Tag: art (last 300)
The Two A.S.’s
(Anand G) Anand Giridharadas reassesses Adam Smith in light of Amartya Sen. ‘While some men are born small and some achieve smallness, it is clear enough that Smith has had much smallness thrust upon him,’� [says] Amartya Sen, who is one of A.G.âs Hvd teachers.
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(Gallerychemould Pics) Saris made of bottle caps by artist Sharmila Samant. More bottle saris: [via]
An India-South Korea Strategic Partnership?
(Express) One of the first foreign policy acts of UPA-II last year was to sign a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Seoul. Dr Singh now has the chance to complement his economic outreach to South Korea with a full-fledged strategic partnership.
Divine retribution
(Vishal12) In â34, Gandhi told Biharis a massive quake was because they enforced untouchability. Nehru, Tagore were horrified.
How Dems lost the Kennedy seat
(NYT) Rahm Emanuel was on holiday in Rajasthan and Coakley didnât campaign between Christmas and New Years: Dems caught napping in loss of Kennedy seat.
Must be some damn good tea
(NYT) Rich: Tea Party Emporium offers a $90 bejeweled tea bag, while ‘populistâ Palin charges $120K per speech.
Just show up and sound reasonable
Life of Beatrice
(Millions) ‘Life of Piâ author Yann Martelâs ‘Beatrice and Virgilâ is an ‘Animal Farmâ-like take on the Holocaust, due in â10. Shteyngart releasing a fiscal collapse novel.
Darwin, Musically Speaking
(NPR) David Balakrishnan composed Tree of Life a large multimedia composition where “styles and eras seem to evolve" including Indian classical music, bluegrass, swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban, East Euro folk, hints of funk... itâs based on Darwinâs theories.
5 Year Plan
(5yearplan) The 5 Year Plan is a DIY artist action in honor of Mahatma Gandhi, to benefit Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Artists include Pushpa Kumar, Alpana Bawa, Yoko Ono, Francesco Clemente and many brilliant lesser known artists.
Third party crasher IDâd
(WaPo) Carlos Allen the 3rd party crasher, planned it in advance by wearing tux and slipping in with a group of prominent Indian businessmen.
The mysterious man in a tux
(NYT) The third party crasher, a U.S. citizen in a tux, tagged along from a previous meeting with Indian leaders. [Ah, the old tag-along trick.]
Like an Agatha Christie mystery
(ABC) A *third* party crasher attended the Obama-Singh state dinner, coming in with the Indian delegation.
Ticker Trouble
(TO Globe) Evidence is mounting that south asians are more prone to heart disease than the general population. Study suggests that South Asian males have more ‘badâ cholestrol made worse by the adaptation of north american dietary habits.
Yesterdayâs massive party crashers story was just the beginning
(WaPo) The WaPo refused to investigate torture but is running multipart series on party crashers. WaPo = print version of ‘Jersey Shore.â
Iâm a celebrity, get me into here
Quakefinger
(NYT Aug) Khosla-funded geothermal energy co could have triggered earthquakes. Project now shut down.
Sartorial gyaan
The decline of the committed crasher
(New Yorker) Full-time party crashers: ‘the tall Indian-looking guy who said he was from Australian Consolidated Media... they were colorful and kind of endearing.â
Live from New York, Wiig in a lehenga
(SNL) Epic SNL skit with Kristen Wiig in a lehenga rips on Secret Service for party crashers incident.
Cold, hilly and sparse
(Daily Show Vid) Jon Stewart, Tom Friedman in highly skeptical discussion on Afghanistan warâs ‘magical thinking.â
Also, audition by munching a marigold
(Telegraph) Samrat C: Tilottama Shome told me [the director] was looking for a Bengali guy to play the photographerâs assistant. Italo is liberal but also guides us. The idea is to react instinctively.
Whoâs Sari Now?
(NYT) MoDo: Obama was the ultimate party crasher, and so are the WH staff who preened rather than inviting guests relevant to India.
99 red lehengas
(NYT) Party crasher trying to sell story, ‘her now famous red sariâ [lehenga], Secret Service screening was haphazard.
The talented Mrs. Salehi
It wasnât me
The curious incident of the lehenga in the night-time
(TPM·L) Theory: Indian consulate vouched for party crashers, Secret Service went along against their better judgment. Embarrassing to both White House, Indian govât.
Evading the Secret Service
(Gawker) Theory: state dinner crashers worked their polo connection to Indian embassy to get in on the down low.
Please forgive me
Naming namaskar
Chaiwalli
(Chaicart) San Francisco chaiwalli: Organic, free trade, natural, composting, unlicensed, street food 2.0.
Tong wins Man Asian prize
(Guardian) Su Tong, author of book which inspired ‘Raise the Red Lantern,â won Man Asian prize, beating out Omair Ahmad, Siddharth Chowdhury, Nitasha Kaul, Filipino writer Eric Gamalinda. (ht: @AmitavaKumar)
Art appreciation
(Hulu) ‘Parksâ S2xE9: Aziz Ansari only liked nude images but now heâs emotionally affected by abstract art.
Tech titans want in on ID project
(Techcrunch) With Bill Gates lobbying Nilekani, Yahooâs CEO lobbied Manmohan Singh to join the national ID project. Yahoo is popular due to Yahoo Cricket.
Papa the bus
Pokhara civil war
(Vid) *Very* impressive, cinematic trailer for ‘Uncharted 2,â with signs in Nepali. More Nepal gameplay: [via]
The pencil test
(Wiki) Sandra Laing, subject of ‘Skin,â is a dark-skinned white Afrikaner born to apartheid supporters. The S. African govât classified her as white, then black, then white based on her skin and hair.
Popsamiti art paper
(Popsamiti) Popsamiti is platform for artists and writers to explore narratives for the 21st century.
Read popsamiti, a limited edition print publication also available as a pdf download.
Watch online the Motherland Pop TALK: debating South Asian art and culture
Saffronart Gallery panel discussion
(Saffronart) Indian art panel discussion coinciding with Frieze Art Fair, a showcase of contemporary art in London. Hour-long audio discussion posted on website.
Starry Night at the sabzi mandi
(Holotropic Art) Moonchild S. African artist paints Van Gogh-inspired market in Kishanghar, Rajasthan. Another is supposed to be Ganesh in female form: [via]
Nozette threatened espionage for India
(TPM·L) NASA employee Stewart Nozette told a colleague if the U.S. prosecuted, heâd tell India or Israel everything he knew. He visited ISRO at least twice.
A flight to nowhere
(CBC) another dismal review of Amelia. i personally think mira nair was the wrong choice for this. sheâs a brush painter. earhart called for broad strokes, sweeping vistas, the imagination, the torment that fueled exploration. instead we got a navelgazer.
Did NASA scientist pass secrets to India?
(TPM·L) Stewart Nozette is charged with trying to sell NASA secrets to Israel, but docs indicate he tried selling them to another country first. Was it India, while he was working on Chandrayaan?
How Raja Ravi Varma got his first break
(Randomhouseindia) ‘The Painterâ: Jensen was forced to work under Raja Ravi Varmaâs intense gaze and struggled with getting his subjects to fit the mould of European portraiture. Varma learned how to blend colors better by watching him.
‘Ameliaâ screening
(Twitter) ‘Ameliaâ: has chai in Calcutta stopover. Mira always puts a little desi in all her movies. Swank joined for Q&A.
Stewart takes down CNNâs vacuousness
(Daily Show) Aasif Mandvi says CNN is a sober news org while John Oliver exposes it as a bunch of goat f-ers (at end of clip).
Lord Paul exaggerated expenses
(ToL) Multi-millionaire Labour donor Lord Paul claimed GBP38K in expenses by falsely claiming a flat as his main home. (via @tunkuv)
Accused of being a bad cop
(Rediff ‘01) LA cop Kulin Patel cleared of shooting suspect in back, planting gun in massive RAMPART scandal (ht: DJDP). [But much of RAMPART bad cop scandal was real.]
Gandhi angel
Shan Pipe Band Learns the Star Spangled Banner
(NYT) Pakistani artist hired a traditional brass band and filmed ‘Shan Pipe Band Learns the Star Spangled Banner.â NYT reviews contemporary Pakistani art show.
Syncretism pays
(Anniepaulactivevoice) Xtian desi Jamaican commissions Muslim Bâlore artist to paint offspring as Hindu deity.
Nonviolent Pathans for independence
(Wiki) Khudai Khidmatgar: nonviolent NWFP independence movement vs. Brits which allied with Gandhi. ‘The British used to torture us... but even then Badshah Khan told his followers... nothing can conquer nonviolence.â
‘Genius grantâ winners
(NYT) MacArthur Prize winners: L. Mahadevan, Harvard, applied math; Maneesh Agrawala, Berkeley, computer displays; Edwidge Danticat, Haitian-Am novelist...
Amartya Sen on ‘Capitalism and Confusionâ
(Vid) The septuagenarian Nobelist speaks on the philosophical and metaphysical misunderstandings (and confusions) that led to the financial crisis. At Cornell (where he was once on the faculty himself). Q&A: As are inaudible, but Qs are v interesting.
Donât be a Dick
(Vid) CBS announcer denied U.S. Open winner Juan Martin del Potroâs request to thank family in Spanish. Later agreed, but WTF. At 0:30.
Sharp-dressed man
‘Waitingâ at TIFF
Oh, for a book to ban
(Open) Journie longs for provocative, gonzo novel, not ‘effeteâ books by ‘Bengalis and Malayalis living in south Delhi or south Mumbai writing for each other.â Chandrahas smacks back, see comments.
‘Life Partner,â zzz
(Twitter) ‘Life Partnerâ is Bollywoodâs way of informing us, via Govindaâs performance of it, that the C Walk is well and truly dead.
Best Price Modern Wholesale
(Time Aug.) Amritsarâs Wal-Mart up against hyperlocal stores: -He asked, Madam, is your daughter not home? You havenât been ordering cheese singles! -Half the econ is black, documenting credit doesnât work.
‘Tigerâ sold 375,000 copies after win
(Bookseller) ‘White Tigerâ is the bestselling recent Booker winner after ‘Life of Pi.â Plenty of longlisters outsell the winners though.
The rise and fall of Bodhi gallery
(Timeoutmumbai) Barista founder pushed art prices to new highs with chain of Bodhi art galleries, which are now folding. (via @vikasbajaj)
‘Hanging Fireâ
(NYT) Taxidermied water buffalo, Muhammadâs winged steed Buraq Pakistani art exhibit at Asia Society, Manhattan, ‘Hanging Fire.â
Tulsi Pipe dream
Khushwant on Jaswantâs Book
(HT) I do not agree with Jaswant Singhâs reading...I believe Partition was inevitable...Indians were never an integrated society...Nehru Patel Jinnah were helpless against the tidal wave of hatred generated by history.
‘Woodstockâ: a long, boring trip
(WSJ) The Ravi Shankar songs in ‘Woodstockâ (Ang Lee, Demetri Martin) place the movie in the â60s but not at ground zero. Itâs not a concert movie.
A Tale of Two Books
(Hindu) Vidya Subrahmaniam thinks Shashi Tharoorâs 1997 book ‘India from M to Mâ criticized the Gandhi-Nehru family, and compares it favorably with the BJP. But Vidya, nobody remembers that book in 2009! Itâs not as if there was a furore and they let him by.
Preemptive censorship at Yale
(BoGlobe) The Muhammad cartoon violence in Pakistan, Libya and Nigeria was manipulated by political parties. Fearful, Yale Press banned an author from including them in her book.
Senâs monster exegesis
(ToL) The essential Amartya Sen: the 3rd-century debate between Asoka and Kautilya, a downbeat institutionalist, is more enlightening than a tired contrast between Hobbes and Hume. (via @soniafaleiro)
Carlos Ramos on India
(Coreyhelfordgallery) Gorgeous India-themed art by Carlos Ramos which has fun with Orientalism. Styleâs a cross between New Yorker and Ghee Happy. Rest of gallery: [via]
‘The Wish Makerâ
(NYT) Through 3 gens of a Lahore family, Ali Sethi charts Pakistani life since Partition. Evoke sthe comic mislocutions of Jonathan Safran Foer and the vertiginous mania of Zadie Smith.
Itâs all Urdu to me
(TO Globe) gentle canadian humor on language as we use it today. Understandable. Imagine using google, bing and yahoo in a sentence just fifteen years back.
Life of Pi II
(Guardian) Yann Martel sold a ‘Piâ followup for $3M, another animal allegory, this time donkey + howler monkey + Holocaust. [Sequel-itis.]
Birdy Nam Nam
(Wiki) Birdy Nam Nam are a DJ crew from France named after Hrundi V. Bakshiâs catchphrase in ‘The Party.â
One artist who wonât take a bat to Holland Cotter
(NYT) NY artist Zarina Hashmi is one of S. Asian artâs few minimalists: single sheets of paper perforated with pinpricks, an impression of delicacy and irritation. Her art reflects Sufism with gold leaf to evoke a presence of light.
Suu Kyi poster
(Osocio Pic) Shepard Fairey of the iconic Obama poster does same for Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi.
Simple people rejoice in big box
(WaPo) Emily Wax story on Wal-Mart in India uses tired wide-eyed native frame-- indigenous superstores have been around for several years.
Keep on Truckinâ
(Vid) The elaborate artwork seen on Pakistani trucks is considered part of basic auto maintenance and can cost about 2 grand.
A quixotic ledger entry
(Ptinews) India says Pakistan owes it Rs. 300 crore ($62M) in pre-Partition debt, carrying it forward every year but without tacking on interest.
Openly gay man running for office in India
(WaPo) Manohar Elavarthi aspires to be the first openly gay man elected to a major political office in India... Middle-class gays wake up early to move into separate rooms before household staff arrive.
Itâs all about Martin
(Daily Show) Jon Stewartâs no Sanjay Goop-ta, but Martin Bashirâs comments on MJâs death were ridiculous.
Unaccustomed dearth
(Charlierose Vid â08) Jhumpa Lahiri strokes chin on Charlie Rose, says sheâs a detached observer. (thanks, Elite-Irony)
Redemption in quake zone
(NYT) An ex-cokehead American volunteered after the â05 Pakistan quake and never left, setting up a hospital and raising $200K from the U.S. and Unicef.
Newsha Tavakolian
(Newshatavakolian) Photos by Iranian journie. Check out Pakistan quake; Kosi river of sorrows, Bihar; and Tehran, capital of nose jobs.
Insider, trading stories
(Vid Audio) Martha Stewart grills Anoop Desai on BBQ sauce for her radio show. ‘How did you get away with writing a thesis on BBQ sauce? Only in the South.â
Art of the Sufis
(NYT) Sufi art at Brooklyn Museum: ‘sufiâ came from Arabic for rough wool, ‘derwishâ from Farsi for poor.
‘Yo Teach!â
(Tumblr) ‘Funny Peopleâ (Aziz Ansari) posts fake sitcom clip starring Jason Schwartzmann as teacher for the kids societyâs left behind. With desi kid.
Missteps in new Amritsar Wal-Mart
(WSJ) Amritsarâs Wal-Mart wholesale operation told merchants they only needed to show their biz licenses to shop there, which few of them have.
‘Cheap sensationalismâ
(Guardian) Jimmy Carter, Roald Dahl slammed Rushdie and ‘The Satanic Versesâ after the fatwa. Scroll to end.
If you think Iâm sexy
(Fbook) Anoop Desai in incredibly cheesy ‘Idolâ performance with Rod Stewart. Very brief solo at 0:40.
Baldie from Skynet
(NYT) ‘Terminator Salvationâ features a bald Helena Bonham Carter [like Persis Khambatta in ‘Star Trekâ].
Depp stalling ‘Shantaramâ
(HT) ‘Johnny Depp wasnât keen to come to India. What happened with Brad and Angelina Jolie in Mumbai during A Mighty Heart scared him off.â Depp wanted to recreate Bombay in Mexico; Nair said no. Sheâs now working on an Amelia Earhart biopic.
Economists, biz happy over Congress win
(NYT) Economists predicted the Congress win would narrow Indiaâs gap with China. Infrastructure isnât built not due to lack of money, but due to red tape, poor design and corruption.
The animal spirits come out
First Indian Wal-mart isnât
(Time) The first Indian Wal-mart is a wholesale operation named BestPrice to avoid rousing local opposition. (ht: SB)
Election slogans from movies
(WaPo) Congress supporters ate hand-shaped ice pops and shouted ‘Singh is king.â Congress benefited from rural work guarantee. Mayawati ‘promised to decrease crime rates and then began recruiting criminals.â Rahul Gandhi sipped tea with lower castes.
Resounding victory means more reform
(WSJ) Congressâ election victory without leftists means more financial reform. Manmohan Singh could step aside early for Rahul Gandhi [sickening].
Congress chants Rahman hook
(Bloomberg) Exultant Congress workers in khadi cloth chanted ‘Jai hoâ over the partyâs election victory. The home minister narrowly won (thanks, P-I).
Taliban fight produces surge of refugees
(NYT) 1.3M Pakistanis fleeing the fight against the Taliban may be the largest migration since 14M moved during Partition.
Chi-town
‘The Wedding Weekendâ
Evacuating the Carterets
(Ecologist) On the Carteret Islands, king tides have washed away their crops and rising sea levels poisoned those that remain with salt. Theyâre evacuating the Papua New Guinea atoll just north of Australia [like Maldives].
Godland
(Indiaprwire) The Netherlandsâ postal service has released 4 stamps honoring godman Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. (ht: aa)
Angolan dance music craze
(BoGlobe) MIA appears on ‘Sound of Kuduroâ by Buraka Som Sistema. Kuduro is a fusion of Angolan rhythms and Euro electronica.
Red is a power color
‘Flamingoesâ purpler than purple
(DNA) ‘She felt the entire world bursting upon her: a river uncoiled, lions roared, a marigold bloomed, a mass of clouds floated over a delta, orange lava bristled, the sea churned, a cocoon split open and something with green gossamer wings emerged.â
‘Lost Flamingoesâ excerpt
(Rediff Mar.) Excerpt from ‘Lost Flamingoes,â based on Jessica Lal murder: She saw the stall of a paanwalla with glossy clusters of heart-shaped leaves and papyrus foils of silver. The earring was loose again. Family gold ought never to be lost.
Shanghviâs 2nd just as purple
(HT Mar.) ‘The Lost Flamingoes of Bombayâ: ‘smugness blasted out of her face like a fartâ, ‘Priya had a crusty librarianâs voice, one that could only be relieved by a dildoâ. Indian novels come from ‘the almost-a-pussy of a drag queen called Lady Epic.â
Mistaken identity
(Blogsome) Chowdhury: Patna quiz shows ask, ‘Who is the author of Patna Roughcut?â They rarely ever get it right. The audience invariably shouts back, ‘Amitava Kumar.â
‘Diksha at St. Martinâsâ
(Tribuneindia) The author of the terribly stylish ‘Patna Roughcutâ released an earlier short story collection, ‘Diksha at St. Martinâs,â referring to being freed from the shackles of ignorance by Martin Scorsese. Itâs set in Delhi and Patna.
Pogrom vs. pogrom
(WSJ) The BJP taunted Congress over the clearing of a Bofors suspect and Jagdish Tytler, while Congress reminded voters of Modiâs role in the â02 Gujarat pogrom.
Too big to fail
(WaPo) The original Boston Tea Party protested a law which helped the monopolistic East India Company unload its excess tea in America. It was invoked by Sun Yat-sen, Mahatma Gandhi and the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon.
The Brits want credit
(Daily Show) Tea parties, shmee parties. As a British person, John Oliver wants credit for torturing political prisoners with thumbscrews and killing 30 million Native Americans.
Tax Day tea party
Dâoh! in Kannada
(BBC) A Karnataka minister fled an election rally when he realised he was addressing Congress workers and not his own party, the BJP. [Because Indian election signs are oh-so-subtle.] (ht: S)
Chor Boogie
Whoâs manning TARP
(Sunlightprojects) Just 4 people were named in a FOIA response as being responsible for disbursing $700B in TARP funds, including Neel Kashkari and Karthik Ramanathan.
Dal mein kuch kala (something odd going on)
(Marthastewart) Anil Kapoorâs moustache went on the Martha Stewart show and shared its recipe for black dal. (ht: Beth)
A four-leafed clover for Trawnna
(TO Star) According to legend, the first leaf is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck. Theo the cartoonist shares his rendering of a clover.
Unaccustomed dearth
(Morningnews) Lahiri micromanages a dozen subspecies of guilt and love and never slips up. Nothing ever rings false. But the dysfunction and anomie of Lahiriâs uprooted Bengalis seemed trivial by comparison [to a novel about Hurricane Katrina]. (ht: jabberwock)
Tharoor running in Kerala
Indian Art Forum
(Yahoo) Gallery show in Frankfurt Germany diplaying contemporary artwork by South Asian artists from around the world, like *PMH, Vinita Agarwal, Sabahat Nawaz
Indiaâs own Google Earth
(Reuters) India is launching Bhuvan, a high-res Indian map site with soil and water quality maps from satellites.
‘The Lost Flamingoes of Bombayâ
(Middlestage) Shanghviâs new novel is off-putting not just heâs settled into his faults. He does not even play to his own strengths his prose is peculiarly self-defeating. E.g.: ‘Glee dripped out of Natasha like precum.â
Parties get catty over ‘Jai Hoâ
(NDTV) -By buying this copyright, the Congress has divided artists on party lines. Jai Ho should not belong to any one, it belongs to the country. -They (the BJP) are used to stealing. This is what they do.
Indian King
(WSJ) MLK traveled to nine cities including Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Trivandrum. The younger King met with Pratibha Patil and attended a rendition of Rahmanâs ‘Jai Ho.â
‘The Dragonâs Giftâ
(Asianart) ‘The Dragonâs Giftâ at SFâs Asian Art Museum displays sacred and beloved Buddhist arts in Bhutan. From 2/20-5/10.
Predators show up on Google Earth
(Teeth) Google Earth satellite photos from â06 show U.S. drones, probably Predators, parked on a Pakistani runway. Updated photos show only a new hangar. More: [via]
Patel and Lee sitting in a tree counting to 3.141592653
(TO Globe) Ang Lee signs up for Life of Pi. I dont think Iâd be the first to think this would be perfect for Dev Patel.
‘Franklynâ trailer
(Vid) Art Malik plays a bigwig and Gary Pillai a doctor in upcoming sci-fi noir ‘Franklyn.â With Eva Green, Ryan Philippe. Full cast: [via]
MLK, the black Gandhi
(WaPo) MLKâs son retracing dadâs steps in India... Vijay Prashad: ‘In the radical black community, Gandhi was seen for his political ability to move millions into nonviolent struggle. The black leadership pined for their black Gandhi.â
The continuing dehyphenation
(NYT) The Awami National Party, which controls the NWFP, accused the ISI and army of being allies of the militants... Holbrooke will insist that the flow of aid depends on Pakistan shutting down terrorism.
Sellers owned the ‘Pantherâ
(NYT) The cast John Cleese, Emily Mortimer, the Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai Bachchan suggests something a little more refined. Martinâs Clouseau is a skillful gloss, but lacks the layers of oratorical pretension Sellers put into it.
Divas squared
Mirren in a turban
(Journalinquirer) ‘Inkheartâ: The mansion looks like a dreamy tourist hotel from a Merchant-Ivory production. Helen Mirren plays a nasty scold who always wears a turban, the reliable standby of the actress tired of having her hair fussed over every second.
Goddess Lakshmi & Bipartisanship
(Kos·L) Kossack Tara, compares bipartisanship to story of Devas & Asuras churning Milky Ocean for Ambrosia. [via]
Apu of Guantanamo
Torture opponent to rewrite rules
(Politico) Outspoken torture opponent Marty Lederman, prof. at Georgetown, is replacing torture enabler John Yoo at the Office of Legal Counsel.
I had a dream. Of a Nehru topi
(CBC) Photos of MLK in his famous speech to the nation are against a backdrop of more than a few Nehru Topis. I jest machangs. Let us dream.
Half of Senâs missing women werenât
(Slate ‘05) 50M of Amartya Senâs 100M ‘missing womenâ in Asia may have been the result of disease: women infected with hepatitis B had far more boys. (ht: Rahul)
Our Bollywood portrait
(Ourdelhistruggle) NYers in Delhi get their portraits painted filmi style. Scroll to bottom. (ht: AV)
“The Velocity Series"
(Enderlingallery) Stunning charcoal-on-paper renderings of natural phenomena, by UK-based desi artist Kulvinder Kaur Dhew.
Dalai Lama, Playboy and a wedding
(NYT) They exchanged photos; his was taken with the Dalai Lama in India. His first wife was an ex-Playboy bunny who painted the Dalai Lamaâs gardens.
Mermindian
Oakland riots over BART shooting
(SF Chron) Godhuli Bose stood near her smashed Toyota Corolla. An Oakland, Calif. protester walked by, repeatedly calling her a misogynist epithet. ‘F- your car.â Bose, a high school teacher: ‘I canât afford this.â
Contemporary Pakistani art in NYC
(NYT) In ‘Nai Reesan Shehr Lahore Diyan (There Is No Match of the City Lahore)â a girl skips rope in front of burned-out buildings the aftermath of arsons committed by religious extremists. Photo: [via]
R.I.P. Eartha Kitt
(Vid) Forget Nelly Furtado in Hindi. Southerner Eartha Kitt, who passed away today, had a hit song in Turkish. Her obit: [via]
HoE at the AGO
(TO Star) Heaven on Earth the only major Canadian movie to see commercial release in 2009. But it will air at the Art Gallery of Ontario in early Feb. Thoâ not a fan of Mehta, credit to her for at least trying to tell the story of immigrant desis.
‘Rendezvous with Ramaâ greenscreen
(Filmroster Video) Greenscreening the effects for the much delayed, possibly canceled ‘Rendezvous with Rama,â movie version of Arthur C. Clarke story.
The marvels of privatization
(Hindu) After the â05 Pakistan quake, LeT and other terrorist groups in six-wheeled military-style trucks were better organized than the army. They even pulled injured soldiers out of the rubble.
Art in Doha
(NYT) The Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar is modeled on Ibn Tulun Mosque in Cairo and Tunisian fortresses. For withdrawal, itâs set on a man-made island. A silk tapestry of a couple in front of a tent illustrates Laila-Majnu.
Husainâs ‘Guernicaâ
(Hindu) A painting by M.F. Husain on the Mumbai attacks, ‘Rape of India,â was unveiled at a Kensington Gardens gallery.
Marwari art in D.C.
(WSJ) Marwari paintings on display at Sackler Gallery in D.C. Raja Bakhat Singh killed his father and was poisoned by his niece. In one painting, male (representing consciousness) and female (matter) sit with arms crossed, split apart.
Portable sewing machine for sweatshop employees
(Onion) A segment from the Onion in Bengali starring Samrat Chakrabarti (can someone with good Bangla verify the subtitles?)
‘The Visitationâ
Qatar Pei-ing for art
(NYT) I.M. Pei says Qatarâs Museum of Islamic Art is his last major cultural design. Itâs Cubist and resembles Tunisian fortresses. ‘Islamic architecture is very strong and simple. There is nothing superfluous.â
Al Gore invented Live Earth
(BBC) Al Gore, Will.i.am, Roger Waters, Bon Jovi at Live Earth concert in Bombay next month. [Maybe Kalyan-Anand fans can hit up the Black-Eyed Peas singer for royalties.]
Wag the Dog, for celebs
(NYT) During the ‘marriage-breakerâ scandal, Angelina Jolie is accused to diverting attention with a Pakistan trip. At the ‘A Mighty Heartâ premiere, she insisted on control over how the interview was used... She made $14M for pix of her kids (!)
The golden hoard
(WSJ) The golden hoard of Afghanistanâs Tillya Tepe (Golden Hill) is on display at the S.F. Asian Art Museum, along with ‘erotically carved ivory from India.â
Art and the barbarian
(TO Globe) Museums have been prime offenders in designating the off-white as the “other" and the exotic in relation to the presumed white norm. The reinvention of the AGO hopes to turn the dial. The point is made that art collectiing is a barbarian act.
Filipino writer pips Shanghvi
(Hindu) Filipino writer Miguel Syjuco won the Man Asian prize, beating Siddharth Shanghviâs ‘Lost Flamingoes of Bombayâ and Kavery Nambisan. ‘Ilustradoâ is a multigenerational Filipino family saga. Amit Varma had been on the longlist.
Kalakar in Qatar
(WSJ) Qatarâs I.M. Pei-designed Museum for Islamic Art looks like creamy building blocks, each cube adjusted just enough to catch a triangle of harsh light or deep shadow... Conceptual art Sufi script on shoes was confiscated for blasphemy.
Pakistan quake fells apple orchards
(AFP) The 6.4 tremor that destroyed homes and killed up to 300 people in Pakistan also felled many golden and green apple trees in a large apple-exporting region.
Quetta quake kills 150
A mighty baby switch
(NYT) ‘Changeling,â in which Angelina Jolie suffers not knowing if her only child has been murdered, puts her back in the wrenching territory of ‘A Mighty Heart.â
‘Presidentâ at SAIFF
(Saiff) Films at SAIFF in Manhattan include ‘The President is Comingâ by Anuvab Pal (with Konkona Sen) and ‘Kissing Cousinsâ with Samrat Chakrabarti.
Murdered LA son had pledged desi frat
(NYT) Rajaram murder-suicide: Krishna, 19, was in his second year at UCLA and had a full scholarship, Heâd pledged the South Asian fraternity Delta Phi Beta.
Rajaram used to be rich
(LAT) The LA murder-suicide family was once well off, making $1.2M in a venture fund and $500K in real estate. Those who knew Rajaram said he was high strung and emotionally unstable. He apparently killed his family after losing $ in the stock crash.
Respectful maniac
(CNN) The murder-suicide perpâs 19-year-old son Krishna was a Fulbright Scholar and honor student at UCLA. The parents had given up their master bedroom to their eldest who was spending the weekend home from college ‘out of respect.â
Financial Advisor in SoCal Kills Family, Self
(LAT) Karthik Rajaram, 45, an unemployed financial advisor apparently despondent over his troubles shot and killed his wife, his mother-in-law and three children before taking his own life in northwest San Fernando Valley.
Kunzru and Shteyngart
(New Yorker) Kunzru: ‘Itâs my great misfortune to have been born into a dead empireâ... In NY, nobody treats short, furry Shteyngart like crap they pet him. His mom prints out every negative thing that gets written about him in Russia.
Leave it to a Bengali to play god :)
(New Yorker ‘93) [From story which inspired ‘Flash of Geniusâ movie:] In 1972, Ananda Chakrabarty applied for a patent on a microbe that breaks down crude oil. The Supreme Court ruled in his favor, creating a brand-new kind of IP.
Found in translation
(Slate) Like ‘Before Sunriseâ or ‘Lost in Translation,â ‘Nick and Norahâ captures the excitement of exploring a city with someone you barely know and really, really like. So slight itâs almost diaphanous, but a fine mood movie.
‘Nick & Norahâs Infinite Playlistâ
(NYT) NYCâs streets are so benign that Nickâs abandonment of a girl in desolate West Side seems a failure of gallantry rather than potentially homicidal malice. [With the music of Devendra Banhart.]
Religious holidays are no excuse
(Daily Show) Jon Stewart pulls out a conch and chides lawmakers for using Rosh Hashanah as an excuse to skip out on the bailout. ‘How many Jewish congressmen are there anyway?â [Will they use Diwali when thereâs a war vote?]
Devendraâs infinite playlist
(NYT) Nick is a newly jilted high school bassist and Kat Denningsâs Norah is the infatuated stranger compelled by his mournful homemade CD mixes. One night the pair zigzag through hipster New York (Arleneâs Grocery? Check. Devendra Banhart? Check.).
Portman, Banhart split up
(Now) Natalie Portman broke up with Devendra Banhart, whom she met when she starred in his proto-Hindoo music video ‘Carmensita.â (ht: Amar)
A date with Jhumpa
(Tabloid) The Aura Estrada Prize will go to a young Latina who writes in Spanish. Salman Rushdie, Junot Diaz Paul Auster, Gabriel Garcia Marquez are pitching in. Jhumpa Lahiri, Gary Shteyngart auction off dinnner dates.
Lahiri Wins Frank OâConnor Prize for ‘Unaccustomed Earthâ
(HT) ‘Unaccustomed Earth, in its poise and elegance, its finely calibrated, nuanced grasp of universal human emotions and its closely attentive, flawless prose is by far the best collection of stories published this year.â notes the linked article.
‘A Mighty Heartâ flopped at box office
(WSJ) ‘A Mighty Heartâ (Angelina Jolie, Archie Panjabi, Irfan Khan) lost about $15M. The dark, funny academic comedy ‘Smart Peopleâ (Dennis Quaid) also did poorly.
Groove to Jalebee Cartel
Amitava at the DNC
(Blogsome) S.R. Sidarth told me that he believes that Macacagate guided him to his calling, politics. ‘Obamaâs story resonates with Indiansâ... In contrast to the Obama t-shirts, the McCain ones are all the hue of deep mud.
MoMA Delhi
(NYT) Indiaâs first contemporary art museum, Devi Art Foundation, will open Saturday over 7,500 sq ft in a Gurgaon office tower: pink fiberglass cow, velvet fan made of human ribs (in a vegetarian household), cow dung cave.
In Delhi, art is the new black money
(WaPo) Delhiites ‘who know nothing about art are buying it. They come with pockets full of cash to art galleries. There is art under their beds.â
Bose at Philly Museum
(NYT) Nandalal Bose show at Philly Museum: MoMAs should rename themselves to Museum of Western Modernism. Boseâs print of Gandhi became his most widely-spread image. Photos: [via]
Stewart: Cheney vaults bounds of absurdity
(NYT) Jon Stewart: Iâll create a character who only asks Iraq reconstruction employees, ‘What do you think of Roe v. Wade?â Then you read ‘Imperial Life in the Emerald Cityâ by Rajiv Chandrasekaran and you go, oh, they did that.
Subverting pop art
(Mint) In ‘Words,â Dhruvi Acharya painted over real strips from Amar Chitra Katha comic books, erasing the images but leaving the blurbs, which sound dirty and sexist. ‘How strong and firm is his grip.â [Friendâs art show opening in Bombay.]
Man Asian Literary Longlist
(Manasianliteraryprize) The longlist for the Man Asian Literary Prize was just announced. Includes Amit Varmaâs ‘My Friend, Sanchoâ and Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghviâs ‘Lost Flamingoes of Bombayâ among other desi titles.
Clean politicianâs dirty tactics
(NYT) Afraid it could lose a no confidence vote by a single-digit margin, squeaky-clean Manmohan Singhâs Congress Party is springing criminal MPs from jail and renaming airports to gather votes.
When Gandhi met Churchill... in 1906
(TO Star) In 1906, two Boer War veterans met in London to discuss the fate of British Indians in the Transvaal. They were the colonial undersecretary and the provincial lawyer, Winston S. Churchill and Mohandas K. Gandhi... from the book by Arthur Herman.
‘Fatal Loveâsâ sequel
(NYT) ‘Erasing Bordersâ shows 63 works by 40 Indian-American artists in Westchester, NY, including Siona Benjamin, Pratima Naithani, Prince V. Thomas, Salma Arastu, Anna I. Bhushan, Samanta B. Mehta, Ela Shah and Shelly Bahl.
Sheetalâs cirque
(Geocities) Photos of Sheetal Gandhi dancing in Cirque du Soleil (scroll down). She also performed at Artwallah â08.
Pickinâ peaches at Johlâs
‘Outside Inâ
Aitzaz Ahsan on Charlie Rose
(Charlierose) Aitzaz Ahsan on Charlie Rose, June 30. With David Rohde and Mark Mazzetti, the NYT reporters who wrote the ‘Qaeda Grows in Pakistanâ story NYT same day. Ahsan is extremely articulate, and thoroughly persuasive. Second half is Salman Rushdie on EoF.
Bartholomew nation
(Tabloid) Richard and Pablo Bartholomew are father and son photogs with exhibits at the same time at two different NYC galleries just blocks apart. Pablo shot Bombay artistes and celebs in full â70s regalia, his father photographed their family.
Lalwani gifting ‘Giftedâ gift to Liberty liberty
(Guardian) Nikita Lalwaniâs ‘Giftedâ won the inaugural Desmond Elliott prize, and the author will donate the GBP 10,000 award to civil liberties activist group Liberty, headed by Shami Chakrabarti.
Are India and America Finally Equal Partners?
(Vid) Barkha Dutt takes show to Stanford. Top Indian, American economists, technologists, entrepreneurs, Govt officials, students on panel; adman Suhel Seth makes excellent points; excerpts on youtube; full show on ndtv.com (We the People) [via]
‘Get Smartâsâ turban schtick
(NYT) ‘Get Smartâ has a pathetic bit about a guy in a turban on a plane and takes tiny, tinny digs at the VP. They even have a president who canât pronounce nuclear properly and reads ‘Goodnight Moonâ to the kiddies.
Srivastava to run Flickr
(Valleywag) Founderâs funny resignation letter from Yahoo Flickr leaves Kakul Srivastava in charge. She came from the Yahoo side, studied at MIT and Berkeley. Photo: [via]
‘Get Smartâ like ‘Harold and Kumarâ
(Charlestoncitypaper) Like ‘Harold and Kumar 2,â ‘Get Smartâ riffs off Brit terrorism when Steve Carell tries to burn a wad of gum off his shoe aboard an airplane.
Man gets 3 years for exporting military parts
(AP) Indian-American businessman Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 47, was sentenced to 3 years for exporting guidance systems and night vision parts for Indian combat aircraft at the behest of an Indian embassy official.
Bashir has brain tumor
(Fox) Telejournie Martin Bashir went to the hospital after hitting his head on the Times Square set of ‘Nightlineâ and discovered he had a small pituitary tumor. Docs will leave it alone. (ht: cp)
Hastey Hastey
(Sacbee) Jimmy Shergill flick comes to America with the oddly-translated title ‘Hastey Hastey Follow Your Heart.â Leads one to believe itâs in Chinglish :)
‘Unaccustomed Earthâ a guilty pleasure
(Rifforiffo) ‘Unaccustomed Earthâ is a guilty read, the equivalent of Archie comics. Itâs a bunch of stories about Gogol Gangulis approaching middle age and married to white people. Lahiri writes about the mundane almost exclusively.
Booker of Bookers shortlist
(Manbookerprize) The Bookers of Bookers II shortlist includes ‘Midnightâs Childrenâ and ‘The Siege of Krishnapurâ (‘73). No Kiran Desai, ‘Life of Piâ or ‘Arthur & George.â
Daughter? You get a do-over
(WaPo) Chinese officials are happy at quake aid after Tibet protests. Quake victims will be exempt from the one-child policy. In rural parts, many are already allowed a second child, especially if the first was a girl.
Save a yuan, kill a child
(NYT) Like quakes in Pakistan and Iran, the China quake seems to have killed thousands because of construction which cut corners. Rebar had too few supporting rods and watered-down concrete.
Afghanistan art exhibit opening in D.C.
(WSJ) ‘Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures From the National Museum, Kabul,â opens Sunday at the National Gallery of Art. His academic work: ‘Theyâd sold 16 copies. I tore up the check. Filling out the W-9 would have been more trouble than it was worth.â
Quake pushes Tibet to sidelines
‘A Mighty Heartâ suited Jolie
(NYT) Jolie is not a weeper. She seems capable of only playing variations on herself, which is why she was persuasive holding back tears as a steely Mariane Pearl in ‘A Mighty Heart.â
Giant Singh gets rapturous Indian welcome
(WaPo) Last week, 7â3", 420-lb. wrestler Dalip Singh Rana returned to India for a vacation. Thousands garlanded him at Delhi airport, but pehelwans questioned whether WWE wrestling is real. Singh will appear in ‘Get Smart.â
Freedom fried
(DNA) The Shiv Sena wants to rename the popular street food the Shiv vada pav as an electoral stunt. Congress names everything from slums to airports after Indira and Rajiv Gandhi. [via]
China, Burma slow to react to disasters
(WSJ) In democracies, public pressure pushes elected officials to act. In nondemocracies like China and Burma, after nature kills people, delay and incompetence kill the rest. [But what of Katrina?]
Cheap buildings killed thousands
(Insidebayarea) As in previous earthquakes in India, Pakistan and Iran, the Chinese quake killed people largely because of builders who cut corners and concrete buildings which didnât assume seismic activity. [via]
Chinese quake set off by plate tectonics
(NYT) Where Asia and India collide, the Tibetan plateau is pushing southeast against the flat Sichuan basin. On Monday afternoon, an upward thrust fault broke, generating an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9.
‘Unaccustomed Earthâ a quiet, formal ‘staticâ book
(Time) Everyone is pulled in at least six directions at once. Parents backward; children forward. America west; India east. Marriage outward; solitude inward. Lahiriâs stories describe a metastable equilibrium of enormous multidimensional forces. [via]
Utilitarianism and India
(New Yorker) John Stuart Mill said India was stalled just past barbarism w.r.t tech. There the telegraph came before railroads because Brits wanted to hear of mutiny more than they needed to travel. Marx thought railroad would end caste system.
Prince Harry joins army, Rahul takes road trip
(WaPo) Rahul Gandhiâs ‘Discover of Indiaâ tour: ‘He needs to be a brand. He walks around the villages, talks to the poorest, eats with them. He is creating a visual sense of leadership.â Why itâs almost as if politics are more about image than substance.
IvyLeague Prof Sues Students For Being Mean to Her
(Gawker) A Dartmouth lecturer--Priya Venkatesan--is suing her class for discrimination, as she revealed in a series of regrettable and bizarre emails that promptly ended up all over Dartmouth blogs. The email, and so, so much more.
Carter: For Middle East peace, follow Nepal
(NYT) Jimmy Carter: I mediated in Nepal, which got Maoists to lay down their arms. So talking with Hamas is the right strategy.
Pakistanis free Islamist
(NYT) In a move toward negotiation over fighting, Pakistanâs Awami National Party freed Maulana Sufi Muhammad, leader of a jihadi movement and father-in-law of Maulana Fazlullah.
Vinay on TV
(PBS) The documentary ‘The Truth About Cancerâ interviews Vinay Chakravarthy about his leukemia and marrow transplant. It plays nationally on PBS Wed., April 16, from 9-11pm ET. (ht: chickpea)
Peanut farmer in Nepal
Fruits of diaspora soil
(BusStd) Jai Arjun: To get a sense of the impression NRIâs have of Jhumpa Lahiriâs work, as immigrant cliche, see this cheekiness from the culture blog Ultrabrown. [Iâm not saying she plays into curry cliches. Iâm saying she plays into her own.]
Jhumpa is the anti-Kiran Desai
(Tehelka) Unlike Kiran Desaiâs ‘The Inheritance of Loss,â Lahiriâs immigrants are prosperous, middle-class, conventional. When she departs from her rigid script, her touch is unconvincing, formulaic, plangent. Sheâs Americaâs most conventional young writer.
Uneasy on earth
(Slate) Jhumpa Lahiri shows how 2nd genners know their elders succeeded against great odds. Even with accent-free English and freedom from arranged marriages, they feel adrift. A permanent exile has become the state of the world.
Like thief, Lahiri leaves no prints
(NYT) The boy plants Legos, a dinosaur and a star intâl, prehistoric and celestial... ‘Bombay had made them more American than Cambridge hadâ... Lahiri leaves no fingerprints on her characters, who grow on their own like time-lapse plant videos.
Interpreter of families
(Startribune) Sprint to the bookstore ‘Unaccustomed Earthâ is Jhumpaâs best yet. She has much in common with Chekhov and Munro, pitch-perfect short-story wizards, though the stories are grounded in familiar Boston territory.
‘Unaccustomedâ works despite limited style
(Rockymountainnews) Lahiri rarely uses plot twists, humor, or Indian locations. Most stories are set in suburbia, unlike the atmospheric Caribbean stories of Edwidge Danticat.
Tilling the dry ‘Earthâ
(USA Today) A fairly dry excerpt from ‘Unaccustomed Earthâ which commits the cardinal sin of fiction by telling, not showing. Other passages are more promising.
Lahiri plans on repeating herself
(Hindu) ‘Unaccustomedâ is more complex, meandering. Doesnât break new ground in subject or voice. Lahiri is a traditional miniaturist... -There are more stories to tell in this world, itâs not limiting. -Is the next novel of Indians and the diaspora? -Yes.
Sonic ‘Earthâ
Jhumpa the minimalist
(Atlantic) I want to to get my work less, plainer, as simple as I can. Iâm not an effusive writer. My writing tends to contract. My novels will be more streamlined... My husband tosses out the book review section so I donât see it.
Alienated earth
(Charlotte) Lahiriâs book: ‘Her father cultivated bitter melon, chili peppers, delicate strains of spinach. Oblivious to her motherâs needs in other ways, he toiled in unfriendly soil, coaxing things from the ground.â ‘Only Goodnessâ is the only false note.
Hema and Kaushik disappoint
(Star Telegram) One story is Updike-ian with unusual satiric bite. ‘Only Goodnessâ is the strongest. Hema-Kaushik disappoint. Tsunami is cheap plot device. Lahiriâs milieu is limited, but the range is epic. There might not be better American fiction this year.
Reading ‘Unaccustomedâ for free
(Nounthatverbsyourworld) 3 of the best stories were already in the New Yorker. The linked stories feel unfinished. This bookâs between ‘Namesakeâ and the better ‘Maladiesâ good, not classic... I canât get behind any best book list that has ‘The Kite Runnerâ on it. [Yes.]
Kaushik Ganguli
(EW) Would the book work if the achaar in the fridge were plain old mayo? Try it while reading the book... Hema-Kaushik resembles Gogolâs bad marriage, irresistibly drawn to tradition.
Lahiri writes Austen in reverse
(Paste) Kaushik, the male object of desire, is handsome, aloof. Itâs Austen in reverse: why arranged marriage with a man Hema cannot love? Unleavened by humor. All characters are upper-class and unaware of ethnicities other than white.
A doomy ‘Earthâ
(Voice) Weightier, more nuanced tightness than neo-Chekhovian ‘Namesake.â Goes deeper. Lahiri is old-fashioned, not a stylist. Characters are doomy, defeated, donât have much fun. But you sit in between the beats of her charactersâ heartaches.
Lahiri still focused on 1st gen
Accustomed earth
(NY Sun) Disappointingly familiar. Unmemorable treacle, blandly sentimental. Little good dialogue or humor. Abstemious about pleasure. Soft-core for Park Slope moms. Ham-handed. Wooden, pedigree-centric. Lahiri needs to get out more.
Bobos in Jhumpadise
(TNR·L) ‘Maladiesâ sold well, rare for stories; ‘Unaccustomedâ is getting a huge 300K printing. Her characters are not so much ethnic as pedigreed, bobos from the NYT weddings section.
Unaccustomed imagery
(Calendarlive) Lahiri is sparing in her use of metaphor and imagery, but Kaushikâs nine-day road trip to the Canadian border along a frigid and desolate coastline, resounds with loss. Itâs a howl from the heart of a writer working at the height of her powers.
‘Unaccustomedâ packaging
(Telegraph) The first part of Jhumpa Lahiriâs ‘Unaccustomed Earthâ contains five stories. The second, ‘Hema and Kaushik,â is a three-part story told from Hemaâs POV, then from Kaushikâs, ending in a meeting between the characters in Rome.
Awami Party says stop backing militants
(NYT) Newly elected in Pakistanâs tribal areas, the Pashtun group Awami National Party has long accused Pakistani intelligence of ‘connivingâ with jihadis in Afghanistan and Kashmir. They want talks and fewer military operations.
The Clarke event
(Slashdot) Someone suggests naming a brilliant gamma ray burst visible on Earth just before Arthur C. Clarkeâs death the ‘Clarke event.â
Arthur C. Clarke laid to rest
(SMH) Clarke had asked for a secular funeral, but monks joined the mourners. Sri Lankans observed a minute of silence. Yellow roses were thrown onto the body, which lay on a white bed beneath curved elephant tusks.
TOI: Reporting wonly what should be reported
(Sartorialist) “the article is made up of bits and pieces of things I said, taken out of context,... when it is done in one of the biggest papers of Dehli and done so outrageously incorrect I get a little miffed". Thank you. Come again.
Partition is underreported
(WaPo) While the Holocaust has been documented exhaustively, coverage of Partition has been limited within India and virtually nonexistent elsewhere. Yet a country spawned by Partition shelters a key global threat, Al Qaeda leadership.
Sonia Gandhi endures
(Economist) Sonia Gandhiâs done all right in her decade in politics, but why force Rahul, yet another Gandhi? The kindest view is that other Indian parties are just as nepotistic.
Danish cartoonist still in hiding
(NYT) Kurt Westergaard, who drew the Danish toon of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, has been in hiding ever since. At 72 heâs dressed in fire-engine red pants, a patterned red scarf and a Sgt. Pepper black coat like a stout Scandinavian sailor.
Jindal could rally base for McCain
(WSJ) Conservative argues making Bobby Jindal veep shores up McCain on conservative base. health care, youth. But also makes some daft extrapolations about the war on terror based on Jindal being Punjabi and the effects of Partition.
‘Nine Billion Names of Godâ
(Lucis) Arthur Clarke short story: Tibetan lamas hire engineers to churn out all 9 billion possible names of God. Once the computer prints the final name, they believe, she will wind up the universe.
From the department of pre-crime
(Guardian) Shami Chakrabarti, director of the civil rights group Liberty, dismissed a Scotland Yard spokesmanâs suggestion to start adding young children to criminal offender DNA databases on the assumption that kids begin offending between 10-13. [via]
Businessman prolifâd weapons to India
(WaPo) Parthasarathy Sudarshan, CEO of Cirrus Electronics, pleaded guilty to sending parts for missiles, space launch vehicles and fighter jets to India via Singapore, evading export control laws, with help from an Indian embassy employee.
Photographs from the Partition
Interviewing survivors of Partition
(WaPo) A 10-year, U.S.-funded oral history project records Partition survivors. People were ‘cut down like carrots and radishes.â 26 women in one Sikhâs family committed suicide to avoid rape. ‘All I could hear was prayer and the swing of the sword.â
And the Booker of Bookers goes to...
(Guardian) Excluding American writers restricts the Bookerâs importance. Its £1m jackpot spawned the ‘Booker novelâ, with bad prose from creative-writing groups. Frontrunners: Midnightâs Children, Inheritance of Loss, Life of Pi, Remains of the Day, Disgrace.
Kureishi slams Amisâ anti-Muslim views
(Herald) Hanif Kureishi made his ‘Something To Tell Youâ sound poor, ‘shapeless and messy.â On an anti-Muslim author: ‘I donât think Martin Amis has met a Muslim in his life, except Salman Rushdie. His moral vanity is vile, vacuous and obnoxious.â
Godman vs. secret agent
(NYT) ‘The Love Guruâ will face off vs. Steve Carellâs ‘Get Smartâ Jun 20. Judd Apatowâs crack-like productivity spurt includes credits on ‘Drillbit Taylor,â ‘Zohan,â ‘Sarah Marshall,â ‘Step Brothersâ and ‘Pineapple Express.â
Brown? Youâre at risk
(TO Star) Researchers now believe that just being South Asian may be an independent risk factor for heart disease. Hereâs a profile of a 39 year old, otherwise healthy desi, whose heart resembled that of a 75 yr old overweight white male. Itâs a common pattern.
Rushdie could repeat Booker of Bookers
(HT) UK bookies put ‘Midnightâs Childrenâ in the lead to win the 40th anniversary Booker of Bookers, with ‘Life of Piâ and ‘The English Patientâ rounding out second and third. Perhaps the Brit public is currystruck.
Mumbai in Toronto
(CBC) Anjum Siddiqui, erstwhile Mumbaikar and Torontostar by marriage, is unique in that her coloringbooks were drawn by MF Hussain [Really!]. She now paints her memories of Mumbai in Toronto. Exhibition up at the Cedar Ridge Gallery.
Islam at the ballot box
(WSJ) Islamists in Pakistan got 3% of the vote, down from 11% in the last general election. The MMA lost control of the NWFP while the secular Awami Party won. The trend is the same throughout the Muslim world.
Keeping Wal-Mart out
(Google) Wal-Mart will open 10-15 50-100K sq ft stores in India over 7 years in a joint venture with Bharti. India only lets foreign retailers run wholesale and provide back-end support to Indian retailers.
Why we funded the Taliban
(Globalresearch) Zbigniew Brzezinski â98: Jimmy Carter and I started funding the Taliban to give the Russians their Vietnam. Whatâs more important, some stirred-up Moslems or the collapse of the Soviets?
P-Canadian withdraws complaint against cartoons
(TO Globe) Pakistani Canadian man withdraws his complaint against Canadian publisher of Danish cartoons. Believes that the purpose was inflammatory, but the publication may be within the boundary of free speech.
Monica Cat-insky
(Discoverkate) ‘While the audience could not see what Rajah was doing, his growling made a hit.â Tiger tamer Mabel Stark discarded her black-leather bodysuits for white, to hide the tigerâs... [Like a scene in Shanghviâs ‘Last Song of Dusk.â] [via]
Rushdie-esque plot vs. Danish cartoonist foiled
(WaPo) A Moroccan Dane and two Tunisians were arrested over a plot to murder a 73-year-old cartoonist who did one of the Muhammad cartoons in the ‘Jyllands-Postenâ which created a controversy in â06. [via]
Jihadis break cease-fire
(WaPo) Despite an elections cease-fire with jihadis, they bombed the Awami Party rally yesterday. The party is expected to win a majority and rule with the PPP. ‘We have condemned extremism and terrorism, so now we are under threat.â
Bomber rocks the vote
(AP) A suicide bomber killed at least 18 at an election rally of the Awami National Party in the NWFP.
Jaipurâs date with literati
(BusStd) Roster for this yearâs Jaipur lit fest, end of Jan.: Anoushka Shankar, Gore Vidal, Ian McEwan, Christopher Hampton, Tishani Doshi, Siddharth Shanghvi, Indra Sinha.
Behold the fury of a babu
(Kitabkhana) Kitabkhana shreds that exoticized SF Chron review of Siddharth Shanghvi-- death by snarklink.