In case you missed cliche-ridden, inaccurate and hackneyed writing, my little sister hooks you up with some more– a LOT more (thanks, Veena).
Apparently, a goth belly dancing teacher who also loves participating in renn-faires has conceived, choreographed and executed a Bolly-flavored show in the state represented by the greatest Senator in the U.S. That’s cool– mad love to any gori who loves the brown enough to be down (shout out to our Andrea, who sings in Hindi so beautifully) but the…erm…journalist who wrote this article? I sentence him to a meeting between his ear and my super-vindictive fingers.
From the Phoenix New Times:
Once upon a time (okay, about a month ago), there was a woman named Samantha Riggs who so loved Hindi films (otherwise known as Bollywood, India’s global cinematic export) that she staged a tribute, Bollywood Love Rules…
The lead character of Riggs’ production, Varsha, floated across the stage cradling an oil lamp, which signified her love, and she and her chorus danced in complex formations to a deep, resonant beat, wiggling their hips and snapping their wrists with the attitude of the best Bollywood dancers in all the world.
Ready for the most egregious paragraph? I’m not. And I’ve already read it. Twice. Deep breath
Now, one might think Samantha Riggs and her ensemble cast must be of Indian heritage. But, in reality, their pale faces reveal they’re just a bunch of American girls, more like goth chicks than the daughters of goat herders from Delhi. Bollywood Love Rules would likely be a smash hit back in India. As it is, onstage at the Scottsdale Center for the Arts on a night in early January, the hundreds in the audience — some Indians, some not — don’t seem to care that they’re not in the land of the Punjabi.
Kindly excuse the vein popping out of my forehead and we may commence. FIRST of all, I’m an American girl too, asshole. I think what you meant was, “the performers are not desi”. SECOND, I know dozens of people from Delhi, some of whom I am closely related to– and none of them, family or not, herd goats. Finally (not really, but for the purposes of this paragraph, sure why not) those Arizonans don’t seem to care that they’re not in the land of the PunjabiS, BengaliS, KashmiriS, GujuratiS, MalayaleeS. Tell me, my trite friend, where is the Land of the Punjabi? Is it in the same nation as the Land of the Malayalam?Busta said, “Gimme some more”, so for him, I torture you further. Is Riggs an imminent threat to our cherished dancing queen, DD? Even more pressing– have any of you heard of or attended her classes? I know we have ONE reader in AZ (though sadly, I am not her sister).
The former computer programmer turned choreographer and belly-dance instructor currently makes a living reading tarot cards, eating fire, and teaching college students, earthy bohemians and hippies — women, mostly — how to dance Bollywood-style at Tempe’s Domba Studio. (She’s also taught workshops out of town, from Indianapolis to San Francisco.)
She so could’ve gone to Davis. Well, the Whole Earth Festival at least.
And in the bringing coals to Newcastle category:
Bollywood Love Rules, which featured a cast of almost two dozen, including several performers from Riggs’ Boom Boom Bollywood dance troupe, premièred January 7 in Scottsdale, for a one-night gig. And now, with the help of a couple of Indian doctors who’ve put their reputations — and a sizable bankroll — on the line for Riggs’ production, she and Boom Boom are thinking globally, planning a trip across the pond to Britain later this year.
There’s more, though sadly for all of us, there are no photographs accompanying the article. I’d continue to snark it to shreds, but I need both my migraine meds and to get to work. Read the rest here. Keep your painkiller of choice nearby, I wish I did.
This reminds me of a certain incident where you tasted olive oil ice cream, grimaced in disgust, then urged everyone else to try it. 🙂
Nice Busta shout-out.
your reminder is my command, my darling. 😉
p.s. if you click that pic, it takes you to the flickr page where it lives, in much bigger and NSFW (well, the caption) glory.
p.p.s. NEVER eat olive oil ice cream.
That’s some funny shit. Doesn’t he know that goats are herder-free (and enjoy meals of movie and political campaign posters) in major Indian cities? 🙂 [FYI: I think goats are funny.]
As egregious as the article was, do you think he may have been talking about the outfit known as the Punjabi?
No. 🙂
w00t Veena and ANNA! Too much comedy before lunchtime.
I had to just stop at “daughters of goat herders in Delhi”. Stop reading and walk away, because there’s only so much cliched orientalist fetishism I can take in one sitting 😉
Oh boy. Snarkless. The crystal-loving granola chakra chicks make such an easy target.
Heh. Do they speak Hindu?
As someone who was raised in Tucson, AZ squarely between purple mountains majesty and a sea of Whiteness, and as someone who lived briefly in Davis as a child, attended the Whole Earth Festival and beheld the grotesque spectacle of Davisites donning large, heavy, rubber gloves and groping around the inside of the Holey Cow (if you will), and further as someone who returned to Tucson and contributed his fair share to the “Wow, that was a really dumb article” portion of the Letters to the Editor of various Arizonan (or Arizoni) dailies, I feel compelled to come to the defense of my people.
My people are dumb.
Someone asked me today, in the context of the California textbook row, what I was taught in school about South Asia. I honestly don’t think I learned anything in any of my school classes about South Asia. I can’t recall a single unit in history or social studies devoted to the subject. Maybe it’s because I moved around, or maybe I’ve forgotten, but it’s more likely that South Asia didn’t make it into my curriculum anywhere along the way.
turbanhead:
Yeah. They also speak Muslim and Jew. A little Christian too, but you’ll have to speak slowly – it’s not their first language.
Speaking of goat-herders, goat-herders can immigrate to the United States without going throught the requirements of Labor Certification (H-1) and even if there are other Americans willing, able and ready (EB based green cards) to do the work of goat herding; so was the law when I took the course of Immigration Law in school. They might have of course changed the law, but I dont think they have changed it yet.
Down with the Infidels of Insipidity! But it’s tru..bollywood love does in fact rule
well… it’s a good scrap… what? – he was making a bad pun – goth <-> goat – and he doesnt sound like he’s very old – okok… here’s the deal… a long time back in the hoary past – i drew a nasty caricature of a teacher and published it in a local rag – in hindsight, that was mean, puerile, and i just wanted to impress this girl with my ‘tude – i portrayed the guy as a pop-eyed farting blimp with a roving eye – and the guy totally didnt deserve it and i got a gentle reprimand from another teacher – so ya! part of me says, off with your AZ reporter’s head – another part says, he’s a benign idiot and he’ll probably grow into me. so be gentle.
Ok, the good news is that the law hasnt changed. The bad news is that the immigration waiver is for sheep herders and not goat herders. I apologize for giving false hope to any foreign goat herders.
Most employers of unskilled workers, skilled workers, and professional workers need to obtain labor certification before petitioning INS for permanent residence for those workers based on employment. Exceptions exist for aliens in shortage occupations (registered nurses, physical therapists, sheep herders and those demonstrating “exceptional ability” in business, science, or arts),
I think that goats are a preoccupation for these kinds of people – you know, Arabs are goat-f***ers, and India is in the Middle East, right? And Indians have goats and something, right? And the Punjabis are, like, in the Middle East which India is part of and they have goats too, right?
shout-out to madurai vivekan. that was a hilarious comment.
Actually, the only people I’ve ever known who come close to having goat-herding ancestry are two white guys–one a Canadian-American Jew, and the other a Choctaw-Scotts-Irish Hindu. The Hindu part came a long time after the goats had been sold, I think.
Oh, I guess there was that one time my great grandfather agreed to pet-sit some eccentric cousin’s pet goat, causing much ruckus my City-slicking Calcutta family home b/c the goat ate one of my grandmother’s saris. But that story is always told in the same vein as my mother’s pet rabbit who ate her homework and the pet turtles that caused so much grief, so that goat was never really “herded.”
Feta-cheese rocks, though.
Not much goth. But definitely indie-freak 🙂 This is the new bad Indian girl.
But you gotta applaud the article for not having one instance of the word color. Typically that’s what throws me into epileptic fits.
Here is her website
They are like suicide girls – but that is cool – genuine love for the Bollywood thing.
Thanks siddhartha!
…the mutton biryani at Punjabi Dhaba will never taste the same again.
That is so funny and people, this aint a good read after lunch. Wait for a few hours and then try reading it.
PS: Anna, the link to Andrea’s website needs to be fixed.
You might all be overreacting. The dance itself might be portraying some female rural goat herders/ shepherdesses. Hence the context.
um, i totally love the fact that “Abhi” is a “DJ, Bhangra Dance Consultant, Language & Culture Consultant.” very very interesting. can’t hate cause they got love, I suppose.
but, seriously, do not try the olive oil ice cream. sick.
What were you saying to Anna, Chai? 🙂
This was too much. It almost made me choke on my lunch of chilled monkey brain and snake “surprise.”
thanks for the link socrates … i have to say , i dont think the indian get-up goes with people with light hair, or the thin noses … the dancers look very manly to tell you the truth… i have an indic-ized aunt – who is quite attractive in western attire but looks really weird in a sari – i dont want to say ugly – but really i think indian women have softer curves and the dresses highlight those attributes – it would be an interesting study to figure out if a universal aesthetic was at play in the evolution of the female dress – women wear what makes them look best – or is it that the women who looked ugly in the dress of a particular geo-political locale didnt get to pass on their genes..
deep thoughts.
This was too much. It almost made me choke on my lunch of chilled monkey brain and snake “surprise.”
Goat brain is considered a big delicacy in North India and is called Bheja in India and Maghz in Pakistan.
anna, i missed this in your post the first time around:
you really mean that?
peace
Kidding aside, I’ve tried cow brain in India once (now chaos has come!) and it was quite good.
what are the stats for browns in AZ? (razib?) I’m wondering if this is semi-successful because there aren’t browns around, or because there ARE and it’s kind of a cute novelty to have at brown-day functions…
thanks for the website, Socrates.
We had a couple gauris in Bollywood Axion. One was so freakishly good we started calling her Bollywood Barbie. She was amazing, and all the aunties would flip out when she’d perform at melas and brown-day events.
yow! that’s hot.
i wonder how she’d take to my jeetendra disco tribute.
30000+ Indians in the Phoenix area.
I have two awesome, comfortable salwar suits I brought home from Trivandrum that look great on me. But I never wear them for fear of looking like an indo-fetishist or out-of-date fashion victim. The clothes are esthetically beautiful, but unfortunately come with a lot of symbolic cultural baggage; they’re too heavy for this white girl to wear in New York.
Just keep in mind the new times is a tabloid so whatever they report is usually a crock and should be kept by the toilet….not for reading but for wiping your derrier
to have created sita and yet to have dread of the indic dress … fie! you do us injustice, fair sister.
Dh:
Thin noses? Many Indians have thin noses. Check out Punjab, Haryana, and parts of Rajasthan/Uttar Pradesh.
[Riggs] makes a living reading tarot cards, eating fire, and teaching college students, earthy bohemians and hippies…
ack. this girl sounds like cliche heaven. she and a good much of her bunch don’t know where they fit in life – am i desi, goth, wiccan, hippie, or just had a bit too much sun drip into my head. bless her and her crew’s efforts, but man…..they just seem a wee bit out of touch. hhmm..and it’s funny how she has two pic links that actually work on the site. herself, and one other girl. there’s just soemthing scary – faux here. ok…i now go off to have a super good, really big cringefest.
Punjabis are famous for their noses – and the famous Punjabi nose is not thin! Mine is what is known in the West as a Roman Nose and is very very recognisably Punjabi and it is BIG – although not Pinnochio, but very prominent.
Does this belong in the Annals of Bad Writing on South Asia (http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/001738.html) or is this a whole new category of asshole?
Despite her rough exterior — nine tattoos, bridge and septum piercings, black-blue dreadlocks she refers to as “tentacles,” and a muscle car, a 1984 Trans Am that’s currently “in between engines” and out of commission — she[Samantha Riggs]’s a sucker for romance.
well, she’s a sucker alright. she sounds like she’s wierd as all get out, yet could be cool if someone had gave her a few more braincells. a lot more braincells. she harkens back some really scary memories of this ‘holistic fair’ i woud up at out of curiosity with my mother. it was filled with people like her, trying to sell everything from, i dunno..bat’s butt to soul healing crystals and this magic honey will cure everything that ails you because it comes from special bees kindsa stuff. just too wierd. way to wierd. one need to run when all the odd cliches you read about are right in front of your face, waggling odd things in front of it and chanting odd like. and everyone there walked around saying they were gypsy, but if you aks most of them what romani or other sects are, they look at you with this blank stare – like they were slapped in the face with a wet fish. i knew a few goths, one of them was just as wierd as this, but there was one who was really cool. and she didn’t go for cliches. but yes, points for the bollywood love, just as long as they can keep it from becoming another ingorant western minded cliche. otherwise……gggrrrr…
I think that goats are a preoccupation for these kinds of people – you know, Arabs are goat-f***ers, and India is in the Middle East, right? And Indians have goats and something, right? And the Punjabis are, like, in the Middle East which India is part of and they have goats too, right?
uummmmm……..yeah, right. mmmhhmmm. ookkkkayyyyy…..
and i’m sorry, but i do have to agree with the fair hair thing – even i just didn’t seem to look right in my fairer haired days. i dunno if we’re just used to seeing the outfits with a certian view, and it just seems like it should look right to us, or what. or maybe many non desi people who go for the outfits are doing it because they ‘think it’s cool’, or ‘ because it’s a fad’ or some other reason, whereas for desis, it’s just normal wear, and not done for any society based reasons. it’s clothes. for me, i wear my kurtas, saris, salwars and such because i really don’t care for the fit of most western clothes. especially because you seem to be paying more and more for tighter and less and less stuff with rips and holes, and wierd stuff all over it. i am more confortable in a salwar, and it covers me better. and i don’t feel the need to say oh…i’m a hippy, i’m a gypsy or whatnot because i wear one. i’m just me. in a salwar or sari. and i may be romani, with the old time hippy tendencies, but i can be me without clinging to any certain cliche and making it my lifeblood.
anyhoo……
back to daler. peace all.
When I think of Arizona, I think about Balbir Singh Sodhi, who was gunned down in cold blood by a racist in Mesa, AZ.
Punjabis are famous for their noses – and the famous Punjabi nose is not thin! Mine is what is known in the West as a Roman Nose and is very very recognisably Punjabi and it is BIG – although not Pinnochio, but very prominent.
and cute. punjabi noses are cute. 🙂
yes, ennis…i know exactly what you mean. i often think of he and his family, and how we can stop the hate crimes. matter of fact, i got a press relase from sikhlink about the sunny the porud sikh cartoons today , and that came to mind.
done. 🙂
badmash, i shall not speak of what i said to anna. 😉
[Riggs] makes a living reading tarot cards, eating fire, and teaching college students, earthy bohemians and hippies… rolls eyes … and yet, this is a stereotype that I get to fight against every day. I don’t even teach college students, just fix their computers.
As for us goris in desi clothes… I think that most times we just kind of don’t have a feel for it, what looks right colorwise and cutwise, and a lot of girls end up wearing the wrong fabrics for the wrong occasions. I know I’m probably insane for still searching for the perfect shade of rani-pink when I’m pink as well, but I’m an eternal optimist… who just doesn’t want to wear the wrong color 😛
Like Nina though, I’m a little weird about wearing salwar kameez outside of parties. Most of them are pretty bling-bling anyway, because I wear them on stage when I sing, so they aren’t exactly everyday wear. I wouldn’t go to work or out on any given Saturday night in an evening gown, either… same thing. I wish I was more comfortable with wearing them, though… especially in the hot summers here in Dallas. I’d give anything to even be a LITTLE tan so people wouldn’t look at me funny. And you can’t wear ANYTHING well if you’re worried about What People Think.
Best compliment(?) I have received on the subject: “You’re not that thin, so you actually look good in Indian clothes, not like those starving Hare Krishna goris.” Uhm, thanks auntie….
badmash: she was telling me to do something NASTY!
siddhartha: i am a total McCain-iac. ’tis true. now i feel the exact same way i did when i was ten, and i told that ridiculously cool older boy that i actually liked phil collins’ “sussudio” when i’m certain he would’ve rather heard me mention something, anything by the talking heads.
Seriously though, I’d like to know: what did all of you who grew up in the States learn about South Asia in school?
I thought it was just about matching palettes. Light hair = pastels (else one looks washed out), dark hair = strong colors.
And you’d know exactly what by clicking on the photo 😉
Not a whole lot. Some Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, then nothing, then a brief mention of 1947 right at the end of senior year, when you’re about to graduate from high school, have already chosen your college and are basically goofing off the last five months. In college, everything’s geared toward myths and languages, very little about modern history. It generally reflects the professors’ interests as far as I could tell.