Automobiles:Top 5 of all time

Looks like you are new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!In reverse order, and yes, there is a shade of desi’ness to this: [link]
5. Ford Model T
“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black” - Henry Ford […]

Uber Malarial Video: Desi kid recites all US capitals

Check out this desi kid who recites the capitals of most US States. Ok not all, he slips up once, on Kentucky, and gets some help from the guy holding the camera, presumably his father. Slightly amusing, when his father repeats a state, Alabama, and the kid innocently, and slightly miffed, corrects him. FYI, the […]

Talk to the hand

The popular term from the 90s appears to be making a comeback, albeit in a different incarnation, courtesy a team of four students at Carnegie Mellon, two of whom are, you guessed it, desis. [Pittsburgh Post Gazette] (tip Karthik via email)
Talking handimg: via Post Gazette
It is a sensor-equipped glove, known as HandTalk , that can […]

Indian-American group sued for Sonia Gandhi ad

Last year, Indian-American members of a group named “Forum for Saving Gandhi’s Heritage”, published a full page $65,000 ad in the New York Times targeting Sonia Gandhi. [NDTV story] [the picture of the ad]
The ad was also followed by protests when Sonia and Rahul Gandhi visited the UN to participate in the International Non-Violence Day. […]

Partying with the poor

Millionaire Taj Chahal (younger brother of Gurbaksh Chahal who we covered here) celebrated his 29th birthday with a twist.He threw a catered dinner for 300 strangers at Martha’s Kitchen, a San Jose charity that serves meals to the homeless and working poor.(link)
Last year the Chahal brothers sold their latest start-up, BlueLithium, an advertising technology […]

The Gothamist discovers Kurkure

Joe DiStefano of the Gothamist, a New York City based blog, reviews a desi snack, Kurkure. [Gothamist reviews Kurkure]
“Crunchy Cheetos”, he calls themimg: via Gothamist
The word “Kurkure” means “crunchy” in Hindi, and not surprisingly the author compares kurkure to something Americans are more familiar with, (yuck) Cheetos. He proceeds to describe the various flavors, namely, […]

Jindal: Not running for VP

Jindal, at a National Press Club conference, has proclaimed point blank that he would turn down the offer for running for VP as McCain’s running mate, if and when it came. He said he would be concentrating on his job as Governor of Louisiana and cleaning up the political system there. [link]

Million Dollar Baba: 19 year old in India wins baseball pitching competition, to train in US

Rinku Singh, 19 year old son of an Indian truck driver, in India, has won the ‘Million Dollar Arm Hunt’, a talent event to find the fastest baseball pitcher in India, and a trip to train in the US. [TOI Sports] (tip Runa via email)
Roger Clemens who?Make room for winner Rinku Bhramdeen Singh, left, and […]

Virginia Tech: One year later, Minal’s dream endures

Minal Panchal, was one of the students killed in the senseless massacres at Virginia Tech last year. A year later, her dream project still remains. [TOI] (tip Sidhu via email)
Her dream project was to create an environment for development of children, particularly for troubled youth.
Now, a year after young Minal Panchal was gunned down in […]

Rice shortage hits shortage, no need to panic, yet

After curry leaves on the West Coast, it’s the next big shortage to hit desi kitchens in the US is that of chaaval (rice). [1]
Rice shortages hit US desi communityimg: via CNN
Limits placed on sales of several kinds of rice by Wal-Mart Stores Inc’s (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Sam’s Club warehouse division are meant to […]

Penn Masala rocks the vote during PA primaries

Remember Penn Masala from the movie “American Desi” and the hilarious parody song “Show me the meaning of being desi”? Members of this world’s first Hindi a capella group are working on the U. Penn campus to increase voter turnout during the Pennsylvania primary. [video via CNN-IBN]

Asok’s lost his pants

Our friendly neighborhood desi intern could be in trouble. And America waits with bated breath.
After coming back from the dead with a piece of All-American candy in him, it had been a relatively calm period in Asok Land.
But not any more. Yesterday, Asok was provoked into using some banned Dark Arts version of telekinesis. […]

WWYD: Colleague says “Indo-China war will solve world population problem”

What Would You Do….
if you were in reader X’s situation?
Writes reader X (identity not revealed for obvious reasons), one of our Über readers:
Could you please advice about something ?
One person (american of european descent) in my office told me today that:
Having a war between India and China would be great for world’s population…and then no […]

Law and Order: Bald Victims Unit

A Brooklyn Supreme court judge ruled that desi lawyer, Ravi Batra, can proceed with his $15 million libel suit against the creators of Law & Order. [link]
Batra is suing Law and Order for airing an episode featuring a desi character resembling him, a lawyer by the name of Ravi Patel, complete with bald head and […]

Friendly Reminder: Tax Day

“Certainty? In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Nearly 2 and a half centuries later, these words still ring true, more so now than ever. Friendly reminder to all our readers, today is April 15th which in USA is synonymous with tax day. If you haven’t done so, please take the […]

Desi doctors group to support McCain

There you have it. Indian American Physicians group to support McCain. [link]
How long before we have a “Desi Bloggers to support Obama/Hillary”? Wait a minute, we don’t have a desi bloggers association of any kind, or do we?

H1B applicants to be selected ….. randomly??

Remember the great H1b gold rush from last year? The number of applicants exceeded the allocated quota in less than 48 hours after the USCIS started taking applications. [Über Desi story from 2007]
This year is no different. [NYT]
USCIS had the proverbial application window open for 5 days and received nearly twice the number of applications […]

“The Love Guru” MySpace page

Like all underground promotional campaigns do, the movie “The Love Guru” has created it’s own Myspace Page.

Among other things listed on here:
Under Interests:

Movies:
Arranged Wedding Crashers”. “Meet the Fakirs“.
“A Fistful of Rupees“. “Police Academy 3″. Guttenbuuuuurg!
Under Details:
Orientation: Straight (into S but not M)
Body Type: Sassy, Classy, with a nice high Assy
Ethnicity: American
School: Tugginmypudha Ashram
Occupation: Guru/life guide/Bikini […]

Now serving: Halal Chinese & Halal KFC

KFCs in Dearborn, Michigan, serving Halal fried chicken (pictured left) and Chinese restaurants in Orlando, Florida (pictured right) serving Halal Kung-Pow chicken.

Snappy jawabs to stupid prashnas

( This is a compendium of the top 6 silly questions I have been asked and answers that I wished I had given.Inspired by MAD magazine’s “Snappy answers to stupid questions”)
1.Did you have an arranged marriage?
a. Yes, I was a child bride /groom at the age of 8
b. No, I accept the blame for it
c.No, […]

Deepak Chopra supports “The Love Guru”

Now it’s literally Deepak Chopra versus Rajan Zed. via Rediff (tip Runa)
DC takes on RZimg: via Rediff
The battle lines are drawn.Hindu chants of “Om” (”Aum” for the Orientalist westerners) chime in the background.It’s the clash of spiritualism and clergy.
Deepak Chopra has come out in support of the movie “The Love Guru” saying he is worried […]

The Hindoos are coming! (UPDATE)

The #1 Most popular story on CNN.com today is titled ” Is Mike Myers’ new film asking for trouble?” with sub-headings :
- Mike Myers’ new film, “The Love Guru,” raising concern among Hindus
-”Guru” concerns spiritual leader offered money to solve love affair
- Hindus wondering if film mocks rituals, or whether it’s all just good fun
Excited […]

Clinton’s $109 million includes desi donor

By now you’ve probably heard of the $109 million earnings of the Clintons since they left office in 2001, which some pundits predict could put the final nail in the coffin of a struggling Hillary Clinton campaign.
One the major donors of the Clintons’ fortune is InfoUSA founder, Vinod Gupta.
From TOI
An Indian-American technology entrepreneur, whose connections […]

17 Month OPT extension for F1 students (Update: Current Information is vague)

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has extended the ridiculously short OPT timeline for students on a F1 visa from 12 months to 29 months. [link] [Press Release] (Sai -> Karthik via email)
“This rule will enable businesses to attract and retain highly skilled foreign workers, giving U.S. companies a competitive advantage in the world economy,” said […]

Desi pitches for Obama on Oprah

Speaking of the desi love for Democrats, here’s a desi from Atlanta, GA, on Oprah’s show describing why she likes Barack Obama (tip Karthik via email). She even sings a catchy jingle “O….B….AMA, O….B….AMA”. Like Oprah says, she needs to work on the rhymes and lyrics, entertaining nonetheless. It’s catchy this “O….B….AMA, O….B….AMA”.

p.s. From the […]