Ulysses by Tennyson (as read by Sir John Gielgud)
// July 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // Poetry
Come, my friends,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
via VB
Moomal Rano, Fakir Juman Shah – Coke Studio
// June 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music
Songs from a rainy day. Begum Akhtar – Ghazal cha rahi kali ghata, jiya mora
// June 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music, Poetry
a wonderful ghazal sung by begum akhtar in her inimitably unhurried style (i end up saying that every single time i post something by her here)- it is a source of unending wonder for me how her renditions managed to undulate so naturally, and conclude so appropriately that the effect is never jarring.
this particular ghazal, chaa raahi kaali ghata i was reminded of when reading monsoon yearning, on indianraga. i think i prefer this particular clip (even though tragically cut short) over the one posted at indianraga though.
the lyrics are an orinthologist’s dream the dulcet koel and the papiha (whom the british somewhat unromantically christened the brainfever bird) both feature, and in the backdrop the dark, ominous clouds of the rainy season emerge, bittersweet despite the respite (you see what i did there?) they bring, a conflict that isnt lost on the poet.
in any case ill stop my pompous rhetoric now. enjoy
Bauernfeind on the threshold
// June 15th, 2010 // No Comments » // All, Travel
Truth is rarely pure, and never simple -O.W.
Somehow this scan doesnt quite do justice to what was so breathtaking radiant in that dark corridor where it hung.
Mangal din aaj by Pt Kumar Gandharva (I wonder why it is mangal that is usually feted?)
// April 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music
Mangal din aaj, Banna ghar aayo
Such an Auspicious beautiful day it is, for He has come home
Aanand man-bharaa, baanwari bhayi mai to
Heart filled with happiness, I have lost my mind with Joy
Banna ra mukh dekhan sahelyo mil aayo
To see his face, I came with all my friends (women folk)
Gaavan lagi geet, baanwari bhai mai to
I started Singing this song..For my love has driven me mad
Mangal din aaj… Such an Auspicious beautiful day!
via VB
The recurring nightmare – Cowasjee on Khushwant Singh
// April 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan, Reading(s)
Cowasjee’s review-of-the-review of Fatima Bhutto’s Song of blood and song by the septuagenarian Khushwant Singh.
In particular:
“I could not take my eyes off her. I kept gazing at the pinhead of a diamond sparkling on the left side of her nose and her long jet-black curly hair falling on her shoulders. I hope I see her at least once more before my time is up.” [-K.S. @ c. 90 yrs]
via DAWN.COM | Columnists | The recurring nightmare.
Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter’s Memoir by Fatima Bhutto [the Hastings review cited by A.C.]
I am the laziest person I know: Mohammed Hanif – The Express Tribune
// April 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan
What is your greatest regret?
A new one every day. Today: not saying no to a questionnaire copy-pasted from Vanity Fair.
via I am the laziest person I know: Mohammed Hanif – The Express Tribune.
Paban Das Baul & Darymple in london (asian lit festival) good lord this is a must
// April 24th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Reading(s)
Hazrat Dalrymple shah lal qalandar R.A. needs no introduction – neither does Paban Das Baul. enough said. I cant see why that odious blood of sword cr*p from bhutto is sold out, and this isnt. oh the topsy-turvy world of the desi cognoscenti!
Nine people, nine lives – each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple’s first travel book in over a decade explores how traditional forms of religious life in South Asia have been transformed in the region’s rapid change. A distillation of twenty-five years of exploring India and writing about its religious traditions, Nine Lives is a modern Indian Canterbury Tales.
Dalrymple has been travelling the globe to speak about Nine Lives, accompanied by The Bauls, a group of mystic minstrels from rural India. Mimlu Sen performs with The Bauls and has written her first book, the story of their music and their incredible, unprecictable lives of wild adventure.
Mimlu and Paban Das Baul will perform to illustrate William’s talk.
William Dalrymple is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Asiatic Society. His Radio 4 series on the history of British spirituality and mysticism, The Long Search, won the 2002 Sandford St Martin Prize for Religious Broadcasting. He and his family divide their time between London, Scotland and Delhi.Mimlu Sen is a translator, musician, producer and composer who collaborates with Paban Das Baul on his recordings and manages the group on concert tours around the world.
Mimlu Sen is a translator, musician, producer and composer who collaborates with Paban Das Baul on his recordings and manages the group on concert tours around the world.
Roasting coffee with a popcorn popper [done]
// April 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Bachelor's guide to cooking without Shan
Ha, so there – one more thing off the list – (i dont know why i am most productive at such activities right before exams) – i tried this at home, and with some rather interesting results…
Hot Air Popcorn Popper. While there’s some debate on this, it’s preferable if you get a model that has side vents inside the machine, at the base of the interior funnel. Some models have a grate on the bottom, and are generally not recommended.
Mesh colander One big one should suit, but two are better. You need these to cool down your beans as quick as possible – tossing the sizzling hot beans from one to the other is how you do it. Alternatively, you can use an extra large cookie baking sheet – the large surface area will quickly “leech” away excess heat from the beans.
Large Bowl: really, any bowl will do; but it has to be big. You place the bowl in front of the popcorn popper’s air chute to collect all the chaff that will blow off your coffee as it is roasting.
Oven Mitts: to handle the hot popper as soon as you unplug it and want to remove the top and dump the beans out into your colander or cookie sheet.
a cute photoshoot of a school in the thar desert
// April 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan, Photographs
BBC – Pakistan’s truck art
// April 18th, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan, Travel
RESHMAN – AKSAR SHAB – E – TANHAI MEIN
// April 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music, Pakistan
AKSAR SHAB – E – TANHAI MEIN
Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Mallika Pukhraj – Kab Thehray Ga Dard,Aay Dil
// April 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music, Pakistan, Poetry
waah Faiz sahab.
Byron
// March 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // Poetry, Travel
There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar;
I love not man the less, but Nature more…
- Byron
Iqbal Bano and Faiz and Communism – hum dekhengai
// March 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music, Pakistan, Poetry
when, in protest against the jailing of the subcontinent’s foremost left poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz by Pakistan’s dictator General Zia-ul Haq, she sang Faiz’s immortal song “Hum Dekhenge” We shall witness at a Lahore stadium full of 50,000 people, wearing a black sari in defiance of Zia’s ban on the sari. As her liquid voice reached the crescendo – declaring “Certainly we, too, shall witness that day … When these high mountains/Of tyranny and oppression turn to fluff and evaporate/And we oppressed/Beneath our feet will this earth shiver, shake and beat/And heads of rulers will be struck/With crackling lightening and thunder roars/When crowns will be flung in the air — and thrones will be overturned …,” people joined with slogans of “Inquilab Zindabad” Long live revolution!. Hear a recording at http://www.radioreloaded.com/tracks/?11002.
Atic gets ready for chip challenge – SEMIS in the ME
// March 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech
An interesting article on the scale of ambitions in Abu Dhabi, of particular import given that a seemingly non-profit maxizing firm (in this case ATIC) intends to compete in an industry which almost tragio-comic boom/bust cycles and margin pressures (even for the likes of TSMC, regardless what FT says).
“For the next three years we’re going to invest whatever it takes to build this company up,” Mr Ajami. “I want to make sure that Globalfoundries grows faster than any other global foundry [chip manufacturing] company in the world.”
Mr Ajami’s financial targets are simply revenues – “top line in year one and top line in year two”, as he puts it.
“The core theme of the Chartered acquisition was really customers, and it is really the driving force behind that acquisition,” he says.
via FT.com / Companies / Industrial Goods – Atic gets ready for chip challenge.
