SAJAforum

AWARDS: Arun Venugopal wins MHA prize for radio reporting

Arun Venugopal, SAJAforum's fearless leader, won a major award yesterday. In typical Arun fashion, he whispered not a word about it to us, hoping that the award, his trip to D.C. to collect it, etc, wouldn't be noticed. Well, too bad, Arun, because this is a prize worth noting (the photo is from last year's SAJA Convention; PHOTO: Manish Vij).

Mental Health America, "the country's leading nonprofit dedicated to helping ALL people live mentally healthier lives," presented its 2008 media awards on Saturday, June 7 at a luncheon as part of its Mental Health Promotion and Prevention Summit in Washington, D.C. Among the winners:

Local Radio
WNYC (New York, NY), "Cities Embrace New Ways to Handle Confrontations Between Cops and the Mentally Ill," by Arun Venugopal

Listen to Arun's report - all nine minutes - here (transcript link below):

RADIO: NPR looks at Indian-Americans moving to India

A guest post by Arlene Chang, a student at Columbia Journalism School.
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One trend the media is covering a lot these days is that of Indians returning home to seek opportunities. Here is a piece that first aired on NPR on March 4, 2008: "India Beckons Indian-American Back with Jobs" by Scott Carney. The story is interesting from the point of view that it is not just first-generation immigrant Indians who are packing their bags to head home, but also second-generation Indians born in the United States who are heading to India for the opportunity it offers and for what NPR calls "a cultural odyssey". Here is what the story says:

For second-generation Indian Americans, returning to their parents' home country can be a cultural odyssey. As the Indian economy booms, however, there are other reasons for American-born Indians to return to their roots. The country that many of their parents fled for lack of opportunity now needs their skills.

In 2006, the Indian government created a new immigration card for what it calls OCI or "Overseas Citizens of India." With it, second-generation Indians can have visa-free entry for life. Since 2006, the government has issued more than 200,000 OCI cards.

The piece goes on to talk about how the "Overseas Citizens of India" card is not just a means for the Indian government to lure second-generation Indians back home for sentimental reasons but instead for their skills.

Brooklyn-born author, Washington Post reporter and former SAJA president, S. Mitra Kalita, is quoted in the piece as saying, "The irony is that India is a country of a billion people, but any manager will tell you that the labor pool that they are faced with is not as educated and experienced as they need to be. These second-generation migrants do a great job straddling both worlds" (Kalita is now a columnist and editor at Mint, a business daily in New Delhi; read her blog about moving to India at HomelandInsecurities.blogspot.com).

OPINION: Essay by NPR's Eric Weiner - "My Servant"

Eric Weiner, former South Asian correspondent for National Public Radio, and author of “The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World,” has a "Lives" column in the back of this week's New York Times Magazine. It's entitled "My Servant" and begins like this:

Some years ago, I was looking for an apartment in Delhi. I had just moved to India, and everything about it was frenzied and raw. Every place I saw was either too pricey or noisy or prone to attack by flying cockroaches the size of small birds.

Finally I found a flat with heavy wooden doors and a terrace that overlooked a pleasant street. The landlord, an imperious man with tufts of wiry black hair sprouting from his left ear, proudly pointed out the apartment’s features, including Western-style toilets, air-conditioning (a real luxury) and, he added matter-of-factly, a “servant.” I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the way that sounded, but I can’t say I was shocked either. I had been told that a great many people in India had servants (or what Americans would call household help), and I figured this was the sort of cultural difference I had better get used to.

A few days later, the servant loped upstairs and reported for duty. He was skinny, alarmingly so, with mahogany skin and sharp features. His name was Kailash, and he was 11 years old. This was a cultural difference that I was not prepared to accept. I started downstairs to confront the landlord, but then hesitated. I rationalized that if this boy, an orphan from a neighboring state, didn’t work for me, he would work for someone else, and who knows how that person would treat him? Washing my hands of Kailash seemed like a cop-out, or so I told myself.

And so every afternoon Kailash climbed the stairs and knocked meekly on my door. He was, truth be told, not much of a cleaner: he didn’t remove the dirt; he just rearranged it. But he was naturally kind, honest beyond reproach and, it turned out, a wizard with temperamental fax machines and printers.

Read the rest of the essay and post your comments below.

According to Amazon's "Search inside this book" feature, Weiner's book as more than 50 pages mentioning India and Bhutan.

MUSIC: NPR's interview with M.I.A.

We last talked about M.I.A., the Sri Lankan-British hip-hopper, in August, when her second album came out. NPR's in-depth interview and music set with her on Jan. 4 is a good opportunity to check in with one of the most innovative and successful desis in the contemporary music scene.

Known for her eclectic range of hip-hop, dancehall and electronic music, M.I.A. makes albums as vibrantly colored as her clothes. In 2003, the British vocalist, songwriter and record producer released several of her songs on the Internet, including a runaway club hit called "Galang." She was immediately signed to a label, which released Arular (featuring hip-hip producer Diplo); the disc was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2005.

M.I.A.'s latest album, Kala, was recorded in several countries and reflects her unique political perspectives. While clearly an M.I.A. album in sound, she and her collaborators — including Diplo, Switch, Timbaland and Blaqstarr — use a wider variety of beats, as well as samples from Bollywood soundtracks and Jonathan Richman's "Roadrunner."

Listen to the 30-minute interview here. M.I.A.'s psychedelic official site is MIAuk.com - you can read about her, listen to her music and watch some of the new videos.

Earlier on SAJAforum:

• M.I.A.'s second album, "Kala," coming this week

DESI AMERICA: Saba Ali's NYT "Modern Love" Column

The Sunday NYT's "Modern Love" column - freelance first-person essays on various aspects of relationships - is one of the paper's most popular features. In fact, the most e-mailed item of 2006 was a "Modern Love" piece about how a woman learned to deal with her husband by using techniques used by exotic-animal trainers - see "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage." I haven't kept track of South Asian-themed pieces, but there's been at least one. Sarita James published "Mom, Dad Let Me Find My Own Husband" in May 2006 (you can listen to it as a MP3 podcast, too.)

In today's paper, the column is by Saba Ali, a 29-year-old from a Kenyan family of Indian origin, now living in upstate New York. In "Close Enough to Touch was Too Far Apart," she writes about her experiences as a scarf-wearing Muslim trying to navigate the world of relationships.

Her piece begins:

WHO knew that holding hands, the very act that signals the start of so many relationships, would be the end of mine? It seems the mullahs were onto something when they wagged their fingers against premarital relations, of any kind.

Born in Kenya of Indian heritage, I came to the United States at age 6, settling with my family in upstate New York. Growing up Muslim in suburban America, I missed out on the typical “Dawson’s Creek” method of courtship: the flirting, the fighting, the making up and making out.

Read the rest of the essay and post your comments below (and write to the column's editors at modernlove at nytimes.com). And if you know of any desi pieces we missed, let us know.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum:

• DESI AMERICA: ABCDLady Interviews Ausma Khan of Muslim Girl Magazine
• SPORTS: Raheela Fazal, Tennis Player and Muslim
• FASHION: Being Muslim, Female, and Chic

MUSIC: NPR feature on Penn Masala

Penn Masala, the 15-man a capella troupe at U Penn, has been around since 1996 - ancient by desi 2nd generation standards. I remember first hearing about them about 8 years ago, and at the time, it felt like they were everywhere, at least within the little world of our community.

This past Saturday, the band achieved a new level of prominence, appearing on NPR's Weekend Edition: "Penn Masala Mixes A Capella from East and West". The 4 minute-and-30 second feature, several days later, is still on the Most E-mailed list - currently it's at #16.

Here's an excerpt from the NPR page, where you can also download some audio clips:

"Influenced by their culture and their upbringing in the United States, Penn Masala has been a campus standout. The group's singers mix Western and Eastern music in a fusion of sound. The result is a cappella songs — or songs without accompaniment — that fans from both cultures appreciate. The group's members use their voices to imitate the sound of instruments, including drums, guitars and pianos.                      

Penn Masala's fifth album, Pehchaan, features a mix of classic Hindi and English covers, including "Every Breath You Take" by the Police, and Sting's "Desert Rose." The singers also provided a song on the soundtrack of the 2001 movie American Desi, among other recordings."

PAKISTAN: NPR Covers the Election Goings-on

Catching up on goings-on on Pakistan: Here's a text & audio piece from weekend NPR.

Pakistan may be facing an uncharacteristically dramatic presidential campaign this fall, as President and Army Chief Pervez Musharraf faces a likely challenge from two former prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif. Pakistani journalist Shuja Nawaz discusses his nation's presidential politics with Scott Simon.

Here's Nawaz's background:

Shuja Nawaz is a Pakistani journalist who has recently completed a book
Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within for Oxford
University Press. He was a television newscaster and producer with Pakistan
Television from 1967 to 72. He covered the 1971 war with India on the
Western Front. He has worked for The New York Times, the World Health
Organization, as a Division Chief for the International Monetary Fund, and a
Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and has widely written
and spoken on military and politico-economic issues. He was Editor of
Finance & Development, the multilingual quarterly of the IMF and the World
Bank.

Post your comments below.

ART: NPR on M.F. Husain's Situation & Censorship

A guest post from Aseem Chhabra, entertainment writer and SAJA Board member [send us your guest posts and tips, too at arunvenu[at]gmail.com]

On May 30, National Public Radio broadcast a report about the controversy in India surrounding M.F. Hussain's art.  The interview featured Ram Rahman of SAHMAT; Rajeev Dhavan, a lawyer; and other artists including Shubha Mudgal and Anjolie Ela Menon [many SAJAers met Menon at a SAJA event in NYC in 2004].

The piece says that Hussain, 92, may not be able to return to India, unless the government provides him with adequate protection.

Artists in India say they're being subjected to the worst campaign of politically inspired censorship in years.                         

They say that what they term a "moral police of cultural vigilantes" have targeted art, literature and films. The issue has thrown the focus back to the case of one man, believed by many to be the father of modern Indian art: M.F. Husain.

You can listen to the entire piece and read a text version here.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum:

• ART: Painter M.F. Husain to Lose Mumbai Home

IMMIGRATION: Covering Immigration Reform

On Friday, May 25, I am appearing on a WNYC-sponsored town hall discussion hosted by Brian Lehrer - Same News, Different Views (10 am-noon on WNYC and WNYC.org) - it's an attempt to broaden the understanding of immigration and immigration reform by bringing together mainstream and ethnic press. Are there issues, for example, not being covered by the mainstream but being covered in the ethnic media? I have been getting some tips and advice on things that should be discussed at the session - some are below and you can add more in the comments section, too.

RADIO: WNYC's Desi Stuff

WNYC Radio in New York City - where SAJAforum editor Arun Venugopal works as a reporter - has had some interesting South Asia stories of late. Read the transcripts and listen to the audio below.

• Indian Mangoes Reach New York, a piece by Arun, starring author/chef/actress Madhur Jaffrey; the famous Patel Brothers grocery story; and mango-sniffing French chefs. Yes, he got his hands on a dozen of the actual mangoes from India. (The end song, for filmi junkies, is from 1982's "Khuddar," starring Amitabh Bachchan).
• Exporting Bollywood Glitz, a segment on the show "Soundcheck," featured Gitesh Pandya, who runs BoxOfficeGuru.com and is becoming a regular commentator at WNYC.
• All Night Indian Music Concert, a featur by Siddhartha Mitter's feature on, well, an all-night Hindustani classical concert at a Manhattan cathedral.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum:

• WNYC ran a recent "On the Media" segment about the Gere-Shetty flap.
• Coverage of the Indian mango's arrival.
• Index of RADIO category.