Workshop on the Power of Consensus

SOIS (Society of Iqbal Studies) presents

The Power of Consensus

How are our personal opinions related to opinions of the society, and do we lose or win by respecting this connection? What are the types of consensus and how do we recognize them? Why do we need to recognize them? Are there existing sources of moral power which we have failed to utilize? How can we empower ourselves with the least effort?

These are some of the core issues of Iqbal Studies that will be addressed in a two-hour session conducted by Khurram Ali Shafique, Research Consultant, Iqbal Academy Pakistan.

Saturday, July 31, 2010

4 pm to 6 pm

I2L Academy, 201-O, Block 2 (Opposite Ghausia Mosque), P.E.C.H.Society, Karachi.

Contact: Dr. Irfan Haider, hyder@pafkiet.edu.pk

For Directions: Mr. Waqar, 0346 321 6009

Driving on Tariq Road, if you are going from the liberty signal towards Allah Walla Chowk, take third left, and then take fourth right. Masjid Ghausia would be on your left (if you don’t see the Masjid, you are lost; ask for it). I2L Academy (201/O) is right in front of the shops in the Mosque adjacent to International School.
From Allah Walla Chowk if you are on Shahrahe Quaideen, going towards nursery, take left on the road just after McDonalds. Then, take fifth right. On your left would be Imperial Court (Chinese Restaurant). Go down and then take 3rd right. Masjid Ghausia and its shops would be on your left. (if you don’t see the Masjid, you are lost; ask for it). I2L Academy (201/O) is right in front of the shops in the Mosque adjacent to International school.

Reading Habits in Pakistan

Let’s daydream about the culture of reading in Pakistan: When I walk out of my house, I find a small library in every few lanes. People are so eager to read that they pay for borrowing books. These libraries lend books on daily rental fees.

Due to these trends, even general stores have started keeping books: the cold corner in my neighborhood makes more money selling books than it does on ice cream. The topics of books on these counters range from fiction and poetry to general history.

If this is just about shops which are not even book stores then you can imagine what proper book stores are like. There are at least three or four big ones (and a few book rentals) in every major market of the country.

Films and popular television serials spawn several unofficial tie-in books published by amateurs. These books also sell well, so nobody can say that the popularity of film or television is cutting down on people’s reading habits.

Publishers are growing like mushrooms, and there are more of them in low-income areas. In any such vicinity, you would easily find ten to thirty people who have published at least one small book in their lives.

Children read books because everybody is talking about them: if they don’t catch up on the latest fiction published for children in Urdu then they would have little to discuss with friends at school, most of whom are found comparing their favorite authors with others’.

Before you read the next paragraph, take a few moments and ask yourself: Would you like to see it happen? Would you like to be part of any effort to make it happen? How much time and resources would you be willing to spare, personally, if a serious effort was made to this end? But do you that this is possible in Pakistan any time in the future? Pause here and answer these questions before you read the next paragraph.

Now consider the irony. This is not a fantasy about the future of Pakistan but about its past. This is what our society used to be in the 1960s, 1970s and the early 1980s. Remember?

• Why do you think this has changed? What went wrong?

Picture at top right shows the fiction-writer Ibne Safi (right) at Aziz Library, Nazimabad, in 1963. The thirtieth death anniversary of Ibne Safi passed yesterday, July 26, 2010.

Book Launch: Rashid Minhas

Man wants to know the truth, the truth about himself, about the world, about everything. This is what they call the eternal quest for truth (Rashid Minhas, 29 October, 1969, Risalpur).

Educational Resource Development Centre (ERDC)

and

PAF KIET

cordially invite you to the book launch of

Rashid Minhas (Urdu)

the first full-length biography of Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed, N.H.
by Khurram Ali Shafique

6:00 pm - Friday, July 23, 2010

At PAF Kiet (City Campus), 28-D, Block 6, P.E.C.H. Society, Shahrah-i-Faisal, Karachi
Kindly confirm ERDC for participation
at (021)36723454, 36051229
or info@erdconline.org

Ishara: the wind-up

Ishara (1969) winds up within three minutes after the last song. Here is the clip, and you may like to consider the following question while you watch it:

• How is the ending similar to and different from the opening sequence?

Please post your answeres as "comments" below. The clip is 4 minutes long and I have sub-titled it. Apart from Amir (Waheed Murad), Aliya (Deeba) and Bezar Sahib (Lehri), whom you know from previous clips, you will also meet here Ishrat (Talat Husain), who is the boy Aliya's guardian wants her to marry, and Reshma (Rozina), who is a sponsor of Amir's paintings who has fallen in love with Amir but Amir cannot love her back because his thoughts are with Aliya.

The last song

In the movie Ishara (1969), Amir (Waheed Murad) meets his soulmate Aliya (Deeba) but they must part when Aliya's guardian decides to marry her elsewhere. Amir paints a picture of the gate that has been closed on him thus, and on his own painting takes him elsewhere.

The fantasy song takes a step deeper into the artist's imagination. We entered his mind when the film started and now we are visiting his soul. The film turns from black and white to color, and we see archetypes of South Asian cinema rearranged to depict the spiritual realm. Consider this question as you watch the video:

• In what ways the world presented here is similar to and different from the first song ('Aaj achanak')

The video is not sub-titled, so a basic translation of the song is being given here (chroeographers mime most of these lines anyway).

[Prelude]
My Love, do not be sad, life is the Tale of Suffering;
I am here, you are there, and the ruthless Time is in between.

[Intro]
We meet for the last time, so why not meet smilingly:
Put out all lamps of grief while we meet.

[Stanza 1]
Hide the tears in your eyes,
For God's sake do not burn you heart like this;
Today is a test on integrity,
Let's look into the eyes of Time as we meet it.

[Stanza 2]
Let's look at you to our heart's content today,
Since we must become estranged tomorrow.
Do not leave us yet,
Let's hide every suffering today while we meet.