SURFING the Net looking for desi sites gets one wondering as to what really constitutes our culture and social heritage. Culture is defined by people in a variety of individual ways depending on how liberal or conservative one is — not that there is a universal scale to gauge the degree of liberal/conservative attitudes.
Nations, whether in the east or west, do impose a certain brand of cultural heritage on their people to make sure that there is a unifying quotient that defines a given culture as representative of a given nation.
The idea may be redundant to many in this age of globalization but deep down each one of us yearns to spot a likeness in others, so as to appropriate more and more of the similar ‘others’ and call the bunch one’s own lot. The fancier and more stately notions of culture include a shared past, and all the given and assumed values that have been evolved over a longer period of time. However, on the Net, it is a different tale.
The desi diaspora, as expected, claims a disproportionate share in flagging our culture and its many emblems in cyber space. An impressive number of web sites on Pakistani lifestyle are waiting to be explored. Here are just a few of these interesting offerings.
A good start is a new portal called www.hotranks.com. It’s managed by Nawed Khan in New York, and has everything for the ‘young, hip and cool’ breed. Ranking the top sites in many categories seems to be the obsession with this portal, but the good part about that is updated regularly. Contrary to the expectations aroused by its name, hotranks is a very decent site and offers loads of masala on all things desi. The works include Urdu poetry, celebrities (called ‘hunks’ and ‘babes’) from all the jolly-woods’, mouthwatering recipes, news, views, cinema clips, cricket, music, chat, e-mail... you name it.
Another site, www.apnapotal.com, is a more palatable version for the older desis, who easily get offended but must surf the Net. This is one more place that is all-inclusive and is also managed by the whiz kids from New York. This tells you how much these youngsters are thinking of the vigilante moms and dads and all those aunties right out of East is East. These two portals strike just the right balance between the boring serious and the annoying spurious. That said, it’s refreshing to know that some of our very accomplished youngsters in the diaspora, unlike their counterparts back home, do have a sense of humour.
If you are a fan of Sindhi/Seraiki Sufi music, there is nothing like Sufi Music at www.sufimusic.org. It has impressive write-ups about the many ragas and traditional genres, complete with audio-visual aides. The site contains devotional music and bhajans (instrumentals and vocals), video clips, online purchase offers and the works to while away many a lazy, long summer afternoon.
There is a wide choice in the selection of sites when it comes to Urdu poetry. These offer online recitals by well-known poets, and a host of literary material, excerpts, mushairas, and criticism. Aside from the obvious choices such as urdupoetry.com, urdughar.com, urdubazaar.com, etc. try logging on to a relatively new site called www.indiaheritage.com/creativelitra/undulit.htm .
In keeping with the state policy, this site gives a no-nonsense secular history of Urdu’s development as a literary language. Most major classical poets are represented and their selections are quite awe-inspiring.
Another good home-based Urdu site is www.urdupoint.com out of Lahore. It offers a complete package for Urdu readers catering to all age groups and varied interests.
Then there are the apna sites. Offering valuable, fairly current, information about Pakistan and desi culture, www.apnaislamabad.com tells you more than you’d care to know about the capital and its environs, and much more about the rest of the world. Its Karachi version, however, www.apnakarachi.com , useful, but is a bit of a dimmer for the language puritans. Karachi, like Delhi, uses the female construction in Urdu, as in ‘nai Dehli’ and ‘nai Karachi’. The site should have been called ‘Apnikarachi’. The managers should thank God that Josh Malihabadi’s is dead.
Lastly, this review will not be complete without mentioning two sites: www.paktaste.com , a young and growing new portal that seemingly knows everything but political correctness, and the BBC’s version of a Pakistani portal. Serious and informative, www.bbc.co.uk/london/yourlondon/unitedcolours/pakistani.shtml is very well-stocked on all things desi in and outside Britain.
Who says the good old Queen doesn’t do enough for her common-wealtheners?
SURFING the Net looking for desi sites gets one wondering as to what really constitutes our culture and social heritage. Culture is defined by people in a variety of individual ways depending on how liberal or conservative one is — not that there is a universal scale to gauge the degree of liberal/conservative attitudes.
