Category: Delhi

History will bear witness …

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Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav? Indeed. Those who murdered and raped Bilkis Bano and her family, including a three-year-old child, got freedom –– Azadi –– from jail and celebrated the Amrit Mahotsav by being feted, garlanded and fed sweets.

The grave injustice to Bilkis Bano and her family will go down in the annals of history as an indelible blot on the country which claims to be the “world’s largest democracy.” History will bear witness to how an independent nation, claiming to celebrate freedom, celebrates criminals and rapists and conducts itself in an uncivilised manner.

“Swaraj, for me, means freedom for the ‘meanest’ of our countrymen. I am not interested in freeing India merely from the English yoke. I am bent upon freeing India from any yoke whatsoever.” said Mahatma Gandhi. Will this country ever achieve that ideal?

Madras Courier, 22 August 2022

Freedom Song

India @ 75

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75 years of independence, Yes. Now what! A day that should have been celebration and joy is still a moment of despair for millions of countrymen. I still hope for Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic – an India that is inclusive and where the mind is without fear. 

15 August 2022

Flag seller girl, Delhi 2022

Who insults a flower?

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Who insults a flower?

Even when a thorn pricks you

who talks bad of a bud?

The spring doesn’t harm

but in summer you don’t hit 

            a leafless tree

You don’t apologize 

if you run down a flower, do you?

‘Before you succeed you must learn to fail.’

Lahore visit

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  • Azhar Jaffri and Rahat Dar at Lahore Fort
  • The entry door to Daddy’s childhood home in Lahore
  • Daddy in the last window frame with the current occupants of the house
  • Wazir Khan Mosque Lahore

आब-ओ-हवा ही ख़राब है मुल्क की, इस बेचारे पेड़ का क्या क़ुसूर है।

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आब-ओ-हवा ही ख़राब है मुल्क की, इस बेचारे पेड़ का क्या क़ुसूर है।

If humans take inspiration from nature why not the other way round. Art can mimic its surroundings When weird is normal. This tree, for your information, is inside a cremation ground. The creative expression you see is entirely NATURAL and devoid of any external intervention. The caretaker and attending pandit vouches for the authenticity of the tree, its talent and the artwork you see. 

The Seven Year Itch as expressed by a tree. (27 January 2022. We had gone for the cremation of Nalini Taneja’s mother)

वो क्या कहा था मियां ग़ालिब नें 
ज़ख्म के भरने तलक नाख़ून न बढ़ आएंगे क्या  

ये सब पेड़ का अपना किया धराया है।  यहाँ आकर कौन ऐसी हरकत करेगा, इस जगह ? नहीं नहीं मैं नहीं मानता और पंडत इतना ठरकी  तो नहीं दिखता। यकीन मानिये ये पेड़ शमशान ग्राउंड अन्दर खड़ा है, उस जगह जहाँ लोग लाश को जलाने से पहले इकठ्ठा होते हैं।