I think we need a new category called “Raj-watch”. 😉

Mutineer Vinod selected a few words from my favourite tabloid, the New York Post, for an SM blurb about the busy Mr. Bhakta a month ago. I’ll save you the trouble of clicking about by re-pasting the aforementioned Page Six dirt here:

RECENTLY fired “Apprentice” Raj Bhakta might be better suited for a role on “The Player.” The would-be lothario distinguished himself last week by hitting on Donald Trump’s assistant, Robin Himmel, while he was waiting for the elevator to take him from the building after his dismissal.

However, Himmel may be the only one Bhakta struck out with, as three of his fellow castmates have fallen prey to his charms, a source shared, including Stacy Rotner and Jennifer Crisafulli, who have “at least made out” with Bhakta.

Aha! (and with that, may “Take on Me” waft through your head ALL DAY 😉 The very next day, Page Six cleared up any ambiguity about striking:

November 11, 2004 — FIRED “Apprentice” Romeo Raj Bhakta got his wish yesterday — a “date” with Donald Trump’s pretty receptionist, Robin Himmler, who’s featured on the NBC reality show. Raj, known for his bow-ties, asked Robin out at the end of last week’s episode and — even though she has a very serious boyfriend — she agreed to at least meet Raj for a cup of Joe.

The pair chatted yesterday over coffee at (where else?) Trump Tower.

At Sepia Mutiny, we, like President Bush, are “workin’ hard”…”workin’ saturdays” to keep our readers updated on the most pressing brown matters. You don’t have to admit it to your friends, but we know why you’re addicted, and it’s obviously our thisclose coverage of dismissed/fired/rejected south asian reality show refugees. no worries. we’re so on it. 😉

How do you solve a tragic, decades-old sort of hatred? Fashion! Well, and cricket…

Friends Ali Khan, a British Pakistani, and Yash Singh, a British Indian, were surprised at the level of animosity between Indians and Pakistanis in Britain, and decided to do something about it themselves.

So, they thought long and hard about the problem and, finally, they had their eureka moment: what love do the two countries have in common? They asked themselves. Answer: Cricket. So, they thought, how can we, in our own small way, harness that common love? Again, they thought long and hard – and came up with an answer: half and half shirts.

That means half the shirt in Pakistani colours and half in Indian colours.

The duo took the “half” concept very seriously:

It was important to us to show the collaboration between our two families, so half the shirts were sewn together by my mum and my sister, and half by Yash’s mum and sister, which meant we had 100 half-halfs to sell at Edgbaston”.

They sold the lot, and could have shifted a lot more, and that meant that the successful day at the match was not the end of the story by any means. The two families went on to make more shirts in time for the Mega Mela in Birmingham in October.

Apparently there’s an under-served market for this unique “couture”:

Again, they were amazed at the response they received from other British Asians. As Ali said: “One lady even asked me if there was a range for babies. She was a Hindu from India and her husband was a Pakistani Muslim, so she said her children were literally half-halfs like our shirts”.

Diplomacy-shlomacy. All they are saying, is give tees a chance.

(You can stop your groaning, I know that one hurt.)

via HT

What is up with alluring South Asian men lately? Apparently, famous women can’t resist them! 😉 First Liz Hurley and Arun Nayyar, now this?

From “stuff”?

We could spend the whole column this week trying to untangle the web of intrigue surrounding Imran Khan, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Jemima Khan, her children and Hugh Grant.

…The story so far has the sprightly sexagenarian Goldie doing a runner from California to be at Imran’s side at a get-together in India, where “friends” say they were very pleased to see each other. New Idea tells us Goldie has become obsessed with Imran since meeting him two months ago. One witness was “amazed” at the display of affection.

Back in California Kurt is telling friends he thinks Imran is a bit of a dog and that Goldie is “kidding herself” if she thinks Imran is serious.

Continue reading →

American reality shows involve marrying off little people and eating offal.

Indian reality shows focus on finding “India’s smartest kid“.

No, no stereotypes anywhere… 😉

A 12-year-old boy from India’s poorest and most lawless state, Bihar, is celebrating being named India smartest kid after winning a nationally televised quiz.

Subham Prakhar won the title of “India’s Child Genius” after several rounds of stiff competition between some 16,000 schoolchildren.

Both of his parents are currently unemployed and Subham had to depend on generous relatives and the internet to gain access to the books he needed to prepare for the competition.

Finding India’s child genius required quite a process: 16,000 students, aged 10-13 (who had done well in the past two academic years), telephone interviews, tests, ten months, 27 episodes, countless smacks upside a sleepy child’s head if they weren’t studying hard enough… 😉

All in the pursuit of a glass trophy, an Encyclopedia Brittanica CD, some pens and a cash prize of one meeel-ion rupees. bragging rights for the parents of the winner: priceless. Continue reading →

Goddess bless Nirali Magazine, for being so gosh-darned entertainin’. You MUST peep this excerpt from the excellent website’s interview with our favourite female reality show reject– it seems that Julie Ann Titus of America’s Next Top Model fame has some memorable opinions on certain fashion designers:

You said you specifically want to do men’s apparel. Why?

Everybody goes so crazy with women’s clothes—it’s not even fashion anymore, it’s costume. I just think guys look better in their clothes. My dad always dressed up in really nice suits for work. I thought, guys should wear suits all the time. And I want to incorporate Indian style, too. I was so excited when I met designer Anand Jon on the show.

What was that experience like?

I saw him walk into the room, and I went crazy. I mean, I’ve studied his work. But he was an interesting character. I wouldn’t want to hang out with him, that’s for sure.

Why not?

I respect him as a fashion designer. But he was very, very rude to some of the girls. He seemed so boring to me. I asked him what part of India he was from, and he asked me, what part of India are you from? So I said I’m from Kerala, and he looked at me kind of crazy. He’s Malayalee, too. He asked me if I knew any Malayalam, and I said I only knew the bad words. Then he says, “Shouldn’t you be serving us or something?” [Titus and the other cast members had to serve four of the girls who won that week’s model challenge.] So I walked away, cursing at him in Malayalam. He said, “Oh, so now you know it?” And he smelled bad. The girls looked at me and were like, are all Indian guys like this? And I was like, nope, just this fool right here. Later, my parents told me that they know him through family friends.

Continue reading →

Just in time for the PM’s visit, it’s “No globes for you”!

From Yahoo! India News :

New Delhi, Nov. 10 (ANI): The Delhi High Court today put an interim ban on the import and marketing of Chinese-made toy globes in India, saying that they incorrectly represented the country’s map by not showing Jammu and Kashmir as part of its territory.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice B.C. Patel and Justice B.D. Ahmed directed the government not to permit the circulation of Chinese-made globes in the market.

Yes, but can I buy one on EBay now? Should I? or does it not work like that? 😉