Adil Najam

The 249th annual urs of the great sage Bulleh Shah’s begins in Kasur today.

We here at ATP have paid tribute to the sage in two earlier posts (here and here). And even though I have been itching to write about the poetry of other greats such as Waris Shah, Khawaja Farid, Sultan Bahoo, Shah Hussain and others, the moment befits more mention of a sage who can never be mentioned enough.

On this wonderful occasion, I thought I would share with you the audio recordings of some of my favourite renditions of Bulleh Shah’s poignant kalaam. Including what is, at least for me, the single best rendition of a Bulleh Shah work ever!

Bilal Zuberi

8, 9, or 12? Let’s see how many people get the answer right? If I had not read the news yesterday, my answer would have been 9, or maybe 12 if I had tried to impress you that I was up to date on what Astronomers were thinking a few weeks ago. But now, both answers are considerd wrong. The correct answer is 8. Starting now, textbooks around the world that teach otherwise need to be revised and changed. And the same is true for Pakistan.

But how (and when) will Pakistan be able reflect these changes in its textbooks? What is the process for textbook revision in Pakistan? I also wonder how are we going to integrate new information, such as this, evolution theory and other issues including global climate change and advances in biomedical sciences, into our textbooks when we can’t even conclude our fights about the history of South Asian independence struggle and the idology behind the formation of Pakistan?

Here is how Pluto, the smallest (former) planet lost its status:

Owais Mughal

I saw this photo in Dawn and it disturbed me. It talks about how archaeological department has used cement mortar to preserve a 3rd century BC stupa in Taxila. This may be in violation of UNESCO guidelines.

I am not an archeological expert but even I can tell that using cement on a 2300 year old structure is not the right thing. I did a mini web search and found that originally the stupa was coated with lime plaster and gilding. Dharmarajika stupa is one of the 8 buildings that were built during the time of Mauryan dynasty to house Buddha’s relics.

I used the word Javedan in the title only to get your attention. I don’t know which brand of cement was used here. Whichever it is, it seems wrong.