A new set of translations of the works of the Indian poet Kabir are about to be published by The New York Review Of Books.
The Spinning Head
A Photographer Confronts His World
Jean-Bertrande Aristide Returns
It remains one of the most difficult stories I have attempted to do. In 2005 writer Malcolm Garcia and I traveled to Port Au Prince to document the targeting of pro-Aristide activists and Lavalas supporters in the weeks after Jean Bertrande-Aristide was forcibly removed from power. The collaboration of the French and American governments in the illegal and violent removal of a sitting, democratically elected President of a sovereign nation was blatant and well documented.
mesnal delarge's sister reacts after seeing the body of her brother who was shot and killed while marching in a pro-aristide rally in port au prince. the haitian national police has frequently fired upon peaceful demonstrators, often right in front of MINUSTAH troops copyright asimrafiqui 2006
The Idea Of India Project Update: Project Reading List: J.J. Roy Burman Gujarat Unknown
Professor J.J. Roy Burman, who currently teaches at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai/Bombay, India has been a crucial guide and advisor on the current phase of The Idea Of India project.
Birth Of The Idea Of India Project Or How I Can Make What Was Random And Fortuitous Appear Structured And Disciplined
The diagram below is my attempt to explain the birth and execution of this project I am tentatively calling The Idea Of India. I have been asked to present this work on at least five occasions now and each time I have struggled to really articulate it. The fact remains that I am simply unable to veil under structured thought and organized presentation a work that has largely relied and been inspired by a series of random events, readings and conversations.
IOI Schematic
The Idea Of India Project Update: All Faiths Bring You To The Feet Of Haji Pir
You can already see them on the roads leading up to this small town in remote Western Kutch. Pilgrims from as far away as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are slowly, determinedly making their way to the town of Naragram in the Banni region of Kutch, Gujarat. Many are on foot and carrying the green flags that define them as devotees to the famous saint known here as Haji Pir. Dozens can be seen resting at night at local gas stations and truck stops.
Location Of The Shrine Of Haji Pir, Nakhratrana, Gujarat
Jim Jamrusch Knows How To Photograph Or Seeing Photography In Movies And Walking Away With A Smile
Jim Jarmusch as an incredible photographic eye and he utilizes it in his movies to amazing effect.
I first noticed this while watching the film Broken Flowers.
The Idea Of India Project Update: Project Related Readings: Achyut Yagnik The Shaping Of Modern Gujarat & Ahmedbabad: Royal City To MegaCity
Towards the end of this work, Yagnik’s words seem to be weighed down by a terrible despair. Though the work is a broad social science study of Gujarat’s political, economic and cultural history, one can’t help but feel that it is more an attempt to understand and explain the state’s descent into cultural xenophobia and anti-Muslim hysteria that mark its political, social and urban spaces today.
The Idea Of India Project Update: Project Related Readings: Gilmartin & Lawrence Beyond Turk & Hindu: Rethinking Religious Identities In Islamicate South Asia
It was a William Dalrymple review, ‘India, The War Over History’, in The New York Review Of Books that first bought my attention to this work. It remains on my reading list and has already been referenced in my India project writings a few times. Gilmartin & Lawrence’s Beyond Turk And Hindu: Rethinking Religious Identities In Islamicate South Asia brings together some fine academics to offer a more complex, inter-twined reading of South Asian history, dynasties and communities.
The Idea Of India Project Update: 10th March 2011: The Shrine Of Hazrat Syed Ali Mira Datar And The Trace Of The Devil
Her face is a mask – without expression and stone hard. Her eyes stare into the distance, oblivious to the hundreds of men and women milling about the courtyard of the shrine. In the dying dusk light, under the glare of incandescent lights from the flower sellers inside the shrine complex, she lets out a scream, her mouth turned up towards the sky, her hands pulling at her hair. She falls to her knees and scratches at the marble floor but is soon back on her feet. I sense the eyes of the crowd turn towards her, and an atmosphere of tense anticipation fills the devotees as they step away from her. She begins to run.
Where The Head Spun – 6th March 2011
I have been following the turmoil in the Middle East on the amazing Jadaliyya website
Complementing Al-Jazeera’s excellent coverage, Jadaliyya offers the best in-depth analysis of the social, economic, political and cultural factors fueling the tectonic shifts taking place in a region long ignored and seriously misrepresented by American and European media, intellectuals, pundits and academics. I recommend that you bookmark it.
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