The Blue Lotus magazine issue 51

Lotus The Blue

Winter Issue 2021

shivani garg huy lacquer melton kais poonam kishor rebecca haque yeukfai poon anwarul karim hyunjoung lee Snöa Illustrations Bis saeed ibrahim an dang 1

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Leisure

William Henry Davies What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass, Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight, Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance, And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.

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contents p6

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a quick word

editor’s comment

nirmala dutt shanmughalingam martin bradley

shivani garg

huy lacquer

vietnamese artist

unseen

short story by martin bradley

melton kais

indigenous art from sarawak

folk dance prayagraj poonam kishor

philip glass’s satyagraha opera

quetta recollected rebecca haque

Cover art by The Blue Lotus, 2021

p82

p96

p110

p120

p126

p138

yeukfai poon chinese artist

the year of the buddha martin bradley

east is east

theatre

the ojha shamans anwarul karim

hyunjoung lee

south korean artist

the last straw

short story by saeed ibrahim

p142 snöa illustrations bis cartoons

p152

p162

an dang

vietnamese artist

garum

martin bradley

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Lotus The Blue

a quick word THE BLUE LOTUS 10th ANNIVERSARY YEAR This FREE online Asian arts and culture e-magazine, Blue Lotus, is 10 years old and this is the 51st issue. I founded this magazine, as a solo project way back in 2011, occurring online at Issuu and as a pdf. This was at a time when Malaysian art had no digital presence. Flip through and read more...

With thanks to Covid 19, this issue comes to you from England, and will continue to feature Asian artists and cultures both in Asia and elsewhere.

Submissions are encouraged to be sent to martinabradley@gmail.com Take care and stay safe for Covid 19 is still with us.

Martin (Martin A Bradley, Founding Editor) lettersfromthejungle.blogspot.com correspondances-martin.blogspot.com facebook.com/bluelotusartsmagazine

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colors of c

school

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# 270 Mundull 1 Village, Sway Don Tel: 855 (0) 63965021; Tel: 855 (0) 122

cambodia

l of art

Colors of Cambodia provides free art education for Cambodian children through our gallery and in local schools. We also host various workshops and lectures by local and internationally renowned artists and hold full-scale art exhibitions regularly.

The art gallery at Colors of Cambodia features art by our students and teachers. Proceeds from the sale of art works by students, teachers, and our founder go directly to assist students and schools.

Advanced art-training classes are offered to children showing special talent.

Advanced teaching in drawing and painting is available to assist students in higher education, and to prepare them for a possible career in the arts. One long-term goal of Colors of Cambodia is to be able to offer scholarships to exceptional students.

ngKum Commune, Siem Reap District, Cambodia 214336 - Phany; Email: colors@colorsofcambodia.org

siem reap, cambodia

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Nirmala

Dutt Shanmughalingam

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by martin bradley

he late Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam (1941–2016) was the doyenne of Malaysian Contemporary art. She had grabbed the baton passed down by fellow Malaysian avant garde artists Redza Piyadasa and Sulaiman Esa who, separate or together (‘Towards a Mystical Reality’ 1974), introduced concepts of a burgeoning era of ‘Post Modern’ Western thought into a newly awakening and still freshly founded Malaysia. Those two artists were, effectively, in the vanguard of pioneers in the field of Contemporary arts in Malaysia.

Piyadasa and Esa, in turn, had had influences from artists such as Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns in North America, and artists like Eduardo Paolozzi in Britain. Piyadasa and Esa had taken Malaysian art away from the domination of the predominately Chinese Nanyang painting, and the painters of Abstract Expression as well as the more traditional Chinese Ink Brush painting, towards modes of artistic creativity begun with those already mentioned above.

In the West, during the 1960s/70s, and while male artists were receiving plaudits, many innovative female artists had been brushed to one side in what was to become a male dominated North American art scene. Andy Warhol had taken precedence over female artists such as Sister Mary Corita, Marisol (born Maria Sol Escobar) and Yayoi Kusama. However, as time moves on, many of the previously overlooked or discarded female artists are coming to light. Malaysia had suffered from a distinct lack of female artists although Georgette Chen (born Chang Li Ying, 1906

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Squatter Landscape Documentation 1974–79

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Statement 1

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Andy Warhol Death and Disaster A Woman’s Suicide, 1962

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- 1993) had once been a shining light in the world of Singaporean Nanyang art (from the 1950s), and Lai Foong Moi had presented canvases like ‘Lady’ (1966), but effectively there had been few female artists recognised in Singapore and Malaysia, or indeed outside, at the time Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam began showing her ‘Contemporary Art’ works in the 1970s.

In 1970s Malaysia, Nirmala Dutt, later to become Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam (when she married the writer M. Shanmughalingam), emerged as a strong contender for the prime Contemporary Artist’s laurels. She had had a fine pedigree, studying under the renown Malaysian artist Hoessein Enas (1924 - 1995), who had championed notions of modernity and Western art through his figurative drawings influenced by the European academic style (Routledge Encyclopaedia of Modernism , 2016).

Nirmala shone her particular socio-political light on war, famine and injustice, not just in Malaysia (yet also so) but in places where injustice was being meted out (often with her pictorial referencing artists such as Andy Warhol and the starkness of his mono-colour ‘Death and Disaster’ series (begun 1962). Warhol, in turn, was looking over his pale shoulder at the ‘Dadaists’. Nirmala also favoured artists such as the collagist Hannah Höch, with her ‘scrapbooks’ with echoed Georges Bataille’s ‘Doctrines, Archéologie, Beaux-arts, Ethnographie’ journal ‘Documents’ [1929-30]). Nirmala was also drawn to the starkness of artists like the German printmaker Kathe Kollwitz.

Nirmala produced works like ‘Membalak Jangan Sebarangan Nanti Ditimpa Balak’ (Do Not Log Carelessly Lest Misfortune Befall You, 1989) concerning a plight which continues to the present day, in places like Malaysia, where illegal logging continues to threaten the lives and habitat of indigenous peoples. Before this, her early works, such as her mixed media piece ‘Kenyataan 1’ (‘Statement 1’, concerned Malaysia’s environmental destruction, a Mixed Media piece of photography, newspaper, and photo copied

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documents on board) was shown in the National Art Gallery (Balai Seni Lukis Negara, Kuala Lumpur). That piece is indicative of the artist’s admiration for Warhol’s multi-image making, and was seen amidst the exhibition ‘Man and His World’ (Manusia da Alamnya, 16/11/1973 to 8/12/1073). Work of the same year (1973) like ‘Manmade Crisis: FAMINE’ (1973, an Acrylic and collage on board) further demonstrated her place within Malaysian Contemporary Art. In that National Art Gallery showing, her work had been exhibited alongside that of Malaysia’s première Contemporary artist Sulaiman Esa. Nirmala’s journey into the world of art, aside from studying under Enas, had led her into accruing a bank of impressive credentials, including such notable institutions as the admirable Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. (1966), the Fogg Museum School of Art in Boston (1971), and the Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom) as well as completing her M.Phil. at London’s Goldsmiths College (1992-1995). All the while she was journeying into the notions of a ‘Contemporary’ art with its multi-faceted and multi-media approach, which Linda Weintraud described saying… ‘No topic, no medium, no process, no intention, no professional protocols, and no aesthetic principles are exempt’ (Linda Weintraub, Making Contemporary Art. How Today’s Artists Think and Work, London 2003.)

Nirmala had no difficulty with being known as a ‘political’ artist and, in the conservative world of Malaysia, was often censored.

Her ‘political cartoon’ (drawn from the style of the traditional Malaysian/Indonesian ‘Wayang kulit’, or puppet show) depicting Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan face to face, titled “Friends in Need” was removed from the “Side by Side” exhibition of works

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Friends in need 1989

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Untitled 1999

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by British and Malaysian artists, at the National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur in 1986.

In conversation with Wong Hoi Cheong, in ‘Let the bamboo grow in your heart: A conversation with Nirmala’, in the publication ‘The making of an artist as social commentator: A review’ which accompanied the exhibition “Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam: A Review”, at Valentine Willie Fine Art (Gallery in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur), Nirmala remarks…

“The “Friends in Need” painting was about the bombing of Libya by the USA aided by Britain. I made this work as a painful reaction provoked in me by the sight of a dead child being lifted out of the rubble. It was an image of cruelty against an innocent. It came out of an anger, a deeply felt emotion.”

In that conversation, Nirmala goes on to remind us that ‘social commentary’ is not the province of the West alone, and that in the 17th century some Chinese artists too had a strong belief in ‘social commentary’, social criticism too, as has the Eastern tradition of Wayang Kulit (mentioned earlier) which frequently weaves current politics into stories ostensibly concerning the Indian epic, the ‘Ramayana’.

Nirmala Dutt Shanmughalingam stood out strong as a woman, and as artist who was concerned about, and for, the world in which lived. Her works often revealed, all too well, the pain she suffered when learning of injustice in the world, and shared with us that pain.

She was a unique artist living in a country which still continues to strive for meaning in its own hybridity.

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Bakun I 1999

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Shivani Garg

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Minimalism

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Metamorphosis

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Metamorphosis

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By: Hiranya OM This ‘tangram art’ depicts the modes of urban landscapes Brief: Based on the theme of urban landscapes, abstract artist Shivani Garg presents her solo exhibition ‘Transiting Space’ in Delhi. To be held at Triveni Kala Sangam, the exhibition will showcase the ever-changing surroundings in the form of geometrical figures. The change is shown through the concept of duality.

Concept Note: The word landscape forms a beautiful image of nature in our mind. Mountains, rivers and lush green surroundings are a part of that image.

However, for abstract artist Shivani Garg, the word holds a different meaning altogether. She sees the same beauty in her surroundings, not in the solitude of mountains but in the fast-paced life of metro cities. The concept of capturing a scene within a city is called urban landscape. The beauty of urban landscapes inspired her so much so that she has dedicated a new series of her artwork to the same concept.

Bringing alive the series through her upcoming exhibition, ‘Transiting Space’ at Triveni Kala Sangam, the artist wants to highlight the dual nature of the landscape. The duality she talks about is referred with construction and destruction.

The infrastructural growth of cities in terms of roads, buildings, blocks and technology is adopted as construction and the degradation of the environment as destruction. Some of her works in the exhibition also showcases mapping art.

In her work comprises of the maps, she has used lines and texture to bring alive the space elements such as planets and galaxy.

While in urban landscapes, Garg talked about construction and destruction, here in mapping, she wanted to align the elements she has used. The alignment of objects in space signifies a balance and harmony in 26

the environment.

For 36-year-old artist, the idea of duality, as referred to urban landscapes, is relatable to the whole existence of this universe.

Good-bad, life-death, black-white and thus, construction-destruction. The wholeness of this concept coincided with the artist and becomes a motivation for her to produce a series around it. However, being an environment lover, she chose the theory of alignment in mapping art.

To convey the expression, Garg is using the geometrical language. Her love for geometrical shapes started seven years ago when she was playing with her daughter. A game of tangram changed the course of her artsy journey and she has been using the various geometrical shapes in her artworks since then. The art of conveying through geometrical language stand her out from the rest of the artists.

Garg believes that the success of an artwork lies in the perfect blend of its elements and principles. Her belief is boldly visible in her series of ‘Transiting Space’.

Each stroke of her colour on the canvas highlights detail and thus engages the viewer in a dialogue. Even while using the high and low range of colours, she ensures to maintain a balance between tranquillity and turbulence into all her works. For one of her works which depict the distortion of a monument, the artist has used colour coordination of white and blue to bring the effects of debris. For a window, she uses a net of acrylic to tone down the hues of light and colour and raise the quotient of realism.

To make her series colourful, vibrant, bold, serene and yet transiting, the artist use all sorts of medium. She has brought alive the idea of construction and destruction with the use of mix-media. Acrylic, charcoal, paper, texture and the splash of

Isometric

colours are her euphorias.

The surroundings are her biggest inspiration but she also derives inspiration from artist like Paul Klee, Yogesh Rawal and Henri Matisse.

Klee’s influence is clearly visible in Garg’s work.

He was a Swiss-born activist who was affected by the movements in art such as Expressionism, Cubism and Surrealism and one can vividly see the effects of neo-expressionism in Garg’s artworks.

There are multiple layers such as time, space and place through which Garg conveys in ‘Transiting Space’. The layers showcase the historical references from the era of Matisse to a geometrical abstraction of Russian artist, Kazimir Malevich. Matisse was a French artist known for both his use of colours and fluid. Malevich had a profound influence on the development of nonobjective or abstract art, in the 20th century. Both

Matisse and Malevich can be found in the layers of Garg’s work.

Being an avid traveller and a sharp observer helps Garg to understand art better. The minute architectural detail on different landscapes takes away her attention and stem into an artwork with the splash of her colour palette. Her artworks compel the viewers to contemplate the significance of the colours and figures used.

There are several perspectives to conceive her artworks— aerial, cross-section and isometric, individually or all at once.

A graduate in fine arts and jewellery designing, Garg always had a fascination for lines, shapes and sizes. Since childhood, Garg had an artistic bend but she has adopted it as a profession recently. The successful solo shows verify her understanding and love towards art.

Like she always says, my life, my art!

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Metamorphosis

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Metamorphosis

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Living nature

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Living nature

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Huy Lacquer Born in 1976, in Quang Ninh, Binh Tri Thien, Vietnam

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Shadow of time

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“Time is like a shadow passing through the window, leaving its shadow on this lacquer work of Huy. A beautiful, dignified palace maid in a dress with motifs of the Nguyen Dynasty, among the lotus flowers in Tinh Tam Lake and the wings of a crane, the clouds seem to be about to fly to the sky!"

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The charm in the Spring garden is full of sunshine!

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Untitled

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Shadow of time #3

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Shadow of time series

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Shadow of time #6

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Love

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unseen

by martin bradley

S

tarbucks IOI Mall, Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia. The Saturday afternoon was traditionally hot and humid for an equatorial city. The heat and the humidity were rising again, indicating times of rain to come, soon.

This day, there were no obvious clouds in the sky, only blue.

'You are Andrew Goodchild. You used to host 'Perak People', the readings sessions, right? I am right, aren't I? I know it was, ooh what, ten years ago but…'

Grey bearded and overweight, Andrew Goodchild, wearing a Marks & Spencer combination of blue cotton shirt and black Marks & Spencer (Active Waistband Flat Front Crease Resistant) Trousers, lifted his venti cappuccino in the American coffee-house and was wondering why the staff had decided to write Andrew with a ‘Y’ at the end instead of a double-u on his decidedly hot,white, disposable paper cup. He was about to return to his seat when...

Weight. That was it, weight. She was a little older now and certainly still very good looking. Now he remembered her.

She stopped, waiting for Andrew's interjection.

When none came, she continued. 'I've lost a bit of weight since then.'

'I don't think that I ever knew your name, but yes. You always had such lovely sarees, I seem to remember.

'Thank you. I thought that was you. How are you?

How's life treating you? What are you doing in Puchong? You lived in Kampar didn't you?'

'Andrew. Andrew Goodchild. It is, isn't it?' Someone 'Well, I could ask you the very same question.' said, next to him.

'No, you first. I'm curious. You're married to a Chinese 'Hmm, yes', Andrew was a bit cautious, puzzled. artist, isn't it? You left Perak. I know because you closed Perak People. We were all a bit disappointed.

Did he know this woman?

Missed those monthly meetings, that lovely old black and white venue too. Heavenly.'

'Haven't seen you for ages.'

Have I ever seen you, thought sceptical Andrew. 'I've a seat over there, join me.'

'Preeti. Preeti Kaur.' Preeti, letting her long black hair, ever so slightly threaded with silver, as if in a fashion statement, drape her shoulders and fall to her waist,\. She was wearing a small sized men's orange Fabindia cotton ‘Dobby Long Kurta’ and a pair of tight fitting slacks, both of which suited her new found figure.

Still Andrew looked on, now mystified.

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'K' They squeezed through the slim isle left by Mac book, Lenovo ThinkPad, HP Spectre et al interneters, pushchairs containing miniature human beings and chairs with lounging business people too arrogant to shift their legs. Andrew plonked himself down, a little ungraciously as it happened. He took a sip of his very hot beverage

to collect his thoughts and…

'I am sorry’

'A workaholic. Addicted to working. For her it was a seven day week. I'm not joking, she would work seven days a week. We had little time together. I thought it'd improve, but it got worse, not better. She'd wake up late. No breakfast. We might have lunch together then she would work on her MacBook pro. After, she would go teaching at the place she rented, until reaching home about 11pm. I would be in bed by then.'

'Thanks. I'm still getting used to it.'

'Poor you.'

'But you're…'

'I think that we both realised that it wasn't working.

But I never dreamed she’d leave me.'

'Well, I'm not married any more.'

Preeti' s face reacted, but she stayed silent. ' She, er, my, that is to say my now ex, left me.'

'Yes, no longer young. I'm 71.'

'Wow, I'd have put you at 50 maybe.'

'Thank you. No it's 71 alright. There's no doubting that, sadly.'

'Oh, Andrew, but at least you had the nights together.'

'Hmmm, not really.'

'Huh!’

'But how could she? I mean at your age and all, no 'No. Some time back we had a row about her coming home at night and then using the laptop in bed. She offence.' stormed out. Went to our sofa bed in the spare room.

'None taken. That’s something that goes round and She never did return to our marriage bed. Instead, she around my head too. It's been well over a year and a bought furniture, including a ‘Queen size’ bed, for the spare room and made that room into her bedroom. half now, and I'm slowly getting used to the idea.'

So, when she got home after work she would go to her 'Andrew, I am so sorry. What happened? How long room.' were you together?’

'That's too sad.'

'Nine years. Like most, it wasn't a perfect marriage by any means. There were ups and downs. But we 'For a while she would come back, visit with me in were always so proud that we could fight and then what was our bedroom. But that soon stopped. I don't kiss and make up. We're both very strong characters want to be too personal but, well, you know, other things stopped to….' you see. But we were managing, or so I thought.'

'Was she, you know, younger.'

'Yes, by 22 years. But it never seemed to matter until, of course, it did.'

Nodding to herself Preeti said 'Sorry, go on.'

'Oh, yes, well, I get you. Sorry, it must have been difficult.'

'It wasn't ideal. But we rubbed along. I kept hoping that we could put it right between us. Because it was good, once, before. I was still in love with her you see.

I probably still am. I didn't realise, didn't know what was in her head. How could I! We barely spoke.'

'I guess the greatest difference was our outlooks. Our views on living. She's a workaholic and I try a work/ There was a burring sound. Preeti began life balance.' fidgeting in her seat, reaching in her handbag for 'She's a what?’

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down and sleep.

her hand phone.

‘My sister’, Preeti said nodding towards her hand phone. ‘Sorry Andrew. I need to get off’ She finished her sparkling, unsweetened, ‘Peach Nectarine Green Tea’ and put the receptacle onto the small oval table..

He would awake somewhere around 5.30am to 6am to the sounds of birds and the general brightening of the day. He would hand wash clothes from the previous day then hang them out on his balcony so that they would dry by the afternoon. He would mop, or just sweep the ‘It was lovely meeting you, and I am sorry about your apartment floor and, after showering, would take a cup of coffee, made with boiled milk, relationship.’ They both stood.

Nescafe Red Cup and a spoonful of sugar while ‘That’s okay. Are you living in Puchong now?’ at his computer, checking his mail, Facebook etc.

Ventured Andrew, slightly saddened after Breakfast would be later. opening up to Preeti.

This Sunday morning, Andrew awoke in his two “No, actually, I live in Ipoh. I’m visiting my sister bedroomed apartment in Kenanga Apartments at 6am. The sun was just up as he looked out over and her husband.’ the rooftops towards IOI Mall, remembering his breakfast appointment.

‘Oh! How long for?’

‘Just a few days.’

‘Would you be free for breakfast tomorrow? I know this great place for dosai.’ It was out of Andrew’s mouth before he could think. On reflection it did sound a little desperate.

‘Tomorrow. Breakfast.’ Preeti needed to think.

Well, what’s the harm? She eventually said to herself, to Andrew she said ‘Yes okay, 8.30(am), where should I meet you?’

In truth, since the breakup of his relationship with Sugar Khoo, Andrew didn’t get out much.

His previous day’s trip to Starbucks, at the IOI Mall, was an exception. He had felt a distinct urge for company, but didn’t want the screaming kids at Tesco McDonald’s or at Kentucky Fried Chicken at the other end, and so walked to IOI Mall instead. It was hot, but his ageing homburg kept the sun off, and the exercise was good. The traffic fumes not so much.

………

Since returning to Malaysia Andrew felt different. Things were familiar but not the same.

Tescos had a name change to Lotuss, several small businesses had closed down for good during the times of the Covid 19 pandemic and, after the loss of Sugar’s company, no matter how annoying it had been at time, Andrew could not relate to life in the same way again. He had finally gotten over that disturbing sense of a phantom limb, but there continued to be a Sugar-shaped hole in heart.

Since he had been, most reluctantly, forced to live on his own, Andrew had gotten into a routine.

In the evening he would shower, then around 10pm he would read a digital book in bed, until 11pm (or thereabouts), then lay his hand phone

Was it his age? Maybe. So much had happened in the two years he was absent. He ha lost Sugar, turned 70, then 71,and spent a considerable amount of time mourning that loss in Cambodia.

That was followed by a very lonely time near the

‘Aksrha Curry House, Puchong. 8.30, a Grab cab should know where it is. It's not far from Tesco’s sorry, I mean Lotus’s.’

As she was leaving, Preeti turned at the door and gave a small wave, to which Andrew responded.

Feeling a fool after. He looked around. Walked back to his table. No one was looking. He sighed.

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sea, in Blicton, England trying to pull himself ‘I learned to eat with my fingers some forty years ago.’ together, and failing.

‘Where?’

In her final WhatsApp Sugar had, very callously, written ‘move on’. Move on yes, but to what? It ‘India.’ was okay for her, she was still young, attractive at forty nine. But a man at 71, with a paunch, ‘You’ve been to India?’ and just scraping by on his meagre pension was not what women want. Though, to be honest, Though it was technically a question, Preeti’s Andrew would always scratch his head and words came out as more of an exclamation.

Andrew and Preeti were in Aksrha Curry House wonder ‘just what did women want’. where Andrew had ordered his favourite Indian Younger women in Cambodia called him ‘Papa’ pancake - Masala Dosai which he had discovered (meaning granddad) and were all very sweet, in ‘Old Woodlands’ (Chennai) some eighteen but sweet in the way that girls are sweet to their years previously. As they were now hard to find, granddads. To women in England, Andrew was he also ordered a (crispy and soft in the middle) invisible, just as he had been to the expat white paal appam, which comes with sweetened women in Cambodia. Now, in Malaysia, he had coconut milk, to follow. Andrew proceeded to been seen by one person, but she would be the reel out all the names of the places he had visited exception to the rule and would, soon enough, in India. return to Perak.

‘You’ve seen more of India than I have.’

For a long period Andrew had thought of suicide, especially soon after the break up, ‘Well I am older than you.’ sitting alone in his one bedroom apartment, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Somehow it had never ‘Yes, but you, you’re..’ quite happened. He never seemed to have the means to hand. May 1st, the day he had planned ‘White?’ to take his own life, came and went. Time moved on and Andrew had returned, briefly, to England ‘Hmm, well, yes I suppose.’ waiting for Malaysia to re-open to foreign tourists.

They both laughed so hard that all the other customers turned to look at them.

Now, back in Malaysia, the place that he had (for 17 years) considered his home, the thought ‘Shhhh, shhhh, shhhh’ they both said together and of another ten years of loneliness was again started laughing again. daunting. Frightening even.

‘I haven’t asked about you. How is your life?’

Enquired Andrew. ………

‘Oh, I’m okay, nothing much really. I work as a legal secretary in Ipoh, divorced, two children who have ‘Andrew, you eat with your finger!’ grown now and one has moved to Penang, the other is moving to KL soon. That’s it really. Oh I was seeing someone, but he wasn’t serious.’

‘So do you.’

‘Yes, but I'm Malaysian Indian.’

‘Well, I guess you are young enough to find someone.’

'Young! Well you’ve made my day. Thank you 45

Andrew. I’m fifty, just, last week.’

‘Never.’

‘Ha,ha, ha.’

‘So you’re going back to Ipoh soon.’

A whole lifetime was lived from Andrew finishing his sentence and Preeti answering.

Then.

‘You must come to Ipoh. I’ll take you there, to Esther’s.’

Mentally Andrew screamed 'YES' like an avid ‘Actually tomorrow. My son, Aarsh, the one I said soccer fan witnessing his team score. was coming to KL, needs me to sort some things out for him. They always need their Mamī, the pair of 'Give me your phone number', she said and brought up the 'Contacts' app on her hand phone. Andrew them, his brother Aditya too.’ did as requested, received her missed call and ‘Ah’ Andrew was wrestling with all kinds of saved her number too. ideas and emotions, but he didn’t really know this woman, could barely remember her from 'Don't forget that's Preeti Kaur spelled P. R. E. E. T. I K. A. U. R. Okay?' ten years past. So he just sighed inwardly.

And it was okay. In fact it was more than okay, it was stupendous. Amazing. Wonderful. As Today she was wearing an electric blue sari, was the hug Preeti gave him just before saying the colour offsetting the brown of her flesh goodbye. wonderfully. Or at least that’s what Andrew was thinking. Her bindi (chandlo) was a bright blue There was a decided spring to his gait as Andrew on her forehead, matching her sari. She looked exited the restaurant, walked over the Setia Walk as beautiful as Deepika Padukone, or some other bridge and through Setia Walk itself, past the ever actress from out of an Indian popular film, all changing restaurants, the pharmacy and started up the slope towards his apartment block. glamorous and more than a little regal.

Preeti smiled. It reached her big, brown, eyes.

‘I haven’t been to Ipoh for a long time.’ Andrew It just felt good to be seen. ventured. ‘I used to when I lived in Kampar, then later I’d pass by on the way to Penang, but I’ve not stayed there for a few years. There was a really good eatery which made wonderful paal appam.’ He said as he scooped the last of the spongy substance dripping with coconut milk, and popped it into his mouth. ‘It was quite famous but looked like a shack. Somewhere between a Police Station and a Caltex station.’

‘Oh my god, that’s Esther's Appam Stall. It’s my favourite place to go. How on earth did you know about there?’

Andrew smiled.

There was a tangible silence, you could count the beats.

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melton kais

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Melton Ak Kais (aka Muton Anak Kais) was born 17th December,1960 in Kampong Bengoh, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia, and is of the ‘Land Dayak of the Bidayuh’ ethnicity. Spending his formative years on the Island of Borneo he was inevitably influenced by his tribal environment, culture, traditions and beliefs. His work is represented by the Manook Gallery in Kuching Sarawak.

Singalang

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Shattered stripes-democracy is dead

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Tribalism

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Islanders

Happy & Satisfied

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Green disaster

Singalang

Wild vibes

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Warrior

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Cowed

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Folk Dance Prayagraj Poonam Kishor

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“the women of Prayag had put the lamps in the pot of clay and kept the eyes of the three Banvasios”

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Prayagraj Folk Dance

by Poonam Kishor

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t is believed that when Lord Shri Ram was returning to Ayodhya after completing fourteen years of exile, he first came to the holy land of Prayag for Sangam Darshan and worship of Mother Ganga. At the same time, some women suspected that Shani Dev might not have come after Lord Rama, the women of Prayag had put the lamps in pots of clay (handi) and kept the eyes of the three Banvasios, since then this practice is known as Dhedia. Originally this festival belongs to Davaba region only. This festival is celebrated in Prayagraj on the day of Ashwini Shukla Chaturdashi. Between Dussehra and Deepawali, and is celebrated by daughters.

After taking a look, the daughters also take the neg from their elders, after that, at the crossroads, they break the earthen pot, due to which the evil forces of the people of the houses run away, similarly the women of Prayagraj adopted Lord Ram. This folk dance from Prayagraj (Allahabad), concerns that return of Lord Shri Ram ji to Ayodhya. This is a group of artists, perform under the direction of national artist, Anand Kishore. He is well known in Indian folk music, and we are working to give a new identity to the traditional folk dance of folk music in the whole country. Anand Kishor was also awarded a major fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

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The Government of Uttar Pradesh has also honoured him with the name ‘Sanjhi Virasat’.

Anand is a regular artist of all the seven zones of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, All India Radio, and Doordarshan’s B grade. Dholak player artist, classical music from Allahabad University, B music from tabla and singing, M music, has done tabla from Prayag Sangeet Samiti Allahabad, singing, from Prabhakar, received degree, at present, teacher of tabla in Prayag Sangeet Samiti Prayagraj employed on the post. He is the examiner of Prayag Sangeet Samiti and the Culture Department of Uttar Pradesh has also published the photos of Anand Kishore’s team in their calendar.

He has also performed accompaniment with drumming and tabla playing with big artists including Padmashree Malini Awasthi ji, Padmashree Sharda Sinha ji, Padmashree Bhajan Samrat Anup Jalota ji, long with Padmashree Bharti brothers, Pandit Swa, Shri Anupam Rai, ji, Shastri has also played dholak with tabla, with Pandit Ravi Shankar Upadhyay ji has played dholak in percussion court. Accompanied by Pandit Vidyadhar Mishra in the documentary film Yamanotri to Prayag, organized by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. And is responsibkle for the lyrics of the song (Bade luck aaye shri Ram Prayag mein Ute Dhedia) which is popular all over India. Anand is the writer as well

as the music composer and composed a hymn which Anand Kishore gets an invitation along for Sanatan The Soul of Music which was also with his team to perform Dhedia folk dance. launched by T Cridge, Maiyari Mohe Makhan Mishri Bhave. This song is sung by Bhajan singer Ratnesh Dubey, and Maneka Mishra, who have composed more than 100 such songs. Anand composes his own music to his folk dances, and can play 18 musical instruments.

He is trying to advance Prayagraj’s daughters in the field of folk music, so that folk music survives all over the world. He also wants to educate children of the rural areas of his city, and the slums, to help them pursue folk music. He teaches music to poor daughters and children to make them self-reliant, so that they can earn money and move forward in the field of music, as well as giving opportunities to those daughters on national level forums.

Lakshman ji. Prayagraj’s Anand Kishore had seen Dhedia as a brother, and cherish the old traditions by connecting the Dhedia festival with the folk culture and preparing the folk dance for every corner of the country, so that people all over India can know this festival by understanding their own folk culture. He composed a song which is liked all over India today, Geet, Aaye with great fortune, Shri Ram Prayag mein Ute Dhedia, Jug Jug Jiye Siyawar Ram Prayag Me Ute Dhedia, from the Ministry of Culture many big festivals are organised in Anand Kishore 63

“These are a group of artists, this dance is performed, under the direction of the national artist Anand Kishore who was also awarded a major fellowship by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and is a well known name in Indian folk music.”

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Philip Glass‘s

Satyagraha

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English National Opera, London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4ES

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ENO Satyagraha: Toby Spence (c) Donald Cooper

Philip Glass’s operatic telling of peaceful resistance returns to the London Coliseum 24th September 2021 in Press Satyagraha Philip Glass (b. 1937) Vocal text by Constance DeJong (adapted from the ‘Bhagavad Gita’) Book by Philip Glass and Constance DeJong Director, Phelim McDermott Revival Director, Peter Relton Conductor, Carolyn Kuan

Recognised as a conductor of extraordinary versatility, Carolyn Kuan has enjoyed successful associations with top tier orchestras, opera companies, ballet companies, and festivals worldwide. Her commitment to contemporary music has defined her approach to programming, and established her as an international resource for new music and world premieres. Appointed Music Director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in 2011, she has signed a renewal contract through May, 2024.

Ms. Kuan will make her debut with English National Opera in Philip Glass’ Satyagraha in the 2021/2022 season.

Photo by Allegra Anderson

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ENO Satyagraha: Toby Spence and members of the ENO Chorus (c) Donald Cooper

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Philip Glass’s operatic telling of peaceful resistance returns to the London Coliseum Opens Thursday 14 October (7 performances) This October, English National Opera (ENO) returns to the London Coliseum to perform the first production of their new season: the fourth revival of Phelim McDermott’s ‘unmissable masterpiece’ (Daily Telegraph) Satyagraha.

A collaboration between the ENO and theatre company Improbable, Satyagraha marries Philip Glass’s meditative score with mesmerising stagecraft.

Exploring the concept of Satyagraha, a Sanskrit word meaning ‘truth force’ – the opera traverses Mahatma Gandhi’s development of non-violent protests as a political tool. Written entirely in Sanskrit, the work considers the power of group activism and the change that can come about through the actions of communities.

The story moves back and forth through Gandhi’s life, with the flow of time, words and music creating a hypnotic experience. Each of the three acts depicts a spiritual guardian who is linked to the Satyagraha philosophy.

Act 1 features Tolstoy, Act 2 the Indian mystic and poet Tagore and Act 3 Martin Luther King Junior, representing the past, present and future of Satyagraha.

Annilese Miskimmon, Artistic Director of the ENO says: ‘It is truly fitting that this Glass masterpiece reopens the English National Opera’s 21-22 season. An extraordinary opera, describing how small actions by an individual can create immense change, it poses a message as relevant today as when it first premiered.

After 18 months of presenting opera outside our home, the London Coliseum, we’re delighted to return here to perform to live audiences again, and hope that this breathtaking production will inspire and fascinate.’

This ‘mesmerisingly staged’ (The Times) Satyagraha received its UK premiere in 2007 where it broke box office records for twentieth century opera, making it one of 74

the most popular contemporary works to be performed by the ENO. Satyagraha is the second of Philip Glass’s portrait trilogy of operas. The first was Einstein on the Beach (1976) and the third Akhnaten (1984) which had its UK premiere at ENO in 1985, sparking a special artistic relationship between Glass and the company. This production was also the first in the ongoing partnership between Phelim McDermott, Improbable and the ENO. Making her much anticipated ENO debut is Taiwanese conductor Carolyn Kuan. Carolyn is Music Director at the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in the US and recently conducted the world premiere of Iain Bell’s Stonewall with the New York City Opera.

After ‘stealing the show’ (Opera Now) during his ENO debut as Don José in 2020’s Carmen, American tenor Sean Panikkar makes a welcome return to the company as M.K. Gandhi following his ‘firm of voice and full of charisma’ (LA Times) debut in this role at Los Angeles Opera in 2018.

Also returning to ENO, this time following 2017’s ‘impressive’ (The Times) UK debut as Amonasro in Aida, Musa Ngqungwana sings Lord Krishna. The South African bass-baritone possesses a ‘rich, glowing voice’ (The New York Times) and is internationally recognised for his stage and concert work.

Current ENO Harewood Artist, British bass William Thomas makes his London Coliseum live audience debut as Parsi Rustomji following his performance in the ENO’s Tosca at South Facing Festival in August 2021, his soloist appearance in the national broadcast of Handel’s Messiah in March 2021, and ENO Drive & Live: La bohème at Alexandra Palace in September 2020.

After huge success covering roles on stage in the ENO’s previous productions of Rigoletto and Orpheus in the Underworld, British soprano Gabriella Cassidy makes her official ENO debut as Miss Schlesen; while British baritone Ross Ramgobin makes his London

ENO Satyagraha: Nicholas Folwell, Clive Bayley, Anna-Clare Monk, Toby Spence, Charlotte Beament, Stephanie Marshall (c) Donald Cooper

Coliseum debut as Prince Arjuna following his role as Schaunard in ENO Drive & Live: La bohème in September 2020. British lyric soprano, Verity Wingate, will be making her ENO debut in the role of Mrs Naidoo.

The cast is completed by British baritone James Cleverton – who has performed with all of the UK’s leading opera companies – as Mr Kallenbach , British mezzo Felicity Buckland as Kasturbai − making her debut as a soloist, and British mezzo Sarah Pring, who returns to the role of Mrs Alexander following 2018’s revival.

The Olivier Award-winning ENO Chorus also takes a central role as the mass force for change under Gandhi’s inspired leadership. Integrated with the ENO Chorus are 14 members of a skills ensemble including aerialists, puppeteers, acrobats and performers from Improbable.

The ENO Orchestra is renowned for their versatility in a wide range of idioms. With their long association with the operas of Philip Glass, the orchestra will deliver this hypnotic and uncompromising score with their widely

acclaimed brilliance.

The Revival Director is Peter Relton, and the Set Designer and Associate Director is Julian Crouch. Kevin Pollard is the Costume Designer, with Paule Constable as the Lighting Designer, and the Revival Lighting Designer is Kevin Sleep.

The Video Designers are Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer, and the Revival Movement Director and Puppetry is Rob Thirtle.

Satyagraha opens on Thursday 14 October 2021 at the London Coliseum for 7 performances: October 14, 16, 20, 23, 27 and 28 at 19.00. October 17 at 15.00 Tickets start from £10 (plus booking fee*) *£2.25 booking fee applies to online and telephone bookings.

Co-produced with the Metropolitan Opera, New York. In collaboration with Improbable.

English National Opera is the national opera company dedicated to one simple aim: making 75

opera for everyone. We sing in English to be accessible to the widest possible audience, as well as offering free tickets for under 21s, and for as little as ten pounds for everyone else. We create opera that feels different, theatrical and creatively daring and have been doing this to an internationally recognised standard since being founded in 1931 as Sadler’s Wells Opera.

From the world’s first large-scale drive-in opera, creative projects with young people, and TV broadcasts on BBC Two and Sky Arts, we strive to be bold and adventurous in everything we do. We take seriously our role of not just producing innovative work, but also employing the arts as a catalyst for social good. We have partnered with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to develop ENO Breathe, a social prescribing intervention that provides crucial support to people recovering from COVID-19.

So far, over 50 NHS Trusts are signed up to refer participants to the programme.

We are passionate about making opera more inclusive and representative of the society in which we live, actively recruiting musicians and singers from an ethnically diverse background in our Orchestra and Chorus Fellowships and Director Observership programme for emerging directors.

Showcasing the wealth of nationwide talent is fundamental to the ENO’s vision. Our talent development programmes continue to nurture the careers of singers (the ENO Harewood Artist programme), conductors (the ENO Mackerras Fellowship), musicians (ENO Evolve) and critics (ENO Response). Demonstrating our ongoing support and development of British talent, 90% of the cast in the 21/22 season is British, Britishbased or British-trained.

We believe that positive change for the industry also comes from removing barriers to access. We offer free tickets to under 21s to every performance and at every level of the theatre, and have extended discounts for under 35s. We have increased our number of relaxed performances, designed to be more accessible for those who may benefit from a more relaxed environment at the theatre.

ENO is for everyone, and always will be.

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ENO Satyagraha: Sarah Pring, and members of the ENO Chorus (c) Donald Cooper

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ENO Satyagraha: ENO Chorus (c) Donald Cooper

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QUETTA RECOLLECTED

(Memory piece with me at the age of five)

by Rebecca Haque

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fter the rains, after the heat envelopes me once more in this month of Jaistha, I sit in my netted verandah in the dusky evening and look at the kathal tree on the south-eastern corner of the boundary wall. Heavy, pot-bellied fruit cling haphazardly to the trunk and scores more hang precariously from several limbs. The suffocating heat stifles me, and the enervating humidity unites the foliage and me in listless dejection. Looking at the limp leaves and the silent jutting branches, I yearn desperately for the jagged kalboishaki lightning to rend the sky with torrential hail.

I imagine the taste of icy water on my skin, and suddenly, sentient tactile association makes me meditate on the various categories of taste felt fruitfully upon the tongue -sweet, salty, bitter, sour, astringent, and pungent. Inexplicably, possibly in response to the impulsive drive towards wish-fulfilment, my mind entices me out of the present moment and takes me back in time to a bright winter's day in the year 1959.

I am five years old, in Quetta, Baluchistan, and we live in a row of connected homes for Army officers and their families. Under the shadow of 80

the distant tall peaks of the Chiltern Hills and the green slopes of dense pine trees, I stand in awe in my wool red-caped duffel-coat (with its wood bullet-shaped looped buttons) and look in wonder at the far mountains. Having heard the adults talk of the fierce tribes of this rugged frontier province, my imagination conjures up images of caravans of warriors in flowing cloaks and coiled turbans.

I am a red dot in a sea of white snow. Soft, mushy, squishy, clean snow piled in some places as high as my waist. In my tough leather boots, I walk with the slow deliberate plod- pullplod rhythm of a workhorse testing unknown treacherous ground. The air tastes fresh and sweet with the scent of pine cones. Baskets of fruit, overflowing with winter's abundant produce of rock-hard walnuts and green pistachio and almonds in their beige perforated husks and black thin tear-shaped pine nuts, lie on the open verandah, drying in the sunlight.

Inside the house, in the dining room, glass jars and bowls are filled with dried nuts. The remains of the surfeit of the rich harvest of perishable grapes and plums and apricots are

still displayed on large wooden trays, but lie neglected and wrinkling brown with the tinge of decay. I sit with the other children in the formal sitting-room, happy in the radiating heat of the tubular 'Quetta' stove in the fire-place. We sit in a circle and laugh and sing favourite nursery rhymes and tell jokes and howl like wolves, wild with the joy of getting mounds of assorted nuts to devour.

We sing, and stop, and munch, munch, crunch on the shells of the pistachio and the almond and the little pine nuts, and chew the buttery mixture of flavourful paste, and roll it on the tongue and push the gummy wad into one cheek pouch and then the other. Swallow, and dive into the bowl for another fistful, furiously racing with our fingers to crack, break, crush the shells and pop three fingers-full of nuts into greedy mouths.

Again, and again, bending forward from the waist, lifting the hip lightly, and back up in a fluid continuing motion.

We fall back, finally, stuffed, with tight tummies. Grinning, we look slyly at the dishevelled piles of crushed shell, and quickly bend forward to measure the height and breadth of each pile, small hillocks of discarded skin speckled cream and mossy green and streaked dark chocolate. Soon, we are all shouting and screaming, 'I win. No, me. I win'. Pushing and pulling at shirts and dresses and falling over each other, and into the dry, powdery husks.

Late evening, and a vigorous warm bath for me. Then, snug inside the lovely satin quilt, brightly embroidered with the distinctive mirrorwork of the Baluchi women. No dinner, no hot 'chappati', no 'keema' curry that night. The nostrils flare with the delicious smell of baking chappati, but the stomach declines the olfactory overture, remembering still the afternoon's nutty repast.

From my bedroom window, I see starlit silver Rebecca Haque is former chairperson, Department waves of snow. Eyelids softly close in sleep, to of English, Dhaka University and a writer dream of trudging through the snow on the morrow to catch the school-bus in my red duffelcoat and matching red mittens. Anticipating, in delight, the glowing charcoal braziers in between neat rows of cute comfy chairs in the class-room.

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Yeukfai Poon

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Omitted to Wan Chai

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A street view in Hong Kong

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Jiangnan 2

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The artist was born in 1963 in Fujian Province, China.

Poon is a local Hong Kong artist who specializes in oil painting. He was a visiting scholar in Beijing Xu

Beihong Studio in 1987 and in the Chinese Central Institute of Arts’ Oil Painting Department from 1988 to 1991.

His artworks were selected by the 9th National Art Exhibition of the Republic of China in Beijing, the

Philippe Charriol Foundation Modern Art Exhibition in

Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards 2009 etcetera.

His paintings have been exhibited in Macau, Hong

Kong and China. In 2015, his solo exhibition was held

in Jao Tsung I Academy and later, his exhibition named Botanic Mirage – Painting Exhibition of Poon Yeuk Fai was held in the Wan Fung Art Gallery

Tramway in Jinjong Sun Shaku

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Thunder Shengchun

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From the year of the year of the year of the year of the year of the year

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Painting by Yeoh Eng Hin

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by martin bradley

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or me, this year (2021) has turned out to be the year of the Buddha.

In February, on my seventieth birthday, I took a tuk tuk to Cambodia’s ancient city Angkor Wat. That magnificent place had been built in the 12th century firstly as a Hindu holy city then, later, as a Buddhist one.

I was there, once again, to see those impressive temples (Wats) and walk in the footsteps of the ancients. It was somewhat of a surreal experience as those were Covid 19 times and, luckily for me, there were few tourists. I had the expanse of the ruins virtually to myself and could see more of the city than on my first visit in 2012 .

The unfortunate circumstances of the virulent pandemic meant that by September I was back in England. But, fortunately, I was able to visit Colchester’s Mercury Theatre and listen to a sublime extract from ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’ read by none other than the author, Hanif Kureishi, himself.

More recently, on one Saturday later in September, it was my first day at the Colchester Buddhist Centre (a charity registered, in May 1995, as The Triratna Buddhist Community, Colchester). The Centre had freshly reopened after pandemic lockdowns and times of physical distancing.

I had signed up for a short (6 Saturday) course on ‘Buddhism and Meditation’ at that Centre.

I had many reasons to do so, not least to get 96

me out of my semi-monastic life in my rented double room and to interact with real people (as opposed to those wraiths on Youtube or Zoom) and, of course, to learn more about the practical aspects of Buddhism.

The time had come, or so I reckoned, to enquire beyond the reading of Ram Dass, Alan Watts and Jack Kornfield. I felt the urge to go back to basics, to actively involve myself in Western Buddhist teaching, and thereby understand a little more about its practice.

Some while ago (in Selangor, Malaysia), I had attended monthly meetings with a circle of Chinese Malaysians seeking to practise dayto-day Buddhism. It was helpful, but I couldn’t help thinking that the meetings echoed those of Christian practise, replete with singing to guitar or piano accompaniment which seemed very much like hymns, not to mention the bowing before an idol of Buddha which again felt like the genuflection to the crucified Catholic Christ.

That wasn’t for me, but my first day at the Colchester Buddhist Centre was very different.

I’d just walked a mile from my domicile to the Centre. I arrived early. Early enough to sit at a bus stop outside the Centre gathering my thoughts. It was the first time that I had interacted in a group setting since June this year. That was when my Cambodian teaching days had ended.

Those British Summer months had glided past. With a growing distance from my teaching

Main Buddha shrine at Colchester Buddhist Centre

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A Buddha shrine at Angkor Wat, Cambodia

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The Buddha of Suburbia Hanif Kureishi 1990

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Allen Ginsberg, Boulder, Colorado, 1994. Photo c. Steve Miles

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and presentation days, I confess to having had a little anxiety about interacting in a group setting again. Although I’d paid for the course I could have, of course, simply not turned up. But then that would have defeated one of my objectives, and that was to re-integrate myself back into local society after a 17 year absence. I had girded my loins and went to the Centre, my curiosity finally outweighing my reticence.

I stood outside that renovated building looking in, letting others in before me. It was a gentlemanly, yet also tentative, act. Inside, there were lots of welcoming smiles, but not those unsettling “oh my god this is a cult, get me outta here” type smiles, but actually welcoming “I’m so glad that you could make it” smiles instead.

The type of smiles which succeed in making you, or at least me, feel welcome.

The building, which had served as a warehouse in Portland Road, had been bought from Colchester Borough Council and renovated to suit its current purpose. The moment that I walked in I was made to feel at ease, comfortable, and welcomed both by the people (ordained members of the Triratna Buddhist Order and Sangha) and (strangely enough) by the building.

There was a very therapeutic feel to the whole environment.

Two classes had gathered in that entry hall.

There were rows of blue chairs and sofas which quickly filled with newbies and old hands as ten thirty approached. I sat near the back simply because that is where I was and, I guess, to feel less self-conscious. The Centre’s ‘team’ (experienced Buddhists) generally wore a white ribbon around their necks and a name badge to be recognised although, I learnt, that some don’t.

It was quite a relaxed atmosphere.

The usual welcome chit chat explained the Centre, introduced the ‘team’ and gave a general introduction as to why we were there, and what we would do. Cups of tea, for we were mostly British there, and tea is obligatory, were followed by a quick Q & A then the group divided and our class remained as the Saturday meditation group disappeared up the blonde wooden staircase.

Those of us who remained were the newcomers and attendant ‘Team’. There was

the briefest explanation of Buddhism, as well as a short history of Buddhism in Colchester, then we were led upstairs to the main shrine room, bypassing the kitchen on the way. The more I saw of the building the more I liked it. The copious amounts of wood aided in the relaxing feel, and entirely conducive to the building’s purpose.

There was no weight, no heaviness and it was as if the whole decor was designed with counselling and care in mind. There was no heaviness of religion, although the Buddha was present and represented by small practically unobtrusive (and entirely tasteful) figures and figurines.

We, the new course attendees (of all shapes, sizes and with varying abilities) were invited to sit before a stately statue (Rupa) of Buddha, in the main shrine room. There was another, smaller, shrine room which held the Buddha from the Centre’s previous residence. I opted for a chair.

Others, who evidently were more agile, sat on cushions on the floor. Sadly my mistreated old body is no longer supple enough for that. After being asked if we have any objection to incense being burnt, we were led through a forty minute session of meditation after a mindful ‘body scan’(relaxation session). Honestly, that was the longest that I’ve been able to meditate so far.

After we emerged from meditation we decamped, donned shoes, chatted and left with promises of our return the following week. I can honestly say that I am looking forward to going back to that warm, inviting, atmosphere.

Now for a little history.

The Buddhist Centre is now a well established community in Colchester. For about thirty years classes have been held in Colchester which had eventuated in a Buddhist Centre being developed (in rented accommodation) for eighteen years. That was in Colchester’s Manor Road. Eventually a property was bought in Portland Road, Colchester, to further develop the Colchester Buddhist Centre, which opened in 2017.

Colchester, surprisingly enough, has quite a 101

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Burmese-Pali Manuscript, Welcome Collection

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history of Buddhism, the Colchester Buddhist Centre and its links with fellow Triratna Buddhist organisations, has been a boon to Buddhists in the area.

Colchester’s University of Essex too has links to the Centre through its Buddhist Chaplaincy, which is part of a Multi Faith Chaplaincy Centre on the Colchester campus of the University of Essex, currently linked through Amalaketu of the Colchester Buddhist Centre.

Before the town’s contemporary interest in Buddhism, Colchestrian Thomas Rhys Davids had Buddhist links dating back to the 1800s.

Born in Colchester (May 12th 1843), Thomas Rhys Davids was an early Buddhist and Pali scholar in the period of the late 1800s and early 1900s. He had been partially responsible for a clearer understanding of Buddhism in Britain with books such as ‘Buddhism its History and Literature’ published by G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1907 (New York and London).

In 'Thomas William Rhys Davids' in the 'History of Religions, vol. 27, no. 1', University of Chicago Press, 1987, pp. 104–06), George D. Bond has written concerning Rhys Davids that...

“His books and writings provided Europe with a fresh perspective on the Buddhist traditions, which had previously been depicted primarily and with great bias by missionaries in Asia. Seeking to establish valid approaches to the interpretation of the Buddhist tradition, Rhys Davids advocated the value of the Pali canon and founded the Pali Text Society.”

In case you were wondering what Pali is, according to SOAS (university of London) …

“Pali is a Middle Indic dialect closely related to Sanskrit, and one of the major languages of Buddhist scriptures and literature. It has indeed been used for over 2000 years by Theravāda Buddhists of India, Sri Lanka, and South East Asia.”

(Of course, slightly earlier than Rhys Davids, though not a Colchestrian, Edwin Arnold (another British Buddha enthusiast) had written his seminal work, the epic poem ‘The Light of Asia’ about the Buddha, which was originally 104

published in 1879, twenty-eight years before Rhys Davids’ ‘Buddhism its History and Literature’).

Later (1907) ‘The Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland’, was formed under the auspices of the Venerable Ananda Metteyya (Alan Bennett). This was succeeded (1924) by ‘The London Buddhist Society’, founded by Christmas Humphreys. However it was in the 1960s that Buddhism became more popular in Britain. The advent of a new generation reading American writers such as Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, both advocates of Buddhism, and the return to Britain (from India) of philosophical Indophiles (trained and ordained in Buddhism), helped in a reawakening of Buddhism in the British consciousness.

Western Buddhism (a development from that found in Asia) and its practitioners have grown many fold over the past few decades, as people look to lifestyles more conducive to ethical and ecological living.

'Friends of the Western Buddhist Order', was founded in London, April 1967 by Sangharakshita (Dennis Philip Edward Lingwood) who had recently returned to England after spending two decades as a Buddhist and monk in India, following his demobilisation from the British army. This 'order' has grown into being the, now international, ‘Triratna Buddhist Community’ to which The Colchester Buddhist Centre is linked.

The Dharma Bums, Jack kerouac, Mayflower-Dell, 1965

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colchester buddhist centre Colchester Buddhist Centre is at the heart of a thriving, friendly community of practicing Buddhists. We run weekly meditation and Buddhism classes, courses, and study groups for all levels of experience, host day events for Buddhist festival days and other special events, and run several weekend retreats per year.

We are part of the Triratna Buddhist Community, a worldwide Buddhist movement in over 20 countries teaching and practicing Buddhism suitable for people, at all levels of commitment, living in the modern world.

The best way to contact us is to email contact@colchesterbuddhistcentre.com or to drop us a message on Facebook.

Address: Colchester Buddhist Centre 2 Portland Road Colchester CO2 7EH

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Painting by Yeoh Eng Hin

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The 25th anniversary production of East is East At the Lyttelton Theatre (National Theatre) King’s College London Waterloo Campus A 2-min walk from Hayward Gallery Address: London SE1 9PX A co-production of East is East with Birmingham Repertory Theatre

By Ayub Khan Din 7 - 30 Oct 2021 Running Time: approx. 2 hours 20 mins incl. a 20-min interval

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Salford, 1971.

George Khan wants to raise his family in the traditional Pakistani way, but his children have other ideas.

Abdul and Tariq aren't ready to be married off, Saleem is pushing artistic boundaries, Meenah's skirt is too short and Sajit just wants to hide in his parka.

As relations reach breaking point, their English mother, Ella, is torn between her loyalty to George and the happiness of her children.

Ayub Khan Din’s much-loved comedy drama, adapted into a BAFTA Awardwinning film, reopens the Lyttelton theatre as part of a 25th anniversary tour, directed by Iqbal Khan.

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Hamzah Aftab

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Sara Faraj

Amy Leigh Hickman

Irvine Iqbal

Tony Jayawardena

Adonis Jenieco

Emma

Keele

Rachel Lumberg

Noah Manzoor

Joeravar Sangha

Gurjeet Singh

Sophie Stanton

Assad Zaman

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East Is East (1996) overview Ayub Khan Din based his debut play East Is East on his own childhood in Salford. Like the characters in the play, Khan Din comes from a large family with a Pakistani father and a white mother.

Set in the 1970s in Salford, the play is dominated by the character of George Khan, known as ‘Genghis’ to his six kids. George is a proud Pakistani man, but he is also volatile and, at times, violent. He’s married to Ella, a white British woman – though he has a Pakistani wife he keeps threatening to bring over to England – and together they run a chip shop.

Khan Din’s play explores the various ways the Khan children negotiate their identity as British Asians, whether through sneakily eating bacon and sausages, rejecting their father’s diktats on clothing and religion, or refusing to learn Urdu.

Only Maneer is obedient, but this does not spare him his father’s fists.

George is a devout Muslim, and wants to force his sons into arranged marriages. He is ashamed to discover that another son, parka-wearing Sajit, hasn’t been circumcised.

When oldest son Nazir realises his dad plans to arrange his marriage, he runs away from home. This is too much for George. Later Nazir comes out as gay. George sets about arranging

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marriages for two of his other sons, despite the fact that one of them already has a girlfriend.

Ella urges her husband to listen to his children, but he dismisses her appeals and there are scenes in which he beats her. Their children struggle with this and want to shift the balance of power between their parents. In the end, after another beating, she throws him out of their home.

Central to the play is the political and cultural background of 1970s Salford, the incendiary speeches of Enoch Powell and the war between East and West Pakistan.

Key productions of East Is East Before writing East Is East Khan Din trained as an actor and worked on stage and screen in the 1980s and 1990s (playing Sammy in Stephen Frears and Hanif Kureishi’s Sammy and Rosie Get Laid). The play opened in Birmingham, before transferring to the Royal Court in London, a co-producer of the original production. A film version of the play was released in 1999 starring a number of the original cast members, including Linda Bassett and Jimi Mistry, with Om Puri taking on the role of George. A sequel, West Is West, was released in 2011, also written by Khan Din. A West End revival of the play directed by Sam Yates opened in 2014, starring Jane Horrocks as Ella and Khan Din himself as George. Another major revival, a Northern Stage and Nottingham Playhouse co-production, opened in early 2017.

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The Ojha Shamans And Sufi Faquirs of Bangladesh (A Study on Traditional Healing Practices: Introduction) Anwarul Karim

Introduction

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hen I was young I visited my village along with other members of our family.

A relation of mine had a daughter, the first child.

The daughter was then three years old and was beautiful and healthy, but she suddenly fell ill and died within two days. It was discovered that some of her hair had been taken away, and there were marks of scratches on her chest. Everybody in the family believed that it was the work of a sorcerer, who caused the girl to die in order to bring a cure to a certain childless mother whose babies had all died shortly after birth. The family called a faquir, a mystic and native healer who was capable of detecting such a sorcerer's crime with the help of magical methods, such as the use of a magic glass known in Bengali as ainabharon. The faquir explained that the sorcerer took away some of the hair and chest skin of the victim and put these into an amulet either on a Shanibar (Saturday) or Mongolbar (Tuesday) during the night of the new moon, or amavasya, and then closed its mouth with wax from a bee's comb. The faquir further said that the victim in such a case must be a mother's first child, and that the death of the child would procure an off-spring for another childless mother. The offspring who was thus procured would continue to live as usual. The faquir added that if the crime of the sorcerer was detected before any damage was done to the life of the victim, this was to be brought at once to the attention of everybody in the village. An announcement should be made that the sorcerer had taken away the hair or nail or chest skin of the victim. Then all the victim's hair should be cut, burnt, and buried at the meeting point of three roads. The victim would then be safe. During our stay in the village, we 120

came across another incident in which the hair of a child was cut. At once the villagers were informed by an announcement, and a ritual was performed accordingly and no damage was suffered by the victim.

This kind of sorcery is not uncommon in rural Bangladesh. Although sorcery for malevolent use was condemned, the story of a childless mother suggests that such actions could be done also for benevolent intentions. It had been used to facilitate childbirth and to procure offspring for barren women. It also helped cure ailing children. A sorcerer is capable of using both magic and witchcraft for fulfilling his designs.

He can destroy a person but at the same time can explain misfortune and reveal the cause of sickness with the help of supernatural powers (see Lessa and Vogt 1979, 332-333).

In fact, sorcery has two aspects. It may be used for destroying someone or this may be used as a part of curing a sick person. Black magic is used for evil purposes, while white magic is for healing. Faith healing is also commonly used for sick patients. In this study I shall discuss the role of the Ojha Shamans and other traditional healing practices in Bangladesh The term “shaman " is believed by scholars to have its origin in Asia, though it is used to describe similar phenomena in many parts of the world, which are found not only among hunters but also in contemporary peasant nomadic and urban communities as well (Eliade 1964).

In Bangladesh people are not associated with the term shamanism. They have understanding about ‘ojha’, ‘gunin’ ‘yogi’ ‘tantrik’ or ‘kapalik’ ‘faquir’ or ‘peer’ and ‘ mullah’, ‘guru’. In fact, Many of them pursue with Shamanistic activities.

Shamanism is a kind of occultism in which black magic and white magic are used for

"Buddha Gayá, the hermitage of Śákya Muni”, 1878

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"Indian Pictures, drawn with pen and pencil" 1881

benevolent or malevolent purposes. It includes witchcraft as a kind of secret or hidden practice which is undertaken by practitioners, such as ojha or Faquir Bangladesh who has hold over the supernatural elements, Witchcraft is a kind of magic and the users are in a position to perceive and interact with a spirit world and ‘channel these transcendental energies into this world’. He or She while being involved in some kind of ritualistic practices, as of trance, has an easy access to the spirit world and acquires power to influence the spirits for benevolent or malevolent cause.

In Bangladesh, the ojha is also called as faquir as he is involved in a kind of healing practices when affected by spirit possession. Ojhas in Bangladesh are very often found engaged in curing patients of snake-bite. But as they are believed to have supernatural power they also are found involved in practices of spirit possession. They may be either from Hindu or Muslim community. There are ojhas in tribal communities also. The word Faquir refers to Muslim mystics, belonging to Sufi cult. They are specialized in spirit possession. Besides them, there are a number of healers, many of whom are either engaged in faith healing or use herbs and natural healing practices. The natural healing practices include water therapy, music therapy or psycho-therapy.

In Muslim society, there are religious leaders like Pir or Peer. They are found engaged in religious teaching and training and have Khnkas or religious resort. They are also faith healers and many of them have control over the spirits known as Jinns. Besides them, there are Mullahs who are religious persons but are known as faith healers.

In Bangladesh there are few practitioners who are known as kabiraj or baiddya and hekim . They follow herbal or ayurvedic practice.

They are either Hindu or Muslim. Bauls who belong to Muslim Sufi mystics are occasionally found curing patients who are spirit possessed but mostly they are singing minstrels who move through villages and live by begging and performing music. In Bangladesh, Bauls are also called for faith healing. But they are

very often engaged in performing Baul music when a community suffers from diseases such as cholera, small pox or diarrhoea. This happens because the community people in rural areas believe that the disease might have been caused by spirits. In such cases, Bauls perform music for three days invoking God or Spiritual leaders.

Among the Hindu Vaishnava, there are mystic practitioners who are also engaged in spirit possession and faith healing. Again, there is a community of medicine man and women who are known as bedey who also belong to healing community using special kind of techniques and herbs for remedy. They are snake-charmers and have powers to cure snake bitten patients. They also use herbs.

There is another kind of Shaman who are known as Kapalika. They are known as Tantrik Shaman and many of them go naked. They smear their body with ashes from the cremation ground, and have faith in the Bhairava form of Shiva. They are found engaged in rituals with blood, meat, alcohol, and sexual fluids. They are now disappearing or have left Bangladesh for India, The term ‘ Shaman’ is believed to have its roots in Paganism and animism and thereafter it was gradually found working among the Turks and the Mongols. It also became a part of Zoroastrianism and Taoism. It was prevalent in Asia and Africa.

Mircea Eliade writes, "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = 'technique of religious ecstasy'." Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/ illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman also enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within 123

the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment.

Beliefs and practices that have been categorized this way as "shamanic" have attracted the interest of scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, religious studies scholars, philosophers, and psychologists.

Hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peerreviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism. In the 20th century, many westerners involved in the counter-cultural movement have created modern magico-religious practices influenced by their ideas of indigenous religions from across the world, creating what has been termed neo-shamanism or the neoshamanic movement.[6] It has affected the development of many neo pagan practices, as well as faced a backlash and accusations of cultural appropriation, exploitation and misrepresentation when outside observers have tried to represent cultures they do not belong to.

Shamanism is assumed to have originated in association with hunting and gathering (Lessa and Vogt 1979, 301). It is commonly held that the shamans are a kind of mystic and can cure sickness by virtue of their techniques of ecstasy and magic. The shaman can “see “the spirit and he himself occasionally behaves like a spirit.

He can leave his body in a trance and travel in ecstasy in all cosmic regions. He recognizes various diseases through mystical insight or with the help of his " pet-spirits " who are at his disposal, and he is capable of curing these diseases with his healing techniques. Although he has a number of auxiliary spirits at his disposal, he is not possessed by them.

Bangladesh is a small country with an area of over 55,000 square miles and a population of over 100 million. It has 68,000 villages and few cities. At least 80% of the people live in rural areas where people are mostly illiterate and have limited health and medical facilities.

There is one physician for 7,810 people and one hospital bed for 4,000 people (Government of Bangladesh 1985). Although Bangladesh is 124

a land of rivers, these are dry most of the time, and people must depend on the rainy season which, in fact, is a gamble on the monsoons.

They live in houses built of mud with thatched roofs and narrow rectangular windows. These people still drink water either from the river or ponds and suffer from various diseases including diarrhoea, dysentery, jaundice and fever. Cholera and dysentery often break out in epidemic form. Their farming is still primitive and at a subsistence level. In the absence of proper diet they suffer from acute anaemia and malnutrition.

A recent study of mine in three Bangladesh villages reveals that 90% of the rural men and women use indigenous health care. Shamanistic and herbal care are common. The persons engaged in shamanistic and various ways of herbal health care include both men and women.

Shamanism in Bangladesh, which evolved as an integral part of folk or animistic religion, later was assimilated into Hinduism and Buddhism, especially Tantric Buddhism. With the introduction of Islam by the Sufis, who syncretised different religious ideas and incorporated the same into mystic Islam, shamanism became an integral part of folk life. It may be pointed out here that although shamanism is rooted in animistic culture, it is intended for correcting disturbances in the individual's social order. The shamans perform the same role in a traditional society as psycho-therapists in modern society.

The objective of this paper is to present the role of the shaman in traditional Bengali society.

The study is based on the author's personal observation as an insider in three villages of Kushtia, a western district of Bangladesh bordering West Bengal. The paper suggests that a shaman is a healer who uses magic and witchcraft for benevolent purposes. He is not a sorcerer who is engaged in malevolent activities.

The paper's key assumption is that Bangladesh as a traditional society still holds to animism as the basic belief and guiding source for the cultural attitude of the people.

Rural Life in Bengal; illustrative of Anglo-Indian suburban life; more particularly in connection with the planter and peasantry ... Letters from an artist in India to his sisters in England ... By the author of 'Anglo-Indian Domestic Life' ... Illustrated with one hundred and sixty six engravings [Signed: C, i.e. Colesworthey Grant.]"

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hyunjoung lee Famed for her iconic paths, Hyun Joung Lee’s work reflects her childhood memories in South Korea, her studies in fine arts at Sejong University in Seoul, and her goldsmith training in Paris. She developed her own artistic language and techniques while working with traditional Korean materials.

I​t emphasizes the reliefs of this new material with Korean black ink, MUK and Korean pigments. Some of her works are enriched by the know-how that she has acquired in the world of goldsmith and jewelry.

She doesn't want to be remembered for her technique, but for what's hidden behind her works, which she sees as life paths. (text from florianaraib@galeriesept.com)

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Mémoire du vent

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Mémoire du vent

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Mémoire du vent

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Wave

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The Last Straw

by Saeed Ibrahim

T

he rich musical tones of the antique Coutinho,” piped in Mrs. Singh smugly with the doorbell sounded once more in Prema air of someone who is privy to information that Ramaswamy's drawing room as one more member is not known to others. arrived at her Book Club morning. Prema's thirty year old book club was one of Bangalore's oldest and most sought after book clubs with a select membership of well informed and well-to-do society women. The group met once a month in Prema's spacious and stylish home in Richmond Town, one of the few surviving remnants of the old colonial-style bungalows. With the city's fast changing architectural landscape her residence stood out prominently with its imposing front porch, stunning Tuscan pillars and unmistakable ‘monkey tops’ - pointed canopies covering a Mangalore tiled sloping roof.

The assembled ladies turned to her with renewed interest as she continued, “Mrs. Coutinho was away for two weeks on a holiday in Europe and she left her plants in Mrs. Chatterjee’s care to be watered and taken care of in her absence. It seems that on her return, Mrs. Coutinho found that all her plants had died and she is totally upset with Mrs. Chatterjee for her carelessness. Quite obviously the two are not talking to each other.” There was an audible sigh The women present were getting a bit of resignation from the gathering and the book impatient as they waited for the two absent club meeting got underway.

Mrs. Alice Coutinho and her friend Mrs. Sonali members to show up before the start of the Chatterjee had been neighbours for a long as proceedings.

“I don’t think either of them is coming today,” they could remember and whilst their friendship offered Mrs. Menon. “It’s no use waiting for had blossomed and flourished over the years, it had not been without its ups and downs, and them anymore.”

“Don’t tell me they have had another quarrel its blow hot and cold moments. Many in their and don’t want to face each other or be seen circle of friends marvelled at the closeness they together,” queried Mrs. Deshmukh with a shared but wondered at the love-hate nature of their relationship as they fell out with each other knowing smile.

“Don’t you know? That is precisely what at regular intervals, but then predictably made has happened. I have all the details from Mrs. up again soon after.

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During episodes when they were apparently not on talking terms, the two ladies passed the word around amongst their mutual friends about the reason for their discord and each presented her side of the story. But their friends knew better than to take sides, for they were confident that sooner or later the thaw would set in and it would once again be business as usual.

The fact was that their mutual dependence made it impossible for the two women to be at war with each other for too long, and yet their vastly differing natures made their periodic rows part and parcel of their existence.

Alice was a spare and sprightly woman in remarkably good shape for her 70 years. Having been a captain in the national women’s hockey team, she continued to exercise regularly and never used the lift to go up and down the stairs to her third floor apartment. She was meticulous in her habits and led a Spartan life style, having stoically adjusted to her single status after losing her husband twenty years earlier. She was frank and outspoken and expressed her views freely about people whose habits she disliked or issues that she did not see eye to eye with.

Often she would openly criticise even her close friends in front of others making the latter feel uncomfortable and wondering what she said of them when they were not around. Wary of her caustic tongue, people had come to realise that it did not pay to get on her wrong side.

Alice’s neighbour Sonali, at 55, was a much younger woman, laid back and with an artistic temperament, dreamy and forgetful; some even

called her slightly wacky. She dabbled in oil paintings which were at times quite impressive and gained her a lot of profit and praise at the annual art exhibition that she held at a local gallery. Her husband, a scholar and visiting professor, adored her, rarely got in her way when he was around (which was not often), and allowed her plenty of space.

Despite their different temperaments, a certain bond had been created between the two women and they found comfort in the fact that they were there for each other when the occasion demanded. Alice would cat sit for Sonali when she and her husband were away and she also helped keep the accounts for the money earned from Sonali’s painting exhibitions. Sonali, for her part, was not herself fond of cooking but hired a cook who served up fairly decent meals.

She knew that living on her own, Alice survived on snack type meals and she would often send up a particularly well prepared dish or one that she knew was one of Alice’s favourites. Sonali also accompanied Alice for her annual medical check-ups and Alice had given Sonali a spare key to her apartment to be used in case of an emergency.

Apart from these mutually beneficial arrangements, the odd spat occurred from time to time such as when Alice hadn’t shown up for one of Sonali’s painting exhibitions and Sonali had felt slighted; or when Sonali had, without checking with Alice, allowed a friend to borrow one of Alice’s precious coffee table books and the book was never returned.

After the last incident of Alice’s withered plants, harmony and peace had somehow returned. Alice had obviously forgiven Sonali because the following month Sonali received a phone call from Alice.

“Hello Sonali, this is Alice. You know it is my birthday next Saturday and I am having a few friends over for cocktails. Please do come and join us. 7.30 should be fine.”

Sonali was overjoyed at the apparent patch up, “Thank you, Alice. Of course I will be there.

Is there anything you would like me to bring along?”

“There’s nothing I need, Sonali. I have ordered 139

everything from our usual caterer. Maybe you can just come and help me with the flower arrangements.”

Sonali arrived early, and with her usual flair decorated Alice’s living room with charming little arrangements from the flowers that Alice had ordered. The party was a grand success.

Alice had made sure that there was a plentiful supply of wine and spirits and she had ordered a range of delicious snacks and short eats from a catering service she used occasionally. One of Alice’s friends had brought along a birthday cake and they all stood in a circle around her singing “Happy Birthday” as she tried to blow out the solitary candle stuck in the middle of her birthday cake. Despite several attempts the trick candle just wouldn’t get blown out.

Everyone was in a jolly mood and there was much laughter and leg pulling all around. Vast quantities of wine and liquor were consumed and the snacks ordered by Alice were relished and quickly disappeared. Sonali was the last to leave. It was late at night when, tipsy and feeling quite happy with the world at large, she staggered back to her own home and passed out on her living room sofa.

She woke up the following morning with a massive hangover. Still a bit disoriented, she reached out, as per her habit, for her smartphone to check her messages. She groped all around her but her phone was nowhere to be found. In vain she searched high and low and looked all over 140

the house, her mobile was not there. She had almost given up on ever finding it again, when like a flash it struck her that maybe she had left her phone the previous evening in Alice’s kitchen whilst helping to refill the snacks and short eats. However, in her dishevelled state she was feeling too embarrassed to go and ask Alice for her phone. The cobwebs seemed to clear as a brilliant plan formed in her mind. She knew that Alice always took an afternoon nap soon after her lunch, and she was going to use that to her advantage.

She quickly went up to the inner drawer of her cupboard and pulled out the spare key to Alice’s flat. Without bothering to check her appearance in the hallway mirror, she quickly ran up unannounced to her friend’s apartment, turned the key in the lock as noiselessly as possible and stealthily let herself in. A quick dash into the kitchen and she would regain possession of her precious telephone and exit the apartment without detection. Or so she thought.

Sonali’s luck ran out that afternoon. Alice for some reason had not been able to sleep, and she sat up reading in her rocking chair in her bedroom. She thought she heard a sound coming from the main door and felt the presence of someone walking towards her kitchen. She got up and went out to investigate, and let out a horrified scream as she saw Sonali retreating towards the front door clutching something in her hand.

Sonali had been caught red handed. She tried in vain to offer apologies and excuses, but Alice was in no mood to hear her explanations. For Alice this was the last straw and a permanent rupture loomed threateningly ahead. The minor disagreements that they had had in the past were nothing compared to this. A burglar type break-in, a flagrant invasion of her privacy, and a breach of her confidence and trust was something that Alice could neither stomach nor forgive. Her mind was made up. Things could never be the same again between them.

She, however, decided to remain calm and collected. Instead of confronting or remonstrating with Sonali, she decided on a non-combative approach. After a sheepish Sonali had left, Alice with a note of finality picked up her phone, called the locksmith and had him change the front door locks.

Illustrations by Danesh Bharucha

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Snöa Illustrations Bis SNÖA (real name Béatrice Rougier-Rodriguez) is a French self-taught illustrator. Her art is deeply nourished by Surrealism and by the Indian culture for which she feels a real passion.

Most of her drawings are spontaneously made and considered as drafts to be re-worked. The subjects she covers are mainly sexuality, parenthood, childhood and nature. She likes to take a poetic and very naive look on the world, and try to translate that in her art.

The sanitary crisis has encouraged her to share her illustrative work. She is now preparing her first series of 'exposable" drawings and paintings.

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an dang

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Vietnamese born 1983 Dang Thi Thu An's paintings stand out with bright and clear streaks of colour that accentuate the shape and create a sense of authenticity. Not only different in the method of shaping, her concept of composition also turns in a separate path. No more plump features and gentle eyes, the women seen in Dang Thi Thu An's paintings have slender, attractive bodies, small faces, and expressive eyes. Sound, She paints the various aspects of the mind of the "world's most incomprehensible creature" with her eyes. Those eyes are sometimes calm and gentle, sometimes slanted with pride, sometimes glancing sideways with envy, and sometimes also drooping sad.

Those expressions are expressed in an exaggerated way, pushing the arrogance, jealousy, ostentatiousness... in the heart to stark contrast with the inherent lovely appearance. Thereby, each and every one of her characters seems to be telling her own story with contemporary and complex personality traits hidden inside the traditional Ao Dai. Ostentatious… the inside is in sharp contrast to the inherently lovely exterior. Thereby, each and every one of her characters seems to be telling her own story with contemporary and complex personality traits hidden inside the traditional Ao Dai. ostentatious… the inside is in sharp contrast to the inherently lovely exterior. Thereby, each and every one of her characters seems to be telling her own story with contemporary and complex personality traits hidden inside the traditional Ao Dai. text from https://toquoc.vn/ 157

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I

garum (fish sauce)

t has long been known to Western culinary experts that there are four ‘taste’ senses (sweet, sour, bitter, and salty) to tantalise the culinary questing palate. However, in 1909, one Dr. Kikunae Ikeda, a Japanese researcher, discovered that there was, irrefutably, a fifth taste our senses can detect. That extra taste was named ‘Umami’ (or the essence of deliciousness), which had its base in ‘Glutamate’ (yes as in mono-sodium glutamate, or MSG which is taken from ‘kombu’, or kelp, an edible seaweed). The research, being in Japanese, was marginalised until nearly one hundred years later (2002) when Western researchers began to take notice of the ‘Umami’ finding.

Now, culinary experts speak freely about umami as if it had always been there, which of course it had, but unnamed. Umami is the central taste of the West’s latest, and simultaneously oldest, fad - fish sauce which, in its simplest form, is fish (such as anchovies) and salt (which extracts the liquid via osmosis), these are layered in wooden barrels to ferment from a couple months up to a few years and slowly pressed, making a salty, fishy liquid which is used as a condiment and/or in cooking, but sparsely because of the strength of its saltiness.

Fish sauce, specifically the Thai ‘Squid’ brand fish sauce (established in 1944 by Mr. Tien Chan) has long been my go to condiment. It was not until recently (while I was looking at a sensory display in the Colchester Castle Museum, Colchester), that my curiosity was piqued about that enormously popular Roman condiment also called ‘fish sauce’.

Was there a connection, and what happened to its

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Pompei mosaic depicting a "Flower of Garum" jug with a titulus reading "from the workshop of [the garum importer Aulus Umbricius] Scaurus"

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Bourbon barrel-aged fish sauce

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Lee & Perrins Wor

rcestershire Sauce.

Flor de Garum is a premium Spanish fish sauce crafted from an ancient recipe.

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Colchester + Ipswich Museums ‘Learning from objects’ display, Colchester Castle Museum

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popularity in the West, I idly wondered.

In Colchester Castle, and elsewhere, I was reminded that the invading Romans (43AD) had brought with them all sorts of strange new things into Britain like figs, cherries, plums, damsons, mulberries, dates, olives, turnips, apples, pears, celery, carrots, cucumbers, asparagus, lentils, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts and sesame as well as coriander, dill and fennel, grapes, wine and the cultivation of oysters (for which Colchester is now renown) and, wait for it, fish sauce.

When answering that now infamous Monty Python ‘Life of Brian’ sketch question, concerning what the Romans may or may not have done for us a modern day, gourmet, chef might well answer “fish sauce”, or as it was known to the Romans - ‘Garum’. That salt and fish based condiment (originally made from the garus fish) was well known in Greek and Roman kitchens.

There is a current theory that even the very popular South East Asian fish sauces, which are found in countries including Cambodia (‘prahok’, or ‘tuk trey’), Thailand (‘nam-pla’) and Vietnam (‘nuoc-mam’) and the ‘umami uzi’ of Japan, had their origins in a Roman colony in northern Africa (Carthage), that is according to Mago, a Carthaginian agricultural writer who lived in the fifth/sixth century BC. In that Colchester Castle Museum, upstairs, under the label of ‘Learning from Objects’ there is a wooden box containing three wooden containers.

They are near a sign urging visitors to ‘Please Smell’. Beneath the sign a sentence explains ‘The Romans liked strong flavours in their food’. Each container therefore holds a sample of Roman life, one is bay leaf, one is Rosemary and the third contains, yes you’ve guessed it, the aroma of fish sauce.

Jane Shuter (in her book ‘Life in a Roman Town’, 2005, page 29) mentions that “The Romans used this fish sauce the way many people use tomato paste now. They put a spoonful of it in almost anything they were cooking. They also spread it on warm toast as a snack or a starter before a meal.”

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Gaius Plinius Secundus, also called Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, as well as a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, in his ‘The Natural History’ (AD 77), remarks ….

“At the present day, however, the most esteemed kind of garum is that prepared from the scomber, in the fisheries of Carthago Spartaria:it is known as “garum of the allies,” and for a couple of congii we have to pay but little less than one thousand sesterces.

Indeed, there is no liquid hardly, with the exception of the unguents, that has sold at higher prices of late; so much so, that the nations which produce it have become quite ennobled thereby. There are fisheries, too, of the scomber on the coasts of Mauretania and at Carteia in Bætica, near the Straits which lie at the entrance to the Ocean; this being the only use that is made of the fish. For the production of garum, Clazomenæ is also famed, Pompeii, too, and Leptis; while for their muria, Antipolis, Thurii, and of late, Dalmatia, enjoy a high reputation.”

Some time, over the centuries, fish sauce had declined in popularity in the West. Some say that it was because of taxes the Romans imposed, the frequent assailing of fishing ports by various marauders, making the production of fish sauce increasingly difficult and, not to mention, the general decline of the Roman Empire.

However, one small town in Italy (the fishing village of Cetara, Campania) has clung on to that particular gastronomic item from the once glorious Roman past. Its version of fish sauce had been recreated by the Cistercian Monks of Amalfi and is called ‘Colatura di alici’ (Anchovy Drippings), while a recently recreated Spanish fish sauce (2017) ‘Flor de Garum’ (Flower of Garum) is made from an ancient 3rd century A.D. recipe recreated from findings at Pompeii after it was entombed by the Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. At present the Italian and Spanish fish sauces are not commonly available in Britain, but there are many brands from South East Asia which can be found in specialist shops, such as those in London’s Chinatown and at least two of Colchester’s ‘Asian’ 168

'Colatura di Alici' is a traditional amber-coloured liquid made from Anchovies fished in Cetara, on the Amalfi Coast.

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Red Boat 40° N Fish Sauce.

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stores. Then, of course there is ‘Worcestershire sauce’,a fermented liquid condiment created in the city. of Worcester in Worcestershire, England during the first half of the 19th century. made from Barley malt vinegar, Spirit vinegar, Molasses, Sugar, Salt, Anchovies, Tamarind extract, Shallots (later replaced by onions), Garlic, Spice and Flavourings.

American Vietnamese writer Viet Thanh Nguyen (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) has this to say about his favourite condiment in his 2016, Grove Press, novel “The Sympathizer”...

“Oh, fish sauce! How we missed it, dear Aunt, how nothing tasted right without it, how we longed for the grand cru of Phu Quoc Island and its vats brimming with the finest vintage of pressed anchovies! This pungent liquid condiment of the darkest sepia hue was much denigrated by foreigners for its supposedly horrendous reek, lending new meaning to the phrase “there’s something fishy around here,” for we were the fishy ones. We used fish sauce the way Transylvanian villagers wore cloves of garlic to ward off vampires, in our case to establish a perimeter with those Westerners who could never understand that what was truly fishy was the nauseating stench of cheese. What was fermented fish compared to curdled milk?”.

Gourmands and gourmet chefs around the world are eagerly promoting the umami taste and, in particular, the salty, sharp fish sauce taste. As well as the aforementioned brands for fish sauce, there is one fish sauce which seems to appeal to gourmet needs for a clear, tasty and somewhat elite condiment, and that is Red Boat 40° N Fish Sauce. That sauce is advertised as being “Made from black anchovies caught off the crystal clear waters of Vietnam’s Phu Quoc archipelago” it is a ‘single-press’ and ‘barrel-aged’ condiment using “a centuries-old fermentation tradition”. In fact this sauce has all the mystery and romance of the East you might need of a sauce made from the fermentation of fish into liquid.

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Hanshan All of you who read my poems: You must guard the purity in your minds.

Daily purify your stinginess and greed; Forthwith put right your flattering and slyness.

You’ll banish all your evil karma, Take Refuge, receiving your true nature.

Today you’ll obtain the Buddha’s body Be quick, as if this were a command!

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martin bradley

Singapore 2012

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Martin Bradley is the author of a collection of poetry - Remembering Whiteness and Other Poems (2012) Bougainvillea Press; a charity travelogue - A Story of Colors of Cambodia, which he also designed (2012) EverDay and Educare; a collection of his writings for various magazines called Buffalo and Breadfruit (2012) Monsoon Books; an art book for the Philippine artist Toro, called Uniquely Toro (2013), which he also designed, also has written a history of pharmacy for Malaysia, The Journey and Beyond (2014).

Martin wrote a book about Modern Chinese Art with Chinese artist Luo Qi, Luo Qi and Calligraphyism from the China Academy of Art, Hangzhou, China, and has had his book about Bangladesh artist Farida Zaman For the Love of Country published in Dhaka in December 2019.

He is the founder-editor of The Blue Lotus formerly Dusun an e-magazine dedicated to Asian art and writing, founded in 2011.

Malaysia 2012

Ph

Bangladesh 2019

hilippines 2013

China 2017

Malaysia 2014

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THE BLUE LOTU

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US CHAP BOOKS

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THE BLUE LOTU

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US BACK ISSUES

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