We get tired of repeating the proven adage “India is a land of paradox”. Case in point [BBC]

Health officials in the Indian state of Rajasthan are launching a new campaign in an effort to reduce the high population growth in the area. They are encouraging men and women to volunteer for sterilisation, and in return are offering a car and other prizes for those who come forward.

Of course, the prizes are also in keeping with our “cost-conscious” nature”

Among the rewards on offer is the Indian-made Tata Nano – the world’s cheapest car.

While not along the lines of Sanjay Gandhi’s alleged forced sterilization program, there is still something Orwellian about the government bribing people to make changes to their reproductive organs, however well-intentioned it might be.

And why is this paradoxical? While Rajasthan is bribing people to sterilize themselves, across the country, our good ole’ friends the Khasi tribe were paying couples Rs. 1000 per child to produce more children.

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The Times of India has done it again. Having long abandoned any pretense of journalistic integrity, here is the latest rubbish from our favorite go – to desi paper.

Under the cringe inducing headline “ Study links lesbianism to career” ,   the TOI quotes a dubious study from un-named NGOs in Chandigarh that : ( I am not making this shit up – this is a direct quote!)

A study by two NGOs to understand the nature of lesbian behaviour in the city has found that most women take to this alternative sexuality while staying in hostels of educational institutions or working at call centres and marketing companies

Apart from personal choice, the reasons for these women’s (sic) turning lesbian were found to be an abusive childhood or being widowed or divorced.

There is zero mention of genetic predisposition and makes the whole issue of homosexuality sound like a lifestyle choice as opposed to a congenital orientation.

This sounds like it was dictated by the far right – defense of marriage act types in the US …

Anyways, I matched their “checklist” against my personal history and:

- Stayed at hostel of educational institution : Check

- Working at call centers or marketing companies : Check

- Abusive childhood : No

- Widowed or Divorced : No

Does this mean there is a 50 % chance I am going to play for the other team ? But, but …I love Bruce Willis ..so that can’t be true? Can it ? Can it?

Who writes this crap?

A desi guy proposes to his girlfriend in San Fran (via @supremus). One of the more original ones we’ve seen in a while. If anything, the trends of flash mobs seems to be inspired by traditional song and dance sequences from Bollywood movies, so desis popping “the question” in this manner shouldn’t come as a surprise. Thoughts?

Starting the New Year off with some good ole fashioned narrow-mindedness and prejudice, a family “catches” their daughter hanging out with a long-haired dude, who allegedly, is from a different community*. The parents are worried and a nosy younger dude suggests CommunityMatrimony.com because forcing their daughter to marry from the same community ensures a virtuous, reliable, good-character life mate, right? [video link @desinole via Twitter]

* Community in this instance, could stand for caste, sub-caste, “gothra”, clan, other sub-categories or combination thereof.

One of the “charms” of being an immigrant Indian in the USA is that you will inevitably be asked the “A-Question” as in : The Arranged Marriage question. This can range from the oblique “Do you believe in Arranged Marriages?” to the more frontal -assault ” Did you have an Arranged Marriage?”  (to which I am always tempted to respond ” No, it was quite chaotic really!”).  Its nice to remember that the Arranged Marriage phenomenon is not exclusively “desi”. I recently saw two really good movies that explore the insititution of arranged marriages in cultures other than South Asian.

In “Arranged”,  an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman strike up a friendship when they meet as teachers in a Brooklyn Public school. Each one faces the possibility of an  arranged marriage.  Zoe Lister Jones plays Rochel Meshenberg, an Orthodox Jew whose family enlsits a traditional matchmaker who produces one unsuitable groom after another. Frances Behnamoue plays Nasira Khalidi, a Muslim woman, who also is dealing with the possibility of an arranged marriage. This is a little gem of a movie where the insititution of arranged marriage is treated with dignity and respect. The story of  how these two forge a friendship and end up happily (and arrangedly) married makes for a charming tale, enlivened by some wonderful nuanced performances from both the leading ladies. Almost restores my faith in human nature to see how Jews and Muslims can be friends, regardless of how the world expects them to treat each other!

 The other movie I recommend is “Sabah -a Love Story”. This Canadian production is the story of Sabah, a 40 year old Syrian immigrant in Canada. She commits the cardinal sin of falling in love with Stephen ( played by the dishy Shawn Doyle- last seen in “Big Love” ) , a non -Muslim white ( amusingly referred to as “Ajnabee” by her Syrian family - that must be the equivalent of “firangi” ! ). She has to sneak around so that her brother does not find out. Meanwhile, her niece rebels against having an arranged marriage. Arsinee Khanjian plays the lead with luminous intensity. I found this movie to be absolutely charming and very romantic. Far better than the horrible crop of romcoms that Hollywood churns out today!

I think the common theme I liked in both these movies was that non-Western cultures were treated with respect, while making a muted plea for immigrants to open up a little to the freedoms that the Western world offers. I hope some of you enjoy watching my recommendations ( both are available on  Netflix). Do let me know via the comments if you agreed with them or not!