Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, associate editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the journalists Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood-Khan about their new book Society Girl: A Tale of Sex, Lies, and Scandal (October 2024, Roli Books).
On one October morning in 1970, phones began ringing all over Karachi. The established poet and former civil servant Mustafa Zaidi had been found dead in his bedroom. He wasn’t alone: Shahnaz Gul, a socialite in her late twenties, who was Zaidi’s muse and lover, was lying unconscious in the next room.
What seemed like an apparent suicide turned into a scandal, ensnaring Shahnaz, and threatening to expose Karachi high society. The story grew to include obsession, revenge porn, the involvement of influential politicians and businessmen, smuggling and espionage, becoming a fixture on the front pages of newspapers even as the Subcontinent was going through major political upheaval.
But two autopsies, a series of investigations and a trial later, no one was able to answer what exactly happened.
Over fifty years later, authors Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood-Khan explore this question in their podcast, Notes on a Scandal, and in their new book, Society Girl. Their retelling of, and years-long investigation into this story led to a far more complex tale. It is ultimately not just about Mustafa and Shahnaz; but about the forces that existed during that time - the press, the elitist social structures, and the power dynamics in Pakistan – all just as potent today.
This episode is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Youtube.
Episode notes:
Society Girl: A Tale of Sex, Lies and Scandal by Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood-Khan (October 2024, Roli Books)
The Sensational Life And Death Of Qandeel Baloch by Sanam Maher (Aleph Book Company, May 2018)
A Banker for All Seasons: Bank of Crooks and Cheats Inc. by Tariq Ali (Seagull Books, November 2007)
The House of Fear by Ibn-e-Safi, translated by Bilal Tanweer (Random House India, December 2011)
Inspector Jamshed Series by Ishtiaq Ahmad
Qatil Kon by Sohail Warraich (Sagar Publications, January 2018)
The Prisoner by Omar Shahid Hamid (Pan Macmillan India, February 2014)
The Party Worker by Omar Shahid Hamid (Pan Macmillan India, January 2017)
Karachi, You’re Killing Me! by Saba Imtiaz (Random House India, February 2014)
Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and publishing news from around the region.
A new episode of the SaRB Podcast will be available once every two weeks. A special reading list curated by Saba Imtiaz and Tooba Masood-Khan will be featured in this month’s SaRB newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
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