A Voyage Down the History of Pak Cricket
Peter Oborne, chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph has penned a brilliantly researched book on the history of Pakistan cricket. He has to his credit Basil D’oliveira, Cricket and Conspiracy: The Untold Story, which tells the story of the charismatic black South African cricketer, Basil D’oliveira, who set off to England as an immigrant, […]
Mercan Dede says he’s like a vagabond reed flute
DJ Arkın Allen, aka Mercan Dede, is back in the limelight with a new album following a six-year break since his last studio release. Released this month via Onearth Records, “Dünya” (Earth) is the newest offering from the 47-year-old musician, born Arkın Ilıcalı in 1966 in Bursa, and known in Turkey and around the world […]
Prisoners of Conscience
Denis Vilenueve’s forte is in making family dramas with strong political and ethical undercurrents. His Incendies and Politechnique can be read as being ripostes to this statement, as the former is sprinkled with political references and the latter is centred on misogyny and feminism. But setting does not allow you to escape from politics to […]
America That Erdogan Saw
RecepTayyip Erdogan is in the news, this time too, as always, for stoking up shock waves with his trademark nonchalant statement. In the conference of Muslim leaders held in Istanbul, he suggested a correction to the known history of America. It was not Columbus, he said, who invented America, but Muslims. Hearing him, one might […]
Four Tragedies Daryabadi Witnessed
Daryabadi’s forte at expressing in a few charming words complex and subtle ideas is second to none in the Urdu literature. He deals with four tragic incidents he witnessed in his Sidk-e-Jadeed (1972). The first tragedy occurred in 1924. The Khilafat Movement was progressing in unitedly against for the freedom of India at a rapid […]
International Coffee & Tea Festival
Having probably originated in China during the Shang dynasty as a medicinal drink, it took tea almost 3000 years to become an everyday drink. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Hua Tuo. Tea was first introduced to Portuguese priests and merchants in […]
The Sacred Myth of the Orient
I was watching Francis Ford Cappola’s 2007-fantasy drama Youth without Youth about an old linguistics professor regaining youth after he was struck by lightning. The title says the rest, bringing to light the ambiguities of existence and aging. The film might disappoint you, if you are going to watch it with Cappola’s Godfather and Dracula […]
Not Lost in Memory’s Transition: Biography Revives Proust Translator’s Life
It’s not often that a translator has a story as good as the author himself. But C.K. Scott Moncrieff’s was wild enough to seem like fiction. Moncrieff was the first person to translate Marcel Proust’s seven-volume epic, “Remembrance of Things Past” into English. He was also a poet, a soldier during World War I and a spy in Mussolini’s […]
Who was Ali Shariati to us?
The question put forth by Hamid Dabashi was answered by Iranian filmmaker Mohsin Makmalbhaff. The time and the place which Makmalbhaff points to corresponds to Iran of the early 70s. He was brought up in a religiously charged atmosphere, visiting the scholar at the Masjid every day and coming to know about a new speaker […]
The Meaning of the Caliphate
Dr Salman Sayyid is a post-colonial political scientist and a public intellectual. He focuses on the constructs and ideologies about Islam and the Muslim world in the knowledge traditions of the west. Currently a Reader of Sociology and Social Policy in Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law at the University of Leeds, Dr Salman […]
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