Is that your final answer?

Who wants to be a superpower?



Q: Are you angry or "protesting" at Suketu Mehta for writing Maximum City?

A: No.

Q: Then why are you upset and defensive at Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire?

The other part was protesting.... wildly protesting. I hated Boyle's portrayal of Mumbai .... felt protective, felt betrayed.... but also felt the truth. Which is why it hurt.

A: --I will answer that for you. Because Boyle is a foreigner.

Next question:

Q: Why doesn't Hollywood "recognize" any Indian filmmakers besides Satyajit Ray and possibly Deepa Mehta?

A: Because they are big and mean and prejudiced against us!!!!!

Sorry, wrong answer.

It's because by Hollywood standards, most other Indian films are no good. The same reason Bombay does not give awards to American films - they don't meet the standard. They have different production values. Ray and Mehta made films western film critics can relate to.

The fact that a billion-plus people like Bollywood does not oblige Hollywood to "acknowledge" it.

Okay, we're done now. Thanks for playing.

Mumbai memories

I felt like waxing all dramatic about how Mumbai and India will never be the same, but it's cliche at this point. Here are some of my more iconic photos from my time in Mumbai (2005), with its beautiful architecture and warm people.

The recently besieged Taj Hotel at India Gate. The Taj was founded by an Indian about 100 years ago when the finest hotel in Bombay would not admit him (as an Indian - it was foreigners only).Inside one of the great halls at VT, aka Victoria Terminus railway station, aka Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. It's a masterpiece of Indo-Saracenic architecture and in this particular hall, you can see the stained-glass windows reflecting on the white stone.

The clock tower inside one of the main halls of VT. I believe this is one place grenades went off yesterday.

Three proud Marathi (Maharashtrian) gents in traditional regional attire in South Bombay. Looking good!

The world with Tibet

Back on the map
News from Bombay

Some Bombay associates of the very cool Indo-Tibetan alliance Friends of Tibet have launched a new world map, including Tibet as it stood prior to the Chinese invasion of 1950.

If you're looking for Tibet on this new map, it is the very large white blob beneath Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Huge!

Sure, there are detractors who say "but all those areas were not traditionally governed from Lhasa;" or "in some of those areas they actually SPOKE CHINESE!" which is sort of like saying, "in some areas of New York City they speak Spanish, that means it is actually part of Mexico."

Anyway, as a big fan (almost fetishist) of maps I was glad to see it. Thanks to Rohit Singh, who conceptualized and designed the map.

Rohit Singh spoke to the gathering of both Tibetans and Indians about the significance of having Tibet in the world map. He said "A country is identified by its boundaries and presence on the political map. Tibet was an Independent country till China occupied it and diminished it from face of World Atlas. This initiative is for reestablishing Tibet on the World Map, to focus on the aspect of its position, its importance and its existence which China is out to destroy." Rohit Singh also requested the people to spread the map in order to educate the people in India about the location of Tibet in the World Atlas.