Guest Post by Sufi

Mohammed Amin is a true hero.

Paani da Bulbula, Paani da bulbula
Char dinna di duniya ae
Kujh kha lay, pee lay, mauj urra
Kujh kha lay, pee lay, mauj urra
Paani da bulbula…

He is a living example of the possiblity of things in life. He is a survivor, a fighter and a success story. High spirited, brave & full of life, one of those who never give up. His story is truly inspirational. See for yourself in this BBC documentary on him:

Adil Najam

I have spent much of today reading, remembering and listening to the poetry of Munir Niazi, who died yesterday.

This is probably the best way to celebrate the life and work of a poet. The celebration of his work has gone on on this blog from a while (here, here, here and here) and, as I said yesterday, will no doubt continue.

I wanted to share two things with you that I have been listening to all day.

The first is this delectable ghazal sung delectably by Ghulam Ali (listen here):

bechain bohat phirna, ghabrai hooway rehna
Ik aag si jazbouN ki dehkai hooway rehna

Aadat hi bana li hai, tum nay to Muneer Apni
Jis shehr meiN bhi rehna, uktai hooway rehna

By Adil Najam

It has been a tradition for as long as I can recall that on the 25th of December a contingent of cadets from the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), Kakul, takes over as the ceremonial honor guards at the mausoleum of the Quaid, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This year, Jinnah’s 130th birth anniversary, was special because the PMA honor guard contingent included eight female cadets and one Sikh cadet.

The two pictures here are from Dawn and Daily Times. Indicative of the importance is the fact that the two newspapers use the titles ‘Winds of Change’ and ‘New Beginning’ to headline the pictures, respectively.

According to an Associated Press report in the Daily Times (27 December, 2006):

Eight female cadets from the Pakistan Army’s elite training academy on Monday became the first female honour guards at the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founder, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. State-run television showed the female contingent, clad in khaki cadet slacks, some wielding swords and others holding guns, marching to military tunes with their male colleagues in a ceremony at the mausoleum of Mr Jinnah, the Father of the Nation, in Karachi. In November, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul opened its doors to women. In March, women also broke into the all-male air force when it inducted four women pilots.

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