Grown throughout Asia, Africa, and the Americas, bamboo refers to any one of about 1,450 species in the Poaceae family. Most varieties of bamboo are incredibly hardy, and grow well in both tropical and cold, mountainous climates. They’re among the fastest growing plants in the world, capable of growing up to 60 centimeters in a single day. Today,… Read More »
A story of two sisters named Great (Akbari) and Small (Asghari)–right from the start we’re in didactic territory. Don’t we already sense that the younger sister will be the heroine? If there were a sister named Middle too, the fairy-tale likeness would be complete. The Bride’s Mirror (Mirat ul-Arus) may or may not have been the first Urdu novel,… Read More »
I will never understand what it’s like to become a father. I imagine it is as central to one’s own existence as motherhood, but colored by a different set of expectations and desires. When my husband and I first learned that I was pregnant, we were both overjoyed, incandescent. When we found out we were expecting a boy,… Read More »
“It is my belief that a people who value their own freedom cannot be envious of others’ liberty and I find much evidence of this in what I see of the British society here,” Iqbal wrote to the editor of a nationalist newspaper of Lucknow a few months after his arrival in England. He was commenting on the… Read More »
We estimate that over 900 people left the UK to engage with the conflict in Syria and Iraq. Many have been killed fighting, some remain there, some have returned and others could still come back. Some irresponsibly took young British children with them, and some had children while they were there as part of their mission to expand… Read More »
The floods in Pakistan began in late July 2010, resulting from heavy monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and, Balochistan regions of Pakistan, which affected the Indus River basin. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan’s total land area was affected by floods, with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province facing the brunt of the damage and casualties (above 90% of all the deaths occurred in the province).Nationwide, there were 1,985 deaths.According to Pakistani government data, the floods… Read More »
A tawaif was a highly successful entertainer who catered to the nobility of the Indian subcontinent, particularly during the Mughal era. The tawaifs excelled in and contributed to music, dance (mujra), theatre, and the Urdu literary tradition,[1] and were considered an authority on etiquette. Tawaifs were largely a North Indian institution central to Mughal court culture from the 16th century onwards and became even more prominent with the… Read More »
No one will play with me.” When a child says this, you may not know what to do or say. The best place to start is to simply listen. Play is as important to young kids as things like money and love are to adults. So when kids say “no one will play with me,” it probably feels… Read More »
My Name Is ‘A’ by Anonymous, also known by the alternate release titles of My Name Is ‘A’ and Alyssa: Portrait of a Teen Killer, is a 2012 microbudget thriller film written and directed by Shane Ryan, and executive produced by Billionaire B and Ewan Bourne. The film is loosely based on a 2009 murder by then 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante, who killed her 9-year-old neighbor Elizabeth Olten. It… Read More »
Ramesh said, “I mean, we have walked a long distance away from casteism. There were times when my mom had a separate glass for our servant and my grandpa never gave wages for labour in their hand. But my father nor my grandfather doesn’t see this.” Savitha looked at him and gave a sarcastic smile. Ramesh and Vetri… Read More »