Brothers in arms

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The U.S. may sell Patriot II missile defense systems to India, and Pakistan is anxious (via the Acorn):

A US defence team began briefing Indian officials in New Delhi on Monday on the Patriot missiles. In Washington’s diplomatic circles the visit is seen as a prelude to the sale… “If the Patriots are delivered to India, it will seriously imbalance Pakistan’s strategic capabilities and can trigger an arms race in the Subcontinent,” said the South Asian defence expert… India will be the sixth country with which Washington has shared this technology after Israel, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. [Dawn]

Why do I get the feeling that the big kids are selling switchblades to the little ones?

Thanks to the support from China and North Korea, Pakistan now enjoys a huge lead over India on the development and deployment of missiles… It is to plug this missile gap that India has been focusing on possible cooperation with Israel and the United States on missile defence, with emphasis on proven systems like the Arrow and the Patriot. [Indian Express]

Jet chases away the Blues

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An Indian airline is now worth more than American Airlines and United Airlines combined. Jet Airways’ IPO on the Bombay stock exchange last Friday was like a hipster concert: sold out in ten minutes and 50% oversubscribed (via Varnam and Winds of Change). The ~$400M IPO (~$1.2B in buying power) values the company at ~$2.2B at a price-to-earnings multiple of 21.5. That’s a higher valuation than NASDAQ darling JetBlue ($1.9B), American Airlines ($1.5B), Delta ($653M) and the bankrupt United ($142M), but lower than Southwest ($11B).

Meanwhile, the airline with ridiculously attentive service just got clearance to fly New York to Bombay starting in April. The route stops in Brussels, which is my nominee for having the most useless currency left over after a layover, the Belgian franc. Also thanks to the open skies agreement, state carrier Air-India can now fly out of San Francisco.

It’s not clear whether Jet’s bought the JFK landing slots yet, but I’m so looking forward to flying Jet again. And if they ever launch a discount airline, they can nick the sobriquets of the American carriers, calling it Tedwinder or Gana. Like United’s discount cousin, they could chop off the first part of their name and just call it T; or, since they’re a transport company, maybe even T Mobile.

With desis’ legendary respect for intellectual property, it might even fly 😉

Previous post on Jet Airways here.

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Would you turn down a quarter million dollars?

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Here are two stories of anti-Sikh discrimination which I seem to have missed over the past couple of years (disclaimer: the attorney in both lawsuits is a friend). In ’03, a software executive sued Delta Airlines after a flight attendant told passengers he was a potential terrorist:

Thomas began to harass [Hansdip] Bindra after he stood to retrieve a magazine. He contends that the attendant, who is white, told him that “here in America we have rules” and that “because of the situation in the Middle East, you have to keep a low profile.” Bindra, a native of India, said other passengers on the flight later told him that Thomas had warned them that “the man up front with the turban” might be “trouble” and that with no justification, she told them: “When I give you a signal, come help subdue him.”… Bindra said he and about a half-dozen other passengers on the flight filed written complaints about Thomas with the airline, but that none received a reply. [NJ Star-Ledger]

In ’02, a turbaned Burger King franchise owner sued Fleet Bank for refusing a quarter million dollar deposit before 9/11. Interestingly, the New Jersey teller ordered to reject the customer is also desi:

… [Inderjeet Singh] Chowdhary contacted the branch over the phone after the bank advertised an attractive interest rate… for [a] certificate of deposit. Chowdhary said he spoke to a bank employee, Jaya Balasubramanian… On the appointed day, July 30 of [2001], Chowdhary claims to have visited the bank with all the documents he was required to produce. While Balasubramanian was processing the his application, Alicia E. Eagleston, the branch manager and a defendant in the case, called Balasubramanian aside. “When she returned, she looked visibly upset, and said I would not be permitted to open the account,” Chowdhary told News India-Times. He also claimed that Eagleston said, “We look at the customer and decide.” [News India-Times]

I’m sure Balasubramanian was thinking either a) ‘That’s cold, making me discriminate against a fellow desi’ or b) ‘There goes my commission.’

Fleet Bank was also accused of terminating Muslims’ accounts after 9/11 without cause. The bank settled with Chowdhary in ’03 and pledged not to discriminate against Sikhs.

Previous posts on anti-Sikh discrimination: 1, 2, 3; and discrimination by airlines and cops.

Photos tell the Bollywood story

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The February issue of National Geographic Magazine has a comprehensive feature about Bollywood by “Maximum City” author Suketu Mehta. While he offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the hit film “Veer-Zaara,” the true gem of this package is a narrated photo essay by William Albert Allard. The magazine also delves into the Indian film industry’s less-than-stellar counterpart in Pakistan, dubbed Lollywood.

National Geographic Magazine: Photo Essay (requires Flash), Lollywood, Feature Article

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Bollywood copycats exposed

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Watching Bollywood films can often strike you with a maddening case of deja vu. You think you’ve seen the movie before, but you just can’t identify the what, when and where of your suspicion. Enter Bollycat (via Nirali Magazine), a new web site started by a team of students at SUNY Rockland, which aims to link Bollywood films to their Hollywood “inspirations.”

“It’s wrong to even use the word inspiration here,” said web site creator Haydur Agha in a press release. “It’s really stealing someone else’s creation and molding it to fit the Indian taste without ever officially mentioning or paying for the rights to the original content. And it’s not fair to the fans either.”

The site invites visitors to submit their own listings, and currently cites more than 100 such cases of plagarism: “Shree 420,” a story about a young man’s self-destructive journey to the top, allegedly derives its source from Orson Welle’s classic “Citizen Kane.” My personal favorite, “Dil Chahta Hai,” might have taken its story of post-college estrangement and reunification from “St. Elmo’s Fire,” and “Reality Bites.” I submitted my own Bollycat — last year’s “Kal Ho Naa Ho,” a NRI-flavored tale about an ill-fated love triangle, clearly took its cues from adult megahit “Three-Way Betty IV: Dildo’s Revenge.” Go ahead, try to prove me wrong.

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Party Like We’re in Bombay

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The New York Times, it seems has found out what many of us children of Indian immigrants have known for sometime, that Bombay or Mumbai, or whatever you want to call it, can compete with any city when it comes to nightlife, that Bombay is a great place to visit without your parents and with your “cool” cousins, and that Bombay is really, really expensive, even when you convert rupees to dollars.

The NYT recently published an interesting piece in their travel section discussing Bombay nightlife, including an informative and expensive “If you go” section as well.

The model-turned-actress Amrita Arora was there, along with her sister, Malaika Arora Khan, the spicy sex symbol of Bollywood. Nearby, the prodigal founder of Hotmail, Sabeer Bhatia, was holding court with several pretty young things in hip-hugging jeans and stiletto heels. Then all heads turned when the television personality Kamal Sidhu sauntered past the proverbial velvet rope, blowing kisses in all directions. “Everyone looks like they’re somebody,” said Jaimal Odedra, 40, a fashion designer from New York, as he scanned the candle-lighted terrace. “The scene is so Los Angeles.” Sure, there was valet parking, movie stars and plenty of over-the-shoulder gazing. But Mumbai (the official name for Bombay since 1995) is a megalopolis so grimy and congested that it makes the mean streets of Compton look like Beverly Hills. The air reeks of sewage and burning trash, cows roam the streets at will, and half of the city’s 18 million people live in mud-caked slums. And unlike the other filmmaking capital, it is also a city where night life was virtually nonexistent a decade ago.

I do like the article, but I am not sure that nightlife was nonexistent a decade ago. Bombay has been the film and financial capital of India for over 25 years, and where stars and wealth collide, so does partying (go ahead and say it with that Indian accent, you know you want to –“pahteeing”)

You can read the full article here. Continue reading →

Sexy girls and…mice

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A couple of SM tipsters (thanks Francis and Sachin) call our attention to the cover of New Scientist Magazine:

newscientist.jpg

I’m digging the colors. There are about 20 detailed articles about science in India. I am not about to summarize them, I am just pointing them out to you science geeks (as I raise my fist in solidarity). What I do want to point out however is the following picture:

newscientistgirls.jpg

What the f*ck? I mean I guess it is just as ludicrous to subscribe to motorcycle or car magazines that drape sexy girls over the goods, but “mice?” Maybe I am not a red-blooded enough guy but this picture just doesn’t boot my hardrive. Come to think of it though I could use an optical mouse on my laptop. Damn subliminal advertising! Continue reading →

Best Friend or Henchman?

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In a recent interview about her upcoming film Namesake, Mira Nair mentioned the following about her lead actor Kal Penn:

…after meeting him I felt that he was just the right man for the job. He is the fastest rising Indian American star. His film Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle is a big hit out here and all the 13-year-olds in America know and love him. The Namesake will be his first dramatic role. He is an extraordinary actor. He has just signed on as Superman’s best friend in the new movie called Superman Returns.

What? Oh my gosh, that is so cool. An Indian guy as Superman’s best friend instead of as a terrorist? Wait. It can’t be. Ign.com cures me of my delusions:

Penn confirmed that he will portray one of Lex Luthor’s henchmen (one of a handful seen in the film). Penn – who has been friends with the new Man of Steel, Brandon Routh, for about four years – admitted that he will only be reading the script for the first time this week and that he has yet to meet Kevin Spacey but is excited to work with him. A fan of director Bryan Singer’s films, Penn added that he is scheduled to go to Australia closer to the summer to film his scenes. His stint on Superman will last about two months.

Okay. THAT I can believe.

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The Passion of Bobby Jindal-Part II

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As promised, here is a pointer to the follow-up of the story of the religious transformation of Bobby Jindal as reported by Francis C. Assisi and Elizabeth Pothen of Indolink.com:

Not yet out of High School, Jindal acknowledges that it was “a time of constant prayer and struggle” as he anticipated the ultimate confrontation with his parents. It came, rather unexpectedly, when he was recovering from a serious car accident and his mother wanted to know “which God” he had thanked for his safety.

Jindal explains: “I had resolved not to lie when faced with such direct questioning and admitted my Christian faith. I had prepared myself for the worst. I knew my parents had every right to end their financial support or kick me out of their house. I realized the consequences of my decision and was ready to face these hardships. I had decided the freedom to worship Christ was more important than the material comforts provided by my parents, including the privilege to attend Brown that fall. I even made plans to attend a local university and had arranged housing as well as a job to support myself.”

But Jindal, who had secured his financial position with a generous academic merit scholarship, was not as prepared for the emotional battles. He was also careful not to lie to them. As he rightly asks: “Is any faith worth having if it motivates its adherents to deception, especially between parents and children?”

I’ll let you read the rest of the article for yourselves with one exception. The following was my favorite quote:

Jindal’s “search for truth” continued even though several members of the clergy advised him that in certain instances deception could be justified.

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Will Modi have a hotel to stay at?

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The Institute on Religion and Public Policy, a Washington-based group for religious freedom, is petitioning the State Department to deny Gujarat’s Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s entry to the US to speak at the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) Convention. Garavi Gujarat reports:

The proposed Modi visit comes on the back of an invitation extended to him by the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA). The decision has also divided the organization, with some members arguing that it was a bad move to invite such a controversial figure in the first place. AAHOA, which is dominated by Gujaratis, represents around 60 per cent of the budget and mid-sized hotels in the US.

According to M P Rama, AAHOA`s vice-chairman, the organization had invited Modi from a business perspective, given his interest in inviting foreign investment and interest among AAHOA members in investing in Gujarat.

‘When we invite a speaker we don`t go by political or religious affiliation. We look at how our members might benefit. Most of our members, perhaps up to 95 per cent are Gujaratis and they would like to hear first hand from the chief minister whether the state will offer us red tape or red carpet,” Rama said.

However, some AAHOA members, who did not want to go on record, expressed reservations about the invitation to Modi. One member pointed out that AAHOA was born out of a sense of discrimination Asian hoteliers faced in the United States. The organization should not do anything to dilute its mission statement, he said.

I love Rama’s honesty. “We look at how our members might benefit.” Still, it’s in instances such as this where I wish that higher ideals would win out. For those unfamiliar, the chief minister has been blasted by many groups for his role in Hindu/Muslim violence in the state of Gujarat. Continue reading →