Culture, Language, Literature: A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري، ...

Culture, Language, Literature: A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري، ...: Book Review 7:   A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree  هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري،  " - a novel by Anwar Abro. Reviewed by: Wajid_Ali_Aji...

Culture, Language, Literature: A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري، ...

Culture, Language, Literature: A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري، ...:   A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree  هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري،  " - a novel by Anwar Abro. Reviewed by: Wajid_Ali_Ajiz   Abro is wel...

A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري، " - a novel by Anwar Abro.

Book Review 7:

 A Guest Girl "Hik Mehman Chhokree هڪ مهمان ڇوڪري، " - a novel by Anwar Abro.

Reviewed by: Wajid_Ali_Ajiz 

Abro is well known Sindhi writer who has published many works and having numerous unpublished write-ups regarding child literature, poetry, columns, translation and novels. His pen and energy are still tireless to serve Sindhi literature in many ways.

The Novel "A guest girl" is based on love story you may say based on simple romance. In which fact of Sindhi society has also been shown, the main characters of novel are Mr. Sodho Chandra and Anna (Anameka). Sodho is middle class Sindhi youngster who had been graduate from Mehran University Jamshoro. Due to lack of jobs in Jamshoro he had been lived in Karachi.

Chandra who had just fallen in love with Sodho, Sodho himself also fall in love with her given in return. She belongs to Karachi that is why Sodho emotionally loved with Karachi. Third character was Anna who belongs to Sindh but living in Canada, she loved Sindh a lot.

Chandra could not face the society and got married with another person, Sodho got totally disturbed after Chandra but consequently an unknown called "Anna” had fall in love with Sodho she promised a lot at the end...........

There is unbelievable story behind the love of “Anna” or Anameka and Sodho which started from wrong number because of Sodho's ring tone which was a song of Ashiq Nizamani "Mon khy hekal chadi wae aa"  the favorite of Anna.

Anameka and sodho had same nature; they had same characterizations about the people of Sindh. They loved the color, culture and language of Sindh and its people.

The issues being faced in our society are also mentioned in this novel, the issue of religious intolerance, issues of working ladies and the issues of unmarried girls as well as issue of loving teenagers are described at length with deep insight.

The novel is also motivation to live the life in every situation somewhere characters said: "clean your wept eyes with smile and look at the shining color of life"

Novel is divided in many parts; every part is consisted on new issue. It can be that is the best novel which I read without skipping a single page and without waiting a moment. The novel was published by Kavita Publication Hyderabad. It is worth reading

Culture, Language, Literature: Dara Shikooh and Aurangzeb (Play by Akbar Ahmed tr...

Culture, Language, Literature: Dara Shikooh and Aurangzeb (Play by Akbar Ahmed tr...: Dara Shikooh and Aurangzeb (Play by Akbar Ahmed translated into Sindhi by Shafkat Qadri) Reviewed by: Dr Mubarak Lashari It was ...

Dara Shikooh and Aurangzeb (Play by Akbar Ahmed translated into Sindhi by Shafkat Qadri)

Book Review 6:

Dara Shikooh and Aurangzeb (Play by Akbar Ahmed translated into Sindhi by Shafkat Qadri)

Reviewed by: Dr Mubarak Lashari

It was a more than a decade ago when I had read Akbar S Ahmed’s ‘Postmodernism and Islam’ in which he not only, at many points, rejected postmodern values against religion especially Islam but also pointed out enlightened elements of Islam as a religion. Akbar S Ahmed and Ziaudin Sardar as well as Ejaz Ahmed and some other intellectuals from Pakistan, India, Iran and other countries are there who are on the one hand supporting positive concept of Islam but also believe in very foundations of reinterpretation of the religion of hands of so-called mullahs or extremist like people. May be that is the reason they are not accepted as scholar by many of the orthodox communities in their native countries.

Out of certain premises, the intellectual work of these people cannot be denied at any level but can be used as reference of liberal and just element of the religion. In the same context one can have the play ‘Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb’ in Sindhi from Akbar Ahmed’s play ‘The trial of Dara Shikoh and Noor’. The translator has selected the significance of the ‘trial of Dara Shikoh’ as fitting to the conditions of the day. In preface of the translation, Bakhsahal Thalho described the conditions of the day in the context extremism and orthodoxy interpretation of the religion at large. The translator in his words also shed very good light on the knowledge structure of our higher education that can be seen in the perspective of Steve Fuller work ‘Post-truth, knowledge as power game’ in which he analysed the very basic foundations of knowledge in the era of post-truth reality.

The play ‘Dara Shikoh aen Aurangzeb (mysticism and extremism)  دارا شڪوهه ۽ اورنگزيب تصوف ۽ انتهاپسندي  ‘ is basically the story of trial of prince Dara Shikoh, the heir and eldest son of Shahjehan, a Mughal Emperor of India in seventeenth century. According to the translater, that is real fact as well’ that Mughal dynasty is full of murders of nears and dears for the sake of getting throne by hooks or crooks. Same happened when there came a time of heirship after Shahjehan when the emperor nominated his eldest son Dara Shikoh but that was not accepted by his brother especially Aurangzeb who started conspiracy against him and hanged him through court trail of so-called religious jurisprudence. There actually happened a final battle at Samogarh in which Dara Shikoh and his force was defeated by the royal army occupied by Aurangzeb and his younger brother. After the defeat of the battle of Samogarh, Dara Shikoh was chained and trial started by Qazi Fazulhaq and attorneyed by Abdullah Khan. Interestingly, the witnesses to prove Dara Shikoh were the same who were acknowledging the position of Dara Shikoh as a great leader and person religious harmony but it was not a really fair trial but a formality to remove Dara from the way of Aurangzeb’s getting to throne. The trial has proved the guilt of Dara as ‘heretic’ of religious values orthodoxically. The verdict of the court was well known and predicted in which Dara is not only accepting the Hindu religion is as equally respectable as other religions and also believe that Sikhism is also bridge of Islam and Hindu religions. He also showed the reverence of Judaism and Christianity in the context of true spirit of Islam. The idea was not acceptable to the judiciary or qazi of the court and he was verdicted as heretic and disbeliever of Islamic values and traditions, thus, he was to be hanged. There were shown two sisters of Aurangzeb i.e. Roshan Ara and Jahan Ara in which Roshan Ara is having extremist views against the liberal thoughts of Dara and supports Aurangzeb and suggest him to hang Dara Shikoh immediately. On the other hand, Jahan Ara is on the side of Dara Shikoh who brings the request of forgiveness for the life of Dara but the solicitation is rejected.

The play consists of four acts. First act is consisting the actual trial of Dara Shikoh that is richly texted and explained in the context of liberal ideas of Dara Shikoh and the charges levelled against him as religious heretic. Second act is consisted of sisters having discussion with Aurangzeb on the issues that is also very interesting. The third act is related with the Dara Shikoh and his son Sepahar, who fights bravely in the last battle of Samugarh. Here, both the son and the father discuss not only the background of Mughals in India, Aurangzeb, Akbar the great but also personal loves of the brothers disputing for the throne. Final and fourth scene or act is related with Aurangzeb and his sister Jahan Ara meeting after 20 years in which both are old enough to realize the past issues. In this scene, Jahan Ara reminds Aurangzeb that it was not Islam that made you kill your father and brothes but your greed of power and jealousy against the liberal and universal thoughts of Dara Shikoh, where to some extent Aurangzeb accepts the reality but cunningly avoids the past.

The play is not only the play of literary genre but it also is eye opening work in the context of post-Zia era in Pakistan in which we have been thrown into the bay of extremism and fundamentalism what was sown historically in the period of Aurangzeb and General Zia we reaping the crop of that in today’s world. This was not just the fight of two brothers but the fight of two ideologies. We cannot learn anything today if we cannot learn it from past. Therefore, this play translated into Sindhi by Shafkat Qadri is an important work towards historical understanding that Islam is not what extremists teach us. In the end, there is given a translation of Guru Gobind Singh’s letter  ZaffraNama (the message of success)  to Aurangzeb that evaluates the actual position of emperor Aurangzeb, as a person, as a religious one etc. that is wonderful addition to the book.

The translation is wonderful and that credit goes to Qadri, the translator but the main credit is also for the writer Akbar Ahmed who realized the issue and penned it down in 2008. The Sindhi translation is magnificent but publication seems of less standardized that can be seen from the grounds of paging of the scenes. There is great reshuffling of the pages from forward to backward and vice versa. It can be very harmful for the readers. But the message is magnificent and lofty. I would like to suggest young generation to read it disseminate it for tomorrow.

Book Name: Dara Shikoh aen Aurangzeb )Taswuf aen intehapasandi) دارا شڪوهه ۽ اورنگزيب (تصوف ۽ انتهاپسندي)

Author: Akbar Ahmed translated into Sindhi by Shafkat Qadri

Publisher: Roshni Publication, Kandiaro

Publishing year: 2019

Pages: 81

Price: Rs 200 US $ 2.00

ISBN: 978-969-972636-1

Culture, Language, Literature: Old Fashion (Poem: Nadeem Bozdar)

Culture, Language, Literature: Old Fashion (Poem: Nadeem Bozdar): Old Fashion ( Poem: Nadeem Bozdar)   Translation:Muhammad Din Rajri   Felicitation of first May (Which) can’t dry perspirat...

Old Fashion (Poem: Nadeem Bozdar)

Old Fashion (Poem: Nadeem Bozdar) 

Translation:Muhammad Din Rajri 

Felicitation of first May

(Which) can’t dry perspiration of peasant?

Dress his body

& scarf her daughter's head

his son's books can't be bought

with mere compliments

His mother's medicine

Can't be purchased from medical

store

For just chanting slogans

Of long live labourer,

Salute to gratitude of labourer

No any First May is supposed

to reward him boarding

Bare feet labourer

on burning land

May not make first May applause boot

& wear

His blood streams from Mill chimney

Being smoke may not be fragrance

Labourer leader's statement & guaranteer

of labourer rights sitting in air-conditioned room

Is unable to put healing-swab

on the soul & physique of

Iron-rod injury of poor driver

The Fashion of first May congratulation

Has been expired

As long as a new fashion comes

Till, don't bother Worker

With speeches......!! 

پراڻو فيشن

نظم

نديم بوزدار

پهرين مئي جي مبارڪ

پورهيت جو پگهر سُڪائي نٿي سگهي

سندس لڱ تي لٽا

ڌيئڙي ء جي مٿي تي پوتي نٿي پارائي سگهي

پٽ جا ڪتاب مبارڪن سان نٿا ملن

ماءُ جي دوا

پورهيت جي عظمت کي سلام

جيئي پورهيت چوڻ سان

اسٽور تان ناهي ملندي

 کيس ڪا به پهرين مئي اجھو

ڏيڻ کان لاچار آهي

تپندڙ ڌرتيءَ تي پيرن اگهاڙو مزدور

پهرين مئي جي مبارڪ کي

بوٽ بڻائي پائي ناهي سگهندو

مل جي چمني مان دونهن جي صورت

نڪرندڙ سندس رت

خوشبو ناهي بڻبو

مزدور حقن جي ترجمان

اي سي ۾ ويٺل ليڊر جا بيان

سريي وڌل ڊرائيور جي

جسم ۽ روح کي پهتل زخمن تي

پها رکي ناهي سگهندو

پهرين مئي جي مبارڪ جو فيشن

مزدور لاءِ پراڻو ٿي چڪو

ڪو نئون فيشن مارڪيٽ ۾ اچي

تيستائين مزدور کي

تقريرن سان تنگ نه ڪر.