raaz e ulfat – secret of love

When i retired I had no idea what i would do with my leisure time. Ofcourse sports, watching TV plays, shows and films, walks in the park, writing books, poetry, writing on my blog about spirituality Hinduism, the after life, mysticism, music ,study of different religions, meditation, looking deeper on the meaning of life , establishing contact with lost friends and relatives having spent my life overseas in the Foreign Service and pursuing my interests like keeping pet fish and birds, studying nature and animal life ad infinitum.

I pursued all these interests now that retirement had given me the time to do so but kept on searching to find what could engage my free time more fully. And then i stumbled on a treasure trove to keep me fully engaged. Earlier in life we had come across some good Pakistani serials which we had enjoyed greatly rather than indian or American serials. I found that the Pak serials had gained great maturity in more ways than one. I couldnt believe how well they were produced, directed, story line,acting and actors and actresses, screen play, dialogue (in urdu) and issues explored from daily life in all classes from village, feudal, middle class, urban life and upper class life styles. The themes were also amazing in their diversity and authenticity. Yes I was totally hooked and it became my old age addiction and passion to spend several hours each day watching the Pak serials with total concentration and enjoyment. Life without these well produced, directed and acted serials would have become a source of depression in old age. And they are available on the internet free with hardly any ads on u tube and other sites. What a bonzana of good entertainment, drama, ethical and social issues and Islamic values of life and consequences of your actions. Neither in India or the west have these issues and relationships been tackled with so much finesse and admirable insight as the Pak serials which are often also subtitled to reach beyond the Urdu- Hindi lanuages to the west and elsewhere. All the themes have an amazing appreciation of spiritual values where the consequences of your actions provide in the end the right results in spiritual terms with tragedy or reward for commendable behaviour compassion and concern for others as against self centered pursuit of pleasure and hedonism depriving others of their rights imposing ones will on others and denying them their rights.

 

Indeed i have seen in these plays so much of what actually happens in life between people, families friends and siblings and the power of love, hate ,envy and selfishness equally of evil intentions and purposes, the life of poverty, riches and class, truely portrayed, that I am left entralled by the ability of these story writers, producers, directors and actors for the works of art they have created which leaves us totally engaged and driven off our feet for their insights and abilities. How have these Pak serials managed to achieve with absolute distinction what others have not been able to do!? And my happiness knows no bounds in finding that there are over 500 such priceless dramas never failing to impress, available on the internet at no cost and with minimal advertisements to feed ones addiction.

yes my friends these serials are jewels to treaure just right length with about 30 episodes or less succinct rarely trailing and never lasting longer than you want. The drama story line and emotions in relationships are superb and portrayed without any exaggeration. In particular i love the presence of parental figures showing the intimate affections and guidance provided by Mother for daughter , son the Fathers discipiline and guidance both loving and dictatorial in turns, the beautifully portrayed relationships of siblings, and of course the nature of love affairs involving sacrifice committment defiance of custom and tradition, leading to a lifetime of regret and tragedy or managing to overcome outdated norms and constraints which are only meant to shackle freedom happiness and free will. Ihe power of evil intentions is also wonderfully shoown where friends betray one another out of petty jealosies or seek to ruin the lives of gullible innocent souls by subterfuge deceit and cunning to win over trust and exploit it for ones selfish desires.Every type of relationship has the attributes to show all these characteristics good or bad superbly portrayed. and that is no wonder because many of the stories are written on by hired script writers whose only purpose is to win the box office with flimsy shallow themes but by eminent pak writers not aping the west but producing and showing the best in Pak and Islamic character. Finally every drama serial has attached to it a priceless message of what Allah or god is like in his guidance compassion and measuring out fate and anguish and trials of life to test the mettle of those He loves. Tests are the basic themes of these stories where every trial is there for a purpose, that being to improve the quality of humaness, test the mettle of mankind to raise it to ethereal levels. The concept which really won my admiration was that of ‘AJMAISH; which in urdu means supreme test through adversity. Like all religious messages Islam’s message of AJMAISH is beautiful because it seeks to show you that all adversity is not a punishmebt rather a test of the strength of your soul;s ability to endure and evolve which alone makes you what in the Gita is mentioned as the person who is dearest to Him.Whether in Islam hinduism or christianity the message is basically the same – christ on a cross, we bearing our own crosses all finally leading to evolution and enlightenment here and later elsewhere. These pakistani serials have managed to capture and beautifully portray that concept in their themes of love betrayal family relationships, human intereactions and life in totality. I congratulate them for not merely entertaining but leaving behind a message which goes way beyond that.Bravo and congratulations to these special people for what they have done and continue to do with unbelievable ability and skill.

let me introduce you to some of the serials i enjoyed most:

DASTAAN

A moving story of partition faithfully rendered without bias and stereotypes. Outstanding cast and individual portrayals.

 

 

 

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