Solitude: a writer’s muse

originally published in the Hindu Literary Review Illustration: Satwik Gade If you want to write, being alone with yourself is a must. Mirza Ghalib wrote: aate hain ghaib se yeh mazameen khyal mein Ghalib sareer khama nawaa-e-sarosh hai. (Inspiration descends from the unseen dimension Ghalib merely scribbles what the angels dictate.) Ghalib believed his verses …

A Pakhtun Wedding

Published : Saturday, 11 March, 2017, in Daily Observer, Dhaka, Bangladesh link to published article "Out beyond the ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." -Rumi A few years ago, I was invited to a wedding in a remote Pakhtun Khwa village in northern Pakistan. The bride and I …

Ours is not a caravan of despair

When I was writing my travelogue, 'Alternative Realities', I had wished I could one day visit Rumi's resting place. I'm leaving for Konya, Turkey, to visit Jalaluddin Rumi's (1207-1273) shrine. When I was writing my travelogue, 'Alternative Realities', I had wished I could one day visit Rumi's resting place. Why must you go? My mother …