Pakistan

The new ad by Google called “Google Search – Reunion” has almost gone viral in both India and Pakistan. It shows two friends, now in old age who were separated during partition meeting again due to the efforts by their grand children and use of Google search and other options in Google. What I am wondering about is what really makes this ad click ? Given that these two countries have been in a bitter relationship since almost 1947, what exactly people are liking in this video ? Are there some deeply buried emotions or this is just an instant reaction to a nicely made video ? Not trying to be an idiotic critic but just an angle that must be given a thought, at least. ...

Like most of Indians my first interaction with Reshma ji’s songs was not via Hero movie’s lambi judai song. It was rather via Radio Pakistan, Lahore. The songs like haye o rabba nahio lagda dil mera and akhian nu rehan de akhian de kol kol were already very famous and used to play regularly on Lahore Radio. But yes it was when lambi judai was recorded that she became a house hold name in India. ...

After the first video from Coke Studio season 6 was released I got a message from one of my friend Fantastic …. http://youtu.be/6StD5G12vjM Par dukh di gal eh hai ki Pakistan te India waale coke studio baaki countries de singer te musicians lai rahe. But not of each other. It’s really painful for me.., Both talk about shrinking boundaries. But not between themselves. So sad !!! That indeed is a bitter truth. In Indian version of the Coke Studio this year there were few non-Indian artists but none of them was from Pakistan. Similarly in this season of Coke Studio Pakistan there are many artists from other countries like Serbia, Turkey and many others but no-one from India. In the last reason one song by Rabbi Shergill was recorded but it never went on air. God knows the reasons. ...

The popularity of Pakistani singers in India is a very well known thing. But the other thing I have always wanted to know is which Indian singers are heard in Pakistan.So thought of writing a blog post to know little more. Of course there is no hidden agenda . Just out of curiosity wanted to know this. It will be great if you could write the name of the singer in the comments. It will be even more awesome if you could few lines as well. ...

Nothing specific to write. Just a random post. Was watching TV and the corruption sagas getting unfolded. How common man is being looted by the corrupt politicians and he can’t do much. The so called democracy looks more like dictatorship. Thoughts of the large fraction of people are shaped by the “biased” media. So a big number doesn’t even understand what is good and what is bad for them ? Move outside the country and in the neighborhood a 14 year old girl was shot in head for promoting education for women. What ? EDUCATION ! ...

The kind of materialistic and violent world we live in it is normal to get disappointed thinking that where exactly this world is heading. But then you come across something that brings hope like Sun brings rays of light in the morning. Malala Yousafzai is a young girl from Swat region of Pakistan who has been advocating for right to education for women. She was 11 years old when Taliban imposed a ban for education on women in the region and she felt the need to raise a voice against it. ...

One thing that always gets ignored while talking about India’s independence is the partition of India. It was the largest displacement of people in the 20th century. The state worst affected by this was Punjab. It was divided into two parts and a large displacement of Muslims to Pakistan and Hindus & Sikhs to India started. Result was that an uncontrolled bloodshed followed. The unfortunate thing is that today’s generation hardly understands what exactly happened during those times. Even Punjabis don’t understand what exactly partition meant ? A friend sent me the link to this poem by a young Pakistani poet Afzal Saahir that describes the pain of the people who had to leave their homes and move to a complete new place. They could never forget the pain of leaving the place of their childhood and youth. In the poem Afzal talks about similar emotions. ...

Someone’s comment on youtube on a video of Atta Ullah Khan: sometimes i think that i HATE pakistan…but when i go to songs of ataullah khan ,nusrat fateh ali khan ,abida parveen,,,THEN I THINK F*** HATE….“WE ARE BROTHERS”… xxx xxx New Delhi