Desi Manifesto Blog: The Forum for South Asian American Men

[Blogger: S.I.] MAY 31 UPDATE: Indians do it again! Sameer Mishra claims the latest Scripps Spelling Bee prize.

Be proud. A day we never thought would come has in fact arrived. A South Asian on the front page of ESPN.com…

* …for spelling (at least it’s something). Young Samir Patel and his life after the bee. Good to see a smart kid who’s not afraid of being intelligent (not that the desis ever had such problems. We probably could use more humility. But not this kid). Also good to see how the article focused on him and his family as opposed to being Indian.

And realistically, I don’t know the next time we’ll see another brown person on ESPN.com. Enjoy it (and for more on desis in America and spelling bees, see our last Desi Dose).

UPDATE: Thanks to reader Vinda for the link to this older article (don’t believe the “updated” byline, it’s not correct) that summarizes recent Indian dominance in bees, likening it to the Patriots in the NFL (again, pre-Spygate).

* Is India finally getting its shit together when it comes to prosecuting the bastard children of politicians for their egregious crimes? BBC South Asia says that Jessica Lal’s killer, Vikas Yadav, has been found guilty of a different murder, that of Nitish Katara. I have a little hope for the system because the mounting civil unrest apparently drove the police to action. Or so it says.

* A quick review of Junoon, Pakistan’s most famous rock / pop band, performing in Indian-administered Kashmir. Salman Ahmad seems to have a way with the ladies, according to the photos. Groupies are the same everywhere in the world it seems.

* A tidbit on a business that offers a crash course in India for (Western) Dummies. Not sure I agree with all the points, but who knows how this article was edited. Having never done business in India, other than haggling for wall hangings in Jaisamler, I can’t speak to those customs. SAJA has more in-depth guides for journalists visiting the motherland.

By the way, I definitely lost those negotiations. Learned my lesson though. Next time, cut his price in half and run until he brings you back.

* Waterproof rice to help India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, etc., when the monsoon come through to flood their crops.

* Politics as usual. Hot desi girl, non-desi guy. In this case, it’s Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s right-hand woman, seemingly off the market, thanks to New York Congressman Anthony Weiner. Was she ever in the market for brown men? To be fair, I have no idea. This could just be a nice guy she met, with no ‘brown man hate’ attached to it. Guilty until proven innocent? Nah, it’s just fun to rant.

But unlike in a criminal case, we only need a preponderance of evidence in this court. [Thanks Sepia Mutiny]