Author Archives: Abhi

About Abhi

Abhi lives in Los Angeles and works to put things into space.

Wanting to be part of “The War on Terror”

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When I first heard about this story several months ago it just really got under my skin. Apparently these Macedonian police decided that they would prove that Macedonia was fully committed to the U.S. led global war against terror. They did so by luring innocent Indian and Pakistani illegal immigrants into Macedonia and then presenting them to the world as captured terrorists shortly before executing them. Their trial has now commenced. From Aljazeera:

The four defendants include police general Goran Stojkov, intelligence officer Aleksandar Cvetkov, the former commander of a now disbanded special police unit, Boban Utkovski, and businessman Mitko Kikerkov

Former Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski was initially also charged as the main organiser of the slaying but fled to Croatia. He is in detention in the coastal Croatian town of Pula and the case against him will be handled by authorities there.

Ahead of the trial, the defence lawyers claimed their clients were innocent and victims of “politically motivated” proceedings that are part of “political revenge” by the new Macedonian government.

Sources at the court, who asked not to be named, said that at least 30 witnesses will testify during the trial.

The defendants face sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

Indian PM not into birthdays

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Call me paranoid but I sense a conspiracy. In the U.S., little league baseball is always importaning ringers from Latin America who are really too old to be eligible to play baseball, but are able to lie about their age due to the region’s poor birth records. Is the greybearded Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh likewise too old to be eligible for office, or maybe too young? From TeamIndia.net:

Asked by accompanying journalists aboard [a] flight that took him from London to New York Monday evening about [a] planned birthday celebration on air, Singh was quietly dismissive.

“I have never celebrated birthdays. I don’t even know the exact date I was born.”

He explained that a few weeks after he was born in 1932 in Gah, a village in Punjab province of what is now Pakistan, he lost his mother. And he, therefore, never got to know his birthday till the time he was enrolled in primary school when an approximate date was given as his date of birth for the school records.

Something better to bet on

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SayaliBhagat.jpg
While some gambling addicts will spend their money betting on Simpsons characters others will have this lovely option. From the Hindustan Times:

Indian beauty queen Sayali Bhagat is a hot favourite to be crowned Miss World at its 54th edition slated later this year in the tropical island of Sanya in China, according to Internet bookmakers, Interpops.com.

“The world needs some spice! It will certainly have it if Sayali Bhagat becomes the jewel in India’s crown when she wins the 54th Miss World contest,” the betting site said on Thursday.

“The world needs some spice?” Geez, please come up with something better than that.

The bookmakers said there were also some unfortunate “flavourless offerings” that may not make it past the first course. At the bottom of their betting menu are Miss Turks and Caicos at 100/1 and Miss Kenya at 150/1.

Ouch. I’m glad nobody will ever place odds on my beauty.

A sportscasters nightmare

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Though Anish Shroff was recently eliminated from ESPN’s competition to become the next sportscaster there, I give him props. I only saw parts of one episode but it looks like a tough job. A lot of sports stories are coming in while these guys are already in the middle of the show and they have to improvise and think on their feet to describe whats going on. I don’t care how many years of experience you have, nothing can prepare you for this scenario though. From The Times online of UK:

FOR a commentator, it would have been a nightmare. “Patel passes to Patel, it bounces off Patel’s boot, but Patel comes in from the wing and shoots and oh, a brilliant save by Patel. Every Patel on the terraces is on his feet.”

The reason was simple: all 124 players in a weekend five-a-side charity football tournament in Leeds, and 300 of their fans, were called Patel.

For the participants, it was an extended family occasion. The Patels may not all know each other intimately, but they are all in some way related.

This is scary. It reminds me of a nightmare I had once. Pretty soon there will be Patels within the ranks of the Mutiny as well. Oh. Too late.

Patel is merely the 24th most common surname in Britain. Nonetheless, two years ago an eleven from Mr PatelÂ’s society played cricket against another Bradford-based Indian side. All 22 players turned out to be Patels

“Brown Arms White Wars”

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Since this is Veteran’s day in the United States I felt it was most appropriate to have a post about military matters. Embassy Magazine is a publication targeting the diplomat community in the Ottawa, Canada area and recently ran a piece about the often overlooked Brown soldiers of the two World Wars.

Over 1,300,000 soldiers of Indian ancestry fought in the First World War. It remains the largest volunteer army ever assembled in the history of the world. It was the largest number of soldiers fighting from the British Empire after those from the British Isles. Not Canada, not Australia, no other part of the Empire contributed as many troops.

Two and half million Indian soldiers fought in the Second World War. You might want to read those sentences again.

If this group of soldiers came from anywhere in the Western world and if they were white, there’d be monuments to them in every major Western capital in the world.

I guess thats the way of history though isn’t it? Whoever ends up in charge writes history by highlighting certain things and not emphasizing others. Continue reading →

He sure as hell ain’t your daddy

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According to Sky ShowBiz, Liz Hurley it seems is planning an elaborate Indian wedding to marry long-time boyfriend Arun Nayar. But who is giving her away?

…a close pal of the posh beauty told the paper: “Liz wants Hugh [Way too attractive ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant] to give her away because they remain really close friends.”

Oh, hellls no. Ain’t no ex-boyfriend gonna give away my future wife to me. What is Arun thinking? Grow a set dude. This reminds me of Kill Bill vol. II.

Sakharam Binder

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Not really into Bombay Dreams? Well if you live in New York you may be in luck. Sakharam Binder is being staged by The Play Company. From Villagevoice.com:

How often do New York theatergoers get a chance to see a premier work from a major Indian dramatist, staged with the collaboration of the writer himself? Almost never. Vijay Tendulkar’s Sakharam Binder was written and first performed in 1974 and hardly qualifies as a new play. Thirty years after setting Indian censors aflame, it makes its New York debut in a spare, lucid, and altogether thrilling production from the Play Company. At a time when the airheaded confection Bombay Dreams passes for subcontinental theater, Sakharam Binder not only feels vital, but painfully necessary.

Sounds interesting, but I don’t know the story really. What’s it about?

Sakharam is a fortyish bookbinder who offers lodging to cast-off women in exchange for housekeeping favors and the occasional fuck. The drama focuses on two of his concubines—the introverted and ultra-religious Laxmi (Anna George) and the arrogant and slutty Champa (Sarita Choudhury). Their sequential stories are told in highly diagrammatic fashion—Laxmi brings out the Fagin-ish slave master in Sakharam while the insatiable Champa reduces him to a lovelorn puppy.

Oohhh. Saucy.

Update: I had missed the fact that Sepia Mutiny has already covered this story in more detail here.

Aljazeerah on Jindal

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Aljazeerah has an article on Jindal being elected to Congress, that is just like every other article written about him in the past week except for two things that caught my eye:

Born, raised and schooled in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a young Piyush adopted the name “Bobby” at the age of four, after a likeable character from the TV serial “The Brady Brunch.”

Is this true? I find that very amusing. The other assertion Aljazeerah makes is the following:

Political supporters say he is the Republican PartyÂ’s equal to Barack Obama, the newly elected Democratic African-American senator (of Kenyan origin) from Illinois who is the toast of the AmericaÂ’s center-left political junkies.

If that were true I would be hearing calls for Jindal to run for President. Never going to happen since he is so right wing. Oh wait…nevermind.

Nearly Nevermind Nirvana

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The eagerly anticipated show “Nevermind Nirvana” from NBC has gone through some shakeups. Not only has Kal Penn been replaced as the lead, but the show has been re-named “Nearly Nirvana,” and is still hoping to be a midseason replacement on some network. From Zap2it.com:

As any good Hindu knows, Nirvana (or moksha) is something worth fighting for. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to reunite with Brahman and free your soul from the continuous cycle of rebirths. Of course, the possible NBC comedy “Nearly Nirvana” appears to have several more rebirths still to come. After NBC didn’t pick up “Nevermind Nirvana” for the fall season, the show underwent a name change and dropped lead actor Kal Penn (“Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle”). Now, with its fresh title and a new star in place, “Nirvana” is ready to move forward with a second pilot, even if NBC may not be interested anymore.

According to the industry trades, “Nearly Nirvana” writer and producer Ajay Sahgal has stepped in as star, just before the second pilot was ready to shoot with Arj Barker in the lead.

David Schwimmer from Friends is one of the producers of this show about a young Indian American man, his white girlfriend and his traditional parents. I think he is a doctor too, if I remember right. Its too bad it is this difficult to find a market for a show about Indians on television here. I bet its easier in Canada, which is looking more attractive every day.

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