Archive for the 'Pakistan' Category
Friday, March 21st, 2008
an iron fist in a velvet glove.
well, there are lots of questions and ideas to explore there. the one that jumped out at me from the post was the relationship between income levels and some sort of ‘cultural awareness’ [sorry to resort to such a such crude term; i think i need to read up on my cultural theory =/].
first off, i think there are elements of local and global cultures that would be above any income-cultural awareness equations, if any such equations exist of course. so, take, for example, cricket in pakistan. yes, there was a big increase in the numbers of basketball hoops at elite schools and massive bungalows in the 90s, and there are the exclusive golf courses too, but i’d say the passion for cricket works on a level above wealth.
we could say the same thing for many music icons like nusrat fateh ali khan, noor jehan, nazia & zoheb, vital signs, junoon, etc.
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
cowabunga, yaar!
i think if we do any more navel-gazing we’ll frighten off any readers we might have. anyways, someone to whom we should be very grateful has uploaded an episode of the mighty turtles dubbed in urdu (videos at the end of the post).
after i’d gotten over rediscovering what a terrible accent they gave michaelangelo, this got me thinking about shared cultural experiences in a country like pakistan.
one think which strikes me about western countries is that there are common cultural landmarks which are easily identified by people from all strata of society. my theory is that this makes it easier for people from even lower income families to reach their potential, especially in careers which require the ability to socialise successfully in order to be successful.
Monday, March 17th, 2008
I want you to want me
Good to see a pappu saein has made its debut on youtube – I couldn’t find one earlier.. although, admittedly it does do a grave injustice to pappu saein and the whole bhang-infused pall that hangs over the thousands of mesmerised, perpetrating and incredibly stoned people I saw crammed into the mazaar, lounging under the throbbing overpowering beat of some incredibly primal percussion.
Oh, and how can I forget the searing pain of stepping barefoot on some charsi’s smouldering birdi..
That said, it still was a rather odd, and incredibly theatrical experience – if you ever do head down to
Overload’s atrociously insufferable noisemaking has given pappu a new stamp of legitimacy amongst the yuppies of
Pertinently (and you’ll know why) I guess it brings us, inevitably, to why places like JB do what they do. It seems to me that art for it own sake is just such an appealing, clean and somehow morally attractive proposition, an yet, art really seems to flourish when its motives are far baser – the rich history of court art in the sub-continent for instance.. do you think we should be running a more aggressive PR campaign for JB? Why? Why not?
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
crazy beat.
i remember seeing this video on television during a visit to pakistan, in 2005 i think. it came up during a late-night/early-morning IM session, and led to this performance by pappu saeen at shah jamal’s shrine in lahore.
besides the amazing dhol-playing , it reminds me of this article i read about, what the writer called, ‘all-male sonic gatherings’ in northern pakistan. i have to say it’s a part of pakistani culture that i’ve never experienced, and it seems pretty awesome to be a part of, although slightly scary to watch. almost as scary as this. fortunately, i don’t think shah jamal’s shrine won’t see that anytime soon.
while i’m on the subject of the dhol, do you know what dhamaal is all about?
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
Can I borrow your punk?
Interesting point indeed. I suspect the direction of Pakistani pop music, especially in it’s infancy was probably influenced by the tastes of a very small group of individuals; hence the seemingly obvious next move to punk was never quite as inevitable.
As much as this may seem a viable explanation, I would it breach the Hippocratic oath I never took, if I were not to explain that this is a bit of a sophism; because, from what I recall VS (for whom, my retrospective appreciation only grows) were, as individuals big fans of early-punk like Black Sabbath et al. (they are proto-punk, right?) but I think that while early pop had an underpinning of rhythm which sort of fit into the Pakistani oriental sensitivity, punk probably doesn’t quite cut it like that?
What about Junoon’s Talaash though? Wasn’t that the ultimate angry-young-man bohemian rhapsody?
Shame, i was just getting on a roll, but a “silver BMW” is here. I’m off, with only cherry cola tangy candy to keep me company. More later.
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
Punk-d
saw the three videos and rather improbably, the sajjad ali one wasn’t the worst of the lot. (good call on salman ahmad as borat btw). anyways, you raise a very good question on why punk never really took hold in Pakistan.
my guess is that by the time the ‘underground’ music scene became established in pakistan, punk rock had already morphed into pop-punk, which doesn’t really lend itself to protest music. green day’s dookie was released in 1993 - since then with bands like blink 182 the term punk has lost almost all meaning.
my guess is this might have resulted in a lot of people being drawn towards grunge and metal instead of punk.
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This long, long, long, piece on Radiohead is either brilliant or bs or both.
In any case, this rebuttal definitely takes it down a few notches.
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I chanced upon a John Lee Hooker concert on tv a couple of days ago. WOW! - absolutely stunning!!! There was a duet he did with Ry Cooder (who also collaborated with Ali Farka Toure and is an incredible guitarist), which was stunning. Unfortunately youtube has let me down on this occasion, so I’ve posted another video instead.
Saturday, March 8th, 2008
think of the musicians!
in the course of my weekly [okay, daily] youtube browsing [okay, okay, hourly], i came across these three by-products of a decade of corruption, political violence, and general unruliness.
Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
family conventions.
there’s a good discussion of the extended family in a piece here on Pickled Politics.
having ‘grown up’ [whether or not i'm grown up is, of course, up for debate] in karachi, amongst a multitude of aunts, uncles, cousins, and an assortment of other peculiar creatures, i have to say it rings true on many counts, especially the point that relationships with extended family members should be enjoyed in moderate doses.
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
amanat ali.
have you heard of this guy? from faisalabad, he’s got one heck of a voice, and he’s just 20 years old. these are from the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, where he finished 3rd.
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
acha?
Ah motown, there was a jam at ronnie scott’s which had the vestiges of the motown gang over, which was my first introduction to their music.
Which reminds me, I was once reading an old lonely planet guide to pakistan, from which i can recall two interesting snippets. The first was an explaination of how one word (namely, ‘acaha’) based merely on inflection can mean so many different things in the urdu language. If I recall they enumerated atleast 12 different connotations.
The second (a little more saucy) ill tell you some other time.
I’ve just lost atleast 4 hours of dedicated labour, because even though powerpoint assured me it had been saving my work.. it somehow decided not to. Times like these i just want to turn apostate and run into the non-profit embrace of linux. Have you guys ever tried it? how about apple? the new apple air notebook looks well swank.
And just as i am coming to grips with my loss, this very appropriate ghazal comes up on my ipod:
Duniya Mein Hoon Duniya Ka Talabgar Nahi Hoon
Bazar Se Guzra Hoon Karidar Nahi HoonZinda Hoon Magar Zeest Ki Lazzat Nahi Baqi
Harchand Ke Hoon Hosh Mein Hoshiyaar Nahi HoonIs Khana-e-Hasti Se Guzar Jaoonga Belaus
Saaya Hoon Faqut Naqsh Badeewar Nahi HoonWoh Gul Hoon Khizan Ne Jise Barbad Kiya Hai
Uljoon Kisi Daman Se Main Woh Khar Nahi Hoon-Seemaab Akbarabadi