The Thing About This Is...

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. 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 Yeh Jawaani Hai Zindagi , like most Bollywood movies I found it unconvincing. The development of story and feelings of characters I found abrupt. The dillia wali girlfriend 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. Mein udna chahta hoon, dorna chahta hoo, girna chahta hoon could not buy it. The boy clearly does not take after his father... 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. Jo Jeetah Wohi Siqandar still remains one of my all time favourites. September will be time to bring arty southasian movies to my wor...

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. 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. 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 :) )... Below is a video depicting the Bangla language before Tagore - research which we need more of. ...

It'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. 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. So here is to my first post in 2011...

Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh is the current exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery . 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. Walking through the gallery it made uncomfortable viewing. It felt like yet another exhibition displaying of the other . In this case, watching how the other uses the camera. Although, this show was curated by Asian artists it did not feel as though their talents shone. 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? So there were portraits of some political leaders like Jinnah, Nehru, Gandhi etc. There were also, some bollywood and lollywood posters and photograph...

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. Tu Janne Na is a track from Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani 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 Chameli (good movie with a good soundtrack).

ok so in maths i is known as an imaginary number (its is the square root of -1) and Pi is an irrational number since it goes on forever. Geddit? haha?

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. 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 ...

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. 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. 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 nu...

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. 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 our 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. 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 ...

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. However, living in western society can we be sure to have...

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 - ' It shouldn't happen to a Muslim ' presented by Peter Oborne highlighting the prejudices that Muslims and Islam face in the media today. 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). 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. 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 dece...

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 The Illustrated London News - see what you make of it. Click for a larger image Page 4. THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS Jan. 2, 1858. Page 3. THE PALACE OF THE NAWAB OF MOORSHEDABAD. IN one particular Oriental architecture is greatly...

Jeff Buckley's cover of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's - Yeh Jo Halka Halka Saroor Hai from the album 'Live at Sin-é' 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] Here is a link to the original by the ustaad : Link Below is an interview by the late great Jeff Buckley with the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan for the Interview magazine (Jan 1996): 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 i...

Front Cover Muhajjabah means 'one who hijab s' and hijab means 'to cover', is the new Muslim women fashion magazine launched in Bangladesh. First of its kind to promote 'Islamic' dress in the country. 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 hijab, it is made into solely a physical attribute. 'Hijabbing' of the innerself is just as important than the outerself 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. 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 ...

How 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...? you. called. me. pfft.

Means 'silla silli' if you know Sylhetti otherwise it translates, roughly to 'scream and shout/make some noise'. 03.Arnob - Hok Kol... Arnob's got a new album out titled Doob , haven't heard it yet, anyone want to send it my way...?

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 Radical Middle Way Question Time for Women , titled Spiced Spare Ribs . Admittedly it took me a while to figure out what the title meant, forgive me, I'm slow... 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 ...

Been walking past this poster for a few weeks now, and finally it has some use! :)

Recently speaking to a friend on the question of finding the 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 are you salafi? -question when it came down to religion :) 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? And, what would your Questions be? *In the Asian/Muslim circle relationships are formed commonly through intermediaries who find you your suitor and through them you communicate and give your ...

Could it? It could...