Category Archives: Politics

9.11 + 5

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On Monday evening the BBC Radio Five Live’s program “Pods and Blogs” has invited me on the air to discuss the five-year anniversary of the attacks which took place on September 11th, 2001 in NYC, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania. Anyone interested can listen here at 9p.m. EST/6p.m. PST ( I will probably be on ~20 minutes into the program).

The truth is that I don’t yet know what I am going to talk about or what profound statement I can possibly make in my minute of air time. There is just so much that has occurred in these past five years that to draw any kind of grand conclusion or offer a sagacious reflection seems impossible. From a federal government facility I watched (like many of you) my federal government and its citizens get attacked on that day. Later I learned that a friend had perished in New York. If I had to condense all of my thoughts five years later down to a single word it would be…”disappointment.”

On September 11th, 2001 I believe that our nation was handed, hidden beneath the shock, the sadness, and the loss, an opportunity to lead. Our generation was given a chance to become the greatest generation. In the 1940s, faced with the threat of a fascist and racist power bent on world domination, the United States and its men and women rose up to defend much of that world, not only through our arms but through our thoughts and ideas. Our allies admired us because of our spirit and our tenacity. They admired us for our can-doism and they admired us for our morality. That admiration lasted through the Cold War and past the end of communism. On September 11th we showed everyone why America was, decades later, still worthy of that admiration:

A California man identified as Tom Burnett reportedly called his wife and told her that somebody on the plane [United 93] had been stabbed.

“We’re all going to die, but three of us are going to do something,” he told her. “I love you honey…” [Link]

You can wade through all of these interview files for additional reminders of how Americans responded when called upon to lead. Even the President got it right at first:

I can hear you, the rest of the world can hear you and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. [Link]

However, shortly after is where my disappointment begins. Five years later can it be said that anyone (even our closest allies) really “hears us?” Can it be said that America is admired for how it responded in the years following the attacks? Does anyone feel safer? I am disappointed because we have not honored the memories of those who perished by living up to the examples that they set for us. Sacrifice and inner strength and not blind fury or angry words were the weapons that Americans used on that day.

In her op-ed piece about the five-year anniversary, Peggy Noonan admires the concise last words uttered by many that died that day and notes that “crisis is a great editor.” If that is true then it is a shame that these days we seem to waste so much time with empty rhetoric and actions which divert our nation ever farther from our chance at greatness.

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“Dude, I was at this Indian Wedding over the weekend…”

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Technophobic Geek recently overheard the following at his middle eastern drum circle:

Instructor: So I was playing the tablas at this very fancy and HUGE Indian wedding last weekend. It was really quite fascinating. I haven’t seen a wedding this big in a while.
Other guy: How many people?
Instructor: At least 400, maybe 500 people. It was a really traditional wedding. Not only in terms of the ceremony, but it was also an (with dramatic pause) arranged wedding.
Everyone else: (awestruck) Wow!
Instructor: In fact, it was so arranged that the bride did not smile at all through the entire wedding, not one time.
Other guy: Was she at least over 18, I mean, she wasn’t like 12 or something, right?
Instructor: No, not at all, she was in her early 20s, at least that’s what they said.
(Everyone heaves a palpable sigh of relief). (link)

Our technophobic friend says he was rendered speechless by this (“I had no idea where to even start bridging this cultural chasm…”), so let’s help him out. The first thing he could say is that it’s striking that arranged marriage is still such a stigmatized practice in the U.S. — especially amongst “laid back dudes” in one’s social circle. Come on guys, get over it: learn something about the culture of the people who invented the tabla you’ve learned to play.

Second, it’s not necessarily the case that it was an actual, no-prior-meeting, arranged marriage (actually pretty rare these days in the diaspora). Any help from websites and/or parents is often construed as “arranging” by people outside the loop, when in fact “assisting” might be a more accurate way to describe it.

As for why the bride wasn’t smiling: uncomfortable outfit? Awkward hair? Cultural expectation? Continue reading →

The Desi Vote. 2006.

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Excuse me? Hi. Are you registered to vote? No? Well it’s easy. Here, let me register you right now. All you have to do is click on that picture. Right there on the right, see? Easy. Oh, I see that you are hesitating. You don’t think that the South Asian American vote has any power in America because last you checked there were only 2 million desis? You didn’t hear?

[B]y 2010 Indian-Americans will reach the 4.5 million mark, while South Asians will cross the 5.5 million mark. In other words Desis are expected to constitute 1.5 % of the total American population of 2010.

If one is to extrapolate from these latest U.S. Census figures, the Asian Indian population in America is expected to reveal its steepest rise ever during the 2010 census…The Census also ranked Asian Indians as the third largest Asian American group after Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans. Indian Americans also had the largest percentage increase of the six major Asian groups in the U.S. [link]

No kidding, right? I double checked those numbers at work too. Legit. What, you still don’t believe that we can have a collective political voice if that 5.5 million is spread across the nation? Well how about this…?

Top Metropolitan Areas of South Asian Americans [link]

  1. NYC (sa pop =251,121)
  2. Chicago (sa pop=132,811)
  3. Washington DC tri-state area (sa pop=90,705)
  4. Los Angeles/Long Beach (sa pop=73,489)
  5. Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ (sa pop=71,116)

Top Counties of High Concentrations of South Asian Americans [link]

  1. Sutter, CA (sa pop=7,914 percent=10.03)
  2. Middlesex, NJ (sa pop=61,485 percent=8.2)
  3. Queens, NY (sa pop=164,636 percent=7.84)
  4. Fort Bend, TX (sa pop=16,941 percent=4.78)
  5. Santa Clara,CA (sa pop=73,840 percent=4.39)

You see, if we can increase desi voter registration, as well as voter turnout across the nation and especially in these areas, we can increase the potential political voice of the South Asian American Vote. Voting Bloc? I’m not sure about that yet — as is often mentioned we are dealing with a diverse community with many issues, plus, I don’t feel that we are at the point of a voting bloc yet because of lack of that power. But we can do everything to build that power for our community; by votes, by running for office, by organizing. By building this potential political power, when we do unite on issues that affect our South Asian community as a whole, we will have the power to influence change.

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A Blogger’s Response to the NYT on Parsis

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By now many readers will have read the admirable article by Laurie Goodstein in the New York Times about the declining numbers of the otherwise highly successful, globalized Parsi community. The main problem seems to be the core community’s reluctance to accept intermarriage of any kind because of a blood-based definition of what makes a Parsi a Parsi, though there are other factors (such as low birth rates, high levels of professionalization, and diasporic scattering).

Of course, there’s an obvious historical connection here that Laurie Goodstein doesn’t make, which has to do with the role of the Parsis before Indian independence. A new blogger called Strange Loops has a well-phrased response:

While I think the article gets most of the nuances and issues facing this very small, but historically significant, community correct, a few further points bear some exposition. First, the Parsi community pre-1947 (and to a lesser extent, afterwards) was undeniably Anglophilic in bent. Exceptions abound of course, including Dadabhai Naoroji, who became the first Indian MP in the British Parliament in 1892, and a father figure to a generation of Indian nationalists. The Anglophilic inclinations of many Parsis were encouraged by the British from early on for pragmatic and ideological reasons. The British sought to cultivate an indigenous elite with a vested interest in the preservation of Empire, and further saw Parsis as more ‘whiteÂ’ … and thus culturally closer to Europeans. Indeed, the British often referred to Parsis as the ‘Jews of IndiaÂ’ (a somewhat ironic statement given the rich history of several Indian Jewish communities). All this made the transition to an Independent India an awkward and stilted affair for many (but by no means all) Parsis in Bombay and elsewhere. (link)

Perhaps the reluctance by more conservative Parsis to accept intermarriage has to do with exactly the kind of internalized racial thinking the blogger (who is not a Parsi him/herself) is talking about. Personally, I’m rooting for the Parsis; I hope the faction that favors allowing people who’ve intermarried to remain in the community prevails.

For more on Parsi-related news, check out Arzan Wadia’s excellent Parsi Khabar blog. Continue reading →

Someone you should know… Captain Neil Prakash

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SM Profilee – Lt (now Captain) Neil Prakash is now a radio star. Sort of. PunditReview has a recording of a tribute to Neil carried on talk radio detailing the actions which earned him a Silver Star in Iraq. A few excerpts of which are quoted –

One thing you’ve gotta know about Neil – he runs to the sound of gunfire…. There were hundreds of men firing at his small platoon of 4 tanks… They tried to approach the tank and drop hand grenades into the hatches..

The battle raged on for about an hour… all in all, Lt Neil Prakash’s platoon were hit by 23 IED’s and over 20 RPG’s. Prakash’s tank alone … took 4-8 direct RPG’s. Neil personally killed 8 machine gun and RPG teams and the platoon had 25 confirmed kills with an estimated 60 additional insurgents

For his valor on Jun 24, 1st LT Neil Prakash was awarded the Silver Star…. He was also later awarded a Bronze Star [for a different engagement]”

Now some will sneer about the Americanized pronounciation of brother Neil’s name – “Neil Prack-ish”. Others about the patriotic/romantic music in the background while his tribute is read. And still others will sneer about Neil’s engagement overall in the business of the Iraq war. Not me.

But hopefully, regardless of how you feel, we can take a moment to commend an individual who’s risked far more for an abstract cause than many of us who sit comfortably in our air-conditioned offices.

Neil was first covered in Sepia Mutiny’s youth back in November 2004 and that initial coverage was, in part, responsible for leading Neil to join the ranks of milbloggers. Neil recorded his exploits in a wonderful narrative style on his own blog – Armor Geddon – and a few posts have been expanded into a recently published compendium book written by milbloggers – The Blog of War.

Bravo.

Previous SM Coverage of Neil’s Silver Star. Neil’s blog entry on the eve of his foray into Fallujah. Continue reading →

Nightmare job

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While looking through some press photographs I have come to learn of a Hindu diety of whom I was previously unaware. Behold Biswakarma, the Hindu god of architecture and machinery:

Biswakarma, or Vishkarma, was the architect of Dwarka, the city that was built for Lord Krishna. Today he is commemorated all over India, and particularly in the industrial cities, by those who work with tools and factory machinery. [Link]

He seems to be somewhat of an equivalent to the Roman God Vulcan (or the Greek God Hephaestus).

What caught my attention however was the freaky-ass picture you see below. It is of an artist getting things ready for the Biswakarma Puja on September 17th. I’ve actually had a few nightmares that looked something like this.

I would HATE to be in this room when they turn off the lights

People worship the implements with which they earn their daily bread and artisans clean their tools and repaint old machines. Shop floors and factories are decorated for the occasion, loud speakers blare out music and the image of Biswakarma and his faithful elephant can be seen everywhere.

Biswakarma is the divine architect of the whole universe, regarded as the supreme worker and the personification of the creative power that holds heaven and earth together. He has four hands, carrying a water-pot, a book, a noose and craftsman’s tools. All the divine weapons such as chariots that are traditionally possessed by the gods are his creation. [Link]

Yes, you guessed it. As professional bloggers we will be worshiping our computers and will have our monkeys re-paint the bunker on September 17th. Continue reading →

Bruised Bipasha

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Edison, NJ just can’t seem to get out of the news. Seems that filmi starlet Bipasha Basu was recently harrassed there this month by a couple of the organizers at Indian Business Association. And as any woman of my disposition a like-minded desi woman that doesn’t take crap lying down anymore, she made sure that she was not silenced.

Girl Powered Bipasha Basu

Bollywood star Bipasha Basu has publicly accused two organisers of an India Day parade at Edison Township, New Jersey, of harassing her physically and mentally. The movie star was scheduled to lead the parade — organised by the Indian Business Association — on Sunday, August 13, through Oak Tree Road, a centre of Indian businesses, as Grand Marshall.

Before the parade… Bipasha appeared on stage. “I wanted to attend the parade, but I could not,” she said, adding that she was harassed physically and mentally in the car by two people who were taking her to the parade. [link]

Girlfriend was angry, and partial footage of Basu on stage enraged into a girl power frenzy almost brought a tear to my eye. (The entire tirade was shown on Asian Variety Show this weekend, but I couldn’t find it online). Though the IBA said they were going to do an investigation, they are also doing what every good American does. Suing her.

Officials said the IBA, which instituted an inquiry into the allegations, will sue Basu for an undisclosed amount for violating the contract and making such an allegation. Though officials were not willing to talk till the inquiry was over, sources said it could sue her for $5 million. The legal action is expected to be initiated in a New Jersey court. [link]

[Bipasha] claimed she had received some bruises, which were photographed… [link]

Bipasha has not made a formal complaint to the organisers, he said. The alleged incident could cause a criminal investigation, but she has not lodged any complaint with the police either.[link]

So IBA, your volunteer organizers pick up this woman, they don’t ‘molest’ her but she does get bruises from the incident, and your step is to sue her for breach of contract? Seriously? Too bad Basu doesn’t blog anymore, I’d love to hear what she has to say.

Edison as we know, has the fifth largest desi population, and the most significant concentration of desis in the U.S. With police brutality and now this incident, the desi community of Edison has their community organizing work cut out for them.

Continue reading →

Mixed Messages, Part I: Gettin’ Down with the Brown

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For many of us this site is a place where we can explore the desi experience, not just as it plays out in news or culture, but also on a personal level. As a community we are coherent but not cohesive, united by a diasporic experience but keen to its many variations. What it means to be desi is still very much under negotiation, which is good: it means that we haven’t congealed, nor been taken over by ideological disputes or anointed leaders. This, combined with tools like the Internet which previous diasporas did not enjoy, has helped to keep the conversation open, generally productive, and most important of all, conducive to sharing personal experience.

babymacaca.jpgFor some of us, the idea of being desi comes with self-questioning built in, because we are of mixed race and ethnicity, products of unions where one partner was desi, the other not. I know there are a lot of people who read this site who belong to this group, and many more who are having, or are likely to have, mixed children. Among the regulars here who identify as both mixed and desi, the most outspoken in the past year have been DesiDancer and myself in the U.S. as well as Bong Breaker in the U.K.

Recently DesiDancer (portrayed here as a young macaca) and I began a conversation that aims to explore the experience of being a mixed desi in America today. It is also a blog experiment: A different format than usual, and a new way of engaging the many people here who have been so generous and thoughtful in sharing their stories. We are corresponding by IM and editing the transcripts for coherence and pace. And by making it a series, we can absorb your responses to each instalment as we prepare the next.

Today, in “Gettin’ Down with the Brown,” we talk about how we came to identify as desi when we had the choice of not doing so. Later we’ll discuss the ways we — and others — live, deploy, engage our “desi” and “mixed” identities in the world today. Whether you are mixed yourself, or the (potential) parent of mixed kids, or neither, your responses will help shape the discussion. (You may also share thoughts in confidence with either of us.)

So, here goes: Continue reading →

A Little Xenophobic Nastiness from Sen. Conrad Burns

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Conrad Burns, Republican Senator from Montana, recently said the following:

Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, whose recent comments have stirred controversy, says the United States is up against a faceless enemy of terrorists who “drive taxi cabs in the daytime and kill at night.”(link)

Looks like a garden variety anti-immigrant slur — they seem to be coming hot and heavy this year (the theme this campaign season seems to be brown-baiting: Latinos and Middle Easterners/South Asians). I suppose it would be possible to say, “well, he’s just talking about terrorism, he never said ‘immigrants’ or ‘South Asian immigrants.'” First, as far as I know no taxi driver is currently being accused of a connection to terrorism, so he’s not literally talking about taxi drivers, but the types of jobs working class immigrants usually start off with when they reach the U.S. Second, this is in fact a slur because it attempts to demonize those same immigrants by lumping them (us) in with genuine threats to American democracy. According to Conrad Burns’ thinking, immigration is terrorism. Wonkette says it with admirable succinctness: “Racist and Insane!”

By the way, it’s not the only WTF caliber comment Senator Burns has made recently:

He has drawn criticism in recent weeks for calling his house painter a “nice little Guatemalan man” during a June speech. Burns, whose re-election campaign is pressing for tighter immigration controls, also suggested that the man might be an illegal immigrant. The campaign later said the worker is legal.(link)

Hm, I think I might go give my $25 to Jon Tester for Senate. Apparently it’s a close race; I vote we Macacatinate** him.

**Macacatinate: (v.) to inflict a mutinous, internet-based critique than can cause poll numbers to shift once the mainstream media grabs hold of it. Continue reading →

That invisible stuff and…The End

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According to an account of the Hindu mythology, Hiranyagarbha, meaning the golden womb, is the source of the creation of the universe. It is one of the Vedic myths which explain the origin and the creation of the cosmos and the universe. The legend states that the Hiranyagarbha floated around in water in the emptiness and the darkness of the non-existence for about a year, and then broke into two halves which formed the Swarga and the Prithvi, and most likely other parts of the universe. It is believed that Brahma was born from the Hiranyagarbha. [Link]

It has been way too long since we have had a nerdy science post to get everyone’s juices flowing. An article this past week in Science Magazine gives us hope that cosmologists are getting closer to understanding where it all came from and where it all might be headed. The Chandra X-Ray Observatory, named for Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, captured images of a smoking gun. Via Science (subscription required):

This composite image shows the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, also known as the “bullet cluster.” This cluster was formed after the collision of two large clusters of galaxies, the most energetic event known in the universe since the Big Bang.

A fantastically energetic collision between clusters of galaxies has demolished a challenge to the law of gravity, providing the clearest evidence yet for the existence of intergalactic dark matter.

For decades, astronomers have inferred that unseen matter lurks within and between galaxies. Luminous stars alone, they realized, don’t exert enough gravitational force to explain how individual galaxies spin and clusters of galaxies clump together. Something invisible must be pulling, too.

Some of the extra matter in galactic clusters is just hot gas. But even more mass seems to exist in the form of “nonbaryonic” dark matter, made of something other than ordinary atoms.

A few holdouts have insisted that the observations could be explained by modifying the law of gravity at great distances. But a new result from the Chandra X-ray Observatory satellite offers clear-cut evidence that dark matter really does infuse galactic clusters. “It demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that dark matter exists,” says Sean Carroll, a cosmologist at the University of Chicago, Illinois, not involved in the study. [Link]

I love that there is an invisible physical force (that should be therefore measurable) out there that is stronger than gravity and yet remains invisible to detection by us except by inference. Its just a good mystery (which we all need once in a while). Continue reading →