Tuesday, December 16, 2008


‘I wish I could remember all their names. My 20,000 ghosts. They all had names. Beautiful African names. We were apes, they were human.’

Gripping words from an equally gripping film called Amazing Grace (2006). Went to see it last night and was completely taken in by Albert Finney’s superb performance of John Newton, the very man whom I quoted above and also the same man who composed the world famous song ‘Amazing Grace’.

The song was inspired by Newton’s repentence as a former slave ship captain. Newton in turn inspired someone else: William Wilberforce. And it was this very Wilberforce consumed by his conviction of inhumanity of slavery, who eventually managed to abolish slavery. That was in 1807. The US followed suit in 1808. It took the Dutch until 1863 to do the same.

Wilberforce spent his lifetime trying to get slavery abolished, but the British parliament would not hear of it. After all, why end such an incredibly lucrative trade that had been integral to the West Indies sugar cane plantations filling the bank accounts of British merchants and literally pouring sugar into millions of cups of so-called English tea.

Wilberforce received support from men like the PM William Pitt and Josiah Wedgewood. Yes, the founding father of the famous Wedgewood pottery. It was Wedgwood who copied the original medallion design by the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade as a cameo in black and white.

The inscription 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother? ' became the catchphrase of British and American abolitionists. Medallions were even sent in 1788 to Benjamin Franklin who was then president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society.


‘Amazing Grace’

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That sav’d a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.


’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears reliev’d;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believ’d!


Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.


The Lord has promis’d good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.


Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease;

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.


The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who call’d me here below,

Will be forever mine.


By John Newton, Olney Hymns (London: W. Oliver, 1779)

Picture: the Offical Medallion of the British Anti-Slavery Society, 1795 Josiah Wedgwood


Saturday, November 29, 2008

Bombay Jazz

'invented by the devil for the torture of saints'

In the Motherland it premiered under the title Jazz. That was last year. In Amsterdam it was dubbed Bombay Jazz. And I went to see it two days ago. The play - which is more than a musical - pays hommage to Indian jazz musicians from Goa who ended up playing a vital part in creating Hindi film music. They needed to, because the pay was much better than what they earned doing gigs at for instance the Taj Mahal Palace. Yes, the same prestigious hotel that was under attack two days ago, as Mumbai fell prey to fierce terrorist attacks.

Confession coming up: I am not really a lover of theatre, nor of jazz. So why then go to this stage production? For starters, because the Dutch organiser Marijke de Vos is a friend of mine. In fact, she made it possible for me to interview Naseeruddin Shah last year. The other reason for going is because I was mesmerised by the magic title Bombay Jazz. For what it's worth, I am so glad I went.

What is Bombay Jazz about? The following synopsis was taken from their own promotional leaflet:

There's jazz, there's rock n roll.
There's sax, there's violins.
Slipping in slivers of Dixieland stomp,
Portuguese Fados, Ellingtonesque doodles,
cha cha cha, Mozart and Bach themes.
There's Mumbai, Bombay, India.
There's egos, failed futures, alcoholism.
There's love, passion, bounced cheques.
There's show-biz, razzmatazz.
And some of the biggest names
in popular culture from C Ramachander to
Laxmikant Pyarelal to Shankar Jaikishen to RD Burman.

In layman terms, the play is about a jazz music teacher and his student. In a smoky, raw voice the teacher tells his student about yesteryear's jazz and how he and his jazz mates from Goa bastardized their love by taking up regular jobs in Hindi cinema in Bombay, simply to make a living. Althought the lines are witty, the subtext is definitely melancholic.

Since I am no expert on either theater or jazz, I decided to leave the glowing reviews to others

“The play weaves the past into the present with gravelly-voiced Bugs Bhargava Krishna embodying the bitter-sweet stories of the musicians, actors on video playing their friends, fellow-musicians and wives, and Rhys Dsouza, grandson of Sebastian Dsouza, showing us what the saxophone can do.”- Shanta Gokhale, MUMBAI MIRROR"

Bugs Bhargava Krishna has you bewitched, bothered and bewildered and having hit the right note never goes off it... [He] delivers a performance that would make ‘em say, he’s got chops."- Pragya Tiwari, MUMBAI MIRROR

"A play so scathing and mercilessly funny in its indictment of Bollywood.Ramu’s script – with its iambic rhythms and cunning rhymes – is well exploited by Bugs Bhargava Krishna. His sense of timing and exuberant delivery brings to mind the frenzied, swinging beats of classic Jazz… Heaps of intelligent humour call for a memorable theatre experience. "- Ankit Soni, mumbaitheatreguide.com

BTW, Marijke did tell me they are considering to organise a tour. Wah wah.

Photo credits: promotional picture from Stagesmith Productions.

India: 80 percent Hindus and 14 percent Muslims

'A very large minority that cannot be ethnically
cleansed without provoking a wider conflict.'

The above was taken from an article by historian and novelist Tariq Ali about the recent Mumbai attacks. It was published in the American political newsletter Counterpunch. Ali explains why India should look closer to home when it comes to finding the people behind the assault on Mumbai.

In Ali's opinion Pakistan may not play a role at all, since the Lashkar-e-Taiba, 'not usually shy of claiming its hits, has strongly denied any involvement with the Mumbai attacks.'

He continues by saying:




'Why should it be such a surprise if the perpetrators are themselves Indian Muslims? Its hardly a secret that there has been much anger within the poorest sections of the Muslim community against the systematic discrimination and acts of violence carried out against them of which the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in shining Gujarat was only the most blatant and the most investigated episode, supported by the Chief Minister of the State and the local state apparatuses. Add to this the continuing sore of Kashmir which has for decades been treated as a colony by Indian troops with random arrests, torture and rape of Kashmiris an everyday occurrence. Conditions have been much worse than in Tibet, but have aroused little sympathy in the West where the defense of human rights is heavily instrumentalised.'
Those who think Ali is justifying terrorist attacks ...?

'None of this justifies terrorism, but it should, at the very least, force
India’s rulers to direct their gaze on their own country and the conditions that
prevail. Economic disparities are profound. The absurd notion that the
trickle-down effects of global capitalism would solve most problems can now be
seen for what it always was: a fig leaf to conceal new modes of exploitation.'

About Tariq Ali
Tariq Ali was born in Lahore in 1943. He was educated in Pakistan and later at Oxford. His opposition to the military dictatorship in Pakistan prevented his return to his own country and he became an unwilling exile in Britain. No, he is not a Muslim, but an atheist and has declared this at many a public occasion.

Tariq Ali has his own website: http://www.tariqali.org/.
Photo credits: Steven Siewert

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Kiran's magic

A snowstorm was raging outside. Inside the church, over a hundred visitors witnessed an awesome performance by Ms Kiran Ahluwalia. Want to experience this fabulous eargasm yourself, then check out the first three tracks of my playlist.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Fado + Ghazals = Kiran Ahluwalia

And I am going to meet this vocal gem from the Punjab ... tomorrow, in Amsterdam's Noorderkerk and in the precious company of dear dear friend Koosje and her daughter Roos.

Kiran will be touring a few other Dutch cities and then go back to New York.

"If yearning had a musical form it would be ghazals, the Indian and Pakistani sung poetry about unrequited love. If longing was a genre, it would be fado, the melancholic Portuguese song form also based in poetry. Singer Kiran Ahluwalia—a musical wanderer, who was born in India, raised in Canada, and now lives in New York City—unites the two on her latest recording, Wanderlust (Time Square Records/World Connection Records).
Source: Kiran Music

One of the first ghazals penned in Urdu in 15th century India appears on Wanderlust, “Tere Darsan,” written by Quli Qutub Shah. This sultan ruled over the city of Hyderabad, -- the place where Kiran received much of her ghazal training from one of the last living court musicians, Vithal Rao. “I’m constantly reading poetry in Urdu and Punjabi. That’s the way I live my life,”
Kiran explains.

Her passionate reading brought her to Qutub Shah’s words, crafted when Urdu was still emerging as a language. “The Urdu language of these ghazals is not the same dialect as we speak today, and so I felt a certain freedom to go further in my experimentation with other influences.

This feeling of freedom led Kiran to incorporate a bluesy feel and groove reminiscent of Saharan Africa, for another of Wanderlust’s serendipitous successes. It also marks the first time she has used the sounds of electric
guitar.

About Ghazals
The Indian sub-continent, now India and Pakistan, has given many things to the world's culture: Hinduism, Buddhism, the Taj Mahal, tea, to name but a few. The region has also given the world some of the most accomplished celebrations of human love. One of these is the Kama Sutra, an epic description of physical love, named after the Hindu god of love - Kama.

Another is the poetic song form known as the ghazal. Ghazals are like polished diamonds - a single stone with many facets. Each ghazal is a single poem containing within itself a myriad of passionate smaller poems. When held up to the light they offer insight into much about the human condition.

painting by Navneet Parikh on Exotic India Art

Ghazals came to the Indian sub-continent from Persia in the 14th century. Unlike the physical love depicted in Indian erotic art, ghazals operate on the plane of poetic imagery and metaphor. They explore the many moods of love, from the ecstatic to the despondent. Ghazals also use human love as a mask to address many other aspects of the human condition.

For over six hundred years the finest poets of what is now India and Pakistan turned their talents to writing them and the finest singers and musicians used all their skill and training to interpret them.

Source: Kiran Music.com

painting by Navneet Parikh on Exotic India Art


Longing ... and ... yearning


Were you there?

Did you sing? Did you dance? The Concertbouw normally filled with lovers of western classical music, was now seemingly shaking hands with the devil. Guess what. Full house, Indians, non-Indians all swept off their feet by Bharati the show. Missed it? Try your luck on the following dates:


20-21 November in Zoetermeer
22 November in Zwolle
26-27 November in Utrecht

Prefer Paris or London, check out their own site.

Want to get a sneak preview of what the show looks like? Then click here and don't forget to switch off the tracklist of my blog.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

They came.

They saw.

And conquered!

Text as published in the Amsterdam Weekly


That pretty much sums up the success story of Mr and Mrs M.L. Gupta in a nutshell. In the early eighties they swapped New Delhi for the Dutch capital city, setting up various takeaway restaurants in the Netherlands, creating their own Indian version of the American dream, here, right in the heart of Amsterdam.

No one would have believed that behind the facade of their shabby-looking takeaway called Indian Express, unfolds an unexpected story. The story of Mr and Mrs Gupta. It was, in fact, the much feared culinary critic Johannes van Dam who, in 2005, shot their tiny little business to stardom.
'Did you know our cook initially refused Mr van Dam?,' laughs Mrs Gupta when reminiscing of that moment. 'He didn't recognise the man.'

Luckily for the Guptas, Mr van Dam eventually got in, was granted a look in the kitchen and ordered some of the dishes. Result: a glowing review in Het Parool.

That was three years ago. The tiny place has not changed much since, it seems. There's the Indian flag hanging on the wall, and every now and then, when the kitchen door opens, you get to see the chefs at work, while popular Bollywood songs play in the background. And there's still the bronze elephant-head pegged on the wall, resembling Ganesha, the Hindu god of success.

The magic of Ganesha seems to have paid off indeed. For Indian Express enjoys an enormous clientele and it's chop chop for the bustling delivery boys. Yes, the Guptas clearly have what it takes to run a highly successful catering business. In fact, the Indian couple recently landed the order to do the catering for the Amsterdam India Festival. But despite their Midas touch, they have remained their humble self.

Congratulations. So what's on the menu at the festival launch?
Mr Gupta: I'm not going to give away everything, but this much I will tell you: we have to cater for roughly 250 guests. They are in for chicken tikka grilled on a tandoor--an Indian clay oven which you burn by charcoal--jazzed up with Indian spices. Lamb curry is also on the menu, as is fresh spinach and paneer--a type of Indian cheese. All of this is served with saffron basmati rice.

Who is doing all the cooking?
Mrs Gupta: We have hired help, but the cooking itself is done by our two cooks at the Indian Express. One is our senior cook. The other his assistant. All Indian restaurants, from India to the UK have two cooks. One specialises in tandoor and the other in curries. And don't forget our helpers. They do the cutting and grinding.

Cutting. Grinding. I thought you were an accountant?
Mr Gupta: [breaking into a laugh] That's right, I was working as an accountant in India, but in the catering business. Numbers are my thing, as is food. I guess it was only a matter of time before I would combine the two.

And when did that happen?
Mr Gupta: Not until 1991. When I first came to the Netherlands in 1981, I started working as a manager for one of the biggest Indian restaurants. We catered for KLM, the Indian embassy, other embassies, the Indian film festival and so on. But after some ten years, I had enough. I wanted to start my own business.

Why?
Mr Gupta: I had already made quite a name for myself. So, I knew I would have enough customers. I believed it was possible to offer good quality food at reasonable prices. I began various restaurants, in 's-Hertogenbosch, Hilversum and Amsterdam. We were even a regular supplier for Media Park in Hilversum. Yet due to my declining health, everything came to a standstill. Or so we thought. Then, some five years ago, we came across this appalling rundown place on the Pieter Langedijkstraat. My wife and I decided to fix it up and start a new takeaway. It heralded the birth of Indian Express.

No beef on the menu?
Mrs Gupta: Correct. We are Hindu, so no beef. We draw the line there. Muslims need not worry either. All our food is halal.

Indian cuisine has become quite popular over the years. Why is that?
Mrs Gupta: Here in Amsterdam, you have many British people who are used to Indian food. And lots of Dutch people have British colleagues, which is how they were introduced to Indian cuisine in the first place. Then they develop a taste for it.

What is the secret of Indian Express in particular?
Mr Gupta: What can I say? It's in our blood. We Indians are businessmen. I got myself two of the very best cooks from India and we use original Indian spices, not the imported stuff from countries like Indonesia and Sri Lanka. But our best ingredient is the love and care we have for our customers.
Mrs Gupta: My parents used to say, 'Jaisa khaye ann waisa hoye mann,' which is Hindi for 'your food influences your way of thinking'. I do believe that food does have influence on man's behaviour. Good food gives vitality, contentment, resulting in relaxation.
And last but not least, don't forget our portions. Ours are much bigger than the competition while prices are low.

Any chance of opening up another branch?
Mrs Gupta: Actually, we might. We are thinking of opening up another takeaway in Amstelveen, where we have a lot of fans as well.

http://www.indianexpress.nl/

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Neither man. Nor woman. All Human

Photo credits: Firoze Shakir , http://hijdaeunuchblog.wordpress.com
Text as published in the Amsterdam Weekly

Laxminarayan Tripathi: once a social outcast, now the face of India's third-sex community.

'Laxmi' (28) travels around the globe, going out of her way to fight for the rights of hijras, a sexual minority on the Indian subcontinent with an own traditional infrastructure embedded in Indian history. She holds the credit of being the only transgender in the UN's Civil Society Task Force on HIV/AIDS. There are no exact numbers on how many hijras there are in India. Some say 50,000; others claim it is closer to two million.

When interviewing her, one cannot help being completely mesmerised by those pitch-black eyes. Her sensual lips. Her nasal twang a la Fran Drescher. And that's only the outside. Diving beneath the surface is equally intriguing: she's witty, well-versed in religion, has an unmistakable flair for the dramatic, and is obviously a social butterfly who really cares.

Until 30 November, she is hostess of the Mumbai Direct Salon at Lloyd Hotel where she will address many aspects of Indian culture in India and the diaspora. In the evenings, there is live music played on traditional instruments and dance by a five-member dance troupe.

You are a hijra. What does that mean?
There is no exact word to describe the hijra community in India. But it all begins with the soul. One must have a hijra's soul, in other words, someone who is feminine but not a woman, masculine but not a man. You go beyond the boxes of man and woman and end up with the so-called Third Gender. That is the hijra.

Some define hijras as eunuchs.
Oh I know! [She gasps dramatically]. Here, look. [She holds out her passport] 'You see, it says eunuch. I told them this is a wrong word. You can be a castrated man and still be a man. You can be a non-castrated hijra and still be a hijra. In my passport I have three sexes: female, eunuch and transgender. I prefer the latter, because it is the closest English word to the term hijra.

Hijras have been part of Indian culture for centuries. How do you explain the stifling social climate nowadays?
Hijras are mentioned in various classic works, like the Manu Smriti--an ancient Hindu book of law. We rose to high positions in Mogul times. But when the era of the British Raj began, things took a turn for the worse. Laws were passed in which hijras were described as 'sodomites' engaging in 'homosexual offences'. And we have become more vulnerable ever since.

Aren't you protected by Indian law?
The Indian constitution stipulates that one cannot discriminate on the basis of sex, cast, creed, religion, blah, blah, blah. But what is in the books is one thing, what is practiced another. As a hijra you do not have many employment or education possibilities, and usually hardly any support from parents, siblings or friends. All you have is your hijra community to fall back on. There is this notion that since we cannot procreate, we serve no purpose in society. How silly, because we can be productive to society by our art, music, dance, our ethics.

How do you survive?
We have three possibilities. To begin with, we do blessings at births, weddings and other auspicious ceremonies. We sing, dance and clap. These are intended to bring good luck and fertility. The second possibility is to beg and then there is the third option, sex work. I only danced and clapped. No begging or soliciting for me. The third option in particular poses a problem for our community, as there is a lot of unsafe sex going around. HIV/AIDS is rampant amongst hijra sex workers.

Don't you ever tired of the discrimination and want to leave India?
Oh no, I could never ever think that. There is a huge stigma regarding our hijra community and my parents have always stood by me--and that took guts in such a conservative society. I may leave India after my parents are no more. But even then, there is still so much work to do and empower the hijra community.

Empowerment? Do tell.
I joined Dai Welfare Society, a Mumbai-based NGO, which works for the community, especially on HIV/AIDS awareness. That didn't do the trick for me, so I started Astitva, an organisation for the support and development of sexual minorities. And before long I was joined by many others. But it doesn't stop there, since we hijras are also to blame for the stigmas. We have to stop thinking along the lines of 'Can't do this. Shouldn't do that.' If that were the case, I would not be here in the Lloyds Hotel in Amsterdam. And why shouldn't I? Am I any less than you?


Info
Mumbai Direct Salon, until November, Lloyd Hotel:
http://www.lloydhotel.com/indiafestival

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Happy diwali

Thursday, October 23, 2008


‘There’s no point in going into a movie like this without making an effort to make it different. To make it a seperate entity than the previous one.’ - Daniel Craig

Quantum of Solace

Only two more weeks before the worldwide release of the 22nd James Bond film: Quantum of Solace. The sequel to the 2006 film Casino Royale, it is directed by Marc Forster, and features Daniel Craig's second performance as James Bond.

In the film, Bond battles Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a member of the Quantum organisation posing as an environmentalist, who intends to stage a coup d'état in Bolivia to take control of its water supply. Bond seeks revenge for the death of Vesper Lynd, and is assisted by Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who also wants to kill Greene.

The title was chosen from a 1960 short story in Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only, though the film is not expected to contain any elements of the original story. Location filming took place in Panama, Chile, Italy (Sienna!) and Austria, while the sets were built at Pinewood Studios.
PS And what a great Bond track by Alicia Keys and Jack White.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Time out for India! Whoever thought yours truly had stopped being under the spell of the Motherland . . .

Think again, for despite my ramblings about Paddington Bear, Muslims in the Netherlands and my darling ex-students in Almere (how great this sounds in English), I am still very much in love with that magical magnet called India.

So here goes. Every year in November the Tropentheater Amsterdam hosts the Cinema India. Yet this time things will be slightly different. Think more. Think better. Think bigger. Think the Amsterdam India Festival.

From 12 up to and including 30 November 2008 Het Concertgebouw, together with a number of cultural organisations in Amsterdam, will organise a spectacular festival devoted to India. Their main reason for doing so is the significant role India is playing in the world, while in the Netherlands this fascinating country is relatively unknown.

The Amsterdam India Festival proudly presents a huge cultural array of events in the field of music, dance, fashion, photography, theatre, arts, architecture and multi-media, all revolving around the theme of Blended Cultures - referring to the large variety of the different cultures in India.
Below, you will find a selection (my selection) of dance, music and film. Of course, the festival has much much more to offer, so please check out their website, but not until you've browsed through my selection.

A music selection
Nitin Sawhney. Wednesday 12 November 21:00 hrs, Melkweg The Max. Sawhney is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Asian Underground music scene. He combines a variety of musical styles such as jazz, drum and bass, hiphop and flamenco.

Amjad Ali Khan & Niyazi and Nizami Brothers. Monday 17 November 20:15 hrs, Het Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal. Discover the mysticism of India. Qawwali is the music of the mystical brotherhoods as performed at the shrines of the Muslim saints.
The Niyazi and Nizami Brothers, who belong to the Chistiya Brotherhood, usually perform the virtuoso vocals during devotional gatherings and can captivate a concert audience with their ecstatic song.The first part of the evening is dedicated to the classical art of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, one of India's foremost masters of the sarod, a plucked lute.

Bharati the Musical. Wednesday 19 November 20:15 hrs, Het Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal. Imagine yourself transported to India when you attend this extraordinary performance. Temple dancers, exhilarating music from the deserts of Rajasthan, sounds of the holy Ganges river, and the sophisticated echoes of the palaces of the Maharajas. An effervescent spectacle that takes the audience through the various facets of Indian dance and musical culture.

Dhroeh Nankoe (bhaithak gana) & Anup Jalota (bhajan). Thursday 20 November 20:15 hrs, Het Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal.
When Hindustani field labourers left the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for the plantations of Surinam in the 19th century, they took with them their musical baggage, baithak gana. Dhroeh Nankoe learned the genre from his grandfather. Baithak gana's land of origin is also the birthplace of the nirgun bhajans. These devotional songs by the great Hindu saint and poet Kabir will be presented after the interval. At 7 pm Narinder Mohkamsing will give an introduction to Indian music and the diaspora.

Burmania: Bollywood's funky genius. Thursday 20 November 20:00 hrs, Paradiso. During the seventies, a fresh wind of mini-skirts, garish shirts and rebellion blew through Bollywood. Sex and drugs and rock and roll entered Indian cinema. And cinema sound systems blasted out the revolutionary music of R.D. Burman. Two of his famous albums/films are Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Yaadon ki Baaraat. His experimental drive was not bound by musical genres: he mixed traditional ragas with Latin percussion, Bollywood violins with wah-wah organ, sitar with big band.
It was singer Asha Bhosle who made his sexy, breathy songs world famous. Since his death in 1994, Burman has become a legend in India. Bombay Connection revives Burman's funky genius in Paradiso, including strings, Indian percussion and a sexy Indian singer. Arranged and updated by Gerry Arling.

Dhrupad from Pakistan. Saturday 22 November 20:00 hrs, RASA, Utrecht. Dhrupad is the oldest surviving style of classical music on the Indian subcontinent. It is a modal vocal style - with a single melodic line and no harmonic parts - in which the characteristic contours and the rasa (sentiment) are presented note for note, first in the low register and then in the upper register. The resonant sound of the drum (pakhawaj) drives the tala, the time-cycle that rhythmically organizes the raga melodies, toward the final sa, the ground tone.

A film selection
Lage Raho Munnabhai. 11 - 12 November, Tropentheater, Kleine Zaal. An Indian comedy about a maffia boss who falls in love with the presentor of a popular radio programme. He pretends to be a professor in order to impress her. The plan works, but he is invited to give a lecture and lands himself in all sorts of awkward situations. Director: Rajkumar Hirani, 2006, 165 minutes, Hindi with English subtitles.

Apu trilogy. 13 November - 2 December; Filmhuis. Three films by the Bengalese filmmaker Satyajit Ray (1921-1992). His Apu trilogy caused a sensation in the 1950s, a triptych based on the everyday, often laborious life of the Indian. The Filmmuseum presents the entire Apu trilogy: Pather Panchali (1955), Aparajito (1956) and Apur Sansar (1958), with music by the Indian composer Ravi Shankar.

The Last Lear. 20 November; Tropentheater, Kleine Zaal, with the legendary Amitabh Bachchan playing an aging stage actor who takes a dim view of cinema. He believes that film is unable to create anything that comes close to Shakespeare. A film about ageing, power and losing control. Director: Rituparno Ghosh, 2007, 130 minutes, in English

Gay cinema. 22 - 23 November; Rialto Cinema. Gay India will examine the key question of what it is like to be gay under difficult, repressive circumstances. The film My Brother Nikhil, to be shown on Saturday 22 November, was the first Bollywood film to portray homosexuality openly and to broach the subject of HIV/AIDS, an awkward topic in India. Director Onir will be there to answer questions about the film.
The film The Journey (Sancharram), in which the young and beautiful Kiran falls in love with her best friend Delilah, will be shown on 23 November.

A dance selection
Sadanam Balakrishnan dance. Wednesday 12 November 20:15 hrs. Het Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal. Sadanam Balakrishnan presents one of India's most spectacular dance forms.
He comes to Amsterdam with this renowned kathakali dance company to treat the audience to this colourful and musically rich interpretation of two episodes from the Mahabharata (the longest epic poem in the world, telling the story of the genesis of India). Video screens will enable the audience to follow the characteristic facial expressions and gestures of the performers close-up. Surtitles will make it easier to keep up with the story. Get acquainted with India's finest on this spectacular evening.

Bharata Natyam dance by Leela Samson; Friday 14 November 20:15 hrs, Het Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal. Leela Samson The devotional temple music of southern India is a source of inspiration for diverse performing arts.The padams are the musical framework for the stylised temple dances of bharatanatyam dancer Leela Samson in the second part of the evening.

Note that some events are preceded by various introductions for which an extra admission price is charged. For 7 pm: Introduction to bharatanatyam dance by Leela Samson. Admission € 5,-

Sunday, October 12, 2008

An exclusive interview with PB

The last remaining British eccentric


Your name, please?
Paddington Brown

Age?
That's something you don't ask a bear.


And what is your favourite form of transportation?
A shopping basket on wheels.

Do you have a favourite soap?
Bubble bath mixture. I often wonder how they get them inside one small pot.

Which is your favourite other TV programme/character and why?
The man who says, "That's the end of broadcasting for today".

What was your first ever job?
Painting my room (it was also my last job).

What one job/role would you have loved and why?
Lighting the blue touch paper on the first moon rocket.

Who is your favourite movie star?
The dog in the Tom and Jerry cartoons.

And your favourite Royal?
Royal Honey.

How would you describe yourself in five words?
Talk, dark, handsome, good imagination.

What is the worst item of clothing you ever bought?
A non-shrink shower cap. I couldn't get it off afterwards.

What do you wear in bed?
Pyjamas, plus a hat in winter to keep my head warm.

Who is your all-time hero/heroine?
Tarzan. He must have been very good at opening jars.

What is your most disgusting habit?
Mrs Bird says it's getting marmalade chunks stuck to everything.

When was the last time you cried and why?
I bit into a 'chocolate' coin and it turned out to be real!

Who or what is the great love of your life?
Marmalade.

What have you got in your wallet right now?
A moth.

What is the most expensive treat you've ever bought yourself?
A triple ice-cream cone with double chocolate sauce.

When was the last time you were in hospital and why?
Last Christmas. I was testing a boomerang ...

Where in the world would you live apart from the UK and why?
Darkest Peru. It was where I was born.

Who are your dream dinner guests?
The Roux Brothers (then they might ask me back!).

Which is the untidiest room in your home?
The kitchen. Mrs Brown doesn't know it yet, but I was looking for something to eat.

How do you relax?
I do lots of press ups, then I lie where I am until I recover.

When and why were you last angry?
When Mr Brown was told he couldn't go into a restaurant because it was closed for lunch.

Interview source Harper Collins Children
My favourite bear

He usually wears a blue duffle coat, a rather shapeless red hat and, on occasions, Wellington boots. His favourite food is marmalade and he orginally comes from Darkest Peru. His name: Paddington Bear, the polite immigrant bear from Darkest Peru and a true classic English children's literature icon.

Tomorrow the world's cuddliest bear will be celebrating his 50th birthday. Author Michael Bond recalls in his own words how Paddington first came into being:
"I bought a small toy bear on Christmas Eve 1956. I saw it left on a shelf in a London store and felt sorry for it. I took it home as a present for my wife Brenda and named it Paddington as we were living near Paddington Station at the time. I wrote some stories about the bear, more for fun than with the idea of having them published. After ten days I found that I had a book on my hands. It wasn’t written specifically for children, but I think I put into it the kind things I liked reading about when I was young."
Michael Bond sent the book to his agent, Harvey Unna, who liked it and after sending to to several publishers it was eventually accepted by William Collins & Sons (now Harper Collins). The publishers commissioned an illustrator, Peggy Fortnum, and the very first Paddington book "A Bear Called Paddington" was published on 13th October 1958.
Bond's invention proved a huge success, as the Paddington books have sold more than thirty-five million copies worldwide and have been translated into over forty languages.

About Paddington
Paddington is an anthropomorphised bear. He always addresses people as "Mr.", "Mrs." and "Miss" and very rarely by first names. He inflicts hard stares on those who incur his disapproval. He has an endless capacity for getting into trouble. However, he is known to "try so hard to get things right".

In Bond’s first story, Paddington is found at Paddington railway station in London by the Brown family, sitting on his suitcase (bearing the label "WANTED ON VOYAGE") with a note attached to his coat which reads, "Please look after this bear. Thank you."

Bond has said that his memories of newsreels showing trainloads of child evacuees leaving London during the war, with labels around their necks and their possessions in small suitcases, prompted him to do the same for Paddington.

Paddington arrives as a stowaway coming from "Darkest Peru", sent by his Aunt Lucy (one of his only known relatives, aside from an Uncle Pastuzo who gave Paddington his hat), who has gone to live in the Home for Retired Bears in Lima.

He tells the Brown family that no one can understand his Peruvian name, so they decide to call him Paddington after the railway station in which he was found. Bond originally wanted Paddington to have "travelled all the way from darkest Africa", but his agent advised him that there were no bears in darkest Africa, and thus it was amended to darkest Peru, home of the spectacled bear.

They take him home to 32 Windsor Gardens, off Harrow Road between Notting Hill and Maida Vale. The stories follow Paddington's adventures and mishaps in England.

About the creator
Paddington bear was created over half a century ago by the English writer, Michael Bond. Michael Bond was born in Newbury, Berkshire, England on 13th January 1926. He was educated at Presentation College, Reading. During World War II Michael Bond served in both the Royal Air Force and the Middlesex Regiment of the British Army.He began writing in 1945 and sold his first short story to a magazine called London Opinion. This experience helped him decide that he wanted to be a writer.


Michael Bond never thought of writing for children but, after producing a number of short stories and radio plays, his agent suggested that he adapt a television play for children.His first book, A Bear Called Paddington, was published in 1958 by William Collins & Sons (now HarperCollins Publishers). At the time, Michael Bond was working as a television cameraman for the BBC.

After the first Paddington book was accepted, Michael Bond went on to write a whole series and by 1967 his books were so successful that that he was able to give up his job with the BBC in order to become a full-time writer.In 1997 Michael Bond was awarded to OBE for services to children’s literature. He is married with two adult children and lives in London, not far from Paddington Station.


Or go to the London shop right in the middle of Paddington mainline railway station! Here you can actually buy clothes for bears.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Muslims need a good laugh

Long curly black hair. A very bushy beard. And let’s not forget about those big piercing brown eyes. Meet Azhar Usman, the massive co-founder of the Allah Made Me Funny tour.

Sharida Mohamedjoesoef
As published in the
Amsterdam Weekly
photo credits: America Abroad Media

The Ayatollah of Comedy. Bin Laughin’. Those are but a few of the qualifications former lawyer Azhar Usman has earned himself as a stand-up comedian. The co-founder and star of the Alla Made me Funny comedy tour has performed in over a dozen countries on five continents, including the US, the UK and a handful of Arab countries. The Chicago-based comedian was recently in the Netherlands to jazz up the Ramadan Festival 2008. Don’t worry. The man will be back in April 2009 to do some more gigs.

Once a lawyer, now a stand-up comedian? Why this career switch?
‘I was practising law for a brief time. Badly. And I was doing stand-up comedy for fun. Also badly. But I got better and I began to fall in love with stand-up comedy, because of its raw and organic fashion. Eventually, it reached a point where there was enough interest, enough demand for my artistic work to sustain a livelihood. Who doesn’t want to pursue their dreams and tell jokes for a living. I decided to shut down my legal practice. Around that same time, I would say by the design of God, I met with Preacher Moss, who is the founder of the Allah Made Me Funny Tour. We hit it off immediately. After that we never looked back.’

You began your stand-up career after 9/11. Coincidence?
‘Not really given the fact that stand-up comedy is an art of protest that was born out of the angst of the forties, fifties and sixties. In the US in particular it has always been used by disenfranchised groups such as African Americans, Jewish Americans and gay Americans. These groups have taken up the mantle of stand-up as an art form, because it is such a raw and unadulterated speaking of the truth. After 9/11 the American Muslim community felt like they were being pulled in two directions insofar as their loyalties were concerned. Can I be a Muslim and be American? My act is an exploration of those anxieties. I talk to them in a way that is hopefully constructive, and I shine a light on not only what’s wrong with America and some of its policies and attitudes, but also on what is wrong with us as Muslims. We are not saints or angels. We have our own faults, our own flaws.’

photo credits: http://www.realsa.co.za/press.php

Muslims can respond highly sensitive when jokes are made at their expense. What is your take on this?
‘Muslims need a good laugh, like anybody else. The rest of the world needs to hear Muslims laughing, and Muslims being able to joke about the tensions of the world, but also about themselves. What I notice is that Muslims like to express themselves at protests and rallies, which in my view often achieves nothing more than increasing Muslim blood pressure.’

Are jokes about Muslims solely the prerogative of Muslims?

‘There is an underlying power dynamic at play here. You see, the problem with doing comedy that is self-deprecating, is that you are part of the in crowd. You are in on the joke. If others – non Muslims - are making fun of you, laughing at you rather than with you, it can be easily considered demeaning in nature. The fact of the matter is that Muslims today are at the shorter end of the stick when it comes to the power balance, whether on a political, social or cultural level. I would challenge non-Muslim comedians to come up with material that people can laugh at together.’

Are Islam and humour compatible?
‘Islam is a religion that teaches you how to raise your moral character. But that doesn’t mean you stop being a human being. Humor is a part of being a human being. In fact, prophet Muhammad was known to be a humorous man who loved a good laugh. But if your underlying question is whether I can do blasphemous jokes or engage in dirty language at the expense of my religion. The answer is ‘no’.

So do you censor your own work then?
‘It is the mark of a free society that it should have free exercise of speech. If you don’t like a book somebody has written, the more intelligent and effective answer is to respond by writing your own book rather than resort to book burnings in the streets or try to prevent publication and all this nonsense. That said, I am not a shock comic. I am not interested in offending people. And of course being a Muslim who takes his religion seriously, there are some moral parameters that I observe. I don’t do heretical of blasphemous jokes, nor do I use foul language, which in my opinion is not only unbecoming anyway of somebody who ought to be expressing himself more intelligently, but also a copout. So yes, I do filter my own material.’

Foul language a copout?
‘Stand-up comedy has become littered with the use of foul language, thus losing some of its artistic value. Jerry Seinfeld, a stand-up comedian whom I respect tremendously, doesn’t really curse on stage, he calls cursing and blue jokes the great shortcuts of stand-up comedy. If you resort to these types of humour, than maybe you are not as good a comedian as you thought you were.’

More info: http://www.allahmademefunny.com/

Photo credits: the Nasheed shop

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Eid Mubarak







Sunday, September 28, 2008

Well, well, well, do let it be noted that I outlived Elvis who died at 42 in 1977. And here I am starting my 44th year on this earth today.

Loads of emails, krabbels and phone calls from far away places and my sweet mum spoiling me rotten with mouthwatering Surinamese delicacies. The whole day was oozing with love.

Yet how I miss the voices of my cousin Faisja and dearest 'tante Mien'. Neither will know about these darling students of mine, my returning to NMO or whatever else life has in store for me.


In your light I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,

Where no one sees you.

But sometimes I do,

And that sight becomes this art.


Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi (Afghan poet 1202 - 1273)

Friday, September 26, 2008

Ramadan Round-up, part IV

Cheery chitchat in Amsterdam Slotervaart


As published in the Amsterdam Weekly, volume 5, issue 37

Most people flocking to Amsterdam usually only get to see cultural hotspots like the Rijksmuseum, Madame Tussauds, the famous canal houses, and - in a worse-case scenario - head for a joint at some local coffee shop. There is little chance they would visit areas that are considered ethnic trouble spots.

A prime example is Mercatorplein nicknamed Meccaplein, b
ecause of its relatievely high concentration of men and women donned in typically Islamic attire. And if you pop by you are either a Muslim yourself, a lost journalist, or in the mood for a cheap but first-rate kebab.

Okay, these exaggerations aside, for the last three years De Baarsjes has really been making an effort to reach out to non-Muslims during Ramadan. And, what’s more, it is one of the few neighbourhoods in the city, where you won’t be bumping into political bigwigs or be forced to listen t
o politically correct speeches. To be brutally honest, in the case of your Ramadan reporter, there was no speech at all, not even a welcoming one when she visited the the ROC Karel Klinkenberg in Amsterdam Slotervaart.

Yep, for those in the know, this edgy neighbourhood made headlines only two years ago when a policeman got shot. It catapulted neighbours and community representatives into action, organising all kinds of social events. And what better way to do this than through a lecture about the nuts and bolts of the Muslim fast, hand in hand with a delicious Ramadan iftar. Well, that was the idea anyway.

Time for a reality check. Yes, there was food, but the lecture got mysteriously cancelled and the whole idea behind a mixed seating arrangement did not work out quite well either. But of course there are always exceptions, like this one Dutch student: ‘Quite honestly I don’t know much about Muslims. That’s why I decided to come in the first place. And with all that p
olitical pressure that we should integrate … Well, here I am.’


And so, thanks to the lack of a lecture, Mr Student engaged in merry conversation with fellow table guests about the do’s and don’t of fasting, about the sudden popularity of working night shifts during Ramadan, but also about the differences to the Catholic fast.

After roughly half an hour mor
e visitors finally began to trickle in, from elderly Dutch people who had been living in De Baarsjes since the 1960s, to veiled Moroccan mothers with their young ones. But still, no mixing whatsoever.

Then, at around a quarter to eight, something happened. People returned from the buffet table with plates laden with all kinds of oriental delicacies. And instead of returning to their original seats, Muslims and non-Muslims alike finally plucked up the courage and walked over to their neighbours. No tough speeches about integration. No harsh words about segregation. No crude remarks about the lacking organisation. Simply cheery chitchat about everyday life in Amsterdam Slotervaart.

Thursday, September 18, 2008


Ramadan Round-up, part III

Mocro Pride Parade

Text as published in The Amsterdam Weekly, volume 5, issue 36

Once upon a time, way back in the fifties and sixties, Islam wa
s regarded as something exotic, something exciting. And the first Muslim immigrants from the former Dutch colonies Indonesia and Surinam were treated with a great deal of respect.

This was still the case when Moroccan and Turkish immigrants arrived. They worked in factories, were usually poorly housed in B&Bs and every once in a while they would roll out their prayer rugs in the factory cafeterias.

Yet contrary to expectations, these Muslim newcomers did not return to their countries of origin. They stayed. Islam stayed. And all of a sudden words like Ramadan, Hajj and Koran made their way into the Dutch language. The country began to see a gradual increase of mosques. Still, everything was very much A-okay. Or so we thought…

For somewhere along the way things took a dramatic turn for the worse. ‘And now the word ‘Moroccan’ has become practically synonymous with crime or Islamic radicalisation,’ says Abdou Menebhi, while sipping his hot iftar soup at the Moroccan youth centre Argan in Amsterdam, where some sixty Dutch Moroccans gathered for a special Ramadan dinner party. The intention was to spur ideas on how to properly commemorate the fact that next year it will be exactly 40 years ago that Morocco and the Netherlands signed a treaty, enabling the Dutch to recruit Moroccan labourers.

The spirite
d Menebhi himself came to the Netherlands in 1974. He lashes out to Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen who in his opinion made matters even worse by telling the Moroccan community to take responsibility and reign in Moroccan troublemakers. ‘In case Cohen didn’t notice, we have been doing that for ages.’

While most of the guests are enjoying their food, listening to traditional Moroccan music and engaging in small talk, Menebhi gets even more worked up about the seemingly ignorance ‘regarding the role we played in Dutch trade unions, how we battled against far-right wing politicians like Jan Maat, how we took to the streets in the eighties to mourn the racial killing of Kerwin Duijnmeyer. This, too, is part of Dutch social history, yet people don’t know or don’t care.’

Menebhi’s views are shared by many dinner guests, including well-known Labour MP Khadija Arib and Mohamed Rabbae, a highly respected figure in the Dutch Moroccan community. Yet how to turn table talk into practice?

‘Well’, says Nadia Bouras, a migrations expert from Leiden University, ‘ this evening has brought on some very interesting ideas that need further exploration. We need to create a better awareness of our own Dutch-Moroccan history. A book or a museum perhaps. We need to have something that will make second and third generation migrants proud of who they are. Something that will rub off on the entire Dutch society forever.’


Photo credits

Khadija Arib

Abdou Menebhi

Mohamed Rabbae