The Man Who Wouldn’t Be King
Kalpen Modi and I attended UCLA at the same time as undergraduates and were members of a progressive South Asian campus organization called Sangam. Kalpen … Read more
An Open Letter to Kal Penn From One of His Twitter Critics
Dear Kalpen Suresh Modi, I’ve been a big fan of yours for some time. Even though I don’t know you, you always struck me as … Read more
Is Lady Gaga’s ‘Burqa’ Leveraging Orientalist Archetypes for Shock and Market Value?
Lady Gaga is an icon who’s proved herself more than capable of chucking out some solidly danceable tunes — “Bad Romance” ranks high on the … Read more
Jay Sean’s ‘Neon’ Underwhelms
In case you missed it, R&B singer Jay Sean released his fourth studio album at the end of July. Titled Neon, the 15-track album features … Read more
Uh-Oh. The Pentagon Considers Well-Traveled, Broke Indian American Women Threats
The Huffington Post’s Matt Sledge recently introduced readers to “Hema,” a character in an online training given to Pentagon employees to teach them how to … Read more
A New Initiative Seeks to Restore Yoga’s South Asian Heritage
Many South Asian Americans turn to yoga because of the immense physical and spiritual benefits it offers. Some come to yoga with a good … Read more
How a Radical, Anti-Marriage Queer and Her Partner Put an End to State-Sanctioned Discrimination in Their Lives
Editor’s Note: Prerna Lal has been writing since 2007 about the struggle to attain legal residency as a queer and undocumented immigrant in the United … Read more
Needed: More Clones of Malala’s Dad
On July 12, Malala Yousafzai, the teenage Pakistani girl whom a Taliban militant shot in the head last October while she was riding home from … Read more
Will the Revolution be Commodified and Made Meaningless Courtesy of M.I.A.?
“[W]hat she’s experiencing is an absolutely necessary struggle — an attempt by an artist who’s defined herself through opposition to engage with the system that … Read more
More Than a Piece of Tandoori Chicken: A Woman’s Worth in Hindi Cinema
Nearly 90 percent of all violent crimes reported in India are crimes against women. This year’s United Nations Human Development Report (PDF) suggests that with … Read more
