desi / india

The Ones Who Left

April 2, 2013

Nitin Sawhney tweets, “My dad – One of that generation who came to England with a few pence and a heart full of humility… took all the racist crap for our future.” These words fill me with love, sadness and anger, directed mainly at Sawhney’s father and mine. Why did these sweet, humble men put [...]

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Happy Deepavali

October 26, 2011

Apropos of the reason for this Hindu festival: Questions Lit Up, in which Pratap Bhanu Mehta takes on the Delhi University ban on teaching A.K. Ramanujan’s essay on the Ramayana and chides the Indian left and right for hijacking the culture for political gain. … The Right commits the mistake of assimilating all tradition to [...]

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I’m A Dirty, Dark Tamilian

August 16, 2011

Oh, she actually meant dirty. From IndiaTV: A US diplomat was caught in a row after her remarks of “dirty and dark” Tamilians, prompting the American consulate [in Chennai] to term them as “inappropriate”. “I was on a 24-hour train trip from Delhi to Orissa. But, after 72 hours, the train still did not reach [...]

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Mumbai Bombed Again

July 14, 2011

There’s a very high probability that all of you who read this blog know about the IED blasts across Mumbai yesterday that claimed 18 lives, injured many others and has understandably increased the stress levels of an already put-upon city. Just imagining a surviving Mumbaikar thinking “It could have been me or someone I love” [...]

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Ge(neal)ogist

June 20, 2011

While talking with my dad yesterday, he mentioned that now that both of his parents have passed, he often performs a Hindu ceremony called Amavasya Dharpanam in their and other ancestors’ honor. This ritual is conducted on the day of a new moon, and to keep a long explanation short, is the equivalent of the [...]

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Thai Poosam

January 20, 2011

  My mother’s family started and has sponsored the annual celebration of the Hindu festival Thai Poosam in the temple at Vadapalani since the late 1930s. It’s a great thing which I witnessed once – the hustle and bustle of religious activity over days, walking everywhere on the temple grounds and my parents, aunts, uncles [...]

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Downward Facing Derp

December 30, 2010

It was a cold evening in the American southwest. I pulled my favorite shawl around me a little tighter. A woman smiled at the shawl – a burnt-orange, paisley piece my mom picked up in India – and said, “I know why you wear that. It’s because of your religion.” “Actually, I wear it because [...]

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The Irish In India

October 4, 2010

Last post it was the Jews in India, now it’s the Irish. Aren’t Slumdog Millionaire, yoga pants and Deepak Chopra enough for you? Let my people go! D sent me a link to this Trinity College Dublin exhibition with the message, “Shoot! Ended yesterday!” I’m all about the accumulation of historic knowledge, but it’s just as [...]

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