May 17, 2006
And thanks for all the fishBlog
We Sepiaites recently had a facial hair contest down in the North Dakota bunker in honor of our one-year-and nine-month anniversary. Ennis and Amardeep went all uncley (‘you young pups’) and were excluded for obvious reasons. The womyn were granted compassionate dispensation. Vinod dropped out early, muttering something about ‘Malayalee genetics’ and ‘evolution into hairless geniuses.’ The rest of us sported five o’clock shadows by eight o’clock in the morning.
Siddhartha broke down under the strain of the face-off and admitted to having his back waxed this one night in Tijuana. Neha looked ready to leap in with war stories, but something in Anna’s look said ‘unh-unh, don’t go there, girlfriend.’ The legend of Cooch Behar is apparently not, repeat not about royalty.
Finally it was down to Sajit, Abhi, Fofatlal and me. Sajit flexed his square jaw thoughtfully and instantly sprouted whiskers. Abhi downed some freeze-dried astronaut food and grew a Mangal Pandey before our very eyes. Fofatlal misheard the goal of the contest. He had his eyebrows singed off with incense and honey and pranced around yodeling ‘Ya-hoo!’ like Shammi Kapoor.
I, having out-hirsuted the Greeks, out-grown the Sicilians, out-whiskered the Iranis, was now faced with my own private I-da-ho’: geek stubble from the Punjab was beaten by astronaut stubble from Houston. Abhi once bragged:
I haven’t met a person alive that has more lethal stubble than I. Any girl I might date would have friends thinking I was abusing her because her face would be left raw.
Unable to bear the shame, I went down to the SMU, passed out some endangered bananas and whispered a stoic farewell to my fine-furred friends. And then left the bunker for the last time, the pneumatic doors closing in the distance. Unlike Star Trek, they don’t say ‘shhhhhhhh’ when they close, they say ‘Desi please!’ with sass in the neck and quiver in the booty. Goddamn back-talkin’ bunker doors.
We’ve always thought of the Mutiny as a salon with a rotating cast of hosts. Nearly two years on, I’m proud of the neurocrack we’ve whipped up together. I’m proud of the rockin’ bloggers and readers we’ve managed to swindle rope in. And now I move on.
Please write the Mutineers if you know Movable Type or PHP and are willing to help out on occasion. And do come read me at Vij.com. The samosas and Maggi sauce are always kept aflame.
No rage, rage against the dying of the light. I go gentle into that good night.
manish on May 17, 2006 07:00 PM in Blog, Humor · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
wut do you need? i know PHP. or i claim 2 :)
manish:
readers of SM will miss you...your photos that you share of your adventures, the wit, and humor... thanks for your insight on several topics through the years...
happy trails to you my stubbly friend.. until we meet again...
--the bean
This is where everyone out there in Sepia-land writes a comment demanding that Manish change his mind immediately, for the good of the entire South Asian diaspora, and indeed, all freedom-loving people everywhere.
Thank you for putting together this wonderful forum...I discovered this relatively recently and am much impressed with those who took the trouble to create such a neat desi space.
Wish you all the best in all you do!
PS Can't resist...thanks for all the baingan bharta (since you're Manish Veg :)! )
Manish:
You're leaving us? But I really enjoyed your blogs on SM!
In regards to men having facial hair, there are some women who wouldn't mind a bit of facial hair. The five-o-clock shadow,coupled with moderately uncombed hair, can be immensely attractive at times, giving off the "scruffy" look. Full length beards and moustaches are not always unattractive either; the natural look can be quite appealing.
Nooooooooooooooooooooo. (Darth Vader Style).
I think I'm going to cry.
Manish,
Say it ain't so!!!! I will truly miss you and your puns. I hope you'll be blogging just as frequently on your own site. For the last 1 year and 9 months I've been addicted to the Mutiny and I've always enjoyed your posts. Best of luck!
-SG
No! Say it ain't so.
classy bow-out dude
not...allowed...to...leave...
Thanks for opening (at last count) several dozen cans of whoop-ass on the orientalists. Your labor will not soon be forgotten. Every time mutineers read the word "spicy" in connection with literature or film, every time they see a sari-bordered book-cover, they shall surely think on thee.
Neha looked ready to leap in with war stories
i'm going to have to do a zoom on someone's flick files....
Manish:
Reflecting upon my by now 2.5 week frequentation of SM, I have realized that your blogs deal with sensitive topics and issues.
Who will take your baton?!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, don't go!!
Sorry to hear this- it's the end of an era. I do hope you'll obey the laws of physics, and continue to post in other, neglected places.
Way to leave on a high note :) Thank you for entertaining and educating us -- you will be missed!!
Wait, when was this agreed upon?!? I'm lost and confused!
Don't go Manish, the fate of the world is in your hands!
Its getting so dark...and so cold...
Also when did Fofatlal took on a life form? Plus he is a permanent blogger, so why can't you blog permanently here?
NO WAY!
who's going to be there to point out all the 'exotic', 'colourful' books that little brown mutineers-in-the-making need to avoid like the plague?
who will painstakingly recreate lahiri prose for our reading pleasure?
who'll take photos so people can vicariously live through your holiday?
*********
i'm sure you didn't reach this decision easily, so good luck with the other things you're doing :-)
but since i'm an indian i'm going to completely indulge in the completely selfish-lack-of-empathy-guilt-tripping we all know and love so well and second Amardeep.
Manish,
Say it aint so..
Or is it April 1st again?
You will be missed not just for your wit, but also for your beautifully crafted writing. Good luck with everything.
On the plus side: I'll probably be able to cut down my obsessive Sepia browsing from 10X to 2X daily. It was starting to get out of control...
now who's going to keep me on the straight and narrow when it comes to the evil influence of cliched book covers?:) best wishes.
WHAT?!?!
Manish, you're kidding right?
But..but..you can't just leave. You 'n' AbhiAnnaSajitVinodEnnis started this! You're a founder! Does nothing meeaaan anything anymore? Pretty soon we'll have, like, all new faces! Maybe even BONG BREAKER! Do you really want responsibility for that!!
COME BACK!
(It's cuz I wasn't commenting as frequently, wasn't it? Dammit. I've got work to do too, you know, brah. Come back and I'll work back to my usual 267 comment average. please. I swear.)
Besides, what's this nonsense about not raging? We all must rage! RAGE!
dammit. I guess you've tired of being shut in a tower of words.
I hate being sad like this.
sometimes the sky's too bright
yo, yo, yo, listen up, if you're brown, you gotz to stick around!!!
Wait! What are you going to do with your life without the mutiny?! Don't leave!
HUH?!?!?
Motion for reconsideration? Appeal? Writ of error coram nobis?? Petition for certiorari?!? For goodness sakes, there must be hanging chads somewhere in that bunker -- RECOUNT?!?!?!
APRILMAY is the cruellest month :(p.s. -- Cicatrix, the rest of us will indeed continue to RAGE, pace Manish -- and when we do, he'd better be right there with us.
hmmm, maybe everyone can go to vij.com and tell that Pakistinian guy to go back where he came from? ;)
Is there ANY way to convince you of otherwise? I can't imagine what this radical space will be like without your voice!!! Nonetheless, thank you for being one of the creators of this forum and for igniting something magnificent.
Let's see who rotates through the salon next...
So I mostly lurk on this site [its become a part of my daily fix] but couldnt not add my two bits to the sepia raging...
Manish you cant leave the mutineers!!! [cause we say so :)]
And I think you missed the memo in the summer of sequels moving on is just not an option! Ill be back though can be taken into consideration
BTW in what parallel universe is a post about you leaving the mutineers categorized as humor??? :(
[sigh] Thanks for all your contribution in to this amazing space... you will be greatly missed.
Manish! I don't even know you and I'm so sad right now. How can you leave SM? What could possibly be more important than this blog ?!?!
We'll miss you. I wish this was April 1st so I could come back online tomorrow and find out this was a joke.
Whaaa?? No way...
Well, good luck to you. Will Smith said it well:
Pain is the mother of change.
The rain must flow
so the seeds of joy might grow.
There is, somewhere, a bright side to this sad news.
Quite shocking news, people.
Manish bro -- It's a real shame that you're leaving SM. You were the Mutineer I identified with the most, personality-wise.
Your writings are superb, and you are a smart, sensitive and extremely eloquent guy. I am sure that your contribution to SM will be greatly missed by everyone concerned, with regards to the other "founder members" and all the commenters/visitors to this blog.
Thank you very much for all your articles and posts which I have tremendously enjoyed reading since I started visiting SM late last summer. I wish you all the very best for the future.
I also suspect that you've met some lovely lady back in India and are therefore doing a Shahrukh Khan-style "Swades" ;)
Warm regards,
Jai
PS Manish don't be too offended by this -- I may sound like Starbuck, but underneath it all I'm more like Apollo* ;)
Jai, I couldn't have said it better myself. Manish will always be my favorite blogger for his inimitable wit, sensitivity, and class. I'm genuinely distressed at the news of his departure: right now Luke Skywalker's revelatory scream is echoing endlessly in my head. I'm in no way impugning the irrefrangible collective brilliance of the SM crew, but to the Drrrty Poonjabi, none of y'all can hold a candle to the Vijster. Best of luck with all of your future endeavors, I'll miss your posts at SM but I'll be sure to check out your personal blog.
I'm still floored. I can't and don't want to believe it.
Unless she's a combination of Parminder Nagra and Salma Hayek, allow blogging to be your true love. @=)
Seems like you are leaving..... just as I get used to reading your work again. Seems only appropriate to quote one
of my favourite writings from you... albeit dated, and not part of an SM post. Wherever you go, just continue to remember to write... best of luck, and thanks for the great seva you provided by being part of the foundation of this blog.
" when i left you
in the sunlit stairwell
when i left you in the sunlit stairwell
and i turned away to let the bushybeard in
i had no idea that i'd be sitting here
half an hour later
still thrilling at our touch
with no focus
no flow
just reveling in the warmth
i found within my core
it doesn't help that my
personality is one of passion
that i delve into the feelings
rather than fleeing them
as i should
that i just remembered
what this is all about
while you, sitting there,
tried to forget
tried to explain
i'm sending this to you
not as part of my flirtatious self
not as literary amusement
not as a way to woo
but rather
just to tell you
that i'm not as strong
as i thought i was
that i remember now why
i've preferred to be alone
that i have to write this
or i can't write any more today
that i'm amazed you set this off
with a simple hug
and that you're more right
than you ever knew
that this is too dangerous
to play with --
and child that i am,
i hate to accept it.
" - ~Manish Vij
DJ Drrrty Poonjabi,
Wouldn't that make her Rekha Sharma from the new Battlestar Galactica ?
(By the way, you need to add a "NSWF" to that link you supplied, buddy *wink*).
I believe I speak for all of us when I say:
NNOOOOOooooo!!!!
Man, this place won't be the same without you...who else will keep those fiendish orientalist cover designers in line? Send us tantalising photos from travels? Captions to keep us in stitches?
YIKES! I was hoping only to link to the (in my opnion) SFW picture and not the NSFW site: if that's not the case then admin please edit my last post.
Sorry, I'm well versed enough in Battlestar lore only to get the Starbuck/Apollo reference (slash fiction pun intended) but I don't know much about this vixen from the homeland but I'll take your word on it.
She's a clever one, I must say.
I know I certainly will!
Change is good, Manish. Go out, stretch your wings a bit. I'm sure SM will continue as it had under your guidance. Good luck, and don't forget your towel.
That may be, but her cranial circumference is no match for that of Persis Khambatta, the original desi sci-fi gangsta.
:(
so long brother. Thanks for the all the wonderful posts and for your future i say good luck
SM wouldnt be the same without you
and to make this comment mushy...ierrr
"tusi ja rahe ho? tusi na jao!"
Quite a tough cookie, isn't she ? But also very foxy while she's being a Machiavellian minx ;)
Anyway.....
Group hug for Manish !!
Manish,
That's one less free-marketer on SM - at least we still have Vinod.
Wish you best of luck!
M. Nam
Manish,
Are you getting married soon?
Best
Goodluck and Godspeed for all of your future endeavors.
I raise a glass of fine Louisiana coffee to you, my friend. Your culture-hopping verbiage will be missed.
How about one last post Manish? Telling us all why you ARE leaving? And supplying us with pictures of your brown lass. You know, the one that is taking you away? ;-)
whoa. hulk slow in the cerebellum. hulk not realize manish leaving.
hulk...sad...
your eloquent, incisive posts will be much missed. and those captions! but here's wishing you good things on all your future endeavors. may there be a homely hotel wherever you wander. may the maggi sauce always be maggilicious.
To complete your samaosa and maggi meal...
May the frooti juice always be frootilicious.
You have gone down to the 'motherland'. You have decided to stop blogging here. Are you writing a book? Let me know, and I'll have something worthy to plagiarize.
Aiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alas and alack, Vij-o, what without which shall we do?
Godspeed, O stubbly.
I always thought Fofatlal was Manish.
Manish, with this you have removed all doubt!
I will miss your humor and insight.
Good luck, and God bless!
i suppose gandalf dies, too?
I suppose I should be supportive and happy for you and wish you all the best in your future endeavors, tell you how much we'll all miss you and your punny snark.
But I'm so mad at you abandoning the Mutiny, Vij, that I'm not speaking to you. I'm going on hunger strike, in protest. :P
Good night and be well, mo fo. And thanks for the laughs.
Manish - Thanks for all the great posts and good luck with whatever it is you are going to be doing.
you've done an amazing job with sepia and i wish you all the best - but don't ever stop blogging/flogging or i will have to develop some sort of other habit to help pass my eight hour day :)
‘Malayalee genetics’ Are you kidding me? Where do the copious amounts of coconut oil go then?
Manish, are you still in India and if yes, any plans to visit New Delhi? In case you do, a round (or two) of beer is on me. All the best for whatever you have planned next and I do hope you'll continue posting at SM occasionally, as a guest blogger.
Yaar, vat is all dis drama? You can't leave us like this! I mean, who else is going to present atrocious puns and stick up for Salman Rushdie's writing and compose brilliantly hilarious captions, dammit? The puns were horrible, and I never did understand your fascination with Rushdie's writing - although it did spark hella amusing posts/comments regarding Padma Lakshmi, so that was all good - but still...THE CAPTIONS! The literary musings! The incisive analyses of desi literature and book covers! (I will never be able to look at book covers on desi novels the same way again.) Dude, come back! Unless it's all "wuv, true wuv", in which case, again, it's all good, because how could we argue with that? ;)
May your journeys be radiant and blessed, Manish, fulfilling and eye-opening to the utmost. Keep on rockin' on.
Huge loss. Sorry to see you go Manish, I enjoyed your posts.
Not to mention the pull out quotes and oversized capital letters when starting paragraphs. Great sense of ishtyle. :)
Thanks for all the benedictions and compliments, y'all. If I weren't brown you'd see I'm blushing.
I love conspiracy theories! I'm not getting married, haven't yet written a novel (though am planning to) and am not an evil albino (though there are lots and lots of regular albinos cavorting around my neighborhood for some reason. If you can explain it to me, please do.)
Fink Nottle-- yes, technically, it would be 'thanks for all the tofish' in my case.
CAD-- two words: Kunal Kapoor. And "Who will take your baton?!" That, uh, is the issue of the day, innit (and I'm not talking blogging ;) )
Neha-- have a tissue!
SG-- I'll still be blogging at Ultrabrown.com (check in 3 days).
Payal-- ok, it ain't so (but it's so so).
Terence-- can you please not post comments when constipated? ;)
Mr. Kobayashi-- without Orientalists, how would we get The Karate Kid?
brimful-- that's actually a metaphor for my life...
Ami-- it was the Kryptonite.
Payal-- Fofatlal is a converted Borg. We sat him down in front of Indian cable and next thing you know...
tashie-- sadly, it's not a holiday!
Nilesh P-- seriously, it's bad for work :)
WGIIA-- now whose tips am I going to crib for posts?
cicatrix-- dhillon thomas was actually punjabi, little-known fact. think of me as on a west-coast tour.
Shruti-- you know, I've often asked myself the same thing :)
AK-- motion for summary judgment granted. and a textual stylist! what's your font, Palatino?
taz-- the body's not even cold yet!
oxymoron-- hasta la vista, beta.
Sonia-- seriously, I've forgotten to eat after hours here.
mfunnierthanyou-- he also said 'na na na na na na na, gettin' jiggy wid it.' just thought i'd throw that out there.
Jai-- *blush* if only you were a chick. and single.
DJ Drrrty P-- I used to love H.E.R.
alumnireader-- she's now married ;)
flygirl-- you're in good brown hands
Kenyandesi-- :?
Jeet-- counting the stars, prahji
MoorNam-- I think belief in the invisible hand spreads wide
KT-- no
Maitri-- mmm, vintage Gulf of Mexico 2006 :)
kavita-- it ain't easy being green
gulab jamun-- how did you know about my daily indulgence?
zai viswanathan-- the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
anandos-- in shame i've bought a five-bladed Fusion razor
seven_times_six-- actually, fofatlal is staying. he's tipsy in the bunker as we speak.
aizaz-- you want me to tell you how it all ends?
DD-- that's so unfair to the booty
roopali-- that reminds me of the end of 'The Truman Show' :)
Masale.Wallah-- thanks in advance for the Kingfisher
yasmine-- someone once told me puns are the most evolved form of humor. but he was drunk
bengali-- for ten paise a week i'll send you headlines without stories
Is it just me or did we just have a big yearbook orgy?
Oh so this post was Manish saying farewell ? I hadnt read it. Now I did.
Manish will be missed. Who will point us to the subtle and hidden "orientalism" in the movies ?? and Who will do the movie reviews??
All the best to Manish for what ever is ahead. !!!
Manish,
I am very sad to see you go : something has been irretrievably lost from this website today. You had a unique perspective on things, and of course, a kick-ass sense of humour. Please keep writing elsewhere on the Net.
Oh my gosh nooooooooooooooooooooo....I'm seriously seriously seriously heartbroken and I'm not being melodramatic or insincere...Please say it ain't so...
Fare ye well, Manish. All the best for all future endeavours..cliched though it is, its sincerely meant. And Thanks.
Oh, yeah, and the towel. Remember the towel.
will the pajamahideen ride again? we can only wait... and hope.
mein Gott, and then he goes and individually replies to every single freakin' comment, too. I LOWE the guy even more now! Dammit, yaar, I come out of hiding long enough to comment on Sepia Mutiny twice in one day, and he's still leaving? Hmph.
Looking forward to seeing what's going on with ultrabrown, dude.
Good bye Manish and good luck. Thanks for all the fabulous blogging.
Dang! you'll be missed. Well atleast you'll be around at ultrabrown.com
Good luck with Rocketpost & everything else.
WHOA WHOA WHAT?! I don't read the Mutiny for a few days and all hell breaks loose? WTF?
/splutters.
Um. Okay. Uh, wow. I don't really have any eloquent words to say. Thanks. . .Good luck. . .You'll be missed. . and wow, this kinda sucks.
Well for the love of god, blog on your own site more often! Sheesh.:-p
Yeah, wait a minute, hold on. Amardeep is right. WTF?
Sigh. RTFC (Read the f---ing comments. ..) . ..
um, it better be a good novel. but yes, i guess that's an acceptable reason. . .a more than acceptable reason. sigh. i guess we must all suffer for great art these days.
bah.
wow. I didn't know you could leave that easily :)
well, certainly enjoyed your posts. Have fun!
Dunno why, I'm really sorry to hear this. Sincerely wish you all the best in your future endevors.
I have only one thing to say: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
BTW, I don't suppose we could persuade you to stay by pulling some silly stunts like threatening violence upon ourselves?