Script work and Society

I went for my second session with Abdul Hafeez Qureshi. We worked on the last two Surs, once again making notes and corrections. Afterwards, I learned a bit about his writing and interesting research on Shah Latif regarding mention of history and culture in his poetry.Again, I spent the rest of the day in the heat, typing up corrections to the scripts based on our meeting. Once the sun started going down a bit, I head over to the Society, where there are shops and residence. I texted several friends who live there to see who might come and join. Saqib joined me as I got some things printed and picked up some cleaning supplies. It was fun to talk about design and to see some of his beautiful work on display at several storefronts that he had designed in the area. My friend Hisam joined us at a little dhaba for a bit, before I head back to the hostel.

Script work in Jamshoro

Back in Jamshoro, I met with Abdul Hafeez Quraishi, who spent time with me in the geography department, going over the Sindhi and Urdu scripts for “Risalo”. I noted many corrections and rearrangements for the text.I spent the rest of the day typing up changes, even typing Sindhi where needed to make all the changes on the Surs we had tackled.

Hawk's Bay Beach

Phool Patti team

Phool Patti team

Phool Patti team

Phool Patti team

Phool Patti team

We took a break at Hawk’s Bay beach. It was time for me to get going, but Haider Ali and Mumtaz bhai took me and a few of the kids to the beach. The water was cool, which was a relief in this heat. It was a lot of fun to just hang out, watch Haider Ali’s older son cry for his mother every time we took him in the water and watch Mumtaz bhai’s youngest run into the water without fear.

Mumtaz and two of the kids

Camel ride on the beach

Zulqernain, afraid of water, but far enough to smile.

Haider and I

Ghoshu, Haider’s brother in law

Children eating kulfi. I had 3!

Afterwards, we came back and rested. It was time for me to get going. I had a contact to follow up with regarding the Sindhi script for "Risalo", and while I was in Karachi, none of my friends had been able to check the existing script, so I needed to get back in order to make any progress. This thing is ridiculous. I never thought that this would be the step that killed the project, but it is taking everything I have to keep that from happening.I took a bus back to Jamshoro, messed up and ended up in Hyderabad, then took a shared rickshaw back. There's no joy in coming back to this. Haider and Mumtaz along with their families really felt like home to me. I would much rather spend time there than back in the isolation and weirdness of Jamshoro right now, but this is where I have to be if I have any hope of getting this project going.

Karachi Zoo

We checked out the local zoo. It was fun, if sad for the animals.Afterwards we head out to follow a lead on the last traditional puppet maker that I have been able to find so far. He is working at a recycling center in Lalu Khaith, so we went there to visit, with another truck artist who lives there. After a bit of asking around, we met his sons. They were eager to take an order for their father to create a puppet. I did not manage to meet the father who is now 70+ and pushing a push cart through neighborhoods to collect recyclable materials. It is a very difficult and harsh existence. Yet, at the same time, I am not sure how I can help. The sons are not young either, but they are not really connected to puppetry, and who can blame them, when they can not earn a living from it. Even if I get the father to make a puppet, which will be difficult, I don’t think anything changes in this case.

Student Truck Art

On the last day of the workshops at Indus Valley, the Phool Patti team got to see the finished works the students had created based on their lessons. It was great to see the sense of satisfaction in each team member, after the hard work they had put in with the students and likewise the excitement and appreciation of the students.There were a lot of fun pieces featuring students’ take on truck art culture in Pakistan.

Twins

The morning started with another comedy hour, courtesy of my favorite year and a half twins.

Thank you twins, for brightening my day. Until the next show.

Twins from Adnan Hussain on Vimeo.

Swiss Consulate and Indus Valley Presentation

Dekh Magar Pyar Sai (Look, but with love)

with the Swiss Consulk General

Swiss Pakistan friendship mural by Phool Patti

I went to the Swiss Consulate with the Phool Patti team. There was a press conference unveiling of some fiberglass swiss cows that had been painted in truck art style, with spots for signatures. These would be placed in the Karachi domestic and international airport terminals.

It was fun to be part of this event and to see the work up close. I took behind the scenes photos of the event. Afterwards, we head over to Indus Valley, where I gave my presentation to students. It is always fun to share.

Trucks and funny kids

Sometimes before class, Haider Ali and I or Mumtaz bhai and I stop by one of several truck stands where work is done. It’s fun to take photos of the variety of art on display, from painted designs, to intricate wood work and all kinds of ornamentation.The nice folks at Indus Valley put up a little poster for a presentation I plan to give on Wednesday about my work. After the workshops, we head back to Haider Ali’s place. It is a long ride, along bumpy roads, congested traffic and at times powerful smells. It is always a relief to get home, and I’m just a passenger, so I can only imagine how tired Haider must be.

Ali Salman Anchan had sent some goody bags for the kids. It was pretty adorable to see them put on the masks, play with things and eat candy. These moments do wonders to pull me out of the doldrums of waiting and struggling.

Indus Valley and an artist visit

Phool Patti team presenting at Indus Valley

Mumtaz Ahmed

Group photo with Phool Patti teal amd Indus Valley faculty

Sea View

Haider Ali anf Gulraiz Affridi

Sea View

Sea View

Sea View

Haider Ali and I

View from the top

Gulraiz

Painting by Hameed Magsi

Dinner

paan wala

The Phool Patti team began their second week of workshops at Indus Valley with a presentation for this weeks batches of students. Afterwards we head to Sea View, the beach in Clifton for a bit. I called up a few friends I had met at my friend Najib Rashdi’s gallery show when I arrived in Karachi.We went to visit Hameed Magsi at his office. He shared a really cool music video and several other video and animation projects that were very inspiring. It was a lot of fun to just share each other’s art. His paintings are also really beautiful.Music video Magsi sahib shared with us:

Meda Ishq Vi Toon Remix Version by Palvasha Hassan from Cybo Entertainment on Vimeo.

A few other folks dropped by the studio and we ended up having a pretty good time just talking about each other’s work.

Table and pick me up!

Once again, the kids came to visit. I love how little Fatima just looks up at you with this little pleading look, arms raised, fingers moving for you to pick her up. Who could say no?I also took a photo of one of Haider Ali’s beautifully designed and intricately hand painted tables. This is why I brought a whole section of my film to Phool Patti, to create a collaboration. Their work is excellent.It was another day of working on drawings and blog entries. I’m glad to have a break from the hostel in Jamshoro, and to be with my friend Haider Ali and his family.

Little picker uppers

The little ones came by to visit in the morning. They love to rearrange their father’s work. This time it was the beautiful tea sets painted by Haider Ali and Mumtaz bhai. They come up the stairs, peek around the corner a few times, then walk around all happy. They make their way to the things they are not supposed to touch, then pause, look at me, then go pick things up. Both are so silly. They just love picking things up from one place, depositing them someplace else, including in my hands and then repeating.Other than that, I worked on some drawings I needed to finish up to hand off to Haider Ali. He also spent the day catching up on work that his workshops at Indus Valley did not allow time for during the week.

A day in Sadar

A Karim Solangi’s beautiful work

A Karim Solangi’s beautiful work

Breakfast the next morning with my uncle was great. Meanwhile, my cousin’s little one was hopping around gleefully, watching Kung Fu Panda, which was sweet.We head out, dropped my cousin at his office, then Anwar sahib, his driver, graciously dropped me off in Sadar, at the Culture Department. I was hoping to see my friend Fatah sahib and also pick up a hard to find book that they had published. The book store was locked up and no one knew where the shopkeeper was. My friend was busy in endless meetings, but I managed to say hello.I did not mind sitting in the air conditioned room. I met a new friend named Momin. He also happens to be adapting Shah Latif’s work on Sur Sorath for stage. It was very interesting to discuss how each of us was interpreting the same story and poetry. We ended up going out in search of the shopkeeper. It turned out, he was at the arts council down the street, setting up a stall for a Sindhi culture event. Information really gets lost here.The event was in the evening, but I got to see most of the stalls. I picked up a few ajraks for puppet clothes, and a book of Sindhi poetry by Sachal Sarmast translated into Urdu. Afterwards we hung out for a while, then went back to Fatah sahib at the culture department. I head out to explore some more of Sadar after that.I walked around for hours, checking things out, searching for some books shops on my list. I managed to visit all but one, grab some lunch, sweat profusely and get very tired over the course of several hours. I picked up a few interesting books related to cultures I have not explored literature from yet in Pakistan. It does pay off to visit each of these stores.

I also picked up some lace for a puppet dress. Some of these things, I felt I need to pick out myself and send to the puppet makers, as ajrak is an important symbol of Sindh, so needed to choose the right pattern and I wanted to make sure the lace looked good with it. It was nice to buy the ajrak from the actual artist who made it.I walked back to the culture department, enjoyed the air conditioning and talked to other people waiting there. There are a lot of fascinating people that come there. I made a few calls related to my film. Eventually, my friends Haider Ali and Mumtaz bhai joined me and we sat down with Fatah sahib for a while, before heading out.

We ate some cholay chaat on the way home, which is dangerous for my unaccustomed stomach. I risked it, but avoided the watermelon drink. All of us were tired from a long day of working as we discussed plans and possibilities.

Mohatta Palace Reunion

I had Haider Ali sahib drop me off at Mohatta Palace on his way to work. It’s a beautiful, privately owned museum that I had visited 11 years ago, when I was in Karachi before. There was a beautiful exhibit on the history of map making. One of the staff members recognized me, as we had met back in 2008, when he was studying in Jamshoro. He had seen a facebook photo of me at Najib sahib’s exhibition the night before and recognized me. That changed the whole visit. He gave such a rich inside look at the pieces and process of putting the show together. It was fascinating and I really appreciate the immense effort and value in the work that the team did.I also picked up Abida Parveen’s CD set of Shah Jo Risalo. Afterwards, I walked around Clifton, then grabbed a rickshaw over to Sadar, which is an older part of the city. I started looking for some older bookstores there, and looked at one. By that time, the car my cousin had sent to pick me up had arrived, and I travelled in comfort from Sadar. I’m not used to such luxury, after these months on this trip.We made a little stop at the National Book Foundation as it was on my list of places to go to. It was funny following the signs into the building, that lead to a sign that said the book shop had moved. It was not clear where, so I asked around. Walked out a back gate, down an alley, past a building and found it. I was hoping to find books from different languages and provinces of Pakistan, translated into Urdu. I didn’t really find anything that wasn’t already easy to find. A bit disappointed I head out, got back in the car and head on my way to see my cousin.It was fun to catch and I ended up spending the night there as he lives a bit further out of town. Since I last saw him years ago, he has added a few little additions to his family. Dinner was amazing.

Indus Valley

We road through all kinds of crazy streets to get to one of the spots where the Phool Patti team was painting a truck. Mumtaz bhai and Gulraiz were hard at work in the sun. After that, we went to the Indus Valley College of Art and Design. I joined Haider Ali for the day and got to meet lecturers there and see the work of students. I got to take a fun tour of the college. The main buildings were deconstructed piece by piece and rebuilt at their present location to preserve them from being demolished. What an amazing feat. The rest of the buildings were built to compliment those main buildings.

I also worked on some more drawings to hand off to Haider Ali, for his portion of my film “Risalo”. It will be interesting to see how this collaboration works. After a day of teaching, Haider Ali took me over to Mumtaz bhai and Gulraiz, still hard at work on the truck form the morning. That is a long and exhausting day of work in the sun.We sat down afterwords in a room close by. We had some snacks and biryani. The heat is pretty tough. Afterwards, we zipped through insane traffic to get home.

Back to Karachi

Time to go to Karachi. I spent the morning packing and prepping to go to Karachi. My friend Najib sahib had a gallery opening as well. I would either take the bus or ride down with Najib sahib if he had space in his car. He pulled up after his class and invited me to join him, which really made things easier and more comfortable and fun for me.It had been a long time since I had sat in an air conditioned car, and the luxury was much appreciated. We picked up another artist friend from CEAD and head out no the road. We grabbed some food along the way, enjoyed some beautiful landscapes, then visited another artist in Karachi, before going to the show at the Canvas gallery in Clifton.

My friends Haider Ali and the Phool Patti team joined us there too and it was great to see them. The show was a lot of fun, featuring four artists. Najib sahib is a fantastic artist and it was great to see his work in a show, though he has so much more beautiful art hidden away in his home. I hope to see more of it in gallery shows soon!Afterwards, I head out with Haider Ali sahib, just like back in February. He was teaching a 2 week long workshop at the Indus Valley School of Art and Design. We went back to his home, enjoyed some food and catching up. It was great to see his family again too.

Happy Birthday!

Javed sahib and Muhib sahib, giving their time and effort to put together the Sindhi script.

It was my wife’s birthday, across the border. Well, at least I sent her a little animated birthday card I made.I spent the day working on drawings, then towards the evening my friend Javed came by and we went over to Shahid’s place and worked on the Sindhi script. After a few hours, Muhib sahib joined us as well. They are both very busy, with so much going on, so it was a big help and I can’t appreciate them enough. This was a much needed push.Afterwards, I caught up a bit with my wife on Skype and then stayed up until about 3am just putting together the formatting etc for the script to prep it for a final double check. I decided I would head down to Karachi and get the Phool Patti artists started on sur Karayal paintings, and work out the finalization of scripts while I was away. I just need to do whatever I can during the time I have despite a myriad of obstacles and shifting plans beyond my control.

Let's meet at...never

After a great night’s sleep I got ready, then worked on some drawing. Najib sahib prepared some breakfast and we hung out for a while. I was supposed to meet a musician to get some leads on female singers who could sing Shah Latif’s poetry well. In the evening, I was going to work with friends to get the remaining portion of the Sindhi script typed up. So, around 11am, I head back to the hostel and started prepping for the rest of the day.At noon, I called the musician as he had told me to. No answer. Over the next two hours, I ate lunch and kept checking back and calling. Of course there was no answer. I feel like Jamshoro has an epidemic of this. This past month, I have spent the majority of my time waiting for people and calling them with no response at times they had suggested. What a waste of time.I ended up doing an overhaul of the script, removing a few verses here and there that seemed unneeded in the animatic of “Risalo”. I even went through the painstaking task of checking the Sindhi verses that were typed, against the verses in the books they were from. I found some mistakes and did my best to correct them.My evening/night meeting never happened either. I wish people would at least let me know that they are canceling. I understand that plans change and things come up, but I’ve spent the last month just waiting, and just not believing people when they say we are meeting up at a particular time anymore. I don’t know how to make plans like this. I do make a point to keep reevaluating options and then doing whatever I can, but how do you make plans when no one sticks to them or even lets me know they have changed?I did make a point to create a funny little happy birthday animation for my wife. That was fun to do. Hisam’s brother came by and fixed the fan, which is a much appreciated relief. Plans for monday, shifted to tuesday…

Respite from heat and isolation

I really needed a break. It was another hot morning without a fan. I didn’t feel like eating breakfast. I thought I would try to call my friend Najib sahib, as I had not heard from him in a while. I haven’t been hearing back from most people lately. Everyone is busy.He called me back and invited me over. I grabbed my drawing things and walked over to his place. What a relief. Good company, nice and cool place to draw. What more could I ask for? It was so much better to hang out with Najib sahib, talk art and work on designs at his place, than in the sweltering hostel room.Najib sahib made some delicious daal, and I knocked out a good chunk of my drawing tasks. Afterwards we took a drive to his village, which was past Bhitshah, Hala and Saeedabad. It was a really nice change of pace. There were horses, cows and peacocks around. Everyone was very interested in Najib sahib’s new car. For me, it was just great to be non isolated, and not melting in the heat. Najib sahib is great company, and I am very inspired by his art.

We visited another cousin of his surrounded by beautiful farm land. He had his own little zoo of sorts with all kinds of beautiful animals. We sat around and talked to some tv directors and actors who were there. It was just the change of pace I needed. We head back to Jamshoro after another delicious meal. I ended up staying at Najib sahib’s place to avoid the heat.

No fan...time passes slowly

I worked on drawings for sur Karayal. This involves working on designs for various animals featured in that piece. I had started with studying photos, then sketching them and then trying to push stylization of their shapes. The next step was to apply those shapes into the poses I had storyboarded.The heat was really bad. With a running fan it is quite difficult. Without the fan, I kept falling asleep, then drinking lots of water, trying to draw and just felt very lethargic. I did not get a lot done.In the evening, I ate my dinner, then went up to the roof and slept. Even when I speak to people at the hostel, it is but a few words before I become invisible, back in my own world. I take pleasure in the good food, and zone out in the mess hall tv room for a bit in the evening at times.

Isolation and progress

I received some odd visitors this morning at the hostel. I recognized the hostel staff member who came in to tell me that the room had been allotted to someone else and that my friend Hisam had been spoken to and had agreed, so I needed to hand over the keys. While that is nice, I didn’t feel like just handing over the keys because some guy came up and said so. I said fine, I’ll check into it and give you the keys around lunch. He wanted me to call Hisam then, so I did. Hisam had not agreed to any of this, so the sure thing was actually a bunch of bullshit. I said bye to the guy and he was off. My friend Hisam came by and explained a bit, and reassured that the room was not being given up. He was living there too after all.I was getting ready to meet Muhib sahib who had so graciously offered to give me some time to work on finding Sindhi verses for “Risalo”. Anyway, that turned out to be nonsense. I called Hisam and then said no to the guy regarding giving the key and vacating the room. Hisam came by to visit after a while. After he left, a few other people walked into the room to question me. When I asked for their names, I got no response. It sure is annoying. I find this happens often with other people in the hostel in regards to myself also. They ask who I am and never reply when I ask who they are in return. It increases my sense of isolation and the desire to be done with this.I grabbed a rickshaw and head over to meet Muhib sahib at WAPDA afterwards. It is a bit daunting going up to a power plant. He had a friend pick me up from the colony next door and drive me to his office. We sat down and worked on finding as many verses of the ones left as possible. We ate some daal, then he graciously invited me to his home for lunch part two, which I ate because it was delicious. I was a bit depressed with all the nonsense of people asking who I am, where I am from and then promptly shutting off when I ask the same. I spend too many hours here in isolation, even if there are other people around, as I do not speak Sindhi. It makes me feel as if I were serving out a sentence, rather than trying to create things. I know it’s not as bad as that, but it is still challenging.Muhib sahib dropped me off afterwards, and I spent the rest of the day trying to get work done in the heat. I ended up making lots of phone calls to puppet makers to try and keep things moving..or even get them started. This is one of the many challenges of trying to get puppets made across the border, without being able to go there. This project hinges on a lot of variables that are beyond my direct control.The fan in the room also stopped working, so I slept on the roof as the people who would fix it are off until monday