Look Ahead In Terror

Nice parrallels and literary reference points. This is the function of a broadly based essay; to take ideas and events from various disciplines and tie them together.
I have also been using poems as a way of understanding history, and Faiz most particularly; from his poems the reader is allowed into a Pakistan that seems to exist in twillight, in the heart of some Pakistanis, and people all over the world.
Lovely ending.

It didn`t occur to me that Shias in Pakistan are the same percentage as Muslims in India. Our law and order situation is sorry indeed.

As much as I have tried to be cynical about Faiz I`ve grown to admire him more with passing years. My deep fascination and near obsession with the PTV drama serial TAPISH, makes it almost permanent. The performances in the 5 long tapes are absolutely brilliant, especially Jamal Shah`s and Rubina Ashraf`s. Tapish is basically based on Faiz. Its about university students in Zia`s era. Its just a masterpiece.

Tina Sani sang the soundtrack -``bol`` and ``Mere Palko ko matt dekho`... I watch the drama every new years eve, interesting that you wrote about him.

Faiz`s poems have helped make dreams divisible. He breaks ideals down so nothing seems overwhelming. Your article however seems a little abstract and moves people to judge negatively- its very elitist- The other part of Faiz I don`t enjoy coming to terms with.

Happy new year to all Chowkies. Hope the dramas in our nations make heroes out of us.


Aisha F Sarwari.

Faiz Ahmed Faiz should be a part of every Pakistani College
kid`s reading syllabus.

Ras

thanks samina... though i have brought up ashis nandy who has really given me ways to think about our culture, and this idea of feeling history through the career of faiz was a heartlfelt exercise once, there are more private, perhaps incommunicable experiences i would rather refer to, and i will write as if ``you`` will know what i am writing about, one evening in lahore (where else!) sunny razvi, currently of dawn, who i know from the frontier post in the early 90s, and working for sajjad gul in the late 90s (there i did that again drop public proper nouns as landmarks), and most memorably from a legendary trip we made to india (a legend, again, in my mind), pulled out tanhai and said it should not be read like this but like this... he read it aloud with his trademark disdain (when i know he is not only mocking himself)...

so read tanhai sometimes, not softly as it seems you should, but disdainfully...

Rehan,
Will do.
Also, come to CUNY; we need people like you teaching classes!

Thank RA about N. Modi. and what indian said.

I recall similar thing I recall vividly. My relative served from february71 to sept.71 in east pakistan in civilian job. When he returned I was only 22 and he came to visits us. My father wanted to know how things are going in East pakistan. I brought tea and sat listening not very interested. He said our soldiers are killing our own people and they will kill in hundreds of thousands. My father did not ask more. Afterwards I asked father he said son I do not know but when I look at Tikka, Yahyya, Niyazi Its all possible and it will happen he said empathetically. I asked him why he said no reason he said I can see it.

Same feeling happened to me about General sahib. He was talking nice on TV after kicking NS. BUt I knew some how inside its all bogus its just talk he will climb down from his horses. Some times just you get feeling of coiming things. To day general is just pragmatic. I feel I am smarter Than honorable `big Khan`. Even foreign ex-pak were charged by good feeling about general and democracy we got same no more no less.Even Big Khan feels cheated by army.
Does it means people , ordinary , karchi citizen had some times fast future seeing capacity. Wonder that type of research is done in america , foreign countries. Happy new 2003 for every good.
My first and last poem welcoming 2003
Let poors get money
rich get more money
religious get slavation
dark people get wheatish wife.
wheatish get white
expak get milkwhite wife and get milk white babies with witout no brown mixed complexion.
all peoples children get whiter spouses and babies
Mohajirs become white, punjabis loose fat
Sindhis get asif freed and balu. stan find more gas fields
all Pashtuns get longer white beards
Saddam get hart attack and save inconvience to all muslims.
Let indus flow full, with lots of fish. Let every body be happy
welcome 2003 . ......Its not bad at first attempt

saminasha,

can i come to CUNY too, i wanna see yours and rehan`s pretty faces....
oh and to learn too

Mr rehan ansari
Ashis Nandy is a psychologist or sociologist?
Regards

#5: ahmedmadani

This is the BEST poem I have read on CHOWK to date. It is also a harbinger of many more ones to follow. Your prose is excellent as well.

Very original & with no pretense or affectation this IS the stuff chowk needs . I, like many others, have been rendered a cultural & intellectual cripple and ideologically-corrupt by the english-intellectualisation of our `education` system.

Please accept my humble salaams.

reha nan sari,

i know you meant well with this article, but it was boring and made me hate desi politicians and desi politics even more. why waste time on those jerks when you can`t do anything about them.

Scout,

Please come to CUNY; you need to be spanked very badly ;)

Madani sahab,

Good to see you back! Kaise hain aap? Aapki poetries tau lajwaab hain. Here`s wishing you a very new year!

Aamir

Rehan

The difference between Gujarat and Pakistan is that Gujarat has democratic slaughter. Therefore India is more superior to you.

It has democratic tyranny, ie: the tyranny over the minority has been legitimised by the voters and is therefore unquestionably unfortunate but hey, its the will of the people.

Not like Pakistan where your minorities are terrorised by unelected killers. How outrageous.

I mean I would so much rather be killed by democratically elected and accredited politicians than by the dregs of a military dictatorship.

Now that is real freedom of choice.

Its called democracy.

But I wouldnt expect you Pakistanis to understand because you are all soooo backwards.

-h-

Mr Ansari,

Didn`t Faiz also write
`aaj bazaar mein ba-wa-joulan chalo`(which Mr. Freethinker kindly translated for some of us on chowk)

Would leftist poets ever advise `wait and see`, wouldn`t they rather rouse to thought and action? Of course, cannot answer for leftist with charpoy, ie a tired leftist.

Your (literary) attitude towards the Hindu right in India seems the same your attitude toward the Muslim right in Pakistan, ie highminded passivity.

PS: Modi said that if the Congress wins in Gujarat, Pakistanis would celebrate. Seems he got that one right.

This is just a general comment/question to y`all,

-h- mentioned about Democracy so this question just sprang to mind. I have always thought of democracy as empowerment of people. In the ideal democratic model, I would like to think that the public was running and contributing, and aware of every single affairs of the country, as opposed to just putting your faith in someone and hoping that he`d/she`d do their best.

However, I also believe that the democracy the world practises is anything but the ideal model. Governments do get away with murder, literally. But I wonder whether democracy can be used as a tool to legitimise terrorism (in the sense of killing innocent civilians). After all, we are the people who go out and commit `democratic slaughter` by electing politicians who commit such actions. Does that then make all of us a little responsible for that other person`s misery?

Thank you,
Umer M.

#12 by Harpreet

Well, ur definition of democracy is like giving knife to mentally deranged man.

Yes, India can be democratic if it encourages or permits killing of its minortities by majority, yet it would not be civlized.

At the end of the day, a man killed by govt-supported party or his racist neighbour, is an innocent man killed. What is the difference? In the first case. u might end up with 600,000 ppl dead.