SAJAforum

NEW PROJECT: The New York Times Launches "India Ink"

 

Do you know why many people know about yoga in the US and the West? India Ink, the new New York Times India blog has the answer. Vivekananda was the one who single-handedly helped westerners understand the value of yoga and practice it.  

NYT launched India Ink in early September to “provide more in-depth, on-the-ground coverage of the world’s biggest democracy — and of a people who know that no matter how far they roam, their hearts will always be Indian.” At the time of this writing @nytindia had 6,250 Twitter followers.

India Ink has 21 writers in its stable, covering everything from politics, business to street food, to the news on $35 tablet computer released by Indian government, and more.

I quietly hope that NYT will launch a Hindi version of the India Ink someday. What do you think?

If you have ideas on what India Ink should be writing about, email them at IndiaInk@nytimes.com
or tweet at @nytindia.

You can read the full memo about the Ink below or at this link:

BLOGS: Browngirl's Beautyblog, for those other fleshtones

When I was about eight my family visited India, and my dad being the social animal that he is, packed us into the car regularly so that we could meet every possible person in our known extended family, from first cousins to third cousins, thrice removed. In Kerala, on a July day, that means you're either driving  around in the rain, or worse, on an impossibly muggy day, where every inch of skin and clothing sticks to the vinyl seats of the Ambassador, and loudly peels off when you so much as shift in your place. And as the only boy among three siblings, I was always assigned the worst seat in the car: the middle of the front seat, wedged in between my dad and the hired driver, a location entirely deprived of any air flow, where the torpor was periodically broken by the flailing elbow of the driver, as he shifted gears.

Yesterday, while chatting with a Latina colleague about the politics of skin tone in our respective communities, I was reminded of those long, long trips, and of one destination in particular. It was some relative--I can never remember the connection--and he was old, and crotchety, and as we all sat around, drinking our respective cups of tea and Horlicks, he glared at me and my sisters, and pointing to one of them, asked my parents in Malayalam: "All of you are so fair. How did this one turn out such a darkie?"

After I told my friend that story, we flipped through a new issue of India Abroad, which I had on my desk. In the matrimonial section, I'd say maybe every 5th listing mentioned "fair" skin. No one used the terms "dusky" or "wheatish." But it made me wonder: if someone doesn't say their son or daughter is fair, does that imply they're wheatish or dusky, or maybe even dark?

Maybe Sumi Raghavan can tell us. Sumi's a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Fordham University, here in New York. To periodically take her mind off her dissertation, she started "Browngirl's Beautyblog," because, as she told me, "there's a real gap in the amount of information available about beauty products for women of brown color, and as an informed consumer with a lot of experience, I thought I may have something interesting to say about it."

In her first post, on May 29, Sumi describes her skin as a "deep brown":

"There is something unique and beautiful about the golden brown of Indian skin.  So why on Earth does it feel like nobody is making beauty products for us, for our pigments, for our textures, and our needs?"

Elsewhere, she provides a DIY recipe for turmeric facial application ("I assumed they were jaundiced or something"), and gives a shout-out to Thevi Thambirajah, a Sri Lankan who launched Thevi Cosmetics.

Here she tells us more about why she started the site:

MEDIA: Typepad's Journalist Bailout Program

The very generous folks at Typepad (which SAJA uses for SAJAForum) seem to have a plan for "recently-laid-off or fearful-of-layoffs journalist[s]." They call it the The Typepad Journalist Bailout Program.

From their program website:

Your Tumblr, while clever, will not pay your bills. We want to fix that. So we've made the TypePad Journalist Bailout Program. While we can't promise it's going to replace having a full-time writing gig, it gets you up and running with your own site that you can start to benefit from. Let's outline the details, in true Digg-baiting listicle format:

• You get a free TypePad Pro blog account. That's the real deal, the same service that powers big-name media blogs, and it even includes professional support so we answer any questions you have.
• You get enrolled in the Six Apart Media advertising program. These are real display ads, that pay a lot more than simple Google text ads, and you get to keep the revenue.
• We'll promote your new site on Blogs.com. It's a fast-growing directory of the best in blogs, and Blogs.com will be a very effective way for all of your peers in the Journalist Bailout Program to cross-promote and share traffic for your independent sites.
• Lots more. Getting started with Six Apart opens the door to lots more ways to succeed in the future. We can introduce you to our VIP program to help drive traffic to your site, help you connect your blog to your LinkedIn profile, make it easy to manage your site's comments from an iPhone, and even show you how to automatically promote your posts to your Facebook friends.

And while they don't mention if the ad revenue is enough to buy your groceries, this definitely sounds like a cool deal. You save 150 dollars and your blogs will have a professional look with non-google-looking ads. But when it comes to searching your name on Google, your blog will still be a first result.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this program. Post them below.

BLOGS: List of blogs popular in South Asia

We have collected suggestions for South Asian blogs in the past (do take a look at the list, especially the comments section).

I recently stumbled across a "Directory of Top Blogs in India and Most Widely Read Indian Bloggers". It's a huge list, broken up by category.

That forced me to look for similar lists for other countries in the region.

Here are the entries in "Best Blogs in Asia" for...

• Pakistan
• Bangladesh
• India

Have others? Suggest them below.

BLOGOSPHERE: Jindal and Exorcism

[SAJAforum sources, resources about the 2008 race]

Amid speculations about Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's potential candidacy as McCain's vice president, a new (and old) news about him is floating around. A blogger for Swampland, TIME magazine's blog, says Jindal might bring "interesting talents to the table - such as exorcism."

The article "Physical Dimension of Spiritual Warfare," written by Jindal in December 1994 (published in the New Oxford Review) is finding a lot of space in the blogosphere.

Excerpt from the piece:

The crucifix had a calming effect on Susan, and her sister was soon brave enough to bring a Bible to her face. At first, Susan responded to biblical pas­sages with curses and profanities. Mixed in with her vile attacks were short and desperate pleas for help. In the same breath that she attacked Christ, the Bible's authenticity, and everyone assembled in prayer, Susan would suddenly urge us to rescue her.

Read TPM Election Central's post.

...Jindal narrated a bizarre story of a personal encounter with a demon, in which he participated in an exorcism with a group of college friends. And not only did they cast out the supernatural spirit that had possessed his friend, Jindal wrote that he believes that their ritual may well have cured her cancer.

According to Swampland, this material had already come up during Jindal's run for governor. And it didn't hurt him.

Would this make any difference now? Please post your thoughts below.

Our previous Jindal-as-possible-VP items:

• 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

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.

MEMBERS: Om Malik's Adventures

Om Malik is one of the world's most influential bloggers. As founder of GigaOm.com, a site that's a must-read for Silicon Valley folks, what he and his team say can make or break a company. Millions of dollars in investments are placed, in part, on what Malik says.

The tech-star-studded e-mail I received below, about Structure '08, a new GigaOm conference (it's another major conversation that's part of the GigaOm network, a list that includes NewTeeVee Live, "Television Reinvented"), reminded me that we haven't written about Malik here on SAJAforum.

We haven't been writing about Malik - a co-founder of SAJA with me, M.K. Srinivasan, Dilip Massand, but the New York Times has. Twice just this year.

Om Malik’s blog, GigaOm, regularly breaks news about the technology industry. Last week, the journalist turned blogger broke a big story about himself. Mr. Malik, 41, blogged that he had suffered a heart attack on Dec. 28.

“I was able to walk into the hospital for treatment that night and have been recovering here ever since,” Mr. Malik wrote. “With the support of my family and my team, I am on the road to a full recovery. I am going to be O.K.”

His heart attack — and his blogging about it — raises the issue of what happens when a blogger becomes a name brand.

“The trouble with a personal brand is, you’re yoked to a machine,” said Paul Kedrosky, a friend of Mr. Malik’s who runs the Infectious Greed blog. “You feel huge pressure to not just do a lot, but to do a lot with your name on it. You have pressure to not just be the C.E.O., but at the same time to write, and to do it all on a shoestring. Put it all together, and it’s a recipe for stress through the roof.”

CONV: Speaker Manish Vij of Ultrabrown.com Takes Some Pix

ARUN VENUGOPAL HOLDS COURT OUTSIDE THE TRINI-PAK HALAL CART. Photo: Manish Vij

Manish Vij of ultrabrown was a speaker at the bloggers panel at the SAJA Convention this year. He took some fun photos of some of the bloggers and others (including Arun Venugopal, this blog's editor, seen on the left here) at the convention. Take a look here. And see Preston Merchant's 200+ photos here.

EARLIER ON SAJAforum.org: BLOGS: Favorite Desi Blogs

NEW BLOG: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Now Blogging

Blogger Sabahat Ashraf, a Pakistani in Silicon Valley, runs iFaqeer, a blog that I read regularly. He has a new post, "Pride and Human Rights in Pakistan," alerting us to a new blog run by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. He says about HRCP:

This is the organization that gave the world it's first UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. This is the organization Dr. Amartya Sen mentions when asked about Pakistan and how it's doing as a country.

And when the last coup happened, HRCP was "the only clear voice saying 'interrupting the flow of democracy is always a bad thing.'" From HRCP's site:

HRCP is an independent, voluntary, non-profit organisation which is not associated or affiliated with the government or any political party. It is committed to act with impartiality and objectivity in all matters. Among its main aims are spreading awareness      of human rights among the people, mobilising public opinion, collecting information and disseminating knowledge about human rights abuses.

You read the new HRCP blog here. Post your comments below.

BLOGS: Favorite Desi Blogs

I am often asked for a list of South Asia-related blogs I read, so I thought it might be fun for all of us to share our lists. Please post your suggestions in the comments section below [UPDATE: Many thanks for all the excellent suggestions there already!].

Here's what I try to visit every day:

South Asian diaspora and second-gen roundups (for the most part):

• SepiaMutiny
• UltraBrown
• UberDesi
• SAJAforum, of course

South Asia-based roundups (for the most part):

• DesiPundit
  
• IndiaUncut 
• IndianEconomy
• All Things Pakistan
• Global Voices Online - see the South Asia section

Of course, there are dozens of other fun, informative, useful desi blogs out there, including ones I visit a couple of times a week (hello, FIlmiholic, PassTheRoti). Please list your suggestions in the comments section below (explain what the site covers, please) - and help us expand our blog horizons.

If you are new to the world of blogs, one of the best ways to keep track of them is with a blog reader and RSS feeds (RSS has nothing to do with politics in India, it stands for Really Simple Syndication). And here's one of the best explanations of how they work is this small item that was contributed by Sitara Nieves to a blog I run at Columbia.