Nirali Editor on MTV Live Tonight

Are you a long-haired Parveen Babi or a short-tressed Madhuri Dixit? Nirali editor Roxanna Kassam Kara never identified with the straight, silky locks that most Bollywood heroines sported, though she certainly yearned for them in lieu of her curly ‘do. So in “Bollywood’s Mane Attraction,” Roxy explored Bollywood’s hair stereotypes and what they mean for South Asian women. And now, almost two years after that story was published, MTV has come a-knocking.

Roxy will appear tonight on MTV Live, MTV Canada’s flagship show devoted to discussing issues with a live audience. Tonight the show examines hair stereotypes (blonds have more fun, brunettes are boring), and they invited Roxy to talk about her piece.

We’re thrilled to see Roxy represent Nirali on the small screen! While MTV Live’s audience will have a chance to discuss the issue, you can, too. Is there such a thing as a Bollywood hair stereotype? Which movies represent it? Tell us what you think!

All you Canadian readers, you don’t want to miss Roxanna Kassam Kara on MTV Live on MTV Canada tonight at 6 p.m. ET. We’ll report back after the show.

Pakoras, Samosas and More

(Photo by kk+)

There’s nothing like tasty Indian snacks to get a party going. Not a surprise, I’m sure, to you or anyone else who’s been within sniffing distance of a samosa or pakora.

Learn how to make these delicously dunkable treats and chutneys to go with them at Tahia Lameer‘s class about Indian appetizers and chutneys on Sunday, April 29, in Los Angeles. For more information, see the class menu below and visit Tahia’s Kitchen online.

Samosa stuff:
The Samosa Diaspora
“An orbifold with just three cone points looks like a samosa.”
The Samosas Spot

Read the rest of this entry »

Penn is Penn Professor

Soon-to-be Professor Penn

The Asian American Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania has just revealed that Kal Penn (The Namesake, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle) will join the faculty next spring as a visiting professor.

The decision was announced Saturday night at a banquet celebrating the program’s 10th anniversary. Penn expressed interest in teaching at the school after a campus visit last November, where he spoke about the experience of being desi in Hollywood.

The actor will teach two courses: “Images of Asian Americans in the Media,” and “Contemporary American Teen Films.” (via)

New Things for Spring

We’ve been doing some spring cleaning–or rather, rearranging–at Nirali. The result? The Daily, Nirali‘s newly-revamped weblog. In addition to the news roundups you’re used to seeing on the blog, we’ll also bring you more reported pieces and shorter original stories important to the South Asian community. And now you don’t have to skip to a second web site to see what’s going on at the weblog, either–The Daily is fully integrated into Nirali‘s main site, and you will always see the three most recent Daily entries on our main page.

But don’t get lost in The Daily! Be sure to check out the rest of the stories in our March issue. Read 21 Things You Didn’t Know About The Namesake to get the dish on this desi blockbuster starring Kal Penn. Peek Behind the Seams to get a look at the haute handbag empire of Malini Murjani (you won’t be able to resist her stuff). And lighten up your spring food fare with a visit to Tahia’s Vegetarian Kitchen.

And don’t forget to let us know what you think—leave a comment or send us an email with your thoughts on what you liked or didn’t like in this issue (or any other).

Happy spring!

Brown in Business

Sun King Jigar Shah (Fortune)

It’s no secret that South Asians have gained success in the business world, but it’s still gratfiying to see the mainstream business press give them some coverage (especially women—the Fortune cover with Indra Nooyi was quite the score for brown women). Here, a few recent profiles of young Indian-Americans with some interesting stories about business and business education:

The Sun King
The March 5 (print) issue of Fortune features a Q/A with Jigar Shah, the 32-year-old CEO of Sun-Edison, “the biggest supplier of solar energy in the U.S., [which] has built mini-power plants in about 200 locations, suppling juice for clients like Staples, Costco, Whole Foods Market and California State University at Chico.”

The company was Shah’s brainchild while he was a student at Harvard B-School, and two years and $26 million in venture funds later, Shah is securing his place as the sun king.

He isn’t sure whether the U.S. can become self-sufficient in energy, but he does “know that the Department of Energy has predicted that the U.S. will need to add capacity, about 20 megawatts a year [or about 2 percent of our current annual output] over the next decade, to meet rising demand. Right now renewable energy–wind, solar, geothermal–can supply that whole amount.”

Armed Forces
BusinessWeek.com offers a first-person narrative from Vivek Bhatnagar, who served in the Indian army before pursuing his MBA at Babson College. After the rigors of army life, Bhatnagar thought working in teams in an American MBA program would be a walk in the park.
Read the rest of this entry »

Making Girls Cry Since 1989

Last night on American Idol, Sanjaya Malakar did a major turnaround and made girls cry in the audience with the best performance he’s given all competition. Randy proclaims it was his best performance yet. Paula said it was good that he went for it. Simon confirmed that the little girl’s face said it all.

SheWrite Screening

Stills from SheWrite (K.P. Jayasankar)

As part of a series of events planned to help spark discussion about women and gender roles in the South Asian community, Narika’s student group at UC Berkeley screens SheWrite, an award-winning documentary about four female Tamil poets exploring themes of desire and sexuality, on Tuesday, March 20. The film’s directors will be guest speakers. Anjali Monteiro, currently a Fulbright visiting lecturer at Berkeley, and her husband K.P. Jayasankar, Chair of the Centre for Media and Culture Studies at TISS, have made 25 documentaries over the last 15 years. SheWrite recently premiered in the U.S. at the 2007 New York Arab and South Asian Film Festival.

Criticism of the poets in the press for writing “obscenely” caught the attention of the film’s directors. One male writer urged people: “If you see them on the road, slap them.” (The Hindu). A magazine editor asked, “”How can women demand gender freedom after writing such things?” (The Week). Read the rest of this entry »

Cute Kids Tees, Kanchipuram Style

Mallika Malhotra and sons (Kid-Guru.com)

Mallika Malhotra stumbled upon hidden treasure collecting dust in her mother’s closet—a box of 1960s sari silks given as wedding gifts to her mother. Gathering the vintage textiles, the young mother with a passion for style started plannning her at-home business and launched Kid-Guru, an appliquéd t-shirt collection, in 2004.

Handcrafted in Denver, Colorado, with traditional fabrics brought back from Malhotra’s trips to India, the tees feature an assortment of charming designs—sailboats, spiders and pirate skulls, in addition to butterflies, hearts and snowflakes. You won’t find Kid-Guru at Baby Gap. Sold online and in boutiques and trunk shows, the cotton shirts are made from prints of limited quantity.

More:
Kid-Guru’s formalwear line
Kanchipuram saris

From Chico To The Man

Daily Show regular Aasif Mandvi weighs in on the Attorney General Alberto Gonzales mess:

Activist Ashley

PopSugar.Com

Ashley Judd joins a growing number of celebrities dedicating time and energy to the promotion of HIV/AIDS awareness in India.

The University of Kentucky-grad spent the week in India, meeting some of Mumbai’s sex workers on Monday. “The empowerment of girls and women is an essential tool to preventing the HIV/AIDS emergency from exploding any further,” said the actress, adding “There is a common problem worldwide and there is also a common solution.”

Judd, a YouthAIDS Global Ambassador, was visiting the country as a Population Services International board member and representative.”What makes Ashley’s trip to India so special is not only the fact that she cares so deeply for the AIDS cause,” Bollywood actress Sushmita Sen told reporters. “It is also because she is coming all the way to our country to raise funds for this cause.”

Almost six million people in India are currently living with the HIV virus.

More:
Population Services International: India
Ashley Judd’s travel journal from 2005 humanitarian trip to Africa
Richard Gere meets with Indian sex workers
Oxfam goes glam
Ralph Fiennes visits India to raise AIDS awareness