California Dreamin’ (PART 1)
“Someday, Somewhere, You Said Hello
And Walked Into My Life “
Remembering Ibn Khaldun in a World of Illusionary Truths (PART 2)
Had Khaldoun lived in our verity-challenged times, he would surely have taken today’s media to task for embracing “alternative facts” and spreading disinformation and fake news. Sensationalism, chaos and fear-arousing disinformation always sells and is good for ratings, which in turn drive advertising dollars, and the media figured that out a long time ago.
Remembering Ibn Khaldun in a World of Illusionary Truths (PART 1)
I think the human story of science, evolution and scholarship becomes more enriching if it seen as a collective human endeavor, and not necessarily as petty triumphs of one over the other – the West, the East, Christianity, Islam, Judaism.
Daughter of the Passion by Afshan Shafi
Daughter of the Passion
The Lord arrived
Not with love’s cortege-
It’s green-atomed dervish,
And entranced succuba –
He arrived in the cicatrix of a rose
To bare or not to bare? That is the question—
“When all the world is the eye of the lord
All-knowing, All-seeing
What can you conceal?”
~Akka Mahadevi
Women who inspire me to write in 2021
2021 began for me with a climb up a hill with Amanda Gorman. She pulled me aside and, with wisdom blessed at birth, reminded me that I am the ‘author of a new chapter”, she stressed the need to ensure “Harm to none, harmony for all”. And in the end, advised me “to be brave enough to see the light” and “brave enough to be it”.
Sarrkaan/سڑکاں/ਸੜਕਾਂ/Roads-Inspired by Amrita Pritam
When I try to understand the Urdu poetry of Ghalib and the Punjabi writings of Amrita Pritam, and when I listen to contemporary Pakistani Punjabi singers like Bilal Saeed and Shamoon Ismail, I start to think thoughts in multiple languages
Seeking Solace in Capricious Gardens
Excerpt from The Simurgh Rises سیمرغ کا عروج by Selma Tufail and Anniqua Rana: Capricious Gardens, a short story by Jeffrey Eugenides, is told through the voices of four people:… Read more Seeking Solace in Capricious Gardens →
Discovering the magical worlds of words: Learning to read
If you are reading this, you are familiar with the magical world one enters when a storyteller carries the reader to a place where arbitrary time and place intersect seamlessly.… Read more Discovering the magical worlds of words: Learning to read →
Yaad – Inspiration from Faiz and Others
“After having recently read Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem, titled Yaad, which is said to have been written during his time in exile, I began to reflect on all that I am now separated from, myself. “
Manto’s Urdu Short Stories and his Obsession with Obscenity
Saadat Hasan Manto An Introduction to Urdu Short Stories Manto’s own words about his Urdu short stories were my first introduction to his writing: “-اگر آپ میرے افسانوں کو برداشت… Read more Manto’s Urdu Short Stories and his Obsession with Obscenity →
Flower of Maryam
The little girl rushed out, and her brother followed her. He seemed to have forgotten his original anger and wanted to join in on the fun of the magical flower.
Kishwar Naheed: a Sinful Woman of Urdu Verse
Kishwar Naheed’s feminist anthem of Urdu Literature, “We Sinful Women” embodies the bravery of women standing up to the hypocrisy of patriarchy: …It is we sinful women./Now, even if the… Read more Kishwar Naheed: a Sinful Woman of Urdu Verse →
Inspired by Urdu Novelist, Krishna Sobti
“Like the crane, the koonj, the women in the center, lift both arms, twisting their hands at the wrists flagging the tempo of the circle around them.”