This year has forced us to deal with mortality and separation in very real terms. In this literal life-and-death existentialism, we are pushed everyday to think of little risks – going to work, eating out, seeing family – and question whether elemental parts of our lives are worth risking the spread of a deadly disease. When it has been hardest to see those we love than maybe ever before, every interaction deserves more intention.

In the middle of all of this, a blog of cryptic jokes and strange stories about pop music seems frivolous. It is. But when we are dealing with that moment of silence on a phone call, or struggling to weigh the risk of every move we make in life, a little frivolity gives us the strength to keep going. Every song is a slice of orange in the marathon of life.

Writing Hamnawa is a joy. I am deeply grateful for having your audience to write about something that I care about. To tell stories that I hope stay alive, with songs that may offer joy for years to come.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and a Happy New Year. I’m attaching some delightful Urdu Christmas music.

Hamnawa will be on vacation next week, and be back in the new year.