Author Archives: Taz

About Taz

Taz is an activist, organizer and writer based in California. She is the founder of South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), curates MutinousMindState.tumblr.com and blogs at TazzyStar.blogspot.com. Follow her at twitter.com/tazzystar

Then A [Desi] Hero Comes Along

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Who said desi accents weren’t sexy? One in particular will keep me glued to the TV every Monday night, starting next Monday on the NBC sci-fi drama Heroes.

Desi-licious

The most heated debate [by critics] centers on “Heroes,” NBC’s bold new drama about everyday people who discover they have extraordinary powers (one can teleport, another can fly, a third is impervious to bodily injury) and ultimately band together to fight evil. (Think “X-Men” meets “Lost.”) Our panelists are deeply divided on this show — they either love it or seem to be disillusioned with the genre. [link]

Looks like with this show, NBC will be finally be able to tap into the ‘sci-fi drama for Gen X’ market that had been previously cornered by the soon to be defunct WB. As for my new television crush with the delicious desi accent — it is Sendhil Ramamurthy, who plays the Indian geneticist turned New York cabbie Mohinder Suresh.

A tenured genetics professor at the the University of Madras. His father Chandra was also a professor until he disappeared from India and the accredited academic world years ago after raving about a “global event’ that would change mankind. He thought his answers would be in New York… Chandra was murdered. Mohinder moves to New York to find out why his father was killed. [link]

Boys, you can have your Lakshmi-the-cooking-show-host because us girls will have Ramamurthy-the-geneticist- professor-who-will-solve-the-mystery. The Heroes site has delicious videos online to be sure to get you addicted well in advances of the Sept. 25th premiere. If you are a fan of the intrigue that was behind Lost (first season), or a comic book geek for superhuman abilities, then this show is sure to be your cup of chai. Join me in my new Monday night obsession, as I’m sure other female mutineers across the nation will be sure to do, in a swoon worthy weekly television event.

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Morning After Recap of the L.A. Meetup

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The rumors are true kids, and we have pictures to prove it (need to join as member to view pix). To quote Vinod, last night was “the BEST Sepia Mutiny Meetup EVER!”

GujuDude and his macaca

The quick run down- the place was hip, the people that came were cool, the drama kept at a minimum and the party was a great success. It started at happy hour time, and went late into the wee morning as 15 of us broke bread together at The Pantry at 1am. As you can see from the pictures, everyone was smiling and having a great time. Big ups to all the mutinous (I’d guess we had a posse of 50 throughout the night) that came: Abhi, Vinod, Sumit, Karthik, Rumi, Builder, Vinod (x2), Hanish, GujuDude (+1), Prashant, Lata, Payal, Ravi the lurker, Amar, Gaurav, Pawan, Sharat, Sachin, Rajan, Lavanya, Arun, Deep, Shivani, 1 /26, Satish, Thomas Kurma, Shruti, Dimpal, Vivek, Anu, Ami, Mad Guru, – and all those others that didn’t sign in!

What exactly happened that made it so kick ass?

Though it started at 7pm, people were naturally on IST time. As people joined the mutiny, they had a sepia rakhi tied to their wrist to let them know they were now a ‘part of the mutiny.’ People slowly filtered in, and folks hesitantly approached our table of brown folks. We then loosened folks up (or was it the alcohol?) with an icebreaker. The icebreaker was to a list SM handles that people had to match with real names and on the flip the Sepia Mutiny Trivia (after the jump). First to answer all corrrectly was GujuDude and his prize, as you can see from the picture, was a toy macaca.

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Down Under Desis

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Crickey. There sure are a lot of desis down under.

Indians have emerged as the fastest-growing group of migrants entering Australia. They are now the third-largest immigrant group behind the British and New Zealanders. The Indians bring with them the expertise that Australia’s booming economy desperately needs, amid a chronic skills shortage. [link]

In fact, 10% of new settlers to Australia are of Indian origin. Though, last we checked, the Desi-American community is growing, I hardly think the growth is comparable.

“The word has got out that Australia’s looking for well-educated migrants with good English, and Indians fit that. So the question is whether those who want to leave India want to come to Australia or the United States or Britain or Canada,” said [former government advisor] Henderson…Trade unions have complained that importing so many foreign workers does not address the root causes of Australia’s skills shortage.

Social isolation and discrimination at work can pose problems. But for most newcomers the migration experience is a positive one. [link]

One of the interesting things that I hear about South/Asians in Australia are the high number of Asian-Australians that are in elected office. The reason for such interest in civic engagement? A large part would have to be in that in Australia, they have mandatory voting — including fines if you don’t vote.

Voter Registration is mandatory for all citizens 18 years of age or above. An individual has 8 weeks after turning 18 to register. Similarly, if a change of address causes an individual to move to another electorate (Electoral Division) they are legally obliged to notify the Electoral Commission within 8 weeks…The one registration covers Federal, State and Local voter registration. In Australia it is a legal offence to fail to vote (or at the very least, attend a polling station and have one’s name crossed off the roll) at any Federal or State election, punishable by a fine. [link]

When you have mandatory voting, issues around disenfranchisement no longer revolve around registration and getting to the polls, but around other issues. Though the article states the reason for the large immigrant influx desi population is to fill skill shortage spots, I would imagine that another large reason is due to the ease with which desis get involved into the fabric of civic life. I’ve never been though, so if we have any South Asian Australian readers, I’d love to hear about your experience. With both mandatory voting and an influx of desis in Australia, potentially, desis will be a politicized population to reckon with down under in the near future. Is mandatory voting America’s solution?

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Desis in the (MD State) House

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Today is Election Day in many states across the nation, the primary elections to be exact. Though there are a few of desis running for office across the nation, there are FOUR running for office in Maryland (Thanks, IALI).

Kumar Barve (District 17) [WaPo Review] Age:43

First elected in 1990, and re-elected three times–in 1994,1998, and 2002, Delegate Kumar P. Barve, age 43, is the Majority Leader in Maryland’s state legislature and is the longest-serving elected official of Indian origin. He represents a district with a population of 110,000 in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Barve’s grandfather, Shankar L. Gokhale, was the President of Holkar College in Indore, India. Gokhale immigrated to the United States in 1911. Barve’s mother, Neera, was born in Schenectady, New York. His father, Prabhakar Barve, came to the U.S. in 1957 after studying architecture at the Hammersmith School of Building in London, England. Kumar P. Barve is the first person of Indian origin to be elected as a state legislator in United States history. [link]

Nina Basu (District 13) [WaPo Review] Age: 25

Basu, a financial analyst [and law student] who is waging her first campaign for state office, lists her top priorities as funding education, mass transit and public safety. Basu, who has served on the Long Reach Village Board since 2003, said her priorities – like those of the other candidates – require money to come to fruition. Seeking that money would be her primary role as a delegate, she said. [link]

Shukoor Ahmed (District 23A) [WaPo Review] Age:44

Ahmed moved to the United States from India at the age of 25 with, he said, only $500. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in public policy from American University and, in 2000, started his own company. He has had the political bug since he was young, Ahmed said, and worked on the Democratic presidential campaigns of Joe Lieberman and Bill Bradley. Ahmed said his passion is to “use technology to improve (government) services to citizens” – an area in which most legislators lack expertise, he noted. [link]

Saqib Ali (District 39) [WaPo Review] Age: 31

You might remember Ali from last month, and the story of the anti-islam demonstrator in his front yard.

Like Barve, he was recently endorsed by the Washington Post which stated “[p]olitical newcomer Saqib Ali has shown good command of issues and would bring new vigor to this district’s delegation.” He has also been endorsed by the Montgomery County Education Association. A software engineer, he has lived in Montgomery County since 1991 when he moved there to attend college. Ali has out raised all candidates. As the Post observes “challenger Saqib Ali has raised $63,000 for his campaign to be the Democratic nominee for the state House. That’s twice as much as the three incumbents in the district have raised, combined, in the past year. [link]

It’s great to see four desis running for office in Maryland. I’ve had to opportunity to meet with Barve in the past and I would have to say that it was his pioneering that paved the road for desis to run for political office the Maryland today. Good luck to the candidates and if you live in Maryland, don’t forget to vote!

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Ironically, Satyagraha’s 100 Year Anniversary

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Much like the rest, I too have been spending a significant amount of time reflecting on 9/11 today. Ironically, today marks the 100 year anniversary to the day that Mahatma Gandhi launched the nonviolent resistance movement, or the “Satyagraha.”

The date was September 11th, 1906. Speaking before 3,000 Indians gathered at a theater in Johannesburg, Gandhi organized a strategy of nonviolent resistance to oppose racist policies in South Africa. Satyagraha was born and since then, it has been adopted by many around the world to resist social injustice and oppression.

Gandhi used it in India to win independence from the British. The Reverend Martin Luther King used it in the United States to oppose segregation and Nelson Mandela used it in South Africa to end apartheid. [link]

Democracy Now! recently did a fabulous interview of Arun Gandhi, Gandhi’s grandson and co-founder of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence in Memphis, TN. He talks about that day, but it’s interesting to see how applicable the words are to today’s resistance.

[P]eople were wondering, how can we resist with the state so powerful, and we don’t have any weapons, you know, because every time, even today, when somebody talks about resistance, everybody thinks in terms of weapons and war and fighting. And that’s when grandfather explained to them that we don’t need any weapons of mass destruction. We have the ability to respond to this nonviolently and with self-suffering. And that’s what he encouraged the people to do. And they came out into the streets with love for the enemy. You know, grandfather didn’t tolerate any hate for the enemy or any anger for the enemy. He said nonviolence has to be complete nonviolence. We have to have love and respect for the enemy, and that is the only way we can overcome them. And that’s what he showed in his work.

And I am amazed that the prime minister of South Africa, General J.C. Smuts, later on he admitted that grandfather was the greatest. He called him a saint, and he said, “It was my misfortune that I had to be against him,” you know. And it was that kind of feeling of reverence and awe that he inspired even in his opponents. And I think that’s what we have to remember and try to make it a part of our lives, because violence is destroying us. You know, we’re seeing violence growing every day in our streets, in our homes, in our towns, in our cities, in the world itself. Everywhere we turn, we see violence and hate and prejudice and anger and all of these negative emotions that are destroying humanity. And we have to wake up and take note of this and try to change our course, so that we can create a world of peace and harmony where future generations can live happily together.[link]

In many ways, I feel the parallels of these two landmark events on 9/11 is not just ironic, but symbolic. Five years ago to the day, we lost what privilege we had as the ‘model minority.’ The xenophobic attitude towards desis felt in the post-9/11 backlash are somewhat parallel to those felt by desis in South Africa during Gandhi’s time. Different magnitudes of hate, but similar all the same. Continue reading →

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End Of Summer Los Angeles Meetup [Update]

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Reservations have been made. Guest list has been compiled. Goodie bags are in the works. Ms. Pac Man practice games polished. We are prepared for the sequel…

It’s time for the Sepia Mutiny Los Angeles End-Of-Summer-Blowout MEET UP!
When: Friday, September 15th.
Time: 7:00pm – really late. (Happy Hour goes until 9:00pm)
Where: Golden Gopher 417 W. 8th St. Los Angeles, 90014 [map]

Now, the Golden Gopher isn’t your typical bar, and as a non-drinker, it is my favorite Los Angeles bar for two reasons. The best jukebox in town, and they have tabletop Ms. Pac Man scattered throughout.

With that being said, we ask for everyone who is ‘up for it’ to bring rolls of quarters in their pockets for the first ever Mutinous Ms. Pac Man Challenge! Abhi claims he’s the best, I claim to be better, and we both challenge the L.A. mutiny to a death match of Ms Pac Man.

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The Desi Vote. 2006.

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Excuse me? Hi. Are you registered to vote? No? Well it’s easy. Here, let me register you right now. All you have to do is click on that picture. Right there on the right, see? Easy. Oh, I see that you are hesitating. You don’t think that the South Asian American vote has any power in America because last you checked there were only 2 million desis? You didn’t hear?

[B]y 2010 Indian-Americans will reach the 4.5 million mark, while South Asians will cross the 5.5 million mark. In other words Desis are expected to constitute 1.5 % of the total American population of 2010.

If one is to extrapolate from these latest U.S. Census figures, the Asian Indian population in America is expected to reveal its steepest rise ever during the 2010 census…The Census also ranked Asian Indians as the third largest Asian American group after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. Indian Americans also had the largest percentage increase of the six major Asian groups in the U.S. [link]

No kidding, right? I double checked those numbers at work too. Legit. What, you still don’t believe that we can have a collective political voice if that 5.5 million is spread across the nation? Well how about this…?

Top Metropolitan Areas of South Asian Americans [link]

  1. NYC (sa pop =251,121)
  2. Chicago (sa pop=132,811)
  3. Washington DC tri-state area (sa pop=90,705)
  4. Los Angeles/Long Beach (sa pop=73,489)
  5. Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ (sa pop=71,116)

Top Counties of High Concentrations of South Asian Americans [link]

  1. Sutter, CA (sa pop=7,914 percent=10.03)
  2. Middlesex, NJ (sa pop=61,485 percent=8.2)
  3. Queens, NY (sa pop=164,636 percent=7.84)
  4. Fort Bend, TX (sa pop=16,941 percent=4.78)
  5. Santa Clara,CA (sa pop=73,840 percent=4.39)

You see, if we can increase desi voter registration, as well as voter turnout across the nation and especially in these areas, we can increase the potential political voice of the South Asian American Vote. Voting Bloc? I’m not sure about that yet — as is often mentioned we are dealing with a diverse community with many issues, plus, I don’t feel that we are at the point of a voting bloc yet because of lack of that power. But we can do everything to build that power for our community; by votes, by running for office, by organizing. By building this potential political power, when we do unite on issues that affect our South Asian community as a whole, we will have the power to influence change.

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Bruised Bipasha

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Edison, NJ just can’t seem to get out of the news. Seems that filmi starlet Bipasha Basu was recently harrassed there this month by a couple of the organizers at Indian Business Association. And as any woman of my disposition a like-minded desi woman that doesn’t take crap lying down anymore, she made sure that she was not silenced.

Girl Powered Bipasha Basu

Bollywood star Bipasha Basu has publicly accused two organisers of an India Day parade at Edison Township, New Jersey, of harassing her physically and mentally. The movie star was scheduled to lead the parade — organised by the Indian Business Association — on Sunday, August 13, through Oak Tree Road, a centre of Indian businesses, as Grand Marshall.

Before the parade… Bipasha appeared on stage. “I wanted to attend the parade, but I could not,” she said, adding that she was harassed physically and mentally in the car by two people who were taking her to the parade. [link]

Girlfriend was angry, and partial footage of Basu on stage enraged into a girl power frenzy almost brought a tear to my eye. (The entire tirade was shown on Asian Variety Show this weekend, but I couldn’t find it online). Though the IBA said they were going to do an investigation, they are also doing what every good American does. Suing her.

Officials said the IBA, which instituted an inquiry into the allegations, will sue Basu for an undisclosed amount for violating the contract and making such an allegation. Though officials were not willing to talk till the inquiry was over, sources said it could sue her for $5 million. The legal action is expected to be initiated in a New Jersey court. [link]

[Bipasha] claimed she had received some bruises, which were photographed… [link]

Bipasha has not made a formal complaint to the organisers, he said. The alleged incident could cause a criminal investigation, but she has not lodged any complaint with the police either.[link]

So IBA, your volunteer organizers pick up this woman, they don’t ‘molest’ her but she does get bruises from the incident, and your step is to sue her for breach of contract? Seriously? Too bad Basu doesn’t blog anymore, I’d love to hear what she has to say.

Edison as we know, has the fifth largest desi population, and the most significant concentration of desis in the U.S. With police brutality and now this incident, the desi community of Edison has their community organizing work cut out for them.

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Beer Drinking Desi

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The first time I saw the poster, I had just walked out of work and saw the ridiculousness of it all on the bus stop kiosk. “Great.” I muttered to myself. “Another frat boy comedy.” Than I looked a little closer and saw that the main face dead center in the sea of beer was in fact (un)typical and desi. “Great…”
Yes, I am talking about Beerfest, now playing at a theatre near you.

Seriously? A desi in a frat boy comedy around beer competition? Why, it’s almost like a desi in a frat boy comedy around marijuana! The desi in this movie, Jay Chandrasekhar, is who I’m talking about and it looks like he is doing it all; starring, directing, writing and producing for Beerfest. We’ve seen Chandrasekhar’s directing before with the movies The Dukes of Hazard and Super Troopers.

I wasn’t planning on watching it but that will not stop me from reviewing the movie for you.

When their great grandmother asks them to return their grandfather’s ashes to the old country, Jan (Paul Soter) and Todd (Erik Stolhanske) Wolfhouse jump at the opportunity. It doesn’t hurt that the trip would take them to Germany during Oktoberfest… What Jan and Todd find is a secret competition in which all of the world’s greatest beer gamers and beer drinkers compete for glory: Beerfest. [link]

Director Jay Chandrasekhar (who also stars as Barry, the hustler) has plenty of good ideas to bounce into his cinematic glass but, at several points, they become too much. What seems like a “Saturday Night Live” skits winds up as “Long Day’s Journey into Night.”…Easily, “Beerfest” is an acquired taste. If you’re not into this kind of comedy, you won’t find the film intoxicating. If you are, drink up [link]

Beerfest is a movie that is funny when it goes for outrageous and farcical, but tedious when it displays the originality of a Kevin Federline rap. [link]

Ouch, a Federline diss. Read more reviews of catch-phrase critics here, watch a red carpet interview with Jay here, and Manish at Ultrabrown compiles some more reviews here. But in all my searching, I haven’t read any other desi perspectives on this movie on the blogrolls. Mutineers, have you seen the movie? What do you think? And of course, is it really a step forward for desis in Hollywood if instead of being typecasted as terrorists and silent head henchmen, we have a role like the one on Beerfest?

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