At the time of the history’s greatest migration, along with geographical disorientation, the infant Pakistan was also psychologically lost and depressed. These were dire times when simple survival as a seperate nation was the only priority and arts at such time could not be given much heed. This led to further gloom of the art lovers as well as artists themselves. Apart from radio Pakistan there was no more music in the air. Music lovers reminisced the live music concerts whereas maestros in the field of music started to crumble. At such a difficult time for music in Pakistan it was cocncerned citizens that collectively volunteered to initiate the All Pakistan Music Conference in 1959. Their main objective was to rejuvenate and relive the glory of classical music and arrange seminars, conferences and concerts. (courtesy: www.apmc.info)

Today, 49 years later the All Pakistan Music Conference maintains its poise and is held every year without fail reminding us of the art that breathes in the same ambience as we do. Classical music and dance is in the air of the subcontinent. We can choose to ignore it but not eradicate it.

The remaining APMC Festival 2008 has been postponed but the last of the few events was last month when Hajrah Khan, a Social Sciences Major from Lahore University of Management Sciences read an academic paper on “Urdu Ghazal & English Sonnet” very intricately interlacing the two and reminding us , art has no boundaries, geographical or demographic. The esteemed presence of Shaista Sirajuddin to read out the English Sonnets selected by Hajrah and Dr Arfa Syeda Zehra to recite Urdu Ghazals added to the magic.

The research paper was followed by Tabla maestro Shahbaz Hussain from Manchester, who gave a talk on different components of Tabla(solo) playing again resembling those of an English Sonnet and and Urdu Ghazal. Shahbaz Hussain is a student of Ustaad Allah Rakha’s son, Ustaad Shaukat Hussain and Ustaad Fayyaz Khan. He has also performed with Ustaad Valayat Khan on his last concert in London. Shahbaz Hussain teaches at NewCastle University which happens to be the first university in the world to have introduced a degree in Tabla. Himself being born in the UK, his parents hail from Lahore and so here’s a son of the soil making us all proud of the fact that we share his roots. This event was by far the best account of playing any classical instrument and the accompanying talk (given in English) was surprisingly free of any (greek!) jargon  and completely comprehendable by the common man.

The best part was where he told how long ago a girl from Lahore was married into a musical “gharana”(family) in Delhi and her father gave her 500 “gats” as her dowry. Shahbaz also played one of those Lahori Gats in the end.

All Pakistan Music Conference is an association which is truly (and quietly) conserving our heritage and not letting it wash away with the graffiti of all things new.

Iss baar bhi baarish khoob hui,
aur baadal toot kay barsa tha

Galiyaan, koochay jal-thal thay,
par soch ka sehr’aa payasa tha

Band darwazon kay shishoon par,
jab boondon nay yun dastak dee

Ehsaas hua tum aaye ho,

Andaaz tumharay jaisa thaa…!

Forwarded by Usman Latif

Lawyers, civil activists who had gathered at the Lahore High Court this monday to protest on Human Rights Day made the event more interesting by shouting slogans in Punjabi Tappa Style. Have a taste of it:

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
asan judgaan di bahali waikhni,
PCO dian jarran kata kay,
judgaan di bahali waikhni

(We want to see the judiciary restored; we will uproot the Provisional Constitutional Order)

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
bhae shehrian ne paye wakhtay,
policaan beh gyan thaanay jaa kay,
shehrian ne paye wakhtay

(The citizens have rose to the occasion and now the police is in trouble)

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
bhae choraan nay judge dak laye,
saday bolan tay pabandian la kay,
choraan nay judge dak laye

(The thieves have caught the judges and put a ban on freedom of expression)

ballay ballay,
ho ballay ballay,
bhae tor muzahmat di,
kalay kapray tay kalay banner,
tor muzahmat di

(Look how well the protest is being carried out by the lawyers and other civil society members)

Full Story: DT

…or any other website for that matter. PakTranslations.com is a pretty neat site - it can translate websites containing English text to Urdu. The translations aren’t exactly perfect but they’re fairly good nevertheless. Read LMB in Urdu for a change by clicking here!

Check out the author names in Urdu - hilarious! =D

Pretty Simple = خاصا سادہ

A for [pine]Apple = ایک کیلئے[بیماری سے گھل]سیب

As intimated earlier by Pretty Simple, the 11-day World Performing Arts Festival has kicked off from today bringing the desparately exhausted Lahorites, a sigh of relief and a breath of freshness in the environment of high political tension around.

A more detailed schedule of daily events, film screenings, artists, acts, timings and ticket prices are mentioned on the Rafi Peer Festivals’ website.

What more to write … when Desi Bak-a-Rr-r-a’s Payyay are available so easily to savour your taste ;-)

Image Courtesy: Naeem Rashid

Senior US diplomat as well as a distinguished journalist, Mr. Phillips Talbot was in town to revive his memories of the time he spent in Lahore and to get feedback on his latest publication; ‘An American Witness to India Partition’.

Talking to Daily Times during his recent visit to Lahore, he recalled memories of Lahore, a city that he considered the loveliest and relatively liberal in Pakistan. He wished to visit the place - Minto Park (now Minar-e-Pakistan) - where once Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had passed the Pakistan Resolution and historic buildings like National Museum on The Mall. He termed consistency of democracy key to Pakistan’s progress.

He said, “I still remember the tall buildings of the Aitchison College and the National Museum. He said, “Lahore is the only city in Pakistan I am affiliated with.” During his stay in Lahore, he said, he used to write for several newspapers.

He said he had a bulk of memories, which he later published in his book An American Witness to India Partition. “I have heard that Lahoris are conservative, but I have still to see any evidence of this.”

News Source: DT

Talent@Lahore is a series in which I will talk about the talent, the aptitude, and sheer brilliance of various personalities hailing from Lahore

This is the first installment of Talent@Lahore series, and we are going to talk about a 36 years old writer whose work has been translated in 20 languages, adapted for TV as well as an Italian operetta, and who has (most recently) been short listed among 5 other candidates from around the world for the prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction in 2007 - one of the most renowned literary awards in the world.

Mohsin Hamid takes over the throne of immensely rich literary heritage of Lahore, the only difference being that he writes in English not Urdu, yet remains very much in touch with all things Desi. Born in 1971, Mohsin went on to attend Princeton University and Harvard Law School, and worked as a management consultant in New York and a freelance journalist in Lahore, before moving to London. His claim to fame, however, are his two novels of international acclaim, both set in the backdrop of the city of Lahore.
(more…)

You may call it commercial exploitation of the event, but, the truth is that this new advertisement by Mobilink is nothing less than brilliant.

As a tribute to Farida Khanum, the ghazal queen of Pakistan, the video of this song is supported by the legend’s very own heart-touching, deep vocals, beautiful lyrics, soulful music and some very artistic shoots of our city.

Interestingly, Farida Khanum herself lives in Lahore and you can actually feel the soul of her city in almost every frame of the video. From Platform No.1 at the Lahore Railway Station to the giant screen at Allama Iqbal International Airport; from Badshahi Masjid to Islamic Summit Monument; from Punjab Assembly Building to Punjab Hockey Stadium, and from Wapda House to streets of the Walled City, all visuals make you feel like the whole city is singing in unity for the love of our beloved Pakistan.

More on Farida Khanum: here and here.

“I doubt a lost novel by Shakespeare with a cover by Michelangelo could generate this much excitement.“
Tibor Fischer - Telegraph

The magic is at last here. J.K.Rowling strikes back with the last book, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, in her enchanting series of magical novels loved by the young and the old alike.

Eyewitnesses share the news of Muggle invasion at all major bookstores in town where stacks of it were put on the front displays.

It’s only been a day and almost all of them have run out of stock. The book, itself was over-booked and many people who were expecting to get it delivered on the first day were disappointed due to the overwhelming demand. People at a bookshop, Jahangir Sons, in Johar Town, were excited to see the book making sales records at their store.

BBC reports on how the book is flying off shelves across the world while BBC arts correspondent David Sillito, updates us on the crazy fans who gathered for the first catches at Waterstone’s Piccadilly in central London.

In one of the very first online reviews, Greig Watson, again at BBC News happily declares that the Final Potter does not disappoint.

Words from the best reviews:

“Rowling has done her damnedest to round up events and minor characters from all the earlier books” THE GUARDIAN - John Mullan

“As Hermione reveals the arrangements she has made to give her parents new identities, and even Ron contemplates the sacrifices to be made, it becomes clear that this is to be no boarding-school book in disguise. They are dropping out of Hogwarts in earnest, and there will be no Quidditch, no pumpkin juice and no Blast-Ended Skrewts.”
THE TIMES - Alice Fordham

“The final showdown between Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, and his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort, He Who Must Not Be Named, is a classic good-versus-evil tale on a par with Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings trilogy.”
THE SUN - Anne Jones

The book has been published by Bloomsbury in the UK, Scholastic in the US while Paradise Books is the only distributor in Pakistan.

The book is selling like hot seekh-kebabs at:

- Variety Books, Liberty Market

- Anees Books, Main Market ,Gulberg

- Iqbal Book Depot, Main Market, Gulberg

- Ferozsons, The Mall/Qaddafi Stadium/Defence

- Staples, Garden Town

- Jahangir Sons, Johar Town

You can get your original hard cover Bloomsbury copy for Rs.1,595.

If you are willing to pay an extra Rs.50, Paktel is offering a free SIM, Harry Potter poster, and DVD of Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire at Anees Books, Iqbal Book Depot, Ferozsons & Staples.