Since I’ve had beauty pageant winners on the brain, I thought I’d share this video with the five of you who haven’t seen and rolled your eyes at it yet. I mean, that’s what I did once I realized what she meant by “condone” (way to kinda fake us out on the News Tab, oh person with unintelligible TypeKey handle).
Natasha Paracha is Miss Pakistan World 2008. She’s an alumna of U.C. Berkeley (go bears!), where she majored in Poli-Sci and started an association for Pakistani students. When she’s not confusing important words which commence with the letter “C” ;), she’s thinking about current events, about which she had the following to share:
The recent tragedy in Mumbai was the work of misguided individuals who do not represent a specific religion, creed or nationality…The fact these young men may have links to Pakistan is in no way indicative of the culture and caliber of people that represent Pakistan. It is my hope the world views this tragedy with those thoughts in mind as we all mourn for the victims and their families. [link]
More:
The tragedy in Mumbai has left us all in shock. It is difficult to understand that such violent acts are taking place in metropolitan regions. First, the attacks that were carried out at Marriott in Islamabad and now this…I have family and friends that live close to the Taj and Oberoi and my heart goes out to all those innocent people involved. [link]
All right, now which one of you (or ten of you) went to Cal with her and have stories about that one time she got her belly pierced at Zebra on a dare, and it, like, totally got infected? Oh, snap…that was me. Carry on, bear cubs and mutineers…
She can condone my attacks…
how did she get in Berkley?
that should have been “Berkeley”…..
2 · newbie said
By condoning the attacks.
did she actually say “the” india?? as if condone wasn’t bad enough.
4 · Manju said
Twice even! Inconceivable!
must be that affirmative action thing..
She would still probably beat Miss South Carolina, like everywhere such as.
“Inconceivable. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means….” – Iniego Montoya
P.S. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
Condemn, condone..it’s all the same really…
SMH.
8 · Asha and Anjali’s Dad said
I don’t know. Miss S. Carolina just struck me as a girl who had a brain-fart on stage and choked. Hilarious though it was it’s hard to say how smart she actually is based on that. I’ve had unfortunate moments like that during presentations and I’m told that I am pretty smart.
This girl, though, decided to go on CNN Intl. without any prepared remarks, cursory study of the issues, or talking points on hand. So she just spouted some meaninglessly vague generalized platitude. Way to represent.
Why did CNN Intl. think it was appropriate to have a pageant queen show up to weigh in on a serious international relations issue anyway? It’s leagues dumber than CNN having Deepak Chopra come on. Is there such a dearth of Indian and Pakistani members of the commentariat (who aren’t paid employees of their respective governments) that they couldn’t find someone who could offer context or insight into the issue?
She made a blunder. Unfortunate that it had to be on national television. But if she weren’t Pakistani would it even matter? I also don’t understand why the insight of a pageant queen matters either.
i’d say the image of Pakistan has been reinforced by these attacks
Come on cut her some slack…she meant well 🙂 Looked up her on Wiki and I am impressed “Paracha, who is currently living in New York, founded the Pakistani Student Association at UC Berkley and later a non-profit Vision of Development which works for the uplift of women in rural Pakistan.”
She’s pretty dumb
i for one condom her
14 · iddiyappam said
Doesn’t this make her blunder worse? Because her resume lists many situations where she needs to be talking point and camera ready, we should expect her to be even more articulate. At LEAST to know how to define and use the word “condone.” At minimum, don’t use words you don’t know how to use…
And in case she does come across the site, here you go sweetie.
(This is why Cal sux and Bruins ROCK!)
16 · Taz said
wow! condescending much? i’m sure you’ve never flubbed even a word while speaking. ever.
Let her be brown.. we’re defined by diversity. But a Bear!?… I REFUSE to accept that. Must have got in on a football scholarship.
Atleast Miss South Carolina was entertaining, due to its unintended comical value. It was also refreshing that she came out and made fun of herself too. However, this the miss the pakistan the, the I need the three minutes back the.
10 · NaraVara said
Exactly.
The host goes was on a dodgy current affairs show in Australia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tst5_SnmqXs&feature=related
Oai… ae kee.. I cliked on the pakistanworld link and vot do I see but hazel the old croc herself. stop the usurp-ation you umreekis. pasracha is a mississagi creation. 🙂
Didn’t Manish of Ultrabrown go to Berkeley?
two words: hot dumb
As somebody who used ‘flint’ for ‘lint’ and ‘clutch’ for ‘crutch’ in the last few days, I have great sympathy for Miss. Pakistan. Well, you haterz, how do you explain Obama’s ’57 states’ , ‘St. Louis’ for ‘Kansas City’ etc. 🙂
That was excruciating.
The only way it could have been more painful was if this beauty pageant contestant was interviewed by Barkha Dutt, with science-related commentary from Deepak Chopra.
Hold the stones, people! I blame the talking head interviewing her. She should have asked Natasha Paracha to clarify herself with her point about “condoning” the attacks and if the beauty queen continued to say “condone” then well, you can be the judge. Otherwise, it’s a woeful mix up of similar-sounding words like…you know, like Natacha Parasha.
That’s all it was, folks. Happens quite often, that’s why there’s a word for it.
A lot of Pakistani society is in denial at the moment, and new conspiracy theories about Mumbai are still being floated. At least she did admit that the Mumbai attackers were Pakistanis, even if as ‘non-state actors’.
The real takeaway for me in what she said, to paraphrase: “I wouldn’t call India and Pakistan enemies. We’re more friends and colleagues.” Now there’s a hopeful thought.
13 · iddiyappam said
but isn’t it so much more fun to be mean spirited? ’tis even the season for that, i hear.
i wonder if she meant “condole” instead of “condone”? although i’ve never really heard americans use “condole” as a verb in day-to-day speech whereas i’ve heard it frequently in india. but then “condole these attacks” doesn’t make much sense but perhaps she meant “condole with the victims of these attacks” or something like that.
24 · Evil Abhi said
guilt by association!! forte of the pseudo-secular liberal apologists.
For those who keep comparing this with the Miss South Carolina, the So.Carolina girl was 18 or 19 when that flub happened. This Pakistan pageant girl is 23. But she just screwed up one word, which thanks to the beauty of the English language, sounds similar and means opposite, apposite?
my wife is a lot hotter than her….
From her wiki page:
“The 23-year-old graduate from the University of California at Berkeley replaces Mahleej Sarkari who created quite a stir last month when she called Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf a hunk and expressed a desire to date him. “
Forget Natascha the chick before her had a crush on Musharaff. That is ridic!
Yeah, it was just the one word she flubbed that made her seem less than einstein-like.
Eh, she’s young and she shouldn’t have been asked to comment. Television news is hilarious – anyone remember the Seinfeld where Jerry is dating his maid and he’s all like, “yeah, but what she really wants os to be an actress some day, or…” and Elaine goes, “yeah, or?” and Jerry goes, “….or, a tv anchor.” Or something like that. I did not go to Berkley. I can barely read and write as it is. Punctuation, grammar, whatever. That is so repressive.
As a Pak, let me say this: this fart does NOT represent Pakistan period. She was just in the right place at the right time unfortunately, just like the other fraud fart Sheeraz Hasan who claims to be the “American Muslim Dream” when in reality he was a nightmare for every Paki on planet Earth. We praised Reshma Dordi, when she bought out all his sponsors for his stupid show, so dumn I wanted to slap him. God is Almighty indeed for miraculously removing him from the airwaves. Both Paracha and Hasan are butts of all jokes Pakistani, as well also Zardari come to think of it. Only in Pakistan can a criminal can become a Prime Minister. As we speak, he is still living the same shady life, stealing millions of dollars from “the war on terror” and ordinary citizens that don’t even have enough food for God’s sake. My first trip to Pak last year made me angry thinking of how the middle class and poor are so disregarded by the government, they don’t even have paved roads to travel on, and are forced to bribe on every aspect of life even on things like parking to get food. Instead on using their money to better themselves, they spend their lives bribing. We then lose these young kids to fanatics who steal the innocent souls of these misguided kids. And then they kill based on the agenda of sick people who have no religion. Such little things we take for granted here in LA. May God get Zardari good if not this life, then in the hereafter. My prayers are always with the people of Pakistan, may God give them a true leader that can have the balls to “CONDEMN terrorism in all forms.” Where are the guts to say: yes a poor street kid from Pakistan was brainwashed to terrorize and was responsible for the massacre. Why the run around? Why the BS? Living in LA, we have so many honorable, educated Paki’s truly worthy of a humble 1 minute on CNN, but then we always find ourselves dusted under the rug by these fools. And WTF is the dabs on the face? F—ing fool. India- we are deeply sorry for the bombings in Mumbai, may God be with you, my prayers are. Don’t forget your Pak friends, the real ones- not the posers. If you want to get us back, please entertain the idea of Zardari.
Paklegal, me likey you ;).
Jokes apart, there are so many strong and beautiful women in Pak; so it’s sad that someone who has grown up in US have to represent Pak.
I went to school with Natasha, and while we weren’t friends we had a lot of friends in common and traveled in similar circles. She’s bright, sincere, opportunistic (I don’t mean that in a loaded/negative way, just a descriptive way), and sometimes comes off airheaded. She was a Greek and was also active among Pakistani students — PakSA definitely got off the ground because of her co-leadership (she founded it with a handful of others), and it later went on to do awesome things as a student organization. She’s not uninformed/dumb, particularly not on issues that impact Pakistan. On the flip side, her insights aren’t sparklingly brilliant, but I can see how her explanations/understanding could get lost in translation.
I think she was probably just flustered, trying to manage pre-planned soundbites, her earpiece falling out, and trying to speak on behalf of all Pakistanis. Whether I think winning a weird beauty pageant held outside of Pakistan (i.e., hosted by members of the Pakistani diaspora and pretty much exclusive to specific ethnic groups / elites) entitles one to speak with authority on anything is a different question.
7 · lostone said
<
blockquote>
Look, don’t utilize someone’s nervousness as an opportunity to vent your racist screed.
AHH BLOCKQUOTE. My comment starts at “Look,” not at the nasty affirmative action crack.
40 · Camille said
Fixed! While you were commenting, even! 😉
39 · Camille said
Ahh, I see its a diaspora thing. I was thinking she was representing Pak in Ms World or Ms. Universe or some such pageant. Ok, that takes care of the comment I was making earlier.
SM INTERN – my hero/heroette. While you are at it can you delete my stupid comments to Amardeep’s poetry post? I wanted to make a joke about poetry and now there are three wierd comments by me on the thread, one of which sounds like I am insulting the poet when I didn’t mean to do that.
(SM needs a ‘within thirty seconds scrub’ key: : )
Also, who decides to ask people to comment on television news? Jeez, isn’t that some producers job or something? Picking people just because they are a certain ethnicity to comment on a news story seems wierd to me, especially if they have no expertise in an area.
Oh C’mon, all this for a seemingly stupid girl. Everybody gets stupid now and then. I could prolly pull more dumb Indian girl videos. Just because she’s from pakistan. We share (atleast the punjabis) a LOT and a little thinking, its quite possible that zardari has not control over whats going on. Honestly, I was thinking it was an election stunt until FBI was putting out statements. It speaks more about America’s double standards more than anything else.
Plus, she is kinda hot, but.. a Berkeley chick, nah..
I, for one, welcome our Muslim insect overlords…
To Qoute “Billy Madison”
“..what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I AWARD YOU NO POINTS, AND MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL.”
oh really. Now being anti-affirmative action is racist!!! then millions of DBDs must be racist. For someone who is so smart, your disdain for alternative points of view is quite unbecoming.
is she an american of pakistan descent or a pakistani who studied in the USA. If the first, she really has no clue about current day pakistan. Quite similar to ABDs who spout on about India when they have not been to the country in 20 odd years.
48 · melbourne desi said
I was confused about that, too. Her wiki page is a bit of a mess. I did find this, however:
The comments on THAT blog make me grateful for you mutineers! Now please, play nice, all of you!
48 · melbourne desi said
Next year, I am sad to admit that I will resemble that remark. 🙁 I was last in Kerala in 1989.
I am grateful you wrote ABD vs. the other acronym, which makes me want to punch someone. 🙂
The other being ABCD? Bring it on!! j/k ,,,, :), a little bored thats all.
Paklegal, your comment is one of the most entertaining I’ve read on SM in a while. Just make sure the “American Muslim Dram” (aka “Hollywood’s Ambassador to Bollywood”) doesn’t run you over with his Lamborghini. Or throw one of his many awards at you.