Musings of a sensitive, modern poet Sheba’s ghazal is an artistic assimilation of feeling and rhythm besides the intensity of passion characterizing its formulaic genesis; its cerebral undertones are, however, its distinctive feature Title: Making Lahore Modern Constructing and Imagining a Colonial City Author: William J. Glover; Publisher: Oxford University Press, Karachi; Pages: 201; Price: Rs 895
about sociology and material structures have been juxtaposed with descriptions of ordinary lives, their despondencies and hopes, interspersed with anecdotes. Photographs, maps and plans have been employed extensively, and supplement the text admirably. The prose is lucid and flows naturally. This book also provides an object lesson for our present rulers: channels of getting feedback from the public should always remain open, so that the way the district is “imagined” by the residents and the leaders, remains synchronized. Presently, the chann els appear to be clogged, otherwise a Ring Road would not have been built, and construction of the flyover across Kalma Chowk would not have started.
where only minarets of a mosque and tops of the sunken trees are obvious. In this painting, the artist has expressed, very skillfully, the sense of being deluged emotionally after the torrent around. The golden lining on the rear silhouette of the woman causes the luminosity that adds a devout touch to this frame. The use of gold in Rahat’s paintings is not only suggestive of a relationship of these frames with the traditional Muslim Miniatures, but it also advocates the gleam which is directly associated with holiness and purity; light as opposed to the darkness. In this show, the artist also presented a video in connection with the title ‘Ishq’. That video featured the life and activities of Malangs and Darvishes at various shrines of Lahore. It was an interesting clip regarding life style of these self-indulged Malangs who claimed to be burning in the fire of true love or Ishq. Interestingly, the video did not feature any woman contrary to the series of paintings where image and imagery of woman seemed pivotal. In 2007 at the annual show of Artists’ Association of Punjab (AAP), Rahat displayed a painting of abstract nature which was different from the signature figurative work she was well known for. That was a nonfigurative frame with a golden square in the center of a well painted crimson canvas titled as ‘the Square’. It was quite a big transformation of style, keeping in view the usual style of Rahat, though she had been inserting few geometrical and floral elements and objects which ultimately served a sense of spiral-continuity through her entire work. The Ishq series, if seen in its own capacity, can make a viewer go astray with the force of emotional discharge the painter has exercised in few of her frames. However, if you would look on this display as the continuation of the previously conceived ideology and thoughts, you may find yourself, accompanying the artist, revolving around the centripetal idea of human yearning for eternal love and eternity. The paintings of Rahat show a revolving journey from figures to portraits, from portraits to objects, from objects to metaphor, and from metaphor to forceful strokes of abstract renderings.
By Syed Afsar Sajid
R
apunzel is a German folk tale with a romantic tinge, symbolizing a damsel in distress. Sheba Traz, a well known Urdu poet and editor of the prestigious literary magazine Tajdeed-e-Nau, seems to have conceived the title of her second verse collection (the first being Jheel Jheel Udasi) on this analogy with a view to venting the woes and yearnings of her gender in a male-dominated social set up. She has dedicated her work to womenfolk in general, with all their hopes and aspirations. Jan-e-Alam and Hameeda Shaheen have commented on the form and content of the book in their respective ‘afterwords’. The former is of the view that the relationship between man and his Creator forms the quintessence of Sheba’s poetics. Uthai thee kahaN say mayri mitti Kahan maeN ashkara ho gai huN It is a universal theme which
reinforces her faith in the feasibility of a possibility opening unto her infinite vistas of optimism, self-awareness and spiritual discernment. Na ghabrao khala ki wus’atoN may Kai rastay banay haiN aasmaN may Hameeda Shaheen, in her analysis of Sheba’s poems, traces the dominance of the elements of selfawareness and contemporaneity in
Title: Rapunzel – a collection of Urdu verse Author: Sheba Traz Published by: Tajdid Isha’at Ghar, 695/F, Johar Town, Lahore Pages: 209; Price: Rs.250
it and opines that the latter seems to have encountered enormous difficulties, and sufferings too, in her continuing efforts to rediscover herself and her milieu. According to her the poet knows that some dreams abort even before they are cherished but she cannot abdicate them or withdraw from the expectation of their fruition. The book contains both ghazal and nazm. The poem titled Rapunzel is the centerpiece of the collection. It is a monologue of the distress and dismay being experienced by the speaker (a woman in love!) in her forced isolation in the face of an apathetic indifference from her male counterpart. Mohabbat kay bahut oonchay manaray par Koi khidki nahi khulti KahiN rasta nahi milta Andhayra, lafz kay qadmoN may baitha hai Abhi to zindagi ki qaid baqi hai Sheba’s ghazal synthesizes its tradition with the zeitgeist. It is an artistic assimilation of feeling and rhythm besides the intensity of passion characterizing its formulaic genesis. Its cerebral undertones are, however, its distinctive feature. Mray khayal tu aa, alam-ewujood may aa Qalam ki noke pay aa, lafz ki namud may aa
Tu jaan lay usay, pahchan baad may ho gi Mray sha’oor tu idraak ki hudood may aa AnkhaiN kahiN haiN, dil hai kahiN, dhiyan hai kahiN Undaikhay rabtoN ka koi silsila to hai Shaam-e-ufaq pay aaj bhi likhti hai kya shafaq YaadoN may pa barahnah koi qafla to hai The titles of Sheba’s poems (nazms) are varied but self-expressive. Khud Shanasi, Maut Undar say Shuru Hoti Hai, Qurb-e-Qayamat, Jaltarang, Naey Hadsay ki Talash, Jungle Sun Raha Hai, Dead End, Tamanna kay Jazeeray ka Doosra Kinara, Jantari, Sub Kuch bhi MaeN aur Kuch NahiN, After Effects, Daikhnay say Pehlay Toot Janaywala Khwab, Zindagi, Agla Waraq, Dahshatgardi, Munafiqat, Last Stroke of a Painting, Nautanki, Amarbail et al. These poems apart from amplifying the modernistic trend in the contemporary Urdu verse, project Sheba as an accomplished sensitive artist upholding human values in an otherwise bleak socio-cultural scenario. Hamara jurm bus itna tha Kay hum …..! Guzartay mausamoN par baat karna chahtay thay Zaigham Rizvi’s illustrations including the dustcover tend to enhance Raypunzel’s aesthetic appeal.
From page 1
Mohali’s legacy: Holding thy neighbour’s hand (despite the claimed weaker state in the Pakistan area) was fundamentally the same. The State must construct the idea of the citizen while respecting the citizen for who he is. This was an early lesson of the Indian state, whom under Nehru decided to create linguistic states. The path that Pakistan took was counter such, with the ascribed founder of the State declaring that Bengalis had to adopt Urdu as the official language (and not a linklanguage). Enough dwelling over the postcolonial legacies of both neighbours, let’s dwell on the match.
The magic of the match:
Frankly I am not too much of a nationalist. There is a stable connection of the heart with the people that inhabit the State-created boundary declared Pakistan. Thus to connect with this match, and the Pakistani team, was to be faithful to the people around me. Cricket is magical. There are moments where it is able to transcend the deepest of divides by being able to reveal the artificiality of their construction. Not that I cannot list the history of conflict between India and Pakistan. Not that that conflict has ended with the end of the match. But the ability of it to bridge the divide, at the Mohali stadium, and in our hearts, was magical. Meeting in a Cricket World Cup semi-final was all that was required
to realise we are not so different, and, well, in a different sense, not so similar either. Glued to the screen we cheer on the Greens, glued to the screen they cheer on the Blues. But both are cricket mad nations. And this madness is not replicated elsewhere. What appears ages ago, India’s 1955 tour to Pakistan, the BCCI President Maharajkumar said, “Where politicians have failed, we have succeeded by coming nearer each other.” This series brought the biggest movements of people across the border after the partition, 10,000 Indians came to Pakistan, as fans to cheer on their team. Five-thousand Pakistanis are said to have been granted a permit to go to India for the match. A move unprecedented in the security driven relationship that has marred the two neighbours for so many years, and, especially since 26/11 in Mumbai. Of course, it would have been wonderful for the same fans to have traveled to Mumbai, to cheer the Pakistani team on. It would have been wonderful to remove the wounds of 26/11 and amicably visit the city that blames Pakistan (the truth does not matter) for the horror conducted in its midst. In 1960, when the Pakistan cricket team paid India a visit, captain Fazal Mahmood observed, “India is not a foreign country to me.” There was a second thing he said, of equal if not more value, “national prestige and other such things are being
“It’s a great sign for both countries that cricket brings them together. I’m a cricketer first then a diplomat and I’m happy with that.” –Shahid Afridi, Before the match “I would like to congratulate the Indian team and the whole nation, they deserved to win.” –Shahid Afridi, After the match unnecessarily involved in cricket”. It was a lesson learnt by the graceful duo of PM Gilani and captain Shahid Afridi, who wished India the best for the final. But it was a lesson not learnt by the likes of Rehman Malik (telling the team not to ‘fix the match’) and Shahbaz Sharif (promising large tracts of land to the players).
The bridges of Mohali:
Politics and cricket did meet at Mohali. If the two Prime Ministers were sitting together, how could they
not. But on the field cricket was left to dominate. And to its credit cricket dominated the politics. Cricket said Pakistan and India can compete – with grace and not rancour. Politics followed and said Pakistan and India can come close and talk in a civil manner to seek solutions to the issues that have festered for far too long. Put in context, that the cricket team lost was a minor event in the day’s festivities. Our cricket team, brilliant as it was during the World Cup, did overachieve. And it is to the credit of its spirit that it was able to do so. But the real power of the cricket team lay in the bridges it built. At Mohali, before the match began, the music for the Pakistani national anthem sounded out. A flag of Pakistan was found fluttering to the Indian winds. And the few Pakistanis in the crowd, and PM Gilani got to sing out, in India, the words of the national anthem: Pak sar zameen shad bad Kishwar e haseen shad bad (The pure land remains fovever The host to the beautiful remain fovever) It is this that is the legacy of Mohali. That India and Pakistan came together, as equals, on a playing field. Both respected each other. One won, one lost the battle on the field. But both won the war outside it. Now it is up to us and to politics to keep Mohali’s legacy alive.