Global News by Topic: Arts & Culture
Part 1 in a Series: Radio and Development
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA – Kulsum Dilawar, 16, stands up nervously before sitting back down on the edge of her bed, her eyes gazing down at the floor. Wearing a simple outfit and a printed scarf covering her hair, she flips through the pages of her notebook.
“Can we talk outside?” she mutters.
ISEYIN, NIGERIA – Bamidele Alhazan, who is in her 70s, is sitting on a mat with her legs stretched out in front of her in her house in Iseyin, a city in southwestern Nigeria.
Alhazan is growing old. Not only have wrinkles nestled in around her eyes, but her traditional marks are also fading.
KATHMANDU, NEPAL – Thamel, the touristic hub of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, has its own quirky charm. On one side of the street, branded clothes are on display at a shopping center. On the other side, people are sipping cold beverages in the midafternoon sun.
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA – A tulip garden in Srinagar, Kashmir’s summer capital, has been transforming tourism in the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The garden has extended Kashmir’s tourist season by more than a month,” says Javid Ahmad Shah, caretaker of the tulip garden and district officer for the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Floriculture.
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR, INDIA – Passion drove Shahnawaz Bhat, 25, into theater.
“Theater is my first love,” says Bhat, who is not related to the reporter. “It is my passion, and I am pursuing it as my career.”
But in Kashmir, this is rare. Theater garners little social respect as a profession, though actors such as Bhat are starting to change this.