Saturday 29 December 2012

In the name of Nirbhaya......

Nirbhaya/ Amaanat/ Damini/ India's Daughter/Brave-heart:  All names given to a 23 year old Indian girl who was brutally gang raped /violated by 6 men. No point writing about the gruesome details here....If you Google her 'given' names, you'll find a plethora of detailed and articulate articles about her and the massive stir she has caused in the world, especially amongst the women.

I totally agree with the women in India...The 'woman' in Indian culture has been worshiped on one hand and looked down upon, violated and taken for granted on the other. The  dominating, self -proclaimed, patriarchal, hypocrite society of India has let down every single woman by ignoring her violators time and again....


A thousand women have been raped before 'Nirbhaya'.....A woman is raped every 22 minutes ..... and it took a Nirbhaya to die a horrifying, gruesome death to evoke a cry of 'ENOUGH' .. like a wounded animal from the women of India.


I am thoroughly depressed....


There is only one thing though, that I do not agree with...and this has nothing to do with Nirbhaya...It's a different topic altogether...


It's about what most of the young girls have said after this incident. ' every time we go out, we feel like we are a piece of meat' ' It doesn't matter what I wear, men have no right to look at us'.


I'm sorry ladies!! If women walk about wearing indecent clothes and expect illiterate men of poor upbringing(who make up most of the population) to look away and not stare....or eve-tease....or touch or worse, rape, they are asking for too much....the responsibility lies upon a woman's shoulders to dress modestly in order to be respected by all classes of men....if you are really desperate to ape the West and show off your lovely bodies, and still expect to be respected by every class of man, then I'm sorry, these are men... not zombies....and this is the East....not the West. Here, we nurture a woman's beauty and not expose it for all sorts to lech at.


I'm not judging Nirbhaya here....nor any other decent girl who was unfortunately raped....I'm only talking of the class of uneducated men who have been brought up in slum clusters, who are used to seeing their womenfolk work like dogs and come home to be beaten up by their fathers/husbands/brothers, their money blown away on cheap alcohol......Educated girls cannot expect any kind of sensitivity or respect from these slum bred men. It's too late..and impossible to 'sensitize' them or educate them about women and their rights.


Respect for a woman is taught from a young age, and these people are deprived of everything...an education, a proper upbringing, employment, health....They are a people drowned in different types of complexes who know they don't have power over anything. The only thing they think they can control are their women...They are a dangerous people.... with a dangerous mentality.


Therefore, a request to my fellow sisters, don't throw the responsibility of  'lowering the gaze' only on such men...We as women are already beautiful creatures....God has created us this way - BEAUTIFUL, ATTRACTIVE fully clothed, so what are you all trying to achieve by exposing your bodies or masking your natural beauty with make up?....it only attracts wrong attention and degrading remarks from such men ((sometimes)....if it happens to be at the wrong time/ wrong place).


It's just unfortunate that we have such disgusting, pathetic excuses for men within the government making comments like ' women are 'dented/painted'. It's shocking to hear such words from an educated man like Abhijeet Mukherjee. But that's my point....Most men from the East think like this....they can't help it.


May God protect all of us from men who have no control over themselves and their egos and hats off to those who stand by today's women in India and support them and fight for their rights.


Prophet Mohammed (s.a) said: " Nobody respects women but those who are dignified and generous and nobody insults them but those who are mean and contemptible".






Saturday 15 December 2012

Interfaith Hussain Day - Wali ul Asr



Wali ul Asr school - The first Shia High school in Canada held the Interfaith Hussain (s.a) Day on the 9th of December. It was an excellent evening with a great turn out.  Art work by numerous talented artists and students was on display and was appreciated by all. There was a theatrical play based on the theme 'Halmin Nasirin Yansurna' - 'Is there anyone to help'. The message of the play was loud and clear and made everyone present feel proud of being part of Wali ul Asr.
Below is a painting (not one of my best works, as it was done in 4 hours) that I submitted for the Art exhibition - The painting depicts me and my son on the land of Karbala - The message being that I have only my son to give to my Imam...and that is where I'm pointing - to the battlefield....and to be in His service will be my only advise to my boy. The 'alam' in the paintings reads 'Labbaik ya Hussain' - 'We are here, Oh Hussain'

Labbaik ya Hussain
Here is the link for the play. DO watch it with your family.
https://picasaweb.google.com/waliulasrschool/InferfaithHusainASDayVideo?feat=email#5832569561617782066

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This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

Wednesday 30 May 2012

I whirl


In a world of chaos,
I whirl.
finding peace inside
connecting, strengthening...

Amongst egos
I whirl
escaping...

I raise my hands...one begging Him for mercy and love,
the other towards the earth...spreading this mercy and love.
I whirl.

Come whirl with me.
Feel the ecstasy
Shed the thick, stinking garb of your ego,
You have worn it too long....
Come and join me.

Let us reconnect again...
Become one as we were..
As we were meant to be.

~ Ambereena Razvi



Creative Commons License
This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License

[Image]
This work by Ambereena Razvi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Saturday 26 May 2012

South Asian Heritage Exhibition


So... this is my first group exhibition in Toronto. I'm looking forward to it...Also looking forward to meeting new folks and art aficionados.
To those living in Toronto, please do come. I would be so, so happy to see you there. To those out of Toronto, I will miss you and hope you can attend my next exhibition.

Update: The Exhibition went really great... Beautiful attendance, lovely people. Even my High School English teacher came!! My friends made it even better with their presence and loads of help. A Special Thank you to Mr. Fahim Hamid Ali for organising the exhibition and Salim Khan for helping me to transport and display my works alongside his.



'Come whirl with me'
with my besties... 'coz we're just way too cool. :p

with Samir Dossal - Art aficionado



Monday 7 May 2012

C'est la vie!!


The time from August 1st 2011 until now has been very, very trying for me. I have seen pretty steep ups and downs, experienced emotional trauma, have gone through short stagnant phases that seem as long as eternity...I have withstood all this chaos and feel stronger........ because Allah has always enveloped me with love, has consoled me at night when I lie down with a broken heart, by putting me to sleep before I shed a tear and given me comforting dreams. He has loved me in my worst state and through it, has brought out my best state...

And then I heard this:

Asafalta gheray tujhe, marg  ho avirudh,
(When failure surrounds you, and your way with obstacles is strewn )
Paas na ho dhan teray aur karya ho apaar,
(When you have no wealth, and your goals seem unattainable)
Bhaag mat! kar prayaas, kar prayaas! bhaag mat 
(Don't run!, keep trying, Keep trying! Don't run.)

Chaahe tu hasna, kintu aankhay ho numm,
(You want to smile, but your eyes fill with tears)
Bhaag mat! kar prayaas, kar prayaas, bhaag mat
(Don't run! Keep trying, Keep trying! dont run)

Peeda hi sukh hai...Sukh  hi hai peeda...
(Pain is happiness, Happiness is pain)
Haar mein hi jeet hai, jeet mein hi haar, 
(In failure is sucess and sucess in failure)
kar prayaas bhaag mat, 
(Keep trying, dont run!
bhaag mat kar prayaas.
(Don't run, keep trying)

Amazing how God speaks to us in different ways, thru different people...

I met a very old Sardaarji on my way back to downtown from Brampton...I had my veil on. He sat next to me and said 'Asalaam alaikum  बेटा  (my child)'.. We started a conversation and he started telling me of his struggles in life....eventually to be left alone in the end.. He said ' बेटा , I have property and money but my children have left me'...Then he said....'No matter what  बेटा , रब को याद  करते रहो....उसे भूलो मत '(Always think of God.... Don't ever forget him). I knew that one was for me...a subtle reminder that Allah wants me to think of him constantly.

Allah, My beloved.......my true beloved....and my only beloved...You have put me in a realm of uncertainty, chaos and hurt. I mount the roller coaster everyday and come home tired on every level. But I still love you...Because I can feel you molding me....sculpting away the dirt....polishing away the impurities....In pain is happiness and in happiness is pain...I understand now.



Mindfulness underrated

Being mindful is what we should be focusing on these days. Mindful – to be aware, to live in the moment, not sharing it with another...