I must admit – I have been sneering at the Winter Olympics a bit , because it seems to be a white-wash – if you get my (snow?) drift. Skiing , curling ,luges etc  do not seem to encourage diversity.
The US Figure skating team of Meryl Davis and Charlie White , defending US champs, placed second at the time of writing with this rollicking Bollywood routine and made me happy .I absolutely loved the costumes.
SeeBollywood routine via NBC.com
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I watched “My name is Khan” last night. Without spoilers, here are my impressions.
This is a Karan Johar movie and yet it seems to be Karan Johar all grown up. No group dances, Manish Malhotra costumes and very little glamor. I’ll say this : though the movie is too long, it still manages to be watchable and interesting through out. The movie’s protagonist is superbly played by Sharukh Khan . He plays a man with an autistic  disorder, on a mission to convince the President of USA that his name …

There has been a suspected terrorist bomb blast in Pune ,Maharashtra. The Authorities have announced that they suspect that the Lashkar -e-Taiba in cahoots with the Indian Mujaheedin is behind the blast. The blast killed eight and injured several others.It happened at the German Bakery , a popular hangout at Koregaon Park , near the Osho Ashram. The Bakery is especially popular amongst foreigners and there is speculation that that is why it was selected as the venue. Mumbai has been placed at high alert. ( Link1, Link2)

As per this report  in rediff.com, a recent memo dated January 8 from Donald Neufled ,Assistant Director Operations of USCIS specifies that the petitioner for the Visa should be present at the place of work. What one attorney terms as “overzealous interpretation” of the rule by immigration officials at Newark airport resulted in several Indian H1-B holders being deported.
Fifty to 80 percent of Indian H-1B visa holders come for a consulting company. Their companies will send them to client sites. The new rule stipulates that the petitioner of the visa should …

Don’t know if any of you even noticed – but I have been away – visiting the matrubhoomi for the last 3 -odd weeks. Some observations and impressions:
- Week 1 was spent visiting assorted relatives. I noticed that the decor in their houses can be divided into 2 categories Style A: Punjabi Barouque ( aka “The Tasselated ” because every freaking surface -sofa , antimacassar, lamp shades has tassels ) or Style B: Hindu Minimalist ( aka “The Venerated” because every available wall is covered with prints of various gods …

I watched HBO’s documentary “Terror in Mumbai” last week. ( link). the documentary is produced by Dan Reed ( who produced “Terror in Moscow” and directed “Closure”) and narrated by CNN anchor Mumbai – born Fareed Zakaria . Watching the documentary was not a very healthful experience for me – all the old feelings of anger came rushing back.
(image from :rediff.com)
The first shock was that the documentary features for the first time ever actual audio of conversations that happened between the handlers and the terrorists. That’s right – the …

So this lady goes to a dollar store and buys what she thinks is gift wrapping paper. Comes home and horrors! sees that the red and gold paper is covered with “swastikas”.The local press gets involved and the result is this.

(Image: from wesh.com)
Its pretty obvious that this was some cheap wrapping paper made in India or China and targeted to the Diwali gift market. Post -Diwali, the paper finds its way to the dollar store and creates a sensation. Not helping the situation is the Rabbi quoted in the article:
But …

Two articles I read this morning stayed with me the entire day.
The first was this uplifting ( sarcasm) headline “India at bottom in man-woman equality index: World Economic Forum” in the Times of India. India ranked a shameful 114 out of 134 developing countries , indexed in terms of man-woman equality. The gender gap is increasing – not the least because of an estimated 25 Million ” missing women ” in India.Missing because of female foeticide or abortion. On the list , India ranks behind Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri …

I am a horrible person. Evidently, all humanity has been leached from me. When I read this story from the “Times of India” all I could do is laugh until the tears came from my eyes.
According to defence spokesman Lt Col J S Brar, the two commanders dared to colonise a bear’s cave at Darwal Nar in Pir Panjal in Shopian and paid for it with their lives. For, late on Sunday night, as the two slept, the bear came calling.
“It attacked the armed militants and killed them on the …

Today’s San Francisco chronicle online pleasantly surprised me by posting this in their “Day in Pictures” feature! This is from the Mr.Singh International contest held in Amritsar, Punjab , India!

Happy Diwali to all our readers – whether you celebrate it or not!
Have a safe, prosperous and Happy new year!
May Goddess Lakshmi shower you with earthly wealth but not like these desis
Just in time for Diwali, comes the news of the busting of a high tech Insider trading ring. Alas, the ring-leaders seem to be exclusively Indian(h/t naveen) largely Indian.
Raj Rajaratnam, a hedge-fund manager whose net worth Forbes recently estimated at $1.3 billion, was accused of using inside information to make $25 million in illicit profits for Galleon Management, …

This is a post that I would rather not have written. It is one of those that is deeply uncomfortable and yet it must be written. Especially after the minor meltdown I had last week. Diepriye Kuku, an African American Phd Student at the Delhi School ofEconomics gives a searing and first hand account of the racism he faces daily in India in a piece entitled wincingly enough ” India is Racist, And Happy about it ” published in Outlook India. (link

Jon Stewart and Asif Mandvi hit this one out of the park! Please enjoy! (Click the “Read more” link to see the video)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c

Deep Space Naan

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes
Political Humor
Ron Paul Interview

Those of you who follow my sadly sporadic writing on this site probably know that I shy away from sharing any personal stuff. Today something happened. Something that has me wondering if I overreacted or if I did the right thing. I am going to let you judge.
Like many of our readers and like all my blog mates, I am a proud DBD. I was born and grew up in India. Nine years in the USA may have added Americanisms to my speech but my accent remains firmly Indian. I …

An Indian origin couple has been sentenced in Australia on manslaughter charges in connection with the death of their baby girl.
Thomas Sam, 42, a college lecturer in homoeopathy and his wife Manju, 37, of Sydney were found guilty of the most serious case of manslaughter by criminal negligence leading to the death of their nine-month-old daughter Gloria in May 2002.(link)
The father a practicing homeopath chose to treat his daughter with homeopathic medicines for a simple case of eczema, that deteriorated into a serious skin disorder that led to the child’s …

What is it with desis and weird world records? As a child, I would blush with shame for my countrymen who chose to break records like “longest fingernails”.
Meet Guiness Rishi , 67 proud holder of 4 Guiness Records . His latest endeavor: to get tattoos of every country on the planet on his body.
“I am tattooing my entire body including my private parts, but I am not sure which flag I will be sticking there. In the first phase, I believe that I can …

Its been a while since the slacker desi housekeeper had her say.
Summer is a time to relax- school is out, here in California at least the days are too beautiful to spend slaving over elaborate meals when  the outside beckons. I therefore present tried and tested super easy ways to put food on the table. This post is actually dedicated to those days when there is barely anything in the ‘fridge and you are feeling too damn lazy to go grocery shopping!
1. Desi homes often have left over rice.
Here are …

These days there is no good news in the morning papers at all.People are dying – young folks on the battle field somewhere across the ocean, 80s icons dropping dead , our state is on the verge of bankruptcy. the stock market has rendered my 401 K so irrelevant that I will need to work till I am a 150 years old – its a sad, sad way to start the day. My day begins badly and then I mosey over to office, where breakfast is usually a bowl of …

An attack on Indian students in Australia  – the latest in a string of such incidents- has left a 25 year old engineering student from Andhra Pradesh in critical condition in a Melbourne hospital.
Shravan Kumar, the 25-year-old student, is critical, said one of his close friends who had a narrow escape during that attack.
“Doctors are still unsure if Kumar will survive and if he does, he will lose his vision or memory”, Kumar’s friend, Srinivas Gandhi, said.(link)
The group of Indian students was attacked by a group of teenagers. In the …

A brawl in a Sikh Temple in Vienna ,Austria took an ugly turn. Armed men fought one another in the temple premises, ending up with at elast 11 people getting injured.
Witnesses said the fighting erupted between worshippers in a dispute over the sermon.Police said at least six men, one wielding a gun and the others knives, attacked the preacher. Other worshippers rushed to his aid, resulting in the melee
(link)
The brawl reportedly erupted when the attackers objected to the sermon, claiming the preacher insulted the holy book. The …