We are working on as many updates and innovations as we can…but it’s worth repeating with respect to this and many other “Why don’t you…”s that there is only so much one can or should ask of a tiny force of awesome, over-worked volunteers who all have rigorous day jobs and families. SM is not a business or a non-profit or an entity with vast resources; it is a labor of love.

The loathing comes from the level of entitlement often expressed by people who have no accountability or credibility whatsoever. They have nothing to lose with their drive-by shitting– but we’re the ones who put ourselves out there to get shat upon. And before some genius tries to say that we’ve received much fame and fortune from SM, know that we have never, ever made a cent from it and that no one knows or cares about who we are. I do feel like I owe my old, new, loyal and critical readers something– if I know who they are. If they have a history. If they have participated in good faith. But anonymous cowards who would never dare to mouth off the way they do, IF they had to do it under their actual names? I owe them nothing but contempt.

Thank you for asking a sincere question in a civil fashion. I appreciate it!

This isn’t the first time someone at SM has expressed loathing for anonymous commenting. Why don’t you have registration if this is a problem?

Glad you did. That was an interesting comment. I definitely preferred it to the flame-throwing at hairy, leering mens.

I actually spent some time thinking about one of my earlier comments. I still think a lot of Indian shoppes and neighborhoods (true of ethnic neighborhoods in general actually) tend to lack character and be pretty dirty/sparse, and I pointed out before that this is more bad urban planning/design than any individual person’s fault. Then I thought of something else. The “charm” people usually talk about with trendy-ish places like Whole Foods or PinkBerry or major restaurants are all franchises and chains. The “character” is mostly manufactured corporate stuff so they have marketting folks that get paid a lot of money to create design principles that make a store and its neighborhood look good. Ethnic businesses, being small businesses don’t do that. It’s just Amma & Nanna opening up an office and plying their services. So the charm of more White bread neighborhoods is mostly just fake to begin with. Still, it wouldn’t kill them to hire an interior decorator to efficiently utilize their space. I’m sure there is already a market for vastu-wallahs to vet these places. Would it be so hard to get one who vet the place AND advise them about how to make it good looking too?

Now that has nothing to do with anything. Just thought I’d yammer.

lol; u can say that about a lot of types of men including Persian men…

Wrong. I don’t have to justify anything, especially to anonymous commenters. My reaction was real and valid. So was Abhi’s. That’s the beauty of diversity– and this site.

very few people knew who stein was before this brouhaha. now ALL desis know and he’s getting a million hits. good job.

Wrong again. I can’t remember the last time I/we received so many emails, tips or tweets about ONE link. You may not have known about him, but you don’t speak for the greater community. None of us does. What does “speak” is the sheer volume of feedback we received about this story before we posted anything about it. You are vastly overstating the importance of this site if you think it delivered that asshole a million hits, but thanks!

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And to “BrownGrl From Persia”/”Checked Myself”– if you can’t understand why your comments were offensive and not valid feedback to or about Stein, seriously, spare us your “contributions”.

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I’m closing this thread soon. If you have anything useful to add, now is the time. Thank you to the vast majority of you for keeping it clean, interesting and respectful!

Basic population dynamics tells us that the male half of any mammalian species is more widely distributed around the mean than the female half. So you get a lot of creepers and a lot of gentlemen and comparatively fewer guys in between.

what’s so respectable about TIME? it’s a news magazine like so many others and it has not always been particularly friendly to india.i think by attributing these high “honors” to TIME, and thereby inflating the two-bit stein article, you are trying to justify your over the top blowout over the column. very few people knew who stein was before this brouhaha. now ALL desis know and he’s getting a million hits. good job. where does freedom of expression come into all this? who is the arbiter of what type of articles can be published where? what about all those bollywood buffoonery with horrible stereotypes of white people, south indians, westernized women and so on? don’t they get a big multi-million dollar platform? where is the wrath? where’s the outrage?