Pakistan Supreme Court bans wedding feasts

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Pakistan’s high court has banned feasts at weddings as being un-Islamic:

The court bench then went a step further to criticise some of the most popular customs linked to South Asian weddings, including the colourful rituals of mayun and mehndi… and baraat… Describing them as social evils, the court said the state should take steps to eradicate them.

I found truth to be stranger than fiction:

The excision of all Hindu-inspired culture from a nation cleaved Siamese-style from its dominant twin leaves it with nothing more than echoes of Arabic, a thin rind of astringent Wahabbism and insufficiently comprehended talibs, freshly imported. This fingernail clipping, this ecliptic corona, this Venn diagram of loss leaves the nation with a desert of prohibited activities enumerated with the heavy delicacy of a tax code.

Amardeep jests that it’s a good remedy for boring weddings:

… it’s a little ridic. to dance for six hours on the street celebrating the marriage of a distant cousin one (sometimes) barely knows, who is sitting uncomfortably on a horse, while a band of profoundly underpaid horn-players tries to do a very un-funky version of “Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe.”

Tackling the impact of 9/11 on South Asians

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Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s new book, Queen of Dreams is featured in Newsweek magazine:

Newsweek: What else influenced you [to write Queen of Dreams]?

CBD: The shock of 9/11 and its aftermath. If my novel is about how dreams affect our waking life, this was the other end. What happens in reality is sometimes unbelievable, like a nightmare. Many people felt, “Is this real? This can’t be happening.” When reality takes on that nightmare quality, that shade of the surreal, some people respond with fear and prejudice; they need to blame somebody, to lash out at someone who looks different, who is the “other.” Nationwide, Middle Eastern and South Asian communities became hate-crime victims. Businesses were vandalized, people beaten up—even murdered. Many were afraid to leave their homes. We were advised by mass e-mail, “Don’t wear Indian clothes,” “Don’t go out by yourself,” “Pretend you’re Hispanic,” “Put up an American flag, a GOD BLESS AMERICA sign.”

Of course this will probably be another depressing book by a South Asian author but at least it tackles some new themes.

CBD: …That [9/11] was a tragedy for [Americans of South Asian descent] also—weÂ’d lost people. Then this additional burden—of proving ourselves patriotic—was placed on us because we were “suspicious looking.” It was an injustice to our community at a time when we all needed to come together as Americans. So, the second theme in “Queen of Dreams” is, what does it mean to be American? Does it mean one thing in good times, another in bad? When everythingÂ’s going well, Indians are a model minority—weÂ’re exotic, you take our bindi, our henna, things you like. When things go bad, suddenly, weÂ’re “terrorists”?

Historian from Bangalore denied entry into U.S.

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Ramachandran Guha, a historian from Bangalore, was denied entry into the U.S. on a lecture trip to Oberlin and UC Berkeley. He says he had a valid visa and supporting letters. The reason? Immigration officials disbelieved his sizeable speaking fee (via Amardeep Singh):

Why was I stopped? One reason might have been my jhola, a patch of mirrorwork on red… Another, certainly, was the letter of invitation from Oberlin, which specified a fee for my lectures which greatly angered [immigration officer] McCullough. “How can they pay you so much,” he said more than once, adding, “And for teaching history.”…

Berkeley and Oberlin are now planning a joint letter of protest. Meanwhile, they’ve written me handsome letters of apology, expressing shock at “such discriminatory and unjustified exclusion”, and anger at the “terrible injustice you had to endure… [from] these cretins”.

A depressing South Asian story

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The Washington Post features the plight of a Pakistani American family today. The tale is a real downer so for all of you who like depressing books by South Asian authors (oh wait, thats all of them) read on:

On Wednesday morning, as most of the country was either reeling from the election or celebrating it, a slim, long-faced youth named Syed Shah sat in his family’s darkened living room in front of a blue hard-shell American Tourister suitcase and contemplated what it means to be a man.

The suitcase was brimming with papers. “Work Permit,” said one manila folder, in handwritten English and Urdu script. Beside it, photocopies of expired diplomatic visas were strewn across the pistachio-green carpet. He must figure out what to do with these documents so his family can keep working legally in the United States.

Why the great burden on this teenager? His father, according to the article, was shot in a robbery while delivering Pizzas. That was one of three jobs his father held. This is sad of course but you have probably heard stories like this before. Here is what is different though about his father’s story though:

He spoke four languages and had been a diplomat with the Pakistani government, living with his family in Iran and Syria before coming here to take a post with the Pakistan Embassy. When the posting ended unexpectedly and the government wanted to move him to another country, he said no.

“He said, ‘My kids are now in school here, and we don’t need to disturb their education,’ ” said Jafar Hussein, a longtime family friend who has been helping sort their affairs. Instead, Musharaf left his job at the embassy and found other work — delivering The Washington Post and the Washington Times in the early morning, working at 7-Eleven, Kmart and later Pizza Hut in the daytime and evenings. He was always scanning the classifieds for better jobs, and he joked about attending college with his kids.

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Retesh Bhalla, The Desi Wrestler

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The Washington Post has run an interesting piece on Retesh Bhalla, aka Sonjay Dhatt, the professional wrestler (yes WWF style) whose name-tag is “The Original Playa from the Himalaya,” or more specifically from Northern Virginia. Retesh, a young desi, a student at Northern Virginia’s George Mason University, wears jeans and sneakers by day, next to unsuspecting classmates, but by night, and most weekends, for that matter, he is Sonjay Dutt, “The Original Playa from Himalaya,” a guy who flings himself off the ropes of pro-wrestling rings, performs dazzling twists and flips, and then lands — with theatrical impact — onto, well, big guys wearing spandex pants and too much baby oil.

“From India . . . ” screams the announcer, as Dutt bursts out of the tunnel, struts down the ramp, then leaps onto the ropes, whipping the crowd into fierce applause. Dutt, now 22, was still pretty young when he got hooked. On Saturdays, he and his father would watch wrestling on television all afternoon. Ric Flair. Hulk Hogan. Dusty Rhodes. He taped the shows, bought the magazines, begged for the action figures. Then decided he wanted to grow up to be a wrestler, just like other little boys grew up wanting to be John Elway or Michael Jordan. At first, his parents thought it was amusing. Saw it as a phase. Assumed he’d grow out of it. Certainly didn’t take it seriously. “My parents?” says Dutt, as he prefers to be known. “They laughed in my face, of course. They had the same idea that every Indian parent has for their child. Being a doctor or lawyer or something to that effect. I chose totally the opposite.”

Click here to read the full article, you really should.

The Sister’s Monologue

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Remember this post on Sepia Mutiny about a letter from the South Asian Sisters regarding the film Harold and Kumar? It has been SM’s most controversial posting thus far. Well here is some more news regarding our sisters from The Stanford Daily:

The South Asian Sister, a Bay Area cultural group, will perform tomorrow night [Friday Nov. 5th] a South Asian version of the Vagina Monologues in Cubberley Auditorium. “Yoni Ki Baat: Talks of the Vagina,” is hosted by Saheli, Stanford’s South Asian Women’s Alliance, and Sanskiti, the Stanford’s South Asian cultural group.

“The Vagina Monologues has received such positive feedback on this campus, and we hope to create the same sense of empowerment and pride in the women who see this South Asian version, particularly those who can relate specifically to cultural and gender issues that the play addresses,” said senior Shilpi Agarwal, a member of Saheli.

Sounds like it will be an interesting and provocative show. Too bad I live at the wrong end of California.

“It’s often hard for young South Asian women here in America to reconcile the ideas of modesty and relative conservatism that pervade the Indian culture with the fact that empowerment extends beyond just educational achievement, but also to one’s body,” Agarwal said. “Because sex is a relatively taboo topic in many South Asian households, it’s important to remind South Asian women that they have the right to express themselves sexually and should not be ashamed of being strong women with needs and desires.”

Sobhraj is staying put. For now.

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Bikini_killer Nepalese authorities have thwarted serial killer Charles Sobhraj’s plan to escape from jail. Sobhraj, who had already spent two decades in Indian prisons, was sentenced to life after being convicted of the murder of a female tourist from the US.

Officials say they seized several phones and other electronic devices from his cell …details of the plan are yet to emerge because experts are examining the electronic devices and phone sets that Sobhraj was found to be using.
Sobhraj escaped from a maximum-security prison in the Indian capital Delhi in 1986 but was recaptured soon after.

I love how he’s in jail with a bunch of phones and helpful equipment.

Sobhraj, a.k.a “The Serpent” (because he’s great at disguises…wait, wouldn’t “The Chameleon” be more appropriate then?…Ah, forget it.) or “The Bikini Killer” (because he killed “western” women at a Thai beach resort) was never convicted of any of the 20 murders that he was linked to in the 1970s. “The Serpent” is half-Indian and half-Vietnamese, for those of you who are keen to know such things.

via the beeb

Gay American Yogi on life in Mysore

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From his list of 18 things he loves about India:

I love the way it is so easy to make friends. I love seeing people everywhere who I think are exotic, and who at the same time think that I am exotic. I also love what Joseph Campbell simplistically called “India’s homosexual atmosphere.” I say “simplistic,” because it seems that few people in India think or act in terms of homosexual vs. heterosexual, or even think about homosexuality at all. See previous post on this subject. When I was a gay teenager, I tried to wriggle away in horror when even a beautiful beloved put his arm around me in public. In India, guys are arm-in-arm even when both are riding bicycles on a busy street. At my house, I have seen local “straight” guys sit in each other’s lap, and not only hold but caress each other’s hand. I love the fact that it is relatively easy to have affairs with handsome Indian guys. The rare, more media-conscious ones call it “the homosex.” The less aware simply call it “maasti,” which means mischief or play. I wonder how much more decent America would be if males were allowed to show affection for each other. I wonder how much more decent India would be if the sexes were not so segregated. I wonder if I am a fool for wondering these things.

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Planets lined up to screw Indian Astrologers

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Last night I was on my balcony reading the stars. I am a man of many talents. All of the stars pointed to the fact that Indian Astrologers are full of sh_t. From Newinidapress:

New Delhi-based astrologers S R Krishnamurti and Lachhman Das Madan, who had forecast a win for Kerry, were hard put to explain what went wrong.

“The sub-period of Mercury in the main period of Mercury, which was in operation for Senator Kerry for the last five-sixth months, appears to have been not strong enough to take him to victory,” said Krishnamurti, who not only predicted a Kerry win, but had also said he would usher in an era of world peace.

“Two other planets, the Sun and the Moon, that were earlier on Kerry’s side, also appear to be not favouring him,” added Krishnamurti, a mystic, seeking cosmic reasons for the turnaround.

Lachhman Das Madan, known as Jyotish Samrat (king of astrologers) and a favourite of the Indian political class, was unwilling to throw in the towel. “I will wait till the final results are out,” he said, shortly before Kerry conceded defeat.

The best part about this is that now I can marry anyone I want without our star charts having to match.

SAMAR is mad!

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The people over at South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection (SAMAR) are pretty upset by the election results to say the least. Here is an article by Vijay Prashad who is the Director of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, CT.

Four years ago, Bush’s Brain Karl Rove swore that he would not rest until the four million Evangelicals who did not vote then would turn out yesterday. And they did. They came in droves. They told those who did the exit polls that the issue that brought them to the franchise was not their own unemployment or under employment, or even the loss of their family members in a war of choice. They came to vote for “moral values.”

After Rove told participants at an American Enterprise Institute seminar in 2001 that the goal of the Bush re-election campaign would be to make sure that all 19 million Evangelical Christians voted, his team hired Ralph Reed to take charge of the effort. Reed, the veteran of the Christian Coalition, mobilized his contacts and his good looks and went after the withheld votes.

I think this is going to be the chief finding when the post-mortem of this election is completed. All the issues we so vehemently debated all these months were rather irrelevant when it came down to what ended up swaying this election. Mr. Prashad makes his feelings on the subject quite clear as he ends,

Progressives are loath to offer a frontal criticism of the theocracy that has overtaken the South and the Midwest — where under the command of tolerance we have to endure the intolerance toward women and their bodies, toward gays and lesbians, towards anyone who does not fit the compass of the “moral values” mass-produced by the established churches. It is time to throw off our forbearance and open a direct debate on the suppression of rational argument in favor of theocratic bigotry.

Homophobia elected Bush. Misogyny elected Bush. Unreason elected Bush.