the organic brew: london, pakistan, photography, travel, poetry & a general acerbic sentiment. (a carbon neutral blog)
// February 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan
Unofficially PML-N's Shakil Awan has taken the lead, apparently by a large margin. Sheikh Rashid Ahmed of the Awami Muslim League (AML) who was being described as the hot favorite seems to have come a close second, reports DawnNews.
via DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Shakil Awan secures decisive lead in NA-55.
So which one was it? does it matter?
// February 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music, Pakistan, Poetry, Qawwali
Guftam Ke Raushan Az Qamar Amir Khusrau Qawwali
I’m sure this wouldnt sound so cool in any other language (i can pickup the general gist of conversation, but my farsi is far from good). In any case, here is a somewhat more unusual qawwali attributed to Amir Khusro
// February 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan
Ever since the days of Kipling “East is East” we have been thinking and talking increasingly about the relationship of apparently conflicting – or at least different – societies. Always we have sought some synthesis that would preserve the best in each.
Occasionally we have been blessed with the presence of some individual, who could give human form to our abstractions. We have just lost such a person in the untimely death of Prof. Ahmed S. Bokhari, diplomat from: Pakistan, who served as chief of information in the United Nations. He was, in the best sense, a citizen of the world.
Professor Bokhari had an educational background that embraced both East and West – Panjab University and Cambridge. He was a skilled poet in languages from both sides of the world. He was a good musician in both the Eastern and the Western idiom. And, for both East and West, he was a scholar.
But the synthesis went deeper than this. He was, above all, a great human being, witty, urbane, philosophical and immensely warm of heart. He was free from ostentation or vanity. He loved life and the people in it, regardless of their background of nationality, race, religion or occupation. His spirit, like his mind, knew no narrow frontiers.
The thousands of Americans who were privileged to know him personally feel a grievous personal loss. He was, above all, a friend. But the loss is more than personal. The world, today, is poorer for the passing of a man who gave us a better insight into what good things are possible in a better future.
// January 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // Music, Pakistan
Found a wonderful little rendition my mehdi hassan, which i just had to post. a lot of fantastic desi music blogs somehow wither away, and i thought this little song absolutely must be preserved for posterity.
so here it is, archived, originally from the very excellent blog at : http://indianraga.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/four-droplets-of-excellence/
// January 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // All, Pakistan
This all started with me plotting the results of a google blog post mentioning the increase of google hits in Indonesia over 08/09 as the fastest they had seen for the period.
Obviously, i went and plotted internet penetration for India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to see how South Asia was doing – i’ve also left in Indonesia to provide some context.
// January 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan, Poetry
Aik hamaiN awara kehna koi barha ilzam NaheeN
Dunya waley dil waloN ko aur buhut kuch kehte haiN
Woh jo abhi is rah guzar se chak girebaN guzra tha
Us awara diwaney ko Jalib, Jalib kehte haiN
Certainly not his best, but i like the chiding (or mildly patronizing, i suppose) last stanza.
// January 7th, 2010 // No Comments » // Pakistan
Dude look, I’ve just come back from Karaaachi (is that how you say it?), I don’t have time for New Year’s resolution, you see Lord Balfour’s daughter, a blonde reading English at Worcester who I met at a Vincent’s party in Oxford, jolly lovely girl has invited me, oh sorry, I meant son, make sure you put that in right, yeah, anyways has invited to me to this flash country house party, Tatler’s covering it too and Christ, my tailor hasn’t even made my tux. Also my obsessive tutor’s on my back about my politics essay, says it’s spelt Sindh not Sinned… what would he know? Kensington zindabad. Actually, strike that off. (Phone rings). Oh wait, one second, I’ve got a press conference with the media of Thaaatta …Tatta? Is that how you say it? Oh ok, fine….Wait, can you hold on?
(Speaking colonial Raj Urdu): Hum roti, kapra, makaan deh ga Tattako, yeh Tatta mera hai, meray baap ka Tatta hai,yeh meri ma ka Tattata aur abbhi PPP ka Tatta hai. Hum Tatta ko sab kuch deh ga. Ummm, yes, yeh paaaah-ty jaan aur khoon ki hai. Err, oh yes, aur democracy is the best revenge.
Was that ok, Dad? No problem. Alright, I’ll see you in Switzerland for some skiing.
via New Year’s resolutions — The Dawn Blog » Blog Archive.
Thatta (the place) vs. Bilawal’s http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tatta …
incidentally, note the subtle reference to ’sinned’: more than meets the eye -
General Charles Napier is said to have reported victory to his Governor General with a Latin one-word telegram, namely “Peccavi” – or “I have sinned (Sindh)”‘
// December 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Music, Pakistan, Poetry, Qawwali
Rozey ke zarra zarra shawad ustuqhan e man
Bashad hunooz dar dile resham hawaye toAt time when when my bones turned to dust
Your longing still permeated in my heart
I can guess at the words, but i knew more farsi to be able to really get to the bottom of this qawwali. the recording quality is pretty bad, but rendition still comes through glimmering..
// December 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan
A witty review and refreshingly opinionated write-up on the sometimes peculiar coverage of sex in the main stream Pakistani media. a shame, considering we are also the land of the joey capsule..
“In order to transform the dominant paradigms of relationships in our lives, based primarily on manipulation, power and control, I feel a stark need for us to connect to sources of power within ourselves, most potently through opening up to our own sexuality. We need, as men and women, to connect to our sexuality in a more loving, nurturing and non-dominant manner, seeing it as a sharing, as opposed to a conquering, and seeing women’s engagement with their sexuality not as shameful an attitude that many women themselves internalize but as natural, exuberant, joyful and a cause for mutual celebration! In this way, we may start to feel more power over our own lives, and can become actively loving participants in all of our relationships, sexual and non-sexual alike.”
You lost me at paradigms Naila.
// December 18th, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan
Mr Mukhtar said it was shameful that the naval chief had been allowed to go to Chine (sic), while the defence minister had been prevented from leaving for an important official visit.
via DAWN.COM | Front Page | Minister for defence first victim of revived ECL.
No, Mr Mukhtar, I think you may have the wrong end of the stick.
// November 28th, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan
Rising searches
1. eid +400%
2. bakra +150%
3. cow +140%
4. sexing +100%
via Google Insights for Search – Image Search Interest – Pakistan, Last 7 days.
Eid ’sexing’ with a bakra[goat] and a cow. Pakistan clearly has its priorities right.
// November 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan, Poetry
YouTube - Mere Dil Mere Musafir – Tina Sani.
Poetry by Faiz, sung by Tina Sani and some literal (amateurish) translation by me, (assume basic urdu hindi):
Mere dil mere musaafir
-my heart, my companion [but in the sense of somebody that you bear with you]
Huaa phir se hukm saadir
Ke vatan badar hon ham tum
-it has been commanded that we be exiled [from our homeland]
Den galii galii sadaayen
Karen ruKh nagar nagar kaa
Ke suraag koi paayen
-we find a clue to:
Kisii yaar-e-naamaabar kaa
-somebody to carry a missive [namabaar: he who carries a letter, but this in urdu tradition is usually the person who carries is surreptitiously, and ends up enchanted by the graces of the beloved]
Har ek ajanabii se puuchhen
Aside re. the namabar:
tujh se to kuchh kalaam nahiin lekin ae nadiim
meraa salaam kahiiyo agar naamaabar mile
above is ghalib, saying, essentially: give my regards, to the namabaar, if you ever come across his again. The basic assumption is that they are…well.. untrustworthy (but something which urdu poetry recognizes with indulgent resignation – its not their fault afterall, that the beloved is so enchanting).
So whilst Faiz sahib above searches for the namaabar, he also implictly recognizes the futility, for this channel of communication is lkely fraught with hopelessness and despair.
Jo pataa thaa apane ghar kaa
Sar-e-kuu-e-naashanaayaan
-in this unknown alley
Hamen din se raat karanaa
-reference to Ghalib’s sher [kave kave sakht jaani...] we must painfully await the transition of another day..
Kabhii is se baat karanaa
Kabhii us se baat karanaa
Tumhien kyaa kahun ke kyaa hai
Shab-e-Gam burii balaa hai
-Faiz’s homage to Ghalib. i wont attempt to explain Ghalib’s sher
Hamien ye bhii thaa Ganimat
Jo koii shumaar hotaa
Hamien kyaa buraa thaa maranaa
Agar ek baar hotaa
-Again, Ghalib. suffice to say: I wouldnt have minded death, were I to merely suffer it once (which puts the whole context of the nazm into perspective – the daily pain of separation, unending unyielding)
// November 23rd, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan, Poetry
sublime, and so fantastic how Faiz paints these metaphoric pictures in your head with a brush so multi-hued, so subtle and yet so potent.
dasht-e-tanhaai mein, ai jaan-e-jahaan, larzaan hain
In the desert of my solitude, oh love of my life, quiver
teri avaaz ke saaye,
the shadows of your voice,
tere honthon ke saraab
the mirage of your lips
dasht-e-tanhaai mein,
In the desert of my solitude,
duri ke khas-o-khaak tale
beneath the dust and ashes of distance
khil rahe hain tere pehlu ke saman aur gulaab
bloom the jasmines and roses of your proximity
uht rahi hai kahin qurbat se
From somewhere very close,
teri saans ki aanch
rises the warmth of your breath
// November 15th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Music, Pakistan
One of my fondest memories is of khalid somehow appearing at a small dinner party I was was once at, and singing these haunting, hypnotic folk songs on his guitar, and and how you could just see him moved by the songs he’d no doubt sung and heard so many times before.
YouTube – No Reservations Episode 57 Part 3.
In case you havent hear peera ho:
Its just struck me how atypical the video for peera ho is for its time. This was back in the early 90’s when pakistani pop music was very much in its infancy and whatever little music videos that go produced ran along the cheesy formula of boy meets girl in college. this must have had particular resonance with the guys writing/producing these songs and videos, because back then most of them were in college and the videos must have been the manifestations of the most ardently held desires.
Not only is this Khalid anum video pretty unsual in that context (note how, unlike most pakistani singers – he isnt the main protagonist) it pairs off very well with the feel of the song, and the strange seperation that the song tries to depict.
Speaking of depictions – i found a particularly moving (and perhaps melancholy) bit of Khalid’s interview stuck in my head days after I watched it. Somewhere in the clip (see the youtube video) he talks about how he remembers, as a young kid sitting outside the bar in the sindh club (probably the most prestigious colonial era gentlemen’s club left over from the raj) –children werent allowed in the bar (this presumably, was before the prohibition)– watching his mother rest her hand on the ancient piano and she sang along to its tunes. I can just see in the minds eye the cool, timeless raj era building which grows old through this odd tattering at the edges, which only somehow makes it homlier and prettier, and comfortable – just like an old t shirt and the young boy watching his mother play this piano – in pakistan’s heydey when a new nation had stepped up blinking into the tropical sun, and there was optimism and the scent of promise in the air. i mention this because the piano, the club, the setting was all largely out of bound to locals before independence, and i cant help but imagine that there was just this slight, imperceptible spring in their step for having over-come that.
whats happened since, is of course public knowlege (ie. pakistan seemingly endless vortex of suffering), but khaled also lost his dad (as he goes on to say) when he was 12, and his mum when he was 17.
Translation:
Mere haath kee reteyan, Tootian
The shackles of my hands, broken
Mere haath kee reteyan, Tootian
The shackles of my hands, broken (more…)
// November 15th, 2009 // No Comments » // Pakistan
Visitors to Islamabad, the small but perfectly formed capital of Pakistan, could be forgiven for thinking that the only things to rock the place were terrorist attacks. But they would be wrong. The city, population approximately 600,000, forms the backdrop for the country’s first slacker movie. Titled Slackistan, the low-budget independent film from first-time British director Hammad Khan features the Pakistani young and privileged as they drift around in a rarefied world of cars, dating, drinking and parties. Worrying only about what to wear and where to go, this group of fashionably-dressed kids could be in Orange County or New York’s Upper East Side.
Khan, who co–wrote the no–budget, independent film with his wife Shandana Ayub, says he could have picked an easier target for his debut but wanted to capture an undiscovered world.
“It’s a countercultural film, one that rejects the stereotypical western view of Pakistan, as well as one that rejects the prevailing establishment of older cultures and traditions.”
The turbulence in Pakistan hasn’t dampened spirits among the young creative community
As the first film of its kind, Khan is confident it won’t be the last. “The people who worked on the film are writers, actors, photographers, musicians, artists and film-makers. Slackistan should be a wake-up call to the wider youth base, both in and outside Pakistan, to redirect the future of the country. I made the film without any backing and I hope it can influence others to tell their stories. Pakistan has had a zombie movie in the last couple of years, now my slacker movie. Who knows what’s next to counter the same old superficial song’n'dance ‘masala’ movie?”
The turbulence in Pakistan – played out on rolling news channels – has not dampened spirits among the country’s young creative community. Pakistan’s second largest city, Lahore, has a thriving underground rock scene (and has recently seen the launch of its first guitar school) while Islamabad is about to gain a new outdoor auditorium and recording studio, the Rock Musicarium. Its founder Zeejah Fazli says there’s a real thirst for entertainment and estimates that there are at least 20 rock bands in the city. (more…)
// October 4th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Pakistan
Have more on this, put to lazy to post – for the moment this should suffice re. stylestripped.com. archiving here because these sites are going down by the minute. (both the stylestripped.com blog and the twitter a/c are down)
So here goes:
The web site STYLE STRIPPED is operated by Zahir Rahimtoola of LABELS KARACHI and his wife Sherezad Hashwani, who does jewelry!!!
about 10 hours ago from web
Zaheer Rahimtoola of Labels and his wife Sherezad is behind style stripped. They work under alias ALY MASON.
about 10 hours ago from web
Another clue: ZR, your wife is a jeweler!! No wonder you went for Sara Taseer.
5:00 AM Oct 3rd from web (more…)
