Comparison of Coke Studios Pakistan and India

Recipes for jams - Culture - livemint.com:

If you haven't heard Coke Studio Pakistan's Arif Lohar and Misha Shafi's "Alif Allah...", you are missing something - amazing!

And the "Kangna" qawwali is impeccable fusion between traditional vocals and modern instruments...

Compared to some of the Coke Studio India pieces I have heard with Richa Sharma, Sunidhi Chauhan and Bombay Jayashree, they sound far superior - but we have to realize that with the Indian side, the producers are trying to match multiple languages, styles, and beats - so we might be comparing apples to oranges...

Related articles

• Coke Studio India - the first six songs (kafila.org)
• Who Killed Jugni?: Shiraz Hassan (kafila.org)
• Fusion of Music in the Studio of Coke Studio on MTV India (current.com)

With U.S. military aid cut, Pakistan eyes China

With U.S. military aid cut, Pakistan eyes China - World Watch - CBS News:

"On Sunday, the senior Pakistani official who spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity following the Times report said, 'This tightening of U.S. military aid was expected. That's where our long-term relations with China will help to meet this gap.'

In recent weeks, Pakistani officials have pointed towards China's increasing role in the past decade as its main supplier of military hardware, as Pakistan established closer ties to the U.S. campaign against terror following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington."

Tribe Desi, Vol. 235: Basketball vs Islamic Tradition? | The Palace of Illusions

vol 235| May 8, 2011| Pure.Spicy.Unfiltered Signup | View in a Browser | |    REFLECTIONS To all the mothers who are reading this, Happy Mothers Day! As Mark Twain said, "My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."... On this note, a question for the mothers: how young do you think a child should be for a sex change operation? I don't think any of you will say 10 years, but that is what is happening in Australia:"Hopefully her story will give other kids some peace of mind, if they were also born in the body of the wrong sex, that there can be a light at the end of the tunnel..." So as we keep experimenting with new things, I found that there are people like me, who are not satisfied in reading print or online news or articles a day late...for them, we already have a vibrant blog and twitter feed - but there are a lot of people who like to see a daily (or twice a day) e-newspaper in their emails. For these folks, we are launching the The Tribe Desi Voice - you will get an email once a day which will give you the people or topics which I am following, in a nice format. Try it out here, and if you like it, please subscribe at http://paper.li/DFWDesi So the top story in the last couple of weeks was from our backyard - the killing of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan.  The latest on the story is the release of 5 videos by the US government to manage the message: "I think the administration has done a very intelligent thing. The whole view is to try to take away some of his mystique, some of this great idea that is a great spiritual leader of al Qaeda globally." ...and have you heard that Bobby Jindal has also released his birth certificate? "After Jindal endorsed the Louisiana "birther" bill, the Baton Rouge daily newspaper, The Advocate, on April 22 published a critical editorial. "Piyush Amrit Jindal is the last man in America who should give his blessing to a birther bill," the editorial said. Jindal's office angrily responded that the newspaper had got the governor's middle name wrong. "Amrit," was the name of an ancient Middle East city, Jindal's office said, and not his middle name..." Huh? What "ancient Middle east city"??? On another note, have you had enough of guidos, Snooki, The Situation and GTL? Fear not - the phenomenon is going international with "Geodie Shores" starting in Britain - with esoteric dialog like "I'm fit, I'm flirty, and I've got double F's." ... Till next time! The DFW Desi Don't miss the new Silk Threads Tunics... CULTURE Outsourced being cancelled?  Ok so much has been written (including in this newsletter) about this show...it may appeal to some, but for those who have visited or lived in India, its full of clichés...I understand the article's viewpoint "But one quality of �Outsourced� that everyone can agree on is that the show has meant work and exposure for a gaggle of Desi talent, including Geetika Tandon Lizardi and four other Desis on the writing team, and actors Anisha Nagarajan, Rizwan Manji, Sacha Dhawan, Parvesh Chenna and nearly two dozen more"....and I'm all for giving work to South Asian artists, but the writing team needs to kick it up a notch..." BTW, I had a chance to meet Rajiv (Rizwan Manji) - really down to earth guy...if you want to weigh in, please emailsaveoutsourced@gmail.com Read the full story CULTURE Book review: The Palace of Illusions  So I was stuck at an airport today for over four hours (ironically in the city where Divakaruni is based), and had this book with me. I, like most people of Indian origin, had heard and read stories from the Mahabharata, the epic Hindu poem detailing the rise and the fall of the Kaurava and Pandava dynasties in India.  Among the more memorable parts of the epic are the final battle between the Kaurava and Pandava armies, and the court scene with Draupadi, which eventually leads to this war. That was probably the extent of my knowledge of Draupadi - before I opened this book. Once I started reading the book, which is written from Draupadi's viewpoint, with stories woven in as flashbacks, I found myself unable to put the book down. The way the life of Draupadi is described, from her birth from the fire, to her youth, her marriage, her longing for Karna, to her final end - with her commentary on the events unfolding around her - is spellbinding. If you check Wikipedia, you will see that the author has taken pains to maintain the facts as stated in Mahabharata - but embellished them with magnificent detail and prose.  Some passages hinted that this book may be an allegory - " I wasn't ready to let go of my life. How amazing it seemed to me with its victories, its adventures, its moments of glory. Even the shame that had struck like hot iron, branding revenge into my brain, seemed suddenly precious in its uniqueness. I wanted to live it all again - with more wisdom this time!.."  ...Are we really like Abhimanyu, stuck in the Chakravyuha, with no way of getting out? read on... SOCIETY Facing Islamic Traditions with Basketball? "It�s also illustrative of how families in orthodox neighbourhoods can challenge social mores. Nagpada is a community of Muslim families. Seven mosques are within a stone�s throw of the outdoor basketball court and on the dusty, noisy streets here, where chickens and goats run free, most locals still say girls like Afreen should not be playing basketball.  In the world�s biggest democracy, there are no laws preventing women from playing sports, but as with customs about marriage dowries, which remain prevalent even though they've been illegal for a half century, traditions here have a grip on the local community that are as strong as any legislation..."read on... FEATURED NONPROFIT National Multiple Sclerosis Society   Why I Ride? This will be my NINTH year where I am riding for a cure for MS. I am doing this because I want to do something for the people who have been diagnosed with MS - and because I want to do everything to prevent more people from learning what it means to live with this disease.  Today, there is no cure for multiple sclerosis, and with diagnosis occurring most frequently between the ages of 20 and 50, many individuals face a lifetime filled with unpredictability. I want to take this as an opportunity to bring awareness to the disease as well as the National MS Society that is contributing a lot towards this cause. - Venky Naravulu, Orlando, FL Please send any recommended Non-profits, with South Asian involvement, to desi@TribeDesi.com, to be considered for inclusion in this newsletter. Thanks 18,000+ active members. To advertise here, please email desi@TribeDesi.com

Sipping Tea with Greg Mortenson

Actually, it was coffee...

Mortenson, the author of NY Times Bestseller Three Cups of Tea, was in Dallas yesterday, at the Fundraising Gala for the Central Asia Institute (CAI).  

For those of you who have not heard of Greg or his books, the story is that he tried to climb the mountain K2 in Pakistan in the memory of his sister, but could not reach the top. He stumbled into a remote village, and through a series of events, promised them he would help them build a school. Since the humble beginnings of that effort, CAI has around 167 schools now in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Gala itself was well planned and executed, with over 1,200 attendees from the local DFW population, including members of organizations like The World Affairs Council and Network of Indian Professionals (NetIP), Dallas. In addition to Mortenson as the keynote speaker, the event had heavy weights like actress Geena Davis, actor Michael Rady, and comedian Danny Pudi. Another notable speaker was the Pakistani-American author Bapsi Sidwa. The live auction was professional and entertaining, and it looked like around $100,000 was raised from just five auction items.

It was impressive to see the DFW community turn out in such numbers and support this international noble cause - kudos to the organizers!

However, the message of the evening was how these girls schools are being built in some areas which are controlled by the Taliban - which is against education for girls. As a recent article in the Seattle Times (see below) states, "In volatile Kunar province, which borders Pakistan, the Taliban recently ordered a halt to a school being built by Mortenson's organization, the Central Asia Institute. But the villagers rushed to the school's defense. The Taliban, which have been mounting a campaign for hearts and minds, dropped the issue, according to Wakil Karimi, who leads Mortenson's team in Afghanistan".

The key fact behind this, according to Mortenson, is the active involvement of the local population - vs. something being thrust at them....maybe we need to re-look at our Afghan foreign policy?

Related articles

• Pioneer in Girls' Education Assists U.S. Military (education.change.org)
• A potential answer for Afghanistan: Make tea, not war (trueslant.com)
• Op-Ed Columnist: Dr. Greg and Afghanistan (nytimes.com)
• Afghanistan: Bombs harden hearts; schools transform them (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

The DFW Desi, Vol. 200

reflections from
self...

This is a landmark issue of
the newsletter - starting
with a small personal list in
2001, this labor of love
has come a long way eight
years later - thanks to all of
our 18,000+ active readers
for their support and
appreciation.
However, as we move
forward, we need to see
where we can use the latest
technology to bring you
what I think you want -
pertinent news, in a concise
format, when you want it...
So for this issue, we will do
an experiment - instead of
emailing the newsletter to
the list, we will make it
available via a link, the blog
and facebook - see options
below - and we will monitor
how you like it...please give
your feedback, and how
what you'd like to see in the
next versions of this
newsletter...


...thanks again, and happy
web 2.0! (on facebook:
DFW Desi, Twitter:
@dfwdesi)

Full newsletter here

feedback/suggest articles