I am still in the weeds. But, classes are about to start around towns and I just got a note from a new blogger and graduate student, Mircae - which reminded me to put up a general call for SA academic blogs. If you have one, or read one, put it up here in the notes. Like CM friend, Szerlem - old blogger but new to the grad-school column. Older SAists can also chime in but really, who cares about you old fogies, anymore?
Completely off-topic, I went over to Mircae's blog... it is very well-written, but while going through the comments on one of his posts, I came across the following, ah, gem: http://dalitnation.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/aishwarya-rai-a-victim-of-brahmin-conspiracy/ Just goes to show that we Pakistanis have some stiff competition when it comes to conspiracy theories!
If the title is punny, I'm afraid I don't get it.
Nostalgic: some of the comments to that post are hilarious!
It is as if one can pour a nice port, and read those 643 comments sip by sip for days on end. An early fav: "Also please note I am a bachelor and if you have any phone number or email IDs of your other sisters who are similar to Aishwarya rai please let me know. I can marry her and prevent the evil upper caste people from enjoying our women. Jai Bhim" vivek: loosen up, dude.
ok dude, but I am going to insist on claiming Szerelem for the Turkish studies blogosphere too (South Asian though she may be) because we are sorely outnumbered by y'all, and have to sit at the non-Arabist kids' table at MESA. We need her. On a more serious note, I've noticed an uptick in the numbers of desi folks (of various citizenships) in Middle Eastern studies programs, though the vast majority are working on Arab (and sometimes Iranian/Persian) topics; very few in the Ottoman/Turkish studies ghetto. I'm hoping this bodes well for scholarship thinking across & breaking down area studies lines, as well as just some fresh perspectives. You've heard me on the Turkey/Pakistan military politics thing before (who's going to write that book, seriously?) and some interesting comparative work on secularisms is afoot, too. also, Nostalgic's link is some shiny internet gold.
Thanks for the shout re: Mircae, great blog there...
hmph. I will knot abide by this treatment.
I started blogging earlier this summer- while not always on South Asia, there are broader South Asian tropes underlying everything (cricket especially!) Incidentally, for those interested in figuring out how the goofy American economy is working (or not) post-financial meltdown, this is a great blog: http://baselinescenario.com/ Cheers Manan!
A new blog on Raj photography http://www.photoraj.com includes everything from blogs, exhibitions, collections, books, articles and much more related to the subject of early photography in South Asia.