Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Happy Independence Day Pakistan!
To all of you celebrating Pakistan's independence day, Jashn-e-Azadi Mubarak. A longer post on Pakistan's 60th is forthcoming. In the meantime, I thought I'd share one of my all-time favorite patriotic music videos. It's "Jeetain Gay" (We Will Win) by Vital Signs. There's something about the juxtaposition of the images (old, young, new, North, South, East, West) and the lyrics that I continue to find inspiring and that I connect with all things Pakistan. In particular, I love the way the newspaper clippings are interwoven with moving human beings...kind of connects the past with the present and the future IMHO. In a strange way, the song and the video continue to speak to my Pakistani-American identity. No dwelling on in-between spaces today..that's a much longer post that I'm saving for when the mood strikes me. For now, happy birthday Pakistan...and many more.
[PS: Unfortunately the video quality is pretty bad. Not to mention that it isn't subtitled. If anybody is interested, I can finish a translation and add it to this post.]
Friday, August 10, 2007
A Quasi-Post aka A Quiz
So I've been absent from the blogosphere for longer than I'd anticipated. Tons going on some of which have brewed blog posts but alas, too much to do and too little time.
Rather than catch up on all of that I'm easing myself back into blogging with a quiz. Stay tuned for regular postings henceforth. And hopefully Asad will also chime in [hint! hint!].
Rather than catch up on all of that I'm easing myself back into blogging with a quiz. Stay tuned for regular postings henceforth. And hopefully Asad will also chime in [hint! hint!].
| You Are The Wheel of Fortune |
 You represent the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. You embrace change, the the ups and downs of life. Fate is something you accept, even when you could possibly change things. Big things tend to happen to you more than other people. Your fortune: Something huge is about to happen in your life, and you have little control over it. You must accept your destiny, but luckily it is good fortune that has come your way. Big things and big changes are about to come your way. And while things will be intense for a while, they will be followed by a period of rest. |
Monday, July 23, 2007
July 20, July 21, July 22, July 23, 2007
July 20: Played hookey - well not quite since I worked on course syllabi - for the most part. Follicle issues were addressed and I look different enough to stop feeling restless. Something cathartic, IMHO, about changing one's hairstyle/hairdo. Went out dancing to bid a fond farewell to a friend who will be leaving the area to move to Scotland. You will be much missed, G.
July 21: Asad and I were actually in the same space-time particularity :-)! Wonderful day was had - conversations galore and traipsing around New York.
July 22: Went away to Pennsylvania. The picnic lunch was fun. The weather contributed a great deal to that feeling. Skipped a bbq we had to go to later that night because I needed to catch my breath. Me-time was welcome...although I spent the bulk of it yacking away with one of my best childhood buds on the phone since we hadn't had a chance to catch up for a few weeks. That the lives of medical doctors mirrors that of academics in strange ways made for commiserations galore among other things.
July 23: The weather is crappy and I'm behind on deadlines. But for a change I didn't feel bad about taking time off because I knew I needed it.
So that's a fairly telegraph-inspired update from my end. I've decided to go on a 'Net hiatus for a week or so....deadlines seem to have fallen off to the wayside. 'Tis my fault and needs rectification. While blogging doesn't get in the way of dissertating, responding to e-mails surely does. So if I don't log on I won't be tempted to get everything out of the way before I can write. Hence the extended absence. I n-e-e-d to get my act together, especially since the next month is consumed by weddings, baby showers, friends + family visiting from out of town, and the list goes on.
So I'll be back online sometime next week though I remain phone-able and text-message-able...the first post will (Inshallah) be on the chapter finally finished!
July 21: Asad and I were actually in the same space-time particularity :-)! Wonderful day was had - conversations galore and traipsing around New York.
July 22: Went away to Pennsylvania. The picnic lunch was fun. The weather contributed a great deal to that feeling. Skipped a bbq we had to go to later that night because I needed to catch my breath. Me-time was welcome...although I spent the bulk of it yacking away with one of my best childhood buds on the phone since we hadn't had a chance to catch up for a few weeks. That the lives of medical doctors mirrors that of academics in strange ways made for commiserations galore among other things.
July 23: The weather is crappy and I'm behind on deadlines. But for a change I didn't feel bad about taking time off because I knew I needed it.
So that's a fairly telegraph-inspired update from my end. I've decided to go on a 'Net hiatus for a week or so....deadlines seem to have fallen off to the wayside. 'Tis my fault and needs rectification. While blogging doesn't get in the way of dissertating, responding to e-mails surely does. So if I don't log on I won't be tempted to get everything out of the way before I can write. Hence the extended absence. I n-e-e-d to get my act together, especially since the next month is consumed by weddings, baby showers, friends + family visiting from out of town, and the list goes on.
So I'll be back online sometime next week though I remain phone-able and text-message-able...the first post will (Inshallah) be on the chapter finally finished!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
July 18 & July 19, 2007
So I completely forgot to post something yesterday. When I remembered it was 11:30 and I had no desire to get up from in front of the TV and log on. So this post combines yesterday's and today's dissertation edition.
July 18: 'Religion' is deployed on both sides but the terms in which it is interpreted and deployed clarify how it organizes the worlds inhabited by the agents on each side.
July 19: This strand of scholarship tells us that religion is important but ignores the scripts that actors seem to follow in claiming their actions as authentically "X". Taking the former approach we can tell that identity is important but how it matters exactly gets lost in the fray.
July 18: 'Religion' is deployed on both sides but the terms in which it is interpreted and deployed clarify how it organizes the worlds inhabited by the agents on each side.
July 19: This strand of scholarship tells us that religion is important but ignores the scripts that actors seem to follow in claiming their actions as authentically "X". Taking the former approach we can tell that identity is important but how it matters exactly gets lost in the fray.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Two half-baked thoughts on politics and Pakistan.
Well they're barely quarter-baked but I'm in no mood to make up words tonight. Actually I'm probably assembling ingredients to make something that will be baked - that's how unbaked all of this is.
Two stories caught my attention in today's (July 18, 2007) online issue of the Pakistani newspaper DAWN.
1. I wonder how Benazir can make statements about the lack of law and order under Musharraf's regime when things were equally bad on her watch -- both times round. Well I guess she can make these statements but in good conscience? Really? Well some of us might quibble over the comparison I'm making here but you get my drift....in neither of these instances is the law and order situation unproblematic.
2. I agree with Musharraf's statement about his goal to create an enlightened and moderate Pakistan. What it makes me think about though is the vision of 'Pakistan' that 'Pakistanis' have had and continue to. Without going into too much detail (only because I can't handle writing blog posts akin to academic papers or dissertation chapters right now), I'm intrigued by the ways in which 'Pakistaniat' has been articulated. To grossly oversimplify for a second, the two-nation theory which laid the foundation for the demand for Pakistan as a separate state for the Muslims of India seems to have been deployed in Pakistan in two main ways that are also, IMHO, relevant to what Musharraf had to say. First, based on my own field research for my dissertation as well as primary sources I've read, there seems to be a strong contingent of folks who insist that the notion "separate state for the Muslims" refers to having a homeland where Muslims held the reins of power thereby escaping the possibility of Hindu domination in a United India after gaining independence from the British Empire. The second strand of thought insists upon the enforcement of Sharia Law in Pakistan for it to become a truly Islamic state. It always strikes me as odd that this demand is often made by political parties that historically, in the pre-1947 era, were opposed to the very establishment of a separate state for the Muslims of India. Leaving that aside, it is also striking that there are folks who belong to this contingent agree that this wasn't how Pakistan was envisioned but that it is what it ought to have been established on the basis of i.e. a state fashioned according to Islamic ideals ala Saudi Arabia. Hmm I wonder how we might make sense of this given that one rests on interpreting Pakistaniat/Pakistan as a 'Muslim homeland' and the other as an 'Islamic state'? Are the two different? I'm clearly inclined towards saying yes. Personally speaking, most immigrants and partition survivors I have spoken with over the years often talk about Pakistan as the solution to escape domination by the Hindus...or at least that was the intent. Makes sense to me. After all, Muslims in India practice their religion too so it couldn't have been just the desire to set up an Islamic state. This is not to say that didn't become a part of it but I find it increasingly bizarre, even problematic, that the first strand of thought is largely overlooked or deemed taboo when it is articulated. Hmm I see a research project forming right here.
On that note, must go to sleep! Next post: tomorrow's (well technically today since it's 12:34 am) dissertation thought or the day's favorite sentence. Which shall it be? Stay tuned to find out :-).
Two stories caught my attention in today's (July 18, 2007) online issue of the Pakistani newspaper DAWN.
1. I wonder how Benazir can make statements about the lack of law and order under Musharraf's regime when things were equally bad on her watch -- both times round. Well I guess she can make these statements but in good conscience? Really? Well some of us might quibble over the comparison I'm making here but you get my drift....in neither of these instances is the law and order situation unproblematic.
2. I agree with Musharraf's statement about his goal to create an enlightened and moderate Pakistan. What it makes me think about though is the vision of 'Pakistan' that 'Pakistanis' have had and continue to. Without going into too much detail (only because I can't handle writing blog posts akin to academic papers or dissertation chapters right now), I'm intrigued by the ways in which 'Pakistaniat' has been articulated. To grossly oversimplify for a second, the two-nation theory which laid the foundation for the demand for Pakistan as a separate state for the Muslims of India seems to have been deployed in Pakistan in two main ways that are also, IMHO, relevant to what Musharraf had to say. First, based on my own field research for my dissertation as well as primary sources I've read, there seems to be a strong contingent of folks who insist that the notion "separate state for the Muslims" refers to having a homeland where Muslims held the reins of power thereby escaping the possibility of Hindu domination in a United India after gaining independence from the British Empire. The second strand of thought insists upon the enforcement of Sharia Law in Pakistan for it to become a truly Islamic state. It always strikes me as odd that this demand is often made by political parties that historically, in the pre-1947 era, were opposed to the very establishment of a separate state for the Muslims of India. Leaving that aside, it is also striking that there are folks who belong to this contingent agree that this wasn't how Pakistan was envisioned but that it is what it ought to have been established on the basis of i.e. a state fashioned according to Islamic ideals ala Saudi Arabia. Hmm I wonder how we might make sense of this given that one rests on interpreting Pakistaniat/Pakistan as a 'Muslim homeland' and the other as an 'Islamic state'? Are the two different? I'm clearly inclined towards saying yes. Personally speaking, most immigrants and partition survivors I have spoken with over the years often talk about Pakistan as the solution to escape domination by the Hindus...or at least that was the intent. Makes sense to me. After all, Muslims in India practice their religion too so it couldn't have been just the desire to set up an Islamic state. This is not to say that didn't become a part of it but I find it increasingly bizarre, even problematic, that the first strand of thought is largely overlooked or deemed taboo when it is articulated. Hmm I see a research project forming right here.
On that note, must go to sleep! Next post: tomorrow's (well technically today since it's 12:34 am) dissertation thought or the day's favorite sentence. Which shall it be? Stay tuned to find out :-).
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
July 17, 2007
I hope I'm not jinxing myself by throwing this out there but I think I see an overall argument shaping up for the dissertation - one that I hadn't seen before but that now seems not only self-evident but that also holds the promise of the quintessential "the end is the beginning". In other words, heading down this path will likely provide me the option of developing the dissertation into an interesting, full-fledged dissertation project. Insert happy dance here folks! Why? I've been told on more than one occasion by professors with whom I've worked and respect a great deal that a dissertation is a piece of research that will define one's scholarly life for some years to come so the best thing to come out of all of this is a defended dissertation that raises questions to shape a book manuscript. So knock on wood, Mashallah, fingers crossed, throwing some salt over my shoulder for good luck...I think I've found my way there. Yayyyy!
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