Media and Other Popular Culture News

Shah Rukh Khan and the Newark Airport Debacle
I'm not sure how many of you heard about this in the good ole U.S. of A. but it's been pretty big news here. Actor and major public personality Shah Rukh Khan was recently detained at the "Newark Airport for two hours when he arrived to do an independence day show in Atlantic City. Let me quote from one source:

The fate is Shahrukh made a spash in US media. The New York Daily News reported that 'this never happened to Arnold Schwarzenegger'. The Washington Post referred Shahrukh as 'One of India's biggest movie stars' and the New York Times took note of the incident with an agency story headlined 'Bollywood Icon Detained at US Airport.'

The detention of Shahrukh in the US turned into a big issue, so much so that the Indian Government took it seriously. Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said that the Americans deserved to be paid back in the same coin for frisking beyond limits. BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad also said the detention was uncalled for." (http://entertainment.oneindia.in/bollywood/features/2009/shahrukh-humiliation-blessing-disguise-180809.html)

Khan said in an interview post-event that he was stopped only because of his last name but that he didn't think this was racially motivated. From later news posts, he has apparently said that he will not go back to India.

Point of note: His latest movie is My Name is Khan which is about the prejudices faced by South Asians after 9/11. Hmmmm....
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Rakhi Ka Swayamvar (India's Bachelorette)
I've been meaning to write about this since I got here, so here it is finally: Of course, reality television has infiltrated the lives of Indian masses. No exception to this is the Indian version of The Bachelorette. TheStar.com reported that, "According to aMap data, the final episode that ran for over two-and-half-hours got a TVR of 6.3, the highest for the show and the highest for the finals of any of the reality shows in this year". A one-time item girl (more on item numbers another time), she drew people to their television screens for the entire season as they waited with baited breath who she would pick. A collective sigh of relief could be heard when she picked NRI Canadian Elesh Parujanwala, who has said that he plans to relocated to Mumbai since he doesn't want Rakhi to choose between her career and a long-distance relationship. When I first got here, she had not yet made her decision and the entire city was buzzing about it. I was sad that I missed the finale (dinner party).

I am particularly struck (as were a number of media sources) on her choice of dress during the finale. Complete in bridal regalia, she garlanded her fiance, even while she declared that she wouldn't marry him right away. I highly recommend watching the youtube of it below:


Since then, a number of news channels and talk shows have been focusing on if reality television is detrimental to India. Newest favorite: Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao (kinda like Survivor)

Week Two - Definitely not My Mother's India!!!

I'm finding that my initial big plans for blogging have to take a back seat to the intermittent internet connection that I have. I got hooked up with the American Centre towards the end of last week and became a library member here -- and they have wi-fi!!!! Also, very centrally located, with central air. What more could I want?

I keep getting struck with so many ideas on different kinds of entries I'd like to make - from the gendering of public space to the progressive public policies on reproductive health and rights to the ubiquity of beauty products -- everything from making your hair stay on your head to skin lighteners to soap that will keep your skin from breaking out due to heat, humidity and pollution. Very hygeinic peeps, these Indians. Sorry if the blogs seem a little scattered. I have very little time to write and too much to say.
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Driving along the road that has all the embassies with beautiful parks on either side of the marg (street), one cannot help but be struck by the number of men who recline in the parks. They chat lazily, without any seeming care about the world that is quickly whizzing past them. On the rare occasion that we see a woman in the park, she is generally holding a broom and sweeping. The contrast between the activities of the men and that of women is not restricted to the parks; it is in every road, every house, every where. I wrote a friend last week about how uncomfortable I feel at times while walking down the street as a woman. The streets are primarily inhabited by men who will head directly for you without any notice. It is their space, their confident strides seem to suggest. And, I'm encroaching on that space by my mere presence. I match them stride for stride.
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I went to JNU for the first time last week, which was an exercise in patience. Trying to get a library card was a real production. I felt like a ping-pong ball .. "go here, go there, see Mr/Miss ________" I go see Mr/Miss _________, who promptly says "go there"... Finally, I get the card, only to be confused even further by the Humanities Librarian's staff who, I'm convinced, understood only a quarter of my questions to him.
JNU was started sometime in the mid-60s when it was built to train government civil workers. The training facility was housed in the hill town of Mussorie and the facility was central to the town's economy. Subsequently, the Indian government abandoned the plan and JNU came about. As a result, it is a sprawling, huge campus, one in which it is too easy to get lost. I am so glad that the auto driver knew exactly where the library was; otherwise, I'd probably still be wandering through its mazes and jungles.
From my first walk through campus, I was struck by the sheer number of political paintings and posters scattered throughout all the buildings. I knew that this was an activist campus, but I was wholly unprepared for how politicized its citizens are. Finally, the pictures:



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I asked my auto driver today if he owned his auto outright or if he had to rent it. His answer to my question addresses one of the pitfalls of the rising economic status of India: it is virtually impossible to earn enough money to feed oneself, one's immediate and extended family (which is not that uncommon here), and to take care of business if one does not belong to the middle-class. My driver told me that by the time he's done paying for the daily rental of his auto (something to the tune of $160/ per day!), he has very little left for the other necessities of life. Add to that the fact that the job that these auto drivers do is very dangerous -- okay, they contribute very heavily to the danger, but still...
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Contrasting the life of this driver, I'm living quite high on the hog, so to speak. I don't have to worry about cooking, cleaning, making my bed (!). Pretty much all my needs are taken care of, which feels rather peculiar to me, but not necessarily in a bad way ;-)
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Every morning, I read about 4-6 papers, which is what my uncle & aunt get. I am struck by how progressive India is in regards to its social policies regarding women and work, reproductive rights, voting rights, education, name it. I read today that Tata Industries (if you should know any Indian company, this would be the place to start) began a program to bring mothers back into the workplace. Basically, their philosophy is that women should not be penalized for taking time out to be mothers, nor does motherhood rob them of their intelligence and what they can contribute to a workplace. Another example I can cite from popular culture is the number of honest and, at times, brutal, advertisements about the morning-after pill ("Wouldn't it be better to prevent a pregnancy than to have an abortion later?"). There seems to be an awareness of and an honest response to the issues we in the U.S. are unable to or perhaps unwilling to talk about.

More to come....

Love Aaj Kal

My introduction to the film, Love Aaj Kal, was when I was running at the gym yesterday morning. The ticker running across the bottom of Indian MTV panned the film, decrying its modern themes, it's ho-hum dialogue, cheesy songs, over-acting by Saif Ali Khan (really, overacting in a Hindi movie?! really?!), etc. etc. etc. Escaping the heat of the mid-afternoon was my impetus to see the film, other than the fact that Rishi Kapoor, an acclaimed actor from the 1970s and of the famed Kapoor clan, is also in it. I marched my way to the Priya Market where the film is playing. The Priya Market is a shopping mall, complete with a Benetton, a McDonald's family restaurant (complete with door man!), bookstores, a gym, and music stores which I have yet to explore. I bought a premium ticket 175/Rs. (about $4.00) for the 3:10 show. I love assigned seating and in the balcony no less. Let me say this about Indian theaters: THX, blah blah ain't got nuthin' on the technology in Indian theaters!!!!! Mind-blowing, to say the least. No 3-D glasses required.

The movie is about Jai and Meera, two "modern" people who fall in love. For reasons familiar to many of us, their careers take them to different continents and they decide to "remain friends". yada yada yada. The other plot is traced back to 1965 when Veer Singh (Kapoor) and Harleen fall in love. The two love stories intertwine in their struggle to have love overcome all obstacles. It's basically a film that is about how love is transcendent and how it can connect people who may seem so different because of generational shifts. The latter is what I liked best about the film, I think. The movie doesn't try to extol the virtues of family, izzat, or any of the other themes that a number of Bollywood films always come back to. There are no judgments passed on Jai and Meera for the choices they make or the fact that they have pre-marital sex (there's a couple of kissing scenes too!). Instead, it focuses on how each of them tries to balance the practical realities of their individual dreams with their love for one another. There are only four songs too, if I remember correctly. The song, And We Twist, rocks!!!! So, given my like of this movie, why would critics dislike it so much? Is it because Saif Ali Khan plays the younger Rishi Kapoor? Is it because it is, unlike most Hindi films, plot-driven? I'll have some firewater and think about it tonight. But, it is good to see a movie like this as a teaser for films I have yet to see and that may be yet to be released.

The next movie I want to see is New York which is about the aftermath of 9/11 on Indian-Americans in NYC... I hear it's fantastic.

First Impressions....

This first entry is a pre-blog, so to speak, basically a hodgepodge of stuff while I get over the jetlag. Once I’m a little more into my routine, I will blog about the books and culture more… read on if you wish…
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The contents of the “gift box” that I was handed by the air hostess (definitely the 21st century variety) included a toothbrush; toothpaste; mints (!); socks (I got cold feet just moving to Business First); towelettes, and some other sundries that apparently people who regularly travel first class don’t bother to bring. I kept the “gift box” since it’s a nice size for light traveling. Most other people just left theirs behind.

I was all to happy to switch to first-class when approached by the Continental Airlines staff. I was tired from travelling all day across country and definitely not looking forward to the 15-hour flight. The seats were cushie and leaned back with footrests, a bigger, more comfortable pillow (even though I had my nice tempurpedic travel pillow , and a nicer blanket. I tried to keep with Delhi time,…
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Of course, the crowds at Delhi airport were overshadowed only by the oppressive humidity and heat. After only about an hour and half, I arrived at my uncle’s house.
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It’s rained only once during the monsoon in Delhi. Needless to say, the humidity that generally accompanies rain decided to abandon it this year. The heat and humidity in Kentucky was far more bearable. Food has gotten more expensive as a result of the drought
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The cows: many of them. The dogs: far surpass the number of cows. I want to pet them, but know I can’t. I miss my dogs.
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Getting a cell phone in India is a piece of cake. Go to any chemist’s shop (!) and you can get a sim card, phone # and recharge. You can also buy health and beauty products. Right now, the exchange rate is excellent: ~49/Rs = $1.00. I can call home at 3.99/Rs per minute. I used up almost all my minutes talking to David the other night. But, and here’s the clincher, much like my house in Redlands, my uncle’s house also has “hot spots” where the phone will work. Frustrating to say the least.
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Delhi deserves its own entry, so I’ll hold off on it.
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I’m also now beginning to take photos of signs. Here’s one I found a few feet away from our house:
Ironic, ain’t it? In the U.S., we’ll stand on street corners protesting something or another and people honk if they like it.
But, in India, you have to have signs like this. People will just honk, not for any other reason other than to let you know that they’re there. I suppose with so many people… 