Art and Culture
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Context: Back in the late 1950s, Nikita Khrushchev faced a massive housing crisis. His solution was simple, the “Khrushchyovka” — mass-produced, low-cost, concrete apartment blocks. The state designed them for uniformity, but inside those tiny, identical six-metre kitchens, families created vibrant, subversive, and deeply individual lives. They were meant to be temporary fixes (generally built to last 25 years), but millions of people still live in them today.
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Rumi has become a household name in the world of poetry. Be it in meme culture, or internet statuses or just popular literature, translations of Rumi’s poetry are easy to come across. He is, in fact, counted among the best selling poets of all time. So, who was Rumi? The absolutely common answer is “a mystic”. The also-correct but almost rare answer is “an Islamic scholar, a theologian and an expert on Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence)”.
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Dirilis Ertugrul. Ertugrul Ghazi. Resurrection: Ertugrul. Call it whatever name you want. This is one show that has taken the Muslim World, especially South Asia, by a storm. Muslims of all age groups, all over the South Asian region, are bonafide fans of this one particular show — especially its Urdu version, Ertugrul Ghazi. Before we go any further, brief disclaimer — I haven’t watched this show beyond a couple of odd episodes out of sheer curiosity. As such, this article cannot be viewed as a review of the TV show itself — rather, I’m talking about the frenzy that’s…
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Recently, I visited Tbilisi, Georgia for a short business trip. This post enlists some of my major observations about Tbilisi during the course of my brief visit. A lot has been spoken about the natural landscape and stunning regions of Georgia, so I will bypass that. Plus, I will stick only to Tbilisi and no other Georgian city, simply because I couldn’t visit the others. Georgia is a small mountainous country. This ex-Soviet state has been making steady progress of late, and more and more visitors are nowadays heading towards Georgia for tourism.
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Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer this world has ever known, is no more. The fact that he is gone is difficult to swallow. For years, Ali was renowned as a larger than life figure, “the greatest” as he would call himself, and the demise of a man of such high stature is surely a void that can never be filled. In the world of sports, Muhammad Ali will forever be known as the boxing legend who won 56 bouts during his 21-year career. In popular culture, he will be remembered as the man who was not afraid when it came…
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While both sane and insane voices exist in every society, it is common knowledge by now that Islamophobes are pretty loud in the West, especially in USA. The story of Ahmed, the kid who brought a self-made clock to school, is a case in point. Of course, Islamophobia is not the dominant ideology in USA, as can be seen in the efforts of several good-willed Americans who seek nothing but peace. After all, Ahmed did get support and appreciation from all corners, didn’t he? However, what happens when such Islamophobic paranoia, even though it might be in the minority, spills…
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First up: Robin Williams was a fine actor by all means. His death is an unfortunate and tragic incident. As soon as word got out about Williams’ death, the internet mourned the loss of a very talented actor. Rightfully so. Social media, online publications, blogs and everything else was filled with “RIP Robin” messages, and people talked at length about the life and story of Robin Williams. However, while social media did praise the works and accomplishments of Robin Williams shortly after his death, there was also a time when hardly anyone on Facebook or Twitter considered Williams to be…
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Depending on your socio-political views, you may choose to agree or disagree with me when I say: Islamophobia is in the air. Be it the USA, UK or even Myanmar, there are a good number of people out there who view Muslims as a community that is troublesome and refuses to integrate. In the midst of all this, it was a pleasant thing to read when Marvel announced that the leading character in their new comic book series will be a Muslim girl.