Coffee Houser Shei Addata

"And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:34:04 -0400

“And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not (other) paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. This He has ordained for you that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (pious).”

- (Qur’an, Surat Al-‘An`ām, 6:153)

"Cairo: mother of cities and seat of pharaoh the tyrant, mistress of broad provinces and fruitful..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:12:48 -0400

“

Cairo: mother of cities and seat of pharaoh the tyrant, mistress of broad provinces and fruitful lands, boundless in multitude of buildings, peerless in beauty and splendor, the meeting-place of comer and goer, the stopping-place of feeble and strong. Therein is what you will of learned and simple, grave and gay, prudent and foolish, base and noble, of high estate and low estate, unknown and famous; she surges as the waves of the sea with her throngs of folk she can scarce contain them for all the capacity of her situation and sustaining power.

Her youth is ever new in spite of length of days, and the star of her horoscope does not move from the mansion of fortune; her conquering capital (al-Qahera) has subdued the nations, and her kings have grasped the forelocks of both Arab and non-Arab. She has as her peculiar possession the majestic Nile, which dispenses her distinct from the need of entreating the distillation of the rain; her territory is a month’s journey for a hastening traveller, of generous soil, and extending a warm friendly welcome to strangers.

”

- Ibn Battutah on Egypt (via neocolonialthoughts)

Never reading these books again (with the exception of Burmese...

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:02:00 -0400

Never reading these books again (with the exception of Burmese Days).

masculineallure: Godfrey Gao

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:12:53 -0400

masculineallure:

Godfrey Gao

Africans in India: From Slaves to Generals and Rulers | The New York Public Library

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:49:00 -0400

Africans in India: From Slaves to Generals and Rulers | The New York Public Library:

“Generals, commanders, admirals, prime ministers, and rulers, East Africans greatly distinguished themselves in India. They wrote a story unparalleled in the rest of the world — that of enslaved Africans attaining the pinnacle of military and political authority not only in a foreign country but also on another continent. Come discover their extraordinary story in a groundbreaking exhibition at the Schomburg Center — on view from February 1 to July 6 — and on March 21, join Dr. Faeeza Jasdanwalla, a descendant of the African dynasty of Janjira for a conversation on this unique history.

Following free traders and artisans who migrated to and traded with India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia in the fist centuries of the common era; from the 1300s onward, East Africans from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and adjacent areas entered the Indian subcontinent, mostly though the slave trade. Others came as soldiers and sailors. From Bengal in the northeast to Gujarat in the west and to the Deccan in Central India, they vigorously asserted themselves in the country of their enslavement. The success was theirs but it is also a strong testimony to the open-mindedness of a society in which they were a small religious and ethnic minority, originally of low status. As foreigners and Muslims, some of these Africans ruled over indigenous Hindu, Muslim and Jewish populations.

Besides appearing in written documents, East Africans, known as Habshis (Abyssinians) and Sidis, have been immortalized in the rich paintings of different eras, states, and styles that form an important part of Indian culture.Africans in India features dramatically stunning photographic reproductions of some of these paintings, as well as photographs.

As rulers, city planners, and architects, the Sidis have left an impressive historical and architectural legacy that attest to their determination, skills, and intellectual, cultural, military and political savvy. The imposing forts, mosques, mausoleums, and other edifices they built — some more than 500 years ago — still grace the Indian landscape. They left their mark in the religious realm too. The 14th century African Muslim Sufi saint Bava Gor and his sister, Mai Misra, have devotees of all origins, not only in India, but also in Pakistan. Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and Zoroastrians frequent their shrines.

From humble beginnings, some Africans carved out princely states — Janjira and Sachin — complete with their own coats of arms, armies, mints, and stamps. They fiercely defended them from powerful enemies well into the 20th century when, with another 600 princely states, they were integrated into the Indian State.To curate this exhibition with my friend Dr. Kenneth X. Robbins, renowned collector, expert in the history of the Africans in India and co-editor of Africans in India: Habshi Amarat, was an old dream. It is also the continuation of an exploration of the eastern reaches of the African Diaspora started in 2011. The first leg of this journey was the online exhibition The African Diaspora in the Indian Ocean World. Today, it has been seen in over 90 countries. The same year the Schomburg Center hosted, for several months, a gorgeous exhibition of quilts made by Sidi women. Curated by Dr. Henry Drewal,Soulful Stitching was an immense success.

Africans in India presents a unique facet of the African experience in India, one that has not received, in the present, the recognition it deserves. By bringing out of obscurity the lives and accomplishments of some of the Sidis of yesterday, this new exhibition inscribes their fascinating story in the richly diverse history of the global African Diaspora.”

Source: NYPL

An institutional failure | Dhaka Tribune

Mon, 20 May 2013 01:56:25 -0400

An institutional failure | Dhaka Tribune:

“In my opinion, this situation with the police shows us the first example of an institution that should remain sacrosanct and inviolable, becoming dysfunctional and losing its independent character as a result of the massive nepotism practiced by the Awami League. I repeat: what happened recently was an institutional failure. If the police, as an institution, breaks down, the structure of the state breaks down. An institution must remain completely neutral. The institutions of a state are bound to treat every human being equally – whether that person is from Jamaat, Shibir, or Chhatra League, whether they are poor or rich, atheist, Hindu or Muslim, it doesn’t matter. To quell those who went out to demonstrate against the verdict on Sayedee, or went on an angry rampage, by shooting them is not equal treatment.”

Source: Dhaka Tribune

arabswagger: A Classic Arab tale that detailed the morbid love...

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:47:51 -0400

arabswagger:

A Classic Arab tale that detailed the morbid love story of Qays ibn al-Mulawwah of the Banu ‘Amir tribe and his undying love for Layla. Originally said in the Anecdotes of classic Arab folklore, it was popularized by the 12th Persian poet Nizami. It is the base of inspiration for classic Romantic Literature pieces like Romeo and Juliet and many other tales.

” I pass by these walls, the walls of Layla

And I kiss this wall and that wall

It’s not Love of the houses that has taken my heart

But of the One who dwells in those houses ”

arabswagger: Shahnameh, the Epic of Kings(Persian...

Sun, 19 May 2013 23:33:16 -0400

arabswagger:

Shahnameh, the Epic of Kings(Persian Classic).

Chapter 2: Feridoun.

“Now after many years were passed there were born to him three sons, whose mother was of the house of Jemshid. And the sons were fair of mien, tall and strong, yet their names were not known to men, for Feridoun had not tested their hearts. But when he beheld that they were come to years of strength he called them about his throne and bade them search out the King of Yemen, who had three daughters, fair as the moon, that they should woo them unto themselves. And the sons of Feridoun did according to the command of their father. They set forth unto Yemen, and there went with them a host countless as the stars. And when they were come to Yemen, the King came forth to greet them, and his train was like to the plumage of a pheasant. Then the sons of Feridoun gained the hands of the daughters of Serv, King of Yemen, and departed with them to their own land. And Serv gave to his new sons much treasure laid upon the backs of camels, and umbrellas too did he give unto them in sign of kingship.”

Commentary:

For those who have profited off of the Persian-Arab rivalry in antiquity and in modern times, there seems to be a lingering sense of shared culture and even kinship among both Civilizations, as the Classic Persian Poet, Ferdawsi, shows that the epic Persian Shah, Feridoun, sought none other for his sons than the noble people of Yemen as kin, the heart of Arab Civilization.

I’d rather doodle all day than study the gender gap.

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:15:00 -0400

I’d rather doodle all day than study the gender gap.

immigrant

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:51:52 -0400

miguu:

you broke the ocean in
half to be here
only to meet nothing that wants you.

"Maps turn each of us into what Michel de Certeau calls a ‘voyeur-god’ … The map is a mechanism that..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:26:06 -0400

“Maps turn each of us into what Michel de Certeau calls a ‘voyeur-god’ … The map is a mechanism that shows what no eye could ever see, even when the maps represents the most familiar territory— the space marked out by daily experience … Maps suggest ways of thinking as well as seeing. They materialize a view of the mind more than of external reality. They project an order of reason onto the world and force it to conform to a graphic rationale, a cultural grid, a conceptual geometry.”

- Christian Jacob, The Sovereign Map

(the piece where got the de Certeau bit from was his 1984 book, The Practice of Everyday Life)

Photo

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:28:31 -0400

"My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes."

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:27:39 -0400

“My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.”

- L.M. Montgomery. (via rabbasacheya)

z1c: being 20+ on tumblr

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:45:37 -0400

z1c:

being 20+ on tumblr

Video: Made in Bangladesh

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:44:21 -0400

Video: Made in Bangladesh:

In the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse, Kalpona Akter, the executive director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity, talks about conditions in garment factories.

Going Native

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:02:14 -0400

uncultured:

“Going Native” is a term sometimes used in anthropology. It’s used to describe when outsiders of a culture, community, or country spend so much time immersed and embedded there that they become more like the locals and have a harder time adjusting when they go home.

I’m starting to feel like that might be what’s happened to me this time.

For example, in Western culture, if someone is in your way it’s customary to say “excuse me” and wait for the person to move. In Bangladesh, the customary act is to gently touch and guide (not to be confused with shoving) the person so that they aren’t in your way.

In Toronto, while in a crowded movie theatre, I found myself guiding people out of my way by touching them. Only to catch myself, realize how rude I must be by Western standards, and run back to apologize to everyone. Of course, being Canadians, they weren’t angry about it.

Also, in Bengali culture, handshakes have a different role. Sometimes you shake someones hand… and just keep holding. Sometimes throughout the entire conversation. But, even for brief handshakes, it’s common to shake the person’s hand and then touch your chest.

In New York, after getting out of the cab, I found myself shaking the cabbie’s hand… and then getting confused why he wasn’t (like me) touching his chest with the hand he just shook me with. I almost felt slighted… until I realized I must be the one that’s acting weird.

Similarly, Bangladeshi culture sometimes (but not always) eschews hand waiving for a greeting that kind of looks like a salute. I can only imagine the confusion people driving around must have been when - instead of waiving them a thanks for letting me cross - I saluted them.

Finally, Bangladeshis tend to be very gracious hosts. They like pampering their guests and leaving very little work for their guests to do. I remember when my brother was visiting one of my aunts in Bangladesh - and my aunt & uncle were shocked that he made his own bed in the morning.

Being a good guest in Bangladesh means allowing yourself to be slightly dependent on your hosts. But, in the Western world, acting like that makes you a mooch or an ungrateful guest. I was thinking about that as I found myself trying to get back into the habit of tidying up after myself.

Growing up in North America, I never really felt like Western culture was 100% my culture. I understood it - and was used to it. But, despite being born here, in many respects, I felt like a bit of a foreigner. And, most kids and people treated me and my family like immigrants/foreigners.

In Bangladesh, locals sometimes see me as a foreigner. This is despite being 100% ethnically and biologically Bangladeshi. And, visiting Bangladesh as a kid, the culture seemed alien and weird and not at all something I felt I would ever internalize.

It’s weird how, despite things changing and going native a bit, I still feel like I don’t fully belong in either place. Such is the case with Third Culture Kids I guess.

Photo

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:27:55 -0400

"Imperialism is evidently one such monster: Whenever it is chased off, it slips into another,..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:02:07 -0400

“Imperialism is evidently one such monster: Whenever it is chased off, it slips into another, seemingly benign, form in order to re-insinuate itself and ultimately smother its hosts. It used to be ‘civilising the savages’; now it comes as ‘development’.”

- Madhusree Mukerjee gives great insight in Himal. Mukerjee’s new book exposes the myths behind India’s ‘growth miracle’, and looks for ways out of the ecological and social devastation of the current neoliberal model.

In the early 1990s, when India needed a loan, the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) used the opportunity to impose constraints on its domestic policies. These ‘structural adjustments’, followed by India’s entry into the World Trade Organisation, remodelled the country’s economy to conform with the profit-making imperatives of international and domestic corporations. The result has been enormous wealth for a few – which has trickled down to an extent in cities and towns – but a disaster for rural areas, in which two-thirds of the Indian people reside.

India’s forests and villages supply the land, water, minerals and other natural resources necessary for industrialisation, commodity trading, toxic waste disposal and corporatised agriculture. The poor are being robbed, often at gunpoint, of the very environs in which they live. “What we see is actually a well-disguised form of imperialism, sophisticated enough to leave room for the national … elite to share the spoils of exploitation with the dominant classes in industrialised nations,” explain economist Aseem Shrivastava and ecologist Ashish Kothari in their meticulously documented treatise.

Read this. It’s important.

(via mehreenkasana)

thestolencaryatid: minimalism is bourgeois. large empty spaces are bourgeois. deliberate urban...

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:58:37 -0400

thestolencaryatid:

minimalism is bourgeois. large empty spaces are bourgeois. deliberate urban minimalism is bourgeois. owning a large space in nyc and deliberately making it look like an empty warehouse is bourgeois.

i have analyzed the poetics of space, of growing up in small confined spaces, of hoarding books and plushies that individually mean something insofar as they have concretized my memories. i don’t hoard, i assemble. i assemble things that give me a sense of permanence. i don’t give my books away because they tie me to an experience here. and when my parents are gone and i have no family/property/anything left here except myself, my books won’t have changed. but i will have, i can approach them with a different attitude and involve myself in studies differently.

whenever i walk into houses i always feel secretly embarrassed at myself for sometimes fantasizing i’d have a house or some sort of permanence here. but i do not. and i don’t need empty fuckin space to remind me every second of the day. only comfortable people can live without things. can buy things and give them away. can feel free at the lack of being ‘tied down’ by possessions. and i don’t mean possession of wealth, i mean knick knacks and objects that i’ve cathected meaning into since i do not have a stable space.

the precarity of immigration is that you can be kicked out at any moment by the landlord, once again - this time because your father is back home trying to be there for his family - the precarity of immigration is that you always feel like at any given moment you can lose all meaning associated with the space you’ve inhabited for a given time, be reminded that your intimate space was really borrowed

fuck minimalism, really

"It should not be possible to read nineteenth-century British literature without remembering that..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:57:17 -0400

“

It should not be possible to read nineteenth-century British literature without remembering that imperialism, understood as England’s social mission, was a crucial part of the cultural representation of England to the English. The role of literature in the production of cultural representation should not be ignored. These two obvious “facts” continue to be disregarded in the reading of nineteenth-century British literature. This itself attests to the continuing success of the imperialist project, displaced and dispersed into more modern forms.

If these “facts” were remembered, not only in the study of British literature but in the study of the literatures of the European colonizing cultures of the great age of imperialism, we would produce a narrative, in literary history, of the “worlding” of what is now called “the Third World.” To consider the Third World as distant cultures, exploited but with rich intact literary heritages waiting to be recovered, interpreted, and curricularized in English translation fosters the emergence of “the Third World as a signifier that allows us to forget that “worlding,” even as it expands the empire of the literary discipline.

It seems particularly unfortunate when the emergent perspective of feminist criticism reproduces the axioms of imperialism. A basically isolationist admiration for the literature of the female subject in Europe and Anglo-America establishes the high feminist norm. It is supported and operated by an information-retrieval approach to “Third World” literature which often employs a deliberately “nontheoretical” methodology with self-conscious rectitude.

”

- Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Three Women’s Texts and Critique of Imperialism (via sitaronse)

Yes. I also recommend this.

(via fariyah)

See: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Mansfield Park amongst others

(via swintons)

yes, THIS is why I am always whining when I see people on my dash talking about Womanhood and Women’s Subjectivity in nineteenth century English lit (Brontes especially), there is literally no women’s subjectivity in those books without this (and it’s really easy to see this, because most of them—Jane Eyre, I always mention—are really opaquely racist? like half of the plot of Jane Eyre is “this is how my concept of bodies around the world forms my sense of self as an individual and a woman”?? so like whyyyy?)

(via rgr-pop)