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Book Review: Time of Parting - Anton Donchev

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Time of Parting  - Anton Donchev  Time of Parting | Goodreads Time of Parting - Complete Book - Internet Archives ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Highly Recommended A nation is shaped by its shared memories. In literature, we can see the elements that make up a collective memory—often rooted in a common pain —that influence national identity. Newly independent countries often seek a fresh start, breaking away from their historical past. Anton Donchev's Time of Parting (Bulgarian: Време разделно, Vreme razdelno) dives deep into a time when a nation, Bulgaria, survived by enduring humiliation under Ottoman rule. The Balkans, including Bulgaria, were subjected to centuries of Ottoman rule starting in the late 14th century, which brought significant social and religious transformation. Catholic powers (Papacy and Habsburgs) were often perceived as foreign and adversarial.  The Ottoman conquest and the subsequent division between Catholic and Orthodox spheres of influence in the Balkans gave rise ...

Book Review: Infidel by Hirsi Ali, Ayaan

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Infidel:My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali | Goodreads ⭐⭐⭐⭐✰ Worth Reading Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s Infidel is a shocking, brutally honest, and deeply captivating memoir that tells the story of a woman who managed to save herself, change her life, and become a voice that is heard, while so many others remain unheard. This autobiographical narrative follows her life chronologically, tracing the various stages of her extraordinary childhood and youth as she moved between Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and eventually Europe. More than a personal story, Infidel is a politically charged memoir that explains how Hirsi Ali’s life experiences shaped her into a vocal critic of Islam and of Western multicultural policies that, in her view, often fail to confront injustice hidden behind the language of culture and tolerance. Hirsi Ali was born and raised in Somalia under the shadow of a rigid and extremist religious environment. Her father was a prominent opposition politician who fought against the co...

90s का VCR और कैसेट युग

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एक दौर था जब सिनेमा हमारे कपड़ों, हेयरस्टाइल, बोलचाल और सपनों तक को तय करता था।  सिनेमा तब सिर्फ मनोरंजन नहीं था, वह जीवन-शैली था।  आज सब कुछ मोबाइल में है—गाने, फिल्में, रील, शॉर्ट्स, OTT, YouTube, Spotify। लेकिन 80s-90s के उस दौर में एक गाना सुनना, एक फिल्म देखना, एक कैसेट खरीदना या VCR पर रातभर फिल्म देखना अपने-आप में उत्सव था। उस दौर की यादें धुंधली जरूर हैं, लेकिन उनमें जो मिठास है, वह आज की HD दुनिया में भी नहीं मिलती।  एक धुंधली सी याद है  गानों  की… कुछ गाने ऐसे होते हैं, जो सिर्फ कानों में नहीं बजते—वे आदमी को उसके बचपन में वापस ले जाते हैं। किसी पुराने गाने को 2026 में सुनते हुए अचानक लगता है कि हम चालीस साल पीछे पहुंच गए हैं। वही पान की दुकान, वही बस का सफर, वही बाजार की चहल-पहल, वही टेप रिकॉर्डर की खरोंच वाली आवाज़, वही शादी-ब्याह की रातें। बचपन में इस तरह के गाने VCR पर देखे जाते थे। शादी-विवाह में जब VCR चलता था, तो अक्सर “ नागमणि ” जैसी फिल्में लगती थीं। पूरा गांव या मोहल्ला जुट जाता था। उस समय किसी घर में टीवी होना ही बड़ी बात थी। गांव में टीवी ह...

The Cheeky Guide to Instant Art-House Success

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Note: The following post is taken from the archives of  PassionForCinema.com , a much-loved platform for cinema enthusiasts. This is being republished here in the spirit of archiving, historical significance, and sharing important conversations with the readers who may not have had access to the original site. The author of the post is  PROJEKT iVIEW , who published the post on June 3, 2007 at 3:30 am. Prologue “All Artists are willing to suffer for their work. But why are so few prepared to learn how to Draw?” –  Banksy This essay is long. It’s highly opinioned. It even has opinions about itself. It’s arrogant, irreverent and generally sarcastic. It aims to be an academic essay, but can’t be, because of the cheek. So it aims to be cheeky. It also aims to reason, but sometimes just runs out of patience and infers. The sentences are much shorter and lesser complex than  Baudrillard ’s, so don’t complaint. This prologue falls a little short of being a disclaimer –...

PROJEKT iVIEW : Stop Blaming Writers Dammit!

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Note: The following post is taken from the archives of  PassionForCinema.com , a much-loved platform for cinema enthusiasts. This is being republished here in the spirit of archiving, historical significance, and sharing important conversations with the readers who may not have had access to the original site. The author of the post is iVIEW AUTHOR: Kumar Gautam (Bombay, India), who published the post on June 19, 2007 at 9:38 pm. Anytime an issue of plagiarism is raised in industry, blames shift on to writer. It has become common for the publicity vying producers – directors to come up with quotes like, “There are no good writers in industry that has original script…there is complete dearth of originality when it comes to scripts…” Some of the so called experts who, think themselves as the custodians of film fraternity and have their vested interests (read business and marketing) come up with the idea, “How will our writers learn to write when there are no good film schools except ...

Doordarshan Classics: A–Z Master List of Iconic TV Serials & Shows

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Afsane — यह संवेदनशील ड्रामा-सीरियल चिट्ठियों और उनसे जुड़ी मानवीय कहानियों के ज़रिए रिश्तों, संघर्षों और समाज की परतें खोलता है। Ajnabi — यह एक गंभीर ड्रामा-सीरीज़ थी जो जम्मू-कश्मीर की पृष्ठभूमि में सैनिक जीवन, आतंकरोधी संघर्ष और उससे प्रभावित इंसानी रिश्तों को दिखाती है। Akbar The Great — यह भव्य ऐतिहासिक धारावाहिक मुगल सम्राट अकबर के जीवन, शासन, युद्धनीति और राजनैतिक दृष्टि को नाटकीय रूप में प्रस्तुत करता है। Alif Laila — यह ‘Arabian Nights’ पर आधारित जादुई-फैंटेसी शृंखला थी, जिसमें शहेरज़ाद की कहानियों के जरिए रोमांच, जादू, जिन्न और लोककथाओं की दुनिया जीवंत होती है। All the Best — यह DD Metro का हल्का-फुल्का comedy show/sitcom था, जो एक middle-class family की रोज़मर्रा की घटनाओं को हास्यपूर्ण अंदाज़ में पेश करता था। Amravati Ki Kathayein — यह श्याम बेनेगल द्वारा निर्देशित anthology series थी, जो आंध्रप्रदेश के अमरावती गाँव के लोगों की रोज़मर्रा की ज़िंदगी के छोटे-छोटे मगर गहरे मानवीय प्रसंगों को उभारती है। Bante Bigadte — यह एक मनोरंजक पारिवारिक कॉमेडी-ड्रामा था, जिसमें झां...

Books read in 2021

Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, which does not mean we deserve to conquer the Universe. - Kurt Vonnegut If you can do a half-assed job of anything, you are a one-eyed man in a kingdom of the blind - Kurt Vonnegut     ~Highly Recommended~ Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy Christopher L. Hayes In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy Vijay Kelkar Black Box Thinking - Matthew Syed Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - Cal Newport ~Worth a Look~ Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future - Peter Thiel Choices: Inside the Making of Indian Foreign Policy - Shivshankar Menon ~Pleasure Reading~ The Dragon Reborn (The Wheel of Time, #3) - Robert Jordan 3 The Great Hunt (The Wheel of Time, #2) - Robert Jordan 3 The Eye of the World (The Wheel of Time, #1) - Robert Jordan 3 Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World - Jacqueline Novogr...