Arabian Music: Fused or Fusioned

Every civilization through out the beginning of earth had some sort of music or sound in their reign. From ancient Rome to Bengal and from Alaska to Africa, everywhere sounds and music was existing.

Some for war, some for peace, some for sense and some for bliss. Arabs had music too. Esp. the pre-islamic arab i.e. the Jahiliya period.

Arabic music includes several genres and styles of music ranging from Arabic classical to Arabic pop music and from secular to sacred music to Arabic rock Arabic Hip.

It is an amalgam of the music of the Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula and the music of all the peoples that make the Arab world today. It also influenced and has been influenced by ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek, Persian, Kurdish, Assyrian, Turkish, Indian, North African music...

The development of Arabic music has deep roots in Arabic poetry dating back to the pre-Islamic period known as Jahiliyyah. Though there is a lack of scientific study to definitively confirm the existence of Arabic music at those times, most historians agree that there existed distinct forms of music in the Arabian peninsula in the pre-Islamic period between the 5th and the 7th century AD.

Arab poets of that time - called "Jahili poets" which translates to "The poets of the period of ignorance" - used to recite poems with a high musical rhythm and tone.

Music at that time played an important role in cultivating the mystique of exorcists and magicians. It was believed that Jinns revealed poems to poets and music to musicians. The Choir at the time served as a pedagologial tool where the educated poets would recite their poems.

Singing was not thought to be the work of these intellectuals and was instead entrusted to women with beautiful voices (i.e. Al-Khansa) who would learn how to play some instruments used at that time (i.e. lute, drum, Oud, rebab, etc...) and then perform the songs while respecting the poetic metre. It should be noted that the compositions were simple and every singer would sing in a single maqam. Among the notable songs of the period were the "huda" from which the ghina' derived, the nasb, sanad, and rukbani.


In the 20th century, Egypt was the first in a series of Arab countries to experience a sudden emergence of nationalism, as it became independent after 2000 years of foreign rule. Turkish music, popular during the rule of the Ottoman Empire in the region, was replaced by national music. Cairo became a center for musical innovation.

One of the first female musicians to take a secular approach was Umm Kulthum quickly followed by Fairuz. Both have been extremely popular through the decades that followed and both are considered "Arabic Music Legends".---wikipedia.org

The gradual approach of cultural exchange brought in Arabic music newer dimensions to entertain the wider range of audience.





It flourished to

Western Arabic Music
Arabic Pop
Franco-Arabic
Arabic R&B, Reggae, and Hip Hop
Arabic jazz
Arabic Rock

and the trend continues.

What we see is the real form of music Arab had is now distorted and fused by feating with other genre. Which is the case of almost all music around the world.

This notion leaves us to fact that world is at change with a fast pace.

Fashion: Tatoo/The New AGE Culture??

Yes it is true; youngsters today are crazy about getting Tattoos. They can get tattoos nearly any and every part of their body and despite its excruciating pain tattoo is yet the most demanding fashion style. Interesting enough it not only attracts young and trendy or “cool” customers but it is also a hip for the Old people. Tattoo sees no age, no race, no culture. It has penetrated the fashion house with its expanded veins that has captured millions of heart today.

So what is a Tattoo? According to Wikipedia’s definition A tattoo, is a permanent mark made by inserting pigment into the skin for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification. Most shockingly it is commonly used on animals for identification or branding. Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times and has creeped into the twenty first era as a new fashion.

Tattoos are used for different purposes like to display religious symbols, mark of status or bravery, pledges of love ( which is currently the most popular approach to tattoo) and also to mark the outcasts, slaves and convicts. People chooses tattoo to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups, including criminal but also a particular ethnic group or law-abiding subculture. The best example of tattoo used as Identification is done by the Jews during the Holocaust. What ever the history of tattoo was, today’s generation has created a new history into the world of cosmetics where tattoo is a means to achieve bold beauty.

There are different types of tattoos Chinese tattoo, UV tattoo, three dots tattoo, two dots tattoo, Dragon tattoo, tribal tattoo and more. Tattoos come in many variations, images and icons. Although we do not get to see quite often any Bangladeshi youth carrying tattoos on their bodies but nevertheless it is penetrating into the fashion industry like fire. Temporary Tattoos are available in the market which many boys and girls are using to display their personality on their bodies. Whatever the case is there is always risk involved in it. First of all it is permanent and removal is hardly successful, and secondly it may develop allergic reactions on your body due to ink that has been used. No matter parents may disagree with this form of fashion there will always be an attraction to the forbidden apple and that’s probably why Tattoo is the unconventional craze today.

Fashion: The Hijaab

The youth today is very much concerned about their looks and try their best to keep their fashion style up-to-date. Although short kurta, jeans, salwar kameez, and saree are the majority choice of women today, however, a slight change in the fashion market can be noticed. Recently women are becoming more close to their spiritual identity and being Muslims they understand their duty to wear hijaab. Hijaab has been a topic of controversy since September 9/11 nevertheless at the same time it has also gained huge popularity among the Muslim women. HIjaab is seen not as a fashion only it is a duty that Muslim women strongly believe in. A 22 year old young woman named Fawzia Malik says : “Wearing the Hijaab isn't just a matter of simply putting a piece of cloth on your head, it is an attitude, a way of thinking and behaving, and accepting yourself for who and what you are. Basically it constitutes an Islamic way of life”. Although looking at the Afghanis people may assume hijaab to be oppressive but to the rest of the Muslim world it is rather a choice.

A recent Fashion show held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has created a buzz all over the fashion world. This fashion show was exclusively for Muslim women who wear Abaya’s, Jilbaabs, Burkha, Veil, Hijaab- you name it! This fashion show reflected the growing influence of Islamic creed in Malaysia, representing how enchanting a head veil can be. They presented a total of about 100 designers from all over the Muslim countries.

Amongst them a Bangladeshi Designer Roxana Salem held her very own international hijaab fashion show and earned a name of fame with others in the row of Islamic Fashion line. Salam also displayed her work for the first time in Bangladesh in collaboration with NTV a fashion show has been arranged recently with the title “Shada Kalo” where Salam displayed her work for the first time in Bangladesh. She has introduced fashionable and eye catching hijaabs that attract customers of every age. Now a days street are filled with burkha fashion in Dhaka. The customers are mostly young, educated and enlightened women who think wearing Hijaab is not only a duty but something that differentiate them as Muslims. They believe it restores respect and dignity of the women status into the society.

Hijaab as a fashion brought in various gears into fashion such as niqaabs, scarves, brooches, pins, shayla’s, gloves and of course various cuts of gowns are available. Although historically significant black colored hijaab has always been a hit, but now these gowns come in various colors, designs and cuts. It is no more “just” wearing jilbaabs; rather it is about carrying it off with a fling of style. Many stores are available in Bashundhara City Mall where one can easily choose their type of hijaab with negotiable prices.

Internationally Hijaab designers are ambitiously thinking of different form of hijaabs. They are creating hijaabs suitable for sports activities such as swimming as well as skating. It is a sign of liberation in case of women who wears it which allows them to do any activity maintaining their identities. It is no more a cultural expression of the East but instead it emerged as a symbol of believe which the women are not ready to give up even under pressure. Next time any one thinks Hijaab is boring, uncouth and oppressive check these pictures out perceptions are changing!!

Celebrity: Heaven to hell

A known face amongst the mass. A known icon for the youth for a short period of time. Inherited massive power. The once rocking rising reliable young political icon, T. Rahmaan!

He was one of youth ideal, who wanted to posses power in society, thought of accounting the BNP Party, and upholding the next torch of current dieing leadership of his father's dream the BNP.

From his elite lifestyle, riding the 7th Series BMW, he is now in the rows of pick pockets and petty thieves. Behind the bars, for things which he might have done, yet needs legal identification.

The youth who might have put on hopes of this emerging new leader of the prominent party is now in despair. The real face of leaders in our country is evident, and the successor are quite well following the footsteps of their father, and this is what we can take as an example. Corruption, crime, and illegal pursuit of wealth is a cause of such fall on face situation for mean politician around our nation.

I don't know what will happen to Bangladesh, in the coming years, months or even days, we are living in uncertainty, and if the corrupted flocks come out again, our nation will never be able to raise its backbone.

The status quo isn't also giving a warm feeling either, the current X-men administration is pain in the neck for the mass, where the most essential food price is way beyond reach of hundreds of thousands of people.

The correct leadership, is what Bangladesh needs. And expecting such leadership, from the puppet leaders and corrupt figures would be foolish.

New leadership expecting from the corrupt system would be seeking fruits from a dead tree, which can only be used to fuel and burn...

Celebrity

MANNA

The dead of Manna The Bangladeshi Film actor, seem to send a shockwave to the film industry in Bangladesh. Its been around two months he succumbed due to a dead heart attack at cities so called elite Hospital "UNITED HOSPITAL". Most of his fans, relatives, friends and well wishers blame the death on the negligence of the hospital "KORMOKORTA" (staff). And has raised debate on the hospitals reputation and reliability.

"S.M. Aslam, 44, better known by his nickname Manna, suffered a massive heart attack late Saturday at his residence. He died at a hospital in the capital Dhaka on Sunday, his agent Kunta, who uses one name, said.

Manna won the hearts of millions of Bangladeshis by playing the hero fighting against corruption in around 200 films since making his screen debut in 1985.One of his directors, Siddiq Jamal Nantu, said Manna had at least 15 unfinished films in the works before he died.

Bangladesh's film industry is based in Dhaka and produces around 100 low-budget films per year at an average cost of 6.5 million taka (US$100,000). " -

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/art/celebrity%20new

"The movie industry in Bangladesh is shocked at the sudden demise of the leading actors of Dhaliwood. Manna died of a heart attack at the United Hospital in Dhaka Sunday.

Manna entered the profession after he was discovered through a national talent search programme initiated by the state-owned Film Development Corporation in 1984.

After acting in a number of commercial hits, Manna became a producer and in his films he cast popular actors who had left the industry as a protest against vulgarity.

"He had made remarkable contribution to the ongoing movement against 'vulgarity' in the Dhaliwood film industry," the newspaper noted.

Manna had some 20 films in the pipeline and the future of those films plunged into uncertainty following the death of the popular star.

Manna was also the general secretary of Bangladesh Film Actors Association." -
http://hindustantimes.com/htsite/StoryPage/

It is a dire consequence film industry might face due to his death, but again we know all things will ran as good as they can be, however everyone will miss him around the industry and people will cry esp. the fans, who stood up police fight just to see his dead body.

However the blame game on United Hospital is a heated debate and we need to look forward to see what really happens ahead.

Fiction

All about her!

She was all alone in her early twenties. Two sons, yet very young to understand what their mother is going through. It was not that, her husband succumbed, rather he was very busy making money, which he ultimately lost in the near future.

Presumably, she never liked her husband, because he indefinitely blackmailed her to marry, and why shouldn’t he be doing so, when she is so beautiful, and tried to listen to her parents, but couldn’t resist the infatuation which led to a lifelong relation.

She was a runaway bride। Her parents didn’t accept her, and her father declared her to rot। Was it fair with her? The story should explain or the reader should guess—because every coin has two sides, and I believe the one which is mine is right-it is fair! May be, may be not, but ironically this is how our society and life has been scrawled into.

Every woman, dreams of a family of her own, and the in-laws she will be going, will be cozy and warm, rather not chunked with people to criticize and abuse her. The day she stepped in her in-laws, she had new relations, hot and cool, however, her lover’s love was now distained. Because the hero, her husband has received the boon of his life, the woman he dreamed was now only his.

She had a kind loving mother-in-law, who is a friend of her mother, but in very short time she expired in an arson, which left the house crumbling, but, soon after sometime her father-in-law married the maid of that house whom he was dating long before his wife was alive. Now when the maid, became the step-mother-in-law, it became difficult for her.

Her agony was unfathomable. May be many women in our society had to go through such or similar proximities in life but many accepted the norms and have a tendency to carry on, and every woman has a distinguished reason for that-I believe. And her reason was her children.

Yes, deep inside her, she did not hate him, but also didn’t like him. She had patience having worry for her children—it came to the situation, that her father who once left her, offered her to come back with her child and she’ll arrange to have her marry someone good.

But she wasn’t an opportunist, she was a mother. She later felt good, slight good about the despaired relationship and God blessed her with more children, she found herself busy with them, and making their life possible unlike hers.

She would blankly look through the window, and ponder on the odds of her life and the possibilities. Her parents would have married her to a wealthy man. She would think dissolve in solitude.

Her husband never cared for her when she was pregnant. She had no friends, but she was strong.

She had a neighbor, who was a runaway wife, she was close with her, and she left because she couldn’t bear her husband, and settled in America with another man. She had a girl and a boy, may be she thought of them, but she couldn’t help herself.

Her neighbor did something she thought she would do, when her husband often started beating her for things—her husband was good at breaking household things as good as he was breaking her bones.

Well, my question is why did she remain silent?Now, she is still there, but she has her own house. Her husband changed. He is good now. She is yet not attracted towards him, but she enjoys her family life—it’s her family now.

The kids grew, they all chose their tracks, she encourages them to good but never subdued them, her only daughter got married to a responsible man—even though they fight, and she mitigates things as a mother would always do.

She says to her children, “you are free”. May be because she knows the importance of being free, she lived and still is living a confined life, may be of her choice, may be not!

likewise, life goes on until death subdues the soul.

FOOD PRICE

Push on agriculture can help ease
Food price

The price of daily essential goods have sky-rocketed, it is agonizing the poor people and the middle earning families. The crisis has reached intolerable heights. The economy is freaking and the hard working people are being tormented.

The current government of Fakruddin Ahmed failed to control the price bursts like the previous governments. However, the question which shocks many people is “why is there a food crisis in a country whose economy is agriculturally dominated?”

Fourth fifths of the population depend on farming and fishing which make up about one third of the economy1. The total agriculture contributes 34% to the GDP of the nation in second highest compared to service sector at 47%1. 63% of nation’s workforce is based on agriculture1, and as the population is rising the demand for agriculture is inevitable.

Keeping the data in mind, it is evident that serious thought has to be given to the agriculture industry. New initiatives to restore and enhance the industry are vital. The time is dreadful that we wait for rice from India which has almost rotten due to unconvincing negotiation by India. We depend on imports fertilizer for cultivation and the prices of that too gone up. However the scenario may go far worst if not dealt in time.

The government should set forth some planning for the industry before it succumbs. The initiatives can include the rules:

1. To use all arable lands to produce necessary food
2. Develop new technologies to enhance agriculture
3. Provide interest free loans to the farmers to expand

The problems emerging in price hikes are not definitely subjected to ease in a very short time, but proper implementation of rules and guidelines can heal the worsen wound. Moreover, a training to be scrupulous businessman can be given to all business people around the country.

Reference:
Bangladesh Country Profile By The Economist