Gender Race

AP Photo
The good news is that Santhi Soudarajan, Indian runner and competitor in this month’s Asia Games, won the silver medal for her performance in the 800 meters.
The bad news? She is now being asked to give the medal back.
Earlier today, reports surfaced that Soudarajan had failed a gender test, after results determined the 25 […]

Singing for South Asia

ZameerMusic.com
Bhangra legends and rock stars on the same night? Sharing a stage?
Wow. Double wow.
On January 20th, Toronto’s “Harbourfront Centre” will host the Sing for South Asia charity event. All proceeds will be dedicated to the “ongoing rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts following the devastating earthquake that shook Kashmir on Oct 8, 2005.”
$45 Canadian (40 […]

Women Weigh In On Diwali Barbie

Did Mattel get the Diwali Barbie right? Earlier this month, PRI’s The World interviewed Sepia Mutiny’s Anna John, fellow sagehen (chirp!) and blogger Nina Jacinto, novelist/poet Chitra Divakaruni and Professor Inderpal Grewal about one of Mattel’s newest additions to its Barbie line.
You can still listen to the report online at The World’s web site.
I agree […]

Surya on Season 6 of The Apprentice

Surya (NBC/Mitchell Haaseth)
To revive ratings for the upcoming season, reality-TV based series “The Apprentice” moves from NY to LA, replaces judges Carolyn Kepcher and George Ross with Trump offspring Ivanka and Donald, Jr., and adds a women’s ice hockey Olympian to the mix of candidates. Local media reports that Surya Yalamanchili (no known relation) is […]

Holy Fandango!

Go to the movies this weekend, and you might catch this new Fandango ad during the pre-show:

Those paper bags have some serious balle-balle skills.

Bedi Goes Where Bollywood Won’t

From PurvaBedi.Com
Bollywood actress Perizaad Zorabian may have turned down the leading role (she had “personal inhibitions about playing a lesbian”) but the much-anticipated film When Kiran Met Karen seems to be in safe hands.
Purva Bedi, of American Desi and Green Card Fever success, has been cast as the star of the Soman Chainani/Manan Katohora film […]

Sanjay Gupta Continues to Make Us Look Lazy

Photo courtesy of CNN
If Katie Couric doesn’t quite do it for you, there will soon be another reason to tune in to the CBS Evening News.
Yesterday the network announced Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be joining the news team, contributing up to 10 reports a year.
Gupta, currently CNN’s chief medical correspondent, is a practicing […]

Imperial Life in the Emerald City

Did anyone catch Rajiv Chandrasekaran on The Daily Show last night?
The former Baghdad Bureau Chief for the Washington Post was on plugging his new book Imperial Life in the Emerald City. Chandrasekaran talked about the “post-conflict reconstruction” efforts of the U.S. government in Iraq–specifically about life in the heavily guarded “Green Zone,” which houses […]

Desi-Designer Dragons

It’s a story about farm boy who stumbles across a dragon’s egg (stay with me), embarks on a wonderful journey, and ultimately defends his home against a wicked king.
Eragon, the fantasty/action film opens this weekend. It features Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Rachel Weisz and Djimon Hounsou.
LA-based Sameer Hoon is responsible for the film’s effects. […]

Inverting Tradition

Arpita Singh’s “Women”
She has been described as pushing the “visual lexicon of the middle-aged woman further than almost any other woman artist” and this month, her work is on display at London’s Grosvernor Gallery. 
Indian painter Arpita Singh’s works have been shown in galleries from Istanbul to Havana—Amsterdam to Tokyo. The New York Times has called […]