Earlier I posted about Dell opening an office in Mohali, by Chandigarh. This photo of the billionaire proprietor wearing what is either a tika or a large, fleshy mole, standing next to a jolly sardarji who’s Chief Minister of Punjab, is priceless:
Category Archives: Short
Russian Bollywood
Amitabh Bachchan said on The Charlie Rose Show last week that Bollywood has crazed fans in Africa and Russia:
… very surprisingly… the entire northern belt of Africa. So Morocco, Algeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, down to Egypt… And Russia. Massive. Massive… When I first went to Moscow for the first time, I was received by Russian female fans, who were actually dressed in our Indian dress and wore the bindi and the jewelry and everything, and spoke Hindi… and said that they were going to university to study the language so that they could follow our films. Remarkable.
When I visited Mockba, a young couple I had dinner with proudly opened a video drawer with nearly a hundred Hindi movies filed meticulously.
India = More Terrorist Attacks than Iraq + Israel Combined?
Winds of Change does some number crunching from the recently published National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC) report –
Iraq 30.8% Afghanistan 2.8% India 45.9% Israel/ Palestine 8.4%
Where? Mostly in J&K. Times of India notes –
More than half the attacks reported for 2004 were in South Asia, which recorded 327 incidents that produced 502 deaths. The bulk of the incidents were reported in the divided Kashmir state claimed by both India and Pakistan.
Polish Bollywood
I just got used to calling it K3G, I am not calling it CSCD.
Rum-based lubricant
TTG reminisces about the good old days before liberalization:
Option 2 was a bribe at the beginning of it all, a one year wait, and then a monthly bribe (usually in the form of a bottle of ‘Old Monk’ rum, presented to the local linesman) to ensure the smooth working of your phone. Everytime it rained, you knew your phone would die, along with your connection to the outside world. And every once in a while, somebody would bribe the linesman, who would then… allow the briber to make calls on your line, for free.
Who knew it took rum to lubricate the Indian phone system?
Pop Quiz – Whaddya do about Badistan?
And old-ish, but new to me article by Daniel Drezner posits questions about a hypothetical country called Badistan – a rather thinly-disguised Pakistan –
Pop quiz: You’re in charge of protecting the national security of the United States. There’s a pivotal country–let’s call it Badistan–that plays a crucial role in advancing American interests. But elements within that country–including some who work for the government–are abetting actors that virulently oppose America. The leader of this government has pledged to cooperate with the United States, but the two attempts on his life over the past month suggest his domestic position is precarious. What approach do you take to Badistan?
A silver paisa in her shoe
Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.
You know how family members at Indian weddings make lists of the gifts being exchanged? BridalBeer says it’s not merely the crass and mercenary:
I used to wonder why the bridegroom’s grandfathers, his uncles, took the gifts while the bride looked to her painted toes… Men who took these gifts made a list, who gave what. And today, after years, I found the answer in legal text…THE DOWRY PROHIBITION… RULES, 1985
… The list of presents which are given at the time of the marriage to the bride shall be maintained by the bride.
AnarCapLib on Indian Econ Growth
Yazad Jal of AnarCapLib got a piece published in Rediff about market liberalization and it’s quantitative and qualitative impact on Indian poverty –
…We’ve had cell phones in India for around ten years only (started in September 1995). At that time, it was looked upon as be an expensive toy made for the rich to indulge it, one more luxury. Just a decade later, there are more cell phones than land lines in India. … India’s GDP per capita in 1990, before liberalisation, was $1,300. Today it’s $2,830, more than double. It’s increased at around 5.33 per cent per year.
Who is Iraq’s KPS Gill?
A fav, non-desi blog of mine, Winds of Change looks to India for a model for Iraq –
When India was trying to fight separatist Sikh terrorists in Punjab, a Sikh police officer named KPS Gill played a pivotal role in giving the anti-terrorism effort legitimacy among Punjabi Sikhs and among all Indians. …Who can play the role of Iraq’s KPS Gill?
Indian food at cafeterias
We never got Indian food at Microsoft, I’m a little jealous.
Want navrattan korma with raita, chutney and naan? $5.29 at Cisco Systems’ [cafeteria.]
The new Whole Foods in NYC’s Union Square serves hot Indian food. And one of the big selling points of London is that you can get mango lassi and 20 kinds of Indian meals at any Sainsbury’s.
Hey, man. You’ve got your reasons, I’ve got mine.