Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Mukkabaaz’: lessons for Pakistani Cinema on June 21, 2018After making superb movies like ‘Raman Raghav’ and ‘Masaan’, Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Mukkabaaz’ parcels out new dimensions of cinematic brilliance. From the very first scene, the raw poetry of Indian life reflects through with inimitable art and skill. Unlike other directors, his stories do not try to win over their audience merely through their sensational plots, […]
Nothing to lose on January 23, 2018How are most of us lost! Is it the youth that drives us delirious or is our destiny of being an adult human being? We have so many questions and so many answers that deceive us. Why do we desire ‘something uncertain’, which we misconstrue in different forms, in claims of love, in high aspirations, […]
Mother on January 3, 2018With an ax modeled out of Miles of wax thinking My mother scissors down Chips from decaying apple log And burns them beneath fire To cook love for us. When I peer down Into her turbid eyes I can peruse the history Of love-beaten grey rainbows Which watery gloom of years Inspire in her heart-chasm. […]
Repression and other maladies on January 2, 2018Though all of us are born out of human genitals through sex, as simple as that, any reference to sex is censured within families because almost all of us are taught since childhood that sex and genitals are something we should be ashamed of and never mention – as if genitals would disappear if they […]
Bathing in Winter on December 26, 2017Out there, Snowy flakes have fallen in layers And coated the grey mud With sugary white surface. Rugged wall-faces and shelters excepted. There is an ethereal gleam Of white spread profusely everywhere. Clouds redouble hiding sun’s face. Squall in streets anticipate More fleece-fall from mid skies. A muddy room choked by frost Stands closed with […]
Demon in Anarkali on December 25, 2017As I straggle through the crowded Anarkali A gigantic demon unleashes from my meek body Like a primordial whale plundering coastal villages I gorge on the silver, blue, white vehicles Shameless Rickshaws with dyed green bodies Electric boards of restaurants and stray cats I gulp down into my heart like abyss Women of different ages […]
Writing and other concerns on December 7, 2017To give an advice, even to think of it and that too to writers, especially amateurs, there’s nothing more offensive and disturbing as my own experience tells me. Still, what can be more ridiculous than the idea of an amateur writer giving advice to other amateur writers? My rapid jumping and prancing from one place […]
Solitude on December 6, 2017A despondent building smeared with despair With all its doors and windows Barred with curtains and fears As if vicious dogs and vipers Were positioned as guards Over the emptiness within, Where my lonely steps in the corridors And coughs clamoured and echoed. The barren yellow walls With paint peeling off Like vigour from my […]
Walking Thoughts on December 3, 2017You walk through the door which opens up the tiny world of Bagh-e-Jinnah and stroll along the roads, paths and causeways, aimlessly looking around and waiting for someone to come. As the sun veils behind thick smog and goes down into the burning waters a million miles away, you zip up your jacket and observe […]
How much I wish tonight on November 24, 2017If I were born among books and guitars? And fed with honey gleaned from wheat If I had grown up among children singing and whirling dance circles in twilight? Among smiles stolen with the drowning nights Secrets pilfered in nimble moments out of raw lips And fondling caresses shared in maize crops? Among festivals that […]