If only i’d discovered this before: http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=9531 Writer and historian …

// September 9th, 2010 //

Comment posted Bashi to bajish na re – exactly how awesome is this? very! Baul music by The OB Van.

if only i’d discovered this before:

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=9531

Writer and historian William Dalrymple’s latest book Nine Lives is subtitled In search of the sacred in modern India. This special concert, curated by the author, brings together music and readings to offer a unique insight into some of the fascinating spiritual and musical traditions that still thrive in the subcontinent despite huge social and economic change.

Featuring the Bauls of Bengal – a group of itinerant mystic minstrels whose beliefs draw on Vaishnavite Hindu and Sufi Muslim thought – and the Shah Jo Raag Fakirs, who sing at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai in Sindh. Susheela Raman offers insight into the Thevaram hymns of Tamil Nadu, and there will also be Theyyam dance from Kerala.

The OB Van also commented

  • i’ve read only a bit of manto unfort – kaali shalwar, toba tek singh etc. ganjey farishtey sounds..intriguing.
    Manto’s usually a little depressing though. In an english winter- i think i would be overwhelmed.

    but (and this is from memory, so its probably way off), apparently this is what Manto wanted on his gravestone, which just goes to show why he was the great Manto:

    hazaron man mitti talay, yeh sakhs betha sooch raha hai
    kaaun bara afsana nigaar hai, woh ke khuda?

    his family in the end settles for something less controversial though…

  • if its any consolation – i should be doing predicate logic… you’ve really got me interested now, it would be great to get that translation! ill put it up here for posterity. Das Baul needs to be celebrated!
  • lol, i’d just logged in to correct this post – it sounded a lot like the (little) bengali music i’ve listened to [see here: http://www.folkways.si.edu/trackdetail.aspx?itemid=9048] in its soft beauty but the link i got seemed to mention rajasthani, hence the confusion. (thanks also to VB, who pointed it out to me).

    this is very interesting – any chance we could trouble you with a brief translation Layli :) ?

Recent comments by The OB Van

  • Kalid Anum – an interview
    Thanks for that!
  • Sadaat Hasan Manto: A Profile
    im guessing you’ve read umrao jaan then? similar vein to bazaar – e – husn (which i havent read) and an incomparable insight into lucknow’s cultural zenith.

    Patras bokhari and his urdu ki akhri kitaab is also considered to be a modern classic. (Patras, incidentally, a press attache at the UN, also wrote some interesting and poignant english too in his day).

    http://www.patrasbokhari.com/ has more

    Robert Frost on / for Patras:

    Nature within her inmost self divides
    To trouble men with having to take sides.

    If you get chance to read up more about him, you’ll see the point Frost was trying to make.

    Incidentally, if memory servers – one of Bokhari sahib’s more illustrious students was Faiz. now THAT is also an absolute must!

    *** update **

    tHIS ESSAY IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO COMPARE EVERY ASPECT OF THE TWO NOVELS
    NOR TO JUDGE THEIR RELATIVE MERITS, BUT TO COMPARE CERTAIN KEY AREASóTHE
    WAY IN WHICH THE TWO NOVELS TRACE THE DECLINE IN STATUS OF THE COURTESAN IN
    iNDIAN SOCIETY, THE TREATMENT OF UMRAO AND sUMAN AS THE TWO ìHEROINESî
    AND THE ATTITUDES OF THE AUTHORS TOWARD (FALLEN) WOMEN. iN ADDITION TO
    THESE MAIN THEMES, i WANT TO EXAMINE SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES IN THE URDU
    AND HINDI VERSIONS OF bāZāR-E ḤUSN AND sēVāSADAN.

    http://www.urdustudies.com/pdf/24/05SafadiEssay.pdf

  • Ghalib
    thanks for that – I cant remember where i found this, the interwebnets is strangely not helping, ill look it up in the diwan later.

    I think the poet is Taskeen Qureshi (this is the only ghazal of his ive ever heard of). Some more are available here: http://www.urdupoetry.com/taskin02.html

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    thats an interesting perspective – but do we as humans have an innate attraction to new ideas? surely history seems to suggest the majority has an aversion to new ideas – preferring the warmth of the well understood. but perhap our modern day consumerist obessions do put a premium on new/replaced things?
    irrationality is absolutely facinating. i remember Dan ariely doing a talk at the LSE (what with one of economics’ fundametnal assumtions often being human rationality) on the topic. when i googled it, i saw he also did two talks at TED:

    http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_on_our_buggy_moral_code.html

    1day1brand: rather intriguing website you have there..

  • What will expired sencha japanese tea do to you?
    haha, im not sure if is should be encouraging such behaviour, and why i have so much expired tea, but:
    ive since also had some expired YamaMoto matcha and i think i’ve survived (mostly) intact.

    what doesnt kill you, makes you stronger eh.

as reported by the organic brew: london, pakistan, photography, travel, poetry & a general acerbic sentiment


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