Before escaping back into movieland… MC Riz has a song out that sums up his view on what it’s like to be South Asian in the UK nowadays: I got the post 9-11 blues On the telly nuthin but the post 911 news War, iraq, suicide bombs Stop hogging the limelight and make some […]
9.11.06
In Mexico when they celebrate el DÃa de los Muertos, it’s believed that during that time, the departed souls return to earth, and it’s for that reason that Mexican people will go to the graves with ofrendas of food and drink and incense. Driving tonight – five years since September 11, 2001 – I was […]
Favorite quote of the year, thus far
One does occasionally tear oneself away from the movie / TV / computer screens and actually crack open a book. Thanks to a mercifully kind soul who lugged a copy of the 3.5 pound Vikram Chandra novel Sacred Games thousands of miles across the seas from the state of Tamil Nadu to the state of […]
Helen, Queen of the Nautch Girls
This wonderful (though too short) half-hour 1973 documentary written by James Ivory is included by Merchant Ivory Productions along with the DVD of Bombay Talkie. It opens with a mention of item girl, and dancer par excellence, Helen‘s 500-film milestone. Over the next 30 minutes we hear narrator Anthony Korner solemnly intone about […]
Seen along Oak Tree Road
Edison/Iselin, New Jersey. Proof of Indian citizenship or appropriate visa necessary upon arrival (almost). Had a very fun day yesterday playing at being housewives with my BFF, the coolest Parsi I know in Inwood, heck, in all of NYC, meandering in and out of shops ($15 for a Shobhaa De novel! Chee!), […]
Bombay holiday: Ganesh Chaturthi
Rio has midnight of December 31 and people throwing flowers into the sea as an offering to Iemanja, Bombay has Ganesh Chaturthi to honor the son of Shiva and Parvati. Thousands of miles from the festivities, here’s a sampling of some Ganeshas closer to home. The many moods of Ganapati: Snippet from a wedding […]