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Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Musician Tarun Balani's latest album is a meditation on memory and loss
Thirty-eight-year-old Tarun Balani has never been to Sindh, his ancestral homeland that was lost to Partition. Named after river Sindhu, meaning Indus, he has never felt the soil of the land between his fingers or visited the revered Jhulelal shrine in Pakistan's Odero Lal, where Sindhi Hindus and Muslims worship together. But through the stories that the Delhi-based musician heard about his grandfather, who came from Sindh and lived in Delhi's Lajpat Nagar — the refugee colony created post-Partition and where many displaced Sindhis and Multanis were accommodated — Balani would often conjure a place, which was never going to be straightforward to go back to, even sonically. Home was a loss he had inherited. 'I feel with Sindhis, the diaspora stories are still missing. It is understandable, probably because Sindh completely went to Pakistan. But there was, and is, so much palpable grief that no one really speaks about. And that's also what I wanted to explore,' says Balani, who wanted to portray this feeling through sonic narratives. Another major reason was that he sorely missed his grandfather, whom he had never met. He only had a bunch of photos and his Yashica 635 since he was very young. 'Since my grandfather passed away in a car accident when he was 40, my family didn't speak much about him,' says Balani, who began poring over whatever was left behind. He found that KS Balani was a postmodern Sindhi writer, photographer and painter in the Delhi of the 1960s. 'It is only now that I have discovered his manuscripts, his writing. I started to explore his journey of migration and that is when I wanted to find my Sindhi identity as well,' says Balani. The longing for his grandfather also turned into a longing for the homeland that his community lost. The result of the emotional turmoil is a seven-track, deeply personal album that is a meditation on memory and loss. 'The album is a metaphor for my grandfather as much as it is for the lost homeland,' says Balani, who was inspired by famed Sindhi poet Sheikh Ayaz's poem Tiri Pawanda about the pain of separation and reuniting someday. Balani flipped one of the lines — Tadahen milandaaseen (We will meet then) to Kadahin Milandaasin (When will we meet again?), which is the title of the album. He adds that as people, we don't talk about grief enough and he wanted to honour the feeling he felt for his grandfather. His father's death last year in November amplified the pain. He wondered about two photographs his father gave him last February. One is a black-and-white shot of his grandparents and other a self-portrait of his grandfather — both are now part of the album cover. With Adam O'Farrill on trumpet, Sharik Hasan on piano, Olli Hirvonen on guitar and electronics and Balani on drums and vocals, the album was recorded by Grammy-winning sound engineer and producer John Davis. There are no Sindhi stringed instruments or field recordings from Pakistan that have been layered with jazz sounds. Instead, Balani has stayed true to his sound and that of his band and delineated loss as a feeling. He has represented his heritage through what he identifies with most and not reproduced what he's heard and even loved from his culture. While the elegant Lajpat Nagar Sometimes comes from Balani's fascination with the idea that his studio space is also the one where his grandfather wrote and painted, the title track is where he's sung for the first time, an ode to his father, who sang Hindustani classical, and always wanted his son to sing. The haunting Sailaab plays out the 2020 floods in Sindh while Every Man Saved A Victim Will Be Found is an interpretation of Balani's most-streamed track from his EP In Song (2021), inspired by a line in Viktor Frankl's 1946 book Man's Search for Meaning based on his time living in concentration camps. In the music video of the title track, Balani has attempted to recreate the parties from his childhood; with typical Sindhi motifs — the Ajrakh shawl, Sindhi topi and Sindhi roti make an appearance. But such an album was likely to come at an emotional cost, and if he was lucky, with an emotional reward as well. Does Balani understand his place better? 'Absolutely. I went in with a simple quest to understand my roots and legacy, but it was still a borrowed experience; the grief was through the lens of other people, but after losing my dad, I understood it more deeply. In the end, I was tracing my granddad and his lineage but I found a version of myself that I didn't know existed,' says Balani. Recently, some Sindhi literature teachers have written to Balani telling him that they teach his grandfather's stories to their students. 'Life has come full circle,' he says.
India.com
12-05-2025
- Politics
- India.com
India-Pakistan Tensions Fallout: Protesters Target Hyderabad's Karachi Bakery, Demand Name Change
India-Pakistan Tensions: Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad was reportedly targeted by a group of protesters amid rising India-Pakistan tensions during Operation Sindoor. On Sunday, around 10–15 individuals gathered outside the 73-year-old bakery and shouted anti-Pakistan slogans following backlash over its name. As per the Indian Express report, videos circulating on social media showed a group of individuals wearing saffron scarves entering a Karachi Bakery outlet, demanding a change in its name. The protestors, seen holding the national flag, gathered outside the Shamshabad branch and reportedly attempted to damage the nameboard using sticks. However, no significant harm was caused to the property or the staff. The vandalism of Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad by miscreants is a deplorable act of ignorance and incivility. The bakery, owned by the Khanchand Ramnani family, Sindhi Hindus who migrated to India post-Partition in 1947, is a symbol of resilience and heritage unjustly targeted. — Āryā_Anvikṣā (@Arya_Anviksha_) May 11, 2025 In the viral videos, police were seen present as protesters continued to target the bakery's signboard. Officials later confirmed that the crowd was dispersed shortly after the incident. The owners of Karachi Bakery, Rajesh and Harish Ramnani, stated that the brand is a '100 per cent Indian brand,' established in 1953 by their grandfather Khanchand Ramnani after he migrated to India during the Partition. 'We request the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and senior officers of administration to support to prevent any change in the name. People are putting up tricolour in the outlets of the bakery across the city. Kindly support us as we are an Indian brand and not a Pakistani brand.' The bakery chain had previously come under fire in 2019 following the Pulwama terror attack, which killed 40 CRPF personnel. At the time, protesters had entered its Indiranagar outlet in Bengaluru, calling for a change in the bakery's name.
Indian Express
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
All Pakistani nationals in Maharashtra identified, tracked as they leave India: Fadnavis
All Pakistani citizens in Maharashtra have been identified and their departure being closely tracked, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday. The CM told mediapersons the Centre's guidelines are being strictly followed. All the parameters cited in the Centre's guidelines mandating Pakistani citizens to leave India are being implemented, he added. However, the Centre's directives will not apply to Sindhi Hindus who have come on long visas and applied for Indian citizenship, he clarified. 'The state government is closely monitoring the developments. While I cannot reveal the exact numbers at this moment, I can say all the Pakistani citizens have been identified. As they leave their movements are being tracked,' Fadnavis said. He also reiterated that there were no cases of untraced Pakistani citizens in Maharashtra. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had said, 'Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have given directives that Pakistani nationals must leave India. This is the overwhelming sentiment of every Indian. There are some Pakistani citizens in Maharashtra. There is information that 107 Pakistani citizens are untraceable.' 'Irrespective of their destinations all of them should leave. If they don't the police will track them down and take action. Even those who are giving Pakistani nationals shelter will face action,' he warned. On the 107 untraced Pakistani nationals, Fadnavis dismissed it as baseless. 'All the Pakistani nationals have been tracked. And they are being made to leave. The police will furnish the final numbers once the process is complete,' the CM said.
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Pahalgam attack: Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu shares partition tales as a reminder for what is at stake for India
Zoho Sridhar Vembu on Pahalgam attack Following the tragic Pahalgam terror attack , which claimed 26 lives, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has shared poignant reflections on the legacy of Partition as a reminder of the stakes for India. Reacting to a viral post by entrepreneur Prakash Dadlani, Vembu highlighted the enduring trauma of displacement and communal violence, drawing parallels between historical events and present-day security challenges. Pahalgam attack: What Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu said Vembu's remarks emphasised the importance of safeguarding India's unity and resilience. 'These terrorist attacks are a reminder of what is at stake for us,' he wrote, recalling stories from Sindhi Hindus, Bengali friends, and Kashmiri Pandits who experienced displacement and violence. 'I have met many Sindhi Hindus living in the US who told me the same thing Prakash-ji says below about his family's experience of partition. I have heard the same thing from Bengali friends. We have the experience of Kashmiri pandits in living memory. All this should give us the resolve to make sure it never happens in our nation again. These terrorist attacks are a reminder of what is at stake for us,' Vembu posted on X. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo The Pahalgam terror attack The Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, 2025, stands as one of the deadliest assaults in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years, claiming 28 lives and leaving over 20 injured. The tragedy unfolded in the serene Baisaran Valley, a popular tourist destination, where militants targeted visitors based on their faith, forcing them to recite religious verses before opening fire. The Resistance Front (TRF), a Lashkar-e-Taiba affiliate, claimed responsibility for the attack, which has drawn widespread condemnation from global leaders and civil society. This horrific incident underscores the ongoing security challenges in the region.
