always expect the unexpected

to future historians of traffic: text/signs do not necessarily regulate daily life.

chow mahallah

a rare view of the former asaf jahi palace, chow mahallah, from above.

spices

hyderabadi essentials: mustard seed, chili powder, fennel, tumeric... can you guess the two that are finished up?

orientalism

Contemporary hyderabadi hadith commentators use...... wensinck!?

bukhari commentary on tv

here is a video clip of the hadith teacher i'm working one-on-one with each morning in hyderabad. muhammad khaja sharif... this is his TV commentary on bukhari... he is breaking the first chapter down for the 4tv audience in India:

DARS E SAHI BUKHARI HADEES N0.5

Hyderabadi Ghazal - Mah Laqa Bai - Aslam Khan

i video taped a night of urdu ghazal at a house party in benjara hills. the songs are structured by the lyrics of mah laqa bai (d. 1824), one of the first women poets to compile a full divan of Urdu, and a powerful political figure in the courts of the 2nd & 3rd Nizams of Hyderabad. from what i understand, the music is mostly improvised.

you can read more about the role of gender in her political and creative life here:http://cssaame.dukejournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/30/3/365

Hyderabadi Ghazal - Mah Laqa Bai - Aslam Khan

badshahi ashur khana