http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/ All that flavorful brownness in one savory packet 2009-11-20T17:37:35-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006020.html While on the topic of why India didn't liberalize sooner, an article posted to the SM's News column points at one important factor. In his "Letter from India" column in the NYT, Akash Kapur reflects on the 20 yr anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall the impact it had on India - Most of the media coverage has, quite understandably, focused on Europe. But the tremors from Communism's collapse were felt far beyond the immediate battlegrounds of the Cold War. The breakup of the Soviet Union had a profound impact on India. In many ways, it paved the ... Economics vinod 2009-11-20T17:37:35-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006019.html As most SepiaMutiny readers know by now, I work for MTV Iggy. And I don’t mean to keep pimping that stuff over here, but whenever something that might interest you comes up, it seems a shame to not share it. A new special feature just went up on the rock music scene in India, with interviews, live performance footage, music videos, slideshows, and more. Arjun S. Ravi, the editor of a Mumbai-based site that tracks the Indian rock scene, contributed fascinating article on the highs and lows of being a rock music fan in India: The easiest way to ... Arts and Entertainment cicatrix 2009-11-19T16:39:12-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006018.html Remember last month when I blogged about how President Obama signed the executive order to reinstate the Asian American and Pacific Islander Advisory Commission and White House Initiative? You know, when Penn Masala sang at the White House? Well, Kiran Ahuja has just been named Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. This federal-wide effort was first established in June of 1999 by President Bill Clinton… The office will be housed in the U.S. Department of Education and include a Federal Interagency Working Group (IWG) co-chaired by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Secretary ... Community taz 2009-11-18T16:32:07-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006017.html Historical "what-if's" are notoriously difficult to prove but also notoriously delicious to discuss. Would WWII have happened if Hitler had been killed in the trenches of WWI? [W]ith earlier reform, 14.5 million more children would have survived, 261 million more Indians would have become literate, and 109 million more people would have risen above the poverty line.Would there have been a WWI if Franz Ferdinand survived the assassination attempt? What if Al Gore got his Florida recount? What would have become of Sonam Kapoor's career if she skipped the flop that was Saawariya? Arguably, while many of the most famous ... Economics vinod 2009-11-17T15:29:48-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006016.html Hey, remember when Google’s motto used to be “don’t be evil?” Vaht, you thought they still had it? I did too, but this…might not be evil, but it certainly seems a little unfair: Google India had launched a ‘Doodle 4 Google - My India’ contest in August. The Doodle is the logo design you see on the Google homepage. The theme of this competition was ‘My India’. On November 12, Google India announced at Taj Ambassador Hotel that tech hub Gurgaon based 4th standard school kid Puru Pratap has won the competition…a laptop computer for himself, a t-shirt with his ... Animation cicatrix 2009-11-17T00:26:48-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006015.html I love this picture. I have no other reason for sharing it with you, other than that. I wondered if we might be able to use it for a caption contest, but I’m not sure how it would turn out (did I just diss your creative powers? I might have! Prove me wrong! ;) Fantastic capture, isn’t it? It was taken by a Debasis Roy, of Asansol, India, and I felt like it deserved to be seen, in case you missed it when it was featured on National Geographic’s “Top Shots”. As for how the fishy fared, don’t fret about ... Photos anna 2009-11-16T17:40:56-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006013.html By now, many readers may have seen Tunku Varadarajan’s controversial column for Forbes from last week, “Going Muslim.” In it, Varadarajan coins a new term to describe Major Nidal Hasan’s rampage at Fort Hood two weeks ago. “Going Muslim” is Varadarajan’s variation of “going postal,” a phrase coined a few years ago, after a string of (non-Muslim) U.S. postal workers went on killing sprees. Here is how Varadarajan defines the term: This phrase would describe the turn of events where a seemingly integrated Muslim-American—a friendly donut vendor in New York, say, or an officer in the U.S. Army at Fort ... News amardeep 2009-11-16T11:28:23-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006012.html I know the Mutiny community has lots of literature lovers, so I wanted to let you know about some sharp new writers, and where you can find them—Amitava Kumar and I have edited the fiction section of Guernica this month, and it features South Asian writers. Tomorrow, two of them (Tania James and Hasanthika Sirisena) will be joining us for a reading in Brooklyn as part of Page Turner - The Asian American Literary Festival. (There’s a day of great programming—we’re on at 3. Disclosure: Amitava and I are both on the board of AAWW, the sponsoring org.) I ... Literature V.V. 2009-11-13T10:57:21-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006011.html Let’s start with this song by the Pakistani rock group co-VEN, “Ready to Die”: co-VEN was featured in a recent New York Times multimedia video by Adam Ellick (not embeddable) which can be seen here. Other musicians mentioned in the Times story include Ali Azmat and the band Noori (identified in the video as the Noori Brothers). To me, Ali Azmat comes across as a blithering idiot in the Times video, but I found the comments from co-VEN more compelling — at least coherent. (For the most part, I agreed with the Pakistani journalists in the Times’ video, not the ... Religion amardeep 2009-11-13T10:23:56-05:00 http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/006010.html Our friend Bassam Tariq from 30 Mosques in 30 Days just posted a fascinating story over at Times.com about a Bangladeshi candidate that ran for local office in NYC. (hat tip, Sharaf!) It’s the classic story, with a modern twist. Bangladeshi immigrant Mujib Rahman wants to be elected to New York’s City Council. It’s the story of an immigrant, running for office on the Republican ticket, wanting to make a difference for his community. The clip shows how he tries to campaign in the local Bangladeshi community to gain votes - to get one of their own Bangladeshis in office. ... Identity taz 2009-11-11T14:44:07-05:00