e know – that intro sounds boring. Who wants to be socially conscious all the time? And where are these socially conscious comedians and writers? And anyway, why does any kind of commentary need to be funny at all?

By now you must have read tens, if not thousands, of accounts and remembrances of Shoaib Hashmi. What you might have learnt or re-learnt is how Hashmi used his wit and creativity to dream up and flesh out performance pieces that were also somehow political and social commentary. And that’s where the legacy does truly begin.

The ‘70s were an exciting time for Pakistan, soon to segue into a fever dream that spills into decade after decade after decade in the country. He tried to make sure he said his piece, tried to get people thinking, tried to use smart symbolism to illustrate challenging ideas. It wasn’t easy in the time he tried to do this in; all information was censored and curated. Anything questionable was whitewashed. Anyone found not complying was reprimanded in varying degrees of harshness.

By now you must have read tens, if not thousands, of accounts and remembrances of Shoaib Hashmi. What you might have learnt or re-learnt is how Hashmi used his wit and creativity to dream up and flesh out performance pieces that were also somehow political and social commentary. And that’s where the legacy does truly begin.

To find ways around that system, to try to express how the people felt, to explain to his people the things they might have missed, to register a protest, however veiled, that was the Shoaib Hashmi legacy. That it was funny is by the by. That was just his gift as well as proof that some of us will use humor to talk about extreme distress.

While his work carried on – later, and in other incarnations by other people – it was perhaps the thought that one can also use humor as a tool of commentary, displayed on mass media, that has endured. All that was needed was someone to take that first step. The rest, as they say, is history.