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…
50 · ROMEO 86 said
ABCD stands for American Born Condoning Desis, right?
53 · Paklegal said
You know what really pisses me off about the that L-car video, why do people think its a good car? Its cheap CRAP and before people come in saying whatever, the last good L-car was the Diablo. This would seem a little “toot you own horn”-ish but when I bought my F-car, I drove Porsches, Lambos, the works, the new lambos dont cut it, people that dont have enough money that want a nice car. Murcielago is better, much better but sadly I cant afford that, but I’m very(very very) happy with what I have, James bond seems to agree with me…
51 · Seahawks fan said
Haha. You mean the rented Lamb., when in reality he lives in a small apartment in BH driving a VW bug? Or those faltoo awards he PDF’d and tweaked his name onto? Yes you and I saw through all of that. He needs a tha-pur from his mom, a Seahawks fan….and me! I’ll just stand behind my tv as Showbiz India is on. What a shield. Ohhh…that’ll make him melt. Karachi Kuchra. I don’t know what part he’s from, just made that up. I have family there, I should shut up. Plus he’s ugly as hell, you know Arnold was screaming inside touching that thang.
54 · ROMEO 86 said
You must have it good…I walk to work.
On behalf of Pakistani girls everywhere, I’m embarrassed. I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
I am commenting only to applaud Paklegal. You are my hero! You took the words right out of my mouth. I was thinking of that kambakhat Sheeraz, aka American Nightmare as well. That fraud! I thank Reshma for making my Saturday mornings khubsoorat. I know Ms. Paracha, and can confirm Camille’s comments on her. Natasha means well, but isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. Why she decided to go on CNN and broadcast her lack of eloquence? I have no idea…all publicity is good publicity? Anyone Facebook friends with her will know she’s all about self-promotion. She advertised her CNN interview for days on her Facebook status and uploaded albums full of her “modeling” photos. I wish she spent more time preparing for the interview instead of bakwasing her way through it. Miss Pakistan sucks. Epic fail 2008.
56 · paklegal said
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blockquote>54 · ROMEO 86 said
You would think, I just dont have my priorities right. i cant take that car anywhere, ~70,000 in repairs in the last year alone (insurance covered, but still). Cant be in traffic, it overheats,, what else… And I’ve started liking cars better than girls,, evil things, these cars 🙂
54 · ROMEO 86 said
check again, prices have collapsed in the exotic car market, perhaps less so for lambo than ferraris, which were really trading at a premium and thus have much more room to fall. (btw, people buy the gallardo b/c it doesn’t trade at a ridiculous premium like the equivalent Ferrari 460, is arguably better build than the aforementioned f-car b/c of Audi, and is arguably more usable due to 4-wheel drive.)
however, subway passes are going up.
I really admire all of you folks. You must all be so articulate and perfect, and have amazing diction, and must be founts of brilliant thoughts! And all of you seem like such decent, kind, and nice people to boot! What a wonderful community!
38 · IndoChick said
Thank you for that comment, I mean how hard is it, to go to USC and find a professor? What is insane is no matter how book smart Paracha may be, she does not have the authority to represent us, she doesn’t even know the 101 on a game plan before sitting in front of millions of people. She’s far from polished, and that unfortunately is the worst PR. How grossly irresponsible is that. From people I know that know her, she had the nerve to proudly post that video on her Facebook- full on, with the face dabs. Does she not have any shame? For all I know she might as well scratched her armpit, she was on that same wavelength anyway…..
Natasha: No offense, but you could have at least rehearsed in front of a mirror. I’m sure you got to brag to your friends you were gonna be on TV, but you should have used that time to think of something meaningful to say like…”I’m Sasha Fierce” then you would get to go to Obama’s Inauguration. Fail.
I’m fairly sure she knows the difference between “condone” & “condemn”, she looked like she was in some jet lag fugue state. She needs to take “tuition” from Haqqani, that guy is the master. My critique is pretty much the same that I would have of the minority of DBDs I meet who grew up in a posh Indian environment. Basically that they are trying to describe an elephant having seen nothing but its toenails. There I said it, ABDs whose parents come from a humble background often know more about “real India” than this subset of DBDs. There’s probably cognitive dissonance between what she sees at the homes of her parents’ peer group in Pakistan and the disturbing news we all see coming out of that country
62 · paklegal said
and still you mock pasracha, and not the idiot 24 hour news networks for which each of you pay hundreds of dollars a year to watch, and which are so bereft of either reporting or analysis, that they feel compelled to fill the copious airtime vacuum with any old warm body they can find. they should be the target of ire – for being complicit in the manipulation of public opinion, and for distracting from seriousness by engaging folks like deepak chopra, pasracha on international relations, or having a show where miles o’ brien decides to get himself drowned or tased in the name of news, and so on. write to them instead of descending like vultures on an innocent flub.
58 · TeraBaap said
You beat me, I did know about her “bragging” about the CNN gig. You know I recently had another friend on CNN, but she was very humbling, and had such a classy approach. Ay….I’ll give it to her that she means well, but I have zero tolerance if it’s done on air in front of millions around the world. I won’t let her get away with this, because she presumes she is a public figure, esp. with the modeling pics you’re talking about. Oh barf. Tera Baap you’re my baap, but can you just tell her to bury this video already? Your mornings weren’t khubsurat with Sheeraz? 🙂
65 · paklegal said
humbling?? and you make fun of her malapropism?
61 · mockfest said
Awww….you must be dating Paracha. Baby don’t be sad, be a ucha bucha.
65 · mockfest said
Am I on CNN, or Sepia? They are the same in my eyes, so my apologies- that was a typo. You’ll feel much better when you watch the video again. My compliments.
67 · paklegal said
Good job! Apparently, you are incapable of avoiding stupidity even when under no pressure, and when you have all the time in the world. Mocking her, which this post was essentially an invitation for, deserves as much respect as picking on comments for their typos and spelling errors. But, hey, carry on – you are only as pathetic as what you derive your pleasure from!
I think the commentary here is getting way too harsh. If only all professors were actually articulate and well-informed, perhaps I could support going with a random professor from USC (or even UCB or Harvard). She should have prepared better, especially if she knew she was going to be on CNN several days ahead, but that’s not to say that someone at her level should not be allowed to speak at all. Different spokespeople for different audiences, and young, attractive spokespeople whenever possible. Not everyone need be a subject matter expert just to be allowed to speak.
And can we not lose sight of the overall point she was trying to make: Pakistan’s image has taken a huge hit after recent events, and some attempt to balance the picture, to prevent everyone of Pakistani origin getting tarred – is fully legitimate. There is an aspect of reality in Pakistan that Kasab represents, but she and people like her also represent another aspect. Why shouldn’t she get some air time as well? As the wiki link points out, if we needed reminding – there are many ‘elements’ in Pakistan that would want to see all women veiled, to say nothing of wanting all beauty pageants banned. She represents a reality that a gray-haired, bespectacled, accented male Professor never could.
“I wouldn’t call India and Pakistan enemies. They’re more like friends and colleagues.” — Natasha Paracha, speaking on CNN.
60 · Manju said
Just checked, and I probably phrased the sentence wrong, a murcielago for the price that its going for is not worth it. It not as good a car (its got soul though, definitely puts a smile on your face when you drive it), at that price I can go for a Scuderia or a CGT. And F-430 is a WAY different car than a Gallardo. I dont think anybody buys an (high performance)exotic for usability, you can get a Gallardo for 5 figures, brakes creaking, no warranty, barely working but people want to buy into “exotic” thats the reason it sells and morons buy it, which is fine coz they need to learn somehow. Cant talk about build quality, I havent owned one, but yes its a very well mannered car most of the time. Most of the people I know who got a Gallardo didnt have a “nice” car before and they soon realized they got much less than what they paid for in a gallardo. Its kind of a chick exotic.. I mean these are race cars they should be fast, look mean, and growl and cry, be total maniacs.
i officially switch positions and hereby unequivalently back mockfest. reason being, mockfest may very well be natasha and natasha is hot. there’s an outside chance that mockfest is sarah palin but the same logic would apply.
71 · Manju said
Nice try. Unfortunately for you, I’m Joe Biden.
41 · SM Intern said
Thank you! 🙂 I promise one day I will remember to fix it ahead of time 🙁
ANNA, I think she moved to the U.S. at a fairly young age. She definitely went to high school in the U.S., but I think she’s been here for all of her developmental life, if that makes sense. Don’t quote me on that, though. Like I said, I don’t know the ins/outs of Natasha except that I can vouch for TeraBaap and say there was (in my opinion) a tacky amount of self-promotion going on both when she won Ms. Pakistan World (not to be confused with Ms. World, Pakistan) and when she went on CNN.
I’m talking very specifically about the comment that a) she is stupid, and b) if she is stupid she must have been allowed in on “affirmative action.” The underlying assertion is that only individuals who are unintelligent or incapable of gaining admission through “traditional” channels are the beneficiaries of affirmative action programs and that those programs have lower criteria for admission (in the context of the U.S., this would apply to all women and people of color). The comment was explicitly racist/gendered (even if that wasn’t the writer’s initial intent). Nevermind that 1) affirmative action doesn’t exist in UC admissions; 2) that Paracha comes from a “resourced” (as opposed to under-resourced family) and would likely be ineligible for a benefit even if affirmative action did exist at Berkeley; and 3) that her inability to make a coherent comment has NOTHING to do with whether or not she was given admission to Berkeley. If there had been any kind of cogent analysis on the back end of that comment, then I would have been more willing to let it slide. Instead, it was a cheap opportunity to take a potshot while contributing NOTHING to the analysis or conversation.
CNN is presenting her as something other than a ‘man on the street’ opinion, when, basically, that is all it is. It reflects badly on CNN, but then, television news is generally awful and I avoid it.
The young women in question agreed to do the interview, so if she flubbed it, the responsibility is on her (ala Palin and the Couric interview, and I say that as a Palin fan). Criticism of her performance is perfectly legit. She didn’t flub just one word – the whole thing needed work. I’d do worse, but then, no one asked me and I would refuse if they did because I would suck at it.
Fine. So what if she flubbed it. If she plans to be in the public spotlight, that’s just the breaks. She will be more prepared next time and do better. Live and learn.
Paklegal – stick around. You are fun.
mockfest rocks. As to the other person who chooses the name Shallowthinker, learn to write without typos, you are not on air, so you can spell check before you post.
louiecypher @ 62, i thought of this w/r/t the 11/26 attacks – albeit they have been greater in magnitude (and length) than any other of the recent attacks in india, but i could not help but feeling that because they happened, of all places, at the taj and oberoi, that the elite would somehow feel more violated as a result of this attack, regardless of whether they were at the scene or not, and just this morning, i read a headline in a bombay daily referring to the same thing…
as for natasha, i do think that the ear piece falling out repeatedly had much to do with her poor performance (though maybe she should have spent a few extra seconds before she came on fixing that, rather than her makeup). in any case, i think it reflects more on CNN that they chose her as their consultant – and why did they think a pageant win qualifies her to talk – i’d much rather that they had left that (and the sash) out and focused more on the fact that she was a poli sci major, started a pak-am group, and now works at the UN. and although mentioning none of these would have improved her performance, at least there would be fewer people who would be left with the image of the ditzy beauty queen but, rather a recent graduate who is still raw in the analysis of pakistan v. india.
TeraBaap – bakwasing is my new favourite word 😉
I don’t think she flubbed it that badly. But I do think it’s ridiculous that some beauty pageant winner is being taken as some kind of expert. Yes, she does have other qualifications, but let’s face it, the only reason she’s being given face time is because she’s a beauty pageant winner (and it’s Miss Pakistan World, not even Miss World, Pakistan! oh right, b/c Miss World, Pakistan doesn’t exist…), hence her wearing the sash, etc.
She’s very attractive on an objective level (thick long hair, thin, etc.), but I personally find her too manly-looking (as are many other northie and Pak women, IMO).
If you look at some of the things many politicians have blunderingly spewed out, you’d do one of those palm to face moves in embarrassment for them…it was an ‘ouch’ moment to hear her say ‘condone’ but, definitely she should be cut some slack, and like I’ve posted on my site…the actions of the few should not reflect on the entirety of a particular group of people, that kind of stuff drives me up a wall.
I actually looked up the meaning of the word condone online wondering I had known the meaning wrong all these years ! ‘Thoroughly condone’ after ‘condone’ she says. Getting it wrong two times in a row makes you wonder if that might have been a Freudian slip…
64 · paklegal said
I hope the next time she decides to open her mouth, she talks about a topic she is actually competent enough to comment on. She needs a PR coach stat (or maybe she should just give her crown to me. I would barter my J.Lo velour pants for her crown). Maybe she could champion the cause of illiteracy in Pakistan. That would be amusing. But I agree with you. If she has the audacity to engage in such barfable levels of self-promotion (read: bragging) then homegirl needs to be worth her weight in gold. It would have been so easy for CNN to find a professor to comment on the Mumbai blasts. I’m Paki & Indian with strong roots in Mumbai so her stupid interview was a double thappar. Its a shame Natasha was given airtime and we had to watch her strange three-point-face-goal thing. What the hell WAS that? Ammi! Also, I am ashamed to admit I have Sheeraz Hasan’s “The American Dream” book. Yes, there is a book. I picked it up many years ago for free at the USC Pakistan Day mela. Sheeraz was there signing the books for free (I didnt get mine signed. Gross.) Paklegal, you can have my copy if you would like. I will highlight the amusing sections for you. Holla!
Being Indian myself,it’s upsetting to know that India and Pakistan are feuding countries and have been for a long time, but she can’t deny the fact that they are, however I can condone her ‘condone’ because it is very sad when people jump to conclusions, no one would of thought twice had she been white, or not Pakistani, yes it is a very incriminating blunder, but I think the point of this video was to debunk the stereotype that plagues Pakistanis, It’s too bad she did have that ‘c’ slip up, but I understand the message she was trying to convey.
68 · mockfest said
That’s untrue and a bit hurtful. I did not correct her like others did, I rooted for her school when I didn’t even go there AND I made sure to close with an unflattering detail about me, to preempt some sanctimonious asshole from telling me that I wasn’t all that. We all know I’m not all that and CNN sure as hell isn’t asking me for shit. Good-natured mocking is too be expected with a flub. That is all.
81 · shweta said
Nobody reasonable thinks she actually went on CNN Intl. to condone the attacks. Relax, it’s just trash-talk.
Inglesman, you sound like a blast to hangout with. I really mean that. I say that with not a ounce of sarcasm. I am not playing around. Really, Im not. For real. Not joking at all.
Well, looks like we got lots of Bear alums on here which is nice. I was shocked that she made it into Cal. FWIW, Natasha suffers from uncontrollable flatulence so I give her props for making it this far while tooting her own horn.
Not fair, ABDs beating up on a DBD person on TV. Or is this some weird, inherited, 2nd gen Indian vs. Pakistani prejudice thing going on?
So she flubbed and said “condone” when she meant “condemn”. So what?
Invoking Freud easily gives license to all kinds of anti-Pakistani cattiness, suitably disguised as look-at-that-beauty-pageant-bimbette humor, of course.
But its pretty obvious the woman was nervous from the start. And what was that cheek to cheek to nose touching gesture? Does it have some kind of religious significance?
As for the superfluous “the India”, “the Pakistan” etc, it is a common feature of English spoken as a second language by Punjabis. Most India-born Punjabis lose it upon contact with a westernized milieu back home; I notice that it seems to be a bit more persistent amongst the westernized Pakistani Punjabi elite.
87 · cookiebrown said
not sure this is an ABD-DBD thing – although she pronounced pakistan with a desi accent, her english words were spoken with a definitively american accent, and i didn’t know she was born outside of the states until i read through the comments.
Dude, Natasha please don’t blame the existence of the article “the” on an ESL feature (if anything, many Punjabis drop their articles when they begin speaking English because we have very few articles in Punjabi). I also think it’s really inappropriate to view this through an ABD/DBD lens. She is closer to a 2nd gen’ner than 1.5 or 1 gen desi in the diaspora. Let’s analyze accordingly. I also don’t think Natasha is Punjabi. I could be wrong.
I don’t think ANNA deserves criticism for pointing out someone’s flub. I feel like I cut Natasha a lot of slack, but on the other hand, she did go on CNN in order to deliver her opinion as a more “expert” woman on the street, so to speak, and I think it’s totally fair to be underwhelmed with her interview. People (incl. commenters) are always going to be critical of someone who voluntarily puts themselves in the public eye.
Terabaap and paklawyer, you two are funny — stick around 🙂
Come on, who cares what she says. Where are the bikini contest pics?
I love it when beauty queens talk! Wait till she’s a vp nom.
What’s with the constant fidgiting with the IFB!?
It’s dangerous to accuse a specific blogger of deleting a comment when you have no idea who did. While everyone tries to watch over their own threads, each blogger intervenes on any and every thread, if necessary. I have now deleted
threeSIX comments because they were off-topic and worse, incorrect with what they were alleging.Please stay on topic.
I for one would like to add my outrage to the condoning of Natashia. Who amongst us has not condomed the wrong person at the wrong time?
Poor Natasha Begum. I wonder if she’ll ever speak in public again. Do you guys think she’s a covert Mutineer?
Camille, I’m feelin you too girl. Paklegal, please come back into our lives.
92 · Manju said
i guess
lovelust is blind. that said, i’m glad your emotions don’t get in the way of safe sex.OMG, Natasha is so cute. Smokin’ hot like a pack of Marlboros.
88 · Camille said
i guess there is a clear and proven correlation in speaking a western tongue and shedding, uh, inhibitions. ah, the infinite wisdom of the saffron brigade and the fatwa kings is vindicated yet again!
Whose God is it anyways? on December 17, 2008 11:10 AM said:
Yup, I think that’s it — one of those verbs spun out of nouns that happen in Desh– you go to people’s houses to “condole” them on the death of their near and dear instead of sending them your condolences like an ABD. So there.
Nearest and dearest, I mean. Slip that proves she’s eligible to represent her slice of Desh.
I’m just wondering who the hell it was at CNN that thought it was a good idea to have this girl on!! Come on CNN International, are you as lame as regular CNN?
While Natasha was pretty awful as being some sort of spokesperson for Pakistan – I think CNN deserves to be made fun of more. They could have copied the Daily Show and used Sanjay Gupta as their ‘brown correspondent’, much like how the Daily Show has a black guy as their ‘black correspondent’ on all things related to African-Americans. Just a (joking) hint.
Manju said:
Here I was all ready to run my fingers through your hairy chest until I read this:
Now I’m gonna throw my flipflops at you!
“..one of those verbs spun out of nouns that happen in Desh. – you go to people’s houses to “condole” them”
amrita, while condole is indeed a verb – and more indians than americans seem to be aware of its use as a verb — you’re right, the indian media/people often use this verb incorrectly. from a blog about media in india:
“It came, therefore, as a pleasant surprise, when Ahmedabad Mirror, carried the following letter in its recent issue under the heading “Mind Your Languageâ€:
When will the media use the verb ‘condole’ properly? The headline at the top of the page on September 20 says ‘PM condoles inspector Sharma’s death.’ Condole means sympathy. You can express sympathy to persons but not to death. Moreover condole (like sympathy) is an intransitive verb and can not take an object (death, in this case). Your headline and the story, should have read: The PM condoles with inspector’s family over/in his death. Response from AM’s News Editor Pradeep Mallik published alongside was: Thank you for writing and enlightening us on the correct usage of ‘condole.’ We stand corrected. Looking forward to more mails from you.””
as media savvy as cnn anchors/reporters are, they commit all sorts of errors or overuse expressions a zillion times a day (i wish they would retire “reference” and “impact” as verbs and get rid of “drill it down” and “walk it back”). if people who blab all day sound so silly, i think it’s easy for the average person to become a bit confused on television.