Yesterday was Sunday. In the evening I ( along with a friend, Suresh) thought to go to Pandesara, a working class migrant locality primarily inhabited by people from Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Once upon a time, STD phone booths were defining features on the landscape of these localities. Now, these booths are accompanied with money remittance channels. This one offers transferring money through Internet to any villages falling under the list of districts. Here the list is populated by places of eastern Utter Pradesh and Western Bihar, historically a region supplying labour to sugar plantations of Fiji, Mauritius, Caribbean islands. Then to Jute mills of Calcutta and tea plantations of Assam. Time changed railway came and Mumbai and then Delhi became the destination. Surat is also not a recent entry.

Mainay Uss Say Yeh Kaha

A fine piece of poetry.

From a reader-list@sarai post by Mahmood Farooqui and
http://reddiarypk.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/celebrating-jalib-main-nay-kaha/

Celebrating Jalib: Main Nay Kaha

“Main Nay Kaha” is a satirical poem by the famous leftist poet Habib Jalib called “Musheer” (Advisor). Jalib wrote it in response to a conversation he had with Hafiz Jalandari during the time of Ayub Khan’s dictatorship. It remains just as fresh and valid today.

This poem has been put to music by Laal (Shahram Azhar & Taimur Rahman) a new Pakistani music group dedicated to resistance music and poetry. Shahram Azhar and Taimur Rahman are also political activists of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party and their poetry, music, and activism constitute an integrated whole the essence of which is always revolutionary. The CMKP has been an integral part of the lawyers movement and the movement for democracy in Pakistan.

The music video contains real images of events in Karachi, London, and Lahore during the tumultuous period between December 27th and February 18th. The song and video were recorded on a shoe-string budget of one session each.

This video and song are connected to a documentary on a journey through a life-changing period in the history of Pakistan. The journey begins in Pakistan on the eve of the assassination of Benazir and the ensuing grief, violence, and carnage. The film maker travels to London to discover a group of young activists organizing protests against Emergency rule. Following these activists full circle to Pakistan, the documentary captures the events around the 2008 elections. The film thus captures a moment in the life of Pakistan, from Benazir’s assassination to the elections, through the lens of young activists. The documentary by Widei Films will also be released shortly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPsr1RnEfWo

Credits:
Habib Jalib - Mainay Uss Say Yeh Kaha
Shahram Azhar - Vocals
Taimur Rahman - Music
Mahvash Waqar - Backing Vocals
Taimur Khan - Director Producer
Dita Peskova - Assistant Director
Jamie Mill - Recording Director
Laal & Taimur Khan - Music Producer
WIDEi Films - Production Company

How do I Love thee? Let me Count the ways

I have a spiral red diary. It is a collection of coloured leaves of thick papers. The person who gave it to me said that printers and binders keep them as a sample to show their customers and allow them to pick their own choice of paper for the book jackets. It is made out of recycled (and probably Khadi paper) giving a roughness that fascinates me. I started writing poems and scriblled on this diary. This one from Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), I first read in The Hindu sunday suppliment long back. It was declared by the writer of that piece as one of the most romantic poems of the last century.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
------Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861).