Life goes on ...

As November changes into December, so does life. My tribute to Faisja on this blog heralded a wave of awesome poems sent to me by people who in their own way wanted to pay their respects. Thank you! Some poems are simply too beautiful to remain locked up in my own heart and mind. After all, the whole purpose of this blog was to share. So here goes.

From The Prophet by the Lebanese poet Khalil Gibran:
'And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth
until the hour of separation.'

Dutch translation:
'En altijd is het zo geweest dat de liefde haar eigen diepte niet kent
dan op het uur der scheiding'.

My mum:
'Sorrow never goes away. It is you who has to move on.'

Gebed voor een gestorvene van Hans Stolp

Jij die leeft in het licht, ik weet, je dood was een geboorte
Jouw leven was voltooid. Je had geleerd wat je hier leren moest.
En daarom ging je heen. Terug naar dat stralende licht
Vanwaar je eens gekomen was.

Jouw dood een geboorte in het licht.
Ik zend jou al mijn liefde,
En ik denk aan jou: hoe mooi en lief je wel kon zijn.
Voel mijn dankbaarheid, voor alles wat je mij gegeven hebt.
Ik weet je bent gelukkig daar. Je wordt een lichtend licht.
Moge God jou zegenen op jouw weg.

En straks zie ik jou terug, als jij mij opwacht bij de grens.
Want liefde sterker dan de dood, blijft ons verbinden.
Dat God jou in zijn liefde bergt ...

Of deze van A.A. Sjoeljgina, uit Matka Rieka:

Ik zal de kaars aan een licht plankje vastbinden.
Ik laat het plankje meevoeren door de rivier.
Moeder rivier! Blus de kaars niet uit.
Moeder rivier, tem de golf!

Zolang de kaars in de nacht te branden heeft
Zal mijn ziel nog naar de wereld kunnen kijken,
Naar de wereld kijken, om de mensen treuren.
Moeder rivier, blus de kaars niet uit!

How do Muslims name their baby if he smiles....?

Just got back from a flash visit to Surinam (former Dutch colony in South America). There are a thousand and one things I could say about my cousin Faisja, but it all comes down to one and the same thing, namely the fact that she personified Love itself.

The always radiant smile. That incredibly friendly voice. She loved a good laugh. One of her jokes: How do Muslims name their baby if he smiles? Answer: Ismail. Or her last text message dated 25 June: 'Hai lieverd! N sms-je uit Suriname. Heel veel warmte van je gekke nichtje Faisja.'

I am immensely proud that her blood runs through my veins. In this respect, I would like to cite a few lines from the exquisite thirteenth century Afghan poet Jalaluddin Rumi:

In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest where no one sees you.
But sometimes I do,
And that sight becomes this art.

Sometimes the sound of goodbye is louder than any drum beat. Dearest Faisja, at 31 you were much too young to die. It is incredibly surreal. You shall be missed sorely by yours truly. I loved you so very much in this life and will continue to love you in the next. Khuda Hafiz.

Niraj Chag

OK, want to know more about the song called"Khwaab" (Dream) from the album Along the Dusty Road. And it is Swati Natekar's vocals soaring over hypnotic rhythms and piano. A Hindi poem about the highs and lows of life’s journey, "Khwaab" stands out as the album's most beautiful track. If you wish to see a translation of the song, please visit Chag's website.

It took Niraj Chag three years to complete, it is therefore no surprise that his debut album is a contemplative and accomplished journey of sound, according to a BBC review.

In the album-titled opening track, electronica, tabla and deep bass fuse with the spoken lyrics 'she drank from the sun…she understands the whispering of the trees'. Haunting and evocative, it sets the scene for the 45 minute dream-sequence that follows.

Niraj was born in '76 and raised in Southampton, southern England, where he studied music for many years before landing a job at 'Mark Hills' studio (The Artful Dodger/Craig David). He progressed from tea-maker to studio assistant and ended up working with Mark on various RnB and garage projects.

In 1996 he moved to London to start a Music Technology Degree. It was here that he began to experiment with a mix of eastern and western sounds, such as the track 'The Firefly' demonstrates (Untouchable Outcaste Beats Vol 1). The track highlights Niraj's wonderful ability to build very deep, melodic tracks at almost any pace. It was subsequently picked up by Nitin Sawhney and Niraj became an Outcaste artist.

He has worked on a varitey of projects including the Ranga Rang project (part of the Queens Golden Jubilee celebrations), compositions for Diesel fashion launches, music for the opening ceremony to the Common Wealth Games and a classical indian dance piece entitled 'Rush' for the BBC2 Mega Mela show.

Shah, Azmi and Me

Just got back from Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai (What makes Albert Pinto angry). This was the first time EVER I heard my surname in an Indian film 'Mohamedjoesoef from Uttar Pradesh'. I was stunned and so tempted to look around and tell everyone that that was me, me, me. My bloody name. Kept my cool though.


Albert Pinto (1981) is a young Roman Catholic car mechanic played by Naseeruddin Shah, who enjoys an insulated life of semi-privilege in India where his wealthy customers will sometimes let him use their luxury cars, and his charming girlfriend Stella (Shabana Azmi) stays in her desired place.

All this changes as Pinto is suddenly face-to-face with the injustices of an imbalanced social system. His father (Arvind Deshpande) is badly beaten as he joins a strike at work, and his brother (Dilip Dhawan) ends up in jail for trying to steal food because he has been out of work so long he has no resources left. Rudely awakened by the suffering of his father and brother, Pinto begins to seriously look around him. His change from passive ignorance to active resistance evolves through to the end of the film.

Please note that none of the selected photographs are from the film, as unfortunately I could not find anything, picturewise that is, related to Albert Pinto.

Umrao Jaan the Remake

Aishwarya Rai and guess whose also part of this lavish costume drama: Shabana Azmi. Azmi's husband Javed Akhtar is the lyricist for all songs in Umrao Jaan.

If you are going to watch the you tube clip below, watch the eyebrow after the 37the second! And don't forget to switch off the play list on the top right.

So sorry for the delay, but Subh Diwali anyway

Indian girl power: Shabana gaana

Two days ago I stumbled on this very informative blog devoted to the Indian actress Shabana Azmi, one of the best actrices, if not the best, of Indian cinema. Azmi has been successful in both mainstrain Indian cinema and parallel cinema, with films that quite often touch on topics that are seen as controversial and sensitive in conservative Indian society.

Azmi is also a prominent social activist addressing issues such as AIDS, the slumdwellers and the position of women in general. In reality that often comes down to locking horns with religious fundamentalists, both Hindu and Muslim. Does she back down? Of course not, this is Azmi we are talking about.

Anyway, blogger Carla Miriam Levy has this great section called Shabana gaana. Do check it out. As a matter of fact, check out the whole blog, because it is really good and funny and not just for the Azmaniacs amongst us (yours truly included!). The picture above is taken from the blog itself. The title 'Sounds like Power' is based on a quote by Azmi herself: Say "Shabana' and it is nectar. Say 'Shabana Azmi' and it sounds like power."

Ismat Chughtai (1915 - 1991)

Never heard of her huh. Well, neither did I, but we are talking about a Muslim woman whose work has heralded the birth of a revolutionary feminist politics and aesthetics in twentieth century Urdu literature. She explored feminine sexuality, middle-class gentility, and other evolving conflicts in the modern Muslim world. She wrote novels, short stories such as The Quilt, Chui Muee, Gharwali, Mughal Baccha, and film scripts (e.g. Junoon, 1978)

Ismat was born in Uttar Pradesh, as the ninth of ten children. Since her older sisters got married while Ismat was very young, the better part of her childhood was spent in the company of her brothers, a factor which she admits contributed greatly to the frankness in her nature and writing.

After her B.A., Ismat worked for a B.T. (a Bachelor’s in Education), thus becoming the first Indian Muslim woman to have earned both degrees. In this period she started writing in secret. While she was still in college, her first short story Fasaadi (The Troublemaker) was published in Saqi, a prestigious literary magazine.

In 1941 she wrote her short story "The Quilt" ("Lihaaf" in Urdu) which dealt with gay relations, sex abuse and the needs of a woman in cloistered household, established her as a fierce writer and a feminist. The story can be read on the website Women living under Muslim laws (Femmes sous lois musulmanes) that has permission of the late Ismat Chugtai’s family.

Lihaaf led Ismat to being charged with obscenity by then government. Though she was later acquitted when her lawyer successfully argued that the story could not be a corrupting influence because the subject would only be understood by someone who has had a lesbian experience.

Famous Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah is presently Amsterdam with his Motley Theatre Company to perform Ismat apa ke naam, an hommage to Ismat Chugtai. The performance consists of three monologues:

1. - Chui Muee starring Shah's wife
2. - Mughal Baccha starring Shah's daughter
3. - Gharwali starring Shah himself.

The monologues are all in Urdu, but a translation is provided. As for the great Naseeruddin Shah himself, my interview with him can be read in Dagblad De Pers. Click on Friday 9 November and then scroll down to page 19 (Culture pages).

Several of Mr Shah's film can be seen at the Tropentheater until this coming Wednesday.