Put Him On The W(riter)-List

Joely Fisher, Brad Garrett

Add Vijal M. Patel’s name to the growing numbers of “South Asians getting ahead in non-traditional fields like TV writing,” described in “Masti See TV.” After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in engineering and business, Patel moved to Los Angeles and entered the entertainment profession. Working his way up from production assistant to writer’s assistant, he was eventually offered a position as staff writer. Currently, he writes for the FOX network’s new comedy series ‘Til Death, starring Brad Garrett of Everybody Loves Raymond. Have you seen the show? What do you think?

Vijal Patel

Another passion of Patel’s is music. He has two albums, the debut mostly acoustic-rock “Down With Misery”, instrumental album “Pose”, and additional singles on his Web site. Judging by his cooking show “Who Invited You?” which includes a budget-minded recipe for a Mock Tandoori Chicken Pita Pocket Sandwich, Patel is a sort of Renaissance man, with diverse creative pursuits in addition to screenwriting.

Bharat-Bling

Kaneesha.Com

India is now the number one exporter and producer of jewelry–having recently grabbed the top spot from Italy.

“The markets of the future are India and China,” Sabyasachi Ray, exhibit director for India’s Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council told Reuters in an interview earlier this week.

China, along with Turkey and other Asian nations, have been giving traditional global leaders like Italy a run for their money.

Their main advantage? Cheaper labor.

Last year’s numbers put Indian jewelry exports at an astounding $16.7 billion (up from $15.7 billion in 2004/2005).

Although India is said to strictly abide by the Kimberley Process (Remember? From Blood Diamond?) serious allegations suggest some less-than-kosher dealings in Angola.

India exported about $9 billion worth of diamonds in 2003.

More:
Conflict diamonds
Blood Diamond, the movie
Jewelry designer Bijoux talks to Nirali
And Rosena Sammi tells us about her designs

Mirza Takes The Mic

(Steve Ullathorne)

Shazia Mirza headlines this week in San Francisco at the Punchline Comedy Club through the 20th. In addition to her stand-up routine, she acts and writes for TV and theater. Later this month Mirza will be presenting a BBC Radio 4 documentary on “Humour Around the World.”

A Luxembourg news magazine interviewed Mirza last year when she was in town for a festival that celebrates alternative and fringe female artists and performers (Can Somebody Plug Me In?), and described changes over time in her act.

More information:
ShaziaMirza.org
Punchline Comedy Club

Just Ghee Happy

Little Book of Hindu Deities

“Honestly, I can’t think of anything that was good about growing up Hindu in America. I found it really to be a burden, actually,” says Pixar animator Sanjay Patel.

But that hasn’t stopped Patel, 32, from creating The Little Book of Hindu Deities, his vivid ode to 50 divinities–each one introduced with an incredibly hip anime-esque illustration.

Patel, who is from California’s San Bernadino valley, has worked on Monsters Inc., The Incredibles and The Simpsons. He was a bit nervous about sharing The Little Book with his parents:

“I waited a very long time before showing it to my dad. I was worried about how he would react. But he loved it! He also encouraged me to do more Hindu things. He was like, ‘OK, now that you are writing this book why don’t you light a candle?’ ”

For more on Sanjay Patel, including samples of his designs, free funky screensavers, and merchandise, visit his website GheeHappy.Com.

The Enemy At Home

Dinesh D’Souza was on The Colbert Report the other night, explaining to viewers how American liberals are actually responsible for the attacks of 9-11.

There to promote his new book, The Enemy At Home, the conservative told us how the nation’s depravity, excesses, and atheists are really to blame for everything. And that Bill Clinton is a major “coward.”

Convinced? No? Well maybe Part Two will do the trick. You can read the New York Times review of D’Souza’s latest here.

Spice It Up In The Kitchen

(TahiasKitchen.com)

Tahia’s Kitchen provides Indian vegetarian cooking classes in southern California for both the novice cook and the expert chef. Two classes this month (January 21 & 30) will focus on Spices and Vegetarian Cooking.

Go here to learn more and register for the classes.

With menus including such dishes as Avocado & Coconut Soup and Sri Lankan Spiced Potatoes, students should be in for some tasty treats. Look for more on Tahia’s Kitchen founder Tahia Lameer in an upcoming issue.

Mehta Goes From Mauritania To Movie Premieres

Mehta in Mauritania. UC Berkeley News

Fans of the New York Times‘s Carpetbagger David Carr might be interested to know that young desi American film-maker Jigar Mehta is a force behind Carr’s highly popular video-blog series for the paper’s online arts section.

The Cal Berkeley grad’s interests are quite broad. Earlier this year, he introduced us to Michael Ennes, a chef who transformed a Manhattan soup kitchen, and last December he took viewers behind the scenes at Madison Square Garden’s first-ever bull-riding event.

Mehta began his film-making career as a young journalism student. In 2004, after being chosen to be a summer fellow for the Human Rights Center (a group that “sends UC Berkeley students to work with domestic and international non-governmental organizations”), he found himself in West Africa’s Mauritania, “documenting oral histories” about slavery.

For more on Jigar Mehta, visit his website.

King Statue For King Khan

SRK for TAG Heuer

Shah Rukh Khan is to be memorialized in wax.

Starting in April of this year, fans can see his life-size statue at the renowned Madame Tussauds museum in London.

“Khan will take part in a sitting with Tussauds studios’ sculptors next month,” said a spokesperson for the museum.

Khan will be the third Indian actor to be honored. The museum currently has statues of Amitabh Bachchan and, his soon-to-be-daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai.

Surya Suits Up On The Apprentice

(T. Baynard)

Only two episodes into the latest season of The Apprentice, candidate Surya, nicknamed “The Hair” has not had much to say, though he has been on the winning team both times. Do actions speak louder than words? Surya and a few other candidates suited up to walk the beach runway, modeling swimsuits for professional buyers. Former fashion model Ivanka Trump recognized his discomfort, but also admired “Surya’s courage to step out and model one of the men’s bathing suits.”

More:
Surya’s audition video
His Take On The Namesake
Surya Dubbed This Season’s Great Brown Hope (1, 2)

Petty Behavior In Big House

Shilpa Shetty: Metro UK

Last week, we watched on as Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty entered the Celebrity Big Brother house.

Things haven’t been going that well for the Phir Milenge star, and now the show has come under fire amidst complaints that Shetty has been racially bullied by the other contestants.

After receiving over 10,000 complaints from viewers, the British media watchdog (Ofcom) has begun to seriously examine the charges of racism.

According to an AP report, the star, 31, has been “repeatedly reduced to tears” by fellow contestants who have mocked her accent and suggested that, being Indian, she is dirty.

When the actress cooked chicken curry for her housemates recently, contestant Jo O’Meara refused to eat it, saying she didn’t “trust” it and was “scared.” She also did impressions of Shetty’s accent and protested that the actress had “touched housemates’ food with her hands” (to which fellow contestant Danielle Lloyd replied that “they eat with their hands in India…you don’t know where her hands have been“).

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