Monthly Archives: January 2006

Q: What is more difficult than NAVY SEAL training?

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Last month the BBC had an article about the stern warning issued by Air India to its cabin crews:

India’s state-owned airline Air India has threatened to ground its overweight cabin crew unless they shed their excess pounds over the next two months.

Some 10% of its 1,600-strong cabin crew are estimated to be overweight or suffering from obesity.

S Venkat, Air India’s general manager public relations, told the BBC that the airline would strictly implement the directive.

“We have a tolerance limit that cannot be exceeded,” he said.

Although the Air India Cabin Crew Association welcomed this decision, they didn’t say anything about the fact that the “tolerance limits” were different for men and women. Quite simply the airline wants hot stewardesses in order to compete in the always cut-throat airline business (see the Kingfisher Airlines picture on the right). Want more proof? Check out the BBC’s most recent report (quite humorous) from freezing cold Delhi:

Delhi can be mercilessly chilly during the opening weeks of January.

Central-heating devoid houses constructed to withstand the furnace-like temperatures of high summer seem more like well-upholstered cold rooms…

So imagine my surprise the other afternoon at finding my favourite outdoor swimming pool absolutely teeming with glamorous young people, in what looked, from a distance at least, like a cross between spring break in Cancun and a Mumbai movie premier.

Swimsuits, stilettos and Speedos abounded. [Link]

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MTV’s Aftershock (updated)

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MTV has been showcasing the efforts of young Pakistani-Americans involved in Earthquake relief on many of its cable channels. As an example, you can head over to MTV Overdrive. Click on “Play Now” and then go to the “News” menu. One of the links in the menu is titled “Young People Pitch in for Pakistan.” This leads to a series of short news clips with enough music and fast camera work to hold the attention of young desis long enough to inspire them. It’s worth it just to hear aging hipster John Norris say the word “desis.” I’m digging the girl’s “I Love Nerds” shirt. The group featured in the news clips is Developments in Literacy (DIL):

The Developments in Literacy organization (DIL) was launched in February 1997 in Southern California. Its main purpose is to work for the eradication of illiteracy, in the remote and neglected areas of Pakistan, by establishing primary and secondary level non-formal schools for underprivileged children.

DIL, a nonprofit, voluntary organization has succeeded, in a period of five years, at establishing 200 schools in collaboration with various NGO’s…

In addition, a press release from MTV announces that their dreamy young newsman Gideon Yago, will be reporting from Pakistan all this week, culminating in a video diary titled, “Aftershock: Diary of Gideon in Pakistan.” Presumably the clips will be uploaded onto MTV’s website throughout the week. I will try an update this post if/as I discover those links.

Starting today [Monday], MTV News will turn over a week of its programming – on all platforms – to report on the aftermath of the October earthquake that rocked northwestern Pakistan and Kashmir, leaving 87,000 dead and 3.5million homeless. MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago will report on what’s being done to aid and rebuild after the disaster – from Pakistani-American marines assigned to humanitarian relief to a local movie theater turned rehab center for women. Yago’s reports will air on MTV, MTV2, mtvU and MTV Overdrive and will culminate in the documentary “Aftershock: Diary of Gideon in Pakistan,” premiering Friday at 7:30p.m. [Link]

I’m actually looking forward to seeing it. I think the interaction between young Pakistani-American Marines and the local population could make for some powerful television.

Update: The Vice President of MTV news, Ocean MacAdams, has provided us with direct links

The Diary Of Gideon In Pakistan (FULL SHOW plus exclusives)

Gideon In Pakistan: Exclusive Clips

Aftershock: South Asian Earthquake (Comp of news briefs)

Young People Pitch In For Pakistan (Desi packages)

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“…because they are needed”

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On Monday, India’s President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam presided over the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards:

The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards have been instituted to recognize and reward the meritorious contributions made by NRIs [Non-Resident Indians] and PIOs [Persons of Indian Origin] to further India’s interests and causes. [Link]

Among the 15 recipients was Newsweek editor Fareed Zakaria. What interested me however was Kalam’s speech at the awards, and the types of things that he hoped NRIs and PIOs could accomplish for India, or to bring pride to Indians. Here are some choice words, but the whole speech was quite good:

Today, the 9th day of January, marks the return of Gandhiji from South Africa to India 91 years ago. His work in South Africa and reasons of his return are well known. The point I would like to make is that when Gandhiji returned, he travelled from one colony to another of an Empire on whose territory; the sun would never set at that time. It would not be an exaggeration, if I say that today the sun truly cannot set on the empire of the Indian Mind. Some children of Mother India are always working wherever the sun is shining on this planet be it Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Americas and, indeed, on the icy reaches of Antarctica. Twenty million children of India live in various parts of the planet and every year it is increasing, because they are needed…

People of Indian Origin worldwide represent four waves of migration in the past. The first, and probably the longest wave, was of Indians going forth in search of knowledge and opportunity as travellers, as teachers and as traders. Indians went to China and around Indo-China. The second wave was one of enforced migration of indentured labour, a legacy of colonialism. Indians were taken to Africa, West Indies and England. The third wave was a product of partition. The fourth and the most recent wave has been that of Indians empowered with skill and knowledge seeking various type of opportunities and challenges. The destination is the United States, Canada and English speaking European countries and West Asia. Will there be a fifth wave? In the fifth wave, towards the end of 21st century, Indians may participate in the planetary civilization that may result [in] many resourceful Indians [inhabiting] Mars and entering the space industrial establishment on Moon…

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The art of the book review

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Superstar desi lawyer Neal Katyal, who will later this year be representing Osama Bin Laden’s former driver in a Supreme Court case, had a book review in yesterday’s Washington Post. The book he was reviewing was a new one by John Yoo titled, The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs After 9/11. Katyal cleverly uses his book review to slam Yoo and his conservative policies, while also adding to the very relevant debate about what limits should be imposed on the powers of the Executive.

In particular, the book argues that the Constitution gives the president a much larger role in foreign affairs and military operations than the other two branches of the federal government, that the president does not need a congressional declaration of war before placing troops on the ground and that treaties ratified by the Senate have no legal impact unless Congress explicitly passes laws saying that they do.

In advancing these claims, the book is burdened by its strange attempt to mix constitutional claims grounded in the Founders’ intent in 1787 with the practicalities of living in an age of terrorism. Either one can take the position of such conservative icons as Robert Bork and Justice Antonin Scalia — that the original intentions of the Constitution’s authors bind us today and changes can only come through amendment — or hold the view of more liberal figures such as Justice Stephen Breyer that practical, functional considerations create a living Constitution that adapts as times change. Both are perfectly plausible. What isn’t credible is a theory that cherry-picks from the two to advance a particular thesis. And that’s exactly what Yoo does at times.

…In the end, the most glaring failure of the book is its one-sided attack on the courts and Congress, with no real attention paid to the failures of the executive branch. The underlying message is that the executive doesn’t need checks on its activities, but that the other branches consistently do. Yet presidents of both parties have made tremendous mistakes, and recent events have shown that claims of unchecked power can lead to massive abuse. Yoo even unwittingly refers to at least one recent miscalculation, in words that already date the book, by stating that Iraq was “potentially armed with weapons of mass destruction.”

It seems very likely that this book review also gives us a small preview of what some of Katyal’s arguments in front of the Supreme Court may be in Hamdan v Rumsfeld. I am just counting the weeks until Nina Totenberg wakes me with details of Katyal’s fight in front of the Roberts court.

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Tripped up by tingo

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At some point after hearing the fifth K3G remix at the Net cafe in Fez and watching a Moroccan boy who knew and sang all the words to ‘Shava Shava’ doing chair-bhangra (it’s just like car-bhangra, only the entire cafe doesn’t tilt), I became obsessed with the idea of watching Bollywood in Morocco.

I had already selected my target, the Empire Ciné, plastered with posters for Oceans Twelve, Crazy Kung-Fu (which you may know as Kung-Fu Hustle) and several Bollyflicks all starring Priyanka Chopra. Waqt looked like the highest Priyanka I.N.Q. (item number quotient), and so with high standards of scientific precision it was duly chosen.

I had stared so long at the Bollyposters, the only ones not translated in French, and taken so many photos that the local lafange (layabouts) out front craned their heads and stared anew at the posters they ignored every day.

My atrocious and limited French interposed itself between me and my Priyanka fixation like an ill-tempered gendarme with little bits of toilet paper stanching a bad shave. ‘Waqt.’ I said, pointing at the movie poster and tapping my wrist. ‘Quoi heure?’ The man behind the grill patiently wrote ‘8.30’ for me and repeated it in French. ‘Waqt, oui?’ Same answer.

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Ikdum fit!

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In each of these locations, there was a weird juxtaposition of things sited. In the first and second locations, a gym was right along side some form of educational institute, in the third the municipal gym was between a gurudwara on the left and a mandir on the right. Incidentally, the first and third places were closed (I tried to join while I was here … start the new year right and work off all the gulab jamun I’ve been eating). The third place, the municipal gym, saw all of its equipment break from overuse so the city just closed it down. It was a shame, but this is the risk inherent in overly subsidizing a service.

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It’s a Boy: Naveen Joshua Andrews

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naveen_andrews_98.jpgThe tip line is burning up with news from readers about the latest scandal to put the drama in ABC’s hit “Lost“. I was ready to credit one of you helpful email-senders for this post, but it turns out Lulloo beat you to it. Who cares, pour some tea, call your neighbor and start gossiping!

Naveen Andrews, who plays Mystery Island’s resident Iraqi Republican Guardsman Sayid Jarrah, has admitted that he fathered a child last year while briefly separated from longtime companion, Barbara Hershey.

Andrews’ publicist released a statement to E! Friday saying that Andrews, 36, and Hershey, 57, “quietly” split for a period early last year, during which Andrews had a fling with another woman. He recently learned that he is the father of her baby boy.[E!]

No worries, Sayid fans. Your boy intends to do the right thing AND stick with his Hershey Bar…ba..ra:

“Andrews has every intention of assuming appropriate responsibility for the child and proceeding with all integrity in this matter,” the statement says.[E!]

Who’s calling Naveen her baby-daddy? A Czech acting student who met the star at a New York bar. Nope, I didn’t intend to rhyme.

The baby’s mother is pretty student Elena Eustache, who has alleged in the past that…he regularly flew her to the Lost set in Hawaii for love-making sessions.[tabloid]

That’s one way to conceive of “room service”. Anyway, she said they were hooking up for a year. He said something which sounded like a forgettable Shaggy song featuring Rik Rok. The paternity test proved that indeed, it WAS him.

When Elena announced she was six months pregnant following a year-long affair with Naveen, the actor denied those claims, branding her claims of an affair as “ridiculous.” Elena claims Naveen told her that his relationship with Hershey was over…[tabloid]

Sigh. Who knew you couldn’t trust boys you meet in bars, who are on the rebound?? I think we’ve all learned something here today (besides “The Pill is only effective when taken”). Continue reading →

The Lost Girls

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A new study published in the medical journal The Lancet (subscription required) exposes the staggering numbers involved in India’s greatest shame. The BBC reports:

More than 10m female births may have been lost to abortion and sex selection in the past 20 years, according to research in The Lancet medical journal.

Researchers in India and Canada said prenatal selection and selective abortion was causing the loss of 500,000 girls a year.

Their research was based on a national survey of 1.1m households in 1998.

The researchers said the “girl deficit” was more common among educated women but did not vary according to religion.

In most countries, women slightly outnumber men, but separate research for the year 2001 showed that for every 1,000 male babies born in India, there were just 933 girls. [Link]

The one result of the study which really makes me lose hope for the future is that a more educated woman is even MORE likely to pursue sex selection by abortion (although this could be due to pressure from their equally more educated spouse). Also, there is an even larger spike in people selecting the sex of their babies through abortion if there has already been a daughter born into a family.

In cases where the preceding child was a girl, the ratio of girls to boys in the next birth was 759 to 1,000.

This fell even further when the two preceding children were both girls. Then the ratio for the third child born was just 719 girls to 1,000 boys.

However, for a child following the birth of a male child, the gender ratio was roughly equal.

Basically this means that for a female fetus to see the light of day she has to hope that she has an older brother waiting on the other side for her.

Dr [Shirish] Sheth says: “Female infanticide of the past is refined and honed to a fine skill in this modern guise. It is ushered in earlier, more in urban areas and by the more educated … A careful demographic analysis of actual and expected sex ratios shows that about 100 million girls are missing from the world – they are dead…” [Link]
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Looking for permission to film in the Muslim world

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Why Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World filmed in India:

Some of the Arab press, Mr. Brooks said, questioned his decision to set the film in India and Pakistan rather than an Arab country. “I said, ‘Well, if you can get me permission to shoot in Saudi Arabia, let me know,’ ” he said. “Because it was not happening when I was making calls. That was shut down within five minutes, with ‘What, are you insane?’ They’re not going to let a Jewish man, much less a filmmaker, in there. That’s just not going to happen. But I wanted the conflict between the two countries. I knew in writing this that I wanted to take two existing powers that are always suspicious of each other, and that was the one place you could do that. The idea was always that I go to do a peace mission, and I almost start World War III.”

Dude, Johnny Lever is still very much around, on film and on stage:

Comedy in the Muslim world (Arab or otherwise) can indeed be hard to find. “Today, stand-up comedians just don’t really exist,” Mr. Usman said. “But they did once. I have albums from the 70’s. The big, towering guy from Pakistan is called Moin Akhtar, and another guy, who was his contemporary, was Umar Sharif. And there was a guy in India who was really famous, who used the name Johnny Lever. They basically did one-man shows, with a lot of improv and sketch comedy, but with a small portion of what we would call stand-up.”

I dunno, the previews seemed similarly lame to me:

Once Mr. Brooks chose India as his setting, he visited the minister of information. “He told me that Steven Spielberg had wanted to shoot ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ there, and they wouldn’t allow it, because they didn’t like the scene where they ate monkey brains,” Mr. Brooks said. “I said, ‘I don’t do that,’ and I think they were really appreciative that I didn’t have the whole scene where the cow stops traffic. They’ve seen that so much, and they hate it…” “I get nervous when I hear people are doing something about India, because usually it’s done with so little intelligence,” Ms. Sheth said.

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Don’t drink the water

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Yesterday Google announced the launch of yet another service: All hail the Google Video (Store). The Los Angeles Times Reports:

Search giant Google Inc. put its own twist on the budding online video market Friday, unveiling an Internet bazaar that allows movie studios, TV networks and any amateur with a camera to sell their wares.

The Google Video Store, launching with 5,000 titles, is the first major challenge to the early lead that Apple Computer Inc. has in the emerging market for online video. It also could help realize the dreams of futurists who have long envisioned the Internet as a creative commons that upends the business models of traditional media.

Independent filmmakers, for instance, can try to bypass Hollywood; dog trainers and yoga instructors can offer how-to videos; and someone who captures a plane crash or other major news event on video can skip the traditional media — all in favor of selling their work as a digital download.

“Now any guy with a camera who believes in what they’re doing can compete with the Sonys and Warner Bros. of the world,” said director Ben Rekhi, who said he turned down a $125,000 distribution deal to instead sell his film “Waterborne” through Google for $4.99 a download.

Rekhi tipped us off about this article in the LA Times, and the fact that his film “Waterborne” was the first independent film to premiere thru Google Video, because of two of the co-stars in his film: Shabana Azmi and Ajay Naidu.

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