April 08, 2008

Get up, Stand up TONIGHT in SF

I heart our readers. I do:

Anna,

Hi I live in SF, and was planning on attending the rally tomorrow voicing concerns around China’s various human rights abuses.

I believe you live in SF? In any case are you aware of a Mutineer Team gathering to protest tomorrow?

Dear Mutineer,

I actually live in Washington, D.C. (that’s why Chocolate City gets all the meetups), but you aren’t the only one who thought otherwise; I frequently receive emails, FB messages, and tweets from people who think I still live in Baghdad by the bay. :)

Since I am 3,ooo miles away from tomorrow’s action (and since I haven’t been well enough to blog), at this point, I am unaware of any organized effort to mutiny— but I’m thrilled you thought there could be. If I were home, I’d be there, with extra Ricola, in solidarity with you and other people of conscience. Since I can’t be there, I thought I’d put up this post to help you connect with potential co-protesters; it’s the least I can do for a reader like you.

Well? Who’s in? :)

More, including how to stay updated in real time:

Tibetans and their supporters from all over North America are converging on San Francisco for this historic opportunity to shine the Olympic spotlight on China’s brutality in Tibet. SF Team Tibet is organizing a Press Conference, Rally and Candle Light Vigil on April 8th and a Mass Mobilization on April 9. Send a text message with the word SFTORCH to the phone number 41411 to receive important text message updates on April 8th and the 9th. [link]

You still have time to make tonight’s’ candlelight vigil:

6.25 Candle Light Vigil with International Campaign for Tibet begins

Join Richard Gere, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Tibetan leaders and other special guests for a historic rally and candle light vigil in support of the Tibetan people and their struggle for basic human rights. As China prepares to host the Olympics in August, the government is conducting the worst crackdown in Tibet since the 1960s Cultural Revolution.

Come show your support for the Tibetan and Chinese people on the eve of the Beijing Olympic torch passing through San Francisco - the only stop in North America.

Where: United Nations Plaza, at Market & Hyde, near Civic Center BART

Rally & Speeches 6:00pm
Culture / Music 7:15pm
Candle Light Vigil 8:00pm [link]

If you missed out on today’s events, go tomorrow:

April 9 Team Tibet Mass Mobilization to Protest the Olympic Torch Relay in San Francisco San Francisco Torch Route

Join us! Meet up: 10a: Ferry Park (between Washington & Clay streets off of Drum. Near Embarcadero 4 of the Embarcadero Center. ) Get off the BART at Embarcadero and walk toward Justing Herman Plaza. You will not be able to miss us, really! Map of the meeting point coming soon. [link]

Tricksy hobbitses: Note: the torch route has been changed!

We have just heard that the torch route has been changed, with on-the-run Gavin Newsom’s office announcing that “the route of the Olympic torch has been changed from the published course to a new route whose details will not be made public.” Since we don’t know anything and apparently won’t, plan still to meet at the Ferry Park on Wednesday, though you might want to show up considerably earlier than 10a just in case tricky Gav tries to run it early. Check back here for more news as we activate. [link]

anna at 05:38 PM in Events · 184 comment(s) · Direct link

March 06, 2008

Salmagundi

In this edition:

1) I buzz the hive mind, about Jackson Heights
2) a cool event in DC next Friday, for a good cause
3) mentions of a NY meetup

::

I get a lot of different requests from you mutineers, and though I am usually not able to write back, I try to help whenever I can. I’ve also noticed that sometimes, I have a few things I’d like to bring up, but they don’t seem worthy of an entire post— asking what days might be good for a New York meetup, for example. So, every so often, I’m going to put up a post called Salmagundi [I like the word so much, it used to be an entire category on the right sidebar of my personal blog :)] and it will contain a few utterly unrelated but mutinous things. Either that, or I’ll use SM’s newly-created Twitter account to ask questions like the one below:

Dear Anna

I was wondering if you knew when Jackson Heights would be closed if they close at all? We are planning on coming to NYC for 2 days as my husband needs a visa. So I thought we would go to Jackson Heights when somebody mentioned that they were not sure but it may be closed on either Monday or Tuesday.

That’s a question from one of our faithful readers. I want to help, because next week is spring break and that’s when they want to go, but I don’t know the answer! I went to Jackson Heights a few times when I lived in NYC, but I never did anything useful, like pay attention. I usually bought pista kulfi on the street (blew my mind, every time…I could do this in America? Don’t hate, I grew up somewhere 98% pale), looked for Hema Malini DeeWeDees and then got back on the subway. So, what’s up Jackson Heights-area mutineers? When, if ever, does brown-town shut down?

::

Next chunk of stew-y goodness: A special event, NEXT WEEK (thanks, Kenyandesi) at the historic Bohemian Caverns in DC (now home to SubDrift), starring Cheb i Sabbah, someone I tend to associate with home (yay urrea).

Legendary DJ, producer and global electronica icon Cheb i Sabbah returns to DC for the first time in many years with his special blend of outernational beats and lush organic soundscapes at electroganic 001 on march 14 @ bohemian caverns!

Joining him on the decks will be one of San Francisco’s best DJs, Janaka Selekta, as well as DC’s own v:shal kanwar, mr. darko and julez.

Proceeds to benefit local women’s shelters through Race Against Domestic Violence…

event details:

Friday, 14 March, 2008
9pm - 3am | 21+
$15 at the door
$12 advance tix (tba march 1st)

Bohemian Caverns / Liv
2001 11th St, NW (at U St.)
Washington, DC

Get your advance tickets here.

::

Finally, because residents of my favorite city have waited long enough…what…about…a…NY meetup? :) Stop jumping up and down, I need your help with planning. In the past, we’ve done meetups in conjunction with events, i.e. Central Park’s SummerStage. Is there anything fun going down in the next few weeks? I’m pondering early-April, but if something extraordinary is happening in late March, I’ll see what I can do. Discuss. :)

anna at 04:41 PM in Events, Meetups!, Music · 20 comment(s) · Direct link

February 22, 2008

Nrityagram: Hoping to Swoon at Such Stylings [UPDATE]

As somewhat of a Bharatanatyam supremacist, I often fail to appreciate the grace, economy of movement and a whole host of other subtleties that dancers of Manipuri, Mohiniattam, Odissi, Kathak, Kathakali and Kuchipudi display in such abundance. It’s also been far too long since I’ve seen a live dance performance. Well, the wait for dance-starved patrons/critics/dancers is over (at least in my neck of the woods.) The very renowned Nrityagram dance ensemble is currently touring the US.

The troupe recently performed at the Joyce Theater in New York (encores performances to follow), which earned yet another mildly positive yet utterly clueless review from the Grey Lady (which I will dissect later), and will continue on to the following locations: Feb 19-24, 2008 - The Joyce Theater , NYC

Feb 29, 2008 – World on Stage, Stamford , CT

Mar 2, 2008 - UNC Chapel Hill , NC

Mar 3-5, 2008 - Modlin Center for the Arts, VA (I’ll be at the performance on the 5th)

Mar 6-9, 2008: Arts and Culture Center of Hollywood , FL

Mar 13-14, 2008: The Florida Theater, Jacksonville , FL

Mar 21, 2008: Savannah Music Festival, Savannah , GA

Mar 29, 2008: Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Santa Fe , NM

Apr 1-4, 2008: UCSB, Santa Barbara , CA

Apr 13, 2008: Stony Brook University , NY

Nrityagram is fairly unique as it’s the only school of dance (and so much more—beyond the scope of this post)that fairly strictly adheres to the ‘gurukulam’ format year round—students living in a preferably forested retreat with their guru; eating, sleeping and breathing their chosen discipline(s). It’s a very intense and effective teaching method for anything that requires a great deal of ‘muscle memory’ and spatial awareness. According to my anecdotal experience, even a few weeks of said Gurukulam-style training will raise anyone’s standard by a noticeable amount in only a few weeks.

I will be attending the performance at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Center on March 5th (not the 4th as indicated previously), from 7:30 till 9:30 (perhaps dressed in my Fab India best, if my mother succeeds in persuading me to dress like a cut-rate SRK—otherwise, look for the surly brown fellow with an uneven goatee)

contact details for tickets (and they are not cheap) are below:

UR students FREE, $24 UR employees, $32 adults Phone: 804.289.8980 Email: modlinarts@richmond.edu

Nayagan at 11:46 AM in Arts and Entertainment, Dance, Events · 18 comment(s) · Direct link

January 21, 2008

Beats, Rhymes and Life 2: Open-mic in Houston-WED

On stage (yes, we have a stage this time) we will have a ridiculously good drum circle (they stole the show last time), two comedians, a couple of singers, a drama piece by Shunya, a dance, spoken word, and a fabulous DJ.

Details:

Location: The Proletariat 903 Richmond Ave, Houston, TX 77006 US When: Wednesday, January 23, 8:30p.m.-12:00a.m.

Please come on time because we will begin promptly at 9p.m. and you’ll regret missing any of the talent we’ve got lined up. No charge. And we will still be signing up people for the South Asian Bone Marrow Registry. The battle continues.

p.s. If you want to take to the mic email me: abhi [at] sepiamutiny.com

abhi at 04:50 PM in Events · 1 comment(s) · Direct link

DC: Subcontinental Drift 2008- January 28

Straight Outta Compton my inbox, an invitation to the first Subcontinental Drift of 2008. This event/collective is one of my favorite things about living in DC. Come find out why for yourself:

2007 sure brought some of the district’s talents out of the basement and into the spotlight. It was nothing less than inspiring to witness the expressive potential of our collective South Asian community.

Subcontinental Drift is excited to be back with the first open mic night of 2008 on Monday, January 28th at 7pm. Come bless us in this new year with your art, your thoughts, your ideas, your presence. The mic will be open from 7-9 pm (to sign up for a spot, shoot an email with your name and performance genre to subdriftdc@gmail.com). And stay for the after party with some chill beats and groovin’.

Where?

Bohemian Caverns, at the corner of 11th and U. We’ll be upstairs. www.bohemiancaverns.com

When?

Doors open at 6:30pm.

More info?

myspace.com/subcontinentaldrift or email subdriftdc@gmail.com

I never go out on Mondays or Tuesdays because those are my most challenging (read: no lunch) days at work, but I’m about to do some serious juggling in order to attend this— THAT’S how amazing Subcontinental Drift is. It is worth the stress and exhaustion. ;) If you are in DC, please come out so that you, too, can babble beatifically about all the awesomeness. And if you are not in DC, remember that it is a new year; resolve to start something similar where you are. Abhi did it fabulously in Houston, so can you. Everyone deserves to drift.

anna at 03:53 PM in Art, Arts and Entertainment, Events, Identity, Music, Theater · 11 comment(s) · Direct link

January 16, 2008

Once you go Pak ...

What is it about Princesses and Pakistanis? First Jemima Khan converted to Islam to marry Imran Khan. Then there was a whole drama between Princess Diana and her one true love, “Mr. Wonderful”, Dr. Hasnat Khan. Diana was reportedly considering conversion and possibly even a life in Pakistan. And now, the ever reliable Sun reports that Britney Spears is also considering converting to Islam and moving to Pakistan to be with her current boyfriend, paparazzi Adnan Ghalib.

But let’s back up to the Diana story first, because it’s the most interesting. According to her butler, Diana begged Khan to marry her:

“This was her soul mate,” he said. “This was the man she loved more than any other. It was a very deep and spiritual relationship.” Khan would often visit Diana and her boys at Kensington Palace, Burrell added, because the Princess was “adamant” that William and Harry get to know and grow to like Khan.

Burrell revealed that he and Diana discussed giving Khan his own quarters at the Palace and that the Princess was so serious about marrying Khan she asked Burrell to find out if it was possible for them to have a private wedding.[Link]

She even met his family in Pakistan and kept in touch with his mother:

[Said Khan’s mother] “She was so nice, so friendly and down to earth. She met my mother, Hasnat’s grandmother, my nephews and nieces, all the family.” [Link]

Meanwhile she stopped speaking to her own mother because of her mother’s opposition to the relationship:

“She called the Princess a whore and said she was messing around with eff-ing Muslims and she was disgraceful and said some very nasty things.” It was after that conversation, he said, that Diana decided she didn’t want to speak to her mother ever again. [Link]

Dodi then, was just a rebound, a way to get Hasnat jealous after he said that cultural differences would make it impossible to marry. This explains why the relationship was so public, and why she courted the paparazzi whose attention would spiral out of control:

She started dating Dodi in part, said Burrell, to make Khan jealous. …”She knew very well what she was doing.” All those tabloid photos of Dodi and Di cavorting on his yacht? The Princess counted on the cameras watching them… [Link]

Britney Spears seems intent on proving the adage that history repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce:

Meanwhile the fallen singer has been telling pals how much she’s in love with Ghalib, 35 and that she plans to marry him and convert to his faith, Islam. In her crazier moments she’s even been threatening to fake her own death to start a new life with him in Pakistan.

The News Of The World also revealed that Ghalib’s respectable Sunni Muslim family in Birmingham are so horrified by his antics they have disowned him. One family member told the paper: “His parents … are devastated. This week his dad gave him an ultimatum, ‘Give up Britney, or you are dead to me,’ which Adnan ignored…” [Link]

Meanwhile Pakistani women are wondering what they need to do to get a bit of attention:

“Look at the way they treat our women. I think they are so chauvinistic and full of themselves. I wonder what these women find attractive in them? May be they should launch their charm offensive on Pakistani women. That’s something we women will never complaint against,” Haq chuckled. [Link]

And Rasika is warning other desi men not to get too (ahem) cocky:

Move along guys, there’s no coat-tails for non-Pakistani desi men to ride here …

ennis at 01:44 PM in Arts and Entertainment, Events, News · 383 comment(s) · Direct link

January 05, 2008

Plug: 2008 SAAN Conference

Most long time readers know (see previous posts 1,2) of my soft spot for the SAAN Conference. If you are a college student and want to go to one desi conference this year, make this one in Ann Arbor, Michigan on January 25th-27th the one. Once again, the hard working University of Michigan students have assembled a great line up of speakers and some fascinating workshop topics (workshops are highly interactive):

Who’s the Man?

Dialogue on gender rarely focuses on men’s issues. Why are Muslim men always seen as sexist? In film, why are most of the romantic leads Hindu? Where do Sikhs fall into the picture? By processing all of these questions, we will be able to see how identity, gender, and stereotypes collide in creating images of South Asian masculinity, as well as their tangible effects on individual lives.

Journalistic Justice

With podcasts, blogs, and email, we have an infinite amount of information at our fingertips. Fewer people are subscribing to paper publications, shifting the way we consume current events. Technology facilitates new forms of journalism, broadening who has access to innovative ideas.

Loans for Livelihood

An abundance of food and money are two commodities that most First World societies take for granted, but almost every continent includes regions that have an immense scarcity of these basic resources. Due to international development goals as well as the motivation of private firms and individuals, micro-credit, or lending small amounts of money to people with little or no capital, has become one popular and possibly successful way to approach poverty.

The Keynote speakers this year include Vijay Prashad and NPR guest commentator Sandip Roy. This is a great alternative to that other desi conference which I shall not even name. If you’ve attended a SAAN conference before, please leave a comment about your experience.

abhi at 11:33 PM in Events · 100 comment(s) · Direct link

December 08, 2007

Parties to make my heart grow three sizes bigger

Despite the fact that I’m a total Grinch during the holiday season, I have to acknowledge that this time of year isn’t only about consumption (monetary and culinary) and bad music. It is also a time for helping out those less fortunate. With that in mind I’d like to recommend two holiday parties to our readers (and I shall be at both). The first is tonight at 10 pm. in Washington D.C. at Cafe Asia:

In the years past we have worked with many organizations in the Greater Washington area to help bring local children a wonderful holiday season and give them encouragement and assistance in bettering their lives. We have also worked with a number of international organizations to help bring children hope who have been orphaned, affected by natural disasters, displaced by war and or have been born with disability. These organizations through our generous donations have been able to help build schools, provide education and sustenance for kids and provide hope for those that may have had none.

The Sumil Shah Foundation for Children is looking for your support this year for the seventh annual toy drive. Through the Toy Drive we are able to collect numerous toys that are further distributed throughout the local DC area by way of our network. We also collect cash donations which we rely on greatly to help many unfortunate children locally and internationally. We welcome you to visit our website at sumilshah.org to get more information on these wonderful organizations.

The second charity party is in Houston next Saturday night at 9p.m. at Zimm’s Martini and Wine Bar:

Join us on Saturday December 15, 2007 for a fabulous night! We are throwing a charity party benefitting the DePelchin Children’s Center - a Houston area orphanage.

Zimm’s is ours for the night! All we are asking is you bring a toy for the kids or an item off of the orphanage’s needs list. If you prefer you can donate money and we will buy the items for you.

If you guys know of any other charity parties thrown by desi organizations or individuals, please throw them up on our Events Tab (and mention them as a comment in this post). Please remember to drive responsibly when leaving these parties. And remember, if not us, WHO will think of the children?

abhi at 03:14 PM in Events · 10 comment(s) · Direct link

November 01, 2007

Two Conferences this Weekend (tooting apna horn)

Normally a post like this would go on the Events Tab, but some SM bloggers are involved in one event, so perhaps it’s not too out of place to put it here. Both events have their main speakers this Saturday (11/3), though SAWCC actually has a reading/performance on Friday night and creative workshops and panels on Saturday.

First, for people in and near Washington DC, you may wish to attend the SALTAF festival, which features Madhur Jaffrey, Amitava Kumar, Thrity Umrigar, Rishi Reddi, and Canadian filmmaker Vic Sarin (whose film, Partition, is screening at the festival). Kicking off the festival as a whole is the much-hyped Hindi film, Loins of Punjab Presents, which I’ve been waiting to see for months, damnit.

In New York, it’s the SAWCC conference, which this year has the charming title, “Electric Ladyland.” SAWCC participants are younger and more “Up-and-coming,” and the conference itself (which I attended last year) is very much a hands-on, get-involved type of event — you don’t just sit back and sample the wine-and-samosas. I am on a panel called “Pop/Politics,” with Mira Kamdar, Sita Bhaskar, and Sunita Mukhi. I am not 100% sure what I’m talking about yet — probably something involving Bobby Jindal and the Tehelka/Gujarat spycam affair. And SM blogger Anna is on a panel called “Eat, Pray, Love: Writing/Crafting/Cooking the Personal Narrative,” with food writer Chitrita Banerji, and Janki Khatau.

I probably won’t be in New York long enough to participate in an official meetup, but it would be great to see/meet some SM readers at the SAWCC event itself. The panels, incidentally, are FREE.

Incidentally, if you’re interested in the creative writing workshops on Saturday morning, you should email sawcclitfest@gmail.com (they may already be filled up; the workshops are limited to 12 people each).

amardeep at 02:30 PM in Events · 11 comment(s) · Direct link

October 10, 2007

We can do this, again. We can help (in nyc, TOMORROW).

As Amardeep mentioned, the bunker is exceptionally quiet these days, because a few of us are consumed with our day jobs (as opposed to this, our beloved virtual one). For me, holidays like the one we just had are difficult to enjoy, because it zimbly means I’m going to be forced to squeeze five days worth of work in to four. No, I’m not bitter at all, despite how that read. :) I’m swamped, but I’m not salty. Do you know why? Perspective.

I am constantly reminded of how I am one lucky person; other people have real problems, challenges which threaten their very lives.

Many of you remember Vinay, who needed a marrow donor, whose friends and family coordinated an extraordinary operation which found him (and a few others!) matches, even though his wasn’t “perfect”. SM constantly posted about the drives which were happening everywhere, and so many of you stepped up to give a little bit of yourself, for someone who could have been your little brother, your best friend, your cousin.

Well, we need your help again.

Another young person is fighting for his life, and despite the outstanding increase in South Asian donors in the national database thanks to Team Vinay, there is no match for him…yet. His name is Bevin and in the picture above-left, he is (of all things) wearing a “Gimme ur spit/get registered” tee-shirt in honor of Vinay. You see, as someone who was in remission, he took Vinay’s cause to heart and felt it was his obligation to do all he could to help spread the word, donate funds, convince people to get swabbed, since he knew first-hand what Vinay was up against.

Scrap the past tense; now, he is facing the same adversary Vinay is. Bevin needs our help and he needs it soon. But I’m not going to lose hope; if there was one thing I learned from Team Vinay, it was that negativity should be banished. Let’s focus on what’s good: Bevin’s friends are holding drives in New York City, within the next few days. Info on that below, the link to Bevin’s facebook group is here.

I’m sorry this post is so rushed, but I wanted to publish it ASAP, because the first drive is tomorrow. GO. PLEASE. HELP.

SWAB FOR BEVIN

All it takes is 12 seconds and you might be a match for Bevin…..

Please join us this Thursday at Bar 13 and/or Saturday at Katwalk for a Bone Marrow Drive for our dear friend Bevin Varughese. Below are the details of the events.

Date: Thursday, October 11th, 2007
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Location: Bar 13
35 E 13th Street (Corner of University Place)
New York, NY 10003

————————————————————————————

Date: Saturday, October 13, 2007
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Location: Katwalk
2 West 35th Street (Btwn 5th & 6th Ave)
New York. NY 10001

For further Information please contact: Swab4Bevin@gmail.com

I’ll try to rewrite/update this post later…but for now, fire up your iPhone/Palm/Outlook/GoogleCalendar/Dayrunner/FranklinCoveyWhatever…if you are in NYC and you have not registered with the NMDP yet, you my friend, have plans tomorrow. If you are not in NYC, I know you’re related to, the ex- of or friends with someone who is— persuade THEM to get swabbed, if they are willing to be a committed donor.

anna at 03:15 PM in Events, Health and Medicine · 33 comment(s) · Direct link

September 07, 2007

The Subcontinental and the Furious: D.C. Drift

Is it already that time again? As if my weekend couldn’t get any better, Subcontinental Drift, DC’s singular South Asian music/dance/open mic night, is back this Sunday.

If Subcontinental Drift sounds familiar, it’s because I wrote about this rapture on SM before, here. If you live in DC, you are fortunate that your comrades in browndom have come together to create such a fantastic event; support their considerable efforts, come out and play, you’ll be thrilled you did.

This Sunday night a recently-hatched event is descending again on the district. If you’ve been before, you know it is not to be missed; if you haven’t, don’t miss it. It was born early in 2007 when a handful of the District’s desis (Mona, Munish, Nabeel, Nina, Sophie, Surabhi & Vishal) graciously took it upon themselves to fill an artistic void in our community. Thus was born Subcontinental Drift: a creative experiment in open space(s) where artists, poets, songwriters, lyricists & others can share and showcase their talents with the local South Asian/South Asian American diaspora.

Join us this weekend. Observe, absorb, listen, learn, encounter, experience, perform (really, you can - email subdriftdc@gmail.com)! Indulge. [quoted from an awesome email]

Every edition of SD is precious, but this one is more so— Seema Patel, a.k.a. SM commenter “SP”, a.k.a. one of the forces behind Team Vinay (and the heart of their DC operations) is leaving the right coast to go home. Join me, Sunday, as I gnash my teeth at our misfortune. Baltimore/D.C.’s loss is California’s gain. Sigh.

Subcontinental Drift

Sunday, September 9, 2007

6 PM - 11 PM - (Cost: Free)

Bohemian Caverns
2001 11th St. NW
Washington, D.C.

Metro: Green + Yellow- U Street station

It wasn’t just standing room only, last time— we took over the street. This event, let’s do the same. Finish your Art…there are kids starving in cities with less Desis.

anna at 07:27 PM in Arts and Entertainment, Events, Identity, Music, Theater · 33 comment(s) · Direct link

July 30, 2007

One mic

Since I have been traveling almost non-stop for the last several weeks, I never got a chance to report out on the Beats, Rhymes, and Life event that I organized with some friends in Houston a couple weeks back (July 19th). As a reminder, I was trying to emulate the success of Washington D.C.’s Subcontinental Drift series by bringing some soul to the south (by getting some of Houston’s South Asian artists together for a night). I was hoping that word of mouth would get about 50 people to show up. Half an hour into the event I was sweating as only about a dozen people showed. Thank goodness for the reliability of Indian Standard Time. Well over 100 people showed on a Thursday night! The drum circle was ridiculously good and we had spoken-word pieces, belly-dancing to Dhoom 2, a comedian, and DJ Raj Swift among the acts. The lesson here is that all you need is a city and one mic. Just make it happen in your city if you really want to see something like this there. Click below for larger pics of the event:

abhi at 11:20 PM in Events · 5 comment(s) · Direct link

July 26, 2007

More FREE fun for the People-- in Berkeley

Via my Auntie Valsa’s kid, Jasmin, over at ASATA, news of an upcoming free M.I.A. show at Amoeba Records in Berkeley, this Saturday at 2pm.

I “hella” thought those of you in the yay area who have reconciled your inner turmoil regarding her connection with/representation of/grahpic allusions to the LTTE might want to know. Me? I’m still conflicted, so I’ll keep humming

Let you be superior

I’m flithy with the fury ya

…it’s easy being morally inferior when there’s such a sick soundtrack to feel shame to. I keed, I keed.

anna at 03:45 PM in Arts and Entertainment, Events, Music, Short · 61 comment(s) · Direct link

July 20, 2007

SF: Stern Grove Bhangra + Cheek Swabbing - SUNDAY

Pahtee In Thee Ghe-tto…

One of the best things about summer in San Francisco is the annual Stern Grove summer concert series. The festival brings in some of the best in lesser known music with a particular emphasis on international / world beats.

This Sunday they’re doing it up Desi and will feature the Grammy-nominated Anoushka Shankar, Karsh Kale, The Non-Stop Bhangra Collective, Dholrhythms, and more.

Where: Stern Grove Park

When: Sunday, July 22; Concert starts @ 2:00 but seating is first come / first serve and once they’re at capacity, they stop admitting new folks. So be there by 1230 or so just to be safe.

And, of course, no gathering of Desi’s this large is complete without an obligatory shout out for folks to come out get their cheeks swabbed and help Sameer & Vinay find a bone marrow match. Sameer’s team is looking for volunteers to help out with the cause. I’ll be there with a few other mutineers so stop by and say hello!

vinod at 05:14 PM in Events · 7 comment(s) · Direct link

July 19, 2007

Help Vinay & Sameer - NYC / July 22

Almost 20,000 have been registered but we don’t have a match yet… NYC mutineers can do their part this weekend at Pianos bar [158 Ludlow b/t Rivington & Stanton] on Sunday, July 22.

If you’ve already registered, go again & bring a friend. Either way, the last event was, to put it mildly, a hoot. This time around, Rashmi and Reena (Vinay & Sameer’s wives respectively) will both be in attendance and will certainly appreciate the show of support.

And, as with last time around, Sepia Mutiny’s “send us a good swabbing pict and we’ll put you on the homepage” offer still stands. Do Good, have fun, and help your marriage / dating / social prospects by getting your mug in front of SM’s vast & cultured readership - not a bad deal

vinod at 03:59 PM in Events · Add comment · Direct link

July 18, 2007

Beats, Rhymes, and Life-THIS Thursday night in Houston

Just a gentle reminder that it’s still on like Donkey Kong:

Houston has many South Asian artists, musicians, and other creative individuals who never seem to get the type of attention that their counterparts in New York, L.A., and D.C. receive. This summer it’s time to change all that. Join us on Thursday, July 19th from 8:30-11:00 p.m. at the new downtown venue “Bar Bollywood” (basement of the Butterfly High Lounge) for a FREE night of Spoken Word, Live Music, and Visual Arts. DJ Raj Swift will also be on hand to lay down the backbeat.

If you are an artist of any kind and want to perform (especially a spoken word, literary, or dance piece) or just want more information, then email abhi [at] sepiamutiny.com ASAP.

Although this event is meant to spotlight South Asian artists, ALL are welcome and encouraged to attend. Spread the word.

Finally, Roopa Vasan will be on hand to cheek swab people for the South Asian Bone Marrow Registry in hopes of finding a match to save her cousin Vinay’s life.

Bar Bollywood
902 Capitol Street
Houston, TX 77002

We’ve also added a stand-up comic to the line-up. If you are still interested in performing please email me (and keep spreading the word)!

abhi at 12:00 AM in Events · 5 comment(s) · Direct link

July 10, 2007

Beats, Rhymes, and Life-July 19th, Houston

A few weeks back when Anna wrote about D.C.’s Subcontinental Drift, a series of spoken word and performing arts events featuring South Asians in the D.C. area, I mentioned in the comments that I was going to borrow (ok, steal) their idea and implement it down in good ‘ole Texas where there is also a growing arts community. Well now it’s on, just like that:

Houston has many South Asian artists, musicians, and other creative individuals who never seem to get the type of attention that their counterparts in New York, L.A., and D.C. receive. This summer it’s time to change all that. Join us on Thursday, July 19th from 8:30-11:00 p.m. at the new downtown venue “Bar Bollywood” (basement of the Butterfly High Lounge) for a FREE night of Spoken Word, Live Music, and Visual Arts. DJ Raj Swift will also be on hand to lay down the backbeat.

If you are an artist of any kind and want to perform (especially a spoken word, literary, or dance piece) or just want more information, then email abhi [at] sepiamutiny.com ASAP.

Although this event is meant to spotlight South Asian artists, ALL are welcome and encouraged to attend. Spread the word.

Finally, Roopa Vasan will be on hand to cheek swab people for the South Asian Bone Marrow Registry in hopes of finding a match to save her cousin Vinay’s life.

Bar Bollywood
902 Capitol Street
Houston, TX 77002

Please let anyone you know in or around Houston know about this if you think it would interest them. Hope to see you there.

abhi at 08:23 PM in Events · 9 comment(s) · Direct link

Manish on CNN tonight at 8:25 PM

I’ve been AWOL for a while due to work and personal reasons, but I wanted to very quickly let you know that Manish will be on CNN at 8:25 PM EST tonight, talking about the 7/11 promotion that requires 7/11 workers in 11 stores to dress up as Apu to help promote the Simpsons movie. We should be blogging this shortly, but for now, here are some links to his coverage of the event: Reminder: CNN tonight, Watch CNN Tuesday night, Meanwhile, over at Racialicious…, Racial Caricature Mart , Step’n Dispense It (updated again) , ‘The Simpsons’ go Bollywood (updated)

ennis at 05:33 PM in Events, TV · 26 comment(s) · Direct link

July 09, 2007

Washington, D.C. <3 Vinay...at TANA *and* Tony + Joe's Tomorrow

I’m so passionate about telling you to get out to popped-collar-ville tomorrow evening, for the next marrow donor drive in DC, I decided to split my original “Best and Worst of Our Community” post in two, because I didn’t want the details for such an important event to be hidden under “the fold”.

If you are in DC and you have not registered yet— please come by because time is precious. I learned this weekend that if you register online or at your local center, it takes weeks to process your swabs; if you come to one of Vinay’s drives, they overnight everything to the database under his name and processing is expedited. Please, please, please register to be a committed donor.

TiE Seattle disappointed me, but I’d rather focus on the best of what our community can do, because the one thing I’m trying to learn from Vinay is relentless positivity.

First off, a huge thank you to mutineer Seema, who registered people at TANA this weekend until her feet ached. A few of our readers pitched in to help flyer, explain and swab— and I got to witness it.

I’ve never been happier to be a part of this sepia-colored space. Part of my sadness over my “second post” was inspired by what I saw at TANA— people were going without food, standing for hours, bravely facing rejection and apathy…and they did it with a smile on their face and faith in their hearts that it is just a matter of time before we find the one. With such memories playing on my internal plasma, how can I NOT cringe at those who would decline to do far less than what I saw all of you do. Together, you made sure a few hundred more people were added to the database and that deserves to be applauded.

Not all of us are Telugu, so I know plenty of you chocolate city citizens didn’t get to come on down and get swabbed— have no fear, happy hour is here! I heard about the following event at Subcontinental Drift, but have been too busy to post it before. I’m sorry about that because it’s going to be good fun for a great cause:

Join us for a Happy Hour and Show your Support!

Register as a Bone Marrow Donor!

Tuesday, July 10th, 5:30 - 9 pm

Tony & Joe’s Seafood Restaurant (Upstairs Lounge) at Georgetown Washington Harbor

3000 K Street Northwest Washington, DC, 20007

RSVP encouraged: dcdonordrive@aol.com

Drink specials if you register as a donor!!

Already registered? Come to show your support! Everyone welcome!

$7 suggested charitable donation to marrow donor recruitment.

Ultrabrown said (with a twinge of guilt) that the NYC mega-event which was held yesterday was SO MUCH FUN. I am certain that gazing at the Kennedy Center while the sun sets, as we toast to life, love and the pursuit of donors won’t be too shabby, either. I’ll be there. Will you? :)

anna at 07:17 PM in Events · 24 comment(s) · Direct link

July 05, 2007

In NYC This Weekend? GO. If Not, Read on...

Click to enlarge.

Many of you have offered your good wishes for Vinay’s health— some of you have even taken the next step and become part of the database. Others— especially when they read these posts I keep beating you about the head (and hopefully heart) with— are reminded of their intention to get registered; they think, oh, I’ll make it to the next drive and do it then.

A very special opportunity to get swabbed is available to desis in what I still think of as the brownest city of them all— even if it’s a big apple and not a mango. This Sunday, in NYC, from 4-8 pm, show up at Pianos and not only will you increase the possibility of saving someone’s life, you may get to meet the man who has inspired this incredible campaign to paint the national database sepia. Vinay might be there. :) Please wish him a happy second wedding anniversary (July 3) for me, if you go.

If you can’t attend or you are not in the NYC area, please harass your loved ones. Get every South Asian person you know to consider becoming a committed donor; a list of the drives which are happening all over the country is here. While my constant posting about Vinay may insinuate otherwise, this is about all of us, not one of us. It’s scary to consider how close this can hit to home; I’ve lost two family members in three years to this disease. I may not know Vinay, but I don’t have to, to believe in what he and his team are going to do.

::

Which diseases can be treated by marrow transplant?

Over 70 diseases including the leukemia’s, aplastic anemia, severe combined immune deficiency, sickle cell anemia and radiation poisoning are treated by marrow transplant.

::

What exactly is a marrow / stem cell transplant?

Simply, it is the replacement of diseased blood stem cells from a health donor infused into a patient’s vein just like a blood transfusion. Within four to six weeks the transplanted marrow / stem cells begin to produce normal blood cells in the patient.

::

Who can become a marrow / stem cell donor?

You must be between 18 and 60 years old, have no history of hepatitis, heart disease, cancer or AIDS, and sign a consent form allowing the Registry to include your HLA tissue type in its confidential files for future matching. See NMDP link below for more details: Donor information (NMDP) and Donor Eligibility Guidelines.

::

How do I know if I am a match?

If you are found to be a possible match with a patient, the center in which you tested and/or the NMDP will contact you immediately and give you the option of proceeding to the next level/s of testing to insure final HLA compatibility with the patient.

::

Who pays for these tests?

Not you - the patient or his/her medical insurance does.

What happens if I am a match?

If the match is confirmed the transplant can be scheduled but only with your legal consent after in-depth counseling and a thorough physical examination.

::

Okay, now tell me how my marrow is collected?

Two procedures are available for stem cell collection.

1. Peripheral blood stem cell collection

(MOST current and common method)…..You are given small injections of Neupogen/Filgrastin for 3 to 5 days to force your marrow to overproduce marrow or stem cells which are then released into your circulating blood. The stem cells are collected by removing blood from a vein in your arm, passing it through a filter system, which collects the stem cells and returns the remaining blood to you…a 2 to 3 hour procedure.

2. Marrow harvest….

You are given light general anesthesia so that you feel nothing during the procedure. Only 2% to 3% of your marrow is withdrawn from the large crest of your hipbone through special sterile needles .. a 60 minute procedure. You may go home the same day.

::

Are there any risks or side effects?

1. Peripheral blood stem cell collection (PBSC) …..You might experience some flu- like symptoms, slight bone pain, or a feeling of heaviness during the injections. These discomforts usually disappear soon after the collection is completed. This will be discussed in detail with you.

2. Marrow harvest…..Other than the remote chance of a reaction to anesthesia or an infection the risks are minimal. This will be explained to you in detail. You may experience some soreness in the lower back.

::

If you were in Vinay’s shoes, you would want people to move beyond their fear and inertia. You would hope that they’d help, if they could. If this were your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your little brother or sister, your Dad…you’d be hoping and praying for someone to be a match. Well, you could be the match. And everyone who needs you IS someone’s sibling, parent, friend, beloved. This is the greatest expression of “community” I can think of— lives are at stake and we rally around those who need us, to support and heal them. If you are interested, please get to a drive in your area…while our enthusiasm and passion are infinite, our time is not.

Help?

anna at 11:28 PM in Events, Health and Medicine · 15 comment(s) · 1 reader(s) linked · Direct link

June 28, 2007

Set Adrift on "SubcontineNtal Drift" in DC Tomorrow

I recently emailed five questions to Sophie, who is part of the force behind D.C.’s Subcontinental Drift.

Several Mutineers discussed SD’s last event at the most recent D.C. meetup— in fact, a few of you even performed at it! I get the feeling the rest of you would be VERY interested in what Sophie and her dynamic crew are trying to do— so I thought I’d post a wee reminder that your next chance to marinate in creative splendor is tomorrow night, June 29. But first, some essential information:

Subcontinental Drift is __?

…an effort to bring out the “basement talents of the District’s desis.” Basically, we’re trying to provide a creative space for people who are artistically-inclined (that’s a broad term and encompasses pretty much anyone from professional artists to people who like to watch other people read poetry) to connect with each other and share each other’s work.

What inspired it?

A few of us “D.C. desis” felt like there was a void in the South Asian community —in a place like D.C. where there are soooo many talented people, there wasn’t a cohesive group or space that was encouraging or nurturing that talent. The need was something that was floating around in the air, and we just grabbed it. Specifically though, the catalyst for me was when I was with Munish and Vikash at Bossa lounge in Adams Morgan and we watched Vishal Kanwar play tablas there. We’re like, wow, this is cool..let’s do more cool stuff. Something like that.

What’s the best thing about it?

The best thing is watching new artists get up in front of nearly 100 desis, and coming more and more into themselves. When you see people willing to get up there, be vulnerable, share a sacred part of themselves, and the audience is so warm and appreciative—it is the most beautiful thing.

What if someone wanted to get involved with it?

They should email us at subdriftdc@gmail.com .

What if a mutineer who isn’t lucky enough to live in D.C. wanted to emulate such awesomeness— any advice for them?

Get a few like-minded people together who are committed to the same thing you are, pick a venue, and go to the ends of the earth to SPREAD THE WORD about it. If your community doesn’t have a creative space for people, chances are people are hungry for it. As long as word spreads, people will come. And especially in the beginning, keep the vibe pretty informal and verryyy welcoming—human connection is the key!

I went to the last Subcontinental Drift and I’ll be at tomorrow’s, as well. The atmosphere that Sophie, Munish, Nina, Mona, Nabeel, Vishal and Surabhi create is extraordinary; upon being dragged to last month’s event, a friend of mine from out of town was actually envious of us DCists, because he thought the open mic/dance performances/live music/stand-up comedy/ridiculously good sangria made for one fantastic night. I agreed and immediately grew mindful of how lucky I was to live here, where creativity manifests like this. I’m telling you, the very air in that room pictured above felt charged, different, exhilarating. You should go, and see for yourself. :)

Subcontinental Drift

An open mic for and by South Asian Americans.

-experiments in words, sound or art
-music
-comedy
-spoken word

Friday, June 29, 2007
7:30pm-10pm
Cost: FREE and we have drinks and snacks!

La Casa Community Center
3166 Mt. Pleasant Street NW
3 blocks from the Columbia Heights metro stop.
(Green or Yellow Line)

anna at 05:30 PM in Art, Dance, Events, Identity, Music, Profiles, Theater · 14 comment(s) · Direct link

Help Vinay & Sameer - SF

Unfortunately, Vinay isn’t alone in needing your / our help. Sameer Bhatia has also recently been diagnosed with AML, needs a bone marrow transplant, and is joining forces with Vinay to get South Asians registered. Mutineer Anna’s been fantastic about getting the word out for NYC and DC marrow registration drives, but West Coasters should know about an upcoming drive & fundraiser in SF — TONIGHT.

When: Thursday, June 28, 7pm to 10pm

Where: Dolce in San Francisco

www.dolcesf.com

Contact: Deepa Prasad and Harini Madhavan; deepaprasad@hotmail.com or hvmadhavan@hotmail.com

At the second event, we will be holding a donor drive as well as raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We would love to see you there as well. Please spread the word and bring as many people as you can to both events. It should be a great time as well as an important and meaningful cause.

If you can’t make it up to SF, there are other drives tonight in Sacramento, Seattle, Sunnyvale and NYC and a LARGE LIST of future drives all across the country. With 1 in 20,000 odds of finding a suitable match, every little cheek swab helps.

vinod at 01:14 PM in Events, Issues · 26 comment(s) · Direct link

June 25, 2007

Maybe a DC Meetup This SUNDAY? [Updated]

[Instead of Saturday at noon, the meetup will be on SUNDAY at 12:30. It is still at Amma. Please be noting date and time change— thanks. :)]

But first, a rushed write-up of what went down last time:

• Icebreaker: The battle of the Jessicas- who is hotter, Alba or Biel? There were two poultry-submitted abstentions.
• Adorable Munish changed his vote when he realized he was, in fact, supporting an Alumna of Seventh Heaven: “I thought you meant the woman from Flashdance!”
• Once we started playing, “Who has the tiniest apt” after one of you suggested having meetups in our homes, Jay said we should have used THAT as the icebreaker—“Hi, I’m ___ and I have 400 sq ft!”
• It was the reverse of our college years— Southies Reprazent!
• There was a minor TamBrahm crisis when we discovered that Amma had run out of vada, for the first time in nine years.
• I was smacked. Thrice. By our waiter. You can’t put a price on that kind of abuse.
• Two of the above three spankings occurred as THIRTEEN more people than the sixteen we expected showed.
• Once we ran out of table space: “Start sitting on laps. Sigh. I guess I’ll begin.” Plop.
• What is UP with the lack of RSVPing, meetup-crashers: “This isn’t a wedding, people!”
• Murthy’s Law: Next time, we should reserve the entire restaurant. That way no one will show.
• We actually had to turn people away, for lack of space. :(
• Can’t make it to the bathroom to wash your hands? Use the “Indian Faucet” a.k.a. a poorly-approximated finger bowl via drinking glass
• Subcontinental Drift (we love you!)‘s MySpace page might induce seizures.
• Me to Jay (of the blog Weaselplasty) “All our friends are apparently stand-up comics (and they performed at SD)”
• Said one, “Tortoise porn is available on YouTube.” Said the Terp, all dismissively, “I know about THAT”, as the rest of us exhibited the proper reaction to that statement, which is shock and horror.
• One attendee confessed that while this meetup was fabulous, they had “hobbit envy” about Houston.
• Library Science: it gets no respect
• Second Best line of the meetup: “Why are men always giving me money and then leaving?”
• A Tamil girl who was raised in Bombay tried to reconcile her identities by saying…she was like a “paneer dosa”
• Paneer Dosa has said she will be at the June meetup; that way you can mock her for her metaphor in person! ;)
• I ordered two Salt Lassis and four Madras Kappis.  I received ONE Madras Kappi.
• Lemon Rice for me, dosas for EVERYONE ELSE
• Best line of the meetup: “Your picture on Shaadi.com was so much better!”
• More on Sunny Leone and the greatness of snuff films.
• Despite our most obnoxious attempts to be porntastic in order to clear the restaurant, so more of us could be seated, the packed place wasn’t bothered at all by our antics. Contrast this with Heritage India, where we sent them screaming out the door. It would appear that South Indian families are immune to our offensiveness. :)

Now, after reading the merriment-filled minutes of our last meetup, who feels like getting together again for more? :) I’m craving dosa and you, well, after I published this post, I learned that you are ALL craving dosa, ALL the time.

WHERE: Amma’s Vegetarian Kitchen, 3291 M St. NW, Washington, DC 20007, 202-625-6625

WHEN: SUNDAY, JULY 1. 12:30 PM.

WHY: Because you nosy little monkeys want to pepper me for non-existant gossip about the Mutiny.

Think of it as a post-Subcontinental Drift “survivors’ brunch”. Kill your hangover with Madras Kappi and Rasam! :D

::

As for New York…Maybe mid-late July? :)

::

San Francisco? End of August, we’ll keep you posted.

anna at 07:49 PM in Blog, Events, Humor, Meetups! · 180 comment(s) · 1 reader(s) linked · Direct link

June 14, 2007

How to Save A Life in DC + NYC -- UPDATED

Remember Vinay? I blogged about him because he direly needs a bone marrow transplant and his best chance at finding a match lies with us. Unsurprisingly, several of you said you would step up and get swabbed, if only you had the opportunity to do so. Well, after throwing more meetups than any other mutineer, I know for a fact that DC has a TON of SM readers— now make good on your word to help.

You can even do so TODAY— look:

* * *

THURSDAY, JUNE 14 - DOWNTOWN D.C.

4:30p to 7:30p
Asian American Justice Center
1140 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1200
Washington, DC

Contact: DCdonorDrive@aol.com or Rachna at (202) 256-4326

Can’t make it? Live in the burbs? Try these:

* * *

SATURDAY, JUNE 16 - LANHAM, MD

10:30a to 3:30p
Sri Shiva Vishnu Temple
6905 Cipriano Rd.
Lanham, MD

Contact: Aditya at aditya.raghavendra@gmail.com or (617) 872-0081

* * *

SUNDAY, JUNE 17 - BALTIMORE, MD

9:30a to 5:00p
Greater Baltimore Temple
2909 Bloom Rd.
Finksburg, MD

Contact: Seema at indiaseema@hotmail.com or (949) 291-2545

5:45 PM UPDATE—

* * *

Jane says (she’s done with Sergio) that a NEW YORK Drive commences in 15 minutes;

Hey in NYC tonite as well….

Public House

141 East 41st St (between Lexington and Third Avenues), New York, NY

Thursday, June 14, 6:00pm to 10:00pm

One of our longtime readers lost a parent to this tragic disease last week. Some of you know whom I’m referring to and if you haven’t already given a little bit of yourself, maybe this message from their family will move you:

In lieu of flowers, please help save a life and register with the national bone marrow registry or get someone else to register (www.marrow.org).

How many people whom we know and love must we lose before you register?

anna at 03:00 PM in Events, Health and Medicine, Issues · 31 comment(s) · Direct link

May 14, 2007

It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp (UPDATED w/ outcome)

You might not believe this, but we’re not really a vain bunch here at the mutiny. There’s barely a single full length mirror in the entire bunker, and it’s hard for me to move Rajni the monkey (who loves to watch herself preen) away when I need to tie my turban in the morning. We’re quite bashful really, and say awwww shucks a lot, as befits people of our rank and station in life.

This would explain why blogger Vinod failed to tell the rest of us about his latest honor (Thanks Manish!). Vinod was nominated for “The Bay Area’s Most Eligible Bachelor Contest” !!!!

We’re not asking for your votes, Sanjaya fans, they closed the polls on Friday. Instead, we’re asking you to collectively hold your breath until the winner is announced at some point tomorrow. If he wins, our very own man meat mutineer will receive an invitation to participate in the Guardsmen Bachelor Auction on May 17. That’s right … if we’re lucky, Vinod could be auctioned off to the highest bidder, thus demonstrating his strong belief in the efficiency of the market.

Just one complaint, yaaar. Whoever pimped you out used this photo when I think that this photo shows your good side. And if you win, remember, I’ve got dibs on one of the two VIP tickets and the pimp costume. A man has to look his best …

How much would you pay?

p.s. love the goodie bag:

The Winner of the Bay Area’s Most Eligible Bachelor contest receives … A goodie bag stuffed with lux items, including Teeth Whitening from Serenity Dental Spa, Botox by Dr. Michael Macdonald, 2 tickets to Monte Carlo Night donated by Coit Staffing, Interior Design Consultation by Katharina Wohl Designs, Hair-cut and Style provided by Nikas at 77 Maiden Lane Salon & Spa, event photography service by TheAList.org, and more. [Link]

Although it beggars the mind to think so, the winner of this round was not our every own Vinod, but instead somebody named Matt Harris who isn’t nearly half as debonair, dashing or geeky:

Matt is 30 years old and lives in Russian Hill in San Francisco. “He’s one of the most kind, funny, caring, intelligent people I’ve met,” writes Trudi Loscotoff. He works for Conde Nast in San Francisco as an Advertising Sales Manager for Details Magazine. He has a 3 pound Yorkshire Terrier named Scout. They are both house trained, well mannered and always down for adventure. Matt loves to cook, and is looking for a funny woman who likes to stay in and drink wine. [Link]

[The outcome was rigged! Rigged I tell you! Vinod was robbed! First Al Gore and now Vinod!]

Vinod, remember, you’re always number 1 in our hearts, no matter what other people say. We’d be happy to turn you out auction you off any time you want.

ennis at 05:51 PM in Beauty, Events, Humor, Profiles · 30 comment(s) · Direct link

May 10, 2007

1857

If we had a tradition of open threads here, I would just open one here today and ask all of y’all to share your thoughts on the Sepoy Mutiny, a.k.a. Rebellion, a.k.a. First War of Independence, a.k.a. perhaps some other name, depending on your viewpoint and the importance you assign to nomenclature in history. I know shamefully little about this fundamental event in the history of the Indian Subcontinent, and even less about the debates that it has spurred among historians, except that I know that these have been complicated and sometimes heated.

But today marks the official sesquicentennial commemoration of the start of the Mutiny/Rebellion/War, and by way of launching the conversation, I present three different takes that are in the news today. First we have Mani Shankar Aiyar, India’s Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, who gave the official start to a youth march from Meerut to Delhi a couple of days ago. His remarks to a RediffNews correspondent emphasized the secular nature of the uprising; he observed that India today can learn from the uprising the importance of pluralism, secularism and religious understanding:

The significance of 1857 for today’s youth is that it makes you realise that we all are one people in spite of our diversity.

The freedom-fighters who revolted against the British in 1857 were mostly Hindus in Meerut. After disobeying their British superiors they went straight to the Mughal king, Bahadur Shah Zafar, and made him their king.

They had no ill-feeling for the Mughal king though he was a Muslim. This is the kind of secular bonding these soldiers had in them.

Our young generation must remember that united we stand, and though we are a diverse people we have to maintain our unity. That is what the message of 1857 was to all Indians. …

This is another message that Bahadur Shah Zafar and the freedom-fighters of 1857 wanted to pass on to the future generations. No matter what your religion and region be, respect all religion and maintain harmony. …

We have to remember the fact that India has the second largest Muslim population in the world. We have more Muslims than in Pakistan and Bangladesh but we Indians live together peacefully and I am proud to say all Muslims are my brothers.

Next up is the White Mughal himself, William Dalrymple Saheb. You knew he’d turn up somewhere! In an opinion piece today in the Guardian he argues that 1857 bears lessons for certain other interventions and occupations that Britain might happen to be involved in today. Here’s one of the similarities he points out:

The British progressed from removing threatening Muslim rulers to annexing even the most pliant Islamic states. In February 1856 they marched into Avadh, also known by the British as Oudh. To support the annexation, a “dodgy dossier” was produced before parliament, so full of distortions and exaggerations that one British official who had been involved in the operation described the parliamentary blue book (or paper) on Oudh as “a fiction of official penmanship, [an] Oriental romance” that was refuted “by one simple and obstinate fact”, that the conquered people of Avadh clearly “preferred the slandered regime” of the Nawab “to the grasping but rose-coloured government of the company”.

Dalrymple concludes:

Yet the lessons of 1857 are very clear. No one likes people of a different faith conquering them, or force-feeding them improving ideas at the point of a bayonet. The British in 1857 discovered what the US and Israel are learning now, that nothing so easily radicalises a people against them, or so undermines the moderate aspect of Islam, as aggressive western intrusion in the east. The histories of Islamic fundamentalism and western imperialism have, after all, long been closely and dangerously intertwined. In a curious but very concrete way, the fundamentalists of all three Abrahamic faiths have always needed each other to reinforce each other’s prejudices and hatreds. The venom of one provides the lifeblood of the others.

Before we go too far down that track, here’s a third perspective, from Rudrangshu Mukherjee in the Telegraph:

[I am] surprise[d] at the sudden burst of enthusiasm among historians about the great uprising. There is nothing like a state-sponsored anniversary to stoke the interests of historians in a subject. The adjective, state-sponsored, is used advisedly. In a country with as rich and as diverse a history as India’s, every year is an anniversary of something or the other. In June will come the 250th anniversary of the battle of Plassey. Is the Indian state celebrating that anniversary? The answer is no. The decision to celebrate the revolt of 1857 with some fanfare is based on the conclusion — put forward by some historians and accepted by the government of India — that the rebellion is worth celebrating because it represented India’s first war of independence.

Mukherjee argues that “1857 should be remembered but not commemorated,” because of the extreme violence of both the insurrection and the counter-insurrection.

The events of 1857 churned around a vicious cycle of violence. The rebels killed mercilessly without considerations of gender and age. Witness the massacre on the river in Kanpur where nearly the entire British population was killed in a spectacular show of rebel power. The British killed indiscriminately to punish a population that had transgressed the monopoly of violence that rulers have over the ruled.

He concludes:

Today, as the celebrations begin to mark the 150th anniversary of the rebellion, some questions need to be asked: is 1857 an occasion to celebrate? Can the Indian state uphold the violence that is inextricably linked to that year? Can the Indian state say that it is loyal to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence, and in the same breath celebrate 1857 when so many innocent people, on both sides, were brutally killed?

The questions are important because in India, there is no mode of remembering without celebrating. We commemorate to remember, sometimes even to forget. Eighteen fifty-seven is an event to remember, as all events of the past are; it is an event to comprehend and analyse because, as Jawaharlal Nehru wrote, it showed “man at his worst”. That comprehension and analysis is best done outside the aegis of the State.

I present these three perspectives somewhat arbitrarily. I imagine there are many others and I hope people will share them, honest in their opinions and generous with their explanations.

siddhartha at 09:15 AM in Events, History, News, Politics · 213 comment(s) · Direct link

April 19, 2007

DC: Brunch Meetup THIS Sunday? [UPDATED]

We’ve had some rough times in the bunker…when Manish and Vinod first broke up…when Ennis was told he couldn’t smuggle anymore adoring groupies in and pass them off as interns…when Manish and Vinod broke up again…when the lemurs went on strike to protest the lack of parties…when one of our guest bloggers developed a very rare allergic reaction to…ah, never mind.

My point is, what we faced before were minor challenges; this has been a rather difficult week, as we confronted far more sobering matters, which affected us all. This week, we dealt with real pain, as tragedy reminded us of how fleeting life actually is. Such “big news” always means more traffic, which means more moderating and more possibilities for this or worse, this.

So, I’m a little down right now and I know many of you are, too. This is what I propose to lift our sepia spirits: an eleventh-hour sort of meetup at reliable and hospitable Heritage India this weekend. Perhaps what this community needs is…more community. Let’s bond, y’all! You know you want to. All are welcome: trolls, lurkers, smurfs and elves included. Vogons, however, will not be tolerated, since it’s highly possible that they might be feeling poetic and no one deserves that.

We can do brunch like we did the first time we were there, at the third DC Meetup or we can have dinner like we did the last time we were there, at the fourth DC meetup which was also our first-ever SM Channukah extravaganza. No, that wasn’t convoluted at all. ;) The more significant issue is that we haven’t met up in FOUR MONTHS.

Dinner on Saturday, April 21 at 8ish

or

Brunch on Sunday, April 22 at Noonish it is!

Either way, I feel like it is an apposite time to revisit Heritage; I’ve had a sad sort of craving for Golgoppas and I’d like to sate that, in memory of someone else who loved them.

FYI: Heritage is Metro accessible (Red line).

Heritage India Brasserie
1337 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 331-1114

anna at 08:46 PM in Blog, Events, Humor, Meetups! · 95 comment(s) · Direct link

Paulose? Puh-leaze

One of the two major keynote speakers at this year’s NASABA conference in San Francisco is going to be Rachel K. Paulose, United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota [Thanks Maisnon]. Yes, that Rachel Paulose.

On the one hand, this makes sense - she’s a very prominent desi legal figure. As we said before, at age 33 she is:

the youngest serving U.S. Attorney, the first woman to hold that position in Minnesota and the first U.S. Attorney of South Asian descent. [Link]

So of course she’d make a great keynote speaker. The other speaker will be Kamala D. Harris, the District Attorney of San Francisco, so Paulose is the bigger fish of the two.

Then again, there has been a lot of controversy around her. Since our last post about her, which dealt with her credentials and swearing-in ceremony, a number of other problems have cropped up, including an unprecedented vote of no confidence from her subordinates who demoted themselves rather than work for her:

On April 5, 2007, three of her top administrators — First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Marti, second in command; civil division head Erika Monzangue and criminal division head James Lackner — voluntarily resigned those positions, reverting to simple assistant U.S. attorney status, reportedly in protest over Paulose’s management style. [Link]

This is very highly unusual since the key people in her office took a rank and pay cut both to avoid working directly under her. It’s strange enough that the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee may even investigate.

And just recently, to top it all off, the Republican Senator from Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman, has done a 180 in terms of his support for her. Whereas earlier he took credit for her nomination, now his office is claiming that the Senator never nominated her at all.

Paulose is clearly a hot potato, which should make for a lively convention. If anybody is going, let us know if she gets asked anything interesting when she speaks, OK?

ennis at 06:09 PM in Events, Law · 40 comment(s) · Direct link

March 05, 2007

SXSW-desi style

So is anyone coming down to Texas for SXSW? An anonymous tipster with good taste in music points out that The Big Sleep (see also here), The Cassettes, Voxtrot, Swati Sharma, and Aziz Ansari will all be representing the brown.

Speaking of Aziz, as I am sure many of you heard, MTV (not MTV Desi) just gave him his own show titled:

Here is a little taste. You can check out more on their website.

abhi at 10:11 PM in Events, Music, TV · 21 comment(s) · Direct link

January 16, 2007

Bigot Brother?

We reported earlier on Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty’s venture into the Celebrity Big Brother house in the UK. We thought things were going smoothly for her when reader Jai informed us that Shilpa was part of a reshuffle in the house where

“8 housemates voluntarily transferred into an adjoining, and significantly dodgier, “servants’ quarters”, with the intention that the 3 remaining celebrities would be treated like royalty by them. It appears that they all selected the lucky 3 on the basis of them having the highest status in the real world — Shilpa was one of them, along with Jermaine Jackson and a famous director called Ken Russell. So that’s an interesting indication of how they view her.”

Jai signed on again, despite starting a new job (congrats jai!), to let us know how things were progressing for Shilpa and the gang. It seemed she had bonded with the other major stars on the show, especially Jermaine Jackson and Dirk Benedict (Face from the A-team) who was crushing hard core on the Bollywood star. At the same time it seems, Shilpa was also the victim of a lot of bullying and even some acts of racism from some of the housemates (especially the ladies). Over the past few days, fellow participants have called Shilpa “dog, “”The Indian,” and have even mocked her accent. One of the Bullyers according to the Daily Mirror is previous Big Brother winner Jade Goody. Goody, who supports Act Against Bullying, an anti-bullying charity, was swiftly given the boot by the the charity because of her actions. Act Againts Bullyying called Goody’s behaviour “unforgivable”.

Jade’s mother Jackey too got in on the anti-Shilpa act. According to Caroline Malone, who was recently evicted, “Jade’s mum Jackiey hated Shilpa and constantly referred to her as “The Indian” which I found horribly insulting. Jackiey made life purposely difficult for Shilpa - shouting at her for no reason, criticising her cooking, attacking her for being bossy.” (link)

Hey, you don’t like someone? Call them names, use their race, ethnic origin, or anything that makes them different and mock that as well. Have your mom call them names, and have your boyfriend call them names too. That solves everything. It turns out Jade’s boyfriend Jack Tweed— who is also currently in the house, and was alleged to have called Shetty a “paki” when Jade’s mother was evicted last week; Channel 4, the channel on which Big Brother airs, has confirmed that Tweed didn’t call Shetty a Paki, but instead the clearly more civilized, “cunt.” Last night Shetty was in tears and is quoted as saying: “I’m the only one they are mean to, I don’t know why. Nobody is mean to anyone else except me.” (link)

The Hindustan Times reports that many viewers think Shilpa is being targeted out of jealousy. I was quite surprised to hear that Shilpa was being paid more than everyone else $680,000, against the standard fee of $610,000. She has also been more popular in the media than other participants, mostly B- and C-list celebs (link). Even though I am a fan of the reality tv genre, I am constantly amazed at how foolish and idiotic adults can act on these shows. Things have gotten so bad in the house for Shilpa that the BBC has reported that British Media watchdog Ofcom and Channel 4 have received almost 10,000 complaints about the racist behavior and bullying thus far. Showing solidairty with his Asian sister and his many British Asian constituents, Leicester East MP Keith Vaz even tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons against the alleged racist behaviour on Big Brother. The motion reads: “…This House views with concern comments made about… Shilpa Shetty by other housemates; believes that Big Brother has a role… in preventing racist behaviour…; regrets that these comments have been made, and calls on the programme to take… action to remind housemates that racist behaviour is unacceptable.” While Ofcom has indicated that it is looking into each complaint of racist behavior on the show, no matter how much investigation they do, it won’t change the resentment/negative feelings that seems to exist in some segments of British society. You can’t investigate that away.

sajit at 11:13 PM in Arts and Entertainment, Events, Politics · 275 comment(s) · Direct link

January 15, 2007

SAAN 2007 Conference

I just wanted to remind you students out there, particularly those who live in the Midwest, that you can still sign up for the SAAN 2007 Conference at the University of Michigan on the January 26-28th weekend. I spoke at last year’s conference (along with current guest blogger Preston Merchant) and re-capped the fabulousness of it all here.

SAAN’s primary function is to establish an annual South Asian conference for South Asian and non-South Asian students alike. SAAN 2007: Reveal, Rethink, Realize will be the fifth annual holding of this conference, and we hope to continue setting a precedent that all future SAAN conferences will follow. SAAN 2007 will be held January 26-28th at the University of Michigan Union. [Link]

For those of you who are wondering, SAAN is like the anti-SASA. No crazy partying, no SWAT teams, no drunken fights. Just good people, good learning, and great networking. Here is this year’s line-up. I am sure you will recognize many of the names on the list. Among them is Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi, the biographer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Some of the workshops look pretty interesting also. These two stand out (for me at least):

Do Nice Guys Finish Last? - Does leading an ethical life limit your ambitions? As we climb the ladder, should we hush our ethical voice for personal gain? For instance, if you see your boss engaging in sexual harassment, will you stay silent? Will you be totally honest on your resume? Or will you start a pseudo-student group just so you can add another leadership position on your resume? This workshop will examine the interplay between ethics and ambition in our lives…

Mohammad, Vishnu, and Darwin - We always hear about the conflict between the Bible and evolution. But how do South Asian religions reconcile religious and scientific beliefs?… [Link]

Don’t be lazy. Sign up here. It’s cheap and if you don’t like your experience you can totally rip me a new one in the comments section without being banned. I’m that confident in my recommendation.

abhi at 10:24 PM in Events · 13 comment(s) · Direct link

December 12, 2006

Wide Eyed

In case any of this wonderful site’s (don’t fire me!) glorious readers (leave me happy comments!) are in Karachi for the next couple of days, I highly recommend that they check out the 6th KaraFilm Festival being held at the Arts Council and/or the Pakistan Institute of International Affairs. According to the website:

There are a grand total of over 170 films being screened this year, including over 40 features, over 30 documentaries and over 95 shorts. They are from 37 countries as diverse as Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, USA, Canada, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Portugal, Jamaica, Brazil, Ireland, Romania, Sweden, Guatemala, Sudan, Chad, UAE, Sri Lanka, Peru, China, Poland, Estonia, Austria, Australia, Turkey, Greece, Finland and the Czech Republic . They include a number of World Premieres and Asian premieres, while most are at least Pakistan premieres. Many of them have won prizes at other well known festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, London, Sundance and Mumbai as well as international critics’ FIPRESCI jury awards.

The film festival will also be running a retrospective on François Truffaut, and showcasing the works of Irani (not Iranian, thank goodness) director Jafar Panahi and Pakistani director Jamil Dehlavi. What I love about this festival, despite my inability to actually attend it, no matter how many times I swear to myself in the months leading up that I WILL go to at least a handful of screenings, is that it manages to also (albeit somewhat tangentially) hit other visual arts media. To wit:

Accompanying the film screenings will be a unique curated art exhibition of the work of 5 Pakistani artists who draw their inspiration from the hand-painted imagery of popular cinema and billboard advertising.

In a city like Karachi, where the only forms of public entertainment revolve around food (which, hey, no complaints from me or the owners of my gym) and the occasional (overpriced) concert, this is an unsurprisingly popular event. Tickets tend to be relatively cheap, and the organisers of the event tend to try and cater to a variety of income groups, for example showing movies like The Incredibles dubbed in Hindi/Urdu (the voices are by Sharukh Khan, no less! Eeeee! Not really.) for kids, and charging about Rs. 50 (about 90 cents) for a ticket to a showing. It’s not a bad deal at all, but I think what I find really encouraging about the whole event is that it tends to remind Karachi that it can well function as a city with cultural projects, as a locus not necessarily limited to bombings and huge amounts of criminal and sectarian violence or a massive economic class divide.

On the off-chance that there are any readers in Karachi who’d like to go and are having trouble finding tickets or getting sorted out, leave a comment and I’ll try to help out. It’s well-worth the effort.

sin at 03:12 PM in Events