Throwing a little weight around

StrategyPage reports on the latest goings-on in Nepal and India’s response

March 25, 2005: India is threatening to blockade Nepal, to force the king to reinstate elected officials in the government. India has used blockades before to force Nepal to do what India wants. There was a blockade in 1989, to force Nepal to not buy weapons from China. In 1974, there was a blockade to force Nepal to stop protesting India’s annexation of nearby Sikkim. But in this case, India does not want to aid the Maoists. It is pretty clear that the Maoists want to establish a radical dictatorship in Nepal, which would be less democratic than the king, and a lot more prone to violence against the Nepalese people. India also has its own Maoist rebels, and knows how violent they can be. But the actions of the Nepalese king are very unpopular in India, and everyone knows that India has the final say, by cutting off the flow of vital supplies to Nepal.

Peace marches and “not in my name” rallies to protest India’s threats have been scheduled by Western activist groups…. details to follow. In the meantime, an earlier Stratpage entry provides some of the background on the 3-way civil conflict engulfing Nepal –

March 9, 2005: Nepal is becoming a mess. The country is split by a three way civil war. There are the monarchists, which include wealthy land owners, and many poor rural people. The country is a constitutional monarchy, but the king still has emergency powers, which not everyone agrees on, but which are being used now. There are the democrats, who are largely urban and educated, who currently cannot figure out how to cooperate with each other on how to deal with the Maoists. Then there are the Maoists, who are led by educated urbanites, and used armed, brainwashed teenagers to terrorize the rural, and then urban, population into support a communist dictatorship. The Maoists want to destroy the ancient pattern of feudal land ownership.

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Holi Day munchies

Straight from your druggie aunties and uncles, here are some traditional recipes for Holi bhang. The Hindustan Times even tells you how to make pot laddoos and green halva!

Bhang, or cannabis, is freely associated with the splash of assorted Holi colours. During this season, bhang is prepared and served according to age-old traditions throughout the Himalayan foothills.

With a simple mortar and pestle, the buds and leaves of cannabis are squashed and ground into a green paste, to which milk, ghee and spices are added. This base can be mixed with the nutritious, refreshing drink, thandai… This can also be mixed with ghee and sugar to make a tasty green halvah, and into peppery, chewy little balls called [golis].

I’m cracking up just thinking of aunties hanging out around shady parks after midnight trying to score Shiva’s herb for their Holi parties. Mistress of Spices indeed. Like Bhang for Chocolate. Maybe desis’ popularity in stoner flicks is justified — I’ll never look at pista barfi the same way again.

The adult Holi is the desi Halloween, a day for masks, flirting and outrageous fun. Meanwhile, bhangra aficionados are busy denying that its name derives from bhang:

Cecil Beaton described the ‘concoction of milk of almonds, rosewater, carminum nuts and eight ingredients of which hashish, or Bhang, was the principal’. (‘One of the effects of Bhang,’ he further reported, ‘is that it makes everything appear humorous. Another is that strange things happen to one’s sense of time.’)

Brimful’s amphora runneth over as she tells a hilarious tale about an auntie, an airport and a dime bag:

… her brother-in-law, V mama, puts in his request, asks her to get him some of that stuff that goes into bhang. She puts it on the list, describes it exactly that way when she seeks it out in India.

So there she is, waiting in the customs line at Logan, carting along two rather young kids, bags filled to the point of bursting, and the customs inspector decides that her bags should be inspected…. The inspector does his thing, until he comes to a bag of dried leaves. “What’s this?” he asks.

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Come join the Warner Brothers and the Warner sister Dot.

24night.jpe Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan (better known by his first initial and/or his chosen middle name “Night”) has fled the magic kingdom.

Walt Disney has lost one of its brightest directors, M Night Shyamalan, to Warner Bros. Shyamalan was also one of its biggest moneymakers. His four films in a row for Disney have grossed?over $2 3 billion worldwidein theatrical receipts and video sales.
Creative differences over Shyamalan’s new project, Lady In The Water, led to the parting, Hollywood’s trade papers reported.

The uber-talented Philadelphian is a unique force in Hollywood; even his…um…critic-deemed flops (ahem, “The Village“) earn almost a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide. Speaking of that paranthetically mentioned flick, no major stars lent pixie dust to that production. As the linked article notes, it was our boy Manoj who drew moviegoers in, and that’s something that deserves props.

Shyamalan has steadily built a reputation for making films on medium size budgets of $50-$75 million by offering the stars part of the film’s gross. There was speculation last year that Fox had offered him to direct the Booker Prize winning novel Life Of Pi the studio had acquired about three years ago.

Perhaps he’ll cast someone vaguely Asian-looking to play pool-named protagonist Piscene Molitor Patel. One fervently hopes. After all, that comment thread is FUN.

I’ll close by enclosing the following priceless tidbit; apparently Rediff knows something about Pennsylvania that we don’t.

Shyamalan’s first film, a coming of age cross-cultural story, was shot in India. His subsequent films have been made in his home state of Philadelphia. The new movie would also be shot there. But if he takes up Life Of Pi, which has some of its crucial sequences set in India, he might have to visit the country of his birth and shoot there after nearly 14 years.

Hey, that’s fine with me. Philly’s the only part of PA I go to… 😉 Continue reading

He doesn’t like me but his brother might

So what’s your logical next move when the leader of the free world has just humiliated you by revoking your visa and ending any chance of career advancement? Answer: Invite his brother over for…ummm dinner?? From ExpressIndia.com:

Chief Minister Narendra Modi has invited Florida Governor Jeb Bush to visit Gujarat.

Sounding more like a salesman selling Gujarat to the world, more that a wronged Chief Minister who was denied entry to the US, Narendra Modi made the invitation while addressing the members of the Asian American Hotel Owners’ Association in Fort Laurendale, Florida, from his official residence in Gandhinagar on Thursday evening.

He made it a point to avoid unneccessary controversy and mainly spoke about role expatriates in helping Gujarat flourish. Modi said his invitation to Jeb Bush, the brother of the US president, was to give him ‘‘a taste of real hospitality’’.

A tip from SM reader Santosh Daniel leads us to believe that Modi may have better luck enticing some distant cousin of Bush.

He’s young, dynamic and pleasant looking. He’s an entrepreneur who heads America’s second largest medical billing company. Qualities enough to make you sit up and take notice of Jonathan Bush. But what makes this Boston-based businessman even more of a special visitor to Hyderabad is that he’s President George Bush’s younger cousin. While here to look into setting up outsourcing offices, he exclaims, “I love the entrepreneurial spirit here. People are creative, passionate and look you in the eye when they speak. There are no wheels turning in their head.” It’s his first visit to India and he grins, “I took several pictures of me with cows on the road!”

His cousin is not aware that he is in India, as the last time he met him was at the inaugural ball. “Bush had just enough time to enquire about my children. We were much closer as kids. Now he’s this distant older brother who’s busy being President and taking care of his family,” says Jonathan. But he undoubtedly loves his President cousin — “We are a loving and supportive family… [source: Times of India]

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The many lives of Ravi Desai

ravidesai1.jpg

Note: a helpful commenter pointed out that this story is actually several years old. I misread the date. Because it is still an interesting story I am posting it back up.

A couple weeks ago Slate magazine asked the question “Who is Robert Klingler?” This led to the larger question, “How do you know the person on the other side of your email conversation isn’t a dog?” [thanks for the tip Sanjay]

In the famous New Yorker cartoon by Peter Steiner, a dog seated in front of a PC turns to his canine colleague and boasts, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”

Although dogs have not logged onto the Internet in the numbers Web visionaries predicted in the early ’90s, Steiner’s lesson still stands: You can never be too sure that your fascinating e-mail correspondent isn’t a barking imposter. Last week, Slate got taken by an Internet dog when it published the diary of “Robert Klingler,” an individual who claimed in e-mails and on the telephone to be the CEO of BMW’s North American operations.

Slate published two installments of Klingler’s projected weeklong diary before discovering his ruse on Tuesday, March 5. When told by BMW that no Robert Klingler worked there, Slate disavowed both diary entries, and I published this mea culpa, “Slate Gets Duped.” I explained that Klingler had “spoofed” his e-mail address to make it appear that it had originated from the car manufacturer.

So who was Robert Klingler? I unfortunately can’t do this article justice and strongly urge you to read it for yourself but, I will attempt to summarize enough of it to give you a flavor. Continue reading

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Colors

holi.jpg With spring here, Indian organizations around the U.S. will be getting ready to celebrate Holi so as to “keep it real” and stay attached to the customs of the homeland. Back in the homeland, people are buying up supplies for Holi as well. As reported at NewKerala.com:

An array of Chinese coloured powder and squirt guns have flooded the Indian market ahead of the Holi festival Saturday. “Rain Storm”, “Super Soaker” and “Water 3000” are some of the Made in China water guns that are attracting Holi revellers, who retailers say are slowly but steadily giving up the traditional squirt guns called ‘pitchkaris’.

So why are wholesalers going for Chinese goods? “They are definitely better than the Indian products,” said Amir Ullah Khan, a wholesaler, pointing to a fashionable water gun.

The gun, called “Rain Storm”, has two barrels that can supposedly shoot jets of water up to a distance of 50 metres. The best part is it comes with a portable water tank that can be worn on the shoulders.

There are also “Made in China” guns that are small enough to be concealed in one’s palm and cost as low as Rs.30, while the larger ones could cost anywhere above Rs.500 ($11).

Out here the local NetIP says screw that to talk of wimpy water guns:

Don’t have plans for Holi? Why not join NetIP-LA for some paintball? Come out for a day of fun and excitement at SC Village, one of the most popular paintball parks in Southern California. The park has up to 20 different themed courses, ranging from jungles with rivers to cityscapes to military camps.

That’s right. That’s how we do. Some real guns. West Siiidddeee for life. I don’t think I have ever actually participated in a Holi activity. After reading Wikipedia’s description I feel like I am missing out:

The first day, a bonfire is lit at night to signify the burning of Holika. The second day, known as Rangapanchami, people go around throwing colours at each other. A special drink called bhang is also consumed, which actually contains small amounts of marijuana to make the festival more enjoyable.

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Parting the Luna Sea

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Jesus, a sex guru, a ballet dancer and Superman’s girlfriend walk into a casting call…

Indian-Canadian director Vic Sarin is putting together an indie film called Partition (thanks, sd). The Sepia Films (wha?) script seems more than ‘inspired’ by the Bollywood megahit Gadar. Both films show a Sikh villager rescuing a Muslim girl during Partition and guiding her safely into Pakistan:

Partition is a sweeping, historical drama set against the partition of India and based on the real life experiences of director Vic Sarin’s family. Partition tells the story of a former British army Sikh officer, Gian Singh, who rescues a young Muslim girl, falls in love with her and must travel to Pakistan to save her… Production on the film will begin next April in South Africa, India and United Kingdom…

The film features Jimi Mistry (East Is East, The Guru), Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), Neve Campbell (The Company) and Kristin Kreuk (Smallville). Mistry will take the lead, and Campbell will play his British friend, fitting neatly into the Candice Bergen role in Gandhi. She even has a similar jawline.

Kreuk will play the 17-year-old Muslim love interest, Naseem. Her parents are Chinese and Dutch, but I suppose it’s walking distance from Smallville to the Punjabi pind.

“I’m so excited about Partition,” KK told TV Guide

That’s right, she told TV Guide… that she’s excited… about… Partition. Isn’t that kind of like telling Soap Opera Digest that you’re excited about the Holocaust? I doubt those in my family who survived it were in their happy-happy-fun-fun place at the time. Here’s an idea: how about Kal Penn the henchman shooting death rays from his eyes at Superman’s girlfriend. Now that’s exciting.

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I could get high off this La.

cover2.jpeOooh La La La…It’s the way that they rock when they’re doing their thang, oooh La La La…it’s the natural La that the Refugees bring…oooh La La La La La La Lalala La Lah…

In Kuala Lumpur, it was a sweet thing:

Former Fugess Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean reunited onstage on Friday at a concert in Malaysia to raise money for tsunami-devastated communities.

On the set list: hits like “Killing Me Softly,” “Ready or Not” and “Fu-Gee-La.” When I read the line-up of acts, I was reminded of last year’s Coachella; a reunited Pixies dominated the buzz there, I can see the Fugees doing the same at this show.

The pair joined performers including actor Jackie Chan, the Backstreet Boys, Black Eyes Peas and Boyz II Men before 15,000 fans at the seven-hour Forces of Nature event.

“Forces of Nature” raised $2.6 million dollars for tsunami-affected nations like Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. Take a lesson, jack-asses at Hot 97.

…During an emotionally charged gig, Jean lead the crowd in a chant of “We’ll never forget the tsunami victims” and instructed the stadium lights to be turned off while crowd members waved lighted cell phones.

From his lips to our ears. Continue reading

Clowning around with the victims of tragedy

Patch Adams, he of the eponymous (and lousy) Robin Williams movie, has gone to Sri Lanka to visit the survivors of the tsunami. patchadams.jpg

Dr Adams brought a troupe of 30 clowns performing juggling, unicycle riding and puppet shows to hospitals and relief camps in the country’s south. The troupe sprayed wards with soap bubbles and performed a puppet show for children suffering from cancer. As he bounded into children’s wards, one doctor asked: “Is that man looking for the psychiatric ward?” Dr Adams has also taken his clowns to Bosnia, Africa and Afghanistan. [Note: this text is exercepted and rearranged compared with the original BBC article ]

While Adams may be a … wee bit eccentric, other studies confirm the claim that laughter is good for your health. It turns out, for example, that laughter improves your cardio-vascular capacity. Unfortunately, there is no news from the laughter club movement, even though it started in India a decade ago, and now has 3,500 clubs world wide.

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Begin the begin.

a shrine to a stolen family building a fenceThe BBC has another series of excellent photographs that may be of interest to you. Unlike the last series I brought to your attention, the subject matter isn’t as joyful; these pictures depict life in a Tsunami camp.

To the left, a shrine that a fisherman created for his lost loved ones. To the right, 40-year old Parameswari builds a fence around her new home. She is the only person in her family to survive the tragedy.

Click either photograph to see the original story. Continue reading