Blogging without borders
My piece published by the Walkerly Magazine
The internet has demolished the iron curtain between Pakistan and India almost overnight, writes Pakistani blogger and writer Raza Rumi.
I don’t need to tell you about the multi-billion dollar enterprise that is the animosity between India and Pakistan. Suffice to say that the birth of a new nation-state on the Indo-Pak sub-continent was among the bloodiest of all time, entailing the migration of nearly 10 million of the wretched of the earth who had to find a new home.
Millions of deaths and three wars later, the bitterness refuses to go away and the interaction of the two countries’ populations has been very limited over 60 years. As a result, not all Pakistanis have the privilege of visiting India. I happen to be one of those who, by sheer coincidence, have been visiting India primarily for work or cultural exchange.
My forays into journalism coincided with my alter ego as a blogger. Purely by accident, I discovered the world of blogging, driven by the desire to post my pieces published by The Friday Times (TFT), a weekly Pakistani magazine. Trying to avoid creating a paid website, the blog template came to my rescue.
Shobhaa De notices blogs from across the border
Shobhaa De has noted the ramblings of yours truly on her blog:
I came across a Pakistani blog that took him to the cleaners - but in such a witty way. Since he’d been clubbed with Modi (why not?), the blogger from across the border, urged the world to watch out for the new fascist on the block. Interestingly, his comments’ column is filled with entries from outraged young Indians expressing their admiration for Big Mouth Varun and defending his hate speech...
The best lines on her blog are about blogging itself-
It’s come to a sickening point : I blog, therefore, I am! I am hooked. Seriously. I don’t remember the last time I experienced the same sort of rush from writing. And I write, have written, shall continue to write etc etc etc. But, even after reams and reams of the stuff over so many years, blogging has hit the sweet spot like no other medium. It is freeing…. hugely liberating… and entirely satisfying.
SD has in her usual style said it all.
Lahore Nama – A new blogspace devoted to the magical city
I have been rather casually posting news, stories and comments on Lahore's heritage and its current status on Lahore Nama. While blogging here I was always tempted to write about Lahore or post stuff by others on my beloved city. Noting that this would be rather obsessive, I have created an outlet for this obsession and a new blog is now on the block, as they say.
What differentiates Lahore Nama from other Lahore-centred blogs? Indeed, it is no way near the excellent Lahore metblog that is managed by a good team of motivated bloggers. My focus is on Lahore's past and viewing the present in relation to that.
Luckily, Darwaish in Lahore has sent me some brilliant pieces and Ahmad Rafay Alam has agreed to the use of his incisive articles on urban planning; and Mayank Austen Soofi has also been contributing stories for cross-posting. In fact Soofi was most kind to announce the birth of Lahore Nama on The Delhi Walla. I quote from that story:
More than 60 years have passed since the creation of our two nations. 60 years should be but a blip in the life of great cities like Delhi and Lahore but meantime much has changed in their characters. And character is destiny. Both cities have continued to grow in ways that makes them very different from each other. Delhi lost its Muslim refinement. Lahore lost its Hindu heritage. Today there are three cities of Delhi and three cities of Lahore: what they used to be; what they are now; what they could have been.
So Lahore Nama is on the blog-horizon and without much effort on my part it is attracting a few hundred visitors each day.
Such is the pull of Lahore....
My interview at the Pak Spectator
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!
Recent Comments
- ?ि?्??-???्?: ?ै?्??ा?्? ?ें ?ि?्?ी ?ा?े on Emperor Jahangir receiving his two sons, c1605-06
- Pres on I am a child of love
- Emperor Jahangir receiving his two sons, c1605-06 « Jahane Rumi on Khusrau: The shadow of power
- Ranbir Kaleka on Bulleh Shah and Nukta – In a dot the whole mystery is solved
- uconnect_user on Karachi Literary Festival
- ?ि?्??-???्?: ?ं?ी?ा ??ू? ?े? ?ूँ, ?ा?ो?े ?्?ा? on I am a child of love
- Lahore’s Mubarak Haveli and its remarkable history « Lahore Nama on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Peter Gabriel- Signal to noise
- Lahore’s Mubarak Haveli and its remarkable history « Lahore Nama on Old Nusrat recordings dressed up in dub reggae beats
- dastagir on Imam Hussain: The Beloved of the Beloved
- Bloggers Pakistan - Pakistani Blog Aggregator on A red card for the Secular Indian Muslim
Recent Posts
- Emperor Jahangir receiving his two sons, c1605-06
- I am a child of love
- A red card for the Secular Indian Muslim
- Abr mi barad-o man shovm-e az yar-e judaa (The cloud weeps…)
- Karachi Literary Festival
- the two insomnias
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan – Man Kunto Maula
- Rumi – Guest House
- Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Peter Gabriel- Signal to noise
- Pak Nobel laureate’s Ahmedi status hurdle for documentary
- Old Nusrat recordings dressed up in dub reggae beats
- Allah Hoo by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
- Lovers have nothing to do with existence
- Support the documentary on Dr Abdus Salam
- In memoriam – Asim Butt (1978-2010)
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Posts Archive
Raza Rumi @ flickr
- Asim Butt's mural for T2F, Karachi
- T2F remembers Asim Butt
- Haris Gazdar at the memorial
- Asim's friends will always miss him
- George recites his poem
- Sabeen speaking about Asim Butt
- In attendance -
- The tribute to Asim Butt
- Asim's picture published by GT
- Another mural for The Second Floor-Asim Butt
Pak Tea House
- Precautionary Blood Measures
- Be Part of the Change
- Samina Khawar Hayat: 200 kilos of Reason Why The Pakistani Reservation System Is Flawed
- Let Pakistan Make Its Own Progress
- Roving Report – Ayub Khan Era
- Total National Backlash Against Shahbaz Sharif
- Understanding Islamic Revival In Its Proper Context
- DANYAL MUEENUDDIN WINS
- Karachi Literary Festival
- Pakistan, the Lost Generation
Development Industry
- Pakistan: 92 per cent of USAID projects go to US NGOs
- Learn from the UK. Open up data sources in South Asia
- Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge
- State of research in Pakistan…
- Reforming Pakistan Civil Service
- Pakistan – Restructuring of PSEs
- Newinpk
- PAKISTAN: Reinventing microfinance
- Dissent as Democracy
- Pakistan 4th on regional list of adult illiterates
World music on NPR
- Solas: America's Wild Irish Rose
- The Thistle And Shamrock: Fiddle Styles
- Umm Kulthum: 'The Lady' Of Cairo
- Los Amigos Invisibles: A 'Commercial' Breakthrough
- The Thistle And Shamrock: Welsh Roots
- SXSW 2010 Preview
- Elis Regina: The Feeling Between The Notes
Tags
- West Bengal in turmoil – end of an era? - 2 emails
- Imam Hussain: The Beloved of the Beloved - 1 email
- Shah Ast Hussain - 1 email
- Holi has a Muslim History too - 1 email
- On Bhagat Singh, his vision and Jinnah’s support for his struggle - 1 email
- Voices of the oppressed – Dalit literature - 1 email
Pages
- “Man-Bitten” Ghalib: introducing himself
- “Seeds of peace on cricket field”
- ‘Author’s Plea’- Foreword of Aag ka Dariya by Qurutul-ain-Haider
- ‘O City of Lights’ by Khalid Hasan – A book review
- About Thumri
- Adieu Naguib Mahfouz
- adsense sample
- Amrita Pritam is no more 2/6
- Amrita Sher Gil’s Lahore
- An Essay on Nizamuddin by Marta Franceschini
- Basant Moods – Lahore and Beyond
- Beautiful Bird
- Bulleh Shah and Rumi 2/5
- Contact
- Dhaka by degrees
- Dhaka by Degrees – TFT
- Documents Archive
- “Iraq’s four-year looting frenzy, the allies have become the vandals”
- “step into the tavern of ruins..”
- A little more recogniton..
- A Little poem
- A recent Book on Faiz Ahmed Faiz
- Against Forgetting and No Poem is Mine
- Another accidental painting
- Fresh translations of Faiz
- Glimpses of nineteenth century Iran
- Go not without me
- Hope – A poem by Ayesha Salman
- How Art made the World
- How the British Raj took roots in India
- I finally moved here – “You lack a foot to travel?”
- Little Flute, Why So Proud?
- Master strokes
- Mother Goddess – Indus Valley
- Murree Ghosts – my recent painting
- Music Master
- My Journey (Mera Safar): Ali Sardar Jafri
- New paintings inspired by the golden Bengal
- New translations of Parveen Shakir
- No Tolerance for Richistans – Obscene Wealth is not victimless!
- Ominous shadows
- Pakistani media – an alternative view
- Qurratulain Hyder
- Sonargaon – A poem by HUR
- Story of a Painting – Mehrgarh, Indus and Ghalib
- Sufi Zikr – inspiration for a painting
- The rescued letter of Mahatama Gandhi
- Waves of anger and fear…
- Welcome Hatshepsut
- What is arrogance?
- Faiz translated by Vikram Seth
- Faiz translations (by Rehan)
- Femme Feryal
- Halaku, when you will come to Baghdad this time…
- I found Roses in Konya… 2/3
- I found Roses in Konya… 3/3
- I will meet you yet again – Amrita Pritam
- Ideology of intolerance
- Images from Data Saheb’s Shrine
- Images from Mahboob Ali
- Jal gaya tha ik roshniyon ka shaher
- Kafka Country – published in the Friday Times
- Kafka Country published in the Friday Times
- Links
- More of Bulleh Shah – keep swooning
- Mughal Princess Zebunnissa
- Muhammad’s Sword
- Muslim Bloggers from India
- On ‘The Great War for Civilisation’
- On Qurratulain Hyder –
- On Vidya Rao
- Open the Door
- Peace to Beirut with all my heart… 2/3
- Petal to Petal …..More of Parveen Shakir
- Qasmi – Urdu literature mourns a giant 2/4
- Qasmi, Literary Fueds and National Neglect
- Rare objects discovery points to ruins treasure
- Raza Rumi
- Revisiting Kabir – the Weaver, the Myth, the Master
- Sadequain 20 years later
- Shared visions: Khushwant Singh and Fahmida Riaz 2/2
- Standing Alone in Mecca (book review)
- Surveys show that Pakistanis (and Muslims) reject “terrorism”
- Teray Ishq Nachaya – Bulleh Shah – full text
- The Lost Jewel – Rediscovering Hazrat Ali’s Letter
- The roar of Rumi – 800 years on
- The Sultan of Hearts – Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya
- This world without Dr. Schimmel… 2/3
- Tum bilkul hum jaisey nikley
- Ustad Bismillah Khan is no more
- Web resources on Qurrutalain Hyder
- Why I love Pakistan? Top 5 reasons
- Darwin and the grand unity of life
- Khusrau: The shadow of power
