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.…
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…
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…
Guest Stars at the Long March
My article that appeared in Dawn. here. THE enthusiasts for the long march towards Islamabad are justifiably feeling let down by the grand posturing,…
Know the true definition of yourself
Rumi on knowing ourselves Suppose you know the definitions of all substances and their derivatives, what good is this to you? Know the true…
To Muslims: Smash the Doors, Wash your brains..
Came across this excellent article by Farooq Suleria that rather candidly talks about the dearth of creativity in Muslims of today. I love the…
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…
Mystical expressionism and Jamali’s art
Jamali is a contemporary artist of Pakistani origin. It was a delight to have discovered his artistic vision. Mystical expressionism is a new mode…
The electric, worrisome and meandering Long March in Pakistan
NYT report on Long March highlights the electrifying atmosphere in Islamabad yesterday: The crowd, including an unusual number of women for this Muslim country,…
Doing as others told me/I was blind
Rumi’s Quatrain (no 77) can have so many interpretations ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Doing as others told me, I was blind. Coming when others called me, I…
The myriad voices of Pakistani blogosphere
My first post at Global Voices “Pakistan’s growing blogosphere presents a kaleidoscope of the complex, contradictory developments within the country. The country is in…
Rumi and Sufism
An Interview with Seyyed Hossein Nasr on Islam’s Spiritual Science in the Modern Age By WAJAHAT ALI Rumi, the best selling poet in America…
Confessions from ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’
Found a great excerpt from Mohammed Hanif’s novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes where he recounts on his time at the Pakistani military academy…
We can smile in adversity too – the Biharis in Bangladesh
I took this photo at a Bihari camp in Dhaka. Thousands of ‘Pakistanis’ are stranded in Bangaldesh since 1971 and both the states refuse…
No Shangri-La – Tibet revisited
Found this brilliant piece by Slavoj Žižek writing for the London Review of Books Also Published in NY Times The media imposes certain stories…
Fascist Wilders should be ignored
“..calling it a film is to abuse both the English language and the legacy of cinema” Yesterday, a friend sent an internet link to…
Doors in Metal
“Doors in Metal” by Rumi Tell me, O Love, Who is more elegant, You or this vast garden of yours? Shine, O moon, You…
My poems have been published – finally
This is the first time… Two poems of mine have been published by the international poetry digest, “A Hudson View” in its Spring 2008…
Shoaib Akhtar – a fallen hero
There have been some avoidable outbursts by both Akhtar and his disciplinarians. Akhtar has a chequered past in the conventional sense; and perhaps his…