More on the Urdu poet Mustafa Zaidi
I wrote a piece on Urdu poet Mustafa Zaidi six years ago. Since then I have received immense feedback. Zaidi’s relatives, friends and admirers…
More on Ainee
It was the first beerbahuti of the season that Gautam had seen. The prettiest of rain-insects, clothed in god’s own red velvet, the beerbahuti…
The other side of Emperor Babar
Babar, the founder of Mughal dynasty in India was an unusual character of his times. A poet, writer and a free soul, he was…
A voice that shall remain
A body shall disappear into dust but a voice shall remain. Here is an audio recording of Qurratulain Hyder reading “Daalan vala” in her…
MEDITATIONS AND MERCHANDISE
A Poem by M.I. Kuruwilla Carry a message to your own people, my friend, Which will be well understood by your people, Not ours-…
The sea was calm behind your house
A POEM By Basil Fernando ( dedicated to M. I. Kuruvilla) In a day in July 1983 When our nation had gone mad I…
A poem by Harris Khalique
She and I She and I would talk of wonder and dread, of desires and disasters, boys and girls pacing up and down the…
On Pakistani Women Poets (and my friend’s predicament)
An email from a Pakistan based writer friend made me recall Parveen Shakir. The poem, Tomato Ketchup, written most probably in the memory of…
Fariduddin Attar’s Conference of the Birds
The legendary Sufi poet, Farid al-Din ‘Attar was born in Nishapur, in northeastern Iran, in 1142. He was beheaded by the invading Mongol army…
A poem by Eunice de Souza
Through a Twitter discussion with Rohit Chopra (an Indian academic based in the US), Eunice deSouza re-emerged in my cluttered mind. DeSouza taught a…
Understanding Islam and its history
Toby Lester’s incisive article What Is the Koran? argues that researchers with a variety of academic and theological interests ‘are proposing controversial theories about…
All friendships you transcend…
I need a lover and a friend All friendships you transcend And impotent I remain You are Noah and the Ark You are the…
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.…