Monthly Archives: August 2009

How about those of us who aren’t famous

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Fame just isn’t what it used to be. On Friday, New Jersey Police stopped Bob Dhillon Dylan for suspicious activities, i.e. walking around in a minority neighborhood in the rain and looking at a house for sale, and refused to let him go until he produced identification.

Then today, as Phillygrrl reported, SRK was detained at Newark. But at least he got privileged treatment, they let him make a phone call after an hour, and the Indian government was able to step in. (This isn’t going to help suppress rumors that it was all a publicity stunt for his film)

But what happens to people who aren’t famous? Let’s say they’re Muslim, Brown, Pakistani and working for the US government? Then it seems you can be detained and not even the government agency you’re working for can get you out:

Rahman Bunairee is a Pakistani journalist who works as a contract reporter for VOA’s Deewa Radio and for a privately-owned Pakistani television station. The 33-year-old planned to join VOA [Voice of America] in Washington for one year, and arrived at Dulles Airport on Sunday with a visa issued by the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. It is not clear why he was detained and why he is still being held in U.S. custody… The journalist, whose home was destroyed by the Taliban last month, was taken into custody on Sunday. [link]

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Mr. Policeman is your friend

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When I was little, we were told that the policeman was our friend and that if we were ever lost or scared, we should go to a cop for help. And the NYPD makes an effort to look friendly by doing things like playing cricket to build bridges with desi muslim populations.

At the same time, I’d find their friendly face a bit more convincing if they didn’t throw arrest obviously wrong people, (allegedly) call them “sand nigger” and (allegedly) throw them in the clink without giving them the phone call they’re entitled to.

Recently, poet and professor Ravi Shankar was arrested and detained for 30 hours for a crime that had obviously been committed by somebody else:

I hadn’t been read my rights or granted a phone call. After an hour my arresting officer returned — but only to take me for a mug shot and digital fingerprinting. Eventually he showed me my arrest warrant. It was for a 5-foot-10, 140-pound white male. I happen to be a 6-foot-2, 200-pound, Indian man. I pointed out the discrepancy. “Tell it to the judge,” he said. [link]

The music world is lucky they didn’t pick up Norah Jones’ dad on that same warrant. I mean, we all look alike, even when some of us are white.

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Posted in Law

Not Welcome at the NY Parade: Gays and Lesbians

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It’s Indian and Pakistani independence day time. Zindabad! On the Pakistan side, Raza Rumi has a sobering reflection here; a look at Pakistaniat is also recommended. On the Indian side, not much is going on yet in the blog world that I’ve seen, since the actual day is tomorrow. (If anyone has recommended I-Day reading to recommend, please post the link below.)

In New York, they’re having the annual India Day Parade this Sunday, with a couple of Indian A-List celebs (i.e., Shilpa Shetty) airlifted in to add a little glamor to what is otherwise, in my experience, a rather ho-hum affair.

The usual slew of groups will be marching in the parade, from the “Telugu Literary and Cultural Association” to the VHP-A (yes, them again). One group that petitioned to march but was denied is SALGA, the South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association. SALGA has fought in the past to participate, and won that fight. However, the refusal this year carries an extra sting, since it was only a few weeks ago that the Delhi High Court threw out the old ban on homosexuality in India (as I understand it, the Supreme Court later upheld the Delhi High Court’s ruling, making the decriminalization of homosexuality a national fact). Here is what a SALGA supporter named Sapna Pandya wrote in an Op-Ed she has been circulating:

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Sunday meetup reminder

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This Sunday at 5PM, we’ll be hosting a joint meetup with Ultrabrown. In the past the joint meetups have drawn around 50-70 people (albeit on a Saturday) often spilling over into other events (like the Shilpa Ray show in Brooklyn).

If you’re worried about finding us in the lounge, clip the image at right. We all look alike, I just dress more fly. Or you could look for Manish.

Joint meetup, Sun Aug. 16, 5-8pm at Verlaine, 110 Rivington St. between Essex/Ludlow. Take F,J,M,Z to Essex/Delancey, walk north 1 block.

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Also from the streets of Jersey

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If you get a chance, check out the full slide show of the parade from this past weekend in Jersey that I wrote about in the previous post. In one or two of the pictures I observed a level of militancy and jingoism that made me feel uneasy. I am pretty far removed from such sentiment so I am not sure how strong such opinions are in Indian Americans. I believe nobody should ever parade children this way:

I want to stress that most of the pictures in the set are of perfectly appropriate displays. This one really threw me off though.

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Christie floats through Corzine’s “safe” zone

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Does incumbent NJ Governor John Corzine have a lock on the state’s “desi vote?” Well apparently he didn’t take the time to build a float and enter it into the Indian Independence Day Parade in NJ over the weekend (but instead sent U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone in his stead). His opponent, the slightly-ahead-in-the-polls Chris Christie did enter a float (although Rose Parade this was not):

The presence of GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie’s float at the Indian Independence Day Parade on Sunday came as a broadside to Democrats who didn’t field a rival “Corzine” four-wheeler in what is generally a Democratic Party safe zone.

As reported over the weekend on PolitickerNJ.com, Sheriff Kim Guadagno, the Republican lieutenant governor candidate, stood front and center behind the parade’s main banner before going back and climbing aboard Christie’s campaign mobile, where she and her sons waved to the crowd.

A 19th District candidate float commanded by Peter Kothari likewise contributed to a sense of GOP dominance. [Link]

You know who wasn’t happy about this float? New Jersey Assemblyman Upendra Chevy-Cola Chivukula:

“Perhaps the presence of the GOP Lt. Gov. Candidate Kim Guadagno caused a media buzz because it is rare to see Republican top brass at Indian-American events,” Chivukula said. “There was a very strong presence of Democrats at the Indian Independence Parade as a demonstration of our party’s long-standing commitment to diversity, not one that surfaces only at election time.

“As the only South Asian lawmaker in the New Jersey General Assembly, I say this with conviction and from experience.” [Link]

Come on Corzine. You can’t afford to be this sloppy. Next time just build a freakin’ float and throw some jalebi or barfi into the audience and say something Indian national-isty. Continue reading →

Is there already a “Draft Goyal” website?

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Hottest rumor of the day (passed to me from co-blogger Anna)? Twenty-nine year-old Jay Goyal is being considered by Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio for the soon-to-be-open Lt. Governor position. I blogged about Jay just last month, speculating he’d make a run for Congress. This wouldn’t be a bad gig either. Strickland is reportedly looking for “someone with considerable youth and a like-mindedness on issues.” From Ohio Daily:

OhioDaily has learned that Governor Ted Strickland’s search for a Lt. Governor may be nearing completion and his short list includes at least two members of the House leadership team : Mansfield-area Representative Jay Goyal, and Toledo-area Representative Matt Szollosi. Goyal is the House Majority Whip and Szollosi serves as the Speaker Pro Tempore.

In 2006, Goyal became the first Asian-American elected to the Ohio Legislature, and at his current age of 29 would likely become one of the youngest (if not the youngest) Lt. Governors in the country. In addition to serving as Majority Whip, Goyal is Vice President of Goyal Industries, a manufacturing firm in Mansfield specializing in metal fabrication and transportation equipment. His full bio appears on his campaign website here, but it doesn’t mention that Bibi Magazine, “the largest-circulated South Asian fashion magazine in the country,” named Goyal as one of the Bibi Sexy 7 : the 2007 Sexiest Men of the Year. [Link]

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Saqib Ali Takes a Stand for Gay Marriage

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We have mentioned Saqib Ali several times previously on Sepia Mutiny. Anna mentioned a personal challenge he and his wife faced a few years ago here. We also had posts on his campaign for the Maryland state legislature here, and then again after his election victory here

Now Saqib Ali, one of a very small number of Muslim candidates elected to public office anywhere in the U.S., has taken a public stand in favor of granting gays and lesbians the right to marry. He published an op-ed in the community paper the Gazette: here. It was also covered yesterday on NPR, which is how I heard about it. What I like about Saqib Ali’s approach is the directness with which he handles the religious prohibition on homosexual acts in Islam:

It feels like the nature of the fight for equality has changed. It has gone from being a rather niche liberal issue to perhaps the most pressing civil rights issue of this generation. And marriage equality throughout the land now feels like an eventual inevitability.

I expect some day people will look back at this fight for equality like we now look back on oddly antiquated anti-miscegenation laws. I’m proud that I’ll have stood on the right side of history: In support of full marital rights for same-sex couples.

My stance on this issue isn’t politically expedient. I am the first Muslim in the legislature. Homosexuality is strictly forbidden in Islam. As such I have evinced much grief from my most conservative supporters.

But I recognize that I represent people of all faiths and no faith at all. If I tried to enforce religion by law — as in a theocracy — I would be doing a disservice to my both constituents and to my religion. (link)

What’s clever about this is the twist on religious morality. Normally, opponents of gay marriage apply a version of a presumed Judeo-Christian morality as support for their position. Saqib Ali, coming from an Islamic background, knows full well that his invocation of “theocracy” has extra rhetorical weight; the last sentence in the paragraph quoted above hits home. Continue reading →

“I Wanna Be Like You”: The Jungle Book, Revisited

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Being a parent gives you a chance to go back over the children’s stories you grew up with and even, in some cases, learn about new ones. The following post consists of somewhat scattered thoughts on “The Jungle Book,” including a 1967 Disney animated film version, as well as Kipling’s original book.

lockwood kipling tiger.jpg

I did not grow up with Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” — either adaptations or the original story — but my son has really gotten attached to the 1967 Disney animated film version of the story, and it’s gotten me interested in both it and Kipling himself.

The biggest attraction for us initially were the great jazz/swing songs that were made for this particular version: Bare Necessities, Colonel Hathi, and I Wanna Be Like You (with the great Louis Prima on vocals).

My wife grew up in India, watching Indian television, and she says she has fond memories of the Hindi animated version of “The Jungle Book,” which you can also see on YouTube here. It’s a cartoon serial meant for kids, which means the story kind of branches off on its own. Still, it made me curious: do readers know whether Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” is popular in South Asian languages? Are there readers who grew up in South Asia hearing the Kipling stories about Mowgli, Bagheera, Bhalu, Shere Khan, etc.? (Or, growing up abroad, did your parents tell you these stories in a “desi” context?) Continue reading →