SCRIPTING PAKISTAN’S DESTRUCTION BY 2015
THE RESILIENCE OF THE PAKISTANI PSYCHE IS BEYOND LOGIC

Safety and thought of death be damned

Contrary to the Western child, the Pakistani child is born with the strongest belief in Islam. However he may renegade from life., his belief in the Al Mighty is not negotiable. Even today when the Pakistanis see the family of Shaheeds raising their heads in pride, death be damned for every Pakistani. Shahadat is not considered death but a quick entry into a better life. No wastage of judg’ments and other things. Direct access to heavenly life. Everyone Pakistani believes that hundred percent.

With the same emotions, comes the emotions of sending the enemy to hell as quickly as possible. That is why the enemy does not know and should know, that if it ever comes to the real thing, Pakistan will never hesitate to use the nuclear option. We have the lesser defused things , yes, but even if the same big thing has to be to be used, it will be done, as it happened in the the Planet of Apes, when the astronaut blows the Apes to Kingdom come (he goes with them too). Love of life is good but love of honour is utmost.

A Pakistani mechanic can solve complex problems with simple tools. One is amazed at the ingenuity of even the illiterate man. No theory of levers in physics for him, he will try with his best with whatever is available, and in the end he will deliver results with a sheepish smile, that Allah helped him achieve same. The victory is not of his making at all. He will never take personal credit for same. The Pakistani mind could know first hand that a super power will try to electronically blanket to freeze any nuclear test (those done years back), and anticipating the delay of few seconds, had the second option in hand of a direct physical wire to detonate the test. Whose face turned black? Not ours. We raised our head in pride. Do not undermine us or write us off that easily. Other Muslim nations fell in days, weeks, or months. It is years when project 2015 started, and we are still standing,. We are Islam’s last hope, and we know that. And you know that too.

Write all your scripts down, Allah is writing a script too. And those who are ready to give everything for Allah, even their lives, will remain standing. Amen!

LAST WORKING YEARS 1972-1974 M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI
WORK BUT WORK FOR WHOM?

The future looked so far away

A time becomes really sad, when the will to live is gone. The issues roving around an artist’s head catch him unaware, when one day he realizes that things are lost. The society has stopped in it’s track. Materialism has invaded bureaucracy and the politicians in power. Ruthless exploitation has started. A sensitive heart and mind then calls it a day. The will to live is gone.

Last work

But the physical death is nothing. What the artist creates, the same makes him live forever. It is sad that in his lifetime, he found love and respect from his own people. After his death it was the world who honored him not his people. The Intellectual and cultural Pakistan became barren. It was no longer a desert in bloom. Chughtai used to say many times. Can anyone name the Shah of Iran in the times of Omar Khayam? No one really can. Yet, everyone knows Omar Khayyam. Hundreds of years from now, who will remember the imbecile leaders we have. No one. Even history will not think of them as worthy of even a word in comment. But the people who make life, enrich life, are there forever. They are fulfilling a divine mission of enriching life itself.

The test of Allah is FORBEARANCE or a local term BARDASHAT. But for how long? When are the limit reached? Mullahs talk of the wrath of Allah, but forget the Wrath of the people. People change things. An era of change can be seen in Pakistan. Halaku Khan was standing outside Baghdad and the Mullahs were arguing over reciting Ameen in low tone or high tone. Baghdad was ransacked in the shortest spell known in history. And the strangest thing happened. Halaku Khan the infidel erased Islam and his own children embraced Islam. The death of a system spurs a growth of a new system. A new system to replace the outmoded one. If I was a foreigner and would see the working of so called Muslims in our capital. I would join the band of Islamophobics around the world. The miserable plight of Muslims is due to their lack of vision and lack of Identity. Culture gives that. Once culture is gone, Identity is gone too. We thank All Mighty Allah that our Pakistani Army has Identity and full faith in the Pakistani idea. Amen!

TWO AMERICANS IN TOWN
DIRECTING FLOW OF ART EDUCATION

Pakistan climbs the bandwagon of the West

Professor Lester F. Pross of Berea College, Kentucky, USA entered Department of Fine Arts, University of Punjab with his own ideas of advancement. Dr Mark Buchanan of Washington, was supporting his theories about redirecting Art education in Pakistan. Sidney Spedding , Principal Mayo School of Arts, a British educationist was directing the formation of National College of Arts. The syllabi of both places were updated to world standards, and the student was to learn everything, about everywhere. The only taboo word in the syllabi was PAKISTANI ART. Both institutions were turning an absolute blind eye to Pakistani Artists, and the strange part is that not only there is no mention of Pakistani Art, even the Bibliographies do not mention any book on Pakistani Art. In English Medium Schools students were reprimand for talking in Urdu, in these two places the students were punished for even thinking about Art in Pakistan. The students were indoctrinated to align themselves to West, not with their own environment, and everything done here was dubbed as colonial in character. For them national artists were a legacy of colonialism, in contrast the very same artists fought against colonialism. And the interference was not merely verbal. In fact Sidney Spedding had submitted a written proposal to the Economic Planning Commission in 1954 to undertake this overhaul of system.

The NCA site records:

“Professor Mark Ritter Sponenburgh, the first principal of NCA, introduced the modern art college curriculum at the NCA, in 1958. The modern movement in Pakistani art had already begun with Professor Shakir Ali, teacher and principal at the NCA. The students of Professor Mark Ritter Sponenburgh spearheaded modern art education at the NCA, the first art college in Pakistan.”

On 29th December, 2012, the American was remembered here:

“A reference in memory of the late Mark Ritter Sponenburgh, the founder principal of NCA, who passed away at the age 95 at his home in Oregon, USA, was held at the National College of Arts.”

And strangely his background is listed amongst others as:

“In early 1942, Sponenburgh volunteered for the U.S. Army, assigned to Combat Intelligence Training and the Corps of Engineers as an instructor. After working in the cartography section, dictating and reproducing maps as the command prepared for D-Day, in 1945 he requested transfer to Monuments and Archives (G-5).”

Everyone is free to believe in issues and to practice them. We have no qualms about anyone’s action. But redirecting a compete nation away from home seems to me, having roots in some kind of bias, vested interests or perhaps even malevolency. But what we are to say? The result is obvious. A new breed of artists were created. There was no creativity spurring their imagination. Their utmost desire was to imitate everything done abroad. In this imitation they lost their identity completely. DOABI KA KUTA NA GHAR KA NA GHAT KA is a favourite saying used by many people. We won’t say that. We just say what was achieved with this ART GIMMICKRY IN PAKISTAN. The cohesion in the country was lost. The PICASSO DERIVATED ARTISTS died their natural death with Pablo Picasso.

With the import of Western Art traditions, there was import of Western campus values and which led to free license, which a Pakistani society could not have ever allowed. The culmination was the GHAZALA SANA RAPE CASE OF NCA, and strangely you Google same, and you won’t find a single reference to a most important case of our art history. Big names were alleged to be involved in same, and the Federation of Pakistan came to their rescue. But that is a place for another blog.

THE STRUGGLE OF USTAD ALLAH BAKSH
PUBLIC APATHY LINGERS ON IN SOCIETY

The bureaucratic belief that artists live on air only

Allah Baksh was very close o M.A. Rahman Chughtai , and when I was born, Allah Baksh gave a big party for his friend Chughtai the Artist. He specially gifted me with a pair of LAKHA pigeons, pure white, who would straddle like Kings in any lawn. I have seen Allah Baksh with my father, many many times. Even on the death of M.A. Rahman Chughtai, he was silently sitting on a chair outside our garage. Unlike Shakir Ali who went to a YMCA meet on the death of Chughtai the artist, on 18th January, where he suffered a massive heart attack, and later died after a few days in hospital; Allah Baksh was contemplating something else. He knew like the past, the future was bleak for the artists too. Only once Chief Minister Hanif Ramay who was a student of Allah Baksh, bought a painting of his for Rs 50,000 for the Punjab House. I do not think anything worthy was done for him.

After his death I visited his house and met Master Aziz, who was the adopted son of Allah Baksh (a nephew actually). There was another Aziz before that. Allah Baksh had lot of students at his house and his earnings were the meagre fees given by them to him. Again after some time passed, I had met Majid, who migrated from the country in disgust. The family of Ustad Allah Baksh had opend a grocery shop outside their house in a small lane. An artist family could not subsist on the earnings of one of the major artist of the region, not only Pakistan. Obviously there is no shame for the family, the shame is of the society who pay no heed to aesthetics or artists of the region. Literary giants suffered the same fate. You had to dishonour Pakistan, dishonour your way f life, to succeed in the materialistic world. These people knew they could do nothing like that, but there are many who sold their souls and their children reap the benefits to this day.

When M.A. Rahman Cugtau founded Alhamra (named by him, idea by him, execution by him, first show by him, insignia by him), there was need to promote other artists. With Justice S. A. Rahman, MARC pioneered the idea of an Allah Baksh show and one was held at Alhamra in 1952. Strangely S.A. Rahman Sahib in the introduction talks of PUBLC APATHY TOWARDS THE ARTS.

There used to be hundreds of paintings of Allah Baksh lying in his academy (home). Probably destroyed or wasted by others. The School is no more. No one to teach, no one to care for same. Even the people who remember Allah Baksh in Muslim Town are not there. But artists live. Artists survive the philistines who make life hell for them. Allah Baksh will prevail.

GUY DAVENPORT CALLED ME “GURU OF LAHORE”
LOVE OF AMERICANS FOR ME STUPENDOUS

‘More American than Americans’ a Polish Jew (but always Pakistani)

It is strange that Americans who play with IQ always think of me in certain way The American icon Guy Davenport thought of me as the ‘Guru of Lahore’. In a communication with another philosopher, he referred to my writings and addressed me in this particular way. An American University is bringing out a book on same. Hans Heymann Jr of Rand Corporation held me with love and respect, as we sat down a few times and discussed things. Stephen Cohen thought it strange that I did not ask him even for one favour when I gave an Art print free of cost to him. Hundreds of other Americans have similar views. US Ambassador Arnold Raphael liked me very much. I could name many important Americans but the late, Phillip Talbot (President Asia Society) was most impressed with my educational background, and asked me about my university. He was surprised that I named all my institutions as from the city of Lahore. I am not in touch with the American on the streets (although I met them too in my visits). Yes, I loved America, not for its policies, but for its appreciation of world culture. And its love for FREEDOM and FREE THOUGHT. Its values we held dear all the time.

Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the Geodesic dome, commended my work by telling me that it was ‘Well done!’. I even communicated with Dr Henry Kissinger. I gave him lot of my works and he thanked me for same. I dedicated my book on BEHAVIOUR FUTURISM to President Richard Nixon himself. But this is not a list of people. It is about configurations. It is about Ideas. All people who think, escape parochialism. They think in terms of Planet Earth, as humanity in totality.

Pakistan was a thinking nation. Pakistan created many thinkers. The greatest obviously was Dr Allama Iqbal. Pakistan contributed to world civilization. Is it not sad when we see today MINI TRAITORS, abounding in various fields such as media and journalism, just for visas and scholarships, harping on foreign themes like professionals. What would have shamed Pakistanis of the past, these Pakistanis are more moron than morons, for even with education, they have not escaped materialism for greed, and for benefits, They are ready to trade in their Ideology.

I am not defensive about Islam and Pakistan. I am proud of being a Pakistani Muslim, the first step towards establishing World Peace. I think, I feel, and I am passionate about my work., which means no harm to anybody. I read books all the time. I started writing when I was still in school. I am writing today and I like to die writing good things for the world at large. I am sure if a survey is made of our politicians, elected or non elected, most of them would have perhaps read a Qaida at school, with manipulated degrees. I wonder if they can even sign a signature. Thumb impressions would be best for them. Not only out of touch with the world, out of touch with Pakistan. Their elected areas have never seen them except passing in speeding motor cavalcades. Compassion they lack even more than intellect. Tears come into our eyes to see even a malnourished or injured animal. For them humans are worse than animals and need not survive except to elect them to power, by induced will or at point of gun. A centuries old adage rules our land and no one should forget it, and recite it daily for those who can do this in real terms. The adage is “LATOAN KEY BHOAT, BATOAN SAY NAHIN MANTAY”. We all know what it means, but for those who don’t, it simply is that, “Those spectres who only budge when kicked, never listen to persuasion through talks”. Everybody gets it! Even the Quran tells us that certain people are oblivious of reality and can never be changed.

HISTORY OF MOHALLA CHABUK SAWARAN
ANCESTRAL HOUSE OF M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

Centuries of historical names and incidents

Lahore is a strange city. It has everything historical attached to it. Take the Mohalla Chabuk Sawaran inside the city. Maulvi Ahmad Baksh Yaqdil (18th-19th century), explains the area as:

“Diwar khana Faqeer Khana waqia Darul Sultanat Lahore; Mohalla Qazi Saderuddin Marhoom; Havelli Adina Beg Khan; Guzar Chabuk Sawaran, Kakey Zai; Mutasil Kocha Allama Hazrat Muhammd Sharyar Maskoor Lahori; Mutasil Masjid Chinay Wali, mubia Bahadur Shah Alamgeer Badashah; Feil Khana Shahnawaz Khan; Takia Sadoan; Katra Haji Amanullah; Chotta Mufti Baqir, etc.”

What exactly is KOCHA CHABUK SAWARAN? The dictionary defines Kocha as a Galli, guzargah, or piece of land as “Bara” or exhibition centre. We know that the word Chabuk Sawaran is obviously HORSE RIDERS and what had the horse riders in common with this Bara of land. We know there was a market place for horses outside Taxalli Darwaza Lahore, as well a market of horses outside Delhi Darwaza,. But this is inside the city itself. It means an exhibition ground or a stable, enclosure of horses. And with the Mohalla are the few house attached to its exhibition place of horses there. They must be even giving performances of some kind.But the other names are all historical.

Qazi Saderuddin was the Qazi at the time of Emperor Akbar, who rebelled against the religious policies of the Emperor. He was very popular with the people and could not be handled in a drastic way. So Emperor Akbar had him expelled from the city forever. A rebsel scholar in all cases.

Allama Shahryar was Imam of the Wazeer Khan Mosque, and he too rebelled against Ahmad Shah Abdalli, and openly insulted the King for his actions. Abdalli said his prayers behind him and could say nothing to him.

Adina Baig Khan was of course for some time Governor of Lahore and part of the conspiracy in the Abdalli and the Mughal period of Lahore. A very interesting figure who got married in Lahore to a Syedzadi of this Mohalla and later divorced her for fear of marriage to a Syed family.

There are a few Shahnawaz Khans in the Mughal period. Mufti Baqir was of course a Mufti of Lahore in the times of Emperor Shah Jahan and there is a Chotta Mufti Baqir still named after him in Lahore. Haji Amanullah may be many persons.

Masjid Chinay wali is the famous mosque in the Mohalla, now totally destroyed and rebuilt. But very strangely Yaqdil associates it to Bahadur Shah, Shah Alam, son of Aurangzeb Alamgeer. Sadoos were famous for residence in the city area and were responsible for publication houses, publishing old manuscripts in book forms.

In Mughal time the FEIL KHANA means there was a stable for elephants in this very area. Elephants traversing the Mohalla would be a unique sight under any circumstances.

Yaqdil associates Chabuk Sawaran with ethnic Kakay Zais, but there is much more to it. Documents prove the transfer of some horse dealers from Kanpur in India to this Mohalla in 1855 extra.The names of them are known, and some of them were highly educated and could even write in English. These horse dealers had bought portions of Mian Khan Havelli. Afzal Khan had two wives Noor Jan and Mahbub Jan., He died and these two ladies sold the property.

Recently a group of documents have been discovered which shows us more dtails of the horse riders. We have a Bakatarabu Begum along with a registrar Abdur Rahman Khan Afghan settled in the city of Kanpur (now in India) in 1855. Then we have references of Qasim Khan son of Munawar Khan Afghan again in Kanpur in 1870. Then we find them shifting to Havelli of Mian Khan and we hear of Afzal Khan and Wazeer Khan Pathans. We hear of Bobo Begum wife of Afzal Khan as well as two other ladies later, Noor Jan and Mahbub Jan, widows of Afzal Khan. Then we hear of Akbar Khan, son of Afzal Khan, who signs himself as a horse dealer in English. Then the havelli is bought by a certain J Rustam, who signs an affidavit of two pages, handwritten completely in English language. That means the horse dealers were educated people. The final transfer is dated around 1915. That is one family of Chabuk Sawars in the Mohalla, and they had a stable and a ground to show of their horse stock and it was called Kocha Chabuk Sawaran. Thats history in full!

Havelli Mian Khan of course is RANG MAHAL or the havelli of Nawab Lutufullah Khan son of Nawab Saad ullah Khan, Prime Minister of Emperor Shah Jahan.

It boggles the mind as to the kind of historical personages surrounding this area. And to top it all the area belonged to a mimar family of Lahore. We have record of Karam uddin Mimar buying this house, and succesive generations living here.The last of this was Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Mussawar e Mashriq, Artist of the East. who again put this Mohalla on the historical map of Lahore.

POST SCREIPT
Abdullah Malik’s reference about Kocha Chabuk Sawaran:

The most fascinating part of Abdulla Malik’s autobiography, which holds little back, are his early memories of the old city of Lahore. He writes, “I was born in the last years of the second decade of the 20th century, on 20 October 1920 in Lahore’s Koocha Chabukswaran, which was located in the heart of the city. Relying on my earliest memories, I can say that all the streets around ours, and in fact our immediate neighbourhood, the area bazars, the mosques, the takiyas, the public baths, were part of Haveli Mian Khan. This Haveli was built in Emperor Shahjahan’s reign by his Prime Minister Nawab Saadullah Khan, but it was completed during the time of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir by the Nawab’s son, Mian Khan, governor of Lahore. This grand edifice was spread over an area of several miles and it was divided into three sections: the women’s quarter, the men’s quarter which was called Rang Mahal, and the Qalai Khana, whose walls touched those of Masjid Chinyaanwali.”

Note reference to Qalai Khana.

A TIME FOR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO PASS
CONTEMPT OF ARMY ACT

Need to defend our national resources

Our parents saw the horror of war. Our ancestors saw the horror of weak countries and invading armies. People who have suffered know how much the defense of a country is necessary for one’s way of life. Allah tells us to remain strong and vigilant in face of negative forces existing in life. In life of many of us we have seen the invasion of a hostile neighbours. We are told by analysts of the lurking dangers beyond the border of a uprising of fundamentalists who knows no boundaries of co-existence. And yet their historians continue to malign us, and their paid agents who write in our newspapers and speak on our TV screens, the most stupid, naive or malignant assessment of all. Our strong Army stands in front of our progress. Of course the progress of these Mir Jaffers posing as forward thinking people. Of course their forwardness comes in term of visas, scholarships, handouts or even plain bottles of alcohol.

The list of this band of national cut-throats is increasing day by day. With no brains of their own, the brains of outside lobbies continue to feed them facts and their wrong analysis from abroad. A Lesbian has gone nuts in writing about our Pak Army. It is time to do something.

A ‘Contempt of Court’ law operates in Pakistan. It is time that our National Assembly moves a ‘Contempt of Army Act’ in the Assembly too. All persons speaking against the Pakistan Army should be first tried by a Military tribunal, and then handed over to civilian authorities for appeal purposes. Once found guilty, they should be a given a long term sentence, as well a survey of their resources, to find out the source of their newly gained wealth. I think lowering the shades, and you will find a trail of deceit and treachery miles long.

Love for one’s country cannot be quantified in any way. For us Islam is first, and everything after it. But Pakistan is the first step that Muhammed Ali Jinnah gave us. The first step towards an Islamic revolution. And all those dubbing our Quaid e Azam as secular, do not know that Islam itself has the most independent attitude towards life. And their trail goes the same long treacherous way as the others. Our Kalma is on our lips all the time.

DEVI PRASAD ROY CHOUDHURY A GREAT HINDU ARTIST
ECHOES OF CHUGHTAI ART IN HIS WORKS

The proud achievement of India

The Bengal School tree floated over India, both as a new movement and as a menace. These Bengalis knew no compassion for anyone outside their circles. They would tear anybody else to shreds. Abdur Rahman Chughtai survived their onslaught on him with great strength. But the Bengalis were not even nice to their own brethren in Bengal. The young versatile Roy Choudhury was torn to shreds by the Bengal School. In fact when Roy Choudhury showed his art works to Abindaranath Tagore, he called them worthless and asked him, to copy traditional Bengal works to learn about art. It is said that this really infuriated Roy Choudhury and he left Tagore in a hurry. Later Nandalal Bose took credit for his fame by saying that he learnt everything at the feet of their Master, Abindaranath Tagore. Unfortunately he is considered part of Bengal School itself, which initially rejected him totally.

Yes, Roy Choudhury was experimenting with techniques and ideas and sculpture. And like a dreamer he took an Italian Master as his tutor, and the Master trained his student without reservations. Roy Choudhury excelled in many aspects of art. Sculpture including the life size one he made of Maharaja of Jaipur is very famous. But there are certain paintings, which have echoes of Chughtai Art in them. And to us they look very pretty. We have all praise for this Hindu artist and the two nations meet on the cultural round. Art can bring nations together and it is this language, which can foster peace in our region.

Dr Karl Khandalavala just thinks of him as a ‘Decorative artist’ indulging in merely beauty and design. A man without even a job for long time, sought compensation in making stage backdrops and curtains, in the tradition of Master Hussain Baksh Lahori, stationed in Calcutta. Roy Choudhury was doing same in Bombay, as his home city was not willing to patronize him. But all his portraits, including those of the women he makes, echoes his love for his wife, who stood by him in all his distress years. Frail and beautiful, while his men are lone and aggressively male, Roy Choudhury is a proud diamond in a stack of worthless stones.

RANA CHANDRA SHAMSHEER JANG
PRIME MINISTER OF NEPAL
AND M.A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI

Royalty comes on board

The Art exhibition at Lahore Museum in 1920 brought M.A. Rahman Chughtai to the attention of the Indian world. His works were not only loved but were being sold. The challenge of the Bengal School was on the artist and his Punjab School was coping with the giant tigers of India. A famous work by AbindaranathTagore had won world wide attention, namely THE LAST DAYS OF SHAH JAHAN, and was being reviewed all over. M.A. Rahman Chughtai thought the work did not do justice to Muslim subject, for the Tagores had no knowledge of the momentum of Muslim feelings. In fact the remark of the artist was that Tagore’s Shah Jahan looks like a DHOBI (washerman) and not an Emperor at all.The response of Chughtai was the making of the PASSING OF SHAH JAHAN.

The whole story is in the research brochure THE CHALLENGE OF M. A. RAHMAN CHUGHTAI TO THE BENGAL SCHOOL OF ART. Suffice to say that Chughtai’s work was also making waves in India. In Mussorie in the week from 1st to 10 June, 1922, with catalogue number 35, the same work was exhibited at the Mussorie Fine Arts Exhibition. There walked in a man full of sorrow. His wife had died recently and he was heart broken at that moment. The subject of a dying Shah Jahan related to his passions and he immediately fell in love with the work. The work was bought by him for RS 1500, an Indian price record of that period, with a few other works. The total of RS 3000 was spent on Chughtai’s paintings.

Who was that man? A man of forward vision. The Royal family of Nepal, who no longer wanted to be a King and turned Nepal into a democracy and became perhaps the first Prime Minister of the country. Of course Rana Chandra Shamsheer Jang. Politics aside, his sensitivity to Art was unquestioned. This one purchase put Chughtai Art on the market place of India. In a letter to the artist, Rana Chandra Shamsheer Jang, wrote in 1922:

“I admire the Passing of Shah Jahan. You must have been congratulated on the bold and artistic rendering of a great subject.”

With so many negative reviews coming from Calcutta from the Tagores, the letter of the Prime Minister of Nepal came to the Chabuk Sawaran house of the artist, and brought great joy to him for Royal appreciation. Master Sher Muhammed said the definite words to Chughtai artist, when he said that had Shah Jahan been alive he would have trampled Tagore’s version under an elephant’s feet and weighed your work in gold. More on that later.

A 19TH CENTURY POET OF LAHORE
FIDAI BAIG (MUKUND LALL) KNOWN AS FIDWI LAHORI

Hidden gem of history of Lahore

A Hindu researcher came across a portion of an important Urdu manuscript which listed many poets of that period. Unfortunately the portion was left only with 10 Urdu poets. The rest had been wasted with time. But the unique aspect was that the manuscript was illustrated with actual portraits of the 10 poets. Our concern was with Lahore and we saw the poet Mukund Lall Fidai Baig known as Fidwi Lahori in it. Portraits of Lahoris of the past are very rare in all ways.

In the tradition of Shah Husain of Lahore whose unnatural love for Madho became a cult here for the common people, here too we see Fidai Baig sitting with a male beloved. The nature of that young boy is very apparent. In all ways it looks like a homosexual relation, but then poets were famous just to crow young boys as images for their imaginary passions. The poet had to have a MASHOOQ to vet his talent for love.

Somehow or the other there was demand for images at the end of last century and we see portraits, both real and imaginary being made by a lot of people. But the nature of this portrait, shows it to be a real representation. Perhaps we may carry images of some other poets too. In same period books with Mughal figures abounded too. We look towards a book published in Lahore with a sketch of Baba Hiyadatullah, a Punjabi poet of Lahore on its cover. But then I have seen a thesis of PU with a photograph of the said man, who lived right in front of the house of M.A. Rahman Chughtai artist. Poets galore all the time!