Author Archives: amardeep

Sant or Shaitan? S.S. Chatwal and the Clintons

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The Washington Post has an in-depth exploration of the long-term connections between Bill and Hillary Clinton and Sant Singh Chatwal, a New York based businessman.

Alongside outsourcing, the connection to Chatwal is another of the issues raised by the Obama campaign memo back in June. Funny how that won’t go away.

I suppose there are two questions that come to mind. One is, is Chatwal merely a bad businessman, or an actual “crook”? He’s settled his debts to the IRS ($4 million), forfeited a building he owned that had a lien on it, and the $12 million loan he didn’t pay to the Bank of New York was eventually resolved in court (Chatwal had to pay $125,000). The Indian banks that had accused him of bank fraud eventually dropped the case against him. Chatwal’s lawyer puts it like this:

“The man came to this country, accumulated an empire, lost it during the time of real estate [softness], and has struggled and worked to try to pay off his debts,” said A. Mitchell Greene, Chatwal’s lawyer for 25 years. “It has been a long battle, but he has cleared up all of his obligations, and in the process he is trying to accumulate his wealth again.”

To my mind, he’s somewhere in between “failed investor” and “crook” (where “crook” admittedly isn’t so much meant as a legal term as it is a kind of moral judgment), partly because at the peak of his troubles he and his family continued to live pretty extravagantly — as if nothing were amiss.

The second question is, what is wrong with Hillary Clinton accepting campaign contributions from (and more importantly, through) Chatwal? If we presume that he’s now out of legal and financial trouble, is it unethical for Clinton to be involved with someone who was once in this kind of trouble? Most of the real pull that someone like Chatwal has comes through his connections, not his actual bank account (which may or may not have much dough in it); if Chatwal is accepted by the Indian-American community, how relevant are his personal financial and legal troubles? If you look at the bloggers who are most excited by this story, it’s mostly Republican blogs like “AgainstHillary.com”; clearly the right is going to want to spin this a certain way: Clinton accepts dirty money from crooked “foreign” businessmen (the Norman Hsu situation doesn’t help).

Is it possible to rise above the cloud of partisan spin, and evaluate this openly and honestly? How would we react to this if we were talking about a Republican candidate like Giuliani, rather than Clinton? Incidentally, the WaPo article I linked to above does mention some of the campaign contribution controversies that have come up with both Obama and Edwards, though the emphasis is really on Clinton. Continue reading →

Outsourcing Spin and Counterspin

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We’re heading into an election year in the U.S., which means facts are largely going to be irrelevant to most public discussions of issues for the next fourteen months. Instead, we’ll be treated to spin, counterspin, and more spin. The big Indian software & services companies realize this, and the Times reports that they’ve decided to hire lobbyists to counterspin the inevitable protectionist rhetoric (the original spin, as it were) that “outsourcing is costing America jobs.”

The economic impact of outsourcing is complicated, far too complicated to be given justice in a 30 second ad or crowd-pleasing stump speech. While it’s hard to argue that no jobs have been lost to outsourcing, there’s no reliable number on how many jobs are actually being lost (it’s certainly nowhere near 3.3 million, as was predicted earlier). There’s also some evidence that “insourcing” creates far more jobs than outsourcing takes away (the U.S. remains a net exporter of business services, for instance). And yes, some Indian companies are now opening up decent-sized offices in the U.S., and hiring American workers. (As you’ll recall, this came up back in June, with the infamous Obama campaign memo on Hillary Clinton’s purported connections to India.) See the conservative Heritage Foundation for more; and see this article at IHT for why it may not matter anyway.

The lobbyists quoted in the Times article are even adding some new arguments and approaches to their arsenal:

But the core of the Indian vendors’ new strategy appears to be removing themselves from the limelight. Outsourcing is not about us, goes the new pitch to lawmakers, it benefits Americans, including ones in your district.

The Washington lobbyist who asked not to be identified said that a focus of the campaign was to collect data on Indian companies’ investments in the United States and then to lobby members of Congress from districts where those investments have created jobs.

For example, a lawmaker from Washington State might be told something like this: Indian outsourcing companies may funnel some Seattle-area technology jobs to India, but with the affluence that creates in India, more and more Indians are flying. That has made India a huge buyer of Boeing aircraft and thus a creator of jobs in the Seattle area, where Boeing does much of its manufacturing.(link)

I don’t know — the tradeoff described here seems awfully indirect, and I’m not sure a politican could really sell the rising Indian middle class as a positive to an American middle class that’s currently dealing with economic uncertainty. Readers, do you buy the argument above? Can people think of other instances where the trade-off works this way? What about cases where it doesn’t? Continue reading →

“Vanaja” — a Telugu Art Film in New York

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vanaja.jpg

After running at myriad film festivals all over the world, the Telugu film Vanaja is opening as a commercial release in New York this weekend; it will be opening more broadly around the U.S. in the next month.

Vanaja is an art film, which is to say, the director, Rajnesh Domalpalli, doesn’t come out of the “Tollywood” world of commercial Telugu cinema (he actually has an M.F.A. from Columbia, and the script for this film was submitted as his Master’s Thesis). Domalpalli’s primary actors are nearly all amateurs — people he found on the street. Carnatic music and Kuchipudi dance play important, but not overwhelming, roles in the film, and even there, it appears the actors actually spent months training in these rigorous arts.

This is a film about caste and class relations in a village setting, but Domalpalli doesn’t take the familiar route seen in many other films about village life (i.e., villagers are exploited, landowners are inherently evil). Here, the rich people, though they do not always behave sympathetically, are as human and complex as Vanaja herself. I don’t want to get too bogged down in plot, but suffice it to say that the romance in the film follows a surprising course.

Throughout, Domalpalli pays very close attention to details, including sets and staging, and the result is a film that feels very natural, yet is full of visual pleasures. The colors are rich, though not unrealistically so, and the acting is much better than one would expect from an all-amateur cast and a novice director.

I’m very curious to know how this film might be received in India, in particular in Andhra Pradesh. Unlike the films of, say, Deepa Mehta, who I’ve now come to feel makes her movies primarily for western audiences, Domalpalli’s Vanaja might actually be popular with Desi viewers. (My mother-in-law, who is visiting us from Bombay, liked it.)

One other thing, since Anna (rightly) wants us ignorant northies to learn a bit more about South Indian culture, the set of cymbals on the right side of the photo above is called a Nattuvangam. (The word of the day is Nattuvangam. Say it. Good.) Though I’m a little confused, because this site defines Nattuvangam a little differently; I gather that “Nattuvangam” refers both to the cymbals and to the act of conducting the dance by playing the cymbals? Continue reading →

India’s Defense Budget and Counterterrorism: A Thought

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The recent article in the New York Times on India’s defense has some eye-popping numbers. The main news event is, India is looking to buy new fighter planes, and may spend as much as $10 billion on them. American arms manufacturers are chomping at the bit, especially as there are probably other big arms purchases in the pipeline. (For reference, last year’s entire defense budget is between $20-25 billion, according to this source; it may be an underestimate, however.)

I was thinking about this with last week’s terrorist attack in Hyderabad in mind, as well as with the ongoing problems with the Naxalites in the east and south. While I’m not by any means suggesting that India cut back on its defense spending, I do wonder whether the investment on hardware such as advanced fighter jets is really addressing India’s current (and likely future) military needs. Especially with a serious terrorism problem as well as ongoing internal uprisings, isn’t it possible that other kinds of military expenditures might be warranted? How do fighter jets help with terrorism or guerilla warfare?

India is developing and moving forward in many ways, but in controlling terrorism in its cities I think it has been relatively unsuccessful. Previous bombings in Mumbai and elsewhere in the past two years have usually followed a similar pattern: 1) intense police activity for a few weeks coinciding with nonstop media coverage, 2) possibly some suspects are detained who may or may not be the right people, and 3) everyone forgets, coinciding with a new media obsession. Security measures to prevent repeat attacks are generally not instituted.

There is a similar failure in suppressing the activities of Maoist rebels, who continue to inflict serious casualties on police as well as civilians; meanwhile police in some districts struggle to get adequate funding.

I’m not saying I have a pat answer to these problems. Rather, I’m wondering if a change in thinking about military spending and technology might be advisable. Admittedly, it could be argued that counterterrorism and Maoist rebels are really police, rather than military, issues, but given the number of deaths involved and the tactics used by rebels and terrorists alike, isn’t it possible the thinking should change? Aren’t there creative ways to use military resources to improve domestic programs to handle Naxalite insurgents in the countryside and terrorists in the cities?

I also wanted to state that I’m not saying India doesn’t need modernized jets. They serve a strong deterrent purpose, and I’m actually not opposed to the current proposed purchase. It’s more the overall budget picture and emphasis on hardware and technology for “the last big war” that concerns me. I do not see any future military conflicts in the nuclear-armed Indian subcontinent playing out along in conventional form. I think there will either be more Kargil-like small wars, proxy fighting via guerilla fighters armed by one or another state, or — and I hope to God it never happens — full-on nuclear annihilation. Continue reading →

Musharraf Agrees to a Change of Clothes

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It looks like Pervez Musharraf is planning to step down as army chief before the upcoming elections in Pakistan. He’s also going to allow former leaders who have corruption charges hanging over their heads — namely Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif — to return and context in those elections.

Today, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan’s minister for railways, said at a news conference: “There is no more uniform issue. It has been settled and the president will make an announcement.” The news conference was reported by the state-run news agency reported.

Sheikh Mansoor Ahmed, the deputy secretary general of Ms. Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples’ Party, said he believed that the agreement had been made. ”My personal information is that President Musharraf has agreed to take off his military uniform before the presidential elections,” he said. “An announcement in this regard will be made very soon. Within the next 72 hours, everything will be clear.”

In an apparent confirmation, Ms Bhutto told the independent Aaj television channel: “Eighty to ninety percent of the issues have been settled. Ten to 20 percent have yet to be decided,”

“Some matters relating to a balance of power between the parliament and presidency are still pending,” Ms Bhutto said in the television interview. (link)

Obviously, this story could change dramatically in the next few days as the details are announced. There will then probably be another gap to see if Musharraf really does what he promises, and then again as we watch and see how the elections go. In the meanwhile, it’s never too early to start gossiping and speculating wildly. Here are my early, completely wild speculations:

1) This agreement could easily fall apart. The language in these early reports is very sketchy. Wait until it comes out of the horse’s mouth directly.

2) Or perhaps, the agreement is for real. Musharraf realizes that neither Sharif nor Bhutto are likely to beat him in an open election, especially if he pits one against the other and the opposition parties are divided. By seeming to give away power, he stands to gain the stamp of democratic respectability on the world stage. That would mean at least five more years in power, and no more whining from Benazir Bhutto about this and that.

3) The agreement is for real, but it might not be as good as it sounds; small matters such as the balance of power between the parliament and the presidency might not be so small. If he throws in a “nuclear” option, the idea of “power sharing” might turn out to be merely a tease.

4) Musharraf has a very friendly cousin who can step in to run the army. The name will be announced the day after elections are held.

5) He’s giving up the uniform, but his business suit is khaki-colored and comes with a gun holster. It’s also made of 100% kevlar, and in large block print on the back it says, “IFTIKAR CHAUDHURY CAN BITE ME.”

Feel free to add your own reasoned analysis and/or wild speculations as to what it means. Continue reading →

The Ghosts of Nusrat: Dub Qawwali

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dub-qawwali.jpgNusrat Fateh Ali Khan has a new CD out. While that may seem unlikely, given that he passed away ten years ago, it’s true. Italian/British producer Gaudi took old master tapes from the early 1970s in the possession of Nusrat’s original Pakistani record label (Rehmat Gramohpone), and reinterpreted them with Dub/Reggae beats. The sound is fresh, if not technically new — a successful way to bring back the ghost of Nusrat in a recording studio. Dub Qawwali has recently been released on Six Degrees Records; Gaudi was interviewed by NPR here.

Dub Qawwali is a collection of Nusrat songs that, for the most part, I hadn’t heard before, though admittedly my Nusrat collection is hardly definitive. The production quality, for those who pay attention to such things, is flawless, and the sound is “warm” — mainly because Gaudi used live musicians and vintage analog equipment to create a rich soundscape. It’s most definitely not the cheesy Bally Sagoo remix approach, where you get the feeling that the whole thing was put together on a computer by a stoned teenager. Here is how the record label describes the approach:

The use of vintage analogue studio equipment and dub production techniques such as tape echoes, valve amps, Fender Rhodes, spring reverbs, Hammond organ and Moog, characterizes Gaudi’s production style, however it is not without its share of 21st century intervention and wizardry… Individual tracks from the original 70’s multi-track recordings often contained multiple parts together on them. These had to then be carefully cleaned up in order to make them usable in a way that would enable the composition of these new works. (This included much of the vocal parts which were mixed in the same track as the Harmonium and other instruments!) (link)

Continue reading →

“Nawabdin Electrician,” in The New Yorker

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There’s a very interesting short story in this week’s New Yorker, by a new Pakistani writer named Daniyal Mueenuddin. It’s about an electrician working on a large farm in rural Pakistan, more or less taking care of his business until something dramatic happens. I won’t say much about the dramatic thing that happens to Nawabdin (read the story), but here’s a teaser to give you a sense of the writing style:

The motorcycle increased his status, gave him weight, so that people began calling him Uncle and asking his opinion on world affairs, about which he knew absolutely nothing. He could now range farther, doing much wider business. Best of all, now he could spend every night with his wife, who early in the marriage had begged to live not in Nawab’s quarters in the village but with her family in Firoza, near the only girls’ school in the area. A long straight road ran from the canal headworks near Firoza all the way to the Indus, through the heart of the K. K. Harouni lands. The road ran on the bed of an old highway built when these lands lay within a princely state. Some hundred and fifty years ago, one of the princes had ridden that way, going to a wedding or a funeral in this remote district, felt hot, and ordered that rosewood trees be planted to shade the passersby. Within a few hours, he forgot that he had given the order, and in a few dozen years he in turn was forgotten, but these trees still stood, enormous now, some of them dead and looming without bark, white and leafless. (link)

Anyone want to discuss the story as a whole? Did you like Mueenuddin’s writing style? Do you think he does a good job capturing a poor electrician’s point of view? Do you think Nawabdin is a sympathetic character in the end? And finally, what is the story all about?

Incidentally, Mueenuddin also has another story online, at the literary magazine Zoetrope. It’s quite different from “Nawabdin Electrician”; I think it will be interesting to anyone who has been in a serious cross-cultural or interracial relationship. (I’m happy to discuss that story too.) Continue reading →

Working for the Pat Down: TSA turban policy

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On their classic album London Calling, the old punk band The Clash had a song with some lyrics that always puzzled me:

What are we gonna do now?
Taking off his turban, they said, is this man a Jew?
‘Cause they’re working for the clampdown (link)

I get the gist of the song — it’s a critique of the trend of rising fascism amongst British youth in the 1970s — but “turban”? Quoi?

Anyway, this past week I learned that Sikh travelers with turbans can expect not the clampdown, but the pat-down, as the TSA has changed its security policies yet again. The BBC has the details (thanks DJ Drrrty Punjabi):

US Sikh organisations have expressed anger over changes allowing airport security staff to “pat down” turbans.

Until now turbans have been searched or removed only to resolve an unexplained alarm from an airport metal detector.

But now security will have greater discretion to inspect turbans so that they can be manually checked for objects such as non-metallic weapons.

However Sikh groups have responded to the new measures by describing them as outrageous and discriminatory. (link)

Personally, I’m not so much outraged as annoyed and worried. I’m annoyed because I’m not sure how this is a rational or necessary change: metal detectors work pretty well. You couldn’t hide a gun, a knife, or explosives inside a turban without it being pretty obvious. But the TSA has a long history of arbitrary and sometimes irrational policies — like the nutty restrictions on baby formula, which have caused problems for me several times this past year. (Haven’t they heard? NEVER get between a hungry baby and his formula!) Continue reading →

Bill Sali is So Wrong, He’s Superwrong

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Congressman Bill Sali (R-Idaho) recently criticized the attempted opening of a session of the U.S. Senate with a Hindu prayer (which did not go well for reasons having nothing to do with him: see Anna’s post). He also openly lamented the presence of a Muslim Congressman, Keith Ellison. As Sali puts it, “Those are changes, and they are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers.” Now he’s made another statement clarifying the earlier remarks to the Nampa Press Tribune:

Friday, Sali said multiculturalism is in conflict with the national motto “E Pluribus Unum,” or “out of many, one.” He said multiculturalism would mean “out of the many, the many.”

“The question is, is multiculturalism good or not?” Sali said. “I don’t think the Founding Fathers were multicultural. Multiculturalism is the antithesis of (the motto).” Sali said the United States was founded on principles derived primarily from the Scriptures. And he said drifting away from those principles could put the country in danger.

“If we’re going to move away from those principles … we better consider the blessings of God that have been bestowed on this country and the protective hand of God that’s been over this country,” Sali said. (link)

Wow, he just gets wronger and wronger. Sali is confusing, in a fundamental and embarrassing way, the idea of religious freedom, which is unambiguously written into the Constitution, and the fuzzy contemporary concept of multiculturalism. For Sali, a Muslim Congressman or a Hindu prayer in the Senate can be sneered at as “multiculturalism,” when in fact it is simply Americans exercising their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion.

Relatedly, Sali is dead wrong when he says that the Founding Fathers were operating on “principles derived from the Scriptures.” (He’s trying to pull a fast one with that sneaky word, “derived.”) Like other conservatives who want to impose their idea of “God’s law” on us, Sali is flagrantly ignoring who Thomas Jefferson was and what he believed.

(For even more painful wrongness try this: last year Sali argued that the rate of breast cancer in the U.S. is linked to abortion — in a speech he gave on the House floor.)

Fortunately, not all Republicans are like Sali. Yesterday I stopped by the India Day celebration at Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia. It was a perfect August day, and the bright saris and salwar kameezes were flapping in the breeze — while massive rusty barges moved down the Delaware, headed for China. On stage, the endless array of high school girls doing Bollywood dance numbers was briefly interrupted by Al Taubenberger, Republican nominee for Mayor. In front of a crowd of 300-400, including a number of non-desis, Taubenberger patted Indian Americans on the back for “working hard and playing by the rules.” Amidst the sipping of mango lassis and the many voices whispering “who’s this guy again?” in at least a dozen Indian languages, there was a smattering of applause. Continue reading →