The Great Ganesha

San Francisco is cold and foggy again and I’m loving it. We had quite a scare last week, when it was sunny and hot. I thought the heat would never end. I could actually walk outside in shorts for extended periods of time. We had to open all the windows in our apartment, it was [...]

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The largest island in a world is Greenland. The largest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea. The largest lake on an island is Nettilling Lake on Baffin Island in Canada. The largest island in a lake is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, also in Canada. Now, you are already restless. You’re going to [...]

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Manish points to a CNN panel discussion that turns into a debate. Fast-forward to 3:10 and you’ll see something not unlike this discussion/debate.

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“I am walking in my city. The island sleeps, and I can feel the jostling of its dreams. I know they are out there, Mahalaxmi, Mazagaon, Umerkhadi, Pydhuni and the grand melodrama of Marine Drive. I have music in my head, the jingle of those old names, Wadala, Matunga, Koliwada, Sakinaka, and as I cross [...]

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Picture Source In 2001, in Nepal, a four year-old, Preeti Shakya, was chosen to be a ‘Living Goddess‘ (or the “Royal Kumari” of Kathmandu), to be worshipped and adored by millions of Hindus and Buddhists. Well, that is until she hit puberty, at which point she would lose goddess status and come back down to [...]

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[Originally on Blogcritics] Ever since I have known him, Shirzad has been involved in some kind of musical activity. From threatening blows to defend the Beatles’ early years in the fifth or sixth grade, to singing Herman’s Hermits’ ‘Leaning on a Lamp Post’ in the eighth-grade talent contest, to conducting his school-house choir singing Billy [...]

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[Originally on Blogcritics] So Nikhil left a comment on my post about Apu and the 7-Eleven/Kwik-E-Mart promotion. He said: I see your point about the negative stereotypes, but that’s the whole point isn’t it? Aren’t all the characters stereotypes? Yes, the accent is inaccurate, and the character is two-dimensional, but….it’s a cartoon (one of the [...]

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[Originally on Desicritics] One section of the capital of Puerto Rico – San Juan – has cobbled streets, brightly colored buildings and beautiful sculptures. This part, called Old San Juan, shows the strong influence the Spanish had on Puerto Rico, and also has several historical monuments and forts. The old city is very small and [...]

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[Originally on Blogcritics] Seems like everywhere I look, people are talking about the 7-Elevens that are turning themselves into Kwik-E-Marts as a promotion for the upcoming Simpsons movie. Manish at Ultrabrown is far and above at the forefront of the opposition movement to this conversion. Kudos to him. I highly recommend you read what he’s [...]

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Today’s Times has an article on the whole Chinese bad-food-imports fiasco. But they’re saying that in terms of absolute number of stoppages, India tops the list. It seems we’re sending the US salmonella-infested peppercorns (and other spices). Methinks that India is sending several spices in small quantities (compared to the stuff coming in from China, [...]

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