60 “Best” Books from India
To celebrate the Indian Independence day, Hindustan Times has published a rather interesting list of 60 best books from India. From the list, my…
Healing the wounds of Partition ..
I read this interesting, albeit a little contentious, piece by Ravinder Kaur that examined the impact of partition on settling the communal question. The…
Becoming Pakistani
A fine piece of writing at Opendemocracy: As a small child, Maruf Khwajas life was transformed by the carving of his mother country into…
National Consultation On Communalism-Anhad
Irfan Habib from Delhi has shared the proceedings of a two day discussion that veered around several aspects of the problem, including the rise…
Hanif Kureishi on the room where he writes
Guardian has compiled an interesting list of writers and their rooms here. Here’s a detailed account of Kureishi’s room: “The garden gnome with his…
Images – More on Iqbal Hussain
The celebrated artist Iqbal Hussain also runs the famous Cooco’s cafe in the old Lahore. My friend of the Olive Ream fame was there…
Ajmer – this Friday..
The saint of saints (Khawaje Khawaji-gaan) buried in Ajmer is a centre-point of Sufi thought and practice in the Indian subcontinent even today… Pilgrims…
Indian mutiny was war of religion
India celebrates the 150th anniversary next year of the Indian mutiny or “first war of independence”, when Indian soldiers of the British army rebelled…
Urs of Bulleh Shah in Kasur
The annual Urs of Bulleh Shah, the Punjabi mystic poet, commenced yesterday in Kasur yesterday. Bulleh’s poetry reflected his rejection of orthodox hold of…
Qasmi, literary feuds and national neglect
While responding to the comments on my ATP post on Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi , I rambled a little on the literary feuds among the…
Holi has a Muslim History too
Found brilliant post written by Yousuf Saeed Holi, being celebrated across India, may be the most colourful Hindu festival but it has a Muslim…
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…