Commentary
From Mumbai, NY
After coming to New York from Mumbai a year ago, I realized that I have lived here forever.
Shame Of A Nation
Unlike China, which showcased its economic and organizational prowess on the global stage by pulling off a spectacular Olympics, India was internationally humiliated by the ineptness and chaos that engulfed the Commonwealth Games.
Teed Off!
Magic markers and cardboard signs have a shot against spreadsheets and slick powerpoint presentations again.
Immortal Names
When I was growing up in Tennessee, names like Anderson, Baldwin or Caldwell were the norm during roll call in class. Once the teacher got somewhere to the mid-C’s, there’d be the inevitable pause; a squinting of the eyes … then they would give it a go.
Trivial Pursuits
America is reeling from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, but the Right is obsessed with the faux outrage over the construction of a Muslim cultural center two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center.
Red White And Desi
It was a funny thing being an Indian American in Paris. In America, I always considered myself Indian.
Voting Rights For NRIs
The government has proposed a bill in Parliament to amend Section 20 of the 1950 Representation of People’s Act.
Haley’s Comet
As more and more Indian Americans storm the citadels of political power behind Jindal and Haley, overcoming public prejudices against non Judaea Christian office seekers will be their next great challenge — and, hopefully, accomplishment.
A Pen-ny For Gandhi’s Thoughts
Montblanc’s marketing honchos have transported the Mahatma to a new level of corporate iconography
Wages Of Arrogance
The NRI wonder-boy with the golden touch ultimately fell victim to the most basic of human weaknesses.
Et Tu Tharoor?
Shashi Tharoor’s enduring legacy may well be scaling up the corruption standards of the “cattle class” to the Goldman Sachs stratosphere.
Illegally Coerced Surrender
There is no justification for the onerous fees, nor the retroactive application of the rules to surrender the Indian passport.
Say My Name
Part of me felt like a traitor. I felt like I was abandoning my Indian heritage. Like I was telling the world I was white. Or at least Latin.
Bipartisan Combat
It is time the Democrats abandoned the hand-to-hand combat of bipartisanship with the Republicans.
Why Should It Be Easy For Them?
Dr Vandana Shiva, ecofeminist activist and head of Navdanya, says traditional knowledge should be in the public domain, not a government monopolized library.
Corporate Thieves
The next time you hear music or movie studios whine about the hazards of pirated downloads by struggling college students, give them a lesson on the theft of medicinal products and seeds from Asia, Africa and Latin America by their corporate buddies, will you?
Fair and Ugly
Your skin tone could affect your income, your marriage and your prison sentence should you run afoul of the law. And that’s just the half of it.
Dark Shadows
We may still covet the “dark, tall and handsome” man, but “pretty, fair ladies” are all the rage for our liaisons, permanent or otherwise.
The Real Idiot
The makers of 3 Idiots square off against the author Chetan Bhagat whose book Five Point Someone inspired the movie.
Revenge of the Loonies
Our disappointment stems from the opportunities, unforeseen in early 2008, he has frittered away for major social and economic transformations of the country.
The Salahi Way
As we catalog the decade of the noughties, ring up a new contribution to our vocabulary.
The Day the Universe Changed
When one’s view of the universe changes, the universe itself effectively changes.
Winners And Losers
India can’t seem to break its bonds with its nationals,who by law are obligated to renounce their Indian citizenship when they swear a foreign allegiance
The Politicization Of Sachin Tendulkar?
An unusually pointed and forthright - and not entirely off-the-cuff - remark from the Little Master caused a near-riot and considerable heartburn in Mumbai's political circles.
Pitching for Sex!
A leaked secret dossier from the Indian cricket team’s conditioning staff prescribes good sex as a pre-requisite to good performance on the field. Any takers?
Electronic Vaudeville
Stories of war and peace, glory and tragedy, excess and desperation, are not told, because the media are engaged in electronic navel gazing
The Fading Cultures of India
The steady dhadak-dhadak of the moving train, the crisp Indian air making its way through the open window as we lay on our cots, and the ambiance from the dim red, blue, and green lights that clung to the ceilings made for a perfect trip with sound sleep every time.
Three Queers For India’s Judiciary
A trio of recent decisions from the country’s higher courts puts a nagging question-mark on the “progressive” reputation that its judiciary has acquired with the Delhi High Court’s July judgment decriminalizing gay sex.
Getting Past the Licks
Upwardly mobile resident Indians, who once eyed their non resident competition with a mix of envy and resentment, have traded the envy for snickering contempt.
Like Money For Chocolate
My aunt didn’t marry the man — some insignificant matter about him having no hair — and I was understandably crushed.
