(Please scroll down to see the posting about the program and other updated)
Thanks
for the inquiries and clarifications about pluralism theme – let me sum up my
work of 20 years, “If we can learn to respect the otherness of others, and
accept the genetic uniqueness of each one of the 7 billion of us, then conflicts
fade and solutions emerge.” Pluralism is simply an attitude.
Some
samples of poetry thus far;
I
would encourage you to write on different issues where our attitudes determine the pluralistic attitudes of acceptance of the other. Pluralism is not limited to
religion, it is applicable in social, cultural, food, clothing, and linguistic, nationalistic, and ethnic aspects of life. Let’s face them with an
attitude of an acceptable solution without aggravating the situation, and instead of
keeping inside and poisoning the blood, lets discuss them in poetry format.
- Naheed
Shad’s poetry is going to be focusing on samajik issues, and I am pleased to
hear that. It would be a breath of fresh air.
- Ravi
Kumar has included "bhook" in his poem ( this would be a good format – roman
English and Hindi/Urdu- to benefit all readers – we request the
poets to write the roman english in their own words, as others may mess it up).
saaraa
aalam hee rotaa ho, jab bhookha koi sotaa ho
सारा
आलम
ही
रोता
हो,
जब
भूखा
कोई
सोता
हो
- Taj Hashmi wrote on universality of righteousness
Sab ke
chhatoN par aur kehtoN meiN pani barsata hai
Khuda Woh to yeh nahiN poochhta,
“Tu ne mujhey aaj yaad kiya hai ya nahiN”?
When He showers rain, it happens on every rooftop, no garden is out of
its way
God never asks the silly question: “Did you remember me
today?”
Pandito, Rahibo, Mullao meri baat suno
Ibne Adam
hain sabhi, Farq jatate kion ho
(It’s a good
take on Vasudhaiva Kutumbukum – the whole world is one family, what does it
matter to prove the differences?)
- Saeed Qureshi concludes his poem
Mazhabi azadiyaan, ilm o masawat o amal
so taraqqi yafta qoumon ka a
ayeen hai.
( freedom of religion, equality are the hallmarks of progressive
societies)
15 More poems on their way!
CULTURAL
PLURALISM
Some of us may have
bias towards skirts, sarees, shalwar kameez, dhoti, Arab gear, pagdi, hat, topi,
Hijab, pallu….does the bias contribute towards a well functioning society?
Applying pluralism means – accepting each custom as unique, but not inferior or
superior. You wear and feel good about your skirt, and I feel good about my Saree. Humility builds bridges and arrogance destroys the
relationships.
FOOD PLURALISM
If you like Gulab Jamun and I like Ras Gulla –
would we listen to a dietician, nutritionist, doctor, scientist, food
connoisseur or any one - if they say Gulab Jamun is
better than Ras Gulla? You probably would say – Chal, hut, bhaag yahaan say!
LINGUISTIC
PLURALISM
Back in Bangalore in the late 60’s – people have killed each
other on the silliest of things – it is the size of the cut out pictures of Dr. Raj Kumar, Kannada film actor
and M.G. Ramachandran, his counterpart in Tamil films. The fans were vying with each other to build the taller cut out for their idol - they went from 25 feet and all the way upto to 60
feet tall, rioting was common – all they had to learn was Raj Kumar means
everything to the Kanndigas and MGR means everything to the Tamilians, so
what?
PLURALISM
IN BEAUTY
Because
I am a guy, I am sharing my perspective – in college days we argued
vehemently over who is more beautiful; Hema Malini, Waheeda Rahman or Rekha. We kept forgetting that beauty is in the eyes of the
beholder, and we would have saved the anger and a mukka - two of them become bitter towards each other, they were trying to force each other to believe either Hema or Waheeda was more beautiful. I said, so what you cannot even get an audience with them - Those guys envy me, I had the luxury of sitting and talking with both the most beautiful women of India, and I was in hog heaven!
PLURALISM WITH SPOUSE
Please note, I will not use the language pluralism with wife –
spouse means either wife or husband and in no particular order, as neither is
above the other. Does it bother you that your spouse wears a dark green suit
(male or female)? Is that a source of conflict every time you go out? Why do we have to push the other to wear what we want, and wear what is not comfortable to them... let them wear and be happy. A happy companion is better than the grouchy one waiting to get even.
Pluralism
is simply an attitude – necessary to keep the conflicts in every aspect of life to a low level.
PLURALISM
IN HINDI AND URDU
I
attended the meeting at Urdu Ghar tonight, and I just could not believe the environment of
pluralism there… I am a life member of
the International Hindi Association, a great secular organization, and I was
looking for a similar secular and a pluralistic organization in Urdu – eureka, I
found it. I will write more about
it.
We
were working on finding a word in Urdu for pluralism - many words were considered, but most of them
agreed on the word “Bahimiyat” proposed by Dr. Amer Suleman, and now its his
turn to explain Bahimiyat in a quartet or a full Nazm as an introduction in the
program – like wise, the word Anekant vaad does not fully represent the breadth
of the word Pluralism, and Anand has floated Anekta may ekta… we need another
word to fully describe pluralism, and I
ask Anand Punjabi to write a quartet as an introduction or we ask Nishi, Sushila jee, Fateh or Chini Saheb
propose and write multiple words.
There was a good song in a film called “Do Kaliyan” which talks about
dropping the Urdu-Hindi ka Jhagda – if you have time, it is a good song- by my
mentor Kavi Sahir Ludhianavi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQuBmwOUFpU
Please
feel free to call me or any one of our team members – you can text me and give
me the time to call back. (214)
325-1916. I have a perfect record of returning every call and every email that asks me a question despite the amount of emails and calls I receive.
We
are looking for someone to sponsor tea/soda/ pakora/samosa…. And some funding
for producing the book – you can contribute from 50-500, all funds will be
accounted and listed. You can go to: http://americatogetherfoundation.com/donate/
