Terry Pratchett is back!

NEWSFLASH!!!! The fantastic Terry Pratchett is out with another book finally. (Thanks to BB for latest information and link.)

Here's an article on 'Unseen Academicals', Pratchett's latest wonderful gift to us.

What we learn about the book from said article:

1. It's another of the Discworld series.

2. It's as good as ever.

3. It's about soccer.

4. It's as good as ever.

That about covers it.

Reviewer recommends familiarising self with Discworld prior to this read, so maybe new readers will have trouble. For hard-core fans like us, it's a must-read.

Crickety Poems - By Anoopa Anand

Step 1. Go to Anoopa's leftarmspinster blog.
Step 2. Enjoy.

Excerpt from But mostly, seventeen thousand runs featuring Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar:

"So carefully I position my computer at the stumps,
my mouse at silly point,
my eye on the outfield,
my heart with the wicketkeeper."

Ibn-E-Insha: Urdu Ki Aakhri Kitaab

Am seriously considering buying this book by one Ibn-E-Insha. Found it randomly while searching for PTV dramas and what not. Seriously funny. (I hoped to buy this in the original Urdu but who am I kidding? I must study and improve myself first.)

The only time I heard any reference to Insha prior to today was Jagjit Singh's rendition of 'Kal Chaudvin Ki Raat Thi.' Obviously he's not top calibre poet material but he's a bloody funny writer.

Excerpt:

"A Lesson in Geography

In the beginning, there were very few countries, and people lived in comparative peace and quiet. In the 15^th century, Columbus discovered America. There are two theories concerning this. Some people are of the opinion that it was not his fault. He merely wanted to discover India, namely us. It was just a mistake that he discovered America instead. Weight lent to this theory by the fact that we have still not been discovered.

A second body of opinion says that, on the contrary, Columbus discovered America on purpose. Whatever the case may be, if it was a mistake, it was a grave one, Columbus is dead, but we are still suffering its consequences."

(From Urdu – The Final Book by Ibn-e-Insha, Translated by David Matthews,

Harper Collins, 1997)

Fuller excerpt can be found at Muse India. I can only imagine how much better it would have been in the original. Some day soon...

Addendum: Rare light poem by Insha, rendered as ghazal by Nahid Akhtar here.

Dhoop Kinaray - At the Edge of the Sun

Have been on a Pakistani serial watching spree these past few days. Just re-watched Dhoop Kinaray, one of the several brilliant dramas that PTV churned out during its Golden Age, and am absolutely gushing forth with its praises again, which is what happens every time I watch it.Everything about this drama is classic. From its novel concept, gripping story line and fabulously well-written dialogues and characters, to its au naturel direction, its brilliant casting, and immediately identifiable soundtrack - the whole is even better than the sum of all its parts.
Let's start with the essentials.
1. Story/script: Thank you Haseena Moin, you wonderful, wonderful woman. One look at Moin's writing credits (Ankahi, Aahat, Tanhaiyaan, Zer Zabar Paish, Dhund, Dhoop Kinaray etc.) and you have but an idea of her creative calibre and mastery over Urdu. *standing ovation*
Focussing on just Dhoop Kinaray for the anon...
An exceptional, convincing and very well-told romantic story between a frothy, lovable, beautiful young medical intern (Zoya) and her much-older, very hot, sullen, no-nonsense, broody, intelligent and totally awesome boss, a pediatrician of some note (Dr Ahmer) . Throw in a smorgasbord of fantastic supporting characters (Baba, Anji, Dr Irfan, Fazeelat, the other interns etc.) and an evil-psycho-hateful-type vamp like you won't believe (Dr Sheena: Yukh thoooo!) and you have all the ingredients that Haseena Moin used to make DK a work of art beyond compare.
Did I mention the pace of this drama? It speeds along from start to finish like that *snaps fingers* and when the story concludes at just the right time, you feel a twinge of regret that it's all ended too soon. THAT'S the mark of a good writer, what?

2. Direction: Directed by Rahat Kazmi's/Dr Ahmer's real-life wife, Saira Kazmi. Was watching a random video off YouTube where she was explaining how she was all about realistic drama and a natural style of story-telling. Hey, Saira, we believe you. Absolutely. Well done, I say.

3. Casting: In terms of casting, I don't think any televised drama has ever since, or ever will, get it this right.
-Rahat Kazmi as Dr Ahmer: Drool factor 10/10;
-Marina Khan as Dr Zoya: Beautiful, fun, innocent and extremely lovable as female protagonist - every young girl wanted to be her;
-Sajid Hasan as Dr Irfan: I want one to go, please... My God, Dr Irfan's hilarious character is everyone's favourite memory of DK;
-Kehkashaan Awaz as the sweet Anji, Zoya's childhood friend and neighbour;
-The acid spewing Dr Sheena, played by Badar Khalil- DIE DIE DIE! Has anyone ever managed to play a character so universally hateful and psyched? Even her unfortunate ABBA hairdo makes you want to scalp her;
-Zoya's adorable father Baba, played by Qazi Wajid. *grin*
-Fazeelat: Zoya's aaya since forever; a loud, abrasive and extremely loving, paan-chewing harridan who is the proverbial coconut - hard on the outside, soft inside.

All the actors were catapulted to superstardom after Dhoop Kinaray, if they weren't established as top-of-the-league already.
Here's a classic bit from Dhoop Kinaray. It's the beginning of the story, we see Dr Ahmer (hubba hubba) leading his interns on rounds, and Dr Zoya goofing up and irking the hell out of him. *flashback to own college gaffes*

4. Soundtrack: DK has an eminently hummable soundtrack. Ghazals by Nayyara Noor, poetry by Faiz Ahmad Faiz. I've been humming the background music stupidly for days now. Even to put my baby nephew to sleep. He's six months old and then some, but he gets it.
Here's a good link to Dhoop Kinaray's soundtrack. It's got MP3s, lyrics, translations and videos.

And now a video of the most grin-inducing romantic bit from the whole series... the bit where the two docs go gallivanting on a field trip and we as audiences pee our pants in anticipation of all the romance that will follow. "HE HOLDS HER HAND!" OMG OMG OMG! This was a very big deal in Pakistani dramas, okay? Ha ha. Lyrics (by Faiz) as follows:
Raat yoon dil mein teri khoee hui yaad aaye
Jaise veeraane mein chhupke se bahaar aa jaaye;
Jaise sehraaon mein haule se chale baad-e-naseem;
Jaise beemaar ko be-wajhaa qaraar aa jaaye.

5. Style Statement: Dhoop Kinaray oozes in sophistication and style, whether it's sartorial or cultural or verbal. Class will tell, is what I always say.
The clothes the characters wear in this series were the height of fashion then. I promise, they were. Our family (and all salwar-kameez wearing folk everywhere I suppose) always used to take the lead from PTV's contemporary dramas in terms of fashion trends. What they wore, we wore. (This is not true anymore. What they wear on PTV nowadays, I could never wear. Too little textile used and full length salwars and sleeves seem to be a thing of the past. But wait! This is neither here nor there.)
And then the depiction of family life, the tehzeeb, the beauty of well-spoken Urdu, the shaairi mixed in with everyday dialogue - most endearing about Pakistani dramas...
Even the hair styles, yes, even them! They were oh-so-cool back then. (Coincidentally, I had Zoya Khan's boy-cut all my girlhood days. Also known as the Princess Diana cut. *blush*)

Anyway. To cut a long story short, Dhoop Kinaray is aces. Those of you who haven't watched, start downloading all episodes from YouTube or just go to the many online sources and buy the original DVD. Absolutely worth it, since it's so cheap. About USD 20 or so.

When I look at the tripe that calls itself 'drama' on channels today (especially Indian tele-serials.... gaaah!...) laughing alone does not satisfy. I need to point AND laugh. Which I do, before changing channels very, very fast.

Drop the Prefix, I’m Just Muslim

Drop the Prefix, I’m Just Muslim
Very good article I was given the link to by Skinny.

(Posted using ShareThis)

PS: Hilarious change of ads on my blog suddenly. After the last post, it was Kashmir and holidays... Now Google is linking to sites giving special tips on converting to Islam. (Who converts based on a website ad? Hmmm. I am very interested in this phenomenon.)

The 'Presenting.....' Series

Have found perfect overdramatic animation-type pic to manipulate objects of admiration henceforth and make them mine... I am so kicked.

For example...Saab presents her latest 'friend' to the public. She found him one evening emerging from the ocean like so many Bo Dereks or Daniel Craigs. Saab was randomly taking a vacation in the Bahamas when fortuituously, this dream popped out of the water directly in her line of sight. The rest, as we know, is tabloid history.

Said eye candy's name is AK, which initials are coincidentally a very common occurrence in J&K, though in completely different scenarios.

See what I mean?

Anyway.

As Sir Iqbal kept trying to remind us.

The most striking feature of Islam is the equality of all human beings before God. At least this is what it started out as back in the good old days when Islam used to be Islam and the rot we see today hadn't seeped in.

Found a few pertinent lines of Allama (Scholar) Sir Mohd Iqbal's poetry [from his controversial Shikwa (Complaint)], which brings home this idea:

Aaa gaya aen-ladaai mein agar waqt-e-namaaz,
Qiblah-ruh ho ke zameen-bos hui qawm-e-Hijaz;
Ek hi saff mein khade ho gaye Mehmood-o-Ayaz,
Na koi bandah raha aur na koi bandah-nawaz;
Bandaho-sahibo-mohtaajo-ghani ek huay
Teri sarkaar mein pahunchay, toh sabhi ek huay.

Translation:
If the time for prayer right during the battle fell,
Their faces turned to the Kaa'bah, in prostration the brave Hejaz fell.
Mahmud and Ayaz stood together in the same flank,
The ruler and the slave forgot the difference in their rank.
The slave and the master, the poor and the rich , all became one!
On arrival in Thy audience all were reduced to one!

Towards the end of his Shikwa, Iqbal makes an appeal to Allah for the Ummah:

Mushkilen ummat-e-marhoom ki aasaan kar de,
Moor-e-be'maya ko hamdosh-e-Sulaiman kar de,
Jins-e-nayab-e-mohabbat ko phir arzaan kar de,
Hind kay dair-nasheenon ko Musalmaan karde.
Joo-e-khoon mi chakad az, hasrat-e-derina-e mau
Mee tapad naala ba nestar kada-e-seena-e-mau!

(Make easy the difficulties of the blessed Ummah,
Place the poor ant shoulder to shoulder with Sulaiman,
Make the invaluable produce of Love accessible again,
Change the idolatrous Muslims of India into Muslims again.
A stream of blood drips from the frustrations mine
Wailing palpitates in the wounded breast of mine!)

Too much only. Especially the weaving of Farsi with Urdu. Without the English translation I would be lost.

Incidentally, Iqbal’s ancestors were Sapru Kashmiri Brahmins. I did not know this! I will now shamelessly claim him for my own...

Allama Iqbal's 'Lab Pa Aati Hai Dua'

This most famous nazm of the great poet Allama Iqbal is a very common prayer in many Indian and Pakistani schools. Haji Public School, Breswana, is no exception. Unlike most of Iqbal's poetry, this is in really simple, beautiful Urdu, easy for everyone to understand.

Here's a preferred rendition by some kid called Siza Roy. Lyrics with translation provided in the YouTube video.


PS: Must make special mention of my kids who absolutely do not follow this tune. They have their own take on the music that should accompany this prayer.:)