Eating American: The Fat Cost of Fitting In?

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Recently the President released his long-form birth certificate to show everyone, perhaps especially those birthers gone berserk, that he’s an American born in America who belongs in the White House. On a day-to-day basis, desis in the U.S. are not being asked to pull out their long-forms (not yet anyway), but are there other ways in which we’re made to feel that we have to prove we belong, that we’re American? New research from psychologists seems to address this question with a particular focus on the food choices of immigrant groups–“Fitting In but Getting Fat: Identity Threat and Dietary Choices among U.S. Immigrant Groups.”

Psychologists show that it’s not simply the abundance of high-calorie American junk food that causes weight gain. Instead, members of U.S. immigrant groups choose typical American dishes as a way to show that they belong and to prove their American-ness.

“People who feel like they need to prove they belong in a culture will change their habits in an attempt to fit in,” said Sapna Cheryan, corresponding author and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington. “If immigrants and their children choose unhealthy American foods over healthier traditional foods across their lives, this process of fitting in could lead to poorer health,” she said.

The results are published in the June issue of Psychological Science.

Public health studies show that diets of immigrants, including those from Asia, Africa and Central and South America worsen the longer they stay in the United States. (press release)

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Outsourcing the Shaadi

It’s time for wedding of the year! No, not that other wedding across the ocean. I’m talking about the wedding where moustachioed Rajiv finally gets wedded to Vimi on the show Outsourced! It’s been a tumultuous first season run for Outsourced, and this Thursday night on NBC the season finale comes to a glorious Bollywood climactic finish. Will the finish be final or will Outsourced be picked up for another season? The cast and crew has been advocating in the community to make sure the show comes back for another season.

I sat down virtually with the bride-to-be, the gorgeous shaadi-rific Noureen DeWulf about her time on set, a real life shaadi, and her perspective on facial hair. Here’s what she had to say.

Shaadi Mubarak, Noureen! This Thursday night you get married, in an all out big Indian wedding on the set of Outsourced for their season finale. Oh so very Bollywood. You came on later as a guest star later in the season, as Rajiv’s fiancée Vimi. What has it been like to be on the set of Outsourced for past few episodes?

Working on the show was a truly great experience. The actors for the most part are a humble and talented group and it is really fun to work with other Indian actors. The producers are pretty incredible people also, having come from and worked on other great shows, so it is a very fun and talented set to be on. I came on in their last few episodes of the season so you could really feel how tight knit they all were and how much they enjoyed their jobs, which is really nice to be a part of.

Outsourced is probably one of the first television series with a largely South Asian cast. I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of the concept of the show after watching the pilot episode. But the shows that I’ve seen recently are really funny, having moved away from the Tyler-Perry-desified-type jokes, and the characters have far more depth and complexity to them. Do you feel the show has matured? Why do you think it’s important to have a show with a South Asian ensemble cast on American television? Continue reading

Get Drugged By Lazarus

I don’t know if you realize this, but there’s a lot of bad music out there, particularly bad music by Desi artists. I’ve been pretty consistent with these Music Monday posts at Sepia Mutiny for the past six months, and the only requirement I have is that the musician or song that I profile has the be something that I myself would download on to my iTunes and embarrassingly blast loudly in my car. That being said, I have to dig through a lot of ear bleeding songs to get to one that really moves me. But I get so excited when I find something that I want to share.

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Today’s #MusicMonday comes through an interview I found at Brown Girl Magazine of the doctor-hyphen-rapper out of Detroit, Lazarus. A Pakistani-American artist, his lyrics are conscious and gritty, and his beats are Detroit ferocious.

With over a million views on the above video, I clearly have learned about Lazarus after all the other kids have. I kind of love how he is unapologetic about pursuing his medical degree and a rap career at the same time, as can be heard in his song “Living the Dream.” Ain’t no shame in improving yourself. Lazarus dropped a mixtape called Lazarus Story this past September, which can be downloaded for FREE online through this link right here. Continue reading

Mindy Kaling aka Kelly Kapoor Back with More Subtle Sexuality

If you’re a Mindy Kaling fan, you’ll enjoy the new music video produced by her character from The Office, Kelly Kapoor. Fans of the show will recall that Kelly and her coworker teamed up to form girl group, Subtle Sexuality, about two years ago and released their catchy “hit” single, “Male Prima Donna.” Well, the dynamic duo is back. I don’t find this particular song, “The Girl Next Door” as singable as the last one. It’s a bit slower and ballad-y. (Perhaps Kelly has a particular fixation on Taylor Swift this season, who knows. Certainly elements of “You Belong With Me” in the piece.) You can catch the “story” behind the song, here. Enjoy!

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Posted in TV

Micropixie Releases Under the Neath

MPX.jpgI first heard of Micropixie (MPX) last summer through Daniela Kantorova of Mideast Tunes, who urged me to explore the work of the recording artist. I was immediately intrigued by the groovy, dulcet tones I heard in her short, My Beige Foot. So when I found out through Nila that MPX had released a new single through her brand spankin’ new record label, One Little Alien, I figured it was time to hear from the alien herself.

The story behind your latest release, Under the Neath?

The title of my new single comes from a phrase my Dad always says (instead of “underneath”, it’s “under the neath”. He has a habit of adding a “the” to everything. eg. when he refers to my Mum, he says “the Mummy”). There’s a very sweet passage in the track where he gives me advice on getting music lessons (which I eventually took to heart). Other phrases are things my littlest sister said when she was a kid. The track sounds like it is laden with innuendos (at least to my dirty mind…), but it is quite innocent. The music (co-composed with Audio Pervert, a Delhi-based producer) was inspired by Underworld’s wonderful album Beaucoup Fish.

Last I checked, you were planning to release a second album, The Good, the Beige and the Ugly. Still in the works?

Yes, it’ll be coming out after the third One Little Alien release. I’ve been working on it for over 3 years now so this sonic baby is well overdue. It’s also a concept album, continuing from my terrestrial adventures after Alice in Stevie Wonderland, but less from the perspective of an alien, and more from the view of a non-white human female. It’s an intergalactic feminist spy thriller… (my, how I love the phonetics of that phrase)! The UK-based producer I worked with, Paul Horton, is very gifted, and I am super excited that it will be out soon.

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The Cinematic Soundtrack of Karsh Kale

cinema.jpgEver feel like you need a cinematic soundtrack to your day to day life? Karsh Kale’s Cinema may be for you.

The album exploded on the scene last week, going straight to number #1 in the charts. No surprise considering Karsh Kale has been a revolutionary voice to the on the scene for quite sometime. Kale got his start in a rock band, is known for his phenomenal tabla skills, worked in collaboration with the talented Anoushka Shankar in 2007 and most recently has been using his skills to soundtrack movies, such as with Ajay Naidu’s Ashes. It’s no surprise then, with his recent film scoring experiences that he chose to name his latest release, Cinema.

As one of the first groundbreaking genre busting artists in what is now an established musical fusion genre, Karsh Kale can only be referred to as legendary. The album Cinema takes listeners on a cinematic journey, each song reflecting a different emotion and journey. But instead of telling you about the music, how about listening to the music and deciding for yourself. And of course, download the song **Mallika Jam* for free below. The entire album is available on iTunes.

What makes Karsh Kale tick? I wanted to know. Check out the interview with Karsh Kale, and just to mix it up, I asked him to answer in triplicates. Read it below!

What are three words you’d use to describe your 4th solo album, Cinema?

Progressive, Nostalgic, Journey

What were your top three favorite moments in creating this album, Cinema?

  • The day the art work by Archan Nair arrived.
  • The day I finished the final mix w Illinton.
  • The day the album was released at reached #1 on Tunes World Chart. Continue reading

Family Matters: Mr. & Mr. Iyer

In Mr. & Mr. Iyer, based on a story by Lavanya Mohan, a son tells his orthodox Tamil family that he’s going to get married, and they go through four phases of processing the news. That’s about two minutes per phase given that Charukesh Sekar’s short film in English and Tamil is about eight minutes long. (I don’t know Tamil but felt like I could follow along for the most part with the English and with help from the blog post linked above.) Naturally, his family is excited about his decision.

But, there comes the trouble. He has a surprise in store for them. What is the surprise? Will the family accept it? Will they break rules to make their son happy? Will conventional practices and beliefs allow him to get married to another man? Man? (Thamarai)

Via Uncubed. Fans of Goodness Gracious Me may remember a clip from that show that ends on a similar note, with parents seemingly most concerned about a gay child finding a partner of the same background.

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Haverfoodisms

A food-centric monologue from Aziz Ansari’s character Tom Haverford on Parks and Recreation may be changing the culinary vernacular forever. Or maybe it’s just a funny bit from last week’s episode.

The video below fills us in on the new food lingo. You know, in case someone asks if you’d like some super water with your long-ass rice and chicky-chicky parm-parm. In the special food vocabulary coined by Tom Haverford, super water isn’t really water, long-ass rice isn’t rice at all and chicky-chicky parm-parm has little or nothing to do with *that *Parm.

If you can’t get enough of those zerts, there’s a site serving up more: TomHaverfoods.com. Continue reading

Bandish Projekt’s latest

This morning Taz splashed my Facebook page with a phenomenal sound and with lyrics she knew I’d love, even the curveball at 2 min 5 second that I didn’t see coming given the title of the song:

Of course, Bandish Projekt has been known to some Sepia Mutiny readers as far back as 2005. The Projekt is the creation of artist Mayur Narvekar.

Mayur Narvekar, a composer, producer, creative director, Dj, remix artist, performer and a multi-instrumentalist, calls his Bandish Projekt an emotion, an experience that can awe spectators with its live performance. An arts student from Gujarat, Mayur developed an impeccable flair for classical music, an art form that is deep-rooted in his upbringing. A tabla ace, Mayur dived head-on into the world of percussions, earning repute as a tabla player, and adoration as a jazz-funk drummer. Fuelled by his father’s vision, today he is a master of rhythm through a cross-section of genres.

He has used his roots in classical tabla and percussion training to bring to the music maturity and authenticity while his taste for strange sounds and electronic noises brings in wildness and fervour. The classical element keeps Mayur grounded, while his need for experimenting takes him to heights unsurpassed and us to the lands unexplored. It is a journey of life beyond the known. [Link]

I also enjoyed the sound and the video for “Didi”:

You can buy the tracks here.

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