The Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2020 is being conferred on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder of modern Bangladesh
Pakistan's Literary Festivals Inject Oxygen into Constrained Intellectual Spaces, but Cross-Border Exchanges Remain Frozen
Inspired by the Jaipur Lit Fest, Pakistan’s first literary festival took place in the country’s largest city Karachi in 2010. Subsequently replicated in Lahore and Islamabad, such festivals now take place around the country, from the agricultural and industrial hub of Faisalabad, formerly Lyallpur, to the port city of Gwadar on the Balochistan coast.
An Unending Struggle for Justice: A Rare Insight into the Everyday Lives of Migrant Workers in India
While the overall picture is depressing, Ramaswami also describes hopeful strands within the social fabric of workers’ lives such as the mutual support and 'bhaichara' (fellowship) between men across ethnic, religious and caste boundaries that become more fluid within the city. The inter-religious and inter-caste ties forged between workers can be seen as small glimmers of hope in the context of the rising tide of Hindutva politics over the past decades.
Suman Kalyanpur: A Silken Echo Falls Silent
Today, as we bid farewell to the Dhaka-born singer once fondly called the “Dhake ki malmal,” one is reminded that the softest fabrics often endure the longest. Her voice was just that. Fine, delicate, yet enduring beyond time. And now, as that voice falls silent, it leaves behind not an emptiness, but an echo. An echo that will continue to drift through radio waves, old recordings and the private corners of memory.
Aurat March is About Women's Identity: Movement for Gender Justice in Pakistan and Across the Region
Two girls stood silently holding a placard that read: ‘Forcing your daughter to get married is forcing her to get raped.’ The message speaks to a reality across the South Asian region where the priority for most families is to get their daughters married. On a sheet where attendees were penning messages to their mothers -- words they could not say aloud -- an anonymous note read: “Would you rather see me married or alive?”
More on Culture and Society
Gavari: A 40-day mystical theatre celebration of the goddess among Rajasthan’s Bhil tribe
Each year a bhopa (priest) from the villages dominated by the Bhil tribe in Rajasthan invokes the goddess Gauri/Gavari/Ambavi mata ahead of the Hindu month of Shravan (around September)
New-age Indian actors vie with world's best for top awards
Think new-age actors you would count among the best of Bollywood, and you are rightly thinking Ayushmann Khurrana, Nawazuddin Siddiqui or Rajkummar Rao
Khadi Mujib jackets to add sheen to celebrations during PM Modi’s visit to Bangladesh
Khadi, the heritage fabric of India, is all set to catch eyeballs during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Bangladesh on March 26-27
Centuries-old Nepal’s stupas restored, attract locals back
Dating back to centuries, some of Nepal’s stupas were in a worn-out state, covered in layers of dust and grime, and slowly cracking
Banned Pakistani film wins big at Asian World Film Festival
Banned and censored back home, Pakistani film Zindagi Tamasha, which has bagged several international awards, bagged Best Film and Best Actor awards at the prestigious Asian World Film Festival
COVID, bear attacks take a toll on Bhutan's yak herders
Hundreds of yak herders in the remote mountains of Bhutan are facing a tough time due to COVID-19
Sri Lanka to provide insurance cover for stage artists, performers
In a salutary move that sets an example for South Asia, the Sri Lankan government has decided to provide insurance cover for stage artists and performers, according to a report in Colombopage. The move is a significant step in underlining the importance of art and culture in the country
Bhutanese movie industry face financial crisis as theatres still closed
With movie theatres in Bhutan shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and yet to open up even after a year, the film industry is facing an acute financial crisis
British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed makes history, nominated for Oscar
British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed made history as the first Muslim nominated for the Oscar for the lead actor role
Chess and camaraderie at a Kolkata traffic junction
It was around mid-1980s when a few men would be seen huddling together over chess boards every evening after office in between Gariahat and Golpark of then south Calcutta, much before the Gariahat flyover in South Kolkata came up
How Shakespeare became entrenched in 19th-century Bengal
If the works of the poet Virgil could be said to have introduced the flavour of classical literature into medieval Europe, Shakespearean drama performed the same functions in familiarising the new western-educated intelligentsia of nineteenth-century India to the rich literary world of early modern Europe, finds Sahapedia
Where Kolkata's walls breathe art
Indian cities are not known for the walls of buildings transformed into art galleries as in many parts of the world
Indian-origin crypto investor in Singapore buys $69.3 mn artwork
Singapore-based Indian Cryptocurrency investor Metakovan has bought an artwork by digital artist Beeple for $69.3 million
A new destination for Nepal's art, literature, and culture
Nepal's Chaudhary Group, through its Chaudhary Foundation, has established a Unnati Cultural Village (UCV) at Harkapur, Nawalpur, the goal of which is to offer a place where Nepali artists and writers can visit and create their art and literature
