Hadji is Dead.

New Year!

2009-01-01T18:11:00.003-05:00

Hadji would like to wish all of its readers a Happy New Year. Now, we know there hasn't been much posting around here since, well, the last post, but while toasting bubbly and muttering gibberish last night at New Years festivities, Hadji came across a sign that there needs to be more action around here. Yes, the stranger's New Years party that Hadji might have crashed had this on the tele:

If that isn't magical, I don't know what is. Stay tuned for what hopefully will be a more eventful year here at Hadji.

Oh, and welcome back to the country, SM.

Happy Diwali!

2008-10-28T17:02:00.003-04:00

Everyone here at Hadji would like to wish you all a HAPPY DIWALI! (And because Rajiv will be upset with me for not representing my South Indian roots - a Happy Deepavali!)

My mom always says whatever I do on New Years Day, I'll do for the rest of the year, so in an attempt to blog more often I am posting today! Today I am also eating lots of sweets, studying, doing my laundry, and procrastinating...sounds kind of like a regular year for me anyway.

So light a few lamps, say a prayer, eat, make merry and celebrate the triumph of light over darkness!

I'll leave you with Michael from The Office singing about Diwali because it's everyone's favorite Diwali song...

Call Centers are Still Funny, Apparently

2008-10-23T11:20:00.005-04:00

I remember when making fun of Call Centers was all the rage. "Hey guys, they're calling from India! They give themselves fake names like Sarah and John when they really have names like Shakuntala and Jigneswaran! Isn't it HILLARIOUS!". I'm pretty sure all of us have gotten pretty tired of the automatic association between South Asia and that phone call during dinner from AT&T. And yet, nobody in the world, state side or in the subcontinent, seems to be ready to let the call center fade from the grasp of popular culture. A recent article in the Washington Post discusses the way that call centers have entered Indian Popular Culture, and how this is influencing the way many Indians view their own culture. The article focuses on Hello, a film based on the novel One Night @ The Call Center by Chetan Bhagat, which I haven't read, but from Amardeep Singh's review on Sepia Mutiny, I can only assume it isn't worth subjecting myself to. The article has some excellent insight on the role of the call center in pop culture:

It was bound to happen. The glitz of globalization provides its own cultural
cliches. The call center is the most widely shared temptation among the
chroniclers of new India," said S. Prasannarajan, editor-at-large of the popular
English-language magazine India Today. "For the metaphor hunters of Indian
popular culture and fiction, the call center has replaced the old snake charmer.

The call center is the new go-to stereotype about India, and India, unfortunately, seems to have embraced it whole-heartedly. What at first might have been an interesting observation about India's middle class has transformed into a trite source of humor about Indians trying their hardest to mimic the West. Jokes about fake names and accents from the American media can sometimes be disturbing, and I can't help but be reminded of the colonial Babu figure, the Indian who tried his hardest to be British, only to turn into a source of comedy because of his hopeless inability to overcome his inherent Indianness. Hollywood has produced it's equivalent to Bollywood's outsourcing comedies with the new film The Other End of The Line, starring some dude from Desperate Housewives and Shriya Saran, one of the Tamil film industries most successful actresses. The film deals with an Indian call center worker who travels to America to find her true love and escape her oppressive parents and blah blah blah blah. I doubt the movie's going to do that well, honestly, so I don't think we have much to worry about, but still...

Call center culture is here to stay apparently, and I guess we'll just have to wait for India and America to grow tired of it, which might take a while, considering that neither Bollywood or Hollywood is quick to give up on a source of cheap laughs.

I, However, Am Not Dead

2008-10-20T10:42:00.004-04:00

So I've been M.I.A. for a while, but I felt it was extremely important that I bring some attention to an online project called 42 Writers for Liberty. 42 British writers have each written extremely short pieces of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction to protest legislative action that might increase the amount of time a prisoner can be held in Britain without prosecution. I particularly recommend Tahmima Anam and Nadeem Aslam's contributions, though all of them are worth reading. I always like to see projects like this that combine art and political protest, and I think that this project is a great effort.

The Shot Heard Around the World

2008-10-19T18:11:00.009-04:00

Today Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama on Meet the Press. His endorsement was very strong and every point he made was so wonderful to hear from a respected Republican politician. Watch the entire video of Powell's endorsement below:

The most important point that General Colin Powell makes comes at 4:35 where Powell criticizes the McCain campaign for spreading the lie that Obama is a Muslim. A few days ago, ennis on Sepia Mutiny posted about this same topic, adding that when both candidates clear up these accusations they should be saying: "not that there's anything wrong with that."

However, the first person to say this was Colin Powell:

"And it is permitted to be said such things as, 'well you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.' Well the correct answer is he is not a Muslim. He is a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: what if he is? Is there something wrong with being Muslim in this country? The answer's no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"

Finally, someone has publicly made this point! And people will hear! Colin Powell just may be influential enough for both Republicans and Democrats to think twice about this statement.

Already, there are news pieces on what Powell said here and here. Hopefully, there will be more to come. Hopefully, this will cause the exact conversation we need.

Shoulda Used This Guy 8 Years Ago

2008-10-07T17:59:00.000-04:00

Post for the sake of posting: Clickables!

2008-09-26T16:13:00.004-04:00

Okay, so we've been rather lazy around here, but it's because school has once again taken over our lives (I mean, Rajiv works like 10 jobs, cut us some slack, ok?). I put this up because it's been pretty dead here, which, despite our name, isn't something we really want.

Navratri starts this Tuesday. Hit up your favorite Garba/Raas, especially the ISA/Satyam one next Saturday (October 4th)
Heroes in real life!
Hatchet writes an article on how weird our school is. Can someone tell me the point of this?
Vern still sucks.
UPD might be packin' heat.
Hadji is now read here, here, and here.

Stuff We Like: Dolcezza Gelato

2008-09-19T02:06:00.004-04:00

Hadji's been to this place a couple of times, but he wishes he could live a life where Dolcezza's weekly flavors were readily available at the 24 hour 7-11 (yes, the 7am to 11pm store actually never closes). Alas, you can't have your cake and eat it too, but chances are, if you visit Dolcezza, you will probably find something that eats like ice cream, but tastes JUST LIKE A CAKE!

Seriously, the flavors are absolutely delicious. The best part is the patient ladies behind the counter that let you sample whatever flavor you like before you buy. I find it most satisfying mixing a creamy flavor with something fruity; Your taste buds will hook you up with their hottest friends for doing them such a big favor. The other best part is that it's quite far up Wisconsin Avenue (Wait, what? It's good that it's far? Are you on drugs, Hadji??). No, Hadji is not on drugs, but the inaccessibility makes it a great place to gather friends and hike up to, and since it's not close by, it won't get old.

So, while the weather's still nice, gather your friends (or that girl you've been ~~facebook stalking~~ eyeing) and walk up M street, take in Gtown in the evening, turn up Wisconsin, and explore head up a neighborhood that's hardly touched by most people in Foggy Bottom. They'll/She'll love you for it (Use as supplement for seduction only).

Dolcezza: Artisanal Gelato is located at 1560 Wisconsin Ave, with other locations around the city. DolcezzaGelato.com

Richard Avedon: Portraits of Power

2008-09-11T21:14:00.010-04:00

Tonight I got to attend a preview of an upcoming Richard Avedon exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art here in DC. The exhibit, which starts Saturday, September 13 and continues until January 25, 2009, is definitely one worth checking out, as it contains some of Avedon's most famous and touching photographs from the 1950s on to his final assignment for the New Yorker in 2004. How does this relate to brown people? Why, 3 of India's Literary Superstars are featured!

Arundhati Roy looks beautiful and mysterious in the 1998 portrait of her, taken after her success with her brilliant (and so far, only) novel The God of Small Things. A slightly senior South Asian Literary Superstar on display is Nirad Chaudhuri, whose beam and bowler instantly made me think of the Kooky Senile Uncle who always insists on giving you toffees that may or may not be decades old and you have to accept them because he's just so darn nice and also he's your Elder.

The portrait of Salman Rushdie (which I can't find online so now you have to go to the exhibit!) is dramatically lit, almost lampooning his intense, fatwa-garnering persona. A sense of peace radiates from him though, and it's a great example of Avedon's ability to capture the soul of his subjects.

Overall, fans of Avedon's early, much revered fashion photography for Harper's Bazaar may be disappointed, for this show is focused solely on the intervening years, when he grew as a photographer and developed an interest in politics and war. Perhaps the most striking, and harrowing, juxtaposition of photographs is the grinning "most decorated soldier" in Vietnam with the large closeup of the disfigured face of a Vietnamese woman who survived a napalm bombing attack.

Avedon's famous biennial-election marking portfolio of the 69 most important figures of the Washington establishment of 1976 is also on display. Titled "The Family," it is perhaps the best display of his minimalist, revealing portraiture style, with a number of familiar faces to boot(Ralph Nader, Bush Sr., Donald Rumsfeld).

His last assignment for the New Yorker, which was left unfinished due to his 2004 death from a brain hemmorrhage, was a chronicle of the US during the months leading up to that year's presidential election. Selected photographs from that collection, "On Democracy" are definitely worth checking out, both for Avedon's rare forays into color photography and for the relevance to this year's election.

Ultimately, the show has great selections from Avedon's career. In particular, I think the Vietnam-era photos and his various portraits of protestors and politicans alike will be of interest to everyone.

Two Events of Note

2008-09-11T10:17:00.005-04:00

Hello!

This is just a short, quick post about two events going on this week and next week that new Indian people on campus should be attending:

Friday the 12th (before you go out and have a livin' spree):

And Next Wednesday the 17th:

Man check that fresh-to-death flier designing.

The Booker Shortlist

2008-09-09T11:32:00.004-04:00

The shortlist for the Booker prize was announced earlier today, and to my surprise and excitement, The White Tiger, a novel I thoroughly enjoyed, is in the mix. The novel is written by debut novelist Aravind Adiga, and is told from the perspective of Balram Halwai, a driver for a wealthy Delhi family. The book is a glimpse in the underbelly of Indian society, and is written in a realistic and dark tone, and often switches between moments of hilarity and disturbing tragedy. Adiga is not the only South Asian to be featured on the short list. Acclaimed author Amitav Ghosh is also on the shortlist for his new novel, Sea of Poppies, suprisingly for the first time. Ghosh is noted for being on of the strongest writers from the subcontinent, and has written several novels and nonfiction books. Though I haven't read Sea of Poppies, I have been told that it is excellent and epic (it is the first in a projected trilogy). Salman Rushdie, Michelle de Kretser, and Mohammed Hanif made the longlist, but unfortunately did not progress to the prize's shortlist. In addition, Joseph O'Neil's Netherland, which deals with issues of immigration in NYC, often from a Desi perspective, which was heavily favored to win the prize, also did not make it to the shortlist. The full shortlist consists of:

Aravind Adiga (The White Tiger), Sebastian Barry (The Secret Scripture), Amitav Ghosh (Sea of Poppies), Linda Grant (The Clothes on Their Backs), Philip Hensher (The Northern Clemency) and Steve Toltz (A Fraction of the Whole).

The winner will be announced on October 14th.

Affirmative Action and Asian Americans

2008-09-05T15:43:00.009-04:00

So I've been a bit out of things with classes starting and everything, but it is impossible for me to ignore this infuriating article from the neoconservative magazine The Weekly Standard. The article, with the oh-so tolerant title "The New Jews", argues that affirmative action is explicitly harming Asian Americans, while those other minorities are reaping the benefits. WE SHOULD BE FURIOUS AT THOSE OTHER ETHNICITIES, RIGHT?! Wrong.

Though I am in favor of Affirmative Action policies, I will also readily admit that the implementation of these admissions programs has not always been satisfactory. That being said, the article exemplifies the same rhetoric that has been used to place minority groups in competition with one another, preventing any sort of unity towards their numerous common interests. The victimization of Asians in discussions of minority issues is often perpetuated through the "model minority myth" which I know has plagued Indian Americans and other Asian American groups since their populations started growing. Vijay Prashad, a scholar at Trinity College in Connecticut whose writing I greatly respect, has written extensively on this issue:

Most of us are familiar with the ideal of the "model minority", and indeed there are several strong denunciations of the myth. What is not so clear is the means by which this sterotype is not just to uplift Asians, but to pointedly demean blacks and Latinos. (Source: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting, Beacon Press. 2001)

Prashad's argument is exemplified in this article, which asserts that the hard work of Asians is being ignored by these policies. This completely ignores several factors:
First, post 1965 immigration policies tend to favor educated immigrants in more lucrative fields (though this is not universally the case and there is great economic diversity within the Asian Pacific American community). Second, the article works under the assumption that racism against blacks and latinos is gone. Again, Vijay Prashad articulates what racism means today:

We are led to believe that racism is a prejudicial behavior of one party against another rather than the coagulation of socioeconomic injustice against groups. (Source: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting, Beacon Press. 2001)

The article discusses the creation of level playing field for admissions, but this makes the assumption that society itself functions on a level, racially unbiased playing field, a fact that is simply not true based on correlations that still exist between access to wealth and opportunity and race.

Finally, the article makes only a brief mention of racist tendencies within the private university system that implicitly favor white students over all other minorities. Once again, Prashad writes (like I said, I really like his writing):

The Asian American is used as an instrument to show how these schools discriminate against Asian Americans in favor of Blacks and Latinos, that Asian American merit is squandered on behalf of the processes of equity. In private schools, however, where Asian Americans are discriminated against in favor of whites, there is no talk of the Asian American. In fact, there is a silence on the problem of affirmative privilege and the disregard to merit when it comes to children of alumni (or legacy admissions) and other such markers of privilege. If the merit argument is to have any credence, then we should take it all the way and raze the edifice of privilege (Source: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting, Beacon Press. 2001)

The effects of legacy admissions has been clearly favorable to whites throughout numerous admissions cycles:

Of those Asians who applied to Harvard [in the 1980's], the college accepted 13.3%; of the white applicants, the college welcomed 17%. Some of this is because of the legacy system, by which 20% of Harvard's incoming class are children of alumni...In 1992, Harvard admitted more legacy students than black, Chicano, Native American, and Puerto Rican students combined. (Source: Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting, Beacon Press. 2001)

The playing field is REALLY level, right? Conservative sources, like the folks at The Weekly Standard perpetuate the notion of Asian victimization, thus creating friction between various ethnic groups, all of which share common goals. It is because of divisive rhetoric like that which can be seen in the magazine's article that minority groups don't have active discourse to try and improve the institution of affirmative action. Asian Americans have a lot to gain by working with the system, like bringing attention to diversity within their populations, and to gain assistance for Asian American groups which have numerous social factors working against them. We just have to fight the politics of articles like this, which generalizes all Asians, reduces them to rhetoric, and places them in opposition to Blacks and Latinos.

Upcoming Events of Note

2008-09-04T20:52:00.003-04:00

This is a little late but there's still plenty to do during Welcome Week and beyond. Here's some stuff we did/ plan on doing:

Tuesday was the student org fair. If any orgs want to work with hadji to get the word out on their events, email us and we'll be glad to help out.

More after the jump

Tonight (Thursday) is the SA kick off party. Should be fun and a nice break from the craziness that is the first week of classes. Plus FREE FOOD. Can't go wrong.

Saturday is fall fest - always a fun time and Hadji loves the FREE FOOD (and entertainment, but mostly food). Virginia Coalition and The Canon Logic will be playing. Hadji doesn't know anything about that, and honestly would have preferred Rooney or Girltalk.

Next week:
Your favorite Indian dance team will be having tryouts. We hear Raas is always fun (we love dandias), but if that's not your forte, find something on Facebook that piques your interest. Trust, it's there. You were probably invited, too.

We here at Hadji Is Dead hope everyone has a great first week, and remember, when you see a brown person on the street, don't give them the awkward death stare (guys especially: the girls know what you have to think about to shoot laser beams), rather, acknowledge their existance. You never know, you might just be had at hullo/kem chho/kidhaan/Endha Veshesham/Kesey ho?

Change We Can Hope To Believe In (GW Edition)

2008-09-01T19:03:00.003-04:00

Phew…Has Hadji used enough of those ubiquitous campaign slogans in the title (Everyone's doing it nowadays)?

Anyway, a few days before school begins, Hadji has come across a great story from the pages of fellow GW bloggers The Colonialist and that awesome (not) "newspaper" that everyone’s always reading. One of the colonialist’s contributors apparently ran into some heartbreaking financial problems, and appealed to the school for some sort of financial aid. Of course, with GW being GW, he not only had a hard time dealing with the financial aid people, but they failed to even give him an answer, yes or no. As you can imagine, this sort of thing is extremely hard for someone already going through so much. With no more options, he took a route that, frankly, I don’t think anyone would have thought of taking.

Travis ended up talking to Vishal Aswani, SA President, and, well, you read the rest of the story.

It’s an extremely noble act, Vishal’s response, and Hadji greatly applauds his efforts. Hadji supported him in the election, and it’s good to know Vishal is all about the people. We’ve needed someone who’s willing to stand up to the Man for years, and finally, someone’s stepped up to help out students like this.

Here’s hoping Vishal doesn’t end up like that other guy. And that he’ll get us a decent, healthy breakfast spot on campus. Healthy, as in for the whole body, not just for the taste buds.

John McCain Is Buggin The F%^k Out!!

2008-09-01T11:11:00.004-04:00

"You shoulda got Michelle Obama to be your running mate. That would have been something strategic and fly."

The D. The I. The D. The D. The Y. The D. The I. The D. It's Diddy...hooold up:

Day of Expulsion from you-know-where

2008-08-30T22:45:00.004-04:00

Rajiv Menon, Happy Birthday.

Check that scandalous rump shaking! Gasp!

The T Word

2008-08-27T22:45:00.005-04:00

Without surprise, the forthcoming film Towelhead is drawing criticism because of it's controversial title. Muslim and Arab-American groups are calling for the filmmakers to change the title of the film, arguing that the current title only brings the racial slur further into the mainstream (I'm surprised South Asians haven't stepped into the mix, as the slur is used pretty liberally to describe anyone whose heritage originates from Turkey to Bangladesh). I've read the novel which the film is based on, and as far as I know, the title of the novel did not draw much criticism in 2005, but it's obvious that films receive significantly more publicity than novels. The novel universally condemns racism (as I would expect ethnic bildungsromans to do), and provides a pretty good image of the ugly reality of race relations in the suburbs (suburban Houston at that! My previous post should give some indication of how I feel about that issue). That being said, I don't think the audience that film will attract (I'm pretty sure it'll stay in indie theatres) needs to be told that racism is wrong. I'm more concerned about the people who will never see the movie but will see the title. The title is independant from the content of the film, putting the slur "towelhead" in the mainstream and softening the use of the term, without contextualizing the destructive purpose it holds. I'm concerned about people feeling more comfortable using the word after seeing that a film with the title "Towelhead" is being made. On top of that, the entrance of the film's title into the mainstream displays the casualness and ambivalence which racism against Arab, Muslim, and South Asian Americans is viewed (Think about some other racist slurs you know and ask yourself if ANY studio would publish a film with those names). I understand where Alicia Erian, the author of the book and co-writer of the screenplay, was coming from when she chose this title, and after reading the novel, I can comforably say that she is extremely talented and insightful, but I just think that the title will do significantly more harm than good. I do think that, despite the controversial title, the film itself should be good, as the novel was powerful and thought provoking (and much more disturbing than inspirational. Don't expect a Lebanese American version of The Namesake). Here's the trailer:

Brown Folk Can Play Sports Too

2008-08-26T10:05:00.022-04:00

It’s unfortunate that the nonsense about the lack of Indian athletes is in the limelight more than the fact that India actually won medals. Three medals, to be exact, which, though not that many, is still the most they’ve ever won in an Olympiad. One should note that India, out of the 81 participating nations, was 50th in the medal count. Hey, it’s far from last. We’ve come a long way from a white man winning the first Indian gold. I quite honestly was a little disappointed that a hockey team wasn’t fielded, since historically, it is India’s strongest Olympic sport (also a cricket event would be thrilling), but let’s not get into that.

So without further ado, congratulations are in order to Sushil Kumar (Bronze – 66kg class wrestling), Vijender Kumar (Bronze – Middleweight boxing), and Abhinav Bindra (Gold – 10m shooting). I took the liberty of giving the stars Gold medals in events that they should have won, after the jump.

Sushil Kumar: Gold - Least likely to be f$#ked around with

Vijender Kumar: Gold - Most amount of teh wiminz he's about to attract

Abhinav Bindra: Gold - Ability to be a Gangsta' (check that picture man!)

Their success no doubt shows that the Indian people are very capable on the world stage, and hopefully it motivates all the budding athletes to make an effort to represent in four years time.

And if that doesn't work, well, hopefully they'll be motivated by hotter prospects. Sorry, dude, I really hope it happens, regardless.

D is for Diversity

2008-08-25T22:37:00.006-04:00

Any time I discuss anything concerning ethnicity and television, I have to start with a particularly strong memory from my childhood. When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was all the rage and most 6 year-olds were pretending to be Power Rangers on the playground, I was told by another child that I would have to pretend to be the Black Ranger because I was "sorta black".

Now, I don't think little Johnny McTexan meant to be racist in any way at this time. He was really only working with what Power Rangers showed him: a racially color-coded team of superheroes. Since I was one of the only ethnics at my Suburban Texan elementary school, I clearly had to be one of the ethnic power rangers. Maybe the racial undertones to the Power Rangers were unintentional, but I find that hard to believe considering that the Black Ranger was African American, and the Yellow Ranger was Vietnamese-American. The important lesson that this taught me at the time was that diversity on TV is not a question of quantity (I'm not going to pretend that I was really that articulate at six years-old). As obvious as it seems now, apparently at this time, it wasn't so clear that though minorities might be visible, they might not be well portrayed.

The New York Times had a very interesting article on diversity in children's television programming, largely in response to the recent Disney Channel movie, Cheetah Girls: One World, which takes place in India (and which SM will be blogging on sometime soon). Fortunately, quite a bit has changed (though not entirely), and in direct contrast to the television from my childhood, some of the greatest strides have been made with TV for kids.

Gary Marsh, president for entertainment for Disney Channels Worldwide, said that executives at the company talked every day about how to promote greater diversity in front of and behind the camera.

“It’s something we work really hard at to make it look effortless,” he said. “We constantly push directors and casting directors and producers to make different decisions than they might otherwise make.”

In my opinion, though the Disney Channel should be greatly commended for it's success, they must also be careful to ensure that the visibility of minorities goes hand in hand with non-stereotypical portrayal of minorities. Though I don't watch the Disney Channel (I promise!), a good friend of mine informed me last year that the show Cory in the House features a generic foreigner character who seems to be a composite of various stereotypes concerning South Asia and the Middle East.

The article also discusses the achievements of ABC, which is owned by Disney, and it's ensemble drama, Lost, which is one of the most diverse television programs on the air. Lost features Naveen Andrews , who is a British actor of South Asian (his parents are from Kerala!) descent portraying an Iraqi, which, though not ideal, is refreshing, as his character largely resists many stereotypes concerning Arabs. The article also praises NBC's Heroes, which, like Lost, is an extremely diverse ensemble drama that features mostly non-stereotypical roles, with some exceptions. The show should be especially commended for it's portrayal of an interracial relationship, as it never makes any mention of the fact that the relationship is interracial, and thus never gives any indication that it should be viewed as anything out of the ordinary. The show also features Sendhil Ramamurthy (South Indians are really getting a lot of TV exposure) playing an Indian geneticist that does not have an Apu accent.

The one show that surprisingly gets no mention is NBC's The Office, which I feel handles this issue of diversity most expertly. The cast itself is fairly diverse, but the show finds humor in how dangerous the politics of diversity can be. And for those who are interested in the representations of Desis on television, I would argue that Mindy Kaling (born Vera Chokalingam, yet another Southie!) and her expert writing and acting for the show has done one of the greatest services for South Asians on television. Her character, Kelly Kapoor is ditzy, loudmouthed, clingy, and completely stereotype defying (and hilarious). In fact, quite a bit of the humor stems from how her boss's racial insensitivity and stereotypical expectations of her are completely ludicrous (She is obviously annoyed when she receives a "Spicy Curry" award at an office awards ceremony and is told that she should have dressed up like the girl from Bend it Like Beckham on Halloween). She is expected to be an expert on Hinduism and India, but when asked about the origins of Diwali, she replies that "Oh I don't know, it's really old I think". Or even better yet:

Michael: Kelly, you’re a Hindu, so you believe in Buddha.
Kelly: That’s Buddhists.
Michael: Are you sure?
Kelly: No

Kelly Kapoor is no Apu and no model minority, and as a result, she represents the kind of diversity we need more of on TV. Best of all, Mindy Kaling displays the same resistance to stereotyping in interviews (the youtube link is dead unfortunately, but the post and comments should give some idea of what I mean).

Overall, TV is moving in the right direction, and I am confident that fewer children will have traumatic experiences like mine on the playground. Unless the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers make a comeback.

Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, and All Those Other Foreigners Have No Values

2008-08-25T16:31:00.010-04:00

On Tuesday, the Boston Globe published an article drawing attention to how frequently John McCain uses the term "Judeo-Christian" in describing the values and principles which he believes have been, are and should be the driving force of all the morally upstanding (hahaha) decisions the United States makes in both foreign and domestic policy.

After citing instance after instance of McCain using this term, the reporter, Peter S. Canellos, draws this conclusion:

Such comments may pass unnoticed by most American voters and may be reassuring to some religious Christians and Jews. They may even go over well with some secular Americans who are pleased that he is using more inclusive language than some members of the religious right.

But his repeated invocation of "Judeo-Christian values" is sure to stick in the ears of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and people of other non-Christian, non-Jewish faiths. And they're sure to be asking themselves: Just what is McCain trying to tell us?

This question goes far beyond just asking what McCain is trying to tell us. I do not believe John McCain is choosing to use this term out of boldness. He uses this term to be safe. In order to be elected, a candidate must remind citizens that he knows the United States stands for Christian values. It is a reality.

The question is: What is America trying to tell us?

In a country that has deep historical and philosophical roots in not endorsing any single religion, religion is everywhere. To me, it seems that the fact that McCain can make such frequent allusions to "Judeo-Christian" values is a message from the United States that while Eastern religion may be "interesting," it is not something to take seriously. As the number of Asian-Americans in the United States grows, our religions are still not considered respectable. For many Americans, it’s not even a matter of debate that non-Judeo-Christian religions belong on the margins of mainstream society.

I am not even going to argue, "Hey, we have values too!" because that is not the issue. All I am going to ask is when are Eastern religions going to stop being a trend, a fashion statement, an escape, and an ancient wisdom to the United States and start being a real, living, moral systems that are entitled to the same amount of respect and consideration as Christianity and Judaism?

Hari Puttar and the Deathly Lawsuit

2008-08-25T14:58:00.007-04:00

The soon-to-be-released Bollywood film Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors has recently gained attention from an unwanted American source: Warner Brothers, the studio behind the Harry Potter movies (I'm not sure what J.K. Rowling has to say about the matter, but then again, if I were her, I would just roll around in my piles of money all day). Yahoo News reports that Warner Brothers is suing the producers of the film, for obvious reasons surrounding the title. The studio claims that the film has nothing to do with Harry Potter, and based on the trailer, I would have to agree with them (though one of the burglars looks a lot like Hagrid). That being said, the title is clearly a cheap gimmick (and possible Kal Ho Naa Ho reference) to piggyback off of the publicity Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince would had received, had it not been pushed back till next summer. This doesn't bode well for my upcoming film Jamshed Bond, which is scheduled to be released somewhere around November 14th. Here's the trailer for the film, and based on my first impressions, it looks like the people behind Home Alone should get in on this lawsuit action.

Stuff We Like: Kati Roll

2008-08-25T09:34:00.005-04:00

Oh man. Kati Roll is, hands down, the best stuff on Earth. Someone in DC needs to open one now!

Also stuff I like: The badass Sholay poster on Kati Roll Company's wall. And their Awesome Menu (which reminds me of the lessons I had to do when learning the Mother-Tongue).

Color Bind

2008-08-22T15:21:00.008-04:00

Everyone knows race is playing a big role in this presidential election and in more than one way. With the Pew Research Center having recently released a report showing that whites will no longer be a majority in the U.S. within the next fifty years, it is now more important than ever for politicians to take into account the opinions and needs of their minority constituents.

On August 5, 2008, The Century Foundation, a New York think tank, held an event for young people titled "Color Bind: Race in the 2008 Election and Beyond." The event highlighted the way race is playing out in this election in both the way the candidates are perceived by the public and the way they campaign.

Watch the highlights video above and make sure you watch it until the end because that is my favorite part!

Is your man on the floor?

2008-08-21T23:26:00.003-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Chris Brown could not run it.

"All I Wanna Do..."

2008-08-20T23:44:00.003-04:00

I am a big fan of M.I.A. and I'm happy to see the success that Mathangi Akka has found because of the Pineapple Express trailer (though the song isn't even in the movie or the soundtrack)
I would like to briefly point out that, as a longtime fan, it's a little frustrating to hear "new fans" sing this:

All I wanna do is BANG BANG BANG
and-uh BANG (people usually forget the cash-register noise and usually just make another bang)
and take your money

or even worse:

Pirate skulls and bombs
Sticks and stones and weed and bones
Running when we hit home
Lethal poison *mumble* system

Granted, M.I.A. lyrics are hard to understand, and I'll let these mistakes slide. But I highly recommend that those who like Paper Planes so much check out M.I.A.'s numerous other songs. All and all, I can't let my snobbery disrupt the fact that "Paper Planes" is number four on the iTunes top downloaded list, and could honestly be the first of her songs to reach number one. I'll end with a video of "Sunshowers", one of my favorites ("10 Dollar and "Come Around" don't have official music videos). And to all my brown brothers and sisters who like "Paper Planes": Please stay off bittorrent for once and shell out the 99 cents necessary to download the song on iTunes. It sure would be nice to see one of our own at number one.

I(ndia)Phone Prices Announced

2008-08-20T13:08:00.011-04:00

So, as far as the iPhone is concerned, Indian people have pretty much gotten worst deal going. Not only have they had to wait extra long for it to reach them (Sometimes the shipments get lost and end up discovering new lands), but now Vodafone and Airtel, the cellphone providers who'll be selling iPhones, just released their ridiculous prices for the Iphone today.

Business Standard is reporting that the phone won’t be subsidized by the providers, so you’re going to have to shell out $712 for the 8gb or $830 for the 16gb if you want to get your 3g on! Wait a minute, India doesn’t have a 3g network! What the hell, SJ? How many Indian people work for you? Wasn't part of the Ipod circuitry designed in Hyderabad? Cut our broda's and sista's some slack! We all know Iphone's are cheap as hell to make. Seriously, the coolest thing India has to look forward to right now is the ability to email themselves exactly how drunk they are at any given moment in time. And phone calls. Awesome. NOT.

Hadji Gets a Facebook

2008-08-19T23:07:00.002-04:00

You can now become a fan of Hadji is Dead on Facebook!

Click Here to join the fan page!

The Forgotten Jews of God's Own Country

2008-08-19T17:55:00.004-04:00

Besides a brief excursion to Cochin's "Jewtown" when I was 16, I didn't have considerable exposure to the small Jewish population in Kerala. I've visited Kerala reasonably regularly all of my life, yet I had never learned anything about this population, whose history in Kerala goes back 1000 years. The ever-reliable Wikipedia notes 56.1% of the state is Hindu, 24.7% is Muslim, and 19% is Christian, and all of these populations have rich traditions unique to Kerala, so it is not surprising that a community that now has only 40 people in a state of 31.8 million is struggling to maintain it's identity. The Economist has published a great book review of a recent book written by Edna Fernandes that discusses the history and identity of Cochin's Malabari Jews. The article synopsizes the extensive history and societal struggles the Cochin Jews have faced:

Despite what some of them claim, Mattancheri’s Jews are not Kerala’s last Jewish community, nor its oldest. In nearby Ernakulam there are about 40 Malabari Jews, of dark, Keralite complexion. Survivors of a community over 1,000 years old, with seven synagogues, now disused, and once extensive landholdings, the Malabaris were the privileged stewards of Kerala’s ancient kings. But they were usurped by the white Jews, who arrived from Europe in the 16th century.

Until the mid-20th century, the white Jews, who prospered as bookbinders and traders, enforced a cruel apartheid. Defying top European rabbis, they barred the Malabaris from their synagogue. The first white Jewess to marry a dark Jew, in 1950, was ostracised. Unsurprisingly, the two communities still dislike each other. Yet the whites now depend upon the Malabaris to make a quorum in their synagogue and supply them with kosher meat.

There's definitely an interesting story here, and the book definitely sounds worth reading. the article describes how the racial distinctions between India's various Jewish communities have led to severe tensions between the group, and the various systems are viewed hierarchically, similarly caste communities. The possibility of disappearance must be a burdensome fear for the younger generations of this community, and a book like this is a particularly important way of ensuring that their story won't be lost with their dwindling population.

Stuff We Don't Like: Blowouts

2008-08-18T13:57:00.004-04:00

See how ridiculous he looks? Hmm? SEE? YOU SEE THAT? Now, how do you think YOU look, brown man with chia-head?

Musharraf Resigns

2008-08-18T05:01:00.006-04:00

(I attempted to post this before...but the electricty went out. Oh load shedding, how I despise thee)

In a rambling address to the nation, the embittered Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation. I'm in Lahore right now and watched the hour-long speech with my mother, grandmother, and other assorted relatives stopping by for one of their multiple cups of chai.

I unfortunately lack the ability (and confidence) to speak Urdu but I can understand it fairly well and I commented to my family that, for much of the speech, he seemed to be running for re-election, rather than close to resigning. He really kept us viewers at home hanging on to his every word, growing impatient as he babbled on about all the highways he's built, the hotels he plans to build, and the 8 galleries he opened (Seriously. We lay glued to the tube, wondering if he was going to resign or refuse and declare a state of emergency...and he started talking about the importance of the performing arts)

He was confident and seemingly unaware of the visceral reactions he provokes in Pakistanis until he neared the end of his speech, when he finally announced his resignation. Then, the camera pulled away and my aunt insisted it was because he was tearing up.

After she said that, we paused, silent until my sister blurted out,

"I'd feel sorry for him...if he wasn't a dictator."

In the hours immediately following his 1 PM speech, every station showed images of joyous Pakistanis in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, men and women young and old, banging drums, waving posters of Nawaz Sharif, Asif Ali Zardari, Quaid-e-Azam, other assorted politicians, and dancing up a storm. I was immediately reminded of a Punjabi wedding, people were THAT happy and THAT insistent on busting their best bhangra moves.

Now, though, the euphoria is dimming and people are adapting the same cynical tones they usually have when discussing politics here. Assorted theories abound about who will eventually take up the reign after Muhammad Soomro's interim term ends. My grandmother swears that Zardari will find a way to put his sister, Faryal Talpur, in the seat but many stations here are excitedly latching on to the fact that Zardari and the late Benazir Bhutto's son Bilawal is flying here. Another thing to consider is what this means for the US. Mark Tran's blog at The Guardian regards Musharraf's resignation as the loss of "another ally." Who knows...all I can say is, I've been in Pakistan for the past 3 weeks, and I honestly have no idea what will happen.

And since I forgot August 14 (Pakistan's birthday), I offer a belated, and much needed, Pakistan Zindabad.

The Roma in Europe

2008-08-17T22:29:00.005-04:00

The Roma people, popularly referred to as Gypsies, have largely existed on the margins of societies across the world, and now, as shown by a horrific case in Italy, their tensions between majority populations and the Roma are rising. The Guardian reports of a tragic drowning of two Roma children on a beach in Italy, and even more shockingly, beachgoers barely reacted to the presence of the two children's bodies on the beach, a gesture that is inflaming communal tensions between the Roma and Italians. The Guardian writes:

Summer beach life resumed around the bodies for three hours until an ambulance finally showed up. In the most striking image of all, a couple nonchalantly ate a picnic while looking on at the scene. Another threw a frisbee nearby. The indifference, picked up by newspapers and TV stations across the world, was seen by the country's liberal elite to be the final straw. The most senior Catholic in Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, was the quickest to point out the coarsening of humansentiment which the behaviour in Torregaveta represented: 'Cristina and Violetta,' he told the Italian media, 'had faced nothing but prejudice in life and indifference in death; an unforgivable truth.'

This incident is finally bringing to light the horrific attitudes that are taken towards Roma populations in Italy

'Italy is divided on these girls, on the fate of the Roma. The conscience of the people has been pricked. You can see this on the walls of our city,' says Francesca Saudino, our early morning guide and a campaigning Naples-based lawyer with Osservazione, a nationwide pressure group for Roma rights. 'The reaction to the death of these children goes beyond anything that has happened before. The incident has exposed a long-held social realism in our country: that many working-class people think the Roma no better than animals, and the government is using this xenophobia to win votes and popularity. People are ashamed. The deaths of these girls has come to represent something more, perhaps a battle for Italy's soul.'

The horrific indifference towards these deaths has led to a newfound resurgence of rhetoric urging Italians to move away from divisive racial politics. Silvio Berlusconi,the incumbent Prime Minister has taken up numerous policies that are clearly anti-Roma and anti-immigrant in nature.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who swept to power for a third time on a thinly disguised anti-immigration ticket, was in the middle of a controversial yet populist programme of fingerprinting the country's 150,000 Roma, some of whose families have been in Italy since the middle ages. According to critics it has become impossible to disguise the Fascist undertones of these actions, and they point to the fact that the first expulsions of Gypsies took place in 1926 under Benito Mussolini. The dictator's political heirs, the 'post-fascist' National Alliance, are now coalition partners in Berlusconi's government

The situation facing the Roma is equally saddening across Europe, and unfortunately, the quality of life for the Roma is nearly universally poor in the continent.

For the 10m Europeans all loosely labelled as Roma or Gypsies, life is an endless procession of marginalisation and prejudice. Corralled into settlements across the continent, 84 per cent of Roma in Europe are estimated to live below the poverty line. Perhaps even more shocking is the lack of a more detailed picture. Official indifference and reluctance on the part of the Roma themselves means data on life expectancy, infant mortality, employment and literacy rates are sparse. Yet all are likely to be lower than those of mainstream society. The plight of the Roma has been a part of European life since their mysterious migration from Rajasthan around 1,000AD.

The death of these girls and their inhumane treatment brings to light a very serious issue to Italy's mainstream public, a space where the Roma rarely inhabit. It is truly tragic that it takes a horrific incident like this to bring light to the racial inequalities that are still present in Italy today.

How common is your last name Mr. Runganakyaswaminathan?

2008-08-17T17:23:00.003-04:00

This has been on the New York Times website for a while, but I just came across it again and thought I'd enlighten you. There is this really cool interactive feature that lets you search though the 5,000 most common surnames in the U.S. Take a look!

...and this connects to Hadji how?

Patel is number 172.

Who woulda guessed?

Nando's Is Here!

2008-08-16T16:58:00.007-04:00

Here’s something I've been anticipating for almost a decade: Nando's, the South African grilled chicken chain, has finally come state side!Just a block from the Gallery Place metro stop, sandwiched in between the dozens of other restaurants in China town, Nando's has set up shop. Everything they serve has flavors rooted in its famed Peri Peri sauce, which, quite frankly, is something you just have to experience; It can't quite be put in words.

The Peri-Peri Story:

"It is said that a young spirited boy went exploring one day and returned late that night with the African Bird's Eye Chilli. It had been shown to him by the African people who named it Pili-Pili. The Portuguese boy couldn't pronounce 'Pili-Pili' and introduced it as Peri-Peri"

On a side note, "Pili-Pili" is how many Africans describe spicy stuff in general.

Grilled chicken is their forte, so if you're vegetarian, you're probably not going to find anything to eat, except the really tasty fries, which honestly I could munch on all afternoon, as long as there's Peri Peri sauce to dip them in. Maybe you can get a salad, but in all seriousness, who eats that? (If you're wondering, I think cows do, so that they get fat and tasty, but nobody's really sure).

Needless to say, lunch time rush was indeed a rush. Plenty of people were stopping by during their lunch breaks, but, and much to my ire, many lucky folks had the chance to find a mate, sit down, and enjoy a good meal. Looking at the menu, one may not find it varied, but like I said, this quasi-fast food restaurant specializes in grilled chicken. And so that's what you see on the menu: Chickens by the whole, half, or quarter. Chicken in a bun. Chicken in a wrap. Chicken in the mornin', chicken in the evenin', chicken' at supper ti…you get the idea. And everything basted with one of four varieties of Peri Peri sauce: Lemon and Herb (their way of saying mild, but it's still tasty), medium, hot, and extra hot. These sauces are also available for pouring, so when you grab your meal, don't forget to take a bottle of your favorite to your table and drizzle it over whatever you've ordered. Trust me, after eating this stuff pretty much all my life, it never gets boring. Take note, though, that when they say hot, they mean it. If you're brown, you'll love it.

I'm not going to delve into the menu, because, to be honest, it's all really good. Couple that with the fact that they've got an excellent list of wines which pair well with anything on the menu (same with beers), and you've got a place you really cannot afford to miss. It has always been, and always will be one of my favorite places to eat.

I suppose I need an Indian connection? It's cheap.

Nando's in DC is located at 819 7th Street, a block away from the Gallery Place metro stop. Nandos.com

Revisiting the Big Brother Racism Controversy

2008-08-16T16:15:00.004-04:00

It has been over a year and a half since allegations of racist bullying on the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother gained worldwide attention. Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty was the target of racist behavior during her time spent on the show, and was reportedly told to "F--- off home" and accused of not being able to properly speak English. Jade Goody, the contestant who is often noted for having been the most vicious towards Shetty, is allegedly appearing on the Indian version of the show, which is hosted by Shetty. I was horrified by the racism that Shetty faced during her time on the show, though I was extremely pleased to see how strongly the British public reacted against the racism. It will be extremely interesting to see how a woman who made comments that are offensive to a nation of 1 billion, will be perceived by India and it's media. Here is a Post-Big Brother interview with Shilpa Shetty, in which she discusses her perspectives on the racism scandal.

Brick Lane: A Review

2008-08-15T18:00:00.003-04:00

I recently saw Sarah Gavron's film adaptation of Monica Ali's novel Brick Lane. I read the book quite a while ago, and remember not enjoying it too much, though I can't remember much else about it (I did, however, like her second novel Alentejo Blue). I decided to give the film a chance, and though I don't full-on regret going to see it, I can't say that I enjoyed it too much. The acting is undeniably strong, as Tannishta Chatterjee and Satish Kaushik are both strikingly believable as their characters. That being said, I found the characters themselves to be pretty static and undeveloped, and I don't think that there was much insight into the reasoning behind the decisions they make. Nazneen, the protagonist, is in a seemingly loveless marriage with Chanu. Nazneen enters an extramarital affair. What could have made for an intriguing dynamic between a husband, a wife, and her lover largely fizzles out, as Chanu's suspicions and jealousy never really develops into conflict. We are shown the growth of Islamic politics after 9/11, but that too, never really develops into conflict. We are BRIEFLY shown instances of hate crimes against Muslims, but that conflict only makes a small cameo in the film. In addition, the film never contextualizes the presence of Bangladeshi's in England, and never provides an specifics about the Sylheti community. As far as the film is concerned, this can be a story about any immigrant community, and though this could have been an attempt at universalism, there really just isn't that much for anyone to relate to. Finally, the film makes abundant use of brief flashbacks, which provide a glimpse of Bangladesh's beautiful scenery, but become incredibly excessive after the first three cut-aways. We get it, Nazneen misses home. Please stop beating us over the head with it. The film is ultimately flawed, though fans of the book might want to see it out of loyalty to the book, and many second-gens might enjoy the fact that brown folk are getting another mainstream release (though I would argue that this one is far inferior).
Here's the trailer:

Anita Jain's Version of the Pilgrimage

2008-08-15T17:57:00.009-04:00

So Hadji's Ghost decided we should all share our own sense of Indian pride today. Good plan. However, Rajiv, three posts down, took away my favorite Bollywood scene of Indian pride -- Hrithik Roshan dancing on the streets of London to Vande Mataram...come on, what could be more appropriate than that?

Instead, I thought I'd let you know about an excerpt from Anita Jain's book, Marrying Anita: A Quest for Love in the New India, on Salon that I came across a few days ago. Anita Jain, a successful, thirty-something living in Manhattan, becomes fed up with the Western style of dating for many reasons, and decides to move to India and pursue love in a country where people actually want marriage.

Interesting concept. Usually, when asked if my parents plan on arranging my marriage to someone from India, I laugh in disbelief and reply with something along the lines of "Helllllll no." But this is different. Jain willingly relocates to India with the belief that it is the right place for her to find love, and that Indians have a different view of marriage. Marriage is in itself, a goal worth reaching, not just something to consider after all other goals are reached. It is not only for those who already know how to be independent, those who have already become completely secure with themselves, or those with all those other accomplishments we tell our friends you need to have before you can fall in love -- lifelong companionship is an accomplishment that is widely desired.

So here's a head nod to India on it's Day of Independence for making love and marriage less depressing than we like to make it sound here in the U.S. And thanks to Jain for pointing this out to all of us Indian-Americans who think that marrying someone from India is the worst idea we could ever possibly think of. Often, we find ourselves believing that the way we do things in the US is the only correct way, and our Indian roots are nothing more than backwards, but Jain allows us to realize that maybe there's something wrong with the system we've come to hold above all else. And just to prove that to you through a non-Indian perspective, here is Jezebel with some similar conclusions. Enjoy.

Happy Independence Day!

Stuff We Like: Tamil Music

2008-08-15T13:44:00.003-04:00

Though many people I know might disagree, I felt it was necessary to do a Stuff We Like post on the music of Kollywood, Bollywood's wacky cousin from the Tamil Nadu. Kollywood makes no effort to hide that it is, at its essence, nonsensical and comedic. This is not to downplay the merits of an entire film industry of course. Kollywood has produced some great directors who have produced top notch films, such as Mani Ratnam and his excellent film, Bombay, and Rajiv Menon (A different one), and his hit, Kandukondain Kandukondain. But the point of this post is to praise my favorite product of Kollywood: it's music.
Here is Andan Kaka (Also called Randaka), a song from the 2005 film Anniyan. To contextualize the song a bit, the movie is about a man with multiple personality disorder who commits a series of violent murders. Ok. It should make perfect sense now.

Secondly, here is the song Balelakka from the film Sivaji, which I believe is one of the most expensive Indian films ever made. The songs lyrics largely praise Tamil Nadu, and it is of note, that Rajinikanth, the most popular actor in Tamil cinema, is pushing 60, while the actress he is dancing with, Nayantara, is only 24. Not creepy at all...

Happy Independence Day!

2008-08-15T09:50:00.003-04:00

I thought it would be cool for all of us to share our own sense of Indian pride, so without saying much, here's my favorite India-Pride tune:

Happy Independence Day

2008-08-15T04:49:00.010-04:00

In honor of India's 61st birthday, I though a post of the national anthem would be appropriate:

I think it's pretty impressive that the national anthem, though written in Bengali, is sung differently across the country. Linguistic plurality in the country is widespread, and throughout the country's history, it has been (and should always be) important to Indians that one can speak Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, or Malayalam and still be considered Indian (I don't mean to cast aside the country's pretty disrespectful history of marginalizing minorities from all backgrounds). One of my favorite Shashi Tharoor columns discusses this issue, and points out the importance of diversity of language. I particularly like his anecdote about H.D. Deve Gowda, a Kannada speaker addressing the nation in Hindi:

Twelve years ago, when India celebrated the 49th anniversary of our independence from British rule, H D Deve Gowda, then the prime minister, stood at the ramparts of New Delhi's 16th century Red Fort and delivered the traditional Independence Day address to the nation in Hindi, the language which we have all learned to refer to (though the term has no constitutional basis) as India's 'national language'.

Eight other prime ministers had done exactly the same thing 48 times before him, but what was unusual this time was that Deve Gowda, a southerner from the state of Karnataka, spoke to the country in a language of which he scarcely knew a word. Tradition and politics required a speech in Hindi, so he gave one - the words having been written out for him in his native Kannada script, in which they, of course, made no sense.

Tharoor makes a good point; though language divides many Indians, it does not change the fact that they are all still Indians.
Enjoy the anthem, whether you say "Jono Gono Mono" or "Jana Gana Mana".
But I'll put aside the discussion of linguistic diversity in the country with a patriotic tribute a bit more lighthearted...

The Politics of Arundhati Roy

2008-08-14T17:50:00.006-04:00

I recently got a copy of Arundhati Roy's newest collection of nonfiction The Shape of the Beast, a collection of interviews with Roy on a variety of subjects. Roy's novel The God of Small Things is among my favorites and I've also thoroughly enjoyed her nonfiction. Roy's politics tend to be a bit radical, but much of what she writes is rooted in the harsh realities of the contemporary globalized world. I was particularly struck by an interview in the book conducted by David Barsamian, in which Roy references a previously published essay about race in America and the globalization enterprise. Roy writes of the "Turkey Pardoning" system of racism:

The best allegory for New Racism is the tradition of 'turkey pardoning' in the United States. Every year since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented the US President with a turkey for Thanksgiving. Every year, in a show of ceremonial magnanimitym the President spares that particular bird (and eats another one). After receiving the presidential pardon, the Chosen One is sent to Frying Pan Park in Virginia to live out its natural life. The rest of the 50 million turkeys raised for Thanksgiving are slaughtered and eaten on Thanksgiving Day. ConAgra Foods, the company that has won the Presidential Turkey contract, says it trains the lucky birds to be sociable, to interact with dignitaries, school children and the press. (Soon they'll even speak English!)

That's how New Racism in the corporate era works. A few carefully bred turkeys–the local elites of various countries, a community of wealthy immigrants, investment bankers, the occasional Colin Powell or Condoleeza Rice, some singers, some writers (like myself)–are given absolution and a pass to Frying Pan Park. The remaining millions lose their jobs, are evicted from their homes, have their water and electricity connections cut, and die of AIDS. Basically they're for the pot. But the Fortunate Fowls in Frying Pan Park are doing just fine. Some of them even work for the IMF and the WTO–so who can accuse those organizations of being anti-turkey? Some serve as board members on the Turkey Choosing Committee–so who can say that turkeys are against thanksgiving? They participate in it! Who can say the poor are anti corporate globalization? There's a stampede to get into Frying Pan Park. So what if most perish on the way?

Her writing is sharp and cutting, and will likely turn many readers off. I can't honestly say I've read enough of the book to provide a concrete review, but I did enjoy, as I always do with Roy, what I've read. I will say though, that the Indian edition of the book (or at least my copy) is very poorly printed, with typos, and even worse, misarranged pages. Hopefully these mistakes will be fixed if/when the book is published stateside. In addition to globalization, Roy discusses her own writing, the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat, The Narmada Dam project, and nuclear proliferation, among many other topics. I will leave you with a bit more optimistic image of Roy: a video of her reading one of my favorite quotes of all time, which she wrote in her essay "The End of Imagination".

Asian Americans and Barack Obama

2008-08-14T14:55:00.002-04:00

As easy as it is to accuse Barack Obama of gaining support from minorities in this country on the sole basis of his race, it's frankly a little bit insulting to insinuate that America's minorities are superficial enough to make such simplistic decisions about how they should vote. That being said, it is hard to deny that many minorities, including Asian Americans, have found a sense of kinship with Obama because of his background. For the first time, we have a candidate who not only supports policies that are directly in our interest (which I will discuss later), but also has a personal history that resonates with our communities. But most importantly, Obama's quest for the nation's highest office signals that the child of an immigrant does not have to be considered an outsider, and because of this, many Asian Americans are seeing a future where they too can be confidently accepted as Americans by the general public.
Last month, Jeff Yang wrote an excellent article describing Obama as the first Asian American President (in the same way that Toni Morrison felt that Bill Clinton was the first black president), and I definitely found myself agreeing with much of what Yang pointed out. As a child of (partially) foreign parentage, Obama has been labeled as an outsider, just as I, and many Asian Americans have been. Yang provides an excellent anecdote of Obama's name and childhood experiences:

Obama recalls how, on his first day at school in Hawaii, his well-intentioned teacher made a point of complimenting him on his beautiful, alien name, waxing on about the fantastical magnificence of Kenya, and asking "what tribe" his father was from — thereby condemning young Barack (classmate: "I thought your name was Barry!") to the status of outsider, foreigner, weirdo.

"I heard titters break across the room," writes Obama. "I spent the rest of the day in a daze ... The novelty of having me in the class quickly wore off for the other kids, although my sense that I didn't belong continued to grow ... Most of my classmates had been together since kindergarten; they lived in the same neighborhoods, in split-level homes with swimming pools; their fathers coached the same Little League teams; their mothers sponsored the bake sales. Nobody played soccer or badminton or chess, and I had no idea how to throw a football in a spiral or balance on a skateboard."

And he talks about how, as he grew older, he began to realize that his pervasive sense of difference extended beyond the mere purgatory of elementary school. "TV, movies, the radio ... Pop culture was color-coded, after all," he writes. "I began to notice that Cosby never got the girl on 'I Spy,' that the black man on 'Mission: Impossible' spent all his time underground. I noticed that there was nobody like me in the Sears, Roebuck Christmas catalog ... and that Santa was a white man."

I know that many South Asian Americans can relate to Obama's alienation from a largely Caucasian community. On many occasions, from kindergarten to senior year, I was asked to tell my class about my colorful Indian background, without any consideration for the fact that I was born and raised in suburban Houston. Obama's message of hope isn't limited to policy change; seeing him run for president has shown entire communities that the presidency, a position which, up until now, has been filled by 42/43 White Anglo-Saxon Protestants, gives every American the hope that they too can govern, despite the color of their skin or the nation where their parents are born.
My Obama-is-the-next-great-Asian-American-hope rant aside, I genuinely do believe that he is the candidate that will best represent our interests in the White House. The Asian Pacific Islanders for Obama web site clearly articulates the advantages that Obama will bring to API communities, and the South Asian fact sheet was particularly enlightening. Though Obama is known for a love of Bhangra and endorsements from notable South Asian celebrities, his political interests in the South Asian community are significantly more nuanced than that. Obama outlines several important points that concern the South Asian American community:

End Racial Profiling: As a state senator, Barack Obama worked across party lines and with law enforcement to pass a bill to prohibit racial profiling by requiring officers to record the race, age, and gender of those stopped for violations, to be analyzed for evidence of racial profiling. Obama also cosponsored the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA), which defined racial profiling and prohibited law enforcement from using race or ethnicity as a basis for routine or spontaneous law enforcement.

Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: Hate crimes against South Asian Americans have risen in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the U.S. Senate, Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to reach violent hate crimes motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or physical disability. As a state senator, Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.

He also clearly articulated foreign policy goals with South Asia:

Refocus Attention on South Asia and a New Approach to Foreign Policy: Barack Obama has long recognized that South Asia is critical to U.S. interests and will ensure that strong U.S. relations in the region are a top foreign policy priority. Countries in this vital region are key partners in the war on terrorism. Barack
Obama seeks a strong South Asian region, which in turn will strengthen the U.S. and its international interests.

Strengthen U.S. Relations with India: Barack Obama is an advocate of strengthening U.S relations with India, the world’s largest democracy and a growing economic power. Obama voted for the India civilian nuclear cooperation deal in 2006 and has since worked to ensure that the agreement is implemented properly so that Indians benefit from expanded energy sources and that nuclear proliferation concerns are addressed. Obama also believes that India is a natural strategic partner for America in the 21st century and that the U.S. should be working with India on a range of critical issues from preventing terrorism to promoting peace and stability in Asia. As president, Obama will make building a stronger relationship, including a close strategic partnership, with India a top priority.

Strengthening U.S. Relations with Pakistan: Barack Obama wants to build a broad-based and lasting relationship with the people of Pakistan — not just temporary alliances with their government. While the U.S. and Pakistan must continue to work together to combat terrorism that has claimed innocent lives in both countries and to destroy the terrorist sanctuaries along the Afghan-Pakistani border, Obama will make helping Pakistan tackle critical challenges like illiteracy, poverty, and lack of health care a key priority including by increasing aid in these areas. Moreover, he will stand up for democratic institutions, civil society and judicial independence in Pakistan. He has cosponsored legislation with Senators Biden and Lugar to triple non-military assistance to Pakistan and sustain it for the next decade.

And finally, for those in the community who are a bit medical minded:

Provide Universal Health Care Coverage and Lower Health Costs: One-fifth of South Asian Americans lack health insurance coverage. Barack Obama is committed to signing legislation by the end of his first term in office ensuring that all Americans have high-quality, affordable health care coverage. He has outlined specific principles for providing affordable and comprehensive coverage and for improving quality of care and reducing costs for everyone. These include tackling medical inflation and spiraling health care costs, developing new mechanisms to extend portable, affordable coverage, and reforming health care delivery so that it emphasizes prevention and efficiency. Obama will use the government’s market muscle to encourage insurers and hospitals to adopt electronic claims systems, electronic medical records, and patient safety reporting systems. These improvements will reduce administrative costs and health care inefficiencies such as duplicative testing and medical errors, which in turn will reduce costly medical malpractice lawsuits.

Reform Medical Malpractice: Increasing medical malpractice insurance rates is making it harder for doctors to practice medicine and raising the costs of health care for everyone. Barack Obama will strengthen antitrust laws to prevent insurers from overcharging physicians for their malpractice insurance. Obama will also promote new models for addressing physician errors that improve patient safety, strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, and reduce the need for malpractice suits.

Finally, I would like to thank my friend Meenu for pointing out that all of this information is available in Malayalam (what up).
Take note Asian Americans, our candidate is here.

Stuff We Like: ObamaObama

2008-08-13T21:11:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the first episode of Stuff We Like. Today's post may lead one to question the link between it (the video) and this site. Well, answer after the vid:

And, lest you think I forgot, after all that Obama-ing, here's the connect.

Preeta Samarasan's Evening Is The Whole Day: A Review

2008-08-13T20:02:00.001-04:00

Preeta Samarasan's debut novel Evening is the Whole Day, a powerful tale of a wealthy Malaysian Tamil family, is easily one of the strongest South Asian diasporic novels I've read in some time. Like Indians in Trinidad, Fiji, or Kenya, the Indians of Malaysia were transported by the colonial enterprise, and today, relations between Indian Malaysians and ethnic Malaysians are tenuous at best. Samarasan expertly contexualizes the role of Tamil Malaysians in the nation, but she never loses sight of the fact that most of the novel's driving action is limited to Kingfisher Lane, the street where the Rajasekharan family's home, "The Big House", is situated. The subject matter immediately reminded my of Rani Manicka's The Rice Mother, a novel about South Asians in Malaysia, which, though often entertaining and insightful, too often succumbed to melodrama and frivolity. The novel is told in reverse, beginning with the oldest Rajasekharan child, Uma, departing for Columbia University, and the family's maidservant, Chellam, being forced to leave the house under dark circumstances. The novel rich in story and plot, juxtaposing the family's struggles against the social and political struggles of minority citizenship in postcolonial Malaysia, expressed through passages like this:

"Suddenly so worried about my condition, is it? Then where have you been for the past eight months? The Party this, the Party that-"
" Vasanthi, there are elections next week. General elections. Do you realize what these elections mean for out country? This might be the last chance we have to challenge the bloody supremacists. You want our children growing up in a Malaysia just for Malays? Is that it?"

But Samarasan's talent is not limited to plot. She also provides evocative descriptions with language that is equally precise and poetic, through passages like this:

It is dusk, that aching, violet dusk that has come to seem the permanent state of the whole year. Just as Uma reaches the garden shed the streetlights come on, and clouds of moths and beetles appear from nowhere, as if they've been waiting for this moment all day. They divide themselves into equal clusters, even around one streetlight that flickers on and off and on and off all night but refuses to die.

Comparisons have been made between Samarasan and Arundhati Roy or Kiran Desai, but ultimately, I think that's more due to the fact they share Subcontinental lineage and unique storytelling styles (Didn't everyone compare Roy to Rushdie? I'm not sure, I was too young). Though the novel has received favorable reviews, with a particularly glowing review in the New York Times, the novel does have it's detractors, and the most notable negati ve review in the Asian Review of Books takes issue with the novel's use of language (an aspect of the book I love). See what you think for yourself. I strongly recommend that you pick up this novel.

Welcome to Hadji is Dead

2008-08-13T18:53:00.000-04:00

Following in the footsteps of such trailblazers as Sepia Mutiny, Ultrabrown, and Stuff Indians Like, we at Hadji is Dead hope to provide you with a reliable source of information on South Asian Diasporic arts, culture, politics, society, and more. Our title refers to Hadji, a supporting character from the cartoon Johnny Quest. While in Johnny's day, it might have been believable that Indians can charm snakes and randomly shout out nonsensical jibberish, we're here to prove that this isn't the case. So please stay tuned for more updates.