Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2014

Breaking Down Boundaries

What exactly is patriotism? Is it also just a form of lust for land? What does a militant fanaticism towards language hide? Instead of freeing you, do these abstracts immerse you in emotional extremism? The strong emotions that you feel when you think of your Motherland, Mothertongue - Do they bind you much more firmly to the dirt of the land? To hatred? To violence? "Daanah Pah Daanah Da Nana..." Long before the singers began singing, the beat got me going. This song is written in a language of a small group of people who tend to sheep and goats in a harsh landscape. Akhtar Chanal Zahri is the writer as well as the singer. Born in Balochistan, he grew up belting folk songs in Brahvi, his mothertongue. In Brahvi, he has penned this incredible song, to describe his land, its beauty. This language may be tribal and harsh, but it blends itself to so much lyrical beauty and is thereby lofty and sweet to me. I have been listening to this song repeatedly, mesmerized by i