by Shreekant Gupta

During a recent visit to Delhi I mentioned to my aunt that I planned to visit Rawalpindi next week for a wedding. Her expression changed to one of worried concern. “But beta is it safe to go there?” she asked. I assured her that if there was one country in the world where I could blend and not feel out of place and where I was welcomed with open arms it was Pakistan. Having been there on four previous occasions once with a group of students from the Delhi School of Economics traversing the country for two weeks, I had ample experience of the legendary Pakistani hospitality and warmth to assuage her fears. But her comment set me thinking. Why is Pakistan attracting such bad press these days? It is often dubbed as the most dangerous place in the world. Certainly there are parts of the country that are seriously troubled and occasionally the violence spills over into the major cities. (more…)

This blogger has been travelling since the last two weeks: visiting the various Sufi shrines in India and meeting up old and new friends. And, after years of silence, my inner music found a voice. But the gods had other plans.

Since the 27th of that wretched December, everything has been overshadowed by the ghastly murder of Pakistan’s best known and perhaps the only national leader. (more…)

Indian Muslims blog has posted my travel piece on Delhi.

“…, I tell my workmate of the 22 khawajas buried under Delhi’s soil and the very central role this place has performed in the growth of Sufism in South Asia. My colleague is a little nonplussed as I hold forth, declaring that Delhi is a grand Muslim resource centre. By now, I have made an early morning dash to the Lodhi gardens and walked around the Humayun’s enchanting tomb. My fascination with the saints has not ended and on Thursday I find myself at the dargah of Khawaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki. Aibak was a mureed (disciple) of the saint Khawaja, after whom he named the Qutub Minar. Quite appropriately, the dargah is next to Qutub Minar in the quintessentially medieval Mehrouli area. Bahadur Shah Zafar also built a new residential palace here.”

Read the full article here

This sounds like an exciting initiative. A newly established space - The Second Floor - holds much promise. This is what the website has to say:

Coffeehouse tradition is all about sparking conversations - and we’re passionate about providing a platform for people to engage with each other. Our society is insular and inhibited and we intend to break that mould. Through regular events such as poetry readings, book signings, workshops, talks, debates, film screenings, unplugged music sessions, and stand-up comedy, we hope to get people to think, question, and take action.

I have to visit t2f on my next trip to Karachi. Such developments always reaffirm my faith in the innate buoyancy of Karachi and its citizenry. I refuse to accept the analyses that predict all doom and gloom for Karachi.

Or maybe I am just a fool…

 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.

Thanks to my friend Temporal, I had a chance to read this account of contemporary Pakistan - The diary of a border crosser - authored by Rehan Ansari published by DNA. This piece highlights the recent developments in Pakistan and the major shifts underway.

My stints in Pakistan should have made me a believer in the coming revolution, instead I developed a knee jerk teary-eyedness when listening to revolutionary Faiz.

Admittedly, the article is woolly and rambles, but it does present an upbeat picture of contemporary Pakistan. It ends with advice to the Indians to change their visa policy and help the ones struggling for democracy in Pakistan.

Welcome, you and your pals come and go as you like,’  should be India’s birthday gift to these Pakistanis. Happy Birthday, we acknowledge that you have arrived.

Great advice but here is what I had to say on the article that:

..competently presented the changing contours of Pakistani society and its inherent dynamism - a free media and rising middle class are accelerating the emergence of a “new” Pakistan.

Hope someone is paying attention to this in India, not least the media that still has to shed its acquiescence to the bureaucratized worldview of the Indian establishment, and global constructs of Jihad, burqas and terror sold as journalism.

A fine piece of writing at Opendemocracy: 

As a small child, Maruf Khwaja’s life was transformed by the carving of his mother country into two nations, India and Pakistan. He recalls a time of terror, and a journey to survival.

Read the full entry 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 >>

Lush green vistas and the eclectic Javanese culture, the breathtaking Bali coastline and the curiously composite Islamic identity of the country made up my vague visions of Indonesia. With all these jumbled up figments of consciousness, I was given a bit of a reality check when on my first trip there an airport immigration officer asked me to leave the queue of semi-tanned Westerners and move to another room. The reason for taking me there was completely unknown.

As I waited for the local immigration honcho to arrive, I could not help but notice a letter from the Interior Ministry pasted on the wall directing airport authorities that nationals of illustrious countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, and Pakistan need security clearance before the issuance of visas.

Good Lord, what a rude shock it was to my cultivated notions of Islamic brotherhood and all those lovey-dovey tales in school textbooks about Pakistani and Indonesian friendship. The official explained in a roundabout way my potential security threat. Momentarily terrified, I thought about the implications for my work; more significantly I was irked that this was happening to me at the Jakarta airport, not JFK or Heathrow. I resisted emotion and an inner fight for patience ensued. Within minutes I was out of the airport in a Blue Bird Taxi. Reminders of Islamic fraternity, my calm critique of the stereotyping that occurs at the hands of Western media bloodhounds, and indeed the work-status cards, worked. (more…)

Tamania visited Murree on a weekday and found the ambiance charming despite the senseless “development” that has taken place at this Pakistani hill station.

Article here >>

“In a charming personal narrative, Nomani navigates  through a crisis of faith brought upon by the murder of close friend Daniel Pearl by Islamic militants…”

Full entry here >>

 I lived in this hill station for a couple of years. I often miss this light. Each evening I would wait for the glow that would last for a good half an hour before the dusk. Full entry here >>

The warmth of people and the magic of old Dhaka overwhelms you. Having said that, Dhaka is bursting on the seams with a gushing sea of humanity, unregulated construction and traffic jams defining the urban ethos. Read article here >>

The Buddhist art of Gandhara influenced Indian art and sensibilities and also that of the entire Buddhist world. Full entry here >>

Discovered some fabulous photos of Istanbul here taken by Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Looking at these images, my longing for Istanbul has come back. I must go back.

Photos here >>

I was in rural Sindh (in Pakistan) after many years. Met interesting people and many members of the ever expanding middle class.

Read article here >>

During my recent visit to Hala in Sindh, we stole a few moments of that sunny afternoon to spend time with a traditional potter. Hala’s pottery is famous for its exquisite designs and motifs. View here >>