In 2011, Akhilesh was encouraged to recite a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz that he was very fond of. Hear and read the poem, his translation, and his perspective on Faiz. Daar kee russiyoan kay guloobund gurdun meiyn pehney huway Ganeywaaley hureyk roaz gaatey ruhey, Paayaleiyn beidiyoan kee bujaatey ruhey: Hum joa iss suff meiyn… Continue reading Hear Akhilesh Recite Faiz “Sporting nooses like garlands”
September 4th, 2011 The Revolt of 1857 was the harbinger of the Divide and Rule policy, something that extended to elections and succeeded in creating new castes such as ‘sarkaari mussulmaans’
September 11th, 2011 Every nation has its own absurdities. Our Hindiwaalaas are obsessed with the idea of a ‘pure’ or ‘unsullied’ identity. Hindi nationalism is the dupe of deliberately distorted history in which the Hindus were made out to be the victims of unceasing brutality by the Muslim rulers. This distortion helped the British in… Continue reading Hindi nationalism: product of a distorted reading of past
Column for Aug 28, 2011 As opposed to the popular belief that India has always been a hotbed of corruption, the phenomenon is of fairly recent origin, stemming primarily from the colonial period.
August 21st 2011 School dropout Anna Hazare’s success against our Cambridge educated Prime Minister is visible proof of the saying that whatever one says about India, the opposite is equally true.
August 14th, 2011 The vast majority of today’s Dilleewaalaas are illiterate in Hindustaanee, Persian and the greatness of poetry.
August 7th, 2011 As Delhiwaalas gear up to celebrate the 100th year of this World City, they increasingly forget that the true essence of Dilli lies in the glory of the language that was born here.
July 31, 2011 Rahim Fahimuddin Dagar died on 28 July, 2011. He had suffered a stroke some eight months ago while on a visit to Jaipur and did not recover either speech or movement. It is to the credit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi that they honoured him with recognition and more just before his… Continue reading A legend passes away and a legacy dies
