Category Archives: News

Cocks of Fury

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Early in high school I weighed about 105 lbs soaking wet. I know, laugh if you want to. I am descended from two bean poles so I was at a genetic disadvantage. This was, after all, long before my collegiate boxing, my climbing adventures, and before I started appearing shirtless in “Boys of Blogging” calenders (ahem…cough cough). So just how does a 105 lb boy make his way in the brutal world that is high school? By laying low, very low. Most people don’t notice a scrawny little kid in high school (as many of our readers might sympathize with). I was also very very very shy.

I hung out with the nerd/geek crowd at the first of the two high schools I attended. It wasn’t much fun as nothing exciting ever happens in the nerd/geek crowd. One day however, my friends and I hatched a plan. The only way that we could raise our station in life was to be on a high school sports team. Even JV would do. This would be our ticket out. But what could I play? Basketball was definitely out. I was a fierce defender but way too short. Baseball? I could play infield but could barely hit the ball out of the infield. Football? Ha Ha Ha. I was pretty good at indoor hockey on the gym floor and rough enough that one kid even tried to fight me for high-sticking his friend until the PE teacher broke it up. However, there is no gym floor hockey team in high school. And then, like a ray of light the answer was revealed. My high school would be holding try-outs for the…Badminton Team.

I was pretty good at badminton and my odds were good because none of the cool kids (who were also the more athletic kids) would EVER be seen anywhere near a shuttlecock. My svelte body would dart back and forth pounding that birdie mercilessly. The fact that it looked like a tiny upside down Apollo capsule re-entering through Earth’s atmosphere was just a bonus (although I could’t say that out loud or even the geeks would make fun of me). The problem was that the competition was cut-throat. All the other geeks were gunning for the same few spots. Many of them were also Asian or South Asian since, for some strange reason, Asians have a fascination with racket sports. Every day I practiced and practiced, honing my skills while huffing like a young Boris Becker of Badminton. Then, the day before the try-outs I came down with a cold and was battling flu like symptoms all day. After watching television while slumped in a couch I got up too quickly, got a massive head rush, passed out, cut my head open on my metal bed frame as I fell, bled all over the place, and had to get stitches in the ER. The doctor ordered me to miss tryouts the next day. I didn’t make the team. This was the single most scarring failure of my life. And that brings me to the point of this thus far depressing post: American Olympian Raju Rai. Geek has been replaced with chic.

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If A Desi Can Be Miniaturized & Automated…

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One of those ongoing, identity debates is what term appropriately encompasses “us”. “South Asian” is a little too stuffy, geographic, doesn’t account for some parts of the diaspora, and has a slight of Oriental-ish tinge to it (South of what? Is Europe implicitly the center/norm?). I just don’t go around high-fivin’ South-Asians in da house.

“Desi,” on the other hand, has a nice congenial ring to it and doesn’t seem as loaded with meaning dependent on some relation to the “other”. Plus, it’s “soft” enough that it avoids all those debates about Indian vs. Pakistani vs. Sri Lankan vs. Bhutanese (?) and so on. A 4th gen Fijian Indian is far more easily “desi” than “South Asian”.

But alas, there’s a new sort of Desi out there that might muddy the waters a bit. One use is described here –

If a Desi analyzer can be miniaturized and automated into a surgical tool, a surgeon could, for example, quickly test body tissues for the presence of molecules associated with cancer. “That’s the long-term aim of this work,” Dr. Cooks said.

Say whuh? It’s an acronym –

…a tiny spray of liquid that has been electrically charged, either water or water and alcohol, is sprayed on a tiny bit of the fingerprint. The droplets dissolve compounds in the fingerprints and splash them off the surface into the analyzer. The liquid is heated and evaporates, and the electrical charge is transferred to the fingerprint molecules, which are then identified by a device called a mass spectrometer. The process is repeated over the entire fingerprint, producing a two-dimensional image.

The researchers call the technique desorption electrospray ionization, or Desi, for short.

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Big Man, Big Job

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Given the interest in Vikram Pandit taking the helm at Citi almost a year ago, I thought Mutineers might also be interested in the news of another DBD CEO appointed to save a troubled American company.

Motorola’s 70 Million Dollar Man

The problems facing Motorola’s handset division have provided fodder for business and tech rags for quite a while now. The core problem is that several years have now passed since the groundbreaking, nearly iconic Moto Razr was released, and the company has had a helluva time coming up with worthy successors. The result is that the firm that literally invented the mobile phone, withered the 80s/90s East Asian Invasion, and launched a celebrated comeback now finds itself slipping fast in a brutally competitive, global market –

Shares in the [Motorola] have fallen by more than 60 per cent since October 2006, when investors began to become disillusioned with the company’s falling sales. Its global market share has fallen to 9.5 per cent from 24 per cent two years ago, taking it from second to third place behind Nokia and Samsung.

The ailing handset division has been a drag on Motorola’s overall fortunes and several strategic options have been explored to save the group. The current front runner option is to bring in a new CEO for the group and spin out handsets as a separate company. On Monday, Motorola announced that Sanjay Jha would be tapped to lead this massive turnaround.

Due to my work in wireless systems & Sanjay’s former role as COO of Qualcomm, I’ve spent a lot of time within his sphere of influence (although I’ve never met the guy personally). Jha rose to the COO from the VLSI engineering ranks at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) – the dominant business unit at the company and the one responsible for the bulk of QCOM’s $3B / year in profit.

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The Birth of the Indian-American “Celebrity?”

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My friend Reshma recently emailed me to ask if I could highlight a fundraising event in NYC she was holding for Obama. Reshma, formerly of South Asians for Hillary and South Asians for Kerry, is one of the members of Barack Obama’s new Asian American Finance Committee (other members mentioned here). Normally I would have just placed the event info on our “Events Tab,” where you can highlight just about any desi-related event. There was something about this event that was different though and I couldn’t put my finger on it until I re-read her email again. Then it struck me that the event itself represents a political first…as far as I know. This is the first time that such a large group of Indian American “celebrities” is being deployed in favor of a Presidential candidate. I am putting quotes around the word celebrities not to minimize the successes of some of these individuals but rather to contrast their pull to what we traditionally think of as Hollywood political celebrities (e.g., George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Angelina Jolie, Jane Fonda, etc.). In the past, both parties have relied on wealthy DBDs such as Sant Chatwal or various tech entrepreneurs or medical doctors for their campaign donations (from mostly first generation Indian Americans). Obama and his committee are taking a different approach, perhaps because he doesn’t want McCain to call him D-Punjab.

In all the loud talk of unity amongst the campaigns there is at least one tear jerker, or sort of – a controversial Indian American supporter of Hillary Clinton, appears to have not found favour with the Illinois Senator Barack Obama in the post-union phase of the Democratic party for 2008 presidential elections.

Sant Chatwal, known as one of the most effective fund raiser among the Indian American money bags, is not in the list of Asian Americans Finance Committee officials announced by the Obama campaign. [Link]

Instead of enlisting only rich “uncles” to help bring in the cash from our community, Obama picked a much younger group and that younger group in turn thinks young desi celebs may be the way to bring in the cash for their candidate (although this is probably just one of many ways they are considering). Their target demographic appears to be very similar to the type that reads SM:

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The “Lingo Kid”

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Everyone knows by now that I love bringing news of “freakish” (in a good way) little Indian kids to SM (see here and here as examples). SM reader Taara tipped us off to this little linguist via our tip line:

It looks like the Videographer returned a few years later to find a “grown-up” Ravi who has added even more languages into his arsenal:

Seriously, this little kid should be doing something other than selling Peacock feathers near the Hanging Gardens!

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Got Another One (in Pakistan)

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Richard Fernandez (aka Belmont Club) has a great, link-filled post on the most recent airstrike within Pakistan –

…yet another missile struck al-Qaeda in the Pakistani border area. “One of al Qaeda’s top chemical and biological weapons experts was killed in an air strike by a CIA pilotless drone,” according to CBS News. Abu Khabab Al-Masri is dead, according to al-Qaeda website. Several other men were killed in the strike.

Al-Masri’s central roles in both Al Qaeda and the lives of any frequent flier are pretty impressive –

…The LA Times says al-Masri was behind the failed post-September 11 plot to blow up airplanes en route from Britain to the United States, an event now memoralized in the restrictions on passenger-embarked bottles of fluids.

The innovative techniques required special instruction. Masri envisioned his operatives injecting the liquid explosives, a highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide mix, with a syringe into the false bottoms of innocuous containers such as sports drinks, sneaking the components aboard and assembling bombs after takeoff.

…The Associated Press also credits al-Masri with training the suicide bombers who attacked the USS Cole.

This strike is only the most recent in 5-6 other high profile hits in the past few months. Tellingly, the daily, operational grinding that is being inflicted on Al Qaeda in Pakistan is also evident and likely played a crucial role in finding al-Masri –

…With the decimation of his henchmen, the master bomber was forced to venture out himself and train volunteers who were often of indifferent quality.

Masri assumed more control. … Last spring, he taught bomb-making in compounds in North Waziristan to aspiring suicide attackers, including a 21-year-old Pakistani living in Denmark and a 45-year-old Pakistani-German, according to U.S. and European officials. U.S. anti-terrorism source sees Masri’s role as a symptom of decline. “The fact he trained them himself shows you some of the limitations of the network,” the source said.

A recurring topic for me on SM is how so many of our notions of civilized state behavior get chucked out the window when dealing with technologically- / globalization-charged 21st century terror orgs. Continue reading →

Robert Kaplan: ISI vs. Karzai, India

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There’s an interesting think-piece in The Atlantic by Robert D. Kaplan, exploring some of the possible reasons for the ISI’s involvement (recently reinforced by American intelligence reports) in the recent Indian embassy bombing in Kabul, as well as an assassination attempt on Hamid Karzai.

Kaplan begins with a historical overview, which I won’t recount (but do read the whole article). What seems like the key argument is the following:

The Karzai government has openly and brazenly strengthened its ties with India, and allowed Indian consulates in Jalalabad, Kandahar, Herat, and Mazar-e-Sharif. It has kept alive the possibility of inviting India to help train the new Afghan army, and to help in dam construction in the northeastern Afghan province of Kunar, abutting Pakistan. All this has driven the ISI wild with fear and anger.

[…] In the mind of the ISI, India uses its new consulates in Afghanistan to back rebels in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan, whose capital, Quetta, is only a few hours’ drive from Kandahar. When India talks of building dams in Kunar, the ISI thinks that India wants to help Afghanistan steal Pakistan’s water. Karzai’s open alliance with India is nearly a casus belli for the ISI. So elements of the ISI have responded in kind; they likely helped in the recent assassination attempt against the Afghan president.(link)

Though Kaplan depends a bit too much on the projection of probable motives and regional alignments (rather than actual utterances from the parties involved), the schematic he describes seems convincing to me.

He also offers a “takeaway” for American readers, namely, you can’t just throw troops and money at Afghanistan, and expect to win:

In the midst of all this, both Bush and Barack Obama talk simplistically about sending more American troops to Afghanistan. The India-Pakistan rivalry is just one of several political problems in the region that negate the benefit of more troops. As in the past in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we are in danger of conceiving of war in narrow military terms alone, and thus getting the politics wrong.

In the first place, we need vigorous shuttle diplomacy between Kabul, Islamabad, and New Delhi to address India’s and Pakistan’s fears about Afghanistan. Only by assuaging the ISI’s fears, while allowing India its rightful place in Kabul, can we get more cooperation from Pakistan in our fight against Islamic extremism. (link)

Thoughts? I like the flavor of this explanation for two reasons. First, while Kaplan’s take does not by any means make the ISI more likeable, in general it makes more sense to see an organization like the ISI as operating on the basis of rational, if short-term, self-interest, not as a mindless agent of violence. Second, it downplays the issue of local religious fundamentalism, which is of course exploited by the ISI, but not the underlying cause for its actions. Pure religious fundamentalism might lead someone to blow up a marketplace full of people. But what motivates someone to blow up an embassy is obviously something much more pointedly political.

Also: see an earlier post relating to the ISI here. Continue reading →

Guest Blogger: Ravi

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As of this weekend we have invited yet another guest blogger into the fold of our secret world blogging headquarters in North Dakota. The twist this time is that our new blogger is only 18 years old, making him even younger than our over-worked intern (the intern was not happy about this). Here is the email we received from Ravi. It had a rather interesting proposition in it:

My name is Ravi M and I’m a graduating high school student from Lake Forest High School and I’ll be attending Harvard this fall. I’m an avid reader of your blog, and will be attending the DNC in a few weeks as a member of the Junior State of America’s 2008 Election Symposia, a non-profit, non-partisan civic education program. I’m writing because I’d like to offer my services/be considered to be a guest student correspondent for your blog during the DNC…This could give your blog an opportunity to showcase the viewpoints of a younger generation, and the trend in increasing political activism and awareness amongst my generation of Indian-Americans during this election year. I have experience as Editor-in-Chief of my school newspaper, and have won Scholastic Regional and National Awards for my journalism. In addition, I have served as the governor of the Junior State of America, a student-run debating organization, for the past two years, as well as Debate Team Captain the previous year, giving me a deep understanding of politics and the perspectives of our younger generation….

So now we will have two SM bloggers reporting from the convention n Denver in just a few weeks. Hmmm, maybe I can be the voice of the grizzled old cynic and Ravi can report with wide-eyed optimism. In any case, please join me in welcoming Ravi to SM.

Note: If any of our South Asian American readers has access to the Republican National Convention and would like to blog for SM from there then please email me: abhi [at] sepiamutiny dot com.

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The Rat People

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Utterly tragic and cant-peel-my-eyes-away fascinating. A Breitbart story + video tells the tale of Pakistan’s “Rat People” born with a sad heriditary disorder, Microcephaly –

Outside a Muslim shrine in this dusty Pakistani city, a “rat woman” with a tiny head sits on a filthy mattress and takes money from worshippers who cling to an ancient fertility rite.

Nadia, 25, is one of hundreds of young microcephalics — people born with small skulls and protruding noses and ears because of a genetic mutation — who can be found on the streets of Gujrat, in central Punjab province.

…According to local legend, infertile women who pray at Shah Daula’s shrine will be granted children, but at a terrible price. The first child will be born microcephalic and must be given to the shrine, or else any further children will have the same deformity.

…”The myth of the chuhas [rat people] has been exploited by beggar mafias and religious groups,” said Nasiruddaula, a former science professor in his 70s.

“They roam the villages and if the real chuha is born they give them some money and they take them,” he said.

How did the cluster show up here? Well, consanguinity plays a huge role – Continue reading →

Raj Bhavsar is Going to the Big Dance

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Numerous readers have been sending us tips regarding Raj Bhavsar, an alternate on the U.S. men’s gymnastics team who will get to compete for the gold in Beijing after all. The space opened up on the team after star gymnast Paul Hamm was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Bhavsar was an alternate in 2004 as well, but didn’t get to compete. Despite a discouraging few years, Bhavsar continued to practice and train hard this spring and summer on the off-chance that a space might open up. Now his perseverance has paid off, and we wish him all the best. Based on what his colleagues and trainers have said about Bhavsar, as well as his own quotes in USA Today and The Houston Chronicle, he seems like a class act. (The ESPN story on Bhavsar also talks about how Bikram Yoga has helped him learn to concentrate better in the past year, a fact that I find quite interesting.)

NBC also had a nice profile of Bhavsar during the 2008 trials:

And you can see him performing a whole routine on rings here. (The dude has some serious biceps!)

Along with the stories about Raj Bhavsar (an Indian-American), KXB linked in the News Tab to a story in Foreign Policy about the “world’s worst Olympians,” where India actually tops the list (only 17 medals in its entire history). There is an inevitable discussion waiting to happen there, on why India always does so poorly (as I recall we had a version of it two years ago, when the World Cup was on). I don’t have any big answers, other than the obvious ones given in Foreign Policy: lack of sports venues, lack of school sports funding, lack of investment in preparing athletes for the Olympics. I don’t know whether “culture” is also a factor; I tend to think not.

At any rate, this year India is sending 57 atheletes to the Olympics, including the Paes and Bhupathi team for tennis doubles (where I suspect they might have a real shot). We might profile a few of the athletes in subsequent posts, depending on what comes up upon typing their names into the Google. Pakistan, for its part, is sending 23 athletes; Sri Lanka is sending eight (or maybe seven, depending on how we add 3+4); and Bangladesh is also sending a small contingent, to compete for wild card spots. Continue reading →