The tragedy of Partition is almost Shakespearean in its fallout. It’s been over sixty-three years since this catastrophic event occurred yet its effects continue to unfold, like seismic aftershocks. No one on the Indian sub-continent has really escaped its scathing wounds as the two countries carved out of undivided India in 1947 – independent India and Pakistan – reel even today from the legacy of hatred and suspicion unleashed by the Partition. In reality, one people, one culture, today stand on opposite shores – We and They – talking in tongues which neither understands.
One would think that everything that had to be said about the Partition has been said but along comes Sarah Singh, an intrepid film-maker who has boldly gone into this troubled, calloused territory.
Browsing: Hindu
In the 1990’s, tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalis living in Bhutan were stripped of their Bhutanese citizenship. Born and brought up in Bhutan, they were ruthlessly expelled by the government, compelled to live in a wasted no-man’s land, in seven crowded refugee camps on the outskirts of Nepal.Difficult as their situation has been, the one silver lining has been the offer of the United States to resettle up to 60,000 of the 106,000 refugees. About 8,000 of them have arrived in the US and will be given government assistance to settle down. I checked out a Little Bhutan which is beginning to bloom in the Bronx.
Krishna the Blue God and the Beautiful Names of Allah are both the work of the same artist, and each painting is suffused with a spirituality which cannot fail to move viewers. For Salma Arastu there is but one god and one humanity and she reiterates this belief in painting after painting.
In recent years, Kashmir has been a flawed paradise, a killing field where families have been torn asunder and homes lost forever. The timeless, idyllic place that visitors in happier times remember may well be lost, never to be experienced again. Yet there is a strength and beauty that lives on in the arts of diehard, resilient Kashmiris who, in spite of all the difficulties, continue to create crafts that blossom like the flowers of their native land. (This antique shawl above shows the map of Kashmir)
In this festive season, as Diwali approaches, are you the perfect host?
Well, here’s a story that will make you re-evaluate your hospitality skills, for the host in this tale is none other than Lord Krishna. When his boyhood friend, Sudama – hungry, impoverished and in rags – arrived at the palace, the guards almost did not allow him in. But Lord Krishna, overjoyed to see his old friend, received him with open arms and joyfully led him to his throne. He personally washed his feet and fed him with his own hands.
In the collection there is a pair of tiny sandals for a deity, made of sheet gold with rubies, diamonds and pearls. There are also gold accoutrements for a Krishna shrine – umbrella, rattles, peacock and parrots as playthings for Baby Krishna.
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“Women can be pilots, presidents, models, go for cigarette advertisements, so why can’t they be priests?”
Religion and culture are best absorbed in childhood, yet these children do not see Hindu culture echoed in the world around them, especially if they live in Small Town, USA where there may be few people who look or worship like them.