Knonie's Blog

 
Home » Posts tagged "Pakistan"

Saeen Tanveer: An energetic dhol performer (Live)

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Last night, I attended a musical event of brass band The Stooges from New Orleans, and that event also featured Saeen Tanveer, a dhol playing artist from Pakistan. Dressed in fancy clothes, Saeen and his 2 partners appeared on stage and started their beats. As they kept on playing their large dhols, the crowd become wild and everyone got involved in the music they were making. Saeen is an expert in playing, as well as in displaying some other acts during playing. First he twisted his body and made the dhol swing around his neck for some time. Then, there comes a helper to put another dhol around his neck, and then, Saeen is paying with two dhols hanging around his neck. To much of the surprise of the audience, Saeen performed with 4 dhols around his neck, continuously playing and revolving. He also surprised the audience by performing and revolving around by holding 2 dhols by their straps using his teeth. The beautifully arranged stage and lighting created a wonderful ambience that made that performance even more energetic.

I’m sharing some of the pictures I took during the performance. (Click for larger versions)

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Saeen Tanveer and Party

Saeen Tanveer and Party
performing at The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad, Pakistan.

The performance of Saeen Tanvir was followed by The Stooges, and finally a local brass band Punjab Band, which I’ll cover in separate blogs later.

This event was organized by The American Embassy, and was held in The Rock Musicarium, Islamabad.

…اگر میں عمران خان ہوتا

New-age Revolution, ©Knonieاگر میں عمران خان ہوتا تو کہتا کہ جاوید ہاشمی صاحب، میں آپ کی ایک بہت پرانے سیاستدان ہونے کی وجہ سے بہت عزت کرتا ہوں لیکن میرا خیال ہے کہ اب آپ اپنے پرانے موَقَف سے پھر کر سب کی نظر میں اپنی عزت نہ گھٹاییں. میں پہلے ہی دن سے اِن پرانے چہروں اور اِن کے پروان چڑھاےٴ ہوےٴ  ِسسٹم کے خلاف ہوں، اس لئے میرا سب پرانے سیاستدانوں پر سے اعتبار اٹھ گیا ہے. میں آپ سے معذرت چاہتا ہوں.

پھر میں کہتا کہ شاہ محمود قریشی صاحب، آپ تو ویسے بھی ایک روحانی اور باعزت شخصیت ہیں. شاید صرف 3 بار تو مختلف سیاسی پارٹیاں بدل چکے ہیں اور ابھی تک آپ کو اپنے ہم خیال لوگ نہیں مل سکے. لیکن اب شاید چیزوں کی مرمّت کا وقت بھی گزر چکا ہے اور تبدیلی کا وقت آ گیا ہے. میرے سب دوست اتنے نا سمجھ نہیں کہ اتنی سی بات نہ سمجھ سکیں. تبدیلی کے سونامی کے آگے آزماےٴ ہوٴوں کے لئے کوئی رحم نہیں ہے. ہاں، اگر آپ چاہیں تو ہمارے مقصد کو سپورٹ کرسکتے ہیں لیکن مجھ سے اس پارٹی میں کسی خاص مقام کی امید نہ رکھیں.

اگر میں عمران خان ہوتا تو ہر بار ایم کیوایم کے خلاف اتنا برسنے کے بعد اپنے کراچی جلسے میں دل کھول کر بھڑاس نکالتا- شاید لوگ یہ سمجھتے کہ کچھ احتیاط یا سیاسی تقاضوں کے باعث وہاں اس جماعت کے خلاف بولنا مناسب نہیں تومیں پھر بھی بولتا. میں اور میری انقلابی فوج خوفزدہ نہیں ہے کہ ہم اب ان چیزوں کی پرواہ کریں. اب انقلاب کا دور آ گیا ہے. جب میں امریکہ کے خلاف بات کرنے کی ہمّت رکھتا ہوں تو ایم کیوایم کے گڑھ میں بھی اپنا نظریہ کیوں بدلوں.

اس کہ بعد میرا خواب ٹوٹ گیا اور میں نے سوچا کے میرے جیسے ایک عام سے شخص اور عمران خان میں کیا فرق ہے. آخر لیڈر میں ایسا بھی کیا خاص ہوتا ہے، یا یہ بھی کوئی فیشن ہوتا ہے جو کچھ سال بعد تھوڑے سے اچھوتے انداز میں دہرانا پڑتا ہے- پہلے بھی کتنے آےٴ، انقلاب اورحقوق کی باتیں کر کے ہم سب کو بہت مصروف، اورایک دوسرے سے بہت دور کر گئے، ابھی جانے کتنے اورآ ٴیں جوعوام کوحقوق دلانے کی غرض سے اسی پرانی فلم کی کہانی کو دہراتے رہیں. “آؤ بیٹا اس کا نیا پرنٹ ریلیز ہوا ہے، اس سے اصلی کا انقلاب آتا ہے، باقی سب سیاسی پارٹیاں اور ان کی فلمیں فلاپ ہیں, دیکھو ان کو تو کوئی دیکھنے بھی نہیں آتا.”

انقلاب تو شاید اب وقت ہی لاےٴ گا. نہ جانے کیوں ایسا محسوس ہوتا ہے کہ عوام کے ساتھ شاید پھر سے کوئی دھوکہ ہو گیا ہے. لیکن شاید ابھی یہ دھوکہ نہیں لگتا کیونکہ جب اندر سے ہی تبدیلی نہ آےٴ تو باتوں میں کیا رکھا. مجھے بادشاہ بنا دو، تاج محل سے زیادہ خوبصورت محل نہ بنوایا تو میرا انکار کر دینا…
جاؤ، مجھے عمران خان نہیں بننا…

“These men do not play music, they are music itself” says Jeff Buckley about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

Jeff Buckley, the renowned musician, was a great admirer of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Unfortunately, we lost both of these artists in 1997. Jeff has written the liner notes for Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s album “The Supreme Collection, Vol. 1″  released in 1997. That album was released after Jeff’s accidental death and before Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan passed away. The actual text by Jeff follows below which shows how a musician describes Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

“The first time I heard the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was in Harlem, 1990. My roommate and I stood there, blasting it in his room. We were all awash in the thick undulating tide of dark punjabi tabla rhythyms, spiked with synchronized handclaps booming from above and below in hard, perfect time.

Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - © Ayaz Jokhio
I heard the clarion call of harmoniums dancing the antique melody around like giant, singing wooden spiders. Then all of a sudden, the rising of one, then ten voices hovering over the tonic like a flock of geese ascending into formation across the sky.

Then came the voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Part Buddha, part demon, part mad angel… his voice is velvet fire, simply incomparable. Nusrat’s blending of classical improvisations to the art of Qawwali, combined with his out and out daredevil style and his sensitivity, outs him in a category all his own, above all others in his field. Continue reading

Pakistan has got a Google doodle for Birthday…

So for the first time, Google gave attention to Pakistan by publishing a doodle on their Independence Day, i.e. 14th August, 2011.

Here’s the doodle:

Google doodle for Pakistan Independence Day

Google doodle for Pakistan Independence Day

Green color depicts the green in Pakistani Flag, while a monument Minar-e-Pakistan [National Tower of Pakistan] replaces the letter “l”. Crescent and star are used to make the top of letter “g”, while some rays of light and stars create an illuminating effect. I shared this logo with my Facebook friends and it was instantly appreciated and loved.

Thanks Google! We love you too!!!

Tempting Treats: Pakistani Food is the richest and tastiest…

Whoever lives in Pakistan knows the variety and richness Pakistani cuisine has to offer. It includes all those traditional dishes mostly cooked using chicken and other meats, rice, vegetables, pulses, etc. These dishes mostly use various spices to create unique flavours, a speciality of dishes from India and Pakistan, the old neighbors.

Last week, we had a family dinner at our place and my mother cooked some dishes for our honorable guests. I took few photos of the food being served which I’m sharing here…

Biryani, Pakistani rice dish

Biryani, Pakistani rice dish

Boneless chicken

Boneless chicken

Chappal Kebab [Pakistani Beef Kebabs]

Chappal Kebab (Pakistani Beef Kebabs)

Roasted Chicken

Roasted Chicken

Biryani, Pakistani rice dish

Biryani, Pakistani rice dish

Mango ice cream with fresh mango chunks

Mango ice cream with fresh mango chunks

Fruit Trifle with Jellies

Fruit Trifle with Jellies

A glass of Coke...

A glass of Coke...

Tips attacked Facebook!!! Pakistani users Rock!!!

During last few months, I came across some typographically composed images titled Bro Tip being shared on Facebook. That appeared to be some kind of regular series that publish such one-liners and call them Brotip. Due to its popular theme about young guys, that made it even more famous among most of the Facebook users.

Brotip #719. ©www.brotipshq.com

After around a week or so, a title named “Sistip” got my attention, and I thought here it is the female version of Brotip.

This thing appeared as a hit idea, so many people started using it, and during the last week, Facebook is all full of pages for tips having different categories. And one thing I noticed is that almost all of those new pages seem to be managed by Pakistani Users, that further shows how witty and creative a Pakistani Mind is.

And then we saw a flood of Tips like:

  • Burger Tip
  • Punjabi Tip
  • Paki Tip
  • Lahoritip
  • PindiTip
  • Mofo tip
  • Hoe tip
  • Memon Tip
  • UETtip
  • Beacon Tip
  • Launda Tip
  • Maila Tip
  • Potty Tip, etc.

Continue reading

My Ibanez Guitar signed by Salman Ahmed

Salman Ahmed, the renowned ex-guitarist of the band Junoon, now working as UN Ambassador for AIDS, recently visited Beaconhouse Educational Complex [BEC], Rawalpindi. He was there primarily for HIV/AIDS awareness program and delivering a lecture about it. During his visit, he also performed few songs, and distributed some souvenirs among students, apart from giving autographs.

Luckily, my guitar [Ibanez G10] was at my cousin’s place who studies at BEC, so he took that guitar at school, and Salman Ahmad signed that guitar.

Yey!!!

[Click images to view larger version in a lightbox pop-up]

ibanez-guitar-salman-ahmed-autograph

ibanez-guitar-salman-ahmed-autograph

An excerpt from Jinnah’s speech delivered just 3 days before the creation of Pakistan

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a statesman and founder of Pakistan, delivered a speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947. In that speech, he described his idea of a state they are going to establish. Mr. Jinnah passed away and his ideas forgotten.

notebook-hasnat-mehmood-07

© Hasnat Mehmood

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State. [...] We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. [...]

[Y]ou will find that in course of time, Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”


Source: Dawn, Independence Day Supplement, August 14, 1999.
Transcribed from printed copy by Shehzaad Nakhoda
http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/constituent_address_11aug1947.html