A genetically modified version of the baingan a.k.a brinjal a.k.a eggplant is at the center of a fascinating debate in India. [Time]
The brinjal in question is no ordinary vegetable: it’s full name is Bt brinjal, whose DNA scientists have fortified with a gene that kills a range of common pests. Its creators say the genetically modified vegetable will increase farm yields and bring a less pesticide-laden vegetable to Indian dining tables, where the fiery brinjal-laden baingan bharta enjoys cult status.
However, project baingan ran into a familiar buzzkill – politicians and …

60 years ago, when the constitution of India was adopted, our freedom fighters hardly expected the unity to remain fragile 60 years later. We stand united in our love for ‘miley sur mera tumara’ for it’s star value and…wait! Before I can finish my latest news on our unity, there were a few interruptions, mostly controversies this video generated. But, watch the video first…

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Now back to the latest news, (only 10 or 20 min old) depending on whether you watched the second part of the video or not.
Raj Thackeray condemned …

Savita, every desi guy’s favorite bhabhi, has become a de-facto personification of sorts against the arbitrary censorship standards of the Indian government. [WSJ]
“I’m going to take a shower! You should also change out of those wet clothes,” she greeted a neighbor in a November episode, for example. As expected, the two end up together in the shower. The illustrations are explicit, the dialogue laughably simple: “Oh that feels so…” or “Oh I’m going to…”
Now, some random Mahila mandal in India felt so threatened by this brilliant piece of anti-feminine literary …

Desi ishtyle. [BBC]
The Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trusts (HLFPPT) had noble intentions when it rolled out around 3000 condom vending machines in Mumbai.
Over 3,000 condom vending machines have been installed in the city as a part of an HIV Aids prevention programme.
These machines are installed in areas where high risk people like truck drivers are likely to visit.
One of the guidelines is that a person should be able to procure one within 15 minutes. It is not easy to get people to use to condoms and take them from …

Rediff reports:
Obama’s Diwali celebration upsets Indian-American community.
Here’s the back story – ex-president Bush started the practice of hosting a Diwali event since 2003, courtesy request of the Indian-American community and it’s been a practice ever since. Some of the events have been full fledged and upto two hours long, while some, like last year’s,  have been less flashy.
While the article about the first Obama-era Diwali, quoted above, points out reasons why Indian Americans are upset (mostly elderly immigrant Indians), the rest of the article quotes two second generation desis – …

Turns out Obama heckler, Joe “You Lie” Wilson, is an Indo-phile of sorts. [DNA] [Y!]

When it comes to Wilson’s India connections, the clichés abound….
he had South Asian friends, ….
Wilson, who recounts positive experiences with South Asians as a child, was formerly co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.
… promoted Diwali, …
He co-sponsored a bill — approved in 2007 in a far quieter vote than Tuesday’s reprimand against him — that recognized the religious significance of the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali.
… supported the Indo-US nuclear pact, …
Wilson was …

It is a truth universally acknowledged in India that a politician bereft of an issue to express his indignation over, would concoct one out of thin air. The moment such a concoction is introduced to the mango citizens (aam janta if you are wondering), the Indian news-media congregates to take a swig out of the barrel and proceeds to get high.

This familiar scene is playing out currently in India. In what has to be the most WTF evoking “It happens only in India” type occurrences that I have seen since moving back home, an innocuous exchange on Twitter (see image below) between a journalist and the most famous Indian recipient of the Colbert Bump in dominating newsprint and airwaves. It has politicians jostling among themselves to express their displeasure and the media, not one to be left behind, has been fanning the flames mentioning twits and twats every minute of the day for the past 24 hours and counting.

CNN International has this curious story on the prevalent fairness cream craze in India. [CNN]
Curious because CNN treats an age old social issue like it’s a new fad. Basically the article is a segue into comments by Indian Member of Parliament, Brinda Karat, who labeled the concept behind such creams “racist”.
“Basically if you need a job you have to have white skin. If you want a good partner, a companion you need white skin and you always seem to get it once you’ve used the fairness cream. Basically I …

This is a real spirited performance. What’s especially touching about this piece is that almost all the performers in this group are daily wage brick kiln workers, from Berhampur, Orissa.  Typically Indian daily wage workers live on anywhere between 40 Rupees to 60 Rupees a day, according to the Indian govt. stats in 2003-2004. (Roughly earning somewhere between 82 cents – $1.25 a day), with men earning more than women and children for the same job.
The physically challenged performers put up a great show too, and the choreography and the …

“A fool and his money are soon parted.”
Thomas Tusser (English Farmer and Writer 1524-1580)
Authorities in the desi-centric town of Leicester, England, are cracking down on tantriks, babas and their likes. [TOI] (Sidhu via email)
Authorities in the east Midlands town of Leicester, better known as ‘Little India’, have announced a campaign against such ‘babas’ and ‘tantriks’, most of whom have origins in the Indian sub-continent. Deputy mayor Manjula Sood said: “I have heard of people being asked for 500 pounds and more for prayers or talismans. They think a curse will …

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 …

That’s not a misprint. There are indeed African tribes in India. [BBC 1] [BBC 2]
Long before the first slave ships started supplying labour to the cotton plantations of the American south, and many centuries before the first Africans were brought ashore to the sugar estates of Brazil and the Caribbean, Africans were being sold as slave-soldiers for India’s princely states.

img: via BBC

People in the western states of India like Gujarat and Karnataka are probably familiar with the Siddi tribes in remote areas of those states. Students of Indian history …

People in a little village in Karnataka, India, are up to their tricks again, dropping toddlers off the roof of a religious establishment. We blogged about this earlier
, and I stand by my point. This is a silly superstition, which has no place in this day and age, and no, a blanket “culture” argument does not count. This ritual is nothing but reckless endangerment of unwilling children. In an ironic twist to this tale, in a rare show of unity and relgious harmony both Hindus and Muslims indulge in this …

The Roma Gypsies may very well turn out to be the first Indian immigrants to the West.
And what a journey it has been.
Historians agree that the Roma’s origins lie in north-west India and that their journey towards Europe started between the 3rd and 7th Centuries AD – a massive migration prompted by timeless reasons: conflicts, instability and the seeking of a better life in big cities such as Tehran, Baghdad and, later on, Constantinople.
Consisting of largely manual laborers and entertainers, they moved to the Middle East and from there to …

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 …

The Sri Lankan government arrested a famous astrologer who predicted that the president will be ejected from office. [BBC]
Chandrasiri Bandara announced last week that the government would flounder in September and October because of political and economic problems.
Police told the AP news agency that Mr Bandara told an opposition meeting that the prime minister would take over as president on 9 September and the opposition leader would become prime minister.
He was arrested on Wednesday night to investigate the basis of his prediction, police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera said.
Investigating the basis of …

Walmart’s first store in India will be a wholesale store more along the lines of SAMS Club, largely targetted at wholesale buyers, aka, businesses and establishments. [Time]
Wal-Mart’s debut outlet, which will open in the city of Amritsar in northern India later this month, is a wholesale-only operation that will sell mainly to vegetable vendors, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and other companies.
Largely to bypass India’s restrictive commercial laws and to keep a low profile from politicians and activists, Walmart won’t even go by it’s own name. The store will be called “BestPrice …

Happy Fathers Day to all our readers, particularly to those who are fathers. On the occasion of Father’s Day comes this story about single men (straight or otherwise) using surrogacy as a means for parenthood. [TOI]
Rafa, a 38-year old Spanish teacher, recently celebrated the birth of his twin boys whom he fathered through artificial reproduction and a surrogate mother. The woman delivered Rafa’s twins in Anand.
The backdrop to this story is the fact that Rafa was a single male who had no intention of getting married or getting into a …

Shakespearean love tragedies are nothing new to the Indian psyche, a society in which non-traditional marriages were frowned upon. Numerous Bollywood and regional language movies have used Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet combined with lilting melodies as a sure shot formula for box-office success. The sad part as evidenced by this story is that such unions still are taboo in large sections of society, particularly Hindu-Muslim unions. [BBC]
Two star-crossed lovers committed suicide after the local village council, or panchayat, ordered them to annul their marriage or face death.
Amreen was Muslim and …

As things stand, socially, culturally and numerically, it’s a daunting task for most single Indian males to find sex in real life. Then you have Hindu nationalists and a veritable army of moral police who want to ban sex from the media. Now we have Microsoft doing the ultimate KLPD by denying sex on the last bastion of lonely desi males, Al Gore’s Internet.