By Durkhanai From the soulful melodies of the rubab to the somewhat electric rhythm of sitar to the throatal singing of nur sur, music is a part of the culture, deep in the blood of those who are South Asian. Each separate style of music is tied to a language, to a religion, to an…
Category: South Asia
Pakistan’s Untouchables: A Brief Overview of Caste in Pakistan
By Durkhanai This article serves as a very brief academic overview and summary of the narrative presented in “A Spiraling Staircase.” Like every country, there is clear distinction between rich and poor in Pakistan. These socioeconomic differences manifest in many different ways in Pakistan; the largest influencer of low socioeconomic status however, is definitely the…
A Spiraling Staircase: a narrative regarding caste in Pakistan
By Zainab Bhatti The ride to Sialkot, as a kid, appeared to be an endless journey. Cows littered the flat lands, peacefully grazing. Arduous workers bent over square rice fields. Herders shuffled their cattle along the edge of the path. Vibrant trucks decorated with art trekked by slowly, cars often speeding up to overtake them….
Dastan e Gul: Lale
By Durkhanai This is the story of a Turkmen refugee who fled from Afghanistan to Pakistan’s Balochistan province during the 80s, in the peak of the Cold War. Balochistan houses many refugees from Afghanistan, who came in waves during the Afghanistan’s Civil War, and to the present day. Turkmen people are from Turkmenistan, which is…
Kashmir: Theatre of Unspeakable Violence
By Syed Rabia Bukhari Kashmir is the real theatre of unspeakable violence and moral corrosion that can spin us into violence and nuclear war at any moment. To prevent that from happening, the conflict in Kashmir has to be addressed and resolved. That can only be done if Kashmiris are given a chance to freely…
Linguistic Diversity in Pakistan
By Durkhanai Growing up, Urdu reverberated throughout my household. Its melodic tones passed through my ears as I struggled to get the accent correct. I grew up not knowing that my parents actually communicated in two languages – Urdu and Punjabi. I always thought Punjabi was “slang” Urdu. This discourse was one that was not…
A Tale from the Indus
By Durkhanai This is a tale of love and sorrow, hopefulness and melancholy, longevity and misery. There once lived a girl as beautiful as the glowing moon. Her skin rang hues of sweet brown, mimicking the earthiness that flowed through her blood. She lived in a valley high up, beyond what you can imagine, cradled…
I am from a land
By Durkhanai I am from the land of five waters. Five waters run in my veins, course through my blood. Where rice fields and Chitrali topis coexist, where melodic voices and metaphorical phrases flow through the tongue, where garments are long and loose and colorful. I am from a land of voices multiple. From a…
