The Country Without A Post Office
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The Country Without A Post Office
''The Country Without a Post Office'' is a 1997 collection of poems written by the Indian-American poet Agha Shahid Ali. The title poem, which has become a symbol for freedom, is one of the most famous about Kashmir. In the decades since its publication, under renewed conflict and censorship in the region, it has been cited by politicians, protestors, academics and journalists. The collection brought Ali critical acclaim, universal praise and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Description ''The Country Without a Post Office'' is Ali's third collection of poetry and, like the previous two collections, contains poems related to exile, yearning, and the loss of home and country. This is in contrast to Ali himself, who was a "self described happy man". Some poems of the collection have epigraphs from poets such as W. B. Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Adela Florence Nicolson, Charles Simic, Zbigniew Herbert, and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Numerous parts of the book are dedicated to Ali's f ...
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Agha Shahid Ali
Agha Shahid Ali (4 February 1949 – 8 December 2001) was an Indian-born poet who immigrated to the United States, and became affiliated with the literary movement known as New Formalism in American poetry. His collections include ''A Walk Through the Yellow Pages'', ''The Half-Inch Himalayas,'' ''A Nostalgist's Map of America'', '' The Country Without a Post Office'', and ''Rooms Are Never Finished,'' the latter a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001. The University of Utah Press awards the Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize annually in memory of this "celebrated poet and beloved teacher." Early life and education Agha Shahid Ali was born on February 4, 1949 in New Delhi, East Punjab, Dominion of India, into the illustrious Qizilbashi Agha family of Srinagar, Kashmir. He grew up in India's Kashmir Valley, and left for the United States in 1976. Shahid's father Agha Ashraf Ali was a renowned educationist. His grandmother Begum Zaffar Ali was the first woman matriculate of ...
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Muzamil Jaleel
Muzamil Jaleel is the deputy editor at the ''Indian Express'' based in New Delhi. He was a visiting scholar at the University of California Berkeley. On another fellowship, he worked in London for the ''Guardian'', the '' Observer'', and ''The Times'' newspapers. From sex scandal to the Amarnath land row in the recent past to major stories over the years, Muzamil is known for his investigative stories and exposés that have shaken up and even brought down governments in the state. Rewards and recognition Muzamil won the Ramnath Goenka Award in 2009 April for his investigative articles on the sex scandal in the valley, which exposed a high-profile nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and flesh traders. Following the investigative articles in the ''Indian Express'', people were out on the streets and there was mass agitation. Muzamil has won Ramnath Goenka Award (RNG) for Excellence in Journalism four times. He won his first RNG for 2007 (the award was given in 2009) for his Ka ...
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Mu'azzin
The muezzin ( ar, مُؤَذِّن) is the person who proclaims the call to the daily prayer (ṣalāt) five times a day (Fajr prayer, Zuhr prayer, Asr prayer, Maghrib prayer and Isha prayer) at a mosque. The muezzin plays an important role in ensuring an accurate prayer schedule for the Muslim community. Etymology The English word ''muezzin'' is derived from the ar, مُؤَذِّن, , simplified ''mu'azzin''. The word means "one by the ear", since the word stems from the word for "ear" in Arabic is ''ʾudhun'' (أُذُن). As the ''muʾadh·dhin'' will place both hands on his ears to recite the call to prayer. Roles and responsibilities The professional muezzin is chosen for his good character, voice and skills to serve at the mosque. However, the muezzin is not considered a cleric, but in a position comparable to a Christian verger. He is responsible for keeping the mosque clean, for rolling the carpets, for cleaning the toilets and the place where people wash their ...
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Octave (poetry)
An octave is a verse form consisting of eight lines of iambic pentameter (in English) or of hendecasyllables (in Italian). The most common rhyme scheme for an octave is ABBA ABBA. An octave is the first part of a Petrarchan sonnet, which ends with a contrasting sestet. In traditional Italian sonnets the octave always ends with a conclusion of one idea, giving way to another idea in the sestet. Some English sonnets break that rule, often to striking effect. In Milton's Sonnet 19, the sestet begins early, halfway through the last line of the octave: See also *Sicilian octave *''Ottava rima Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin. Originally used for long poems on heroic themes, it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works. Its earliest known use is in the writings of Giovanni Boccaccio. The otta ...'' References External linksPoetic Form: Sonnet- Poets.org {{Western medieval lyric forms Stanzaic form Sonnet studies Western mediev ...
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Exodus Of Kashmiri Hindus
The Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits, is their early-1990 forced * * * * * * * * * migration, or flight, from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley in Indian-administered Kashmir following rising violence in an insurgency. Of a total Pandit population of 120,000–140,000 some 90,000–100,000 left the valley or felt compelled to leave, * * * * * * * and about 30 were killed. During the period of substantial migration, the insurgency was being led by a group calling for a secular and independent Kashmir, but there were also growing Islamist factions envisioning an Islamic state. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Although their numbers of dead and injured were low, the Pandits, who believed that Kashmir's culture was tied to India's, experienced fear and panic set off by targeted killings of some high-profile officials among their ranks and public calls for independence among the insurgents. The accompanying rumours and uncertainty together with the absence of gu ...
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ScoopWhoop
ScoopWhoop Media is an Indian digital media company based in New Delhi. It operates various online content verticals and serves as a news organisation featuring web series, documentaries and current affairs reporting with a focus on video production and primarily catering to adolescents and young adults. It also features other infotainment and entertainment content. The company was co-founded by Sattvik Mishra, Rishi Pratim Mukherjee, Sriparna Tikekar, Saransh Singh, Suparn Pandey and Debarshi Banerjee in 2013. Initially started as an Indian viral content generating and sharing website and described as a BuzzFeed clone, it has since expanded into a news media company competing with the likes of The Times Group, Dainik Jagran and NDTV on the digital platform. History ScoopWhoop began as an online blog for listicles launched in August 2013 inspired from BuzzFeed. The first post on the blog was a listicle named: "These pictures from a Hindu lesbian wedding would make you all go ...
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Kashmir Conflict
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a dispute over the region that escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. India controls approximately 55% of the land area of the region that includes Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, most of Ladakh, the Siachen Glacier, and 70% of its population; Pakistan controls approximately 30% of the land area that includes Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; and China controls the remaining 15% of the land area that includes the Aksai Chin region, the mostly uninhabited Trans-Karakoram Tract, and part of the Demchok sector. After the partition of India and a rebellion in the western districts of the state, Pakistani tribal militias i ...
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Graham House Review
Peter Balakian, born June 13, 1951, is an American poet, prose writer, and scholar. He is the author of many books including the 2016 Pulitzer prize winning book of poems ''Ozone Journal'', the memoir ''Black Dog of Fate'', winner of the PEN/Albrand award in 1998 and '' The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response'', winner of the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize and a ''New York Times'' best seller (October 2003). Both prose books were ''New York Times'' Notable Books. Since 1980 he has taught at Colgate University where he is the Donald M and Constance H Rebar Professor of the Humanities in the department of English and Director of Creative Writing. Early life Peter Balakian, son of physician and sports medicine inventor Gerard Balakian and Arax Aroosian Balakian was born in Teaneck New Jersey and grew up there and in Tenafly, New Jersey. He attended Tenafly public schools, graduated from Englewood School For Boys (now Dwight Englewood School). He earned a B.A ...
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Letter (message)
A letter is a written message conveyed from one person (or group of people) to another through a medium. Something epistolary means that it is a form of letter writing. The term usually excludes written material intended to be read in its original form by large numbers of people, such as newspapers and placards, although even these may include material in the form of an "open letter". The typical form of a letter for many centuries, and the archetypal concept even today, is a sheet (or several sheets) of paper that is sent to a correspondent through a postal system. A letter can be formal or informal, depending on its audience and purpose. Besides being a means of communication and a store of information, letter writing has played a role in the reproduction of writing as an art throughout history. Letters have been sent since antiquity and are mentioned in the ''Iliad''. Historians Herodotus and Thucydides mention and use letters in their writings. History of letter writing Hi ...
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Calgacus
According to Tacitus, Calgacus (sometimes Calgacos or Galgacus) was a chieftain of the Caledonian Confederacy who fought the Roman army of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at the Battle of Mons Graupius in northern Scotland in AD 83 or 84. His name can be interpreted as Celtic ''*calg-ac-os'', "possessing a blade", and is seemingly related to the Gaelic ''calgach'' (meaning prickly or fierce). Whether the word is a name or a given title is unknown. Biography He was the first Caledonian to be recorded in history. The only historical source that features him is Tacitus' ''Agricola'', which describes him as "the most distinguished for birth and valour among the chieftains". Tacitus wrote a speech which he attributed to Calgacus, saying that Calgacus gave it in advance of the Battle of Mons Graupius. The speech describes the exploitation of Britain by Rome and rouses his troops to fight. The following excerpt is from the speech attributed to Calgacus by the historian Tacitus in the ''Agricola' ...
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Parvati
Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in her complete form. She is also revered in her appearances as Durga and Kali.Suresh Chandra (1998), Encyclopedia of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, , pp 245–246 She is one of the central deities of the goddess-oriented sect called Shaktism, and the chief goddess in Shaivism. Along with Lakshmi and Saraswati, she forms the Tridevi. Parvati is the wife of the Hindu god Shiva. She is the reincarnation of Sati, the first wife of Shiva who immolated herself during a yajna (fire-sacrifice).Edward Balfour, , The Encyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, pp 153 Parvati is the daughter of the mountain-king Himavan and queen Mena.H.V. Dehejia, Parvati: Goddess of Love, Mapin, , pp 11 Parvati is the mother of the Hindu deities Ganesha and ...
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