Delhi and Lahore – globalised fads and trends

This piece of mine appeared in the Hindustan Times yesterday. An accidental piece it was, written on the request of a friend during my…

Khowaja Fareed – the Sufi voice of Southern Punjab

A special friend, for the lack of a better term (why are we always hankering after labels and idenitities for some associations that lie…

Naanak’s wisdom

THE NEWS  By Nadir Ali A little over fifty years ago our Persian teacher, a pious maulana in the old mould, was explaining the…

sanon apna yaar rajhawan dey – Bulleh Shah

With due apologies to those who cannot understand Punjabi. I will work on a translation sometime later. mar na mulla bulariyan sanon apna yaar…

Two Punjabi poems

I am grateful to AK for sending me these lovely poems: Kujh asraar nay meray dil vich, Jehray kadi na dassay, Jeewain pani bharya…

Half a Uniform – a passionate poem

This poem was published by a columnist in the Urdu daily Jang. The poet, a political worker, is aggrieved by the ongoing negotiations between…

God – the tangled narrative

A Punjabi quartet by the Sikh poet Mohan Singh Rabb ik gunjhaldar ibbarat, rabb ik gorakhdhandha, Pech aes de kholde, kholde kaafir ho jaye…

Ustad Daman on partition – again

Here is the roman Punjabi version of Ustad Daaman‘s poem that appeared in my earlier post. Punjabi readers will appreciate it. Bha’n-wain Moo-hoon Na…

Amrita Pritam: 1919-2005

Amrita Pritam never woke up on the afternoon of October 31, 2005 and the world is emptier without her musings. She embodied the fullness…