Sarhad Paar: From Tagore’s Songs to Stardust Magazine

In this episode, Priyam Moonka is in conversation with Fatma Shah, a Lahore-based curator and writer with a keen interest in art, literature, and cultural heritage. They discuss a wide range of themes including the division of Muslim families between India and Pakistan caused by Partition, India-Pakistan Peace forums, and physically held conventions for cross-border dialogue until the mid-2000s, the division of patriotic songs and secular poetry from ‘Saare Jahan se acha’ to ‘Lab pe aati hai dua’ between the two nations along religious lines, the distortion of secular messages in nationalistic jingoistic fervor, the emergence of in-home entertainment during General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, and the transmission of print media, radio from Amritsar and Doordarshan channels across the Radcliff line. Fatma talks about her travels to India between 1992 and 2017 and the tightening of Visa restrictions over the years. She remembers the Stardust magazine somehow making its way into Pakistan. Her mother’s time in Calcutta singing Tagore’s songs in Bengali, a connection which was lost partially in 1947 and completely in 1971, forms a significant part of her nostalgic reminiscences. Lastly, the discussion touches upon the collective and shared nature of the textile traditions of the Sindhi Ajrak, Dhaka Muslin, and Phulkari.