Author Archives: Abhi

About Abhi

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

Makes me want to buy lots of gear

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Since I am both an outdoor enthusiast and a lover of outdoor “gear,” I subscribe to the Adventure 16 newsletter. Adventure 16 is a Southern California outdoor equipment retailer. A couple times a month the local store holds an informal seminar or slideshow about some kick-ass expedition or nature trip that has taken place or soon will. In theory, you’ll be so amped after the presentation that you will buy lots of gear from the store, hoping someday to emulate the feat that you have just heard about. My most recent newsletter featured a blurb about an upcoming event that will relate details about an adventure that I had surprisingly never heard of:

In the 1960’s, the CIA and the Indian Government attempted to deploy a plutonium-powered spy device on Nanda Devi and Nanda Kot in the Indian Himalayas. While Nanda Kot’s device was successfully deployed, Nada Devi rejected all attempts to place the device on her summit and the plutonium was lost and never recovered. In August 2005, Pete Takeda and his crew retraced the spy route on Nanda Kot, visiting the camps used to stage the 1936 first ascent and the spy missions of the 1960’s. Don’t miss this amazing journey! FREE!

San Diego Store: Mon., Jan. 9
West Los Angeles Store: Tues., Jan. 10

This sounds like the beginning to a Tom Clancy novel. I am intrigued. Must-learn-more. As you may have expected, there is in fact an entire book written on this subject: Spy On The Roof Of The World : Espionage and Survival in the Himalayas.

In this cross between a travel adventure story and an espionage novel, Sydney Wignall tells how he became an ad hoc spy for a renegade faction of Indian intelligence operatives in 1955. Wignall had set out to climb the highest mountain in Tibet, but was recruited to investigate Chinese military activity in the region. After being caught, he spent months in a rat-infested, sub-freezing cell as he underwent interrogation. When international pressure forced his release, his captors “released” him and two companions in a nearly impenetrable wintertime wilderness and said “Go home.” Yet Wignall survived–and managed to smuggle out vital information. It is an exhilarating story that only now can be told. [Link]
  • Renegade faction of Indian intelligence
  • Months in a rat-infested cell
  • Interrogation
  • Impenetrable wintertime

If that list isn’t enough to get me to open my wallet and drop some money on new gear at Adventure 16, then frankly I’m not much of a man.

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Immigration smokescreen

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Last Tuesday Wisconsin Congressman James Sensenbrenner introduced legislation on the House floor that will greatly impact the South Asian American community as well as many other immigrant populations. The legislation is up for vote on Dec. 15th. The San Jose Mercury News reports on the bill:

Sensenbrenner’s measure combines the border security bill by homeland security chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. with several other enforcement provisions. The key non-border enforcement measure is patterned after a bill by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., to require employers to verify the Social Security numbers of their employees. Such a program is now voluntary.

Sensenbrenner’s bill would give employers six years to use a federal data base to verify that all their employees are legally entitled to work here. Calvert’s bill would have applied only to new hires and phased in compliance.

Sensenbrenner’s bill also increases the penalties for employers found to hire illegal immigrants, with the minimum fine going from $250 per illegal worker to $5,000. Small business would have lower fines.

“If we do just this,” Calvert said Tuesday, “we’ll pick up about 95 percent of those who are using false documents” to get their jobs.

In reality though this bill will have the same effect as chasing a fly around the house with a baseball bat. The bill, if enacted into law, would not only punish illegal immigrants, but it would also punish almost everyone that they come into contact with (possibly even social service workers). This is pure politics. House Republicans need some issue to rally behind that appeals to their conservative base and will serve to take people’s minds off the war in Iraq. By allowing the anti-immigration wing of the Republican party to take center stage they have found their issue. For the final touch they pretend that this is also about helping to keep terrorists out of the country. As a bonus, Republican congressman uneasily eyeing elections next year, can put some space between themselves and President Bush who is partially on the other side of the fence (pun intended) from his own party on this issue, as he supports a guest worker program. Earlier today SAALT put out an alert asking the South Asian American community to immediately write their representative and senators and urge them to vote this down:

If passed, the bill threatens to have a harmful impact on non-citizens, legal residents, and citizens. If enacted, this bill will be the harshest immigration policy in 80 years. The bill was voted out of the House Judiciary Committee late last week. It is expected to be voted on by the entire House as early as Thursday of this week. The day to call your representative in the House is WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14th.

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The Mutiny claims its first victims- (updated)

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The Indian blogosphere and the Indian political system were rocked today. The tipsters have started to flood our tipline with the hilarious news. Members of India’s Parliament were bribed by a fictitious organization created by a group of Indian bloggers and journalists to introduce statements on the record, without having any idea what they were saying. This was a sting operation to expose the corruption in Indian government. One of those written statements included a reference to Sepia Mutiny. First the background:

If used rightly, tiny, lens bearing aperatures, can empower a citizenry by exposing democracy’s toxic acreage. Operation Duryodhana, a COBRAPOST-AAJ TAK investigation lasting nearly eight months succeeded in capturing the acts of 10 Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha members as they accepted money from representatives of a fictitious body called the North Indian Small Manufacturers’ Assosciation (NISMA) for asking questions in the Indian Parliament. In all more than 60 questions were submitted by 11 MPs of which 25 questions (at last count) were tabled in the Parliament…

The MPs submitted questions on NISMA’s behalf and some of them were selected–and their answers given–in the Parliament’s rigorous balloting system that reduces chances of questions being taken up to something akin to a raffle. Some of the questions were rewritten by the middlemen taking us to the MPs concerned before being put in Parliament, some came nearly verbatim and only certain sections of some were picked up by the Parliament staff. The COBRAPOST team also has in its possession many, original signed forms of MPs, blank as well as filled up, which weren’t submitted but set aside as evidence.

From the start it was my assessment that in order for a reportorial team to remain undercover for a long duration it would be prudent to have a woman reporter as the primary asset on the field. Their biggest advantage in undercover situations is that even in an extreme atmosphere of suspicion they have greater chances to evade a search for hidden camera equipment then men and for all the right reasons. Besides Suhasini Raj, the reporter, who was inserted in the field with an alias of “Namita Gokhale”, had a past selling insurance and was a fast talker. Never at a loss for words, she ended up doing an extraordinary job on the field, surviving several anxious moments when many middlemen and even MPs got their antennae up. The fictitious front under whose umbrella the COBRAPOST team operated was NISMA, ostensibly an organization out of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, that lobbied and worked for the interests and welfare of Small Scale Industries (SSIs). That was, in a nutshell, our story. Even though on several occasions I was tempted to enter the field much earlier than I actually did, I held back realizing that it wouldn’t be prudent for there was a chance of somebody recognizing me. When I did eventually take the field with an alias of “Navratan Malhotra”, executive director of the ‘fictitious’ NISMA, I was armed with a ludicrous wig and even more ludicrous glasses. [Link]

How was Sepia Mutiny involved? One of the MPs was paid to submit the following to Parliament, and apparently did so without a clue in the world as to what he was saying:

“Is it true that while NRI firms such as India Uncut of USA, Sepia Mutiny of Britain and AnarCap Lib of Netherlands have been allowed to invest in Indian SSIs, the reputed German investment firm Desipundit has been denied permission? If so, the reasons thereof? Is the Union Government of India planning to make automatic the long procedure of permission for SSIs to import new technologies such as Trackbacks, Pingbacks, Blogrolls, Splogs and Hitcounters?”

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Nailed for embezzling 9/11 funds

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You just know that anyone caught embezzling money in any way related to 9/11 is going to be nailed. Rediff.com reports on one such individual:

An Indian-American has been arrested for allegedly embezzling millions of dollars from a fund meant to help identify victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Prosecutors alleged that about $5.5 million had been transferred to bank accounts in India at the instance of Natarajan R Venkataram, a former administrator in the New York city medical examiner’s office…

The fund had been set up to buy computer hardware and software to help in the identification of victims.

Apparently he was in this together with his co-worker/girlfriend Rosa Abreau. Let’s see which one will be the first to flip and turn state’s evidence against the other. If you threw in a murder this would make a good Law & Order episode.

Following Sept. 11, the duo steered an $11.4 million contract to Comprehensive Computer Resources, controlled by a close associate of Venkataram, who’s been cooperating with investigators in an effort to lessen his punishment.

While Comprehensive Computer Resources did work for the medical examiner, city officials determined it could have been done for a fraction of the cost, and have vowed to recover the millions lost.

Money was transferred out of Comprehensive Computer Resources accounts by Venkataram with blank checks signed by a Venkataram associate at the company. Some $400,000 was deposited in the account of a shell company controlled by [Rosa] Abreu’s stepmother and another $86,000 to a company controlled by Venkataram’s roommate, authorities say. [Link]
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Mutinous Radio

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I figured that it is was well past time that I showed some love to the South Asian community down in Houston. Every Thursday from 3:30-5:30p.m., Houston’s KPFT 90.1 FM is taken over by GenerAsian Radio featuring DJs Yogi and Alex. You can either catch it live or listen to past shows that they have uploaded to the web:

GenerAsian Radio is a unique radio program featuring an eclectic mix of Asian Underground, Hindi, Bhangra, Arabic, house, and hip-hop. Started back in 2002, the show has been widely popular among the South Asian youths and also among Middle Eastern, Hispanic, European, American music lovers. The show features interviews with musicians and artists from all over the world, live mixes in the studio, and cultural community events. GenerAsian Radio airs live on the web as Real Audio or MP3 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM CST on Thursdays.

What I like to do sometimes is to listen to the GenerAsian radio clips while either writing a post for SM or reading a post written by one of my co-bloggers. Sepia Mutiny needs theme music to be properly enjoyed. I have long subscribed to the idea that life would be more worth living if we all had our own personal soundtracks. Unfortunately society has not yet reached my prescient conclusion, so in the meantime I rely on websites like GenerAsian radio’s to mix something up.

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Rashomon on the plane

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Back in July, Manish posted about the killing of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes that took place in the London Tube. He was a young, brown-skinned man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was shot in the head by police as a result of a series of unfortunate events. Manish titled his post Rashomon on the Tube. “Rashomon” was a reference to an Akira Kurosawa film in which people that witnessed the same incident had all reported seeing different things. When I read that air marshals had shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar at the Miami airport yesterday, the first thing I thought of was de Menezes. Early reports said that the man was frantic, trying to run, mentioned a bomb, and reached into his bag just prior to being shot. I tried to put myself in the position of the air marshals. It would have been a tough choice, but I would have probably fired as well. When reports later surfaced that the man’s wife was yelling that he was “bi-polar” and “off his meds” I had to pause. The air marshals should have considered this, but its still a judgement call in my opinion. The latest news however makes me think that this is “Rashomon” all over again. Time Magazine reports:

At least one passenger aboard American Airlines Flight 924 maintains the federal air marshals were a little too quick on the draw when they shot and killed Rigoberto Alpizar as he frantically attempted to run off the airplane shortly before take-off.

“I don’t think they needed to use deadly force with the guy,” says John McAlhany, a 44-year-old construction worker from Sebastian, Fla. “He was getting off the plane.” McAlhany also maintains that Alpizar never mentioned having a bomb.

“I never heard the word ‘bomb’ on the plane,” McAlhany told TIME in a telephone interview. “I never heard the word bomb until the FBI asked me did you hear the word bomb. That is ridiculous.” Even the authorities didn’t come out and say bomb, McAlhany says. “They asked, ‘Did you hear anything about the b-word?'” he says. “That’s what they called it.”

Look at the striking similarities in these cases (besides their pictures):

  1. Both men were killed in the name of protecting citizens from terrorism and turned out to be innocent.
  2. Both men ran from, and were fired upon by plain clothes law enforcement officers.
  3. Both men were of South American ancestry.
  4. In both cases witnesses describe facts which contradict the first reports from the authorities.

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That necklace appears to be weighing you down

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Gold. The metal is synonymous with Indian culture. All the aunties that are shamelessly pressuring us younger folk to get married, are really doing so simply because it will provide them occasion to sport their bling. When my mom travels overseas she always calls me to have “the talk:”

“Abhi-beta, if something happens take care of your brother. You know where we keep the family gold right?”

She proceeds to tell me in laborious detail about the many locations, safety deposit boxes, etc., where the family jewels are kept. I shouldn’t even mention the map to the dig site in the forest behind our house. The Christian Science Monitor reports that India’s obsession with Au is actually weighing down the growth of the Indian economy:

In India, nearly all that glitters is, in fact, gold. With a stockpile already worth $200 billion, Indian gold purchases jumped nearly 40 percent this year, making the country the world’s leading consumer of the precious metal.

Gold may seem like a savvy investment as its value hits a 22-year high. But experts say it may actually be weighing down one of Asia’s fastest rising economies. It would be better if the money locked up in the glistening yellow metal went instead to finance new start-ups or better roads, boosting the Indian economy over the long term, economists contend.

That could provide quite a boost, given that the amount Indians have saved in gold – mostly as jewelry – is worth 30 percent of the country’s $690 billion economy. But Indians have a deep cultural soft spot for the soft metal – something that may hinder new efforts to introduce more modern investment strategies for India’s burgeoning middle class.

“It’s fair to say India’s economic growth would be higher if the money tied up in gold was invested more productively,” says Diana Farrell, director of the McKinsey Global Institute in San Francisco.

But really now, how are you going to convince those aunties that giving up the gold is better for their society? I myself am a silver man. I especially like it on my kaju-katli.

…earlier this year there was a mini gold rush in Tamil Nadu, where people affected by last year’s tsunami put up to half the aid money they had received into gold jewelry,” Ms. Leyland says. “They could wear it, keep it safe, and it was in a form where it couldn’t be frittered away.”

Worries over security aren’t restricted to poorer or displaced Indians, however. The country’s growing middle class is still skeptical of financial investments and even bank deposits, preferring physical assets like gold and property.

There is definitely going to be a generational conflict over the gold in my family. My mom made me a gold Om chain a long time ago but I never wear it. I’m always afraid I will lose it and I just never thought gold was that attractive (one of the many reasons I am a bad Indian son). I have always admired gold for its more pragmatic uses.

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Ladies and Gentlemen. I give you Kong.

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As stated previously, there isn’t much that I like about the Holiday season. The one thing I do appreciate however, are the movies. Hollywood studios, greedy for Oscar gold, always release their best movies in December. I still haven’t found a date to go see Syriana with despite the fact that it has been out for two weeks already in L.A. This weekend marks the opening of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I can hardly wait. Next weekend however is when the biggest film of the year will open up. Peter Jackson’s re-make of the 1933 classic King Kong. But…did you all know that Bollywood re-made King Kong in 1962? Would I lie to you? I give you Kong:

Unfortunately this one blurry picture is the only visual evidence I could find that the movie really exists (Update: Manish who unlike me can read Hindi, points out that this poster may be of a film called Shikari which also seems to have a giant ape??). It was a cached copy on a defunct webpage. I do know a bit more about the ’62 version however (even if the above picture is not the King Kong movie poster). It was directed by Babubhai Mistri and starred Dara Singh:
Prolific Indian director Babubhai Mistri filmed a Hindi version of the simian classic that starred world-wrestling force Dara Singh. We were unable to ascertain, however, whether Mr. Singh played a human or Kong himself — this movie never made it to the United States because of the copyright infringement lawsuits that would have resulted. [Link]
Other websites I came across were also speculating whether Singh played the part of the hero or that of Kong (Update: A reader provides the answer). Is there anyone reading this that has actually been lucky enough to see this film? Ask your parents. I am simply dying to know whether the Bollywood version has the “Fay Wray” character and King Kong dancing and singing around the trees in the forest of that primordial island where they find Kong.

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…then you can’t have our money

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I know that there are many lawyers and current law students that read SM on a daily basis. Therefore I thought it might be of value to point out that the Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today in a case pertaining to the Solomon Amendment. The Christian Science Monitor reports on the crux of the debate:

At the center of the legal showdown: to what extent military recruiters should have access to law school campuses. The case involves conflicting conceptions of free speech. It also could erode some civil rights laws, which use federal funding to encourage nondiscrimination.

On one side of the current case are a group of law professors and law schools seeking equal treatment of gays interested in serving the nation as members of the armed forces. In protest of the Pentagon’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy banning openly gay individuals from the military, the law schools restricted military recruiters from fully participating in school-sponsored employment events.

Military recruiters could still come to campuses, but the law schools’ employment placement offices would not assist them. The message was that the schools would not abet military discrimination against some of their own students.

I have thought a lot about this issue. I am a big time supporter of the military but on this issue I would side with the law schools. The law schools could bar any other employer that openly discriminates, so why not the U.S. military? I understand that a ruling in favor of the law schools could set a dangerous precedent. It would embolden people to protest all kinds of federal laws based on the logic that they were following their conscience. Take for example the pharmacists that oppose filling a prescription to the morning-after pill. In many instances they HAVE to fill the prescription by law. I would not want that to change. The threat of federal money being taken away from a University that only has the best interests of its students (i.e. protecting is LGBT community) in mind does not seem fair to me.

Law schools have “a Hobson’s choice: Either the university must forsake millions of dollars of federal funds largely unrelated to the law school, or the law school must abandon its commitment to fight discrimination,” justices were told in a filing by the Association of American Law Schools.

The federal law, known as the Solomon Amendment after its first congressional sponsor, mandates that universities, including their law and medical schools and other branches, give the military the same access as other recruiters or forfeit money from federal agencies like the Education, Labor and Transportation departments.

Dozens of groups have filed briefs on both sides of the case, the first gay-rights related appeal since a contentious 2003 Supreme Court ruling that struck down laws criminalizing gay sex.

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The Leader

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Patient and steady with all he must bear,
Ready to meet every challenge with care,
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real.
Isn’t afraid to propose what is bold,
Doesn’t conform to the usual mould,
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight won’t do,
Never backs down when he sees what is true,
Tells it all straight, and means it all too.
Going forward and knowing he’s right,
Even when doubted for why he would fight,
Over and over he makes his case clear,
Reaching to touch the ones who won’t hear.
Growing in strength he won’t be unnerved,
Ever assuring he’ll stand by his word.
Wanting the world to join his firm stand,
Bracing for war, but praying for peace,
Using his power so evil will cease,
So much a leader and worthy of trust,
Here stands a man who will do what he must.

Hint: Write out the first letter of each line.

Over the past few days we have learned that the U.S. has been placing news propaganda stories in the Iraqi media. Is it possible that they are doing the same to the Pakistani education ministry in order to counteract the teachings of those darn madrasas? Ummm, no. That’s a bit farfetched. But then how in the HELL did the above poem end up in Pakistani school textbooks?? Where is that panel of historian fact-checkers when you really need them? Continue reading →