"One elderly woman, struggled at first to recollect a song she had inherited from her mother, only to gradually recover its lines. Such moments reveal how oral tradition works. It lives in bodies, in memory, in practice. Once that chain is broken, recovery is difficult. rsaa.org.uk/blog/when-so...

Will be speaking on Pious Labor at Harvard Islamic Studies later this month! Would love to see Boston-area friends there. islamicstudies.harvard.edu/event/semina...

A lot may change if, in the exceedingly rare chance, most American citizens acknowledge that their state by foundation is a fascist one. One that has employed terror liberally to establish itself. And, if they internally begin to decolonise, and move towards handing stewardship to the indigenous.

I want to dream of Beirut and Havana; of Tehran, Baghdad, Khartoum and Kabul. I want to dream of life. I do not want to consider London or NYC or Berlin. I do not want us, the global majority to face away from ourselves, crushing each other to seek the weak light of the death star that is the West.

This Conan O' Brien Ad set in Rajasthan is marvellous. How did I ever miss this! It's genuinely respectful of ordinary Indians and does not caricaturise, mock, or stereotype. Refreshing. :) youtu.be/chvvWZW6NOw?...

The spring song of the Wren #BirdOfTheDay #OpenBeak #Wren @robcrank68.bsky.social

Advertising game in India remains remarkable for a reason. :) This advert for Prime Video starring Gini, Akash Thapa, sung by Aditya Rikhari, remixed by Mikey McCleary, and directed by Dar Gai is nostalgic yet fresh, and hits the right spot. :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=naDy...

"Petro argues, ‘The West will defend its excessive consumption, a lifestyle based on destroying the atmosphere and the climate, and to defend it… it is ready to respond with death.’" newint.org/climate/2024...

The near complete radicalisation of Israel where practically everyone is on board with dangerous ideology is also probably India’s future if our regime continues. The top 40% are casually bigoted as it is. But even various marginalised groups getting on board with hindutva is a grim sign.

It's now clear that Iran with its strategic military defense is rewriting conflict, pushing back against Total War that the west normalised for decades to annihilate the majority of the world. They are shattering public conditioning of civilians as acceptable targets.

Throughout 2025, a lot of liberals online were critical of pregnant women in Gaza, calling couples irresponsible. Thankfully many people shut the former down saying people will always try to live and move on with their lives under all conditions. For that is, human.

One of my singular stealth triumphs early last decade was inveigling my brother‑in‑law, Tahir, into standing under the Nilgiri’s store sign below our apartment, then posting the photo to wildlife forums.

The Adoration of the Wieners (Carnitas, Denied), iPhone and unexpectedly good lighting, 2026

All the peacekeeping troops in Lebanon right now also under fire from US and Israel. Some ex armed forces individuals say the Indian number is not updated, and stands at over 1000 individuals. unifil.unmissions.org/en/unifil-tr...

Donated today to the Phoenix Library. Omar Hamad and Ibrahim Massri are rebuilding a reading space from scratch. Paper and books are expensive to get hold of under occupation, but volunteers are salvaging knowledge to their best ability. Do donate if you can. :) chuffed.org/project/firs...

Nowrooz Mubarak! May the new year bring Iranians everywhere peace and stability (and a new world order).

friends, please pre-order my first novel. if you do, you'll be supporting a woman of colour from a third world country, also known as the bumper bonanza of literary fashion. angryrobotbooks.my.canva.site/compendium-o...

When someone's culture is consumption, they feel intimidated by people who have lived riches spanning ages. So, they flatten it, to announce that sand castles like Notre Dame are "valuable" but the depth of human history in Tyre or Gaza, or the heights of human imagination in Golestan are cheap.

Iran’s entire leadership stuffed with poet-scholar-scientist-warrior-PhDs is literally what should be normal for governance roles, instead of the half-wit reality TV contestant career politicians+tech/finbro friends we get today globally, replete with a rap sheet longer than their own lives.

I feel that when the west finally bears the consequences of its brutality to the world, the rest of the world won't gloat because they have an ethical compass. They will however simply turn off the tele, get off screens, close papers, take a breath and go out to step into life. Finally.

"Asli Ana Falasteeni" (My Origin is Palestine). Performed by Palestinian-Jordanian singer, Zeyne. #MusicSky www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhH6...

There was a point when most Indians knew which minister held what portfolio in the cabinet. That knowledge went to smithereens when everything became about *one* man. However, I can now confidently name the ministers and portfolios of the cabinet of Iran. :D

"I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I will never see."

Movement 3, 'Preparation for War' from the Epic of Khorramshahr, composed and conducted by Majid Entezami. Performed by the Tehran Symphonic (2008). #MusicSky www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Zr...

Ya Zahrat al-Mada'in translates to Oh Flower Among Cities. While it begins as a lament, in utter grief at everything that passed, it ends on a rousing note, with a resolve that Al Quds (Jerusalem) will be a home to Palestinians again. #MusicSky youtu.be/hsrTUDS6El4?...

Every sentence an Iranian politician or spokesperson utters is calm, measured, mature, inspiring, and even poetic. Every word an Indian, American, or European politician or spokesperson utters is vapid garbage. Not a single adult amidst the latter. Just spoiled conscience free louts.

Licked a tiny mountain of Podi Chutney straight off my palm as if it were chaat powder or summat. Sponged it up like a human Idli, I tell you.

"First the Cherokee, Now the Palestinians." Norman Finkelstein revisits the history of US attitudes toward the Cherokee Nation shows how consistent the rhetoric of oppressors is across time and place. The rationalizations for ethnic cleansing do not change. www.currentaffairs.org/news/first-t...

In all this, I hope the Islamophobic subsection of Indians worldwide get their arses whooped the next time they dare open their mouths presuming there won’t be pushback whenever they feel they can spew bile in decent human company.

Just one more from Rafi and Johnny. I gotta wonder, what are the chances of a bus driver and devout Muslim (and by all accounts thoroughly decent human being) being catapulted to fame in today's Bollywood? (rhetorical) youtu.be/6h4KqRe3604?...

I have a treat! Ran across this track by Lebanese composer Ziad Rahbani inspired from PLFP's former leader Abu Ali Mustafa going on a mission. Please do read the top comment on the YT page for more background! :) #MusicSky www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxIZ...

"Award-winning writer and public intellectual, Arundhati Roy stirred the audience in Gurgaon today when she spoke of the travesty of the war in West Asia, imposed by US and Israel on Iran, threatening to engulf the region, and the world." youtu.be/wBKx4l-3ZYM?...

You want to smash your hand through glass upon seeing how Palestinians are forced to perform and gamefy their lives for two years on american owned socials, by making reels, leaving comments for donations on trending reels. Plus jump through hoops like shadowbans by all these sites.

So this happened in the world of India’s Central Board of Secondary Education. Hahaha. Does this go on MusicSky? :D Also, I guess we millennials who are now firmly middle aged, are finally setting papers in the board.

I have been enraged like anyone else over world affairs right now, so I haven't felt like posting music except rage at the west. But music helps cope and seek strength. Sharing this beautiful version of Kate Bush's anti-war ballad 'Army Dreamers.' #MusicSky youtu.be/c_QDmKlf460?...

It's insulting to affected societies, to say that an invasion and annihilation of a sovereign people is to distract average American citizens from Ep Files. It's conceited and exhibits zero accountability or self-reflection.

Found myself thinking of this incredible piece on ecofascism in light of how all western targeted parts of the world observe that an average western citizen mostly expresses concern over animals in terrible conditions, but never with affected people. newhumanist.org.uk/articles/533...

Many Indian citizens turned up at the Iranian Embassy in Delhi to sign their condolence book on Mar 6. The same day saw INC's Salman Khurshid and Pawan Khera, and the MP Mohammed Haneefa of Ladakh Constituency at the consulate extending their condolences. All Images from Iranian Embassy's Twitter.

The Punjab State Assembly in India extended solidarity to the state of Iran, condemned the Trump government and their assassination of Khameini, and observed a few moments of silence in memory of the Iranian schoolchildren murdered by the US-Israel regimes. www.youtube.com/shorts/P1jjX...

These #Cat #Drawings Somehow Capture Pure Chaos in Just a Few Lines - #art by ShouXin #CatArt #graphite Link: mossandfog.com/these-cat-dr... And another link: mymodernmet.com/cat-drawings...

The ICC and ICJ should not be headquartered in The Hague. Instead, there need to be multiple courts spread out across West Asia, Africa, South America, and South East Asia. And the entire western world needs to be tried for the devastation they’ve wrought on Earth and its peoples.

As the daughter of a former Indian Naval Officer, I know my late father would have been aghast upon hearing of the dastardly act committed by the US against IRIS Dena in India's backyard. Condolences to all the families of the crew on board who lost their lives. Long Live Iran, Glory to Iran.

The trauma and injuries of these imperial enforcers is endlessly valourised in the disgusting propaganda constantly produced without any state coercion by the American entertainment industry. As far as I'm concerned, all of their lauded PTSD is simply a way to say killing brown people upset them too

Americans love to respect their soldiers so let me make this clear: their military is an imperialist bully-squad, deployed worldwide to remind various parts of the world of America's military might, and always ready to kill whichever non-white people are in the current administration's crosshairs.

Implore everyone to read this fantastic piece on nature, place, and caste in an Indian city, by Shailja Paik. One of my deepest grouses with natural history writing is how it is often apolitical. Important pieces like Paik's break and re-build perspective. scroll.in/article/1090...

Had first heard of Upamanyu Bhattacharya & Kalp Sanghvi's Wade in 2019. Finally caught up with it today. A brilliant short film of an otherworldly quality on the horrors of climate change, set in a post apocalyptic Kolkata. #FilmSky www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSKj...

An easy morning. #MusicSky www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDPB...

Not a single thing Natasha Noorani can do wrong in my eyes. #MusicSky www.youtube.com/watch?v=syC_...

Been a bit distant from music recently cause I’ve been in no shape for a while to enjoy things. But I heard this beautiful version of Badayuni’s Jo Main jaanti a few days ago, and I’m glad there’s music in this world. A balm to carry you through any trial. #MusicSky youtu.be/anHvAeEYBQw?...

Hello All! I have a question that I'd be glad for some guidance on. When you book wheelchair assistance with an airline due to medical reasons/disability, is it valid for the entire trip? That's Security-Border Control-Boarding Gate at Departures, to Border Control-Baggage-Cab Pick up at Arrivals?