Thanks, I appreciate the follow up I think your view may be a little slanted by the nature of the authors you’re reading. If I read Anne Coulter, for example, and then attributed her logic to “all conservatives” I would probably feel the same way you do about “progressive critiques” (I’m not saying all those authors/sources are Coulter-esque, but many are screed)

JGandhi, I am truly curious — what critiques are you reading? It sounds like you’re referring to very specific arguments, etc. I’ve certainly read critiques (progressive ones?) that line up with your claim, but I don’t know many people who self-identify as progressive who read them as anything other than polemical. I’m asking for specifics because “progressive” is a term used so arbitrarily (by everyone) that we may have different reference points or ideas in mind. I’m just trying to get a sense of clarity re: our perspectives. Rahul, “thanks”

Sorry for not answering back more quickly.

If you’re still paying attention to this thread:

Progressive critiques: thenation.com, salon.com, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer

Dude DJ you have the funniest lines and you have an eenteresting family.

Did I tell you I am a big fan of your commentary going all the way back to this

“Beta, come quick! There’s a desi on teevee!” my mom exclaimed excitedly from the living room. “Come and look at him!” “No, mom. I’m busy right now!” I replied, as if desperately searching for a college party on Facebook to sneak off to somehow demanded my absolute attention. “But why, beta? You never watch teevee with me! Come now, sit down and we can watch together!” I inhaled sharply and, before I could gently remind her that the prospect of looking at a fellow Indian on television was as fascinating and appealing to me as kissing a toilet seat, I heard a gasp and startled mutter, something no son should EVER hear his mom say: “Hai ram… he’s taking his kacha off.” I stopped typing…

Harbeer, I was reading that paper again, more carefully this time…it’s actually sort of chilling, don’t you think? At least, the fractured psychology that’s described is chilling. But it all makes sense when you think about it; I think he nailed it.

Back on topic…this sounds like an interesting talk. Indeed, there’s tons of new options for “consumers” who can afford a computer and internet service and have time to sift through the huge amounts of material, but at the same time, newspapers are consolidating and cutting their staff. Abhi, you and I joked on the radio about how so much blogging is merely cutting and pasting somebody else’s writing/research–what happens when those primary sources disappear? We get less perspectives from the ground and more toeing the official line, more “infotainment.”

Investigative journalism is expensive, takes a lot of time, and is not sexy. (Nothing cool or romantic about sitting through boring city hall meetings day after day.) Big media conglomorates that only care about the bottom line cut those positions first, and our democracy suffers as a result. One trend that some of my journalist friends (Shout out to Pratap Chatterjee!) have pointed out, though, is that investigative journalism is moving to the non-profit world.

92 · Camille said

Harbeer, look at you all counter culture with your independent film-making and progressive public radio

Don’t you mean “progressive?” And this might come back to haunt me, but I think what I described there could be characterized as “letting the market take its course”–such a hypocrite I am. I appreciate the sentiment, but I am starting to be convinced that the “counter culture” is part of the problem. I’m going to start wearing pleated khakis and tucking in my polo shirts because rebellion is the new selling out (therefore selling out is the new rebellion?)

94 • DJ Drrrty Poonjabi said

Hai ram. That was like walking in on my parents, but with less hair.

chee chee chee chee, less hair…

brownelf said

Fair skin does seem to be favoured at the expense of other criteria, even if it means doughy, jowly, bag-arsed heroes. Arvind Swamy is an abomination unto my loins.

we may be more baggy than turgid, but we more than make up for it in tapirstyle prehensility . ladies, we will slip an olive in your martinis whil giving you a back rub and spooning coconut chutney on your masaladosai. so there! down boy. p.s. the above link is drop-dead hilarious (to me) but may not be suitable for a work environment.

Hai ram. That was like walking in on my parents, but with less hair.

Harbeer, look at you all counter culture with your independent film-making and progressive public radio

As for turbanned Sikh men in a romantic role, there are probably Sikh religious leaders who would protest that too. In any case it’s not going to happen…even Punjabi movies never depict that.

Wrong. [And part two.]

45 · Amitabh said

Punjabis are a large percentage of not only the actors/actresses, but also the directors and producers and people behind the scenes. Bollywood is full of Punjabis (mostly Hindus). So that comes through in the movies.

Here is a pretty thorough academic paper on this topic written by Srijana Mitra Das, an Oxford Social Anthropology PhD student.

For those who want to see a new direction in cinema: rather than shaking your fists and wishing for something different, why not support those films which depict your ideals by watching them and promoting them by writing reviews and telling your friends to go see them? Or make them yourself.