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Israel Jolaha’s home is at the end of the road. Unlike Telugus and Shankaris, Israel isn’t much amused seeing an Indian scribe. However, few sentences in Awadhi broke into his scepticism. What followed was a stupendous Awadhi meal, and yes, paan. Drowned by readymade salwaar-kameez, Benarasis are finding it difficult to sell their fine pieces of art. But today, with an Awadhi speaking stranger around, Israel doesn’t want to discuss “depressing” things. He poses several questions, most of which I answered, much to his satisfaction. “My son Ishmael doesn’t want to learn this traditional skill. He works at a readymade garment factory at Adamjee EPZ. But I am happy, at least he took weaving as his career,” says Israel with a nervous smile. There were other non-Bengali communities in the locality too. Kanpuris and Jabbalpuris were prominent among them. Israel brings a few of them to me. They looked much the same, but speak a slightly different tongue. There are less than 10,000 of them, living in Tikatuli locality. Most of them are businessmen and have small shops.

Khwaja Atique Alam’s living room is old world grandeur… chandeliers, Itradans and mirrors of all types and makes, a truly Nawabi ambience. Atique’s ancestors migrated from Kashmir during the reign of lesser-Moguls. While many settled in the Kashmiri Tola, Atique’s great-grandfather Khwaja Allimullah settled at the celebrated Ahsan Manzil. One of his great-grandfathers, Nawab Salimullah was co-founder of Muslim League in pre-Independence India.

A suave young man of 28, Atique is a fashion designer. His family has painstakingly waters its Kashmir roots. Offering me a cup of Kahwa, the Kashmiri drink, Atique says, “It is very hard to get it here. A friend who stays in London buys it from a Kashmiri migrant at an astronomical price and sends it.” He talks about Kashmir and issues surrounding it. As a 12th generation migrant, he has surprisingly good knowledge about the place of his forefathers. I compliment him on that. “The cup of Kahwa we just drunk cost me 300 Taka,” he added for good measure.....Continue

With two films in the thick of the Oscar buzz (“Changeling” and “Gran Torino”), the Clint Eastwood aura remains ever luminescent in Hollywood. Taking up the director’s mantle of this period drama set in Los Angeles in 1928, he masterfully recreates LA of the late 20s and early 30s and weaves a fine yarn out of a true and grueling story of that era. The biggest triumph of the film is the intense hue that lights up every scene reflecting the torment in the characters’ minds while at the same time projecting a ray of hope amidst all the gloom. Christine Collins’s (Angelina Jolie chooses to be Jolie, the actress and not Jolie the star) nine-year-old son Walter goes missing and five months later the LAPD ‘closes’ the case returning a kid who they believe is Walter. However, Christine knows it’s not her son and as the corrupt police discredits her every refusal she finds an ally in Reverend Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich’s poise and understated panache is sure to floor you) who wants to expose the hypocrisy of the police force as well. The performances from the rest of the cast are great, but Jolie puts in an exemplary effort communicating at once the compassion, rage and helplessness and ultimately hope of a mother. The film may not exactly be Eastwood’s magnum opus, but as he did with “Million Dollar Baby,” he tells an intense yet exhilarating tale that works on many levels.....Continue

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History recently unveiled the largest dinosaur mural in the world. The painting that is 180 feet (55 metres) long and an average of 15 feet (4.6 metres) tall, wraps itself around three of the four walls of the museum’s dinosaur halls.....Continue