Jahane Rumi

To celebrate the Indian Independence day, Hindustan Times has published a rather interesting list of 60 best books from India. From the list, my favourites are:

Aag Ka Dariya:Qurratulain Hyder’s generation was divided by Partition. But she refused to make an irrevocable choice and instead found home in both India and Pakistan. In this magnum opus spanning centuries, she narrates the tragedy of being forced into such a choice.

Train to Pakistan: in a far cry from his usual lighthearted and witty style, Khushwant Singh somberly etches out the agony of a village brutally torn apart at independence.

Rasidi Ticket:this autobiography of the popular Punjabi poetess Amrita Pritam created controversy when it came out, which was predictable given her unconventional life lived very much in the public eye.

English August:Upamanyu Chatterjee’s fresh and quirky take on the dilemmas of a young civil servant who finds himself ill at ease in small town India.

God of Small Things:mix a fractured family from southern India and a gifted author. Result: a Booker-winning gem from Arundhati Roy.

Golden Gate:690 wonderful sonnets describing the life, love and times of San Francisco’s young professionals by Vikram Seth.

Tamas:this powerful Bhisham Sahni novel captured the country’s imagination when Govind Nihalini turned it into an equally forceful telefilm. Sahni drew upon his experiences as a relief worker during Partition to write this anti-communalist saga.

Terhi Lakeer:Ismat Chugtai’s magnum opus centres on the rebellious affirmation of female desire: “A woman’s heart has so many chambers, a mother’s love residing in one, love for her husband in another, for her beloved in a third. Then Shaman tried to peep into her own heart.”

It is an interesting coincidence that the new Bollywood film, Gandhi - My Father has been released days before the subcontinent celebrates sixty years of independence. This well made film revisits Gandhi’s personal life and his troubled relationship with his son Harilal who died the same year as his father.

I saw the film yesterday and it was deeply tragic and moving at the same time. The conflict between parenting and leading a nation was delicately handled by the director, Feroze Abbas Khan. Gandhi could transform India and was a Bapu for the world but Harilal suffered in this larger scheme of fate, history and politics.

Akshaye Khanna has proven his mettle with the right director and a larger than life role - he portrays the various moods and phases of his tragic life with an amazing ease. He is truly gifted. Darshan who plays the Mahatama is also excellent and the two wives are also the sensitive characters, who while secondary to this major relationship bring much depths to the drama.

Bollywood has finally broken several barriers; and it is refreshing to see that our neighbours are recognizing that their leaders were after all humans. And this humanity adds to their stature.

Hope we also learn from this trend and stop treating our founding fathers as deities. Amazing that Gandhi and Jinnah both had to compromise their personal lives over national interests. Jinnah’s daughter did not move to Pakistan; and their relationship also became most tragic once the Quaid was close to realising the dream of Pakistan.

Interestingly, the movie reiterates Gandhi’sfamous quote where he confessed that there were two people whom he could not convince - his ‘Muslim friend’, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his own son Harilal.

The film has its weak moments - it becomes slow paced at times and loses focus as the demands of commercial cinema make the script meander. Another irritating issue is the constant effort of the film-makers to maintain Gandhi’s stature as Mahatama. The constraints can be appreciated given Gandhi’s legendary status in India. There are times when Gandhi does appear to be a bit insensitive to his son. However, his adherence to the national cause and keeping his personal and family interests subordinate to those of India and her people is highlighted throughout the narrative.

The backdrop is the Indian struggle for Independence and this by itself makes a great viewing. Of course, the historical narrative is straight from the Indian nationalist discourse and views the demands of Muslims from that perspective. This is understandable given the subject but it does irk one a little. Why can’t a more nuanced understanding emerge? After all, Mr Jinnah had agreed on a united India during the talks on Cabinet Mission. It is a sad fact of history that the Congress rejected the Cabinet Mission Plan and not the Muslim League. The film sounds a little simplistic when the narrator states that a pained Gandhi accepted partition to avoid further bloodshed! That may be true as well. History is not that linear as claimed but then this was not the theme of the film.

Overall, it is a touching film that should not be missed by those interested in quality cinema and history.

Shahzada Irfan has written this piece on the discovery of a hidden treasure at the Punjab University. Ancient Sanskrit manuscripts have finally come under researchers’ scrutiny. As we come closer to 60 years of partition and independence, this is a welcome development. Irfan writes:

A rich treasure of knowledge — an invaluable collection of 9,075 Sanskrit manuscripts on various branches and disciplines of Sanskrit literature — is lying unexplored in Punjab University (PU) library in Lahore since partition. Though they have been preserved properly for decades, hardly any effort was made in the past to study the contents of these manuscripts in detail. Insiders say this indifference was because that the state was least interested in seeking expertise of Sanskrit scholars in

India and sharing even an iota of knowledge with them..

Full article here

Ajmer Shareef is a spiritual centre-point in South Asia. It is not just another Muslim Saint’s dergah but represents the glorious tradition of inclusiveness and spirituality beyond the formal boundaries of religion, caste and creed. This is why it has become a fascinating rallying point for South Asians,  regardless of what religion they profess and/or  practice. 

Next week, the death anniversary celebrations of Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti will start in Ajmer. Yesterday I was told that my visa processing would take ages and the outcome will be uncertain. The near-impossibility of getting there made me a little depressed. Yes I was planning to undertake this [mini]-pilgrimage this month.

Damn these visas and official hurdles. At the end of the day these have proved to be meaningless, only adding to the bad blood between the people of the two countries.

My friend Salman who lives next to the dergah and is from the line of shrine-keepers, wrote a piece for the Hindustan Times where he talks of the forthcoming Urs, its significance and place in India. Salman is a young and dynamic student of Sufism. May he stay the course! Read his article here.

Photo above was taken in 2006: On a crisp sunny-wintry afternoon, the pilgrim Qawwals sang in praise of the Khawaja. This was such an impromptu performance - I recall a verse - sab ki bigri hui, bana dey - Khawaja (Help all those who come to you - oops, this is a horrendous translation)…

 A rare letter by Gandhi weeks before his assassination was saved from an auction by the Indian Government. The contents of the letter are most interesting. The great old man of India calling for tolerance towards Muslims..! A forgotten leaf of history by many especially the bigots in India. Read entry here >>

I came across this decent translation of his poem Mera Safar here. I enjoyed reading it again after ages and thought this must be shared with friends here. This is also the poem where Jafri hints at his immortality… Full article here >>

Reading about the critical battle of Plassey, the betrayal by local nobles, indifference of the natives, I wondered how history spells out some clear lessons that we choose to ignore. 

Full entry here >>

This weekend was remarkable: visions and confusions found their way on a plain canvas and before long I was in a strange dialogue with the canvas - here is the result of this dialogue: Full entry here >>

Enough of learning, my friend!

Enough of learning, my friend!

To it there is never an end

An alphabet should do for you,

It’s enough to help you fend.

You’ve amassed much learning around,

The Quran and its commentaries profound.

There is darkness amidst lighted ground.

Without the guide you remain unsound.

Learning makes you a Sheikh or his minion,

And thus you create problems trillion.

You exploit others who know not what,

Misleading them with wild opinion.

You meditate and you say your prayers

You go and shout at the top of the stairs.

Your cry reaching the high skies,

Its your avarice which ever belies.

The day I learnt love’s lesson,

I plunged into the river of divine passion;

An overwhelming gale, I was confounded and lost

When Shah Inayat cruised me across.

Source: here

More on Bulleh Shah here and here

There is more to the Indus valley civilization than we think.

“The discovery of rare objects during an excavation expedition in Cholistan desert by local and foreign archaeologists have raised hopes of presence of ruins identical to that of Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

A rare seal of copper, a terracotta block, three wedge-shaped bricks, pottery with distinct potter marks and four unicorns (a mythical animal) were dug out from the dried-out channel of the Hakra river by a team of archaeologists …” 

Read full entry here

Yet again, I was mesmerised by the passion and force of Amrita’s poetry. Even though this is a translation, it renders the mood rather well..

Read poem here >>

I had recently posted a few verses from the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Read this story by Indscribe that spells a heart wrenching denouement to the dazzling Mughal Empire.

Full entry here >>

Delhi’s Red Fort was once a symbol of Mughal power and the myriad India was ruled for centuries from this fort. Full entry here >>

Delighted to have found this video. An effortless, magic piece for those who appreciate the nuances of subcontinental classic music. Click here >>

This is a rich, sensuous and haunting work capturing the mood of 1930s (perhaps) and telling the story in a Western format adapted by a genius. Full entry here >>

Hamid thinks that India is more jingoistic than Pakistan. There were some interesting moments in the interview as the quote below indicates. Full entry here >>

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