ء says…

I remember when noori launched into the mainstream (2002), our tag-line was that we are a clear departure from soppy love songs – that we had consciously decided to stay away from the lovey-dovey track, because all that was coming out in the name of love was total crap, and that, especially in these times, the needful was to bring about change at a different level. To focus on the minds of people (youth in particular) – try to make them think responsibly and to dream purposefully.

I’ll be very honest. This was all Ali Noor’s idea! He’s the one who had always been inspired by revolutionary western rock music and the progressive writers’ movement (a la Manto, Premchand et al).

I must also confess here that the first idea in this direction (again) was provided by me – when I wrote the lyrics for ‘Mein’. But honestly, I was not at all aware about it: Noor had made this melody and he asked me to write words for it; I wrote spontaneously, Noor did all the interpretations and, right there and then, we found a new purpose for noori!

I was in awe, firstly at the fact that he made something I had just written off hand into something really grand (a big ego booster for me), and secondly because this brother of mine has a mind that works at the speed of light – the conversations we had that day (somewhere in 1996) opened a brand new chapter for both of our lives! … Although it still took me another 6 years to assimilate it, he was already at work starting that very day…

Truth is that I have never (and I mean this) on my own initiative written a non-love/message/social-change oriented song. It has always been in collaboration with Ali Noor. Whereas Ali Noor kept writing more and more such songs, all with his own initiative, while I was busy partying at college/university (I rejoined him in the effort once again in 2002, when we had to pen down some remaining songs for SKMHJ).

Ok, I wrote ‘Jo Meray’ on my own – which isn’t much of a love song, but then, that song doesn’t have any lyrics to start with!

And this brings me to point out a major difference between Noor and I: he is a real life person, who works with (and hence comprehends) tangibles mostly – he dreams, but his dreams are practical dreams – like becoming a rock star, changing society etc.

I, on the other hand, am an abstraction freak. I have my own world, full of romanticism and highly impractical agendas. From the age of 3 to 15, I have spent more than half my day, roaming outside in my lawn, talking to myself, telling myself that one day I will be this super hero, with supernatural powers etc.

I still have these ‘unreal’ dreams by the way. But I have learnt how to refine them and make them more in sync with the knowledge fund of our time (and that of the ancients too).
Secondly, I have come out of my ‘love thyself’ syndrome to quite and extent, and have tried to link my dreams with humanity in general. Yes, today I dream of a future human being, with capabilities and potential far beyond what we have today… I love mythology, and I love the supernatural!

My dreams may not be real-life, but they are future-life for sure!

Lastly, in retrospect, when I wrote Mein, I think I wrote it about myself and my elevation from all the issues of reality. But Noor interpreted it as the Story of a Mad Man – even the video (which was never shot) was planned out like that. And look at me, I have never even told Ali Noor that I wrote it with myself in mind!!! I guess he will find out, himself for the first time, with this post.

Gee man… thanks for calling me a psycho!
And I guess that also answers the question that ‘who’s right?’ in all this… right?

No! … this is not a question of who’s right and who’s wrong. In fact, this difference is the very basis of what makes us brothers gel so well.

We are like the yin and yang. Even our stars made us like that!

It will be interesting for the reader to know that Noor and I are equinoxes. Our birth dates (23rd September and 21st March) are those very days of the year (give or take some approximations) when the duration of night and day is the same! And while I mark the beginning of Spring, Noor announces the coming of Autumn (the two most beautiful seasons of the year). …

… Man I am taking this vanity thing beyond limits!!!

I am gonna stop here or I’ll lose total control…

I have something else to say as well… I am not finished yet. But I will give you respite, and give myself a day or so to recollect my thoughts…

As always, I wanted to write something else, and went in another direction altogether

I suffer from vanity for sure!! … Any prescriptions??

I am quite surprised at the response we got for Do Dil. It was definitely extraordinary!

I guess I have to thank God, first and foremost, for all that he has endowed us with – talent, fans, looks …. aaaah… someone mentioned that I take vanity to another level altogether … Dig this dude!

But still… that doesn’t let go off the fact that I’m awed. And, as always, as I try to understand the whys and how’s of my amazement, I do get some directions for an answer…

I think what stands out the most is that even after all these ups and downs, noori has one hell of a fan base (I am trying to look at noori as an outsider here … and this is not another show of vanity).
Some of these fans are no longer fans for me, they are friends; in fact one of them is a real close friend now. And so when my friends start acting like ‘groupies’ (and I am quoting their own words here), even I get a bit uncomfortable.
Who befriends a fan?????… now I AM being vain …

But, just to put it in short, what makes noori stand out the most is the relationship we have with our fans. I think I can proudly say that we have taken this relationship to another level altogether. And I also believe that, with time, the world will also come to appreciate this; as we will continue to develop it more and more.

What all this does for me (and Noor also) is that it makes me realize that this noori business is much bigger than my own person, and that I am only an agent in a much bigger linkage. I might be the face representing this band (just like Obama is the face representing USA – vanity again!), but the real elements are all those others who are involved – as listeners, as fans, as critics, as channels and so on and so forth. And that each of these elements has some sort of claim on this reality called noori.

The response we got from Do Dil, has clearly shown that! I guess the fact that noori re-emerged after so long was enough to create the response we’re getting.
And I couldn’t be happier!!! … and I also couldn’t feel more a sense of responsibility towards the bigger reality I mentioned above.

So, for all those who have been wondering about the fate of noori, let me assure you that as long as I am there, I will make every god damn effort to make it last and grow further!

Yes there will be ups and downs, as life is a much much bigger reality… but the determination is my own, and nothing (but myself) will stop me from being determined.
….

God bless America! Pakistan Zindabad!

P.S. I think I am finding a really creative (read fraudulent) way of using tags

Hamza says… I don’t know what to say anymore!!???!

Seriously!

To start with, Noor and I had a serious argument about how one should run a Blog.

I was being the usual idealist I am, saying that my blog has to be about worthwhile stuff and not just the random happenings of my everyday life. Ali Noor, while not rejecting my idea, suggested that I go and read different blogs on the net. I had done that way before Noor had even considered starting a blog, and knew that, apart from some serious writers, most of the people usually write blogs for sharing self indulgences – read, lack of discipline and lack of purpose… and all that crap!

On reaching the verge of serious conflict, I decided that I am not going to publish any blog until I have thought it through in my head. Meanwhile Ali Noor went on and launched his blog himself, without me launching mine alongside (which was the initial plan).

So don’t think ‘ke chota bhai baray ki copy kar raha hai! ’. As always, I am taking advantage of his mistakes and being the smarter one in following suit

But then, guess what?

I did think it through. And I did get many ideas in my head. For starters I started posting news items which I read, onto my Facebook profile. In fact I went crazy with the posting to the extent that my friends and cousins started looking at me with doubt that ‘what the hell is this guy up to??’

But my intentions were honest … I do believe … and I honestly think that, in these times, a lot needs to be said, responsibly and purposefully …

With that intention I started writing my first piece for the blog … and yesterday when I finished, I realized I had written a 4000 word long pamphlet!!!

Who the hell would read that?? Even I got tired (if not bored) halfway into it.

I have usually been very comfortable with my writing and I felt that this too would be a piece of cake … little did I know that I will have to spend three sleepless nights in my attempt to be purposeful. And by the end of it I wrote something that only some my close friends would read, and that too as a consolation for my effort!

Not that I am bad writer (I am quite vain by the way), but today, as I write this first blog entry, I am humbled with the realization that there is a long long way to go. Secondly, I submit that Noor was right … in fact I love the freedom these blogs give – I can write without feeling accountable towards a third person.

I will be writing the purposeful stuff as well. In fact I will write much more of that than random ramblings, but why limit myself??

This is an open space… so let’s breathe freely!!

Muahs and Coochies,

Hamza