Posts Tagged ‘India’

“Twice-Removed”

// January 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // Canada

I think a lot about this somewhat forced migration–first from India to Fiji on indenture ships and then from Fiji to the United States by modern aircrafts. There is a real crisis of identity and belonging.

I had an epiphany yesterday that we have been working really hard to change “twice-removed” into “an opportunity to start twice-over.” As Indian kids, we are taught to make the best of every opportunity and a lot of us do just that. The problem is that I cannot find a reason that we had to start “twice over.” I have no idea how my life would have been in India for my great-great grandparents and I have no clue why my parents left Fiji. So “twice-removed” is “twice-removed without reasonable cause.” And that may be the root of all my anger and frustration. And pain.

All my life, we’ve been told to get out of countries where we made our homes. I grew up hearing about how Uganda removed Indians only to experience something similar in Fiji. I hope I get third-time lucky because this time there is definitely a reason: I would no longer need to struggle to make sense of a life and existence I did not choose.

And I can already see my PhD dissertation topic — Postcolonial Indian Disaporic Identities in ____________. I am excited and content with life.

Paper: The Construction of Indian-Hindu nationalism and Implications of India’s Future as a Postcolonial State

// October 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // Desi-Indian, Political Theory

This paper is a critique of International Relations and an approach to the question of India using an alternative nationalism model. Specifically, this is a Subaltern Studies approach to doing International Relations, which serves the purpose of discarding the notion of India as a homogeneous state unit and elaborating on the contestations involved for the existence of a post-colonial state such as India, as an ‘Other’ in a colonial order.

Quote from the paper:

We cannot speak about the need for nuclear non-proliferation without realizing the global coloniality behind it and why nation-states would go against the global norm to define a place for themselves in the global order. We cannot speak about development without realizing the colonial nature of global economic governance. A subaltern perspective, doing history and international relations from below, studying meanings and claims, allows us to explore these issues outside of the limited scope of existing IR theories.

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Changing Homophobic Attitudes in India

// September 12th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // All things LGBT, Desi-Indian

A recent State of the Nation 2009 CNN-IBN survey revealed quite a homophobic India. As many as 73% Indians feel homosexuality should be considered illegal while 83% felt that homosexuality is not part of Indian culture and 90% of Indians won’t give their house on rent to a gay or lesbian couple.

Watch the survey results here:

Gautam Bhan quite positively reflects that attitudes cannot be freeze-framed because they keep changing. Five years ago, he wouldn’t even be allowed to give his opinion on that platform. So some progress is definitely evident.

In light of these changing attitudes, Hindustan Times (Times Nows) is taking the lead on opening minds in advertisements which literally hits homophobia on the head. One of them goes like this: two friends are sitting in a cafe when one of them spots a gay male couple holding hands and nudges his friend, making fun of them. The friend rolls up the newspaper and hits him on the head instead. And he shuts up. It’s simply a short and sweet ad spot from Times Now about making a difference and recruiting a younger audience.Video here.

Alas, the message hasn’t reached the vernacular presses yet. Times Now–an English channel–probably has a better reach in the urban and metropolitan areas, where attitudes towards homosexuality are more likely to be liberal. But, it is the most watched English channel in India and for Times Now to take this step forward speaks volumes for the progress queers are making in India.

It’s the small steps that build a movement.

Morons of the Week: Homophobic Religious Leaders in India

// July 5th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // All things LGBT, Desi-Indian, Moron of the Week

On the heels of the Section 377 repeal in India, some faith-based leaders cannot hold in their hatred and discontent. The Times of India reports:

Leaders of faith across the spectrum are appalled — albeit to varying degrees — by the judgment. While Reverend Dominic Emmanuel, spokesperson of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, said the Catholic church has nothing against gays per se, he stressed, ‘‘We strongly believe that sex between same sex partners is immoral, unnatural and unethical.’’

His counterpart in Mumbai, Rev. Tony Charanghat, agreed, saying, ‘‘While homosexuals have to be treated with respect, homosexuality
can’t be equated with heterosexuality. The nature of sex should be complementary to life, which is God’s design.’’

In fact, Mumbai’s Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) circulated mass SMSs last week appealing to Catholics to protest against the move to legalize homosexuality. Now, with the verdict in favour of gays, CSF will appeal against the judgment. ‘‘We protest on both, health and religious grounds,’’ says Joseph Dias, CSF general secretary.

‘‘We have statistics to prove that a large number of HIV cases are gay, and this verdict may lead to an AIDS epidemic of sorts,’’ Dias added.

Yoga teacher Swami Ramdev minced no words. ‘‘Do the people behind this verdict consider homosexuality natural? Is it something they will themselves do? If our parents had been gays, would we have been born? Freedom doesn’t mean licence. Our family system is the only ideal we can show to the world. Sadly, this judgment will end up corrupting it. I will be part of every protest against the judgment.’’

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Drawing Lines in the Immigration Debate

// May 30th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Immigration, Videos

There comes a point in the U.S. immigration debate when I really question what ‘camp’ can I really fit under. It happens when advocates of undocumented students scoff at the lives and dreams of legal immigrants to the United States and support restrictions rather than critical reforms to the H-1 B program.

Senator Durbin–a great advocate of the necessary DREAM Act for undocumented kids–is nonetheless also the chief sponsor of a bill to curb H-1 B visas. I can’t stand behind Durbin when he sponsors one group of immigrants over another.

The H-1 B system is badly in need of reform–the tethering of the Green Card immigrant to her/his employer oftentimes becomes a decade-long exploitation with no guarantee of permanent residency down the road. And with cutbacks in education spending in the United States,  including little incentive to pursue careers in technology, where do employers go to find workers? It is no wonder that big business supports the DREAM Act, which would give employers a small pool of productive immigrants to hire. Without the act, we are left with businesses outsourcing jobs to countries like India. We are certainly better off with a system that allows for greater skilled labor migration to this country because immigration is no zero sum game. The presence of skilled immigrants has greatly benefited this country and enriched the lives of American-born citizens.

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Notes for Kal Penn in the White House

// April 7th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Desi-Indian, DesiPundit

Kumar is finally working with House after all, only it is the White House.

Whose Kumar? Does Kal Penn ring a bell? Remember the confused Gogol Ganguli of The Namesake? The pot-smoking Kumar from Harold and Kumar? The young Indian-American House intern? Well, he will be working with the White House now.

Penn, 31, will become associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison, administration officials confirmed Tuesday. The Indian-American film star will be an emissary to the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities, along with arts and entertainment groups.

The Rise of Taj gets a whole new meaning.

I thought this was a belated April Fool’s joke. Well, it is not. Obama is certainly playing his cards and reaching out to the young ‘desi’ community.

We can spend an entire post analyzing ‘Why Kal Penn‘ as a White House ambassador for the South-East Asian and Pacific Islander communities and question his credentials, or we can start giving our list of concerns. The latter probably seems more useful.

Mr. Penn,

I have been a huge fan since American Desi. You certainly have some talent there.

I have three major issues of concern.

First, immigration reform. There is a huge stigma in our communities and a big divide between the rich and poor, the high-tech workers and more service-sector workers. There has to be a way to unite our communities around immigration reform. We need some protective provisions for our H-1 B workers while also passing policies like the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform so 12 million people can be regularized, pay taxes and not be abused by scrupulous employers. Too many foreign and undocumented students graduate from schools and universities only to have their potential wasted and our investments squandered. Keeping our undocumented population underground and breeding a permanent underclass of undocumented youth helps no one.

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SlumDog Millionaire – Those Foreign Aliens Are Taking Our Oscars Too!

// February 22nd, 2009 // 12 Comments » // Desi-Indian, DesiPundit

“It felt like an Indian movie awards function”
-Anil Kapoor, Indian actor

Jai Ho to Slumdog Millionaire! And Smile Pinky!

My Dad doesn’t do Oscar night. He says it is for the elitist, rich, snobby white people. But tonight he was pleasantly surprised.

A horde of Indian invaders and their British allies on tourist visas took home the coveted and prized Oscars as the world watched. One in particular, A R Rahman, dazzled and charmed everyone with his musical genius while also speaking sentences in Tamil. This is America, English-only!!

Obviously the title is a dig at nativists and xenophobes alike who are probably outraged at all the non-English singing and dancing at the Oscars, as well as the foreigners (brown people especially) getting awards. And they may not even be taxed!!

It totally deserved it! It’s like the little film that could…YAY!
- Lucy Ogbu

The Oscars are the ‘ultimate’ in terms of awards, and while that is as North-Atlantic-hegemony centric as it gets, when small movies like SlumDog Millionaire break into the big leagues, it is in a small way, counter-hegemonic for the entertainment world. It is a reply to Hollywood’s long rejection of Bollywood ‘musicals,’ as everyone seems to be dancing to Jai Ho.

Sure, it took a British director to make a movie on an ‘Indian subject’ to get Oscars for Indian technicians who have been doing superior work for decades (i.e. Gulzar, A R Rahman, Pookutty). Slumdog Millionaire is nowhere near the A-list of Bollywood movies given it’s simple tried-and-tested theme of love over money. And this isn’t A R Rahman or Gulzaar’s best work. At the same time, it is heartening to see these musical greats finally getting international recognition for what is ultimately an Indian movie. However, THAT should not be a marker for success. AR Rahman doesn’t need Hollywood; Hollywood needs him.

Real change would mean not leveraging the credibility of a movie or work of art on North Atlantic-centric, corporate award ceremonies. Why are the Oscars more noteworthy than the Filmfare Awards that are held by the biggest movie industry in the world?

Congratulations nonetheless, to Slumdog Millionaire and to every Indian that considers this their movie.

Morons of the Week: Pramod Mutalik and the Shri Ram Sena (‘The Indian Taliban’)

// February 1st, 2009 // 9 Comments » // Desi-Indian, DesiPundit, Moron of the Week, Videos

President Obama, please don’t close Gitmo! We may have found the perfect candidates for that place.

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Someone find me the Hindu scripture that says women should be molested and assaulted brutally for drinking or visiting a pub. Jayanth Kodkani of Times of India is right on mark with his analysis of the attacks as less to do with religion or a defense of Indian culture and more to do with a lumpenization of politics:

The arguments put forth by the leaders of the Mangalore attack show that the new agenda is lumpenisation — of assaulting urban youth on the pretext of upholding a self-designed code of “Indianism”. That such socially-regressive thought infringes on cultural freedom is not their concern at all. Ironical, indeed too, that the recruits of these “strike forces” are young men in their early twenties.

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/2542/women4288184qh4.jpg

(Courtesy: Times of India)

These useless ‘Hindu’ zealots are now out on bail without repent and promising to wreck more terror on the women in Mangalore, while everyone with some political stake in the issue is trying to milk it for their cause–The BJP is back-tracking and distancing itself from its Hindu nationalist elements while the Congress party is trying to pin this on the BJP given that Karnataka is a BJP-run state where these fools run rampant. Whatever the outcome, the victims of these deplorable attacks and other acts of terrorism by the hoodlum Shri Ram Sena, must receive justice.

A vast majority of India is secular and obviously outraged by the attacks while students have taken to the streets. Before India takes action and points to terrorists in other countries, maybe it should root out the terrorists living and residing within its borders.

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