Cousin Zarak came to visit us this weekend. I had not seen him in ages, and the weekend went by too quickly. On his last night we decided to stay up so he could get to the airport on time. As the night progressed we shared many old stories and had fun remembering old times until he blurted out, “Gul, I am so glad you turned out such a sweet person, you used to be so awful.”
I demanded he explain himself.
He uncomfortably said’” I mean you were a bully. We would shudder when you came out to play.”
I asked him to explain what I had done that had been so terrible.
He very carefully said, “You may not remember this, but would terrorize us by yanking our hair, kicking, biting, pinching, and hitting.”
Posted in by webmaster on Thu, 2008-04-24 08:29
Courtesy of Matt and Rowenna
Courtesy of Matt and Rowenna
Courtesy of Matt and Rowenna
Posted in by Shaukat Ali Khan on Mon, 2008-07-14 11:59
Great lyrics! I wonder about the poet being Ali Khan or Ahmad Ali Khan (Ahmad Shah Abdali, the Greatest Chieftain Of Asia).
And if the poet being Ali Khan so, I could not find much details about him except below (See biography note appended by Feroz Khan Afridi). Please email more details to: abasins@gmail.com . I have heard about this folklore from a favorite social studies teacher in school in 1976-77, initially. Youtube has the song and the link is below :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbYMZUz5nvY
Lyrics in Pukhtu:
Aey da zra Sultana, ta da zra Sultan da chA ye?
Sta ranzoran deir di, wayA ta darmAn da chA ye?
Posted in by Khana Bibi on Fri, 2008-04-11 12:38
Following the Swat river from Barikot to Udegram, it hard to miss the stupa at Shingardar. Once in deplorable ruin, this 18 meter tall stupa has been restored to its impressive stateliness.
With 8 meter deep foundations one can only imagine the weight of the stone work. To get a better impression of the size of the stupa we had a young boy stand in front of it.
It is interesting to note Greek pilasters, which are the rectangular columns with a capital and base, projecting only slightly from the wall as an ornamental motif in the brick work.
Posted in by Abisufyan on Mon, 2007-10-15 18:43
A surmise proliferated by many Muslim vocal clergy is the misconception and belief that they alone as a community have the exclusive right to rule. What is the logic of this fallacy? Is it simply because they assume they are better Muslims than the others? Tragically when it occurred in Afghanistan their unwise rulings ruined the whole region.
To understand this mystery and myth, it is necessary to scan and dissect this species, the mullah, through history. Usually the most vocal species of our society; generally a crude, rude, alienated, customary & quasi literate person, lacking knowledge - wrapping his head with some sort of head cover, wearing loose trousers, disorderly over the ankles and is supposed to perform some routine types of religious rituals, mostly by default, is known as a Mullah.
Posted in by Lyla on Thu, 2007-07-12 17:30
For millennia the beautiful soul searing melodies of Pashto folk music has entertained many generations. These days these centuries old tunes have have been given a new twist with electronic instruments playing alongside the traditional ones. We have been treated to new versions of folk tunes (which are actually now pop music in their own right) which have been set to a faster beat even though the music has been kept as close as possible to the original scores.
It is quite refreshing to watch old songs with a modern touch, as many contemporary youngsters are using media as a site for initiating cultural and political action too. Though some may argue that the latest wave of pop culture is helping diminish the authentic classical music, but still one can not ignore the fact that different time periods have always brought a change. When have parents not thought that their time was better and more modest and the music of their days was the best. Even I am guilty, today when I sit with my kids, I repeat the same lectures (of my mother), which once I found quite boring. (Lol!) This article investigates how women are negotiated in media by male and female directors.
Posted in by Elum on Fri, 2007-06-29 21:04
this article has been posted with the kind permission of Khurshaid Khan of www.valleyswat.net
Unexpected technological changes that have crept into the Pukhtun Society of Swat are putting psychological stress on both males and the females alike. The stress is more profound in the female section of the Society, an allusion to the traditional life in Swat in part testifies to it.
The capability of women to contribute to the sustainable development of the region has been hampered due to external and internal factors. The difficulty in being able to have access to an education facility, and their seclusion from the outside world are two major contributing factors. Furthermore, house hold responsibilities have increased and expanded, and social change has resulted in added stress.