Author Archives: vinod

Lt Neil Prakash

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I’m a news junkie and was reading this report from Fallujah when I came across a tres Desi surname – Lt. Neil Prakash.

Did some googling and it turns out that Lt. Prakash is a recent neuroscience major from Johns Hopkins whose hope as he joined ROTC was to be in the tank corp and see some action. Like many Desi’s, he was on a path to med school –

1st Lt. Neil Prakash is the platoon commander, in the lead tank. Prakash was born in Bangalore, India, and came to the U.S. as a baby. His parents are both dentists and he was planning a career in medicine like his siblings when he enlisted in ROTC and discovered his true passion. Prakash doesnÂ’t smoke, but heÂ’s having a cigarette now. While waiting for the order to go in, heÂ’s just gotten word of video images from an overhead drone. They indicate that squads of insurgents are on many rooftops armed with machine guns and RPGs…

While I’m working on my facial tan from the glow of the CRT on my desk, Lt Prakash is perhaps 25 yrs old and is the platoon commander leading 4 70-ton tanks crewed by 16 soldiers through the streets of Fallujah. Sure makes me feel like a slacker…

Suffice to say, Prakash survived the RPG fire and had a prominent role in yesterday’s Telegraph report on the fighting in Fallujah–

“Guys with short brown hair, dark pants and carrying AK-47s were moving in groups of between two and five across the road to a yellow building,” said Lt Neil Prakash, the tank commander. “Then some started throwing Molotov cocktails and pouring gasoline on the road to create a smokescreen.” …Lt Prakash was asked to provide a grid co-ordinate.

(warning – somewhat gory details ahead) Continue reading →

Win a date with… Vikram Chatwal?

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A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I must have given up my email address or dropped a biz card at some lame Desi ‘circuit party’. So, I now get spammed a couple times a week with ads for the latest “meet my mate” function and loathe to do anything to give these guys any more publicity than they already obnoxiously secure.

But this one – New Site Launch!: an exciting way to meet south asian professionals – has a twist that may be of interest to SM readers – it features a celebrity date auction with Vikram Chatwal up for grabs.

If you’re so inclined the party’s this Sunday @ 5pm in 6 cities across N. America. Other celebrity dates include Serena Varghese of Where’s the Party, Yaar fame as well as 2 of the cast members of Bombay Dreams. Continue reading →

The India-China Gap

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The latest TCS article on India v. China comes out pretty optimistic about India’s prognosis – TCS: Tech Central Station – The India-China Gap –

Despite the record of the recent past, there is reason for hope that the economic gap between these rivals will soon diminish. On the one hand, India may advance in relative terms through no fault of its own. This is because China’s storied economic growth is likely to falter under the weight of a massive default of the banking system or from political pressures arising from restructuring of state enterprises. On the other hand, India’s leaders are becoming aware that their own economy can move forward more rapidly by undertaking meaningful and aggressive reform. For example, India scores well in the area of macroeconomic conditions where restrained monetary expansion has brought inflation to a record low 2.5 percent. China’s battle with price instability has seen swings from high inflation in the mid-1990s to its current troubling bout of deflation.

Call me a skeptic but I’m personally not that hopeful about the nearterm. The previous article on the sad plight of Varanasi silk weavers is another little datapoint that adds to my fear that –

Both populaces are fed up with their respective governments. But I can’t help but feel that for many Indians-still-in-India, their disillusionment is with the *current* government instead of a deeply shaken belief in the ability of government to solve problems and make things better for them. The question is between 2 different governmental initiatives to create wealth rather than between government and non-government. The Chinese, by contrast, seem much more willing to throw caution to the wind and embark on decidedly non-governmental initiatives. A young 20-something Chinese person fresh from university is more likely to see his livelihood being made in creating a new garment factory or a construction business vs. many Indians who still harbor a post-colonial distrust towards business. A 20,000 person shoe factory breeds awe in China but a type of anti-globo-inspired fear in India.

Tyler Cowen – should you give to beggars?

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I promise this will be my last knee-jerk crosspost of material from Marginal Revolution. There’s so much of it and it’s such great quality. But today, Tyler gives us the economists-eye view of a question that has plagued Desi’s for generations – Marginal Revolution: Should you give money to beggars? –

In Calcutta I confront this question every time my cab stops. Put aside the usual debate about selfishness and altruism, assume you will give something away. To whom should it go? Why not give it to the gentleman sleeping under a piece of cardboard who is poor but not begging?

Tyler’s answer elegantly waltzes between Game Theory, Public Choice, and classical economics all in the space of less than 200 words. Fantastic.

Raj, You Dog!

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Half-Brown apprentice Raj earns a spot next to Vikram Chatwal with this NYPost Page Six blurb – New York Post Online Edition: gossip

November 10, 2004 — RECENTLY fired “Apprentice” Raj Bhakta might be better suited for a role on “The Player.” The would-be lothario distinguished himself last week by hitting on Donald Trump’s assistant, Robin Himmel, while he was waiting for the elevator to take him from the building after his dismissal. However, Himmel may be the only one Bhakta struck out with, as three of his fellow castmates have fallen prey to his charms, a source shared — including Stacy Rotner and Jennifer Crisafulli, who have “at least made out” with Bhakta.

SuperJagjit provides his own tribute to Raj here.

Posted in TV

A river runs through it

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Tyler Cowen, still in India, reports on an, uh, exceptional property of the Ganges – Marginal Revolution: The River Ganga

All along the Ganga [Ganges], the major problem of waste disposal has defied the best efforts of the Ganga Action Plan set up in 1986 to solve it. The diversion and treatment of raw sewage in the seven main cities was planned. In Varanasi however, the 17th century sewers, the inadequate capacity of the sewage works, the increased waterflow during the monsoons and the erratic electricity supply (essential for pumping) have all remained problems. In addition, although most Hindus are cremated, an estimated 45,000 uncremated or partially [sic] cremated bodies are put in the Ganga each year. A breed of scavenger turtles which dispose of rotting flesh was introduced down river but the turtles disappeared. Surprisingly, although the Ganga may be one of the world’s most polluted rivers…scientists had discovered the river’s exceptional property in the last century. The cholera microbe did not survive 3 hrs in Ganga water whereas in distilled water it survived 24 hrs!

On the Trail of Vikram Chatwal…

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nickychatwal.jpg Vikram Chatwal may be the closest thing us ABCD’s have to a certified Desi Rock Star (right down to the de rigeuer photo op w/ a Hilton sister). Gawker’s got a tracker link on him just to keep up with his gossip (thanks Super Jagjit!) and the NY Observer recently saw fit to run a feature length article on his exploits –

Vikram Chatwal is not your usual rich Manhattan playboy. For starters, he has never cut his hair and he wears a turban, in keeping with his Sikh heritage. And while he does all that other playboy stuff?dating fashion models, tooling around town in an Aston Martin, running up an $11,500 bar tab in a nightclub, hanging out with Bill Clinton?he strikes many Manhattan night-crawlers as having something extra, something “spiritual”, if you will. Mr. Chatwal will tell you he plans to be the first Sikh billionaire. His father says: “Why not? This is New York City; he?s just 31 years old; he?s got a base to start with. The problem right now is, he?s only spending 30 percent of his time towards business. The day he starts spending 70 percent of his time, within two or three years he?ll make it.” …Mr. Chatwal gets some good-natured ribbing from his family about his penchant for nightlife. Earlier this month, he attended Puff Daddy?s birthday party in Morocco, flying with the birthday boy on a 767 lent by the King of Morocco.

Of course, one of the cool things about being a rocker is the ability to make totally non-PC observations about the different women you’ve, uh, experienced –

I knew he?d dated lots of women; I asked what his favorite nationality was.

Continue reading →

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Tyler Cowen in The Hindu Times

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Our man in Delhi – interviewed by the Hindu Times – Marginal Revolution: My talk as reported by The Hindu Times

“His ideas might give most art lovers, especially the die-hard supporters of the culture cause in Bengal, more than a sleepless night. But Tyler Cowen, Professor of Economics at George Mason University in the United States, firmly believes that Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Leonardo da Vinci and even Shakespeare were businessmen and is willing to prove it. …”I don’t think that India has anything to worry about on the count of culture. It has a vibrant culture; it has a great food culture too. India is growing and the purchasing power of people is also increasing. There is more foreign culture that is coming into India, but India has always had the ability to integrate different influences from the Mughals to the British and make it distinctly Indian. The earlier styles were a fusion of culture from Persia, China, but always with an Indian touch,” he says. …A “hero” that most commercial Hindi movie directors would love, his theory resemble the ideas they have been have been selling for years. “I know people criticise Hindi movies saying that it is not like Satyajit Ray. But I think that they require as much talent as a Ray film. They have a dreamlike quality, similar to Shakespeare. It appeals to universal human emotions and everyone wants to fall in love,” he adds.”

Tyler – you rock!

Getting Sexy at Office

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Ally McBeal ain’t got nuttin on Bombay – Getting sexy at work? No crime – The Economic Times

“Flirting can be fun if confined within limits. My marital status has never stopped my colleagues from flirting with me. And frankly, I quite enjoy the attention and the harmless stuff. I know where to draw the line,” Samant, says. Using sexuality to further career is not entirely an alien concept in the Indian corporate milieu. As conventional behaviour takes a backseat, it is time to do away with inhibitions. Professionals are no longer scared to admit ambitions.
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