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attempt #7.

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What Dreams?

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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...
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ye jo Jeff Buckley hai...

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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...
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The future of Bangladesh relies on creativity

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Emerged out of a panel discussion yesterday at LSE. (ok, my tabloid beginning is done, the rest could sound a little boring...) Panellists included: Omar Faruk, Barrister, Chair of Southwark Muslim Forum Niaz Alam, Solicitor, Director of The Ethical Trading Initiative Dr Kamrun Hassan, something to do with Education Asif Saleh, Founder of Drishtiphat, a Human Rights NGO from Bangladesh Chair: a moody PhD student from King's College London. It was a Question Time sort of an affair on the future of Bangladesh but none of the panellists were actually a resident of Bangladesh (bar one maybe). It didn't stick to one agenda, Democracy and Theocracy were hardly the crux of the discussion, or maybe I missed it when I was dozing.. . Sharia The only main point I could find interesting to mention is the need to understand the Sharia. Most of us are ignorant of religious doctrines (myself included) and well a lot of us don't favour Islamic Law given the examples that exist, ie. Saudi, ...
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