I’m not sure on how people dig this stuff up, but someone decided to pick a quote from Mallyas statement from over a year ago and have figured that Karthikeyan could be back.

Force India boss Vijay Mallya has indicated that his Silverstone-based team will not be changing their line-up ahead of next season but an earlier promise by Mallya that by 2009 the team would field a countryman could yet be honoured.

While Karthikeyan is keeping his silence, personally I think Karun Chandok has a way better shot. He is in the GP2 series, which happens to be the feeder series for F1 and he has been performing pretty well. His team iSport international is currently leading the team score and his sponsor Red Bull racings junior team has at least one seat available for next year.

Karthikeyan or Chandok? What do you guys think?

I confess to a healthy interest in all things paranormal. Alas , not too many of my friends or family do the same. I am always on the lookout for someone to play Mulder to my Scully.

Bigfoot lives, or is dead depending on your perspective
img: via About.com

I follow the adventures of Bigfoot aka Yeti aka Sasquatch aka Mande Burung with growing interest . (Read earlier UD coverage of the peripatetic creature here 1, 2)

Out here in the Bay Area, we are waiting with bated breath for a press conference this Friday at Palo Alto where definitive proof of the Sasquatch is to be displayed

Three Bigfoot seekers, including a Redwood City man who released a documentary titled “Bigfoot Lives,” claim they may have the body of one and plan to release a photo and what they claim is DNA evidence at a news conference in Palo Alto on Friday.(link)

Two of them are Georgia residents have claimed to have found the body of Bigfoot in the woods of North Georgia.I just can’t wait! Of course the spoilsports in the Georgia forestry department deny all knowledge of said Bigfoot and claim that:

the largest wildlife they are aware of in the state are black bears and white-tail deer.

Meanwhile, India is not far behind. That worthy publication The Mail of UK reported earlier this month:

Scientists have used microscopes to analyse of strands of hair found caught on some rocks in jungle near the India-Bangladesh border.The tests showed the thick, wiry hairs do not belong to any of the most common wild animals known to live in the area.Instead, they bear a ’startling resemblance’ to some collected half a century ago by Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary.

Researcher Ian Redmond said: ‘The hairs are the most positive evidence yet that a yeti might possibly exist. It might be that the region this animal is inhabiting is remote enough for it to remain undiscovered so far. We are very excited.’ (link)

The hair were found in India and sent to the UK for DNA testing .Probably because Yeti science is in its infancy in India. But out there in England with all their experience with crop circles and the like - its a piece of cake! Per the article:

The hair in question were found in the remote West Garo hills in the Indian state of Meghalaya, caught in rock on a steep slope where the ape-like creature may have been sunning himself. In 2003, a forester claimed to have seen a yeti there three days in a row.

Of course, the Ramsay brothers knew about this long ,long ago -1991 to be precise- the year that they created this gem. (H/T to Santosh)

Truly enlightened, the Yeti has understood the importance of having an international presence and lives up to its name with a global footprint.

I want to believe!

UPDATE: My fellow Bigfoot -ites we have been cruelly hoaxed but not as cruelly as SearchingforBigfoot.com owner Tom Biscardi

Tom Biscardi had paid an “undisclosed sum” — Internet rumors put it at $50,000 — to Georgia residents Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer for their frozen “corpse” and the privilege of trotting them, but not the body, out in front of TV cameras.

Alas, an independent investigator whom he sent to invesigate the claims of the body discovered that the body was a Halloween costume that had been frozen.(link)

The Biscardi team immediately went into crisis mode. Biscardi called Whitton and Dyer at their California hotel.They admitted it was a hoax and agreed to sign a promissory note at a meeting set for 8 a.m. Pacific time at the hotel.But when Biscardi got there, he “found that they had left.”

Maybe I should update the post to say “I want to believe - but I can’t!”

Abhinav Bindra, returned home not only a hero but also a target, so he say on his blog. [Bindra blog] [via]

“Chooooo chweeeeeet”, says President Prathiba Patil
img: via Hindu

After Abhinav won the first gold medal ever for India, life was supposed to be all hunky dory. Then he met the President of India who insisted on pulling his cheeks like a true desi aunty. In fact, this photo captures something so desi, yet so common in the des and abroad even Presidents and world champion gold medalists are not immune to it.

Once Abhinav was able to feel his cheeks again, his life took another turn when he received “Z plus” security from the government. Of course, he seems to shrug it off with the same nonchalance he displayed after winning an Olympic gold medal.

Another interesting fact for our U.S. readers, Abhinav is an University of Colorado alumni [wiki] and practiced in Colorado Springs for the Olympic. [Rediff]

Over the years, we’ve watched with great interest the evolution, or rather the lack of it, of desi literature based in the U.S. The following is based on some common trends/threads in desi lit novels - bright covers with saris and bindis and the choice of “serious” South Asian specific topics like dowry, arranged marriages, bride burning - that we’ve noticed. This post should be viewed as nothing more than a gentle attempt at sarcasm from some jaded readers.

An excerpt from the new desi lit novel “A Custom Lungi” by Blogger Santosh.

“Smells like vendakkai curry”, thought Apu to himself as he walked in at 8pm after a long day’s work in front of the computer. Apu’s love for vendakkais, okras as Americans know it, was legendary. Samir, his Project Manager, had been lately been considerate enough to let him off by 7pm and had also raised his salary to nearly half of what his American colleagues made.
“She’s getting really good at this cooking business”, he reflected, as he changed into his trademark lungi and banian. She had been sick lately, throwing up in the mornings. “Must be that outside food we had 3 weeks back”, he said reasoning to himself and then let his thoughts wander to Sharon.
His phone rang snapping him out of his reverie. It was his lawyer. “What now?”, thought Apu. His lawsuit against corporate giants No-gain, who falsely proclaimed themselves as the ultimate solution to premature balding, had not been going well lately.

Review
“Blogger turned novelist Santosh has captured the spirit of an immigrant Indian man like no one else. The sweeping saga of a hirsute, slightly overweight, promiscuous, Indian man in an arranged marriage and his struggles with premature balding and against corporate America - “A Custom Lungi” is a cry for help from the South Asian male.”
Desi Tribune

“A snapshot of life in America through the eyes of a Hindi, and vice versa. From H1B exploitation to racial stereotyping to arranged marriages to dowry to extramarital affairs to the plight of a girl child, “A Custom Lungi” provides an in-depth and controversial look at the South Asian community”
South Asian Herald

Short Description Read the rest of this entry »

A 15 year old student from India is recovering in a Princeton, NJ area hospital after ingesting liquid nitrogen. [NJ.com] (tip Jennie via email)

The teen from India was part of a gifted students program.

The Summer Institute for the Gifted runs residential programs at several schools around the country and is not affiliated with Princeton University.
The program at Princeton is for “academically gifted” students in grades 7 to 11, the institute’s website says. Its course offerings include two chemistry classes.

The incident happened during a science experiment making ……. ice cream!!!

The 15-year-old was making ice cream as part of a science class in Frick Chemistry Lab just before 3 p.m. when he began suffering convulsions, university spokeswoman Cass Cliatt said. Emergency personnel from the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad treated him at the scene and rushed him to the University Medical Center at Princeton, she said. The boy told Princeton Borough police who went to the lab that he had consumed liquid nitrogen, Lt. Nick Sutter said.

Which raises the question to us non-ice cream makers, how does one make ice cream with liquid nitrogen? [Recipe]*

Recipe for ~1/2 gallon of strawberry ice cream (adapted from a Ben & Jerry’s recipe):

cream base:
4 cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups half and half
1 3/4 cups sugar

berry mixture:
1 quart frozen strawberries that have been allowed to thaw or fresh strawberries, mashed
½ cup sugar
Use ice cream cones (or bowls with spoons) for serving.

Keep all ingredients cold! Make sure the sugar is dissolved in the cream base. Pour the cream base into a large metal bowl. Add one to two liters of liquid nitrogen and stir vigorously. When the cream has thickened, add the berry mixture and more nitrogen, if necessary. Continue to stir until the nitrogen has evaporated (the fog has disappeared).

Apparently, while making ice cream with above recipe unknown Indian kid thought it would be great to taste some of the liquid nitrogen that helped make this tasty concoction. Luckily though, it seems like he will make a recovery.

The boy was in critical condition when taken to the hospital but later upgraded to stable, according to a statement provided by Nancy Sterling, a spokeswoman for the Summer Institute for the Gifted, which is headquartered in Stamford, Conn.

* Of course, we assume no liabilities for preparing or consuming this recipe, or liquid nitrogen, for that matter.

The Olympics is not all about medals. It’s also about competing, and upsets. The world of boxing saw one today as Indian pugilist Akhil Kumar defeated world champion Russian Sergey Vodapoyanov in the 54 kg category to enter the medal round. The two other Kumars of the boxing contingent, Vijender and Jitender are also still in the hunt. [Sify]

In-depth coverage of the boxing contingent. [UD]

As part of a massive social awareness campaign to prevent the spread of HIV, CondomCondom.org has produced a catchy a cappella 45 seconds long mobile phone ringtone solely comprising the word “condom”.
[CondomCondom.org] [via]

The campaign is produced by the BBC World Service Trust and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. The basic goal is to make condoms more socially acceptable.

I’ve talked about the power of cell phones as low-overhead high-impact information tools [UD Link] and this one to me seems to be a step in that direction.

The question is will it catch on? My take is that as conservative as the Indian society is, so long as the mainstream media projects it in the right manner, campaigns like these actually stand a chance. I can already see some rebellious college kids downloading the tune for kicks. As for whether it will catch or not, depends on how catchy the tune turns out to be.

What do you think?

I stumbled across this op-ed/feature on TOI which rues the invasion of commercialism into supposedly pristine notions like freedom. [TOI]

Isn’t this is a classic glass half full or half empty case? The writers of such articles should be looking at the amount of economic freedom everyone has, instead of griping about how everyone else is spending their money. Freedom has been turned into an overused cliché by political readers and so-called “intellectuals”, into something that involves token acts like puffing your chests in pride and waving a flag.

Being in a society and market that affords you more freedom than most countries in the part of the world that surround you, what is more patriotic than celebrating it by giving back to the economy that brought about a lot of these changes in the first place?

It’s great to see how some things never change. img: via TOI

“The Macaca Effect” as I understand it, refers to the George Allen Macaca controversy and the possibility that were it not for that slip, Allen could be 2008 GOP Presidential nominee instead of John McCain. [Wash. Post]

Since we’re on the topic of H1B visas today and the backlash in certain quarters, which often borders on the xenophobic, I present thee with this article which discusses something called “the macaca effect”, with a different connotation.

The writer of this article claims it’s a common term in the IT industry (quoting her):

And the ‘macaca effect’ is pejorative used by people in high tech to refer to East Indians driving down the wages of American and British workers. In many fields (computer programming, engineering, medicine, nursing, accounting, etc.) companies are faking labor shortages to acquire an H1B visa and hire East Indians, with the net effect of driving down the wages of American and British employees. Thus, one hears disgruntled employees talking about the ‘macaca effect.’

After quoting a couple of protectionists, she ends by referencing Jean Raspail and the Camp of the Saints. I found this quote she used in her article (even though she claims to quote someone else), extremely degrading:

Indians are best equipped to infiltrate and bring down Western countries - and they can do it with an obsequious smile.

Has anyone ever heard of “macaca effect” being used to reference desi programmers? Please feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on this article.

Attempts by our bloggers to contact the author of this article to get her side of the story (if any) have proved futile at the time of publishing this post.

….. lower-paid, highly qualified American (a.k.a not foreign, not Indian, but American) workers, that is. [WSJ]

For long, anti H1B propagandists like Lou Dobbs and Ron Hira (no link love for either) have complained about highly qualified tech workers from India accepting positions in the U.S., for perhaps, a marginally lower pay than their American counterparts.

WSJ talks about a new trend in corporate America where businesses and employees (not necessarily in technology) are having to adapt to a slower economy. Faced with cost cutting, companies are hiring employees who are either over-qualified for the post or those who will take responsibilities for more than one positions or both, all for a lower pay.

Perhaps the Indians were simply ahead of the pack on this trend?

Globalization has even touched the baby business. As this article in the NYtimes early this year said :

An enterprise known as reproductive outsourcing is a new but rapidly expanding business in India. Clinics that provide surrogate mothers for foreigners say they have recently been inundated with requests from the United States and Europe, as word spreads of India’s mix of skilled medical professionals, relatively liberal laws and low prices

The article goes on to discuss the various ethical and moral issues surrounding surrogacy including the very real possibility that third-world women may potentially be exploited and get into surrogacy without being fully informed of the medical and other issues. Yet, one may counter- argue that such surrogacy allows the surrogates to earn money for the betterment of their own and their families’ lives while at the same time allowing childless folks to have children whom they will presumably cherish.

I try not to be judgmental about the whole issue of assisted reproduction. As a parent myself, I cannot imagine life without my son and can empathize with those who cannot have children but want to. Yet, I am disturbed that current regulation and legislation - especially in India- are not enough to cover the myriad ethical and legal issues that some forms of assisted reproduction present. I said so here

Here comes a case in India that kind of underscores my unease. An 11-day old baby is at the center of a huge issue . (link)

She’s only 11 days old, and already her fate is tied in legal knots and international complications. Her biological parents are Japanese. When her mother, Yuki Yamada, could not conceive, she chose a surrogate mother in Ahmedabad to carry her child.

The child was born on July 25 in Anand, Gujarat. But a month before that, Yuki divorced her husband, Dr Ikufumi Yamada, and disowned the child. And that, it seems, is the root of all trouble for the infant who still does not have a name.

The surrogate mother gave up the baby after birth exactly per the terms of the surrogacy agreement.The biological father of the infant and his mother want to take the little girl back to Japan. But the article states that Indian adoption laws, some of which were written 120 years ago, do not allow a single man to adopt a child.(While the article is not clear on this, I suspect his single status is an issue because the child is being adopted to be taken out of India. From what I know, single parents have successfully adopted children in India). Whatever the reason the little girl is in danger of becoming India’s first surrogate orphan. Her to be - adoptive mother( who is also the biological mother as egg donor) evidently changed her mind after divorcing her husband. She is unwilling to travel to India to complete the adoption procedures.

While its great that Science and Technology pushes the frontiers of reproductive limitation allowing older and infertile couples to become parents, I do feel that it needs to be tempered with some regulation and legislation. Else the price will be paid by innocents like this little 11 day old girl.

In all the debates over the rights of surrogates vs rights of the adoptive /biological parents - who is fighting for the rights of the child?

UPDATE: CNN has picked up the story TODAY much after we did. The article can be seen here .The baby is called Manjhi and looks like the immediate obstacle for the father is that the Indian government will not allow grant an Indian passport to the child unless both Mother and father are present.Add to that the fact adoption by a single father is not possible ( see above) and the baby is stuck in legal limbo.

The 70-year-old grandmother, Emiko Yamada, (ed: mother of the child’s biological father) has stayed put[in India]

Uneasy about how the baby was created, she comes to the hospital to cradle her granddaughter day and night, and has become so attached, she says, she cannot imagine going home without Manjhi.

“I am very worried and stressed. Why can’t they let her father take his child?” the grandmother says

UPDATE 2: Baby Manjhi (sp?) may finally be allowed out of India. One major hurdle towards getting travel documents was cleared when a birth certificate was issues with the father’s name

Anand municipality has issued a birth certificate in her name late on Friday[Augut 10]. The baby will now have to either get an Indian passport or Japanese visa issued in her name before she heads to Japan. (link)

Meanwhile, true to the adage of personal business being everyone’s business in India, an NGO SATYA for no discernable logical reason, filed a petition stating that alleging that in the absence of any surrogacy law in the country, the surrogate child could not be kept in the custody of her Japanese grandmother Emiko.(link)

Luckily , justice of some sort is alive in India and the Supreme Court of Rajasthan made a ruling:

The Supreme Court on Thursday [August 14]granted the custody of surrogate baby Manji to her Japanese grandmother Emiko

All is not decided,however.The Court has issued a directive to the  Union and the State Home Departments asking them to produce the Japanese surrogate baby Manjhi in court within four weeks and explain why the baby was being allowed to be taken to Japan

After Raj Bhavsar’s outstanding performance lifted the US to a bronze medal, it’s his turn to lift Über Desi’s visitor tally. Over the last 24-48 hours, various combinations of “Raj Bhavsar” on Google have accounted for over 30% of our total visits.

Besides different ways of spelling his name, here are some other Raj Bhavsar search terms for your amusement:

Questions about his ethnicity
raj bhavsar origin - (from his mother’s womb is my guess, what’s yours?)
raj bhavsar nationality - (hint: he’s on the USA Olympic team)
is raj bhavsar indian? - (looking to open up a can of cultural identity whoopas)
is raj bhavsar of indian heritage? - (even search terms have to be politically correct these days)
raj bhavsar marathi - (Further proof Bal Thackeray has internet access)
raj bhavsar religion - (maybe he’s one of ‘em Hindoos)
where is raj bhavsar parents from in india? - (parents “are” not “is”, at least ask the right question if you’re expecting a half-decent answer)

Questions about his personality, availability, anatomy, and, ready or not, sexual orientation
raj bhavsar arrogant - (is he being a diva? We sure haven’t heard anything confirming or denying that)
raj bhavsar naked - (Eh, thanks but we’ll pass)
raj bhavsar girlfriend - (awww, some love struck girl is interested in Raju, or is it some love sick guy, which brings us to …………)
“raj bhavsar gay” - (get it? Male gymnast must be gay, not that there’s anything wrong with that. True or not, stereotyping is alive and kicking)

Totally random questions
“raj bhavsar” racism - (Which by the way brings up this humble blog as the #1 search result
raj bhavsar + schedule - (Raj, you’ve got yourself a stalker)
raj bhavsar infosys - (He’s desi. Hence, must be a low paid software worker. Lou Dobbs’ corollary)
raj bhavsar self help book - (It is reported Raj did use self help books to keep himself motivated. But Deepak Chopra might be a better bet on that topic)

and finally, the quintessential
who is raj bhavsar?

Kerala-born actor Shelley Malil was arrested recently in California on charges of attempted murder. [CNN] (tip Sidhu via email)

Shelley with the Governator during happier times
img: via collintheatrecenter.com

Our Macaca Crimewatch section often features crimes against and/or by desis. These people are usually unknown entities who are thrust into the spotlight as victims or offenders. For the first time today, and sadly, we’re featuring a famous face, Kerala-born Hollywood actor Shelley Malil.

An actor (Shelley Malil) who appeared in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” has been arrested for investigation of attempted murder after his former girlfriend was stabbed more than 20 times, leaving her critically injured, authorities said Tuesday.

E! has more on the incident. [E! Online]

The incident took place just before 9 p.m. Sunday at the victim’s home in San Marcos. Deputies of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department appeared on the scene after receiving reports of a woman screaming and hearing the shattering of glass.

Officials told San Diego’s NBC affiliate, KNSD-TV, that Malil arrived at the home and found his ex-girlfriend in her backyard with another man, when he suddenly grabbed a knife and began stabbing her, subsequently chasing her through her home. When the unidentified male companion attempted to intervene, he was also stabbed in the hand.

What is so disturbing is the viciousness of the attack.

“Her chin was almost entirely cut off,” neighbor Charleton Lee, who rushed to her aid and attempted to stop the bleeding, told KNSD. “She had a huge gash in her arm that looked like a really deep wound that was bleeding profusely.”

The victim is expected to make a full recovery. But Malil is in deep trouble.

The 43-year-old actor, who has also appeared in Scrubs, Seinfeld and NYPD Blue, was arrested after deboarding a train in Oceanside, Calif., around 6 p.m. Monday.

Malil had taken the train from Los Angeles in order to meet with his attorney, who had reportedly encouraged the actor, along with family and friends, to turn himself in to authorities.

Besides blockbuster movies like Collateral Damage and The 40 Year Old Virgin, Malil has also appeared on numerous TV shows - Seinfeld, West Wing, NYPD Blue, Without a Trace, Aliens in America and Scrubs - and ad campaigns like Bud Light (remember, “Vaat are youuuu doing?”).

The following video is a montage of Shelley’s performances from movies and television, sort of a “Best of Shelley” or “Worst Indian accents ever”, depending on your perspective.

For all the praise (deservedly) heaped on Abhinav Bindra, this statement by his father disturbs me. [TOI]

Silent killer, as described by his father, he is the one who spotted his son’s talent when Abhinav was 5 years old. “He kept a water balloon on our maid’s head and began shooting, knowing little that a slight mistake could have proved fatal. But his aim was so perfect that I couldn’t think about anything else but make him a pro,” says AS Bindra.

While one cannot fault a 5 year old for indulging in above activity, Abhinav’s old man is either exaggerating or is a modern day Herman Gessler.

Either way, I guess the maid should be thankful Abhinav was not practicing to be a boxing champ.

Save THE Pakistan? (img: via TOI)

Musharraf has become a common noun, so has Pakistan.

Raj Naidu, an immigrant engineer from India won a discrimination case against his former supervisor at the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC). [SF Gate]

Here’s the sad part to the story, his supervisor at the PUC was also an immigrant, from Iran.

Naidu, an engineer in the state PUC’s water division since 2001, received strong job evaluations until he got Moshen Kazemzadeh as a new supervisor in 2004, the court said.

Normally, when you got to go, you got to go. “Not so fast, my friend” said Raj’s supervisor. Reminding Raj of his childhood in India when he had to take the teacher’s permission to go to the bathroom, by holding up his pinkie, his supervisor instituted similar nanny rules for Raj specifically, it appears.

According to evidence presented at trial, Kazemzadeh prohibited Naidu from taking bathroom breaks without permission, withdrew previous supervisors’ approval for telecommuting, frequently shouted at him and deliberately gave him incorrect job instructions, hurting his performance.

Sabotaging his work by giving incorrect instructions, pretty classy, I should say.

To add insult to injury, Raj had to endure a paycut, thanks to his supervisor.

Based on the supervisor’s assessments, the PUC reprimanded Naidu in 2005 and cut his pay by 5 percent for six months, the court said.

Why this hatred towards Raj? Because he was an Indian.

Among other things, the supervisor, an immigrant from Iran, told Naidu, “I was able to dismiss one Indian before. … I will do it for you also,” the court said.

Evidence at the trial supported the judge’s conclusion that the PUC’s claim of poor performance was a pretext and that Naidu “was subjected to discipline because he was an Indian,” said Presiding Justice Barbara Jones in the 3-0 ruling. She said Kazemzadeh “made an overtly racist remark to (Naidu) and threatened to have him fired” but was allowed to remain his supervisor for more than a year.

Per the article, the claims have been corroborated by various witnesses.

Not finding much help from the authorities at the PUC, Raj had to resort to the legal system. In the end, Raj had the last laugh when he was awarded approximately $1 million dollar in losses and fees.

Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan, after a non-jury trial in 2007, found both harassment and discrimination and awarded Naidu $2,100 for economic losses, $545,000 for emotional distress and $499,000 in attorney’s fees. The appeals court agreed with Chan.

Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. men’s gymnasts team was not expected to win a medal but came away with a bronze after almost leading the contest at one stage. [Chron]

Bhavsar solid in medal performance
img: via Chron

In the absence of stars Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm because of injury, the US men’s gymnasts team was not expected to compete for a medal. It was Paul Hamm’s injury that put Raj Bhavsar through to the Olympics. [UD Link]

The US team was actually in the lead in the beginning stages.

The U.S. men, fueled by an early turn on vault, the highest-scoring event under the open-ending scoring system, actually led after three rotations and were second entering their final two events.

Then the inexperience at this level started to show.

Potential cracks in the façade became apparent on floor, and it appeared the final break may have come on pommel horse, where Kevin Tan straddled the horse toward the end of his routine and received a score of 12.775.

But a spectacular performance saw them end with a bronze.

But Artemev, who was left off the team because of his penchant for falling off the horse, his best event, came through with a score of 15.35 to salvage the bronze.

Raj Bhavsar anchored the team with consistent performances in all areas.

The Americans were fueled early on by the bold, rock-solid performances of a squad that included Houston gymnasts Jonathan Horton and Raj Bhavsar,………………

The U.S. was solid if basic on vault, recording three near sticks from Bhavsar (16.125), Horton (16.2) and Justin Spring (15.9).
Bhavsar and Horton carried the U.S. men through parallel bars with solid performances. Bhavsar scored 15.575 with a small hop on the landing, and Horton scored 15.625 with a stuck landing.

The US team almost upset China but did end up with a bronze, exceeding the expectations set for them in the absence of their star athletes.

More updates:
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, India’s brightest hope for a medal crashed out
Boxers Jitender Kumar and Vijender Kumar are still in the running for a medal in their respective categories and so is shuttler Saina Nehwal
Their more famous counterpart Sania Mirza, on the other hand, retired hurt, raising questions about her commitment and tenacity.

This will probably change by the time our West Coast readers wake up on Tuesday so savor this while it lasts. India, thanks to Abhinav Bindra’s gold, is among the top 15 spots in the medal tally - higher than other traditional powers like Russia, France and Germany. [BBC]