Rambling on

In memory of Love & dedicated to RR

2008-06-17T17:43:00.001+06:00

Shah Latif - His message in the 21st century

2008-06-12T18:05:00.003+06:00

The Risalo of Shah Latif has articulated with eloquence the cultural ethos of the landscape by capturing the Sindhi experience with breathtaking clarity. The essence of Shah Latif’s monumental work has been an inspiration for a wealth of research work credited to noteworthy translators like Elsa Kazi, Kalyan Advani, H.T Sorley, Mohammad Yaqoob Aga, Sheikh Ayaz, Agha Saleem catering to a growing need for information on Shah by non-Sindhi speakers. Dr. Nabi Bux Khan Baloch, Mr. Ibrahim Joyo, the department of Sindhi at the University of Karachi & Sindh, & other organization have institutionalized research work & the body of their work forms as a crucial reference point

The responsibility of translating Shah Latif in the modern English idiom is the need of the hour. This is to ensure that Shah Latif's message is relevant for the young generation. As we see unprecedented level of terror unleashing on our streets, Shah’s message has acquired greater importance with its all-embracing message of peace & understanding for the post 9-11 world obsessed with fear. This is a new world in which thought process as well as policy making is jaundiced by malice and prejudice against a specific groups, ideologies and there are fissures in society based on difference of belief, language, race and creed

Closer to home, we feel overwhelmed by a mini-crisis on the cultural landscape in Sindh. Our values have been hijacked by an invasion of satellite communication and cable entertainment. Tainted images of our values and caricatures of Sindhi culture in the media have made it synonymous with feudalism and jirga justice.

Can we fault the younger generation if it finds comfort in western values alien to their own for being unable to relate to them for either lack of understanding or historical perspective that ought to have been nurtured by their parents?

Can they be blamed if their spoken Sindhi is replete with errors of grammar and gender? Parents associate upward social mobility with English and exposure to Sindhi comes by way of domestic help, nannies & cooks. Thus learning Sindhi does not figure in the scheme of larger plans of cultural programming of the new generation

Is it any wonder then that we have a new generation of successful entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers and business executives with rudimentary knowledge of their language, aligning themselves with western values to fill the inner void of identity with icons of popular culture?

It is my sincere hope that new efforts to bring a new voice to Shah Latif by research work being done by the universities in Sindh and elsewhere will meet success and the younger generation and students will find Shah’s message easier to relate to, in a language they find used commonly in the media as well as commerce.

Shah’s message of peace on earth, reverence to the Creator and His Prophet, devotion to mother-earth is as relevant today as it was during the times of the greatest poet of the Sindhi language.

fork in the road

2008-06-12T14:40:00.002+06:00

a friend takes a road less travelled and i watch helplessly; we had been sailing against winds that wrecked havoc whole of last year

dickens would call these the worst of times

this too shall pass but the time spent riding the storm is full of heartache

May nay us say phir kaha

2008-05-26T22:11:00.002+05:00

manpreet, here you go

main ne us se ye kaha
ye jo das crore hain
jehl ka nichor hain
inki fikr so gaee
har umeed ki kiran
zulmaton me kho gaee
ye khabar darust hai
inki mot ho gai

bay shaoor log hain
zindagi ka rog hain
aur tere paas hai inke dard ki dawa
me ne us se ye kaha

tu khuda ka noor hai
akl hai, shaoor hai
qaum tere saath hai
tere hi wajood se
mulk ki nijaat hai
tu hai mehr-e-subh-e-nau
tere baad raat hai
bolte jo chand hain
sab ye shar pasand hain
inki khainch le zabaan
inka ghoont de gala
me ne us se ye kaha
me ne us se ye kaha

jin ko tha zaban pe naaz
chup hain wo zaban daraaz
chain hai samaaj me
bemisaal fark hai
kal me aur aaj me
apne kharch par hain log
kaid tere raaj me
me ne us se ye kaha
me ne us se ye kaha

cheen apna yar hai
us pe jan nisar hai
par wahan jo hai nizaam
us taraf na jaayio
us ko door se salaam
das crore ye gadhe
jin ka naam hai awaam
kia banain ge hukmaran
tu!, tu!, tu! yaqeen hai ye gumaan
apni to dua hai ye
sadr tu rahe sada
me ne us se ye kaha
me ne us se ye kaha

Another link worth checking out it

http://www.pakstop.com/pmforums/showthread.php?t=72990
http://sonyarehman.wordpress.com/

Love Stories of the Risalo of Shah Latif - Umar Marui

2008-05-18T19:51:00.003+05:00

The Risalo of Shah Latif is divided into chapters called Surs which are composed on the lines of musical notes. Each sur is based on symbols taken from stories which are part of Sindhi folkloreur

Sur Marvi

Umar Soomro was the last Soomro King of Sourthern Sindh and had a notorious weakness for the fairer sex. Marvi was a resident of Malir in the desert and belonged to the fraternity of ordinary folks that relied on rainfall cultivation, cattle bleeding and simple life of living off the land. Marvi was a lady with extraordinary beauty and there were many suitors including Phog, a peasant but her proposal for marriage was not accepted and she was married off to Khetsin whom she came to love.

Phog chose to avenge his indignation and knowing King Umer’s character and reputation, he went to him and informed him of Marvi legendary beauty. Phog and King Umer schemed, planned the abduction of Marvi and took her to Umer Kot. She was kept in the palace where every night Umer made overtures towards her which she duly rejected. Eventually, impressed with her chastity and her devotion towards her people, Umer returned Marvi to them with respected bestowed upon her as a royal sister.

Marvi is admired as a symbol of devotion and nationalism as she became a symbol of resistance against oppression.

[Taken from Agha M. Yaqoob's 3 volume translation of the Risalo with minor editing]

Main Nay Kaha (cont.)

2008-05-16T19:23:00.002+05:00

Manpreet, the link that I gave previously has disappeared. Sorry but it contained the lyrics as well albiet in roman

I have found this courtesy http://reddiarypk.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/celebrating-jalib-main-nay-kaha/

“Main Nay Kaha” is a satirical poem by the famous leftist poet Habib Jalib called “Musheer” (Advisor). Jalib wrote it in response to a conversation he had with Hafiz Jalandari during the time of Ayub Khan’s dictatorship.

It remains just as fresh and valid today.
This poem has been put to music by Laal (Shahram Azhar & Taimur Rahman) a new Pakistani music group dedicated to resistance music and poetry. Shahram Azhar and Taimur Rahman are also political activists of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party and their poetry, music, and activism constitute an integrated whole the essence of which is always revolutionary. The CMKP has been an integral part of the lawyers movement and the movement for democracy in Pakistan.

The music video contains real images of events in Karachi, London, and Lahore during the tumultuous period between December 27th and February 18th. The song and video were recorded on a shoe-string budget of one session each.

This video and song are connected to a documentary on a journey through a life-changing period in the history of Pakistan. The journey begins in Pakistan on the eve of the assassination of Benazir and the ensuing grief, violence, and carnage. The film maker travels to London to discover a group of young activists organizing protests against Emergency rule. Following these activists full circle to Pakistan, the documentary captures the events around the 2008 elections. The film thus captures a moment in the life of Pakistan, from Benazir’s assassination to the elections, through the lens of young activists. The documentary by Widei Films will also be released shortly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPsr1RnEfWo
Credits:Habib Jalib - Mainay Uss Say Yeh KahaShahram Azhar - VocalsTaimur Rahman - MusicMahvash Waqar - Backing VocalsTaimur Khan - Director ProducerDita Peskova - Assistant DirectorJamie Mill - Recording DirectorLaal & Taimur Khan - Music ProducerWIDEi Films - Production Company

"I said this to him"

2008-05-13T00:16:00.002+05:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XPsr1RnEfWo

fantastic entry at http://iaoj.wordpress.com/2008/05/11/main-nay-kaha-by-laal/

Love Stories of the Risalo of Shah Latif - Moomal Rano

2008-05-01T20:24:00.004+05:00

The Risalo of Shah Latif is divided into chapters called Surs which are composed on the lines of musical notes. Each sur is based on symbols taken from stories which are part of Sindhi folklore
ur.

Sur Mumal Rano has captured the imagination of readers & "Rano" has, more than being one character of this love story and a sur named after him, become a favorite musical piece which is this sur rendered in a semi-classical style, the experts of this genre being Ustaad Manzoor Ali Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Abida Parveen & Ustaad Mohammad Juman to name a few

Moomal-Rano

The story begins with the description of the charms, clothes and perfume adorning Mumal and her sisters and attendants as they weave a web of magic in the Kak palace to attract rich suitors for the hand of Mumal, deprive them of their wealth and also finish them off in a maze of labyrinths, fake ponds and other illusions of the palace.

The reputation of this palace, and of Mumal’s dazzling beauty soon became legend. Hamir alias Umar, the last Soomro King of Umer Kot in Sindh, and his three ministers, all Sodhas by caste were attracted to the magical Kak.

One of the ministers was the young Rano alias Mendhro. Hamir attempted to reach the palace but failed. The other ministers, too, failed. Rano then ventured to try his luck. He was an extremely intelligent and courageous man which led him to succeed in reaching the palace, unharmed. Mumal was so impressed that she accepted her as her consort. He spent the night at the palace and returned to Umer Kot in the morning. He covered long distance from Umer Kot to Kak to spend time with Mumal.

One day, Rano reached Kak Mahal unusually late due to some business that he had to attend to. Mumal got so frustrated that she planned to play a trick on him. She dressed her Sumal in a man’s attire and made her sleep by her side. When Rano arrived, he mistook Sumal as a Mumal’s paramour.

Out of disgust he left his riding cane besides Mumal’s bed and returned to Umer Kot. Mumal pleaded Rano to forgive her but Rano ignored her requests.

Out of desperation, she set a fire and jumped in it. When Rano came to know of this, he rushed to the place where he saw that Mumal was already in flames, he joined her to be consumed by the fire along with Mumal.

[Taken from Agha M. Yaqoob's 3 volume translation of the Risalo with minor editing]

As indicated above, Rano is now sung during mehfils and it is most frequently requested musical piece in a mehfil of kafi genre.

what better way to conclude, this story of eternal quest for love, to capture the essence of this sur by a verse that encapsulates Moomal's anguish, her waiting for her raano

vaithee nit-u nihaaray-aan, raana tohinjee raah
mota-aay maagan tay, aaranduoee Allah
rana togar saah, nat-a rana ghara-n raaj main

Urdu translation by Agha Saleem

taktee hoon din raat ay raana
main to tairee raah
aik din tukh jo layay ga
aangan main Allah

English translation by yours truly

lonesome I sit
eyes fixed on ever path
combing alleyways
that could lead you to me

my soul in a prayer, sweet prince
that the Lord blesses your safe return

love, there are many a prince in this land
but you are the one that rules my heart

tgif

2008-04-18T20:21:00.003+05:00

"freedom is another word for nothing left to lose" captures the mood so well. thank you janis joplin

the breeze giving me the buzz i'd been craving for a while

it's been one of those weeks.

Searching for God

2008-03-22T01:56:00.005+05:00

Thanks to some websearch, I have chanced upon a Punjabi poem by Faiz on Youtube (performed & improvised by Atif Aslam) and on Mr Kidvai’s blog (performed by Tina Sani). It is called Rabba Sacheya (My True God)

Naqsh-e-fareeyaadi includes Faiz’s Punjabi poems & the chronological order is right in line with the comment on apna.org that Faiz only wrote in Punjabi after 1971.

Previous to Rabba Sacheya, I was only aware of “kidray na paindeeyan dasan, vay pardaysee-ya tarayee-aan” thanks to Arshad Mehmood & Nayyara Noor’s collaboration in the 70s. Also a bit of “Punjabi Kisaan kay Leeyay” [Uth utaan noon jatta, marda kyon jaeen] a theme common in Rabba Sacheya

Despite the fact that this book has not left my bed side bookshelf for last 20 years, I missed to recognize the beauty of Rabba. Perhaps my handicap that Punjabi is not my mother tongue and that I belong to a generation that has come to appreciate poetry only after it is sung & recorded by an artist of repute

Why Faiz did not produce more poems in Punjabi beats me. There is a earthy texture that can only be felt when the poet articulates the feelings in his native language

Rabba Sachiya too tay Akhiya si
Ja Oye Bandiya Jug Da Shah hai.n Too.n
Sadia.n Naimta.n teria.n Dolta.n Nai.n
Sada Naib tay Alijah hai.n Too.nm

Aes Larey Tay Tor Kud Puchiya Iy
Kee Iss Nimanay tey bitiya.n nay.n
Kadi Sarwi layi O Rab Sayi.n
Teray Shah Nal Jag ki Kitiya.n na.in
Kithay Dhons Polis Sarkar di
Kithay Dhandli Patwar Di
Enwai.n Hudda.n ich Kalpay Ja.n meri
Jeewa.n Phahi ich Koonj Kurlaondi Ay
Changa Shah Bnaya ei Rab Sayia.n
Polay khandiya.n War na Ayo.ndi ay

Mai.nu Shahi nai Chah-e-di Rab meray
Mai.n tay Izzat da tukkar mangna ha.n
Menu Tahng nai, mehla.n maria.n di
Mai.n tay Jeewa.n di Nukkar Mangna ha.n

Meri Mannai.n tay tairia.n mai.n manna.n
Teri Soh.n Jay ik wi gal mora.n
Jey Ayeh nai Pujdi ta.n Rabba
Fair mai.n Jawa.n Rab koi Hor Lorra.n

For a larger view of the poem in arabic script, readers can refer to http://www.apnaorg.com/poetry/faiz/poem-4.html

Thanks to the brilliant people at apna.org who would have us know that

QUOTE
“of all his Punjabi poems, Rabba sachya is the best example of poetry with a purpose. It is a complaint quite different from the one Allama Iqbal made to God. The poem evokes a strange feeling and passion wherever it is recited:
Rabba sachya toon tay akhya si
Ja oay bandya jug da shah ain toon
Sadian naimtaan tairian daultan nay
Sada naib tay alijah ain toon Ais laaray tay tore kad puchhyai
Keeh ais namaanay tay beetian nay

(O God the Truthful you had said
Go O Man, you have been made king of the world
My bounties are your treasures
You are my deputy and viceroy
After sending me with this promise have you ever asked
What has transpired with this poor thing?)

Then he enumerated in the poem the problems of immediate concern to a Punjabi peasant:

Kithay dhauns police sarkar di ay
Kithay dhaandli maal patwaar di ay
Anvain haddan wich kalpay jaan mairi
Jeeven phahi wich koonj kurlandi ay
Changa shah banayai rab saiyaan
paulay khandyan vaar na aundi ay

(Somewhere there is the terror of police people
Somewhere there is fraud in the revenue department
My soul is shackled in my bones
like a squeaking lark caught in a net.
Dear God what a king you made out of me
I can't count the number of beatings that are given to me)
Then in a fit of frustration he concluded that "if You can't look after me then I should search for another God for myself."
UNQUOTE

http://www.kidvai.com/windmills/2007/06/pervez-hoodbhoy-superstar.html

Tina Sani’s version is brilliant as she performs without instruments and it must have been recorded by Mr. Kidvai at The Second Floor in Karachi. This is Tina at her very best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmnNeaJH4Ug

What can I say about Atif Aslam. Any popular artist who covers Faiz’s Rabba Sacheya and Shah Hussain’s Maee Nee Main Kinoon Aakhan deserves credit for courage

Atif’s version takes a departure from the original. I wonder if the lines that he has added are his own or some other poet

Love Stories of the Risalo of Shah Latif - Noori Jam-Tamachee

2008-03-15T14:56:00.004+05:00

The Risalo of Shah Latif is divided into chapters called Surs which are composed on the lines of musical notes. Each sur is based on symbols taken from stories which are part of Sindhi folklore. Sur Kamod in the Risalo of Shah Latif is based on the love story of Noori Jam-Tamachee

Noori Jam-Tamachee

King Jam Tamachi was a Samo ruler of lower Sind at the end of the 14th century A.D. While on a shooting expedition, he chanced to see a fisher girl named Noori, falling madly in love with her and offered to married her, his love for her blind to the social disparity between them.

When they returned back to his capital, he was made aware of the general disapproval of this match. He merely observed that the detractors did not know her as much as he did. In order to display her character and appease the cynics, one day, he announced to his queens, that he would take one of them for a ride on an outing.

All the queens put on elaborate makeup and their best clothing, but not Noori. On the contrary, she put on her old family garment, perhaps the one she wore when the kind has seen her first. When Jam Tamachi visited the queens, she smiled at them and moved on. When he saw Noori, in her simple attire, he was greatly impressed. He nodded her approval at her and led her by the hand to the royal carriage.

When they were alone, he enquired from her about her dress. She tells him that the dress reminded her of what she inherently was, and what she owed the king for her elevation. The king was charmed with her simplicity and sincerity and the legend of their happy lives have become part of the Sindhi folklore immortalized by Shah Latif.

[Taken from Agha M. Yaqoob's 3 volume translation of the Risalo with minor editing]

I owe it to Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan's rendition of Sur Kamod for this exploration of Shah Latif. It is challenging to understand the nij/thait diction but after listening to Ustad Manzoor Ali Khan, it became labor of love to cross-reference available literature on Shah to understand the Sur. I am handicapped still, as far as pronunciation is concerned, but I hope I am forgiven for this short-coming

Ustad Manzoor's track can be accessed at

http://yangtze.cs.uiuc.edu/~jamali/sindh/res/audio/links/manzoor2.ram

This kafi is based on Shah Latif’s Sur Kamod & it is describing the scene of the King Jam Tamachee falling for a simple fisherwoman Nooree, about Noori's humble background, her demeanor, her poverty & the king falling for her despite all this…

Love Stories of the Risalo of Shah Latif - Sasui & Punhu

2008-03-11T22:50:00.004+05:00

Five Surs in the Risalo of the Shah Latif are based on the love story of Sasui and Punhu. These are Sur Sasui Abri, Sur Desi, Sur Mazoori, Sur Kohyari and Sur Hussaini

Sasui and Punhu

The love story of Sasui and Punhu is the most popular of all tales in Sindh. Pangs of separation, Sasui’s suffering in search of Punhu, her bare-foot wandering in the mountains under the burning sun, her sorrowful appeals to the desert beasts to sympathize with the suffering, her prayers to the elements of nature to show her kindness and help her trace her lost Punhu and finally her tragic death and ultimate union with her beloved are part of Sindhi folklore.

Sasui was the daughter of a Brahmin named Naoon. At her birth, astrologers prophesied that she was destined to wed a musalman. The unhappy parents, placed the baby in a box and threw it in a river to avert the disgrace that was in store for them. This box was picked up by a Muslim washer-man named Muhammad, who, having no child of his own, brought up the girl, as his own daughter.

Time passed and Sasui grew into a beautiful young woman. About this time, there was a famine in the neighbouring country of Kaich-Makran. The chief of this hilly tract, a Baloch Sardar, prepared a caravan, and placing his son Punhi as its head, sent it to Sindh for grain.

The caravan arrived at Bhambor, home to Muhammad and his adopted daughter Sasui. There it was that Sasui and Punhu saw each other and fell madly in love at first sight. The result was that when the caravan of Kaitch was returning, Punhi, their leader, declined to join them & stayed in Bhambor with Sasui.

The Baloch Sardar, upon learning of Punhu’s decision, sent his other sons to Sindh and bring Punhu back. When they arrived at Bhambor, Sasui, considering them as her brothers-in-law, gave them a cordial welcome and accorded hospitality befitting their position. The guests stayed for some days, and one night, finding Sasui fast asleep, placed Punhu on a camel and returned to Kaich.

Sasui was devastated. She pursued the tracks of the caravan but Punhu was nowhere to be found. The caravan had crossed the borders of Sindh but there was no turning back for Sasui. She wandered in the hills, crying to the trees, the sand dunes and the desert beasts.

Then she met a goat-herder who, fascinated by her youth and beauty attempted to assail her virtue. She fled and cried for help, when mother-earth opened her bosom and received her chaste daughter in a fond embrace. The goat-herder, seeing this miracle, and feeling ashamed, collected a heap of stones and piled them together to mark her grace. Some days passed and Punhu disconsolate in grief, contrived to escape from his parents and flee to Bhambhor.

As chance would have it, he passed by Sasui’s grave, and thinking it to be the shrine of a saint, he bowed down before it, and begged for blessings. A voice came from the grace and a call to Punhu, and then two arms were extended and received Punhu inside. Thus the earth, kinder than man, united the lovers in death. The prophecy of the astrologers had come true.

Other Surs based on the above love story are as explained below

Sur Mazoori

The word Mazoor in the context of this Sur means physically weak and helpless.

This Sur is one of the series that tells the story of Sasui Punhu. It describes Sasui’s march in pursuit of Punhu and her sad experiences, her bereavement and her helplessness.

In this Sur, the exquisite beauty and purity of diction are quite obvious and is replete with wealth of delightful and impassioned poetry evoking images of Sasui appealing to the mountains not to rise higher to add to her travails, to the eyes not to shed its tears for fear of losing the beloved’s footprints in desert sand.

Sur Desi

The Sur relates to the abduction of Punhu by his brothers. In it, Sasui blames the men in the caravan and voices her grievience against the wind, the sun and the moon. But she braces herself against their machinations; as she prepares to sacrifice her life in search of her Love

Sur Kohyari

The poet opens the sur with the note of self-reproach from Sasui; that she failed to observe vigil in the night and offer attendance to Punhu, and inadvertently gave an opportunity to her enemies, to deceive her and cause her great bereavement.

She blames herself and her sleep as reason for Punho’s abduction, expresses her grievance with the mountain for the tortuous hardiships, reproaches the rocks for her hardness and cruelty, laments the fact that due to the pain and anguish of her journey, she finds herself physical unfit to carry searching for Punhu.

Sur Hussaini

In Sur Hussaini, Sasui describes her predicament of having lost Punhu and calls out to him and appeals to him for help. It tells the pathos of her devotion, her endless effort and patience.

[Taken from Agha M. Yaqoob's 3 volume translation of the Risalo with minor editing - Naveed]

i am alive

2008-03-08T00:42:00.003+05:00

the gun pointed at your head and other two poking your sides makes everything around you black out

you see things but the brain does not register

from the dreadful to the comic, the car jackers did not approve of indian classical number playing at the time; kishori amonkar if i am not mistaken, kaahay gayoo gavan ma;

they decided then not to prolong the hijacking or perhaps their agony of listening to her & wasting their time on a moron like me

was it kishori amonkar that saved me; i wonder

there is a pakistan tele-film made by hasan zaidi (raat chalee hay jhoom kay) that is the perfect example of art immitating life as it captures my predicament as it transpired 4 years ago;

next to impossible that hasan zaidi would read this but if he does, he owes me some credit for the film; all i am asking is information where I can buy this on dvd

Love Stories of the Risalo of Shah Latif - Suhni Mehaar

2008-03-08T00:30:00.005+05:00

The Risalo of Shah Latif is divided into chapters called Surs which are composed on the lines of musical notes. Each sur is based on symbols taken from stories which are part of Sindhi folklore.

Sur Suhni

This story dates back to the time when the Moghul Emperor, Shah Jahan ruled over Delhi. There was a wealthy potter named Tala, in Gujarat (a village in the Punjab), who had a beautiful daughter named Mahi (Suhni – the beautiful). About that time a handsome youth named Izzat Beg (Mehaar), son of a merchant of Bukhara, had started on his Indian tour, and visited Lahore and Delhi, buying and selling merchandise. He chanced to pass through the village of Gujarat and fell madly in love with the potter’s daughter. So he stayed back indefinitely and forgot his home and profession.

He used to visit the potter’s house constantly on the pretext of buying the pots, and so oblivious was he of his financial state that in a short time he converted all his wealth into pottery. His home was now full of pots of all sized and shapes. Very soon he was obliged to open a shop and turn potseller to support himself.

But his heart being with Suhni, he could not attend to retailing earthenware and shop was closed and Izzat Beg came under the employment of Tala, whose daughter he loved. First they put him to knead the clay.

Then they gave him a herd of buffaloes to graze, which he did as a labour of love. At last one evening chance brought him face to face with the beloved, to whom he then confessed his feelings. Suhni was struck with his devotion towards her, and she gave her heart to her father’s servant. They met secretly thereafter but not for long.

The girl’s parents suspected the attachment and summarily dismissed the cattle grazer who dared to love their daughter.

As for the daughter, she was speedily married to a neighbour’s son. Unhappy Suhni spurned her hateful husband’s advances and refused all food and drink. She lived in perpetual mourning so that even her husband soon grew tired of her. Meanwhile Suhni communicated with her lover through a friend.

Unhappy Izzat Beg wandered about for some time and established himself in a cottage on the other side of the river Chenab. Even when oceans divide, love can stem the tide and so every night the Bukhara youth would swim across the river and meet his beloved. After a time, however, he received a wound in the side, and so could not move out of bed. Thus Suhni left her house at night to swim across the river on an earthen jar, and meet her sick lover.

This continued for some time, but it was not to be. Suhni’s sister-in-law discovered these secret meetings and also observed that Suhni after returning from her lover, always hid her jar under a heap of grass. So one night, she treacherously removed her jar and substituted in its place, another one of sun-baked clay. The next night Suhni as usual, took her jar, and entered the stream. Soon after, as the kacha (unbaked) jar could not stand water, it broke and poor Suhni was cast upon the waves. Bitter was her wailing and loud her cries. She called to her Mehaar to come to her rescue but all in vain. A short while after, as Suhni was grappling with the waves, Mehaar learnt of her danger and went to her aid, but the poot potter-girl was already buried in her watery grave.

Thereupon Mehaar, too, jumped into the river and the two were thus united in death

[Taken from Agha M. Yaqoob's 3 volume translation of the Risalo with minor editing - Naveed]

thin ice

2008-01-30T20:13:00.000+05:00

skating on thin ice; is it ia metaphor for a mid-life crisis

well if so, then i am skating for sure

my mind has not been so clear as it is now; as to what needs to be done, prioritize and prefer things & execute plans that are most important

the career is in limbo but i have a feeling that from these ashes will emerge a reinvigorated individual full of zeal and vigor that have become second nature like part of dna

feel like i am ready for a take off and there is no wind beneath these wings; time to flap these wings extra hard

why has music disappeared from this mundane life

the lord shining His light

2008-01-26T18:34:00.000+05:00

there is just a little glimmer of the cold wave easing up; has been a most unusual winter; what to say of events that have unfolded recently

the trees outside our window sil are home to cuckoos, parrots & there was an eagle bathing in the sunlight earlier

if the birds and the trees are just the same then would things be coming back to their own self anytime soon

living breathing dying

2008-01-19T21:56:00.000+05:00

the city around seems to be hanging midair in a vacuum or worse a morbid abyss

it will take time for wounds to heal, the air to have the same familiar fragrance

it will take time

cry baby

2007-09-28T16:24:00.000+05:00

i find myself emotional to the brink of tears when i hear some popular songs

signs of middle age setting in

checking if blogger still works

2007-09-01T14:00:00.000+05:00

this is a test of blogger. have been blocked so many times and there is something about wordpress that keeps me coming back to blogspot....so before normal programming resumes just testing this space

o captain my captain

2007-03-22T00:08:00.000+05:00

his demeanour is that of some long lost soul on the mall in lahore or more appropriately any back-alley in multan; not quite your average hero that craves public attention and revels in his celebrity status; his was a demeanour of the common man on the street; his desire was that of excellence with complete faith in his lord for which he got ridiculed when pakistan got beat by ireland

inzimam has been the most beloved cricketer of our generation; i have always felt great love for this great hero

what a great gesture by the zimbabweans to bid him farewell & congratulating him and the west indian spectators giving him a standing ovation and inzimam, the greatest of our captains unable to hold back tears leaving all of us sharing this moment of grief with him

Bulleh Shah

2006-08-27T00:16:00.000+05:00

From "Another Voice"
Muzaffar A. Ghaffar
Ferozsons

All that is two-faced must die;
like the universe and black holes
like good and its evil ride
like beauty entwined with dross
all that stands stalwart at the edge of the abyss
all is half-poised
on the ever crumbling divide

So where is the still point
where singularity abides?
Where is the first alphabet
truth's sanctuary
from which was crafted
the calligrapher's art
the imagist's paint, stone and metal,
the philosopher's raven-hearted thought
the climber's mountain, and
the labours of the scribe?

Take me via the second alphabet,
through swooning forests
and earths that bite;
through light that pierces
where tyrant digressions, sword in hand
behead consciousness

Take me over the bridge on the torrent
across the corpus of beehives
beyond the race thing which caps my knees
and the alluring gender divide

Take me into the cauldron of faith
show me the umbilical chord that binds
the earth-mother with my naval, my mind;
show me fires that are heaven-bound
like never-ending ladders,
like the genie Himalayas sun-spiked

If you cannot do this
then let me be;
for this time in space
to the hushed rhythm of the pulsating, breathing, universe.
Let me re-enter baby's first smile

maa-ae nee kinoohn aakhaahn - part ii

2006-08-11T22:13:00.000+05:00

as committed earlier, an excerpt from "Masterworks of Punjabi Sufi Poetry - Shah Hussain Within Reach" by Muzaffar A. Ghaffar. brief edited commentary that might be helpful to the readers

maa-ae nee kinoohn aakhaahn
dard vichoray da haal

dukhan dhu-ain shaahaan waalae,
jaahn phoolaan taan laal

maa'ae nee kinoohn aakhaahn
dard vichoray da haal

soolaahn maar deevaani keetee
birhoohn pya khyaal

maa'ae nee kinoohn aakhaahn
dard vichoray da haal

dukhaahn dee rootee, soolaahn da laavaan,
haddaan da baalarn baal

maa'ae nee kinoohn aakhaahn
dard vichoray da haal

jungle bayla phiray dhoondaydee,
na mileya maheehnval

maa'ae nee kinoohn aakhaahn
dard vichoray da haal

kahay hussain faqeer nimarna,
milay taahn thayvaahn nayhaal

maa'ae nee kinoohn aakhaahn
dard vichoray da haal

(*)

translation

o mamma ! who can i tell, this state of separation-pain
fires of faqueers smoulder, wherever i rummage ruby-red gain

o mamma ! who can i tell, this state of separation-pain
thorns pierce, make me mad, separation my mind's refrain

o mamma ! who can i tell, this state of separation-pain
bread of pain, curry of thorns, from burning bones fire obtain

o mamma ! who can i tell, this state of separation-pain
jungles, moors she roams in search, yet not found the swain

o mamma ! who can i tell, this state of separation-pain
says hussain the destitute devotee, if he's found, joy i'd attain

o mamma ! who can i tell, this state of separation-pain

commentary

the kaafi comes to us with some alternates in several lines. The first line begins with a desperate situation which every one of us experiences periodically – where there is no one to open your hearts to.

the use of the word maa’ae (o mamma) is an invocation expressing anguish, at the same time addressing the mother with intimacy. The sense of loneliness and being isolated

And sometimes, as here, when what is so very important to us would not be understood, or be mocked at, or related to unimportance. Often this may happen because the other person does not know how to deal with such a revelation.

what is the preoccupation of our poet with pain-separation? Most punjabi tales are spun around this feeling. This is central in Heer, Sohni-Mahinwal, Sassi-Punno.

The word "haal" has two other major meanings other than "state or condition". A common meaning of haal is "the present". This is also the workd for the present tense in Punjabi. Perhaps the poet is referring to an intense episode in a perennial feeling. And there seeems to be no one to relate it to. So "mamma" is invoked.

The other meaning of haal is frenzy. Or physical and spiritual ecstacy. The thought that ecstacy is also present in pain-separation seems to be inherent in the line. And that can certainly not be related to another. This reasing makes the lines ecsstatis rather than despondent. Indeed the word "keehnuun" now does not read as the non-availability of someone to tell, but as "who all to tell". Now the line also becomes a communication with the beloved mamma.

(*) post-script (naveed) - arabic/shahmukhi script that i have pasted without permission from apnaorg has verses that differ slightly from the book from which i have taken the above excerpts (that too, sadly without permission) :)

...the apnaorg version has more verses; however the basic essence is given above should someone want to delve into it a little deeper

i am alive

2006-07-31T18:18:00.000+05:00

just figured out how pkblog can help me to access my blog... is anyone else having the same problems... did not want to be behind a vpn that was the only way to get to my blog.... several blogspot sites are down.... where has everyone gone

ps - thank you pkblogs

Sorry for my earlier typo

2006-07-18T13:40:00.000+05:00

the few readers of my blog are kindly requested to revisit my earlier blog on bulleh shah in which i have made a vital error in the first line. the translation has been reposted...the first line should read as

"bullah who am i, what do i know"

bullah revisited

2006-07-09T18:16:00.000+05:00

translation in a bit of kafiana style (bullah kee jaana main koon)

Bullah who am I, what do I know?

Neither in mosques an orthodox acolyte
Nor in any blaspheming rite
Nor pure amongst the defiled, recondite
Neither Moses am I, nor Pharoah

Bullah who am I, what do I know?

I am not in any vedic tome
Nor in heady drinks afoam
Nor in tipplers who legless roam
Neither in wakefulness, nor in slumber aglow

Bullah who am I, what do I know?

Neither in conjugal joy, nor in the sad
Neither in purity, nor in defilement clad
Neither of water, nor of dust begad
Neither fire am I, nor windflow

Bullah who am i, what do i know?

I'm neither arab, nor from Lahor
Nor from the Indian town Nagor
Neither Hindu, nor turk from Peshaur
Nor in Nadaon do I stow

Bullah who am i, what do I know?

The essence of religion I haven't got
Neither by Adam, Eve was I begot
Nor my name know or sought
Neither settled, nor on the go

Bullah who am i, what do I know?

First and last, only know I
Knowing every other I deny
To greater wisdom none qualify
Bullah, who's the inner one on show

Bullah who am I, what do I know?

copied without permission
"Masterworkds of Punjaabi Sufi Poetry"
"Bulleh Shah Within Reach"
"Volume 1"
Muzaffar A. Ghaffar
Ferozsons (Private) Limited

http://www.ferozsons.com.pk/

each kafi has detailed commentry and both the books (Bulleh Shah & Shah Hussain) have been purchased by yours truly last month

there maybe a proofing error in the following...I have added in brackets & hope i am right & this was not intention on the past of the translator

The essence of religion I haven't got
Neither by Adam, Eve was I begot
Nor my name know(n) or sought
Neither settled, nor on the go