That day somehow my name sounded heavy, even loaded, to me. Raazia? Shafique? Two slabs of seriousness- surrounded me, keeping me shrouded in walls and walls of black silk cloth. Raazia: a round-edged top with a see-through hijab. Shafique: a long-sleeved full-length buttoned-up dress. The height of oppression that name became. And now, when meeting someone, anyone, i flash a big smile, offer my hand, and say ‘Ms Abundant Sweet!’ Each time (or almost) it produces enthusiastic response, ‘Ms Sweet? Oh how sweet!’ spreading joyful confetti on the city street.
One day, as i was serving Ms. Sweet with the morning Raag Vibhas on a YouTube playlist, she said: ‘i have a dream, ya know!’ ‘Oh! You do?’ LOL… I laughed out loud. ‘And so did Martin Luther King’, she sounded very cross. ‘Indeed, it is true’, i said, putting joy on a temporary hold. ‘Tell me.’ ‘I dream of a time when your closet has me as your only hijab’, Ms Sweet said with a longish pause. ‘Only one hijab?’ I checked my closet- white burqa, black burqa, colorful burqini, a floral silk hijab, a green cotton- it went on and on. ‘Should I…?’ ‘Call big brothers this very day.’ But monogamy was not my forte that day. ‘Perhaps’, I said, ‘Dreams are dreams / only / in an unreal world’.
First published in LCP Chapbook Series: AHVAZ // AAVAZ // AVAAZ: A Chapbook Anthology of South Asian Poetry, ed. Shazia Hafiz Ramji, League of Canadian Poets, 2022
Katheren Szabo, recognized as a Surrey Woman of Courage in 2019, has decided to take a courageous exit from the world today around 3pm pacific. Katheren confronted sexual violence and abuse, poverty and neglect, resulting in serious health issues yet she continued to contribute to community life with positive actions developing poetry, art and community. Here’s a tribute to Katheren by Vancouver author Zoe Dagneault: ‘Katherine Szabo: the Heart of Newton’.
The following email was received last night from Newton’s community garden, one of the projects supported by Katheren:
WHAT: PLEASE LIGHT A CANDLE FOR KATHEREN SZABO and HER FAMILY WHEN: NOW AND ANYTIME THROUGH TUESDAY DECEMBER 12 @ 3 PM MORE: PLEASE TAKE A PHOTO AND EMAIL IT AT: gardens.devine777@gmail.com
‘Tuesday, December 12, at about 3 pm, one of the edlders of Garden PLOT, Katheren Szabo, plans to access MAID. medical assistance in dying, ‘a process that allows someone who is found eligible to be able to receive assistance from a medical practitioner in ending their life.’ Katheren was diagnosed with late stage lung cancer earlier this year and it has spread through her body and has most currently and aggressively spread to her brain. In accordance with her wishes, a very caring MAID nurse that Katheren has made a connection with, will be present with her as her time comes. ‘If you feel called, please light a candle for Katheren, now or anytime leading up to her departure from her earth skins about 3 pm Tuesday December 12. The act of lighting a candle will be a great assist on many levels, and together with loving intentions or prayers in the way you are called, we will lift up our Elder Katheren. The images will also be offered as a way to send our love and support to her family. ‘As we light our candles, let’s envision and lift Katheren up in love and see her going to the light. This precious human has been through much in her years, more than most of us could ever imagine, and she has fought so hard for her life, for her voice and has learned how to speak for the vulnerable and those who are not able to speak for themselves. Katheren has endured and worked very hard to transmute the trauma of unconscious and hideous acts. Her voice became a voice both for herself and for others, especially children. I believe it is her legacy and her work that lays tracks to help heal all humankind, and both victim and perpetrator, through her work as community leader and advocate. ‘The list of efforts and work for and in community by Katheren is great and includes sixty day drumming vigils running five years in a row, in the Grove in Newton, for community healing to name just one.’ Teresa Klein
Farewell Katheren! Thank you for gracing us with your beauty, vision and activism.
After the three-year term ended for the first poet laureate (2015-2018), we should have had our second (2018-2021), and now the third poet laureate (2021-2024). Some of us have been waiting since 2018 to hear the good news because the funding was approved by the City, and though late, Surrey Libraries had issued a call for submissions in May 2019 with a July dateline where interviews were to be scheduled in September. (https://www.northdeltareporter.com/community/search-launched-for-surreys-new-poet-laureate-for-two-year-term/).
The interviews did take place. What happened after is a mystery, and if i was a mystery writer it would have been one hell of an interesting activity to unravel it- but what good is a mystery without a murder- and for sure no murder took place in this scenario or in this City.
In search for answers, my first stop of course was the Program’s Host, the Surrey Libraries, where i was promptly passed onto the relevant person who handed me over to Surrey’s Art Services to leave a message in their contact form- with nothing to show after weeks of wait. When front line workers do not have answers to simple questions, it means, there may be a clique at work that is pushing the agenda beneficial to a small group of privileged individuals at the expense of the benefits meant for, in this case, all the 603,970 people of this beautiful city.
‘The Surrey Poet Laureate program was established in 2015 to advocate for literacy and the literary arts and to help raise the status of poetry, language, and the arts in the everyday consciousness of Surrey residents.’ (https://www.surreylibraries.ca/news/city-surrey-poet-laureate-program).
I fully support the objectives of the Surrey Poet Laureate program, the arts nonprofit I work for supports it, my friends, peers and colleagues in Surrey’s arts communities support it. And, we are concerned, to say the least.
Surrey’s first Poet Laureate, Renee Sarojini Saklikar, did great work that included the completion of two legacy projects, the first brought 40 teens and seniors together to share their stories and it was published as an anthology in 2016. The second was a series of chapbook writing workshops for 42 teen writers at 6 libraries. ‘In the position, Saklikar participated in over 40 events each year and mentored over 150 writers through consultations and workshops.’ (https://www.surreylibraries.ca/news/city-surrey-poet-laureate-program)
This is a fair amount of literary activity that had enlivened the City for three years, and it encouraged me to know how the poets laureate in other cities had been doing.
Candice James, for example, the Poet Laureate Emireta of the City of New Westminster (where this program first began in 1998), had accomplished the following in the first of her two 3-year terms. She attended, organized or was featured in more than 150 literary and arts events in New Westminster and surrounding areas, mentored writers, founded and co-founded such vibrant organizations as Poetry in the Park, Poetic Justice, Slam Central and Royal City Literary Arts Society (RCLAS), and during this time, she also wrote and published five new books of poetry. From then to now, Candice has worked with Janet Kvammen and other colleagues, to change the literary landscape of New Westminster evolving it into a go-to town for poetry and art.
As well, the current poets laureate of New Westminster and Vancouver, Elliot Slinn and Fiona Tinwei Lam, are both doing amazing work for their peers and communities.
What I’m trying to say is that having a Poet Laureate program is maybe the most dynamic and affordable way for a city to develop and nurture art and arts communities for the benefit of its people. Programs such as the Poet Laureate and Writer in Residence at once support the literary journey of individual poets and writers by making available both recognition and resources, and, the creation of an ambiance to nurture fine arts in the general population. Each new poet or writer brings their own legacy project giving focus to specific communities and artistic disciplines assuring participation of diverse groups of people. For example, if one focused on seniors and youth, another may provide recognition to Surrey’s queer communities or women or children; disabled, deaf or hard of hearing poets; communities of colour; verse in translation, performance poetry, slam; or more support for under-privileged or financially challenged poets and writers.
If followed through on regular basis, the Poet Laureate program combined with the existing literary and arts development programs offered by the Surrey Libraries, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey Archives, the Museum of Surrey, Surrey Arts Centre, Arts Council of Surrey on the one hand, and various reading series and writers groups established by the communities themselves on the other- the resulting synergy may well bring skill, opportunity, joy and creativity to a majority of Surrey residents effectively raising the sheer quality of our lives.
This is an urgent request to Mayor Brenda Locke and all the eight Councillors to unblock the Surrey Poet Laureate program or prove to us that having a Poet Laureate program maybe too much art/lit for the City of Surrey with an estimated population of 603,970 in 2022. (Actually, can there be or is there ‘too much art/lit’ in any city of any size?) A couple of people who have expressed their sense of (dark) humour at the City Council by pitching the little Poet Laureate program ($10,000 per year budget) against the pervasive systemic issues of homelessness and poverty have established one thing only- that they are neither in favor of developing arts programs nor are they interested in resolving homelessness in Surrey rather their purpose seems to be to stall or eliminate the Poet Laureate program. But why? The small city of New Westminster with an estimated population of 82,939 in 2023 flawlessly manages a Poet Laureate program since 1998 as does the City of Vancouver since 2007 for a population of 2,657,000. So, what about Surrey?
What kind of future this City Government perceives for Surrey? A future that cannot seem to ‘afford’, or worse still, ‘manage’, a poet laureate program? A future where, according to speculation, we don’t need a Poet Laureate program because there’s going to be a writer-in-residence program- sure, we don’t need carrots because we will soon have potatoes- but what if we need and want both?
Imagine the kind of Future that may result from this Present that seems to be paying lip service to the promise of ‘Access to diverse, high quality learning opportunities, and vibrant arts, heritage and cultural experiences for all Surrey residents’, instead of actively facilitating arts programs such as the Poet Laureate.
Or would it be that the City’s Poet Laureate program becomes another (bad) joke on Surrey? Surrey already has plenty of bad jokes circling around it, we, the residents, don’t need another, especially not this one. To us, the real Surrey joke is the existence of a few people in key positions in the arts communities who can appropriate a publically funded program and try to almost kill it to suit themselves.
Or is it that something tantamount to a murder is happening right now where a program that was meant to be a resource and an opportunity for all Surrey poets and residents has been incarcerated and held hostage for the past five years by a few individuals furthering their own agendas.
Whatever the holdup, the question is what may a City Government, that is committed to developing ‘vibrant arts’, do to redress this situation? Please, put Surrey’s Poet Laureate program back on track without further delay, it’ll generate tremendous benefits for the people of this City. And, for sure, it’ll not take even a fraction of what it took to put back the RCMP.
In an open letter, over 1040 illustrious members of PEN International have offered their unconditional and uncritical support to NATO via its current proxy, Ukraine, that has just entered a NATO-instigated war with Russia. Russia, definitely the lesser land-grabber of the two is condemned in the letter while NATO, representing the strategic interests of the USA, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium and the rest of the 24 member countries, is not even named. Judging from the re-tweets, it is supported by various PEN subsidiaries including PEN Canada, and many famous and infamous writers.
‘PEN President Burhan Sonmez, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, and Nobel Laureates Orhan Pamuk, Svetlana Alexievich, Maria Ressa, join 1040+ in signing an open letter in support of the people of #Ukraine, condemning the senseless war waged by #Putin:’
The letter addressed to ‘our friends and colleagues in Ukraine’, is short and sweet invoking peace, non-violence, free expression, free assembly, and democracy. These ideals are interspersed with a litany of ‘we stand united’, ‘peace must prevail’, ‘the rights of Ukraine’s people to debate their future allegiance and history without Moscow’s interference’, ‘free and safe Europe’, ‘free and independent Ukraine’, and ‘we stand by you and feel your pain’.
But can these lofty words hide the real intent of this letter as it gives open support to the land-grabbing operations of US-led NATO? Since the signatories are all literate and resourceful, they must be aware of the ongoing global power struggle between Russia and the USA. If so, the signatories are not supporting peace, they are pitching for one block to establish its supremacy over the other.
If the intent of this letter was ‘peace’ and ‘peace must prevail’, it would have mentioned NATO’s role in the region and in this war. If it was to support ‘writers, journalists, artists, and all the people of Ukraine’, it would have differentiated between the Government and the People of Ukraine. If ‘an end to proganda that is fuelling the violence’ was desired, there must have been some mention of how the ‘Western’ media, including this letter, is demonizing Russia and Putin. If the concept of the independence of people ‘to debate their future allegiance and history without Moscow’s interference’ was cherished, there must have been some mention of, for example, the rights of Irish people to debate their future allegiance and history without UK’s interference, or the rights of Indigenous people in Canada and the USA to be able to do the same, or the rights of the peoples of Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Serbia- the list, as you know, is long.
I tweeted my first reaction to this letter:
Allow me to expand on the latter part of it. If Russia had convinced, for example, Mexico to sign a defence pact with it and Mexico was set to do it, would the USA not attack Mexico to prevent it? And, would Russia not get any part of the responsibility or blame for the war in Mexico? If so, then why does NATO not merit the same credit in Ukraine?
All of us who live in the ‘Western’ countries are beneficiaries of the past and present land-grabbing operations of NATO and some of its member countries before NATO. So, if individuals or groups feel compelled to support the NATO group, it would be understandable since their interests are tied to it. For example, if I was living in Pakistan, and India had attacked, I would have supported Pakistan’s Armed Forces, an institution that I am dead against for not allowing democratic processes to develop in the country, and, I’ll also wish for it to successfully repel that attack. I would do that simply because I want to live in a safe home and for that the status quo, however corrupt and un-just, must stay protected against an outside invasion. And while I give my critical and time-limited support to an exploitative agency, I will not overlook its destructive role in Pakistani politics nor will I cloak my support in high ideals of ‘patriotism’ or ‘nationalism’.
So, feel free to support the NATO group of land-grabbers if you want, but then, acknowledge it and say it for what it is instead of cloaking it in high ideals and omitting relevant and important information.
Much like the propaganda materials provided by governments and their agencies, this letter does not distinguish between ‘people’ and ‘governments’. In this World, no ‘people’ of any country want war- their governments and international power-holders do. Russian people don’t want war, their government does. Ukrainian people don’t want war, their government does. American people don’t want war, their government does. Whoever lumps them together gives all power to the governments, and leaves nothing for the people.
No wonder, this open letter reads like a press release drafted by functionaries in Washington rather than a position statement written by independent intellectuals.
This reminds me of another open letter though not as ‘unprecedented’ since it only had over 150 signatories, that also obliterated facts to suit their concept of free expression. Here’s my respose to it: straight.com/news/fauzia-rafique-this-free-speech-no-thanks
And here’s an ode to NATO. Pardon my crude expression in it, the utter sophistication of the subject matter necessitated it. the-business-of-burying-is-booming
Last month, i kept coming across Punjabi texts in English that seemed a bit off. In fact, they made no sense at the first, second or even the third glance. At the time, it was not possible for me to stop and investigate but I truly hoped that the virus raging around us has not had a mitigating impact on my capabilities to read, or understand, plain English. Here are a few translated texts:
‘She said, ′′ The target of politics is to be read by reading it, but nothing else happened.’
‘The words of the words, the eyes of the words, the words of the words, are not the naughty ones.’
‘In every bid, in every bid, there are no common words, but there are no fools.’
You see? Each line almost means something- sometimes, many things.
Remedios Varo, Still Life, Reslicitando 1963
Amid this intellectual confusion, i posted a Punjabi poem with the title and dedication translated in English situating it as a tribute to my sister. Within moments of sharing it on Facebook, i got a message from my friend George Chris Michas:
‘As you can see, it could not translate all of it.
Thx for your lovely poem, Fauzia.’
— George Chris Michas
The message had the English version of the poem attached. I opened it, and the very first glance was enough to reveal to me the secret of my feared intellectual or mental mitigation- Google Translate (GT).
if i was into Kafka, these translated texts were perfect prompts, pointers and materials to create uber literature or i could have joined host of writers who have tried, mostly in vain, to explain Kafka in newer terms. Since neither is the case, I’m only going to dwell upon a couple of possible techniques used by Google Translate to arrive at some of the more Kafkaesque* creations. This is not an easy task since there’s a little masterpiece- or the beginning or the end of one- hidden in every line. Still i’ll try to simplify.
If you are one of my non-Pakistani-Punjabi friend on Facebook, you may come across various posts in my newsfeed that use the word ‘bid’ in translation. Here are a few from the timeline of Maqsood Saqib:
‘Spoke a little bit / Apply the lok bid’
‘Lose your identity Apply the lok bid’
‘Folk bid without who Punjab / Apply the lok bid’
No, Maqsood Saqib is not into a bidding business of any kind, he is a Punjabi author, publisher and linguist participating in a discussion about language rights in the Punjab. The word for ‘language’ in Punjabi is ‘boli’ that Google Translate takes as the Urdu word ‘boli’, and indeed that ‘boli’ does mean ‘bid’. Google Translate does not differentiate between the two as it thinks Punjabi is Urdu simply because the two languages use the same Perso-Arabic script. This is ironic- we Punjabis are saying ‘punjabi is not urdu’ to the State of Pakistan since 1947, and it is scary to note that GT and the State of Pakistan share so much in how they view local languages.
But does Google Translate do that, for example, in the case of English and French? Or with any other two European languages? I seriously doubt it.
Dear GT! Please Code It: punjabi is NOT urdu, and ‘boli’ means ‘language’.
If it was only words, it could have been bearable but there also is the question of the general garbledness of Punjabi texts in translation. Take for example the following.
‘The wings have been shown solely to give a sense of
proportion
The sound of songs
The ancestor came with a change
Art guns have all the power
Find your name
Mother Saadi Di Al
Show less
Whatever you do
Sohna Kardi
There are three examples everywhere
Go to my mother
On the chest of the angry world
Awaken the shoe of love
‘glass bangles knocking
the sound of your songs
reaches me with breeze and clouds
All arts and talents nature
placed in your person
our mother’s heritage
heightened them more
Whatever you do
you do so well
your examples are cited in every field
My mother’s daughter
on the chest of a hostile world
you lit the candle of love
(Thank you, Api Jan)’
As you can see, i can’t compete with GT. She/he/they are too good. When i think of it this way, it hardly matters anymore if they think Punjabi is Urdu or if ‘boli’ means ‘bid’, look at all the offbeat concepts being created with each ostensible translation of non-first-world languages. Not to mention, the boon GT is for the Promptesque Poets of the world.
Check ‘awaken the shoe of love’. In all honesty, i never ever thought that love itself could have shoes let alone LIVE ones who keep falling asleep, Lazy Buggers, creating the need to be awakened by people deep in their own pandemic snooze.
Likewise, before i read this line ‘the ancestor came with a change’, i had never considered the possibility that mine or anyone’s ancestors could arrive with a change of clothing or of governments or of systems or ideas. But now there is a lot of hope for, and a lot less responsibility on, me as i’m hoping that the ancestors are way better equipped than myself to bring the much needed social and political change.
However, i do find myself less amazed and more in agreement with the following for non-obvious reasons:
‘art guns have all the power’ is a fair example of wishful thinking that also seamlessly integrates art and guns.
‘show less / whatever you do’ as a common social directive coming from a deceptive male mind.
‘there are three examples everywhere’ as a reminder that i have to still find a publisher for my novel ‘Triple’.
By now, i do understand that ‘the target of politics is to be read by reading it’ but i can’t understand why ‘nothing else happened’.
Fauzia Rafique
*Kafkaesque ‘having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality.’ (Merriam-Webster)
A tribute to my beautiful and wise sister Salma Farooq.
مری ماں جائ
(اپنی سوہنی تے عقلاں والی بہن سلمہ فاروق دے ناں)
فوزیہ رفیق
مری ماں جائ
ترے پیار دے رکھ دی چھاویں
میں نت بیٹھی، اترائ
(انج ویکھو تے دوری اے (ڈاہڈی
جیویں مجبوری اے
(‘میں سڑکاں پھراں تشنگی ہاں’)
مڑ، آپی میرے دل وچ وسدی
دکھ سکھ سانجھ کرے
ماں میری نے افسر لائ، غلطی آن پھڑے
(‘مشورہ اپنے اپ نوں وی دیا کر، ببّی’)
من مجلس وچ ہاسے ٹھٹھّے
(لطیفے، کثیفے)
ماپیاں جھوک آباد کرے
مری ماں جائ
وڈیری پکھ دے ساک
توں الفت نال نبھائ
ہرنی نیناں مکھ تے
مکھڑا پھل گلاب
ہر اسمان دے تاریاں اندر
توں چاندر جیہا شباب
نگھیاں لاٹاں بالدی توں
پالے لال گلال
اونچ نیچ دے سبھے موسم، دنیا کرے حساب
وڈی توں
وڈیری توں
تیرا ایہی جواب
مری ماں جائ
مینوں ماسی خالہ آکھن والی
توں ٹبری آن ملاي
کچ دیاں ونگاں کھنکھن
ترے گیتاں دی آواز
ہوا تے بدلاں سار آۓ
فن گن سارے قدرت
تیری ذات چ پاۓ
ماں ساڈی دی ال
سگوں اچے کم وکھاۓ
جو کردی، توں
سوہنا کردی
ہر پاسوں تری مثال آۓ
مری ماں جائ
کرودھی دنیا دے سینے تے
توں پیار دی جوت جگاي
(تھینک یو، آپی جان)
۔۔
English Version
My Mother’s Daughter A tribute to my beautiful and wise sister Salma Farooq
My mother’s daughter
in the shade of the tree of your love
I always sit, with pride
It seems there’s distance (too much)
as if there’s an insurmountable limitation
(‘I walk the streets thirsting’*)
Yet, Api lives in my heart
Shares my pain and joy
Appointed by my mother to officiate
She spots my fault
(‘Give advice to yourself as well, Babbi’)
Laughter and laughs in the congregation of the self
(jokes, naughty jokes)
She settles again our parental space
My mother’s daughter
relationships of higher responsibility
you fulfilled with affection
Deer eyes on the face
face a blooming rose
In the stars of every sky
you glow like the moon
Igniting tender sparks you
nurtured your family
in all seasons of ups and downs, others point fingers
You are respected
you are Elder
This is your response
My mother’s daughter
those who can call me aunty aunt
you brought me that lovely clan
glass bangles knocking
the sound of your songs
reaches me with breeze and clouds
All arts and talents nature
placed in your person
our mother’s heritage
heightened them more
Whatever you do
you do so well
your examples are cited in every field
My mother’s daughter
on the chest of a hostile world
you lit the candle of love
Fauzia Rafique 