A special message for Jahane Rumi
Sometimes I am most touched by such messages concerning my blog. I am posting this message not because I want to beat my own…
Impressions – White Mughals by William Dalrymple
My bright, young friend Imaduddin (left) has written this excellent, terse review of the engaging book White Mughals. Yesterday when he emailed me this…
An affair with Sufiana art in Ajmer
My dear friend Salman Chishty is holding an exhibition at the death anniversary (Urs=Union) celebrations of Khawaja Muinuddin Chishty. This is such an innovative…
60 Years of Independence – some links
Found these great links on the internet: Freedom at Midnight by VK Joshi Bombay Stock Exchange – Epitomizing India’s Growth by Nayanima Basu Raising…
Opium City:The Making of Early Victorian Bombay
Courtesy Three Essays Collective, I found this book review on an important yet less known facet of South Asian History: Opium City The Making…
Unimagined by Imran Ahmad
BOOK REVIEW Vinod Joseph Unimagined is the growing-up story of Imran Ahmad, whose parents migrated from Pakistan to England in the early 1960s when…
A Wild Lover Of God – Rumi
A Wild Lover Of God Bureau Report, “‘Rumi’s a bridge between east & west'” – The Times Of India – India The maker of…
SURVEY: South Asian countries not too happy, survey finds
SAJA Forum has this interesting post: Bangladesh, India and Pakistan ranked 64th, 68th and 81st in the latest World Values Survey published by the…
Two poems by Ali Sardar Jafri
Two poems of Ali Sardar Jafri found here MY JOURNEY Such a day will arrive again [when] the lamps of the eyes will get…
South Asian Cooperation and the Role of the Punjabs
South Asian Cooperation and the Role of the Punjabs. Tridivesh Singh Maini. New Delhi: Siddharth Publications , 2007Â South Asian Cooperation and the Role…
Galli mein Aaj Chand Nikla (The moon has re-appeared in my lane)
This is a great song from a brilliant, but less known film Zakhm (wound). The film dealt with the thorny issue of communalism during the Bombay riots…
A modern Ottoman – the Turk Gulen wins the intellectuals’ poll
The Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, winner of the intellectuals poll undertaken by Prospect, has been hailed as “the modern face of the Sufi Ottoman…
Gulzar’s Mera Kuchh Samaan…
This poem composed by Gulzar was beautifully rendered by Asha Bhosle in the unforgettable film Ijazat. Someone forwarded me the text and I suddenly remembered…
Guantanamo? The Worst of the Worst?
I was introduced to Mahvish Khan’s daring work by Irfan. Her close work at the infamous Guantanamo Bay is remarkable for the insights and…
The pursuit of the Southasian past
Moving beyond the colonial-era understanding of the history of the Subcontinent gives us a whole new way of looking at the Subcontinent’s past. This…
Sultana Begum – a surviving heir of Bahadur Shah Zafar
Neena Jha and Shivnath Jha have launched a nationed wide movement to protect musicians, artists, academicians and others who have brought laurels and pride…
Aurangzeb as he was according to Mughal Records
Found these amazing images on a deeply problematic exhibition on the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb here Exhibit No. 2: Prince Dara Shukoh translating the Upanishads.…
William Chittick on Islamic Mysticism
Farah at her blog has done a remarkable thing by selecting some excellent quotes from an essay called “Islamic Mysticism” by William Chittick Full…
Rediscovering Jinnah’s Politics: Pakistan and Democratic Nation-Building in South Asia
A special contribution by Dr. TT Sreekumar Jinnah’s image as an adamant fighter for a separate Muslim Homeland and hence as someone responsible for…
Rumi’s Quatrain – Our drunkenness does not come from wine
Rumi’s Quatrain – Our drunkenness does not come from wine. The joy of our gathering does not come from the harp or rubaab. With…