Author Archives: sajit

Doing Your Homework Can Get You Arrested

Posted on by

Only Indian kids would go to such lengths to finish a class assignment.

The University of Maryland’s student paper, the Diamondback is reporting that three graduate students from India (two men and a woman) were detained and questioned for nearly four hours by Montgomery County police early Tuesday morning for using a device to track wireless communication signals for a class assignment (thanks masked tipster). Neighbors reported the three to the police for suspicious activity because they had been driving through Silver Spring, Md (a suburb of Washington DC) at about 15 miles per hour with elaborate equipment in their rental vehicle.

Yeah, it sounds shady. If a car was constantly roaming around my neighborhood from about 10 pm to 2 in the morning, I too would probably be a little suspicious, especially at that hour. Well, so were the police.

At about 2 a.m. early Tuesday morning while driving through a residential Silver Spring neighborhood, the students noticed a police car following them and flashing its lights. The students were stopped and answered questions about their identities, equipment and assignment, and were then escorted by police back to I-495 and sent home.

You would think it would have ended at that. It is kind of funny, a trio of Indian students geekily get pulled over, not for partying or do something illegal, but for doing their homework. The crappy thing is, it didn’t end there.

Police from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties rejoined the students at their Berwyn House Road apartments, where after more questioning, an officer copied down the equipment’s serial numbers and informed one of the male students his laptop appeared on a list of stolen electronics.Officers detained them there for nearly two hours, questioned them, photographed them, recorded detailed descriptions of their physical appearances and inspected their visas, passports, university identifications and international driving permits.

Now I am a bit confused. Why would the police need to follow them home? The students showed the police their ids, equipment, and explained to the police the class assignment. What was the point in following them home and recording all of their personal data? And the bit about taking the laptop I am not too clear on.

“Everyone was shocked, dumbfounded, speechless,” the female student said. “This has never happened before in our lives. I was very angry. I didn’t appreciate the harassment.” The students were released by officers about 5 a.m. Tuesday and later informed their professor and department.

And yet, it all could have probably went away had they called their professor earlier. The good Indian students that they are, they didn’t want to bother him.

They said they didn’t want to call us in the middle of the night and wake us up,” said Steve Tretter, director of the program. “I told them they were crazy and should have called us immediately.” Tretter said he and administrators were upset for the students.
Continue reading →

earth, fire, WATER

Posted on by

The Smithsonian Institution is hosting a screening of Deepa Mehta’s Water on March 4 at the Hirshhorn Museum’s Ring theater. The screening will begin at 3 pm with a conversation with Ms. Mehta and will be followed by a Q and A session with her. The conversation, screening, and Q and A are all free and open to the public, and is on a first come first serve basis. From my experience with free screenings at the Smithsonians, your interests are best served by getting there really, really early.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

Some Hate, Some Don’t?

Posted on by

As an update to Manish’s post below, I opened today’s Washington Post, surprised to find this item in the Names and Faces column – – DC’s answer, if there is one, to New York Post’s Page 6.

A Bollywood Love Connection

Two of Bollywood’s brightest stars, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan, are planning to wed, and according to the Times of India, astrologers say they are a perfect match. Rai, 32, is one of Bollywood’s most recognizable ladies, a former Miss India who starred in the movie “Bride & Prejudice.” Bachchan, 30, is the son of legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan. The couple have been in the news with a series of high-profile relationships — Rai dated heartthrob Salman Khan and actor Vivek Oberoi, and Bachchan was previously engaged to actress Karisma Kapoor .

It’s telling that speculation regarding two Bollywood stars is making its way into a mainstream American newspaper. Ten years ago, I would never have dreamed of finding an item on two Indian film stars in any newspaper, let alone one of the preeminent papers in the country. That national American dailies are detailing the sordid love lives of Indian film stars (with photos) is kind of groundbreaking and reflects not just a growing American interest in Bollywood and Indian cinema, but also that Bollywood is not just a fly-by night fad and here to stay. Sure the average American may have heard of, if not seen Aishwarya, but do they care, or even know who Salman Khan, Karisma Kapoor and Vivek Oberoi are? I think the Washington Post is encouraging them to find out.

As an aside, sure Ash is TMBWITW, but the paper gets it wrong. Ash was never Miss India, but instead a Miss India runner-up in 1994, and subsequently went on to win the title of Miss World. The Miss India title that year (1994) went to Sushmita Sen, who subsequently became Miss Universe.

Continue reading →

Bollywood Passions

Posted on by

Growing up in what was initially a one-TV household, I was often forced to watch what my mom and sister were watching. From the 3-4 slot, this usually meant a heavy dose of Luke and Laura, Edward and Lila, Frisco and Felicia, and Tony and Bobby. For those of you that I know what I am talking about, we were General Hospital addicts. I hate to admit it, but I knew I had a problem when I started referring to it as GH, and would have conversations, that to anyone not familiar with the soap, would seem like jibber-jabber. I finally kicked my soap habit my sophomore year after studying abroad and now of course, work thankfully gets in the way. But when tipster Noelle (and all the other SM tipsters) informed us awhile back that television’s newest soap opera Passions was going Bollywood, I thought why couldn’t GH do that? Anyway, we over here at SM headquarters apologize for not mentioning this earlier, but most of the mutineers aren’t usually home to watch the show during the day, and for that reason we also wanted to wait for a video clip of the Bollywood item to be available before posting. So, now that the clip is available, you can find the video here. More information on the shoot, the clothes, the song, the choreography, and the video is available here. (The video only opens up in MS Explorer.) From what I gather from my five minute perusal of the show clips, the Bollywood triangle involves three characters: Ethan, Gwen, and Theresa. Gwen is scared of Theresa’s attempts to lure Ethan away from her, and convinces Ethan to travel with her to India so they could renew their vows. This is where the dance number begins and then turns into full on Bollywood melodrama. Featuring an ensemble cast of desi background dancers, Gwen and Ethan’s impending infinite bliss, and romp around the tree of life (I have no idea what that is about) is interrupted by the appearence of temptress Theresa in a ‘minimalist’ version of a sari and a black veil.

Continue reading →

Posted in TV

Looking for Comedy? Look Elsewhere

Posted on by

I’ve been spending all day trying to figure out the Albert Brooks/Sheetal Sheth movie Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. After sitting through the movie, I had no idea what Brooks was trying to do or what he was trying to portray to the audience. A day later, it’s no better. I still have no clue. The movie was boring and confusing. Brooks’ whiny self deprecation got old quick, and I am not sure how much humor really can be found in a movie that attempts to get all its laughs through constant cultural miscommunication. The East-meets West and terrorist jokes get old really quick, and I am actually a little puzzled that a studio executive thought it would be enough to make a commercially successful film. Maybe I missed the point. Actually, I am sure I did but I was too bored during the film to search for its meaning.

From Seattle Weekly’s review:

He’s lost in India. That’s where his character, named Albert Brooks, goes on an improbable U.S. government mission to find out what makes Muslims laugh, so that we might better understand them. His ventriloquist act bombs in New Delhi; Al-Jazeera tries to recruit him for a sitcom called That Darn Jew; nobody gets him, and he doesn’t get them.

That Al-Jazeera scene, that is one of the two funny scenes in the film and it features singer Shaheen Sheik.

From Salon’s review:

When he [Brooks] asks the audience, during his stand-up performance, why there’s no Halloween in India (“Because they took away the Gandhi” is the punch line), the joke is supposed to be kindergarten-caliber, and, of course, the audience isn’t supposed to laugh. Brooks sets himself up as the butt of the movie’s big joke — a well-intentioned Western comic attempts cross-cultural outreach and just look what happens — but his bombing is simply painful to watch. It’s not entertaining, not even in a twisted, sadistic way, and Brooks’ obsessive attempts to engage his audience only coat the movie with an egotistical veneer. “Looking for Comedy” pretends to be a plea for understanding, but it isn’t about what Muslims do or don’t find funny; it’s only about Brooks’ failure to make them laugh.
And his failure isn’t fun to watch, its painful. The saving grace for me in the film was of course Sheetal Sheth. Yeah I am biased, but despite sticking her with an Indian accent, Sheth’s performance was good, and believable. Her timing was right on, and in spite of being in this film, I think she could be the next desi to break through, breasts or no breasts.

I also must admit I did enjoy Brooks’ embracing of desi menswear, the kurtas, the sherwanis, the mojdis, (thankfully no lungis or dhotis) however inappropriate his clothing selections might have been for the occaision. Anyway, check out the film if you are feeling lucky, want to support Sheetal, or are a glutton for punishment. But if you are looking for comedy, I suggest looking elsewhere.

Click here to read more reviews of the film, and click here to read more from the mutiny on the movie.

Continue reading →

Beauty and the Geek Redux

Posted on by

A while ago we blogged about this picture of Vishwanath Anand and model Carmen Kass playing chess.

While calling for caption nominations for this photo, Ennis suggested “Beauty and the Geek.” That desi men are portrayed as geeks/dorks/nerds isn’t a surprise. Afterall, there are many of us that possess a high degree of intellect, but lack an equal level of social grace. This often makes mingling with members of the opposite sex, or anyone for that matter, quite difficult and awkward. It seems that Ashton Kutcher and his Punk’d buddy and co-creator Adam Goldberg are playing on this stereotype in the second season of their apparently successful, and aptly titled reality show, “Beauty and the Geek,” which airs on the WB. The new season, which will begin airing at 9 pm, on Thursday January 12, apparently features a sepia geek, Ankur, an MIT graduate and his sex-kitten-partner Jennipher, who while learning the various ways one can spell Jennifer, spends her time as a camp counselor.

To shave or not to shave, that is the question.

Continue reading →

Posted in TV

Desi Fly Chicks at the Grammy’s

Posted on by

Even though the award is probably one of the ones announced at an event held prior to the televised Grammy Awards, I am still excited to see both Anoushka ShankarÂ’s Rise and Asha BhosleÂ’s You’ve Stolen My Heart- Songs From R D Burman’s Bollywood up for one of the prestigious awards. It is just too bad they are up for the same one. Announced this past Thursday, it turns out both Bhosle, sister of the illustrious Lata Mangeshkar, and Shankar, whose half-sister Norah Jones is also up for a Grammy, have each been nominated in the category of “best contemporary world music album.” While the Grammy category groups these albums together, I don’t think the albums could be more different.

From what I have heard of these two records, both are great, just in very different ways. ShankarÂ’s Rise is an interesting effort: traditional Indian classical meets contemporary that is sometimes touched by electronic via the Midival Punditz’s Gaurav Raina. Bhosle’s YouÂ’ve Stolen My Heart , which was done with the Kronos Quartet, is pure filmy, but a nice musical reworking of classic Bollywood.

Also nominated in the same category are Amadou & Mariam for Dimanche A Bamako, Gilberto Gil for Eletracústico, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo & The Strings Of The English Chamber Orchestra for No Boundaries. The Grammy’s air on CBS on Wednesday February 8. Let’s hope for a mutinous outcome, after all, there is a two out of five chance.

More mutiny on Asha/Kronos here and here. Also, here is a link to a piece the Village Voice did last week on YouÂ’ve Stolen My Heart, and some other Bollywood music. I donÂ’t really like the article because I canÂ’t take it when critics who cover South Asian music always make food metaphors.

The music is an electric curry of sweeping overdubbed strings playing a blend of devotional music and action film motifs.
Can someone tell me what exactly an electric curry of sweeping overdubbed strings is?

Continue reading →

Are We Doing Enough?

Posted on by

I know we mutineers have been pushing Quake relief and donations for helping manage the response to the the various disasters that have struck around the world this year. It is just hard to imagine, that in a little over a month (December 26), it will be a year since the Indian Ocean tsunami, what seems like the first tragedy in a cycle of monstrous natural diasters hit. Hopefully the South Asian Quake will be the last we’ll see from mother nature for a LONG time.

What’s making me pontificate you ask? Well, my friend Roshan Loungani, founder of desivision (I did want to, at some point, properly blog this interesting on-line Desi television channel) pointed me to a short film (free subscription required) desivision is hosting by Rohit Gupta. The five-minute plus montage, accompanied by Nitin Sawhney’s classic Homelands, has some poignant images from the South Asian Earthquake and makes clear the need for continued international assistance.

Even if you don’t intend or cannot donate, please check out the video. Perhaps it will change your mind. Continue reading →

Lolita Was a Man Eatah, and other music news…

Posted on by

URB Artist of the Year- – Mathangi

Its been awhile since we have had an MIA post, and since I know most of you have been waiting with baited breath, here goes. URB Magazine contributor Scott Sterling informed us late last month that mutinous MIA, aka Mathangi ‘Maya’ Arulpragasam has been named URB magazine’s artist of the year. I am not really surprised, are you? No, it isn’t that she is desi, I just can’t think of one other artist that has been as innovative and influential this year. MIA’s music has been everywhere, from SXSW and Central Park to a Honda commercial and the O.C., and her influence is easily seen in the resurgence of electro-pop in the mainstream: drum machines and synthetic beats all intertwined with elements of various international flavors and hip-hop. Its not that hip-hop his dead, but it is almost as if MIA has added to this new genre of post Hip-Hop. Music with a message, but with danceable, stranger, hip-hop like beats . This sound has been kickinng around the indy hipster scene for awhile–look at bands like Supersystem on Touch and Go, and LCD Soundsystem. This trend seems to now be making its way slowly towards the mainstream. One of the first indicators, Madonna’s latest release, Confessions on a Dance Floor. Scott has promised us he would be posting the full cover story soon. You can of course find more SM on MIA here, and my first post on her here.

This, by the way, wasn’t all we got out of Scott. He gave us the scoop on how DJ Quik found the sample of Kaliyon Ka Chaman, for the first big hip hop record featuring a desi sample. Yeah, I am talking about Truth Hurts featuring Rakim’s–Addictive [click here for a sample] from 2002. Continue reading →