tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78106841644110523682024-03-22T01:31:51.229+00:00The Thing About This Is...it's a bit random.asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-39861666373800583152013-07-01T23:03:00.000+00:002013-07-08T23:04:45.722+00:00State of Bollywood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I realise this isn't my usual topic but the last couple of weeks Bollywood films has been the topic of discussion between myself and my work colleague.<br />
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How is it possible to sit through 3 hours of what appears to be a really badly told storyline trying to imitate Hollywood? I recently I watch <i>Yeh Jawaani Hai Zindagi</i>, like most Bollywood movies I found it unconvincing. The development of story and feelings of characters I found abrupt. The <i>dillia wali girlfriend </i>was an out of context in relation to the story in the film. Although the best thing about the movie has to be the soundtrack. <i>Mein udna chahta hoon, dorna chahta hoo, girna chahta hoon </i>could not buy it. The boy clearly does not take after his father...<br />
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I miss the movies of 50s-70s, 80s was a fun era, 90s was dominated by cheese (still fun) but naugties lost it and is still losing it.<i> Jo Jeetah Wohi Siqandar</i> still remains one of my all time favourites.<br />
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September will be time to bring arty southasian movies to my work place. Recommendations welcome. Most likely dominated by films from Kolkata and South India but open to Bollys if you can convince me :)</div>
asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-25599218700512335442012-10-21T20:33:00.002+00:002012-10-24T19:40:12.694+00:00What came first Bangla or Tagore?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It is often a big misgiving to believe the Bangla language started with Tagore. Whilst he is a literary great and his poetry and stories speak great depth of the human emotions and educate you of the Bengali political movements at the time of the Raj, often it feels we owe all of the Bangla language to this one man alone.<br />
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It is almost parallel with what we have with Shakespeare and the English language There is a danger of popularising one artist's work to point of forgetting the other greats. Language is not developed by the one person but rather myriad of people, common people, popular people, but they all play a part.<br />
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I do think it is worth thinking about what we take for granted. Democracy did not start with the Greeks. Shakespeare was not the orginator of Romeo and Juliet. The sun does not rise in the East (if we reverse the Earth's axis :) )...<br />
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Below is a video depicting the Bangla language before Tagore - research which we need more of. Move over <a href="http://www.williamradice.com/" target="_blank">Radice</a>...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/51680511" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe> <a href="http://vimeo.com/51680511">Before Tagore: Music, Farce, and Muslim Patrons in 19th Century Bengal - By Richard David Williams and Priyanka Basu</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/bricklanecircle">bricklanecircle</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</div>
asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-51830986233436182512011-07-10T11:25:00.003+00:002011-07-10T11:33:39.595+00:00It's time to get backIt's been over a year since my last post and I can safely say nothing interesting has happened in my life in that year. Nothing. Part of the reason I stopped posting because I felt I didn't have time to post about my normal subjects (see below). I resisted posting about teaching and education but have come round to think it would be stupid not to shed some light on the profession that I am in now.<br /><br />I guess it has taken me some time to accept what is my profession. It is education. I won't call myself a teacher as I think I deliver much more than that. I have discovered I enjoy teaching. I am good at teaching. I have ideas with regards to what makes a 'good' teacher. I'm not going to to reveal it all at once; it will unravel itself as I continue to blog, I hope.<br /><br />So here is to my first post in 2011...asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-23510531672472935782010-02-10T23:45:00.017+00:002013-11-13T13:41:22.412+00:00What Dreams?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<em><strong>Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh</strong></em> is the current exhibition at the <a href="http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/">Whitechapel Art Gallery</a>. It claims to depict 150 years of photography from the subcontinent, of its people by its people. The exhibition is in most parts is not trying to show great photography but how photography has developed in the three countries.<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436766321042605058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI34MhWoSQSg-O9TRl2a3mlg6M6XTkh-W1FlLRnD4Y_hrBBKJhEOuSNxvNqP2zsw-YICf8vpOVNs0VPaqhjeL0KTShVvQWj8g_UsduyuYBT4zP5pvHlqAOxUX-svExhzBFb_FLMT1NTjJa/s320/22833b269149c292_web4.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 201px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /><br />
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Walking through the gallery it made uncomfortable viewing. It felt like yet another exhibition displaying of <em>the other</em>. In this case, watching how <em>the other</em> uses the camera. Although, this show was curated by Asian artists it did not feel as though their talents shone.<br />
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Most of the photographs looked like home albums that many of us Asians possess. There was nothing spectacular about them; what’s so fascinating about family albums of Southasian origin?<br />
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So there were portraits of some political leaders like Jinnah, Nehru, Gandhi etc. There were also, some bollywood and lollywood posters and photographs, stills of shows with Asian people in it, pictures of paddy fields and trains. Transvestites, prostitutes, acrobatics, to name others.<br />
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Nothing really took fancy to me, but what I found quirky was a selection of photographs of this young Indian boy, with mental health problems; who one day decided he was Mohammed Bin Qassam and converted to Islam, immigrated to Pakistan and rode on his horse in Arab attire. Other than that nothing much held my attention.</div>
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It's such a shame, I was really looking forward to this exhibition but its obvious that I am not its audience. I need to be white, (maybe) middle class and someone completely ignorant of the Asian culture to appreciate it because then, all the colours and paddy fields and sarees and women will look ever so <em>"exotic"</em>, <em>"powerful"</em> and <em>"in-terest-ing"</em>... </div>
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I recommend keep your money for this exhibition. It was merely a tick-box situation, not one for showcasing talent.</div>
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asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-19167653622955041212009-11-23T21:03:00.005+00:002009-11-23T21:14:34.978+00:00Tu Jaane Na...<div align="justify">Atif Aslam is probably the most famous Pakistani pop singer in current times. I've been following Atif for a while, have not seen him in concert, although did turn down the opportunity to do so. Would have been the perfect opportunity to have seen him in concert before he got mega mega big. </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"><em>Tu Janne Na</em> is a track from <em>Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani</em> written by Irshad Kamil sang by Atif. Atif as always delivers on voice, guess that's why his songs are so popular. Irshad also wrote a few of the songs in <em><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383975/">Chameli</a> </em>(good movie with a good soundtrack).</div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div><br /><p align="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VNT8LhPmIoQ&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VNT8LhPmIoQ&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-12920829489749151272009-09-06T21:16:00.002+00:002009-11-23T21:23:34.921+00:00Funny Maths<a href="http://talklikeaphysicist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pi-berational.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 450px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 449px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://talklikeaphysicist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/pi-berational.jpg" /></a><br />ok so in maths <em>i</em> is known as an imaginary number (its is the square root of -1) and <em>Pi</em> is an irrational number since it goes on forever. Geddit? haha?<br /><div></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-35047481655486671912009-08-27T01:23:00.008+00:002009-08-28T11:06:11.417+00:00No time to blog and Teaching and etc.<div align="justify">Feels like I have been teaching forever when actual fact is I just finished my first official year. It's a depressing state when in full time employment, you feel so rigid, so restricted. I remember when I started my first year at the end of August 2008, it was Ramadan and it was the hardest Ramadan ever. Not only because iftar was late but the fact that I had to go through the whole day talking to a bunch of kids (who were not interested). Lack of water makes you thirsty but it doesn't help when you've been on verbal mode all day.<br /><br /><br />Ramadan last year was very weird also. Whilst Salat and Fast were maintained I was less connected with the experience. Work made me tired and it also made me super busy. Constantly thinking of lesson plans, planning homework and chasing students. Not to mention trying to get to grips with a new work environment, my first ever full-time work environment just to add. I was so immersed into this new experience that I had very little time to connect with the spiritual side of Ramadan. I feel that this year might be the same. I have become very nonchalant about the whole experience. Usually Ramadan is so fulfilling and a time where I would learn more things about my deen - I don't recall any of that last year and so far have not felt it this year.<br /><br /><br />I am due to start teaching in a few days, at a new place and I am just as apprehensive as last year in trying to think of the best lessons and learning about the new subjects I am going to teach. I am a maths teacher so you would think what is there that needs preparing? Well, maths comes in various different levels and sometimes it is the easy maths that throws you because it is so basic. Also, trying to keep with the exam board's brief can be a struggle because they are so vague and in maths there are many ways to do a calculation and you have to figure out which of these ways will the exam board give students marks for.<br /><br /><br />Teaching requires an extreme amount of creativity and time. It is a profession that it not credited enough I think. Admittedly I was a bit snobbish about this career before I got into it. Felt that anyone could get a PGCE and become a teacher. But having gone through the experience I credit anyone who passes their PGCE. It is such a gruelling and unsympathetic course. To write termly essays at masters level and have a full teaching timetable is enough to stretch anyone. I'm glad I went through it though. Most of the time I did cut corners but I guess the achievement was really keeping your head above water and making it to the end. Of course, it doesn't get any easier when you start teaching. I spent my first year overworked and with a constant migraine. Whilst there has been pockets of joy large amount was taken up by stress. I just hope this year is less stressful...</div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-55672041452561530662009-01-27T23:37:00.007+00:002011-08-26T23:18:58.270+00:00Switch off your tellys!<div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Was the underlying message of Neil Postman's charming book titled 'Amusing ourselves to death'. Television no doubt is a big part of our culture or rather was, the internet probably takes more precedence now.
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<br />However, television is still the medium that occupies much of our time - speaking of those who watch television. Whilst, I do become a couch potato on the weekend, I rarely have time to watch TV on the weekdays because a) I am too tired, or b) I don't have enough time - sad reality of someone who had been in full time employment for the first time this past 6 months.
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<br />Whilst I would jump on the bandwagon of TV is destroying our brain cells however, at the same time I do think TV can be stimulating. I'm a Doc-geek. I love watching documentaries - it's informative and important for the ignorance in us. I also enjoy debate shows such as Newsnight to keep in touch with current affairs. However, many a times I have found myself staring at the box. Mind numb. It's quite a horrible feeling afterwards, knowing that I have wasted x-amount of hours of watching something that did not entertain or enrich my life in any way and worst of all, I don't even remember what I was watching.
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<br />Aside from the content of television there is also the argument that we are conditioned by media to think in a certain way because ultimately we have no control of what is aired on television. This of course could go onto all forms of media. We can take that argument to anything really, the environment around us conditions us to think a particular way so I don't think that holds much weight but I guess the premise to that argument is that TV is the most influential.
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<br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-16312384825036638992009-01-10T21:40:00.006+00:002009-01-26T22:27:06.849+00:00"We are all Palestinians!"<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify">Just one of the many slogans chanted today, at the biggest ever march for the Palestinians and the large scale massacre that is taking place in Gaza.<br /><br />I attended last week's first national demo for the cause which pulled tens and thousands of people from all over the UK to London. It was a short march from Embankment to Trafalgar Square which later went on to the Israeli embassy. Last week was a fantastic turnout, old, young, black, blue, white, pink - everyone you could imagine was there. It was not just an Muslim affair but rather a British one. Funny how the media like to focus on the Muslim women in head scarfs and Muslim men with beards. It is not exclusively <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">our</span> battle. No half human would be able justify Israel's actions nor will they be able to bear the images of the unjustified killings taking place in Gaza.<br /><br />Today's turnout was rather overwhelming. Numbers were most definitely in the hundreds of thousands. Not sure where the BBC or Sky News got their figure of "tens of thousands" from - it really undermines the cause. I could not see the front of the march nor could I see the end. When we got to the Israeli embassy we still had friends who were still leaving Hyde Park, the place where the march begun, the distance spanned 1.5 miles. Surely, that's a very good indication of the shear numbers that were out today?<br /><br />A lot of the protestors, instead of banners, had shoes tied to their sticks as a gimmick taken from what happened to Bush a couple of weeks back (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovoTgUCf7_E">click</a> - I never get bored of watching it :) ).<br /><br />Accompanied by chants, such as:<br />"Bush, Bush where are you?<br />I want to throw my shoe!" :-) </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify"> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify">These demos mean a great deal to the Palestinian issue. Those who knew not before of the situation were now enlightened. I feel that we're that much close in raising greater awareness amongst the societies we live in. Also, highlighting the complexity of the Middle East and bringing to the surface that it is not merely a Muslim-Jew thing but a territorial thing. </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify"> </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" align="justify">I don't know how a two-state solution can be an end to all this. Resources must be shared so must land. People should have the freedom to walk on their land without presecution. Single-state solution it needs to be. </div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-83191807320391158482008-07-15T22:35:00.008+00:002009-01-26T21:57:08.791+00:00Western Labels<div align="justify">I have a problem with labelling and when it comes adhering to the 'western system'. That is one of the things I cannot appreciate the Greeks for, that and democracy. Western civilisation has been heavily influence by Greek philosophy, science, politics, language, everything. Greek science was the first of science to use rigorous labelling techniques in creating systematic formuales to analyse things of science, including social and political. At a meeting today in discussing the Maqasid Al-Shariah (the Objective of Islamic Law) this debate of adopting the 'western system' created a lot of discussion. The argument was it was not a natural progression for Islam or Muslims to adhere to the western systems like, the Human Rights Charter, Rule of War and things of those nature which, dominates our social and political sphere in current times, but rather there should be an alternative system that is borne out of Islam.<br /><br />However, living in western society can we be sure to have a completely authentic Muslim advancement in Al-Shariah? I think not. We have already been constructed to think and act the way our society intends us to. We may not recognise the "western values" we perpetrate but they are deep within us. Not necessarily all bad but you cannot argue against a 'western framework' in my opinion.<br /><br />On the other hand, I do protest against in forcing something that is not the natural progression of our society and religion (ummah and Islam). There is no question that the ummah needs greater advancement in all spheres but we need time. Muhammad (pbuh) did not change Arabia over night, it was a long process of education and time to complete the message of Allah to the people of Arabia; it took 27 years and even then not everyone came to Islam. The expansion of Islam took time; people's understanding of the religion needed to mature. This process however, was obstructed by the advent of western empires, who unlike their predecessors did not assimilate into the societies that they were ruling. When these nations got independence they were left confused, their identities wiped and miscontrued, they were left with nothing but what their colonials had preached and that had been their mode of advancement. Secularism, democracry, rule of law, borders, nations etc. was suddenly seen as an integral part of running a society. And with that they ran and failed...</div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-86529186093374678062008-07-13T11:21:00.002+00:002008-07-15T22:18:06.759+00:00Muslims in the Media<div style="text-align: justify;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyf8DD1uWy7AQ_6E87QlytQDV4zM56EkdSbzPaU8R-ew7etxnhA8DSUmqqV-Rt1hrIbtZe7Y4XakQ0i7Mp34Hqw1y-mvR00zz9mw3b7qnZBv0FxPl7fyp78yJa8joESq6oHi67g1Tn_Rs/s1600-h/image.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuyf8DD1uWy7AQ_6E87QlytQDV4zM56EkdSbzPaU8R-ew7etxnhA8DSUmqqV-Rt1hrIbtZe7Y4XakQ0i7Mp34Hqw1y-mvR00zz9mw3b7qnZBv0FxPl7fyp78yJa8joESq6oHi67g1Tn_Rs/s400/image.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222771641413704226" border="0" /></a>Earlier this week, Channel 4 in partnership with Muslim News, held a panel debate on the Muslim perception in the media. This was a follow-on from the Dispatches docu - '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eanrFTm6E9Y">It shouldn't happen to a Muslim</a>' presented by Peter Oborne highlighting the prejudices that Muslims and Islam face in the media today.<br /><br />The debate was carried out by Ziauddin Sardar (Journalist), Adam Kemp (Arts and Culture, BBC), Mehdi HAssan (News and Current Affairs, Channel 4), Yvonne Riddly (Press TV), Inayat Bungawala (MCB) and Chaired by Akhil Ahmed (Commissioning Editor for Religion, Channel 4).<br /><br />The debate all in all was very shallow; nothing thought provoking. It was agreed that Muslims were facing discrimination from the Media, we lack Muslims in the Arts sector, we need more Muslims in the Arts sector, it would be good for Muslims to be out of the news and so on.<br /><br />Yvonne as always, was biased. Why she was on the panel I do not know. She reminds me of Yasmin Alibhai Brown who also has nothing decent to say. Seeing her at Islam Expo on Friday just reconfirmed how bad a journalist she is, making sweeping generalised statements, making inadequate arguments that did not hold the depth of the other panellists, such as Tariq Ramadan and Karen Chouhan. With Yvonne and Yasmin everything is taken on the religious and ethnic lines and they cannot go beyond playing the Muslim victim. This is where Tariq fits in so well with his push for Muslims to recognise themselves as citizens of the countries they live in and not distinguish themselves as just Muslims facing Islamophobia but rather citizens facing racism perpetrated by their government and media. This also ties in with the Panel's view that Muslims need to be more active in the matters of what the media do. If you find it offensive write in, if you like it, write in. That is the message Akhil was driving forward. Akhil no doubt is one of the very prominent Muslim media representatives we have along with Hassan Mehdi and they know how the media works and I suppose if they suggest something we should take it on board.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.channel4.com/news/media/pdfs/Muslims_under_siege_LR.pdf"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0Uj8lXQ7jgFUaR87CN8oKXeBh-kLxs27PmDKcwT7mfqpGJoRMJrA38j7s7ofNrsAfGLWxgeqE4RUMiewugZytoB9Eoe_EuLYCR_5iv9rjTDnsaLZQzX6d342yknx-ag0MoPo-lwL0-vT/s400/untitled.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222776304304792290" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" >Click on image to access the report</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Channel 4 are current hosting a series of mini documentaries starting Monday titled <a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/7wonders.html">The Seven Wonders of the Muslim World</a>, the first one being aired tomorrow after the news. Then follows a two hour documentary on <a href="http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/C/can_you_believe_it/debates/quran.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Qur’an</span></a>. One of the questions presented to the panellist was ‘why not do an in-depth documentary on the life of the Prophet?’ It was disappointing to hear that such a documentary could never go ahead because of the restrictions the TV company faced in accessing the historical sites needed to carry out the research. Akhil made an attempt but ended up losing a seizable amount of money in doing so.<br /><br />One of the questions posed by Akhil was what do Muslims want to watch on telly? My mind went blank at that point. I could not think of anything that I wanted to watch. Not that I am satisfied with what we have currently, I would like to see the likes of Big Brother and Eastenders off our screens but all in all I didn't really care except that I would like less of 'Muslim things' and more fairer news and docus with regards to<span style="font-style: italic;"> all</span> things.<br /><br />What would you like to see on telly?<br /><br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-10653571588157040712008-07-09T20:56:00.009+00:002008-07-14T13:46:40.994+00:00The Palace of the Nawab of Moorshedabad<div style="text-align: justify;">This makes an interesting read and says a lot about the attitudes of the Colonialists and their motives in India. Written in 1858 it describes the Palace of the Nawab of Moorshedabad as the title suggests. Interesting points to note: didn't realise that having a dome on a building actually made it cooler; India was indebted to the Company somehow; Indians could not be brought to be civilised; they liked the architecture but not the people; their goodly deeds is not appreciated by the 'Hindoos' - in fact, I think this is a reference to the Mutiny of 1857-1858 which was more of an Indian affair and not restricted to the Hindoos as the writer puts it. I have copied the extract as it is in the journal with the original spelling. It's taken from <a href="http://www.iln.org.uk/">The Illustrated London News</a> - see what you make of it.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDi4Uji-ugsYwWbN1kVZfY5qHqAyIhtQs-HNOhwFY15YCBcBuj0uPjN_bExv8r4nV-pg4vS-uSE7sNAWyY5Gh26c3HPDjuiiesknA3y-Vuf7SWftgJ2nIF276SdXqZcQSugyQs4u9tIzj/s1600-h/DSC00348.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDi4Uji-ugsYwWbN1kVZfY5qHqAyIhtQs-HNOhwFY15YCBcBuj0uPjN_bExv8r4nV-pg4vS-uSE7sNAWyY5Gh26c3HPDjuiiesknA3y-Vuf7SWftgJ2nIF276SdXqZcQSugyQs4u9tIzj/s400/DSC00348.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222790257922068386" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:85%;" >Click for a larger image<br />Page 4.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote style="font-family: times new roman; font-weight: bold;">THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS<br /> Jan. 2, 1858. Page 3.<br /> THE PALACE OF THE NAWAB OF MOORSHEDABAD.<br /><br /> IN one particular Oriental architecture is greatly superior to European – that of having a picturesque sky lines. In fact, the most picturesque of all the public places of Europe, St. Mark’s of Venice, owes its distinction to the church having a roof on the Oriental principle. In the edifice presented on this occasion to our readers the charecteristice of this style of building are shown in a most agreeable manner, the outline being symmetrical without the smallest monotony; the whole forming a palace of which the most prominent part is the mosque. Nor are those domes merely for ornament: they are the best inventions for the exclusion of heat. Long experience has shown that when an edifice has its roof composed of an agglomeration of vaulted domes the radiation of heat is effectually broken. The coolest place in a Moslem town is invariably the mosque, and in India we find many of the places and pavilions on this principle. Nor can we omit drawing attention to the superb towers at the angles. Originally meant for defence, they show by the elegance of their architecture that they have been drawn in by the designer to contribute – all were for real use and resistance to climate or enemies before the luxuriant fancy of the artists appropriated them to the domain of the beautiful.<br /><br /> The juxtaposition of architectural splendour and the charms of external nature with the misery and meanness of popular life is quite characteristic of the East. With all this show of superb architecture we see the domes blistered or peeled off, and bungalows of the meanest construction thrust close to the very walls. But yet this shows us the every day life in an Indian market place. Under the shade of the lofty sycamore we find the female fruiterer chaffering with a purchaser, and the primitive buffalo-cart unloaded and its animals reposing. The water-carrier is seen swinging his load, like our milk-carriers, on the shoulder; and in the front centre we have the distended goatskin of refreshing liquor poured into the mouth the thirsty passenger. The hookah, or, as we call it, hubble-bubble, solaces the sedentary with fumes less exciting and more agreeable than those of tobacco; and the stipendiary trooper is seen strutting about with is antiquated defensive weapons, a soldier in appearance and name rather than in reality, but an appendage to those decayed Courts which pride still retains – thanks to the liberal pension fund of the Company.<br /><br /> The moral suggested by our Engraving is that the residence of the native Princes a decayed barbaric magnificence is accompanied by the primitive rudeness of the indigenous populations, with very little tincture of the civilisation of Europe. That a great change is approaching few can doubt. Henceforth the measures of the Government must be more trenchant. Without the commission of injustice, British supremacy must assert itself with decision; and, although we are not sanguine enough to say that India can be Christianised, it undoubtedly may and must be more Europeanised, and politically more centralised. Railways covering the great plains of Bengal and the Punjaub, and threading the ghauts of Southern India, will enable this large empire to be kept better “in hand;” and a large emigration to the healthy mountain districts is clearly practicable after what we know of Ceylon, and the large and prosperous British community in the upper country of this island, which is now one vast sanitarium. With the hill countries partially settled with British, our tenure of the low country would be all the more secure. Some populations never permanently tame down in submission; but we have seen that a misplaced philanthropy makes the Hindoo rise. We have had a great lesson, and, as the smoke of crashing empire dies away, foundations of solidity are still discernable. The result we look on as the beginning of the extinction of the more barbaric magnificence of Old India. Let the barbarism go, but let the picturesque architecture remain, nay, be extended and revived, by the future <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_Welby_Northmore_Pugin">Pugins</a> of the Eastern Hemisphere.<br /><br /></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the same page there's news of Austria, Earthquake in Naples, Switzerland, Russia, US, Persia, China, Australasia, Mexico and others.<br /><br />The Persia section reads:<br /><br /> The following telegram has been received: "The Shah of Persia has invited the various Ambassadors to be present at the coronation of his son. The English Minister, it is said, has refused to attend, making a reservation in favour of the rights of another heir to the throne, now a refugee at Bagdad."<br /><br />Not sure of the story behind this* but reading old stuff is quite fun and quite fascinating, no?<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">*[British Policy in Persia, 1858-1890, A. P. Thornton The English Historical Review, Vol. 70, No. 274 (Jan., 1955), pp. 55-71 - could be a clue?]</span></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-8301612826138764882008-06-14T20:25:00.018+00:002011-08-26T23:38:41.141+00:00ye jo Jeff Buckley hai...<div style="text-align: justify; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Jeff Buckley's cover of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's - <span style="font-style: italic;">Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai</span> from the album 'Live at Sin-é'</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"></span></div>
<br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ysIK-cMhD-s" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="345" width="420"></iframe>
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<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The title song is a bit hard to translate but it's something on the lines of 'that ecstasy feeling' - terrible translation. I suggest you learn Urdu but for now here is a little breakdown: [Yeh Jo = that is, it is; Halka Halka = (very) light/little/slight; Saroor = exhilaration/ecstasy, Hai = is]
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<br />Here is a link to the original by the <span style="font-style: italic;">ustaad</span>:<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T3qVYVV__U&feature=related">Link</a></span>
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<br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Below is an interview by the late great Jeff Buckley with the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for the Interview magazine (Jan 1996):</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:lucida grande;" ></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" ></span><blockquote style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Pakistani Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan drives people wild with his music, which is an unbelievable combination of rich, soaring, complex sounds including something that is hard to describe but reminds us of yodeling. His music has been featured on movie soundtracks and in concert halls around the world, and his ecstatic voice haunts all who hear it. Here, the sensational singer Jeff Buckley talks with the man who has, for so long, inspired him.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Born in a region where music is as much of a birthright as breathing, singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is held to be the brightest star in Qawwali, a form of Islamic devotional music, in all of Pakistan - "bright," that is, as in blinding. A vocal art over seven centuries old, Qawwali is passed down orally from father to son (in rare cases to daughters) by Sufi masters. Sufism is a Muslim philosophical and literary movement dating back to the tenth century. Borrowing tenets from other world religions, including Buddhism and Christianity, this mystical order stresses the personal union of the soul with God through poetry and symbolism. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has single-handedly transformed this art from a static antique into a brilliant explosion of light. Through his ecstatic performances, Khan's Qawwali acts as a living testament to music's power to link all humans, unashamed of emotion, to the divine. At once soaring and penetrating, these sounds seem to rip open the sky, slowly revealing the radiant face of the beloved. Qawwals don't sing, they are born to sing, and the men who accompany Khan in his ensemble do not just play music, they become music itself. Every Qawwali performer is excellent, mind you, for they all, by definition, must sing from a heart burning with a passionate love for Allah (God), the prophet Muhammad, and the saints, and must be totally open to the divine. For them, there is nothing else. Six years after first discovering his music, I was able to meet the man whose voice has healed the fuck out of me. We talked in a vast hotel room in New York City, through his interpreter, Rashid Ahmed Din, who knows Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's story better than anyone. I wouldn't lie to you, this is the man.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JEFF BUCKLEY: The first real Qawwali I ever heard was called "Yeh Jo Halka Halka," from the album The Day, the Night, the Dawn, the Dusk on Shanachie Records.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NUSRAT FATEH ALl KHAN: You liked it?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: It saved my life. I was in a very bad place.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Where were you?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: Just depressed.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: I see.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: Like many people in America, I was first introduced to Qawwali through you. I didn't understand any of the words, but your voice carried the message to my heart, which is all that most Western listeners can rely on because we don't know the language. For Instance, few people know that halka means "drunkenness."</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: It is not drunkenness in terms of alcohol. It is like when somebody is in love and is drank in the eyes.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RASHID AHMED DIN: He's not talking about the whiskey bottle, he's talking about . . . the beauty.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: Yes, but it's impossible for English speakers to tell this from the translations of the Sufi poetry, which are always very dry. If one has any sense of Urdu [an official language of Pakistan], one knows that the English translations lack a little soul, they're like wood. But the Qawwalis [the ceremonial songs] aren't written, they're sung by heart.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Yes, you've got to sing from the depths of the heart. Without heart you cannot be a Qawwal. You sing the songs every day, so even though there is quite a lot, you remember it.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: It must be hard to withstand the feeling you need in order to inhabit the poetry properly.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: That's right.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: You once had a dream that is now very famous. Can you describe it to me?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: My father [the Qawwali singer Ustad Fateh Ali Khan] died in 1964, and ten days later, I dreamed that he came to me and asked me to sing. I said I could not, but he told me to try. He touched my throat, I started to sing, and then I woke up singing. I had dreamed that my first live performance would be at my father's chilla [funeral ceremony], where we would all sit together again and read prayers from the Koran and so on. On the fortieth day after his death, we held the ceremony, and I performed for the very first time.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: How old were you?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: About sixteen.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: What was life like before the dream?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: I was just studying with my father, a very difficult task for me since he was a great, great Qawwali singer. He didn't want me to become a musician, he wanted me to be a doctor, because he said singing was too hard. You see, many people can sing without any basic background. But this [improvisational] style of Qawwali is what my family does, and to do it well, we have to go through many difficulties.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RAD: Nusrat was the most beloved child in the family. The whole town used to take him around, and play with him and so forth; in other words, spoil him. His father thought, "He will not be able to concentrate." They wanted him to carry on studying to be a doctor. But he used to listen to his father teaching his students and secretly, he would go and practice, hiding his gift. One day, his father discovered him while he was practicing and he got a bit cross, but he found out that Nusrat had a talent, and then he started teaching him, too. Unfortunately, his father died not long after that. After he did though, he said to Nusrat in the dream, "This world will hear a new voice, which will surprise them all." But he didn't know whose voice it would be.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: Until it happened.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RAD: That's right. Can you imagine? He started so late and picked up so quick.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: There are no recordings of your father available in America.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: No, he never made records. We have some recordings off the radio in Pakistan, but no commercial releases. He said, "I don't want people to pay a little money and listen to my voice." [laughs]</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RAD: His father was a man of dignity. He won many awards. Once the Shah of Iran came to Pakistan and his father performed in fluent Persian. The Shah was so stunned he gave him his car, a Chevrolet. You see, his father brought Qawwali music from the shrines into everyday life, like to weddings, parties, and to the high people in the government.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: I had a similar struggle, because I started very late.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: When did you start?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: My first performance was at about age fourteen. And I also hid from my father [the late singer Tim Buckley]. He had died by the time I started, but I hid from him a gift that I was born with. There was a period when I was frozen for about three or four years, starting when I was eighteen. In my dream at that time, the ghost of my father came smashing through the window. It doesn't take a dream to make a singer, but yours was a beautiful gift. When did your own style begin?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RAD: He was well known from very early, but when he recorded a song called "Haq Ali Ali Maula Ali Ali" he became even more famous. What was required was turning the style and making it a little bit softer for the audience.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: You made the rhythm softer? Impossible, that rhythm is hard.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: I made it softer than my father used to do. In his day, the audience was well aware of the music, of the classical beat. Everyone used to listen to the real music. But as the times change, people change, and so do their tastes, so I try to understand what the public wants, what they require. I have tried to make the music a bit easier for them to understand.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: Did you make it less complex?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Yes, I tried to change the classical style in a way that people who don't understand it can enjoy.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: It's also very Sufic to do something unseen. To reveal a deeper meaning.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Yes, but Qawwals cannot change the form. Slight variations can be made but you cannot change the whole performance ritual. You must sing the Hamd [praise to Allah], the N'at-i-sharif [praise to Muhammad], and the Manqabat [praise to the saints]. These three elements are called Qawwali, and they've got to be there. Only minor technical changes can be done and improvisation all depends on the artist.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: I've never heard anything like what you produce.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RAD: With other Qawwals, whatever they perform today, they will perform the same way tomorrow. But with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, what he performs today will be completely different tomorrow.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: It surprises me that those other Qawwals are so static. Nusrat is wild, I mean wild.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RAD: But I haven't heard anyone say, "This is unorthodox." Whatever work he does, nobody can go against it, because of the number of recordings [over 100] that he has done. He doesn't look like a major star when you come to meet him. He's a natural man. It's very unusual for a Qawwal to be a classical singer, or for a classical singer to be a Qawwal. It is particularly different to be commercial, like a pop star. He can do anything you ask him to do.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: Are you a Sufi?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: I am not a Sufi, but I follow the Sufi [tradition]. I will tell you one very famous story that will show you something about Sufis. A man came to my father and said, "I want you to perform for me." The man said, "I only have one rupee, that's all I'm going to give you." And my father said, "O.K., fine." So they went to an open field, just him and the old man, and when they started singing, suddenly there were people everywhere. They never knew where they all came from. That is a Sufi. He wasn't in love with his money, he was in love with the music and was totally lost to it.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: Do you have a family?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: I have a daughter, she's twenty years old.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: I don't know If that's important, but I like to know that you're happy.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Yes, I'm very happy.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: In America, sometimes there is no dancing allowed at the live shows. At the last one I attended, the cops came and took away anyone who danced. It seems that when American people go to these concerts they are bothered by people basically losing their shit.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Yes, the audience goes crazy. In qawwali we have this effect, even back home. When people start dancing, they dance like they don't know they are doing it. So they just get lost in it and it is very difficult to calm people down. It's like something inside them is pushing them.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: The same thing happens in gospel churches here. Have you ever thought to perform, not only with accompanists from other places, but with singers?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Yes, I have sung with Peter Gabriel, Shankar, and Yossou N'Dour. There is no recording, it was live, onstage.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: What do you listen to? What music do you love most?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: Indian classical music. I also like Western classical music and jazz.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: There seem to be parallels between Qawwali and African-American forms of music. Your styles are so close to jazz. Do you listen to any rock music?</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">NFAK: We don't have such things in our country. I do listen to other music though, and try to pick up what is good.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">JB: I heard a story about you, and I would like to ask if it is true. When you were in England, you were having some problems, so you went to see a doctor. The doctor said, "What does this man do?" And the assistant said, "He is a famous Qawwali singer in Pakistan." The doctor said that if you stopped singing your heart would stop.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">RAD: No, no, Nusrat is good. He's still got the same force.</span>
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<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">COPYRIGHT 1996 Brant Publications, Inc.</span>
<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group</span></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:lucida grande;" ></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);font-family:lucida grande;" ></span>
<br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-58229966353747775382008-06-10T09:59:00.005+00:002011-08-26T18:32:36.944+00:00'Islamic' fashion comes to Bangladesh<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6a7cOxLJSCMRpPKOXgWENprfmmZ2oUEwPSUsA348DAiwDL7vxGGR5tI5IHj7Xw-srv3Fz4ljS3qytwnpNaQbnmG99T4xmXwlpd8sh1UL75JQKOzTfctNsE75fTLUc18Lef8EE-bgmpTZh/s1600-h/n548780047_3081984_7699.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6a7cOxLJSCMRpPKOXgWENprfmmZ2oUEwPSUsA348DAiwDL7vxGGR5tI5IHj7Xw-srv3Fz4ljS3qytwnpNaQbnmG99T4xmXwlpd8sh1UL75JQKOzTfctNsE75fTLUc18Lef8EE-bgmpTZh/s400/n548780047_3081984_7699.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211675946416047586" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:85%;" >Front Cover</span>
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<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Muhajjabah</span> means 'one who <span style="font-style: italic;">hijab</span>s' and <span style="font-style: italic;">hijab</span> means 'to cover', is the new Muslim women fashion magazine launched in Bangladesh. First of its kind to promote 'Islamic' dress in the country.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIBq2qsAkg0rUAlorlnKM_ffABuNJ8hDQgWxKCy5YuK9muKQAbo76IvRznbjN3rncs6vzUSN9AfmAMA4TUA_4n1m54uV8DdMQOa1wDBaQfcR0kRjE-jRgKLjXkYOWiE9azwhMzL9GPYQa/s1600-h/muhasjjabah+2.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIBq2qsAkg0rUAlorlnKM_ffABuNJ8hDQgWxKCy5YuK9muKQAbo76IvRznbjN3rncs6vzUSN9AfmAMA4TUA_4n1m54uV8DdMQOa1wDBaQfcR0kRjE-jRgKLjXkYOWiE9azwhMzL9GPYQa/s400/muhasjjabah+2.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211686194332776274" border="0" /></a>
<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Not sure how I feel about this, as a Muslimah, one would expect me to be thrilled at the prospect of promoting 'Islamicness'. I suppose my problem comes with the term and the image of <span style="font-style: italic;">hijab, </span>it is made into solely a physical attribute. 'Hijabbing' of the <span style="font-style: italic;">innerself</span> is just as important than the <span style="font-style: italic;">outerself</span> in Islam but we're so obsessed with the latter that the former gets brushed to the side or rather it is not emphasised as much as I would like it to be i.e., just as equally.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv_H2rH-qpEqWIhlAn4s5xc4TDJyy67vr9fnhQLPeTPxQ0vO_9IeMWaUrUGkOs1jP06Yi0774NHBklqDf1_dBGrkiSm5DZfRZew9Oo7yrRKWdaqYodGgC6tv4e-RJ8rzo65CG4bMKvYaX/s1600-h/muhajjabah.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiv_H2rH-qpEqWIhlAn4s5xc4TDJyy67vr9fnhQLPeTPxQ0vO_9IeMWaUrUGkOs1jP06Yi0774NHBklqDf1_dBGrkiSm5DZfRZew9Oo7yrRKWdaqYodGgC6tv4e-RJ8rzo65CG4bMKvYaX/s400/muhajjabah.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211686941534833954" border="0" /></a>
<br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Aside from that, looking at other images in the magazine it is pretty apparent that it is not just focusing on fashion but rather on the diversity of women in Bangladesh who dress differently and for differently occasions, whether that be the work place, a wedding or just casual wear - bringing to the fore the traditional saree and salwar kameez but also, the contemporary skirts, trousers and suits. It definitely identifies the needs of a whole wide spectrum of women living in Bangladesh. Although, most of the fashion are not to my taste, but then it is not aimed at me, I do commend the effort in filling a gap that perhaps needed filling and the editors for not being afraid to be <span style="font-style: italic;">"more Islamic"</span> in a country that has often prided itself to be 'secular'.
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<br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-32941559984708715982008-06-09T21:39:00.001+00:002008-06-26T02:44:46.070+00:00ulta falta #1How is it that people have time to call you but only to tell you how busy they are and that they can't chat to you...?<br /><br />you. called. me.<br /><br />pfft.asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-30091268455038565062008-06-04T23:01:00.017+00:002008-06-08T11:15:44.825+00:00hok kolorobMeans <span style="font-style: italic;">'silla silli'</span> if you know <a href="http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=syl">Sylhetti</a> otherwise it translates, roughly to <span style="font-style: italic;">'scream and shout/make some noise'.</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><table style="border: 0px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(255, 128, 0); font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td align="center"><embed quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" src="http://www.esnips.com//escentral/images/widgets/flash/note_player.swf" flashvars="autoPlay=no&theFile=http://www.esnips.com//nsdoc/e9e9396a-ffb3-4bb7-963b-210d15b3a4c3&theName=03.Arnob - Hok Kolorob&thePlayerURL=http://www.esnips.com//escentral/images/widgets/flash/mp3WidgetPlayer.swf" height="260" width="490"></embed></td></tr><tr><td style="font-size: 0px;" align="center" valign="bottom"><a style="color: rgb(255, 128, 0);" href="http://www.esnips.com/doc/e9e9396a-ffb3-4bb7-963b-210d15b3a4c3/03.Arnob---Hok-Kolorob/?widget=flash_player_note">03.Arnob - Hok Kol...</a><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div>Arnob's got a new album out titled <span style="font-style: italic;">Doob</span>, haven't heard it yet, anyone want to send it my way...?asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-89007928008665942542008-04-26T15:16:00.013+00:002008-07-09T10:59:12.132+00:00Much Ado about Women...<div style="text-align: justify;">I always cringe when there is an event on about women; discussing women issues by women for women. Yet yesterday I gave such an event the benefit of the doubt, thought perhaps I could learn something from it and cure the sceptic in me, a little. The event was the <a href="http://www.radicalmiddleway.co.uk/events.php?id=1&art=28">Radical Middle Way Question Time for Women</a>, titled <span style="font-style: italic;">Spiced Spare Ribs</span>. Admittedly it took me a while to figure out what the title meant, forgive me, I'm slow...<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.radicalmiddleway.co.uk/images/Poster-SpicedRibs3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px;" src="http://www.radicalmiddleway.co.uk/images/Poster-SpicedRibs3.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The event started off with the criticism of the poster and the title of the event. Where I thought the title was a bit tongue and cheek (post realisation of what it meant), Humera Khan begged to differ, her stance was that we needn't go back to reducing women to be just the spare rib of Adam as that was retrogressive. Second issue was the image, it was of a Muslim girl in a jilbab epitomising what a Muslim woman should looked like. This bothered me also, symbolism is a very powerful medium, you go around claiming Muslim women are women who dress a particular way and that immediately alienates an overwhelming number of Muslim women who do not dress the same. Katherine on the other hand, had no qualms with the image claiming that it would be hard to represent all women. But I think if there were images of women in hijabs and no hijabs that would have sufficed as that was clearly the main focus and difference here - those who wear it and those who do not.<br /><br />I liked how Fathima and others highlighted points on advice; that we needn't always go to an imam for verification, this is something we can do ourself - use our intellect and own understanding to justify things which was quite refreshing to hear. The rest of the debate was concentrated around women's access to the mosque (largely due to Katherine) and guy/girl stuff - <span style="font-style: italic;">Can a man and woman have a platonic relationship?</span> The overwhelming panel agreed they could but if the relationship is within the bounds of Islam. Seriously, some of these questions could people not answer for themselves?? But, I suppose the bounds of Islam needed clarification which was not given.<br /><br />Aside from that, I did have favourites on the panel; I liked Fathima Zohra and Khola Hasan. Fathima being East African threw in some interesting perspectives on issues such as the mosque and access to women. For those who visit the mosque regularly would actually see the women section is overwhelmingly East African (in some parts of London). East African women have a very strong tradition of going to the mosque unlike the South Asian womenfolk so some of the questions about access to women to mosques became more of an issue of how South Asians practice Islam and how East Africans practice Islam. Khola I liked because she was the most learned of them all and on the subject of theology and I am sure she would have given some very interesting replies but alas things did not progress that far.<br /><br />Katherine on the other hand hijacked the stage to promote MPAC and the Mayoral elections in favour of Ken, which I thought was extremely cheeky! And every opportunity was used to talk about revolutionising the mosques to let women in (i.e. promoting one of the MPAC campaigns) . Whilst the aim is amiable, there is something about MPAC that is quite aggressive that ruins their objectives. Humera Khan, disagreed with Katherine on the matter of mosques and access of women. Humera was of the opinion, if you're unhappy create your own, mosques are not as central to the Muslim community as Katherine claimed. I agreed, sort of. I think it is too much to wait for the mosques to change and be more women-<span style="font-style: italic;">friendly</span>, need a century at least! There is nothing stopping women to create a mosque of their own and become a leading exemplar of the community. Why isn't that happening??<br /><br />The turn out of the event was surprising, it was pretty full and with quite a number of the male-kind in the audience too (woot!). Although it was disappointing not to see any men on the panel. I found the debate superficial and covering subjects that were in part self-answerable (sorry Fareena and Mr. Malik). There was no real debate or things did not get deep enough to become interesting. I'm thinking, there needs to be a ban on so-called "women issue", 'cos really it is not, it is a problem <span style="font-style: italic;">of </span>the ummah....no, humanity.<span style="font-style: italic;"> Says she very wisely.... </span><br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-40444403788656073382008-02-14T22:24:00.002+00:002008-02-14T22:32:26.029+00:00Happy Valentines<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jqSDpi2FBYVHIRRjbcikA-Q28ZcUGm5VoAeY9KWUi6DL0NpzBpFjG8r5HhKmu5i6GsTs99fPjM3LonxVVs0eeEe39otyrXhO_loxZn9mczwMN8WL_-5xDBVtyTF8LF2SZTsrbF03uMj7/s1600-h/DSC00128.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jqSDpi2FBYVHIRRjbcikA-Q28ZcUGm5VoAeY9KWUi6DL0NpzBpFjG8r5HhKmu5i6GsTs99fPjM3LonxVVs0eeEe39otyrXhO_loxZn9mczwMN8WL_-5xDBVtyTF8LF2SZTsrbF03uMj7/s400/DSC00128.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166965956146728706" border="0" /></a>Been walking past this poster for a few weeks now, and finally it has some use! :)asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-25647482971615149352008-02-04T22:04:00.000+00:002008-02-04T22:42:42.705+00:00What is in a Question?Recently speaking to a friend on the question of finding <span style="font-style: italic;">the</span> suitable 'suitor' she told me her mode of choosing someone. She's decided to ask some questions;* religion-related, lifestyle-related - types, reasonable. Except two of her question came down to answering 'what is your concept of God?' and 'How do you know Islam if the right religion?' Of course, she isn't looking for a full proof answer but rather how the person reasons themselves. And not that they are unreasonable questions to ask but I think mine (if a time should come) would be more general and may entail a <span style="font-style: italic;">are you salafi?</span>-question when it came down to religion :)<br /><br />So, how would you feel answering such questions? Would you love the challenge? Think odd of her? Or simply like her a bit for asking it?<br /><br />And, what would your Questions be?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">*In the Asian/Muslim circle relationships are formed commonly through intermediaries who find you your suitor and through them you communicate and give your criteria and ask your questions and stuff...</span>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-21766629407602010032008-01-13T19:50:00.002+00:002008-01-13T19:52:32.709+00:0064 = 65 ?<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Could it?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">It could...<br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7hHZr91XWbw&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7hHZr91XWbw&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00&border=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"></span></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-40107899740703085112008-01-10T15:46:00.001+00:002008-01-10T16:05:44.283+00:00Delhi, 1857Delhi before the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_1857">rebellion of 1857</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEpBZWh8Qqa0P-Pofq5HpEL6zNepBdhpXDiND4rEigj6kcSbSG1lcyQ81H-BYUmjMuhKYZqg0NvODY6P5iB2uMSCljyTzq4QKWUHnbZmNWK7Rq48H4n21mZI4y82dhRwJo3LwWE2NgA_z/s1600-h/delhi1857max.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 379px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJEpBZWh8Qqa0P-Pofq5HpEL6zNepBdhpXDiND4rEigj6kcSbSG1lcyQ81H-BYUmjMuhKYZqg0NvODY6P5iB2uMSCljyTzq4QKWUHnbZmNWK7Rq48H4n21mZI4y82dhRwJo3LwWE2NgA_z/s400/delhi1857max.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153875570675775810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">Printed (1860)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);font-size:85%;" >click for a larger image</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/colonial/delhi1857/delhi1857.html">source</a></span><br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-38479910383043149932008-01-06T17:44:00.000+00:002008-01-06T18:23:37.760+00:00Happy 2008 and Bilawal<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Happy 2008! Hope all your new years was as good as mine, yup 11 glasses of water, Jools on telly and fireworks - can't beat it! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's hard to blog these days, blogging is something that can be only done in leisure it seems, although not in leisure now, but posts with not a great deal of input from me does not take much effort... </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The recent Bhutto fiasco brought about, what is typical of Southasia, and really most of the world, the emphasis on hereditary ties. It was truly comical to see Bilawal Zardari, Benazir Bhutto's only son, be announced the natural successor to his mother and to the Pakistan's People's Party (PPP). And naturally, his father was made the deputy leader, who will in the meantime run the party while his son finishes off his education. The greatest moment came when Bilawal gave his speech and in the heat of the moment <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP_Ag1WiU7k">roared</a> (well, quoted),</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"democracy is the best revenge!". So naive and so paradoxical...<br /><br />Here is a post epitomising my sentiments of the whole situation. Musab Bora on Comment is Free (Guardian):</span><br /></div><a href="http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/musab_bora/2008/01/in_bilawals_footsteps.html"><br /></a><blockquote style="font-family:arial;"><div id="twocolumnleftcolumninsiderightcolumntop"> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="standfirst"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/musab_bora/2008/01/in_bilawals_footsteps.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >In Bilawal's footsteps</span></a><br /></span></p><p style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" class="standfirst"><span style="font-size:85%;">Just as Benazir Bhutto's son is stepping into her role as party leader, I am following the path my father once took: to Sheffield</span></p> </div><div id="twocolumnleftcolumntopbaselinetext"><span style="font-size:85%;">January 5, 2008 10:00 AM</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Dear People of Sheffield:</span></div> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">It is time for me to take my rightful place in the heart of your community. It has been my destiny since I was born. My father served your - I mean, our - community well by being an imam at the mosque and advice worker at the Citizens Advice Bureau. Many knew him well, and I hope to do him, and you proud. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">I claim <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2233634,00.html">my hereditary right</a> to do the jobs my father did, having the good fortune to share half of his genes. In fact, like most of their generation, my parents were related before they were married, so you can be confident in the knowledge that I probably have more than half of my father's genes, making me even more qualified to work as he did.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">I have been on a momentous journey, yet that journey is only beginning. Last week, I was walking in East London, smiling at the foreign throng, when a sign appeared in front on me: "There is no hard work, no education, just luck." I took this sign as a sign that I should look to my birthrights and see how the fortune of my birth would bring me here, to take my place with you and your northern ways.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">I have been groomed for these positions since my birth. Some of you may remember how proud my father was that he finally had a son who could take on his role after he had died. Though we moved away from Sheffield when I was still a child, it was merely to expand my cultural and social horizons and make me truly deserving of the momentous role I am about to play in your lives. Since getting married, I have been further groomed - as has my hair, with my beard neatly trimmed, putting clear distance between me and others, whose lower mandibles are more hirsute.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">Now some of you may think in this age of democracy, meritocracy and digital piracy, that these values may be outmoded. I say to these naysayers, I nay back at your nays, for your nays are negative feedback that must be neutralised. Forget your Bilawal Bhuttos and your Prince Charlies, this principle is as old as Cain and Abel, and runs through our society, from George W Bush, to James Murdoch, to Norah Jones and Liza Minelli. </span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">Now to those who rightly ask what meaningful change I can bring to the mosques and advice bureaux of South Yorkshire, I say this. Any gaps in my considerable, if not directly relevant, life experience will be enhanced by my strong team of close friends. These are people who through stupidity, desperation, bad luck or a perfect storm of all three, have stuck by me through these years. Their loyalty to me shows how imaginative, creative and hopeful they are.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">In my new role as co-chairman of Sheffield Sons of Sermonisers and Symposiarchs (SSSS), I aim to bring my fresh perspective and clean slate to the myriad of problems brought before me. Having obtained the required mediocre Oxbridge degree, I am now taking further lessons in the Yorkshire accent, by listening to Ian McMillan and William Hague on YouTube. In the near future I shall also be visiting a coal mine for a fact-finding mission. Until my education is complete and things become more settled, my mother is taking on my role in the SSSS for the time being.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:85%;">Although our family home has been in Leicester, my links with Sheffield remain as strong as ever. I frequently drive past <a href="http://www.meadowhall.co.uk/">Meadowhall shopping centre</a> on the way to visit relatives in Scunthorpe. </span></p> <span style="font-size:85%;">So, when my education is finished, what will be my vision for the future? I am a safe pair of hands, and in the light of my appointment, you can be secure in the knowledge that it is not an individual who is joining you, but a lineage. I promise you all that should anything happen to me, my six-month-old son has been groomed for over a year to lead you all through the 21st century.</span></blockquote>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-28413588525697063612007-12-23T22:31:00.000+00:002007-12-23T23:16:08.905+00:00Same Same But Different<div style="text-align: justify;">First came across this phrase in a bollywood song from the film <a href="http://bombaytobangkok.erosentertainment.com/#">Bombay to Bangkok</a>. The hilarity of bollywood is the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H6JHu9Ctxs">songs</a> that they come up with. So in a recent conversation about this to a friend I discovered that 'same same but different' is actually a common phrase used in places like Thailand and hence the adaptation into the song of the movie which is a cross cultural Indian-Thai production.<br /><br />Further research into the phrase led me to the Urban Dictionary which told me that the phrase is:<br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><p><span style="font-size:85%;">Used a lot in Thailand, especially in attempts to sell something but can mean just about anything depending on what the user is trying to achieve.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Q "Is this a real rolex?"<br />A " Yes Sir, same same but different"</span></p></blockquote></div><p style="font-style: italic; text-align: justify;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;">and; Wiki told me that it is Tinglish (or Thainglish):<br /><blockquote> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The imperfect form of English produced by native </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Thai</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> speakers due to </span><span style="font-style: italic;">language</span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_transfer" title="Language transfer"> </a><span style="font-style: italic;">interference</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> from the first language. Differences from native English include </span><span style="font-style: italic;">incorrect pronunciation</span><span style="font-style: italic;">, wrong word choices, misspellings, and grammatical mistakes. </span></span></blockquote>Hence a phrase like 'similar but different in other ways' is translated as 'same same but different.'<br /><br />Obviously I am not a traveller so this is very new to me but at least I am prepared for when (<span style="font-style: italic;">if</span>) I go to Thailand :)<br /><br />Aside from Thailand I am also <a href="http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1006382">told</a> the phrase in prevalent in places like Cambodia and Malaysia and I'm pretty sure it reaches as far as Bangladesh too...well, it feels like it does given the Tinglish definition...<br /><br />The film Bombay to Bangkok is released in the new year. I would recommend the film on the basis that the director <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0474398/">Nagesh Kukonoor</a> is a very unorthodox bollywood director and the actor <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1662277/">Shreyas Talpade</a> is one of the best new upcoming Indian actors (in my humble opinion). You may recognise these two combos from the movies <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824316/">Dor</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453729/">Iqbal</a>, both of which I highly recommend.<br /><br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-88604316318755264052007-12-11T22:00:00.000+00:002007-12-25T16:30:55.257+00:00Cyber BoxIf you like solving puzzles, you will enjoy this. Reminds me of the PS2 game, <a href="http://uk.psp.ign.com/objects/683/683123.html">Practical Intelligence Quotient</a>, of course PQ is much more aesthetically pleasing. Objective is to move the boxes to get to the exit.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bored2death.net/game/11/Cyber-Box.html">Visit link</a> or play here:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" height="321" width="511"><param name="movie" value="http://www.bored2death.net/swf/1919.swf"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="true"><embed src="http://www.bored2death.net/swf/1919.swf" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="370" width="500"></embed></object><br /><left><a href="http://www.blogger.com/%27http://www.bored2death.net/%27"></a></left></div><br /><br />Am I blogging about games? :sasikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7810684164411052368.post-73710825765986674332007-12-10T15:29:00.000+00:002007-12-10T22:21:56.035+00:00Free Rice<div style="text-align: justify;">Addictive website that donates rice as you play their word game. For every question you get right it donates 20 grains of rice to the<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><a href="http://www.wfp.org/english/">United Nations World Food Programmes</a>, five questions gets you 100 grains of rice. Currently the amount of rice donated is 7,536,669,470 grains, over seven billion, not sure how much that amounts to physically but you can keep a check of the totals <a href="http://www.freerice.com/totals.html">here</a>.<br /><br />The rice is paid for by the advertisers who appear at the bottom of the screen. Apparently if you see an advert x-many of times it will have a profound effect on you, you may (or <span style="font-style: italic;">will</span>) actually go out and buy their products. I don't think it works on me though but I do seem to be addicted to google -_-<br /><br />Despite the advertisers, it is actually a good way to enhance your vocabulary, it has a maximum of 50 levels of which I have mastered half.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Here's the link: </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.freerice.com/">FreeRice</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">On a little side note:</span> "The United Nations estimates that the cost to <em>end world hunger completely</em>, along with diseases related to hunger and poverty, is about $195 billion a year. Twenty-two countries have joined together to raise this money by each contributing 0.7% (less than 1%) of national income". Sweden has pledged the highest with 1.03% of its income and the United States, the richest country in the world, with 0.17% - second lowest next to Greece with 0.16%. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">Click <a href="http://www.poverty.com/internationalaid.html">here</a> to see the full list. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">The Scandinavian countries seem to the most generous when it comes to international aid and they have already reached their goal! As well intended aid is, I have yet to see a system that actually works or would work. International aid is no good for self-development of these countries when it does not come from within? The way I see it, if you can't see the problems within yourself the outside help becomes futile, or rather it fails to reap long-term benefits.</span><br /></div>asikhahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13929564609184703033noreply@blogger.com1