Hinglish. The new international language?

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The French have been bitter ever since English replaced French as the must-know language for anyone wanting to do business abroad or have an easier time while traveling. Have the winds of fate turned again, though? Might English soon be replaced by something…else? From the Washington Times:

A British language expert predicts that “Hinglish,” or Indian English, will overtake standard English as the most common spoken form of the language globally.

Already one-third of Indians, over 300 million, are speaking the language, according to linguist David Crystal. With the Internet spreading English more rapidly than ever, and Indians at the forefront of the IT revolution, Indian English is spanning the globe and taking over from British and American forms, Crystal told a lecture audience at the British Council in New Delhi Saturday.

This is most disconcerting. I hardly know any Hindi and my English is not the greatest either. Will there be a place for me in the new world order?

Working the beat

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There is a new sergeant with the Chicago Police Department now making sure nobody sleeps on trains. From NewKerala.com:

Tomi Methipara, the first Indian American to join the Chicago Police and also be promoted to the rank of sergeant, does not let racial epithets flung at him get in the way of his job.

Methipara, who grew up in Kerala, India, and worked in a bank in Alwaye in that state and in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, before immigrating to the US and joining the 14,000-strong Chicago Police in 1990, said he has had quite a few culture shocks as a new recruit.

“Initially, I was shocked at how they treated dead bodies. We (Indians) give a lot of respect to the dead. But in the police, you realise that a dead body is like a log – it has no feelings.”

“We (Indians) give a lot of respect to the dead.” Are you joking? I can think of at least one religious Indian city where dead bodies lie here and there. I don’t think Indian culture gives any more respect to the dead than any other culture. That’s not really the point of this story but it caught my attention so I thought I’d call it out.

So Tomi, run into any discrimination?

As a rookie, Methipara would also be upset by racial epithets flung at him when he went to investigate a crime, or make an arrest.

“Over time, you learn not to take it personally. Even back in Agra, there were people calling me a ‘stupid Madrasi’. You learn to put it in perspective.”

This story has given me an idea for a television pilot about an Inspector Sahib, recently having come from India, who will show up to work for the NYPD. Hilarity ensues.

Chadha dreams of ‘Jeannie’ prequel

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Gurinder Chadha is directing a $90M prequel to the TV series I Dream of Jeannie:

This is, after all, the series that made the line ‘Yes, master?’ famous and kept the busty, blond Stepford djinn in a bottle at home. I suppose her omnipotence makes up for it, but Jeannie’s long since been overtaken by the winky, S&M version of magical subservience at costume shops. Can you still parody a parody?

Continue reading…

The train-sleeper prevails

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Not so long ago I brought you the story of Gaurav Bhatia, a graduate student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, who fell asleep on a Chicago Transit Authority train and was given a ticket for sleeping dangerously. Seems that our hero has beaten the odds and gotten the ticket overturned. From the Washington Times:

Bhatia was interviewed by a number of local television and radio stations, and his story appeared in newspapers from Chicago to Europe and Asia.

“At this time, the city makes a motion to nonsuit this matter,” Senior Counsel James McIsaac of the city’s Law Department told the administrative hearing officer. The hearing itself lasted less than 45 seconds.

THE SLEEPERS–UNITED–SHALL NEVER BE DEFEATED!

Girl wins $5 million lottery

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20 year old Beenish Tariq from Flushing, NY just hit the jackpot. From the New York Lottery website:

“I held onto the ticket for so long because I knew I wanted to get everything in order before I claimed it,” said Tariq, a finance major. “I knew right away that I would share with my family; I just didnÂ’t know how to split up $5,000,000.”

Tariq, who plans to graduate in May of 2005, said she will re-invest at least part of her prize in her continued education. “Now IÂ’ll be able to go on to get my Masters and pay for my sisterÂ’s tuition too; sheÂ’ll be a freshman next year.”

Damn, I just realized what a horrible person I am because if I had won $5 million I would have funded an insurgency on some small island nation in order to put myself in charge, instead of sharing it with my family. Beenish if you are reading this, I am VERY single.

Justice Department smacks MTA over turban ban

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Not much coming out of the Ashcroft run Justice Department has given me much satisfaction of late, but this announcement last week certainly deserves praise. From the Times Ledger:

The Justice Department last week filed a lawsuit against the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the New York City Transit Authority, charging them with discrimination against Muslims, Sikhs and other employees whose religions require them to wear head coverings.

The complaint alleges that the transportation agencies engaged in discriminatory practices by enforcing uniform policies that do not accommodate certain employees’ religious practices, according to a Department of Justice press release.

“Public employees should not have to sacrifice their religious beliefs to enjoy the same benefits of employment as their co-workers,” said R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. “While public employers have the authority to set reasonable dress standards, they cannot selectively apply them at the cost of civil rights.”

What were the allegations exactly?

According to the Department of Justice, the MTA and the Transit Authority began enforcing uniform policies against employees who wear turbans or head scarves in early 2002. Some employees were transferred to yard or depot jobs where they would not have contact with the public. These jobs provide diminished seniority benefits and fewer overtime opportunities. Prior to the uniform policies, Muslim and Sikh employees had been wearing head coverings without incident.

DesiTalk-NewsIndia Times provides further details as well.

Which term do you prefer?

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That is the question that an article on Indolink.com poses:

…East Indian or Asian Indian, or Indian American or Indo-American or Desi. Or, to remove the slightest doubt, it may even require a mouthful as in “East Indian American” or “Asian Indian American” or “South Asian Indian American.”

Okay, I am already confused. I thought I knew my identity but now I am not sure. Labels matter to me. But…it gets even more confusing:

The ultimate dilemma is that in Britain and East Africa he is an Asian. In Russia, Southeast Asia, and Europe and Fiji he is still an Indian. In the Caribbean he is an East Indian. In Canada he may be an Indo-Canadian. But in America he can never be “Indian,” while at the same time his Asian identity is oftentimes suspect – thanks to the average American’s geographic illiteracy.

Whoa, can somebody please stop the room from spinning? Let’s go to the history books and see how it came to this. What were we “originally?” Continue reading →

Nitin Sawhney’s musical

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DJ Nitin Sawhney is all set to debut a musical next month. From BBC News:

The artist has been commissioned by the Britten Sinfonia to write The Classroom, which is about “expanding the imagination and exploring ideas”.

Expanding imagination and exploring ideas? What the heck does that mean? Sify.com translates for us:

an expose about his difficulties as the only Indian pupil at school, which will debut in London along with his earlier works.

Okay, that I can understand.

Western scientists hop aboard Indian Moon mission

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As reported in a previous SM post, it seems like India is serious this time about their moon mission. It is healthy to be skeptical because they have balked at various space exploration ventures before, but this time it appears to be legit. Science magazine reports that western scientists are now clamoring to get their experiments on board:

Western researchers often beat a path to developing countries to study endangered species, ancient civilizations, or traditional medicine, among other subjects. Now it’s time to add planetary science to that list. Five scientists from around the world are jostling to get their experiments aboard an Indian spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, that is slated to fly to the moon in September 2007.

“Chandrayaan offers a very cost-effective means to gather critical and unique data on the moon while forging new cooperative relationships in lunar exploration,” says one of the finalists, Paul Spudis of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. Another finalist, Manuel Grande of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Chilton, U.K., says he welcomes “the increasing opportunities for flying experiments on emerging space-nation launch vehicles and satellites.”

There were 30 scientists from 11 countries vying for a spot on Chandrayaan, but the list has been narrowed to five. Several other countries including the U.S. are planning robotic moon missions toward the end of this decade. However, with NASA’s budget always in flux and space science cuts looming, even American scientists were looking for a spot on the Indian spacecraft.

Given these uncertainties [in the funding of other nation’s space programs], space researchers say they welcome the chance to vie for a spot on the Indian probe. And the benefits cut both ways. The competition is designed to ensure “maximum scientific knowledge about the moon,” says ISRO chair Gopalan Madhavan Nair. Former ISRO chief Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan says it should also “enhance India’s status as a potential partner in future space exploration.”

Biggest Navratri celebration canceled

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The U.S.’ biggest Navratri celebration, a 15-year-old, 20,000-person raas-garba under a large tent in Edison, New Jersey, has been canceled (via SAJA). The event’s tent supplier shipped all its stock to Florida in the aftermath of the hurricanes, and the new vendors wanted more money than the organizers had on hand:

“We are the richest per-capita community, and they are calling it off because of money?” said Sylvester Fernandez, an Indian-American engineer from Edison and Republican candidate for Congress. “That’s just wrong, that’s just pathetic.”

Yes, Gujarati teens will be deprived of their most efficient flirting grounds this year, forced to gather in small high school gyms. Dandia’s counter-rotating circles are like a socialist dance club, everyone has to dance with everyone else, and (bonus!) they’re parentally-approved. So if you’re a respectable New Jersey parent and your child runs off with a circus freak, you know who to blame. I’m just sayin’.

In the past, the celebration has faced tensions over noise levels with uncalled-for religious overtones:

[T]he Edison Township Council… are paying them to break the law so they could bang their heathen drums in obeisance to their heathen gods until 4 a.m. on the Sabbath… –The Rev. Kenneth Matto, Edison

 The preeminence of the Gujarati community in New Jersey did not come without a fight:

[I]n September 1987, a group calling itself the ‘dotbusters’ wrote a letter to a Jersey City newspaper. The letter read: “We will go to any extreme to get Indians to move out of Jersey City. If I’m walking down the street and I see a Hindu and the setting is right, I will hit him or her.” A couple of weeks after that, an Indian doctor, Kaushal Sharan, was beaten up by three white men. And three days later, in the neighbouring town of Hoboken, an Asian Indian, Navroze Mody, was beaten to death by a gang of 11 men.

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