Top Ten South Asian Pieces of Music

Dear Sirs (Owner of Chowk): I am tired of all stuf you put this journel. All kafir hindus influance on all people.

I want to bring notice we are race of midleeast and Arab country and turk and iranian and central asians white people and not dark race india chhap people.Let no blood mixing to godown muslim race is thec point of this letter. Have middle east arab music for change.

All pakistanis like india hinduchhap bogas cinema sons is tragedy. Why not enjoy arb and irani and turk culture and their movies and songs that is the point sir. Sometimes i suspense you are hindu lover than arab lover or turk lover. Its all bhankas and Bakwass hindi songs.

I given example later below. All muslims think.

I’m working as an Engineer in Qatar Airways and stationed at Doha, Qatar. I’m an engineering graduate of

P.A.F. Academy Risalpur and belong to a family having military background. I would like to highlight a very

critical issue and want my feelings to be communicated to the higher ups in Pakistan Army.

Here in Middle East, Indians have a lot of influence on the print and electronic media. No chance of maligning

Pakistan is ever wasted in this region. As a matter of fact, Pakistan is considered as a bully by most of our

Arab brothers. I’m often asked questions by my Arab friends that why Pakistan is harbouring terrorism in

Kashmir. They believe Kashmir to be part of India and support the Indian viewpoint. They also refuse the

ideology of Pakistan saying that we (the Muslims of Pakistan) are no different than the Hindus of India and,

therefore, the creation of Pakistan was not justified (for my Arab friends).

Sir, this should be an eye opener for us. The people I’m talking about are not common people who can get

deceived by Indian propaganda. They are intellectuals and professionals with vast experience in their

respective fields. Our Embassy in Qatar never bothers to promote the Pakistani side of the story. No efforts

are ever made to tackle Indian propaganda. Yet we are hiring and promoting officials who have callous and

indifferent attitude towards safeguarding Pakistan’s interests.

Secondly, I have been reading a lot about the Kargil issue. Indians have made it look like their military victory.

You surf the net and you will find the e-world full of Indian version of the story. Somewhere they list the names

of Pakistani officers and men killed by their gallant troops, on another site you will see the statistics of

Pakistani troops killed in this battle, elsewhere they will narrate stories of valour displayed by their soldiers in

routing the entrenched enemy (who had strategic advantage by occupying high peaks). I have hardly come

across any web-site, which can truly match the Indian sites. I have yet to find a page on the internet, which

tells our side of the story.

Being a Pakistani, I have a question for our Army higher ups in general and General Pervez Musharraf in

particular — Why are we afraid of telling the world what happened in Kargil? Did our troops fail (like the

Indians claim) or were our men unable to match the so-called “Courage and Valour of Indians”? I’m sure that

Pakistani troops have displayed unmatched courage and supreme sacrifice, which is not being disclosed to the

nation. This is a real pity for the nation who is made to believe that they suffered a debacle (greater than 1971)

when in fact brave sons of that nation re-wrote the history of Salahuddin Ayubi.

Please do not let the sacrifice of people like Captain Sher and Havaldar Lalak Jan go in vain. I’m sure there

were many more of them but nobody ever told us about them. Is there anyone who will tell the truth?

Muhammed Aamir Nawaid

Development Engineer - Qatar Airways

Graduate - College of Aeronautical Engineering

PAF Academy Risalpur, G-30 Engineering Course

Ph: +974 4 631037

Email: aamirnawaid@hotmail.com

Sir the point is we should go away from hindus to roots- our turki , arab roots.Hindustan out of mind out of site. Ban tv of India, open free arab and turki , iran channels flood pakistan. Hows the idea? I like this fustclas idea.

Lady complained Amina Shah- no body (muslim arabs , turki or central asian , pure iranian type)in usa asks to marry or date her and paki girls.Fist she is Sindhi and write too much against islam and is too hindu type thinking.They should first behave as Muslima then complan ok not before.

So before complan think what is wrong us. We are forgeting roots. Currents oppose to reach original race of islam.Instead of Urdu go arabic or iranian - parsee language. Urdu is too mixed too much hindi type (hindi is from world hindu late be clear mind) we should Arabic. Then no problam by any ethinic group correct. Yes sir you are correct any way.

My best music from our real race people- arab- iran-turki

1.Mohammad Abdel Wahab--- El Karnak (Lexor temple)

2.Farid EL Atrash------EL Rabih (spring season)

3. Abdel Halim Hafez----Kariat EL Fengan( Seeing future in emptied turkisk coffee cup and kept upside down)

fist theree by Arabic race singer

4.Ahmed Zaher-----Chon Darakt Farvaden (tree of luck)--- Irani race singer song

5. Farhad Darya--- Mazager Sho lili (afternoon)--Pushtu- from singer of Afghan race

I very sad when your reder ignore all muslim singers of middle east from where our fore fathers came.

I know some central muslim asia song but i do not appsiate that race as they think we are hindus or worse than that, they hipocrite men and woman drink Sharab, take nasha,think better as their skin is white like butter

Anyway point is lets get to roots stop hindu songs and movies is point.

What arb brother think no wrong. We worship hindus singing, shadi just hindu style what about following arabic or irani type for change. o bdy like that addicted to drugs of hindu songs and movies. If arab or any C.Asian or turki read this jonural he will feel pakistani is obsessed with hindus. How many real people from arabstan read, they tired of all hindus and pais all kafr style stuf. All lafadabagi i think. Any way my thoughts, need to go make check beds proper or not done by peons. Any way muslims give think to my piont and that is point of wrting this coment and all troubles. ay way good day

From The Times of India today:

Pak pop queen may be immortalised at Tussaud`s


LONDON: Late pop queen Nazia Hassan may be immortalised in wax as efforts are on to have her statue at London`s famous Madame Tussaud`s gallery.

At a special prayer meeting to mark Hassan`s first death anniversary on Wednesday night, Yasmin Sheikh, MBE, said she would immediately launch a move to have a wax model of Hassan, who shot to fame with her Aap jaisa koi meri zindagi mein aaye number.

Sheikh said it was in appreciation of her contribution to music, in particular her ability to successfully blend the beats and rhythms of east and west.

Wax statues of Amitabh Bachchan, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto are among those on display at the museum.

A senior official of the Nehru Centre, the cultural wing of the Indian High Commission and envoys of Pakistan and Bangladesh were among those who paid tributes to the singer on her death anniversary.

Divya Mathur, senior programming officer at the Nehru Centre, paid her tributes in Urdu and read out a message from the director of the centre and cultural minister at the Indian High Commission Girish Karnad.

Acting High Commissioner for Pakistan Attiya Mehmood said the occasion should not be one of sorrow or gloom, but one in which the extraordinary achievements of a person who accomplished so much in such a short space of time are celebrated.
( PTI )

You folks have covered quite a bit of ground. Titans of all kinds find their rightful places here - masterful quwaals, classical singers of eternal charm, sufi groups electrifying their audiences, the evergreen geniuses of Hindi/Urdu film music, and of course, my favorite, the one and only beautiful Nazia Hassan (she gets both my votes for Tussaud`s).

To this long and glittering list I would like to add the names of two more legends. One of them is S. D. Burman. Here was a man who tranformed Indian movie music with his phenomenal sense of melody and effect. Every time I hear songs like roop tera mastana, na tum hame jaano, arrey uaar meri tum bhi ho gazab, phoolon ke rang se, ek ladki bheegi bhaagi see, I am tranported into a world where only sachinda can take one. However, I brought up his name not for his well-known role as a music director but for that one beautifully timbered, uniquely sonorous song he himself sang - wahan kaun hai tera, mussafir, jaayega kahan. That song, from the opening sequence of the movie Guide, remains among my all-time favorites. It isnt the usual run-of-the-mill kind of song, and I am curious to know if anyone else was as enraptured by it as I was.

The second person I wish to mention is luckily still with us. He is the cultural icon of Assam - Bhupen Hazarika, lovingly known as Bhupenda. Many years ago I first heard his songs when I was in Calcutta. Although I didnt understand a word of Assamese, I was pulled in by the sheer magic of his rich baritone voice. I went on to learn that this exceptional singer/musician/poet/lyricist is also a superb human being. His bistirna dupare (can anybody translate that?) is sheer joy! And recently, his MTV video Ganga is an incredible piece of work. The cultural allusions, the infinite humanity, the passionate voice, the elegant tune - all create an effect that is rare indeed.

Anyways, this has been a delightful discussion. Now I know I need to expand my music collection.

P.S.: Someone mentioned John Lennon. Now, he is the only God in MY dictionary :)

Re:SameerJB#93

In classical music, the performer has to be really good, in order to bring out the beauty of the genre. A well performed piece of classical music can transport you to another world. In other forms of music, a mediocre singer may be acceptable, but not in classical music.

A few years back, Pandit Jasraj of the Mewati gharana was performing in Lahore. After his performance, one of the listeners went up to him and told him, ``Aaj aapne mujhe Allah ka ahsaas karva diya``. Such is the unique nature of classical music!! My personal favorites in classical music are Ustad Abdul Karim Khan and D.V. Paluskar. Both of these stalwarts had the sweetest, most melodius voices that I have ever heard. If you have seen the movie Baiju Bawra, D.V. Paluskar sings for Baiju in the climactic scene during the competition with Tansen, in the classical based song, ``Aaj gavat man mero``.

Ustad Amir Khan and Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan were two other gems in classical vocal music. It is said that Naushad tried several times unsuccessfully to rope in Bade Ghulam Ali Khan to sing for Tansen in the movie Mughal-e-Azam, since classical musicians avoided movies in those days. Bade Ghulami Ali got fed up by the persistent requests and demanded an outlandish Rs 25000 for one song to get rid of Naushad and K. Asif. They immediately agreed and paid him the amount. As a result, much to our delight, Bade Ghulam Ali sang that masterful romantic composition in Mughal-e-Azam. I would recommend that you give a try to these artists. You may find it a very rewarding experience.

I`ve been out of touch for a couple of weeks but so glad to see that there has ensued a non-political, who is right who is wrong string here on Chowk.

Of course, Nusrat could not be forgotten nor Esakhelvi; (My favorite Esakhelvi moment is on an old cassette picked up somewhere in the bazaars of Punjab in which a member of the audience shoots off his pistol or rifle and Esakhelvi has to threaten to end the concert unless the man gets his feelings under control!)

And Tina Sani and Munni Begum and Bhimsen Joshi and....any list is a list of the moment. Ask me to name my latest top ten and you`ll find 6 are different than this list...but thanks for all your feedback and look forward to hearing some of your selections!

As far as Shah of chicago goes...I`m in the dark too. It is up to the Editor`s not me to post!

Cheers and namaskar and khuda hafez for now.

..fantastic range of great music by all!

And I am glad that Ataullah Isakhelvi was also mentioned...he has some fantastic songs in Punjabi and Saraiki and Pothohari languages! My favourite is probably his immortal, ``vay bol saanwal...`` :)

As for Ahmad Madani sahib--i agree with some of his sentiments but not all. We should not forget that our identity is Islam first and foremost but culturally and linguistically we have as much Indian culture in us as Arabi and Turko-Persian and it would be foolish to try to get rid of it. Islam does not demand us all to be Arabs culturally as well! Yes those things in our culture which have crept in from Hindu influence such as jehez, not allowing widowed women to marry again (or making it hard at least) so much so that it has become a stigma, some weddding ceremonies, the festival of basant and other obvious un-islamic practises, these unislamic practises should be eliminated but as long as nothing contradicts shar`iat we should keep it and be proud of it even if it is of hindu origin.

Having said that, I am amazed that given the brilliance of contemporary, post-revolution Iranian cinema, and the high quality of some Arab cinema, that our film industry has not tried to learn from our Persian brethren rather than aping and producing poor clones of Bollywood which is increasingly anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistani. And honestly which director in India today has an output of films which can even touch that of Mohsen Makhalmaf or his daughter Samira? And these films feature none of the vulgarity of most indo/pakistani films either proving that a great movie can be made without songs and dances and women in see-thru` wet saris/shalwar kameezes!

I think we can learn a LOT from post-revolutionary Iran and we should. Of course as the natural successor state to the Mughal Empire we also have a long tradition of Persian cultural influence amongst our educated classes which needs to be revived along with the Arabic language. Arabic, Persian, Urdu should be the lingua france of Pakistan and not English as it is today.

Relating these remarks to our current topic of music then certainly we should continue with Hindustani musical traditions (which have a heavy influence of classical Persian music anyway --the dastgah raag system was added by Hazrat Amir Khusro to traditional Indian ragas) but also re-learn and re-introduce more Arabic and Persian styles to our music as well. A good example of this in practise was the increasing use of Arabic and Persian lyrics to qawwalies by the Sabri Brothers in particular (Arabic) and Aziz Mian (whose qawwalies became increasingly Persianised!). NFAK too has many Arabo=Persian qawwalies. Other qawwals are continuing the trend....

* * * * *

In fact I think I might write a short article on the Pakistani film industry and hope that Chowk publishes it! Also perhaps one on post-revolutionary Iran as a model for Pakistan`s future...especially Iran`s political system which is a real Islamic model but one in which people elect their leader...

I guess there never can be any bad music - just attribute it to peoples tastes¤t moods. I dont have any favorites but currently am hooked to Meri Duniya from Vaastav, Pachelbel & Shujaat Hussain Khan (in no particular order). His Snowy Mountains with Kayhan Kalhor is THE most uplifting music I have ever heard - but then havent heard much looking at the various lists here : ). I went to their concert last year - v v good. Although I do have to mention this - nothing can beat the theme from The Good, Bad & the Ugly - always peps me up when I am heading home at 4AM dead after working on some manhoos deadlines. I highly recomend it !!

So little time and so much to listen to !!!

aicha

Referance No.109, Mr. Ali Naqshbandi

Respected sir,

I really honoured by you say you uderstand my thinking point.Most america Pakis forget culture and i agree Pakistan is contined of mughal empire after UK after Raj like Turki is like turki empire (Khilafat) kind of Nizam E Mustafa.I am not went college but read lot stuf on web site while sitting insead of watching bad stuf study about Mughal empire and Impire king Aurangzeb.

Before him things were going to dogs and time was wested in dance song etc instead of preparation for war. He banned all stuf there was point as this things make you week really. It does not much matter by singing finally who has better arms wins is the point. Basic singing and cinema is not very importent.

second pt is please write about paki movies and knowlage ppl about it.Pakistan was created negative of hindu india.Reema is as sexy or more than india Chhap stupid actress but Madhuri contols why due this stupid mental of people. Labor mazdoor people just want sex, dance,songs. Hindu wants to steal mazdoors mony by giving him what he wants. And thats problem. I saw iran movie good, it was dubbed, they are better looks than all hindus and actress good looking but no sexcitemet so mazdoor is not going to pay mony. We need to have little excite in our actress like Madhuri.Anyway.One way to kill india Chhap movie is to have usa type movie, more sex , fighting excite etc. Cinema is imp as there is lot of mony to make.

It is sorry what arab thinks about but / no better than hindu thing. Language can transform to arab, Turki, Irani culture. We we not be free till we donot take turki, irani or arab language.These songs are like cancer slowly spreading and eating body from inside. We need strong Dava inthis matter. Good day everybody and good nights to expaks in foren countri.

I am slowly thinking of it training as future and mony in that business but one institue asaks 52,000 rs its conected to usa organization for one year trainer ( IT cliams many have got jobs in states). What IT people advise me about that. Is it sufficient to in get job in STATES? good day ever6ybody.Thank for advice . Plz give tell opinion about IT training.

Re:Reply #: 109

Asif Naqshbandi,

``And honestly which director in India today has an output of films which can even touch that of Mohsen Makhalmaf or his daughter Samira?``

Now, i do not know much about the new wave cinemas from Iran but i have heard that they do well in International film festivals and are much talked about. Iranian directors have done well, given their constraints of living in a country which does not give artists full freedom to experiment (such freedom,alas, is not there even in India,witness the banning of Deepa Mehta`s movie ``water(?)`` by UP govt). They seem to have created a niche. But, it is another story to make a movie that is popular with the masses and also does well in box-office.

If you watch Mani Ratnam`s movies (Bombay, Roja etc), he manages just that and yet keeps quality of his movies high. One of his first movies ``Anjali`` is about a handicapped child. There are plethora of such movies made in last several decades. Raj Kapoor himself made one off-beat movie ``Jaagte Raho`` which he rates as the best but did not do well with box-office.

I am quoting several of following paras from an article on Indian Cinema written by the famous film director, Shyam Benegal. You can find it at www.tehelka.com.

1.Speaking on Indian cinema in 1929, Rabindranath Tagore, India`s nobel laureate and national poet, commented:

``Form in Art changes according to the means it uses. I believe that the new art that could be expected to develop out of the notion of the motion picture has not yet made its appearance. In politics we are looking for Independence; in Art we must do the same. Every Art seeks to find its own independent manner of expression within the world it creates; otherwise its self -expression is undermined for lack of confidence in itself ….. no creative genius has yet arrived to deliver it from its bondage. This act of rescue will not be easy, because in poetry, painting and music the means are not expensive. Whereas in the cinema, one needs not only creativity, but financial capital as well.``

Therein lies the problem. A cinema has not only to be artistically good, but also be financially viable. This has made cinema become more of a business venture, where producers call shots. Since songs are still popular among masses, these continue to find way into movies at places where they make no sense. In other words, to make a movie viable, producers sometimes pander to the interests of the front benchers.

2. ``Hindi cinema represents a collective fantasy-a group daydream, containing unconscious material and the hidden wishes of a vast number of people. It is not overly complex-the producers and directors, etc. are strongly motivated by the reasonable goal of making a lot of money. The daydream they develop is idiosyncratic. They must appeal to those concerns of the audience which are shared; if they do not, the film`s appeal is bound to be disastrously limited.

The depiction of the external world may be flawed; their relevance to the external life of the view remote, yet the popular film demonstrates a confident and sure-footed grasp of the topography of its desire and vicissitudes. Desire and fantasy are inexorably linked. Fantasy is the mise-en-scene of desire---it is the world of imagination fuelled by desire. The relationship between collective fantasy of Indian films and the Indian culture is complex. Though itself a cultural product, Hindi film has shaped popular culture in an unprecedented way.``.

I cannot put it better than what a Psychoanalyst of Indian Cinema has said above.

The early films of Raj Kapoor-Shree 420, Awaara, Boot Polish and the films of Bimal Roy, Mehboob, Khwaja Ahmed Abbas were all good and popular movies that were artistic as well as financially viable. Other movies like Guru Dutt`s Pyaasa, Kagaz Ke Phool and Mehboob Khan`s Mother India were also aesthetically and artistically well made movies. ``Mother India`` was a rage during those times and got nominated for Oscar for best direction (though never won it).

Who can forget the Bengali directors? Satyajit Ray`s Apu Trilogy are considered cinematic classics, Pather Panchali being a gem among them. I have seen almost all of his movies that were shown with English sub-titles many years ago in Bombay (before i migrated to USA). His films though very well made are not of box-office material, at least outside Bengal (they say Bengalees are a brainy lot and i believe them). His Shatranjh ke Khiladi was a flop. So, you see, money is a big limiting factor in the type of movies that one can make. Other Bengali directors of note are Ritwick Ghatak, Basu Bhattacharya, Shyam Benegal. Kerala`s Adoor Gopalakrishnan has made some good movies.

Though i have not seen any Bollywood movie of late, i saw ``hum apke hain kaun``, ``Dilwale Dulhaniyan le jayenge`` and ``Pardes`` many years ago and liked them all. I saw the last one with a Pakistani friend in New York (where else but in Jackson Heights). I believe Bollywood continues to make some good movies but are not artistic movies if that is what you are looking for. The fact that many movie makers are able to keep the audience interest alive and make profit is creditable in itself. Bollywood movies also take up issues which are of concern to the audience, like corruption, police brutality, nationalism (sometimes misplaced). You said some movies have of late become anti-muslim. I don`t think so. Perhaps anti-Pakistan (following Kargil)but certainly not anti-muslim. Do you know that a good 60% of artists directly or indirectly involved with the Hindi film industry are muslims?

I think Pakistan should create a niche like Iran did. But a lot of what goes on with cinema is dictated by reaction of the audience. If Pakistani people are hooked on to Bollywood and are watching pirated editions on VCR, there is little you or anyone can do. Pakistan`s govt should immediately free cinema by allowing it to closely interact with Indian cinema. When so many Bollywood movies find their way into markets in Karachi and Lahore, it does not make sense to officially ban Indian movies on T.V. Screening of Indian movies in Pakistan should also not be banned. ``If you cannot beat them, then join them`` should be the motto. Also, they must encourage International film festivals where usually quality movies are shown. These are a regular feature in India.

Sridhar

Ooper the gaRRh gaRRh di ainkus di be-dhayana di mung di daal of the arab, turkish, central asian and iranian cultures in Pakistan-a modification of Saadat hassan Manto`s famous line about the uttering of the guy itting on a tree branch at the border between India and Pakistan.

Eklavya: Wahan kon hay tera and another title song from movie amar prem by S. D. Berman are fantastic. I am surprised why he did not sing many more songs. I have noticed that Mahendra Kapoor, Mukesh and Shamshad Begum are absent from the choices of most people. Another very important point I would luke to make here is that being in love with oldies does not support the current hindi as well as local language singers. If all of us keep buying Cds of Lata, Rafi, NusratFAK only then who will buy the music from the current crop of singers. We must support the music as a whole so that it remains alive and well. Think of what happened to Pakistani cinema. It just died over the last 20 years because people started watching Indian and English movies and theatres could not make profits from showing Pakistani movies. The talent of movie making disappeared as a result. I hope this does not happen to any other form of entertainment industry, except the islamic science conferences and jehadis-madaris entertainment industry. They are retrogressive and deadly forms of entertainments.

Amit: Thanks for your post. I am la-jawab because I am new to classical music. I do plan to load up classical CDs during my next trip to Pakistan at 1 1/2 dollar per CD. Yes, 25000 rupees song in Mughal-e-Azam by Bare Ghulam Ali Khan is worth lot more than that. I Think that is in raag darbari. Now what is raag darbari and how one can identify it by just listening to any piece in that raga? That is what I meant by understanding the classical music. One must understand the difference between Dadra and Thumri to begin with and then perhaps raag Bhiron or Bhiravi, Mian ke thodi and so on. Later on, the difference styles of various gharanas must be learned. Actually there are some basic books, which come with three CD set. They must be a good source for a novice to begin with.

Ras Siddiqui #105,

Wax or no wax, Nazia Hassan was a hero for desi women growing up in the eighties. She, along with Runa Laila and Alamgeer pioneered the current pop music craze in Pakistan and India.

She is the Princess Di of Pakistan.

Asif Naqshbandi #109, `` And these films feature none of the vulgarity of most indo/pakistani films either proving that a great movie can be made without songs and dances and women in see-thru` wet saris/shalwar kameezes!``

You`re the tenth person so far who has praised Irani movies. There was a recent International Film Festival in which an Irani movie won numerous accolades. I forgot the name.

``Arabic, Persian, Urdu should be the lingua france of Pakistan and not English as it is today.``

Tell that to a Punjabi paindoo from Lahore :)

Yes, Persian and Urdu are beautiful flowing languages, but you can`t beat English in terms of universal acceptance. Let`s push our ``Islamic`` egos aside and accept English as the language of the future.

We can always keep our Persian/Urdu alive through music and poetry and conversations at home.

By the way, does anyone know what happened to the Sabri Brothers? I heard both passed away :(

Re:Reply #: 111

ahmed madani Sahib,

Between your thoughless gibberish, mis-spelt English words and atrocious usage of the language, I was finally able to figure out what you were trying to say.

Here are some of your gems:

1. ``i agree Pakistan is contined of mughal empire``.

2. ``Basic singing and cinema is not very importent``

3. ``Reema is as sexy or more than india Chhap stupid actress``

4. ``Anyway.One way to kill india Chhap movie is to have usa type movie, more sex , fighting excite etc. Cinema is imp as there is lot of mony to make.``

5. ``We we not be free till we donot take turki, irani or arab language.``

You see how discordant your thoughts are. One does not know what you are trying to say. As per 2. above, Cinema is not important but you go on to say in 4. that it is important as there is a lot of money to be made. You contradict yourself. That will make few people take your posts seriously.

So, you want to be more like the Iranians and the Turks. One way would be to convince all your Pakistani brothers to marry only Iranian or Turkish girls. It will be interesting to see what the offsprings would be like. Did you bother to find out what Turks and Iranians think of you or all other Pakistanis? You yourself said in your earlier post that many in the middle east think Pakistanis are no different from Indians.

The reality Madani Sahib is that Pakistan is India`s neighbour. Nobody can change that fact. It does not bother us Indians one bit if whole of Pakistan becomes more Arabic or Persian or Turkish. We have our culture and we are comfortable with it.

You want to go into IT. Good luck to you. You will find that if you come to USA as an IT worker, you may have to work with a lot of Hindoos which you hate so much. My advice to you, do not hate anyone. Just be happy with yourself.

Sridhar

Re:Reply #: 111

ahmed madani Sahib,

Between your thoughless gibberish, mis-spelt English words and atrocious usage of the language, I was finally able to figure out what you were trying to say.

Here are some of your gems:

1. ``i agree Pakistan is contined of mughal empire``.

2. ``Basic singing and cinema is not very importent``

3. ``Reema is as sexy or more than india Chhap stupid actress``

4. ``Anyway.One way to kill india Chhap movie is to have usa type movie, more sex , fighting excite etc. Cinema is imp as there is lot of mony to make.``

5. ``We we not be free till we donot take turki, irani or arab language.``

You see how discordant your thoughts are. One does not know what you are trying to say. As per 2. above, Cinema is not important but you go on to say in 4. that it is important as there is a lot of money to be made. You contradict yourself. That will make few people take your posts seriously.

So, you want to be more like the Iranians and the Turks. One way would be to convince all your Pakistani brothers to marry only Iranian or Turkish girls. It will be interesting to see what the offsprings would be like. Did you bother to find out what Turks and Iranians think of you or all other Pakistanis? You yourself said in your earlier post that many in the middle east think Pakistanis are no different from Indians.

The reality Madani Sahib is that Pakistan is India`s neighbour. Nobody can change that fact. It does not bother us Indians one bit if whole of Pakistan becomes more Arabic or Persian or Turkish. We have our culture and we are comfortable with it.

You want to go into IT. Good luck to you. You will find that if you come to USA as an IT worker, you may have to work with a lot of Hindoos which you hate so much. My advice to you, do not hate anyone. Just be happy with yourself.

Sridhar

This demands not just the older songs be listed, but the newer ones as well. And we have been given real gifts in the singers that have come out in Pakistan:

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: Simply head and shoulders above anyone else. Iran has a singer, Shahram Nazeri, who performs Rumi`s poetry, and sings it as no one else I have heard. He is worth listening to. Once, in a conversation with him, he said of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: ``A singer like him comes along once every 500 years. We don`t know how fortunate we have been to have had him in our lifetime. We are not going to see anyne close to him for another 500 years.`` While the 500 years is just a number, I think the spirit of what he was trying to say has meaning. (As an aside, another Iranian singer not to be missed is Sima Bina, who sings folk/sufi poetry).

Even with the presence of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (to whom I listen every single day), there are others I would not be without:

Pathana Khan. What he did with that one single performance in Multan, one warm evening in April, moving us incomparably with his rending, poignant ``menda ishq wi toon ...`` has forever left a mark within me.

Abida Parveen. What an incredible, incredible treasure she is!

``Hairan`` Shah: singing Sindhi kafis with a wild, whirling mosaic of voice and movement, in the desert of Larkana,well into the early hours of dawn, til his voice was softened gravel, and his kurta had torn loose as he tried to pull out his very emotions from within his chest ...

Hadiqa Kiyani, Mussarrat Nazeer, Nayyara Noor and Munni Begum, intoxicating us with the shaeiri.

Sajjad Ali, who somehow brought to me the exact same memory and feeling of days in Clifton, Bath Island, of such wonderful innocence.

Junoon, who have suddenly done what I thought would be done by Sajjad Ali: They have come up with a mix of modernized traditional poetry that is an anthem. Just listen to ``Rohnde naina``, ``Ghoom, ghoom`` from ``Parvaaz``.

I have some treasured old 78 RPM`s (handed down) of Surayya Multanikar and Mohammed Rafi and one by Ustad Bundoo Khan who can shift your equilibrium by his performance on the Sarangi. I was told his story, when he came to perform as a backing musician for Ustad Amanat and some others (a performance in the mid-1930`s) No one thought much of this small, frail figure, carrying a still smaller, more delicate instrument. But when he began to play, he simply overpowered everyone and took over. His eyes closed, and the sarangi produced a range and harmony of sounds that had the audience stunned. It was said that when Ustad Bundoo Khan played, his Sa-Rangi became a Sau-Rangi! He came to Pakistan, his land of dreams, and lived in LaluKhet til he died. I went to see him there, and saw him with his beloved instrument. He never left it. It was always with him, in his arms, in his eyes.

(As an aside, based on some of the interacts,for those who are interested in Iranian movies - run, walk, drive - somehow get to see ``Drunken horses``, ``Gabeh``, ``Red Balloon``. Each is wonderful, though difficult to take emotionally (especially ``Drunken Horses`` - THAT was hard for me to watch, emotionally speaking.). ``Two Women`` (Do-Zan) is a ferocious, feminist movie - definitely a must see, although a bit skewed in its portrayal. We Pakistanis could learn from the Iranians. The Khomeini revolution has done wonders for the Iranian cultural and movie industry (who would have thought?!). Someone on this thread suggested we freely encourage Indian movies and that we join them. I hope to God we don`t! I can think of few things more embarrassing, more cheap, more vulgar than the Indian movies. What an embarrassment! I do think that the older Indian movies were very good though and I would go along with that.)

My deepest apologies: How could I possibly leave out Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi? Or Noor Jehan? Or Iqbal Bano? Or Mehdi Hasan?

I have been listening to these as I write:

``Mujhay Tum Nazar Sey ...``

``Wo Ishq Jo Hum Sey Rooth Gaya ... ``

``Mohabbat Karney Waley Kum Na Hongay ...``