I get really annoyed at this “authenticity” business (see an old complaint) about who has the rights to do exactly what for which community. So I really enjoyed this letter to the Guardian about their nonsensical op-ed, The Trouble with Brick Lane: As a mixed-race novelist (hell, just as a novelist), I would like to [...]
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Benazir Bhutto has always been less than the sum of her parts – ah, but what spectacular parts! Just go look at this amazing series on Benazir done by CM Chief Artist-in-Residence lapata. Perhaps no memory of my childhood in the 80s can compare to her triumphant return to Zia’s Pakistan – the mantle of [...]
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Thanks to my main man, Rajeev, we enjoyed a sunday afternoon at Soldier’s Field watching John Kitna decimate the Bears with his precision prayers. NFL is way more the carnival then any other sporting event – and perhaps much more taxing on the senses. Still, it seems though that watching a football game live is [...]
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Those of you in the Toronto area should check out an interesting new show by artist Bani Abidi. The exhibition runs from October 25th to November 24th at Toronto’s Gallery TPW. Here’s a brief description: At the center of Abidi’s piece is the story of Mohammad Bin Qasim, an 8th century Arab general who led [...]
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The White House maintains a special website for Barney. _____________________________________________________________________________
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I was going to say something but the … She was on her way to Jinnah’s tomb. Happened around 12:15 local, over 125 dead, over 540 injured. Went off near a few police vans and PPP security cars. Benazir Bhutto was riding in a fortified, bullet-proof truck. That may have saved her life. The twin [...]
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When President of South Korea visited with Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, Kim Jong-Il of North Korea, they toasted their pact with blueberry wine and Kim played the eccentric and charismatic host, as is his wont. President Roh presented the Commander with many gifts, including the DVDs of “YMCA Baseball Team, Strokes of [...]
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Saira Banu weirds out the all-too precious ode to motherland by Manoj Kumar. All I know is that Pran and Prem Chopra are _both_ in it – the baddest bad men ever. Don’t believe me? Check this clip from the same, sampled and tweaked by Dan The Automator Nakamura and DJ Shadow in Bombay the [...]
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I. But, another inflection, if the testament is always made in front of witnesses, a witness in front of witnesses, it is also to open and enjoin, it is also to confide in others the responsibility of their future. To bear witness, to test, to attest, to contest, to present oneself before witnesses. For Mandela, [...]
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Eid Mubarak. To all my gentle readers, a very delightful and happy Eid ul-Fitr. It is either today or Saturday across the Muslim world … it is fun everywhere. I will try and get some Maamool and some firni. Good Stuff. Oh, and Congratulations to Al Gore!
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Thoughts on the Pekingese by Empress Dowager Cixi: Let the Lion Dog be small; let it wear the swelling cape of dignity around its neck; let it display the billowing standard of pomp above its back. Let its face be black; let its forefront be shaggy; let its forehead be straight and low. Let its [...]
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“A specialist on Islam at the State Department nearly wept envisioning a “Danish-cartoons situation,” Mr. Kiriakou said. An Afghan literature professor, he added, said Paramount was “willing to burn an already scorched nation for a fistful of dollars.” The head of an Afghan political party said the movie would energize the Taliban. Nearly everyone Mr. [...]
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The moral of this tale, my friends, is never use an acrylic-based varnish with watercolors. Is it any mistake it happened to the First Family? Could this be inadvertent acrylic voodoo? _______________________________________________________________
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Naim sahib has a scathing review in Outlook India of S.M. Azizuddin Husain’s 1857 Revisited/دستاويزاتِ غدر . The book is a compendium of 150 primary documents relating to the uprising and its aftermath, with translations and an introductory essay. A fine idea, in principle, but the problem, as Naim Sahib points out, is in the [...]
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Today, on Bapu’s birthday, here is a talkie: and a silence: And so we wait, and see monks with prayers on their lips, and students with hopes in their hearts, marching towards pagodas, as soldiers armed by the Chinese beat them. And the world’s largest democracy, India, does nothing. [thx Rohit]
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Aliens in America premiers tonight on the CW. Can someone tell me what that poor kid is wearing? P.S. Considering it was filmed in Pasadena and Vancouver, let’s not forget to keep a tally of inaccuracies about Wisconsinites as well as Pakistanis. P.P.S. Alessandra Stanley places Aliens in the genre of imaginary friend comedies. As [...]
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I have a small piece in this month’s issue of Pragati: The Indian National Interest Review on, well, Pakistan. I wasn’t able to spend much time on this piece so I am unsure if it meets the standards of the journal. You can download the issue and circulate it around. I should also congratulate Nitin [...]
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