09.23 the swastika, a hijacked symbol

so i was reading some "fashion" blog this morning - rare for me - and came across a post blog called "zara swastika bag" that immediately caught my attention. as a girl who likes a good bag, i was a little excited to see it adorned with the ancient symbol of peace and prosperity.

i looked at the bag and noticed immediately the swastika symbol on the left side.

as i read the comments on the bag-blog, i recognize how the pain that the symbol would cause to jews in the west, where the bag was to be sold. but i was a little struck how nobody recognized that there are also hundreds of millions of indians, in particular hindus, buddhists, and jains live in the west as well. to this day, they still use the swastika for peace, prosperity and good luck.

in fact, the swastika was used all over the world, pre-dating christianity in europe, in native american tradition, and even as far back as the bronze age. only in the last 80 years has it come to mean something entirely different, all thanks to nazi propaganda.

but this "symbol hijacking" was no mistake. the nazis intentionally took an emblem that was used by non-germans on the most holy and celebratory occasions and turned it into an icon of racism and horror, obliterating or reversing its original meaning and turning the world against the people (evidently non-german people) who had been most known to use it in the first place.

in the west (and perhaps also among america-followers living in the east), the swastika's original beauty and true meaning will forever be marred by thoughts of the nazi regime, white supremacy, racism and the holocaust.

because of the commotion it caused - and to avoid the even more commotion it would have caused, zara, spanish retailer and the purchaser of the bag have pulled it before it hit stores.

chances are, the negative connotations of the swastika will be doomed to follow us for years to come.

ironically, the bag is kind of cute.

08.30 young, gifted and brown 6.0

wow i really needed a good laugh tonight.

i think i have that indian gene in me, the one that says, "vell, if yooou are feeeeling sad, then goh-to-the theeeatar and votch a filum!!!".

yeah, i seem to lose myself in youtube instead. i drown my sorrows in russell... he always comes through.

07.31 reintegration

i just found my old notebook from my trip to india... i wrote this while on my way back to canada... and reading it now just makes me want to go back!!

going to india was like removing the vaccuum seal.

ffffftp!

off it goes... and you breathe. you expand. you feel something in the air.

india touches. it is absorbed.

india... once known, will never leave you.
it's the muslim call to prayer before even the sun wakes
the flash of a woman's eyes as she mentally chastizes you for baring your calves
the smoke billowing from an offering to a god of mythic proportion
the poverty in the streets, the desire to earn a decent living, the need to survive
the constant yearning for something more grand, more meaningful than what you've got

india is like an eternal movement....
all set to a bollywood film soundtrack

you can leave, but india never leaves you.

07.14 clickety-click, marriage trick

ok... so i haven't posted in a long time... but there are reasons...

i work hard and i play hard... and then there is the thing about all the indian weddings to attend. they are 4-5 days long each... mehendi parties, sangeets, chundadi and other ceremonies, the weddings themselves (and it's very common to have two, especially to satisfy both families if it's an interfaith wedding), and receptions... thinking back to december 13th in india (there were 36,000 weddings in dehli that day!!) many of them were arranged.

i have told this to people before (they may still think i'm nuts, but) to me, arranged marriages have a bad rep.

probably because they are confounded with "forced marriages", where parents choose a partner for their child based purely on family connections, caste, class, and social mobility created through the match. the match is usually made before the kids turn 10 years old! when it's time, they get married. no excuses.

conversely, the "arranged marriage" is a lot more civilized: the match uses the same selection criteria but the kids are introduced to each another, spend time together and ultimately get to choose whether to marry each other or to "veto" each other! there is some major pressure there, but who lives without pressure?!

when i tell you i'm ok with arranged marriages, most of you think i'm koo-koo. but to explain: the idea is for the parents to make the best possible connection in terms of security and family ties for the family, for their children and their futures. i understand that. and.... in my personal example, i get along with my parents! i like them. we don't always see eye to eye on everything. but i know, if we lived in a culture where arranged marriages were the norm, given the choice, my parents would choose very well for me.

of course, i say this, hoping they aren't reading this post! at least i hope not!!

check this out! if only it could be this simple!



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06.24 nelly doing lata

this was my favourite song when i was a kid. i'd sing it *everywhere*...
it was a highly popular song by lata mangeshkar (she and asha bhosle are sisters) - just ask any indian person on the planet born after 1970 and they will know it. ok, except for the dunce in the first row in this video.

nelly does it very well, despite mixing up "baanayaa" (created) with "bhulayaa" (forgot) and only knowing the first couple of lines.

lyrics:
kabhii kabhii mere dil mein
khayaal aata hai
ki jaise tujhko banaaya
gaya hai mere liyee

my attempt at rhyming while translating...
sometimes the feeling from my heart
crosses through my mind
that you have been created
to only be mine


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06.03 khadi - the fabric of freedom

eight minute film that is worth every second... slow start but picks up suddenly.



ancient knowledge always amazes me...

06.02 take me to your thumbi

there's a delay on the audio...

05.27 of tiffins & telecoms

here's a lil excerpt from an e-mail to patrick on 01.13:

i got a chance to chat with a lunch delivery man the other day. these guys are incredible - deliver like 10,000 lunches each day. they get all the orders straight too. could you imagine if you had that kinda service in north america?

the tiffin men were incredible. patrick tells me it's their six sigma rating (fast and efficient). they were studied by multinational courier companies, who couldn't replicate their service levels. what's also interesting is their business model. each tiffin delivery man and each tiffin assembly woman is a shareholder in the company. it's in each employee's best interest to be efficient and exact. let's see if ups or fedex can match that.

it's because of cheap labour, and a huge workforce of largely poor and hungry which that india has been catapulting onto the world stage for the past few years in terms of business reach. arrey! national pride is lost to the savings from offshore labour. i once called air "canada" customer service, to get "rose" (aka 'rosina' from india) on the other end... not so canadian after all, eh? even the organization i work for was using a consultant who wanted us to outsource our fundraising calls!! i read in the times in india that two of the world's biggest companies: walmart and airtel (the world's largest telecom company) were signing a partnership.

but this progress comes with downsides and risks.

the economic divide is widening too fast. i was in a downtown mumbai dessert place with abbas one night. they wouldn't let a woman come in because she looked poor... just one of many times i witnessed bad class action. in most circumstances, a paying customer is always welcome. now india's rich (many of whom are not even indian) are getting richer, while the rest are left to their own devices. beggars even have become choosers. they will often pass up food and just ask for money.

what is scarier is the potential risk. the amount of foreign investment in india is at an all-time high. meaning that a large and growing proportion of india's population is reliant on this foreign interest. but how long can this last? it's only a matter of time before india's workforce gets up to market, and when that happens, well all that foreign dough goes out the window and back home. leaving india's workforce in a lurch.

but for now the boom boom is india and india's where it's at.
check out the hindu business line article, in which jayati ghosh reports on the amount of foreign direct investment into india. the numbers speak to india's incredible labour force, from to tiffins to telecomms. oh, did i hear someone say re-colonialism??

05.26 the algoza: two-timing on the flute

i love this because he's not only playing two flutes at once, with different finger positions (we love that!) he's also inhaling and playing at the same time!

consider me "snake" charmed.

05.01 salima's kitchen diary

so i've started 'cooking lessons' with my mom... kinda like wok with yan but it's more like karhai with mum.

i may be a bit biased, but my mom is the greatest cook ever. this is why i have learned everything from grilled cheese to lasagna, but have never studied the art of indian cooking. no matter how well i did any dish, my mother could always do it better. and without instructions.

so on my path to perfection, i've finally decided to learn from the master, mummy-ji! only thing, she's a terrible cooking instructor.

see, my mom does not believe that there are two parts to cooking: gathering/preparation and cooking/assembly. rather, a pot with oil goes on the stove, max heat. the cupboard opens, she calls out the name of an aromatic spice. i locate the appropriate jar. i must measure it from the jar into the palm of my hand, with each of the spices she calls, successively dumping each handful into the pot when they reach the perfect measurement... and regardless of whether it's a few cinnamon sticks or a few fists of jeera powder going in, she always says sweetly each time, "juuuust a peench!". so much for measurements!

spices jam together in the pot, heat still at max, the intoxicating smell filling my nostrils... there are no ingredients on the countertop. i must bring tomatoes and onions from the fridge, dice them in seconds flat and dump them in the pot, before the spices burn.

there is always a time when the cupboard opens, and more "pinches" of the same spices get added to the pot. further confounding any attempt at measurement.

next i'm asked to retrieve veggies from the fridge, wash them and cut them directly over the pot, pronto. "um. mum. should we turn this down?" "no, bettah, it's okay." so again i'm wondering how all this happens without anything burning. but somehow the stuff cooks nicely and tastes great. by the end of it, my notes look like grade 11 algebra class. i need to bring the video cam out to the next class.

so far, i know how to make a killer curried spinach, curried shrimp, and an amazing eggplant curry. i'm so-so with veggie pilau, and want to try my hand at roti.

it also helps to know what the names of things are. sometimes she'll ask me to get "rai" out of the cupboard... and i'll be like, "ok is that mustard seed?"....

i found a pretty decent glossary in mamta's kitchen diary;

a few chosen translations here:

English Hindi
Amaranth (leaves or grain) Chauli, Chaulai, Chavlerr, Chowli, Chowlai
Anise seeds Saunf, Patli
Aniseed (see also saunf) Vilayati saunf
Asafoetida Hing or Heeng
Basil Tulsi
Bay leaf Tej Patta or Tez PattaBetel leaf Pan or Paan
Betel nut Supari/Chali/Chalia
Black Cumin Seeds Kashmiri Jeera, Shahi Jeera, Kala Jeera
Camphor Kapoor or kapur
Caraway Siya jeera
Cardamom Green Choti or green Ilaichi/Ellaichi
Cardamom Large-Brown or Black Illaichi/Elaichi Bari/Badi
Carom seeds Ajwain
Cashew nuts Kaju
Chilli Mirch
Cilantro Dhania
Cinnamon Dalchini or Darchini
Clarified butter Ghee
Clove Lavang
Cobra saffron Nag-kesar
Coconut Nariyal, Copra, Kopra
Coconut oil Narial ka Tael
Coriander leaves Hara dhania
Coriander leaves (English word) Hara Dhania
Coriander, Cilantro Dhania, Kothamalli
Cumin Jeera
Curry Leaves Curry Patta, Meetha Neem, Kari Patta
Dried ginger powder Sonth
Fennel Saunf, Moti (Shatphool or Dodda jeera)
Fenugreek leaves, dry Kasoori methi
Fenugreek Seeds Methi dana
Garlic Lahsun
Ginger Adrak
Ginger Powder Sonth or Saunth
Green cardamom Choti Ilaichi or elaichi
Hemp Bhang
Honey Madhu
Indian ice-cream Kulfi
Indian Wok Karahi
Juice Ras
Lemon Nimbu or Neembu
Lime Nimbu or Neembu
Liquorice Mulahati or Mulethi
Mint Pudina
Mustard seeds Rai or Sarson
Nigella or Onion seeds Kalaunji
Nutmeg Zaiphal
Oil Tel
Onion Pyaz
Poppy seeds Khas khas
Rose Gulab
Safflower Kusam or Kusumbo
Saffron Kesar or Zafran
Saffron Coloured Kesari
Salt Nimak
Sesame Til
Star Anise Anas phal
Sugar Shakkar
Tamarind Imli
Thyme Hasha
Turmeric Haldi or Huldi
Vegetable (generic) Sabzi
White pepper Safed mirch
Wok Kadhai

04.10 badi macchi, the whale shark

i just watched an incredible film called sharkwater last night...

the shark trade is a scary, scary thing. in the film, surrounded by sharks who nuzzle up to him like happy dogs, torontonian rob stewart, director of the film, reveals the shocking reality. only 5 deaths each year are attributed to sharks. ten times that are attributed to elephants. in fact, sharks aren't interested in eating people, they predate dinosaurs. they are docile and highly intelligent creatures possessing more senses than humans do. the oldest living predator on earth, and the most important predator in the sea, sharks are critical to the regulation of plankton, responsible for 70% of the earth's oxygen production.

the scary truth? only 10% of the earth's sharks remain. and they are in danger.

why?

largely due to the chinese delicacy, shark fin soup. i compare the soup to diamonds, a totally fabled luxury. falsely believed to contain healing powers, shark fins (and other parts) sell for a ridiculously inflated price. the soup sells for $200 per bowl, even though the fins have no taste whatsoever. chicken and pork are the flavouring agents. sharks are hunted around the world for their fins, a billion dollar industry, and a deathwish for anyone wanting to make a film exposing it.

i did a bit of digging and found that in india, shark liver oils are being used to preserve boats.

i found this good article about another film made about the shark trade - in india. the article is entitled, of sharks and bigger sharks, about mike pandey's film, shores of silence, nominated for the green oscar at the wildscreen 2000 festival:

The gut-wrenching film documents the slaughter and trade of whale sharks on the Western coast of India. And Mr Pandey is the first Indian film-maker ever to focus on a large marine species. ``The film which was shot under extreme conditions took almost three years to complete and aims towards creating policies to support a ban on the killing and trade of whale sharks in India as well as finding sustainable alternatives for the fishermen,'' says Mr Pandey.

...as a 10-year-old boy he had sailed from Africa to India by ship and throughout the voyage he was mesmerised by huge creatures that swam alongside the ship. ``Now nearly 40 years later, while shooting a film on coastal India in Gujarat, the memory of those creatures urged me to look for them again. I travelled all along the Gujarat coast asking fishermen if they knew of the badi machhi, the whale shark.''

But what Mr Pandey and his crew saw made them shrink in horror. And what started as a feel-good film on these gentle giants would turn out to be a tale of blood and gore. Hundreds of these sea giants are butchered on the shores of Western India every year. There is a great demand for shark meat and fins in South Asia. The oil from their livers is used to waterproof boats. Shaken by the senseless killings, Mr Pandey decided to make a feature film on these creatures. As the crew filmed in the area and met local people, the magnitude of the problem became clear.

Though the prime concern of Mr Pandey and his crew was the conservation of the shark, they saw a different aspect of the dilemma that ran deep into other issues concerning mainly the socio-economic status of fishing communities.

Shores of Silence makes an impassioned plea for the setting up of a whale shark sanctuary. Given the frequent sightings on the Gujarat coast, these waters are of international significance and declaring them as a sanctuary would help protect this vulnerable species. Fishermen could augment their income by doubling up as tourist guides for visitors eager for a shark sighting.

Mr Pandey is in his elements when he talks about what should be done to save whale sharks from perishing at the hands of mankind. Says he, ``The ocean is relatively a new horizon for humanity. Management of marine resources at this point is critical to avoid abusing what mistakenly appears to be a limitless resource zone.'' ``Man,'' he says, ``has interfered with nature's delicate balance. We have ruptured the system and if it continues, we may pay the price with our own extinction.''

copyright © 2001 indian express newspapers (bombay) ltd.

original article here

sharkwater is in theatres now. go watch it.

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04.08 young, gifted and brown 5.0

for those who don't know, russell now has a dvd called outsourced.

he has moved to america [sniff], performing sold out shows in major cities. canada wouldn't give him the break he needed though he rose to become the top canadian comedian over 15 years... he is coming home though! his sold-out canadian homecoming tour kicks off this spring. missed toronto tickets, but i'm hoping to see him in montreal july 20...

04.08 young, gifted and brown 4.0

his accents slay me!

these from the african continent!

russell peters on "!xobile":


russell peters on south africa, indian slaves:

04.08 young, gifted and brown 3.0

i've officially fallen from my chair.

check out russell peters's 'tap sum bong':

04.08 young, gifted and brown 2.0

more russell peters
apparently i haven't had enough of this guy!

russell on the english accent:

04.07 young, gifted and brown

so i've been a bit down lately...

i know. i'm me. i'm not supposed to be down. i'm supposed to be the happy bouncing boundless me. but yeah. even i get down sometimes. and if it was one problem, no sweat. but there are four major problems and without getting into details, let's just say they are all lingering, all out of my personal control.

so. today i took matters into my own hands. after all, my happiness is my responsibility, right! nobody is gonna make me happy but me. so i pulled up my laptop. i logged onto youtube. [yes i am a bit addicted to youtube!] and in the 'search' box, i typed in two words: russell peters

and bingo!

in seconds i was distracted. laughing so hard my stomach muscles were hurting. love this guy. and i love that he's young, gifted and brown.

russell on the indian accent. watch it now:

03.30 history of the world

sometimes i scour the internet for information about weird things. before i popped a dvd into my laptop, i randomly googled "condensed india history" and came up with A Condensed History of Everything.

876 CE: Some Indian invents the ZERO, making math homework even more difficult and frustrating. At this point in time, Christian Europe is home to the most degraded, least advanced, most backwards-ass civilizations on the planet.

i had no idea an indian invented the zero. or that the zero was that old!

....and now i'm thinking to myself: i never did find the condensed history of india.

03.25 from mississippi masala to new york namesake

i just came from watching mira nair's the namesake.

if her name sounds familiar to you, it should. she is the director of the highly popular films salaam bombay, mississippi masala, and more recently, monsoon wedding.

i had forgotten how visually stunning that film was. tonight was no different. nair blended incredible cinematography with a solid cast, a very realistic - and all too relate-able - storyline, and a brilliant soundtrack courtesy of none other than the man himself, nitin sawhney.

the namesake is the story of a young newly wed indian couple starting life in new york together, having two children who grow up as new yorkers, who in turn learn about their parents' culture as non resident indians. i was drawn into the story of their son gogol (also known as nikhil), who learns so much about his parents after a visit to india and the major life events that follow.

i have to say that the lead female in the film, ashima (played by tabu), was outstanding. she reminded me of my own mother. a certain type of indian woman has this unwavering grace, a type of elegance that transcends time and place. my mom has that same quality and it made me appreciate the film even more.

go see it. trailer:

03.18 the bates debate

i've been really really bad.

haven't done my eye exercises in more than a week, due to the same old same old thing: too busy, rushing around, don't have time etc. well. that's going to stop right now!!

i've been talking about the excercises called the "bates method" (discovered by william bates), which have make a remarkable impact on my vision and on that of thousands of people before me.

understandably, the scientific community cannot stand this. the entire vision care industry is at stake, including optometrists, glasses manufacturers, contact lens manufacturers, and the laser eye surgeons. all of these are very lucrative businesses. if what bates has discovered catches on, depite living proof like me, who have improved their eyesight past what anyone could imagine, the industries that cater to corrective eyewear will plummet.

i've found bates challenged all over the place, including this wiki entry.

two more of my friends have just finished their stay at the school for perfect eyesight in pondicherry and have also had incredible success in just a week of following very simple instructions twice a day. it does take some dedication but it works. hell even for me with me semi-dead-ication.

03.16 books on the brownside... back!

i've been doing some reading and am resurrecting "books on the brownside", a commentary i used to write on indian literature. although i think i only had about three entries...

so here's the fourth!

the latest i've read is arundhati roy's the god of small things - a brilliant novel that takes place in ayemenem, a village in the backwaters close to kottayam and alleppey, where i stayed in kerala over the holidays.

roy is a bit of a genius.

her writing style is very dense, making the reading a bit distracting, but through the story filled with drama, class struggle, sex, murder, and a lot of the local language of kerala, malayam, she is able to provide the reader with historical, social, economic and political context of the area. this was a welcome read as it helped me understand kerala's communist past, the noticeable absence of homeless in alleppey, and the contrasting high suicide and literacy rates (as commented on in god's own country).

it's a classic micro-macro story, where the struggles and stories of three generations of the Ipe family are direct results of the framework of the social structures in which they are forced to live. it describes caste clash mainly through "love laws": who can be loved, and how, and how much.

the thing i didn't like was that roy kept the deep dark secret until the end. but her style and descriptiveness kept me going. it's a tragedy, yet a major comment on feminism and colonialism. india has its own problems, but the solutions have to come from the inside, not from colonialisation, indian self-hatred, and india's ridiculous love and unconditional acceptance of the west.

i totally identified with ammu and rahel, the two central women characters. they refused to accept the oppression that was served to them, and as indian women, acted contrary to society's expectations, of course bringing on the harsh but expected punishments from their oppressors!

after completing the novel, i felt a bit drained and so the geek that i am, i read this great dissertation on the book from the university of utrecht. it explores colonialism, feminism, politics and the literary style of the book. of particular interest were pages 7, 11, 13... despite a few flaws, i highly recommend it. only of course, after reading the book itself.

goes well with keralan tea, nitin sawhney and a long hug afterwards...

four stars
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