No Shangri-La – Tibet revisited
Found this brilliant piece by Slavoj  ek writing for the London Review of Books The media imposes certain stories on us, and the one…
Open the window of your heart
Do not worry if our harp breaks thousands more will appear. We have fallen in the arms of love where all is music. If…
In praise of mothers..
A reader from Karachi, Ahsan Jan Allawala – Â a student at the SZABIST, has contributed this little piece on the Mother’s Day. He wanted…
When the heart becomes whole
When the heart becomes whole, it will know the flavors of falsehood and truth. When Adam’s greed for the forbidden fruit increased, it robbed…
Watering the the Indus Valley
Published in telegraph.co.uk – Last Updated: 12:01am BST 17/05/2008 Peter Parker reviews Empires of the Indus: the Story of a River by Alice Albinia The River…
Pakistan’s media opinion – the column industry
On the flourishing ‘column’ industry despite the slow growth of readership What is so peculiar about the Pakistani media opinion factories churning out problems…
The sanctuary
Nizamuddin’s shrine and the dergah complex is a source of comfort. Each time I have been there, I have felt uncanny sense of comfort…
Pakistan’s media: the opinion industry
On the flourishing ‘column’ industry despite the slow growth of readership’ What is so peculiar about the Pakistani media opinion factories churning out problems…
Pakistan Suicide Bombings: The narratives of terror
An overwhelming majority of Pakistan’s population finds itself hostage to narratives of terror that are either alien to its ethos or are constructed by…
Stop demonising China
Globally, the Tibet issue has been blown beyond belief by the media. I am compelled to ask that over one million civilians are dead…
Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s fatwa on alcohol
DOHA (AFP) – Prominent Qatar-based Muslim scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has sparked controversy by issuing a religious edict allowing Muslims to consume tiny amounts…
Vandana Shiva on Farmer Suicides….
Indian farmers have never committed suicide on a large scale. It’s something totally new. It’s linked to the last decade of globalization, trade liberalization…
Islamic poster art in India – and South Asia
This piece entitled, My Name is Green, published in the weekly Outlook India traces how “forged in the cultural ferment of a century ago,…
I want to be enveloped
“I want to be surrounded by you. I want to be enclosed. I want to be enveloped. I don’t have the words for it.…
Khusrau, Meera, Kabir: The Fluid Self
An essay contributed by the celebrated singer,writer and spiritualist Vidya Rao I often ask myself the question why I choose, above all things, to…
Real Naanak/Can prove dangerous to us
My friend Jasdeep Singh has shared his translation of a Punjabi poem Naanak by Jaswant Singh Zafar. I like the way poet brings out…
A poem of love and longing by Parveen Shakir
I rediscovered this exquisite poem by Parveen Shakir after years. This is an intense love poem of rare beauty. It is composite, taut and…
Bulleh Shah – I long for you, what can be done?
Contribution by Shahidain In this kafi, the Sufi poet Bulleh Shah reveals the unbearble pain of seperation from his Beloved. He can not give…
This world without Dr. Annemarie Schimmel
Last year, I came across a Charles Homer Haskins lecture that Dr Annemarie Schimmel delivered in 1993. Aside from the amazing events and milestones…
Abida Parveen’s Magic – Sufi Music At Its Best
Someone once said Abida Parveen is not a singer or an artist… she is an experience….. her voice and expression takes you to a…