Upon hearing about atrocities during the First War of Indian Independence, novelist Charles Dickens reportedly urged that Indians be ‘exterminate[d]’ and ‘raze[d]… off the face of the earth’ (hat tip, indianoguy):
“I wish I were a commander in chief in India. The first thing I would do to strike that Oriental Race with amazement… I should […]
She wanted to know why President Bush hated herIn case you’re wondering, John McCain’s Bangla daughter is second from right in this photo. Obviously.
John and Cindy’s youngest daughter was adopted from an orphanage run by Mother Teresa. Bridget was 10 weeks old when Cindy first met her while doing humanitarian relief work in Bangladesh. [Link]
[John […]
Leave it to a Bangladeshi kung fu fighter to show us the proper relationship between government and the governed:
… it was an image that deeply upset the Bangladeshi rank and file. Its publication was seen as a humiliation, every bit as great as if that flying sandaled foot had been aimed at the behind of […]
Here’s the photo DNA chose for a fluff piece on tying rakhis on those who are like brothers to you:
Appropriate, na?
Related post: Brothers in arms
Wearing desi accoutrements is easy in Harlem, where African dress manages to make desi formalwear look downright tame. With all the dashikis, kikois, kaftans, kente cloths and head wraps in that hood, nobody looks twice at a kurta or a big, floppy bracelet. Mercifully, the older you get, the more masculine the rakhis you […]
I’ve been building it up for months, and now you can finally see it: the ensemble comedy Loins of Punjab Presents opens this year’s South Asian International Film Festival in NYC. The opening gala will be at 9pm the evening of Wed., Oct. 3rd at Loews Lincoln Square, Broadway between 67th and 68th. My friends […]
Rekha’s razor-sharp jawline appears on the current Time Out New York cover (thanks, Mo). The poll reads, ‘This picture: thrills me / angers me / confuses me.’ But I thought a bindi means the opposite of liberty
Related posts: Dude can’t dance, ‘Time Out’ for ‘Bombay Dreams’: The musical makes the cover
The gentle dentist Meiyang Chang, who was voted off Indian Idol this week, finally located his inner diva in ‘Mahi Ve’ (thanks, brown_dbd):
More Meiyang videos.
Related posts: Whippin’ out the passable Hindi, Meiyang Chang: phir bhi dil hai hindustani
Kya kool hain hum.
The Man’s keepin’ him down
M.I.A.’s ‘10 Dollar’ plays in a writhing Asian topless club in the silly Jason Statham - Jet Li action flick War. A song about Third World sexual exploitation — it’s either ironic or apropos:
China girl was a little girl…She clocked him looking right at her And sucked on a lollipop…
Dial-a-bride […]
Ever since the success of The Devil Wears Prada, publishers have been tripping over themselves to put out chick lit tell-alls. This weekend, the Nanny Diaries movie takes the roman àclef to the world of Upper East Side au pairs.
Saira Rao has done the same thing with federal clerkships in her novel Chambermaid. Rao […]
A young dad whom I met at the last meetup asked me for a top 10 list of diasporic desi books, movies and music for his older kids. So here’s my incomplete, hastily-thought-out, Philistine, North Indian-biased list: classics to go. They’re weighted toward those which focus on the immigrant experience and which I’ve actually read, […]
Bollywood is hugely popular in Spain, while in cities like Barcelona, the few desi immigrants I met were usually Punjabi street vendors and tapas cooks. Masala (2007), Salvador Calvo’s tale of a poor immigrant high school in Spain, has a Sikhni character wearing a dupatta sing a Hindi song at 21:30:
A Democratic smear ad running on Louisiana TV right now accuses Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) of being anti-Protestant. A Catholic convert, Jindal wrote an article 11 years ago implying that his is the one true religion. Jindal is the front-runner in the Oct. governor’s race (via liberal blog Daily Kos):
A venture-funded gaming startup has put out more funny, Bombay-themed online games than you can shake a chappal at. I can’t say much for the gameplay though, which swings between blatant ripoffs of popular games like Diner Dash and Pac-Man, and concepts which are underdesigned and irritatingly difficult.
In Curry Frenzy, you have to help dabbawallas […]
Officially unleashed in America this morning, M.I.A.’s new album Kala is wilder and less even than Arular. She’s got raw, political yet radio-friendly hits in ‘Boyz,’ ‘Bird Flu,’ ‘Jimmy‘ and ‘Paper Planes.’ ‘Mango Pickle Down River’ turns a didgeridoo drone into booty bass. The spare, whispered ‘XR2,’ which samples the Hum Aapke Hain Koun soundtrack, […]
State Department docs declassified last week say Pakistan refused to help nail bin Laden before 9/11 (thanks, Ravi). The country reportedly supplied the Taliban with Pakistani soldiers, fuel and ammo. Here’s a ‘99 memo
Chak De India (Go India), a.k.a. Bend It like Dhyan Chand, turned out to be much better than its cheesy theatrical trailer (is there anything lamer than Shah Rukh spouting third-grade rhymes?). It’s the most politically-correct mainstream Bollywood movie I’ve ever seen, slamming sexism, racism and regional prejudice. And like Dor, it’s the latest mainstream […]
Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren recorded a novelty song for The Millionairess called ‘Goodness Gracious Me.’ The song was cut from the movie but became a hit single. Oddly, Sellers’ accent seems better here than in The Party.
A modern-day couple acts out the song:
A new novel by Hari Kunzru (The Impressionist, Transmission) drops in the UK on Aug. 30. His first book not focused on Asians, My Revolutions takes on radical Left terrorism in ’70s Britain:
My Revolutions is his most daring move to date, because it is nothing like his previous work. Sombre, political and with not a […]