After his career was shattered by a massive head injury and memory loss, Irshad Ashraf began a recovery that is coming to fruition this month.
Nominated for next month’s Penguin muslim writers awards for his story The Drowners, his photography exhibition No Pork features abstract depictions of New York.

The Exhibition opens on May 18 in London. A film he made for The South Bank Show, with Melvyn Bragg, transmits in May.
To attend, email: vulvana.williams@irshad.tv.
www.irshad.tv

The BBC’s Tamil service, BBC Tamilosai, has launched a special 10-day morning news programme to cover the increasing interest and flow of news out of the situation in Sri Lanka. It will also concentrate on the Indian General Election.
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BBC Radio has launched a new service combining all its Asian programming across the country as one weekly podcast.

Desi Download is a new weekly service, presented by actor Kulvinder Ghir, which takes snippets from Asian programmes across local BBC Radio stations. It is being billed as a half-hour ‘pick of the week’ featuring community Asian programming.
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The BBC made its widely expected announcement yesterday that Channel 4 commissioner Aaqil Ahmed had been appointed its new head of religion.

He will become the corporation’s first Muslim to occupy the post, and the second appointee ever from a non-Christian background.

The decision is also likely to trigger a crisis at Channel 4, where he was recently appointed head of multicultural programming. There he had a ringfenced budget of £2 million to commission prime-time programming aimed at a diverse audience.
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With India’s 15th General Election currently underway, political anthropologist Dr Mukulika Banerjee of University College London sets out to discover how the country manages to defy apparently insuperable odds to deliver an efficient and effective democratic process that is admired across the world.
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London based Asia House is launching its ‘Festival of Asian Literature’ this month, hosting an array of writers including Ziauddin Sardar, Kenan Malik, Pankaj Mishra and Hardeep Singh Kohli.
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The BBC presenter Anita Rani is planning to go undercover to investigate illegal skin-lightening creams available across the UK.

A special documentary was commissioned to take The One Show presenter across the country to ask why many British Asians and Afro-Caribbeans desire lighter skin, and sometimes embrace illegal products to get the desired effect.

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Over the next few weeks/months, you can read about a group of young men who decided in the early 1980’s to try and make an impact…and for one night only…you can follow the lives of: The Sultans of Soul.

by Ravi Mangat
Writer

[Earlier chapters: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5]

Ramesh had just finished talking to Raj on the telephone. They had been making plans to meet the following day and put some ideas in motion. What exactly they were going to do was still undecided, but meeting up would be a good start. Ashok was also geared up for the first meeting and indeed had showed a surprising surge of urgency about it all. Surprising because when the three of them had first met at the look-alike contest, he was the one that was least interested.

Unfortunately for Ramesh, he didn’t realise he was being followed. As he stepped out of a café, he was immediately confronted by Sanjay. “Have you done it yet?” asked Sanjay. His manner was forthright and it demanded an answer.

“It takes time you know. It’s not easy to un-dump someone”.
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Journalist Deepa Shah has left The Times newspaper after working as commissioning editor on its Body & Soul supplement. She also worked as an editor on its new Weekend section.

Before The Times, Ms shah freelanced as a writer or editor for Look, Woman, at Daily Mirror supplements and on magazines launches for News International and IPC. She was also a senior writer at Closer magazine, a reporter for the Evening Standard, The Sunday Times, The Observer and the Mail among others. She started her career at Eastern Eye where she was eventually News Editor.

In an extended interview with a newspaper, actress and writer Meera Syal has talked about her first marriage and growing up feeling insecure for the first time.

In an interview with the Daily Mail newspaper she said she found it difficult growing up as an Indian girl in a white, working-class mining village. “I felt isolated as a child because I was different. … I stuck out like a sore thumb.”
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Kali theatre is looking for writers of the future. Short or full length – the London based production company is actively looking for scripts by women writers for theatre. Selected writers will receive dramaturgical support to develop their script for Kali’s next festival in 2010.
More info: www.kalitheatre.co.uk

Novelist and poet Zahid Hussain is launching a society to help develop the talent of writers, hoping that one day “Muslim narratives” would become a part of British life. He is setting up Manchester Muslim Writers, open to Muslim and Non-Muslim writers, to foster creative and factual writing including poetry, the novel, screenplay, blogging and journalism.

The author of ‘The Curry Mile’ said: “I always felt there was little provision for talented individuals despite the demand. MMW is therefore being set up to provide pivotal social and technical support to nurture literary talent for the long-term.” MMW will meet monthly at Shakespeare House in South Manchester. Contact: zahid@r-squared.org.uk.

British-Sri Lankan rapper M.I.A. has been named by Time Magazine as among the 100 most influential people in the world. She is joined by the Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman, underlining the big impact impact Slumdog Millionaire has made in the United States.
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Trafalgar Square is hosting its annual Vaisakhi In The Square this Sunday, 3rd May. The event will feature religious hymns (Shabad Kirtan) as well as Bhangra performances by Veronica, H-Dhami, Shekie ‘n’ Sham, Navin, 3Mix, D-Boy & Des-C.

Sunrise Radio is the main media partner. This year the event also commemorates 300 years of the consecration of Sri Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru. The free event, organised by the GLA, will be held from 12pm to 5:30pm.

Over the next few weeks/months, you can read about a group of young men who decided in the early 1980’s to try and make an impact…and for one night only…you can follow the lives of: The Sultans of Soul.

by Ravi Mangat
Writer

[This is part 5. Earlier chapters: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4]

Raj had just finished writing the end of another poem when Malkit returned from the Cash and Carry. Raj quickly closed his workbook and put it under the counter, but Malkit had already spotted it. “Being creative again eh?” Malkit said smiling.

“It keeps me busy”, Raj replied.

“What with the poetry and with the singing, you are becoming the regular show business man aren’t you”.

“Poetry isn’t show business…it’s an expression of the soul”.

“I see. And what does your soul tell you about those tins on the shelves over there?”

Raj rolled his eyes and knew that the conversation wasn’t going to get anywhere. He ended it abruptly. “I got to go out”.

“Where?”

“To get some equipment”.
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A Bangladeshi born filmmaker and science teacher has taken to online videos to promote science, while taking a subtle pot-shot at ‘mystics’ who use tricks to con people out of money.

Alom Shaha has made a half-hour film titled ‘Why Science is Important’, thanks to funding from various sources, which aims to tell youngsters why they should bother with science.
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by Anita Pati

Only two people walked out – a little noisily perhaps – from Phizzical Theatre’s enactment of Jean Genet’s The Maids – written originally in 1947 and transposed to ancient India.

And at first, it did seem hard to follow the vision of director and designer Sâmir Bhamra whose attempt at catapulting the staid language of 1930s French parlour talk to an Indian boudoir forced mental long jumps.
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by Jaspreet Pandohar
Freelance journalist

He’s played a rude boy nemesis to Sacha Baron Cohen in Ali G Inda House, a post apocalyptic survivor in 28 Days Later, a homeless heroin addict in The Feral Generation and even a cocky MC in Eastenders. However, Ray Panthaki’s latest screen role sees him in an altogether more sensitive guise.

In City Rats, the British born actor portrays a frustrated young artist obsessed with making a disabled prostitute his muse. A far cry from the recent slate of Gangster obsessed flicks churned out by the British film industry, the dark comedy weaves together a collection of urban tales featuring eight troubled Londoners struggling for recognition and approval amongst a diverse society.
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Sometimes you just want to do something a little different with your life. Something that makes you feel good or makes a difference to other people. Over the next few weeks/months, you can read about a group of young men who decided in the early 1980’s to try and make an impact…and for one night only…you can follow the lives of: The Sultans of Soul.

by Ravi Mangat
Writer

“You must be crazy”, Malkit said with indifference.

Raj hadn’t really expected anything else from his father and to be truthful, he was unsure of the idea himself. To pursue a musical career was hard enough, but when you were Asian, living in the 1980’s and the only lyrics you knew from memory were those of Elvis Presley, then you really must be crazy. To contemplate teaming up with two other Asian men who hardly oozed confidence and enthusiasm was crazier still, not to mention the fact that one of them, Ramesh, seemed highly temperamental, while the other, Ashok, seemed too laid back.

Raj was stacking one of the shelves when Malkit came out with another pearl of wisdom, “Music is not in our blood. Your grandfather was tone deaf and your uncle had a guitar for ten years and never played one proper note.”

“But that’s just it dad. I want to break the mould. I know you don’t think much of music, but I love it. I’m not even talking about playing instruments, I’m talking about just singing…to backing music.”
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Ethnic marketing agency Media Moguls has successfully retained the BME campaign strand of the £4m ‘Fire Kills’ campaign by the Communities and Local Government.

A four way pitch was put to the Central Office of Information, which handles government spending accounts. Media Moguls has been held the account for the past three years, focusing on Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Somali, Chinese and Polish communities across the country.

The International Buddhist Film Festival comes to London in May, offering films from across the world with a Buddhist touch – from documentaries to Hollywood blockbusters.
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A 29 year-old entrepreneur has launched a special website offering customisable pages with Asian content, following a trend kick-started by major companies such as MSN, NetVibes, iGoogle and MyYahoo.

Founder Deepak Gandhi said: “I created Indianelement.com so users can access their favourite pages by just clicking onto one site, instead of spending valuable time trawling through the internet. [It] fills a void that was left by other major portals, which are either too western or too ethnic and as an Asian living overseas, I couldn’t relate to either, which is why I developed this start page.”
www.indianelement.com

The highly successful Britain’s Got Talent act Signature will join singer Shahin Badar in a brand new comedy show on the BBC on Monday 20th April. They will feature on a show by the Iranian stand-up comedian Omjid Djalili at 10:35pm.

Shahin’s will sing a cover of Bhangra hit ‘nachna onda nai‘, with Signature performing. She is best known for her vocals on the dance hit singles ‘Smack my bitch up’ and ‘Get up get off ‘ by The Prodigy.

by Sunny Hundal
Editor

A couple of weeks ago, the Sunday Telegraph ran a front-page story alleging that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was worried the appointment of a Muslim as head of religion at the BBC would “sideline” the “Christian voice”. Coincidentally, the Sunday Times ran a remarkably similar story the same day, as did the Daily Mail the following day.

It smacked of a classic media hit-job and I decided to dig deeper. Rowan Williams had met the BBC director-general at a lunch that was nothing out of the ordinary. According to a source at his office, there was no official agenda or any leaks about what was discussed. Since his office is very non-confrontational about such matters, and because nothing is ever denied or confirmed, it presents a perfect opportunity for others to use for their own agenda.

According to many, the Churches’ Media Council kicked off the story. The lobby was on the attack.
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The National Health Service launched a publicity campaign this week featuring former Eastenders star Pooja Shah. The NHS wants to encourage Black Africans, Black Caribbeans and South Asians to give more blood and help meet the need for rare blood types.

Statistics currently show that less than three per cent of the total number of donors are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
More: www.blood.co.uk/vip