Desi Manifesto Blog: The Forum for South Asian American Men

“The Love Guru” flopped last weekend, assuming the “downward spiraling dog” pose, and this coming weekend’s box office receipts should shut the lid on that coffin. Well done.

This monumental failure dredged up memories of my encounter a few years ago with a real life love guru, and the hilarity that ensued. No, he wasn’t about “love” directly, but he proffered all the intangible accoutrements of spirituality.

Fake? Hack? Snake oil salesman? Charlatan? Scam artist?

No no, please call him Maha Rishi.

* The quirky and forward-thinking Canadian TV (CBC) show, “Little Mosque on the Prairie,” is being adapted (and potentially ruined) by FOX. Even if it doesn’t make it to air, this is progress. Unless it’s some kind of feeder for “24″ villains. Ugh. Props to writer Zarqa Nawaz, as she has created a show unlike anything currently around. The desi moment is that she’s of Pakistani origin, BTW.

And she answered some questions after the pilot aired. Watch the pilot (takes a long time to load). [Thanks Nirali Magazine]

Terrible couple of weeks for large swaths of Asia, from the South to the East to the Southeast. Whether it was Cyclone Nargis bludgeoning Burma (though perhaps the ruling military junta’s indignant stance is the greater tragedy as her people suffer), the 7.9 magnitude quake in central China, or the terrorist attacks in Jaipur, India, this has been a devastating and shitty month for the most populous regions of the world.

Sometimes I feel resigned to the cycle. If Buddha and the Gita had it right, life is just suffering. Is this an un-Disney circle of life? Maybe this is just how things go, and will we ever change anything unless we change everything? And what new problems will those changes bring?

So we’re all aware of the typically Hollywood, over-the-top premise of The Love Guru and why it could (should, and probably will) offend Hindus and Indians in general.

We delve into something else: how offended should we feel?

Because in a strange way, The Love Guru might be exactly what we want.

Sure, the news in general is skewed towards the twisted aspects of daily life as opposed to the righteous and uplifting. But that’s even more exaggerated regarding Muslims in American media. This is the one article I’ve read in many months that portrays Muslims in a positive light. That’s about a 25-to-1 ratio.

Do you honestly believe there are 25 atrocities committed by Muslims for every one virtuous act? I do not.

Various cultures have tried isolating those who are “different.” They’ve all claimed it was for benign purposes, some going so far as to say it was to benefit the minority group. In recent history, the Nazis made the Jews wear “pieces of flair” (thanks, Office Space). The Americans sent anyone of Japanese origin into camps during WW2. The Taliban made the Afghani Hindus wear patches. The Americans made blacks live in separate areas of the country when they tried the “separate but equal” debacle. Rather than protecting the smaller group’s members, these plans simply divide them from the majority, destroy the bonds that have integrated them into society, and make it easier for the majority to view the smaller group as a foreign entity, a “them” vs. “us” scenario.