harish trivedi

Deepak Mehta's assault on Gujarati language continues...

2012-01-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

The current issue of Wordnet (Jan. 19, 2012) carries yet another apologia by Deepak Mehta where he ridicules the folks who criticize his ill advised and often wrong use of English words in his writings published under the pompous heading WorldNet. The term wordnet itself is a copyrighted word and it has nothing to do with the digest or articles that Deepak Mehta publishes in that section.

More over he distracts his readers to an issue that is not even a part of the criticism that is leveled against him for his wrong headed use and insistence on using English words in his columns.

In the issue of Wordnet (Jan. 12, 2012 ) Deepak Mehta reproduces the list of countries that use English language. So far good. But none of his critics have complained about use of English by any one individual or a country. The criticism is against improper and needless use of English words in Gujarati language by the Gujarati media and particularly by Deepak Mehta.

Once again, let me restate that the words Wordnet and Bookmark are copyrighted words and each time Deepak Mehta uses these terms he infringes on some one's intellectual property.

Now some one please tell me what is the meaning of In Memorial where in he writes about the gravesite of Jack London. It seems like he intended In Memoriam.

Let me share a more interesting fact about the death of Jack London. On the night of Nov.22nd he suffered acute pain from the kidney stone. The pain being unbearable, he reached for medicine and before he could take it he died. It is as simple as that... Jack London did write about suicides in some of his novels and if he wanted to quickly end his life he could have used the loaded revolver that he kept near his bed. A shot from it would have ended his pain and relieved him from the misery of kidney stone. He would not have taken morphine death from which is relatively slow when compared to a shot from a revolver.

There is another problem with the story. Jack London was NOT buried under the lava rock as our so called scholar Deepak Math implies (see his use of the word કબર. Jack London was cremated as per his wishes. His second wife too was cremated. The ashes of Jack London were carried in a copper urn that was placed in a cement sarcophagus that was buried there. The place is not too far from his cottage. The lava rock was intended to be used in the building of the cottage but the architect could not use it because of the large size of the rock. The rock had to be dragged by using four horses and placed over the spot where his mortal ashes were buried. And this is not the first time he has erred or provided inaccurate information. So much about truth and accuracy in Deepakbhai's writings.

Here is how writer Dale Walker describes the death and burial of Jack's ashes in his article titled Wolf Dying,

He was cremated, his ashes placed in a copper urn. The funeral was simple, as he wished, with a short oration, the reading of William Cullen Bryant's "Thanatopsis," one of Jack's favorite poems, and a poem written for the occasion by George Sterling containing the lines:

Unhearing heart, whose patience was so long!
Unresting mind, so hungry for the truth!
Now hast thou rest, gentle one and strong,
Dead like a lordly lion in its youth.

On Sunday the 26th Sterling brought the urn back to the ranch where Charmian decorated it with ferns and primroses. The burial place had been selected by Jack years before, a knoll about a half-mile downhill from the cottage he and Charmian shared. There were already graves there, marked by plain wooden crosses, of two pioneer children, David Greenlaw, who died in 1876, the year of Jack's birth, and Lillie Greenlaw, who followed her brother in death a year later. London loved the silent place amidst brush and flowers and shaded by tall oaks and redwoods, and told Charmian, "If I should beat you to it, I wouldn't mind if you laid my ashes on the knoll where the Greenlaw children are buried. And roll over me a red boulder from the ruins of Wolf House."

The burial was unceremonial, attended by Charmin, Eliza and her son, a few of the ranch employees and old friends such as George Sterling. The copper urn was placed in the ground, sealed within a cement sarcophagus, and, as Sterling wrote, "Amid the profound silence of the on-lookers, a huge boulder—a great block of red lava long-pitted by time and enriched by the moss of uncounted years—was urged by roller and crowbar above the sepulcher."

Jack London's second wife Charmian died in 1955. Her cremated remains were also buried under that boulder.

Jack London's “Credo” -
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them, I shall use my time."– Jack London 1876-1916

Deepak Mehta seems to be stubborn like a mule. Perhaps I am insulting mule by comparing it to Deepak Mehta.

How one wishes some one (hint - His Editor at the Mumbai Samachar) yanks out the Wordnet section from under his feet ( Deepak Mehta) or forces Deepak Mehta to check his writing for errors and in accurate information or have some one else check his writing before it goes to the press. Is this too much to expect from the editor of a historic Gujarati newspaper?

Exit-stance by Atreya Sarma

2011-09-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Courtesy - Muse India: Issue 39, September/October 2011

Book Review

Harish Trivedi
Exit-stance
A Play
The Sharonom Media Group (2011)
895 Kentshire Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45459-2327
Pages 46+ :: Price $15.95
ISBN 978-0-578-07767-3

Drama of an old man refusing to die and hell-bent on living

Here lies OM.
OM.Com!
OM, calm at last and silenced forever!
Life has deserted OM; and Death, as always, has won!
His body was burnt not at the stakes
But at an electric crematorium. And
What remained was a heap of ashes
Salvaged from an ass-hole.
An ash hole for an asshole!
Finally dissolved with the five elements.

The above seriocomic poetic epitaph is scripted by OM – for himself, the only protagonist in the melodramatic one-Act monodrama - Exit-stance – who lives his final days in a nursing home for assisted living; and is torn between life and death, between traces of hedonism and shadowy spiritualism; and who suffers isolation and loneliness. And the character, who has none to turn to, presents us with a lot of gallows humour. In one moment, OM is curious about - and wants to see - his own death. So he says:

“No one has ever said what it’s like to be dead. I want to enjoy my death. I want to be fully aware of my final escape, the ultimate liberty!”

But in another moment, he is dead scared of death; and is insistent on living out. What for? Yes, he wants to enjoy the life the way he wants to. His libido is aroused when the nurses attend on and touch him. “… a mere thought of lust and sex keeps me alive!”

But soon he realises, albeit fleetingly, and despairs: “But what good is lust when youth has fled?” and taunts himself, “What a pathetic and perverse craving for human touch!” But is sexual urge an abomination or an abnormality for a man of his age? OM answers: “Lust and desires are normal feelings. And I think I am too just f…ing normal!” Mind you, this is not the only time OM chooses the four-letter word; he, in fact, suffers from oral diarrhoea of them. The doc tries to dissuade him from the compulsive addiction, but to no avail, for habits die hard, much less the instinctually obscene ones.

We’re treated to bouts of bawdy jokes, every now and then. He even makes fun of his name OM – the sacred Hindu syllable as well as an acronym of how he is called, Old Man. In a disgusting mood, he has this dig at his name: “I am not THAT OM! Instead of ‘OM tat sat’, I am OM tat shit…”

When it comes to the male doctors, he feels “like grabbing the crotch of a student doctor and squeezing his balls” whenever he is “upset and angry.” But the sight of a female nurse turns him on. “If this is a nursing home then why a big bosomed nurse hasn’t nursed me?” he longingly rues.

By now it’s evident that OM is certainly not in the class of a Tennyson’s Ulysses synonymous with a spirit of adventure and the concomitant heroic struggle or of a Hemingway’s Santiago, a symbol of stoic and silent struggle. OM, no doubt, has no nobler goals for the remainder of his life, yet he wages a struggle - a paranoid mental conflict; and also suffers an ethnic conflict and a cross-cultural dilemma, having his roots in India – though untraceable – but living in America. He pooh-poohs the various racial and sub-racial identities, and asks – why can’t all of us be just humans - for he finds himself to be neither an American nor an Indian? Despite his quarantined existence, “deaf and legally blind” status, a life of vacuum, “Isolation, desolation, frustration and anger,” and his body being “nothing but an ill-smelling heap of bones, skin and blood,” - he is hell-bent on surviving and continuing to live … to enjoy the good things of life!

And OM, by that very token of being an ordinary mortal like most of us, is a representative of a massive majority. So everyone can relate to and touch a chord with him. It’s how Harish Trivedi - the playwright – moulds the character of OM, in a postmodernist universal cast influenced as he is by Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett in whose birth centenary homage he wrote this play.

It needs guts and creativity of a high order to write a full length piece on the travails and derisive idiosyncrasies of a typical old man and the dreadful old age. The author has, evidently, succeeded in closely and deeply studying the geriatric psychology from various angles. He extracts the secrets from the darker recesses of the protagonist’s subconscious and makes him boldly and unhesitatingly vent his feelings.

No wonder, Harish Trivedi could bring it off what with his credentials. An Indian American – living in the US from mid 1960s – Harish has a doctorate in Theatre and Communication and is an associate of the Dramatists Guild of America. He is also a prolific journalist-poet-writer-translator – with his works appearing in English, Gujarati and Hindi. He is the founder Trustee & Chairman of the India Foundation in Dayton, Ohio; “his plays have a distinct Indian ethos” appealing to the “sense and sensibilities of viewers and readers… in the US,” says the author’s profile appended in the book.

Not everything OM chants can be dismissed as senile balderdash. Some of his observations stand out as a testimony to his wide reading, poetic taste, wit, experience, and keen observation of life. We also perceive that he is ‘bipolar’ – tossed between American materialism and Indian spiritualism, though he quips he is ‘multi-polar’ to the doctor’s diagnosis that he is bipolar. Tongue in cheek, OM remarks that the staff at the nursing home “changes frequently and fast – even more often than my bed sheets or towels.”

OM draws a nuanced distinction between freedom and liberation, while in an extreme mood of dejection. “I don’t need freedom; it is meaningless! I need liberation, liberation from my self.” All of us know that in our world - a topsy-turvy world full of hypocrisy - appearance need not be reality. See how OM puts it: “People are always pretending. Life itself is pretending – Pretending, masking, and hiding!”

Also notice how effectively OM portrays the monotony of the grind of a life lived cosmetically: “I used to go to a spa every day. Going around the jogging track, walking or running on the treadmill, lifting weights, riding a stationary bicycle… doing all that and still remaining in the same place.”

OM’s mind goes through a chiaroscuro of memories – of movies, music, books of literature, great personalities; as a result we’ve a quotation to suit his every mercurial mood. Being an American Indian, his mind sweeps across the Western world as well as India. Scriptures like the Rig Veda, the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, aphoristic literature like Bhartrihari Shataka, movies like Gigi (English) Jagate Raho, and Mera Naam Joker; diverse personalities like Mahatma Gandhi, Ezra Pound, Robert Frost, PB Shelley, Neil Armstrong, Mata Hari, Freud, Descartes, Maurice Chevalier, and Clarence Day are paraded before us.

All this hyperactivity of his mind erases the timelines for him so much so he feels that he exists “in a timeless zone!”

OM’s self-unsettling loneliness causes a mental drift in him. He imagines things; he sees a cat that isn’t there; and even plays with it, only to drive it away. He is ‘the Duke of Darkness’ and “a camera obscura, a dark chamber with a lens that has turned things upside down.” At the same time, his bizarre and disjointed thoughts sometimes glimmer with coherence and agreeable reason.

Mortally afraid of death, for all his iconoclastic philosophy, OM panics and collapses on seeing (in his hallucinations) a duster plane hovering over him. When he comes to, he flies into a flash of eschatological spirituality and reconciliation by invoking the Holy Grail, the Five Elements and the Shanti mantra; but even before the chant is over, he swoops down onto his wonted earthly bohemian reality where he belongs and declares “I do not need to find any holy or unholy grail… for me it is always going to be singing and dancing…,” unmindful of his irreversible physical limitations! So go on and celebrate the bacchanalian revelry!

Thus, “Important is the OM’s universality… He is a kind of everyman ranting about the injustices of life. His ethnic identity fixes the play in reality, but the specific Indian identification of OM transcends mere individual concerns…,” remarks Dr Robert Conrad, Professor Emeritus, Dept of Languages, University of Dayton, Ohio, and he proceeds to teleologize the character’s raison d’être: “OM maintains his dignity with irony and humor as he confronts his end. His disquieted suffering and his methods of coping provide a bitter hope to all who face the last stage of existence.”

The strength of this one-act & one-character play lies, perhaps, more in its performance than in its reading as a closet drama – unless the latter is taken up with necessary breaks, for otherwise the reader could feel some monotony however powerful the monologues are. The writer has incorporated elaborate stage directions; and set the play, aptly, in a late winter night. Following these directions and with assured technical effects, histrionics, and music regularly fading in and fading out - the punch and poignancy, the absurd and the black humour would briskly come into bold relief in performance. And yes, the play has a good track record: having been staged at Clayton and Cincinnati, Ohio; while the author rendered its staged reading at a theatre in Mumbai, sponsored by the government of Maharashtra.

Exit-stance - More than a play on words By Tevia Abrams

2011-09-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

Harish Trivedi, transplanted from India and residing in Dayton, Ohio, sends an old curmudgeon on a theatrical journey in a nursing home; it is a journey at once harrowing, comedic and totally existential. I refer to the one-character play, ‘Exit-stance’, which Trivedi wrote in 2006 in homage to playwright Samuel Beckett’s birth centenary, and which was premiered in Ohio in 2007, with subsequent production the following year at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Curmudgeon of the piece is OM, or Old Man, who serves, among other purposes, as metaphor for the immigrant’s condition within American society.

As I came across a copy of the script only recently, I am unable to report on the original production; however, I was impressed in the reading by Trivedi’s manner of tracing OM’s voyage in monologue form through loneliness, isolation and despair, despite the proffered medical services, facilities and managed care within the confines of his nursing home. To make matters worse for OM, he is hobbled at the very outset of his journey by the fact that he is both deaf and legally blind.

The monologue form is enlivened through the use of audio and visual effects to heighten audience interest. So there are snippets of nostalgic American and Indian songs – some even from old Indian films, as, for example, ‘Zindagi Kwab Hai’ from the film ‘Jagate Raho’:

“Zindagii khvaab hai khvaab men jhuuth kyaa Aur bhalaa sach hai kyaa Sab sach hai Zindag I kvab hai”

In his tirades, interspersed with poetic asides, OM curses his entrapped situation; but in a calmer and more thoughtful moment, he can say, with resignation: “This is a warehouse for old people. No, this is a place for rich homeless people, people whom nobody wants, society’s rejects.”

At this point in the play, we learn that the old man is aware of the broader meaning of his existence: “So OM I am. OM is the first sound, the first Word – ‘Aadee Swara’ in Sanskrit, the first symbol of the entire universe.” But he quickly turns from it: “I am not THAT OM!” This is but one of many moments where we see OM struggling with intense desire to recapture some sense of personal worth and dignity.

Personal memory is important for OM, as he turns at times to comforting passages from the ‘Rig Veda’, where the ‘dawn’ is equated with hope. Given that he is now blind, OM cannot really share that hope.

All this might suggest the work a gloomy piece, but in fact the melancholy is balanced by moments of sardonic humor and by occasional sound bites of recorded poetry by Shelly and Robert Frost on beauty and dying. Other projections of sound, music, and occasional voices of cold institutional medical authorities help to broaden and enrich the landscape and cultural dimensions of the stage. And there is a tender moment with OM’s cat, whose mewing breaks a moment of dramatic silence.

As the play nears its close, OM offers a prayer that would appear to represent an utterance from his soul, his Atman. Is he ready to be reconciled to his fate?
“Remember, O Lord, remember OM; and remember my deeds . . . Peace! OM, shanti, shanti, shanti.”

But, no, the Old Man suddenly recoils from going the way of traditional acceptance of man’s fate. He’d rather take leave of the world in a jaunty manner, “singing and dancing . . . didn’t I say I had no regrets?” At this, the stage directions call for filling the theatre with Frank Sinatra’s bravado come-what-may song, ‘My Way’, which takes the play to its curtain.

I can only imagine how audiences might have responded to Trivedi’s sensitive mix of monologue with the varied Western and Indian audio materials. They must surely have been touched to the core by the OM’s struggles with hopes and fears about life, death, and the meaning of personal and social existence.

# # #

Tevia E. Abrams completed post-graduate studies on traditional Indian theatre with research focused on the Tamasha folk theatre form of Maharashtra, India.

Mr. Abrams, a Canadian, and now permanent US resident, was recruited by the United Nations Population Fund, and served variously at headquarters and in India. He is currently retired but remains committed to his playwriting activities.

Exit-stance - Publisher's Remarks

2011-08-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

Publisher’s Remarks at the book launch event for Exit-stance, April 2, 2011 at Ajanta Indian Restaurant, Dayton, Ohio.

Good afternoon everybody and thank you Dr. Percy,

A few months back I decided to start this venture or adventure the Sharonom Media Group. And I am the owner and CEO.

You were probably expecting some big shot publisher from some big city, didn’t you?

But before I go into the details about what our Media Group is all about, I would like to say that Dr. Tom Percy, the long time Trustee and former President of the India Foundation and a very good friend has kindly agreed to formally launch our first publication. I will soon invite him to formally launch our first publication.

Exit-stance is the first publication of the Sharonom Meida Group and right now, while I am talking with you, the folks at the big time local Media Company is shaking in their pants.

According to my partner in this venture, The Sharonom Media Group will be involved in all sorts of media – films, stage shows, Broadway musicals, television, broadcasting, printing and publishing. We are going to have our presence in the cyber world too.

As our first project I signed up a relatively unknown writer from this town. I had to massage his big ego, entice him and kind of seduce him with all sorts of promises … and I am happy to say, it has worked – the publication of Exit-stance – a play written by Harish Trivedi.

For this special occasion, the Sharonom Media Group is offering a special discount. Regular price less the discount makes this book PRICE LESS.

The buyers of this very limited edition book will be provided with a certificate of ownership duly signed by the author himself.

The certificate would make the buyer the legal owner of the book that the buyer can hold and cherish in perpetuity and maybe read it again and again too …

So without much ado and with great pleasure and personal pride I would like to invite Dr. Tom Percy to launch the publication of Exit-stance.

Why I feel secure…

2011-08-23T09:38:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi,
© 2011

Your Editor says -

"For the first time, (as they say 'in my life' ) I feel secure like never before...."

* An insurance company is 'by my side',

* Another insurance company keeps telling me, 'State Farm is there...’ My problem is I do not know where 'there' is?

* A local TV channel keeps saying, 'On Your side', sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and instead of the lovely 'weather girl' (do they still use the term 'Weather Girl') I find my cat trying to get on the better part of my comforter,

* Since I wear the medical alert, I know if I

'fall and cannot get up'

some one will come and help me get up. This is something I am tempted to try... I am, according to some religious leaders already 'a fallen soul’ I wonder if the ‘bracelet people’ would help me get up...

* I know everything, I happen happen to have the entire 'Idiot's guide to....' books,

* My cereal contains 'daily required amount of fiber' so I don't have to chew on rug to alleviate any fiber deficiency.

* My yogurt contains the antioxidants that are good for me,

* My coffee is 'caffeine free’...

* I get more than required amount of BS from the TV talk shows and the talking heads...

* I have learned to live with socio-psychological issues from Dr. Phil,

* I know whom to call if I ever develop any symptoms of Mesothelioma, (even though the TV commercials do not say if one can developed the symptoms by being exposed to such commercials over a number of years...)

* The Ohio law has made it simple, only two individual needs to sign a statement that says, 'He is dangerous to him and needs to be confined....’ I know the 'missej' and my niece are ready to use that legal provision any time they think I am dangerous to myself - that happens to be all the time...so I am waiting for guys with straight-jacket'....

And finally (that is how such things are written), so And finally -

One more time - 'Again, as they say, having so many friends, who needs enemies?'

Exit-stance Ownership Certificate

2011-08-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Exit-stanceBook launch

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Ajanta Indian Restaurant
2 pm to 4. 30 pm

Exit-stance

Certificate of Ownership
I, (.....your name), take thee Exit-stance as my lawfully bought book at a discounted price.

I promise to protect, preserve and keep thee for life. I further promise not to loan my copy of Exit-stance to anyone or let anyone borrow thee from me.

Administrator of oath:

You now kiss your Twelve Dollars good bye and kiss your copy of Exit-stance.

I wish you pleasant reading.

Signed this day, Saturday, April 2, 2011

Exit-stance: Book Release Report

2011-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

This is a very belated and long overdue 'news' report of the lanuching of Exit-stance (my play)

Exit-stance book launch event news report:

Note that no big time geriatric literary figure from Gujarat was asked to do the book launch, no fanfare (well there was some of it because the big time dramatist had paid for it), but definitely no press coverage with big photos and pompous speeches... Prior to the formal launching of the book, Dr. Raghava Gowda read excerpts from Exit-stance and that was followed by Sharonjee reading three scenes from my one-character play An Evening with Mary Carpenter. Both the readings lasted a little over twenty-minutes each with a very enthusiastic and standing ovation. (The standing part was due to lack of seats in the restaurant)

And here's my totally unobjective, dramatic and very self-serving report: (Some people just have no shame or any concept of modesty)

Dr. Tom Percy launched the book by tearing off the fancy gift-wrap in which the book was ensconced with a dramatic flourish - appropriate to the occasion and made equally generous remarks about the writing skills of the dramatist and his writing skills. Dr. Percy thanked the Publisher too for this very first publication under the Sharon Media Group banner.

The Publisher then invited the dramatist for his lofty and profound remarks that included his dramatic reading of the legal ownership certificate that was to be provided to the very enthusiastic or very reluctant (take your pick) guests. Over fifty very enthusiastic or reluctant guests clamored to buy a copy of Exit-stance, get their photos taken with the dramatist and of course the obligatory autograph and signed certificate of ownership from the dramatist was provided to all...(Some of the guests took more than one copy of the signed certificate and additional copies had to be printed)

During the remarks by the dramatist and at his urging (thinking that it was inevitable) many of the guests chose to rush for the dessert or to refill their wine glasses. Incidentally the cake was covered with a photo of the cover-page of the book. The cake was covered with the said photo that was printed on edible paper. Yes, this small city in the mid-west has very good bakeries run by descendants of German, Polish and Hugarian immigrants. One could actually hear their grunts from the back rooms where they bake such goodies. (The dramatist thought that the process of kneading the dough for bread and pastries was very sensuous and at times erotic and totally irrelevant part of this news report).

Later the niece of the dramatist Alpa Mahuvakar and her family hosted that evening a dinner with assistance from the Publisher where some thirty hand picked guests were present. The dinner menu was meticulously selected or prepared by Alpa and the Publisher. Merlot from Woodridge winery from the Sonoma Valley flowed like water and was consumed by few guests but mostly by the dramatist.

Just about the time when the guest were getting ready to stagger out of the restaurant, Alpa and the Publisher surreptitiously sprang open a big box of birthday cake. Even though the dramatist's birthday is usually in January this was a surprise celebration of the historic birthday. A truly big surprise for the dramatist! Every one sang Happy Birthday, some hummed while some faked singing. The dramatist made the thank you cum after dinner speech wherein he said how he and the misses generally request to be seated in the non-birthday section of a restaurant where they do not have to listen to some guest celebrating some relative, spouse or mistress's birthdays...

The dramatist now overwhelmed by some indescribable emotions, very tipsy and suddenly feeling very OLD, thanked the guests and staggered towards the car...

It is assumed that good time was had by all or at least by one person - the dramatist!

Now if you can correctly tell me how many times the words the dramatist has appeared in this report you may qualify for a prize that is not worth a damn! (Of course void where prohibited by law or spouse)

(Excerpted from Ass - ociated Press, very Random house report, Barns and Stables news and other unheard of news and wired services)

Re: A Rejoinder from Natwar Gandhi

2011-08-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Re: Missing the Point--Harsh Trivedi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing,
A Rejoinder by Natwar Gandhi

(Note: - The ‘rejoinder’ was ‘forwarded’ to me by a kind friend. Later Mr.Natwar Gandhi too sent me a revised version of his rejoinder. My reply to Mr. Gandhi is based on his original 'rejoinder')_

A reply to Natwar Gandhi’s ‘rejoinder’
By Harsh Trivedi
© June 2011.

Art thou troubled milord?
(From a Hymnal)

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
(William Shakespeare, Hamlet)

1) Harish Trivedi (his blog--2011) sees irony in publishing activities surrounding the launching of my book Pennsylvania Avenue.
Yes, I did see irony as well as hypocrisy, I must admit.
Next?

2) Further, newspaper interviews, dramatic readings of poems by stage actors at a well-publicized publishing event organized by the publisher—“the whole shindig”—smacks of hypocrisy to him. Quoting words from an article that I had written earlier criticizing such activities, Trivedi writes, “this proves that Natwar Gandhi is no exception to what he strongly abhors in others. Hypocrisy? Chutzpah or just plain audacity of hype—you be the judge.” If Trivedi is keen on proving that I am a hypocrite practicing what I criticize in others, he need not have wasted his considerable energy and several pages. The case could have been made quickly and easily and only in a few words. To the charge of hypocrisy, I plead guilty.

Physician, heal thyself…. The last sentence in 2) above could very well be applied to Natwarbhai’s long and rather self-serving exercise in rationalization. He admits, albeit grudgingly the validity of my criticism but abhors my guts for writing about it…

2) Harsh Trivedi (his blog--2011) sees irony in publishing activities surrounding the launching of my book Pennsylvania Avenue. In particular, favorable news paper columns by Mumbai’s literary lion Suresh Dalal, a well known Gujarati poet and publisher of the book, bothered him.

The fact that this so-called literary lion also happens to be the publisher of Natwarbhai’s book. So any laudatory note, deserved or undeserved constitutes a conflict of interest on the part of this lion. The fact that this particular newspaper continues to publish this lion’s writings as a piece of legit criticism further compounds the folly and makes the newspaper publishers complicit in this shenanigans. This is something worth bothering about, no complaining about and shouting about from the rooftops. Natwarbhai has ignored this important fact when he comes to the defense of this ‘lion’. Natwarbhai seems to follow the dictum don’t let facts come in the way of a good diatribe.

Suresh Dalal’s (the literary lion as Natwarbhai calls him) columns in newspapers and periodicals about works that are published by his own publishing house (well, may be he does not own it, but surely acts as if he does and no body seems to care either) could be described in one word - hagiography. But who are we to complain about this professional promoter, the one who acts like a side -show barker and hides under the moniker of a ‘literary lion’ given to him by one of his own clients?

3) As is often the case in contemporary Gujarati literary criticism, Trivedi’s reading of my article is literal and superficial. Worse yet, his criticism is personal. But he simply misses the point.

I have responded rather at great length and point by point to Natwarbhai’s misconceived and in my opinion ill advised pompous, grand eloquent and presumptuous paean to the NRI Gujarati writers. His view of the criticism of his article simplistic and personal criticism defies logic and undermines Natwarbhai’s own apologia. Readers are welcome to check out my bog on this subject and ascertain the truth at http://harishtrivedi.blogspot.com/2010/08/natwar-gandhi-on-gujarati-diaspora_34.html

5) If NRI writing is to emerge as authentic, the aspiring NRI writer would have to see through all the hoopla—“shindig”— surrounding the publication including favorable reviews and press notices. I wrote, “Most forewords and prefaces offered to NRI writers are misleading at best and disingenuous at worst.” Unfortunately, hypnotized by these false praises, “the writer is under an illusion that the literary doors have been opened to him and he goes back to his writing desk determined to do more writing. Encouraged in such a fashion, we have North American NRI writers who have dozens of books to their credit.

6) Contrary to prevailing NRI publishing practice, none of my book contains any introduction or preface by any of the worthies of Gujarati literature. Nor does it contain on back cover or elsewhere in the book any excerpts from numerous favorable reviews and laudatory comments.

Well, there could be couple of reasons for this absence of excerpts of reviews on the back covers of Natwarbhai’s books. It could be the fact that no one had read his book prior to publication. The absence of ‘preface’ or ‘forward’ in his books may be because of the money that some of our Gujarati ‘preface’ and ‘forward’ writers demand. Of course this absence could simply described as the gentle and very modest authors own choice. Nothing wrong about it.

It seems as if Natwarbhai is alluding to the publication of my play Exit-stance (I am going to shamelessly plug my play that has been recently published and perhaps cause some annoyance in the process…) If so, let me clarify – The reviews and comments, some of which appear in my book and the back cover came from folks who either had seen the play or read a copy of the manuscript of Exit-stance. The use of blurbs, quotes, prefaces, reviews and what have you is a tool for marketing of a publication. Use of such method is a matter of choice and it should not be used as an occasion for needless cheap shots as any one, particularly at one who has written, no matter how unflattering an expose of a recent publicity stunt in Mamba, India.

7) I also know that there is a novelty factor in my attempting to write poetry while still deeply engaged in a day job as Chief Financial Officer of managing the $10 billion budget of Washington, DC. Many commentators both here and at home have wondered how I maintain literary interests and write poetry in arcane Sanskrit meters after nearly fifty years of living in the United States. Or, for that matter, I write at all while maneuvering my ways through the treacherous waters of Washington politics and public finance. All this makes an interesting human story and good copy for newspapers.

What an example of modesty! More power to you Natwarbhai!

It seems as if any other Gujarati diaspora writers do not have to hold a full-time job in order to survive, as if every one of those Gujarati writers hold a high paying government job, as if every one is married to a rich banker and does not have to do any house work except to travel and write… Wouldn’t it be nice if it were so!

Natwarbhai, why don’t you ask some of these Diaspora Gujarati writers whom you are providing some unsolicited advise as to what they have to do to survive. You would be surprised by what you hear from them. Distributing newspapers each morning, starting around 3 am, cleaning up toilets in the high-rise offices, criss-crossing the neighborhoods to count heads for the Census Bureau, unemployed for over twenty years and living on a parsley pension and social security payments…. Their writing is no less useful, important, relevant and at times enlightening than some one who manages a $10 billion budget!

Only Natwarbhai holds a very important job as a Chief Financial Officer and manages s budget of $10 billion dollars, of places in Wahsington D.C. So no wonder the poor scribe in Mumbai finds there in a human-interest story. Sorry, for missing this human-interest angle!

I remember an incident that occurred not too long ago, when a reputed writer’s column had erroneously printed one less zero in the billion figure of Natwarbhai’s budget and Natwarbhai had taken this poor wretch of a writer to task for missing some zeros.

Here is an excerpt from a ‘thank you’ note that I had sent to Natwarbhai at that time –

‘You have thoughtfully pointed out 1) Possibly the obvious lapse in proof reading or 2) your concern that some readers may think that (the columnist’s) literary sense and sensibilities are far better than his monetary understanding... (Natwarbhai’s words) How well you have expressed this in your own discreet, diplomatic and subtle way!’

‘Reading your note I also learned something that I was not aware of - that because of some misprint or error in proofing some zeros were misplace in the billion figure and it may cause - hurt feelings of hundreds of thousands of District (of Columbia) citizens of which Mr. Barack Obama is one - who would read this particular column by ... Again your thoughtfulness and concerns about the feelings of your fellow citizens was evident there...’

‘While I do not know the print circulation of the newspaper that publishes ( ) column or the number of people who read Gujarati in the Washington DC area, I am sure the Divya Bhaskar editors and publishers would be happy and ecstatic to know that hundreds of thousands of Washington DC folks read ( ) column. Not only that but the DC citizens are also vigilant about any inaccuracy in news pertaining to their district. I am really thrilled and illuminated by this discovery!’ - From my note to Natwarbhai, July 14, 2010.

Frankly, I did not know that many people in the D.C area read this newspaper column with such a dedication and an eye for details and misprints – all written in Gujarati. But I digress let us move on….

8) Without trying to make any comparison, I would not be surprised if the notable novelist and playwright K. M. Munshi also aroused similar human interest in his day because in addition to his prolific literary output he also distinguished himself in law, politics and government.
Without trying to make any comparison – But you do so sir, you do…

9) I have no illusion of grandeur about what I write or what I do in Washington. Since I have not applied for sainthood, let me take this opportunity to plead guilty, in addition to hypocrisy, to many other deadly sins as well for the benefit of Trivedi and all others who have their watchful eyes on what I do and write.

Natwarbhai says, I have no illusion of grandeur about what I write or what I do in Washington. That may be so and we take his word for it. I know he is a very modest and unassuming person. No doubt or question about this on my part and I hope every one knows this fact…

My only gripe or complain is this - Natwarbhai could have spared all of us the trouble of reading his ‘rejoinder’, albeit a very late ‘rejoinder’ at that, (since my bog was posted in August of 2010) simply by pleading guilty, in addition to admitting being a hypocrite etc. in the last paragraph of his rather a long ‘rejoinder’.

As far as I know, no one had asked him to write a rejoinder and no one had asked him to plead guilty to any real or imaginary sin.

No one has any right to ask Natwarbhai or for that matter any one else to admit guilt for anything that they may have done. It is none of any one’s business. And as far as I am concerned no one should ask him to admit to anything, let him manage the $10 million budget and keep writing in arcane Sanskrit meters…

Mumbai Blasts and a personal note

2011-07-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

by Harish Trivedi

First a personal note:

The Dadar area in Mumbai (Bombay) is a suburb of Mumbai where I grew up. One of the three bombs exposition occurred in Dada area. The site of the explosion is less than two miles from where my brother and his family live now and the area where I grew up.

My brother and his wife are currently in California but my youngest niece lives there and we learned from her call about an hour ago. She is fine, though a bit rattled...

One of my friends lives across from where the blast occurred but all the communication lines to Mamba are jammed so I was not able to reach him. I'll try again later... It is around 10.30 pm in Mumbai now...

I regret for sharing this really horrible news with you...

Harish

There is short video clip on the following Times of India web link.
>
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Three-bomb-blasts-rock-Mumbai/articleshow/9212554.cms

MAMBAI: Three blasts rocked Mumbai within minutes of each other, police said on Wednesday. According to TV reports, eight persons have died in the blasts and 70 have been injured.

Police sources said the nature and intensity of the blasts was not known. The ministry has confirmed it is a terror strike.

The first explosion took place in south Mamba's Zaveri Bazaar, near the famous Mumbadevi temple, in which some people were injured, said Mumbai Police spokesperson Nisar Tamboli. The bustling market also has a number of jewellery shops.

The second explosion was reported in a taxi in Dadar area in central Mumbai, he said.

The third blast was reported from south Mumbai's Opera House *in Charni Road after 7pm.

All three are busy commercial and residential areas, and were bustling with people and traffic during the evening peak hours when the explosions took place.

The communication network has been jammed. People are unable to get through phone lines in the city.
An NIA team has been sent for Mumbai. All states have been put on high alert. A parked car bore the brunt of the blast in Dadar.
Police teams quickly moved into the three places. In New Delhi, the home ministry put the National Security Guard (NSG) on alert.
166 people were killed in a terror strike in 2008 by Pakistan-based terrorists.

______________________________________

* (Opera House is a historic building where in early part of last century Anna Pavlova danced and was a venue of many a touring British theatrical companies. Opera House used to show movies and since last decade or so has been closed down... There is famous Devdhar School of Indian Music from across the Opera House where I used to go for rehearsing my plays. Some of the scenes of Raj Kapoor's first film AAG were shot there. It is also a place where the doyen of Indian movies, Prithviraj Kapoor (the grand old man of the Kapoor dynasty) used to perform his Hindi plays with his Prithvi Theatre... all now memories of days gone by...). Prithvi Raj Kapoor's grand and great grand kids are still drawing crowds for their Bollywood films. The Wilson College, one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai is located a few blocks away from the Opera House.

The Very Rev John Wilson after whom the College is named was Born in Lauder, Scotland in 1804.

As a linguist John Wilson was a man of amazing calibre. Having studied the Classics, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and French at Edinburgh, he soon became proficient in the local languages and the classical eastern languages of Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic. In 1832, convinced of the importamce of Christian Education, he founded the Ambrolie English School, which has grown to become the Wilson High School and Wilson College of today.

His missionary travels took him around Western India in his bullock cart. Wherever he went he showed a natural curiosity for all things local, becoming a keen student of the antiquities of the area. His work on the translation of rock inscriptions at Girnar in Saurashtra gained him the highest award science had to offer at that time a Fellowship of the Royal Society. He became President of the Royal Asiatic Society and Vice Chancellor of the University, but above all he was a Christian Missionary.

He died in Bombay on 1st December 1875, his final words having been "I have perfect peace, and am content that the Lord should do what seems good to Him."

Now, 236 years after his birth, it is only fitting that we should remember him - the truly great missionary that he was... After his death his personal collection of books was donated to the Bombay University Library.

Wilson College the legacy continues...

Wilson College has witnessed the turn of two centuries. As a tribute to the journey of this diminutive school started at the residence of Dr. Wilson, to develope into a multi - disciplined University affiliated college

...as an educational institution going back to 1832. It began as Ambrolie School in Girgaum, later seeing several changes of sites and names, eventually being called Wilson School. A collegiate section from which Wilson College evolved in 1836.

The founder of these institutions, the Rev. John Wilson of the Scottish Missionary Society. John and his wife Margaret arrived in Bombay on February 14,1829, learnt the local language and with great zeal set up schools for boys and girls of all castes and classes.

John Wilson's work went beyond the field of education. He was a Linguist, an Orientalist, a Reformer, an Author.

The pioneering work in higher education began a quarter of a century, before the establishment of any official body for this purpose. The vision and foresight of Dr. Wilson saw the establishment of the University of Bombay in 1857. On 14th December 1861, the collegiate section of Wilson's institution under the name of Free General Assembly's Institution became the first privately owned, non-government institution to get affiliated to the University.

For many years, both the school and college sections were housed in one building, but largely through the efforts of Dr. Mackichan, a site for the college was secured at Chowpatty and the present college building was opened on 14th March 1889.

Fostering a tradition of liberalism and freedom, the Scottish Principals inspired many students to be at the centre stage of the freedom - struggle Usha Mehta (Political Science professor for my Masiter degree, freedom fighters - Acharya Kriplani, a fire-brand revolutionary and freedom fighter S. .A. Dange, Aloo Dastoor- another Political Science and Contract Law professor for my Master's and Law degrees, B.G. Kher... to mention a few.

India's former Prime minister Morarji Desai along with the great Orientalist and Sanskrit scholar P.V. Kane and one of the pioneers for women's education D. .K. Karve are also proud alumni of this institution.

Today Wilson College is one of the few colleges in Mumbai which offer an array of subjects in the Arts, Science and Vocational stream, along with undergraduate courses in Management Studies, Mass Media, Biotechnology, Computer Science and Information Technology.

The students of Wilson College are from nearly every ethnic, religious and social group, of the country as well as of the world.

The college motto Fides, Spes, Caritas - Faith, Hope, Love - Vishwas, Asha, Prem speaks of Faith in God, the Love that steers the college community through life and Hope...

(Source - the Wilson College history...)

Regarding Comments

2011-05-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

Response to commenters -

There was a tenant in my house before 25 years. I was in 6th Standard then. He had a book very old and thick with yellowish pages. It was mahabharat poet and written by manbhatt. An interesting one and I read it entire one. Today I google it and found that manbhatta was some tradition and unable to locate that book now. I want to transfer the same knowledge to my children, which is base for all the success in career we have. Can someone help me find that? Being in this world of literature there are high chances that you know existence of such book and availability of that.
By V Patel on History of Gujarati Theatre by Hasmukh Baradi and ... on 4/5/11

Dear Mr. Patel,
From your note it seems like you had come across a copy of Kunwar Bai Nu Mohmeru by the poet Premanand (l636 - l734), He was one of the best Maan Bhatt of his time. As far as I know, Dharmiklal Pandya from Vadodara or Baroda is one of the best contemporary maan players today. He has provided many concerts in the tradition of Permanente. Doordarshan, Ahmedabad, has recorded many of his performances. I hope this information is helpful to you.

Response to Comments about my blog

2011-05-03T20:20:00.000-07:00

'The Sahib's Dilemma' by Harish Trivedi

2011-04-30T13:40:00.000-07:00

Copyright ©2011 First published in Muse India, May/June Issue

(Note: The octogenarian head of a penurious Indian American family finds it very hard to make both ends meet in the times of recession, and so no option but to bid goodbye to his two equally old pets.)

The news reports say that the national poverty level has reached nearly to fifteen per cent.

That may be so, but that figure probably does not include these folks we know only as the Sahib, his Missej* and their two cats - Baboo and Raja. Even in his own neighborhood somewhere in the Ohio suburb no one seems to know this family except as ‘that fellow from India and his cute wife’.

The Sahib family is living below the poverty level forever. His ridiculously low pension is not even good for their mortgage payments.

Baboo is nearly 70 years old in cat-years (fifteen-years in human years). He has arthritis, has lost his sense of smell and has a slightly impaired vision. He was also born with a neurological condition that has affected his walking. Baboo does not have any Medicare and has no HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) to cover his health expenses.

During the last few months only, the Sahibs have spent nearly $5,500 on Baboo’s health.

The Sahib is in his early 80s but he still looks youthful. His Missej is in her early 70s and looks fifteen years younger than her real age.

After being daily bombarded by the media with the news of various companies down-sizing, the layoffs, the rate of unemployment, the ever increasing rate of bankruptcies and foreclosures across the country, the Sahib was inspired to do something about his own ever increasing pet maintenance expenses and the couple’s nearly evaporated 401K account (Pension fund).

So one night, the Sahib called a little family meeting.

The Family Meeting:

The Sahib called Baboo and Raja and explained to them the state of economy, the ever-increasing expenses and the family’s very limited financial resources.

He said, “You guys are brave even though Raja runs away and hides under the bed as soon as hears the door bell ring. You have been a lot of fun and a lot of trouble too. We all have had wonderful time together the past dozen years or so. You know that, we all know about our fun times together. But I have to tell you some thing. It is very difficult for me to do this, but you know, nothing lasts forever. Even all-good things come to an end some day. I think for you guys, that day is today.”

He continued: “You have no idea about the bad condition of your Sahib’s finances … All you know is eating fancy foods, napping, eating fancy food and napping, eating fancy food … That’s the only thing you know. But let me tell you that time is over. I had to make a very tough decision. I do not know of any proper way of telling you this but I have to tell you …”

The Sahib’s voice cracked a little. He cleared his throat and continued –

“I have decided to let you guys go. You two will have to find something else to do with your lives.”

There was silence. Absolute silence. Only audible sound in that room was that of the Missej’s sobbing …

There was no evocative music to enhance the somber mood of that moment. The silence was very striking and unbearable.

After listening to his Sahib with open ears and closed eyes, Baboo, the bright one among the two cats (that is bright one compared to Raja), jumped down from his chair, came limping near the Sahib and said -

“How can you do this to us? What about all the joy and pleasure we have given you all these years? What about the guests I have hurt with my claws and scarred the hell out of them… What about my jumping and general running around the house? I did that to amuse you with my galloping gait. What about my informing you when the mailman or a delivery guy came to our door? Raja and I always sniff the newly delivered packages and make sure that the contents were safe for all of us. I have even let you take my videos when I was relaxing or cleaning my paws and my face ... I always stopped from my singing when you interrupted me by yelling at me.

“Some times when I am at the window of our dinning room and talking with the dogs next door you often shouted, ‘Stop it Baboo …’ And I always stopped… I have always obeyed your orders. Have I ever complained about anything? Don’t these things count for any thing? You cannot act like all those big corporations…you have to take our age, loyalty and love into consideration, after all we are a FAMILY, don't you understand that simple thing?

“And, tell us, who is going to adopt us old cats? Where are we supposed to go now? Do you want us to die under a car or die of a disease or you want us gassed by that inhumane Humane Society? C'mon, we know you are a kind-hearted man. We have heard Mom call you a Softy … Please, please, won’t you allow us to stay here, just for a few more years?”

Raja ever so royal and loyal had decided to find a place near his Sahib - or Saabjee as his Missej called him- with one of his paws in his lap. As usual Raja was sound asleep. As sound as only a cat could be… No one was sure if Raja had listened to any of the things that his Sahib had said…

By this time the Missej was to the last piece of her second box of Kleenexes and uncontrollably sobbing. Her nose and eyes had turned red. Baboo's nostrils were flaring (that can only be detected by the observant eyes of his Sahib or his Vet Ms Dawn). His pink nose had turned to apple-red. A tear or two had surfaced and were trying to roll down Baboo’s eyes.

The Sahib’s face had turned ashen gray. His hands were trembling. A sense of embarrassment and overwhelming feeling of guilt had taken over the Sahib’s usually calm and composed demeanor... He felt as if his heart had stopped. He could barely breathe… He tried to get up from his couch, but could not. As if all the strength from his body had drained out. Finally, with great effort the Sahib tried to stand up again and in the process he lost his balance and collapsed on the couch. The Missej requested her Sabjee not to move away from the couch. She went to the kitchen and got a glass of water for her Sahib.

Sipping some water with his trembling hand, the Sahib was quiet for some time, as if reflecting about all that had happened during the last few minutes. He looked around the room and finally looking at Baboo and Raja the Sahib said something that only this Sahib from India could say at that time -

‘Okay, you guys never asked us to be with us. We brought you here to stay with us. I believe in fate.’

The Sahib remembered the day they had brought Baboo home. The images on the Sahib’s memory screen rapidly moved backwards to the day when they had spotted a little kitten in a parking lot of a hotel where their guests were staying.

Baboo had then looked like a little panda cub… His eyes were matted and barely open … he came staggering near their car … The Missej picked him up, looked up at the kittens belly area and told the Sahib, ‘It is a BOY… We got to take this little guy home.’

She thought of a suitable Indian name for the little guy and came up with Baboo. And the little guy thus became Baboo. They thought that Baboo might be missing his siblings, so the Missej picked up Raja from a pet adoption agency. There the volunteers called him Neville. And the Missej changed Neville to Raja…

The film in the memory stopped there … The Sahib looked at Baboo and said,

‘We have had a great time with both of you. Your first Christmas and the photo session with Santa at the pet store, new collars … the warehouse full of toys that you guys never played with… The annual shots, monthly pedicures, the catnip treats…’

‘My heart tells me that we have owed you something from our past incarnations. The Missej and I are just paying our Karmic debt by taking care of you. By having you here, we are not doing any favors to you. We are just repaying what we have owed you… You guys came into our lives because of some good Karmic deeds you must have performed in YOUR last incarnation. Everything happens for a reason.’

The Sahib paused for a moment. There was a total silence in the room. He continued,

‘You guys win! You guys were meant to be with us. You will be staying with us. You will be staying with us forever …’

The Sahib wiped his eyes, looked lovingly at Raja and Baboo with a steady gaze.

The Missej was still sobbing.

Raja jumped down from near his Sahib’s side and ran towards the hallway as if signaling to Baboo that the game of chase was on.

The Sahib remembered a few lines of an old Indian movie song … ‘Life is now infused with new hope,Brothers, the days of sorrow and sadness are ove r…’ (Dukhbhare Din Beetore Bhaiya … etc.

A faint smile emerged and a soft glow could be detected on the Sahib’s face. He got up from the couch and started to walk slowly towards the bedroom.

And while walking, the Sahib said to himself, ‘Sahib, now you better think of doing something about the Missej ...’ No, that’s not true. Only a silly writer can think of such humor.

The Sahib loved his Missej too much to entertain such thoughts. He was overwhelmed with conflicting emotions. His mind was numb … He was in no condition to think about anything at that time.

And before the Sahib could reach the bedroom, the Missej grabbed him from behind … The Sahib was startled and looked at his Missej… the Missej wiped her tears and said in a choking voice, “Hubbyjee, you know something? You are the greatest Hubby in the world!”

The Sahib slowly turned around, put his trembling hand over the Missej’s shoulder and pulled her close by his side and they continued walking towards the bedroom.

If this was an ordinary story, it would have ended with the predictable coda, ‘The Sahib, his Missej, and their two cats – Baboo and Raja lived happily ever after.’

Raja and Baboo do not know what was going on in their owners’ lives and we have no way of knowing what was going on in the Sahib’s mind.

Tomorrow the sun would rise in that Ohio suburb as it always has all over the world. People in that neighborhood and across the world would carry on with their lives as they have always done and one only hopes that the Sahibs too would live their anonymous lives as they have always lived …

END

* Some people in India pronounce Mrs as Missej.

Montaigne (Michel de Montaigne)

2011-03-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

Harish Trivedi,

© 2011

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and is popularly thought of as the father of Modern Skepticism. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes[1] and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written… - Wikipedia).

Montaigne has credited Aristotle with the maxim, “A man . . . should touch his wife prudently and soberly, lest if he caresses her too lasciviously the pleasure should transport her outside the bounds of reason.” The real source of this unromantic advice is unknown.

and more -

Like Socrates, Montaigne claims that what he knows best is the fact that he does not know anything much.

One of Montaigne’s most valuable insights is that self-knowledge is connected with the knowledge of others, and that empathy is the heart of morality.

Montaigne complained that “there are more books on books than on any other subject: all we do is gloss each other.”

“Be born,” “Do a good job, but not too good a job,” and “Question everything.” But the one that resonates most strongly with his biographer Ms. Sarah Bakewell is “Read a lot, forget most of what you read and be slow-witted.” Somewhat unconsciously or sub-consciously I live by the last dicta of Montaigne.

The above is just a tip of the iceburg (lettuce), for a whole salad bar read Montaigne's Essays. Still in print after some four-hundred years. His book of essays was banned for nearly two-hundred years by the Vatican.

He is considered to be master of digression and often his essays are too revealatory. Montaigne informed his readers about his small penis (no wonder that the Vatican found his writings objectionable) what kind of wines he liked, women he liked... so on and so forth.

As a matter of fact, Montaigne is credited with 'inventing' the art of essay.
Montaigne retired from public life in 1570 and a little over a quarter century later British British philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon published his own collection of small pieces in 1597.

Montaigne essays melds the intellectual and the personal, and his musings have inspired countless writers, including William Hazlitt, Friedrich Nietzsche and Virginia Woolf.

This idea — writing about oneself to create a mirror in which other people recognize their own humanity — has not existed forever,” Ms. Bakewell writes. “It had to be invented. And, unlike many cultural inventions, it can be traced to a single person.”

Ms. Sarah Bakewell is the winner of the National Critic Circle Award this year (announced only two days back) for her biography of Montaigne titled "How to Live" with the sub-title “Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer” published by the Other Press.

Written by Harish Trivedi and based on Anthony Gottleib's essay, Montaigne Moment, NYT, Sunday, March 13, 2011 and Patricia Cohen's review of Sarah Bakewell's biography of Montaigne ' How to Live' (NYT Dec. 17, 2010)

Few more Montaigne bon mots –
Selected by Harish Trivedi

A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.

A straight oar looks bent in the water. What matters is not merely that we see things but how we see them.

A wise man sees as much as he ought, not as much as he can.

Age imprints more wrinkles in the mind than it does on the face.

Ambition is not a vice of little people.
An unattempted lady could not vaunt of her chastity.
An untempted woman cannot boast of her chastity.
Confidence in others' honesty is no light testimony of one's own integrity
Confidence in the goodness of another is good proof of one's own goodness.

Death, they say, acquits us of all obligations.

Natwar Gandhi’s Pennsylvania Avenue sonnet collection released in Mumbai

2011-03-12T13:00:00.000-08:00

By Harish Trivedi

© 2011

According to the PDF copies of news articles and interviews forwarded to friends by Natwar Gandhi, on February 11, 2011 a new collection of his sonnets titled Pennsylvania Avenue was released in Mumbai with much fanfare and aplomb.

(I got the abovementioned forward from a kind friend who keeps me informed about such goings on here as well as in India and even from across the world).

But let’s move on -

Book release parties in the big cities like Mumbai are more or less formulaic – readings from the works of the writer/poet/playwright, speech full of lavish praise by the publisher who also acts as a cheer-leader- in- chief for his client writer/poet what have you… attendance by available writers or client writers of the publishing house, other literati, journalists and hangers on make a large part of audience at such gatherings. The gala event for the release of Pennsylvania Avenue was no exception.

The world renowned Santoor player and the current president of the Indo-American Society (and a good friend) Snehal Mozoomdar (his preferred spelling) made introductory remarks, Bhagwatikumar Sharma, the octogenarian poet – much respected and admired for his Gazals and Sonnets, journalist, past president of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad presided over the event. Suresh Dalal - a poet, critic, columnist and an impresario who is known for hosting his client writers book-launch parties and the chief honcho at the publishing house Image Publications of Mumbai made incidental and predictable remarks praising Natwar Gandhi to high heavens. (For an alleged 100,000 to 200,000 rupees a book this things don’t come cheap). Incidentally, the Image Publications had also published Natwar Gandhi’s earlier sonnet collections America, America (2004) and India, India (2006).

Noted actors, poets such as Utkarsh Mazumdar, Ankit Trivedi, Chirag Vora, and Panna Naik et al provided dramatic reading of some of the poems by Natwar Gandhi.

At the book release event in Mumbai, everything was great no everything was fantastic. Some may even call it awesome and why not? Every one must have had a jolly good time and satisfaction of having attended a literary event (that it was). Even cynics like me are impressed – I particularly love the amount of the hot air that the speakers blow at such occasions. I was so overjoyed by reading the description of event in Chitralekha (March 7, 2011) and an interview with Natwar Gandhi accompanied by big photos in Mumbai Samachar ((February 26, 2011) that I dashed off an email congratulating Natwarbhai Gandhi. I must say that Natwar Gandhi’s poems make enjoyable reading. So more power to him! May he write many more poems and essays for our enjoyment and entertainment.

So if you are wondering, why am I writing about a month old book release party in Mumbai? Wonder no more…

It is the irony of this whole shindig (the book release party or the Vimochan samaramb for the launching of Pennsylvania Avenue in Mumbai) that I could not miss noticing.

The Image Publications of Mumbai, publishers of the Pennsylvania Avenue is known for being one of the more popular vanity publishers and it thrives on publishing works by NRIs (Non Resident Indians) for big bucks. If your work is published by the Image Publications, pre and post publicity of your work is guaranteed. As the name suggests, these folks are image-makers. This is a business and I am not quarreling with Image Publication’s business practices. But it would be nice if the newspaper that carries Suresh Dalal’s column recognizes the conflict of interest when Suresh Dalal fawns over or indulges in openly apple-polishing every book that his company publishes in his columns. One feels like wiping off the drool after reading such columns.

Having said this, let’s look at some excerpts from the much discussed and much praised essay titled Gujarati Diaspora Writing--A Call for Independence by none other than Natwar Gandhi. He has publicly criticized such events and diaspora writers who seek out approval from Indian critics etc.

‘We look to India to get a Good Housekeeping stamp of approval…’

‘Dependence of Diaspora

‘Gujarati NRI writers look homeward for approval particularly for what they write. They strive to get good reviews and they get them easily in India. A North American return address on the envelope or a call from North America works wonders in India. As long as you are willing to pay, Indian publishers are willing to print and publish any rubbish any one pretending to be a writer comes up with. They would even hold a book party at your expense. Eminent Gujarati writers would show up at book parties to give their blessings. Photographers are at the ready and for the right price the newspapers are eager to publish the “news” of the party with appropriate pictures. Favorable forewords and book reviews can also be bought. NRI doctor, engineer or accountant is now an established novelist or poet! TV and radio interviews soon follow.’

‘This game is mutually satisfactory. The NRI’s long deferred dream of being a writer is realized while the publisher or a promoter makes a fast buck. The promoter’s dream of making an all expense paid trip to the United States might also be realized. A favorable foreword, a follow up column along with a literary prize could make such a trip a reality’.

‘The NRI writer who would happen to be a doctor, an engineer or an accountant is often lauded for his literary interests. He is also applauded for being a good ambassador of Indian culture and literature in the United States. …In short, it is a sham’.

This proves that Natwar Gandhi is no exception to what he so strongly abhors in others. Hypocrisy? Chutzpah (pronounced hutspa)? or just plain audacity of hype - You be the judge.

Jaipur Literature Festival and Gujarati Writers

2011-02-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

By Harish Trivedi
© 2011

Recently a revered Gujarati scholar and journalist Deepakbhai Mehta lamented about the absence of Gujarati writers and the absence of a vast majority of writers from other states in India at the prestigious Jaipur Literature Festival.
Deepakbhai’s article appeared the Gujarati daily Mumbai Samachar under the section that is called Dialogue, but in effect it was a monologue.

This is my humble effort to turn that monologue in to a true dialogue.

Deepakbhai starts out by mocking at the festival being described as The Greatest Show on Earth.

Background about the phrase:
It is said that the great impresario and circus owner P. T. Barnum coined the phrase The Greatest Show on Earth and by1872, Barnum was already referring to his enterprise as 'THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH' - and it was! 'P.T. Barnum's Traveling World's Fair, Great Roman Hippodrome and Greatest Show On Earth' It covered five acres and accommodated 10,000 seated patrons at a time ... and, to reach more people, took to the rails and traveled across the country and also took the show to England. Queen Victoria is reported to have been very impressed and amused by the show.

The phrase The Greatest Show on Earth is a copyright phrase owned by P.T. Barnum and Bailey Circus. (The full name is RINGLING BROS.-BARNUM & BAILEY COMBINED SHOWS, INC.) The company has filed lawsuites to protect their copyright for the phrase and has won it everytime in the courts of law in the United States.

In 1952 there was a movie titled The Greatest Show on Earth. It was a drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. The movie had lavish production values, actual circus acts, and documentary, behind-the-rings looks at the massive logistics effort which made big top circuses possible. Bosley Crowther, the esteemed New York Times critic called the movie a "lusty triumph of circus showmanship and movie skill" and a "piece of entertainment that will delight movie audiences for years"

Richard Dawkins' 2009 best seller is titled The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution.

For over a century the phrase is used to describe any big or spectacular event. It is in this sense that Tina Brown described the Jaipur event as the greatest show on earth.

Tina Brown, the legendary editor of such internationally known magazines as the Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, described the Jaipur Literature Festival as the Greatest Literary Show on Earth. She is the founder and editor of the webzine the Daily Beast. Recently the weekly news magazine Newsweek merged with the Daily Beast. Tina Brown acts as an Executive Editor for both the publications.

Deepakbhai is critical of the construction company DSC for being the major sponsor of the Jaipur event. Forget the fact that the Sahitya Academy, the National Book Trust and nearly a dozen Gujarati publishers stage book fairs each year and some even host similar events (Pustak Melo) fair many a times during the year. Gujarati publishers host such events at their own expense. The Sahitya Academy and the National Book Trust host such events by using taxpayers’ money. These government bodies even participate in international book fairs at the taxpayers’ expense. So why is Deepakbhai criticizing the DSC and its many sponsors?

Further on Deepakbhai states that the Jaipur Literature Festival is not similar to (meaning not as good as) the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad and the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan.

On one hand the scholar criticizes the lack of marketing by the Sahitya Academy affecting sales of its publications, but then he is quick to mock the Jaipur event as a product of modern marketing and criticizes the advertising agencies that supports the Jaipur Festival. This does not make any sense, does it?

The advertising agencies or major multi-nationals that sponsor such events look at the audience, the demographics, and the segment of population that would attend such event and the prestige of participating in such event itself.
Can the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad provide the demographics that these agencies are covet?

Then Deepakbhai accuses that the sponsors of the Jaipur Festival look for English publications that are either popular or controversial. Nothing could be farther from truth. Just look up the names of literary celebrities that attended the Jaipur Literature Festival – 2011 in the attached document.

The Jaipur event is open to all; any one can attend the event. Folks who want to attend as a ‘Delegate’ have to pay fees that cover their lunch etc. I am sure some of the multi-national publishing houses pick up the tab of ‘their’ writers to showcase those writers’ work. Are there any Gujarati publishers who are willing to pick up a tab for their writers?

How many Gujarati publishers advertise their publications in newspapers and magazines? How many novels, short story and poetry collections are reviewed in Gujarati newspapers? How many Gujarati books are sold each year? The publication scene for the Gujarati language is pathetic, to say the least. Here is a question: Since the Jaipur Literature Festival was open to all, did Deepakbhai attend the event and write a first hand review of the event? How many Gujarati newspapers sent their reporters to cover this major international publishing event?

How are people from beyond Gujarat to know about Gujarati literature if the Gujarati literary establishment and governmental agencies do not make concerted effort to publicize the works of major Gujarati writers? Why criticize modern marketing methods - the potent tool of marketing in this age of globalization?

Deepakbhai laments the absence of writers from many other Indian states… The event, as mentioned above was open to all so if writers from any state could have attended the event if they wanted to attend. Why blame the Jaipur event sponsors for it? The sponsors of the Jaipur festival are not obligated to have representation from every state of India. Where did Deepakbhai get this idea?

Name-calling the English literary works is not productive and diminishes not only good writers but it also diminishes the person who makes such ignorant remarks.
Deepakbhai wonders if prominent public servants such as Kapil Sibal, Manishankar Aiyar or Nirupama Mennon Rao have written any books and thus casts a shadow on the ability of these individuals to write anything worthwhile. So for record, let me say a few words about these people who were unnecessarily maligned by Deepakbhai.

An Anthology of Kapil Sibal's poems titled \"i witness\" was published by Roli Books in 2008. He has also contributed several articles on various topical issues in national dailies and periodicals.

Manishankar Aiyar has written several books including Remembering Rajiv", Rupa, New Delhi, 1992, "One Year in Parliament", Konark, New Delhi, 1993, "Pakistan Papers", UBSPD, New Delhi, 1994 and numerous newspaper articles.

Nirupama Menon Rao is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, and the current Foreign Secretary of India, serving the External Affairs Ministry.

She has also served as Ambassador of India to China, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Moscow and as a Minister at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. Nirupama Rao has written a book of poetry, named Rain Rising. Her poems have been translated into Chinese and Russian.Nirupama Rao’ speech/article at Singapore Consortium for China-India Dialogue titled Rabindranath Tagore’s vision of India and China: A twenty first century perspective should be a ‘must’ reading to any self professed Tagore expert.
Now everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions. Unfortunately the opinion expressed by Deepakbhai are tinted by his provincial and myopic understanding of how international literary events are organized, his views are based on mere speculation, and he does not provide any evidence to substantiate his rant.

We have a phrase for such attitude. It is called sour grapes. The phrase refers to envious behaviour, especially pretending to not care for something one does not or cannot have, a condition called cognitive dissonance.

Re: Gazal-kaars, gazal singers, bhajans and bhajan singers

2011-01-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

On a recent visit to India, the esteemed Gujarati writer Madhu Rye made remarks about Gazal writers who write absolutely abominable gazals and then email the same to zillions of people. Mr. Rye's made these remarks in Surat, the home town of noted' reputable/ certified Gazalkar Bhagwatikumar Sharma. Mr.Rye's comments erupted in to a crazy conflagration of fuming email discussions from the self-styled aficionados of Gazals that was stopped only when a well meaning and sane Gujarati columnist asked those folks to put an end to that silly tirade against Madhu Rye. (I must confess that I had contributed a comment or two in support of Madhu Rye.).

Wasn't that William Shakespeare who said or may be he should have said,

'Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time.
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle.
These so-called Gazalkaars are but a walking shadows, a poor players
Who strut and fret their hour upon the stage of cyber-space,
And then is heard no more. Their gazals are tall tales
Told by idiots, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. ..'

So why were these folks so upset about Madhu Rye's criticism of Gazalias or Gazalkaars?

I think all these people who keep forwarding these so-called Gazals should be banned from traveling the cyber-highways.

These new breed of Gazalkaars are nothing but self-hating and generally, what we call losers, they are no Omar Khayyams or Ghalibs or Rumis. Not even Chinoo or Manhar Modys or various Dahiwalas, Dudhwalas, Gheewalas... or Telwalas

And how about the Gazal singers who stretch one note of Jee that seem to be eternity? And the same crazies applaud the Gazal singer when the irritating Jeeing ends.

I have a strong dislike for folks who keep on sending me the inspirational stuff with cute photos of babies or animals or some stolen or perhaps photoshopped nature-scenes, all usually accompanied by Enya-like or New Age-ish type music. And while talking about annoyances, have you ever thought as to why those kids in the TV commercials for adoption and help never seem to get OLD?

And now talking about 'old', do you remember in the old times every Hindi movie had one mandatory song as if just written and sung for the beggars in the trains or on the streets? Songs such as Tumhare se tumse daya mangte hey,... whatever happened to those kind of songs? The orphan's song that I have just quoted is now sung in our local temple as a regulation prayer! As they say, Go figure...

These has led me to think about the devotional songs or Bhajans that are crafted in the movie song melodies. If I am not mistaken, the trend was started by THE Punit Maharaj. At a very young age I had the misfortune to listen to him in Ahmedabad - accompanied by my parents - as I was too young to be left home alone. That experience has left such a big scar on my psyche that I still remember it with a shudder going thru my spine. One of our local priests at the Hindu temple also sings some bhajans that are all sung in the style of popular movie songs... I don't know, may be I am too old-fashioned and not quite familiar with modern practices of worship and bhajan singing.

Now, as you may already know there are perfectly good bhajans written by Kabeer, Surdas, Meera, Dayaram etc. for singing in the classical ragas and all those bhajans are melodious and easy on ears too. So why was there a necessity of composing bhajans in filmy tunes?

The reason for this deterioration is simple - the writers do not know classical music and do not have any knowledge of writing in meters as defined by the Pingal Shashtras.

I just cannot even think of such stuff without getting real upset, brining my blood to the boiling point and breaking my thermometer...

Now I'll have to go and get some special medication to calm me down.

Harish Trivedi
- with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek...

Mumbai Fables by Gyan Prakash - Review of a Review

2010-10-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi

Mumbai Fables by Gyan Prakash reviewed by Anita Vachharajani, DNA Sunday, Oct 17, 2010, 2:02 IST

Review of a Review:

I have read with interest Ms.Anita Vachharajani’s review that appeared in DNA, October 17, 2010. The review is quite informative and interesting. But in the interest of history and accuracy I am presenting some facts and perspective that is missing in that review.

Commenting about the land reclamation the reviewer states, ‘Started in 1784, reclamations had, by 1872, added four million square yards to Bombay. Girangaon (the ‘Village of Mills’), which had sprouted to meet the international demand for cotton. Unhygienic conditions and a particularly heavy monsoon led to the bubonic plague epidemic of 1896-97.

I have not read Mumbai Fables by Gyan Prakash so I do not know if Mr. Gyan Prakash or the reviewer has come up with the etymology of the word Girgaon or Girgaum but the name has nothing to do with cotton or cotton mills as the reviewer states. Girgaum derives its name from the Sanskrit words Giri [Mountain] and Grama [Village]. The late Salim Ali the great ornithologist and naturalist.. has noted that tigers roamed the hill side of Malbar Hills and one such tiger was spotted at the base of the hills near the Girgaum area in early part of the 20th century.
The business in opium was lucrative and popular at that time in history. Even Warren Hastings had indulged in that past-time. But to say that Wadias dabbled in Opium business without any reference to the contributions of the Wadia clan to the city of Mumbai as we know it, is a gross injustice to these revered family name.
The docks at Bombay are a monument of the industry, enterprise and integrity of the Wadia family. The Wadias moved in from Surat to Mumbai at the invitation of the British.

In 1870 the Bombay Port Trust was formed. In 1872, Jamshedji Wadia, a master ship-builder constructed the "Cornwalis", a frigate of 50 guns, for the East India Company, a success which led to several orders from the British Navy. In all the Wadias, between 1735-1863 built 170 war vessels for the Company, 34 man-of-war for the British Navy, 87 merchant vessels for private firms, and three vessels for the Queen of Muscat at Bombay docks.

Miss Vachharjanai states, ‘He (Prof.Gyan Prakash) describes the various blunders around the Backbay reclamation project Khurshed Framji Nariman…’
The reviewer further says, ‘…Nariman took up cause against the mosquito-breeding ‘grand mess’ that the project had become, was sued by the British government, and went on to completely trounce them…’

This is a misrepresentation or mis-reading or only a partial reading of history either by Prof. Gyan Prakash or by Ms. Vaccharajani.

Mr. Nariman came into the public eye in 1926 as an independent and courageous politician for the sensational libel case against him by the British engineer involved in the Backbay Reclamation scandal.

Mr. Nariman first made charges of corruption and mismanagement of the reclamation project in the Bombay Legislative Council (1926). There upon Mr. Thomas Harvey, the engineer in-charge of the project challenged Mr. Nariman to make those libelous statements in public (as statements made in the chambers of the legislature cannot be challenged in the court of law). Mr. Nariman complied by making the same charges in public. Mr. Harvey filed a libel suite against Mr. K. F. Nariman.

Mr Nariman successfully faught the case and WON (July 20, 1926)and also exposed the scandalous financial arrangements in this scheme. He was called Veer or Courageous Nariman. The end of the Marine Drive causeway road was named Nariman Point because of this event.

In 1935 he was elected the Mayor of the Bombay Corporation. As a Mayor he started the Bombay city Citizens Association and was also its first President to take keen interest in slum clearance.

How do you pronounce Mario Vargas Llosa?

2010-10-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

Nobel Prize In Literature - Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa wins 2010 Nobel Prize in literature.

Commenting on the news our friend wrote -

‘Thanks! What an honor!’

‘But I must say this: they keep referring to him as LLosa, which is pronounced Jossa, but that is not his paternal family name, but his maternal family name,
His last name is Vargas Llosa. You could call him just Mario Vargas, but there are SO many Mario Vargas out there that adding the mother's family name helps to differentiate him…’

’Something similar happened to Pablo Ruiz. Do you (know) who he is? Would anyone know him? There are SO many Pablo Ruiz out there!’

’But if you add the mother's family name: Picasso, Then you end up with Pablo Ruiz Picasso. When he moved to Paris, the Parisians found it easiest to refer to him as just Picasso, since that name is very uncommon and it had "artistic flair" -- so now you know "the rest of the story" . . .’

’My full name in Spanish is Enrique Romaguera Martínez Díaz Jiménez - first name -- paternal father’s family name/ maternal father’s family name/ paternal mother’s family name / maternal mother's family name. This way of naming makes it easy to follow family genesis’.

But the web gives this explanation about pronunciation -

Mario Vargas Llosa:
Pronunciation: [mär´yO vär´gäs yO´sä].

And you (our friend) states that Llosa should be pronounced Jossa.

Is there a different pronunciation tradition in the Latin countries and other countries?

And our friend replies -

‘Yes. Different Spanish countries use different pronunciations for the LL. In S panish the double L is considered a seeeparate letter from the simple L.’

’So in a Spanish dictionary you go through all the words with a simple and then you start another dictionary section with words that start with a double LL.’

’The same thing happens in n mid word. You exhaust all the words with simple L and then you start with those with the double LL’.

’In Spain the LL is pronounced like a palatalized L, the simple L is pronounced as a non- palatalized L’.

’In Mexico it is pronounced like a Y, or a Yond’.

’In Argentina It is pronounced as a ZH. Or a palatalized SH
In many Latin American countries, like in Puerto Rico, and Peru, it is pronounced like an English J.’

’Now you have it from the horse's mouth’.

Yes indeed a lesson in various pronunciation traditions
is learned and we won’t look this gift horse in the mouth!

Next question…

... a red velvet doughnut ice cream sandwich is served at the Peter Pan doughnut shop in Brooklyn, N.Y. - A news item in SALON, September 15, 2010.

2010-09-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi

Wouldn't this be great with Bill's Doughnut (Centerville) or any of your favorite doughnut shops?

Sure looks like our own little 'Stairway to heaven...'

Now sing with me...to the tune of 'Stairway to heaven...' (and if possible imagine yourself in a smoke-filled bar dancing a slow dance with a woman you do not know...you sense that she is not wearing a bra and is clutching YOU ever so closely.....making something stir.... everything is just so guru-vee... (Okay, never mind that last part...)

Oh Led Zeppeling where are you?

so here it is, with apologies to Led Zeppelin....Let's sing

There's a lady whose sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a doughnut ice cream sandwich to heaven.
When she gets there, she knows if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.

Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a doughnut ice cream sandwich to heaven.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.

Theres a feeling I get when I look to the west,
And my spirit is crying for leaving.

Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, really makes me wonder.

And it's whispered that soon if we all call the tune
Then the piper will lead us to reason.
And a new day will dawn for those who stand long
And the world will echo with laughter.

Don't be alarmed now...

And it makes me wonder.
Oooooohâe, hooo...!

* * * * *
And in the mood that has nothing to do with doughnut ice cream sandwich ... I am just in THAT nostalgic mood... So here it goes -

' Hey Billy Joel, my Piano Man, where are you when I need you? Com'on sing a song for this old man, you know, that one called the Piano Man (a part of lyrics is printed to help you sing...)

It’s nine o’clock on a saturdayThe regular crowd shuffles inThere’s an old man sitting next to meMakin’ love to his tonic and ginHe says, son, can you play me a memory? I’m not really sure how it goesBut it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it completeWhen I wore a younger man’s clothesLa la la, de de daLa la, de de da da daChorus:Sing us a song, you’re the piano manSing us a song tonightWell, we’re all in the mood for a melodyAnd you’ve got us feelin’ alrightNow ...

* * * * *

And finally one story about a some what drunk patron who enters a bar with his pet goat. He orders a drink for himself and leaving the goat unattended goes to restroom.

When he returns he finds the goat missing. He asks patrons at the bar about the goat but no one seems to know anything about the goat. So in utter desperation he goes to the lead singer of the band that was playing that night and asks, 'Do you know where my goat is....?" The lead singer thinks for a while and says, 'I don't know, but if you hum, I can make up the lyrics...."

Black out and the obligatory drum roll Purrr, pum ...

Tragedy - the Media Porn

2010-08-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi
© 2010

All media exist to invest our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values. - Marshall McLuhan

Media has become the biggest exploiter of tragedy. Media manipulates viewers' emotions while making a quick buck in the process...

One could say, paraphrasing Marshall McLean that the Media has become a very powerful aggressor against our cumulative consciousness. We all yield to its demand and surrender our private consciousness to its manipulations.

‘One of the effects of living with electric information is that we live habitually in a state of information overload. There's always more than you can cope with’.

Remember the Columbine High School massacre anniversaries, the Waco and Koresh bombing (1999) and the anniversary, the Oklahoma bombing anniversary, the Jim Jones, Peoples Temple, Jonestown, Guyana (1978) when some 900 temple members willingly died.the anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake that caused the Tsunami and death of over 230,000 people… We all can see these tragedies in our memories rear view mirror. We don’t need any f…. in TV guy spoon feed us and force us live thru it again and again…

I do not know how the media decides when to stop and when to start celebrating anniversaries of grave tragedies...

Public tragedy, it seems is an all-purpose sure bet for generating viewership and readerships for print and electronic media. We only need to look at the Kennedy assassination theories, the books that are cranked out around the Kennedy anniversary, the Marylyn Monroe’s X-number of unpublished (unpalatable would be the proper description) photographs that emerge around her death anniversary and the ever popular and punch line of many jokes – the never dieing Elvis sightings that is always accompanied by one or two totally media strangers coming out with their encounters with Elvis...

The O.J shenanigans are now forgotten or are almost forgotten.

The court case of the century that help propel the carriers of many an obscure lawyers and attorneys and made them TV celebrities.

Has any one wondered as to what happened to Kato Kaelin the cute-guy and one time model who enjoyed his 15-minutes of fame during OJs legal battle... the Judge Lance Ito ... F. Lee Bailey and Johnnie Cochran? - Both now diseased, Robert Shapiro, now hawking his Legal Zoom on the web and on TV commercials, Marcia Clark, the then 40-year old district attorney, Los Angeles County Prosecutor Christopher Darden, who became Marcia Clark's co-consul and rumored to be her one time lover, Barry Scheck - the DNA expert attorney, LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, the police criminologist Dennis Fung and the celebrated line of Barry Scheck, 'Where is it Mr. Fungi?'

All forgotten for now.

No news about the funds established by Nicole Simpson’s sister and Ron Goldman’s parents…

All seems to be forgotten for now, but wait for the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Nicole Simpson murder trial in 2014 and see how the media wakes up and reminds us all - whether we want to know about it or not … The media will force us to live thru that trial again and again…

And how can we forget the 24/7 video image of oil gushing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in the right-hand corner of our TV screens?

No, it is not forgotten. All these cannot be forgotten. But damn it, we don’t need media to remind us again and again about it.

It would be shown again and again next spring on the occasion of the first anniversary of BP oil-well disaster. It would be shown with the famous clip of BP chief honcho Tony Hayward saying, I want my life back!

There should be a law to punish the Media folks who abuse the public airwaves and inflict pain and suffering on the viewers.

Media – isn’t it the wonderful medium?

Marshall McLuhan must be rolling in his grave. The medium is no longer the message that he once hoped it to be…

The medium is now the messenger of mayhem, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, mass massacres, serial killers, political corruption, human trafficking, drug lords, political demonstrations, and killings of public figures…Media thrives on such news.

Media no longer provides an insight in to an event; it only exacerbates the sad experience.

‘A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding’. - Marshall McLean.

Is any one listening?

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:59:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

4

The Gujarati Literary Academy of North America

‘Indeed, Gujarati Literary Academy of North America, the preeminent literary association among Gujarati NRIs, has a long established practice of inviting writers and poets from India. It also arranges their coast-to-coast North American tours so that Gujarati community settled across the U.S. and Canada can benefit from their visits.’ This may or may not be true. ‘In addition, the Academy also holds a convention every other year where like minded Gujaratis get together and exchange ideas and share their works. Here again the distinguished writers from India are invited and asked to address the gathering’.

The Gujarati Literary Academy of North America, in my opinion has degenerated in to its own caricature or parody and is now on the verge of becoming a joke. Gujarati writers from Chicago, Los Angelese and few other cities not withstanding, the Academy has very rarely represented any Gujarati group or an organization or a Gujarati writer from any other States of the Union except a few East coast states. While it spends considerable amount of time and money on the travel arrangements of the visiting literati, I wonder if the Academy pays even a nominal honorarium to the few local writers, poets, novelists et all that it keeps inviting again and again for its various readings, panel discussion and poetry readings!

I do not know if any concerted effort has been made to expand the Academy membership beyond the East coast states. I am one of the founder members – Life member of the Academy. In spite of my numerous requests to the leaders of the Academy I do not get any communication from the Academy about its activities… This has made me think that the Academy is not interested in people who live beyond their local boundaries. I have written about this before so let’s move on to the topic at hand.

To be continued...

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

9

Natwarbhai challenges Gujarati NRI writers

‘In the 19th century Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great Transcendentalist thinker challenged American writers to be on their own and throwaway the shackles of the home country dependency. He urged them to be independent and not look to England and Europe for approval. He also told them to draw their inspiration from “abounding life of their own country.” He continued: “Our day of independence, our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands, draws to a close. The millions that around us are rushing into life cannot always be fed on the sere remains of foreign harvests. Events, actions arise, that must be sung, that will sing themselves…there are creative manners, there are creative actions and creative words…that is, indicative of no custom or authority, but springing spontaneous from the mind’s own sense of good and fair.” Emerson further challenged the countrymen of his young country: “Insist on yourself, never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life’s cultivation…”

Further on he adds, ‘…throwaway the shackles of the home country dependency’.

‘Gujarati writers of North America have to come of age and be on their own. They no longer should seek certificates from back home because most of those borrowed certificates are worthless anyway. They should throw away their literary shackles that make them look to India for the approval for their literary activities here. Their own immigrant lives are filled with fascinating stories that need to be written and tales that need to be told. Writers such as Bharati Mukerjee and Jumpa Lahiri made their literary mark doing just that. Why does the Gujarati NRI writer close his eyes to the world that surrounds him and look to a distant land where he is an object of condescension?’

Bharati Mukerjee as spelled in the above paragraph by Natwarbhai is incorrect. The correct spelling is Mukherjee - with KH and Jumpa Lahiri should have been spelled Jhumpa Lahiri - there is JH as in Jhumpa. I am sure this was a mere typographical error.

10

American Literature in late 18th and early 19th century and Emerson’s Advice to young writers

It was in the late eighteenth and early 19th century that the nation’s first novels were published. These fictions were too lengthy to be printed as manuscript or public reading. Publishers took a chance on these works in hopes they would become steady sellers and need to be reprinted. This was a good bet as literacy rates soared in this period among both men and women. The first American novel is William Hill Brown’s ‘’The Power of Sympathy’’ published in 1789. (The Norton Anthology of American Literature)
In the next decadeimportant women writers also published novels. Susanna Rowson is best known for her novel, ‘’Charlotte: A Tale of Truth’’, published in London in 1791.[5] In 1794 the novel was reissued in Philadelphia under the title, ‘’Charlotte Temple.’’ ‘’Charlotte Temple’’ is a seduction tale, written in the third person, which warns against listening to the voice of love and counsels resistance. In addition to this best selling novel, she wrote nine novels, six theatrical works, two collections of poetry, six textbooks, and countless songs.
( Parker, Patricia L. “Charlotte Temple by Susanna Rowson.” ‘’The English Journal.’’ 65.1: (1976) 59-60. ‘’JSTOR.’’ Web. 1 March 2010)In this country – U.S.A - in the late eighteenth and early 19th century that the nation’s first novels were published.. The first American novel is William Hill Brown’s ‘’The Power of Sympathy’’ published in 1789.
Reaching more than a million and a half readers over a century and a half, ‘’Charlotte Temple’’ was the biggest seller of the nineteenth century before Stowe’s ‘’Uncle Tom’s Cabin.’’ Although Rowson was extremely popular in her time and is often acknowledged in accounts of the development of the early American novel, ‘’Charlotte Temple’’ is often criticized as a sentimental novel of seduction. Hannah Webster Foster’s ‘’The Coquette: Or, the History of Eliza Wharton’’ was published in 1797 and was also extremely popular. (Source: Schweitzer, Ivy. ‘’Early American Literature.’’ 23.2: 1988] 221-225. ‘’JSTOR.’’ Web. 1 March 2010).
With the War of 1812 and an increasing desire to produce uniquely American literature and culture, a number of key new literary figures emerged, perhaps most prominently Washington Irving, William Cullen Bryant, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe. Irving, often considered arguably the first writer to develop a unique American style. wrote during the early decades of 19th century. Bryant wrote romantic and nature-inspired poetry, which evolved away from their European origins.
In 1832, Poe began writing short stories – including "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Fall of the House of Usher", and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" – that explore previously hidden levels of human psychology and push the boundaries of fiction toward mystery and fantasy. James Fenimore Cooper's three novels including The Last of the Mohicans) were popular both in the new country and abroad. Herman Mellville’s Moby Dick which was published in 1851, was not very successful in his life time, although it is considered one of the master pieces of Amrican literature. (Source: Norton Anthology of American Literature)
The noted America-born English essayist, critic and author Henry James (1843 – 1916) a pioneer of the realism movement in literature wrote mostly in the mode of British novels, became a British citizen in 1915 and died there in 1916. He did not seem to have paid any attention to Emerson’s advice. Henry James is one of the favorite writers of Natwarbhai whose name he likes to mention at any opportunity he gets to do so.
Barring few exception, early Amrican writing did not sell well (same as our Gujarari writing now. The only difference is, under a century after the American independence in 1776 good and distinctly Amrican literature had emerged.
The story of Gujarati writers in Gujarat and the diaspora writers is bit different. Gujarati NRI writers have not established emotional roots in the country they have adopted and many call their home. Many of them have not immersed themselves in Amrican literature and have not assimilated or acquired knowledge of Amrican history, literature, and society. In this sense, Panna Naik’s poems about home-sickness, while reflecting an immigrant’s emotions about the home country, cannot be called in a very narrow definition an American poem. And I don’t think Panna Naik wrote her poems to create some thing that could be called American and there is nothing wrong about it.
Nobel laureate V. S. Naipaul’s almost all fiction is based on his life in Trinidad and his family history. His non fiction is based on his travels in different parts of the world and his perspective on the people, politics and places of those lands. Reflecting or distilling ones own life experiences in writing does not make that work less important or relevant. It is after all the style of writing, the writer’s own sensibilities and perceptions that are reflected in his writings makes that fiction, non-fiction or poetry – good, bad or aweful.
Salman Rushdie’s first novel is quite autobiographiical. Indian American writer Ved Mehta’s almost entire body of work is based on his personal life. No one admonished these writers for not writing about their British or American experiences.
It is after all what one writes and how one writes that makes good literature. It has nothing to do with what personal experiences the writer distills and filters in his writings.
So long as a writer is able to depict some universally recongizable experinece or an event that could resonante with a readers’ own sensibilities, the writer has nothing to worry about… To paraphrase Roy Peter Clark, people read for pleasure, and to be informed, and to be swept away by storytelling.
Having said that, unless the Gujarati NRI writer or an aspiring writer totally immerses in American society and life style, to expect him/her to write some thing with a distinct American ethos is going to be futile, not withstanding Natwarbhai’s gallant effort from behind the mask of Emerson advising Gujarati NRIs to write about something that reflected their American experience.
Advising Gujarati NRI writers how to write, no matter how high minded and nobel is likely to be construed as elitist. It may sound to some as a dicta, fiat or a fatwa from some foggy ivory tower. This is not a recipie for creating good literature. The decision of what to write and how to write should be left to NRI or native born writers or poets themselves. Writers of any shade or color, listen to the voice of their own inner muse or perhaps in an absence of a muse, they listen to their mistress…
‘Literary associations and academies should make a concerted effort to encourage Gujarati writing here and publish books and journals produced here. Instead of inviting Gujarati writers and poets from home at great expense they should arrange nationwide gatherings of local Gujarati writers and poets whose voices have not been heard. Above all, Gujarati writers and literary associations should focus on the literary writing that is being done here and celebrate it much the way Emerson celebrated American writing two centuries ago.’

It should be noted that some of the Gujarati writing in this country does reflect writers’ unique American experience. Take for example Gujarati NRI writings during the last three-decades or so - Adilbhai Mansuri’s poem about the young woman who was attacked and raped in the Central Park, New York, Panna Mody’s several poems that depicts her home-sickness or how she misses certain kind of Indian flowers that she is unable find in this country etc. Madhu Rye’s novel ‘Kimball Ravenswood’, An anthology of Gujarati poems that was edited by Chandrakant Shah titled ‘Amerikavyo’ and his collection of poems inspired by blue jeans. An earlier and probably the very first anthology of poems by expatriate Indians living in the U.S and Canada titled ‘Poetry-India’ (published by the India Foundation, Dayton and MedFest International 1987) included poems in some thirteen Indian languages, with original Indian script and with an English translation of the same. ‘Poetry-India’ included poems by six Gujarati NRIs; many a poems depicted the poets’ American experience. The critical articles in the pioneering Gujarati digest published and edited by Kishore Desai has published such writings and the list could go on and on…

On the topic of Gujarati writing inspired by American experience (as we are talking about Gujarati NRI writers), one could add the travelogues written by some visiting writers from India, some invited by the Academy and some who visited this country on their own. The problem with such travelogues is the ‘sameness’. Invariably all such travelogues contain un-ending descriptions of the writer’s hosts in various cities and places of interest he/she visited across this country and nothing more. These travelogues read like a personal diary, there is not even a word about the beauty of the location and or historic significance of the places they had visited.

Some visiting Gujarati writers have even tried to be a sociologist and have tried to analyze the life-styles of Gujarati NRIs – generally their hosts in this country. Such efforts have given the readers back home in India nothing but half-baked information and laughable generalizations about life in America. Such travelogues make dubious literature. The only value of such travelogues is only to the fans of the writers who have lovingly and with respect hosted those writers.

Natwarbhai says, ‘Literary associations and academies should make a concerted effort to encourage Gujarati writing here and publish books and journals produced here’. One might add that first one should find ways to finance such publishing efforts, as Natwarbhai is silent on the subject of financing the printing/publishing efforts of Gujarati NRIs in this country. I am sure he is not suggesting that the Gujarati NRI writers personally pay for their work published in this country rather than doing the same in India.

I would like to thank Natwarbhai for giving me this opportunity to enter in this discussion. His article is indeed thought provoking and dealt with a subject that has demanded attention for a long time. Natwarbhai is my very own Pundit of the Potomac!

(Translation, reprinting, electronic transmission or reproduction of this article in any form is prohibited without prior written permission from Harish Trivedi. Contact: indiafound@earthlink.net)

END

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

8

American Literature

‘In the nineteenth century, as American letters were coming of age the American writers were also looking to the mother country for approval. They read what was published in England. They strived to publish in British journals and periodicals. Those who can afford it took annual pilgrimages to Europe, particularly to England to rejuvenate their literary heritage. They sent their children to the best English and European boarding schools.’ Well, they still do. During the 20th century and in this first decade of 21st century some people have been sending their kids to boarding schools in England, Switzerland, France.

In the early 20th century writers did go and settled in England, France or Italy. Take Ezra Pound for example, Natwarbhai has referred to him in his article. Pound was born in Idaho, and grew up in suburban Philadelphia. He was trained in classical literature at the University of Pennsylvania and Hamilton College. In 1908 (early 20th century) he moved to London where he lived until 1921, then relocated to Paris, France. He moved to Italy, in 1924, where he lived for much of the rest of his life. He married Dorothy Shakespeare in 1914, and they had a son in 1926. For most of his married life, he was romantically involved with the classical violinist Olga Rudge, with whom he had a daughter in 1925. Pound died in Italy, in November 1972.

(An incidental foot-note: Pound’s life-style was not unlike some of our own contemporary Gujarati writers/poets/critics, journalists… who also indulge in similar extra-marital activities described above and sometimes they even proudly brag about it. Generally no one cares about such ‘friends with benefits’ affairs but this ‘bragging’ is really uncalled for. It is juvenile, cheap and it also demeans one of the partners involved in such relationships).

Paris has been a destination of choice for many American writers, including Natwarbhai's favorite (Ralph Waldo) Emerson and Henry James and also of Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, E. E. Cummings, Cole Porter, Henry Miller, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Theodore Dreiser, Edith Wharton, and John Dos Passos. Henry James called Paris 'the most brilliant city in the world'.

Whether they were escaping, becoming an exile, or just enjoying the mystery and romance of Paris...is of little consequence. The most important and relevant fact is that all these writers chose to live wherever they wanted to live...

‘Some even decided literally to migrate to England to make their name in English literature. As late as early twentieth century, the distinguished poet and critic Ezra Pound advised his literary pupil T. S. Eliot to live in London to make his name in English literature. Eliot did just that and eventually became a British citizen. For Eliot, only Europe can provide the cultural authority that he was looking for. Henry James, the distinguished novelist also chose England and Europe over America. Both Eliot and James established great reputations and became giants of English literature. By mid-Twentieth Century, Eliot was already a Nobel laureate and by wide agreement most literary critics believed that Henry James should also have been awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.’ (Page 5)

The above and similar comments about American writers living abroad are not really relevant to the question of Gujarati NRI writers and their writing. The Gujarati NRI writers live in various countries because of necessity – education, jobs or family connections. Gujarati writers in various countries are there by default. As far as I know no Gujarati NRI writer or for that matter even a Gujarati writer in India could afford to move abroad to soak in or to absorb the culture of a particular country and WRITE.

To be continued....

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

7

State of Gujarati Literature and Literary Criticism

‘With the passing of that generation of distinguished critics and editors, field of Gujarati literature is wide open for anyone to come and play. There has been a progressive debasement of literary standards at home where the prevailing motto is: anything goes! (Page 4) While I agree with Natwarbhai about ‘… debasement of literary standards’ but then why this vilification of Gujarati NRIs? And why are the Gujarati NRI writers as Natwarbhai has claimed seeking a Good Housekeeping stamp of approval from the same folks who are responsible for the debasement of literary standards…?

‘There is not any major book reviewing effort presently in Gujarati literature to act as a door-keeper’. Doorkeeper for what, for shrinking sells of a book? His suggestion has no relevance as even a decade or more after a publication of a book, thousand copies of those books remain unsold. One can include in this category novels or short stories written by these ‘critics’. Barring a few exceptions, there in not much there that could command a review.

‘Even with a burgeoning publishing business, all we have is one obscure journal devoted to book reviews.’ Could it be because there are not many books worth reviewing? ‘Formerly, major dailies used to carry a regular weekly book section’. Yes, indeed. That was a time when the giants of Gujarati literature were WRITING. ‘There used to be distinguished journals like Prashtan, (I think Natwarbhai meant Prasthan) Kaumudi, Sankriti, and Kshitij, that carried a book review section. They are all gone. Even the publishers do not see the advertising value of a book review magazine to subsidize one.’ (Page 5). Why should the publishers advertise in such publications? Look at the circulation of these so called ‘book review magazines’. The publishers are in the business of making money, they are not going to waste their money on some advertisement in a journal that very few people read, much less buy. Some times these same publishers, instead of payment of royalty to the writer give only complementary copies of a book to the writer. How can one overlook this reprehensible state of affairs?

In the U.S. for over a decade now many a daily newspapers have stopped publishing book reviews and many have done away with what was once called 'the book-pages'.

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:30:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

6

‘Books on Demand. Need a book publisher in a hurry? Publish within 48 hours…’

A random sampling of few self-publishing houses in the U.S.: OutskirtsPress.com, Xlibris.com, iuniverse.com, 48HrBooks.com,
One such publisher has even tries to attract new writer with an enticing offer - Keep 100% Royalties and 100% Rights to Your Book…

This makes everything easy, you don’t need to worry about any thing, not even money, use your credit card and go broke in the process but get published… Now you are a writer… Most importantly there are NO Natwar Gandhis who would criticize these publishers or the writers who get published through such outfits. Not any different then legalized brothels. And like brothels, such publishing has become a necessary evil. We know we have such literary pimps or dalals- brokers. For the right price, they would take good care of you. Then you can call yourself a WRITER.

In Gujarat, while computers and word processors are used to typeset and printing of the books. And there are failed novelists and journalists in Gujarat who have made a business of ‘guiding’ an NRI through the self-publishing process, even a gullible editor of a respectable magazine is conned in to writing a glowing preface. So call this what you want – legalized book publishing brothel or a back-room delivery, err printing of a questionable book and if needed even a back-room abortion – when printing is aborted because the Gujarati NRI developed cold feet and did not want to go through the process…and I have learned that in one recent incident the writer refused to pay mega bucks that the vanity publisher had demanded.

Book on demand phenomena has yet to emerge in Gujarat. But that is only a matter of time. May be there already is one in service as I write this, who knows?

So if a publisher in India or for that matter in any country, chooses to print some thing written by a Gujarati NRI writer, whose fault it is, the writer's or the publisher’s? No ones, regardless of screams and moans of wise man in the U.S. The law of supply and demand always plays an important role in such ventures and the Gujarati publishing is not immune from it.

‘Gujarati NRI writers look homeward for approval particularly for what they write. They strive to get good reviews and they get them easily in India. A North American return address on the envelope or a call from North America works wonders in India. As long as you are willing to pay, Indian publishers are willing to print and publish any rubbish any one pretending to be a writer comes up with.’ See above.

‘What is worse now is that with the advent of World Wide Web and blogosphere, who needs even a publisher? Any idiot can start a blog and put whatever he writes on his log and reach thousands of people who surf web daily. Many do. There are hundreds of Gujarati blogs originating from far and near. They are filled with a vast variety of poetry, essays, short stories and all sort of personal ruminations that the blogger feels appropriate. It is a sort of euphoria of abundance. (This also is an answer to all those who were lamenting the impending demise of Gujarati language. Hundreds of people are writing it regularly and tens of thousands are reading it regularly around the globe.)’

On the one hand Natwarbhai complains about NRIs who write 'rubbish' on the World Wide Web but then he condones it by stating, ‘This also is an answer to all those who were lamenting the impending demise of Gujarati language.’ Does this mean that even if one writes 'rubbish' he/she saves Gujarati language by such an effort? I do not believe that this is what Natwarbhai wanted to convey…

Let’s just wait till Gujarati books on line flood the web. I am sure we won’t have to wait for that very long. Even now one can download from the web a very popular novel by one of our leading novelist (available only in English language version) for a price.

Suffice it to say that the subject of the volatile mix of literature and commerce is not worth wasting time about.

‘If the critics in India really cared for the NRI writer, they should be advising him to study the masters of Gujarati literature as well as other literary masters.’(Page 3) Obviously, Natwarbhai is assuming that the critics in India really pay any attention to Gujarati NRI writers and their writings or vice a versa. Or for that matter he assumes that the Gujarati NRI writers in this country want or need any guidance from critics in India. May be Natwarbhai knows something that I do not, just like his informing us all that there were hundreds of thousands of people in District of Columbia who not only read Gujarati but specifically read Divya Bhaskar and Madhu Rye's columns. Oh, well!

‘Question is does it make literature?’ Well, that depends upon what one calls 'Literature'. Natwarbhai has avoided giving us his definition of literature. And in the next sentence (see below) he forgets the question he had just raised and asks ‘What is the literary value of blogs as well as international Gujarati literary exchanges?’ Natwarbhai may venture to suggest anything he pleases and write anything he pleases... But he should at least give us some examples or proof to validate his assertion when he writes, ‘I venture to suggest that visits of Indian writers here as well as NRI writers back home are not only not useful, but actually harmful to Gujarati Diaspora literature…’

Earlier Natwarbhai wrote, ‘Indeed, Gujarati Literary Academy of North America, the preeminent literary association among Gujarati NRIs, has a long established practice of inviting writers and poets from India. It also arranges their coast-to-coast North American tours so that Gujarati community settled across the U.S. and Canada can benefit from their visits.’

So what is it? Are such visits good or are they harmful? And who cares?

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

5

The Gujarati NRI Writer

We look to India to get a Good Housekeeping stamp of approval. (Page 1 last paragraph) I think here Natwarbhai is speaking for himself. He is definitely not speaking for me and perhaps not for all the Gujarati NRIs look for approval from critics in India. I have a hunch that Natwarbhai is using the plural WE instead of singular I when referring to himself the same way a President or a King does when referring to himself personally or their regime or administration.

I hope that Natwarbhai is not seeking approval from India for his writings and nor does Babubhai Suthar or Madhubhai (Madhu Rye). I am sure there are a number of other good Gujarati writers who do not seek approval and they do not write for getting approved by critics in India. Generally people write or create something because they want to do so. Writing and generally all creative effort is a result of some unsupressable inner urge for expression be it painting, photography, sculpting or writing… William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) has aptly described good poetry as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.

Having said this, let me add that every writer, poet, novelist, painter...creates some thing, first for his own pleasure but then he/she also wants to share the work with some people –readers, viewers, literary or arts experts and so on. There is no play without an audience…

What we do not have in Gujarat and do not have in any other country is enough number of people who enjoy READING. Compared to over all population of Gujarati-speaking people, relatively a very small number of people BUY books for reading. Comparatively there are not enough Gujarati speaking people who like to read, who go out and buy a new novel or a collection of poems. (Of course many a friends have made a practice of ‘borrowing’ and never returning the books they borrow, but that is a subject for some other time and place.) Under these circumstances even a learned critic (if there are any left…) with rave review of a self-published book can guarantee a big sell of the book. It merely satisfies the ego of its creator.

Many of us know how this game of publishing and reviewing is played. The vanity press folks in India, some even with their own column in the weekend edition of a newspaper are able to sell a total package for one flat price. The gullible NRI empties his/her pockets for a short-lived fame, experience instant gratification and this makes both the parties happy. Even an editor of a respectable publication has no guts to write that the book under review is a vanity publication (paid for and published by the writer) or portions of it are plagiarized. In spite of knowing that some of the poems in a particular collection are not original and have been claimed as original by the so-called poet and that too without any acknowledgement as to the source of the material… One magazine editor has devoted precious space to make a note of such publication. (I state this from a personal experience) So why worry about Gujarati NRI writers wanting to have approval from India or for that matter in this country? Who really cares?

The established writers with a number of awards and honors in their pocket really do not care for approval. They really do not NEED any approval. We have in this country at least half- a- dozen of writers who fit that category, the same folks who get invited again and again at each seminar, symposium or convention to do their own dog and pony show. The literary event becomes a place for joyous merriment and for some a bacchanalia, an all expense paid ritual and a source of entertainment for all the attendees. There is no phala shruti after such event. Only mutual backslapping and preparation for the next year’s event.

It is not as if the vanity press phenomena is unknown in this country. It has flourished and will keep flourishing. But the folks in the know, the academia, the editors at national publications and the editors at respected book review journals know this game and try to stay away from such publications.

But in this electronic age the vanity press has dressed itself up in the form of respectable sounding euphemism – the self-publishing service. These outfits would help one with editorial service, jacket design for the book and marketing assistance – all, of course for a price. The writer gets a small percentage of the sale and if the book is good enough and commands a respectable share of the publishing market, may end up making a small profit may be over a period of a decade or so… These self-publishing companies do advertise and some the books published by these publishers do get sold. But there is one minor but very important detail. The publishers print the books on demand. So there is no worry about unsold copies in the attic that are generally palmed off to unsuspecting guests year after year… I have happily received first edition of such books even after some ten years since its initial publication. I state this only to illustrate my earlier point.

To be continued....

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

3

NATION and STATE

A language or culture of a nation survives not because of the folks who moved to another country tried to preserve it. So let's not go in that direction. What we describe as Indian Culture or the various Indian languages have survived some five thousand years of attacks, invasions and occupation by foreign nations... And during that period the Indian culture kept on evolving by assimilating certain cultural traits in to their own lives…The various Indian languages also went through transformative process and went on taking different structure and form. One can easily see the influence of Arabic, Persian, Portuguese, French and English words in our own native languages. The culinary traits of invading forces have influenced the Indian cuisine. People who think that it is a responsibility of NRIs to preserve the language and culture of their home country is a sheer folly, a delusion. Culture and language will keep on evolving, keep on growing, whether one likes it or not.

For example, Jews were a NATION without a State or a COUNTRY prior to the formation of Israel. It was on the basis of this theory of Political Science that Mohammad Ali Jinnah had demanded formation of Pakistan for the Muslims living in India – with the famous or notorious Two Nation theory. This is a fact of history.

‘We form community associations to get together with people who look and talk like us, temples to pray the same gods, and Indian professional associations to exchange stories and check notes. Indian immigrants with literary interest also have formed associations that hold regular literary meetings. They read to each other their works and poets recite at Mushaira. Many publish their works with regularity. Some have become prolific novelists while others have several collections of poetry and travelogues to their credit. They also invite eminent literary figures from India just the way others invite swamis and sadhus.’ Earlier Natwarbhai had described these visitors as migratory birds, then a few paragraphs and pages later he changed his mind and admits that some people do invite these sadhus, writers and quacks.

To be continued....

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

2

CULTURE

Culture is a one of the specific characteristics of a nation. It has nothing to do with environment or weather. People belonging to a particular nation or nationality carry their culture wherever they go. For example diaspora Jews have carried their own culture with them wherever they moved and have successfully preserved it.

>>‘Once on American soil, our culture is no longer in the environment’. ‘…We have to make a special effort to recreate it’. Well, one cannot 'recreate' culture. Culture is not a piece of clay that one can mold and remold in various shapes and size. Culture is not static. It is in a constant state of evolution.

If culture were in the environment as Natwarbhai has stated, then every non-Indian who visits India would immediately be infected with a dose of Indian culture like a virus. But we all know this does not happen. Yes, if one chooses to absorb a particular element of a cultural tradition one can do so, but by doing so he/she does not become an Indian or a Jew or an Arab. Not every one who visits India, Israel or Saudi Arabia becomes an Indian or a Jew or an Arab. Absorption of a cultural trait or a rejection of a particular culture is a matter of choice and not an accident of travel to a foreign land or residency in a foreign country.

Culture and cultural traditions change over a time and thereby evolve in to a new and at times more vibrant culture. What we call Indian culture is not the same culture as it was say at the time when the Aryans came to India or say during the period of King Ashoka.

The 19th century Indian culture was much different than the 20th century and with globalization the 21st century Indian culture would evolve in to a different culture than the one in earlier centuries. This is particularly true when we discuss Gujarati language and literature. Just look at the state of Gujarati language from the last quarter of 20th century onwards. See how many English words have crept-in the Gujarati vocabulary and also in print during the last five-decades or so. The Gujarati language has surely undergone a sea change during the last thousand years or so and it would keep on changing. No amount of breast-beating would stop this process of evolution and assimilation.

The first generation Asian-Indians, people of Indian origin who came to USA in say early 60s and 70s and who raised their families in this country will have to accept the fact that a new Indo-American culture is evolving, perhaps with assimilation of the best cultural traits from both the countries (India and the U.S.A.)

Some of these first generation Asian Indians keep fighting a loosing battle against historical forces at work here. It has happened before and it would keep on happening in future. We already have some evidence - just look all around us (in the U.S.A). We are living in the midst of the descendants of Italian, French, German, English, Irish... immigrants who came before us. They have all assimilated and have preserved their own language and traditions the best way they can and in the process evolved in to what we now call the American culture. They are all Americans. NRIs have a long way to go in this direction and sooner they do, the better it would be for the coming generations of Indian-Americans.

To be continued....

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

2010-08-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Natwar Gandhi on Gujarati Diaspora Writing in U.S.A – a few observations

By Harish Trivedi, Dayton, Ohio.

© 2010

1

(Note: Quotations from Mr. Natwar Gandhi’s article appear in italics)

Natwarbhai Gandhi has offered a thoughtful take on the state of Gujarati NRI (Non Resident Indian) writing, writers and the Gujararti Literary Academy of North America in his article that was published in a periodical published in this country. I received a copy of it from a friend. It was a typed copy and did not carry the name and the issue date of the periodical.

What is apparent from this article that Natwarbhai thinks all the NRI writers crave for attention and approval from critics in India. He also provides some suggestions to the Gujarati NRI writers. And calls upon them to write something based upon their American experience.

If nothing comes out of Natwarbhai’s thoughtful analysis, I hope it foments some much needed debate and discussion on the state of Gujarati NRI writers and writing as well as current trends in Gujarati writing, be it a fiction, poetry, criticism or a play.

I have met Natwarbhai and had also the privilege to sit with him on a panel discussion. Since then I have from a distance admired his professional accomplishments and happily read about it in various publications.

In the article under review, Natwarbhai Gandhi has, with one hurtful punch tried to KO every NRI writer or wannabe writer regardless of him (Natwarbhai) having any specific knowledge of the writers' literary aspirations or expectations. He does not name any names in his analysis of NRI Gujarati writing and writers, although it is easy to guess the identity of writers commented upon by Natwarbhai. In the process he may have settled some scores with NRI writers whom he does not like.

It is not the purpose of this article to speculate on the motives of Natwarbhai in writing this particular article so please allow me to discuss few points he has raised in his article titled Gujarati Diaspora Writing--A Call for Independence.

Natwarbhai has, with one broad sweep managed to offend, probably unintentionally every NRI writer who writes in Gujarati. He has also assumed that each of the NRI writer is anxious to get an approval from the critics back home in India and thus seeking what he calls ‘Good Housekeeping stamp’ of approval from them.

I have quoted relevant paragraphs from Natwarbhai's article and have taken liberty to offer my two-cents worth on the same.

The said article is full of generalizations, repetitions and contradictions.

I shall try to point out these and other issues that he has raised in this article as we go along. Quotes from his article appear in italics.

‘Every spring and summer a group of special Indian visitors descend upon North American soil with the regularity of migratory birds. These are sadhus, swamis, teachers, writers, poets and quacks of all sorts. They come with a balm to soothe us of our immigrant anxiety. One of our continuing fears is that we are losing our unique Indian culture, particularly the religion and language. It is not that we particularly cared for it while we were in India, but once on a foreign soil we miss it. Culture was in environment back home. It was like the air that we breathed. We took it for granted. No special effort was made.’

He is assuming that all these ‘quacks of all sorts’ are descending on this blessed land uninvited. But that is not true. In my opinion, after each visit by these writers, swamis etc the invitees probably gets a booster shot that could help rectify the deficiencies of some cultural element that they, the invitees crave for in the area of literature, religion, language etc.

to be continued...

In Dayton, Ohio - Can area sustain four arts venues of 1,000-plus seats? (Dayton Daily News, August 7, 2010)

2010-08-08T12:52:00.000-07:00

The county officials and the State funding authorities when they approved tons of money for the Schuster Center and committed to long-term grants for the same should have asked this question.

Millions of dollars from the County goes to the Schuster Center, the State provides additional funding that it has approved, the Culture Works thru its annual fund raising drive collects millions and a major portion from that again goes to the Schuster center, and it still needs funding. Some condos were sold at fire-sale prices and others in the building are still empty... Does the Schuster Center pay any real estate taxes?

This year the County and the City should have been planning for the centennial of the Memorial Hall rather than worrying about the impact the upgraded Memorial Hall would have on the ill advised building of the Schuster Center.

The ticket rates are so prohibitive that minority groups can hardly afford to buy the tickets. The rental of this property is equally high for non-profit groups in the Montgomery County.

The State should reconsider the financial commitment it has made to the Schuster folks. Vacancy rate for business property in the County is all time high... The County should be considering making all the boosters and promoters answerable for this folly - the white elephant right in the midst of downtown Dayton. Where are the folks who were acting as cheerleaders for the Schuster Project? All the Schuster boosters, including the media should have considered impact of the Schuster Center on the Memorial Hall when they all were hyping the importance of this folly and the benefits it would it would bring to the local economy. Oh the dream of businesses lining up from all across the country to see the second-hand Broadway shows that the center would bring!

Over Four-decades in Dayton, Ohio ...

2010-07-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

Over Four-decades in Dayton, Ohio: Few Personal Reflections

By Harish Trivedi
© 2010

Having been resident of our community for over four-decades I have had opportunity to watch the birth of the India Club of Dayton, Umang Gujarati Samaj, Hindu Community Organization, the activities of the Swaminarayan Group, the Jain Samaj - an organization dedicated to the followers of Jainism and the building of Jain, Hindu, and Swaminarayan temples. And last but not the least the creation of the India Foundation.

In addition to all these community organizations - and I am sure I have missed some other ones that are also active in our community, there are also trade and professional organizations such as Asian Indian American Business Group, the Physicians of Indian Origin group and so on…

From around early 60s when there was a small community consisting mainly students and few employed individuals or entrepreneurs, the Asian Indian community has grown and keeps growing.

1960s was a time when there was not a single Indian restaurant, a very few Chinese restaurants and Japanese or Korean restaurants were non-existent. There was only one Mexican restaurant – the famous and locally owned Elsa’s on Linden Avenue and there was not even one Indian grocery store in sight.

While every one from India knew every one else from India in our community, the India Club or an organization for Indian community members was still only a dream of a few community minded individuals or it just seemed that way.

Nationally known Patel Bros, Raj Bhog, Eros and Neha Entertainment, India Plaza, Shrimati’s and all assorted nationally known businesses that cater to the Indian Diaspora where still in the imagination of gutsy businessmen or students who turned in to businessmen. Canned and or frozen Indian food or some thing resembling it had yet to appear on the market. Commercially available films on Video were not imagined yet and availability of Indian movies on video was not even contemplated.

At that time, many of the relatives, friends and family members of those living in and around Dayton area did not have phones at their homes India. In some instances it was always a visit to a neighbor’s house next door where one could receive a phone call or make one to Dayton. Direct dialing to India was not available and every one seemed to be happy calling the ‘over-seas’ operator of AT & T. There was only one phone company!

Those were the days my friend…to borrow and paraphrase some famous lines from a song by Mary Hopkins – (mid to late 60s?)

Once upon a time, there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours,
Think of all the great things we would do

Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we'd choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way

…Then, the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If, by chance, we’d see each other,
We'd smile and we'd say

Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
…Those were the days, oh yes, those were the days

…Just tonight, I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass, I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely man really me?

…Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser
For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same

…Those were the days, my friend
(and) We thought they'd never end…

* * *

Raghu Bharadwaj, the first president of the India Club who left Dayton in mid-70s and Atamjit Sigh, became Raghu’s successor as a president of the India Club. He could still be seen around minding his own business and showing up at an event or two to surprise some old-timers. His successor to the India Club’s Presidency was Dr. K. S. Nagaraja… and the list has grown and keeps growing. The past history of the Indian community and its memories are disappearing fast or are forgotten. And sadly nobody seems to care about it!

Dr. Nagaraja was affectionately called the original settler or Adi Wasi. Among those original settlers one could count Krishan Joshi, Atamjit Singh, Dahyabhai Patel, Yud Vir Rajput, Parma Sinha, Ramesh Mehan, late Dr. Shib Chattoraj (who arrived in mid-50s) and Naren Patel – all have been in and around Dayton for nearly five-decades.

Along this long and memorable journey we have lost many friends and familiar faces.

Dr. Nagaraja, (former President of the India Club and a member of the first Board of Trustees of the India Foundation) is no more with us, the tragic death of Dr. Sukhdev Singla, the tragedy of accidental death of Mohan Joshi in an auto accident on a wintry night not too long ago and later one of the members of his family too died succumbing to injuries suffered in an auto accident… Yes, the auto accidents have taken many lives, lives of many of our friends from this community of ours. How can we or who can forget the passing away of Shardaben Chauhan, Govindbhai Patel and the tragedy suffered by the Kumbhani family? The passing away of Ike Beediwala and Satish Jandial (a past President of the India Club, a member of the first Board of Trustees of the India Foundation), Vasant Kamdar and many more – all real good old-timers, good friends and valued community members. All gone! Mourned and mostly forgotten by the community.

90s brought a new generation of immigrants from India to our community in Dayton. Some arrived from other cities and states in this country and some started to arrive as a result of the globalization process. Some of our close friends also moved away to various cities and states for greener pastures or in search of greener pastures!

Then we crossed the dreadful end of the 20th century, the fear of Y2K and suddenly we are in the 21st century!

Now as the first decade of the 21st century is approaching, the community can proudly look at three magnificent buildings that bear the name of Raj Soin and the Soin Family. The Raj Soin College of Business and Administration on the campus of the Wright State University, the Soin Emergency Care and Trauma Center at the Children’s Medical Center and soon to open Raj and Indu Soin Hospital in Beavercreek, Ohio. The Soin family’s munificent donation of land for the golf club in Beavercreek, their support to World A’Fair – the major multi-cultural ethnic fair in Dayton and the list can go on and on…

And who can forget the Krishan and Vicky Joshi Research Center on the campus of the Wright State University?

Then there are Parma and Chaitali Sinha, Ramesh and Rene Mehan and Naren and Pushpa Patel families (and perhaps many more) who in one way or other have made indelible impression on the community life in Dayton.

These individuals have done a lot for the community in India as well as for the people of Dayton and Miami Valley. There is nothing to compare with these individuals’ business acumen, sagacity, foresightedness, their self-sacrifice and their desire to succeed, their generosity of spirit and their dedication to the community… They and people like them inspire us and make us all proud. May their tribe multiply!

And so it goes. Life moves on and so does the cycles of births and deaths. New people arrive and some old ones move on or pass away and the Asian Indian community keeps growing, though long on ambition but sadly short on memory the community flourishes, new generation is growing up fast and the roots laid down by the first arrivals from India get deeper and stronger!

So here’s a personal salute to all the pioneer residents of Dayton, many of you are gone but not forgotten – at least not by this writer…

Gopal

2010-02-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

He Clips Hair, Not Conversation
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI, New York Times, Feb. 16, 2010

Anthony Mancinelli, 98, gives haircuts, shaves and opinions at Antonio & Pasquale Barber Shop in Vails Gate, N.Y.

* * * * *

Gopal

This article about Anthony Mancinelli reminded me of 'my' or 'our' childhood barber Gopal who always looked as if he was in his 90s. I can still 'see' his rugged and well wrinkled face, in his black coat, dhotar and a worn out or beaten up leather satchel - a sort of regulation barber bag that held all that he needed to give one a haircut or a shave or both. His satchel contained a small aluminum bowl - (used for water to apply shaving-soap), a shaving brush, a well-used container of shaving soap where we can see the bottom of the container in its center, an oblong brush, a razor, a pair of scissors, two kind of hair trimmers and a broken mirror with a handle. The mirror also had some blotches where the mercury from its back had disappeared or faded and the image one could see was a faint resemblance of your true self. The bag also included a small wooden patlee that was oh eight inches by six inches and about three inches high. The patlee was for him to sit or balance his frail body when cutting hair or shaving. The client sat on the floor in the gallery - as we used to call it of our chalee.

Gopal did not start out as 'my' or 'our' barber though... We were introduced or my grandmother was introduced to Gopal by our neighbor whom we called Nana. Nana's two sons called him Nana and then we all called him Nana too. Nana’s full name was Narayan Kashinath Acharya. We later learned that Gopal used to cut Nana's hair when Nana and his family lived at some place else, before they became our neighbors.

Nana was a big man. About say 200 pounds. Very fair skin and a hairy body. He obviously could not sit on floor for a hair cut. He had one rickety chair that always remained in the gallery. Nana majestically sat on this chair, he had his own towel that Gopal draped around him and gave him, what to my mind was a royal haircut.

As soon as Gopal came to our fourth floor apartment to work on Nana my grand mother would get hold of him and tell him that we two (my brother and I) needed hair cut. We may be about five and seven years old or just there about... Our fantasy haircut at that time was going to what used to be called Haircutting Salon. But my grandmother thought that we were too young to be going to salons and the price for a hair cut there was about ten-annas- about three quarter of a rupee - considered 'too high’ for small kids' haircut.

And so we sat for Gopal as soon as he was 'done' for Nana. Gopal would ask my grandmother how short he should cut our hair and my grandmother would always say some thing like make sure the hair does not cover the boys' eyes. Well, our hair was never that long. What we got thru Gopal's artistry was some thing resembling a crew cut, our hair so closely cropped that we could barely part our hair. The back of our head below our ears was flat and clean like there was not hair there...The result of Gopal 'doing' his work with his almost blunt razor or so it seemed to us. The back our head and part behind our ears burned like crazy. While Gopal treated Nana with respect and awe, we it seemed were always at the mercy of Gopal. He would hold our head in a certain position what seemed like eternity. Our necks would hurt. Some times he would push our head in his lap while he 'worked' on the back of our heads. We could smell the shaving soap in his wet and socked dhoti. Some times to see the end result of his craft, we would ask Gopal for a mirror he used to carry in his bag and his answer was always, 'What for? You don't need a mirror, ask your Aajee (grandmother).

This ordeal of a hair cut lasted may be three or four years before we graduated to the luxury of a haircutting salon. But Gopal continued to serve Nana. He had the same outfit every time he came to visit Nana - which was every two or three weeks. Nana worked for an insurance company and he always looked very impressive in his Maharashtrian style dhotar, long-sleeved shirt with French cuffs, coat and a topee.

We continued to see Gopal on his usual rounds till Nana passed away some time in early '60s. We lost Nana and with him we lost Gopal.

Gopal was our 'old' nahvee (barber in Marathi). Whenever I passed by Old Navy or see an Old Navy commercial, instinctively I think of Gopal - my first 'old' nahvee'.

I can still 'see' Gopal in his black coat, dhotar, a beat- up black topee and worn-out leather satchel...

Now with my fast thinning hair while I still 'see' Gopal I know it's only the fading memories of Gopal and my childhood days in Mumbai!

Gopal probably is still cutting Nana's hair wherever they are...May God bless them both!

Movie Review, AVATAR, Dec. 23, 2009

2009-12-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

Writer and Director James Cameron’s AVATAR*
- My two cents worth.

By Harish Trivedi

Plot summary: In the future, Jake, paraplegic war veterans, is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture. When his brother is killed in battle, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridges’s intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In short big businesses plundering the poor people and exploiting their natural resources etc. Jake is also promised spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch with Star Trek inspired hairstyle. Jake infiltrates the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity, begins romance with beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colo moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora…with ample room for a sequel
* * * * *

"Whaddaya mean 'we' white man?" - A dialogue line from a cowboys and Indians movie.

"Savage Indian" myth was made popular American literature and into the scripts written for the early motion pictures. The myth has been used to advance the drama of the story without regard to historical fact in many cases. The concept of the taking of Indian lands which "nobody owned" by the white man in the early nineteenth century. And beliefs and culture of American Indians are seldom portrayed accurately in the Hollywood motion picture.

There is an old movie about a trapper living in Canada in the 1930s who adopts the ways of the wild, finds love among the Indians, and fights to protect the land he loves…

.

Now compare Avatar with Dances With the Wolves where in Kevin Costner’s character - A Civil War veteran John Dunbar wants to see the American frontier before it is gone. He is assigned to an abandoned fort, where a Sioux tribe is his only neighbor. Dunbar quickly makes friends with the tribe, and discovers a white woman who was raised by the Indians. He gradually earns the respect of these native people, and sheds his white-man's ways. Not soon after, the frontier becomes the frontier no more, and as the army advances on the plains, Dunbar has to make a decision that will not only affect him, but also the lives of the natives he now calls his people.

The last part of Avatar is very reminiscent of Custer’s Last Stand. In Avatar, the crazed Colonel mounts an attack on Pandora which meets Custer’s fate and predictable results. James Cameron even throws in Oliver Stone’s movie Alexander inspired final attack of the elephants on the Colonels team.

There are also scenes where the native people of Pandora look at Jake with suspicion, the natives of Pandora getting together singing and dancing like a version of Kumbaya and the constant beat of movie theatre high volume drum beats and esoteric musical instruments to convey urgency, importance and high drama.

Oh, CGI (Computer generated imagery) how we love you!

Avatar does have awe inspiring staged scenes and graphic imagery; this film represents shows disparity between self-perception and the white culture's - meaning Hollywood-inspired interpretations of American Indians. Here it appears in the form of Pandora culture but the people there look like Native Americans.

The imaginative art direction includes fiber optic lights that we now see on Christmas trees, string lights and jelly-fish like creatures crawling all across the screen from time to time. Strange looking horses and eagles enhance the films fantasy look. The audiences are required not only to suspend their disbelief but also their intelligence. In short, I think the movie is highly over-rated.

* * * * *
*Avatar means incarnation in Sanskrit.

China, World Economy, August 19, 2009

2009-08-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

DAILY WATCH, AUGUST 18, 2009

What Chinese Authorities Do Not Want You to See

By Tom Dyson

If the Chinese authorities had caught him making this video, they would have arrested him...

Hugh Hendry is a hedge-fund manager from Britain. Eclectica is the name of his fund. He’s outspoken and critical of the establishment. You could say he’s somewhat of a pariah in London’s hedge-fund industry. In 2008, his fund generated 32% by making massive bearish bets...

Earlier this year, Hendry took a trip to Guangzhou, China’s third-largest city after Beijing and Shanghai. There’s been a huge construction boom in China in recent years, and Guangzhou is one of the hot spots. Developers have erected so many skyscrapers, Guangzhou’s central business district could easily match Chicago or Boston for the number of modern, high-rise buildings.

So Hendry shot a video of the office buildings in the district. He focuses on one shiny black skyscraper with a giant neon screen at its base. It’s close to 100 stories... And it’s obviously brand new...

"This is a seriously large building," says Hendry. "We’re talking at least half a billion dollars to construct this thing. It’s empty! Who is going to fill this thing? Who is going to pay the debt that that building is resting on?"

Read more: http://www.dailywealth.com/index.asp

India, Senior Indian politician expelled from BBC News, August 19, 2009

2009-08-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Senior Indian politician expelled

India's Hindu nationalist BJP expels a senior leader, Jaswant Singh, after he praises Pakistani founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

A senior leader of India's Hindu nationalist main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been expelled from the party.
Jaswant Singh's expulsion was announced by the party during a meeting.
This comes a day after the BJP "dissociated" itself from a new book on Pakistan's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, written by Mr Singh.
Mr Singh had praised Mr Jinnah in the book and said the latter has been "demonised in India".

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8208812.stm

India -China Relations, August 18, 2009

2009-08-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

On August 10, 2009, retiring Naval Chief and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, delivered a landmark speech on ’India’s National Security Challenges’ under the aegis of the National Maritime Foundation.

To see the full text of his speech which is worth reading, please click: http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=15d5aafff5&view=att&th=1231de4ef5a4d706&attid=0.1&disp=vah&zw

I have reproduced below strategic affairs analyst K Subrahmanyam’s comment on the Admiral’s speech as published today in DAINIK JAGRAN, India’s leading Hindi language daily.

FROM DAINIK JAGRAN – August 16, 2009 (English version )

Coping with China

By K.Subrahmanyam

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, Chief of Naval Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs
of Staff Committee who is due to retire at the end of this month
delivered an address on national security under the aegis of the
National Maritime Foundation on the 10th of August. It was a fairly
comprehensive overview of our national security perspective. Though
delivered by the senior most Service Officer, the lecture was
remarkable as it went beyond the military realm and focused on a
broad strategic and political vision in the currently evolving
international situation.

In a sense this address by Admiral Mehta signified the arrival of
senior service officers at the top rung of national grand strategy
formulation. His eminently pragmatic, strategic vision has been
misinterpreted in certain sections of the media as a cry of despair
that India will not be able to catch up with China militarily. He has
made it clear that India has no intention to do so. At the same time
he has formulated the most viable strategy to cope with this
situation. Whether India - with a population likely to exceed China’s
in the next two decades ; the advantage of a much younger age profile
of that population; its post September 2008 integration with the
rest of the world ; and being a democracy along with the all other
major powers as also English-speaking - will ultimately catch up
with China it is too early to predict. China today has the advantage
of a decade and half of head start in economic reforms and
globalization and very close industrial cooperation with US and other
multinational firms. Admiral Mehta has detailed the lead China has
gained on this account over India. That is an inexorable reality which
Indian strategists have to accept and factor in coping with China. The
word Admiral Mehta has chosen to use is ‘coping with China’, not
confronting or competing with it.

While China by switching sides in the Cold War and
repudiating the Maoist legacy broke out of its isolation in the
seventies, India could do so only in 2008 with the waiver of NSG
guidelines. While China was a tacit but active strategic partner of
the US and NATO during the Cold War and an established permanent
member of the Security Council and an accepted nuclear power of the
Nonproliferation Treaty, India’s recognition as one of the rising
powers and a balancer in the international system began less than a
decade ago.

India presently has strategic partnerships with all great powers
including China. Today India’s largest trading partner is China. Yet
as Admiral Mehta pointed out, in China’s case India has a trust
deficit because of the long standing territorial dispute and among
other issues, the China-Pakistan connection. Unlike in India’s case
where its emergence as a power does not cause concern in the world,
that is not the case with China. Its propensity for intervention in
space ,both on earth and in outer space and cyber warfare have been
cited as causing concern to other nations.

Addressing those who entertain expectations that 1962 can
be repeated, Admiral Mehta highlighted that the economic penalties
resulting from a potential Sino-Indian military conflict would have
grave consequences for both sides. Unlike in 1962, China has today
multiple vulnerabilities and has to consider seriously the effect of
a war on its energy supply lines. In such circumstances mutual
cooperation is to the benefit of both countries. Therefore Admiral
Mehta’s advocacy is for India reducing its military gap with China and
countering the growing Chinese footprint in the Indian Ocean region
He does not favor the traditional bean-counting or division for
division approach. in closing the gap. Instead , he wants to rely on
harnessing modern technology for developing high situational awareness
and creating a reliable standoff deterrent. The recent launch of the
nuclear submarine, Arihant is a step in that direction. Admiral Mehta
further adds, that in order to minimize the chances of conflict,
India should proactively engage China diplomatically, economically,
culturally and in people to people contacts. At the same time India
should nurture its relations with US, Russia, Japan and other East
Asian countries to leverage towards this end . In his view our growing
relations with South East and East Asian countries would increase
opportunities for cooperative engagement with China as well.

What Admiral Mehta does not say in his speech is as important as what
he has said. China is looking forward to emerging as the foremost
power of the world. Its GDP is expected to overtake the US in the next
two decades. The recent economic recession has narrowed the gap
between the two and made China the second largest economy of the
world. While US and China have some mutuality of interest in ensuring
the stability of the dollar, as otherwise China will lose heavily on
its large dollar holdings, in the period beyond the recovery the US
will be keen to sustain its preeminence as the foremost military,
economic and technological power of the world. There will be radical
changes in the US-China economic relationship so far anchored on China
selling enormous quantities of consumer goods to US and running huge
balance of payments surpluses. Those were saved and lent back to the
US to enable American consumers to spend more.

This world order is unsustainable and is bound to change. As US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, India is seen as one of the
key partners for the US to reshape the 21st century. The US has
agreed to sell high technology defense equipment to India while it is
not likely to sell them to China , its main rival in the coming
decades. Therefore Admiral Mehta’s reference to the innovative use of
technology by India to close the military gap with China.

Besides focusing on this core subject , the lecture also dealt with
nonstate actors, shaping our immediate neighborhood, securing our
maritime borders, internal security, intelligence ,cyber warfare,
higher defence integration and jointness among the three services,
nuclear issues , reducing dependence on other countries for equipment,
trends in defence expenditure and adequacy of our defense outlays,
delays in our procurement procedures, governance and culture of
strategic thinking. His ideas are thought-provoking and deserve to be
objectively debated by the Indian strategic community.

In a sense this address breaks new ground. A service chief has put on
record his views on a whole host of national security issues just a
few weeks before demitting office. Many of these issues have been
under consideration for ages without solutions. In today’ security
environment these need to be debated openly in the country - to
generate public pressure for early decision-making in the Government.
Regrettably, in our Parliament national security issues do not receive
the attention they merit and therefore greater the need for informed
public debate.

************************

Bob and Betty in Transylvania - one hell of a shaggy dog story! - August 18, 2009

2009-08-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

From one of our Very Far-flung correspondents….

Bob Hill and his new wife Betty were vacationing in Europe... as it happens, near Transylvania. They were driving in a rental car along a rather deserted highway. It was late and raining very hard. Bob could barely see the road in front of the car. Suddenly the car skids out of control! Bob attempts to control the car, but to no avail! The car swerves and smashes into a tree.

Moments later, Bob shakes his head to clear the fog. Dazed, he looks over at the passenger seat and sees his wife unconscious, with her head bleeding! Despite the rain and unfamiliar countryside, Bob knows he has to get her medical assistance.
Bob carefully picks his wife up and begins trudging down the road. After a short while, he sees a light. He heads towards the light, which is coming from a large, old house. He approaches the door and knocks.

A minute passes. A small, hunched man opens the door. Bob immediately blurts, "Hello, my name is Bob Hill, and this is my wife Betty. We've been in a terrible accident, and my wife has been seriously hurt. Can I please use your phone?"

"I'm sorry," replied the hunchback, "but we don't have a phone. My master is a doctor; come in and I will get him!"

Bob brings his wife in.

An older man comes down the stairs. "I'm afraid my assistant may have misled you. I am not a medical doctor; I am a scientist. However, it is many miles to the nearest clinic, and I have had a basic medical training. I will see what I can do. Igor, bring them down to the laboratory"

With that, Igor picks up Betty and carries her downstairs, with Bob following closely. Igor places Betty on a table in the lab. Bob collapses from exhaustion and his own injuries, so Igor places Bob on an adjoining table.

After a brief examination, Igor's master looks worried. "Things are serious, Igor. Prepare a transfusion." Igor and his master work feverishly, but to no avail. Bob and Betty Hill are no more.

The Hills' deaths upset Igor 's master greatly. Wearily, he climbs the steps to his conservatory, which houses his grand piano. For it is here that he has always found solace. He begins to play, and a stirring, almost haunting melody fills the house.
Meanwhile, Igor is still in the lab tidying up. His eyes catch movement, and he notices the fingers on Betty 's hand twitch, keeping time to the haunting piano music. Stunned, he watches as Bob 's arm begins to rise, marking the beat! He is further amazed as Betty and Bob both sit up straight!

Unable to contain himself, he dashes up the stairs to the conservatory.
He bursts in and shouts to his master:

"Master, Master! ... The Hills are alive with the Sound of Music!"

What did you expect?

Pakistan highest foreign policy priority: US, DAWN - a nespaper from Pakistan, August 15, 2009

2009-08-15T11:57:00.000-07:00

Pakistan highest foreign policy priority: US

Robert Blake, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia is one of America's ablest and most sensible diplomats. - Here is an excellent Blake interview with Pakistan's DAWN Newspaper.

DAWN -- PAKISTANI NEWSPAPER

Pakistan highest foreign policy priority: US

By Anwar Iqbal
Saturday, 15 Aug, 2009 | 07:06 AM PST

WASHINGTON, Aug 14: Pakistan is America’s highest foreign policy priority and the Obama administration is willing to provide whatever security and economic assistance it needs, says Robert Blake, the new US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian affairs.

In an interview to Dawn newspaper and TV, Mr Blake, who looks after US relations with both India and Pakistan, also emphasised India’s importance in the administration’s new policy for the region, noting that New Delhi was “playing a very important role” in Afghanistan.

Mr Blake made it obvious that the US strongly backed the Indian demand for punishing the Mumbai terror suspects.

Pakistan, he said, would have to punish the suspects and stop cross-border terrorist attacks if it wanted the resumption of bilateral talks with India.

Mr Blake also said he believed India and Pakistan were not ready to discuss the Kashmir issue now when they were busy fighting extremists.

Read more - http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/pakistan-highest-foreign-policy-priority-us-589

Islam in Europe - A Culture of Fear August 15, 2009

2009-08-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

A culture of fear
Pankaj Mishra
Saturday August 15 2009
The Guardian

Liberal spaces within Europe have brought many more Muslim women
out of their old confinements Europe is at risk of being
'colonised' by its Muslim populations, argue a number of
bestselling new books, acclaimed across the political spectrum.
How has such hysteria gone unchallenged? Pankaj Mishra on the
'Eurabia-mongers'

Is Europe about to be overrun by Muslims? A number of prominent
European and American politicians and journalists seem to think
so. The historian Niall Ferguson has predicted that "a youthful
Muslim society to the south and east of the Mediterranean is
poised to colonise - the term is not too strong - a senescent
Europe". And according to Christopher Caldwell, an American
columnist with the Financial Times, whom the Observer recently
described as a "bracing, clear-eyed analyst of European
pieties", Muslims are already "conquering Europe's cities,
street by street". So what if Muslims account for only 3% to 4%
of the EU's total population of 493 million? In his book
Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Can Europe Be the Same
With Different People in It? - which was featured on Start the
Week, excerpted in Prospect, commended as "morally serious" by
the New York Times and has beguiled some liberal opinion-makers
as well as rightwing blowhards - Caldwell writes: "Of course
minorities can shape countries. They can conquer countries.
There were probably fewer Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917 than
there are Islamists in Europe today."

Read more - http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/15/eurabia-islamophobia-
europe-colonised-muslims

Today’s EDUCATION or What Johnny did not learn?, August 15, 2009

2009-08-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

From one of our Very Far - Flung Correspondents -

Today’s EDUCATION or What Johnny did not learn?

(This also could be said about some of the States in this country and also about education in some states in India, such as Orissa or Gujarat or Haryana…

The following questions were set in last year's GCSE examination in Swindon, Wiltshire (U.K.)

These are genuine answers (from 16 year olds)

Q. Name the four seasons
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar

Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large
pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists

Q. How is dew formed
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire

Q. What causes the tides in the oceans
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon, and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight

Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well
endowed

Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections

A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election

Q. What are steroids
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs (Shoot yourself now , there is no hope)

Q. What happens to your body as you age
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental

Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery (So true – an early start, I presume)

Q. Name a major disease associated with cigarettes
A. Premature death

Q. How can you delay milk turning sour
A. Keep it in the cow (Simple, but brilliant)

Q. How are the main 20parts of the body categorised (e.g. the abdomen)

A. The body is consisted into 3 parts - the brainium, the borax and the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the five bowels: A,E,I,O and U .......................... (What the *!!*???)

Q. What is the fibula
A. A small lie

Q. What does 'varicose' mean
A. Nearby
(Now this could be an answer from a student from Orrisa, Haryana or Gujrat in India)

Q. What is the most common form of birth control
A. Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium (That would work)

Q. Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarean section'
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome

Q. What is a seizure
A. A Roman Emperor (Julius Seizure, I came, I saw, I had a fit)

Q. What is a terminal illness
A. When you are sick at the airport (Irrefutable)

Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas

Q. Use the word 'judicious' in a sentence to show you
understand its meaning
A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face (or baby’s ass or a Fairy)

Q. What does the word 'benign' mean
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight

Q. What is a turbine
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head

India 'regrets' US body's censure, BBC News, August 14, 2009

2009-08-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

Links to news of interest from BBC News, August 14, 2009

India 'regrets' US body's censure

India's foreign ministry says a US body's decision to put it on a list of countries which failed to protect its religious minorities is "regrettable".A US body's decision to put India on a list of states which failed to protect religious minoritie is "regrettable", India's foreign ministry says.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a "disturbing increase" in religious violence.
It mentioned the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots in Orissa and Gujarat in 2008 and 2002 respectively.

Other countries on the list include Afghanistan, Somalia and Cuba.

Read more -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200863.stm

* * * * *

India to re-examine student death

The 2004 killing of a student by police in the state of Gujarat is to be re-investigated by a court-appointed committee.
The killing of a student and three others by police in the Indian state of Gujarat is to be re-investigated by a court-appointed committee.
Ishrat Jahan Raza was one of four people shot dead by Gujarat police in 2004 on suspicion of being part of a banned Pakistani-based militant group.
But the victims' relatives say they were killed in a staged clash during a so-called "fake encounter".

The Gujarat police have denied the allegation levelled at them.

They say the victims were members of the banned Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Read more -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200883.stm

* * * * *

Saina Nehwal in quarter finals

Shuttler Saina Nehwal becomes the first Indian woman to enter the quarterfinals of the World Badminton Championship.

Shuttler Saina Nehwal has become the first Indian woman to enter the quarter-finals of the World Badminton Championship being played in India.
Nehwal beat 10th seed Petya Nedelcheva of Bulgaria 18-21, 21-18, 21-10 in a match which lasted 57 minutes.

She recently won the Indonesian Open badminton title and became the first Indian to win a Super series tourney.

Nehwal, now ranked eighth in the world, was the first Indian woman to reach the singles quarter-finals at the Olympics.

In a thrilling match in front of a home crowd in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, Nehwal lost the opening game against Nedelcheva, but bounced back.

Read more - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8200845.stm

The Proposal, Economy, Budget... August 15, 2009

2009-08-15T11:34:00.000-07:00

From one of our very Far-flung correspondents – The Proposal

Boy here is a Money saving idea!!

"The Proposal"

When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers. The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well.
Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of "tough decision", and his board of directors gives him a big bonus. Our government should not be immune from similar risks.

Therefore:

Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members.

Reduce Senate (members from 100 to 50 one per State). Then, reduce their staff by 25%.

Accomplish this over the next 8 years

(two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistricting.

Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:

$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr.)

$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each senate member every year)

$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr).

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies. It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country!

We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well. It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.

Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established. (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)

Note:

Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems. Also, we had 3 senators that were not doing their jobs for the 18+ months (on thecampaign trail) and still they all have accepted full pay. These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.

Summary of opportunity:

$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members.

$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.

$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.

$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.

$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.

$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that's 8-BILLION just to start!)

Big business does these types of cuts all the time.

If Congress persons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle.

Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term.

IF you are happy with how Congress spends our taxes, delete this message. Otherwise, I assume you know what to do.

Submitted by
Joline Maurer

"Forgetting those things which are behind, and remembering what lies ahead, I Press On."

India: Free Public Education for all its citizens, August 14, 2009

2009-08-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/wm2586.cfm

THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION

August 13, 2009

India’s Future in the Balance

by Michelle Kaffenberger and Derek Scissors, Ph.D.
WebMemo #2586

A possibly critical event within India has gone largely unnoticed elsewhere: The Indian federal legislature has approved a bill mandating free public education for all citizens. Whether the bill is properly or improperly implemented could play a notable role in determining whether India becomes a global economic leader, and a global economic partner for the U.S.

The education bill is an attempt to reconcile two fundamental forces: (1) India’s painfully low literacy rate and shortage of skilled labor, and 2) a pronounced demographic shift toward a larger, younger population.

If the tide of new workers can be adequately educated, their job training can progress far more easily, and their employment will be much more beneficial for the Indian economy. In this case, the demographic trends will contribute powerfully to economic expansion. The alternative, however, is dire: decades of massive underemployment and slow growth due to low labor productivity.

Requiring Education

The heart of the education bill is free and compulsory education for all children aged six through 14, which requires students to complete eighth grade. To this end, the bill decrees that, within the next three years, a school must be built in every neighborhood lacking one. The federal government has lofty ambitions, but it is state governments that must fulfill them--building the schools, providing the free education, and tracking every child.

The bill provisions include:

*Compulsory education ages 6-14;
*Universal free education ages 6-14;
*Schools must be built in all communities within three years;
*No discrimination against the disadvantaged;
*Private schools must reserve 25 percent of billets for the disadvantaged; and
*The federal government will standardize national curriculum.

An unremarked section of the bill mandates a "Management Committee" at each school, where three-fourths of the members are parents or guardians. The committees will be responsible for monitoring and preparing plans to serve as the basis for action by state governments. This is intended to make schools more accountable to parents. The bill also establishes a certificate of recognition that must be obtained from the respective state government, without which a school will face fines and closure.

The Demographic Challenge

The stakes for the education bill are high. One quarter of India’s 1.1 billion people are under age 15, over half under age 25, and over two-thirds under age 35. Almost 90 million people--the combined labor forces of Britain, France, and Italy--are projected to join the workforce by 2013. By 2028, the population is projected to rise by 370 million. India will simultaneously have the youngest age profile among large economies and the largest national workforce. That development could make it an exceptionally valuable partner for the U.S. and others.

This workforce explosion is typically presented as marvelously good news, guaranteeing rapid growth for a generation. More workers mean more production, consumption, and GDP. Demographic expansion does not, however, automatically bring net benefits. Productive employment for so many is a daunting prospect. One assessment is that a successful year requires 7 percent real growth and no fewer than 15 million new positions. If job creation is impeded or workers are ill-prepared, tens of millions will be left under- or unemployed.

Agriculture, where three-fifths of the population is employed, illustrates the potential and peril. There are already 60 million redundant agricultural workers; finding real jobs just for them in industry or services would boost GDP 25 percent in five years. Higher farm productivity is certainly a worthy goal, as it raises income and reduces poverty. But it would also cut the number of workers needed, adding tens of millions more to those seeking jobs in cities.

INDIA IN 2025, TWO SCENARIOS

DEMOGRAPHIC BOON DEMOGRAPHIC BURDEN

Average
Annual GDP 8.1% 3.8%
Growth
Beginning
2010

Global
GDP 4th 9th
Rank

Per Capita
GDP $6100 $2400

Annual
Inward Direct $145 billion $70 billion
Investment

Trade Volume
With US $420 billion $140 billion

An Inadequate System

A huge, young, well-trained Indian workforce would play a powerful role in the global economy. Such a workforce does not yet exist, though. Much attention has been focused on highly skilled labor in technology. High-tech companies, however, will not be able to absorb the flood of new workers soon to enter the labor force. India must therefore enhance basic skills by providing broad primary education.

Problems in the system extend beyond the quantity of resources devoted. The budget for the Department of School Education and Literacy, which oversees primary and secondary education and adult literacy programs, was almost quintupled from fiscal year 2003-04 to 2007-08. Yet the national literacy rate is only 64 percent. (China’s is 90 percent.) Clearly, funding by itself is not a solution.

Even if more schools are built, at present 25 percent of teachers do not show up for work, and only 50 percent actually teach when at school. Only one of every 3,000 administrators has ever fired a teacher for absenteeism. It is hardly a surprise that half of 10-year-olds in village schools are unable to read at a six-year-old level. India ranked 102 out of 129 in UNESCO’s 2009 Education for All Development Index, which grades on the quality, spread, and gender balance of primary education and adult literacy.

Significant change is needed, and soon. By 2013, 58 million more secondary school dropouts could join the labor force, with 60 percent of the new working-age population concentrated in five of the poorer states. Their access to education may be severely limited.

The Bill as Round 1

The education bill is a positive first step in meeting India’s demographic challenge. The potential benefits and costs are gigantic, however, and far more needs to be done.

Decentralizing authority from federal to state governments is a step in the right direction. Teachers must be made accountable and the new bill addresses teacher performance, in principle. New training standards, to which the bill obligates the federal government, should improve quality in new hires. The local management committees will give parents a greater voice. To the extent possible, authority over teachers should be more fully decentralized. As an illustration of possible gains, Bihar state cut teacher absences in half by making teachers locally accountable.

States should decentralize other tasks to communities, such as tracking students to ensure they remain in school. This is a daunting task given the size of state populations. Unless it is done well, though, the number of secondary school dropouts could swell further, turning much of the labor force into a burden.

Private Sector Must Contribute

Federal and state governments clearly need a great deal of help. Evidence suggests the very poor--at risk of being unskilled, underemployed, and failing to contribute fully to economic development--are well served by extremely low-cost private education. Schools with very little funding, provided almost entirely by poor parents unsatisfied with government options, have fared well in comparison to much better financed public schools.

Yet opening a private institution requires years of battling the bureaucracy. The provision in the new bill requiring every school to be certified creates yet another layer of regulation. In addition to implementing the new public commitment to education, federal and state governments should recognize that, in light of demographic change, a major private contribution is necessary for economic development and India’s emergence as a prosperous, democratic, and global power. And the development of India--an increasingly important American friend--is good for the U.S.

Michelle Kaffenberger is former Production Coordinator and Administrative Assistant in the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies , and Derek Scissors, Ph.D., is Research Fellow in Asia Economic Policy in the Asian Studies Center, at The Heritage Foundation.
_________________________________________

Canada's Health Care System, August 12, 2009

2009-08-13T06:18:00.000-07:00

Has Canada Got the Cure?

The United States pays far more than Canada per capita for its
health care services, yet Canadians get better care, according
to various experts.

Read more: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/health-care-for-all/1503

Book Review: 'Battle for America 2008 by Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, August 11, 2009

2009-08-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

BOOKS OF THE TIMES, New York Times, August 11, 2009

In ‘Battle for America 2008,’ Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson Revisit the Presidential Campaign - Review - NYTimes.com

Presidential Horse Race, the 2008 Version

By MICHIKO KAKUTANI

The authors’ retrospective reminds us of the daunting odds that Barack Obama overcame to win the White House.

Nine months after the presidential election of 2008, is there anything new or revealing to say about that momentous event? Can a post-mortem on the marathon campaign preceding that vote shed any new light on the participants or the process?

_____________________________

THE BATTLE FOR AMERICA 2008
The Story of an Extraordinary Election
By Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson
415 pages. Viking. $29.95.
______________________________
Given the voluminous coverage of that race, it might seem as if the obvious answer to these questions were no. But “The Battle for America 2008,” a new book by Dan Balz, the lead political reporter for The Washington Post, and his former Post colleague Haynes Johnson, actually makes for engaging reading — for both politics addicts interested in small new details and the more casual reader interested in a broad, savvy overview of the run-up to a historic election.

Read more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/books/11kakutani.html?th&emc=th

Asian Americans in Ohio, August 10, 2009

2009-08-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

NEW AMERICANS IN THE BUCKEYE STATE:
Immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are Critical to Ohio's Future
July 27, 2009

Washington D.C. - The Immigration Policy Center has compiled research which shows that Ohio's immigrants, Latinos, and Asians are an integral part of the state's economy and tax base. As workers, taxpayers, consumers, and entrepreneurs, immigrants and their children are an economic powerhouse. As Ohio's economy begins to recover, immigrants and their children will continue to play a key role in the shaping and growing the economic and political landscape of the Buckeye State.

Highlights of the research include:
· Immigrants make up nearly 4% of Ohio's total population and nearly half of them are naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote.
· New Americans (naturalized U.S. citizens and their U.S.-born children) represent 2.4% of the state's voting population.

· The purchasing power of Ohio's Asians totaled $7.1 billion and Latino buying power totaled $6.1 billion in 2008.
· Asian-owned businesses in the state generated sales and receipts worth more than $5.1 billion annually and Latino-owned businesses generated $1.3 billion in 2002.
There is no denying the contributions immigrants make and the important role they play in Ohio's political and economic future. For more data on the contributions of immigrants to Ohio's economy, view the IPC fact sheet in its entirety.

* * * * *

Save the Date!

Fourteenth (14th) Annual Conference

Thursday & Friday, March 25-26, 2010
The University of Toledo
Dana Conference Center
http://hsc.utoledo.edu/camp/tour/dana.html
3110 Glendale Avenue
Toledo, Ohio 43615

Who Should Attend?
Human Resource Professionals
EEO Officers
Higher Education Professionals
Students
Non-Profit Executives
Diversity Trainers
Healthcare Professionals
Law Enforcement
Attorneys and Leal Professionals
Affirmative Action Officers
Business Owners

Join peers from a wide variety of professions from around the state for a one-and-a-half day conference focusing on the past, present and future of equality, diversity, and opportunity in the State of Ohio. Program tracks include Diversity and Community Outreach, Best Practices for Equal Opportunity in Employment Investigations, Laws & Order, Inclusion and Demographic Trends.

CEU's are available for psychologists and social workers.

INDIA: US-India Relations by Harsh V Pant, August 10, 2009

2009-08-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

Challenges for US- India Relations: Divergence on Global Issues shows no signs of abating

Following is a perceptive analysis of the looming challenges for US-Indian relations following the recent Clinton visit to India. This brief was prepared for Oxford Analytica by Harsh V Pant of King’s College, London.

EXCERPTS:

**The recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed that US-India relations have deepened and are on a firmer footing today, probably the strongest they have ever been. However, the relationship faces a difficult test later this year because of looming negotiations on a range of issues, including how to apportion the costs and responsibilities of tackling climate change, the Doha trade negotiations where a bold compromise on world agricultural trade currently appears distant and on non-proliferation: though Washington has made it clear that it will honor the commitments of the nuclear pact, the text remains open to interpretation and Delhi fears that the US will opt for a particularly restrictive reading of the text.

**Delhi has a well-established ability to play the role of ‘spoiler’ in global negotiations promoted by the US, and it may do so again if it feels that its material interests or wider principles are compromised. On none of the above-mentioned critical issues, the US can get a global agreement without first taking Indian concerns into account. India can play the role of a ‘spoiler’ very effectively and it has wielded its veto power on these global issues so far. It is important for the Obama Administration to get India on board before proceeding with its global agenda. Clinton’s recent visit notwithstanding, the divergence between the US and India remains as stark as ever.

The full brief (reproduced below) was sent to me by the author himself. (There is no URL).

US/INDIA: Divergence on global issues shows no sign of abating

Friday, July 31, 2009

SUBJECT: Challenges for US-India relations

SIGNIFICANCE: The recent visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton showed that US-India relations have deepened and are on a firmer footing today, probably the strongest they have ever been. However, the relationship faces a difficult test later this year because of looming negotiations on a range of issues, including how to apportion the costs and responsibilities of tackling climate change.

ANALYSIS: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton secured several concrete agreements during her July 18-21 visit to India:

**The two countries agreed to finalize an End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) that paves the way for US companies to sell sophisticated arms systems to India.

**Space cooperation got a boost with the signing of an agreement facilitating the launch of US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles.

**As a framework for future talks, Clinton announced a six-pillared bilateral strategic dialogue covering issues ranging from defense and non-proliferation to education and agriculture, the most wide-ranging and comprehensive dialogue “that has ever been put on the table” between the two countries.

Bilateral diplomacy: The visit pointed towards a relationship that is deepening on several levels. The defense relationship is deepening as India looks to modernize a largely Russian-made military arsenal that is widely criticized as inadequate. Bilateral trade is growing. Clinton’s trip was supported by the Indian community in the US, which is becoming more effective at leveraging its influence in favor of closer ties.

Nonetheless, controversy was mounting before Clinton left India, particularly on EUMA. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has encountered strong parliamentary opposition on this point, prompting him to deny that the agreement violates Indian sovereignty by allowing ‘intrusive’ inspections of Indian military installations.

Looming Challenges: More broadly, as Clinton found during her talks in New Delhi on climate change, the divergence between the two democracies is growing on three critical issues of global significance, all priority areas for the Obama administration:

1. Climate Change. With a new United Nations climate treaty due to be agreed in Copenhagen in December, Washington and Delhi are trying to bridge their differences on how to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Negotiating positions differ:

**The United States wants developing countries such as India and China to agree to control the emissions being produced by their rapidly growing economies, setting time-bound targets to this effect.

**The previous UPA government introduced an eight-point action plan to address emissions from domestic transport, industry and power generation. Yet during Clinton’s visit. Indian Environment Minister reiterated India’s position that ‘legally binding targets’ are out of the question.

**The government emphasized that India has one of the lowest per capita emissions rates in the world. In this context, it insists that the developed world take the lead by making large emissions reductions while transferring funds and technologies to help developing nations address their own carbon intensity.

For Delhi, a key stumbling block is the developing world’s failure to create effective and predictable mechanisms to transfer technology and funding. This is the subject of continuing bilateral talks, with India seeking an understanding with Washington that could serve as a model for an agreement between the developed and developing world at Copenhagen.

Yet climate change talks not only involve competing economic interests but also raise matters of broad principle for the West’s relationship with developing nations. India has shown itself ready to lead coalitions of developing nations in the past, vetoing those global agreement they see as discriminatory. The issue of the West’s ‘historical responsibility’ for atmospheric pollution is being cast in similar terms and Indian agreement will be hard to secure.

2. Trade negotiations. The United States and India have both signaled that they are ready to re-launch negotiations under the Doha round of world trade talks. These stalled last year largely because of differences between Washington and a group of emerging economies, in which India played a leading role, on agricultural policy. Led by then Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, India insisted that its farmers be accorded protection against supply surges under the planned liberalisation of agricultural trade.

The Congress party’s election victory raised hopes that a bolstered UPA government would be more willing to make unpopular concessions at home, for the sake of collective economic gains, than its predecessor. However, this can happen only if the developed world provides reciprocal concessions by phasing out its own agricultural subsidies -- something that is highly problematic in the present economic climate.

The Indian government’s own ability to take on domestic constituencies is also in question. Advanced negotiations towards a free trade agreement with the ASEAN appear to have foundered on objections from just one Indian state, Kerala, where cultivators of crops such as coconut and palm oil were threatened by cheaper Indonesian and Malaysian products. With the UPA forced to defend itself against accusations of ‘selling-out’ farmers, a bold compromise on world agricultural trade currently appears distant.

3. Non-proliferation. The recent G-8 leaders’ summit concluded with a statement that caught India by surprise in terms of its language on nuclear non-proliferation. In September, the Nuclear Supplier’s Group (NSG) had agreed to grant an exemption to India, allowing it to import a range of nuclear technologies despite not being a signatory to the NPT. Yet the G-8 statement committed the advanced industrial world to strengthen controls on enrichment and reprocessing technology in-line with a November 2008 NSG agreement. As widely interpreted in India, this would amount to banning exports of key items to non-signatories of the NPT.

Reactions in India were strongly unfavorable, While India will still be able to buy nuclear fuel and reactors from the G-8 or NSG countries, questions are being raised about whether the Obama administration intends to dilute the bargain contained in last year’s NSG waiver. Though Washington has made it clear that it will honor the commitments, the text remains open to interpretation and Delhi fears that the US administration will opt for a particularly restrictive reading.

Outlook: The US-India relationship is entering a difficult phase as pressure mounts on Delhi to make constructive contributions to these three critical issues. Although the UPA government’s re-election has paved the way for more active engagement, apprehensions have mounted in Delhi about Washington’s agenda vis-à-vis India. Under former President George W. Bush, Indian officials became accustomed to the idea that their country was treated as a great power in the making and a ’balancer’ in the Asia-Pacific region. The Obama administration will have to overcome Delhi’s suspicion that, in US eyes, India has reverted to the status of a regional player whose main utility is in dealing with Pakistan.

CONCLUSION: Delhi has a well-established ability to play the role of ‘spoiler’ in global negotiations promoted by the US, and it may do so again if it feels that its material interests or wider principles are compromised. On none of the above-mentioned critical issues, the US can get a global agreement without first taking Indian concerns into account. India can play the role of a ‘spoiler’ very effectively and it has wielded its veto power on these global issues so far. It is important for the Obama Administration to get India on board before proceeding with its global agenda. Clinton’s recent visit notwithstanding, the divergence between the US and India remains as stark as ever.

_______________________________

Please also read:

1) G Parthasarathy: "Post-Clinton visit, the key issues ", The Hindu Businessline, August 6, 2009 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/08/06/stories/2009080650270800.htm

2) Paul Beckett: "A Different Take on the U.S.-India Climate Change "Spat"", The Wall Street Journal, August 5, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124944699955607103.html

and

3) Peter J Brown: "India and US build stronger ties in space", Asia Times Online, August 7, 2009, http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KH07Df02.html

_____________________________________

Movie News and Movie Reviews: Bollywood Hero on IFC, August 5, 2009

2009-08-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Salon Arts & Entertainment,

Slumdog comedian in Bollywood Hero
on IFC, August 6, 7, and 8.

Chek out your local cable listings.
"SNL" alum Chris Kattan exports his desperation in IFC's sweet summer miniseries "Bollywood Hero"

By Heather Havrilesky

Aug. 4, 2009 | "Didn't you play the half-monkey man that ate the peanuts?"
Chris Kattan grimaces at this remark by a stranger at a Hollywood party, but that grimace only reminds us of Mr. Peepers -- or Mango or Gollum or the other manic characters he played in his stint on "Saturday Night Live." As Kattan watches Keanu Reeves attract a circle of hot girls at the party while he only attracts curiosity, he finds himself wanting more.

"When I was a kid I wanted to be Indiana Jones," Kattan tells us in the opening moments of "Bollywood Hero," IFC's three-part miniseries that airs this week (10 p.m. Aug. 6, 7 and 8 on IFC). "This year I told my agent I wouldn't take any more acting jobs until he actually found me something different, a part where I'm the leading man or I’m the hero, the role I always dreamed of playing." Kattan says he wants to "fight the bad guys" and "sleep with attractive women." Understandable, sure, but ... can Mr. Peepers really be serious?

Presumably Kattan plays a desperate, pathetic version of himself in this odd little three-hour romp that's exactly as charming and uneven and hokey as so many indie comedies. Whether Kattan is being humiliated or acting like a jackass or getting dance lessons from the elderly Indian grandmother, he embodies that strange subgenre of toothless indie comedy that makes fun of itself but has no edge whatsoever.

Think "The Full Monty." Think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Funny, yes, but in a way that's almost embarrassing, a way that has you and your mom and your grandmother cackling in unison.

Read more: http://www.salon.com:80/ent/tv/review/2009/08/04/bollywood_hero/index.html?source=newsletter

Email Etiquettes, August 5, 2009

2009-08-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

Email etiquettes:

Do you really know how to forward e-mails?

This came to me direct from a system administrator for a corporate system. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails.

Please read the short letter below ..

Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 50% of us do; 50% DO NOT.
Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it? Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel! How do you stop it? Well, there are two easy steps:

(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second.You MUST click the "Forward"
button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on "Forward" first, you won't be able to edit the message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: columns for adding e-mail address. Always use the BCC: (blind
carbon copy) column for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way that
people you send to only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your
BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear.
Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that's it, it's that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say "Undisclosed Recipients in the "TO:" field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove any "FW:" in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail your reading.
Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent.

Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.

A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition.

So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this to everyone we know (but strip my address off first). This is something that SHOULD be forwarded.

* * * * *

Nuclear Arms, Hiroshima, Peace, War, August 5, 2009

2009-08-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

60-years after Hiroshima

From: Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, 64 Years Too Late and Not a Moment Too Soon
posted August 03, 2009 4:30 pm

Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, 64 Years Too Late and Not a Moment Too Soon
As another August 6th approaches, let me tell you a little story about Hiroshima and me:

As a young man, I was probably not completely atypical in having the Bomb (the 1950s was a great time for capitalizing what was important) on my brain, and not just while I was ducking under my school desk as sirens howled their nuclear warnings outside. Like many people my age, I dreamed about the bomb, too. I could, in those nightmares, feel its searing heat, watch a mushroom cloud rise on some distant horizon, or find myself in some devastated landscape I had never come close to experiencing (except perhaps in sci-fi novels).

Of course, my dreams were nothing compared to those of America's top strategists who, in secret National Security Council documents of the early 1950s, descended into the charnel house of future history, imagining life on this planet as an eternal potential holocaust. They wrote in those documents of the possibility that 100 atomic bombs, landing on targets in the United States, might kill or injure 22 million Americans and of an American "blow" that might result in the "complete destruction" of the Soviet Union.

And they were pikers compared to the top military brass who, in 1960, found themselves arguing over the country's first Single Integrated Operational Plan for nuclear strategy. In it, a scenario was laid out for delivering more than 3,200 nuclear weapons to 1,060 targets in the Communist world, including at least 130 cities which would, if all went well, cease to exist. Official, if classified, estimates of possible casualties from such an attack -- and by then, nuclear weaponry and its delivery systems had grown far more powerful -- ran to 285 million dead and 40 million injured (and this probably underestimated radiation effects).
Read more:

http://www.tomdispatch.com:80/post/175102/frida_berrigan_64_years_too_late_and_not_a_moment_too_soon

* * * * *

Wage Peace Campaign

I am pleased to share the following email that I have received the following email from a friend, it has come with the following caveate -
CAUTION: This email is subject to secret retrieval and review by Federal Law Enforcement Agents without a court-ordered warrant.

To learn more: http://www.bordc.org

HUMANITARIAN IMPERIALISM
Using Human Rights to Sell War
by Jean Bricmont
Translated by Diana Johnstone

“In this stimulating book, Jean Bricmont effectively deconstructs ‘humanitarian interventionism’ and makes a good case that leftists who support it are the ‘useful idiots’ of imperialism. He also provides a broader critique of the Western left and offers a number of constructive suggestions. This insightful book is chock full of enlightening case studies and provocative arguments.”
—Edward S. Herman, Professor Emeritus of Finance, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

“Jean Bricmont’s provocative and carefully argued book deserves to be widely read and debated in the progressive, ecological, peace, and human rights movements. It may not be the last word on this subject but the issues Bricmont raises cannot be ignored.”

—Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics, New York University

Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention-discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938.

Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries.
Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.

About the Author

JEAN BRICMONT is professor of theoretical physics at the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is the author of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science (with Alan Sokal) and other political and scientific publications.

From and About Dayton, Ohio, August 5, 2009

2009-08-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

Dayton International Peace Museum

Special independent program at the Dayton International Peace Museum
Monday, August 17, at 7 p.m. in the Peace Hall at the Museum Josh Stieber will speak on his "Compassionate Love Experiment." Josh eagerly went to Iraq to fight, but from his experiences there he became a conscientious objector. Now he's walking around the country speaking about his new insights. Please come to hear Josh. The Dulls are hosting him for a few days. You can read more about him at "Josh Stieber: Compassionate Love Experiment."

For more information contact:
Dayton International Peace Museum:
208 W. Monument Ave.
Dayton, OH 45402
(937) 227-3223

* * * * *

TrolleyStock - A Far-Out Party for a Groovy Cause
Dayton Peace Museum Benefit Honors 40th Anniversary of Woodstock

More information at http://www.trolleystopdayton.com/

* * * * *

India: Monmohan Singh, India-Pakistsan

2009-08-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Manmohan Singh has always seen himself as the steward of historic changes, as one who has the courage to challenge the status quo.

The PM knows what he’s doing.

Very few in the Congress are really upset by the substance of the statement. They are most concerned by the fact that the PM is asserting himself.

In UPA-2, the goal the prime minister has set for himself is to try and achieve a breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relations.

As in the second half of UPA-1, he will play a proactive role in foreign affairs.

The fact that external affairs minister S.M. Krishna is a lightweight helps him play a dominant role.

If history is any indication, it is unlikely that the all-round criticism will be an obstacle for the PM. For, by now, the country is familiar with the fact that behind Manmohan’s mild manner is steely resolve—he has a vision for a subcontinent at peace with itself and he will pursue it.

OUTLOOK INDIA.COM, AUGUST 10, 2009

A Fortress Unto Himself

Others may not see the method in his plan, but the PM knows what he’s doing

Smita Gupta

Why The Party’s Unhappy With The PM

A section within the Congress has been voicing its disquiet over the Indo-Pakistan joint statement because it feels that it will give a handle to the Opposition to attack the government.

Another section, which is being described as the coalition of the disgruntled, consists of those who were looking for an occasion to attack the PM, and used the BJP’s ire as an opportune excuse.

Very few in the Congress are really upset by the substance of the statement. They are most concerned by the fact that the PM is asserting himself.

Some members of the old guard feel that the party should have been consulted before the joint statement was drafted.

***

Man Can Cook: Trust, But Verify

In UPA-2, the goal the prime minister has set for himself is to try and achieve a breakthrough in Indo-Pakistan relations.

India’s policy has always been that the only way forward with Pakistan is through dialogue.

Manmohan Singh believes that to make any headway the government cannot remain a prisoner of old mindsets.

This is why he wants to be seen as being more accommodative. That is the only way he thinks progress can be made.

As in the second half of UPA-1, he will play a proactive role in foreign affairs.

The fact that external affairs minister S.M. Krishna is a lightweight helps him play a dominant role.

Read more: http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261111

India: "State of mind: What kind of power will India become" , August 1, 2009

2009-08-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

In an article titled, "State of mind: What kind of power will India become" published in International Affairs of July, 2009 (Vol. 85, No. 4), Rahul Sagar, Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, says India’s place in international affairs is shaped by the following four competing visions:

1) Moralists who wish for India to serve as an exemplar of principled action (moral exceptionalism);

2) Hindu nationalists who want Indians to act as muscular defenders of Hindu civilization (martial vigor);

3) Strategists who advocate cultivating state power by developing strategic capabilities (state power); and

4) Liberals who seek prosperity and peace through increasing trade and interdependence (wealth).

EXCERPTS:

**There is growing consensus in India that the pursuit of moral prestige has proved unrewarding. The demanding vision of the Hindu nationalists enjoys only limited public support, and India’s political elite display little willingness to pursue the tough policies advocated by the country’s strategic community. Increasingly, it appears India will, if by default, pursue prosperity and peace, a strategy that promises to transform it to a great commercial power. However, if this quest is thwarted by external threats it is likely that a contrary dynamic will be set in motion, as calls to enhance India’s military power grow louder -- and are heeded more closely.

**The desire to act in a principled fashion (Moralists’ vision) has three implications: First, it implies that India will continue to look sceptically on alliances that threaten its freedom to act and speak as it wishes. A recent example of the diplomatic consequences of this independent streak is provided by the conflict between India and the US over Iran. Even though it shares the American concern about Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and has twice voted with the US at the IAEA to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, India has repeatedly affirmed its desire to to pursue an independent policy vis-a-vis Iran, including the option of undertaking major energy projects in that country. A second implication of the desire to act in a principled fashion will be India’s continued leadership of coalitions endeavoring to ensure that international regimes do not undermine the interests of the developing world e.g. in the debate over the principles that should govern the distribution of costs and responsibilities for reducing environmental damage. The third implication of the desire to act in a principled fashion is that India will use civil means to challenge what it sees as discriminatory features of the international order e.g. on the nuclear issue. It is increasingly unclear whether India’s conduct will in fact continue to be shaped by Nehru’s vision. Though his proud defense of Indian autonomy still reverberates in Indian ears, his policies face a growing chorus of crticism from those who wish to see India adopt stances that correspond to its cultural, military and economic potential. The critques have already begun to influence policy and further shifts in the role India conceives for itself in international affairs.

Read more:

The full text electronic article of Rahul Sagar is available for purchase. It costs $41.89 plus tax (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/inta/2009/00000085/00000004/art00009). However, a summary of the article titled, "Indian Foreign Policy in the 21st Century", is available at the website of CASI (Center for the Advanced Study of India of the University of Pennsylvania -- http://casi.ssc.upenn.edu/iit/sagar

Books, Book Reviews: ‘Empire of Illusion’...Immigration, Islam, and the West by Christopher Caldwell,

2009-08-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

Books of The Times
A Turning Tide in Europe as Islam Gains Ground

in Christopher Caldwell’s ‘Reflections on the Revolution in Europe’ - Review - NYTimes.com, August 2, 2009

By DWIGHT GARNER
Published: July 29, 2009
Christopher Caldwell’s “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West” is a hot book presented under a cool, scholarly title. To observe that Mr. Caldwell’s rhetoric is “hot” is not to say that it is aggrieved or unruly. On the contrary, Mr. Caldwell, a senior editor at The Weekly Standard and a columnist for The Financial Times, compiles his arguments patiently, twig by twig, and mostly with lucidity and intellectual grace and even wit.

________________________________________________________________________

REFLECTIONS ON THE REVOLUTION IN EUROPE

Immigration, Islam, and the West

By Christopher Caldwell

422 pages. Doubleday. $30.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

But they are arguments one is not used to hearing put so baldly, at least from the West’s leading political journalists. Primary among them are these: Through decades of mass immigration to Europe’s hospitable cities and because of a strong disinclination to assimilate, Muslims are changing the face of Europe, perhaps decisively. These Muslim immigrants are not so much enhancing European culture as they are supplanting it. The products of an adversarial culture, these immigrants and their religion, Islam, are “patiently conquering Europe’s cities, street by street.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/books/30garner.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

* * * * *

Book Excerpt: ‘Empire of Illusion’Posted on Jul 30, 2009, from Truthdig - Arts and Culture

Read this brilliant and humorous chapter from Chris Hedges’ new book and marvel as the Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent makes sense of reality television.

Adapted from “Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle,” available from Nation Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2009.

Celebrity worship banishes reality. And this adulation is pervasive. It is dressed up in the language of the Christian Right, which builds around its leaders, people like Pat Robertson or Joel Olsteen, the aura of stardom, fame and celebrity power. These Christian celebrities travel in private jets and limousines. They are surrounded by retinues of bodyguards, have television programs where they cultivate the same false intimacy with the audience, and, like all successful celebrities, amass personal fortunes. The frenzy around political messiahs, or the devotion of millions of women to Oprah Winfrey, is all part of the yearning to see ourselves in those we worship. We seek to be like them. We seek to make them like us. If Jesus and The Purpose Driven Life won’t make us a celebrity, then Tony Robbins or positive psychologists or reality television will. We are waiting for our cue to walk onstage and be admired and envied, to become known and celebrated.

“What does the contemporary self want?” asked critic William Deresiewicz:

The camera has created a culture of celebrity; the computer is creating a culture of connectivity. As the two technologies converge —broadband tipping the Web from text to image; social-networking sites spreading the mesh of interconnection ever wider—the two cultures betray a common impulse. Celebrity and connectivity are both ways of becoming known. This is what the contemporary self wants. It wants to be recognized, wants to be connected: It wants to be visible. If not to the millions, on Survivor or Oprah, then to the hundreds, on Twitter or Facebook. This is the quality that validates us, this is how we become real to ourselves—by being seen by others. The great contemporary terror is anonymity. If Lionel Trilling was right, if the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmodernism it is visibility.

Read more:

http://www.truthdig.com:80/arts_culture/item/20090730_book_excerpt_empire_of_illusion/

Four Decades of Cary Grant Movies

2009-07-31T07:30:00.000-07:00

Film

Film - Four Decades of Cary Grant Movies in BAMcinématek Series –

NYTimes.com, July 31, 2009

Once Upon a Time, a Real Leading Man

By MIKE HALE
Published: July 30, 2009. New York Times

Old movies — I’m talking about those made before the 1970s — come to us in packages these days. The producers of DVDs and the programmers of repertory theaters look for themes and contexts that will help to make sense of these films for the several generations of culture consumers who are likely to find them utterly strange. Or if not to make sense of them, put them in a framework where their assumptions and devices can be sold to younger moviegoers as hip or camp rather than laughably archaic. Hence the weeks or boxes of film noirs or screwball comedies, or of the careers of directors with distinctive, easily cataloged styles.

To put on a Cary Grant series — as the BAMcinématek is doing from Monday through Aug. 20 with 17 films, and a second batch to follow in 2010 — presents some special challenges. Grant made more than 50 movies as a leading man, but the only thing that ties them together is that they starred Cary Grant, playing some version of his man-of-the-world persona, or of himself, which seemed to amount to the same thing.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/movies/31grant.html?th&emc=th

Why Men Don't Write Advice Columns

2009-07-30T05:12:00.001-07:00

Received from one of our Very Far-Flung Correspondents:

Why Men Don’t Write Advice Columns –
Dear Walter,

I hope you can help me here. The other day, I set off for work leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't driven more than a mile down the road when the engine conked out and the car shuddered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help. When I got home I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in our bedroom with the neighbor's daughter. I am 32, my husband is 34, and the neighbor's daughter is 22. We have been married for ten years.

When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that they had been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop or I would leave him. He was let go from his job six months ago and he says he has been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum he has become increasingly distant. He won't go to counseling and I'm afraid I can't get through to him anymore.

Can you please help?

Sincerely, Sheila

******************************

Dear Sheila:

A car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there is no debris in the fuel line. If it is clear, check the vacuum pipes and hoses on the intake manifold and also check all grounding wires. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low delivery pressure to the injectors.

I hope this helps,
Walter

* * * * *

Quote Without Context:

Harish: I am going to drive while texting and see what happens...'

Missej: You can't drive well even without texting...

(Drum roll optional)

* * * * *

Humor: Universal Health Care Plan

2009-07-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

Our very Far-flung correspondent says...

Universal Health Care Plan:

Apparently the American Medical Association has weighed in on the new Universal Health Care Plan....

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.

Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter."

The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.

The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the ass holes in Washington.

Theatre and Theatre Reviews: Boris Godunov,

2009-07-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

Theater Review: - 'Boris Godunov' - Declan Donnellan’s Pushkin - Of Czars, Blood and Ambition - NYTimes.com, July 24, 2009By BEN BRANTLEY
Published: July 24, 2009

Shall we begin with fire or water? Declan Donnellan harnesses the elements to spectacular effect in the Chekhov International Theater Festival’s production of Alexander Pushkin’s “Boris Godunov,” a transcendent tale of all too earthly power. But don’t be misled into thinking that this remarkable work of theater shares anything with the wall-to-wall pyrotechnics of a stadium rock concert.

Mr. Donnellan uses flame and flood with the selective hand of an artist who understands that a single well-chosen detail sears itself into the imagination, while nonstop sound-and-light shows are merely numbing. So our introduction to fire in this latest offering from the Lincoln Center Festival 2009, which runs only through Sunday at the Park Avenue Armory, is of a man on a long black stage, squinting through the flames of tall liturgical candles to examine the pure face of a barefoot boy in a nightshirt, the ghost of a child he had killed.

Read more: http://theater2.nytimes.com:80/2009/07/24/theater/reviews/24boris.html?th&emc=th

* * * * *

Books and Book Reviews: "JFK and the Unspeakable" by James Douglass

2009-07-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

Book Review:

Huffington Post July 24, 2009

"JFK and the Unspeakable" by James Douglass

by Oliver Stone, the Award-winning filmmaker

Posted: July 23, 2009 05:05 PM

The murder of President Kennedy was a seminal event for me and for millions of Americans. It changed the course of history. It was a crushing blow to our country and to millions of people around the world. It put an abrupt end to a period of a misunderstood idealism, akin to the spirit of 1989 when the Soviet bloc to began to thaw and 2008, when our new American President was fairly elected.

Today, more than 45 years later, profound doubts persist about how President Kennedy was killed and why. My film JFK was a metaphor for all those doubts, suspicions and unanswered questions. Now an extraordinary new book offers the best account I have read of this tragedy and its significance. That book is James Douglass's JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters. It is a book that deserves the attention of all Americans; it is one of those rare books that, by helping us understand our history, has the power to change it.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/oliver-stone/jfk-and-the-unspeakable_b_243924.html

* * * * *

Memoirs of Anthony Blunt, British Spy, Made Public - NYTimes.com, July 24, 2009

By JOHN F. BURNS

Published: July 23, 2009

CAMBRIDGE, England — After keeping it sealed in a steel container for 25 years, the British Library made public on Thursday a 30,000-word memoir in which Anthony Blunt, one of Britain’s most renowned 20th-century art historians, described spying for the Soviet Union, beginning in the mid-1930s, as “the biggest mistake of my life.”
The memoir offers few new insights into the details of Blunt’s spying, about which he said little in public before he died in 1983. Its main interest, according to historians, lies in Blunt’s account of his recruitment by another Soviet spy, Guy Burgess, when both were at Cambridge University in the 1930s, and in his exposition of his motives and feelings, including his disillusionment with Marxism and the Soviet Union after World War II.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/world/europe/24blunt.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

* * * * *

Movies and Movie Reviews: Ingloriuos Basterds, The Ugly Truth,

2009-07-24T18:47:00.000-07:00

BBC NEWS July 24, 2009

| Entertainment | Tarantino wows UK premiere crowds.

Quentin Tarantino: "I want my films to be highly anticipated"
Director Quentin Tarantino has hit the red carpet in London for the UK premiere of his World War II epic Inglourious Basterds.
He was joined by actors from the film, Diane Kruger and Christoph Waltz, while singer Rihanna and actor Mickey Rourke were among the VIP guests.
The film's star, Brad Pitt - who attended the world premiere at Cannes - did not make an appearance
.
Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8164997.stm

* * * * *

Movie Review: Salon.com July 24, 2009

"The Ugly Truth"

What do men really want from women? Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler discover the answer is, indeed, hideous

By Stephanie Zacharek

July 24, 2009 | In "The Ugly Truth," Katherine Heigl plays a single and somewhat prissy TV producer who's dismayed when a boorish, self-styled expert on the male psyche, played by Gerard Butler, becomes the star attraction of the morning talk show she puts together. Butler's Mike dispenses crude words of wisdom on what men want from women, urging them to get on the Stairmaster if they really want to meet a guy. All men care about is "tits and ass," he says; a great personality is pretty low on the priority list. Heigl's superorganized Abby, on the other hand, keeps a checklist of attributes that her Mr. Right will undoubtedly possess -- he's sensitive, considerate and prefers cats to dogs -- and before she goes out with a guy, her assistant, Joy (Bree Turner), helps her out by running an intrusive background check on the poor sap.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2009/07/24/ugly_truth/index.html?source=newslett

* * * * *

Asian Americans: How a Resume Can Catch the Eye of Diversity-Minded Employers, July 24, 2009

2009-07-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday July 22, 2009. Asianlife.com

Keep Raising The Bar

Alexandra Levit

As a society, we're obsessed with achievement. But what happens once you're considered objectively successful, with a great salary and a job that energizes you? It's easy to rest on your accomplishments and your way of getting work done, perhaps even feeling there's not much left to learn.
But in this economy, you can't afford to sit back -- even though it might be tempting.

"Successful people fall into the trap of thinking they don't need to change anything because their behavior is working for them," says Marshall Goldsmith, author of "What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful." "Every time they get promoted...they get positive reinforcement even when certain skills are lacking."

Read more: http://www.asianlife.com:80/magazine/view/articles/id/645838789

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Wednesday July 22, 2009, Asianlife.com
How a Resume Can Catch the Eye of Diversity-Minded Employers
By Perri Capell, Career Journal

Question: I constantly read that companies are seeking diversity in their senior ranks, but I've been told I shouldn't state my race on a resume. So how can you let an organization know that you can contribute to its diversity needs? Is there a way to do this without appearing to ask for special treatment?
-- John M. Williams, Atlanta

John: You're right about this being an issue that requires sensitivity. Federal equal employment opportunity laws prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender and other preferences.
Assume you immediately tell recruiters on the phone that you're a member of a minority or put it at the top of your resume. Some employers might take this as a sign that you'd make it an issue if you weren't hired.

Read more: http://www.asianlife.com:80/magazine/view/articles/id/645838790

Humor: The Mafia story, July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T14:59:00.000-07:00

Just received the following anecdote from one of our Very Far-flung correspondent -

Why Italian Godfathers pass their handguns down through the family?

Here's how the story goes -

An old Italian Mafia Don is dying. He calls his grandson to his bedside.

"Elio, I wanna you lissina me. I wanna you to take-a my chrome plated .38 revolver so you will always remember me."

"But grandpa, I really don't like guns. How about you leave me your Rolex watch instead?"

"You lissina me, boy. Somma day you gonna be runna DA business, you gonna have a
beautiful wife, lotsa money, a big-a home and maybe a couple of bambinos"

"Somma day you gonna come-a home and maybe finda you wife inna bed with another man.

"Whatta you gonna do then? Pointa to you watch and say, 'Time's Up'?"

Books and Book Reviews: July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T10:33:00.001-07:00

BOOK REVIEW

"Outplaying your partner: Poorly Made in China" by Paul Midler
(Reviewed by Muhammad Cohen)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KG18Ad02.html ASIA TIMES ONLINE, JULY 17, 2009

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Theatre News and Reviews: July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

THEATER REVIEW | 'PEASANT OPERA', NYTimes.com, July 23, 2009

Some Village Folkways: Incest, Murder, Adultery

In a Play From Budapest, Incest, Murder and Other Folkways -

By CHARLES ISHERWOOD

Bela Pinter’s ribald sendup of opera blends Hungarian folk songs with the conventions of baroque music, to strange but surprisingly satisfying effect.

The naked cowboy with the sequined phallus would be a startling apparition just about anywhere, with the possible exception of a gay strip club, but he seems a particularly incongruous vision in the humble Hungarian village of “Peasant Opera,” the quirky musical melodrama that opened Tuesday night at the Clark Studio Theater as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. Written and directed by Bela Pinter, a leading figure from the theater world of his native Budapest, with music by Benedek Darvas, the show is a ribald sendup of opera that blends the earthy sounds of Hungarian folk songs with the ordered conventions of baroque music, to strange but surprisingly satisfying effect.

Read more http://theater2.nytimes.com:80/2009/07/23/theater/reviews/23peasant.html?th&emc=th

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Salon.com

Thursday, July 23, 2009 06:23 EDT
Kevin Spacey needs a "Shrink"

One way of looking at Kevin Spacey's film-acting career is that most of it happened in another century and he has moved on. A two-time Oscar winner in the '90s -- for best supporting actor in "The Usual Suspects" and best actor in "American Beauty" -- Spacey has literally and figuratively left Hollywood behind, devoting most of his energies to directing the Old Vic Theatre in London, where he has lived since 2003.

As Spacey has told various interviewers, he didn't see how his movie career could possibly top what he had already accomplished, and he was tired of living in hotel rooms and making three or four films a year. From his days at Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles (where he played Captain von Trapp opposite Mare Winningham's Maria in "The Sound of Music"), theater was his first love. In the same year when he won his Academy Award for "American Beauty," he also won a Laurence Olivier Award for his role in the London-Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's play "The Iceman Cometh." (Truthfully, it might be the most memorable stage performance I've ever seen.) In retrospect, it looks as if two roads lay before him at that moment and he chose the one less traveled. So it is that the man once viewed as the greatest American film actor of his generation was recently ranked at No. 10 on the Daily Telegraph's list of "the 100 most powerful people in British culture."

Read more http://www.salon.com:80/ent/movies/btm/feature/2009/07/23/spacey/index.html?source=newsletter

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Movies and Movie News, July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T10:26:00.000-07:00

Movie News:

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 06:22 EDT

Beyond the Multiplex - Salon.com

The undead chick in the basement

After building its aura of notoriety on the film-festival circuit, the indie horror flick "Deadgirl" reaches audiences this weekend through a highly unusual release pattern, playing Friday and Saturday midnight shows in a handful of big-city theaters. All the ingredients for a wannabe cult hit are in place: rumors of outraged walkouts; a lascivious advertising campaign featuring a woman's parted, reddish-gray lips viewed sideways (so they resemble a different part of the female anatomy); widespread Internet discussion, most of it on a sight-unseen basis. Salon's Tracy Clark-Flory wrote a Broadsheet post on "Deadgirl" earlier this month that inspired a heated exchange, and Annalee Newitz of io9 wrote a quasi-learned piece last fall about the tr

Read more http://www.salon.com:80/ent/movies/btm/feature/2009/07/22/deadgirl/index.html?source=newsletter

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Arts and Arts News, July 23, 2009

2009-07-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

Art Review
The van Gogh of the Gross-Out
By HOLLAND COTTER
Published: July 22, 2009, New York Times
If you were a preteenager in the 1950s and had precocious friends or a with-it dad, it’s a good bet you knew the cartoons of Basil Wolverton, the Michelangelo of Mad magazine, even if you didn’t know his name.

Like rock ’n’ roll and beatniks, Mad was a freakish spawn of the A-bomb era. It was like an emanation from some dark, Dada side of Disney; a stink bomb planted in the suburban Eden; and a preview of the underground-comics era to come. Wolverton, who is the subject of a career survey at Barbara Gladstone Gallery in Chelsea this summer, was Mad’s early signature artist, the one who embodied its sick-and-proud humor.

Read more http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/arts/design/23basil.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

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For New Leader of Arts Endowment, Lessons From a Shaky Past - NYTimes.com, July 23, 2009
Although it may be hard to remember now, there was a time when the National Endowment for the Arts seemed to be on solid footing, both financially and politically, and could spend its days quietly financing artists and arts groups at its discretion.
The N.E.A. was criticized for financing works by artists like Karen Finley, who performed chocolate-smeared pieces.
Then came the controversies — Robert Mapplethorpe’s homoerotic photographs, Karen Finley’s chocolate-smeared performance pieces, Andres Serrano’s urine-immersed crucifix and others — and from the late 1980s onward, the endowment seemed to be constantly under siege.
Read more http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/arts/23funding.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

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Book News, Book Reviews, ' The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers' , 'IN FED WE TRUST - Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic

2009-07-21T05:10:00.000-07:00

Books of The Times -
‘In Fed We Trust’ by David Wessel and ‘A Colossal Failure of Common Sense’ by Lawrence G. McDonald,

New York Times, July 21, 2009

A COLOSSAL FAILURE OF COMMON SENSE

The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers, By Lawrence G. McDonald with Patrick Robinson, 351 pages. Crown Business. $27.

IN FED WE TRUST
Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic
By David Wessel
323 pages. Crown Business. $26.99.

For all of us then, David Wessel’s new book “In Fed We Trust” is essential, lucid — and, it turns out, riveting — reading.
Read more -
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/books/21kakutani.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

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New York Times, July 21, 2009

Four months after acquiring an e-book retailer, Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest chain of bookstores, is starting its own mega e-bookstore on its Web site, BN.com.

Read more at

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/internet/21book.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

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Ambassador Tezi (Terestia) C. Schaffer's Book on India and the United States in the 21st Century: Reinventing Parnership

2009-07-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

I have just received a note from Ram Narayanan of the US-India Friendship that I thought I should share with you all - Harish

"INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES IN THE 21ST CENTURY:Reinventing Partnership."
by Teresita C. Schaffer

Dear Harish:

Ambassador Teresita C. Schaffer is director of South Asia Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. Earlier she was ambassador to Sri Lanka and also served in the State Department as deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia.

She has just published a book titled, "INDIA AND THE UNITED STATES IN THE 21ST CENTURY:Reinventing Partnership." (To get a copy of the book, price $22.95, click:http://www.csisbookstore.org/).

I have not had a chance to read the book. However, from a summary of its contents, I observe that the new book "examines the astonishing new strategic partnership between the United States and India. Unlike other books on the subject, it brings together the two countries’ success in forging bilateral relations and their relatively skimpy record of seeking common ground on global issues despite the vibrant new network of bilateral ties."

Following is a synopsis of the book provided by the author. (I have highlighted the passages which bring out her deep understanding of the issues that will shape the US-India relationship in the 21st century):

*****

The revolution in U.S.-India relations started in the 1990s, and rested on three foundations. The first was the acceleration of India’s economic growth. Starting in 1980, but especially after 1990, India morphed from a rather slow-moving and inward-looking economy based largely on agriculture to one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

Next, at least in chronological order, came the end of the Cold War, which reoriented both U.S. and Indian foreign policy away from the traditional focus on a world divided into two major blocs, with a nonaligned group in between. India came to look on economic performance as a critical element in its national power and foreign policy. Russia was no longer India’s key international relationship: that role was now played by the United States.

Finally, the growth and prosperity of the Indian-American community created new bonds between the two countries, outside the ambit of government and closer to the day to day experience of Indians and Americans.

Against this background, India and the United States began in the 1990s to build the bilateral infrastructure for a serious relationship. The United States became India’s largest trading partner. The information technology industries in both countries were joined at the hip. India sent over 80,000 students to American universities.

These are all private relationships, but the government side expanded as well. For the first time, India and the United States developed a serious security relationship, with regular military contacts, a sophisticated strategic dialogue, and the beginnings of military trade. And during the latter part of the current decade, India and the United States started to overcome the big taboos that had inhibited their ties. The Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP - an agreement on export controls and liberalization of export licensing) led the way; the civil India-U.S. nuclear agreement was a dramatic change in U.S. policy.

This expansion of bilateral relationships is the big success story, built by both major parties in both countries. At the same time, India’s economic growth and thirst for energy created important common interests going beyond the bilateral. The two governments have not yet taken advantage of these to develop a common vision of the world, or at least parts of a common vision.

This is what both countries need to do now if they are to make the “strategic partnership” that both talk about into a reality. For U.S. strategic thinkers, Asia is increasingly the centerpiece of U.S. policy. The United States does not wish to see Asia dominated by a single country; it much prefers the prospect of a balance of peaceful engagement that includes all the major powers in Asia – China, Japan, and India, with the United States continuing to act as an “offshore Asian power.” This largely dovetails with India’s hopes for the region. But they have done relatively little to probe each other’s strategic thinking along these lines, or to develop parallel policies.

Indian Ocean security is another area where India and the United States have interests in common. The strong relationship between the two navies reflects this, but once again, there is much more that could be done to build up this understanding of common interests.

In the Middle East, India and the United States have focused on different priorities, especially when it comes to Iran. But even there, both countries have important reasons to seek stability and continued economic expansion in the Persian Gulf region.

Pakistan is of course a long-standing bone of contention between India and the United States. But even on Pakistan and Afghanistan, there are important points of convergence between Indian and American interests. India has no interest in seeing a resurgence of Islamic extremism or a meltdown in government authority in either place – and neither does the United States.

India and the United States regularly spar in multilateral settings, but here too, there are areas of important cooperation, especially peacekeeping. Big global issues will be on the international agenda in the coming decade, including climate change, nuclear proliferation, and international financial reform. These cannot be addressed without both the United States and India.

This makes a strong case for taking the U.S.-India partnership global – for undertaking the painstaking work required to figure out which of these global issues are ripe now for collaboration, which require some form of mutual compromise, and where these two giant countries will need to “agree to disagree.”

Complicating this task are two disconnects in their policy. First, despite the changes in its foreign policy, India remains attached to the notion of “strategic autonomy,” meaning that no country should appear to have undue influence on India’s foreign policy. This makes India a bit reluctant to work too closely with the United States in an international setting. Second, India’s priority has been on bilateral issues, whereas for the United States, the big prize has been a global relationship.

This means that we need to develop a new model for partnership. We have different histories of partnership. For the United States, most partners have started out with a common security vision, and the bilateral relationship has been built on this basis. Moreover, most partners of the United States are much smaller than the U.S. With India, things work the other way round: the bilateral has come first, and India is not prepared to enter into an unequal relationship.

A new model of partnership based on equality and on a willingness to recognize both similarities and differences will need to be built over time. This book recommends that India and the United States continue building up their bilateral ties, but start now to take the relationship global.

To do this, it advises a policy of inclusion and candor, with the United States helping to move India into global and regional councils of leadership. At the outset, organizations like the G-20, which work discreetly behind closed doors, will be the easiest to manage. But taking India’s ideas and leadership credentials seriously is the way to ensure that India takes equally seriously the views of the U.S. on how the globe should organize for the big problems it confronts.

A final thought on democracy. It is the most important unifying theme in the values Indians and Americans hold dear. It is also, quite often, a complicating factor in their relations. The things that leaders say in order to please their constituents are very different in Delhi and in Washington. However, when the bond of democracy coincides with the more practical connection of similar interests, you have the chance for a “foreign policy sweet spot.” That is the potential both countries now need to take advantage of.

*****

Thomas R. Pickering, former U.S. Ambassador to India says:

"This book is essential to understanding the present state of U.S.-India relations and the prospects for the future. It is well organized, comprehensive, balanced, thoughtful, and full of the kind of insight that not only makes for good reading but even better understanding."

David Good, chief representative for North America, Tata Sons Ltd. says:

"Ambassador Schaffer’s book puts into clear focus why all the effort that has gone into improving U.S.-India relations is worth it, and more importantly, how that new relationship can be put to use by President Obama in tackling global issues that threaten all of us. It’s an extremely important book that should be read by anyone dealing with international policymaking."

This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has completed what looks like a successful five-day visit to India. Some key decisions have been taken in New Delhi to further strengthen the US-India relationship, which she said will be her personal priority.

Ambassador Schaffer’s book has come out at the right time to serve as a guide for the policymakers in Washington and New Delhi.

Cheers,

Ram Narayanan
US-India Friendship
http://usindiafriendship.net/

Asian Ameircan Pacific Islander, Election Survey

2009-07-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

The 2008 National Asian American Survey - A Post-Election Report in New York City

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 a community briefing from the 2008 National Asian American Survey!

NEW YORK CITY-Data on Asian American political behavior and policy preferences will be released in New York City on July 22, 2009. The National Asian American Survey, conducted in the fall of 2008, will be presenting new findings that highlight the importance of Asian Americans to the political process and to policy debates. They will discuss voter mobilization and turnout, political participation beyond voting, and also present findings on:

Civic engagement;
interracial attitudes and coalition polictics;
discrimination and hate crimes; and
policy items like health care and immigration

DATE: Wednesday, July 22 , 2009

TIME: 5:00 - 7:00 pm

LOCATION: Seyfarth Shaw LLP
620 Eighth Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10018-1405
Appetizers and beverages will be provided.
RSVP TO: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHRXR2NaWmNJV1pGejU1LU95eTNvcmc6MA

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS:

Asian American Federation of NY
APIAVote
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Chhaya CDC
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
OCA New York Chapter
YKASEC - Empowering the Korean American Community
(list in formation)

The initial release in the fall of 2008 showed a majority of the Asian American eligible voters still undecided about their presidential pick. NAAS researchers documented the population's presidential preferences and the differences of opinion among its specific groups. The data also revealed the pivotal role Asian Americans could play in U.S. presidential races, given their significant presence in battleground states and swing states, and indications that, with a notable percentage of that population undecided, their vote was up for grabs.

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Executive Summary: 2008 National Asian American Survey

The 2008 NAAS is a groundbreaking study of the contours and contexts of Asian American civic and political engagement. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Russell Sage Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Eagleton Institute of Politics, the centerpiece of this study is a national, multiethnic, multi-lingual, multi-site survey of 5,159 Asians in United States. This undertaking brings together a team of four investigators - Jane Junn (Rutgers University), S. Karthick Ramakrishnan (University of California, Riverside), Janelle Wong (University of Southern California), and Taeku Lee (University of California, Berkeley) - who are leading political scientists researching the politics of immigration, race and ethnicity, Asian American politics, and political behavior in the United States more generally.

The survey will showcase the most comprehensive data yet available on the civic and political participation of Asians Americans. It will shed important new light on questions such as: When and why do Asian Americans become politically active? Which issues and contexts define Asian Americans into a coherent and potentially mobilizable political group? How are Asian Americans likely to vote in the coming November elections?

The survey combines innovations in sample design and survey methodology that include:

Comparing multiple measures of political engagement: from citizenship, registration, voting and campaign donations to non-electoral measures of engagement, such as protesting, religiosity, and organizational membership.
Integrating individual-level survey responses with contextual-level (zip code, county, state) data on demographic, economic, organizational, and political factors of interest.
Sampling a large enough number of Asian Americans to analyze:

six ethnic groups of interest - Asian Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, and Vietnamese.
eight languages - Cantonese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and English.
Asians in traditional immigrant "gateways" as well as those in "new destinations" like Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Interviews were conducted during August, September, and early October 2008.

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Cats

2009-07-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

Cats that look like Hitler – photos

http://www.gotwhiskers.com/2009/07/19/more-cats-that-look-like-hitler/

Swine Flu...

2009-07-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

Our Very Far-flung correspondent says...

If you receive an email

From the

Department of Health

Telling you not to eat

Canned pork

Because of

Swine flu...

Ignore it...

It's just Spam.

Homosexuality in Ancient India, HIV/AIDS in India - Part II

2009-07-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

HIV/AIDS in India - A brief survey

By Harish Trivedi,
Copyright 2009

What about AIDS and HIV infections in India?

Is HIV a fast spreading epidemic in India?

Would decriminalization of gay and lesbian activities give rise to AID and HIV infections?

We’ll have to wait and see if there is a correlation between decriminalization of homosexuality and subsequent rise in HIV/AIDS infections in India.

Here’s a brief history of HIV/AIDS infections in India culled from various reports:

1986: First case of HIV detected in Chennai (Madras), India.

1990: HIV levels among High Risk Groups like Sex workers and STD clinic attendants in Maharashtra and amongst Injecting Drug Users in Manipur reaches over 5 percent.

1994: HIV no longer restricted to high risk groups in Maharashtra, but spreading into the general population. HIV also spreading to the states of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu where high-risk groups have over 5 percent HIV prevalence.

1998: Rapid HIV spread in the four large southern states, not only in high-risk groups but also in the general population where it has reached over 1percent.

2001: Infection crosses one per cent in six states. These states account for 75 per cent of the country's estimated HIV cases.

In 2003 the estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS was 5.1 million.

Here are some excerpts from the Avert Report (AVERT is an international AIDS charity)

At the beginning of 1986, despite over 20,000 reported AIDS cases worldwide, India had no reported cases of HIV or AIDS. There was recognition, though, that this would not be the case for long, and concerns were raised about how India would cope once HIV and AIDS cases started to emerge.

Later in the year, India’s first cases of HIV were diagnosed among sex workers in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was noted that contact with foreign visitors had played a role in initial infections among sex workers, and as HIV screening centers were set up across the country there were calls for visitors to be screened for HIV. Gradually, these calls subsided as more attention was paid to ensuring that HIV screening was carried out in blood banks.

Current Estimates:

In 2006 UNAIDS estimated that there were 5.6 million people living with HIV in India, which indicated that there were more people with HIV in India than in any other country in the world. In 2007, following the first survey of HIV among the general population, UNAIDS and NACO agreed on a new estimate – between 2 million and 3.1 million people living with HIV.

In 2008 the figure was confirmed to be 2.5 million, which equates to a prevalence of 0.3%. While this may seem a low rate, because India's population is so large, it is third in the world in terms of greatest number of people living with HIV. With a population of around a billion, a mere 0.1% increase in HIV prevalence would increase the estimated number of people living with HIV by over half a million.

The national HIV prevalence rose dramatically in the early years of the epidemic, but a study released at the beginning of 2006 suggests that the HIV infection rate has recently fallen in southern India, the region that has been hit hardest by AIDS. In addition, NACO released figures in 2008 suggesting that the number of people living with HIV has declined.

Some AIDS activists are doubtful that the situation is improving: “It is the reverse. All the NGOs I know have recorded increases in the number of people accepting help because of HIV. I am really worried that we are just burying our head in the sand over this.” Anjali Gopalan, the Naz Foundation, Delhi, India.

Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, says, “The statement that India has the AIDS problem under control is not true. There is a decline in prevalence in some of the Southern states… In the rest of the country, there are no arguments to demonstrate that AIDS is under control”

Books and Book Review links

2009-07-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

About Books - Bodice-rippers with braces - Broadsheet - Salon.com, July 18, 2009

http://www.salon.com:80/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/07/17/harleteen/index.html?source=newsletter

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Yann Martel, ‘Life of Pi’ Author, Said to Get $3 Million for Holocaust Allegory - NYTimes.com, July 18, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com:80/2009/07/18/books/18martel.html?th&emc=th

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Book Review: “Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne” by James Gavin.

"Inside her, there were two Lena Hornes: the one who fiercely asserted herself, and the one who belittled and berated herself. ...There is good reason for James Gavin’s “Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne” to take up — when you count the notes, bibliography, discography, filmography and index — nearly 600 pages. This Lena (or these Lenas), born in 1917 and still hanging in, has had a life so rich in ups and downs as to make page after page eventful and suspenseful..." - says James Gavin in this biography of Lena Horne in New York Times book review by John Simon.

Read more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/books/review/Simon-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bua2

******
Book Review - 'Dangerous Games - The Uses and Abuses of History,' by Margaret MacMillan - Review - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/books/review/Kennedy-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bua2

*****
Book Review - 'Myths, Illusions, and Peace - Finding a New Direction for America in The Middle East,' by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky - Review - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com:80/2009/07/19/books/review/LeBor-t.html?8bu&emc=bua2

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Essay - In Praise of Literary Escorts By JOE QUEENAN, NYTimes, Sunday Book Review section. (July 17, 2009)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/books/review/Queenan-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bub2

Homosexuality in Ancient India, AIDS and HIV – A Historic Perspective – Part I by Harish Trivedi

2009-07-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

Copyright: Harish Trivedi © 2009

Warning: Some readers may consider the contents of this aricle inappropriate.

Homosexuality has been practiced practically all across the world – including India since time immemorial. In some cultures it has been considered as an accepted form of behavior.

India, and indeed, most cultures of the East, had a very liberal attitude towards such matters. Love for a man for a boy was prevalent in ancient Greece. During the time of the Roman Empire and some Arab cultures have made no distinction between sex with a woman and sexual relations with a man or a boy.

The Victorian times effectively put an end to all open conversations about sexuality, despite the fact that those were the most debauch times in Europe.

Post independent India had behaved like an ostrich, with its head buried in the sand of prudish propriety when it came to the subject of homosexual practices.

India has followed, first the strictures imposed by the Laws of Manu and then the laws enacted by the British Raj during the colonial times. It has been illegal in India since 1861, when British rulers codified a law prohibiting “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal.” Its detractors have long viewed the law, known as Section 377 of Indian Penal Code, as an archaic holdover from colonialism.

But all that changed when homosexuality as a topic of human rights and acceptable human behavior was brought out in open when nine years ago gay activist groups in India filed a case in Delhi. And after nine years the historic decision came on July 2nd of this year when the Delhi court ruled that effectively decriminalized homosexual practices in India.

“The inclusiveness that Indian society traditionally displayed, literally in every aspect of life, is manifest in recognizing a role in society for everyone,” judges of the Delhi High Court wrote in a 105-page decision, India’s first to directly address rights for gay men and lesbians. “Those perceived by the majority as ‘deviants’ or ‘different’ are not on that score excluded or ostracized,” the decision said.

The decision was not received well by all the segments of the India’s poly-ethnic and multi-religious society.

Following the Delhi court’s decision a group of Sikh and Hindu activists staged a demonstration in the national capital to protest the Delhi High Court’s recent verdict on Article 377.

The Shahi Imam of Punjab, Maulana Habib-ur-Rehman Sani Ludhianvi, at a press conference said that homosexual relations were not approved by any religion. He also said that the Europe and US were intentionally trying to spread homosexuality in India. Mercifully he did not use the word the Great Satan or issue a fatwa against the ruling judges of the court.

In view of this development it is worthwhile to put the whole subject of sexual practices, including homosexual practices in India in a historic context.

The reference to sexual practices in ancient India could be roughly divided in to a) the Vedic period, b) the post Vedic period and the time of compilation of Manu Smriti or the Laws of Manu, c) the Kama Sutra period, d) the era of erotic sculptures across India and the official ban imposed by the colonial government or the British Raj when it enacted the Indian Penal Code in 1861.

a) The Vedic period:

In these temple sculptures the women in ancient India appear to be uninhibited and very much aware of their femininity or so the statuettes leads us to believe. The Vedic philosophy that is the basis of the present Indian culture was very well spelled out in the four Vedas and subsequent treatises. But nowhere in this voluminous works the subject of same sex marriage or homosexual relations has been explicitly discussed, defined or denounced.

The Indian mythology on the other hand has depicted Gods changing their sex or gender at will, often for sexual purposes. Lord Krishna has done it, and the sagely Brahma is known to have taken the female form. Such fusion of gender in Hindu scriptures is based on unique philosophy of cosmic creation. Wendy Doniger of University of Chicago writing about Bisexuality in the Mythology of Ancient India says, “Hindu texts call into question our own gender conceptions; they tell us that desire for bisexual pleasure and the wish to belong to both sexes at the same time are very real…. Many myths bear witness to the existential perception of human beings as bisexual and to active bisexual transformations. Some may show the desire to be androgynous and, contrary to the dominant homophobic paradigm, present veiled images of a bisexuality fulfilled in happiness and satisfaction” Episodes depicted in Indian mythology particularly those related to Shiva and Parvati …illustrate this carefree, joyous way of crossing the gender barrier. -Diogenes, Vol. 52, No. 4, 50-60 (2005)

Such depictions in the Indian mythology suggest that sex; change of sex or varied sexual practices was not a taboo in ancient India.

b) Manu Smriti or the Laws of Manu:

A range of historical opinion generally dates composition of the text any time between 200 BCE and 200 CE. After the breakdown of the Maurya and Shunga empires, there was a period of uncertainty that led to renewed interest in traditional social norms. According to some scholars the strict prohibition and severity of the treatises such as Manu Smriti and subsequent commentary on the same was a result of insecurity of the orthodox Vedic preachers and parishioners in a period that was in historic transition.

The Manu Smriti – The Code or Law of Manu - was written as the words of the original creator, the Supreme Creator “Brahmā”. By attributing the words to supernatural forces, the text takes on an authoritative tone as a statement on Dharma (meaning Duty or Responsibility), in opposition to previous texts in the field, which were more scholarly. The eighteen Titles of Law or Grounds for Litigation make up more than one fifth of the work and it deals primarily with matters of the king, state, and judicial procedure.

The Manu Smriti, lists the oldest codes of conduct that were to be followed by a Hindu does refer to homosexual practices, but only as in its regulation. There were punishments, ranging from what could be described as very mild, to slightly harsher punishments, but interesting nonetheless. For instance if a mature woman was found having a lesbian relationship with a young girl, the punishment for older woman was immediately shaving of her head or two of her fingers were to be cut off, and she was made to ride on a donkey.

There are no kind words for a male homosexual either, but the severity is much less.

"Causing an injury to a priest, smelling wine or things that are not to be smelled, crookedness, and sexual union with a man are traditionally said to cause loss of caste" And: "If a man has shed his semen in non-human females (meaning animals or beasts), in a man, in a menstruating woman, in something other than a vagina, or in water, he should carry out the 'Painful Heating' vow." This meant he would have to drink a mixture of "cow's urine, cow dung, milk, yogurt, melted butter, water infused with sacrificial grass, and a fast of one night". Compared to what the woman would have to go through, this is definitely less severe. Perhaps this skewed treatment was due to the fact that most religious orders, had homosexuals in their members, whether acknowledged or unacknowledged. The punishment for a homosexual priest would, therefore, is much milder than say, an erring woman. Besides, Manu Smriti is the same scripture that has stated that the status of woman in the society is the same (or even lower than) that of a man’s land, his cattle and other possessions. It would be safe to say that a man or a group of men composed Manu Smriti.

Manu Smrti - Laws of Manu – pertaining to Homosexuality:

Chapter VIII

Verse 369: A damsel who pollutes (another) damsel must be fined two hundred (panas the prevalent currency), pay the double of her (nuptial) fee, and receive ten lashes.

Verse 370: A woman who pollutes a damsel shall instantly have (her head) shaved
or two fingers cut off, and shall be made to ride (through the town) on a donkey.

Chapter XI

Rules or Laws pertaining to a male offender:

Verse 67: Stealing grain, base metals, or cattle, intercourse with women who drink spirituous liquor, slaying women were considered only minor offences that caused loss of caste.

Verse 175: A twice-born man – meaning a Brahmin who commits an unnatural offence with a male, or has intercourse with a female in a cart drawn by oxen, in water, or in the day-time, shall bathe, dressed in his clothes.

In matters sexual, there were no stiff penalties for offending men during the time of Manu Smriti.

c) The era of Kama Sutra:

It is generally believed that India is the country that gave humanity the first, most scientific and most explicit treatise of love in the form of Kama Sutra. The authorship is attributed to one Mallanga Vatsyayana.

Mallanaga was a holy man, a seer, and a sage and lived primarily a religious life. Other than this scant information, not much is known about this sage Mallanaga Vatsyayana.

At one time the scholars believed that Kama Sutra was composed sometime between the 6th century B.C. and the 6th century A.D. (the Gupta Period in Indian civilization) - a very wide berth of time - but recent evidence indicates that Vatsyayana wrote the Kama Sutra around 150 B.C.

Based on references to 1st Century historical figures in the Kama Sutra, and on references to the Kama Sutra in early 5th Century works, some historians and anthropologists maintain that the Sutra was composed sometime between the 1st and 4th Centuries A.D.

Historian John Keay says that the Kama Sutra was collected into its present form in the second century CE

But for the purposes of present discussion we have a fairly good idea of the time frame during which this mammoth work was compiled.

Traditionally, the first transmission of Kama Shastra or "A Treatise on Kama" is attributed to Nandi - the sacred bull, God Shiva's doorkeeper, who overheard the sacred utterances of Shiva while Shiva was making love to his wife - goddess Parvati The bull Nandi later recorded Shiva’s sacred and profound utterances for the benefit of mankind.

The Mallanaga Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra has 1250 verses, distributed in 36 chapters, which are further organized into 7 parts. Kama means "love, pleasure, and the life of the senses" and a Sutra is a group of aphorisms - short, pithy sayings. The Kama Sutra is recognized as the true surviving text of the original Kama Shastra.

The Kama Sutra is an ancient Indian text which is considered the primary Sanskrit work on human sexuality. Although Sir Richard Burton edited and published this very first English translation, he was not the main translator.

Burton had studied Sanskrit language, but he had not mastered it. He had assigned the translation of the primary text of Kama Sutra to two Sanskrit scholars from Bombay - Mr. Bhagwanlal Indraji who was an archeologist, numismatist and a linguist and Mr. Shivram Parshuram Bhide a student of Sanskrit language and a scholar. Burton also took assistance of his associate and a Civil Servant Forster Fitzgerald Arhuthnot.

Bhagwanlal and Shivram consulted four available manuscripts of Kama Sutra, compared the texts and used the text that seemed most authentic from all the available copies. Burton compared all the three translations, re-wrote the text to maintain consistency of language, provided footnotes and a preface to the final work. The first edition was published in 1883.

It should be noted here that Bhagwanlal Indraji worked for Dr. Bhau Daji Lad of Bombay. He helped Dr. Bhau Daji with translations of edicts discovered in Sopara (situated a little north of Bombay) and he also translated inscriptions on many of the coins that he had discovered during his excavations in various parts of India. Based on this Dr. Bhau Daji wrote various articles for the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society and Numismatics magazines. Dr. Bhau Daji also collected some rare Sanskrit manuscripts of various treatises and sent it to the noted Orientalist Max Muller – who incidentally never visited India. (Source: The Biography of Dr. Bhau Daji titled Dr. Bhau Daji: Vyakti Kaal Va Kartrutva by A. K. Prioker in Marathi language).

Kama Sutra, Chapter IX: Homosexuality

The Kama Sutra specifies that two [male] citizens might have reciprocal (sexual) relations with one another (2.9.36).

Given the emphasis placed on distinctions of gender, caste, or age in all relationships between a man and a woman in the context of Vedic preaching, the above passage creates a mystery because it does not say anything about caste or age of the men in homoerotic relationship. Perhaps there was some complex set of norms that were to be applied in certain circumstances.

Sex Between Women

The Kama Sutra (2.8) also describes "virile sexual behavior in women." Whether this chapter refers to female homoeroticism (as opposed to women sitting on top of men), is controversial. In a later passage (5.6.2), however, the text clearly describes gender-differentiated sex between royal women and their female-to-male cross-dressed servants. The commentary (2.9.36) also mentions female-female oral sex, conducted in the privacy of harems or quarters restricted to women in other households.

Kama Sutra says that The Auparishtaka (fellatio) was also practiced by unchaste and wanton women, female attendants and maids - those who were single and not married to anybody, but who lived by working as maids.

The Acharyas (i.e. ancient and venerable authors) are of opinion that this Auparishtaka is the work of a dog and not of a man, because it is a low practice, and opposed to the orders of the Holy Writ, and because the man himself suffers by bringing his lingam into contact with the mouths of eunuchs and women. But Vatsyayana says that the orders of the Holy Writ do not affect those who resort to courtesans, and the law prohibits the practice of the Auparishtaka with married women only. As regards the injury to the male, that can be easily remedied.

Tritiya-Prakriti or People of the “Third Sex”

There are two kinds of eunuchs, those that are disguised as males, and those that are disguised as females. Eunuchs disguised as females imitate their dress, speech, gestures, tenderness, timidity, simplicity, softness and bashfulness. The acts that are done on the jaghana or middle parts of women are done in the mouths of these eunuchs, and this is called Auparishtaka. These eunuchs derive their imaginable pleasure, and their livelihood from this kind of congress, and they lead the life of courtesans. So much concerning eunuchs disguised as females.

Eunuchs disguised as males keep their desires secret, and when they wish to do anything they lead the life of shampooers. Under the pretence of shampooing, a eunuch of this kind embraces and draws towards himself the thighs of the man whom he is shampooing, and after this he touches the joints of his thighs and his jaghana, or central portions of his body. Then, if he finds the lingam of the man erect, he presses it with his hands and chaffs him for getting into that state. If after this, and after knowing his intention, the man does not tell the eunuch to proceed, then the latter does it of his own accord and begins the congress. If however he is ordered by the man to do it, then he disputes with him, and only consents at last with difficulty.|

The following eight things are then done by the eunuch one after the other:
The nominal congress, Biting the sides, Pressing outside, Pressing inside, Kissing, Rubbing, Sucking a mango fruit, Swallowing up…
'The male servants of some men carry on the mouth congress with their masters. Some citizens, who know each other well, also practice it. Some women of the harem, when they are amorous, do the acts of the mouth on the yonis of one another, and some men do the same thing with women. The way of doing this (i.e. of kissing the yoni) is similar to kissing on the mouth.

d) The era of erotic and homoerotic sculptures in the temple carvings of Khajurao, Puri and Thanjuvar:

The temple carvings of Khajuraho in central India and Jagganath Puri temples in the state of Orissa in eastern India or the temple architecture of Thanjuvar in the South India is full of very explicit depiction of a variety of sexual activities and homosexual acts that could be considered outlandish, bizarre or bold depending upon one’s view on the subject of sexuality. The sculptures of long limbed big bosomed women in a variety of sexual activities including same sex acts, sexual intercourse between men and women, men and men and humans and animals…all is boldly depicted in these temple carvings, they leave nothing to imagination. What really takes one’s breath away is the sheer quantity of sexual positions that have been put on those walls.

Khajuraho temples were constructed between 950 and 1050 A.D. during the reign of Chandel Empire. The construction of the current Jagannath temple was initiated by the ruler of Kalinga, Anantavarman Chodaganga Dev (1078 - 1148 CE) - during the 12th century. The Jagamohana and the Vimana portions of the temple were built during his reign. But it was only in the year 1174 CE that the Orissan ruler Ananga Bhima Deva rebuilt the temple to give a shape in which it stands today.

From the above chronology it appears that sexual practices in India in general and laws prohibiting certain sexual activities in particular went through many attitudinal changes. People who shout and tout the erotic and homoerotic sculptures at Khajurao and Puri temples as examples of liberal attitudes towards sex seem to ignore the historic variations in the sexual attitudes of people and law givers in India during various periods of time in history.

The Khajurao type sexual liberalism blossomed only after the Manu Smriti stipulations against homosexual practices and in effect may be a result of too many restrictions on homosexual and sexual activities among consenting adults in India. It would be erroneous to think or say that the whole Indian subcontinent was awash with unbridled sexual romp during the historic period that is cited above.

The Indian Penal Code was enacted in 1861 (that criminalized homosexual activities in India) and the first English translation of Kama Sutra was published in 1883. Among other topics dealing with human sexuality, Kama Sutra also gave a detailed description of various homosexual acts.

The India Penal Code also was instrumental in ending the sexually promiscuous and abhorrent practices by the Vaishnav Gurus in Bombay. In the famous libel case against the Vaishnav Maharaj, that came to be known as the Maharaj Libel Case, the Bombay Court rejected the defense by the Vaishnav Maharaj that his sexual activities were sanctioned by his ‘religion’ and dismissed the case against the publisher Karsondas Mooljee of the publication Satya Prakash that published the account of Jadunathjee Maharaj, the chief of the Vaishnav sect in Bombay.

During much of the 19th century and possibly prior to that all kind of sexual practices were prevalent in India. According to Sir Richard Burton, General Charles Napier who was worried that his troops were patronizing the brothels in Karachi asked Burton to investigate the rumors about the brothels. Burton in his report concluded that there were three brothels in the port city of Karachi (now in Pakistan) “in which not women but boys and eunuchs… lay for hire”. He listed the prices and services that were offered to the customers. Burton noted in his report that the boys cost twice as much as the eunuchs because - “the scrotum of the unmutilated boy could be used as a kind of bridle for directing the movement of the animal”. The report was sent to Bombay and Napier was asked to dismiss young Richard Burton. This whole episode could be found described in numerous biographies of Sir Richard Burton. Burrton’s report was censored by the wounded sensibilities of the officials of the British Empire.

Burrton’s writings published during the 19th century throw much light on the sexual and homosexual practices around the world and perhaps that is what provoked the enactment of so-called prudish Victorian laws.

In the Terminal Essay of The Arabian Nights, 1885, Burton outlined his theory of a "Sotadic Zone" where homosexuality/pederasty flourished. According to Burton the Sotadic Zone included most of the Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, China, Japan, the islands of the South Seas and North and South America, the northern cost of Africa particularly Morocco, Tunis, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli.

Burton further notes, ‘Subsequent enquiries in many and distant countries enabled me to arrive at the following conclusions:

“Running eastward the Sotadic Zone narrows, embracing Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and Chaldaea, Afghanistan, Sind, the Punjab and Kashmir.

“Beyond India, I have stated, the Sotadic Zone begins to broaden out, embracing all China, Turkistan and Japan. The Chinese, as far as we know them in the great cities, are omnivorous and omnifutuentes: they are the chosen people of debauchery, and their systematic bestiality with ducks, goats, and other animals is equalled only by their pederasty...
According to Burton the Sotadic Zone extended to South Sea Islands and the New World where, at the time of its discovery, Sotadic love was, with some exceptions, an established racial institution.

“Passing over to America we find that the Sotadic Zone contains the whole hemisphere from Behring's Straits to Magellan's... In California the first missionaries found the same practice, the youths being called Joya... (Burton)

The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton: Fawn McKay Brodie, 1984.

Fawn McKay Brodie in her biography of Burton The Devil Drives: A Life of Sir Richard Burton - refers to twenty-five pederastic terms Burton has quoted in one of which we find, “A favourite Persian punishment for strangers caught in the harem or gynaeceum is to strip and throw them and expose them to the embraces of the grooms and Negro-slaves. I once asked a Shirazi how penetration was possible if the patient resisted with all the force of the sphincter muscle: he smiled and said, ‘Ah, we Persians know a trick to get over that; we apply a sharpened tent-peg to the crupper-bone (or coccyges) and knock till he opens.’”

On the subject of homosexuality in England and Europe Fawn McKay again quotes Burton (page 307) – “In our modern capitals, London, Berlin and Paris for instance, the Vice seems subject to periodical outbreaks. For many hears, also England sent her pederasts to Italy, and especially to Naples whence originate the term ‘Il vizio Inglese’” Berlin, “is not a whit better than her neighbours… Paris is by no means more depraved than Berlin and London; but, whilst the later hushes up the scandal, Frenchmen do not; hence we see a more copious account of it submitted to the public.”

Burton is further quoted as saying, “A friend knowledgeable in such matters had informed me that many distinguished men of the pat had been homosexuals; among them were Alexander, Julius Caesar, Napoleon, and Shakespeare. Among the monarchs he included Henri III, Louis XIII, Louis XVIII, Frederick the Great, Peter the Great, and William II of Holland”. Burton does not cite any evidence to substantiate his observations about the European and Russian royalty and rulers.

The above gives us a fairly good account about homosexual practices during the Victorian period and the prevailing moral attitudes across the world including India.

In the summer of 2003, India witnessed its first Gay Pride parade in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) when several dozen activists, waving rainbow colored flags marched in the city streets.

There are many gay and lesbian groups and organizations in India. Some of the leading ones include HUMRAHI (meaning fellow traveler) is an organization for gay and bisexual men. It is based in Delhi. It has been active since 1997. Among other such organizations include SANGINI (meaning a female friend), AANCHAL (Aanchal means the sheltering folds of a woman's saree) Aanchal was the first help line solely for lesbian and bisexual women in Mumbai, India. In Aanchal, the women who were isolated and fearful of others discovering their sexuality have found a safe place to interact with like-minded women. There is also a group in Delhi, India called Campaign for Lesbian Rights (CALERI). It is an activist collective working for lesbian and bisexual women's rights.

Gay websites and hangouts have proliferated, especially in the capital New Delhi and the southern city of Bombay. During the decade of 1994 to 2005 the groups working on gay issues have grown from only two in 1994 to nearly one hundred in 2005 the last year for which the figures are available. The number of gay and lesbian organization is probably much higher than one hundred of a few years ago.

In a survey done on Indian males by popular magazine INDIA TODAY, the number of Indian men having had homosexual experience at a whopping 37%. Many social critics and commentators have shown skepticism about the survey conducted by India Today. If the above survey were correct then every third person in India would be gay or a lesbian. Even if one accepts the conservative estimate of 5 per cent of the India’s population is gay or lesbian, considering the population of over a billion people, the number of gay and lesbian people is very large.

In this country (U.S.A) there is one major organization devoted to Asian and South East Asian community’s gay and lesbian members. It is called TRIKON.

China lifted its ban on gay sex in 1997. Besides China, Brazil and Russia too retired the law long ago. Nepal’s Supreme Court in 2007 ordered its government to scrap laws that discriminate against homosexuals.

Elsewhere in the world, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and Kazakhstan in Asia; South Africa, Chad, Congo, and Madagascar in Africa; Peru, Chile, Columbia and Bolivia have decriminalized homosexual practices. The 27-nation European Union has of course been at the vanguard of the movement to recognize the rights of LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans genders).

France legalized homosexuality way back in 1791, after the revolution. England lifted the ban in 1967. And now India has joined the major nations of the world and decriminalized homosexual behavior.

India, welcome to the new world order!

* * * * *

1) Sources: Kama Sutra, Sir Richard Burrton’s translation, Manu Smriti or The Laws of Manu – Sir William Jones translation - from my personal collection.

2) Spellings in the quotes are kept as in original.

Part II AIDS and HIV in India - tomorrow

Why Are Asian American Executives Scarce?

2009-07-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday July 15, 2009, Asian Diversity/Asianlife Magazine issue # 132, July 15, 2009

Why Are Asian American Executives Scarce?

Dan Woog

She points out that IBM is one of the few US companies with enough Asian American executives to form this type of support network. The population is over represented in certain industries, particularly technology. According to Goldsea.com, an Asian American Web site, Asian Americans make up 60 percent of Silicon Valley’s professional and technical workforce and 28 percent of enrollment at the top 20 business schools. Yet eagerness and education do not necessarily pave the way to the top in any industry. Asian Americans account for only 1.5 percent of top executives at Fortune 1000 firms, according to the site.

So how can ambitious Asian Americans overcome obstacles to the executive suite? Insiders like Akutagawa say it’s important to recognize the multifaceted nature of the problem and get both individuals and companies to change the way they operate without forsaking culture or the bottom line.

Reasons for the Executive Shortage

Akutagawa cites several reasons for the scant number of top Asian American executives, beginning with stereotypes and perceptions. “It goes back to the model-minority myth of the ’60s, when we were seen as studying hard, working hard and never complaining,” she says. “In fact, at the entry level, a lot of us do that. We were raised to not rock the boat or question authority. Part of leadership is standing up for what’s right. When we sit quietly in meetings, others may see us as followers or think we lack knowledge or insight.”

Socioeconomic conditions and family backgrounds also play a role. Akutagawa says that first or second-generation Asian Americans may have no role models of success in large corporations. Recent immigrants from affluent families may have those models and can hit the ground running, even if their English may not be as strong as those who were born here.

But blame does not rest solely on Asian Americans’ shoulders. There is a pipeline of talent in large companies that is eager to advance, says Ivan Fong, executive vice president and chief legal officer of Cardinal Health Inc. But, unfortunately, there are leaks along that pipeline.

What Companies Can Do

Companies must recognize what is happening, Akutagawa says. “They bear responsibility for building a pipeline of qualified and prepared employees who can compete for top positions. They have to ensure they have a diverse pool of candidates. That means encouraging people to get broad exposure through rotational jobs, recruiting them for the executive track and going back to find people they may have missed in their first search.”

Some companies already do this. Akutagawa singled out “those who are global competitors or recognize changing demographics. They realize their customer base is evolving and that the next generation of executives won’t look like the white men they’re replacing.”

Right now, anecdotal evidence shows Asian Americans rising fastest at technology companies. That may stem from the stereotypes that Asian Americans are good at science and math, and fluency in English is not as important in those areas.

What Would-Be Execs Should Do

Fong says there are things Asian Americans can do to help their chances of getting an office in the executive suite. Immigrants who are sensitive about their accents may seem even more reserved than they are. He encourages mid-level managers to speak up more in meetings, and learn about popular culture and sports. Casual conversation about those topics is important at senior levels, he notes. So is image and exposure to those in a position to promote.

Akutagawa advises Asian Americans in all fields that “to be successful in the executive suite, we shouldn’t give up our culture and values. But we have to recognize the skills needed to be an effective leader. We have to learn to speak up and be noticed, even if it’s just to point out that we work well collaboratively.”

Asian Americans: The Model-Minority Myth

2009-07-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Asian Diversity/Asianlife Magazine issue # 132, July 15, 2009

From Asianlife.com
Jane Hyun

"Asian Americans are good in technical fields, but are not good managers."

"Asian Americans are doing just fine; they don't need any help."

"Asian Americans are America's success story."

Even in the age of multiculturalism and political correctness, many people still believe these statements about Asian Americans. The model-minority myth is the assumption that Asian Americans have overcome all barriers to success in the US, and implies they make up an intelligent, hard-working minority group that has achieved the American Dream. Unfortunately, these depictions aren't always the case, and they have created unrealistic expectations many Asian Americans simply cannot live up to in work, academic and social settings. For every Asian American who fits the model-minority standard, there are others who are struggling to survive financially. As with any minority group, Asian Americans come from all socioeconomic backgrounds. A Vietnamese immigrant in urban Chicago shares little in common with the second generation Taiwanese American who was raised in a midwestern suburb speaking only English in the home.

Outside the Model Myth

Tom Hoang*, a 26-year-old Vietnamese American, has never felt like a model minority. His family has always struggled financially, and even now, he helps support his parents, who speak little English and are too elderly to work. He never went to college -- breaking another Asian American stereotype -- and currently works as a manager of a hardware store. “I never lived up to what my non-Asian American teachers and friends expected of me,” he says. “While I'm pretty happy with my career, as an Asian who hasn't lived up to others' expectations, I often feel alienated.”
Even Positive Stereotypes Can Hurt

The myth can also hurt professionals in work settings (http://diversity.monster.com/articles/positivebias). Karen Chan*, a Chinese
American, had worked in the finance department of a midsize retail chain for seven years and was the controller for the last two. Last year, her new boss started making odd but casual remarks about her work and http://www.hrguru.com/training/articles/331-why-are-asian-american-executives-scarce ethnicity. “My boss would make comments like, ‘I can always count on you to get the budget right, because I know Asians are good with numbers,'” Chan says. Though on the surface his comments seemed harmless, other department heads thought of Chan as a finance expert and nothing else. “I actually majored in English, and when I chose finance as a career, it wasn't because I was a quantitative expert. I knew I had an eye for detail, and I appreciated the foundation finance would provide for a long-term career in business,” Chan adds. After a while, Chan decided to approach her boss over lunch. “At first, it was hard to believe my boss's comments were said to me in this day and age,” she says. “I knew he didn't mean to make the comments to deliberately hurt me, but I didn't want him to continue doing it. I may want to make a switch to operations or marketing, and my boss's comments were cornering me into a finance career within the firm.” After their initial discussion, they both agreed to continue to communicate about these slips and to discuss them as they occur.

Overcome Perceptions

As an Asian American professional, how do you combat misguided perceptions and better inform others about Asian Americans? Chan took the time to discuss how these perceptions were misguided (http://diversity.monster.com/articles/differences/) . Another way to help foster a culturally aware workplace is to become an active member of your corporate diversity program (/asam/articles/corpamerica/) , provided your company has such an organization. Make sure you're visible; join company subcommittees and task forces, thereby becoming a voice for Asian Americans in your firm.

*The subjects for this story requested that their names be changed or removed to protect their identities.

The purpose of this article is to both provide information and facilitate general dialogue about various employment-related topics. No legal advice is being given and no attorney-client relationship created. Please see the disclaimer.

(http://discussion.monster.com/disclaimer/) for further limitations and conditions.

India's Foreing Policy "Software" by Daniel Markey

2009-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

In a landmark paper titled, Developing India’s Foreign Policy "Software," Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, "outlines significant shortcomings in India’s foreign policy institutions that undermine the country’s capacity for ambitious and effective international action, and proposes steps that both New Delhi and Washington should take, assuming they aim to promote India’s rise as a great power."

The paper goes on to say:

India’s own foreign policy establishment hinders the country from achieving great-power status for four main reasons:

(1) The Indian Foreign Service is small, hobbled by its selection process and inadequate midcareer training, and tends not to make use of outside expertise;

(2) India’s think-tanks lack sufficient access to the information or resources required to conduct high-quality, policy-relevant scholarship;

(3) India’s public universities are poorly funded, highly regulated, and fail to provide world-class education in the social sciences and other fields related to foreign policy; and

(4) India’s media and private firms—leaders in debating the country’s foreign policy agenda—are not built to undertake sustained foreign policy research or training.

For India to achieve great-power status, a number of improvements to its foreign policy software will be required:

• expand, reform, pay, and train the Indian Foreign Service to attract and retain high-caliber officers

• encourage the growth of world-class social science research and teaching schools in India through partnerships with private Indian and U.S. investors, universities, and foundations

• invest in Indian think-tanks and U.S.-India exchange programs that build capacity for foreign policy research

• bring non-career officers into the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and other parts of the foreign policy establishment as term-limited fellows to improve outside understanding of the policy process

• support the efforts of Indian researchers to maximize public access to material related to the history of India’s foreign policy by way of the 2005 Right to Information Act.

To read an executive summary as well as the full 24 page report, please log on to http://usindiafriendship.net/ and turn to the top left hand corner of the page.

Beware of this Telephone Scam

2009-07-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

A reader has forwarded the following message. Do verify the authenticiy of this message independently.

90# on your telephone

I dialed '0' and asked the operator who confirmed that this was correct
so please pass it on . . (l also checked out Snopes.com..this is true,
and also applies to cell phones!)

PASS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW

I received a telephone call last evening from an individual identifying
himself as an AT&T Service Technician (could also be Telus) who was
conducting a test on the telephone lines. He stated that to complete the
test I should touch nine(9), zero(0), the pound sign (#), and then hang
up. Luckily, I was suspicious and refused.
=0 A
Upon contacting the telephone company, I was informed that by pushing
90#, y ou give the requesting individual full access to your telephone
line, which enables them to place long distance calls billed to your
home phone number.

I was further informed that this scam has been originating from many local jails/prisons

DO NOT press 90# for ANYONE.

The GTE Security Department requested that I share this information with
EVERYONE I KNOW.

After checking with Verizon they also said it was true, so do not dial
90# for anyone

Whimsy: What is it about the word UP?

2009-07-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

That little 2-letter "UP"

When in doubt, Look up -

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that's probably true of many languages.)

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v]…

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election, and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house, and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP, because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning, but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

Know about the proper uses of UP by looking up the word UP in the dictionary.
In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP ,

for now ........ my time is UP, so time to shut UP!

Oh...one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?

U P ! ! !

Don't screw up. Send this on to everyone you look up in your address book.

Now I'll hush up.