Monthly Archives: February 2005

The Passion of Bobby Jindal

Posted on by

Francis C. Assisi and Elizabeth Pothen of Indolink.com decide to delve into Bobby Jindal’s life-story to see what makes him tick when it comes to his oft maligned religious beliefs:

jindalreligion.jpg

The question that intrigues most Indian Americans is this: How and why did Bobby Jindal abandon the faith of his forebears to embrace Christ and the Catholic faith.

As it turns out, the story of Piyush Bobby Jindal’s transformation from a devout young Hindu to a zealous Catholic offers an intriguing glimpse into the struggle, often traumatic, of a young Indian American caught between his heritage and his parents on the one hand and his intellectual and emotional turmoil in America.

The first part reveals the background and the struggle towards his conversion, while the second part examines his involvement with two young women whom he has acknowledged as being key to his spiritual re-birth.

Beginning with his Junior year (1991) at Brown, and for seven years thereafter – including his two years on Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, and while Secretary, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals – Jindal revealed details of his conversion and its aftermath, in a series of first person accounts.

Much of those writings reveal an agonizing spiritual quest.

Ooooh, juicy! This sounds like an even more interesting read than the journey of the Buddha.

Continue reading →

An end to worldly suffering

Posted on by

Sorry, I can’t help you in this department. You may gain some insight however in extricating yourself from worldly attachments (and that includes American Idol you freaks), by taking a look through Pankaj Mishra’s new book, “An End to Suffering,” as profiled in the New York Times:

You occasionally hear of writers, especially when their books are of long incubation, coming to resemble their subjects, and my fleeting glimpse of Pankaj Mishra seems to offer uncanny proof of the phenomenon. For here, surely, was the young Siddhartha Gautama himself: a scholar-sophisticate, a personality both cosmopolitan and ascetic, at large and at home in the world.

I wonder if this is similar to the phenomena where dog owners come to resemble their dogs?

“An End to Suffering” is part biography, part history, part travel book, part philosophic treatise. But perhaps it could best be described as a work of intellectual autobiography. I say “intellectual” rather than spiritual, let alone religious. Mishra is not a Buddhist — he “couldn’t sit still” long enough to meditate successfully — and his story is not a narrative of conversion or a road map to inner peace, at least not in the expected sense. It is, rather, the tale of his attempts to delve into the legacy of one of the world’s greatest philosophers.

The Buddha, as Mishra describes him, was not a prophet — not a religious figure but a secular one. Indeed, “he had placed no value on prayer or belief in a deity; he had not spoken of creation, original sin or the last judgment.” He likewise ignored the question of why sin and evil exist in the world, which has obsessed nearly every major religion. The Buddha’s concern was purely practical: to relieve suffering, both material and existential. His precepts weren’t couched as revelations from on high, delivered with the crash of thunder; instead they came as small quotidian insights: “I well remember how once, when I was sitting in the shade of a jambu tree on a path between the fields. . . .”

“…I took out my laptop and typed a blog entry in hopes of relieving the people’s suffering with a brief distraction.” That’s how I would have ended that quotidian insight.

Continue reading →

M.I.A.: step up to blow up

Posted on by

Abhi blogged M.I.A.’s LA concert in inimitable style, so let me fill you in on the NYC gig last Saturday as best as I can: consider me the B side. And Anna couldn’t make the sold-out concert, but she graciously gave me her unused tickets. Caring, sharing and turning green with envy: it’s the mutineer way.

The concert utterly rocked with audience energy, and Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam felt like a star in the making. There was heavy promo in NYC: a staid New Yorker story (talk about hipster buzz kill), the cover of the Village Voice entertainment section, Gawker. And her DJ backup, Diplo of Hollertronix, is popular out here. Her first full album, Arular, is out Feb. 22.

The crowd was a weird mix of spiky-haired Asians, Williamsburg hipsters and Upper West Side liberals with the odd square-jawed, Shannyn Sossamon-like Tamil beauty thrown in. There were very few desis in all, but the show was jam-packed. Most of the crowd already knew and sang along to her songs. I can’t tell you how much Lower East Side angst it inspired in me to find out she’s no longer a ‘discovery’ 🙂

Arulpragasam had great flow, and every single song was good. The tracks she chose were much fresher, catchier and more layered than the mixes I’ve heard online. They call it electro-dancehall and electrogroove, but the moves were deliciously familiar: she and her backup dancers reminded me of early Salt ‘n Pepa. I did find the soldier step a bit precious.

I’ve never rocked out to a desi woman before, that was quite novel. The Village Voice called her a ‘Sri Lankan Tamil hottie,’ a phrase you rarely read in America. But her aesthetic was also intimately familiar: her small-faced, tousle-haired cutenesss resembles my female Berkeley classmates; the South Indian hip-hop fans at Berkeley are legion.

Continue reading →

Nirali Magazine relaunches after hiatus

Posted on by

Online monthly Nirali Magazine, which bills itself as “a different kind of (publication) for today’s modern South Asian American woman,” finally ended a lengthy two-month intermission with the release of its latest issue.

Editor-in-chief Ismat Mangla blamed the break in publication on a “storm of issues,” which have since been resolved. This is good news, because the magazine is a worthwhile read, and in its short existence, has managed to break some downright entertaining stories. On top of everything, Art Director Priya Patel’s interface design makes this one of the slickest e-zines around.

And before any of the smart-asses out there decide to berate me via e-mail — yes, I know the magazine is directed toward women. Can’t a brutha’ be up-to-date on the feminine perspective without a bunch of mofo’s getting all up in his grill about it? Geez.

Now I will go back to drinking a domestic beer, killing anything that moves in “Halo 2,” and lounging on the sofa in my boxers. And just for good measure: Maxim, Stuff, ESPN, Playboy, “Girls Gone Wild,” and red meat.

Continue reading →

Is Norway the new Bollywood?

Posted on by

No, but the Scandinavian country of 4.5 million people is pumping out South Asian entertainers at a fantastic clip.

Last week we read about, heard, and ultimately shredded the musical offerings from Norway-born Deeyah. This week we present actress and model Negar Khan, who was born in Iran, but raised in Norway, and considers the country her home. You’ve probably never heard of her, but she has appeared in several music videos and starred in Bollywood films as an “item girl.”

Khan’s name was on everyone’s lips yesterday when the industry learned that she was deported from India for allegedly working without valid visa documents. From Indo-Asian News Service:

Police officials said Khan had been working in India without a proper work permit and that she had refused to respond to repeated notices sent by authorities on the issue.

“We sent her a notice one month back but she didn’t respond. She was working here without proper documents,” Mumbai Police Commissioner A.N. Roy told reporters.

Bollywood reacted with shock to the sudden deportation of Khan, terming the treatment meted out to her as inappropriate. “The manner in which she has been deported is absolutely indecorous,” said leading filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

But were the reactions of shock just another bad Bollywood acting job? It appears that the deportation of Khan is part of an effort that was prompted by peers who were tired of losing jobs to outsiders:

Police officials said Khan’s arrest and her deportation was part of a larger crackdown against foreigners working in India’s film and advertising industry without valid papers.

They, however, did not say if any other film personalities were facing a probe.

Indian actors and models have for long been complained that non-resident Indians come to India on tourist visas and pick up plum projects.

Today’s temperature in Oslo is expected to hit a high of 32 degrees. This marked the first time that it sucked to be a Khan in Bollywood.

IANS/Yahoo!: Negar Khan deported for visa breach, industry stunned

Continue reading →

Aishwarya Rai on the Late Show

Posted on by

Some positive reviews are coming on of TMBWITW Aishwarya Rai’s Hollywood debut in Bride and Prejudice. And to promote Bride, which opens in NYC/LA/and Washington D.C. on February 11, and in the rest of the U.S. in the next couple of weeks, Ash seems to be making the rounds. First 60 Minutes, then her appearance on Nightline, and now, well actually tomorrow, Tuesday Night, she is going to be making an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman. I hope Letterman’s heart can take it. Actually, I think it will be quite amusing to see how Letterman deals with Ash on the show. The film will have its glitzy red-carpet premiere tomorrow in New York as well.

Additionally some reviews of the film have been trickling in, and most have been kind of positive, especially with regards to Aishwarya’s performance. Ebert and Roeper gave Bride two thumbs up, and Peter Travers from Rolling Stone (who BTW mistakenly list Kareena Kapoor in the credits instead of Namrata Shirodkar–whose performance exceeded my expectations) proclaims

“Rai is a world-class hottie with talent to match, as she proves in her first English-speaking role. Pity pretty boy Martin Henderson (The Ring), who plays Darcy, the American in love with Lalita despite the prejudice of his hotel-magnate mom (Marsha Mason). He looks lost in his scenes with Rai. Like a kid driving a Rolls, he’s out of place and outclassed.The script unravels as it moves to London and Los Angeles and stuffs in new takes on Austen’s characters. But Chadha, the shrewdie, keeps the movie alive with swirling color, music and movement. The songs are deliciously silly, especially “No Life Without Wife,” which Lalita and her sisters sing in mockery of Mr. Kholi (a scene-stealing Nitin Ganatra), the bachelor who wants a bride for his new L.A. home. Purists who think Austen will be spinning in her grave will be wrong. She’ll be dancing.”

I think Travers was right on, but more than that, I think Bride highlights Chadha’s directing ability. You may say the film is nothing more than a kitchy musical ode to Bollywood, and essentially that is what the film is, in spite of its amazingly witty dialogue and charming song and dance numbers. However, when you begin to compare the performances given in Bride by Ash, and by Namrata Shirodkar, from those typical to a Bollywood film, to me it was as if they were transformed from being just pretty faces, which they definitely are, to people who I wouldn’t hesitate to call actresses. And I think that must be attributed to the director, or some really, rally good acting lessons.

I found the film thoroughly enjoying, and will definitely be seeing it a few more times. You should too. And don’t forget to check out Ash on Letterman tomorrow. Continue reading →

Steel balls and pots

Posted on by

Last Friday I wrote up my “review” of the M.I.A. concert that I attended in Los Angeles, and tried to convey to my readers the curiosity I had over the fact that the talented Maya Arulpragasam has a link to a group that possibly aids terrorists on her website. Whether or not said group was simply a legitimate aid organization delivering tsunami relief supplies or really something more sinister, in league with the LTTE, may have been answered on Monday as reported at Scotsman.com:

Port authorities found thousands of small steel balls hidden in water pots in a shipping container that consigned to the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation, the army reported.

Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels, who fought a two decade civil war against the government, are known for loading suicide bombs with metal balls to cause maximum damage.

The rebels control a large area in the ethnic Tamil-majority north and have authorised the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation to co-ordinate tsunami relief work there.

The military website said the balls “could be used for production of bombs or explosives.”

The report said the pots, believed to have been shipped from Britain, are being held for investigation.

A spokesman for the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation said it would comment only after seeing the military’s report.

IF this turns out to be true, to me this raises a bunch of interesting ethical dilemmas. First, can you blame an artist for supporting a group that seems to be assisting what the U.S. has designated as a terrorist group, if said artist has a father who is one of the rebels? Is she supporting the group and its practices or simply her father? Secondly, isn’t part of M.I.A.’s appeal that she has rebellious lyrics? Haven’t young people always been drawn to rebellious lyrics? Thirdly, how can you (if of a politically liberal persuasion) enjoy yourself at a concert knowing that the lyrics (and possibly your money) are in support of a group that employs child soldiers and female suicide bombers? I understand that the Sri Lankan government is also complicit but simply letting two wrongs balance each other out doesn’t seem right. I don’t really have answers to my questions but I did think it would make an interesting debate. Continue reading →

Porno for Goopers

Posted on by
‘GOP Babe of the Week‘ Govindini Murty also starred in a student film called San Pedro in 2001. Murty may otherwise be quite intelligent, but this potboiler is howlingly bad. Slamming a student film? Fish in a barrel; but the director, Murty’s husband Jason Apuzzo, graduated from USC film school, Stanford and Yale, so the movie shouldn’t be as awful as it so eminently is.
 
Murty, playing a hotel maid, flashes a lingering cleavage closeup at 24:31, a truly atrocious Latina-meets-Borat accent soon after. Then the script hurls this gem, a bumbling, literal translation of an English idiom that no Spanish speaker would ever utter:
‘He might want his statue back so he doesn’t get into agua caliente!’
… followed by:
‘It is a real statue. It has the ancient Chinese key inside.’
Ah, so: ancient Chinese secrets, that deus-ex-I-Ching. Yes, it really is that bad. The plot is pure Republican porn, putting forth a Vince Foster-esque conspiracy theory involving Men’s Wearhouse pitchman Al Gore:
On the final night of the 2000 Democratic Convention, a hard boiled bounty hunter must recover an ancient Chinese statue, and clean up a trail of big money that threatens ‘bad buzz’ for Al Gore. But when a sexy immigrant maid stumbles onto that trail first…

Continue reading →

Govindini Murty – GOP Babe of the Week

Posted on by

This is just too delicious… one of the more popular SM posts – based on number & ferocity of comments – was one back in December about Govindini Murty. In addition to the cerebral attraction of a fellow desi espousing the message of individual freedom / responsibility and smaller governments, Govindini’s physical charms were, uh, well noted.

Well, it appears that SM isn’t the only one who’s noticed. The wild & crazy folks at the New Jersey GOP website apparently run a mini contest called GOP Babe of the Week and this week’s winner is…. Govindini Murty. Govindini says she’s

“…truly honored to have been chosen – being Republican Babe of the Week… has always been a dream… ;)”

I love Govindini’s smirking smiley at the end. She shares the honor with an eclectic group of past winners including Rachel Hunter, Heather Locklear, Kennedy (of MTV fame), Gloria Estefan, body builder Cory Everson (what is it about Republican body builders?), and quite a few others. Muy excelante company. Continue reading →

Bombay Talkie opens in Manhattan

Posted on by

Bombay Talkie, a new chaat-plus-entrees place that sounds like an upscale version of Kati Roll Co., opened recently in Chelsea. It shares its name with the novel by Ameena Meer. The NYT says:

The menu plays with the conceit of Indian street food, and so appetizers are listed as “street bites.” Entrees appear under the heading “from the roadside.” Side dishes are from, well, the “curbside…” Bombay Talkie is in many ways a neighborhood joint in an especially pretty dress, designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen…

… then of course there are the cocktails, which, I’m told, take their names from Bollywood movies… What are the temperature, tinge and taste of “unrequited love”? It is cold but not frigid, transparent but vaguely green, and extremely potent, thanks to modest measures of lime juice and saffron syrup in a sea of Bombay Sapphire gin.

The place has a dark sense of humor:

Brunch has a theme they’re calling The Return of the Raj: teas, tea sandwiches, pancakes, hams, fresh preserves….if not trickle pie.

Kati Roll Co., a tiny, long-time Greenwich Village favorite, has a rotating selection of classic Bollywood posters on the wall. And speaking of the designer, I haven’t figured out yet why the Dutch are so into desi kitsch. I’m not complaining.

Bombay Talkie, 189 Ninth Ave. between 21st & 22nd St., (212) 242-1900