Author Archives: siddhartha

Provocation

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ItÂ’s easy to condemn the vandalism, the hatred and the violence. I am sure everyone here joins in this condemnation.

But there’s still the uncomfortable fact that many European opinion-makers are reveling in provocation – not only reprinting the cartoons but piling on new offense.

In France the right-wing tab France-Soir already ran the pics. Now Charlie-Hebdo [no website], a leftist satirical weekly with roots in the May 1968 student rebellion, runs the Danish portfolio and its own, new, cover illustration that you can see here. Titled “Mohammed overtaken by fundamentalists,” it shows the usual dark-and-swarthy Prophet with his head in his hands, exclaiming (using the rude word cons): “It’s hard being worshipped by idiots!”

Meanwhile the editor of Jyllands-Posten has decided that not content with offending Muslims, he also wants to offend Jews; and announces, in a particularly tasteful comparison, that accusing him of provocation is like accusing a woman of causing her own rape: Continue reading →

The politics of mixing

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I once dated for a few months a desi sister who remained my friend. She had separated from her longtime boyfriend, who was African-American. Her familyÂ’s disapproval was one of the big stresses on their relationship. So it was quite a step when they got back in touch and rekindled. I was honored to be privy to this, and with it, to R.Â’s management of her parentsÂ’ anxieties.

The next year they married, in her familyÂ’s backyard in Orange County. The aunties were in full effect, all gossip and jewels and rolls of flesh. They inquired hungrily as to my status. The uncles were hanging out. R. and W. sat before the pandit, soaked in sweat from their garments, the fire and the summer heat. No one was paying any attention. Except, that is, for W.Â’s family, a cortege of beautifully turned out Black folks from Arkansas and Texas. They sat for hours in the sun, sole occupants of the front row, wearing looks of deep confusion. I believe I was the only guest to attempt to explain the proceedings. The aunties looked right through them.

The wedding was a triumph for R.; her parents, lovely people, had come around. But it said little for the community’s readiness to miscegenate in the blackward direction. That pesky little problem, which many mutineers will be at least anecdotally familiar with, is not one of the themes of Lavina Melwani’s article “The Color of Desi” in the January 2006 edition of Little India (shout-out to Cinnamon Rani).

The article is a positively giddy celebration of desi mixitude: Continue reading →

Oh no! It’s another M.I.A. post!

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The Village Voice’s “Pazz & Jop” supplement is out this week. It’s the only annual music survey that counts; tallying votes from 795 critics, it’s a clear statement of the prevailing wisdom in US pop criticism. Online you can check out each critic’s list, and search to see how your favorite grime, electroclash, nerd-hop or screamo fared. So, how about the desis?

Albums
2 – M.I.A., Arular
149 – Kronos Quartet f/ Asha Bhosle [thanks Sajit]
231 – Anoushka Shankar, Rise
Songs
29 – M.I.A, “Galang”
30 (tie) – M.I.A., “Bucky Done Gun”
61 (tie) – M.I.A., “Sunshowers”
313 (tie) – M.I.A., “Bingo”

And, unless you count Devendra Banhart (album: 90; song: 313) as an honorary desi (ahem), thatÂ’s it.

ItÂ’s also interesting to search for desis among the critics. Gauging by name, I found only two: Nikhil Swaminathan of Creative Loafing, the Atlanta weekly, and Joseph Patel of MTV. I donÂ’t know either cat; for all I know Joseph may be Trini or Guyanese. He placed M.I.A. on his list of mainly Black music; Nikhil is an indie-rock cat who didn’t find room for a sista. [UPDATE: Also Geeta Dayal! My bad. Thanks, Neha.] Continue reading →

I’ll try the canned fish curry, please

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The word curry is a topic sure to rankle desis; the debunking of this colonial category is the rare cause that can unite desis of all origins and persuasions in a chorus of righteous indignation. And rightly so: The reduction of the subcontinentÂ’s rich foodways to this one invented label has caused any number of ills, not least the viscous glop known as tikka masala, and more than a few upset stomachs.

But just because curry isnÂ’t authentically Indian doesnÂ’t mean it isnÂ’t authentically… something. TodayÂ’s New York Times has a review of a new book called “Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors,” by Lizzie Collingham — a book I’m excited to read, despite the kind of horrible cover art that has Manish breaking out in hives. It invites us to follow as curry spread around the world, picking up bits and pieces from each culture like some syncretistic religion. Curry may or may not be Indian, but it sure is global:

Samoans make a Polynesian curry using canned fish and corned beef. … Lots of diners would balk at curried chicken Kiev, but not Ms. Collingham. … One of her goals, in tracing the evolution of curry and the global spread of Indian cuisine, is to pull the rug out from under the idea that India, or any other nation, ever had a cuisine that was not constantly in the process of assimilation and revision.

Continue reading →