SAJAforum

From SAJA, South Asian Journalists Association

New South Asian stuff daily. Sign up in the box on the right to get the latest posts via e-mail. Feedback, story ideas to editor Arun Venugopal of WNYC Radio: arunvenu[at]gmail.com. Opinions expressed in SAJAforum do not necessarily reflect those of SAJA or its Board. 

• SAJA WEBCASTS: Listen to famous authors, topic briefings and much more.
• MEET SAJA'S LEADERSHIP: Listen to audio interviews with SAJA's new leaders, Sandeep Junnarkar (president), V.V. Ganeshananthan, (VP) and Anusha Shrivastava (secretary). See press release and text Q&A.
• 2008 PRESIDENTIAL RACE: See all SAJAforum coverage and resources.
• OBIT: Gopal Raju, founder of India Abroad - see dozens of comments and add your own
• SOUTH ASIA & U.S. MAGS: See 135+ covers and post your comments here.
• GET SAJAforum DIRECTLY: Our RSS feed | Our widget to add to your blog or site.

[This is just an example of the kinds of activities that SAJA does. You can support us by becoming a member - just $10 a year for students, $20 for journalists, $40 for everyone else. Sign up now. Or you can make a donation of any amount.]

AWARDS: Faiz Shakir wins Hillman best blog prize

The Sidney Hillman Foundation's  annual journalism awards were announced yesterday, via, an ad on the op-ed page of the New York Times (it's not yet on the foundation site).

Among the winners are Faiz Shakir and Amanda Terkel, for their progressive blog, ThinkProgress.org.

Asked for a comment, Shakir, whose family is from Pakistan, told SAJAforum: "To have our work be recognized as journalism is a great testament to the increasing reliability and influence of the blogosphere. I'm not sure if that's an honor for us or a blow to traditional journalism. Either way, I'll take it."

From the about us page of ThinkProgress:

Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor-in-Chief of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report. He holds a B.A. degree in Government from Harvard University and a J.D. degree from the Georgetown Law Center. Faiz has previously worked as a Research Associate for the Democratic National Committee, as a Legislative Aide to Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and as a communications aide in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. His writings have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, Florida Today, and Salon. Faiz has appeared on CNN, Fox News, and CNBC television, among other places, and has been a guest on many radio shows.

See Shakir's archive of postings here.

More on the awards:

"Since 1950, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has recognized journalists, writers and public figures whose work promotes social and economic justice. These awards reflect the vision and commitment of Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (a predecessor union of UNITE HERE), whose tireless efforts to bring dignity and respect to working people left a lasting legacy for the American public."

Post your comments below.

MOVES: Patrick Chu's new role at Bloomberg

News about a long-time SAJA supporter and member:

Patrick Chu becomes global managing editor for energy and commodities companies, splitting the beat with Tim Coulter, who will concentrate on markets coverage. Patrick joined Bloomberg in San Francisco in 1997 from the Oregonian and has since been San Francisco bureau chief, managing editor for training in New York, managing editor for the economy in Washington and, since 2003, managing editor for Asia in Tokyo.

Congrats to Patrick, who'll continue to live in Tokyo, but will be spending time around the world, including South Asia.

ADVERTISING: Desi spotting in a G.E. ad

A General Electric healthcare ad about a new ECG/ultrasound product has been getting a lot of airplay in the U.S. for a couple of months now:

Tejpreet Singh Chopra, president of GE India, who moved to India after several years in the U.S., spoke about that product at the recent Wharton School India Economic Forum.

Asked about the product by SAJAforum, Chopra wrote: "The basic principle is - that we are trying to develop concepts/products like the "Nano" for all products in some of our industries/verticals - classic example is healthcare - and the ECG device in the advertisement is one of them. We are innovating to create products that improve the quality of life of the masses- by bringing down the price point that makes them available to the public at large."

Here's a video of Chopra talking about his plans for GE (which did $3 billion worth of business in India last year):

BREAKING NEWS: Serial bomb blasts in Jaipur, India

A series of bomb blasts Tuesday night in the northern Indian city of Jaipur in Rajasthan state have left at least 50 dead. From CNN-IBN:

Seven serial blasts have rocked the city of Jaipur at 7:35 PM on Tuesday evening. The blasts took place in the walled city area, in the Manas Chowk Police Station area, Johari Bazaar and the other in the Hanuman Mandir area. The walled city area is full of bylanes and is a very congested area.

First video report:

The report above says all the places bombed were tourist spots.

From: Aaman Lamba <aamanlamba[at]gmail.com>

Updates - police and hospital numbers here:
http://desicritics.org/2008/05/13/121202.php [desicritics.org]

Please note: 2s was at the blast site, and is live twittering updates:
http://twitter.com/2s [twitter.com] - best example of citizen media in the
Indian context yet

Watch live streaming video from CNN-IBN here.

Updates from:
Rediff.com
Samachar.com
Google News

Freelancers in/near Jaipur: please contact SAJA at saja[at]columbia.edu with your cellphone numbers and a couple of bio lines - and list yourself at http://www.saja.org/freelance.html

Editors: Find Jaipur freelancers at http://www.saja.org/freelance.html

Post news updates, comments below.

PRESS: Indian Photographer killed in Kashmir

An Indian photographer who was covering the clashes between the security forces and militants in Kashmir was shot to death after reportedly "ignoring warnings" from the security forces yesterday.

Ashok Sodhi, 45, was covering a military operation intended to take out militants who had taken refuge in the town of Samba, some 45 kilometers south of Jammu. Sodhi has been working for the English language Daily Excelsior for almost 25 years.

From Reporters Without Borders:“I was always telling him to keep out of the way of exchanges of fire and this kind of clash”, his wife told news channel CNN-IBN. “However, he would often say that if he had to die in an encounter, he would.”

Here is more about Sodhi.

Meantime, fighting continues in Kashmir with some of the most clashes in the region.

What do you think? Please post your comments below.

CONTROVERSY: Sri Lankans in Canada accused of funding terrorism

Big news out of Canada last week as an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police revealed thousands of Sri Lankans based in Canada have allegedly been funding terrorist activities by the Tamil Tigers.

From the Toronto Globe and Mail's coverage:

The Tigers' operation in Canada, responsible for providing 15 per cent of global funds for the secession movement, identified potential donors by postal code and used a "sales team" of locals to extract the cash, alleges the 400-page police affidavit unsealed in the Federal Court of Canada this week.

The affidavit suggests the Toronto offices of the World Tamil Movement - a non-profit organization - may have been generating funds for the Tigers. The RCMP says it has also obtained a significant letter sent to Toronto from the head of the Tamil Tigers. Velupillai Prabhakaran, one of the world's most sought-after fugitives, is said to have urged that Canadian Tamils commit about 15 per cent of the global contribution to his cause.

The money was moved using an elaborate system with the leaders of the World Tamil Movement acting as “straw men and figureheads who got their direction from Sri Lanka.”

Participation in the scheme was not exactly voluntary:

Payment is said to have been made easy - and almost impossible to avoid. Tamils were allegedly encouraged to enter into pre-authorized payment schemes, so transfers to the World Tamil Movement would be no harder than paying a credit card. Lists of who paid - and who didn't - were so meticulously kept, the Mounties say, that Canadian Tamils who returned to Sri Lanka for visits risked being questioned by local Tamil Tiger henchmen who knew whether visitors had made contributions in Canada.

Sitha Sittampalam, the president of the World Tamil Movement, denied the charges and said the Tigers should not be classified as a terrorist group, the Star reported on Saturday.

"We do not have any fundraising activities for terrorism," or any connection with the Tigers, Sittampalam told the Star yesterday during an interview in the Tamil movement's Scarborough office.

However, he said: "We consider LTTE as a movement to fight and liberate our people. We don't consider the LTTE as a terrorist organization.

"We feel that the (Canadian) government is really misplaced in doing this, in listing it as a terrorist organization.

"It has the support of the people. It has a cause. It has an objective. It's not violence for the sake of it without any cause.

What do you think? Post your comments and any updates below.

DESI SPOTTING: Three South Asian leaders push their agendas in Manhattan

India's minister commerce and industry, mayor of Karachi and Sri Lanka’s foreign minister were in New York City for separate events last Thursday, all co-sponsored by SAJA. While the mayor and the foreign minister were trying to rally American support for pressing issues back home, Kamal Nath, the commerce minister, a relentlessly upbeat India business booster, was reading from his book, "India's Century."

Thursday, May 8, 70th St & Park Avenue, circa 2 pm: Vishakha Desai, president of Asia Society; Kamal Nath, India's commerce minister; and Tunku Varadarajan, NYU business professor and moderator of the discussion. PHOTO: Jay Mandal/On Assignment

Syed Mustafa Kamal, Karachi’s 37-year-old mayor, touted Karachi as a modern city with a friendly population.  “We have to market Pakistan as a moderate Pakistan as a moderate Pakistan, and I have been doing that,” he said at the International Visitor Leadership Forum.

Calling Karachi the “backbone” of Pakistan, he said that investment in the city’s infrastructure and economy was vital. With a population of 18 million, Karachi is Pakistan's largest city and commercial center. “Pakistan’s development would be questioned without Karachi,” said Kamal.

He also stressed the moderate political views of citizens could be seen in the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination on December 27 of last year.  While citizens have been captured and killed, “People to people, there is no clash,” he said. 

FELLOWSHIPS: New Knight-MDLF International Journalism Fellowship Program

From the press release below:

The International Center for Journalists and the Media Development Loan Fund today announced a new partnership, the Knight-MDLF International Journalism Fellowship Program.

The partnership takes advantage of the strengths of the two organizations. MDLF helps build independent media in emerging democracies. It provides low-cost loans and other business assistance. ICFJ’s Knight International Journalism Fellows work on projects designed to make lasting, visible change in the world of journalism.

“The creation of self-sustaining independent media is a powerful way to change a country’s journalism,” said ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan. “Our task will be to ensure that these news businesses survive and thrive by helping them with just the right fellow to just the right newsroom at just the right time.”

Fellows must speak the language of the target country. They must have at least 10 years’ news experience, the ability to plan a specific, detailed training project and the time to spend a year making it work.

This new partnership bolsters the Media Development Loan Fund’s long-term strategy of adapting best media management practices to the needs of local news outlets in the developing world. “This partnership will enable us to expand our capacity to provide world-class consultants to leading independent news businesses in transitional countries,” said MDLF Managing Director Sasa Vucinic. “Fellows will help our clients launch projects that will help ensure long-term success.”

See the details below and post your comments, too.

ACCIDENT: Six killed in car crash in Pennsylvania

Six Indian citizens heading to Niagara Falls from Troy, Michigan were killed in a car crash Saturday.  The crash took place on Interstate 90, in Pennsylvania, and claimed 4 co-workers and 2 of their wives. From the Detroit Free Press:

The driver, Kaushik Deb, 26, of Troy, died on impact.

James identified the passengers killed as Manoj Jharia, 35; Mili Jharia, 28; Nitin Agrwal, 29; Swati Singhal, 25, and Subham Choudhary, 24. The Jharias, Agrwal and Singhal were from Jabalpur, Choudhary from Indore and Deb was from Calcutta, but they all appeared to live in communities throughout Oakland County.

Deb, Choudhary, Manoj Jharia and Agrwal were Syntel software writers.

The Jharias were married, as were Agrwal and Singhal, James said. Neither couple had children.

The only survivor, Nitin Gupta, 28, was in the front passenger seat, police said. He was treated and released from a hospital.

According to the Erie Times-News, the exact cause of the crash is unknown, but the minivan they were in crossed the median, rolled and was hit by a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. All six bodies will be sent back to India.

The families of all the victims in India have been notified, Jonathan James, a spokesman for Syntel Inc., said Sunday.

TV: Nipa Bhatt goes for Food Network glory

Nipa Bhatt, the 35-year-old former owner of the Gypsy Curry House, in Minnesota, is one of 10 finalists on the Food Network's search for its next star. The reality show, known as The Next Food Network Star, or NFNS, is now in its 4th season. One of the judges is celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

On her bio page, which you can see here (and also watch some videos of her), Nipa says she's a marketing manager who loves reading and watching Hindi movies, as well as playing with her 2 kids. Her favorite food is the lowly fried rice, and the one item she won't touch is barbecue sauce.

Apparently the Food Network is really lacking in the Indian culinary department, so Nipa's using that as her selling point: She wants to demystify Indian food. Here's how she answers the question, "Why you should be The Next Food Network Star":

"I am a marketable person for Food Network because of my versatile background and the result of it. I have been brought up in two vastly different countries and have been able to soak up the best of both worlds. Indian-style food is such a popular type of cuisine now but it’s also the most mysterious. I can teach the nation that ethnic food is approachable and you can cook it nonchalantly."

In one of the videos, Nipa says she mostly cooks Gujarati food but also some North Indian food. Although the show hasn't aired yet, here's what one of the judges, Susie Fogelson said about Nipa:

"She lacks a little polish. She sort of said things that I'm not sure I would say. But... she's spirited. I think she's interesting. And I love her culinary point of view: making ethnic food accessible. That's great."

BOOKS: More on Zakariapalooza

Last week, we compiled a bunch of items around Fareed Zakaria's new book, "The Post-American World," including reviews, videos, book tour info and more. This week, the Zakariapalooza continues.

• As of this writing, the book is #5 on Amazon's bestseller list; Jhumpa Lahiri's "Unaccustomed Earth is at #16. The NYT tracks books by nonfiction and fiction categories; Zakaria is at #11 on nonfiction; Lahiri is on #5 on fiction for the week ending May 18.
• Here's an excerpt from the review in the Sunday New York Times Book Review (the earlier, weekday NYT review is in last week's roundup). The review is by Josef Joffe, the publisher-editor of Die Zeit in Hamburg and a senior fellow at Stanford.
  >>>This is a relentlessly intelligent book that eschews simple-minded projections from crisis to collapse. There is certainly plenty to bemoan — from the disappearing dollar to the subprime disaster, from rampant anti-Americanism to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that will take years to win.

  Yet Zakaria’s is not another exercise in declinism. His point is not the demise of Gulliver, but the “rise of the rest.” After all, how can this giant follow Rome and Britain onto the dust heap of empire if it can prosecute two wars at once without much notice at home? The granddaughters of those millions of Rosie the Riveters who kept the World War II economy going are off to the mall today; if they don’t shop till they drop, it’s because of recession, not rationing.<<<

• You can read the first chapter here, free. Here's how it starts:
  >>>This is a book not about the decline of America but rather about the rise of everyone else. It is about the great transformation taking place around the world, a transformation that, though often discussed, remains poorly understood. This is natural. Changes, even sea changes, take place gradually. Though we talk about a new era, the world seems to be one with which we are familiar. But in fact, it is very different.<<< Read the rest of the first chapter.
• Vivek Wadhwa, the entrepreneur-turned-globalization researcher who we wrote about in 2006 and interviewed in 2008, sent out a note to his mailing list calling Zakaria's Newsweek cover essay based on his book a "must-read."

SEEN: Aasif Mandvi with Sanjaya Malakar and his sis

Photos by Jay Mandal/On Assignment. Event: The Sony South Asian Excellence Awards, in New York.

You may recall that Sanjaya's sister, Shyamali, was also a contestant in the early stages of American Idol, last year, but was cut well before her younger brother became a national phenomenon.

And if you want to see just how maniacally happy Sanjaya can look, check out this next shot, where he's got his chin perched on Pooja Batra's shoulder.

ADS: The Statue of Liberty gets a bindi

That's a billboard for Jet Airways, just outside Penn Station, in New York (thanks to Sendhil Revuluri). AnimalNewYork tried to summon some mock patriotic disgust--"Indian Airline Hates America, Liberty"-- but gave up pretty fast.

A bindi on Lady Liberty! And right outside Penn Station! While you're at Jet Airways, "India's finest international airline,"why don't you dress her in a sari (well actually, she kinda already is), step on her toes, and extinguish her torch right after lighting Old Glory on fire with it? EvilDoers! Don't you know America is at war? With, like, all of Asia? We push a button, and your WHOLE COUNTRY becomes a tarmac! Boycott Jet Airways! Boy...nevermind. Is the billboard at all offensive? Insensitive? Me, I don't think so. Tattoo Vishnu on LL's ass, I don't care. Maybe it's offensive to Indians?

Um... no? I really can't imagine any Indians--at least no one in India--being offended by this (the Statue, that is, not the Vishnu concept). In fact, having worked in advertising in India for several years, I can guess with some confidence that this exact idea has been used by the Indian ad industry umpteen times.

BURMA: Republican Convention coordinator forced to resign because of junta ties

And now, the Burma cyclone affects the presidential campaign. From the AP/Yahoo story, "Leader of GOP convention quits after Myanmar ties reported":

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The man picked by the John McCain campaign to run the 2008 Republican National Convention resigned Saturday after a report that his lobbying firm used to represent the military regime in Myanmar. Doug Goodyear resigned as convention coordinator and issued a two sentence statement: "Today I offered the convention my resignation so as not to
become a distraction in this campaign. I continue to strongly support John McCain for president, and wish him the best of luck in this campaign." Goodyear, chief executive of lobbying firm DCI Group, resigned a few hours after Newsweek posted a story posted online that the company was paid $348,000 in 2002 and 2003 to represent Myanmar's junta.

Read the Newsweek piece, by Michael Isikoff. Post your comments - and any updates - below.
[Thanks to Jaya Kamlani for the alert.]

MOVES: Davan Maharaj becomes managing editor of the LA Times

A little over a year ago, we wrote about Davan Maharaj's promotion to business editor of the Los Angeles Times. Now, he's moved a step higher to managing editor, making him the third-ranking editor at the fourth-largest newspaper in the country (after USA Today, Wall Street Journal and New York Times). From the announcement available below:

As Managing Editor, Davan Maharaj assumes oversight of Foreign, National, Metro, Business, Science and Sports, and will work alongside Stanton and Arthur in directing coverage, deploying journalists and resources and overseeing personnel decisions. The Times Business Editor since February 2007, Maharaj is charged with further integrating the print and Web story pipelines.

Asked for a comment by SAJAforum, he wrote in an e-mail: "I'm humbled to part of the leadership of this great institution. The Los Angeles Times is beloved by the 800,000 people who take it into their homes everyday and we have to keep being relevant to these readers."

From an LAT story about his promotion:

Maharaj, 45, has worked as a reporter for The Times in Orange County, Los Angeles and East Africa. His six-part series "Living on Pennies," in collaboration with Times photographer Francine Orr, won the 2005 Ernie Pyle Award for Human Interest Writing and inspired readers to donate tens of thousands of dollars to aid agencies working in Africa.

Read that series, "Living on Pennies," here. Full announcement about the changes below.

Maharaj joins a handful of South Asians at the top of major U.S. news outlets:

• Peter Bhatia, executive editor, The Oregonian (see news of his being named one of E&P's editors of the year)
• Rena Golden is editor of CNN.com (former head of CNN International)
• Bobby Ghosh is world (foreign) editor of Time
• Nisid Hajari is foreign editor of Newsweek
• Stephanie Mehta is foreign editor of Fortune

Post your comments below.

MOTHER'S DAY: Ranjit Souri on his ailing mother, and the writer's journey

Ranjit Souri has written a painful and poignant Mother's Day essay in India Currents, recounting the physical decline of his young mother, years ago. He also read out the same piece on WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio.

From "Tribute to a Gardener":

One humid afternoon while we were gardening, Mom asked me to go inside and bring her some water. When I came back outside with the water I saw her trying to get out of her wheelchair to stand up.

I felt a sharp annoyance at this sight—why was she trying to do something so dangerous? She could easily fall and get injured.

I rushed at her and shouted, “No, Mom, don’t!”

She fell back into her wheelchair and began to cry. Through her tears she said, “I wanted to see my vegetables.”

Her wheelchair was facing away from the vegetable garden.

Suddenly I felt profoundly ashamed. I collapsed onto my knees and laid my head on Mom’s lap as lightly as I could, to avoid hurting her fragile body. We held each other and wept bitterly. We wept for everything that she had lost. For all of her loves that had been taken away from her. And for this one last passion that she refused to let go of, even to the end of her life on earth.

Ranjit's mother died in 1994, soon after her 50th birthday, but he goes on to explain just one of the ways she left her mark on him.

ART: Obscenity charges against MF Husain dropped

India's most famous and beleaguered artist just got the backing of India's judiciary. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul of the Delhi High Court dismissed obscenity charges against 93-year-old MF Husain and gave a vigorous defense of artistic freedom. The complainants had argued that Husain's work offended Hindu sensibilities; they cited the painting to the right, "Bharatmata," which depicts India as a nude goddess. From IANS:

"A painter has his own perspective of looking at things and it cannot be the basis of initiating criminal proceedings against him," Kaul said in his 74-page judgement.

"In India, new puritanism is being carried out in the name of cultural purity and a host of ignorant people are vandalizing art and pushing us towards a pre-renaissance era," he observed.

The court said the question of obscenity was nowhere to be seen in his paintings, as it was his perspective of looking at things and one should not challenge that.

The court ended the judgement on the note that, "A painter at 90 deserves to be sitting in his home and painting his canvas."

Hindu groups have frequently protested against Husain, to the point that he now lives in Dubai and London. More from TOI on the ruling by the judge, who clearly relished the chance to put Husain's critics in their place:

RETAIL: Hare Krishnas in the Saks Fifth Avenue display window

[A guest post from Vineet Chander... ]

Are those Hare Krishna devotees hanging out inside the iconic main windows of New York's famous Saks Fifth Avenue department store?  Is Gujarati Village Chic the new look for haute couture this year?  Not quite. 

The sari- and dhoti-clad figures occupying this display were inspired by Philip Glass's "Satyagraha," and are part of a Saks homage to the Metropolitan Opera.  Satyagraha, which ran at the Met until May 1, explores Gandhian ideals and the text of the opera in three acts, consisting of verses from the Bhagavad Gita, is sung in the original Sanskrit. The reviews were generally positive.

Oh, and if you want to see more saris and dhotis on Fifth Avenue, you might want to swing by "the most famous street in the world" on Saturday, June 14, when the New York Hare Krishna temple will hold its annual "Festival of the Chariots" (Rathayatra).  Just don't forget your camera.

--Vineet Chander

Earlier on SAJAforum: "Saving the Environment through Satyagraha: Q&A"

BURMA: Burma Cyclone blog launched

As we learned during the tsunami of 2004, blogs can be particularly helpful in spreading information about major disasters. A group of Columbia Journalism School students who had spent almost eight months documenting the lives of Burmese refugees in New York for their Master's Project [http://FromBurmaToNewYork.com/], have now built a useful blog about the Burma cyclone - the death toll appears to have crossed 100,000 now.

On the blog you will find everything from the latest news to how you can contribute directly to the victims to information about candelight vigils.

Please visit: http://BurmaEmergency.wordpress.com/

You can contact the students, Divya Gupta, Karen Zraick and Lam Thuy Vo, via divyagupta2[at]gmail.com

They are looking for journalists and others to contribute items.

Help them spread the word - and post your comments on their blog or below.

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• Coverage of the cyclone by Anup Kaphle

FELLOWSHIPS: AASFE Diversity Fellowships 2008

Kris Worrell, editor of the Beaumont Enterprise of Beaumont, Texas is head of the diversity committee for the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors (AASFE). She wrote to SAJA to say, "We offer a fellowship to minority journalists who work in features so that they may participate in  our national conference at no charge."

See below for the details of the the fellowship (deadline is June 20, 2008) and the conference is in Houston, Oct. 15-18.

FILMS: "Vanaja" released on DVD in the U.S.

One of the best movies of 2007 - South Asian or otherwise - is now on DVD. From the press release below:

    "Vanaja," a critical and film festival hit of 2007, will become available on DVD from Emerging Pictures Home Entertainment on May 20th.

            Given a "Four Stars" rating by syndicated Chicago Sun-Times
    critic Roger Ebert, "Vanaja" was, said Ebert, "One of the five best
    foreign language films of 2007."  He went on to praise the film as
    "beautiful, extraordinary and heart-touching."  The New York Times
    called it an "absolutely timeless tale."

            The film opened in nearly 100 screens in major cities across the
    country and went on to win the 2007 Berlin Film Festival's illustrious
    Jury Prize for Best First Feature; "Vanaja" became an Official Selection
    at 104 international film festivals in 49 countries (including the
    United States) and the recipient of more than twenty-four international
    film awards, including nominations for two of this year's Independent
    Spirit Awards:  Best First Film and Best Cinematography.

See publicist info below (journalists - tell him SAJA sent you). Post your comments below. Here's a trailer:

FILMS: Tarsem Singh's "The Fall"

Back in 2000, a movie called "The Cell" made a splash among horror fans. I knew nothing about it, except that the director was named Tarsem Singh (sometimes credited as just Tarsem). Turned out he was a well-known music video director (he made the 1991 MTV Video of the Year, "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.").

He's back, with a major movie coming out this Friday. After seeing a trailer for "The Fall" on one of the networks last night, I asked SAJA Board member and movie writer Aseem Chhabra to write up a few words about it, confident that he'd know a lot about it. Aseem didn't dissapoint. Here's his take:

I saw Tarsem (Singh)'s The Fall today at a press screening.  And I found the film stunning.  It is such a sumptuous, visual spectacle -- bright vibrant colors, vast epic like settings -- nature has never looked so
beautiful.  The film is shot in 20 countries -- covering practically every continent.  But Tarsem leaves his best camera work to capture Northern India -- the Taj Mahal, Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur, and several sweeping shots of Jodhpur (the blue city).  The film is essentially a fantasy --a story narrated by a handsome injured stuntman (Lee Pace) to a very cute young girl (a heartwarming Catinca Untaru), with a broken arm.  Both are in a hospital in LA. 

At times the story appears to falter -- but that also has to do with the hallucinatory state the stuntman is in.   But overall this film is a visual delight.  Roger Ebert called the film "magnificent!"

Time Out New York gave "The Fall" a 5-star rating on a scale of 6 -- that is tremendous.

In 2007, Patrick Goldstein of the LA Times profiled Singh, writing in part:

Tarsem Singh has made a lucrative living for 17 years as a sought-after director of commercials, videos and the creepy 2000 horror hit, "The Cell." As he told me, more in awe than in boast, he once made more money in one day shooting a commercial than his father did in 30 years as an aircraft engineer in India. And what did Tarsem do with most of that dough? Breaking the cardinal mantra of Hollywood, he spent it making a movie called "The Fall."

What do YOU think? Post your comments below, please. Here's one of the trailers:

ADVERTISING: Desi spotting in a Heineken Light ad

Take a look at this ad running nationally and post your comments below.

BOOKS: Fareed Zakaria's "The Post-American World"

If you feel like you are being exposed to a lot of Fareed Zakaria these days, it's no accident. Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International and host of a new foreign affairs show coming soon to CNN, has a brand-new book, "The Post-American World" (see SAJAforum mention of the book launch, starring Henry Kissinger) and he's everywhere.

UPDATE: The book's publicist, Rachel Salzman at W.W. Norton reports that it debuts at #11 on the NYT bestseller list for the week of May 11. Meanwhile:

• The cover story this week's Newsweek is adapted from the book (click to magnify).
• Video of his conversation with Charlie Rose on May 1 (video below, too)
• Video of his conversation with Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show" on May 5 (video below, too)
• Video of him talking about the book on Newsweek.com.
• Video of his appearance of the local Fox station in NYC.
• See May 11 SAJAforum roundup of Zakariapalooza.

Reviews are sprouting all over the place (some are below). He's also going to be in several cities during May. See the full tour info below. What do you think? Post your comments and thoughts below.

From FareedZakaria.com:

In his new book, The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria argues that the "rise of the rest" is the great story of our time.

This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.

SAJA EVENTS: A desi trifecta in NY on May 8

SAJA is helping organize an unprecedented trifecta of events this Thursday, May 8. We are featuring three fascinating newsmakers from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka at different events all within a few hours and a 30-block radius this Thursday. Not quite as dramatic as the evening we described here, but still pretty impressive.

All three - the commerce minister of India; the mayor of Karachi; the foreign minister of Sri Lanka - will have interesting things to say. Hope you can make it to one or more of them (if you plan to hit all three, let us know!). RSVP required, instructions below.