Jahane Rumi

140 dead and 538 injured - this little byline cuts through hearts and our future!

Yesterday was the day of images - moving pictures of excitement, energy, applause and then the saddest of recent tragedies. (more…)

Raza Rumi was interviewed at the Pak Spectator blog. My interview is nothing but rambling galore; but I did relish answering the various questions. I am not sure why I was asked about my preferred travel destination[s], but I did enjoy the day-dreaming:

That top most travel destination would have to be Turkey. I am fascinated by the confluence of civilizations and cultures that is embedded in contemporary Turkish reality. You move from one town with Greek remains and enter into an area where Roman splendours or ruins await you and then you hear the sound of azaan and it just becomes an incredible journey into history and world cultures. And of course, Konya where Rumi lived is also in Turkey.

My second choice would be Indonesia: another country with beautiful rainforests, mountains, beaches and rich history. I love Java Island and have written a little bit about it as well.

I suppose the third choice is the African continent. There is immense, raw beauty there that brings once closer to the primordial connection with Nature. I want to go there again and again. I haven’t been to Western and Southern parts and am eager to go as soon as I have some savings for this purpose.

Read the full interview here.

Shameless self-promotion!

Alan Greenspan — the former chief of the US central bank, for years an inscrutable seer on the economy — has outraged the Bush administration by alleging in his new memoir that “the Iraq war is largely about oil.”

Read the full text here

It is just too late, Mr Greenspan. After a million people dead, remnants of an ancient civilization and culture wiped out, the sectarian monster unleashed and the world fractured, this little home-truth might be a sensation for the doctored media.

Most of knew the underlying motive for this criminal war..

(having said that - better late than never)

Update: A good editorial from the Daily Times:

When the Administration reacted angrily, Mr Greenspan himself found it “politically inconvenient” to stick to his clear pronouncement, but his “verdict” has gone and mixed with the vortex of opinion complaining about the Bush Administration’s “oil barons” falling on Iraq for its oil. To count just the people at the top, President George W Bush himself, Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have close links to the American oil industry, also called the Big Oil.

I was introduced to this photo taken by Khanpride by Jami Sirhandi.

His plea was to stand up to the ‘development mafia’ and stop this vandalism.

Across Pakistan, rampant and unplanned urbanisation is taking its toll on green spaces and the trees. As it is our forest cover has denuded to alarming proportions; and now we are creating urban wastelands of dubious impact in the name of development.

The image on the right, again shows how trees have vanished and there has been no re-plantation despite the usual lip-service that is paid on these occasions.

Saving trees is not just a romantic notion: it is vital to our future and involves the right of our next generations to survive on this planet.

Stand up and be counted, as they say…

A post of mine on All Things Pakistan , Inhospitable Reception, has generated a good discussion and it is was great to read that there are numerous Pakistanis who share the view that we must check our our tendency of stereotyping women and particularly foreign women.

Read the full post and comments here

 Malaysia has entered the fifty first year of its existence. This has been a half-century of determination, progress and keeping a fine balance between the diverse communities, races and cultures in the country. But Malaysia achieved successes against all odds.

True that it confronts issues of ethnic and religious tension and the side effects of controlled politics. However, prosperity assures that most of the citizens find a stake in national unity and the country’s future!

I am a little allergic to the magnified tales of tensions in the country especially by a media that we know is neither fair nor benign. Which country of the world is free of internal schisms and struggles? Fifty years is too early to assess that. Or is it the case that this rapid success without reliance on the Western prescriptions and defying the post-colonial clientelism is at play. Inverse racism of sorts. Hope I am wrong…

Or is it that there is a Muslim majority which by definition (in the global propaganda) raises alarm bells? Maybe the images of women with scarves participating in the economic and political life of the country upsets all the stereotypes about women’s “subjugation” by Islam. Many things irk the masters of stereotyping and branding agents of a new imperialism.

It is also a country that welcomes its tourists and makes sure that they enjoy their stay, Islamism notwithstanding. It also challenges the highlights of a recently independent ‘developing’ country: poverty, low levels of education, crumbling infrastructure, crime and dependence?

Unfortunately it is true that tensions in the society and calls for an “Islamic” society dilute its attempts to maintain ethnic harmony and channelise national resources to sustain gains already made. But like many Malaysians, I share the optimism and wish the country and its people the best.

Happy Independence Day - I love Malaysia (truly Asia!).

Postscript:  My optimism on Malaysia in an older piece.

I am free, my mind is free,
I can be imprisoned nowhere.

Today Bulleh Shah’s Urs (death anniversary) celebrations have commenced in Qasoor, Pakistan. Bulleh Shah was an iconoclastic Sufi poet from the Punjab who rejected convention, orthodox religion and conventions. His message of peace and individuality continues. In all respects he was ahead of his times. This time delegates from India will also attend the ceremonies and his timeless verse shall be sung.

Centuries before we knew existentialist thought, this was uttered by a small town Sufi poet:

I know not who I am

I am neither a believer going to the mosque
Nor given to non-believing ways
Neither clean, nor unclean
Neither Moses not Pharaoh
I know not who I am

I am neither among sinners nor among saints
Neither happy, nor unhappy
I belong neither to water not to earth
I am neither fire, not air
I know not who I am

(Translation by K S Duggal)

Another poem berates the classes and hierarchies that divide people:

Let us go O Bullah
let us go then you and I
to the kingdom of the blind;
where none debates our caste or creed
none respect us thus.

This transient world
is neither thine nor mine;
all is finite
why then this quarrel
this contest
for all is ephemeral there in.

Mullah and the torch bearer
are both alike,
professing to light the path for others
themselves dwell in darkness.

(from ‘Kalaam Bulleh Shah’ printed by Pakistan International Printers, Lahore )

On the futility of ritual and uttering that Reality is about unity of all existence - Ik Nukte vich Gal Mukdi Eh (Its all in One contained):

Understand the one and forget the rest.
Shake off your ways of an apostate pest
Leading to the grave to hell and to torture.
Rid your mind of dreams of disaster.
This is how is the argument maintained.
It’s all in One contained.

What use is it bowing one’s head?
To what avail has prostrating led?
Reading kalam you make them laugh.
Absorbing not a word while the Quran you quaff.
The truth must be here and there sustained.
It’s all in One contained.

Some retire to the jungles in vain.
Others restrict their meals to a grain.
Misled they waste away unfed .
And come back home
Emaciated in the ascetic postures feigned.
It’s all in One contained.

Seek you master, say your prayers and surrender to God

It will lead you to mystic abandon
And help you to get attuned to the Lord.
It’s the truth that Bulleh has gained.
It’s all in One contained.

(Translation by K S Duggal)

What an inspiring corpus of verse Bulleh Shah has left for us.
Wish I was in Qasoor, too.

Please do watch Abida Parveen singing here and here.

Jahane Rumi Links: On the rejection of meaningless formal learning here and on freedom of the mind here; and on love sickness here.

Today, Jahane Rumi is publishing a guest post by Ali Eteraz who is well known in the blogopshere. Eteraz is a gifted, fiery writer based in the US. He maintains a blog Eteraz, writes for the Huffington Post  as well as for the Guardian’s blog. Ali also manages a web portal called Plural Politics. The views expressed below are solely those of the author.

Why is NYT’s India Editorial About Pakistan?

On August 15, 2007, presumably to mark India’s 60th birthday, the NYT published an op-ed by Ramachandra Guha, entitled “India’s Internal Partition.” At the outset it appeared to be a promising examination of Hindu-Muslim relations, in India. Guha started by discussing1990:

Bharatiya Janata leader Lal Krishna Advani journeyed for five weeks between Somnath and Ayodhya, making fiery speeches at towns and villages en route, denouncing the Indian government for “appeasing” the Muslims. In many places Mr. Advani visited, attacks on Muslims followed.In New Delhi, where I then lived, Mr. Advani’s march represented a grave threat to the inclusive, plural, secular and democratic idea of India.

Though he is quick to invoke his friendship with Pakistani Tariq Banuri who was the first Muslim Guha ever became “close” with (even having dreams about Banuri during the Ayodha crisis), it would appear that the friendship did not leave any discernible positive residue.

When discussing Muslims in India, Guha simply states the oft-invoked trope that Muslims don’t do anything but films, saying “but in law, medicine, business and the upper echelons of public service, Hindus dominated.” An objective editorial about India’s “internal” partition might have inquired why Muslims in India do not make it to the “upper-echelons” of Indian society. But why would Mr. Guha waste time with trivialities, when, on the 60th anniversary of India, there is plenty of Pakistan bashing to be had. It comes soon enough.

They also cheated their tenants. In six years in Delhi, my wife and I had four landlords, all refugees from the Pakistani part of Punjab. All four hooked their appliances to our electricity meter, and all kept our deposits when we left.

Then I went across to the majestic Badshahi Mosque, built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. It was Friday evening, and a large crowd of worshipers was coming out after the weekly prayers. Walking against the flow, I had to jostle my way through.

As I bumped into one worshiper, I was seized by panic. In one pocket of my kurta lay my wallet; in the other, an exquisite little statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, dancing. I am not a believer, but this was my mascot, a gift from my sister, carried whenever I was separated from my wife and little children. What if it now fell out and was seized upon by the crowd? How would that turn out — an infidel discovered in a Muslim shrine, an Indian visitor illegally in Lahore?

Despite their shared culture, cuisine and love for the game of cricket, India and Pakistan have already fought four wars. And judging by the number of troops on their borders and the missiles and nuclear weapons to back them, they seem prepared to fight a fifth.

I am grateful to Nabeela Apa - our dear friend - for sending the link to this story published in the New York Observer. Apparently, Huma Abedin is an energetic and trusted associate of Hillary Clinton. She is media shy and works in the background to manage the campaign of the Presidential candidate. This is what the NY Observer had to say: Read it here >>

Having spent some weeks in Bangladesh, I ventured to closely observe the folk motifs in Bengali art. I had always admired the simplicity and the colours of these powerful lines. With my new-found passion, I am daring to use bits of this style.

Full entry here >>

Jahane Rumi has been noted as a ”thinking” blog by WhirledView which itself is a blog of immense substance and range. Read it here >>

I was asked to write about the top five reasons for loving Pakistan. I’d like to share this piece with the readers.

 Why I love Pakistan? Top 5 reasons

The Civilization

Pakistan is not a recent figment but a continuation of 5000 years of history: quite sheepishly, I admit, that I am an adherent of the view held by many historians that the Indus valley and the Indus man were always somewhat distinct from their brethren across the Indus. I do not wish to venture into this debate but I am proud as an inheritor of Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and Mehrgarh (not strictly in this order) and this makes me feel rooted and connected to my soil as well as ancient human civilizations and cultures.

It also makes me happy that no matter how much the present-day media hysteria about Pakistan (and “natives” in general) diminishes my country and region, nothing can take away this heritage and high points of my ancestral culture. Pakistan is not just Indus civilization – it is a hybrid cultural ethos: the Greek, Gandhara, the central Asian, Persian, Aryan and the Islamic influences merge into this river and define my soul – how can I not be proud of this?

The People

I simply love the Pakistani people – they are resilient, diverse and most entrepreneurial. They have survived calamities, famines, upheavals, injustices and exploitation and yet, by and large, retain a sense of humour. I am not naïve to say that they are totally free of the various bondages of history but they display remarkable entrepreneurial and creative potential. Most of them are “real” and rooted and yet not averse to modernity.

There is an urban revolution taking place in parts of Punjab and Sindh and the drivers are neither the state nor external donors but the people themselves. The private sector has even contributed to build an airport. There is an ugly side as well: the absence or predatory activities of the state (e.g. Karachi) has also provided a breeding ground for mafias but this is not a unique Pakistani phenomenon. From LA to Jakarata, such groups operate within the folds of urbanization.

I am proud of my people who have proved themselves in all spheres and countries – whether it is Professor Abdus Salam, the Nobel Laureate or Shazia Sikander, the miniaturist of international fame or Mukhtaran Mai who has proved her mettle in giving a tough time to forces of oppression.

The Spirituality

There is an inordinate focus on Pakistani madrassahs, the pro-Taliban groups and the violent jihadis. How representative are these groups? Only Pakistanis know that such groups are marginal to the mainstream attachment to and practice of religion. The rural folk are still steeped in Sufi worldview and many versions of Islam exist within the same neighborhood. Of course there is manipulated curse of sectarian violence but that mercifully is not embedded despite the attempts of big external players and the octopus-like state agencies.

Ordinary Pakistanis, such as me, value their Islamic beliefs, are God fearing and follow what is essentially a continuation of the centuries old traditions of spirituality that survives in the folk idiom, in the kaafis of Bulleh Shah, and in the verses of Bhitai and Rahman Baba. Our proverbs, day-to-day beliefs are all mixed and laced with history, oral tradition, Sufi lore and of course Islamic simplicity. It is another matter that there are individuals who want to hijack this thread and impose their nonsense on us – but we as a people have resisted that and shall continue to do so. After all we inherited the confluence of ancient religions and practices.

Pakistan is where Buddha taught and Taxila shined, and where Nanak preached and the great saints – Usman Hajweri, Fariduddin Ganj Shakar, Bhitai and Sarmast - brought people into the fold of Islam. Despite the revisionist, constructed history by extremists in India, the sword had little to do with Islam’s rise in this region.

The Natural Beauty

Well the spirituality of my homeland is not just restricted to the intangible belief systems. It also reflects in the splendors of Mother Nature. From the pristine peaks in the north to the mangroves of the Indus delta, Pakistan blends climates, geographies, terrains in its melting pot. Within hours of leaving an arid zone, one enters into a fertile delta. And again a few more hours put you right in front of otherworldly mountains. The deserts of Cholistan radiate the moonlight and the surreal wildernesses of Balochistan are nothing but metaphors of spiritual beauty.

Where else can I experience the aroma of wet earth when the baked earth cracks up to embrace every droplet and where else can one find a Jamun tree with a Koel calling the gods? An everlasting impression on my being shall remain the majestic sunrise at the Fairy Meadows amid the Karakorams and the melting gold of Nanga Parbat peak. I love this country’s rivers, streams and the fields where farmers testify their existence with each stroke, each touch of earth. I cherish trees that are not just trees but signify Buddha’s seat or the ones in graveyards nourishing the seasonal blossoms.

The Cuisine

Yes, I love the aromas and myriad scents of Thai cooking, the subtlety of the French and Lebanese or the Turkish dishes but nothing compares to the Pakistani cuisine. Forget the high sounding stuff; ghar ka khana (homemade food) no matter which strata are you from is difficult to find elsewhere?.

Whether it is a simple Tandoor ki Roti with Achaar or Palak (in the Punjab) or the intricate Biryani with ingredients and spices of all hues, the food is out of this world. In my house, we were used to at least ten different rice dishes (steamed white rice/saada/green peas/vegetable/channa/choliya/potato Pilau), three types of Biryanis (Sindhi, Hyderabadi, Dilli or just our cook’s hybridized Punjabi version), and my grandmother’s recipe of Lambi Khichdee. The list continues.

In the Northern areas, there are Chinese-Pakistani concoctions, in the North West Frontier there is meat in its most tender and purest form. In Balochistan there is Sajji, meat grilled in earthenware at low heat until all the juices have transformed the steaks into a magic delight. And, the fruits and the sweets – the mangoes that come in dozens of varieties and colours, melons of different sizes, the pomegranates and the wild berries that still grow despite the pollution everywhere!

How could I not love this eclectic cuisine?

And Finally…

…the sum-total of all five: I love Pakistan as this is my identity – immutable and irreversible. Simple.

The genesis of this post:

I am averse to the ratings and rankings that characterize the junk-journalism of our times. Much like the embedded style of reporting such a view remains partial and often ignorant of the nuances and layers of subtext that are almost unachievable in the pop-view of the world.

Readers might question this apparent paradox as on the one hand I am participating in this top-five series and on the other I am also being critical. Well, well this is kosher from a South Asian perspective as we remain a mythical-modern bundle of contradictions.

The real reason for me to ‘submit’ my top 5 is the inquiring spirit of Mayank Austen Soofi whom I don’t know and have never met. But I am quite empathetic to his efforts at understanding Pakistan. At least he ventures into the ‘other’ territory and unlike the mainstream media and writers, does not view Pakistan as a threatening collage of burqa clad women, terrorism and gun toting radicals…

“Indeed, the current drama, uncertainty and confusion seem to be extraordinary. But is it that unusual? History, if anything, has prepared us for the bizarre and the peculiar… “

Article here >>

Ilona Yusuf, a poet muses about the demise of the reading culture. Read article here >>

Kashful Mahjub is one of the early treatises on Sufism and has shown light to many Sufis world-wide. Full entry here >>

Jahane Rumi has been conferred with the ‘thinking blogger’ award - read here. This is quite encouraging even though there is not much of original thinking here! I suppose I can think and do indulge in the world of ideas but quite frankly I lack the discipline and rigour that makes one a wholesome thinking person/blogger.

Anyway I am grateful to Quasi Fictional for the recognition.

“Writer Arundhati Roy said in an interview last week that at least India’s growing middle class was reared on a diet of radical consumerism and aggressive greed.

Full entry here >>