Return To Which Home?
On October 14, 1956, Babasaheb Ambedkar, along with several hundred thousand “untouchables”, embraced Buddhism. The moral and ethical strength of Ambedkar’s embrace of Buddhism lies in its cultural and intellectual capacity to sustain among the ex-untouchables a growing association with it. Conversion as a cultural-intellectual movement that took off in October 1956 from Nagpur continues […]
Books in 2015: A look-ahead
Clear space on your shelves or fire up your e-readers for the publishing highlights of 2015. A new novel from Kazuo Ishiguro, his first in 10 years, is arguably the literary event of the year. Ishiguro is one of a select band of authors who enjoys widespread critical acclaim as well as huge commercial success. […]
Big Screen 2014
Interstellar, Christopher Nolan Christopher Nolan is a name synonymous with super-realism or sci-fi surrealism. The Nolanisation of cinema was inaugurated by his Inception,a film about dreams and a dystopian condition in which dreams could be manipulated. The gloomy streets of Gotham-a bridge between the fantastical and the commonplace-are now grounds of countless fancies within the […]
2014 Events that Hogged Limelight
A year is bidding good bye. But are we so optimistic as to lay stress on the ‘good’ before the ‘bye’? Those who are optimistic have many things to single out to strengthen their belief. Firstly and most significantly, there is what many of us term progress in the generation-shifting technology. We have smart phones, […]
Books of the Year: Our Picks
1: Do Muslim Women Need Saving?- Laila Abu-Lugodh The author argues that in the aftermath of the 9\11, the paradigm of rescuing Muslim women from the ‘oppressive’, ‘unprogressive’ and ‘pre-modern’ Muslim lands has procured momentum as an undeniable necessity. This well-researched work is the result of Laila’s encounters as an ethnographer, of her interaction with […]
The Court Jester of Bollywood
Naseeruddin Shah is the court jester of Bollywood, the nickname of Hindi Cinema, which, despite being derogatory (meaning senseless imitation), it embraced in vigour. The reason why everyone else comes only second to Shah in being a wise clown is that unlike most actors in the Hindi cinema world, Shah is not a fool whose […]
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 […]
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