Author Archives: A N N A

Want to see a righteous Muslim feminist? Watch Nightline tonight.

Posted on by

Tonight on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel for May 20, 2005: South Asian American author Asra Nomani. Nomani left Pakistan shaken by the brutal murder of her friend Daniel Pearl; citing that as the catalyst for her transformation from devout Muslim to devout Muslim Activist, the iconoclast returned to her home state of West Virginia–where her father had helped start Morgantown’s Mosque– and chose to sit with the men of her congregation. Nomani pointed out that this is allowed in Mecca, but the leaders of her mosque want to banish her anyway. Begin: drama.

From Mecca to Morgantown: Questioning Islamic Traditions will probably air at 11:30pm. Continue reading →

This is what you’re doing this Weekend

Posted on by

A small bit of press for a hugely awesome event in New York this weekend:

C H I A S M A T A May 20-22, 2005 A three-day literary festival celebrating South Asian writing The South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) invite you to our third annual literary event, celebrating the works of South Asian writers. Participants include Amitava Kumar, Abha Dawesar, Ginu Kamani, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Meera Nair, Tahira Naqvi, S. Mitra Kalita, Bushra Rehman, Shahnaz Habib, Prageeta Sharma, Alka Bhargava, Anna Ghosh, Pooja Makhijani, Sangeeta Mehta and Neesha Meminger.

…and ME! 😉 Well, only on Sunday. But I live in DC, so I have an excuse. Did I mention that the Saturday and Sunday events are FREE?

What: Literary festival including two evenings of readings and discussion, a writing workshop for emerging writers, and a panel discussion of south asians in publishing When: May 20, 21, 22 Where: the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the Village Quill, and the Queens Museum of Art Please visit the event page for further details.

See you there, if you know what’s good for your soul. 🙂 Continue reading →

Get that dirt off your…lungs

Posted on by

ambassadors.jpg

India’s most polluted city is full of talk AND action:

Authorities in the Indian city of Calcutta have ordered all vehicles manufactured before 1990 off the roads unless they convert to green fuel…by the end of the year.

“9,587 taxis, 7,464 buses, 6,784 auto rickshaws, 1,164 minibuses and nearly 30,000 goods vehicles” could be affected. Why a ban?

A recent study by the Calcutta-based Chittaranjan Cancer Research Institute and Calcutta University indicated that close to 50% of the city’s residents suffer from major respiratory disorders.
Cases of lung cancer are also increasing throughout the city because of the high level of air pollution.

Continue reading →

“He bowled left-arm orthodox spin with great accuracy…”

Posted on by

From my much-beloved section on Wikipedia which highlights new articles:

Did you know…Palwankar Baloo was a Dalit (also called Untouchables) who helped break down the Indian caste system with his prowess at cricket?

Another fave line, apposite for this day of good-natured one-upmanship about regional pride:

A Hindu club in Poona challenged the Europeans to a cricket match, creating a dilemma over whether or not to include the obviously talented Baloo in their side. The Brahmins in the Hindu side were against it, but some Telugu members argued for his inclusion…

w00t progressive Southies! 😉 Continue reading →

But was he mindful of how it tasted?

Posted on by

Abuse of trust— it’s not just for Catholics anymore:

A Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has tried to commit suicide after he was jailed for raping a nine-year-old girl.
Bellana Pannaloka Thero, of the Sri Vimalarama temple in Nugegoda, near Colombo, drank a substance from his pocket shortly after sentencing.
…Monks play a highly influential role in Sri Lanka, whose 19m population is about 70% Buddhist.

The 42-year old insecticide-guzzling perv is in critical condition after his cowardly attempt to avoid spending 20 years in prison. Continue reading →

MIA and Diplo sittin’ in a tree studio

Posted on by

Yesterday, Ennis reported that NPR had featured yet another story on hot chocolate MIA. A few of us wondered about the identity of someone mentioned in the “teaser” for today’s story, “the man who helped to spark the MIA Buzz.”

Let me kill your non-existent suspense: it’s Diplo, the 26-year old producer/turntablist out of Philly, whom MIA apparently “fancied”. 😉

Here are my futile attempts at transcribing NPR as fast as I can (clip here):

Maya called last year and asked (Diplo) if he would produce a cut for her debut record…he wound up producing two tracks for the album and they started dating.

From the baile funk-consumed DJ’s mouth, about the mixtape “Piracy funds Terrorism, Vol. 1”, which started it all:

“This is me and Maya, two artists doing it from the street, we didn’t have like her manager with a bright idea, her label with a bright idea…this is purely, like, in the hands of the artist which is where it should be anyway. It’s like the perfect music because it’s everything, you know?”

Yup, I know. 😉 Continue reading →

File under “Senseless”, #4972

Posted on by

Nusrat Parsa

35-year old Nusrat Parsa died in Canada, a few hours after being involved in a fight which lead to a deadly fall down the stairs.

Parsa was approached by fans outside his hotel after the performance at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre and scuffles broke out, police said.
The singer is reported to have fallen downstairs after being punched.
He sustained head injuries and died in hospital a few hours later. A man has been arrested in connection with the incident late on Sunday.
…Mr Parsa’s brother, Najib, told the BBC the attack followed trouble at the concert, when some in the audience called for faster, livelier songs.

A singer from childhood on, Parsa recorded a total of ten albums; he had studied music in India. Continue reading →

Clueless Cartoonist inadvertently infuriates Millions

Posted on by

Wow, the folks at WaPo must love sharing my city with a stellar pub like the The Moonie Times…

Parliament in Pakistan is urging the government to seek an apology from The Washington Times newspaper over a cartoon that depicts Pakistan as a dog.
The cartoon shows a US soldier patting a dog holding Libyan al-Qaeda suspect Abu Faraj al-Libbi who was recently arrested in Pakistan.
“Good boy… now go find Bin Laden,” the soldier urges the dog.
Cartoonist Bill Garner says he meant no offence and the misunderstanding was caused by a “cultural gap.”
…”We are disgusted with the insensitivity of the editors of the Washington Times,” Pakistan’s charge de affaires in Washington, Mohammed Sadiq said on May 6, the day the cartoon appeared.

via the Beeb. Continue reading →

148 years ago, today

Posted on by

Under Wikipedia’s current “Selected Anniversaries”, a special date with regard to this blog– May 10, 1857, i.e. the Sepoy Mutiny:

…The Pattern 1853 Enfield (P/53) rifle was introduced into India. Its cartridge was covered by a greased membrane which was supposed to be cut by the teeth before the cartridges were loaded into the rifles. There was a rumour that the membrane was greased by cow or pig fat…The British claimed that they had replaced the cartridges with new ones not made from cow and pig fat and tried to get sepoys to make their own grease from beeswax and vegetable oils but the rumour persisted. The Commander in Chief in India, General George Anson reacted to this crisis by saying, “I’ll never give in to their beastly prejudices”, and despite the pleas of his junior officers he did not compromise.
…On 9 May, 85 troopers of the 3rd Light Cavalry at Meerut refused to use their cartridges. They were imprisoned, sentenced to ten years of hard labour, and stripped of their uniforms in public. It has been said that the town prostitutes made fun of the manhood of the sepoys during the night and this is what goaded them.
When the 11th and 20th native cavalry of the Bengal Army assembled in Meerut on 10 May, they broke rank and turned on their commanding officers.

…and a Mutiny was born. Read more here. Continue reading →

Hook a brother up

Posted on by

The body of a GOD.

As far as I’m concerned, the best day to buy the New York Post is Snarkday Sunday. THAT’S the day when the Post gets extra wacky; weddings are announced and more celebrity photographs than usual are displayed, replete with delightfully rude captions which allow otherwise demanding readers to overlook the nightmarish-lack-of-editing this tabloid embraces, as a way to distinguish itself from big apple-rivals like the Grey Lady and the “Daily Snooze”.

Still, let’s be honest– other papers have “Vows” sections and every third magazine and fourth cable channel offers celebrity drivel. So why waste three-quarters-of-a-dollar (or hell, three quarters) on The Post? Simple. NYP goes a step beyond, by allowing you to recall the halcyon days of yore when Chuck Woolery helped hapless singles attempt a “Love Connection” with three potential dates.

Chuck is busy, so the Post’s uber-creatively named “Meet Market” feature is what’s in control of some New Yorker’s social fate. And this week? Oh, my Mutiny-lovers. THIS week (drumroll…er…tabla, please) Continue reading →