meethapani

  “Uncertain times” is a refrain that fills UNDP reports, discussions by climatologists, economists, political scientists and filters down to individuals anxious about the future of their children.   It is seen as a sign of our times – an anomaly of our making, of our neglect, suggesting urgent attention will redress and restore all to an even keel.    However, increasingly scientists propose that uncertainty is a fundamental feature of the universe. American mathematician John Allen Paulos concluded “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is", echoing the 1 st century Roman thinker, Pliny the Elder’s statement, "The only certainty is that nothing is certain." Seeking certainty is a modern construct whose roots can be traced to the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment.   It separated state and religion, promoted reason and scientific inquiry over ‘blind faith’. The truth was what could be experienced by the five senses, be scientifically examined and...

  Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, told Jawahar Lal Nehru that Pakistan was not economically viable and would come begging to rejoin India within six months. "Administratively it was the difference between putting up a permanent building, a Nissen hut or a tent. As far as Pakistan is concerned we are putting a tent.” There is a compelling logic to that conclusion. Pakistan was not an existing political entity, but a conceptually new country, an idea, two territories on either side of a hostile country, with extraordinary cultural diversity. It had a handful of industrial units, no military equipment, and no government structure. From a security perspective, as the British Commander in Chief, Claude Auchinleck noted, Pakistan lacked strategic depth, with no natural barriers with India. A skill vacuum was created by the exodus of Hindu and Sikh professionals after the partition. The coffers were empty. India did not release its portion of funds until Gandhi went on...

  “If architecture is how we move through space, furniture is how we pause inside it”. Furniture can be viewed as a cultural narrative – a mirror of personal identities, social interaction and the diverse societies and strata within them. The layout of interiors determines how we walk, gather and transition through a space. Furniture is said to be where architecture meets the body. Furniture can hold memories: a parent’s or grandparent’s favourite chair, an heirloom, a childhood memory. Rooms are spaces to welcome others and create new stories. The way furniture is arranged, and how comfortable it is, can determines how people interact. Japanese minimalist interiors are intentionally designed as quiet sanctuaries that reduce sensory noise reflecting the Samurai code and controlled elegance.   The Arab majlis rooms and the more elaborate Persian diwans traditionally feature wall-aligned floor or low seating around an open centre. Hand-woven carpets and cushions create a...

  In Search of Family There has been a surge in the number of people searching for their family ancestry, enabled by access to digitized records, DNA testing and genome mapping. While ancestry platforms are currently focused on Western societies, where migration data, birth and death registers have been maintained for centuries, other societies have long established written or oral traditions to honour family ancestry. Why does family history matter to so many?   A Canadian university asked the question ‘Why do we derive satisfaction from knowing who our ancestors were?’   The responses mostly focused on a search for identity and being part of larger histories. ‘We can find things down to the nano level, but we can't find ourselves today’. Some just want to make connections with someone famous, others want to recognise the sacrifices and struggles of ancestors.   Heritage tourism is a new phenomenon with visits to towns and villages of ancestors. The present 79...

  Peace treaties almost always fail or are short-lived, despite the hype surrounding them. There have been numerous efforts to redirect humanity towards peace. One of the earliest and most influential was philosopher Immanuel Kant's 1795 essay Perpetual Peace, which later influenced the League of Nations (1920) and the United Nations (1945). It included in its recommendations a coalition of independent nations and the gradual dismantling of standing armies. Instead we see a 41 percent rise in global military expenditure over the past decade, reaching a record US$2.9 trillion according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Ukraine tops the world, spending 40% of its GDP on military expenditure. Increasingly destructive weapons continue to be invented, along with the less visible funding of propaganda and espionage. The United States remains the world's largest arms exporter by a wide margin, accounting for roughly 42 percent of all global arms exports. T...

  The audience goes into raptures as Amir Khusro’s Chaap Tilak Sab Cheen Li fills the air. The qawwal Fareed Ayaz sings with great tenderness:   “My fair, delicate wrists with green bangles on them, You have held my wrists tightly with just a glance.” The audience, and the all-male qawwals find nothing strange about a man singing personified as a woman. The Sufi path to pure love and devotion to God is often symbolised as a woman yearning for the Beloved.   The feminine voice represents the journey from worldly or majazi love to Divine or haqiqi love expressed as yearning and surrender to God. Gender fluidity is a recurring theme in Pakistani cultural traditions. Few notice that the scriptwriters and song writers of early blockbuster Pakistani cinema were men, who seemed to understand the emotions, and desires of women.   A ghazal written by a male poet sounds equally natural if sung by a man or a woman. The power of the poem lies in its emotional authenticity ...