Music

I'm addicted to music. I listen to music all the time, literally. At work, my headphones are regularly plugged into my ears, I listen to the radio in the car and as I type right now, I am also listening. I find it soothing and it helps me focus. My taste in music varies according to mood, I confess I'm one of those people who can listen to the same song over and over again for hours (my roommate freshmen year will attest to that). Its so odd, I find when I reread/redo certain things, they have an accompanying soundtrack!

But what my blog today really ponders on is the quality that lyrics have and how they are a comment on us and on society.

I'm listening to a song which praises India. It is a typical patriotic tune, by this I mean the music has a soaring quality, makes you energised etc etc...I hope you get my drift. The lyrics are, however, what really get me. A professor of mine once talked about how Indians are patriotic to the idea of India, in the sense that they are not bound to the country because the leadership inspires loyalty but the idea that India represents (in a manner similar to Americans and the ideals of liberty, justice, etc.). This song is a perfect example of this quality. The first few lyrics read:

"Tere jaisa koi bhi nahin hai...mai gaya jahan bhi, bus teri yaad ki...sab se pyaari teri surat, pyaar hai bus tera, pyaar hi, ma tujhe salaam, ma tujhe salaam, amma tujhe salaam..."
[I apologise for the translation]: "there is no one comparable to you...wherever I sang, I always had you in my mind/memories...yours is the most beautiful countenance, I have love for only you, for you, mother greetings/peace to you, mother greetings/peace to you, Ma greetings/peace to you..."

Music is an integral part of society and it similar to art (!) reflects on the state of society in a way that is unique and very telling. Think of songs such as "God Bless America" I have to admit that patriotic songs and such like make for the most interesting study for me personally. For instance, the national anthem [we can safely say that national anthems are perhaps the most revealing about the image a country wishes to project] of Pakistan is in Farsi [Persian]? Explain that to me? What does that say about a nation that has never really identified with her Persian heritage? One that has carefully simulated an Arab/"Islamic" persona and a non-Indian one? Is it a throwback to the days when Persian was the court language before Urdu and Hindi? So many questions, rarely are there any answers on my part...and I apologize but this blog is a space for me to ponder my thoughts "out loud"

In truth, we have a sleuth of national songs, some of which aren't strictly patriotic [in the sense that they laud the country specifically] but have been ingrained into our minds as "Pakistani" songs. Perhaps the most well known and most beautiful songs is Iqbal's poem 'Lab pe Aati hai' [And here I really apologise to Dr. Iqbal for my butshering of his lyrics in translation]:

"Lab pe aati hai dua ban ke tamanna meri
[My desires come to my lips as prayers]

Zindagi shamma ki surat ho Khudaya meri
[that my life may be as a shining/guiding light, O God]

Door duniya ka mere dam se andhera ho jaiye
[that my life may keep darkness away from this world]

Har jaga mere chamakne sai ujala ho jaiye
[May my brightness light up all dark corners]

Ho mere dum se yohe mere watan ki zeenat
[May my actions bring my country admiration]

Jistara phool se hoti hai chaman ki zeenat
[As a flower brings magnificence to a garden]

Zindagi ho meri parwaane ki soorat ya rab
[that my life may be like that of a moth that loves light and flies into it, O God]

Ilm ki shama se ho mujko mohabat ya rab
[that I may love the light of knowledge, O God]

Ho mera kaam ghareebon ki himayat karna
[that my work may be the care of the poor]

Dardmandon se, Zaeefon se muhabbat karna
[and the care of the weak and elderly]

Mere Allah! Buraee se bachana mujhko
[O god!, save me from my sins]

Naik jo raah ho us rah pe chalana mujhko."
[And help me stay on the right path]

This poem was written prior to the formation of Pakistan and quite frankly is meant to be a song about children who are the hope of the future and not just of Pakistan but for any place any where. Its a beautiful sentiment nonetheless.

As I think of more Pakistani songs that are patriotic, they make me think of the similar ideals that are espoused by the Indian song I quoted earlier:
"sohni dharti, Allah rakhe, qadm qadm abaad tujhe, tere har aik zara hum ko apni jaan se pyaari, tere dum se shaan hamaari, tjuh se naam humara, jub tuk he yeh duniya baqi, hum dekhe azad"
["O wonderful land, may God keep you vibrant at every footstep, every part of you is dear to us, our magnificence comes from you, you make our name, till the end of this world, we will be free"]

Despite Pakistan's [or more strictly the government's] somewhat desperate desire to be 'other' than India, it can be said that we haven't really succeeded, not just in trivialities like music but our general culture and the many remnants of it that have little to do with Islam but everything to do with the Subcontinent and it keeps popping out, whether we are refering to traditional superstitions (e.g. women wearing kaali poth) or whether we are referring to the celebration of spring (basant).

National identity is not formed according to new propoganda alone, it is an ever continuous process and one that cannot be deleted and changed easily. Think of Pakistan as a 59 year case study in the futility of such plans.