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From 23 respondents on the poll on our front page, a whopping 15 drive Japanese cars (ahem, including yours truly). 5 (22%) drive German cars. While unscientific I have a gut feeling this is close to the numbers you normally see in most desi communities in the US. Of course, if you drive an American car and you did not vote, we were unable to count your opinion. But being that most of our readers drive Japanese and German cars, perhaps we could introduce a bi-weekly/monthly car review of the latest models in the leading brands - Honda, Toyota, Lexus, BMW, VW, etc?

Submitted by Anantha

Name of Restaurant: Dosa Grill (http://www.dosagrill.com/)
Restaurant Address: 1980 Route 27, North Brunswick, NJ-08902 (Near the intersection of Route 27 & Cozzens lane)
Restaurant Phone: 732-422-6800

1. What kind of meal did you have?
A. Dinner

2. What kind of food is it?
A. South Indian / North Indian mix

3. What did you eat and drink?
A.
I had -
a. Idly in Sambar (Mini Idlies soaked in sambar) @ $3.75
b. Gunpowder Dosa (Spicy Milagai podi dosa with masala) @ $7.25
Friend had -
a. Veg Samosa @ $3.75
b. Ghee Roast (Thin crispy rice crepe flavored with Ghee ) @ $6.50

4. How is the ambience, decor and service?
A. Decent service, Ambience and decor - Diner like, nothing special.

5. What can you get to drink?
A. Me - plain water
Friend - Salt Lassi (apparently one of the better salt lassis that she has had)

6. What other dishes would you recommend?
A. Lunch buffet

7. Is vegetarian friendly?
A. 100 % vegetarian

8. Cost?
A. Reasonable

9. Eat there again yourself?
A. Yes.

10. Would you recommend to friends?
A. Yes. Decent enough food at a reasonable price.

Submit your own Jhatpat Restaurant Review - 10 simple questions in under 10 minutes now.

Hooch a.k.a desi a.k.a tharra a.k.a moonshine (illegal liquor) has claimed over 150 lives in South India wtih several others hanging in balance. [BBC]

Here is what happened:
1. Local elections held.
2. Historically, politicians bribe illiterate electorate with, among other things, liquor, to vote for them.
3. Local/state authorities, in their infinite wisdom since they know what is best for all, decide to ban alcohol sales.
4. This, of course, opens up the market for illegal sales of liquor.
5. Alcoholics and party animals flock in droves to bootleggers to buy this hooch.
6. Hooch traditionally is stronger than regular liquor and in an attempt to boost this strength above bootleggers used chemicals and pesticides.
7. People get sick and die.

And here is why it shouldn’t have:
All this could’ve been prevented had the authorities not tried to play god by banning the sales of legal liquor. Banning the sales of legal liquor achieves nothing. If someone can be bribed with legal liquor, they can just as easily be bribed with illegal liquor, or, surprise, money. Another myth is: people drink and vote for politician X who buys them drinks. Last time, I checked it was a democracy and the person with most vote wins. If there are more sober people perhaps they should vote against politician X. If there are more drunk people than sober ones, maybe they deserve politician X because he understands his constituency. Either way, by trying to ban liquor, because it will influence elections, the authorities are actually preventing the democratic process from maturing.

Liquor is a slow killer - well known fact. But they key here is slow, not 150+ people in a few hours for drinking a few mugs. Do these people have themselves to blame, since they chose to buy the illegal liquor? Perhaps. But then there is a reason they chose to go the illegal route, the legal option was abruptly shut down. There’s plenty of blame to go around and we can start at the top - this antiquated practice of prohibition that authorities still choose to indulge in, if for nothing, moralistic reasons.

The ongoing primary duel between Obama and Clinton reminds me of a tennis match with Obama up 2 sets to 1, and on duece in the clinching game for Obama. Then the score goes Duece-Advantage Obama-Duece-Advantage Obama-and on and on. People are ready for the game to conclude and Obama to play the championship game with McCain. Yet Clinton refuses to concede even though she is faced with a near insurmountable task. In case you missed it, Obama and Clinton split Oregon and Kentucky respectively. [CNN]

Here’s some quick notes from the contest:
- Obama has won a majority of pledged delegates almost ensuring his victory in the primaries.
- Clinton will not concede defeat, which while a debatable decision, is well within her rights.
- Obama started off with a win in Iowa, a primarily white state. But somewhere along the line, perhaps as the contest moved South, Obama seems to have lost favor with working class whites. It will be hard for Obama to win the general elections without carrying at least a few heartland states.
- Somewhere McCain is smiling and continuing to pile up money for his run in the general elections, most likely against Obama
- Obama stuck with the Democrat Party rank and file and ignored Michigan and Florida. Being that these two states can swing either way and have been major deciding factors in elections past, was this a wise decision?
- Speaking of which Obama is campaigning in Florida tonight, right down the road from where I live. But with a $250 entry fee to the event, I think I’ll pass.

Remember how apprehensive we were when this show (Aliens in America) started and how a few episodes managed to change our perception and we actually started liking it? [Previous UD post on Aliens in America]

Bye bye Raja
img: via TV Guide

Apparently, the premise of this show was not too popular with mainstream Americans and so the television channel, CW, has canceled this show. [link] [thanks Desi Manifesto]

A pity, since I actually liked this show. The last episode I watched featured the cultural gap between DBDs and ABDs. Raja takes a liking to the a Muslim girl, one of the few in their little town, who is the same age as Raja. Ultimately even though they like each other and the girl’s family loves Raja, their relationship does not work out because the girl wants to see other men, something which Raja disapproves of.

I thought ‘Aliens..’ covered the cultural gap between two desi people of the same age and same religion, but raised in different cultures, pretty well. This is something I’m not too used to seeing even on desi entertainment outlets, where one party is depicted as the victim and the other as the victimizer. Ultimately, the two break up realizing that their cultural difference are too vast for them to be happy in this relationship. The breakup was mutual and mature, without too much of the histrionics that we’re used to seeing on desi shows and movies.

“Aliens…” was the one show that did a fairly decent job of covering the differences between Western and Eastern cultures, without exoticizing the latter. We will miss “Aliens in America”.

Here’s a review of an “exotic” Indian grocery store in the small township of Temecula, CA, that I found floating online. [Press Enterprise]

Apparently, Indian stores are as exotic as beachfront property in this inland town.

In the shopping center there’s the dental office, the tax service, the escrow business and Hooters. And does it get any more American than that joint?

Yet, amid the slice of suburbia is something different: Indian Grocery & More.

Indian groceries? In Temecula? Next you’ll tell me there’s beachfront property here too. (OK, let’s not get carried away.)

Mutter paneer is more exotic than meatloaf and mac’n'cheese.

The store at 27365 Hooters Ave., I mean Jefferson, is stocked with dal, mutter paneer … . What kind of gibberish is that, you may be wondering? Where’s the meatloaf and macaroni and cheese?

Sorry, it’s more exotic here. The small store also has rice (Yes, if you’re into hoarding it, there’s plenty), lentils, coconut milk and lots of curries, stuff you recognize.

Visiting an Indian grocery store will make you culturally more aware and cosmopolitan.

But because we’re into stretching our palates and our cultural awareness in a southwest Riverside County that’s becoming more cosmopolitan by the newcomer, this is your one-stop, international experience.

Turbans, Punjabi dialect and accents will add to your exotic experience.

The friendly owner, Nirmal Singh Gill, adds to the effect with his turban and thick accent. He answers a phone call in English then shifts to Punjabi to better communicate with the caller. For the moment at least, it’s as if you’re standing in Calcutta, not Temecula.

Bathinda would’ve been a better example than Calcutta since Nirmal Singh is Punjabi, but lets not nitpick here.

The author even gets a crash course on the health benefits of consuming Indian food, which in case you haven’t realized is exotic.

That leads us to a broader point about Indian food: it’s so healthy. While American cuisine has its good points, (Dhiman says she does fast food on occasion.), Indian food in general is much better for you. “The spices here are good for your blood,” Gill says, standing in front of a shelf stocked with them. If it sounds tempting, the store also hosts cooking demonstrations.

If you ask me, most times, the healthy spices are offset by all the artery-clogging oil and ghee we use to fry our food in, but let’s not burst this gentleman’s bubble.

And of course, no trip to an Indian store is complete without Parachute hair oil and Shikakai shampoo, both of which are exotic. Lets not forget the pirated Bollywood DVDs, which by the way are also exotic.

Indian hair-care products are also available. And you thought shampoo was just shampoo! There also are about 400 Indian videos for rent.
Perhaps you’ve heard of India’s world famous Bollywood movie industry? Here’s your chance to check it out first hand. And you don’t have to get on a plane to do it.

That, ladeej and gentemans (<— in exotic accent), concludes our review of an exotic Indian grocery store. Thank you, come again.

In a recent worldwide survey of most and least eco-friendly consumers, India and Brazil topped the list, while US came last. [Science Daily] (tip Spee via email)

India: Crowded but eco-conscious
img: via AFP

I can’t speak for Brazil but given the amount of pollution encountered in Indian cities, this comes as a surprise. But this is how this poll was measured.

One thousand people in each country answered questions that measured their behavior in the areas of housing, transportation, food and consumption of goods; each respondent earned a score that reflected the environmental impact of his or her consumption patterns, which included size and energy-efficiency of residence, commuting mode and distance and use of fresh water, among dozens of other measures. Consumers were then assigned a Greendex score (a measure of the relative environmental sustainability of their consumption patterns) out of 100. Consumers in Brazil and India scored highest; U.S. consumers scored lowest.

And this is how India and Brazil featured at the top, this survey featured actual consumers and not businesses. Following the trend, consumers in developing countries showed more concern towards the environment than consumers in developed countries.

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The plot for the season finale of Numb3rs, was based on Pakistani Americans and featured a bunch of desis. Plot predictably goes something like this:
2 Pakistani Americans are kidnapped and killed. Meera Simhan (Date Movie, Iron Man, Turbans) is the wife of one. Ravi Kapoor (Crossing Jordan), a Pakistani American scientist, is arrested by the FBI in connection with these murders, and surprise, a terrorist plot, because he emailed some sensitive research material to a University in Pakistan.
The bad guy, initially thought to be Pakistani, turns out to be a former IRA operative, in brownface, who has infiltrated a Pakistani American charity group. I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, either this guy has some disorder or that is the worst job ever of trying to pass a white guy off as a desi”. Turns out there was a reason, he was a white guy dressed in brownface. Of course, all the inherent fear and stereotyping was on full display but I thought Numb3rs did a reasonable job of, for once, showing both sides of the argument, Charlie’s brother as the FBI agent indulging in stereotyping and Charlie out to prove they are wrong. In the end, even though his name has been cleared in the murders, the Pakistani American professor played by Ravi Kapoor is still detained by the FBI, for the documents he emailed to Pakistan. The show ends with Charlie, probably putting his own career on the line, by emailing the remaining research documents to Pakistan and getting arrested for it.
Did anyone else watch this episode? If so, please share your thoughts and opinions.

I had the bitter misfortune to watch the trailer of “The Love Guru” at the movies this weekend. It promises to be just as delightful as I expected. With sight gags and the inclusion of Verne Troyer in the cast- do you honestly believe that this movie will threaten Hinduism? ( See earlier posts 1,2, 3)

The main feature was the immensely watchable “Iron Man”. Without giving away too many spoilers , some points to ponder:

- Why would terrorists in Afghanistan speak Hindi and Hungarian ?

- Why is there a saffron flag in the background when said terrorists shoot a ransom video where they read out their statements of demand in “shudh Hindi” (”pure Hindi”)?

This leads me to suspect a big Hollywood plot against Hinduism- first “The Love Guru” , now this - irrefutable proof that they are intent on perverting everything that is good and holy.

If you ask me , instead of wasting time over the “Love Guru”, we should be protesting the “Iron Man”.That way we stand to get free tickets to a movie that is at least watchable!

A few days back a post showed up on my feedreader that raised some red flags for me. The post talks about this gentleman named Roy, who claims he voluntarily gave up everything to live in an eco-commune in Kerala, and I had a lot of issues with what Roy was preaching. I debated long on whether to voice them on here or not. Our panel of fellow bloggers even discussed this topic and I will share some opinions that came out of it, sort of a “best of”. I’ll probably get skewered for questioning a perceived martyr but nothing is too sacred for me, so here goes. [Original Post] [via DesiPundit]

Here’s a sampling of quotes that raised some red flags for me.

I was working as an IT consultant in corporate America for nearly five years. By most definitions I had ‘made it’ — good education, good job, nice car, pretty girlfriend, ‘success.’ Yet, I voluntarily chose to walk away from it all and search for a totally different way of life. Why? Let me share two reasons, one external and one internal, although both are deeply connected.

I had long since questioned the role of the US government and multinational corporations in dominating the world and recreating it in its own image.

But the wars in Afghanistan and then Iraq — though hardly new or different than what the US had long been doing — brought me to a point where I had to make a decision: was this a system I could support? For supporting it I was, through my tax dollars, job, and my way of life — despite going to protests to the contrary.

The post goes on to say he quit his job, sold his belongings and moved back to India. I sincerely hope he paid off his credit card debt because, if he did not, in some way I’m paying for his dues today with my tax dollars. I also hope, for the sake of his “pretty girlfriend”(who, I assume, was none too happy with this surprising turn of events) that he broke up with her in a proper manner and was able to explain his reasons. Of course, I suspect we’ll never know the nitty-gritty of what really went down.

Read the rest of this entry »

Be scared of the latest Bollywood movie, Bhootnath ….. real scared. Be scared because you have to pay real money for the ticket.

Regarding, Bhootnath. I watch desi movies in theaters because I get so few of them. Normally I don’t read reviews or hype, so I can form my own opinions. Ditto for Bhootnath, I went in with zero background on the movie. I decided to use this movie to experiment with some live blogging on my now almost defunct blog. The way this works is - I text (SMS, if you will) Utterz.com and they automatically post it to my wordpress blog.

Here’s a sampling of my text messages/live posts:
45 minutes into the movie:

bhootnath. good intro. annoying children 1st hour

About 1 hour 15 minutes into the movie:

bhootnath. 1st half extremely boring. movie 4 kids. couple of lol moments. kid falling down stairs highlight of 1st half.

After intermission:

bhoot’s son is 1 of us evil nris. wonderful.

End:

end of movie. bhoot has attained salvation and so have I. juhi is (politically incorrect term for hot)

There is really not much more to say about this movie. Bollywood has a special knack of taking cute kids and turning them into these really annoying entities, which for some inexplicable reason Bollywood finds “cute”. Don’t quote me on this but Bhootnath is most likely a kids movie. At least in the first half. And a NRI family drama/religious salvation experience in the second half. It’s a rehash of Casper the friendly ghost with you-know-who replacing Casper.

Regarding music/songs/dance, they are randomly inserted, as always. No culture police here but every single song, while neatly choreographed, blatantly apes the American way of life - American football, baseball, urban clothing - perhaps a reflection of current society. There is a way of integrating the good of both without blindly aping and that escapes most, but I digress.

This is strictly anecdotal from what I witnessed. If you have kids they may find this movie entertaining in the first half. But they will definitely find the second half boring, the few kids in the theater were either sleeping or begging their parents to take them home 15-20 minutes into the second half. If you are an adult you may find the movie boring in the 1st half and may find the second half interesting, if NRI family dramas about the umbilical cord syndrome (NRI kids abandoning parents in India) are your thing.

I often get annoying email forwards that among other things credit India with inventing the number “Zero”. This is just my personal opinion, there are exactly that many redeeming moments in Bhootnath, contrary to what you may read in other reviews. What movie critics define as redeeming moments is simply people trying hard to laugh or be charmed because they paid real money for the movie. A kid’s movie would’ve been cool, there is a serious dearth of those in Indian cinema. A family drama while commonplace would’ve at least been expected. They tried to make a movie for everyone, instead they made one for no one. If your kid wants to absolutely watch this movie, get a pirated DVD (not that I condone piracy but I condone money wastage even less) from your local Indian grocery store and excuse yourself while your kid tortures himself/herself. Again just my personal opinion, but, stay away from Bhootnath, its really scary - the prospect of sitting through this movie.

In reverse order, and yes, there is a shade of desi’ness to this: [link]

5. Ford Model T
“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black” - Henry Ford referring to the Ford T.

4. VW Bug
Legend has it that the first shape was drawn by Adolf Hitler.

3. VW Golf
This was a surprise, at least to me.

2. Ford F Series
Perhaps the only vehicle in this list that has reached this figure from exclusively North American sales.

And no 1 is …..
1. Toyota Corolla
Affordable, extremely reliable and great gas mileage ensures this car is a perennial desi favorite, perhaps, but not solely, contributing to its rise to the top. 35 million sold to date.

Submitted by anonymous (whom we may refer to as “That Other guy from Wham”)

Name of Restaurant: Straits Cafe
Restaurant Address: 3295 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306 (www.straitscafepaloalto.com)
Restaurant Phone: (650) 494-7168

1. What kind of meal did you have?
A. Lunch

2. What kind of food is it?
A. South Asian influenced, Rice, Noodles, pad thai, Sambol and lots of sea food.

3. What did you eat and drink?
A. Garlic noodles

4. How is the ambience, decor and service?
A. Upscale, lots of South Asian posters. Staff is pretty friendly.

5. What can you get to drink?
A. Pretty much anything

6. What other dishes would you recommend? Any other selling point - music/dance?
A. Pad Thai

7. Is vegetarian friendly?
A. Yes, they have a lot of meatless options

8. Cost?
A. About 10-12 bucks a dish

9. Eat there again yourself?
A. Absolutely

10. Would you recommend to friends?
A. Yes

Other comments (if any):
I saw a lady changing her kids diapers in the parking lot, so I guess you could call it a kid friendly place. Might be too adventurous for parents. Good place to take a date there in the evening. They have an outdoor patio, which looked pretty nice.

Submit your own Jhatpat Restaurant Review - 10 simple questions in under 10 minutes now.

Read our previous post: Jhatpat Restaurant Review: Naan N’ Curry, Berkeley

Update:
Correction from original story: the name of the victim is Keanan not Kenan. Keanan, was the son of Little India editor, Anchal Mehra. This is either one of the weirdest suicides ever, or, one of the craziest stories a police investigation cooked up. [TOI Online]
If going by the official police theories, Keanan did indeed commit suicide, he stabbed himself with a knife in his chest, abdomen and neck, and left himself to bleed to death, without the hope of even his body being discovered in any hurry.

Keanan Mehra (21) was found with a knife lodged in his neck and another stab injury between his chest and abdomen. His decaying corpse suggested that he was probably lying dead for at least three days.

Also by official accounts, he had a backup plan in case the original suicide plan failed.

According to police sources, the noose indicates that Keanan had made “alternate arrangements” to kill himself, lest he failed killing himself with a kitchen knife. He apparently jammed the knife in his neck with such force that it broke in two. “We found a noose made out of a bedsheet in a room near which Mehra was found dead. This pushes us into believing that he did perhaps kill himself. Why else would he have fashioned a noose and left it on his bed?” said an investigating officer.

Granted there are some strong clues to support the official theory.

What has deepened their suspicions is the fact that no fingerprints have been found — apart from that of Keanan — on the broken handle of the knife.
But as all windows were shut, and the only entrance to the flat was bolted from inside, the cops think it unlikely that some assailants entered the house and then escaped. The only window, which lay open, did not have any ledge or rainwater pipe close to it, which the killer(s) may have used to escape.

But here’s another twist, there was no suicide note, which while not unheard of, is extremely uncommon.

According to police sources, they are now investigating the motive. “We haven’t found a suicide note, not even a scribbling on his notebook, which can lead us to the motive.
Mehra’s aunt, Chetna Kapoor, has told the police that Keanan did not exhibit any signs of depression.

While I’m no chef, I can certainly tell when the food is bad. While the police have some strong evidence to support their theory of a suicide, which oh so coincidentally, is also the most convenient one …. for the police, something doesn’t quite add up. A suicide without any motive, warning signs or suicide note is very rare. Usually people find at least one, if not all three. On top of that the modus operandi this person used to kill himself is also very rare - people committing suicide take the quickest or the least painless way out. Multiply the chances of those two occurring together and the proverbial daal turns kaala. So like I mentioned earlier, this is one of the most bizzare suicides or the more fascinating tale the investigators have cooked up. If indeed, this was a murder, there is one clever killer on the loose, which is all the more reason, the police should not convince themselves that this was a suicide, and do a thorough investigation treating it as a suspected murder.

Our thoughts are with the father of the victim, Little India editor, Anchal Mehra, and his family.

Original Story:
Kenan Mehra, 21, a Califronia native, who was doing his M.A. at Delhi University was found dead with head injuries and stab wounds on the neck in apartment in north Delhi. [Sify News]

Despite, the injuries and stab wounds, police are also investigating a suicide angle. [Hindustan Times] (tip Runa)

The Hindustan Times article also alludes to the father of the victim being the editor of a popular Indian diaspora magazine, which most of our US readers might be familiar with.

Check out this desi kid who recites the capitals of most US States. Ok not all, he slips up once, on Kentucky, and gets some help from the guy holding the camera, presumably his father. Slightly amusing, when his father repeats a state, Alabama, and the kid innocently, and slightly miffed, corrects him. FYI, the conversation between the kid and his (presumed) father is in Tamil, if you could not tell from the accent. (tip Sai via email)

UPDATE 3: 4 people have been arrested in connection with the blasts .Preliminary reports indicate that the Bangladesh based Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami. is responsible (link)

UPDATE 2: CNN puts the death toll now at 60. There is still no attribution for these terrorist attacks, but officials have since said that an eighth bomb was defused. (link)

Elsewhere Sandil Srinivasan, who was in Jaipur, 20 feet away from of one of the blasts, has been twittering from the scene. (link via Desicritics)

UPDATE 1: Now police put the death toll at 30 (the Times of India is reporting that as many as 50 may have been killed). Authorities have put New Delhi, India’s capital, and Mumbai, the country’s financial center, on high alert along with airports, train stations. One of the bombs went off near a Hanuman temple which was crowded as it was Tuesday - the traditional day for worship of the monkey-god. (link)

Seven explosions rocked the pink city of Jaipur .The explosions which were around 12 minutes apart began at 7:30 pm IST (link)

India is on high alert after a series of near-simultaneous explosions killed at least 20 people and wounded 100 others in the northwestern city of Jaipur Tuesday night, government and local officials told CNN-IBN.

Most of the explosions were in the old city which is usually crowded with tourists. 20 people are feared dead. The explosions were caused by medium intensity bombs.

Rajasthan Director General of Police A S Gill said it was “obviously a terror attack”…Police sources said that cycles may have been used to trigger the blasts that occurred in the space of 12 minutes at the crowded areas (link)

This is the first time that Jaipur has been the target of terrorists . Our prayers are with the families of the victims and the wounded.

More updates as they are available….
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The popular term from the 90s appears to be making a comeback, albeit in a different incarnation, courtesy a team of four students at Carnegie Mellon, two of whom are, you guessed it, desis. [Pittsburgh Post Gazette] (tip Karthik via email)

Talking hand
img: via Post Gazette

It is a sensor-equipped glove, known as HandTalk , that can translate gestures into spoken words on a cell phone. It was developed by students at Carnegie Mellon University as part of a class research project.

Three of the four team members, senior computer engineering students Bhargav Bhat, Hemant Sikaria and Jorge L. Meza , demonstrated the prototype yesterday at Carnegie Mellon’s “Meeting of the Minds” expo of undergraduate research projects.

It’s all in a noble cause, to help the deaf communicate with people who are not familiar with the American Sign Language.

The technology is pretty simple (not really) and cheap - desi ishtyle (really).

Underneath the hood of this system are several relatively inexpensive pieces of technology.

Along each finger and the thumb of the glove are flexor strips, which change their electrical resistance, depending on how much the digits are curled. The positions of the fingers are read by a chip and transmitted wirelessly to a cell phone, which is loaded with a vocabulary that corresponds to the gestures.

The cell phone then types the words as text messages, and an off-the-shelf program translates them into speech.

The prototype currently can only recognize 15 of 26 American Sign Language alphabets and need major upgrades, but the team is optimistic of testing the gloves with hearing-impaired people in a few months. But wait, the desi connection doesn’t end with the team of students.

The HandTalk project is one of several created this year in Dr. Narasimhan’s Embedded System Design course, in which teams of four have to develop a product prototype in 15 weeks.

Among the other projects this term is a lighted jump rope that changes colors the faster someone skips and can deliver digital messages on how many calories are being burned, and a cell phone system that allows students sitting “in the nosebleed section” of a hockey game to tap into any video camera feed within the building and see it on their phone screens.

One project from last year’s class already has resulted in a local spin-off company, Dr. Narasimhan said. The students developed a bar code reader for blind people that gets product and price information from the Web and reads it back to the shopper.

All in a day’s work at this class in Carnegie Mellon.

Today is Mother’s day a holiday that started in 1914 when Anna Jarvis succeeded in her crusade to found a memorial day for women, in memory of her mother Ann Jarvis who had worked hard to improve sanitary conditions during the Civil War. ( Source : Wikipedia).In a sad foretelling of days to come, in a few years Anna Jarvis herself was horrified at the commercialization of the day and became an opponent of its celebration.

Meanwhile,in other parts of the world, The Times of India online edition keeps up its tireless efforts to out-tabloid the tabloids with the prominent display of obscure news items.While Mother’s day is not as a big deal in India as it is here in the USA, one of the lead items on the ” front page ” was this item on a study that showed (link):

According to a global survey that looked at where mothers fare best and where they face the greatest hardships, India is ranked a dismal 66th among 71 “less developed countries” …The State of the World’s Mothers report 2008, brought out by American humanitarian organization, ‘Save the Children’, says that in India, one in 70 women face a lifetime risk of dying during childbirth. In comparison, it is one in 1,300 women in China and one in 74 women in Pakistan.

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Last year, Indian-American members of a group named “Forum for Saving Gandhi’s Heritage”, published a full page $65,000 ad in the New York Times targeting Sonia Gandhi. [NDTV story] [the picture of the ad]

The ad was also followed by protests when Sonia and Rahul Gandhi visited the UN to participate in the International Non-Violence Day. Last month, the Indian National Overseas Congress (INOC) served legal notices for defamation and libel on 3 members of the outfit demanding $100 million dollars in damages plus miscellaneous costs. [ExpressIndia.com]

To me, the ad seemed like a huge waste of money. To those who knew Sonia Gandhi, they probably already made up their mind to like her or hate her and the ad was not going to change that. To those who were not familiar with Sonia Gandhi (layman on the streets of America), the ad basically conveyed to them that Sonia was not related to Mohandas Gandhi. Other than that, Americans are used to seeing attack ads in mass media on a regular basis and are probably inured to them by now. So in essence, they spent $65,000 to take out a full page ad saying someone is not related to someone. Think of it this way, an American in India takes out a full page ad in the Times Of India saying George Washington is not related to Denzel Washington (totally random choice of two people with similar last names). Americans in India know that and Indians in India probably know that and even if they don’t, they could care less. The entire effort seems like a massive waste of money and resources, not counting the lawsuit which is breathing down their necks.

Having seen the ad, what are your thoughts on the entire saga?

Nargis in Urdu means “flower”. In Burmese, it probably means something that cannot be repeated in front of your family. Cyclone Nargis has an official death toll of 23,000 but estimates say it could be anywhere as high as 100,000 making it one of the deadliest tropical systems in recorded history. The junta in Myanmar has been extremely inept in handling the situation before and after the storms but efficient when it comes to holding back information. Under such circumstances, Burmese blogs have become major sources of communication with the outside world. [BBC link on Burmese blogs]

Other resources:
How you can help [BBC]
Other international websites/blogs:
American University Student Campaign for Burma [AUBurma]
Cyclone Nargis [nargis-myanmar.org]