Daily Archives: 05/12/2017

BHS Alumni Association- Toronto – Happy Birthday Canada – July 8, 2017

Immigration: A toxic issue until Britain faces up to its colonial past- David Wearing

Immigration will remain a toxic issue until Britain faces up to its colonial past- David Wearing

Emmanuel Macron has condemned France’s behaviour in Algeria. Until Britain is similarly honest about its history, we will still think in terms of “us” and “them”.

Both Ukip and Theresa May trumpeted their anti-immigrant credentials yesterday, with fresh and not-so-fresh policies for the election. Hostility to foreigners is now an established theme in the UK’s political discourse, partly because it has deep cultural roots. But there may be something we can learn from Emmanuel Macron about how this problem can be addressed.    Continue reading

Trump’s Violations of Federalism Would Make Obama Jealous – George F Will

Opinions: Trump’s Violations of Federalism Would Make Obama Jealous

George F Will | The Washington Post

  • “But what good came of it at last?”
  • Quoth little Peterkin.
  • “Why that I cannot tell,” said he,
  • “But ’twas a famous victory.”

— Robert Southey  | “The Battle of Blenheim” (1798)

Southey, a pacifist, wrote his antiwar poem long after the 1704 battle for which the Duke of Marlborough was awarded Blenheim Palace, where his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Winston Churchill would be born. We, however, do not need to wait 94 years to doubt whether the Trump administration’s action against “sanctuary cities” is much ado about not much.Four months have sufficed to reveal ’twas a constitutionally dubious gesture.       Continue reading

Poem: It Always Rains in that Green House – By Jaydeep Sarangi, Kolkata. India.

It Always Rains in that Green House

Dedicated to Derek Walcott. Jaydeep Sarangi is now planning a book on Derek Walcott.

  • By Jaydeep Sarangi, Kolkata. India.

 

It always rains at St Lucia, Achilles finds roots in the chaotic hybrid world.

Silence chants from the annals of history. So many bards flock together

From shores of time.  The elder of twin boys.

La Plata to Di Hong

The Ganges to river Yuna

All bear a name: re-writing a name.

 

Fruits are juicy, flowers with perfume,

Core of fire  burns each heart, nature’s plan.

Each one has a story to share in silence.

So we stop. We listen to mountains sing,

Rocks, caves and falls prepare minds

For a moment of calm awakening of inside.

Ancient sages bless for a supreme quiet stream of light

Flashing from each joint of bones. It’s home. Home

For green knights. Soul of the native,

Season of mist makes all hearts juicy, language

Kissing words of luck hours by hours.

Love letters are taken  from the bookshelf.

 

The sparrows and seagulls compete with doves,

Crows have part with images, history of the land,

No man can ever be more sensitive than

By the fire of the Muse, star apple kingdom.

Sense of the power and romance of  flora and fauna

In poems living, like the song of  the bird, trees old and new,

Flood each heart where poetry is a visitor, a valued priest.

 

Migratory birds search for home. Ruins of a green house.

We need one soon.

 

All poets count the humming of a bee, blood in their poems

Fair creature of an hour, all lines spark. It rains, rains always.

 

After this poem, rain will start. St. Lucia is our home.Another life.

Love after love!

 

About JAYDEEP SARANGI:

Jaydeep Sarangi is a widely anthologised poet with five collections in English, latest being: To Whom I Return Each Day (April 2017) which was released at the University of Uine, Udine Italy. He read poems in different shores of Australia, Europe and North America. Sarangi’s poems have appeared in many prestigious magazines like Indian Literature, Kavya Bharati, Setu,  Muse India, WEC, The Asian Age, CV, etc.  He has delivered keynote address in conferences/seminar on new poetry in different Universities in different countries. He has guest edited a special issue on Derek Walcott for Muse India(www.museindia.com). Dr.Sarangi, a specialist on postcolonial literature and theory,  may be reached at: jaydeepsarangi@gmail.com

———————————————–

Jaydeep Sarangi
Faculty, Dept. of English
Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College
(Univ. of Calcutta)
30,Prince Anwar Shah Road ,
Kolkata: 700033,WB,Country:: India
-Ph 09477807031

After BREXIT: English in the EU: Lingua franca – The Economist Magazine

English in the EU: Lingua franca 

…. Britain is leaving the EU, but its language will stay

The Economist Magazine – May 9, 2017

“Slowly but surely, English is losing importance,” quipped Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, before switching to French to deliver a speech last week. In fact, EU enlargement has shifted the balance from French towards English. 97% of secondary-school students outside Britain study English; only 34% learn French and 23% German. Unlike Britain, English is here to stay, …..writes our language columnist <click