When I first enrolled for my Ph.D, my guide asked me to refer to a thesis on the “Amar Chitra Katha”( Indian comics telling us tales of Indian epics, history and its heros) done by a Research Scholar at the CIEFL, Hyderabad. It was a phenomenal work on the comic and its influences on and by Hindu Nationalism, Nehruvian Socialism, Capitalism, etc. Personally I love the illustrations. They follow my favorite painter Ravi Verma's style.

So when I read the following news item today - Uncle Pai to launch serial in NY, that these Indian historical, mythical, cultural comics will be made into TV serials in the US, I was interested.

Mr Anant Pai, popularly known as Uncle Pai, the father of Indian comics will launch a 100 episodes serial, Our Land Our People which will be on air at ITV Gold in New York. This 25-minute serial will show animated versions of stories drawn from Indian folklore and classics like Panchatantra and Jataka Tales followed by a quiz contest

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Why wasn’t the serial being launched here in India, I am sure a lot of Indian kids exposed to Pokemon and Johnny Bravo, would find it interesting?

Phat! The answer was right there:

He also said, "I plan to launch this serial abroad because anything that is accepted in the US is easily accepted back home."

It is here that I see the phenomenon; India today has long lost its tradition of story telling, amidst the heavy cable TV and other information media aimed at entertaining kids and the youth. In the 80’s when the Amar Chitra Kathas were famous among middle class kids, it was the only entertainment that there was. Entertainment that taught, educated and informed. Alas!! Today there are a lot more educational/entertainment attractions.

On the other hand you have the diaspora that longs for its culture, it folk stories, parents want their kids to understand and remember stories from India and its culture, stories about bravery, respect to elders, courage and being dutiful citizens. So they are quick to adopt and take on what Indian Culturalists should be doing – Tell stories about the glory of India using the latest mass media.

The diaspora is retelling India’s stories to heal the wounds their children suffer from; being in societies which see them as not as one of them.

Pai has done a commendable job of educating and inspiring a lot of Indian Babyboomers, since not many at home listen to them anymore, he’s telling his stories to the diaspora.

Uncle Pai plans to take Our Land, Our People to other nations like West Indies, Jamaica and Singapore which have a sizeable Indian diaspora

From what I foresee, the Indian diaspora is India’s Cultural Bearer.

PS: There is a comic book on Kalpana Chawla, Indian-American astronaut as well.

Kalpana kept strong ties with India and remained a simple, fun loving person deeply concerned about the environment.

Below is an email from the Drishti Media Collective in Ahmedabad.

We founded DRISHTI as a trust in 1993, with a firm faith in the ability of video, theatre, radio, other media and the arts to contribute to struggles for a just, humane and peaceful society. Our work seeks to document alternative histories, give expression to voices on the margins, create public awareness and build public opinion, mobilize people to action, lobby with structures of authority.

Dear friends,

The current 'Community Radio Policy' of India is discriminatory towards communities as it bars community members, community based-organizations, non-government organizations and other civil society groups from applying for licenses to operate
low power community radio stations. The policy holds that only 'well established
educational institutions / organizations' can apply for a community radio license. So, what we have in the name of Community Radio is in reality Campus Radio.

Several organizations, academicians and individuals have been actively campaigning for communities' right to access the airwaves for the last seven years. They have made innumerable representations to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and to the Broadcast Regulator (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India - TRAI). They
have also written and submitted several drafts to reform the existing Community Radio Policy so as to include community rights in it. In spite of these efforts the government continues to be non-committal and discriminatory.

We urge you join hands with us to mount adequate pressure on the government to end this discrimination against the largely rural and poor communities. Please express your solidarity by signing the "Urging The Inclusion Of The Right Of The
Communities Within The Community Radio Policy" petition at
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/comradio/petition.html

Sincerely,

Stalin K.
DRISHTI MEDIA COLLECTIVE, Ahmedabad

So how does someone like me who hates (incoherent) academic writing do a Ph.D. How on earth do I get past a obscure jargon-filled book on feminist theory, film theory, queer theory, diaspora theories?

So how will I at the end of this Ph.D sojourn give in a "academic book" to be granted a Ph.D?

I was reworking on my Ph.D proposal and it was like a High-School report. And I loved it, because I felt comfortable with it, I felt on the top of it.If I were quizzed by distinguished academia, I would do well.

This whole research writing must be written "intelligent", if you wrote simply most would think its sub-standard, like I haven't put my mind to make it intelligently incoherent.Well if you can't understand what your own proposal is saying or if you can't explain why your research matters , then your wasting a whole lot of precious time.

I think at the end of my Ph.D, I would want to hand out copies of my work, maybe most wouldn't make through the first few pages,but the few pages they glance through would make sense.

I am not the only one thinking - Academic writing should be coherent. Here is a quote from Kitchencabinet.

Too often, I think, academic writing is praised for its incoherence. Many scholars get away with loads of stuff that makes little to no sense simply because the reader's have been conditioned to believe that such incoherence is a sign of higher-level thinking. WRONG. If it doesn't make sense, it sucks

Google alerted me to an article in The New York Times: Courtship Ideas of South Asians Get a U.S. Touch.

Once you go through the whole article as someone living in India, I began to think the concept of an assisted marriage has always been around.There have been exceptions when the groom and bride don’t meet each other until after the wedding. So the "US touch" doesn’t hold ground here. Today individuality and rationality guide the arranged marriage, so it isn't as impinging as it was years ago.

Now I think the writer is looking at Indian marriages and courtship from a very Western perspective. Marriage is the cornerstone of society, so people try to preserve the continuity of their families, culture, and tradition by trying to marry their offspring to someone who has the same background as them. This sounds archaic and ancient but India has an ancient time-tested culture with regards to marriages.

The purpose of assisted marriage here is not simply to preserve Indian cultural identity, but more pointedly to maintain class, religious and regional identities in a place where they might easily be diffused, those who have studied the Indian diaspora say.

Look at our films and literature; all culminate in a “BIG FAT INDIAN WEDDING”, and all family politics and gossip happen around a wedding. The marriage is all about class, family prestige, religon etc.

According to the writer the American invention in the courtship game meant prospective bride and grooms are not obliged to marry the persons whom their parents have chosen. I don’t think that is an American invention, freedom of choice, to select your partner is a choice and has been promoted by the Hindu tradition. But largely ignored by the Indians and the diaspora that is steeped in the India of the 60's and 70's.Times are changing.

Somewhere along the way India and its diaspora have forgotten the enriching Hindu tradition of marriage. The West ofcourse has to be educated on the Indian style arranged marriage.

Further debate can be read on Sepia Mutiny - My eyes “gleam” when I think about being arranged Issues

Well the next India Day will be held in Hyderabad. This is a correction, I mentioned previously in this blog that it would held in Kochi, but the venue is Hyderabad.Jan 9-11, 2006.

I tried logging on for more information, unfortunately there is no proper information posted as yet. Pity!!!

Nathan with Indian President Kalam


Singapore President S.R. Nathan was reelected to serve a second six-year term, he is 81, elected unopposed in 1999 to become Singapore's sixth president, he was only one among four candidates approved by a presidential elections committee last Sunday to run for the presidency. On September 1, his second term starts.

Nathan, who is of Indian descent, also spoke briefly in Mandarin, Malay and Tamil, the official languages of multiracial Singapore, to thank Singaporeans

For more on the article CLICK

What a distinguished career!!!

This also brings me to the question why does the West not embrace its Politicians of Indian descent as much as its Asian counterparts?

When I first enrolled for my Ph.D, I was asked to visit the American Studies Research Centre, (ASRC) here in Hyderabad. Now known as IACIS, the Indo-American Centre for International Studies. At one time, it was the best centre outside the USA for American studies. Unfortunately the funding to the IACIS has stopped; a few philanthropists had given donations to keep the institute alive. But today the Executive Director, Dr. Isaac Sequiera rents out the campus to NGO’s for meetings and conferences to make two ends meet. Dr. Sequiera, must be in his late 70’s is one of the few Indian academicians on Popular American Culture, and I admire him for his tenaciousness at protecting the Institute and its employees.

The library there is magnificent, but the books need to be updated and the building needs to be done. I do feel for the institute, because I use its resources but the resources are now archaic It needs finances to keep it going.

Since I hear of some Desi’s build “Indian Centres” in Universities, I think it would also be fair to appeal to them for donation towards the American Studies research Centre in Hyderabad, India. As I say if you’re Indian-American, you must promote study of both the cultures.

Guess if I make it to the US for the Fulbright fellowship, I will work to get some funds for the institute that helps researchers like me.

Dear Friends and regular readers of Desipora, it's thrilling me to inform you that I got an interview call for a Fulbright Fellowship to study for a shortwhile in the US next year.

It is not like I have succeeeded in procuring the fellowship, but it is a chance for me to succeed in bringing importance and relevance to my Ph.D work.

Just the other day, I was wondering does any one understand my interest in Films, the diaspora, the Desi's. Apparently they DO!!!

Sometimes plans go kaput, I planned to get some Ph.D action going over the long weekend, but with guide shifting house it was difficult to have a meeting and rework on the proposal.

Over the weekend, I watched Flavors, the movie, about three guys on a bench from the IT slow down , aging parents, a marriage and a dull marriage. I also happened to read William Dalrymple's essay The lost sub-continent

Seven years ago, publishers descended on Delhi in search of the next Arundhati Roy. But, writes William Dalrymple, the future Anglophone Indian bestsellers are more likely to come from the west.

It is a very interesting read and speaks a lot about "India". The article states that Indian writers do not have the edge to make it on the world scene, the second-generation writers from the diaspora are going to give the world so called "Indian Literature".

Somwhere deep down, I feel a twinge of disgust, I guess Western Publishers want tales of exotic India, India in the figments of imagination, India from the intellectual perspective of Amartya Sen and Salman Rushdie. These diasporic writers are fantastic their literary sword shines from an Oxford and Cambridge education or from being muddled in a suburb in the West. Writers from India are dull and bad story tellers.

Arundhati Roy was a freak debutante, it feels like India has seized to find expression in the imagination of Indians in the homeland. Look at the the movies, movie-goers world wide will only be looking at moves made by Diasopric directors.

We need a Satyajit Ray and another Arundhati Roy. We need to look at India without imagination, without nostalgia, without western lenses.We ALSO need stories of India told by one of us.

This weekend Aamir Khan will light up the screens in all patriotism with Mangal Pandey - The Rising.

History & Film keep India and its diaspora so connected.

What does it mean to be Indian on Desipora?

Watching song and dance sequence films and feeling that homely feeling when you can say the next dialogue even before the actor.

Playwright and novelist Farrukh Dhondy, who scripted the film, gives Connecting readers a glimpse of the intellectual debate surrounding 1857: mutiny, revolt, War of Independence or more

To explore the article further.....CLICK

Jewish diaspora explored in book group.The Jewish diaspora is such a strong diaspora, the love for their culture and tradition abound. For a community to integrate and succeed in different homelands is a feat in itself. What I mostly appreciate is their committment to promoting Jewish arts and culture.

Literature of the Jewish diaspora will be the focus of an upcoming reading and discussion group to be held at the Wayland Public Library this autumn.

The series is part of an ongoing program titled “Let’s Talk About! Jewish Literature: Identity and Imagination,” a collaboration between the American Library Association (ALA) and Nextbook, which describes itself as a gateway to Jewish literature, culture and ideas. In addition, the series is supported by Friends of the Wayland Library.

I think some smart second generation Indians from the diaspora need to look at creative ways of preserving culture. Solidarity is the key word here! We have the literature, we have the film and god knows some Desi's have the money to support such forums.

Rushdie calls for an Islamic Renaissance

When I read the above news item, I couldn't help but appreciate the insight Salman Rushdie has of the Islam world. In just a few words he summarized all that is going wrong and things that need to be done to make it right.I think in a way his ideas will save and protect Islam.

Rushdie said that the “deeper alienations” that lead to terrorism might be more to do with the “closed communities” of the traditional Muslims in western countries rather than to the events taking place in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding that governments and community leaders inside the Muslim world should support reformation in the Muslim world, reports the Daily Times.

"Jihad", "Martyrdom" and "Terrorism" are now so commonly associated with Islam,that the religon itself is wrapped in a bloodied shroud. The sad part we're losing out on the essence of the religon. Governments (especially Blair and Bush) are trying to understand Islam to understand terrorism and I think trying to understand Islam to understand an anti-religious acts of violence is plain associating violence with Islam.

I agree with Hanif Kureishi and Salman Rushdie that it is alienation that is leading to more Muslim immigrants taking to the bomb. In turn Muslim communites seem to be moving into a closer tight-knit circle that leads a closure of ideas, culture and civic privileges.

With a vast Muslim diaspora traversing the globe, they need to understand that they have given the world a lot of "Culture" and "Economy" and we need more. That will be a good starting point for a reconciliation.

I just read this article of the net titled: Spice Girl Kitschy but Indian, Gurinder Chadha has no qualms about her films fitting that bill.

The constant in Chadha’s films is only getting more apparent—The cultural dilelmmas of the Indian diaspora. One may accuse Chadha of stereotyping with all the Punjabi family-arranged marriages fare. She’s aware of the charge. ‘‘You say that as an Indians living in India. Ask those staying elsewhere, and you would get many appreciative nods. We make films for people with our cultural perspective,’’ she defends

I am fine with the cultural dilemmas, but the movies create such a cliched narrative. As an Indian in India, I found diasporic films invigorating until they all started to say the same thing, being on the other side I also think the themes around diasporic Indianness to be hackneyed.And Punjabi culture isn't representative of Indian culture.

Ethnic and Exotic are adjectives that we shouldn't whip up too much, but Ms. Chadha is doing just that with her Mistress of Spices. Magic, Spices, Beautiful Woman, American Lover.....your cultural perspective Ms. Chadha.

We needs to stop making such marginal film.

Well apart from my Ph.D blog, I have a new blog http://fitfastfun.blogspot.com . It will be a personal blog on fitness and fun. Fitness and fun are my other priorites apart from work and the Ph.D.

I am planning on compiling a list of academia, Ph.D scholars or students wanting to share some on-line camaraderie and exchanging of ideas and work. If you have a website better still, I'll create a link for you. Please email me at cecilia_abraham@yahoo.com

Have a good weekend!!!

I am into academic research, in ways boring. In certain ways exciting, being a researcher especially a social science researcher would mean one is researching on the current happenings of the world and this research document will one day be the history and politics of the world. Isn't that exciting, years later the world will understand why the way its markets, culture, hsitory, communications, international realtions are the way they are. The precursors were always there.

July was a month, when the London Bombings tooks place. It was also a time, I could have sipped a glass of wine and applauded Prime Minister Manmohan's Singh for his speech at Oxford. Yes for long we have cried hoarse over British rule, but here was a speech that found positive implications of the colonial rule.

Today, with the balance and perspective offered by the passage of time and the benefit of hindsight, it is possible for an Indian Prime Minister to assert that India's experience with Britain had its beneficial consequences too. Our notions of the rule of law, of a Constitutional government, of a free press, of a professional civil service, of modern universities and research laboratories have all been fashioned in the crucible where an age old civilisation met the dominant Empire of the day.

These are all elements which we still value and cherish. Our judiciary, our legal system, our bureaucracy and our police are all great institutions, derived from British-Indian administration and they have served the country well.

My research on the diaspora and films take place in a post-colonial India so I critically look at colonial rule and must say the culture that has emerged has held India in good stead and created intellectuals that we are.

When I read about The London Bombings and the the Pakistani connection, I can't help but remember Hanif Kureishi's novel - My Son the Fanatic.

A film I wrote for the BBC, My Son the Fanatic, about a young man who becomes a fundamentalist while his father falls in love with a prostitute, also emerged from this material.

Go read Hanif's article on Multiculturalism in the Guardian.

Yesterday in the Hindu I read an editorial where the author spoke about the multicultural identity in Britain, France and the US. I found that to reflect my thoughts as well. France and Britain expect total loyalty and giving-up of home culture from the immigrants, the Americans are comfortable with the hyphenated identity - Indian-American.

The trip to Leh has tired me out, but I gotto get back to the Ph.D grind. Need to get the proposal out of the way, get through the Doctoral committee interview and finish the thesis well in time.

But I am kind of tired, need to restart the engine.

I was away visiting my husband Puneet in Leh. I had a wonderful time. One outing stands out - a visit to Darchiks, an Aryan village high up in the mountains. I tried looking up Darchiks on the internet, not much information available.

The Indian army, has a unit here, the place is legendry, because it appers it is a village of full-blooded Aryans. Goes back in time when Alexander and his army were crossing the Indus, a few men couldn't cross the Indus and therfore stayed back and went up North the Indus, losing track of the army that went down South. Too tired and wanting to just stay alive, they created a community up there and for 1000 of years stayed there, until the army went up there in the late 70's. So a little diaspora of Aryans sits here.

However, during my visit, I didn't see the blue eyed and blonde Aryan, I saw mostly mongoloid features and lot of the kids looked genetically deformed, probably from the inter-marrying within the same families. Ofcourse some stand out with sharp features. The village was rather quiet when I visited, it was work time. Work is mostly growing apricot and barley.It appears the locals are used to tourists and the army.The Indian army runs a women empowerment centre there. In fact the army does a lot of service for the civilians in Ladakh, under the Op Sadbhavana scheme.

The movement of operation Sadbhavana is based on idealism. The theme of the operation is achieving the progress of the nation through building up confidence amongst each other.Operation Sadbhavana, the local masses decide their requirements and place their demands to the Govt accordingly. The human being is the central point of focus in Sadbhavana. The protection of the locals residing in the border villages is the duty of the Armed forces. The biggest challenge faced by the Armed forces is to stop the border infiltration. The peacekeeping Operation Sadbhavana is a new model of the human defense.

A rumour has it that a while ago many German women came to Darchiks to impregnate thmselves with a full-blooded Aryan man. Now that is some story.

Here comes my interest, the movement of people began even before we knew. War and ambition has take people away from home in ancient times. Intresting how world populations have been travelling since.