::: Star Insight :::

Inside Outside

Matir Pinjira

The Daily Star's 20th Anniversary programme includes folk festivals and cultural programmes all over the country. On Friday, 28 January 2011, folk artists from seven districts performed on stage and put together a grand musical show! Almost all renowned folk singers of Bangladesh attended the event, which was held at Bakultala of Charukala Institute (DU).

Muslim population will grow twice as fast as non-Muslim population

The world's Muslim population will grow twice as fast as the non-Muslim population in the next 20 years, when Muslims are expected to make up more than a quarter of the global population, a study published on Thursday predicts. Using fertility, mortality and migration rates, researchers at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life project a 1.5-per cent annual population growth rate for the world's Muslims over the next two decades, and just 0.7 percent growth each year for non-Muslims.

The study, called "The Future of the Global Muslim Population," projects that in 2030 Muslims will make up 26.4 per cent of the world's population, which is expected to total around 8.3 billion people by then. That marks a three-percentage-point rise from the 23.4-per cent share held by Muslims of the globe's estimated 6.9 billion people today. More than six in 10 followers of Islam will live in the Asia-Pacific region in 2030, and Pakistan will overtake Indonesia as the world's most populous Muslim nation! And in Europe, the Muslim population will grow by nearly a third in 20 years and some European Union (EU) countries will see double-digit percentages of Muslims in their population by 2030.

A tribute to Bhimsen Joshi by Lata Mangeshkar

Legendary vocalist Pandit Bhimsen Joshi passed away on Jan 24, 2011, in Pune after prolonged illness. He was 89. He had been admitted to the hospital following renal and respiratory complications on December 31 last year. A recipient of Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi is survived by three sons and a daughter.

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar remembers being treated like a daughter by late singing legend Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, who used to call her "Bharat Ratna" after she won the prestigious honour in 2001. "After I got the award he (Bhimsen Joshi) never called me Lata. He addressed me as 'Bharat Ratna'. When I'd visit him, he would announce my arrival with 'Aa Bharat Ratna aale. Prepare something good for her to eat'," Lata reminisced after Joshi's death Monday. Joshi, who was awarded the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna in 2008, died at Pune's Sahyadri Hospital following old age-related ailments. He was 88.

Lata shared not just a professional, but personal affinity with him too. "I'd say a whole era of classical music ended with Bhimsenji. I knew Bhimsenji from the time when he was not that famous," recalled Lata, adding details about her first meeting with him. ”Shankar-Jaikishan called Bhimsenji to sing for a film called 'Basant Bahar', and they invited me to listen to Bhimsenji singing. I sat enraptured all through the recording," she added. "After the historic recording with Shankar-Jaikishan, I met Bhimsenji in Kolkata where I had gone for a show. One morning at 4 a.m. there was loud knocking on the door of my hotel room. We were frightened. When we asked who it was the familiar warm voice said, 'Main Bhimsen hoon (I am Bhimsen)'.

I asked him what brought him to my door so early. He had heard my father sing, and he wanted to share his joy at hearing my father's song with me. That morning in Kolkata, Bhimsenji sang one of my father's songs. I was spellbound. Bhimsenji turned out to be very familiar with my father's music. It bonded us for life." Even after Joshi became famous, he kept in touch with Lata and never failed to give her a warm welcome at his Pune home.