Osama HQ has just heard that Osama Loves has just been nominated for a BIMA. Congratulations team!
Osama HQ has just heard that Osama Loves has just been nominated for a BIMA. Congratulations team!
Osama bin Everywhere: The Many Faces of Islamic World has made the official selection for Sheffield Doc/Fest. The documentary followed by a Q and A with Farrah and Masood will be showing on Saturday 8th November at 4.30pm in Showroom 5 at the festival. Come along and say hello!
40,000 miles, 50 days and 120 Osamas later, Farrah and Masood have made it back to the UK in one piece.
Check out how they got on searching for the 'sunnier side of Islam' on Channel 4, 10.30am on Monday 22nd September.
We hope you enjoy it, thanks to everyone who helped!
It's been a mindblowing journey. As the plane bringing us home from Pakistan descended to Heathrow, London twinkled up at us. I saw the London Eye, Big Ben, the royal parks and the blue-green Thames winding through the city. It was like the closing credits of Eastenders, except with jetlag. Over the past 50 days, Masood and I have physically circumnavigated Planet Earth seeking lovely Osamas. We've searched in six countries, across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South and South East Asia and North America. We've covered nearly 40,000 miles and met over a hundred Osamas of all different sorts, from a romance-loving truck driver to a Black Sabbath TV talkshow rocker, with plenty in between. They've been cheeky, sombre, sweet, intellectual, shy, humble, dashing, generous, commanding, suspicious and hilarious.
We didn't even come close to our target of 500 Osamas but it doesn't matter. This mission was supposed to show people the tender, human side of Muslims that is often overlooked. It was also meant as a counter to the frequent and unfair association of violent extremists with the Muslim community who make up a fifth of the world's population. Meeting Muslims from cultural backgrounds hugely different from my own has reconnected me with some of the more beautiful and unifying aspects of the faith itself. As Ramadan approaches this September I might just take a trip down to Regent's Park mosque to check out that same strength and serenity I saw reflected around the world from Jakarta to Toronto.
Though all the people we met across the world were undoubtedly unique, the ties that united the stockbroker from Canada and the goat's milk distributor from Indonesia were obvious and warm and truly reassuring. Humour, humanity and kindness transcend barriers of culture and language - it's cheesy cos it's true, dammit! The stunning backdrops of tropical forests, ancient pyramids, cityscapes and thundering waterfalls have all paled in comparison to the pleasure of meeting not only these wonderful people called Osama, but their fascinating friends, families, taxi drivers, immigration officials, curious passersby and people who've helped us along the way. Of all those who helped us, a special thanks must go to our readers on the internet and all the Osamas and their pals who uploaded their pictures to the website! Nothing could have cheered us up more on our travels than logging on to find another face and encouraging comments from you.
The search isn't quite over yet, though. Osama Loves is still open for business, and I hear that one of them - Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia - has just won an Olympic Gold medal! Go Osamas of the World! So next time you bump into one, make sure you ask him what he loves, take a snap and upload it to the site. Finally, if you want to see our adventure in moving colour, don't miss the documentary for all the behind the scenes footage - it'll be going out on Channel 4 later on in the year.
Bye for now!
Farrah and Masood
As the final day of this incredible venture comes to an end, Osama HQ would like to thank everyone for taking part. Before I turn off the lights and lock up one last time I hope you enjoy this parting gift: a short clip of our fun day out with our Osamas.
It's Independence Day in Pakistan today. For days, the people of Pakistan have been preparing joyfully for this day. Across the country, flags are flying, colourful bunting is up and there are fairy lights everywhere.
Masood and I have been looking forward to the festivities in the vibrant city of Lahore since arriving in Pakistan and were planning to take advantage of the huge celebrating crowds to get some quality Osama-hunting in.
Last night there was a suicide bombing in the city as the clock approached midnight on the eve of Independence Day. At least seven are dead.
I am so sad. We're stuck in our hotel right now as the security risk to a camera crew is high, but others out there have been braver than us. Even after the deadly bombing, people went out on the streets and celebrated late into the night.
The sheer will to live reminds me a bit of London after we were attacked in 2005. Though there is a difference between the stiff upper lips of the British commuters who got straight back on the Tube and the flamboyant jubilation of Lahoris doing wheelies on motorbikes wrapped in giant flags, the underlying spirit is the same.
I'm going to try and take some of that spirit on board to wash away this feeling - I am sickened to the soul.
This picture makes me feel a bit better though.
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We have had some great home-made Osama pictures uploaded to the site. Some have made images on the computer, others got creative with the sign they downloaded. Here are some of our favorites:
We've made it to 100 Osamas! There were moments when I thought we'd never see this day. It hasn't been easy, but the joy of seeing that brace of smiling Osamas up there for your delectation makes it worth it. It seems fitting that our hundredth Osama should be a young Pakistani news anchor, full of optimism and sparkling with energy.
He had us hooked chatting over chai in Karachi - there was so much to talk about. Pakistan is a very exciting place to be right now for a lot of reasons. For example, there's the nearby physical frontline of the Global War on Terror (aka the Gee WOT), impending political impeachment, stunning monsoon rains, delirious crowds preparing to celebrate Pakistan Independence Day on Thursday, and last but not least, the involuntary daily practice of gastrointestinal russian roulette.
We've only got a few days left but the Osamas are coming in thick and fast - don't forget to upload yourself if you are one, and if you know one, put him in touch with us!
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Karachi's Clifton Beach is a hazy place of vast horizons over rolling, foam-capped waves. Camels decked in bright pompoms pace the sand sedately, occasionally startling me with a snort or bellow. Sindhi hawkers in embroidered caps ply their trade selling sweet treats or lover's trinkets.
Here I met our first two Pakistani Osamas today - a pair of cheerful college students, impeccably polite and full of academic promise. One of the Osamas was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and even had a "bin" in his name. After the windows of his home were blown out by one of The Bad Osama's own bombs exploding four doors down the street, he binned the bin.
As I stood there in the sea breeze thinking about what I'd do if someone heinously evil suddenly ruined the name Farrah for me, I was distracted by a strange and hypnotic music coming from behind me. Then I met the beady-eyed and sinuous Nang Raja and his charmer, a Jogi whose forefathers and their fathers have caught and charmed cobras for as long as he knows.
Where the Indus flows into the sea lies Karachi, the world's second largest city after Bombay. Originally a sleepy fishing village, today it sprawls along the coast as a humid, organic, gritty metropolis of 12 million souls. To the east is the Indus delta, rich with mangrove swamps, and to the west are miles of deserted sandy beaches and golden cliffs stretching to the Iranian border. Nearby, a mystical Sufi shrine to the saint Mungo Pir houses an anomalous congregation of holy crocodiles.
Karachi has seen its fair share of trauma, so when I heard five rapid gunshots under a clear half moon this evening on my way to get some fabled Sindhi biryani I froze. "What was that?" I asked a nearby Pakistani. "Ah, firearms," he replied with a cheeky grin, "Maybe someone's been shot dead. Or...maybe it's just a wedding. Welcome to Pakistan!"
The best antidote to this dark dash of Karachi humour was obviously kebabs - and what mighty, succulent kebabs they were! Over mouthwatering grills and gorgeously fragrant rice we planned our strategy for Osama hunting. Here, we need to seek out our lovely targets with sensitivity. The last thing I want to do is prang a nerve and cause more misunderstanding. We're in the eye of the storm and must tread lightly.
