We aren't all the same

We aren't all the same: "Some of you may consider it good news that the top three finalists in the the Geography Bee, hosted by the great Alex Trebek himself, were Indian American. I do not. Some of you may also think fondly on the fact that the last four contestants in last year's Spelling Bee were also Indian American. I do not. "

This is a hilarious post but does have some truth to it. The stereotype of Indian has always been vastly misrepresented in the United States over the decades. Perhaps gone are the days when we were all thought to be riding elephants and had inborn talents of snake charming. But now we are thought of as too intelligent than the rest of the crowd and only interested in the smart jobs (IT, Doctors, etc). For the most part, it's probably a good thing if you are actually interested in these fields when you are picking a career. These prejudices can work for you. But it's a huge disadvantage for those interested in the arts or any other faculty. I agree that we have to do anything and everything we can to educate the masses. We are a diverse group as any other ethnic group.

You already know of the vast majority of us who are in IT or are Doctors. We also ...

• write prize winning fiction.
• write prize winning non-fiction.
• cheat when writing.
• host morning TV shows.
• make blockbuster movies.
• solicit minors for sex (Marvin Lakhan).

And the rest of the one and half million who aren't in the news are really just average. Nothing special about us at all.

Why Blog?

Someone was asking me yesterday about why I have a blog? I thought of a few reasons ...

• (Noel Crane:) Why does anyone have a blog? Too much time, not enough friends and the need to justify owning a computer.
• Because I have an opinion about plenty of things and I want people to hear about it.
• Because nobody wants to discuss Sexual Harassment in Mumbai's Public Transportation at dinner with friends.
• Because I am affected by others' opinions in their blogs and I feel the needs to give back to the community.
  

'Slumming' Takes on a Whole New Meaning

'Slumming' Takes on a Whole New Meaning:

I guess the Salaam Baalak (founded by Mira Nair from the proceeds of her movie 'Salaam Bombay') charity organization means well in trying to generate revenue in inventive ways to help the street kids, but I wonder what the price of dignity is for the poor.

Congo's tragedy: the war the world forgot

Congo's tragedy: the war the world forgot: "This is the story of the deadliest war since Adolf Hitler's armies marched across Europe - a war that has not ended. But is also the story of a trail of blood that leads directly to you: to your remote control, to your mobile phone, to your laptop and to your diamond necklace. In the TV series Lost, a group of plane crash survivors believe they are stranded alone on a desert island, until one day they discover a dense metal cable leading out into the ocean and the world beyond. The Democratic Republic of Congo is full of those cables, mysterious connections that show how a seemingly isolated tribal war is in reality something very different. "

I have learnt of the Congo tragedy in some detail from this article. It portrays how governments refuse to listen to UN's warnings that the only way to end the decade old war (that killed over 4 million people and reduced the state of women and children to far worse than destitutes) is to stop buying the country natural resources which is what the various militias fight over. I keep seeing everyday in the news about how 2 Australian miners are in the process of being rescued or the count of US soldiers dying in Iraq has crossed 2000, but I wonder when the world stopped paying attention to the deaths of as many people in the World Trade Center every two days (according to the author).

Darfur Tragedy

It is sad to hear the ongoing Darfur Tragedy get less than 10 minutes of media coverage over the entire year. (Source: Yahoo! News) Atleast TV shows like ER are doing what little they can to bring attention to the issues.

Music Trivia

Went to Music Trivia Night at The Angel last night in downtown Decatur. It was a fun night. The service was a bit slow and virtually no vegetarian options, but the trivia night was so much fun with friends that I don't mind going back again and again.

Discovered some lovely hits from yesteryears that I forgot about ...

• Unbelievable, EMF (Schubert Dip, 1991)
• I Love Your Smile, Shanice (Inner Child, 1991)
• Missing, Everything But The Girl (Amplified Heart, 1994)
  

Amazon.com says Shanice's Inner Child was released on my birthday in '91. :) Fun fact.