SAJAforum

TV: Fox's So You Think You Can Dance gets its Bollywood on

Many Americans who tuned into Fox's hit reality show So You Think You Can Dance earlier this week got their first introduction to Bollywood when contestants Katee Shean and Joshua Allen danced to Dhoom Tana from the hit film Om Shanti Om.

Neither dancer had heard of Bollywood prior to meeting choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan, who gave the couple their first lesson in mudras. "The story is guy likes girl, girl plays hard to get, but eventually gives in," said Mahajan as he described the dance to the couple.

Check it out:

The performance apparently prompted loads of people to do a Google search of "so you think you can dance bollywood" - the search term was the 77th most popular, according to techdreams.

The routine also received rave reviews from the show's three judges. Judge and Executive Producer Nigel Lythgoe seemed particularly pleased. "I've been trying to get [Bollywood] on this show for three years," he said.

Here's what a Fox News TV critic had to say:

CRIME: Father accused of strangling daughter near Atlanta

An awful story from the Atlanta area. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

A Jonesboro man faces murder charges in the strangulation death of his 25-year-old daughter early Sunday over what police said was her desire to end an arranged marriage.

Chaudhry Rashid, 54, is being held at the Clayton County jail and faces an initial court appearance Monday afternoon.

Police say he apparently became angry during an argument in which the victim, Sandeela Kanwal, told him she wanted out of the marriage, Clayton police spokesman Timothy Owens said.

The father and daughter are both of Pakistani descent, and police said language barriers have slowed their investigation.

A police report released Monday offered new details:

Rashid's wife, Gina Rashid, 49, called police just before 2 a.m. Sunday and told them she had been awakened and heard screaming in a language she could not understand. Gina Rashid, who is African-American, left the house out of fear and called police from nearby.

Gina Rashid told police Kanwal wanted to end the arranged marriage and had not spoken to her father in two months because of their disagreement on the matter.

Please post comments, links, updates, etc, in the comments section.

CRIME: See all SAJAforum postings in the CRIME category and see the U.S. Desi Crime Map.

GANDHI: A rare English recording surfaces

In an exclusive story this week, Shankar Vedantam, a staff writer and columnist ("Department of Human Behavior") for the Washington Post, was able to contribute to our collective understanding of Mahatma Gandhi.

According to Vedantam, only two speeches that Gandhi gave in English have been recorded. One was from the 1930s and, as described in "Saying His Peace":

Recently, however, the second speech surfaced in -- of all places -- downtown Washington. It had been lovingly preserved for 60 years by John Cosgrove, a former president of the National Press Club. Cosgrove's copy came from Alfred Wagg, a journalist who recorded the speech in New Delhi and produced four 78-rpm LPs that included both Gandhi's voice as well as Wagg's own commentary about the Indian independence leader. Cosgrove discovered the significance of the recording during a chance encounter with Rajmohan Gandhi, when the author came to the Press Club this past spring to promote his new biography.

Gandhi's speech -- made with the uneven diction of an elderly man who sounds as though he has lost most of his teeth -- had the same themes he visited over and over throughout his life: the importance of nonviolence, the eradication of the caste system in Hindu society, amity between South Asia's Hindus and Muslims, and a world united against violence and exploitation.

"A friend asked yesterday, did I believe in one world?" Gandhi says at one point in the speech. "Of course I believe in World One. And how can I possibly do otherwise? . . . You can redeliver that message now in this age of democracy, in the age of awakening of the poorest of the poor."

Read the rest of the piece here. You can listen to the recording below and then watch his grandson and biographer, Rajmohan Gandhi talk about the recording and about his grandfather.

Asked how get got this scoop, Vedantam told SAJAforum via e-mail: "Serendipity + luck. I happened to be at a dinner table with Rajmohan Gandhi when John Cosgrove came by to introduce himself." And the rest is a piece of recaptured history. Vedantam wrote a guest  "On Faith" column for WP & Newsweek.com.

Listen to the Gandhi recording:

MEDIA: Mint on Indian Editors Taking Bigger Roles in US, UK media

Just over the last year, we have seen significant shifts in leadership positions of some of America's biggest media outlets. To name a few, Davan Maharaj was promoted to the managing editor of the LA Times; Stephanie Mehta became global editor of Fortune; Bobby Ghosh became the world editor of Time magazine; Vindu Goel became deputy tech editor of the New York Times; Jyoti Thottam became South Asia bureau chief of Time magazine; and most recently Nik Deogun was named the international editor of the Wall Street Journal.

See SAJAForum's complete coverage of the major moves of South Asian journalists to key positions.

In yesterday's Mint, a sister publication of the Wall Street Journal in India, Sruthijith K. K. writes that publications in the United States and United Kingdom are increasingly appointing Indian journalists to top slots, as they see more and more content in India. 

For large and influential Western publications, which have sometimes been charged with reducing India into clichés and generalizations, the country seems to have become more of a priority in their international coverage.

A steadily rising number of foreign correspondents are landing in India every year, even as their publications, limited by tighter budgets, are cutting staff and closing bureaus in erstwhile hot spots of international interest.

Coincidentally, at four important American publications, the foreign editor is now a journalist of Indian origin.

Read the full story here.

What are your thoughts on the increasing leadership roles of South Asians in US media? Post them below.

DESI SPOTTING: High-flying American School of Aviation grounded

In the days after 9/11, the term "flying while brown" was coined to describe the sometimes tense situation facing South Asians and Arabs of various hues. There were several documented cases of so-called "Muslim-looking" people (including Sikhs) being asked to leave flights they had just boarded, and cases of general harassment at airports.

Given the fact that some of the 9/11 hijackers were trained at American flight schools, I had presumed it was difficult/impossible for brown folks to go anywhere near such schools. This post is an item about a school that not only welcomed brown folks - it was RUN by brown folks.

That's the logo of the American School of Aviation, a flight school based in Atwater, California (about two hours by road from San Francisco). I had never heard of the school until I got an e-mail from Savita Patel, who works for Voice of America's Hindi Service and Aaj Tak, a news channel in India (she can be reached at patelsavita[at]hotmail.com). She wrote:

I filed a story on ASA Flying school operating from the Castle Airbase in Atwater in California's Merced county. 107 Indian students were evicted from their hostel on Friday. Each of them had paid $45,000 to get into a 10-month flying course to get their pilot's
license and were hopeful of getting great jobs in India after that. The school has been shut for a month now and the management has not paid fuel costs to another flight support company and not paid the hostel electricity and water bills. Hence the students were evicted after the electricity was cut off. It was a TV story for Aajtak and was in the headlines on the channel. I wanted to keep you informed so that others can pick this up.

When I interviewed Reny Kozman, co-owner and VP of ASA (and wife of CEO Prince Singh), she blamed the whole situation on rising fuel prices. She says that she will try her best to run the school again from some other airport in a much smaller operation ASA had an office in Gurgaon, which shut down a couple of months back. They used to source students from many cities in India via agencies.

Some students who can afford to pay about $10,000 to $15,000 more will complete their required flying hours in other flying schools, like the one in Hayward. Some others who can't pay more, are stranded. Some want to wait and see if the school starts again, as the owners are saying. Some others who can't stay on for very long, if it takes more time, will go back home without their licenses. As of now, they are staying with friends, relatives and
some at small motels. Gemini Flight Support Company, which has filed a case against ASA has provided some of its barracks to some students and comes with a relatively low rental. Stan Thurston, the GM of Gemini told me that blaming it on fuel costs is irrational and other flying schools were feeling the pinch as well, but are functioning well.

TECH: Ash Patel moves up at Yahoo

Ash Patel, an early Yahoo! employee (he's been there since 1996), features prominently in the latest restructuring at the company. From NYT:

The new structure consolidates responsibility around two senior executives, Hilary Schneider and Ash Patel.<snip>
Mr. Patel started at Yahoo in 1996. Responsible for a broad swath of the company’s technology infrastructure, he will now head the newly formed audience products division that will be responsible for product strategy and product management for many crucial Internet services, including search and e-mail. <snip>
The executive responsible for running Yahoo search, Vish Makhijani, who is also leaving, is being replaced by Tuoc Luong, on an interim basis.

From WSJ:

The plan shifts more responsibility to two senior executives. Ash Patel, a Yahoo veteran who has been in charge of efforts to open up its sites to other developers, will lead a division in charge of global product strategy.

From the Washington Post:

Under the new order, announced yesterday, executive vice presidents Hilary Schneider and Ash Patel are being given expanded responsibilities over Yahoo's products and sales divisions.

He's the only South Asian on the official management team page. His now out-of-date bio is below. Post your comments, please.

WEBCAST: Dileepan Sivapathasundaram on Zimbabwe and his ordeal

Back in April 2008, Dileepan Sivapathasundaram was thrust into the media spotlight when he was detained and then released in Zimbabwe at the same that that New York Times reporter Barry Bearak was arrested (he has since been released, too).

With all the news about Zimbabwe's mockery of an election today, we thought we'd remind you of a webcast we hosted with Sivapathasundaram on May 5, 2008, a month after his release. He discussed his work in Zimbabwe, analyzed the elections, talked about the future of that part of Africa, and much, much more.

Meet Dileepan Sivapathasundaram, a U.S. democracy worker who was arrested in Zimbabwe in April while helping local groups monitor the elections. We discussed his detention, how he was freed and his work as a democracy activist. Sivapathasundaram is a Sri Lankan-American who works for the National Democratic Institute ("a non-partisan, non-profit,
non-governmental org that aims to support democratic values & practices in more than 60 countries").

Post your comments below. Journalists want to contact him can write to dileepansiva[at]gmail.

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• April 5, 2008: NYT's Barry Bearak arrested in Zimbabwe; Dileepan Sivapathasundaram released (includes CPJ alert)

HEALTH/CRIME: NJ doctor suspended for removing wrong lung

This story has got to be every surgical patient's nightmare - and, I presume, every surgeon's as well. From WNBC.com:

Santusht Perera's physician’s license was suspended after he removed of portions of the wrong lung during surgery and allegedly attempted to conceal the error.

Perera was issued a two-year suspension on June 5 from the State Board of Medical Examiners . The Board’s appellate court upheld the suspension in Perera’s appeal case with a final decision on June 12.

After the surgery, Perera told the patient, Richard Flagg , the right lung tissue, which was wrongfully removed, contained a life-threatening tumor even though he knew it did not.

According to state medical officials, Perera's misconduct prevented Flagg from being properly treated. Before he died in September, 2003, Flagg testified before Congress arguing for patients’ rights in malpractice cases.Perera’s suspension from his practice at Hoboken University Medical Center began June 6.He has been fined $30,000 in penalties and $51,273.10 in reimbursement of costs.
[Video of WNBC report here.]

 

Read the state attorney general's 15-page administrative action complaint from May 16, 2005 (PDF).

This story reminded me of a 1995 medical story in NYC. That's when a New York surgeon operated on the wrong side of the brain of Rajeswari Ayyappan, mother of Bollywood star Sridevi - Ayyappan died later in India.  The hospital then settled with Sridevi's family and that doctor went onto become head of neurosurgery at another hospital, where, in 2000, he was suspended after operating on the wrong side of another patient's brain. Read a 2000 Rediff report on the "Sridevi's mother" doctor.

Post your comments below.

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• Dr. Dipak Desai of Las Vegas accused of infecting thousands with hepatitis (anyone have updates on the Desai story?)
  

DESI AMERICA: NCSO, a new coalition of South Asian organizations, launches

The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations (NCSO) launches tomorrow with a press conference in NYC and a conference call and online presentation. From the press release, below:

The nation's first coalition of South Asian organizations will launch its national policy and action agenda and collaborative projects on June 24th, 2008 in New York City at 12:30PM EST.  The National Coalition of South Asian Organizations (NCSO) is comprised of 29 organizations that empower South Asian communities in 12 metropolitan areas around the United States through social service provision, community education, advocacy and organizing.

Over 2.7 million South Asians live in the United States today and face a range of issues and concerns. The NCSO's formation, collaborative projects, and release of a national policy and action agenda will increase civic engagement by the community and contribute to positive policy change that can benefit South Asians and all individuals in the United States.  With the 2008 Elections on the horizon, the national policy and action agenda will highlight many of the issues facing South Asian communities in the United States.

You can see the conference call instructions and a list of all the groups involved below.

When asked by SAJAforum if the 29 groups were all progressive, Deepa Iyer, executive director of South Asian Americans Leading Together - she is part of this effort - wrote: "We are all groups who do social change work but not 'progressive' in the frame of a political affiliation as we are all non-partisan."

The full press release is below. Post your comments, please. We'll have more coverage after the launch.

CRIME: Two students face charges for alleged computer crimes

Those smiling faces are of Omar Khan and Tanvir Singh, each 18 years old. From Fox News:

Two Orange County, Calif., high school seniors were supposed to have graduated Wednesday.

Instead, they're facing serious prison time for alleged crimes that some people might not think are all that serious.

County prosecutors allege Omar Khan, 18, of Coto de Caza, and Tanvir Singh, 18, of Ladera Ranch, broke into Tesoro High School in Las Flores to steal tests and change their own and others' grades on the school computer network.

While Singh allegedly only tried doing it once, Khan apparently did it several times.

Khan's been charged with 69 felony counts and could get more than 38 years in prison. Singh faces four counts and could wind up with three years.

"This is still an ongoing investigation," Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino told the Orange County Register. "We are looking at the possibility that more students were involved. But it's still unclear."
<snip>
Tesoro High School, with 2,800 students, is often ranked as one of the country's best. Both it and Coto de Caza, the gated community where Khan lives, are featured on the TV reality series "Real Housewives of Orange County."

Khan's lawyer's response:

"It's just a very sad situation all the way around," she added. "There's a lot more going on than meets the eye at this point, with a lot of kids."

Defense attorney Carol Lavacol told the Los Angeles Times that Khan was "a really nice kid; he's only 18 years old."

And Singh's lawyer:

"This is certainly not the first time we've heard of a kid cheating," attorney Merlin Stapleton said, arguing the charges were too harsh. "Sometimes they do these types of things simply to see if they can. The only thing that makes this case different is the technology  used."

See Uber Desi coverage. Post your comments, updates and more, below.

CRIME: See all SAJAforum postings in the CRIME category and see the U.S. Desi Crime Map.

DESI SPOTTING: Neal Katyal, Uma Mysorekar, Salman Rushdie on "The Colbert Report"

This is a screenshot of the Comedy Central's website page for "The Colbert Report" on Wednesday, June 18. You'll see two South Asian names on the screen - Dr. Uma Mysorekar on the blue promo line above and Neal Katyal below. Turns out Colbert has had three desi guests in the last three weeks (Salman Rushdie appeared on June 4). We've embedded all three videos below. Post your comments, please.

CRIME: Indian man on trial for paying hitman to kill his black daughter-in-law

A South Asian-American story that involves murder, race and more. From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Eight years ago Chiman Rai allegedly paid Mississippi hit men $10,000 to choke and stab his daughter-in law to death in her Union City apartment while her seven-month-old daughter was nearby.

Her offense? She married his son, an Indian.

Chiman Rai

Sparkle Michelle Rai

And she was black.

On Monday Rai, 69, goes on trial in Atlanta for masterminding the murder of Sparkle Michelle Rai, 22. Fulton County prosecutors are asking for the death penalty as the family of the murder victim seeks finally to see justice served.

"The prosecutors have done a good job with this," said Rai's father, Bennet Reid Jr., Saturday. "We'll be there in the courtroom. For years my daughter has had no voice. Now, finally, her voice will be heard."

Rai, a native of India, brought his family to the U.S. in 1970. He taught math at Alcorn State University in Mississippi, later ran a supermarket and then bought a hotel in Louisville, Ky. where he hired Sparkle as a clerk.

There Sparkle met his son 18-year-old, Rajeeve "Ricky" Rai, who also worked at the hotel. The two fell in love and married.

Sparkle's father and stepmother, Donna Lowry, a reporter for WXIA-TV in Atlanta, recalled later that Rai's family at first seemed to approve of their 18-year-old son dating a black woman.

But, said prosecutors, in April 2000 - a month after Sparkle and Ricky were married - a contract killer showed up at the door of the newlywed's Union City apartment, along with two women pretending to deliver a package.

This case is getting a lot of coverage. Some recent items - you can track some of the story at this Google News link:

Murder trial: Criticism of 'racist' parents retracted Atlanta Journal Constitution,  USA - 1 hour ago By STEVE VISSER Rajeeve "Ricky" Rai testified today in his father's death penalty trial and backed off some statements earlier made to police. ...

Man accused of Ga. contract killing of son's wife The Associated Press - 22 hours ago ATLANTA (AP) — Theirs was a whirlwind relationship: The 18-year-old running his dad's hotel in Kentucky and the 20-year-old Atlanta native hired as a clerk. ...

Trial begins for man charged in death of son's black wife Atlanta Journal Constitution,  USA - 22 hours ago By STEVE VISSER Nearly eight years ago, Sparkle Reid Rai opened the door of her Union City apartment, holding her 7-month-old baby in her arms, ...

Trial Begins for Professor Accused in Racial Killing of Daughter ...
FOXNews - 23 hours ago
ATLANTA — A former math professor at a historically black university goes on trial Monday, charged with arranging the contract killing of his black ...

Post updates, comments below.

See SAJAforum U.S. Desi Crime Map - a work in progress, unfortunately.

DESI AMERICA: A Trip to 30 Baseball Stadiums

Although Vijay Narendran was born in Texas, his love for baseball began only while he attended the University of Chicago, where he became a fan of the White Sox. That must have made the Astros really upset.

But Narendran, who is currently pursuing a joint MD/MBA degree at Texas Tech University, is not your average baseball fan. To prove it, he decided to take a trip to all the 30 major baseball stadiums around the United States in 61 days traveling approx. 12,000 miles.

Read his blog to know all about his trip and see pictures from his trip.

Narendran started his journey with a game in Colorado on May 8. Since then, he has been to every single baseball stadium you can think of. His trip will end on July 4 in Los Angeles.

See his trip and budget plan here. (I noticed he put $3.50 per gallon for gas. That was in May, not anymore.)

The official title for Narendran's trip is "30 ballparks, 61 days, 1 dream." I asked him three questions about this trip.

1. You talk about "one dream." What is this one dream you have?

First of all, there's a dream of completing the thing, just doing something that took so long to prepare and put together.  The dream is really the actual process and execution of the whole thing, not really the end result. This usage encompasses the "surreality" of the stories and the interesting people i meet.

Second, if the "Dream" represents an end goal, it would be to see and re-establish connections with so much of my very supportive network of friends and family across the nation with whom, through medical school and otherwise, i have been remiss in my communications, having in some cases been unable to attend weddings and other major relationship-solidifying events. This is my way of honoring THEM, those people that are so important to me in my life. Without them i would not be able to do this, nor would i be where I am.

Do folks know of other South Asians who have been on such adventures? Other thoughts? Please post your comments below. 

PREZ RACE: Bobby Jindal on "Face the Nation," gets Gingrich's approval

[SAJAforum sources, resources about the 2008 race]

Bobby Jindal appeared on the CBS Sunday show "Face the Nation" today, where he was billed as "The Next Reagan?": "I have the job that I want... I am focused on being governor of Louisana."

Even more interesting is what Newt Gingrich, former House speaker and Republican elder statesman had to say right after Jindal's appearance.

Chip Reid: Would you recommend to John McCain that he pick him as his running mate.
Newt Gingrich: Absolutely. I think Governor Jindal is far and away the best candidate for vice president in the country. I think he is a future presidential candidate. I think he has enormous capacity to keep growing... Look, Bobby Jindal at 37 is fully as prepared at Senator Obama. You could argue that in fact Jindal's experience in the executive branch and the legislative branch is greater than Senator Obama's experience.

Post your comments below.

Our previous Jindal-as-possible-VP items:

• Jindal and a 1994 exorcism
• NYT news story on Bobby Jindal and his agenda
• Coverage of Jindal's weekend with the McCains
• Liberal prof Vijay Prashad writes a funny letter about Bobby Jindal
• Conservative scholar says Jindal should not be on ticket - for now
• McCain to meet with Jindal, Crist, Romney
• April 2008 appearance on the Jay Leno show
• William Kristol says McCain staffers are floating McCain-Jindal ticket
• Rush Limbaugh's push for the ticket | other conservatives' similar push

DESI SPOTTING: Spam from "Esther Prakash"

Even more creative than our previous desi-inspired e-mail spam/hoaxes (see "Monica Kumar" | "Alma Patel"). Post your comments below.

Mrs Esther Prakash
P.O.Box: 20581, Safat
13066 Safat  Kuwait

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I am Mrs Esther Prakash. I am married to Mr Prakash Anderson who worked with Kuwait embassy in Ivory Coast for many years before he died in the year 2006.We were married without a child. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days.

When my late husband was alive he deposited the sum of (($2.600.000.00) Two million six hundred thousand Dollars in a Bank in Ivory Coast. Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next Eight months due to cancer problem.
I Have decided to donate this fund to you so that you will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct you.

PREZ RACE: Religious icons in Barack Obama's hands

[SAJAforum's collection of stories, resources and sources about the 2008 race]

This is a photo of Barack Obama's hands and the things he carries around for good luck. From Time's White House Photo of the Day collection:

Amongst the things that Barack Obama carries for good luck are a bracelet belonging to a soldier deployed in Iraq, a gambler’s lucky chit, a tiny monkey god and a tiny Madonna and child.

White House Photo of the Day - TIME via kwout

That "tiny monkey god," of course, appears to be a statue of the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman. I wish the photographer and editors had bothered to be as specific with the Hindu reference as they were with the Christian one. John McCain, as you will see below, doesn't have as many lucky charms.

UPDATE: A SAJAforum reader points out that there is also a Chinese monkey god, described here. If this turns out to be that god and not Hanuman, the point is the same - why such a vague description?

Will this revelation about Obama help him or hurt him or have no effect whatsoever? Post your comments below.

See SAJAforum's collection of stories, resources and sources about the 2008 race.

ENVIRONMENT: New site features interview with Dr. Pachauri, Nobel winner

I got an e-mail from veteran environment journalist Roger Cohn announcing his new venture:

Yale Environment 360

I wanted to let you know that Yale Environment 360 — a new online magazine devoted to covering the global environment — is up and running at e360.yale.edu. Please go to our site and take a look at some of our articles. You’ll find pieces by noted environmental advocate and writer, Bill McKibben; New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert; climate scientist Richard C.J. Somerville; marine biologist and author Carl Safina; British journalist Fred Pearce; and many other writers, scientists, and thinkers. Our inaugural issue features opinion, analysis, reporting, and discussion on the major environmental issues of the day — from climate change, to growing water shortages, to the challenge of crafting an innovative energy policy in the United States. We showcase reporting from China, the Amazon, and Russia — just a sampling of our global reach — and a provocative interview with Nobel Prize-winner Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

COMEDY: Paul Varghese on Last Comic Standing

I saw Paul Varghese perform in L.A. a few years ago and was thoroughly impressed. Pretty smart yuks. Here's a clip of his recent set on NBC's Last Comic Standing. I like how it ends: nothing like setting a resourceful Malayalee among the Kalahari Bushmen.

 

More of Paul from Comedy Central's Live at Gotham. He's from Dallas, he's 5' 10" and he's straight by the way (or so it says on his MySpace page).

And check out this interview of him, from the Comedy Central website:

Q. Who is your comedy hero?

A. Hero would imply that they saved me from dying onstage which nobody ever has. I do have influences though like Dean Lewis, Clinton Jackson, Greg Giraldo, Arj Barker, George Lopez, Robert Schimmel. I've learned something that's shaped my comedy just from watching and/or talking to them. Stuff that I still remember to this day.

ADVERTISING: The Onion presents Vishnu as call center operator

Here's a recent ad from the Onion's website, for yet another Onion book of fake news.

Funny? Not really, right? Kind of un-funny, isn't it? And I say this as an Onion fan. Here's what Vineet Chander had to say:

I usually find the Onion's stuff funny enough that, on more than one occasion, I have actually had to place a hand over my mouth and stifle my laughter to stop myself from making a scene while reading the print edition on the subway.

Still, I just don't find this Vishnu "Please hold..." ad funny. There is plenty of fodder for good, smart humor relating to the Indian subcontinent or to Hinduism. The malaria reference and lampooning a multiple-armed deity seem to go for easy, cheap laughs instead. Instead of finding something that we could all laugh along with, the Onion seems content in giving us something sufficiently exotic that some of us can laugh at. What a shame!

True, no?

PREZ RACE: NYT news story on Bobby Jindal and his agenda

[SAJAforum sources, resources about the 2008 race]

Here's what the front page of the New York Times website looked like around noon EST today. Must be the first time that two desis who engender such mixed emotions have been featured in separate stories at the top of the site (click to magnify the screengrab).

On the right, you can see a pointer to a profile of M. Night Shyamalan, whose new movie is opening on June 13. See SAJAforum's roundup of pre-release press.

The other desi, of course, is Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, who is part of a lot of buzz about the possibility that he might be a candidate to join Senator John McCain on the Republican ticket this year.

Today, the NYT's Adam Nossiter has the piece above was the first serious assessment of Jindal's possible candidacy inside the news pages of the Times. Back in April, columnist William Kristol had floated Jindal's name in the opinion pages (see our coverage collection below). From today's piece:

Religion and fiscal stringency have a friendly home at the state Capitol here, with a conservative, Bobby Jindal, in the governor’s office, a host of straight-arrow novice legislators eager to please him and an honored spot for the Louisiana Family Forum in the old marble halls.

The newly conservative tone of state government is seeping through a host of successful bills — on school vouchers, creationism, stem-cell restrictions and tax and spending cuts — and it is adding to the speculative frenzy here surrounding Mr. Jindal as a potential vice-presidential choice for Senator John McCain.

Politicians here say they are certain that Mr. Jindal would balance a McCain ticket, and not just because he is an Indian-American. The Christian right has a new champion in Mr. Jindal, a serious Catholic who has said that “in my faith, you give 100 percent of yourself to God.”

Bumper stickers saying “Jindal for V.P.” are circulating here, with increased velocity after the governor’s stay two weekends ago at Mr. McCain’s Arizona ranch. Mr. McCain’s schedule has him campaigning in Louisiana next week, according to his Web site.

“He has everything McCain is lacking,” said State Representative John LaBruzzo, a Republican, speaking of Mr. Jindal. “He’s seen as a true conservative, which McCain is seen as less than.”

FILMS: M. Night Shyalamalan's latest movie, "The Happening"

These are photos from the W. 103rd Street subway station in Manhattan, one of several spots with billboards for a movie opening soon across the country: M. Night Shyamalan's "The Happening," an R-rated scary film opening, appropriately, on Friday, June 13 (see the first trailer). Below is a collection of some of the pre-opening press.

Today's business section of the New York Times has a front-page story about Shyamalan and his recent adventures. From "A Hollywood horror story, with a twist," by Allison Hope Weiner, who interviewed him from (that's the word used in the piece, so I presume it was by phone) his office outside Philadelphia:

...movie audiences still know Mr. Shyamalan as the guy who makes scary movies with a twist.

He also has not been able to undo his reputation in Hollywood as a talented filmmaker who will not play by studio rules. After the success of “The Sixth Sense,” he criticized Disney executives, dared to compare his talent to Steven Spielberg’s and Alfred Hitchcock’s and has steadfastly asserted his reputation as an outsider by refusing to move from Philadelphia to Hollywood.

His outsider persona continued to work for him, so long as the films “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable” and “Signs” continued to make money. But when his films started to falter at the box office — his last movie, “Lady in the Water,” was drubbed by critics and ignored by moviegoers — the Hollywood establishment’s support began to wane.

That failure has put considerable pressure on his new film, “The Happening,” an R-rated horror movie for Fox that opens on June 13. Another failure would harm the Shyamalan name and make it difficult for him to keep full control over his films.

Among other things, the piece talks about his next project.

Mr. Shyamalan is also directing “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” a big tent-pole movie based on a Nickelodeon cartoon, scheduled to be released in 2010 for Paramount.

“I obviously did my homework and checked him out before deciding to make the movie. It’s a very important movie for us,” said John Lesher, president of the Paramount Film Group. “He’s collaborative, open to suggestions and wants to make a hit movie. He’s open in the right way. You want a filmmaker who has passion and want him to defend why he believes something is correct.”

BUSINESS: India's Vedanta Group buys major U.S. copper company

More news of Indian companies on the world stage. From Reuters (this was also front-page news in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, but it's behind the pay wall):

India's Sterlite Industries on Saturday agreed to buy the operating assets of bankrupt copper miner Asarco for $2.6 billion, the latest in the series of overseas acquisitions by Indian firms.

Tuscon-based Asarco, the third largest copper maker in U.S. had total revenue of $1.9 billion in 2007, Sterlite, a unit of Vedanta Resources Plc said in a statement.

"Asarco is a strategic fit with Sterlite's existing copper business," the Indian firm said in the statement.

On Friday a lawyer close to the deal had told Reuters in New York that Vedanta had signed a $2.6 billion deal to buy the assets of Asarco.
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Indian firms coming of years of strong profitable growth and clean balance sheets that aid easy access to capital have been snapping up overseas firms to expand their presence globally.

SPELLING BEE: Sameer Mishra wins, with 'guerdon'

[Note: Six of the ten last National Spelling Bee winners, including Sameer, are of Indian descent]

Thirteen-year-old Sameer Mishra, a four-time veteran of the National Spelling Bee, finally won the competition, becoming the latest desi to win. He took home the $35,000 cash award and $5,000 in other prizes. From the Associated Press:

The 13-year-old from West Lafayette, Ind., who often had the audience laughing with his one-line commentaries was all business when he aced "guerdon" — a word that appropriately means "something that one has earned or gained" — to win the 81st version of the bee Friday night.

"I don't know about comedy lines, but my parents have been telling me since the beginning that I should always stay calm, cool and collected," said Sameer, who likes playing the violin and video games, and hopes one day to be a neurosurgeon.

Sameer, appearing in the bee for the fourth time and a top 20 finisher the last two years, clenched both fists and put his hands to his face after spelling the winning word. He won a tense duel over first-time participant Sidharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who finally stumbled on "prosopopoeia," a word describing a type of figure of speech.

Sameer was a crowd favorite throughout the tournament. When told one of his words in the semifinals was a dessert, he deadpanned: "That sounds good right now." He rolled his eyes and muttered "wonderful" when told that one of his words had five different language roots. He once asked "Are you sure there are no alternate pronunciations?" and later uttered "That's a relief" after initially mishearing the word "numnah" (a type of sheepskin pad).

And what did he have to say while hoisting the heavy trophy? "I'm really, really weak."

Look at the list of top finishers. Out of 12 kids, five are South Asian (I can't tell from her name where Samia's family is from; assuming Pakistan):

• Sameer Mishra (the winner)
• Sidharth Chand (2nd place)
• Samia Nawaz (4th place tie)
• Kavya Shivashankar (4th place tie)
• Jahnavi Iyer (8th place tie)

Note, last week, Akshay Rajagopal won the National Geographic Geography Bee and $25,000 (link below).

The screengrab on the left is from the front-page of ESPN.com. Mishra is one of the first South Asians other than golfers Vijay Singh or Daniel Chopra (who won the first tournament of the 2008 season) to have his photo featured on that front page. ESPN and its corporate cousin, ABC, treat the bee like a big-time sports event, airing the early rounds on ESPN and then the finals live on prime-time on ABC. Read ESPN's coverage, including a quiz.

Post your comments below.

Related coverage:

• Sriram Hathwar, age 8, Goes Down on Day 1, but Others Advance
• ESPN profiles Samir Patel, "the Dan Marino of spelling"
• A South Asian Spelling Bee Launches and Akshay Rajagopal Wins the Geography Bee

In 2005, Tunku Varadarajan wrote a WSJ essay: "Why Do Indians Excel in Bees,"

Where are they now?

• Here's an article from 2004 on Nupur Lala, who won in 1999 and starred in the hit documentary "Spellbound." At some point, she declined an offer from MTV to be in a reality TV show, calling it "too invasive."
• And here's some info on Balu Natarajan. He's the first Indian to win the Spelling Bee - in 1985 - and is now a Chicago-area physician who serves on the medical team of the Chicago Marathon. Balu is also a friend, and it's to his credit that he never let on that he'd won; I only found out much later. Such a well-adjusted boy!
• The winner of the 1988 Bee, Rageshree Ramachandran, was profiled by Time magazine last year.  At the time she was a Ph.D and M.D. resident in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of California-San Francisco.

AWARDS: Adrees Latif collects a Pulitzer

That's a photo of Pakistan-born Adrees Latif at the Pulitzer Prize ceremony this afternoon, with his wife, a fellow photojournalist based in Bangkok. Am posting this with an apology in advance for the cellphone photo. Considering t