Category: Kabir

Belated Holi 2026 Thread

Kabir · March 8, 2026 · 4 comments

Since what seems like World War 3 broke out a week ago,  the fact that Holi was this past Wednesday (March 4) completely slipped my mind.  I’m surprised that no one else on BP mentioned it either.

I just want to briefly share this recording of Gauhar Jaan singing “Mere Huzraat ne Madeene mein manayi Holi” (My Prophet played Holi in Medina).  This is an example of the syncretic culture of Hindustani music.  A Muslim artist (born Armenian Christian) singing a composition that references the Prophet of God celebrating a Hindu festival.  This is the syncretic culture that has sadly been lost on both sides of the Radcliffe Line.

There is an excellent book on Gauhar Jaan titled My Name is Gauhar Jaan! (2010) by Vikram Sampath.

After the jump, there is another beautiful composition sung by Venkatesh Kumar. This is a thumri in Raga Mishra Kafi entitled “Aaj Khelo Shyam Sang Hori” (Let’s Play  Holi with Shayam (Krishna) today” Continue reading Belated Holi 2026 Thread

On “Civilization States” vs. Nation-States

Kabir · March 7, 2026 · 2 comments

This is a rebuttal to X.T.M’s recent post on  “civilization states” .  The longer essay can be read here 

In this context, Shashi Tharoor’s essay “Civilization States Are Profoundly Illiberal” is well-worth reading in full.  Tharoor is a centrist Indian and can be said to articulate the Congress Party’s position on this topic. 

Civilizational State vs. Nation-State

Google defines “Civilizational state” as one that “defines itself and its identity based on a unique and encompassing civilization, rather than solely on shared ethnicity, language or governance”. Google goes on to note that “ the differing worldviews and values associated with civilizational states could potentially lead to tensions and conflicts with other nations or blocs”. In India’s case, defining itself as a “civilizational state” certainly leads to tensions with Pakistan (and perhaps to a growing extent with Bangladesh).

I believe that this “civilizational state” conception is a belief of the Hindu Right. I agree with the Indian left that the Republic of India is a nation-state that was created on August 15, 1947–exactly at the same moment that Pakistan was created. British India was not a nation-state but a colony. Upon decolonization, parts of the colony went their own way. Continue reading On “Civilization States” vs. Nation-States

Belief, borders and bombs: What long-term instability in Iran means for Pakistan

Kabir · March 4, 2026 · 4 comments

An important article in DAWN by Zia ur Rehman:

Zia ur Rehman is “a journalist and researcher, who writes for The New York Times and Nikkei Asia, among other publications. He also assesses democratic and conflict development in Pakistan for various policy institutes”

Some excerpts:

Islamabad and Tehran share a 900-kilometre border that has long been vulnerable to militant activity, smuggling networks, and sectarian spillover. Pakistan is also home to an estimated 15 to 20 per cent Shia population, one of the largest outside Iran. Many in this community look to Tehran’s clergy and leadership for religious guidance and, at times, political support.

Experts and Pakistani security officials warn that instability in Iran could increase cross-border movement by armed groups and inflame sectarian tensions within Pakistan’s already polarised society.

Continue reading Belief, borders and bombs: What long-term instability in Iran means for Pakistan

Operation “Righteous Fury”: Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan

Kabir · February 27, 2026 · 16 comments

Pakistan struck Afghanistan early Friday morning in response to Afghan attacks Thursday night on various locations in KPK.

According to Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, the Taliban have become “a proxy for India”.  Asif said: “Our patience has run out. Now there is an open war”.

Those criticizing this operation should recognize that this is exactly the playbook India used in “Operation Sindoor”.  War is obviously not a good outcome for anyone but national security trumps everything.  There had been a Qatar and Turkey mediated ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan but the Taliban have clearly not clamped down on TTP.

There seems to have been a “rally around the flag” effect with even the PTI making social media posts in support of Pakistan’s armed forces.

DAWN’s live blog is here 

 

 

 

 

Kabir Oral Traditions in the Indian Subcontinent

Kabir · February 26, 2026 · No comments

In the context of recent discussions on Indian and Pakistani music, I am cross posting this essay on Kabir Oral Traditions.  It is important to remember that–despite the political tensions between India and Pakistan– there is a common culture that unites people.  After all, culture does not end at the borders of nation-states.   This essay was originally submitted as part of the coursework for my M.Mus degree in Ethnomusicology from SOAS University of London. 

Bhagat Kabir (c. 1440-c. 1518) is considered one of the major poet-saints of the Bhakti movement—a social reform movement arising in North India around the fifteenth century. Characterized by an emphasis on the individual believer and a disregard for caste and gender taboos, the movement often rejected Vedic rituals and focused on the individual’s loving relationship with a personally defined god. This emphasis on love has clear parallels with Sufism, often seen as the mystical branch of Islam. It also later influenced Sikhism.

In contrast to other Bhakti poets such as Surdas and Meerabai—whose works can be placed squarely within the Hindu fold, often addressed to particular gods such as Krishna—Kabir’s poetry cannot be so neatly demarcated. He questioned the rituals of both Islam and Hinduism and was devoted to a nirgun (formless) deity, often addressed as “Ram”. According to Professor Harbans Mukhia: “In place of Allah and Ishwar he conceptualized a single universal God; in place of denominational religions he conceptualized a universal religiosity” (Mukhia 2018). This distance from the orthodoxy of both traditions perhaps explains why Kabir is revered by Hindus and Muslims across the Indian subcontinent. Some of his poetry is even included in the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s holiest scripture. In an era in which South Asia has experienced increasing polarization along sectarian lines, it is instructive to more closely examine this unique figure who served as a bridge between communities. Continue reading Kabir Oral Traditions in the Indian Subcontinent

Review: Hindoo Holiday by J.R. Ackerley

Kabir · February 23, 2026 · 4 comments

I am cross posting this review here because Hindoo Holiday is a fascinating work of literature describing one man’s experience in a princely state during late colonial rule.  Ackerley is a well-regarded British author. 

J.R. Ackerley’s Hindoo Holiday–originally published in 1932–tells the story of the five months (December 1923-May 1924) he spent as secretary to Maharaja Vishwanath Singh of Chhaturpur (called “Chhokrapur” in the book). In his “Explanation”, Ackerley describes the Maharaja’s motivations for hiring a private secretary from England. He writes:

He wanted someone to love him–His Highness, I mean; that was his real need, I think. He alleged other reasons, of course–an English private secretary, a tutor for his son; for he wasn’t really a bit like the Roman Emperors, and had to make excuses.

As a matter of fact, he had a private secretary already, though an Indian one, and his son was only two years old; but no doubt he felt that the British Raj, in the person of the Political Agent who kept an eye on the State expenditure and other things, would prefer a label–any of the tidy buff labels that the official mind is trained to recognize and understand–to being told ‘I want someone to love me.’ But that, I believe, was his real reason nevertheless.

Continue reading Review: Hindoo Holiday by J.R. Ackerley

Thumri and Social Change

Kabir · February 22, 2026 · 1 comment

Since there has been some discussion about “Indian” and “Pakistani” music recently– and in the spirit of being “high signal”– I am cross posting this essay I wrote about thumri and social change. The essay was originally submitted as part of my M.Mus coursework at SOAS, University of London. 

Thumri is a semi-classical genre of Hindustani vocal music, associated primarily with the emotional expression of romantic longing. It is said to have originated in the 18th century from a mixture of folk and art music. The genre reached its height in the 19th century at the court of Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Avadh, who was an enthusiastic patron and even composed several thumris.

Since the 19th century, thumri repertoire and performance style have undergone several changes. These include the de-linking of the genre from the courtesan tradition, the separation of music and dance, and a re-interpretation of lyrics in a devotional, rather than erotic, framework. These changes were linked to the impact of British colonialism, particularly social reform movements such as the Anti-Nautch Campaign. In addition, the shift in patronage from royal courts to concert halls led to the emergence of non-hereditary female performers. In order for performing thumri to be considered acceptable for “respectable” women and to avoid offending the new middle-class audience, the genre was de-eroticized and reinterpreted in a spiritual fashion. This often entailed the sanitization of lyrics. Continue reading Thumri and Social Change

Dhaka-Delhi Eye Reset, AI Summit Chaos,|The Wire Wrap

Kabir · February 21, 2026 · No comments

Eighteen months after the youth uprising that resulted in former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s fleeing to India, Bangladesh has a new government headed by the BNP’s Tarique Rahman who is looking to reset ties with India. A US court has accepted the guilty plea of Nikhil Gupta, the Indian charged in the trans national plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. AI Summit in Delhi made headlines for chaos, mismanagement and Chinese robot being passed off as India. Impact of the Epstein Files meanwhile has reached the British monarchy with former Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles III arrested. The Wire’s Sravasti Dasgupta is joined by Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor, The Wire and Sreeradha Datta, professor, international affairs at the O.P. Jindal Global University.

*XTM edit what does India have to do with the Epstein files? Hence why I edited the subject. Also I don’t know what this post adds per se?

Review: The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie

Kabir · February 20, 2026 · 2 comments

Salman Rushdie is one of the world’s most prominent English language writers and certainly among the most famous writers of Indian origin. His second novel, Midnight’s Children won the 1981 Booker Prize as well as the “Best of the Bookers”. Other well-known novels include Shame–one of the great novels about Pakistan– and The Satanic Verses.

The Eleventh Hour is a collection of five stories, two of which were previously published in The New Yorker. For the purposes of this review, I will focus on “The Musician of Kahani” and “Late”.

“The Musician of Kahani” is set in the fictional city of Kahani (Urdu/Hindi for “story”) though the setting is clearly modeled on Bombay–where Rushdie was born and brought up. The story revolves around Chandni Contractor (the titular musician) who marries into a prominent business family. After she suffers a stillbirth while her in-laws are throwing party after party celebrating the arrival of the baby, Chandni decides to take revenge on them through her music. Rushdie describes the scene as follows:

The day came when Chandni’s fingers began to move once more in their particular fashion. She was back in her own room in her family’s residence in Breach Candy. She had not thought, since her return, of sitting at her piano or picking up her sitar–both of which had been quietly returned to her–but this time when her fingers moved Meena was in no doubt that she heard music. First Meena heard it, then Raheem. It was music of a kind they had never heard before, and the instruments on which it was being played were unknown to them, It rose above their home like a pillar of smoke, like a column of fire, like the weapon of an invading alien species, and then it rushed across the city and the country to do its deadly work… (Rushdie 96)

As a musician myself, I was particularly intrigued by the supernatural power of music in this story. Continue reading Review: The Eleventh Hour by Salman Rushdie

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