Reviews & Previews
The Gurus of Comedy
EGO columnist Beena Ahmed recently attended the Gurus of Comedy show. Her piece explores this troupe's unique brand of desi humor - jokes that are just 'too much tequila'. Beena's take on each of the 'gurus' is commingled with comic reflections from her own childhood as a South Asian American growing up in the States.
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Urdu & Hindi Poetry
Tuu Paas Bhii Ho To
Ayesha Khanna translates the writings of Ahmed Faraz, one of modern Urdu poetry's greatest living poets.
tuu paas bhii ho to
dil beqaraar apanaa hai
even when you are close
my heart is restless
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Art & Culture
eyeBLINK Entertainment
EGO interviews Qurrat Anne Kadwani eyeBLINK Entertainment's co-founder. A staunch believer in the philosophies of Bertolt Brecht, we found her to be poised, vivacious and obviously full of passion and drive for her chosen metier. eyeBLINK has brought us an array of plays, tasteful cruise evenings and short films.
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Fiction
Neruda
The sky is seldom melancholy in Isla Negra. When I was a young girl, I sat in my father’s lap and thought this while looking out the window. He read me two poems daily.
EGO presents a short story by Janaki Challa.
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Bollywood
Zoroastrians Today
The documentary "Zoroastrians Today" deals with the mysterious Zoroastrian people. As a faith they are amazing in having no such thing as a ‘Zoroastrian Pope’, no governing body, and no mixing of their religion with their politics or laws. Their religion exists, as it should, in its purest form in the lives of the followers.
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Reviews & Previews
The Living Pyramids
EGO Executive Editor Sumita Sheth tells us about The Living Pyramids, an extravaganza planned by Vikas Khanna’s World Chefs “Cooking for Life”. A group of world class master chefs gather to immortalize the unique experience of dining under the shadow of the great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt.
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Urdu & Hindi Poetry
Allah Huu
Ayesha Khanna translates this popular qawali sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali. Allah Huu is in the praise of God, but also one's ideal self, one's lover and the beauty of nature.
Malik-Ul-Mulk, Lashareeka Lahoo
Ruler of the world, soul of my blood
Wahadahoo Laa Ilaahaa Illaahoo
The promised one, there is nothing but you
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Art & Culture
Dance Without Boundaries
Dancer and choreographer Akram Khan is taking Indian classical dance to bold new levels. His distinct style has been called “Contemporary Kathak”. EGO Columnist Leena Khan sits down with Akram Khan during his recent visit to New York to discuss the mix of modern dance and kathak that is uniquely his.
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Art & Culture
Without Boundary
EGO Columnist Azra Dawood reviews the exhibition Without Boundary: Seventeen Ways of Looking at the New York MOMA, which is part anthology, part investigation. The unifying theme is –by some stretch- Islam. Or rather, the question whether the art on display can be termed ‘Islamic’. The exhibition features selected works of 17 contemporary artists.
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Diaspora(s)
Jacques Derrida
On October 8th 2004, French philosopher Jacques Derrida passed away. Derrida was the father of ‘deconstructionism,’ a critical practice that questions the foundation of Western thought by exploring the inherent instability present in language. Derrida’s texts, such as “Of Grammatology”, heralded the death of the author.
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