Latest posts by Neha Viswanathan from January, 2007
Sri Lanka: Art and the Tamil Tiger
Biting sarcasm at ravana, as contribution of Tamil Tigers to art is discussed. “The head of HR confirmed that for functional artisans and pure artists alike, immediate post mortem appreciation is guaranteed with the LTTE’s rewarding martyrdom retirement plan.”
Nepal: Tiananmen Square Being Staged in Lahan
Madhesh.com has concerns about violence against citizens. “In Lahan, more than hundred innocent peaceful Madheshi protestors have been seriously injured from the brutal attack by government's armed forces to suppress their voices and peaceful protests.”
India: In Bihar
Feringhee: The Indian Diaries writes on going to Bihar. “Every week, the paper has an account of a prominent person's child, or even just successful middle-class person's, kidnapped and held for ransom. The headlines of the “Bihar Digest” section sometimes defy belief (“Child's fingers chopped off for stealing spinach”; “Son...
India: Indians in Kenya
Sepia Mutiny on the Indian community in Kenya. “Today, the community in Kenya is perceived, not without justification, as wealthy and aloof. Rajan is critical of what he sees as the community's lack of engagement with Kenya's many challenges.”
Sri Lanka: Conflict and Art
groundviews on conflict and its impact on art. “Among those artists who regularly emphasize the impact of conflict on society are Sri Lankan duo Bandu Manemperi and Roger Constantine. Their most recent exhibition was based on how human emotions have been numbed by frequent and continuous violence.”
Nepal: Maoists and Mainstream
Nepali Netbook on the Maoist way of arms and doing things and how it's impacted the mainstream parties and politics. “By the end of 1976, when B.P. Koirala finally fused nationalism and democracy into a plea for reconciliation, it was pretty clear that the Nepali Congress’ principal foreign sponsor had...
Bangladesh: End to end solution for religious events
Salam Dhaka on glimpses of life in Bangladesh, like meeting Huzur. “You want an end to end solution for all your religious events? Hanif is your man. In 2 hours notice he will buy a goat, bring in a professional butcher and get it all done. If you want the...
Pakistan: Chinese on a Pakistani vehicle
Chinese and Japanese languages make an appearance on transport vehicles in Pakistan. Light Within says “Over the past few years, Chinese and Japanese characters have increasingly appeared on Pakistani public transport as decorations. .. I’ve been fortunate to have a Chinese language expert at home as my wife so we...
Nepal: Predictions for the blogosphere
Nepali Voices has predictions for the Nepali Blogosphere in 2007. “The biggest catalyst in the increasing number of blogs will be the traditional media. It will be difficult to leave out the buzz of blogs. They will covering blogs and blogging thus promoting the ‘blog literacy’.
Nepal: Inheritance of Loss
Deepak Adhikari on Kiran Desai's Inheritance of Loss. “It was nice to read the story of Gorkhaland movement at a time when the demand is resurfacing. …I was in this small hill station Kalimpong in mid 1990s. A religious group called Krishna Pranami from Itahari organized a tour to Kalimpong...
Bangladesh: The racist subcontinent
Reacting to the Big Brother Racism controversy, Mezba says “The whole subcontinent. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh. We discriminate daily based on caste, skin fairness, gender, religion (or inter-religion as in Sunni/Shia so on). Yet we are always the first ones to criticize.”
India: Blogging Monkeys
A mainstream media newspaper publishes a cartoon that seems to hint that bloggers are nothing but typing monkeys. Marketing Practice comments on the cartoon in the context of Consumer Generated Media. “The depiction of the blogger as a monkey also reveals another side of the arrogance: do the editors feel...
Nepal: Blogging in Nepal
Deepak Adhikari talks about blogging in Nepal – the changes over the last few years, the challenges and the presence of journalists who blog. “In the past few years, some of us in Nepal have made some visible strides in blogging thanks to King Gyanendra's clampdown on mainstream media in...
India: Motherhood and Technology
The Mad Momma on mommy blogging, technology and communication and its contribution to making motherhood a slightly different experience. “Yet here we are, tech savvy women, changing templates (!), mailing other bloggers from our blackberrys while in the labour room (yes, I know someone who was doing that), more concerned...
Nepal: Racism and India as a bully
Looking beyond the Indian blogs, Wagle Street Journal from Nepal comments on the racism and Shilpa Shetty in the Big Brother show issue with the insight of living next door to a country that maybe seen as a bully – India. “When an Indian goes to an English television channel...
India: On Pottery
Swajana posts videos on their blog of snippets of life in India. A video on pottery. “As in many other parts of the world – this art has developed a long way in India too. But simultaneously – its also maintained its roots by being done pretty much in the...
India: The Big Book and Reviews
Amardeep Singh writes on a rather long book that has reviewers writing the review without finishing it. “There seems to be something about Vikram Chandra's heavily-hyped, 900 page Bombay gangster novel, Sacred Games, that has led reviewers to publish evaluations before they've finished reading the book.”
Bangladesh: Proud to be Muslim
Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying on being Muslim and being proud of it. “This image of Muslims claiming their “moderate”ness and the incessant Muslim bashing that comes from the wingnuts is poisoning the well. It has led to the notion that unless Muslims jump every time some Muslim...
Nepal: Arms Management
United We Blog! has a great photo post on the First Day of Arms Management. “Photographs of the first day of registration and storage of weapons and registration of Maoist combatants, at the Maoist 3rd Divisional cantonment site in Chitwan, Nepal on 17 January 2006.”
India: The President on Yahoo!
At digg.com, a user links to the President of India's question at Yahoo! Answers. Watch out for the interesting discussion at digg, where a wide range of issues – including Bush, internet penetration in India, efforts to reach out by the government etc. are raised.
Bangladesh: On the swastika
An ancient symbol appears to forever lose its meaning because of the Nazi connection. Inspirations and Creative Thoughts on the Swastika. “European Union is planning to ban the symbol of Swastika, infamously used by the Nazi. But hindus are opposing the move because despite its being adopted as symbol of...
