SAJAforum

AWARDS: Fareed Zakaria, India Abroad Person of the Year

The India Abroad Person of the Year Awards 2008 ceremony was held in downtown Manhattan this past weekend.

The Person of the Year award went to Fareed Zakaria, the first Indian American (Post-Indian-American?) to host his own show on a major network--CNN’s GPS Sunday. Zakaria joked about how he looked more pleasing on his TV show, thanks to the make-up and lights, and that the audience had to see him with neither on the occasion. (photo by Paresh Gandhi)

Other honors that night: Conductor Zubin Mehta received the India Abroad Lifetime Achievement Award. Mehta reminded the crowd of Sachin Tendulkar’s score against New Zealand. Switching to Hindi, he said, “New Zealand ko dho dalenge,” loosely translated as, “We'll beat the pants off them New Zealanders.” Wife Nancy Mehta and brother Zarin Mehta were nearby.

From India Abroad's online coverage:

Conversation and food merged as a stellar guest list comprising, to name just a few in no particular order, Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani; author Saman Rushdie; actress-author Madhur Jaffrey; economists extraordinaire Professor Jagdish Bhagwati and Professor Padma Desai; envoys past and present including T P Sreenivasan and India's Consul General in New York Prabhu Dayal; Mayor of Edison, New Jersey, Jun Choi; celebrity chef Floyd Cardoz; darling of the emerging indie movement in Bollywood actor Abhay Deol.

The Publisher's Special Award for Excellence was received by Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri. (photo of author w/adoring husband by Jay Mandal)

PAKISTAN: Swat valley's resilient girl students and an NYT video

“In the area where I live there are some people who want to stop educating girls through guns,” says Ziauddin, after 200 girls schools have been forced to close down in the Swat valley, Pakistan, over last year.

This is the theme of a moving online video by The New York Times' Adam Ellick and Irfan Ashraf, "Class Dismissed: Education in Swat Valley" [alternately subtitled "The Death of Female Education"]. SAJAforum interviewed Ellick about the making of the video.

The 14-minute story takes us through the region while narrating the story of Ziauddin, who runs a private school for girls, and his bright 11-year old daughter Malala, who is pursuing the seemingly futile goal of becoming a doctor.

The documentary opens with serene shots of the valley and, just as sounds of civilized society begin to filter in, gunmen open fire, bombs blast and insurgents take control. Images of burning houses, torn-down classrooms and deserted markets follow, as well as some gruesome scenes of Taliban-style justice. From the narration:

Since 2007 Swat has become Taliban territory. Those who defy the militant strict codes of Islam are publicly punished. And those are the lucky ones. Politicians and social activists are murdered and their corpses displayed in the center of the capital Mingora.

Last week the government signed a truce with the Swat Taliban agreeing on a form of Islamic law. Some people now fear that the Taliban are even more emboldened.

While boys school remain open, more than 200 girls schools have been blown up by the Taliban.
<snip>
There are 12,000 Pakistani troops in Swat. But since last summer, they have been unable to quell the 3,000 Taliban fighters and their guerrilla insurgency.

Perhaps the stars of the documentary are young Malala and the other girls in the valley who bravely make the case for female education, even giving stirring speeches, in English, out in the open:

"Swat Valley: the land of waterfalls. Lush green hills and other gifts bestowed upon it by the nature. But my dear friends, today, Swat, has in the past few years become a heartland for Pakistan Islamic militancy. Today, this idyllic valley of peace is burning. Why the peace of this valley is destroyed? <snip> Why our future is targeted? Schools are not places of learning but places of fear and violence. <snip> Our dreams are shattered. And let me say, we are destroyed."

SAJAforum spoke to Ellick about getting permissions, his general mobility as a foreign journalist and whether he was in fact endangering his subjects by interviewing them. Above are two images of Adam. One of him in New York and the other of him incognito in Pakistan. Apparently, his cover worked well: people spoke to him in Pashtu, the local language, and thought he was a local.

POVERTY: Indian slum coverage, now more concrete

Social workers in India’s slums have their own hopes related to Slumdog Millionaire: more international media, many more eyeballs, some criticism and ultimately, governmental action.

Interestingly, I think in the last few months the patronizing ‘poorism’ stories have given way to a more concrete approach to the foreign coverage. Here are a couple examples.

In "Slum economy offers hope in Delhi," The Age's Matt Wade reports how small manufacturers in these slums are a part of India’s "informal economy" which, among others, have helped India maintain a 7% growth in the current economic situation.

Deep in one of Delhi's packed slums, Kalimuddin runs a jeans factory the size of a bedroom.

Despite the space constraints, his 10 employees work 12 to 16 hours a day and churn out 6000 pairs of jeans a month. After the jeans are dyed by another mini-manufacturer nearby, Kalimuddin sells his products at a wholesale garment market nearby. Kalimuddin's jeans are then distributed to clothing bazaars across northern India.

Locals say there are about 1000 tiny garment factories within a kilometre of Kalimuddin's outfit at Seelampur, on Delhi's eastern outskirts.

According to the article, Naeem, a 22-year-old machinist who works for Kalimuddin, is able to send up to 5000 rupees ($A156) a month to his family.

India's huge internal market has helped shield workers such as Naeem from the global economic slump.

R. Venkatesan from the National Council of Applied Economic Research says small manufacturers producing for domestic consumption could escape the economic crisis.

"I don't think this sector should see a slump," he said.

MAGAZINES: Launch of Elan: The Guide to Global Muslim Culture

Elan, a quarterly magazine on global Muslim culture has launched a special complimentary issue to commemorate President Obama’s inauguration ceremony that took place last week. Long-time SAJA member Nida Khan, editor-in-chief writes about this moment that signals the "potential for improved relations with the Muslim world":

As the guide to global Muslim culture, we here at Elan felt compelled to honor the 44th President of the United States via this special inauguration issue.  Barack Hussein Obama not only possesses a keen understanding of the complexities of society but has demonstrated his willingness to engage in discourse and seek amicable solutions even with our opponents.

Let me be clear, we are in no way identifying or even juxtaposing Obama as a Muslim, nor providing fodder for his challengers.  We are instead celebrating and honoring our next President who, by his very nature, experiences and principles truly does represent hope for the millions of Muslims - and non-Muslims alike - on this planet.  Hope that our country’s fundamentals of civil liberty and freedom will remain intact; hope that together we can collectively eliminate social blockades and work effectively towards unifying us all.

From the press release:

In this inauguration edition, elan presents a variety of commentaries on Obama’s impact with Muslims around the world, including two exclusive features written by Ilyasah Shabazz (Malcolm X’s daughter) and Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Muhammad, a renowned civil rights leader.

You can contact Khan, who is based in New York, via nkhan[at]elanthemag.com

In What Malcolm Taught Barack, Shabazz, the author of ‘Growing Up X’ writes:

FILM: India frets, tweets, celebrates over "Slumdog Millionaire"

We know than no controversial film release is complete in India without a lawsuit, several street protests and offended religious groups. And so it goes with "Slumdog Millionaire." Let's start with Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, general secretary of Slum Dwellers’ Joint Action Committee: he filed a complaint because he believed the film’s name defames slum-dwellers by calling them ‘slumdogs’.

Erika Kinetz in the Huffington Post: "Protesters held up banners reading "Poverty For Sale" and "I am not a dog" outside Anil Kapoor's House’."

A Hindu group in Goa demanded a ban on the release of the film, saying a few scenes in the award-winning film denigrate Lord Ram. Then they went further:

A mob of Shiv Sena activists threw stones at and ransacked a multiplex cinema in Panaji on Friday for screening internationally acclaimed film "Slumdog Millionaire."

The film, which has already won several Golden Globe awards and has been nominated in 10 Oscar categories, has been the target of Hindu right wing groups, who claim that the movie hurts Hindu sentiments.

The Panaji police arrested 12 activists, including Goa Shiv Sena unit chief Upendra Gaonkar, for the attack.

The police said the Shiv Sainiks have been booked for tearing posters and breaking the glass facade of the only multiplex in Panaji.

In the midst of all the hype-joy and despair-aggravation, AFP reports from Mumbai, a day after the release:

Newspapers reported a good turnout for the film on its first day, receiving praise from cinema-goers for the strength of its story, cinematography and music.

Nevertheless, some expressed disappointment, saying it failed to live up to the hype, was not as good as Vikas Swarup's book "Q and A," on which it was based, or that it gave a foreigner's view of India and poverty.

Cinema managers were reportedly expecting attendance to pick up over the weekend, but one highlighted how the film was viewed in certain quarters in the home of Bollywood.

"'Slumdog' is big but it is essentially a Hollywood film," Joydeep Ghoshroy, general manager for marketing and sales at PVR Cinemas, told the Hindustan Times.

The LA Times also got a sense from Indians who’ve seen the film:

Reporting from Mumbai, India -- Even as American audiences gush over "Slumdog Millionaire," some Indians are groaning over what they see as yet another stereotypical foreign depiction of their nation, accentuating squalor, corruption and impoverished-if-resilient natives
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BHOPAL: Akash Mehta, 11, tries to change the world

It's rare that an 11-year-old sends out an appeal letter for a social cause. Even more rare, perhaps is his track record of three campaigns in three years.

Akash Mehta, 11, founder, Kids for a Better Future, believes kids can change the world. This year he’s requesting donations towards Sambhavna, a nonprofit that supports people affected by the Bhopal gas leak of 1984 and others that get added each year.

December 3 this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Union Carbide factory leak that claimed thousands of lives that night and has affected more than 500,000 since.  According to the CS monitor article by Scott Baldauf a few years ago:

BHOPAL, INDIA – Nearly 20 years after an accident at a Union Carbide chemical plant killed thousands here, there are signs that a second tragedy is in the making. New environmental studies indicate that tons of toxic material dumped at the old plant have now seeped into the groundwater, affecting a new generation of Bhopal citizens.

The Indian government - long criticized for its lax regulation of Union Carbide and reluctance to pursue legal claims - now says it's ready to hold parent company Dow Chemical liable for the ground contamination.

For many, the Bhopal litigation serves as a test case for India's relationship with foreign businesses and investors. But for the victims of Bhopal, the gas tragedy is a matter of justice, compensation, and safety - all of which, they say, has been a long time in coming.

While Union Carbide settled a civil suit in 1989 by agreeing to pay victims a lump sum of $470 million, a criminal trial against the company and its top officials is entering its 15th year, with less than half of the few hundred witnesses having testified. And the compensation process has taken so long that the settlement fund has nearly doubled in value; Officials haven't decided how to dole out nearly $333 million in unplanned interest.

In the meantime, government inaction on water contamination may be affecting untold thousands who were seemingly left untouched by the poisonous gas accident of Dec. 3, 1984.

Read both Union Carbide and Sambhavana's websites regarding battles of legal and moral responsibility, pending justice and tonnes of waste material that remain in the city. According to the website, members of the nonprofit are planning to come to the US to ask Dow, who now owns Union Carbide, to claim ownership of the premises and the locked building. 

Below is Akash's appeal letter.

11/19/2008

AKASH’S BIRTHDAY APPEAL

Dear Friends and Supporters of KBF:

By now you all know what Kids for a Better Future (KBF) is, I’m sure!  (If you don’t, read here:  Kids For a Better Future is a non-profit organization based in Brooklyn, New York City. It is run by a small group of kids in NYC, and was founded three years ago by 10 year old (about to be 11!) Akash Viswanath. Mehta (That’s me!), who was seven at the time.)

RETAIL: Tanishq jewelry, now at a mall near you

Tanishq, the upscale jewelry group of Titan Industries Ltd. entered US retail with a jewelry boutique in Chicago. And a second is to follow at Garden State Plaza Shopping Center in Paramus, NJ, which is going to be one of 20 stores listed under Fine Jewelry and Watches at the mall. A bit about their business plans, from Smita Aggarwal’s January article in the Indian Express,

To expand its retail presence overseas, Tata's promoted Tanishq, the jewellery business group of Titan Industries, will be coming up with its two stores in United States by 2008-end.

Speaking to The Indian Express on sidelines of a conference, the vice president Retail and Marketing, Jewellery, V Govindraj said, "Tanishq would be opening two jewellery boutiques in US by this year end. These stores will be company owned and are on a pilot basis."

With an interesting product mix, the company will be including a large part of its jewellery design mix, targeted at ethnic Indians. "Clearly, a large part of the product mix will be for ethnic Indians and Non Resident Indians (NRI)," said Govindraj.

These stores will add to its international portfolio since it has a presence in Middle East and far East nations like UAE and Singapore. Most of these stores are in a shop-in-shop format, operating in existing jewellery stores. "The export sales constitute around 6-7 per cent of our total sales," said Govindraj.

From Diamond World, a trade journal August article:

FILM: MIAAC's week of Indian parallel cinema

Thirty-two Indian art house films were showcased in a glitzy five-day event organized by Mahindra Indo–American Arts Council Film Festival. These included independent and Indian diaspora films screened across 10 theaters in Manhattan. India’s "parallel cinema" (also known as "art films") which had remained Bollywood’s underfunded cousin for much too long, has come a long way since the 1970s.

"A Long Way From Bollywood," a 1,500-word story by Allen Salkin in NYT:

What was once a tiny festival started out of an attic office in Westchester County, N.Y., has grown into a five-day mini-extravaganza playing through this weekend on screens and in after-parties from the Upper East Side to TriBeCa and attended by stars fresh off Mumbai-to-Kennedy Airport flights and by Indian immigrants from throughout the Northeast. The festival is not a celebration of the sprawling spectacle films of Bollywood. Instead it focuses on what is known in India as Parallel Cinema, a more personal narrative type of film like Mira Nair’s art house hit “Monsoon Wedding.”

Such films often have a larger box office appeal outside India than inside because they appeal to audiences of Indian expatriates and immigrants. Many of the Indian actors in these films are immigrants themselves or are Indian actors more on the Steve Buscemi model, the types who might play villains in mainstream films but relish smaller independent works where they can do more nuanced work, and often get a lot more screen time.
<snip>
The festival was started by Aroon Shivdasani, an Indian immigrant, in the wake of 9/11. A few years ago she moved the Indo-American Arts Council, which sponsors Indian cultural events year round, out of her home to a cramped rear office on West 29th Street. She attracted Mahindra, an Indian automaker, as a sponsor, and this year she hired a festival director, L. Somi Roy, who has curated Indian film showcases for many New York museums.

BOLLYWOOD: Filmy, Time Warner’s New South Asian Channel

Filmy, a 24-hour South Asian channel launched on Time Warner Cable's NYC region last month. The official launch is on Saturday, November 8, as part of the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival in Manhattan.

Sahara's Filmy is being broadcast by GloboSat Entertainment, the North-American licensee for Sahara programming including  Sahara One and Sahara Samay. Neerja Patel, GloboSat Entertainment on Filmy's programming:

Filmy is mainly for the Bollywood buff. It offers programming it a very different way. It’s very vibrant and young. You can get everything about films from golden oldies to the newest hits. There’s red carpets, premiers, interviews of stars. Everything about that channel is related back to South Asian Cinema.

It’s beyond movies, it’s beyond just watching a film. You can see the making of, songs and even the game shows on there are related back to Bollywood.

South Asian channels are available on cable and satellite service providers like Comcast, Cox, Optimum, Dish and DIRECTV. Dish offers 14 stations with all-Hindi mega-pack and DIRECTV’s HindiDirect™ offers 7. Filmy, available for $14.95 a month, when compared to Optimum’s five-pack international package for $19.95 and individual channels for $9.95 seems pricey, or maybe premium.

About Filmy trying to reach out to non South Asian audiences, Neerja said:

PAKISTAN: Earthquake toll crosses 160

Please help us cover this story. Post links, updates in the comments section below.

News from Quetta, Pakistan about an earthquake with a rising death toll of 150. More from AP by Sattar Kakar.

A strong earthquake struck before dawn Wednesday in southwestern Pakistan, killing at least 150 people, injuring scores more and leaving an estimated 15,000 homeless, officials said.

The death toll was expected to rise as reports arrived from remote areas of Baluchistan, the impoverished province bordering Afghanistan where the magnitude 6.4 quake struck.

The worst-hit area appeared to be Ziarat, where hundreds of mostly mud and timber houses had been destroyed in five villages, Mayor Dilawar Kakar said. Some homes were buried in a landslide triggered by the quake, he said.
<snip>
The quake struck two hours before dawn and had a magnitude of 6.4, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. It was a shallow 10 miles below the surface and was centered about 400 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad.

Pakistan is prone to violent seismic upheavals. Wednesday's quake was the deadliest since a magnitude-7.6 quake devastated Kashmir and northern Pakistan in October 2005, killing about 80,000 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless.

According to Darwaish of All Things Pakistan:

Officials are saying there were two tremors, striking at about 0409 and then 0510 PST followed by at least three aftershocks. While the memories of devastating earthquake of 2005 are still fresh which killed more than 73,000 people in NWFP and Kashmir, this one seems to be of slightly lesser magnitude of 6.4. I was watching Geo Tv and the worst-hit area appears to be Ziarat, about 50km north of Quetta, where hundreds of mostly mud and timber houses have been destroyed in five villages. Although the city of Ziarat is relatively safe but some nearby villages have been complete destroyed and many homes were buried in a landslide triggered by the quake. It follows on the heels of the devastating 2007 cyclone in Balochistan (also here) and the continued political tensions in the province that have all taken a cumilating toll on the population.

About rescue efforts from the BBC: