doublethink

I realised that it was about time to scrap this post.

The other day I was at a friend’s place. I was asked to entertain myself on my own for some time as my friend was on a call. And the germ of this post was sown inadverntently at that very moment. No, it did not happen because ‘empty mind thought intelligently’ but because of observation that in spite of my friend’s impeccable English I did not hear a single English word in her conversation with her brother. And on extending this exciting revealation as a flashback to my more than an year stay now in Germany, I was thrilled to recount many instances when I did not hear any English word being used by my German friends in their conversation, unless they felt guilty of letting me feel left out. And, then I was at a newer understanding of ‘being Indians’. Indian is a generalised category and here I speak only of ‘we typical’ English educated middle-class. I also must confess here that my understanding here is limited to northerners and easterners, but blinded by flashing success of the IT h...

Hi, These are a few of the pictures which I took in my recent visit to Frankfurt. The 'skillfull' eyes would find many of them naive and erroneous, but well... what the heck !!

Thoughts are something like boiled red kidney beans – if overcooked they crumble down; pieces and fragments float in the curry which perhaps is on its way to become a broth. Well, there could be another perspective: since they are crumbled, they mix-up well with whatever you add to them. Dissolved and assimilated, they take a new shape and get re-shaped in turn. I remember reading recently a comment made in the aftermath of attack on girls in a Bangalore pub: “A republic without pub is a relic.” Funny, witty and thought -provoking. A pub, a café, a bar – history has shown us – have always remained the sites of thought-formation in the West (French cafes in particular where wine, cubism and talks about mistresses flowed seamlessly over the rim of the goblets); in fact quite very much akin to what an adda or paada is in Bengal and mehfil , gosthi and majlis are in other cultural zones spreading from Iran to Indonesia. You drink and you think, sometimes you also think that why does on...

This is "our" first output of collaboration. Yep, this time it's not me alone. Th beautiful lyrics are written by my friend, Sadia, who also with Tanveer have made this beautiful video. Hope you guys will like it.

A double treat for my readers - since I was inactive for long, I thought of putting up two pieces at the same time. Heavy dose for you guys?? :P Phool khilte hain baharon mein gar jo aate ho tum Jo na bhi aawo toh mitte rahe ye gul phir bhi, Saansein meri ruk-ruk ke chalti hain jo na ho tum Aur jo ho bhi tum to rukti nahi kambhakt phir bhi, Zinda hua raat ki chaa gaya taaron ka jaal Saba ki yaad mein rota hai ye dil phir bhi, Aayi hai maut bankar abki saba ki khusboo Na bhoolega dil sab me uge haseen chaand ko phir bhi.

Avid readers of Urdu poetry would definitely find shades of Firakh Gorakhpuri in this piece (specially in the last couplet). The title is borrowed from Mehndi Hassan's famous ghazal - bhooli beesri chand umeedein, chand fasaane yaad aaye . Bewafa jo hue tum to koi shikwa bhi nahi Mit gayi ho ranjishein saari kuch aisa bhi nahi, Dard to hai dil mein ki tum chodh gaye mujhko Rok loon tere qadmon ko, dard itna bhi nahi, Ab tammanna bhi nahi, na koi khwaeish hi rahi Shab-e-firaaq magar shaam-e-besahar ho, aisa bhi nahi, Chand umeedein, chand fasaane, sab adhoore hi rahe Niyat-e-mohabbat to paak thi, aadmi wo magar achcha bhi nahi.