Love, Iranian Style/A new novel pits passion and repression.
by James Wood June 29, 2009
Shahriar Mandanipour’s lovers are forever trying to elude the morals patrol; narrative play is conditioned by political reality.
Sometimes, the soft literary citizens of liberal democracy long for prohibition. Coming up with anything to write about can be difficult when you are allowed to write about anything. A day in which the most arduous choice has been between “grande” and “tall” does not conduce to literary strenuousness. And what do we know about life? Our grand tour was only through the gently borderless continent of Google. Nothing constrains us. Perhaps we look enviously at those who have the misfortune to live in countries where literature is taken seriously enough to be censored, and writers venerated with imprisonment. What if writing were made a bit more exigent for us? What if we had less of everything? It might make our literary culture more “serious,” certainly more creatively ingenious. Instead of drowning in choice, we would have to be inventive around our thirst............................
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Who Killed the BJP ?
Who Killed The BJP?
Everyone, especially those presently most vocal, has blood on their hands
VINOD MEHTA
Everyone, especially those presently most vocal, has blood on their hands
VINOD MEHTA
I do not consider myself as part of the country’s privileged commentariat. I prefer my last-page Diary where I can combine mischief and malice with some (I hope) serious current affairs analysis. It gives me the opportunity to do some "roaming" and "joking" even as I survey the national scene with a card-carrying pseudo-secularist’s eye. Very occasionally, when I am angry or disgusted or nauseated by humbug, I reluctantly join the commentariat. All this by way of inflicting on you, dear reader, 821 words on the "volcano" erupting within the BJP.......................
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan
Ustad's Califate
California may not be Maihar, but sarod great Ali Akbar Khan has made it his exiled gharana
KAMLA BHATT ON ALI AKBAR KHAN
"We take care of our tummy, our tongue, our nose, our eyes, but we rarely take care of our soul. Our soul needs music, nice good music and that is the food of the soul. It opens your mind. Raga, you see, is the language of God."
—Sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan
ON the edge of downtown San Rafael in upscale Marin County, on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge that connects to San Francisco city, stands the imposing building of the Ali Akbar College of Music (AACM). You can't miss the college because of the massive, colourful glass image of Sarasawati that dominates its facade. This is considered the abode of music in the Bay Area, where sarod (spelt sarode in these parts) maestro and Padma Vibhushan Ustad Ali Akbar Khan has been teaching for 35 long years the language of God, where the spiritually hungry come to devour food for the soul..................
California may not be Maihar, but sarod great Ali Akbar Khan has made it his exiled gharana
KAMLA BHATT ON ALI AKBAR KHAN
"We take care of our tummy, our tongue, our nose, our eyes, but we rarely take care of our soul. Our soul needs music, nice good music and that is the food of the soul. It opens your mind. Raga, you see, is the language of God."
—Sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan
ON the edge of downtown San Rafael in upscale Marin County, on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge that connects to San Francisco city, stands the imposing building of the Ali Akbar College of Music (AACM). You can't miss the college because of the massive, colourful glass image of Sarasawati that dominates its facade. This is considered the abode of music in the Bay Area, where sarod (spelt sarode in these parts) maestro and Padma Vibhushan Ustad Ali Akbar Khan has been teaching for 35 long years the language of God, where the spiritually hungry come to devour food for the soul..................
Radio Insurgency
Pakistan's Taliban radio insurgency
By Dawood Azami
BBC World Service
Transmitters are unsophisticated and cheap to make
With mullahs and militants using the air waves to broadcast propaganda against their opponents and Western governments, illegal FM radio stations have mushroomed in Pakistan's north-west
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7813632.stm..............
By Dawood Azami
BBC World Service
Transmitters are unsophisticated and cheap to make
With mullahs and militants using the air waves to broadcast propaganda against their opponents and Western governments, illegal FM radio stations have mushroomed in Pakistan's north-west
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7813632.stm..............
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
LETTER FROM TEHRAN
LETTER FROM TEHRAN
CAN IRAN CHANGE?
High stakes in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reëlection campaign.
by Jon Lee Anderson
APRIL 13, 2009
Ahmadinejad’s humble origins provoke disdain among Iran’s political élite, but they are a formidable electoral asset. His 2005 Presidential campaign captured sixty-two per cent of the electorate. Photograph by Thomas Dworzak.
ver since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first ran for President of Iran, four years ago, he has shown a canny understanding of communications. He has a blog, called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Personal Memos, in which he expounds on God, philosophy, and his childhood, and answers e-mails from readers. The signature videos for his 2005 Presidential campaign were two thirty-minute productions that expertly portrayed him as a man of the people. In one scene, Ahmadinejad is in line for lunch at a self-service canteen; in another, he walks among the poor. The videos were aired on television repeatedly. The campaign tagline was “It’s doable—and we can do it.”
The videos were conceived and produced by Javad Shamaqdari, a burly, bearded man who is the President’s “art adviser.” A month ago, that meant demanding an apology from Hollywood for “thirty years of insults and accusations against Iran.” Shamaqdari cited the 2006 film “300,” about the battle between the Spartans and the evil, decadent Persians, and last year’s “The Wrestler,” in which Mickey Rourke grapples with an old nemesis called the Ayatollah, who tries to choke Rourke’s character with an Iranian flag. On the campaign, though, Shamaqdari’s role was like that of an American communications director....................
CAN IRAN CHANGE?
High stakes in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reëlection campaign.
by Jon Lee Anderson
APRIL 13, 2009
Ahmadinejad’s humble origins provoke disdain among Iran’s political élite, but they are a formidable electoral asset. His 2005 Presidential campaign captured sixty-two per cent of the electorate. Photograph by Thomas Dworzak.
ver since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad first ran for President of Iran, four years ago, he has shown a canny understanding of communications. He has a blog, called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Personal Memos, in which he expounds on God, philosophy, and his childhood, and answers e-mails from readers. The signature videos for his 2005 Presidential campaign were two thirty-minute productions that expertly portrayed him as a man of the people. In one scene, Ahmadinejad is in line for lunch at a self-service canteen; in another, he walks among the poor. The videos were aired on television repeatedly. The campaign tagline was “It’s doable—and we can do it.”
The videos were conceived and produced by Javad Shamaqdari, a burly, bearded man who is the President’s “art adviser.” A month ago, that meant demanding an apology from Hollywood for “thirty years of insults and accusations against Iran.” Shamaqdari cited the 2006 film “300,” about the battle between the Spartans and the evil, decadent Persians, and last year’s “The Wrestler,” in which Mickey Rourke grapples with an old nemesis called the Ayatollah, who tries to choke Rourke’s character with an Iranian flag. On the campaign, though, Shamaqdari’s role was like that of an American communications director....................
Six myths about Indian elections
Six myths about Indian elections
Do women in India vote according to the wishes of their husbands? Do Muslims vote as a community? Political scientist Yogendra Yadav examines six myths surrounding the Indian elections.
A myth is a story or trend that a culture believes to be true. But it has also taken on the meaning of a popular conception that may have become exaggerated if not downright false...........
Thursday, January 08, 2009
The Tenacity of hope
The tenacity of hope
Dec 30th 2008 DHAKA From The Economist print edition
Bangladesh enjoys a pretty clean election and a decisive result AFP
IT WENT better than anyone dared hope. On December 29th Bangladesh held its first general election for seven years. It was well-attended, with a 70% turnout, well-organised, largely peaceful and, despite some vote-buying and other malpractice, far cleaner than its predecessors. It produced an astonishing, massive landslide for the alliance led by the Awami League of Sheikh Hasina Wajed (pictured above), prime minister from 1996-2001, and daughter of the country’s murdered independence leader........................
Dec 30th 2008 DHAKA From The Economist print edition
Bangladesh enjoys a pretty clean election and a decisive result AFP
IT WENT better than anyone dared hope. On December 29th Bangladesh held its first general election for seven years. It was well-attended, with a 70% turnout, well-organised, largely peaceful and, despite some vote-buying and other malpractice, far cleaner than its predecessors. It produced an astonishing, massive landslide for the alliance led by the Awami League of Sheikh Hasina Wajed (pictured above), prime minister from 1996-2001, and daughter of the country’s murdered independence leader........................
Unguided democracy
Unguided democracy
Jan 7th 2009 From Economist.com
Hardy political perennials in Thailand and Bangladesh
THE swearing-in this week of Sheikh Hasina Wajed as Bangladesh’s prime minister has brought national celebration. There is much to cheer: the return of democratic rule after two years of army-installed technocracy; a successful election, largely free of the violence, intimidation and massive vote-buying that marked its predecessors; the toppling of the unpopular regime of Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which preceded the army’s interregnum; and the rout of Mrs Zia’s Islamist allies, and hence, it is hoped, of the political wings of Islamist extremism..................
Jan 7th 2009 From Economist.com
Hardy political perennials in Thailand and Bangladesh
THE swearing-in this week of Sheikh Hasina Wajed as Bangladesh’s prime minister has brought national celebration. There is much to cheer: the return of democratic rule after two years of army-installed technocracy; a successful election, largely free of the violence, intimidation and massive vote-buying that marked its predecessors; the toppling of the unpopular regime of Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which preceded the army’s interregnum; and the rout of Mrs Zia’s Islamist allies, and hence, it is hoped, of the political wings of Islamist extremism..................
Friday, December 19, 2008
Helping to write History
Helping to Write History
By Eli SaslowWashington Post Staff WriterThursday,
The job requires him to work unnoticed, even in plain view, so Jon Favreau settles into a wooden chair at a busy Starbucks in the center of Penn Quarter. Deadline looms, and he needs to write at least half a page by the end of the day. As the espresso machines whir, Favreau opens his laptop, calls up a document titled "rough draft of inaugural" and goes to work on the most anticipated speech of Barack Obama's life.......................
By Eli SaslowWashington Post Staff WriterThursday,
The job requires him to work unnoticed, even in plain view, so Jon Favreau settles into a wooden chair at a busy Starbucks in the center of Penn Quarter. Deadline looms, and he needs to write at least half a page by the end of the day. As the espresso machines whir, Favreau opens his laptop, calls up a document titled "rough draft of inaugural" and goes to work on the most anticipated speech of Barack Obama's life.......................
Thursday, October 02, 2008
US Superpower status is shaken
US superpower status is shaken
By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website
Will Uncle Sam still bestride the world in future?The financial crisis is likely to diminish the status of the United States as the world's only superpower. On the practical level, the US is already stretched militarily, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is now stretched financially. On the philosophical level, it will be harder for it to argue in favour of its free market ideas, if its own markets have collapsed....................................
By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website
Will Uncle Sam still bestride the world in future?The financial crisis is likely to diminish the status of the United States as the world's only superpower. On the practical level, the US is already stretched militarily, in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is now stretched financially. On the philosophical level, it will be harder for it to argue in favour of its free market ideas, if its own markets have collapsed....................................
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