Author Archives: vinod

Naveen’s Wild Ride

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Regular Sepia Mutiny commentor Santhosh Daniel points us at the decidedly less than flattering special report at the Seattle Times documenting the rise and fall of Infospace & it’s Rock Star CEO – Naveen Jain – naveen.jpg

In spring 1999, Jain and his wife went on a house-shopping cruise around Lake Washington, docking at several multimillion-dollar mansions for sale. One home, owned by saxophonist Kenny G, had, among other touches, an automatic toilet-paper dispenser. The Jains preferred something different and latched onto a 1.3-acre Medina estate called Diamanti — Greek for diamond — buying it for $13 million. The mansion boasted 16,500 square feet of space and a two-story garage. The garage shared a glass wall with the house so the owner could display an auto collection.

If the stuff in the story is even half true, Naveen deserves lock up time that would make Martha Stewart’s 5 months seem like a quaint vacation. Continue reading →

Bhatt, James Bhatt

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Just to round out your celebrity trivia for the day –

Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan is reportedly so fed up with American food, that he is planning to open an Indian restaurant in Los Angeles. According to femalefirst, the Irish actor is frantically searching in India for a chef worthy of cooking at the Indian restaurant he plans to open later this year.

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Chitra Banerjee Divakruni Speaking in DC

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Sepia Mutiny reader JT writes into the tipline with an event for DC area Mutineers –

Hi, I thought the DC area SP readers might be interested in attending the March 7 Literary Series at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Chitra Banerjee Divakruni will be reading from _Queen of Dreams_ and will sign the book at the reception following the reading. Admission is $10 general, $8 visitors 60 and over, $7 NMWA members and $5 students. For tickets and reservations, call 202-783-7370 or email reservations@nmwa.org. For more information, check out www.nmwa.org/calendar. The NWMA is located at 1250 New York Ave, NW, which is 2 blocks north of Metro Center.

Manish’s literature site has more info on Banerjee. Continue reading →

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Not for the faint of heart…

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a_192_1_1.gifImagine this. You’re 22 & living back in da homeland. You were supposed to get married 4 yrs ago but your bride walked off on you for drinking too much. Tarnished for life, there seems to be no hope for your sexual frustration. Solution? Well, I suppose here’s one —

AHMEDABAD: In a shocking incident, a 22-year-old youth of Ahmedabad district castrated himself earlier this week to do away with the root cause of his sexual frustration! Bachu Mafabhai, a resident of Sadatpura in Detroj town, chopped off his penis with a sharp blade on Tuesday morning, which according to his own confession, was to get rid himself of the root cause of his unfulfilled sexual desires that were making life miserable for him. “I could not sleep for nights on end, I would just keep tossing and turning in bed,” Bachu, who had a broken wedding engagement four years ago, told TNN.

Good god almighty.

Local doctors managed to restore the spring in his step, as it were, and have an suggestion for our frustrated hero –

“…This fellow could have resorted to masturbation…” Dr Malodiya said.

Continue reading →

American Desi Financing

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am_desi.jpgInteresting stats on the $$$ behind the flick “American Desi” –

The budget for “[American] Desi” was roughly $200,000 and was released in 2001 on a limited basis — in about 40 U.S. art house movie theaters. The film earned about $1 million in U.S. ticket sales. Overseas receipts took in another $1 million in the United Kingdom and India. “All of the investors (families included) were able to get their capital back, plus the agreed 25 percent,” said Pandya. …Pandya said a sequel for “American Desi” is in the works. Most of the investors who funded the first film are already committed to the second project.

Casting suggestions anyone? Continue reading →

Desi Dish’s Secret Ingredient

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An interesting brouhaha brewing ‘cross the pond –

Britain’s food industry finds Indian chilli too hot to handle LONDON: Questions are being raised on Britain’s food industry regulations after products containing a cancer-causing dye flooded supermarket shelves. Chilli powder, allegedly containing the illegal food dye Sudan 1, on being imported to the UK from India in September 2002, was traded between more than six different companies, allowing it to spread rapidly with little chance for regulators to monitor its safety, according to a report in The Times.

“Sudan 1” – what a fantastically sinister moniker. Continue reading →

Tsunami reveals ancient ruins in India

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050218_ancientcity_hmed_7a.hmedium.jpgFascinating. MSNBC reports –

MAHABALIPURAM, India – Archaeologists have begun underwater excavations of what is believed to be an ancient city and parts of a temple uncovered by the tsunami off the coast of a centuries-old pilgrimage town. Three rocky structures with elaborate carvings of animals have emerged near the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, which was battered by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

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CIA projects grim future for Pakistan

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From StrategyPage –

February 14, 2005: A new CIA report predicts that Pakistan may well come apart in the next decade. Corruption and poor government are making Islamic radicalism more popular, especially in the Pushtun (northwest) and Baluchi (southwest) tribal areas. Most of the population is not tribal. In fact, about have the population is in one province, Punjab. When India and Pakistan were formed in 1947, Punjab was split, with about 70 percent of it going to Pakistan. The Indian portion, with better government and less corruption, has done more than twice as well as the Pakistani part (on a per-capita basis). India also has problems with tribal separatists (in the northeast), but in Pakistan the tribes comprise a larger portion of the population (at least ten percent.) It’s expensive to fight the tribes, and the Baluchis are eager to take control of the lucrative natural gas fields operating in Baluchistan. The CIA report sees the country coming apart along ethnic lines, much like Yugoslavia did in the 1990s. This would create a Punjabi state, with at least half the population, plus Pushtun and Baluchi states, plus one or two more. The big question is what would happen to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. The Pakistanis dismiss the report, pointing out that, while they created the mess, they’ve also learned to deal with it.

Personally, this whole scenario feels a bit far fetched… But, I’m just the messenger 😉 Continue reading →

Brit Curry Fixation

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Brief article in MSNBC about Asha Bhosle’s latest venture – an upscale Desi restaurant in the UK –

When British pubs shut their doors just after 11 p.m. Burch, and thousands like him, will complete a typical night out by staggering up the road to wash down all that beer with a hybrid Anglo-Indian mix of foods that most Britons call “curry”. “There is only one place to head to after the pubs have shut and that’s for a curry,” said Burch. “The most important thing is to have eight pints before you go, then the hotter the curry the better. It’s an English tradition.” … Bhosle, who already has restaurants in Kuwait and Dubai, will provide her name, the decor, music and a rich menu of authentic northwest Indian cuisine to tempt patrons away from the Bengali-inspired dishes that dominate British curry houses. The two entrepreneurs are also hoping the popularity of the 71-year-old singer, who was the muse for the 1997 hit pop song “Brimful of Asha” will be a lure for emigre Indians. … Britain’s Food Standards Agency said in its 2003 “Curry Factfile” that 2.5 million consumers tuck into “an Indian” every week and that the industy as a whole is worth some 3.2 billion pounds ($5.96 billion). Some 23 million portions of chicken tikka masala are eaten each year and it is estimated there are more Indian restaurants in London than in Delhi and Bombay.

8 Pints of beer, eh? Continue reading →

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Govindini Murty – GOP Babe of the Week

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This is just too delicious… one of the more popular SM posts – based on number & ferocity of comments – was one back in December about Govindini Murty. In addition to the cerebral attraction of a fellow desi espousing the message of individual freedom / responsibility and smaller governments, Govindini’s physical charms were, uh, well noted.

Well, it appears that SM isn’t the only one who’s noticed. The wild & crazy folks at the New Jersey GOP website apparently run a mini contest called GOP Babe of the Week and this week’s winner is…. Govindini Murty. Govindini says she’s

“…truly honored to have been chosen – being Republican Babe of the Week… has always been a dream… ;)”

I love Govindini’s smirking smiley at the end. She shares the honor with an eclectic group of past winners including Rachel Hunter, Heather Locklear, Kennedy (of MTV fame), Gloria Estefan, body builder Cory Everson (what is it about Republican body builders?), and quite a few others. Muy excelante company. Continue reading →