Selfies Can’t Capture Indian Streets
Modern day photography is digital and is available at a single click of the button. Almost every magazine or journal is available online. The posters and photographs in the magazines of the yesteryear are long gone out of fervour. They still manage to have a following, so do the photo stories in the newspapers and […]
India’s ‘Recep’tion of Erdogan
Recep Tayeb Erdogan’s resurgence in the Turkish Parliament election elicited mixed responses in India as it is everywhere. There are several ‘whys’ to be explained. The first why: Why resurgence? Because in the Parliament election held in the month of June, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party got away with 40.86 percent of votes, which means […]
West and Islam: Beyond Conflicts and Resolutions
In what appeared to have been uploaded four years ago, a YouTube video has Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, adored in the west as a traditional Islamic scholar with deep moorings in modern streams of thought and knowledge, having friendly chat with a motley group of scholars who straddled the diversity camouflaged in the binary expression Islam and West. […]
Haytham and the Naming of Islamic Science
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has organised a two-day conference that aims to explore the decisive contributions of Ibn Al-Haytham and Islamic culture to the history and evolution of sciences. The conference entitled “Islamic Golden Age of Science for actual knowledge based society – The Ibn Al-Haytham example” is part of […]
Islamic State and the Motif of Sacrifice
Last year, there was a discussion on violence with reference to Denis Vilenueve’s then recent film Prisoners. One of the important points I wanted to bring home was that the director wants to emphasize our being beholden to the idea of violence as something ‘others’ are doing on us. I put this point, for easier elucidation, […]
The Line Dividing Fatwa and Outburst
The evolution of AR Rahman, popularly referred to as the ‘Mozart of Madras’, is the stuff of a legend. From being listed in Time magazine’s ’10 Best Soundtracks’ of all time for debut composition Roja to winning the Oscar for the background score in Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman has reached dizzying heights in the world of […]
Islam and Local Customs: A Reflection on Onam and Lamp Lighting
One month ago, the Kerala public sphere had a hot topic to debate on. At a function organized on the readers’ day in the state, Education Minister Abdu Rabb, who belongs to the Indian Union Muslim League which is a party in the coalition that rules the state, was reluctant to inaugurate the function by […]
Does Germany indeed welcome you?
To watch Almanya : Willkommen in Deutschland is quite fitting in this time. In translation, it is ‘welcome to Germany.’ We wake up every morning to the gory news reports about Syria and the nightmarish reveries of people dying in droves. Juxtaposed with this is Pope Francis’ benevolent appeal to Christendom to open its gates for refugees […]
Hip-Hop: A Culture That Transcends Songs
Say Yo! Wear a hip hop cap, bling it up with diamond earrings and garland a gold chain or two around your neck, then sport a loose T-shirt that almost hugs your knees. Round it off with a collection of bright ankle length shoes for everyday of the week. And hey, there’s hip hop for […]
The Grace of Wistful Laughter
I finished reading The Blind Lady’s Descendants while travelling in a train. I don’t think any other place is fitter to be a spot for reading this book. Trains and railway gave Anees Salim the subtext and context for this charming tale. We hear while our eyes pore over the lines the honking and clatter of a train, […]
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.