Friends, mutineers, countrymen, lend me your ears. There is something that has been bothering all of us here at our North Dakota headquarters for quite some time now. We talk about it often in hushed tones. It is the extreme dearth of fresh new desi bloggers out there. We are ever vigilant and constantly searching for freakishly interesting and smart bloggers to be pulled into the Mutiny and to blog tirelessly for you. We can’t keep doing this forever on our own, especially since many of us are going through transitions in our busy lives. To be perfectly honest, I think that when the time comes we will suddenly and viciously pull the plug on SM. It will be just after the moment we feel that we’ve got no blog left to give and nobody else is capable of picking up the keyboard to mutiny forward. If you like spending time on this website then don’t say we didn’t warn you. I sometimes wonder, if we never existed would more of you be blogging now? Must we burn Rome to save Rome?
So what am I asking? Some of you need to start blogging and do so with a purpose. Almost all of the guests we’ve had were bloggers even before SM was created. Where’s the new blood? We aren’t looking for suggestions like, “Hey what about so-and-so? Why don’t you ask them to guest.” Please don’t use the comments following this post for that. We wouldn’t be worth the ink on our blog unless we were also good scouts. We scout bloggers, sometimes for months, before inviting them to guest for you. Most often we find them by the content of their blogs, especially if they consistently leave interesting comments on SM or expounding on something they read here first. We are scouting several of you right now as a matter of fact.
As you may have noticed SM is very secretive (as all good mutinies must be to survive infancy), but for the first time ever I am revealing the basic requirements we look for in new bloggers (besides being desi). No surprise here:
1) Must be North American or have lived in North America for a significant amount of time.
2) Has a fabulous voice (voice = great writing + interesting perspective) and can cover a wide variety of topics (not just a small range of topics that they know really well). With a little research and a little snark they should be at ease writing about the policies of the International Monetary Fund or Diwali Barbie in under 90 minutes.
3) Have experience with blogging or internet publishing. We are too busy to teach people how to publish something on the web and how to use basic html tags. If you’ve run your own blog for a while then all this should be easy. Thus, if you aren’t already a blogger then you probably won’t be a good fit until you become one, even if you just won the Booker (just kidding Kiran…call me).
4) Be a fearless and passionate writer, not someone who worries how they “sound.”
Now maybe you are thinking to yourself, “Hey! I’m a blogger and I meet all those criteria, why haven’t they approached me?” Please don’t take it personally. You might be a great blogger/writer but we also look at other things like how much time we think you have, how well your tone complements ours, and several other intangibles. We love to see diversity in our guest bloggers but we’ll never invite someone just for the sake of being diverse.
Just today I got this email:
Hi!
I’m a South Asian American born and raised in the U.S. (my parents are from Pakistan), and right now I’m a senior in high school. I was wondering if I could write for this blog. I’ve been following it for a year and half now, and I am absolutely enamored by it! I’ve noticed though that there aren’t any Pakistani voices, so I thought I could contribute to that. K, hope to hear from you guys soon! Thanks!
You know, we’d love to have a Pakistani American and especially a young one write in this space. I’d personally (not speaking for my co-bloggers) like to invite guests that are 18-30. Perhaps some of them are hating grad school as much as I was when I started blogging. If you think you got something to say then start saying it and we’ll find you. We’re always watching.
Don’t make us burn this blog down to save the spirit of the Mutiny.
To vivek, #76: Thanks for thinking of me! 🙂 Perhaps I will blog (publicly).
Hi,
I would like to be a blogger on the mutiny that I have religiously read for the past year and I fit all the criteria you mentioned except I wouldn’t be able to tell you if I fit the creative criteria, so .. um want me to write like a pseudo-blog-write-up or something ? Also, I am open to criticism and have no fear of writing opinions that are my own.
Little about me > been in US since 9th grade (1997), currently finishing last semester of college, have a job that I would like to quit at any given opportunity and what better way then to go out because I spent too much time on sepia mutiny.. believe me I have absolutely NO PROBLEMS with that scenario.
Ennis: just curious about your age spectrum splits by gender, family pressure and a few other variables. Would you elaborate? Also, if others feel comfortable, I would like to know if there are any older, single mutineers, straight or gay, who’ve articulated a trajectory that won’t/or hasn’t yet include(d) marriage, children and other conventional indicators of settling down.*
I can count on both hands, men and women alike who fall into this space.
And, before we rush in call it Aunty/Spinster– Uncle/Batchelorhood I’d like to learn about the language others have been using to describe where they are.
Is that so much to ask? 😉 Well, I appreciate that it might be so I respect not being answered. Settling down is rather a loaded issue for our diaspora.
Bidismoker: I am a Hindu. And a hooligan.
BTW, JoAT:
Way to go, sister. Bellan away in all directions, as you deem appropriate.
Guest bloggers have told us that it’s a very different experience to comment than to post, and it’s different again to post 3x / week. Similarly, writing for an audience of friends is very different from writing for an audience of strangers. You can’t assume that they’re inherently interested in what you have to say, just because it’s you. And you have to have a fairly thick skin.
The only way we’ve found to see if somebody is well suited to this rather perverse experience is to see if they’re doing it on their own.
Please people – this wasn’t meant to be a snobby “You’re not good enough” to people who are already blogging and who haven’t received the 3AM knock on their door by secret service agents. It was meant to encourage those who aren’t blogging to start blogging.
now clickable
Point taken 🙂
53, I am forty-ish, born in Kolkata, raised a California girl, definitely surviving, would like to say thriving, but still sometimes belting out Donna Summer in the shower for inspiration: “At first I was afraid, I was petrified …” (If you start singing along, you’re old as the hills, too.) I think MANY like me who grew up here and had no desi community around us are frequent, thirsty SM lurkers. I love reading about the wide range of experiences, and especially enjoy reflections from the younger dudes now that I’m raising two brown young men of my own. And Pooja, NO MORE EXCUSES, girl — Didi wants to see your blog jump-started before that book of yours launches (Mama’s Saris, Little Brown 2007).
I don’t mean to get sidetracked here, but I feel secure enough in my (hetero)sexuality to point out that: (1) I believe you mean Gloria Gaynor, not Donna Summer, and (2) it isn’t just old folks who would sing along, one suspects our hilarious new friend Sin would sing along lustily as well.
(Reminds me of a hilarious line from the Daily Show a few months back. In describing an imaginary form that Texas state authorities would use to keep gay couples from becoming foster parents, Stewart said that question 1 would be: “Fill in the Blank … At first I was afraid, I was ______. A. Very scared, B. Petrified.”)
I believe about a year or so ago, Abhi had DIRECTLY listed the commenters he’d like to see start blogging, in a post, for all the world to see. Some did, like Punjabi Boy, but some of y’all ignored it. If you’d started blogging back when he hinted that you’d rock at it, maybe you’d be Guest Blogging or added to the Mutinous Core. That Abhi is methodical yet mystical; I bet he knew back then that he’d write this post today. He bends the space-time continuum. He ought to be on “Heroes”.
-I’d look up the link, but I’m scarce on time today. I’m sure Abhi knows which post I speak of…
Mitali, the link to your blog doesn’t work 🙁
Awwww, Mitali Didi, you are so sweet. You read my piece in the latest issue of PaperTigers; maybe 2007 will be the year ;).
Thank you, again, for all your support.
Try this.
I had no idea you thought me so old or felt so alienated. In all seriousness however, I disagree. Gen Y ain’t THAT different; they keep biting our music, though I can’t blame them considering the dreck they get to choose from, to ameliorate their MyAss profile with…
As for the “Hindu” question, we’re never going to check off boxes or entertain quotas. We’re more interested in if someone is interesting and that has worked for us and plenty of thankful readers who are more concerned with good reading than potential biases. I didn’t realize we were so hostile to Hindusim. I think of us as an open space, with respect for all.
The non-desi thing ain’t gonna happen and we went through that, upthread. As for the “not so desi” part, perhaps you are new, but a few of us swing that way (Siddhartha immediately comes to mind, besides me).
(Minor Pet Peeve alert!)
I hate to break it to everyone, but that “I had no Indian friends and like, I am totally black/brown/purple-washed and…and…I didn’t do typical desi things”-shit ain’t unique, either. If you feel that way, you are not special and you were not alone. Every third person who comments here has that exact backstory. It’s why we all get along so well. /end peeve.
I’m an ex-sorority girl (only brown one in all ten houses at one point) who hasn’t been to India since ’89, who is about to turn 32 AND I’m still not married. You want to talk about feeling like an “outcast”?
Oy veh! What has happened to this thread? First the power dynamic discussion, then the “nominate my friends who don’t blog regularly” batch, followed by the “nominate me but I haven’t started blogging yet” group, and now, after all that, holey moley, it’s about biodatas!
All I have to say ANNA, is I am so having my parents contact your parents, ok?
Hey ANNA:
Thanks for an answer to my question (#107), sort of. My sense is that there are plenty of outcasts around.
Make some noise people.
i agree with anna’s point about the non-desi backstory being a common thread among many readers/posters here. it certainly is a contributing factor to the sense of community. it’s the same reason why the social outcasts and school seemed to get along with each other; this site has provided us with others to share our sense of “outcast”-ness.
anyway, regarding the age thing, i think there is a difference between the 30+ 2nd gen populous and the 22-28 2nd gen populous. it has little do to with very distinct experiences growing up 2nd gen and more to do with the different stages in life faced by the age groups. for example, posts have dealt with the issue of the freak-out-about-not-being-settled-down stage of life, which is rooted in the age thing. i’m sure twentysomethings obsess over this too, but given the “traditional” ages by which certain events/decisions are put into motion, it’s more evident to those in their 30’s. i don’t want this to be taken as complaining, b/c i’m certainly not. rather i’m suggesting that there is a difference in content motivated by age. not a bad thing, not a good thing, just a thing worth pointing out.
variety is the spice of life. cliche but true (and we’re all down for more spiceyness right?). more age differentiation in the authorship would benefit the blog in my opinion.
Really? Whom? When? Enquiring minds and all that … I’m fascinated. I really can’t believe I’ve seen these posts.
DTK said: “I don’t mean to get sidetracked here, but I feel secure enough in my (hetero)sexuality to point out that: (1) I believe you mean Gloria Gaynor, not Donna Summer…”
Oops. I must have been thinking about how someone left my cake out in the rain. More evidence of early onset memory loss. Scratch the “Didi” self-identification, Pooja, and call me Auntie. Sigh.
B-but I thought we were all special? (tear)
I mean you said that like, three posts ago…
after that whole kaavya vishwanathan scandal, i’m sure all those famous brown writers know about, and probably frequent this site. they should de-lurk and guestblog. aint nothing wrong with that–plus it would add to their hipness and take the mutiny to another level.
I have to second Ennis here…which posts? There have, however, been plenty of “dating-while-desi”-comment orgies and if I’m not mistaken, they were wall-to-wall young people, i.e. those dewy, more relevant desis in their twenties.
Look. I know plenty of women in their mid-20s who are WAY more freaked out about feeling “unsettled”/not being married yet than I am. Even if we GET a so-called “younger” blogger, there’s no guarantee they’d write the posts you’re hoping for– they might be the most wonky, mature blogger in the bunker. Then what?
i dunno, maybe they just stand out to me. i searched for “marriage” and “settle down” and got quite a few hits 🙂
See the thing is that those of us “deemded” outcasts don’t really consider ourselves as that anymore. I don’t care too much to be part of any group that doesn’t want me because there are plenty that do. I’d think a lot of the folks here are sort of “outcasts” and that is what binds them together. I mean part of the reason I feel like I’m part of this community and belong here is because the folks here seem to be sort of as abnormal as me and that’s endearing. So I don’t really feel the need to burn my bra or bridges or that other general trantrum crap I’ve pulled in the past while trying hard to reject the rejecting group 🙂
And I do believe there is a disconnect between Gen X & Gen Y, not in that they both haven’t gone thru equal angst but we were raised with different expectations. Most of us Gen Xers were first born kids and had to deal with a lot of shit from our parents that our Gen Y siblings never had to deal with. That is the big disconnect. I had to fight for and work hard for everything. A lot of things came easy my brother’s way without much effort. Immediate things that come to mind, profession/education/more than one hole in the ear/music bla bla bla.
But the youth angst…oh please…it’s the same shit. Everyone is young, angry and horny at a certain age. Been there done that.
I looked at a few of them – each time it was from a comment, never from the post. Would love to see any examples you have.
Perhaps, mayhaps, maybe … you’re (ahem) projecting?
well, regardless of being posts or comments, they become the subject of discussion. so posts are either about these topics or inspire discussion of these topics. again, i’m not complaining since they are relevant issues. just pointing out they exist. a few examples:
yet another arrange marriage story white american christians emulate arranged marriage “Dude I was at this Indian Wedding Over the Weekend…” My eyes “gleam” when I think about being arranged
since when is “the freak-out-about-not-being-settled-down stage of life” the same thing as ARRANGED MARRIAGE?
who said they were synonymous? i never did. given that i first wrote the phrase for this post, i’ll clarify and indicate that it’s inclusive of marriage related issues but not strictly defined by that.
Oh. No. You. Didn’t. Plus it’s more like this than that.
I’m with Ennis. I’m in that age range and there’s much freaking out going on.
coughSepiaDestinycough
Vivek, post#76.
Why thanks Vivek 🙂 I share your taste btw. I think Shruti, Deepa and I’ll add Pritha, (who could talk about what she ate for lunch every day) would make an excellent bloggerz. Of the bloggers here already, I sneak over to Badmash, MD, your own collective, and Razib. All good stuff.
Here’s the scoop on blogging in the Motherland as researched recently by MSN:
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blockquote>India’s blogosphere is heavily dominated by men; three quarters (76%) of its bloggers are male while women only account for 24%. This goes against the trend in the region where blogging was fairly evenly matched between the sexes although in some markets such as Singapore was slightly more female dominated. India’s blogosphere is also fueled by young adults with 54% of bloggers between the ages of 25 – 34, 32% under 25, and 15% over 35.
Hmmm … I wonder how that compares with the SM bloggers, or North American desi bloggers in general ..
Paging Rajni, SM Intern…cleanup on aisle —. Anyone…anyone…Bueueller…Bueueller…
NEVER FEAR– the intern is here! 😀
(Can I get a hearty WTF regarding that comment???)
Anna’s malu, over 30, and not married?
Aiyyo! My cousin gets harassed on a daily basis for that and shes 27. My moms excuse “It’s because she is fat. Desi guys born in America don’t like fat girls like her. So put down that lemon meringue pie and go workout because I can’t take care of you forever”
sorry for going offtopic, I should save this for therapy :/
a) Having a good voice is very difficult. It has to do with talent, the ability to present good content, and above all being a writer (or even in the ballpark).
b) [Brown, South Asian, Subcontinental, Indo, Pakistani, Bangla, Sri Lankan…] – North American community isn’t that large. If there isn’t that much quality content out there in the mainstream, it will be harder to find diamonds in the rough among this particular community. (Yes, I know I sound like a blog-snob, but providing quality content is difficult.)
c) Despite all the pessimistic thoughts of above, good blogs with an interesting voice do exist. Patience is a virtue of the wise and finding a good blog with quality content is more than being linked by, or linking to sites with high volume.
d) Goodluck in finding interesting, fun, dedicated, and hardworking bloggers that have ‘it’. This site as a team does a solid job of providing good content among the chaos of the internet.
Dude I think the same guy had another attack of verbal diarrhea a while ago that required cleaning. What the fuck was that???
Aiyyo Amini your aunt sounds like a real gem!
Gujudude I lost you between the 180 about turn between B & C. LOL what was that?
Said like a true Auntie, edi. 🙂
Eh, tell your Moms that Malayalee boys don’t like skinny girls as well– I have proof. I got down to a body fat percentage in the teens two years ago and they weren’t interested then, either.
At least now that I’ve got a kundi again, the Tamil boys be hollerin’. That’s the closest I’m gonna get to some thenga-flavored lovin’. Meanwhile, thick or thin, I get mad love from Gujurati and especially Punjabi boys. There’s something to be said for that. 😀
I smell a post, if absolutgcs will allow it… 😉 I keed, I keed!
Wow. Are this post, and the comments in response, for real?
Uh huh. Ennis, you know what they say about the Road to Hell. 😉
JoAT: I agree with your position, wholeheartedly.
The point I was making centered around settling down and those who do deem us outcasts for not settling down, be it for our work, our play or our plork (a combination thereof)–the helpful aunties/uncles, etc. who shake their heads and say “Don’t you want to settle down beti/beta?”
Hey Desitude, thanks!
FYI: for lunch today I had falafel. When I miss my family the most I look for things made out of besan. And, while falafel is not besan per se, it’s close enough for me. My neighborhood falafel place is actually a Moroccan place. And, these guys are highly, highly gifted pita makers/bakers–each one light and airy like a roomali roti but substantial enough to hold a few falafel pieces, a pickle, chopped parley, tomatoes, slightly bitter tahini and a ton of 5-alarm harissa in check ’til the last bite.
(When my parents visit, they like to get a few of these pita and have them instead of hath roti, at night. This is because my kitchen, according to them, is bad for making roti. My mother takes hers with plain yogurt and sugar. My dad, with dal and pickle. Of course, pitas are forgotten when there’s a steak to be had. Then my kitchen becomes most excellent.)
Anyway, the nicest thing about this place is that they give gratis a sweet, babusa–a small piece of cornbread lightly moistened with orange flower water and honey. I asked why once and the fellow said something to the effect that babusa makes life sweeter.
It does, Desitude, it does.
JOAT, I’m Gen ‘Y’ and I’ve had a parallel situation…sometimes it can just be the oldest child syndrome. My little sis gets away with things way more easily than I ever did, and my parents were much stricter with me.
It isn’t just ageism hurting us ‘can’t be bothered gettin our own blog but too addicted to not comment’ lazy bitches. It’s regionalism too.
lIke OmG! wtF! First we’re too young and now we’re too distant. My heart is broken. Also this isn’t an original suggestion and I know The Exotification Hater has her on this blog but I’d like the Barmaid back. Please 🙂
I am totally purplewashed.
hey with pics like those, who am i to stop you 😉 just kidding. in my kannada speaking household, we called your kundi a tikka. funny eh? i always got a kick out of seeing it on n. indian menus. anyway, glad to see you are who you are now and are not counting body percentage points for the eyes of anyone.
in all seriousness, to all sm authors and bloggers alike, keep the posts coming. one point that hasn’t been made in all this obsession about quality of blogs/posts is that when it comes to south asian american content, i would rather have a glut to sift through than a drought leaving me thirsty. so there you have it, i really do appreciate all the paranoid “shoot, what about me” fears masquerading as arranged marriage posts 😉
Did I mention btw, that I’m 26, and went to uni in the US? Because I’m totally the target blogger demographic 😉 Also, I’ve done the agony aunt stuff before, and would love to do it here if you guys like–I may even (gasp) be serious about it, and not just launch into diatribes ending with accounts of exactly how much alcohol I consume in a 24-hour period (a lot).
As a guest blogger though, I have to say this; while I initially felt somewhat overwhelmed by the “three posts per week” rule, I can totally see it being necessary. It keeps you involved. shrug Maybe that’s just me.
Pooja, I can’t believe I lectured you about blogging! Yeah Pooja, I will so buy that book! Oh, it makes me so happy to see things like that.
PS: I sort of love the SM intern….
sin, I would read you agony-uncle column: it would be very funny, I bet.
Hmm, well I’m glad you’re up there reppin’ that demographic which refers to being gay as a “lifestyle choice.”
Lifestyle choices? When people use that term in reference to a queer person, they’re talking about that person living as a queer. I understand everything is a choice, but when you come down to it, what other kind of life should a queer person live besides a queer one if that’s just what he/she/ze is? Sorry if I’m reading too much into this, but I’m just a little uncomfortable with the way you phrased that. Sin’s residence in Pakistan will definitely cause a “disconnect” from American 20-somethings… but his queerness? How are you so sure that queerness is something that only a minority of the population has to deal with? Anything can seem insignificant when you marginalize it.
And since you bring it up so often, can you explain what us “normal” 20-something American desis have to deal with that isn’t being addressed by Sepia Mutiny? What is the early 20s desi experience that you’re so sure you have on lock-down? Because you’re 23 and I’m 21 and I rarely relate to anything you talk about. The only thing I can think of that pertains to younger desis and hasn’t been sufficiently discussed here is, ironically, queerness.
HAHA Vivek, I was typing as you posted that!
Oh jeez and how different is it than your lifestyle other than the fact that you might like girls and he likes boys. Dude get your head out of your ass occassionally and come out for a breather.
BTW I’m in raptures over the idea of an ek-do team of Sin and Yo Dad as agony-uncles. And Barmaid and JOAT as agony-aunties. (JOAT, put your bellna down, agony-aunties are not that kind of aunty…)