Adil Najam
For at least one more day I want to stick to the unraveling of Pakistan politics that is happening before us.
I have much to say about it. But people have been saying these things already in response to our last many posts on this issue. What can I add. What can I say that will not already be stale by the time you read it. We expect the ongoing conversations (here and here) to continue, but let me find solace in the one place where I always find it. In poetry. Especially in Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry.
Here is Faiz – in his own words, in his own voice. The second half has the same poem masterfully sung by Nayarra Noor. Enjoy this rare find of kalam i Faiz, ba zaban i Faiz. But more than that, think about what he is saying and how it relates to what is happening today.
Since nearly all members of ATP’s core-team are currently traveling we had a bunch of general posts ready for these next few days while we were stuck on long flights. However, it seems somehow inappropriate to use those posts today. We may well begin doing so tomorrow – not just because we will be on unable to post anything fresh from flights but also because we remain committed to celebrating all the diverse trials and tribulations of being Pakistan … the mundane as well as the profound; the sad as well as the gleeful; the immediate as well as the long-term.
It’s saddened me to read and hear what’s been happening in Karachi.I also find refuge in poetry when my heart is filled with different emotions___ grief, anger, frustration, despair and so on.Here are two couplets of Obaidullah aleem .just see how relevant they are today although, he wrote these during the army operation in then East Pakistan. Maen kis kay naam lekhoen jo alum goozar rahey haen. Meray sheher jal rahey haen meray loag mer rahey haen. Koi aur to nahi hae pusey khanjer aazmai. Hum he qatul ker rahey haen hum he qatul ho rahey haen.
Ah love could thou and I with fate conspire
to grasp the sorry scheme of things entire
would not we shatter it to bits and then
remould it nearer to our hearts desire
Umar Khyam
Mr.Alvi. I agree with you regarding my mother’s views. Your advice is well taken. Thank you.
Adnan ! Great poem. Well reminded , suitable for current situation.
[my mother said something that I have heard her say a number of times before. She said, “Is this what millions died for? Is this what we left our homes for? We were better off in India.”]
Dear Ms. Shazia Rubab: Your mother’s generation had its own compulsions, expectations and doubts. Tell your mother that you have no other options but to work hard for a better Pakistan. We Pakistanis have come a long way. But we have a way to go yet. Nothing is ever achieved without hard work. Nation building is not an easy task. The better days are ahead of us. Do not give up hope.
“keep hope alive for a better future for Pakistan”.