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 …

I have spent an entire Thanksgiving weekend glued to the television and to Indian TV channels online watching the coverage of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. We at Uberdesi stopped updating our breaking news post on the attacks because a) It was just too difficult and b) there was so much unverified information out there that it seemed irresponsible to post it until things settled down.
It was difficult for anyone to watch the senseless carnage and the massacre of innocents. For those of us who had a relationship with …

Happy 10th birthday, stem cell research!
Stem-cells hit the headlines almost exactly 10 years ago. (link)
The first report that the human cells had been isolated and grown by scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison appeared in the journal Science, triggering a decade of fierce debate and great hope.
In 2001, President Bush passed an executive order banning executive order banning federal research funding for new human embryonic stem cell lines and effectively limiting funding to research on the 11-odd known lines at that point. Per today’s report, this is one …

Inspired by this piece in the San Francisco Chronicle , here is my list of “comfort ” food from the des (in no particular order) :
1. Pavvakai/Karela curry ( Bitter gourd curry ) made by my mom
2. Rajma -chawal ( Red beans and rice) made by my mom-in-law
3. Any kabab platter at the Bukhara restaurant in New Delhi
4. Berry Pulao at Cafe Britannia in Mumbai
5. The Vegetarian Thali at Rajdhani in Mumbai
6. Grilled seafood at the beachside restaurant …

Some time in 2003 I read an article that blew me away. Written by Neal Pollack, the title was a succinct “Just Shut Up” . In a wonderfully uncensored diatribe against the bedlam of pro and anti war voices that were peaking at that moment, Pollack says:
Nobody gives a shit what anti-war or pro-war writers think. Really. So shut up. That goes double for poets. Shut the hell up, poets. Everybody just shut up.
Pollack went on to smack down everybody. (Even our very own Arundhati Roy gets an honorable mention …

June has given way to July and what promises to be a long and hot summer. And I have had the dubious pleasure of watching a brutal, unforgiving presidential primary come to its end. Last time around , I was still a newbie , getting used to life in Amrika. This time I followed the news avidly. My earlier political experience was limited to the two elections that I got to vote in India. Democracy in India is fractured but alive. The multi-party system works overtime: political parties split and …

Much has been said about the Olympic torch relays and the fact that some people are calling for the torch bearers to boycott it to express solidarity with the Tibetans. I have a couple of things to say, things that seem to have been conveniently forgotten in all the politics and events of the past two weeks. And I will take the risk of being labeled heartless (and possibly leftist/communist etc., if the trolls get here).
I have constantly seen three stakeholders in this issue – the Chinese and the Tibetans …

Right then. Benazir’s back.
Not that this is particularly surprising. Most of Karachi, at least those parts of town where I spend my time, look as though they’ve been haemorrhaging red, black and green (the colours of the Pakistan People’s Party, of which BB is the leader). There are posters and banners everywhere, most with incredibly poor grammar and spelling, and all inevitably bearing images of at least two or more of the following:
1. Benazir Bhutto (Our Heroine);
2. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (The Executed Papa);
3. A random procession (i.e. …

No wireless Internet in this hospital room
I’m sure most NRIs, DBDs, ABDs – whatever you designation be, have come across numerous horror stories of health issues desi people encountered when they were on a short visit to India. I’ve been fairly lucky that I managed to dodge that bullet over the last 8 years. But the law of averages caught up bigtime this trip.
A few quick notes from my recent trip to an emergency room in India:

It is that time of the year. Real life has happened demanding a break of sorts in the world of blogging. Regulars probably noticed a slowdown in frequency of posts from me. Notch that down to a couple of factors – my upcoming annual trip to India and increased load at my workplace as a result of the former. Blogging@UberDesi will be business as usual courtesy Karthik, ANTi and gang.
Random bald kidimg: via BBC
Things to do for me over the next 3 weeks or so:
- Drive with mother to Hotlanta …

As New York City marks the sixth anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, I cannot help but reminisce of the moment I heard of this attack. I was a graduate student at Florida State University and my 8am class had gotten out early. Me and my buddies were hanging out at the food court having breakfast when reports of a plane crashing started flashing across the screens of the TVs in the food court. Initial speculations was that some idiots flying some small private plane …