Surya, You’re Fired!

Yalamanchili’s back is turned in this photo with fellow team-members

Surya Yalamanchili gave the fight of his life on last night’s episode of The Apprentice, but it wasn’t enough, and Trump (reluctantly) gave the Rutgers-grad the boot.

Did anyone tune in?

I did, and it gave me no small amount of anxiety to see Yalamanchili’s adopted team gang up on him in the boardroom. He’s “different from the rest of us,” they told Trump.

Really? Different because he’s desi? Or because he’s competent?

Sadly enough, the only non-white member of his team (James Sun, a preppy, Korean American founder of the social networking company Zoodango) was the most hostile toward Yalamanchili.

Watch Yalamanchili’s audition interview video here.

Sethi Supplies Star-Swag

Pratima Sethi, of San Francisco-based Manak Jewels, helped the stars shine even brighter this Oscar season. Check out Sethi as she takes Carlene Davis of US TV behind the scenes to the TMG Luxury Swag Suite:

Online Videos by Veoh.com

More:
On Manak
Water misses Oscar boat

In Short

Penn (Rediff India)

**70 million people. 6 weeks. 3 rivers.

The Kumbh Mela has drawn to a close this year.

Prashant Panjiar, photographer and author of India: The Definitive Images, offers Time magazine readers this photo essay in honor of the 45-day festival in Allahabad.

**Kal Penn will star in ABC’s new comedy, The Call, about a group of Los Angeles paramedics. The Namesake star will play a “hypochondriac and pessimist” on the show, which will also feature actress Kali Rocha (of Grey’s Anatomy fame).

**Amitabh Bachchan continues to make headlines this week, as he heads to Kolkata for the filming of Bengali director Rituparno Ghosh’s first English-language feature The Last Lear. The film will also star Preity Zinta and Arjun Rampal.

**New Yorkers may want to visit the Union Square Barnes and Noble this Monday night at 7PM, where Jhumpa Lahiri and Mira Nair will be talking about The Namesake.

Texas Twins On Next Deal

Deal or No Deal (nbc.com)

Look for contestant Uzma Lone from the Lone Star State on the Sunday, March 11, episode of TV game show “Deal or No Deal” hosted by comedian Howie Mandel. Uzma will have her twin sister Saima Bukhari on the show as her helper and the two will be donning desi duds, giving the show’s models a run for their money. Nirali interviewed Saima, the owner of Dallas salon and med spa Glow, for the October 2006 “Fall Beauty Trend Report.”

More: Play Deal or No Deal online
“‘Deal or No Deal’ risky business for Plano contestant”

Get The Door. It’s Aasif.

It seems our man Mandvi has a nose for pizza. Seen this?

Telug(h)umor

Stand-up star Hari Kondabolu’s late-night debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live made waves last week (Sepia, The Stranger , NerdNYC).

But the comedian’s day job is actually far from being “funny.”

Kondabolu, a Bowdoin College graduate, recently spoke to his alumni magazine about working in Seattle for Hate Free Zone, a non-profit, founded after 9/11, to help immigrant communities cope with intolerance and backlash. Kondabolu describes the work as “depressing and tiring, but inspiring when it works out.”

Kondabolu’s routines are often based on what it means to be desi in America. Check out his take on speaking Telugu:

Tharoor On Colbert

Former UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor rolls through The Colbert Report. Hilarity ensues.

Meera Masi For Curious Kids

Sonali Sahni Herrera, Sheetal Sahni Singhal (The Hindu)

“We all need a masi, the person you go to for fun,” says Sonali Herrera. “Someone who can spin tales for you and take you on adventures.” Herrera and her sister Sheetal Singhal founded Meera Masi, a publisher offering children stories on Indian language and culture. (“Sharing heritage with next generation, Immigrants from India write, market kids’ books in Hindi“)

While Singhal had the opportunity to attend boarding school in India and reads Hindi script, Herrera came to the U.S. at age four and does not read the script. Both can use Meera Masi books to read stories aloud to their children because the books include Hindi script, English transliteration of the Hindi script and an audio recording of the text to ensure correct pronunciation.

Watch the interview with the sisters on ABC’s View From The Bay, including “Itsy Bitsy Spider” in Hindi (“Chhote Mote Makade”) from their Khushē Manäo series. Meera Masi also offers a DVD featuring Laddoo the Elephant introducing children ages 6 to 30 months to Hindi, Tamil or Telugu.

Tandoori Sizzlers? OK.

Doritos Tandoori Sizzlers have made it to British and Canadian grocery stores apparently—and the commercials promoting them are now everywhere:

More YouTube Clips:
Doritos “Bold”
Doritos “Exotic”

2007: A Love Story

Wedding Day! (Sujeet.Com)

Oprah dedicated today’s show to “exceptional” love, and included this couple’s heartwarming story.

Sujeet Desai and Carrie Bergeron fell in love (“at first sight”) and decided to tie the knot six months later, having not one but two ceremonies—one Hindu, one Christian.

“I thought very hard that I wanted to propose and it was a very touching moment,” Sujeet said on the show. “I burst out in tears.”

Desai plays six musical instruments and spends his time touring the country. Visit his personal website for details.

Both Desai and Bergeron were born with Down syndrome.

More:
Sujeet and his family
Carrie & Sujeet’s wedding announcement