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Lounge LovesBy Sahar Iqbal

Sana Safinaz’s new lawn collection 2012

Sana Safinaz Lawn this year will be more exciting than ever before. The brand will be having a 15 print collection, which will blow the minds of all those who worship the Sana Safinaz brand. They have used all cotton fabric and have incorporated many different weaves this time to give that distinct grand Sana Safinaz look. They have tried to up the lawn this year with innovative stitches and techniques which no one in the lawn market has done as yet. They have chosen a rather brighter tone of colour for this summer unlike the colour pallet they usually go for. They always try and are different not only from the market but from their own previous collections and 2012 will be no different. The Sana Safinaz style is original and very distinctive since its inception and for 2012 the brand plans to stay true to their motto.

WEN Hair care systemWEN Hair care system is developed by celebrity stylist Chaz

Dean, an industry-changing product line. What sets WEN apart from the rest is its cleansing conditioner, a single-step process that cleanses and conditions the hair simultaneously. Unlike many ordinary shampoos, WEN cleansers are made with natural ingredients and contain no sodium laurel sulfate or other damaging detergents. They don’t lather: instead, they create smooth foam when mixed with water for shinier, healthier-looking, more manageable results.

Shamraf’s launched its Flagship store at Dolmen Mall

Shamraf’s Designer Fabrics opened their flagship outlet in Dolmen Mall, Clifton. This also marked the launch of their exclusive digital and 3D prints in Chiffon, Silk and Lawn. It is the first time in Pakistan that a 3D digital print fabric range in textiles has been introduced, reinforcing Shamraf’s core values, to deliver excellence in design, innovation and quality. Shamraf’s Designer Fabrics also featured their signature embroidered fabrics in Chiffon, Silk and Cotton, in addition to their extensive range of digitally printed fabrics and plain fabric, with an extensive colour palette and design variations catering to a diversity of tastes.

Their first Dolmen Store collection featured 30 digital designs and 115 embroidered designs which are available

in chiffon and silk along with scarves in 20 different designs. The outlet also carries an entire range of semi-formal, formal and bridal wear.

I 25February 19 - 25, 2012

Faakhiron Jee Chahay

By Sumeha Khalid

28 I February 19 - 25, 2012

Faakir’s latest offering Jee Chahay has been lapped up by public and fans alike. And the proverbial icing on the cake has been the video for his hit single

Allah Karey, from the same album, featuring the evergreen Mahnoor Baloch and Meekal. Sumeha Khalid at Pakistan Today recently caught up with the ‘Sub toun soneyay’ munda and found out what Jee Chahay is all about. Excerpts of the interview:

Q. Tell us about the response for Jee Chahay.A. The response has been overwhelming. Over all, fans and critics have given a healthy response.Q. What is the theme of this album? What kind of music have you produced this time around?A. Jee Chaahay is a reflective album; I have expressed my experiences in life with people. My emotional highs and lows, ups and downs, my heart breaks, my break-ups, nostalgia, various situations; it depicts my states of mind at various junctures in life. I feel everyone will find some relatable elements in this album for sure.Q. Is this album similar to your previous ones or have you experimented with something different?A. I don’t stick to a uniform, monotonous sound as I find it boring. I experiment with various options while combining different melodies, lyrics and sound hence exploring various genre of music in the same album. Q. Are you the composer and writer of Jee Chahay?A. I have conceptualised, composed, performed and produced Jee Chahay myself. However, accomplished lyric writers and musicians participated in the production of the album. Kami and Shani helped me with production. Q. Your hit number Allah Karey from Jee Chahay features Mahnoor Baloch as the protagonist. Why Mahnoor specifically although there are lots of young and beautiful models around?A. We were not just looking for pretty

faces, we also needed an actor who could deliver in a professional way in the video and should look pretty too. Q. Who has been your muse for your current production?A. People, situations, environment and emotions are my biggest muse.Q. You have been doing a lot of live shows/concerts as of recent. Doesn’t it get too much at times? Do you ever feel like saying ‘enough’!A. Sometimes I do get tired because there’s too much traveling involved in it. But that’s the lifeline. For past two weeks I have been constantly on the road doing live gigs in several cities of our country. Performed so many times in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Quetta, Karachi, etc.Q. How much has the music industry suffered due to the tumultuous state of the country?A. Yes economics drive the markets and worldwide recession is not helping any business but we are resilient and adapt to the situations. I’d like to add; not all is well with the way our electronic media is pushing the foreign music, strangely preferring it over our very own local music. Q. Can music be a career option for our youth? What is the scope of music in Pakistan?A. It’s still a dilemma; there are times when I am convinced that it’s about time that music should be counted as an established vocation but lack of infrastructure forces me to think

otherwise.Q. What’s your kind of music?A. Popular music and by the way pop music is not restricted to just one genre anymore; it’s a combination of everything under the sun.Q. Who is the real Faakhir?A. Faakhir is a self-righteous, upfront - to the extent of being blunt - and a straight forward person who calls a spade a spade.Q. Words of wisdom for musicians to be?A. There is no shortcut for hard work and I really believe one of the famous old sayings that overnight success takes 15 years of hard work.

I 29February 19 - 25, 2012

Interview

By Injila Baqir Zeeshan

Massarat & RedahBringing hope to many

30 I February 19 - 25, 2012

Who says that too much love spoils the children? Redah Misbah’s e a r l i e s t m e m o r i e s

are of the golden time spent with her mother Massarat Misbah as she pampered her endlessly. Here’s only a brief account of how each school day started for the mother and daughter in Redah’s words: ‘Looking back, I strongly believe that I would have slapped my daughter if she gave me as much trouble waking up for school as I did to my mom. But my darling mother would enter each day into my bedroom with a bowl of Coco Pops, my favourite cereal for me. I would still be covered under sheets as she used to dress me while I kept my eyes shut dozing off as often as possible. Only when I was fully changed, the quilts were removed so that I wouldn’t catch a cold. The journey to school took us more than half an hour, through which time, she sang songs to me, told me stories and helped me memorise Quranic ayaats. It’s my most vivid memory of my mother’s love for me that knows no bounds!’

Redah, being the daughter of Massarat Misbah of Depilex fame, was surprisingly tomboyish through her

school days. People found it difficult to believe that she was related to Massarat, who as everyone knows has always been superbly stylish. Redah on the other hand could not even find time for a facial or getting her eye brows done at the salon in which she practically grew up. Massarat tells how once Redah came to her and declared that she had decided what she wanted to become in her life: ‘I want to be a strong woman!’ The ambitious young girl replied and Massarat asked her, ‘Strong like Margaret Thatcher or Benazir or perhaps Indira Gandhi?’ ‘No,’ came the reply. ‘Strong like a gymnast!’ Redah laughs her head off at this and pins the blame on watching too much of gymnastics on the television, which is also the reason for her poor eye sight. She has still not been able to forgive Massarat for the big round-framed ugly glasses that she made her wear throughout her childhood, because of which everyone teased her and called her, ‘Ainak waala jinn!’

Today, a satisfied Massarat Misbah is proud of her talented daughter. Massarat had encouraged Redah to go abroad for her studies. Redah naively deceived herself into thinking that a degree in cosmetology would be a piece of cake. It was only once

Redah, being the daughter of Massarat Misbah of Depilex fame, was surprisingly tomboyish through her school days. People found it diffi cult to believe that she was related to Massarat, who as everyone knows has always been superbly stylish

I 31February 19 - 25, 2012

she began her three-year course in London that she realised how technical the field actually was. She worked at Vidal Sassoon and later went on to do a course at Universal Studios in special effects makeup. ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean Part II, was being shot at the time and working with the makeup team was amazingly creative,’ tells Redah. Massarat relates how she went to meet her teachers while Redah was still studying in UK, and they were all praise for her but she believes that Redah’s greatest quality is her politeness. It gives her an unparalleled strength of character. It is a quality that will certainly take her far, being in the business that she is. Having taken over Depilex now, Redah is working hard at it, though she is at a loss as to how to improve it further because her mother has already achieved tremendous feats as far as the growth of Depilex is concerned.

The Depilex in DHA Lahore is now the flagship store, salon and institute all combined in one. Massarat and Redah are striving hard at providing vocational training to hundreds of girls, empowering them and raising them to the level of good earners for their families and

She has still not been able to forgive Massarat for the big round-framed ugly glasses that she made her wear throughout her childhood, because of which everyone teased her and called her, ‘Ainak waala jinn!’

32 I February 19 - 25, 2012

Redah naively deceived herself into thinking that a degree in cosmetology would be a piece of cake. It was only once she began her three-year course in London that she realised how technical the fi eld actually was. She worked at Vidal Sassoon and later went on to do a course at Universal Studios in special effects makeup

I 33February 19 - 25, 2012

Photography by Asmat Khan of Studio AFZL

themselves. The institute is awarding certification from the City of Sunderland College. Some government as well as UN sponsored scholarships are also accommodated here. But Depilex offers four scholarships of its own. The Anees Fatima Scholarship programme funds the training and all other expenses such as accommodation etc of four deserving girls each year. ‘It began with one, but when we started getting the letters and went visiting the homes of these poor women, it was clear that many more people needed our help than just one,’ tells Massarat. The scholarship is named after Massarat’s mother. It was Redah’s brainchild. ‘My grandmother has been a source of inspiration for the entire family,’ tells Redah. She then narrates how her mother’s habit of allowing any woman who claimed to be in distress, to come and stay in their house has always made her very nervous. ‘I strictly told her to stop this before someone robbed us in broad daylight, but as soon as I got married, she started doing it again!’

Last year Redah married Shammal of Toni & Guy fame. Their romantic tale began on an airplane ride to Paris, where the two had been selected for participation in L’Oreal’s 100-year celebration. ‘Afterwards Shammal

presented a book to me which he had designed himself. It carried pictures of our time together in Paris. In the middle of the book, I came upon a ring, which had been hidden there for me. Of course I said yes!’ Redah glows even today as she recalls that wonderful day. When I ask her if the two are critical of each other’s work, she says that the criticism is always only positive and helps them both improve. ‘Shammal is a scatterbrain and I am obsessively methodical. He has zero short-term memory and I help him into organizing his life and work, which I love doing. He is also very calm and has a laid back approach towards life, whereas I have the tendency to often become hyper active. His presence in my life is exactly what I required. In short we complete each other.’

Masssrat Misbah’s ‘Smile Again’ project has helped many acid burn victims in the past years. Massarat has not only helped get treatment for these women, but also provided them training to become beauticians, sometimes employing them at their very own salon. But she regrets the fact that some clients have been unable to develop a comfort level with these girls. ‘The girls which we managed to get treated and hired at the salon come in the morning, put on

their work clothes, look at themselves in the mirror, their deformed faces and sometimes misshapen lips and yet put on lipstick, put up a smile and begin to work, because now they have a life,’ tells Massarat. ‘We have worked to get them out of the environment in which they had been burnt so brutally and nearly killed. So people need to realise that they are not contagious and human beings like the rest of us. They must encourage them instead of refusing to get the salon services from them.’ Redah adds to this, ‘If a client refuse to be touched by one of these girls, we excuse ourselves and request them to go elsewhere.’ ‘My clients who look at these girls with such disdain can afford to go to another salon, but these girls can’t afford to go anywhere else,’ sums up Massarat.

On the lighter side, Massarat and Redah share with us how wonderful Redah’s in-laws are and how much fun it can be to be around them. There are many more anecdotes to share, related by the mother and daughter, which sent us into fits of laughter, but in this limited space, we leave Massarat and Redah on this note, wishing them all the best in their efforts to do something worthwhile for this country.

Massarat and Redah are striving hard at providing vocational training to hundreds of girls, empowering them and raising them to the level of good earners for their families and themselves. The institute is awarding certifi cation from the City of Sunderland College

34 I February 19 - 25, 2012

I 41February 19 - 25, 2012

Jackie O’sA timeless fashion statement

Oversized sunglasses which were fashionable in the 1980s, are in vogue once again. They usually come in

bright colours with coloured lenses and can be purchased cheaply. The singer Elton John sometimes wore oversized sunglasses on stage in the mid-1970s as part of his Captain Fantastic act.

In the early 21st century moderately oversized sunglasses became a rage. There are many variations, such as the Onassis. Onassis glasses or Jackie O’s are very large women sunshades. This style of sunglasses is said to mimic the most famously worn glasses by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the 1960s. Oversized sunglasses also offer more protection from sunburn due to the larger areas of skin they cover. The glasses continue to be popular with women and celebrities use them often to hide from paparazzi.

Style Savvy

42 I February 19 - 25, 2012

Ingredients

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin• ¼ teaspoon salt• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper• 4 sole fillets• Cooking spray• 1 lemon, quartered • 2 tablespoons butter• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind • 1/4 teaspoon paprika• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Method:

1. Combine first 3 ingredients; sprinkle over both sides of fish. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Coat both sides of fish with cooking spray; place in pan. Cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Place fish on a serving platter; squeeze lemon quarters over fish.

2. Place butter and remaining ingredients in a small bowl; stir until well blended. Serve with fish.

3. Serve these brightly flavored fillets with sautéed spinach or a green salad.

By Sadiya Babar

Recipe

Sole with cilantro butter

I 43February 19 - 25, 2012

By Nadeem Alam

Painting with theatricality

The word ‘theatrical’ is defined in Webster’s E n c y c l o p e d i c Dictionary of the English Language as: “of or pertaining to the theatre, or dramatic or

scenic representations.”Historically, man has recorded his

rituals, dance and religious practices in the form of ‘cave painting’, an archaic form of expression through images. Most of the cave paintings do possess the theatrical elements since those

paintings captured a performance or an activity that was related to some ritual or devout doctrine, or the adventures and hunt scenes, which could easily be placed under the influence of theatricality. In the subcontinent as well, these themes had been common

Art

The Dance Class by Edgar Degas

Hoshruba by Allah Bakhsh

The Charging Chasseur by Gericault

44 I February 19 - 25, 2012

actors and dancers of the Ashoka (268-233 BC) period to act upon them.

M.L Varadpande has valued these stories in his book History of Indian Theatre as he traces theatricality within, in these words: “Jataka stories can be described as an ‘encyclopedia of contemporary Indian life’ in all its aspects. These stories describe various previous births of Gautam Buddha and instructive episodes relating to them. Many Jataka stories are artistically engraved on the stone railings and toranas of Buddhist monuments such as those at Bharhut, Sanchi and Amravati stupas and are painted on the walls of Ajanta caves. They present an approximate panorama of Indian life between 600 BC to 300 BC.”

Since theatre is a form of art, which records and imitates an event that has taken place in real life, but in some other period of time prior to the time of enactment. On the other hand, painting is also a genre which normally captures figures, scenes, subjects or emotions that have been there in existence prior to the moment of their rendering by the artist. Therefore, the possibility of overlapping of characteristics from one genre to the other is plausible.

As a result, this feature could create painterly quality on a theatrical performance and at the same time, could infuse dramatic elements in a painting, since human concerns are behind both kinds of artworks.

The figurative painting, in

and respected since the Stone Age. The earliest images in the caves of Bhimbetka with

simplicity in drawing, linearity and movement of the figures, suggest the dance or hunt movements of the characters, a theatrical expression of the Mesolithic age.

Another ancient, but comparatively modern, concept of theatricality could be found in the time of Buddha (5th century BC) in the form of the enactment of ‘Jataka Stories’, which revolve around Buddha’s life and personality covering times even before his birth to his death, a documentation of Buddha’s life and major events related to him. These stories were also carved in stone at the Stupa of Sanchi and Amravati. They were also found in painted form on the rocks of Ajanta Caves. These stories provided materials to

Stupa of Sanchi

Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio

By Nadeem Alam

Painting with theatricality

The word ‘theatrical’ is defined in Webster’s E n c y c l o p e d i c Dictionary of the English Language as: “of or pertaining to the theatre, or dramatic or

scenic representations.”Historically, man has recorded his

rituals, dance and religious practices in the form of ‘cave painting’, an archaic form of expression through images. Most of the cave paintings do possess the theatrical elements since those

paintings captured a performance or an activity that was related to some ritual or devout doctrine, or the adventures and hunt scenes, which could easily be placed under the influence of theatricality. In the subcontinent as well, these themes had been common

Art

The Dance Class by Edgar Degas

Hoshruba by Allah Bakhsh

The Charging Chasseur by Gericault

I 45February 19 - 25, 2012

actors and dancers of the Ashoka (268-233 BC) period to act upon them.

M.L Varadpande has valued these stories in his book History of Indian Theatre as he traces theatricality within, in these words: “Jataka stories can be described as an ‘encyclopedia of contemporary Indian life’ in all its aspects. These stories describe various previous births of Gautam Buddha and instructive episodes relating to them. Many Jataka stories are artistically engraved on the stone railings and toranas of Buddhist monuments such as those at Bharhut, Sanchi and Amravati stupas and are painted on the walls of Ajanta caves. They present an approximate panorama of Indian life between 600 BC to 300 BC.”

Since theatre is a form of art, which records and imitates an event that has taken place in real life, but in some other period of time prior to the time of enactment. On the other hand, painting is also a genre which normally captures figures, scenes, subjects or emotions that have been there in existence prior to the moment of their rendering by the artist. Therefore, the possibility of overlapping of characteristics from one genre to the other is plausible.

As a result, this feature could create painterly quality on a theatrical performance and at the same time, could infuse dramatic elements in a painting, since human concerns are behind both kinds of artworks.

The figurative painting, in

and respected since the Stone Age. The earliest images in the caves of Bhimbetka with

simplicity in drawing, linearity and movement of the figures, suggest the dance or hunt movements of the characters, a theatrical expression of the Mesolithic age.

Another ancient, but comparatively modern, concept of theatricality could be found in the time of Buddha (5th century BC) in the form of the enactment of ‘Jataka Stories’, which revolve around Buddha’s life and personality covering times even before his birth to his death, a documentation of Buddha’s life and major events related to him. These stories were also carved in stone at the Stupa of Sanchi and Amravati. They were also found in painted form on the rocks of Ajanta Caves. These stories provided materials to

Stupa of Sanchi

Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio

particular, out of other painting styles, always encompasses facial expressions and kinesics with or without relative backgrounds. On the other hand, the same facial expressions and kinesics are the tools of an actor to seize the schematized audience. Though the movement and second-by-second-change of mood and movement is an edge to the theatrical performance whereas it is tried, to be achieved in painting, through techniques of three-dimensional perspective and visual illusions that can add dynamism within and across a frame. So figures in a painting do exactly what characters of a theatre do.

Real humans (actors) act out the desired emotions to convey them to the audience while performing in theatre and in painting, the figures and portraits of human beings do the same through the quality and variation of their colors, texture, chiaroscuro and composition.

Both meaningful genres depict emotions related to life, most of the time, emotions of tragedy, and in between cheerful emotions of joy, for a change!

Aristotle argued in the Poetics that tragedy: “is a representation, not of men, but of action and life, of ‘happiness and unhappiness’ and that ‘happiness and unhappiness’ are bound up with action”

As tragedy is the most important element behind any

creation or expression, which leads one to ‘catharsis’ and enhances the total impact of ‘happiness’ or ‘unhappiness’, the embodiments of these emotions are; characters or figures that represent these sentiments through their gestures, facial lexis and movements.

Moreover, ‘light’ is another factor in these artworks. Theatrical lighting, though has evolved on modern devices, has been cast to put emphasis on a certain character or event, or vice versa. In painting, dramatic light is a strong term of chiaroscuro, which artists like Caravaggio (1571-1610) exploited to the maximum. Another feature in this regard is the Impressionistic technique of painting, where capturing of passing time and changing light was done with quick brush strokes and by juxtaposition of pure pigments under the newly adopted ‘RGB light theory’ of nineteenth century. Many classic paintings, especially depicting the Biblical anecdotes used the chiaroscuro to distinguish holy and sacred figures or such events within a canvas. While the painted ceiling by Michelangelo (1475-1564) put on display, the whole scene that could be enacted without any problem. It seems that actually he has painted a scene from any theatrical performance.

Later in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the Baroque style of painting with its ornate and exuberant

nature, adopted theatricality with all it necessary and unnecessary elements. Since, exaggeration was a pivotal trait of the Baroque style in displaying movement and in depicting hyped emotions such as horror. The paintings and sculpture under Baroque, exploited theatricality at the utmost level.

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863), a romanticist par excellence, with his mythological, adventurous, political and dramatic themes, which often were based either on his travelogues or on literature, added a sense of drama across as well as behind his canvasses. One can see such qualities in his celebrated painting ‘the death of Sarandapalus’ and ‘Liberty leading the people. Preceding him was Gericault (1791-1824), with his all famous paintings ‘The raft of the Medusa’. Gericault in his forceful frames presented the same theatre-like atmosphere, with elaborated actions and emotional renderings, which Delacroix perfected with more depth and precision.

Degas (1834-1917), a different kind of an impressionistic, contrary to the overwhelming landscape painting trend of late nineteenth century impressionist painters, concentrated on portraying the ballad dancers and ballerina life. Therefore, most of his frames exhibited theatrical and dramatic movements through his softly painted dancing figures.

Post-impressionist painter Toulouse Lautrec (1864-1901) with his painted feces and vividly clad figures, which was due to his deep concerns with the life of Circus people, added the dramatic elements in painting, he

46 I February 19 - 25, 2012

did in his own way. In Pakistan, though art is not

among priorities, even then it has excelled at its own grounds and through its individual characteristics. Theatricality in Pakistani art, could be traced back in its early phase when Ustad Alla Baksh was painting to articulate and lavish landscapes of pastoral life on the go, or the mysteriously rendered figurative compositions such as ‘Talism-i Hoshruba’. In addition, the tradition of miniature painting, by virtue of Haji Sharif and Ustad Bashir, with its conventional hunting and battle scenes, kept alive the mode of happening on the soft surface of Vasili.

However, one artist went beyond all limits in terms of injecting theatricality in his painting with his unique style and diversity of techniques, the mystic maestro Sadequain.

Sadequain has dealt with his paintings in terms of characters, facial expressions, distortion, movement, texture, chiaroscuro and a planned and directed atmosphere created through the collective representation of all the mentioned elements on a larger than life scale. His characters in most of his paintings are ‘alive’ and dynamic in nature, always busy in their work or duties. They do not seem to be posed idly, just for the sake of painting.

The brush dipped in color, after being dragged upon the coarse surface of a canvass can create a spectrum based visible emotion. An actor, after being incarnated as a character, can communicate the same visual emotion in a different way.

Since the result of both ways of expression is the communication of a feeling that forces the artist to creation; there is always a possibility of similarities.

Another ancient, but comparatively modern, concept of theatricality could be found in the

time of Buddha (5th century BC) in the form of the enactment of ‘Jataka Stories’, which revolve

around Buddha’s life and personality I 47February 19 - 25, 2012

Ejaz Rahim is a widely acclaimed poet of English in Pakistan. Verily, he is a poetic prodigy with an inexhaustible creative verve. He has written on a variety of themes embracing nature, society, religion, ethics, mysticism, metaphysics, culture, anthropology, archaeology,

history, personalities, events, politics, human values, and modernity etc. It would be interesting for the reader to know that Ejaz Rahim had had a brilliant academic career virtually culminating into his induction into the civil services of Pakistan as a topper, back in the year 1969. He served as chief secretary in the then NWFP (now KPK) and after his retirement as a federal secretary, served as health minister in the federalcaretaker set-up. Currently he is associated with different institutions in the public, private and non-governmental sectors both as a professional and a volunteer. What distinguishes him among his peers and colleagues is his dedication to the Muse. Even in the midst of his multifarious but highly exacting official commitments,

he continued to compose verse in English that would seem to be an uncommon pursuit even for an educated young Pakistani who was taught and trained in the tradition of the West.

Poetry is essentially governed by different forms and conventions that lend or suggest ‘differential interpretation’ to words and evoke adequate emotive responses. Musical or incantatory effects are achieved in poetry through devices like assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm. Use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony, and other stylistic elements of poetic diction tends to multiply its interpretability. Likewise metaphor, simile and metonymy create a resonance between otherwise disparate images forming layers of meanings and connections not perceived previously.

With the advent of the last century, some literary theorists were led to identify the poet as one who creates poetry with language. They would not distinguish between the creation of a poem with words and creative acts in general. Many modernists regarded the very attempt to define poetry as misguided. They even rejected traditional

The quantity and quality of Ejaz Rahim’s work (15 verse collections in English) would seem to amply testify to his credentials as a poet

By Syed Afsar Sajid

‘Floating Landmarks’

Books

48 I February 19 - 25, 2012

forms and structures for poetry and instead questioned the purpose and meaning of its traditional defi nitions. However, post-modernism goes beyond the modernist emphasis on the creative role of the poet and emphasizes the role of the reader of a text also to highlight the complex cultural web within which a poem is crafted and read. Globalization has further facilitated poets to borrow styles, techniques and forms from a vast range of cosmopolitan cultures and languages. Viewed in this perspective, the quantity and quality of

Ejaz Rahim’s work (15 verse collections in English) would seem to amply testify to his credentials as a poet. This review covers four of his verse publications that broadly represent the various dimensions of his poetic art.

As an original talent, the poet in Ejaz Rahim seems to have a natural

sincerity, a belief in the function of poetry designed to enclose his feelings, knowledge, speculations, interests, hopes and fears within, as it were, the borders of a poem. He seems to be unmoved by the reaction of the aesthetic against the new scientifi c, industrial and largely materialistic world wherein it is uncannily assumed that a poet can mention a rose, but not a branded car, that ‘poetry is a refuge and not an attack, that a poet is a sensitive refugee and not a man facing life, the whole of it, and sounding a clarion call to his more speechless and

encumbered fellows’.Ejaz Rahim belongs to the

second generation of Pakistani poets composing verse in English after poets like Hasan Shaheed Suharwardy (elder brother of the renowned Pakistani statesman, the late Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy), Ahmed Ali, Zulfi kar Ghose, (Dr.) Itrat Husain Zuberi, Taufi q Rafat, Shahid Hosain, Daud Kamal, Maki Kureishi, Kaleem Omar and Alamgir Hashmi. His contemporaries, among others, include Waqas Ahmad Khwaja, Muhammad Athar Tahir, Hina Faisal Imam, Jocelyn Ortt-Saeed, Ikram Azam and Omer Tarin. In a medley of poetic voices, he diverts to the Muse with a marked singularity in his subject-matter and style.

Floating LandmarksIt is an anthology of some 48 short

poems on diverse themes bearing on nature, beauty, nostalgia, and introspection thus voiced: But in

the end/One learns/There is only one poem/And that is myself/Within me.

I, Buddha and Other PoemsAgain, a short collection comprising

only 28 poems with mystical undertones amplifi ed in Taxilas of Time: You lived for centuries/Under the earth’s roof/And having consummated/Your round of silence/Are up again/Erect and eloquent/Even though in stone./We who are ruin-deaf/Delude ourselves to think/We are listening/Across Taxilas of time.

Between the Kaaba and the Karakorams

This anthology carries as many as 96 poems mostly on devotional topics epitomized in these lines: Between the Kaaba/And the Karakorams/The

message does not change/Things that truly count/Are expressions of love/The resplendent Karakorams/Are a token of God’s radiance/Gifted to the world/But the walls of Kaaba refl ect/Man’s craving for the One Beloved.

Snapshots of an EarthquakeThe book contains 72 poems

centred on the theme of the October 2005 devastating earthquake that rocked Azad Kashmir – registerisng 7.6 on the moment magnitude scale (MMS) and 5.2. on the Richter scale (RS), similar to the earthquakes hitting San Francisco (1906), Quetta (1935) and the Indian state of Gujarat (2001). It was a mammoth tragedy entailing untold woe and misery. The poet is deeply appalled at the destruction wrought by the quake: A single earthquake/Has crushed so many hearts./Were a starquake and sunquake/To join forces with the earth’s ire/Will there be left/A single heart breathing/In this universe entire?

Apart from its physical implications, the earthquake has a symbolic signifi cance also. The poet has deftly analyzed this aspect of the event in his broodings: I think of the earthquake/And the frailties of power/in the same breath/For in my mind/The earthquake that’s outside/Is also within… A woman’s rape/At law-enforcing hands/Is more lethal than/Nature’s demolition/Of our tenements… Can there be/A greater earthquake/Than the dying up/Of love?

In these poems Ejaz Rahim looks at his poetic best. For, he is a poet fi rst and then any one else, may be a thinker or a conceptualist! ‘A poet, as a poet, is not one who deals in statements, arguments, proofs, teachings or persuasions; he shows or reveals. None the less the matter of thought may be his subject. Argument itself, when it is the best sort of argument, and not for the sake of winning, may produce a sort of fi re, an illumination from which truth emerges as a vision rather than an intellectual concept.’ The beauty of art often lies in the beauty of truth that it reveals for sometimes ‘A memory fl oating up from a dark water,/Can be more beautiful than the thing remembered.’

I 49February 19 - 25, 2012

50 I February 19 - 25, 2012