I can’t believe the news today/Oh, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away/How long, how long must we sing this song?” – ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ by U2

For the longest time, Nadeem Farooq Paracha (NFP), was the person who covered a pioneering time in music when artists including Vital Signs and several others were taking off. Like a Jack Kerouac, he put us in the thick of things and continued to do so as a journalist for several years. Calling him a gonzo journalist wouldn’t be out of line. But as he moved from one prominent newspaper to another, pop culture didn’t take as much significance. He became prominent (and controversial) for his potent take on the country’s deteriorating state through his columns.

The books he wrote expanded that perspective.

However, The Pakistan Anti-Hero: History Of Pakistani Nationalism Through The Lives of Iconoclasts did go onto provide an insight into pop culture, socio-political developments (and lack thereof). But, as far as the prose went, it appeared dense.

His latest book - For Faith State and the Soul: A History of Popular Culture in Pakistan - on the other hand - takes you through a journey of our past, as well as uncertain present with artwork that makes you want to read more.

With this shift, the density from his previous works is not how the narrative unfolds. This is what makes it super-appealing.

The presentation is radically different. The text is compact during the opening. The book’s artwork is also its secret weapon.

Pack it up with aesthetics for which the award-winning Markings Publishing is known, and you have more than a coffee-table book or a collector’s piece.

As more and more efforts are being made to rewrite the history of Pakistan, with a dedicated push towards significant conformity via potential changes to school curricula, this book has come at a time when it is most needed.

Markings Publishing has mastered the design value of every book they release. This collaboration can thus command attention of a larger demographic. Let us also not forget that if research tells us anything, it is that in this age of social media, people consume video content at a much higher rate than via reading. But the way the book is designed should give videos on “pop culture” a run for their money.

Using knowledge acquired over decades, NFP has created his most approachable book yet.

Whether you’ve followed NFP’s groundbreaking work from a different period to his current writings, his latest book, For Faith State and the Soul: A History of Popular Culture in Pakistan, is refreshing. Presented in this format, it is the truth of the times we live in.

“I wanna feel sunlight on my face/I see that dust cloud disappear without a trace/
I wanna take shelter from the poison rain/Where the streets have no name.” – ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ by U2

For Faith State and the Soul: A History of Popular Culture in Pakistan is divided into multiple chapters and starts from the creation of Pakistan (and partition from India to the year 2020). Does it contain historical facts? Yes. For instance, it does remind us that Karachi (beautiful and brutal) was made Pakistan’s capital city in 1947, or General Ayub Khan became Pakistan’s first military chief after replacing General Douglas Gracey.

However, after an initial rundown of what each year contained, we hit the lengthier chapters. The narrative begins with the birth of “Popular culture in South Asia” and goes all the way to Coke Studio.

It isn’t that the book doesn’t contain that NFP flavor, but it’s just as easily about film, music, television, sports, and how pop culture grew to what it is today.

Even as you read, it’s easy on the eyes, doesn’t require days and days of reading. For instance, in the context of music, it covers more than contemporary stuff. Other genres like qawwali are also mentioned. Notes the book: “In the 1970s, the genre of Urdu qawwali truly broke into the urban mainstream music scene on the wings of the Bhutto regime’s populist idea of Sufism/folk Islam and ‘Islamic socialism’.”

The times of Waheed Murad are mentioned as well as how Pakistan’s favorite sport, cricket, was a hotbed of religious zealotry and the change that followed.

Our last PM, Imran Khan, also makes a brilliant appearance, as the book explains how he went from being a famous cricketer and playboy to latching onto “Pop Sufism” and ultimately his present evangelical self.

If the early pages pick out extracts from history, the rest of the chapters tell you about pop culture’s existence under the shadow of political, social morality and its attachment to corporations going back a long time.

We also go beyond Pakistan to the larger region by paying attention to South Asia, not restricting it to mere generalization.

Mainstream music’s rebirth with the likes of Atif Aslam does justice to what the book promises to be.

The rise of post-Zia Islamization, and how pop culture grew up in this environment is also reflected upon with brevity and bravery.

Sharp, like any of NFP’s writings, the book also observes the ISPR’s entry into pop and mass cultures. Never one to mince his words, NFP presents his opinion on the subject with his usual dry wit.

Coupled with glorious artwork, it is like a historical book you need, whether you want to learn about history, pop culture or both.

This NFP and Markings Publishing collaboration is therefore quite special. And we hope to see such more of similar nature in the future.