Mukhtar Mai Update Part II

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UPDATE: Mukhtar Mai is here. [Thanks Vidster]

Earlier we reported that the US Government has stepped in to ensure Ms. Mai’s passage outside of the country. However, given our inability to make the Pakistani government do anything, I wasn’t holding my breath waiting for her to show up in the US.

The latest news is that she is planning on coming to America in November to receive an award from Glamour magazine. Mukhtar Mai has a US visa, but she’s still not sure if the Pakistani government will approve:

“I shall go if the government does not prevent me from travelling abroad,” she said. [BBC]

In the past, Pervez Musharraf didn’t want Mukhtar Mai to go abroad because he feared that her visit might tarnish Pakistan’s image. This was a delightfully ironic comment, given how much his own comments on women’s rights have contributed to Pakistan’s image as a banana-less banana republic. In response to this concern, Ms. Mai has said:

“I am a Pakistani and I have no intention of tarnishing the country’s image. But I will speak on the plight of women in rural areas,” she told Reuters news agency. [BBC]

Perhaps to sweeten the deal, she has also promised to:

“… use this occasion to highlight the plight of quake victims in Pakistan and also motivate the Americans and the Pakistanis staying there to contribute and raise funds for them,” Ms Mai said. [BBC]

Will she actually make it? Will Dr. Rice have to intervene again? Will Kristof have to write another NYT piece to embarass Pakistan? Will Pakistan listen? Will anybody care? Tune in here for the continuing adventures of “The Perils of Pauline the Pakistani Woman!”

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Cockfight

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Man with rubber fetish keeps the hits coming: Would it surprise you to learn that the world’s leading condom designer is Indian?

Dr. Alla Venkata Krishna Reddy is the designer of at least three successful specialty condoms (the Pleasure Plus, the Inspiral and the Trojan Twisted Pleasure) and one female condom (the V-Amour). The tragedy of his head-onistic genius is that he’s completely wrapped up in I. Pee litigation (via Boing Boing). He’s getting shafted by his own patents — it’s autolitigious stimulation.

Reddy’s great contribution to the universe of condom design… [was that] Reddy viewed them as devices that could help enhance male pleasure…

… Reddy’s first condom company failed in the mid-’90s and he lost control of his patents in a bankruptcy auction… He returned to his native India and continued to tweak his innovative designs, and with the help of partners in the United States, soon reentered the American market, first with the Inspiral, and then with the [Trojan] Twisted Pleasure… So, tragically, Reddy is being sued for violating his own patents. [Link]

Randy Reddy [was] dubbed the ‘Leonardo’ of condomsReddy started with a condom with a pouch at the end, progressing to an unholy spiral and then two in the latest incarnation. It’s like Gillette razors, pretty soon there’ll be five spirals with built-in vibration They’ve sold well and won awards from such paragons of hard news as Cosmo, Men’s Health and Maxim:

“When I rolled it on, my penis looked like Marvin the Martian,” says a staffer. “But when I took a look in the middle of things, the extra fabric had twisted itself into a pinwheel shape. It actually lives up to its name…” [Link]

Dr Reddy [was] dubbed the “Leonardo” of condoms by Adam Glickman, president of Condomania… [Link]

(NSFW after the jump) Continue reading →

Scandal looms at the White House

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President Bush, already beset on all sides of his administration by scandal, is courting yet another one even if he doesn’t know it yet.  The 1000 rupee question is, “will he or won’t he show up to the White House Diwali celebration?”  He has opted out of Diwali festivities on all previous occasions.   New Kerala.com reports:

The United States India League has urged U S President George W Bush to attend the annual Diwali celebration in the White House noting that his presence would ”send the right signals to his friends in India and the Indian American community”.

”Merely going through the motions of having a proforma Diwali celebration would not be enough. Diwali is Hinduism’s most importance observance. The White House celebration should reflect that,” the League director Don Feder said in a release yesterday.

The White House is all set to celebrate Diwali, one of the holiest of Hindu festivals on November 1.

Although Diwali has been celebrated in the White House twice before during President Bush’s first and second term, it has always been an unofficial one, with a lot of prodding from the influential Indian Americans with friendly ties to the US Congress and the White House.

President Bush himself has not attended the occasion as he has been out of town on both the previous occasions.

Well what about the good Prime Minister from across the pond?  Will there be a party at the British Parliament?

Over 100 British lawmakers, senior ministers and diplomats are expected to attend the Diwali celebrations at the House of Commons, Lower House of Parliament, on Thursday… Guests at the reception will include over 100 Parliamentarians, ministers and cabinet secretaries, diplomats, business and community leaders and civil servants, the organisers said on Saturday night.

In a message to the Forum, Prime Minister Tony Blair said, “This festival has an important role. It gives every one of us a chance to reflect on the important contribution that your communities are making to Britain’s success. This is something for us all to celebrate…” [Link]
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Lost in Translation

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India Uncut points us at a series of fun blog posts over at Minor Scale.   Manoj has translated some choice South Indian film songs into anglais.  Most translations are just text but this one had pix and made me smile.   Next time some cultural elitist snob rants about how every piece of media was better in the original Tamil, Uyghur or !Xóõ, I’ll point ’em here –

SBC 03  SBC 04 

Proof that if you can’t have the pix, some folks really do listen to the lyrics.

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Behold, the Power of Onions

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theeyal.jpg I seem to be the Mutiny’s resident “protest publicist”, so why should today be any different? Join the BJP tomorrow (today?) in Delhi as they take to the streets to express their outrage over the latest issue to grip India (Thanks, Usamidalla):

Harsh Vardhan, a leader of the opposition Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) in New Delhi, accused traders of limiting onion sales to profit from Dussehra and Deepawali festivals. Onion are an important ingredient in almost everything eaten during both festivals. “An artificial scarcity of onion has been created by traders in connivance with the governing Congress party government,” the Press Trust of India quoted Mr Vardhan as saying.

I wish I could be more sympathetic, but as long-time HERstorians are aware, I HATE ONIONS. I pick them out of my food, no matter how microscopically my mother thinks she’s chopping them; this is usually a futile endeavor though, since they inevitably leave their odious taste among the innocent vendaka and pavaka (read: bhindi and karela) who surely deserve better than such a slimy compatriot. So yeah. I won’t be at the protest. 😉

Apparently, I should take the many-layered vegetable more seriously. Not only can it make you cry if you’re chopping it, it can make you cry as it gives YOU the chop:

Onion shortages in India were responsible for bringing down BJP governments in New Delhi and Rajasthan states in 1998.

Amazing.

In several parts of India, onions were trading at double the price of the previous week.

Obviously, in solidarity with her erstwhile countrymen, my mother should refrain from using ooly in her legendary cooking when I go home for almost two weeks on Thursday. It’s the right thing to do, no? 😉 Continue reading →

Zindagi ka Zinfandel

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If you had spent  yesterday afternoon strolling through sunsoaked downtown Sonoma, a nerve center of California wine country, you might have had your Mediterranean reverie broken by an extremely conspicuous member of desi America: one blue-silk-clad, bejewelled and beflowered Bharat Natyam dancer, desperately trying to find the stage of the Kathmandu Fall Festival.  I can assure you I did not blend in. This is a good thing, because the woman who finally helped us had never heard of Depot Park by name, but took one look at me and remembered that “there’s some kind of colorful festival in that park behind us? That must be what you’re looking for.” Saheli Dances in Winecountry

After the set, I looked around the stage for the usual cooler full of water bottles, and was instead greeted by a vision of wine. The usual festival array of Tibetan flags and bells  mixed with bottles and glasses  everywhere, the regular sound of corks popping interlacing with the flute and mrdangam music. Despite booths of frying samosas, the smell of vintage was stronger. Since my family doesn’t drink, we decided to complete the evening with a visit to the video store, and got ourselves the documentary Mondovino. If you’re at all interested in trade, globalization, agriculture, mercantile tradition, France, Italy, Northern California, or, of course, wine, I highly recommend it, though it is a bit long. It’s a film squarely set in Europe and the Americas, featuring titans like the Mondavi family, the ancient Florentine clans Frescobaldi and Antonieri, and a charming elderly Bordeaux gentleman named Hubert de Montille who can’t stand “monolithic thinking.”
Michel Rolland Points to India in the film Mondovino
It prominently features a travelling consultant, “the flying winemaker,” who, along with Maryland critic Robert Parker, makes and breaks wines. Michel Rolland caught my attention with a throwaway line when he was pointing out the spread of his clientele on a map,

 “Hungary, Italy, France, Argentinia, Chile, Mexico, The United States, and oh–I forgot one over here–India!”

India?! That’s right, India. The October 17 issue of India Today has a three page spread that, at first glance,  doesn’t bode well for desi oenophilic journalism–even I know that “Brewing the Indian Dream,” is a headline directed at the wrong beverage. But what growth the article reveals within!

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A Concert for Bangladesh: Re-released

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Before there was Live Aid or Live 8, there was the original, the Godfather of all arena-rock fundraising concerts: 1971’s a Concert for Bangladesh:

The Concert for Bangladesh was the first benefit concert of its kind in that it brought together an extraordinary assemblage of major artists. The two shows, a Grammy award-winning triple album boxset, and the feature film, generated millions of dollars for a charitable cause and as importantly raised global awareness of a hitherto unpublicized humanitarian disaster. It is therefore acknowledged as the inspiration and forerunner of the major global fundraising events of recent years. To quote the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan “George and his friends were pioneers”. [Link]

And from Wikipedia:

The Concert For Bangladesh was the event title for two concerts held on the afternoon and evening of August 1, 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York.

As East Pakistan struggled to become the separate state of Bangladesh, tremendous political and military turmoil led to a massive refugee problem. This problem was compounded by torrential rains causing devastating floods and threatening a humanitarian disaster.

Bengali musician Ravi Shankar consulted his friend George Harrison regarding a means of providing help to the situation. Harrison recorded the single “Bangladesh” to help raise awareness and pushed Apple Records to release Shankar’s single “Joi Bangla” in a dual-pronged effort to raise funds.

Shankar also asked Harrison’s advice regarding a small fund-raising concert in the United States. Instead, Harrison took over and persuaded his friends to join him at a large concert at Madison Square Garden. The event was organised within five weeks.

A well-reviewed re-release of the concert on CD and DVD drops in record stores Monday. Continue reading →

Shopguy

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The other day I was reading a rather ho-hum review of the new Steve Martin movie Shopgirl when this sentence caught my eye:

Tweely narrated by Martin (not as Ray), directed with a dose of barbiturates by Anand Tucker, underscored with a plaintive cello and piano, this is among the most noneventful romantic triangles ever committed to celluloid.

It appears that Shopgirl, that seemingly whitest of whitebread romantic dramedies, was directed by an international jetsetter with desi roots:

Tucker, the son of an Indian father and German mother who was born in Thailand, grew up in Hong Kong and has lived in London since he was 18.

Rediff features a recent interview with the director, who is probably best known for directing the art-house hit Hilary and Jackie.  Tucker (his father changed his last name from Thakkar) has also been tapped to direct a big-budget adaptation of The Golden Compass, the first book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.

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Mutineer Meetup: San Francisco- October 30

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Saheli and A N N A, last SF meetup at Greco I’m still high off all the fun I had at Arzan’s adorable apartment, at the Brooklyn Meetup last week, so I feel like having some more meetup-induced bliss.

A week from today, join me at Caffe Greco in North Beach (in San Francisco) for a bit of a survivor’s brunch (since I will be recovering from what is sure to be a legendary Saturday night, filled to the brim with debauchery, mais oui). Two o’clock work for you? That should be perrrfect, to get all your tardy kundis there by Three.

Why will I be at home on the Wessss Saeeeed? To celebrate the vedding of a very special Mutineer, who is precious to a few of us North Dakota-bunking bloggers. If I didn’t have to schlep my mom back home on the Saturday after that blessed event, I would’ve had the meetup on Sunday, November 6. Who knows? If you whine prettily, I might hold office hours at my belowed Greco THEN, too. 😉

VHAT: Meetup!
VHEN: October 30, 2pm
VHERE: Caffe Greco, 423 Columbus Ave

Come painted and coordinated, because ye shall surely be photographed and flickr’d, that much is true. Can’t wait to meet you, and bounce off the walls from the cappuccino drip that Greco always hooks me up with…last time I was there for SIX HOURS, so no carping in the comments section ten days from now about how you were late and we were already gone. I keed, I keed! 😉 Continue reading →

Third I’s Third San Francisco International South Asian Film Festival

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Soon it will be time to get your filmi on–Third I, the Yay Area’s own promoter of South Asian independant film–has put Third I San Francisco International South Asian Film Festivalout the schedule for it’s third film festival, bringing desi masala, fine art, and social commentary to The Roxie and The Castro. Here are some of the descriptions that grabbed my interest:

Junoon's Salman Ahmed: It's My Country Too

What does it mean to be an American Muslim? This revealing and engaging documentary follows Pakistani American Rock star Salman Ahmed of Junoon, as he explores stories from a community as diverse as the progressive “Allah made me Funny” comedy troupe, to a prominent family that founded the “Muslims for Bush” campaign. (Link)

Komagata Maru and Indian-Canadian Immigration

On May 23rd, 1914, the Japanese shipping vessel Komagata Maru, chartered by Sikh businessman Gurdit Singh, arrived in Canada’s Vancouver Harbor. Aboard were 376 migrants of Indian origin, citizens of the British Empire who believed it their right to move and settle freely within its domain. Upon anchoring, however, the passengers were prevented from disembarking by local Canadian officials, whose decision reflected a growing nationwide resistance to non-white immigration. (Link.)

This documentary explores the little known ethos of neighborhood photo studios in Indian cities, discovering entire imaginary worlds in the smallest of spaces. Tiny, shabby studios that appear to be stuck in a time warp turn out to be places throbbing with energy. As full of surprises as the people who frequent these studios are the backdrops they enjoy posing against and the props they choose – affording fascinating glimpses into individual fantasies and popular tastes. (Link.)

And of course there will be some Bollywood—our man Shah Rukh in a really big turban: Continue reading →