Raza,
Amit K Bharati’comment makes me happy as it shows that we can avoid misunderstandings by communicating and interatcing with our neighbours. Let there be no war with anyone, ever. Your blog is a little step towards creating better understanding between Indians and Pakistanis….
Dear Raza,
From India
If all pakistanis are broad minded and inclusive like you.We never want to fight you ,never.
A Punjabi quartet by the Sikh poet Mohan Singh
Rabb ik gunjhaldar ibbarat, rabb ik gorakhdhandha,
Pech aes de kholde, kholde kaafir ho jaye banda,
Kaafir honon dareen na bandaya, khojon mool na khunjeen,
Lai lag mom’in de naalon, khoji kaafir changa
What a beautiful collection of poetry and prose! And no Raza, its not cluttered at all…!! Full of energy, lots of ideas all packed in one dynamic brain (blog)! the enthusiasm is almost infectious!!! I know how busy you are both workwise and socially, and yet knowing you, you have been managing this creative outlet just as well! Its a job well done and you must continue to do so. Sheer delight to go through this blog. I shall try and seek some of Sahab Qizilbash’s work if available in English or try to translate them (dont worry, wont do it myself!) for you to give them some space here, if you could please. Very warm regards.
-Shaista
The annual Urs of Bulleh Shah, the Punjabi mystic poet, concluded yesterday in Kasur yesterday. Bulleh’s poetry reflected his rejection of orthodox hold of mullahs over Islam, the nexus between the clergy and the rulers and all the trappings of formal religion that created a gulf between man and his Creator. A common theme of his poetry is the pursuit of self-knowledge that is essential for the mystical union with the Beloved.
 
 
not sure i agree that by “acknowldging our past…confronting our present we can gain liberty”. our past is sordid (for the most part) and our present fractured and confused… nice website, though 
good mix of varied material. i like the spiritual tone.
twg
I stumbled across your site about a month ago. I live in the States. I travel to India each Feb. I do enjoy the poetry you set forth on the site, and have gone to several of the sites you recommend on poetry, sufism and religion.
As you know, in the States, Pakistan, Pakistanis and Muslims are often vilified. Its a pleasure to read your post, just as a reminder that despite the various labels placed upon us, we all seek the same oneness.
Gary Wunderlin
A friend has reminded me of this lovely poem. The expanse of this poem is soothing…Â
The brain is wider than the sky,
For, put them side by side,
The one the other will include
With ease, and you beside. Â
  Â
The brain is deeper than the sea,
For, hold them, blue to blue,
The one the other will absorb,
As sponges, buckets do. Â
  Â
The brain is just the weight of God,
For, lift them, pound for pound,
And they will differ, if they do,
As syllable from sound.
Emily Dickinson (1830–86). Â
the photos were taken by me during travels in east asia
Imagining Ourselves (IO) is a global online exhibit featuring art, photographs, essays and film by young women in their 20s and 30s asking them the question “what defines your generation of women?” The IO project is being organized by the International Museum of Women.
IO have a two month module coming up in November-December 2006 on War and Dialogue. They wish to focus on regions of political instability all over the world and especially want to focus on the Kashmir Issue-from both sides of the border. IO also wants to as talk about larger issues of the stereotypes that we have of each other: Indians and Pakistanis, Hindus and Muslims etc. In this effort, they are trying to reach out to young people from both India and Pakistan (and in the Diaspora) to amplify their voices, talk about issues they face from different perspectives.
To date, they haven’t had much success reaching out to the Pakistani community and I wish to draw the attention of young Pakistanis to spread the word or recommend people that IO could get in touch with
Please contact info@imow.org or better Sadaf Siddique
c/o Imagining Ourselves at sadaf@imow.org.
I have been thinking about this all weekend. Read this post from an aptly titled blog, Suspect Paki on Friday and am still haunted by some of the lines.
Immigrants and immigration debates aside, when a forty year old British born and bred Muslim is a “suspect”, the world needs to take notice. Of course, we are all too aware of the re-construction of the [Pakistani] Muslim identity in the name of world security and freedom. Many overlooked the soft racism of the media exemplied by the term British born Muslims. Robert Fisk was quick to complain about it when the so called terror plot was revealed recently.
Here are a few excerpts from the post “May I Live In Interesting Times” from Suspect Paki:
“The journey to work is interesting. The really young kids still smile back when I smile at them. The slightly older ones retreat back towards the arm of a racist parent - black or white. Like this evening on the way back from work. Yesterday was a result. A kid smiled back at me. He was white. His mother was too. She looked at me like I was a piece of shit. If you’re not a paki, you will never understand
A sad day for Pakistan and progressive Islam. A close associate of Javaid Ghamidi- perhaps the best known Pakistani exponent of enlightened (I hate the word “moderate” - it such a Western construct!) Islam was shot yesterday. It is not just a threat to Ghamidi and his Institute Al-Mawrid but a direct attack on the voice of reason in world’s second most populous Islamic country.
Ghamidi’s scholarship and voice, backed by the increasingly free electronic media has been challenging the face of Islamism in the recent years. His fierce rejection of non-state jihad, opposition to man made, misogynist laws and several other retrogressive mores sanctified by a dubious clergy - was a major stride in contemporary Pakistan.
 
The editorialtitled “Islamophobia of Muslims” from the Daily Times states:
“The incident will have the effect of scaring off most people emboldened by Ghamidi’s outspokenness. It was a shot across the bow that we know will succeed because it has been the modus operandi of the Islamists all over the world. They accuse the West of suffering from Islamophobia, from a bias against Muslims that is based on irrational fear. Indeed, the term has rightly been accepted by liberals in the West who warn their societies against acting out of hatred for a community that is not composed of just terrorists. But the reality of fear among Muslim societies cannot be denied too. Moderates and courageous intellectual nay-sayers are not tolerated. They are often attacked and subjected to physical injury. Western institutions are full of such people simply because they could not live in their own societies and survive.”
This is outrageous, unacceptable and needs to be condemned.
The business as usual desensitisation to violence has to change!
Read the full story here
Â
This 16th century miniature (BNF Paris) depicts Shams Tabriz - from an illustrated copy of the Divan-i-Shams Tabriz, collection of Rumi’s verse named after his beloved mentor.
And a poem by Rumi that I discovered here
You I choose, of all the world, alone;
Will you suffer me to sit in grief?
My heart is as a pen in your hand,
You are the cause if I am glad or melancholy.
Save what you will, what will have I?
Save what you show, what do I see?
You make grow out of me now a thorn and now a rose;
Now I smell roses and now pull thorns.
If you keep me that, that I am;
If you would have me this, I am this.
In the vessel where you give color to the soul
Who am I, what is my love and hate?
You were first, and last you shall be;
Make my last better than my first.
When you are hidden, I am of the infidels;
When you are manifest, I am of the faithful.
I have nothing, except you have bestowed it;
What do you seek from my bosom and sleeve?
(An excellent modernization by Prof. Arkenberg of Reynold Nicholson’s translation of the orginal..)
With the passing away of shehnai maestero Ustad Bismillah Khan, the subcontinent is a lesser place - a legend of our times has left us and more importantly the Indo-Muslim culture, nurtured over centuries, has lost one of its best exponents. I came across thenews report below on how the Lahore-ites mourned his death. Wish I could be there to be counted. Thanks to blogging, at least I can mourn in the cyberspace!
Samples of his music can be downloaded can be found here. Read this evocative quote from here:
“Where others see conflict and contradiction between his music and his religion, Bismillah Khan sees only a divine unity. Music, sur, namaaz is the same thing. His namaaz is the seven shuddh and five komal surs. Even as a devout Shia, Khan Sahib is also a staunch devotee of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of music.”
Dear Irving and SF
thanks for your encouraging comments. Please do keep visiting and also give me suggestions on how to improve it further. I know this blog is a little eclectic - a bit of many things and perhaps no focus - but then blogs are meant to be personal? I value your comments.
thanks, RR
Great that I discovered this music video on Youtube. This may not be the best of compositions but it has the magical voice of Shubha Mugdal and a heartfelt theme. Ghoom Tana is a larger sufi metaphor representing the wheel-like journey of human life. More on this later..
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pp4h7tT178]
“Ghoom Taana” reminds us of “our interconnected multicultural human identity even as we remain Indians or Pakistanis by nationality.” Read more about this video here and here.
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