My Malice and Bias

  Jagjit Singh - Legendary Ghazal Maestro Jagjit Singh (1941–2011) was a legendary Indian composer, musician, and singer widely celebrated as the "Ghazal King." He popularized traditional ghazal music by blending complex Urdu poetry with simple, modern melodies that appealed to everyday listeners. Over a five-decade career, he released numerous hit albums and recorded memorable film soundtracks. But did you know that he was banned by Indian government led by Rajiv Gandhi and his songs were not allowed on state-run All India Radio and Doordarshan TV? The ban lasted for almost two years. So, what prompted the government to ban Jagjit Singh?  Jagjit Singh's Past  Jagjit Singh was born as Jagmohan Singh Dhiman at Sri Ganganagar to a Sikh family. His father, Sardar Amar Singh Dhiman, was a surveyor with the government's Public Works' Department. He.followed the Namdhari sect of Sikhism who are strict vegetarian and known for their devotion to Gurbani, His natural t...

The Pakistan Identity Arabization in Pakistan and Bangladesh refers to a socio-cultural shift since the late 1980s where traditional, indigenous South Asian and Indo-Persian Islamic practices have been gradually replaced by more conservative, gulf-centric Arab cultural norms.  Indo-Persian Culture of Pakistan The culture of the Indian subcontinent developed as a unique blend of Indian and Persian cultures through the historic interaction between the people of the region. It encapsulated the ethnic and religious diversity by integrating Islamic thoughts in the Indian society. Lahore - Punjab Heritage The roots of the Indo-Persian culture can be traced to Mahmud of Ghazni who began a series of raids in the subcontinent during the latter part of the 10th century. Afghan and Mughal rulers of India established and maintained a sophisticated Persianized court and patronized works of Sufism and Persian language. The Persian language maintained its status as the language of high soc...

Mythologies behind Seven-day Week The Origin A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. The seven-day week stems from ancient Mesopotamia around 600 BCE. The earliest evidence of an astrological significance of a seven-day period is a decree of king Sargon of Akkad around 2300 BC. Akkadians venerated the number seven, and the key celestial bodies visible to the naked eye numbered seven (the Sun, the Moon and the five closest planets). Some ancient and traditional cultures had different week lengths, including ten days in Egypt and an eight-day week for ancient Romans , who later switched to a seven-day week.Historically, indigenous Indian timekeeping relied on a luni-solar system divided by lunar phases (tithis), months, and fortnights (pakshas). The adoption of the seven-day week (Vara) occurred alongside Indo-Greek and Mesopotamian cultural exchanges, eventually solidifying in Sanskrit astronomical texts like the Surya Siddhanta and Pancasiddhantika between the 1st and...

FIFA World Cup 2026 Hysteria in USA We Americans are living through a soccer hysteria at the moment as we are in the middle phase of 2026 FIFA world cup. And why not ... the whole world loves soccer?  I’m just trying to understand why a lot of us are obsessed with the English club football.  I understand the passionate love for sports. But I am genuinely trying to understand why this passionate allegiance for a football club that has nothing to do with you?  British Asians make up around 7% - 9% of the UK population. They practically run the nation’s corner shops, pharmacies, tech sectors, and the government. Yet, on the pitch of the world’s most watched football league, the representation of British Asians hovers somewhere around 0.1% . To put that into perspective, you are statistically more likely to spot a rare albino squirrel riding a unicycle through London than you are to see a British South Asian starting at center-back for Chelsea. How does the love affai...