Muslim Voices in the Metropolis

While the spotlight shines on Barack Obama’s long-awaited speech to the Muslim World, closer to home, I’ve been seeing lots of posters and advertising for the upcoming Muslim Voices Festival in New York City which begins this Friday, June 5 and runs through the 14th of this month. Featuring concerts, lectures, film screenings on PBS, and even, a souk, the ten-day festival is designed to celebrate the arts and culture of Muslim societies. It is the culmination of three years of organizing by the Asia Society, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and NYU”s Center for Dialogues.

Below the fold is a listing of a few of the South Asia-related events coming up over the next fortnight. Don’t let your exploration stop there. There’s tons more on the calendar worth checking out. metropolis

But first, I want to tell you about a book that I’ve been reading which ties in well to the theme of this festival: Kavitha Rajagopalan’s Muslims of Metropolis which was published by Rutgers University Press late last year.

Muslims of Metropolis is a sensitive and thoughtful examination of international migration and the social construct of identity. Rajagopalan spent nearly 7 years researching and writing her first book which tells the stories of the journeys of three families from majority-Muslim countries to three major Western metropolises. In London, she follows a Palestinian man from Jerusalem and his Syrian wife. In Berlin, a Turkish Kurdish community. And, in post 9/11 New York, and a Bangladeshi man and his daughter who married an undocumented Pakistani man.

As Rajagopalan puts it in her introduction:

These families come from different socioeconomic, political, and ethnic backgrounds, but they are all Muslim. It should be noted, however, that this is not a book on theology or Islamic history. Although the stories in this book will refer to the ways in which characters relate to Islam as they construct their identities, cope with adversity, or understand their roles in the world, this is not ultimately a book about Muslims but about immigrants … I have chosen to write about Muslim immigrants because I believe that the social identity of Muslim immigrants stands under the greatest pressure of misunderstanding and mistrust throughout the world.

Over the past several months, Rajagopalan has been touring the country doing multimedia presentations and readings from her book. I attended one reading right here in NYC and was struck by her ability to weave together multiple human narratives with solid research in a manner that was penetrating and insightful, at once literary, journalistic, and accessibly academic. Continue reading

Life on $2 a Day

Slate’s Explainer series had an article last week that attempted to get to the bottom of the following question (a version of which some of you may have also wondered about in the past):

Recent news reports about the Congress Party’s election victory note that two-thirds of Indians live on less than $2 per day. How far does two bucks take you in India? [Link]

The answer cites the “basket of goods” concept::

Not far in Mumbai, but it’s a living in the villages. The people who get by on less than $2 don’t even qualify as being in poverty, according to the Indian government’s own definition…

India, like the United States, uses a “basket of goods” approach to define its poverty threshold. The cost of a minimally adequate diet is multiplied by a set amount to account for the cost of food and other essentials. (The United States multiplies by three, because the average American family spends one-third of its post-tax income on food.) The European Union uses a different method, based on relative income: The poverty line is set at a certain percentage of median income.

Neither of these methods works on a global scale, though, which explains why the World Bank has its own system. The “basket of goods” approach can be confusing, since every country uses different goods in their equations, based on local dietary habits. [Link]

In a new book titled Portfolios of The Poor – How the World’s Poor Live on $2 a Day, authors Daryl Collins et al. explored the daily economics of the poorest of the poor with some insightful results. EconLog reviewed the book:

I really liked Portfolios of the Poor: How the World’s Poor Live on $2 A Day. Westerners tend to think of the world’s bottom billion as charity cases. The harsh and amazing reality, though, is that they largely stand on their own two feet. The ultra-poor not only feed, house, and clothe themselves; they raise children and work hard to give them a better life. Portfolios shows us how they do it, relying heavily on financial diaries kept by villagers and slum dwellers in South Africa, India, and Bangladesh. [Link]

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Review: Amit Varma’s “My Friend Sancho”

The mighty Bombay blogger Amit Varma’s first novel, My Friend Sancho, is a quick and entertaining summer read, which also manages to make some serious points along the way. It does not aspire to be “serious” literature, but it is certainly several significant notches above One Night @ the Call Center. Indeed, I would not even put the two books in the same blog post, except Manish planted the damn meme in my head before I got around to reading Amit’s novel.

(Before I get much further, I should mention that, while My Friend Sancho has not been published in the U.S. yet, you can still get it in the U.S. from here.)

I gather that Manish’s comparison, in the post I linked to above, had more to do with the new market for books like these — books that are primarily directed at a growing popular market for English language books within India, rather than the western “literary fiction” market to which most diasporic writers really aspire (even those who say they are writing with Indian readers in mind).

But still, do we really have to go there? Bhagat’s Call Center was a mind-numbing collection of topical cliches, juvenile crushes, and predictable silliness. I gather that Amit would not be averse to selling a few copies of his book, but My Friend Sancho is a much smarter and more provocative book, which gets into the ethics of journalism, police encounters, and even, to some extent, cross-religious romance. Admittedly, Amit’s book does have some blemishes, such as the bits where his fictional character references Varma’s real-life blog (I gather it was meant as an in-joke, but there is a danger of turning off readers who might perceive it as narcissism). Also, the romance between Abir and Muneeza has a kind of innocence to it that doesn’t fit Abir’s otherwise jaded persona that well. But neither of these are fatal, and perhaps Varma will iron out some of the kinks in his next one.

You don’t have to take my word for it; below are a few paragraphs I liked in particular in My Friend Sancho. If you like them, you’ll probably like the novel. If not, you might not. Continue reading

Not another girl band!

I read about this “Pakistani girl band” a while ago last December but only got my hands on their album Chup a few months ago. Mutineers, Zeb & Haniya is not a girl band.

Zeb and Haniya are two Pakistani women cousins, Haniya Aslam and Zeb (Zebunissa) Bangash, who make fantastic music. Two weeks ago, they were awarded “Best Live Act” in the MTV Pakistan Music Awards. They are Pashtuns (Pathans) whose families are based in the town of Kohat in the North West Frontier province.

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You’re So Punk

The Taqwacores are back with a brand new chapter…

What struck me about this clip was how 9/11 really defined how the guys built their identity. I know it is a significant marker to building the identity for South Asian American of our generation, but it is surprising to see how different people have used the experience to different paths of empowerment. For some it’s voting or service work and others it’s starting punk bands.

Band members of various Taqwacore bands have started an online blog too – The Taqwacore Webzine doesn’t just talk punk, but they write about their perspective on the Lahore bombing, Cat Stevens, or South Asian poetry. But I guess all that is Taqwacore, isn’t it? Continue reading

Review: Panjabi MC’s “Indian Timing”

When I used to DJ parties here and there in the early and mid-2000s, I always had a quandary: what can you possibly play after “Mundian to Bach Ke”? It was such a floor-filling crowd-pleaser, and there was almost nothing that could come after it that kept up the energy. Granted, there were variations of the same song that lesser producers and remixers had started putting out, but no other Bhangra track quite compared. “Mundian to Bach Ke” was a singularity.

Perhaps it’s been a problem for the person who produced the song himself: how do you follow a monster hit?

After Panjabi MC became briefly huge in 2003, he went a little quiet. There was the re-release in 2004 of an album called “Desi” [from 2002], and then a studio album in 2005 (“Steel Bangle”) that was mostly recycled filler, to satisfy an earlier contract with Moviebox Records (see Sajit’s SM review here).

“Indian Timing,” which was finally released this spring on Itunes after many delays, is finally, nearly all new material, with very little filler. It’s also an actual album, unlike much of what is released by Brit-Asian producers these days (in the era of piracy and digital downloading, there is a greater emphasis on singles). In terms of the sound, PMC stays true to the combination he’s famous for — big hip hop beats with lively Punjabi bhangra vocals.

For people downloading selectively from Itunes, I would suggest starting with “Can’t Stop Us,” “Kee Lagda,” and “Punjabi Soldiers.” All are upbeat Punjabi songs over hip hop beats, with vocals by Manjit Jelhi. Pretty much any of those three would be good to follow “Mundian to Bach Ke” on a dance-floor.

Fans of Bollywood might also like PMC’s electro version of “I am a Disco Dancer,” which is somewhat of an anomaly on the record. Continue reading

We are the Champions

And by “we” I mean nerdy South Asian American kids. One sports writer seems a little bitter that his “home team” lost:
You can’t really resent 13-year old kids in the same way you resent pro athletes, but wow, the little knowing smirk the eventual champion displayed when she clearly knew just about every word she was handed was tough to take. Hey, when you’ve got the goods, might as well flaunt it. [Link]
I have been following the Twitter account of finalist Tussah Heera as well. Sweet kid and it is good to hear the unfiltered perspective from the inside. The Scripps Bee Twitter account also has lots of great pictures and info. Walk to and around the office tall today my fellow South Asian Americans. You’ve ummmmm (cough cough) earned it. And a big ups for all the participants. It was way better than the Cavs-Magic game last night.
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Handicapping the semi-finalists

This is sick. Out of the 41 semifinalists left standing today, 15 of the are Indian Americans. The Kenyans have running. The Cubans, baseball. The Chinese, ping-pong. Indian Americans own spelling.

It was a moment to savor. Of the record 293 participants at 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee, only 41 moved on to the nationally televised semifinals that start Thursday morning (10 a.m. ET, ESPN)…

Expected to be in that final group are several returning favorites. Fourteen-year-old Keiko Bridwell of Duncan, S.C., back for the fourth time after tying for 17th last year, had no problem with “swivel” and “mahout” (one who keeps or drives elephants) in her oral rounds and breezed into the semifinals.

Is it easier now because she’s a veteran?

“More pressure,” Keiko said. “Everybody wants me to do better.”… [Link]

When ESPN calls you the Spelling Bee favorite it is just like putting an NFL player on the cover of a Madden game. You are probably cursed. Therefore, based on my own intensive scouting I offer up the following thoughts for those people who have bookies in Vegas and want to bet on these young horses. Word of advice: always bet on brown.

The first one I want you to keep an eye on is Vaibhav S. Vavilala from Indiana. Double V as he is known on the circuit is a 4 time competitor. Experience helps, but it can also prove to be a mental block because you can better visualize past failure.

Click for full profile

The next contestant I want you to watch for is Kavya “The Destroyer” Shivashankar. Like Double V above she is a four time veteran. According to her profile the thirteen year old looks forward to becoming a neurosurgeon. The Kavyas we know stop at nothing when the smell of success is in the air.

Click for full profile

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Contemporary Art From The Desi Diaspora

Each year since 2004 the Indo-American Arts Council has put on an exhibition of contemporary art called Erasing Borders that focuses on Indian diaspora artists. News of the exhibit is always an introduction to some cool new art that I’ve never seen before. This year’s showing of 29 artists, exhibiting through the end of the year mostly at New York venues is no different.

A couple of the artists featured this year use humor or playfulness to explore issues. Indianapolis-based professor Gautam Rao (mentioned here on SM) for example, calls himself Playful Painter. His submission “Restless Portrait: A Disappearing Painting” is a time-lapse video of one of his paintings set to music, but unlike his Stephen Colbert portrait or soap bottle still life, this one is neverending. Continue reading

Posted in Art

Bamboo Boys Back from Indian Homecoming

bbshoots.JPGWhen one of the New Jersey-based Bamboo Shoots got married in Delhi this spring the rest of the band flew out to India and celebrated rock style with a five-city music tour. Concluded last month, the “Homecoming” tour brought their brand of pop/rock rhythmic dance beats to Mumbai, Pune, New Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. The band’s blog has pics and clips from their shows and time on the road, including a description of a near-arrest situation in Bangalore where dancing and dance-provoking music can be illegal.

Indian coverage of the tour described it as part of a broader relatively recent transition for rock bands there, from one-off concerts to nationwide tours. Drummer Shiv Puri compared touring there with the U.S.: “India is a lot like the US; it’s a huge place and here, you have to tour if you want to be known outside your home town.” (DNA India). Though many people (myself included) have come to know of the Shoots’ music through their tunes online, the tour allowed an international audience to get to know them as live performers. Continue reading