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.

Stylizing animals and typing Sindhi

I met Javed at Shahid Sahib’s place to work on typing the surs we had completed. I worked on drawings for Sur Karayal. I played with the shapes of the animals. Previously I drew different poses of swans, crows, cobras and peacocks based on photos. The next step was to look at how those animals have been depicted in miniature paintings and other artwork from the region, adding my spin on top.It was very relaxing to be in an air conditioned room. I felt my energy levels come up and managed to create a lot of sketches. Javed worked for hours while I did that and typed up verses. I don’t know how I would do this without his tireless efforts.

Mehboob Ali Shah and Dinner at Muhib's

I took another morning rickshaw to Mehboob Ali Shah sahib’s place. He was actually preparing for the Urs celebration of his paternal grandfather, but did not want to say no to me, and insisted that I come for an hour or so. We sat down in his bethak. We were going to work on Sur Sorath today and try to find the original verses by Shah Latif that corresponded to the Urdu ones I had chosen from the translation for my film “Risalo”.Mehboob sahib started with the very first verse and the discussion ended up being about it. Again, he used several stories to clarify his point and expressed understandable disappointment that Shaikh Ayaz had seen fit to simply omit that first verse, which set the stage for Bijal and Raja Rai Diyach’s dynamic in the story of Sorath to also be used in verses aside from the folk tale to connect to the story of the Prophet Muhammed visiting God and asked for something as well. The idea that the Raja was so taken by Bijal’s music that he offered his head, citing it as not valuable, just a dirt vessel.Similarly, God, so taken by the Prophet’s love gave everything to him. I’m not doing this justice in my explanation here, but the way each word in that one little verse was dissected and rich with meaning, brings about all of these connections and allusions. While we did not work on finding the verses today either, I really appreciate these riches of knowledge that give me a chance to see different interpretations of Shah Latif’s verse and put it in a larger context.I appreciated the session, but I also felt worried about being able to get these verses completed in terms of finding the Sindhi verses I needed. It is hard, because the task is not in my hands. I came back to the hostel and finished the design for the Sohni puppet. Then I head out on the long, sweaty ride to the city (Hyderabad) to pick up another translation of Shah Jo Risalo that included Sindhi, Urdu and English. Perhaps this would help me find some of these verses.

I kind of forgot that it was Friday. All the book shops were closed. Thankfully I had come for one other thing as well. I went and treated myself to a Chinese restaurant that I saw every time I went into town. The food was really good and there was plenty left. I knew that this was the only way my friends would let me treat them to a meal, so I went and visited Abdul Majeed Soomro sahib afterwards, with plenty of food.It was fun to catch up. I even had that apple soda I had been craving for a week. Then I head out to try one more store, which was also closed and then hopped on a bus to head back to the city.The heat takes a lot out of you, whether you go out in a bus, or even sit in the hostel room all day. It’s pretty oppressive. I rested a bit, then did my English tutoring. After that I waited, as a few friends were taking me to a dinner at Muhib sahib’s place.

We went all the way out to the WAPDA (power company) housing society where he lived. The way there was as usual a series of near death experiences on the terrifying road.Once we got there, it was really nice. I had been pretty out of it when they got me, from the heat. Though I kept drinking lots of water, and taking baths, it is hot, even at night. Once we were there, the AC was running, I sat down and felt much better very quickly.Muhib sahib sat with me and went over Sur Karayal (which I am adapting with a Peacock and Snake story in “Risalo”). He had basically found all the verses for those three pages already and marked them for me. Now he was explaining the richness and beauty of those verses and several others, which was extremely valuable for me.We all shared an amazing dinner together, then sat afterwards. His little sons were a welcome change from my evenings in the sweltering hostel, thinking about work. They are very cute and funny. It made me think of my niece, whom I really miss, that much more, but the night was really helpful. The help with the work was huge, and just the change of pace and such nice people helped lift my spirits and give me some more energy to get through another day.

How to keep things going?

First thing in the morning, I put together emails for Rajesh, the puppeteer in India with designs for custom puppets as well as reference guides. That took a few hours, then I went back to Sindhology to ask about a musician I could not find the name of in a video I had, and to pick up some recordings that Zulfikar sahib had picked up from Maka sahib who had a record label called AA from which I found most of my current day musicians.The musician ended up being Gulzaib Panhwar who sang a beautiful rendition of Rano. Zulfikar Ali Gopang sahib had recorded that piece at a performance, it turns out, at Mehboob Ali Shah sahib’s place, which I had visited on Friday.I came home and knew that I had to get this Sindhi verse matching task going. People were helping, but they were also understandably busy, and it could take weeks or months and even then there was no guarantee I would be any further along if I just waited. I called Mehboob Ali Shah sahib to see if we could meet. He agreed to meet me the next morning to help me. As this is part of my work for “Risalo” I offered to pay for his efforts. It’s a tricky thing to offer pay. Many who are helping me are helping me out of their kindness and a desire to push Shah Latif’s words out into the world. If I offer to pay people in certain cases, it will offend them. At the same time, I would not think less of anyone if I paid them, as it is their right to be paid for their work. Mehboob sahib said we could simply discuss it when we met.I slept a bit easier, knowing that there was some positive step toward this challenging task.

Shooting the Sunrise

I woke up at 5 am and called Abdullah. He was up and getting ready too. I got ready, and he picked up a friend of his then me. By about 5:30am, we were just past Mehran University, off a dirt road with some rocky hills. As fate would have it, the direction the sun was rising from was where all the buildings we had left behind stood.My other still camera had been stolen, which had some nice time lapse features which I had planned to use for the sunrise. The cheaper, used replacement I had picked up also turned out to have a time lapse option. I had gone through all the buttons and settings of the camera the day before to prepare. I set it up just behind a hill to capture the sunrise. I ended up moving it 3 times as we figured out the exact location of the sun.Meanwhile, I took my other camera and shot footage of rocks, shrubs, and other details. This is all for one of the scenes in “Risalo”. As I did all of this, my two friends were chatting, giving suggestions where they could help and watching curiously. I explained a bit if what I was trying to do as I fiddled around, up and down hills. Off in the distance we were being serenaded by relentlessly barking dogs from small tent settlements. They were warning us to stay away from the livestock under their protection. We kept an eye on them too, because we really did not want them to visit.The sun began to rise around 6am. I shot lots of bits of footage based on what I had storyboarded and also based on what was in front of me. Afterwards, we dropped off Abdullah’s friend, and my gear. Then we head to Javaid Solangi’s place for breakfast. I got to meet Javaid’s father, but Javaid, famous for his ability to sleep through anything was not able to wake up. That was fine, Abdullah and I were tired too. We enjoyed some breakfast and tea, before he dropped me back at the hostel.I tried to sleep, but could not. Instead, I just lay down to rest and fiddled a bit with the footage I had shot before and what I had shot that day. I spent the day, relaxing in the heat, working on bits, resting and biding time.I spent the day finishing a few more puppet designs. It took a lot of drawing, reference gathering and redrawing, but I needed to finish these designs to send off to Rajesh in Udaipur to get made. He had sent me some photos of puppets he had, amongst which I could get a few background characters I needed, but the main characters needed to be custom made to my designs.That night, as every saturday night, the amazing hostel cooks were off. These guys work very hard, and I look forward to each meal thanks to them. I called in an order to a little fast food place, then studied a book I had picked up on various Sindhi musical instruments. The food arrived, and I ate my zinger (the word for all chicken burgers here it seems) with fries and a little can of mirinda (orange soda).

Meeting Mehboob Ali Shah

I went back to Sindhology, and was requested to pick out the tapes I would like to hear from the register. I was asked if I can read the register in Urdu and at times Sindhi. I could, even the Sindhi enough to pick out names of artists. I had been looking at tape covers to figure out which had female singers, but these tapes are a treasure and impossible to purchase these days. People have been known to lift selections and so you are not allowed to directly access the collection. Instead, you pick out tapes from the register and go from there.I went through the register and picked out every female sounding name I could find from the remaining collection as well as a few that were specifically tapes on Shah Latif’s poetry. I was struck by how few tapes there were with his poetry.It was a bit tiring to listen to portions of each of these tapes I selected, but I felt I needed to hear as much of what has been done before as I can, to properly play with the material. Most of these singers had long passed on or were probably far too aged to perform at this point, so I really could not look to this collection for contemporary artists. However, the music of that era, when the public better supported their artists was also something I could not find today, and in it a richer variety of Sindhi music than could be seen in current CDs.I finished up, then head back to the hostel. I called Mehboob Ali Shah sahib, whom Zulfikar Ali Gopang sahib had recommended I speak to regarding Shah Latif’s poetry from a Sufi perspective. He agreed to meet me. I called Abdullah, one of the circle members who had been gracious enough to give me time. He too was interested in going, so he picked me up on his motorcycle and away we went.We arrived at Mehboob sahib’s home. The gate was open. On motorcycle, we stood outside and a man invited us to enter. Inside was an open sitting area. The sun was setting. Mehboob Ali Shah sahib came out to greet us and we sat and spoke. With each meeting, though there is a task to be finished which has brought me there, I do not want the interaction to be just focused on getting things done. I would lose a great deal if I did not take the time to share a bit of what I am there for, but then listen to whatever is being offered.I decided that we could focus on sur Sorath, the story of Bijal the musician and Raja Rai Diyach, the king who had everything monetary but no peace or happiness. This way, with each expert I met, we could try and tackle different sections of the material, in the hopes that it could be pieced together with all of this generous support.Mehboob Ali Shah sahib is the son of another revered local poet and scholar named Sardar Ahmed Shah Lakyari, who has a tomb in Saeedabad. He too was devoted to the verse of Shah Latif. He studied it and shared its vast richness while also writing his own poetry. His son, now older as well carried on that tradition. Such was their devotion, not to some mythical figure of what Shah Latif might be, but to the true essence of the words that have brought many to revere him.Before discussing sur Sorath, Mehboob sahib shared an introduction of Shah Latif’s poetry, to sort of set the stage and context of what it was that we were discussing. He shared a beautiful quote regarding Shah’s own thoughts on his verse which mentioned that this was not poetry, but ayats (scripture) to bring your heart closer to the beloved.He also spoke of how the verses themselves were written by Latif according to his own spiritual needs. They were there for any who found value in them and were given freely for those who wished to apply them for themselves, or discard them to keep seeking whatever it was that they needed. The point being, that there was no ego regarding the necessity of everyone to follow what Shah Latif needed for his life. These verses were needed by him to navigate his life and but there was no compulsion or expectation that others need follow him.I also heard views on the selection of folk stories as a vehicle to sharing Shah Latif’s thoughts. Mehboob sahib said that he selected stories based on various criteria. Partly based on where he had travelled and also based on how that story contained the elements needed to convey his thoughts. Sorath, he shared was about asking or begging for that which one needs. This became a perfect vehicle for Shah Latif to express that dynamic between asker and receiver and how the roles are often reversed.He went on to share some beautiful chosen verses, which he read in Sindhi, then graciously translated into Urdu for my benefit. It turned out that several of those verses were among ones I had chosen and so I was able to find the original verses to several that I had chosen for my script.The whole time, there was a peace about the whole discussion. Mehboob sahib has a rich voice and he has a way of conveying the depth of what he is sharing through stories and examples that become easy to understand. This is how he deconstructs Shah Latif’s verses, to offer even a non Sindhi speaker such as myself, a taste of the beauty therein.I was struck by his sagacity. His adorable grandson was there with us. He was probably almost a year old, walking about and starting to speak in his own baby language. Mehboob sahib woud be in the middle of discussing a deep point, when the little one would stumble into his lap or ask a question. It was heartwarming to see how Mehboob sahib turned to the child with such love, to answer his question or acknowledge his presence and give him some love before going right back to sharing the depths of philosophy and poetry. To me, this seemed to exemplify the application of what was contained in Shah Latif’s verses.He shared such a wealth of knowledge with Abdullah and I. It was dark and we had been pouring over books with flashlights for most of the session. After several hours of sharing, we said thanks and goodbye as we head out.We rode back to Javaid Solangi and some of his friends. I was kind of floating on the appreciation of both Shafqat Qadri sahib and Mehboob Ali Shah sahib’s sharing of their wealth of knowledge with me on Shah Latif and his poetry. These moments help keep me pushing to get this project made.After some time hanging out with Javaid, Abdullah and some other friends of theirs, they insisted on making sure I had some food before they dropped me off. We grabbed some food, then I was dropped to my hostel.

Audio Tapes at Sindhology

I went back to Sindhology with my new tape player in hand and spent the morning sifting through 30+ year old audio tapes, focusing on female singers and noting down the qualities of each voice. The beauty of many of these recordings for me lies in the complex layering of acoustic instruments with so much variety and beauty.The singers voices vary, but I was struck by the lack of emotional resonance in delivery of poetry. What I mean is that while the voices are beautiful and interesting and rich in variety, the bit that I most looking for was missing for my purposes with my film “Risalo”. The tone of voices was mostly consistent, rather than emphasizing particular words and emotions. There was almost no one who even sang Shah Latif’s poetry. I am told that the Sindhi of Shah Latif is difficult even for native Sindhi speakers. The language is old, with usage of many terms that may be unknown to most today, and yet rich with depth and meaning. Few singers can even begin to present this richness in their voices.I went through a more than half the collection in this session. I’ll return for more. I stopped at lunch time, to go eat some food at the hostel, rest and work on drawings for other aspects of “Risalo”.Zulfikar sahib had suggested another person I should meet who was an expert on Shah Latif’s poetry, but came to it from a Sufi background instead of the more academic background of others who were helping me. Each was invaluable in their insights and help, but each also had the potential to offer varying points of view which are invaluable.I spent the evening with some students from the study circle who graciously gave me time. It was good to have a break from my own mind.

Hisam to the rescue

Beautiful Alam in Hyderabad

Camels in Hyder Chowk

So, I've been struggling to find people who are experts on Shah Latif's poetry, who can help me get the original Sindhi verses for the Urdu translated ones I am working from. Each Sindhi edition is different and so the task requires someone who really knows it well.My friend Hisam took me over to the Sindhi department in the University. I had looked up the outdated page for the department online to find possible contacts. It turns out that he knows people there, so we head there to talk to them.I'm always humbled by how nice people are and encouraging towards the work that I am doing, and willing to help, despite being very busy. I got some info on an original Sindhi edition of the Shah Jo Risalo that might better match the translation I am working from. Cacca sahib even checked out a copy from the library in his name to let me try it out.I also dropped off a few sheets of the script to the head of the department who kindly offered to have a look. I would love to take care of this myself, but really, I can't do this without the help of all of these generous people, who so love Shah Latif that they are willing to take time out of busy schedules to help me with a project to promote his work.That whole process just made me feel a lot better after the past week. Afterwards, I visited the fine arts department, where I had taught about a month ago. It was nice to see the students and faculty friends. Hisam's brother got me from there and I dropped off a few things in my room before heading with him to the paathak, where I catch the bus for the city (Hyderabad). I went along the bumpy bus ride to the city, then got off where I needed to catch a rickshaw to get to the Sindhi Adabi Board bookshop. Everywhere I go, people offer tea or sodas, so I end up drinking quite a bit of both. I looked at the books, picked a few out then sat down to talk to one of the people at the shop. I found a copy of the book I had gotten from the professer at the Sindhi department, so I picked it up. I also grabbed a book of Urdu translations of another famous Sindhi poet named Sachal Sarmast as well as a book on Sindhi folk musical instruments.We had some tea and chat for a while, before I head down the street to find a tape player. Along the way, I stopped at the Oxford bookstore. I am always surprised at the amount that prices are discounted at the publisher stores. It makes these great books very affordable.I made my way to a mess of electronics shops. I kept asking people for tape players and they directed me all over. Finally I found one, but I really did not like the shop people, so I kept walking. Eventually, I found it at a few other places down the road, and picked it up from a spot where the people were eating their lunch. I had a funny chat with an eccentric old man and the shopkeepers while they ate. It gave me a chance to sit and rest a moment. Then they showed me the tape player. There are not that many options, so I went ahead and bought it.For musicians, I still need to figure out the female voices I need to reach out to, and listening to the tapes in the audio library seemed to be my best bet at finding the voices I wanted. Since they don't have a working tape player, I picked one up.From there, I walked further to say hello to my friend Majeed Sumroo at his office. He was just about to head out when I saw him at the entrance of his building. He insisted that we grab some tea or soda, so we went over to a shop, sat down, enjoyed a couple of sodas and caught up. It is always great to see him.From there, I said hello to the poet/book seller nearby, then hopped on the bus to get back to Jamshoro. I even saw some camels right before the bus arrived. On the bus, I ran into a guy who works at the hostel general store. We caught up a bit, then decided to hop off and take the University bus the rest of the way, as it would take us to the hostel doorstep.I got back, then head over to the weekly Shah Latif circle. We waited for our scholar friend Shafqat Qadri to drop by and lead the discussion. I did not understand 90% of it as it is in Sindhi, but it is a cool thing. I just sat and read my Urdu translation. Afterwards, I grabbed some dinner, then Shafqat sahib opened up his mind and vast knowledge to me and we sat until 3am finding the Sindhi verses that correspond to the Urdu ones I chose. We managed to get through about half of one of the stories. He used 4 or 5 different copies of the Shah Jo Risalo, and combed through the text meticulously to find the best match. I could not ask for better help in this task. He also pointed out some other beautiful verses along the way, including some fantastic ones that were not included in Sheikh Ayaz's Urdu translation that I read.The boost of progress did wonders.

Second visit to Sindhology Audio Archives

This time, I got to check out the DVDs and CDs that had been gifted to the archive. Many were from the Indian Sindhi community. It was interesting to see a glimpse of Sindhi culture from India and around the world, but there was not much in the way of music that could be relevant to my film.All the real folk music I have seen is still very much here in Sindh. Things I have seen and listened to from Sindhis outside of Sindh tend to be pop and never up to the quality of what I see here, except for some folk musicians in Rajasthan and Gujrat who also sing Sindhi music.I just don't see the appeal of a lot of the watered down pop singers when you can support the real deal.Since the library collection consists mostly of audio cassettes and records, I need to buy a tape player as the institution does not have a working tape or record player apparently.Oh, the hoops...

Visit to Sindhology Audio Library

I visited the audio archives at Sindhology. I did not get to hear anything in the collection. I’m not sure why. I mentioned it several times while there, but nothing seemed to happen. Instead, I shared the recordings I had been studying on my laptop and learned a bit more about each of the musicians I had already chosen.The rest of the day was spent drawing and looking for people who might be able to help with the Sindhi script which involves taking the Urdu translated verses and finding the corresponding original Sindhi verses of Shah Latif’s poetry.Photos of my room...

Biding time

Sometimes you find beauty in the simplest places. Here in the hostel I am staying at, someone placed these pink, translucent flowers in a spot in the grill with beautiful results.Just biding my time, doing some drawing and planning for next steps on “Risalo”. Reaching out to people for help with the Sindhi script.

I went and spent some time with the super talented Najib Rashdi. It was fun talking art and eating some delicious watermelon. Perfect for a hot day.

Bystander at the Ludo Championship

I listened to the rest of my music collection and noted down the best voices I found. There is no lack of musical talent in Sindh. The various traditions are rich and beautiful.I spent the day contacting friends to see if they knew of other people that might be able to help Javaid Solangi and I work out the Sindhi verses for the script for “Risalo”. There are some possibilities, but I really need to keep things moving.I spent the afternoon at Shahid sahib’s home and caught the guys playing a game of Ludo. I hung out and mostly talked to Javaid. It was a welcome respite from being holed up in the dorm room with my own thoughts.Just before sunset, I walked back to the dorm to write down a few musicians’ names. Tonight is quite a bit hotter than the night before. I think I will listen to some music to take me away from here for a bit and slather on some wonderfully poisonous Mospel.

First day of class at CEAD

CEAD truck art inspired benches

paperwork

I started my first day of workshops at CEAD. Shahid sahib picked me up and we were off. The class was filled with 3rd and 4th year students. There is a lot of beautiful art in the courtyard, created by students, including these truck art themed benches. I gave the usual intro to my work, and process behind my short film, along with suggestions on how to use local culture to support it, and present it in new ways in your work to set yourself apart. As usual, students are pretty unresponsive in the beginning, which makes it a bit of an uphill battle to get through the class.You just have to trust that you are giving them something useful. I assigned some character designs for homework, then met the VC and with Shahid visited a friend of his who was interested in what I was doing and willing to help me transcribe the original Sindhi verses that correspond to what I had put together based on the Urdu translation of Shah Jo Risalo for my film “Risalo”.I went home and rested.

Typing up the Risalo script

It was Sunday, and I had just started typing the Urdu verses for the script the night before. I spent the whole day typing verses and notating cross references. Thankfully the page numbers I had written from the previous edition were almost the same, just 8 pages off, so it was not difficult to find the verses.I typed the whole thing up with a few naps in between. The electricity would go frequently, and through the sweat, I kept typing until it was done. Afterwards, I had some dinner and went to sleep.

typing surs

Meeting in Hyderabad and Funkadelic Bus

I had made plans to visit my friend Ustad Amb Jogi at Radio Pakistan in Hyderabad to discuss the music for “Risalo”. It takes a while to get to Hyderabad from Jamshoro via bus, so I thought I would try a rickshaw. Not a good idea.The rickshaw took at least as long, and went much slower. We stopped for gas for 20 minutes, then to make repairs, got stopped at a check point and the driver had no papers. It was quite a ride. Eventually, I got there and it was great to see Ustad Amb Jogi. After the roughness of the past week, he was a much needed friend.We grabbed some delicious lunch at a dhaba near by. The fish, karalai, and more fish were really good. I am even more strict on the bottled water thing now, after that last experience in Umerkot. I just don’t have the time or energy to deal with that.After lunch, we head back to the radio station, where we sat down and discussed the vision for the music. Ustad sahib gave me a bunch of names that came to his mind. Basically, we need to find people that can do the task of reading and performing poetry in a form and order that I have put together and fit into my budget. There is a lot to do, but having Ustad Amb Jogi on board is a huge relief.Afterwards we set aside the work talk and just caught up. It made me really glad to hear how with his generation in the family, they had gone from centuries of being wanderers like gypsies and had now settled down and focused on educating their kids. Many artists, including these Jogis and the puppeteers I met in Multan have had to face these drastic changes in their sources of income due to changes in how society consumes entertainment. Ustad sahib lacks literacy, but from a young age he focused his energy on becoming the best musician possible.Afterwards, I walked down the street to Hyder Chowk, to look for a few books I needed for “Risalo”. My copy of the Urdu translation was left somewhere, during all this crazy travel. Thankfully, I kept good cross referenced notes, so I can find all the stanzas of poetry I referenced, but I need that book. I checked one store, and they claimed that no one had that book. That seemed odd. I walked over to the book selling street carts in front of the building and the book seller assured me that he could get me several options.He offered me tea, then walked off to get the books for me from nearby shops. I waited, and watched the mad traffic around me. He came back with a few books. The same translation had been published by a different publisher as well, but I really wanted the same one so that I could reference the page numbers I had noted to find the bits of poetry I had chosen for the film.I also wanted a proper Sindhi version, as Ustad sahib and I had discussed the need for a script for both all the Urdu text and the Sindhi original verses so that singers could start learning them and working on it. That was my next task. After a couple of rounds of searching, I remembered that the publishers of that book were in the building upstairs across from me. I did not want to cut the book seller out of his commission either, but I needed to see the books myself to make a selection, so I let him know and walked up to the book shop telling him that I would just pay him whatever commission he would charge for the books. He was very nice and we had met briefly once before.Shah Latif’s poetry, upon which my film “Risalo” is based is huge. There are so many books on his work. Some contain partial verses, some contain a ton of commentary and explanation. I found the Urdu translation I was looking for easily enough. Next I needed to find a copy of the original Sindhi version that best matched the translation I was working from in terms of containing all the verses I needed.Since I don’t really read Sindhi, it was challenging. I found huge tombs filled with commentary and smaller sections of verses. I kept looking until I found an edition that was almost entirely verses and decided to pick up those two books. I got a sweet 40% discount from the publisher, then walked out with these huge books to the book seller on the street.He was very nice about it all. He did not want to take any commission for books he had not sold me, on principle. We sat down and drank some tea together. We got to talking about a few other books, and I ended up picking up a couple from him that sounded interesting, including a book of his own poetry, which I will need someone to read to me.I picked up a cheap, used digital camera from shopkeeper who seemed intent on not selling anything. I think because I was wearing traditional clothes, he assumed I was just looking and not going to buy. Weird, but hey, I pass as a local. What an honor to be treated like crap like a regular old local. At least the price wasn’t raised. I did not have the heart, or frankly the funds to buy a camera like the one I had, so I got this one.I hopped on a crazy neon bus to head back to Jamshoro. The bus would stop every few moments and start shaking. The lights would go out. One time, a woman panicked and tried to get off the shaking bus. The conductor spent about 10 minutes calming her down, reassuring her that we would get back.The inside of the bus was more decorated than most. We chugged along and somehow made it to Jamshoro by nightfall. I hopped on a rickshaw from there to get the rest of the way home. The rickshaw driver was a wirey guy, with jamming tunes. It was actually a lot of fun after all that other mess. Once we got there, I thanked him for the musical ride and head inside to rest.

Jamshoro return and the oppressive heat begins

Those last 6 hours were grueling. I had to go back to my seat, and could not sleep. It was difficult to get the guy next to me to keep somewhat in his space (meaning occupying half of my space) and it’s no fun to sit next to filth marinated in sweat. The bus would have been fine otherwise.I was very grateful once we arrived in Hyderabad, and grabbed a rickshaw in the beautiful early morning to Jamshoro. My friend Hisam, once again opened up his room to me. I met his brother and a friend who were studying hard for a law exam. I slept a bit, then got to work making plans for my project. Many steps require finding the right contacts and information before proceeding. This can take time but is essential to getting things done…eventually.I feel much better, having met some competent puppeteers and established relationships with them. The project is still a massive undertaking and logistically and artistically very challenging, but some steps are becoming clearer and that is basically how this stuff gets done.I went for friday prayers with Hisam’s brother. We walked from the hostel. It got hot quick. After prayers, we stopped in to Hisam’s home for lunch. I enjoyed a delicious meal and wonderful company. Hisam and his younger brother are both amazing artists and I got to see some of their in progress miniatures. It was very inspiring. We picked up some fruit on the way back to the hostel and I refilled my phone and internet balance.The heat is oppressive and the mosquitos are relentless. I slathered on some mospel and chugged a 1.5 liter bottle of water while working on blog posts for the next few hours. I also managed some refinement on storyboards for the peacock and snake sequence of the film. Listening to the poetry and watching the animatic always reminds me why I am doing all of this. It really helps me to keep going, because it is the working blueprint of what this film can be if I can pull it off.At night, Hisam called me for dinner and we went to a University function related to a recent Syndicate election. It was in Sindhi, so that’s as much as I can tell you. I was happy to see a number of friends. I listened to a 40 minute scolding in Sindhi from on of the election winners directed at the entire audience. I felt like someone hadn’t done their homework and we were getting yelled at about it. From the bits I could make out, it was about the challenges and political divisions in the University and a desire to bring about change, and someone didn’t do their assignment and we were all writing lines for it.Afterwards, having paid the price, we ate dinner. The men descended upon the food tables like wild, ill balanced beasts. The food was quite good as we hovered over buffet tables to snatch up food as it arrived. There was a music program after, but my hosts and I were tired, so we head back to sleep.It is a huge relief to be back here, having met puppeteers with enough accomplished to begin work on music and various other daunting tasks. Being here in Jamshoro, I have the support of wonderful friends, so if this can be done anywhere, it is here.