In Ahmer Naqvi’s own words, “karachikhatmal is the brian lara of his generation – he is a genius but his team usually loses… he tweets pop culture.”
What is Twitter for you?
I know people hate this comparison, but its something like how I imagine those Pak Tea House type places in the past, where you meet lots of people with great opinions and are at the cutting edge of the conversation. I doubt there were as many trolls at those places, but there were more than we would think I am sure.
What’s the logic behind your Twitter handle, @KarachiKhatmal?
As a Shia, people would try and use khatmal as a curse for me. Instead of letting them hurt me, I just adopted the name and made it something I was proud of. This was the name i chose when I started blogging, so its what I kept elsewhere too.
Being a sports journalist, do you get content/stories from Twitter or is it more a story-sharing website?
I do a couple of other things too, but for all these I think its both. For any writer, Twitter is a MASSIVE help and platform.
Define your Twitter timeline.
Cricket – My TL Is like walking through Khadda Market naked on a Friday night at 11 pm…
Your reaction when every other person on Twitter is trying to add their ‘expert opinions’ on Cricket?
Hahaha. Depends on my mood. Watching cricket on/with Twitter is FAAAR superior to watching in those screenings or even with a big group, so you learn to deal with the China-maal-Harsha-Bhogles. We always go on about how funny Pakistanis are, but stuff like cricket really brings it out, esp amongst casual fans.
If you will have to make a parody Twitter account, whom it will be?
Hmm. Parody Accounts are a bit like method acting, bahut discipline chahiye hota hai. Plus I love attention too much to share credit with anyone else, even a parody. This is a really good question TBH. Do you make a parody account of someone you hate or someone you love (at some level)? Even if you start with hate a part of you might come to love them too. I might not be good at running it, but I think the parody account Pakistani twitter is missing is that of the guy who says MOWJTOUBAA YOU LOOK TERRIHBULL in Waar. Forgetting his name. I have a picture with him too.
Any interesting Twitter story? Yes, you have to share.
I was a bit too old when I joined twitter, so bachiya phasana, DMs pe line kerana type stories nahi hain mere pas. This is probably the best: http://www.dawn.com/news/762768/anatomy-of-a-shaadi-crash
Have you ever achieved something using Twitter?
Other than making many friends, virtually all of my work plus my last three jobs (and several other job offers) were via Twitter. That’s actually a pretty sad achievement compared to the fun and joy I have had on twitter, but agli dafa jab ami abu taana maarain to unhe yeh bata dena.
What players should do to handle their social media more effectively?
I think they have been doing a great job. Sports as a field, and as a profession, is still not sure how to deal with social media. Management and administrators are (mostly) from a pre-internet age, while athletes range from their teens to late thirties. So for them it is natural to use it, and most in Pakistan do so very carefully any ways. I would love to see more interaction, and not the kind where some boring SM Manager runs the account and gives lame responses. I am a huge fan of our team’s selfies, and anything posted by the Akmal family.
Your message for Twitter Pakistan?
DON’T GET THIS BANNED
Twinterviewed by @aey