How come cool desi-related music stuff like this never happens in DC? I mean really, am I just out of it, or is the DC area desi-population just hurt-ing.

Apologies for posting again in such short order, but I feel the need to clarify myself (being a music lover/wannabe musician). The DC area is money of you want to see Indian classical music (Hindustani or Carnatic, take your pick), which I love, but as far as the whole "fusion" thing is concerned, I look at the "events" page on this blog and feel rather jealous. The most "interesting" things we get are events like Artscape, which I posted, that have very little to do with desi culture.

Jumma chumma

And for a limited time, we'll be giving away free samosas to the first few people that come in the door!!! Mmmmmmm. Free Samoossssaaaassss

While I feel your pain Sriram, it's better to not have at all than to have and lost. The San Francisco Bay Area scene is dead, a couple years back it was on life support, now its totally dead. The mid to late 90s were the glory years.

why is this grown ass man kissing an even older man?

"why is this grown ass man kissing an even older man?"

Because that "older man" is THE older man silly :)

Blasphamy. Who are you calling "an even older man"? He is a God, not a mere mortal like you or I. Have some shame, yaar. Even that grown ass man knows when to shake hands and when to plant a big sloppy one in reverence.

neha, will you blog this afterward? i'm especially interested in what is said at the keynote...

i agree; there aren't enough 'asian massive' events in the states.. and when there are, there are seldom any brown folk present. Just myself and two friends that i drag along who hate anything that isn't gangsta rap.. when will our people learn?

Hey Guys and Gals - a couple of notes on all the moaning: we're doing a festival in NYC around Spring Time!! If this news thrills you so much that you want to send barfi and gulab jamuns to us, our postal addy is on http://www.indianelectronica.com :)

Secondly, a pretty cool clothing company called Bad Karma based in NYC is giving anyone who, well, reads this I suppose, a discount of 10% on total orders at their nifty online shoppe! All you have to do is enter the special Indian Electronica Festival discount code: BKIE06 and baas, you're good to go.

Abdul Smooth,

That is totally cool you guys are coming to nyc. You'll sell the place out, i have quite a few friends who love your stuff, looking forward to it.

hey siddhartha, i'll blog this for sure as long as i make it in time for the keynote.

thanks for the info, smooth!

the rest of you...just move to toronto already! :-)

I met Mr. Smooth on his recent reconaissance mission to London. His brain is as frizzed as his hair. Be warned, yo. ;p
(see you soon, sucka!)

Hello Neha:
I am sure you have heard it before, but I really am a big fan of your writing. Anyhow, the purpose of bringing it up at this juncture is the refreshing wit displayed in your blog as compared to the thin-skinned Indian parochialism of the other SM blogs of late. It seems that SM is anointing itself the defender of Indian honor in North America, which is laudable but not what I visit SM for. Also, some of the rant, and yes even SM has sunk to a pedestrian level lately, sound awfully similar to that of the fundamentalists of that other religion.

I hope I am wrong in my appraisal of the recent SM, but I miss the old Sepia Mutiny wit, the attitude, the subtlety and just the pleasure of reading something akin to an underground paper. Do they still have those?

Perhaps the other bloggers would take note or they might tell me to get lost and start my own blog if I don't like SM, which I have no intention of doing.

Out of curiousity, SMfan, what kinds of writing do you enjoy here? We've actually always covered a wide range of topics - both political and social, the activism dates back to our very inception.

vat! no pix.