Remember this post on Sepia Mutiny about a letter from the South Asian Sisters regarding the film Harold and Kumar? It has been SM’s most controversial posting thus far. Well here is some more news regarding our sisters from The Stanford Daily:

The South Asian Sister, a Bay Area cultural group, will perform tomorrow night [Friday Nov. 5th] a South Asian version of the Vagina Monologues in Cubberley Auditorium. “Yoni Ki Baat: Talks of the Vagina,” is hosted by Saheli, Stanford’s South Asian Women’s Alliance, and Sanskiti, the Stanford’s South Asian cultural group.

“The Vagina Monologues has received such positive feedback on this campus, and we hope to create the same sense of empowerment and pride in the women who see this South Asian version, particularly those who can relate specifically to cultural and gender issues that the play addresses,” said senior Shilpi Agarwal, a member of Saheli.

Sounds like it will be an interesting and provocative show. Too bad I live at the wrong end of California.

“It’s often hard for young South Asian women here in America to reconcile the ideas of modesty and relative conservatism that pervade the Indian culture with the fact that empowerment extends beyond just educational achievement, but also to one’s body,” Agarwal said. “Because sex is a relatively taboo topic in many South Asian households, it’s important to remind South Asian women that they have the right to express themselves sexually and should not be ashamed of being strong women with needs and desires.”

From his list of 18 things he loves about India:

I love the way it is so easy to make friends. I love seeing people everywhere who I think are exotic, and who at the same time think that I am exotic. I also love what Joseph Campbell simplistically called “India’s homosexual atmosphere.” I say “simplistic,” because it seems that few people in India think or act in terms of homosexual vs. heterosexual, or even think about homosexuality at all. See previous post on this subject. When I was a gay teenager, I tried to wriggle away in horror when even a beautiful beloved put his arm around me in public. In India, guys are arm-in-arm even when both are riding bicycles on a busy street. At my house, I have seen local “straight” guys sit in each other’s lap, and not only hold but caress each other’s hand. I love the fact that it is relatively easy to have affairs with handsome Indian guys. The rare, more media-conscious ones call it “the homosex.” The less aware simply call it “maasti,” which means mischief or play. I wonder how much more decent America would be if males were allowed to show affection for each other. I wonder how much more decent India would be if the sexes were not so segregated. I wonder if I am a fool for wondering these things.

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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!