stringent standards as women; keep threading, boys!

5 . Crowd-funding
Perhaps this has not caught on locally yet, but it will. Remember the time when fans were at the mercy of the studio/network/ publishing house for their latest fix of the entertainment of their choice and forever shadowed by the threat of cancellation (Twin Peaks, I’m looking at you!)? Now a fan can be the master of her own fate – provided she can scrape up the cash. As the recent Veronica Mars movie proves, fan favourites can gather together and demonstrate considerable clout via avenues like Kickstarter. More power to the people!

Bonus
Everything old is new again. Having run out of original ideas, American TV has followed Hollywood into the world of remakes: from Twin Peaks to Heroes Reborn to Prison Break, we are besieged by nostalgia whether we like it or not!

Sara Qureshi is a marketing professional working in Pakistan.
saraqureshi75@gmail.com