Archive for February, 2006
Straight Questions: Jamie Salm of MioCulture
February 27th, 2006 • To be filed
A new wave of thinking has gained more tangibility in recent years and everyone is jumping in to find a way to contribute to this Viridian culture. Whether it is Steven Speilberg’ and Tom Hanks driving Toyota Prius’s, magazines like Elle and Vanity Fair producing green issues or designers like Jamie Salm adapting a sustainable, responsible approach to his products — for once, joining the trend and going where the river flows is not a bad idea.
I first met Jamie Salm at a Dan Pink speech in Philadelphia last year. A soft-spoken youth, with piercing intelligent eyes, Jamie’s face or name (pronounced as Hay-me)is hard to forget. Still a budding journalist with no outlet for *my desire to contribute*, I scribbled his number on a spare sheet and tucked it into the back-folds of my purse. I promised I would call him for an interview soon.
Jamie, a Columbian native and an industrial design graduate from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, started MioCulture in 2001.Founded on strong principles of sustainability and eco-intelligence, his products demonstrate responsible thinking and environmental advantages. Like the reusable tiled wall-paper made of waste or the multi-use Bale chairs. The climb has been steep and rough– but today MioCulture boasts of an impressive portfolio having designed for Bloomberg and Anthropologie.
I pulled out the number today and gave Jamie a call — here’s what the brillaint designer had to say.
StyleStation: Were you always environmentally conscious?
Jamie Salm: No. Not in the sense I am now.
StyleStation: What changed you? What made you re-consider your options and decide on your current design philosophy? Was there a defining moment?
Jamie Salm: There were many defining moments. All economic acticity has ecological impact. There were several projects I did as a student in school that made me realize the very importance of sustainable design in our daily lives. (His college thesis was, "furnishings made of waste-paper) And after that, it was just a matter of common sense. You know? When I was thinking what am I going to dedicate my design to… it was a obvious choice that it had to be eco-friendly. That it had to be responsible.
StyleStation: Has it been difficult to sustain your business because of your philosophy? Were you ever forced to compromise?
Jamie Salm: At times it is difficult to explain to people my ideas and what I am doing. But I understand that people haven’t had the opportunity to look at the world the way I have. My education, my experiences…. So it becomes a matter of working within their frame. Its not as much about telling them what they are doing is wrong, but its more about encouraging them to do right.
StyleStation: There has been a major shift in the collective consciousness of the design and architectural community about sustainability and responsibility in the last couple of years. What caused it?
Jamie Salm: We opned shop in 2001 and our first collection of products featured in 2003. During tha time, there was not as much retail-based interest in sustainability. There are several reasons why this shift has occured. First off, it has to do with the perception of value of a thing. When designers are designing something, they think, how do I add value to this? It is possible to create anything today– the challenge lies in how we create it, in asking.. why should we make it? Ethical questions about the products have become more important than the product itself.
Ofcourse function plays an important role but now designers are thinking — if I can choose to make something, why not make it better? why not make it eco-friendly?
And it’s not about feeling guilty, it is about making your contribution.
….. whats your contribution?
Conversations over wine and samosas
February 27th, 2006 • 12 comments Culture Briefings
A couple weekends back I took a trip down Hershey to visit my newly-married friends. Our conversations skimmed the usual: weather, New York, careers, India. We debated whether we would ever move back to India, why and why not. Two of my friends, although Indians, were born and bred in the Middle East. They were vehemently opposed to moving back to India and were absolutely unwilling to even consider the recent progress, lifestyle changes and booming economy. Intrigued, I questioned them further. I am open to the idea of moving whereever life presents greener pastures or wherever my whim fancies — be it Prague, Bombay or Sydney. I am not closed to the idea of moving back to India and I needed to know what made these friends so anti-living in India.
I was surprised to hear what they said.
(Friend 1- PhD in cancer research, MBA in Healthcare management. Born and bred in Kuwait. MBBS (MD) from Bombay)
Simple things like paying an electricity bill are so difficult in India. People have an absolute disregard for rules and laws. When I was studying for my M.B.B.S degree, no one told me you have to know the peon… Thats not how things work -atleast not where I grew up. I am a misfit there because I do not know or approve of these sly ways to get my work done. My other Indian friends who study here… have such cheap ways about them. They buy the most expensive fax machine and printer because they have MD applications to submit– and afte using it, they return it to get their money back. Intentionally. And that is so normal among Indians. Maybe I am a misfit ? Who knows.
(Friend 2: 23, tax analyst, born and bred in Muscat and London, fruitless attempt at getting into an Engg program in India. Denied because he refused to pay the *donation*. admited on merit)
Yeah. You make too much money, its a problem. The minute you buy a new car, a new house — there are threat calls. You make too little, its a problem. You lead a life, stuck in a rut. Consistent bribing…. tucking away 20 rupee notes inside police officer’s pockets….scrambling to pay your taxes, hiding your income. It’s crazy! Besides, don’t give me that shitty argument that you can afford servants and domestic help there. There is no pride in making another human clean your arse. You guys don’t even respect your domestic help dude!
Note: Both these friends, have stayed in India for a significant period of time to acrue these judgements. (5-6 years)
Any thoughts?
StyleStation
February 23rd, 2006 • 5 comments To be filed
(Word Cloud constructed by www.snapshirts.com)
Young Indians display acute environmental awareness
February 23rd, 2006 • 3 comments To be filed
As a little girl, I hoarded those wispy polythene bags. Going shopping with mom was a treat – I got to add those plastic bags to my collection. The pretty pastel colors were probably why I was so fascinated with those bags. During the early 90’s, my school adapted the recycle-rejuvinate policy and I immersed myself in C.A.R.E (Charlesian Association for Rejuvinating Environment) I can’t remember how exactly I disposed the polythene bags, but I did. And I grew a garden with other C.A.R.E girls on the terrace of my school. (Our garden was washed out one particularly rainy night) But even now when I go to Whole Foods, I insist on using a paper bag or often, carry my own cloth bag.
I was bemused when I read this article on BBC . Anita and Shaleb Ahuja employ slum-swellers to collect discarded polythene bags from the dumps. After cleaning, these bags are molded together into thick plastic sheets which is later used to make those trendy bags pictured above.
Will women buy them? I hope so! This humble bag makes a statement on a nation’s conscience that those $1000 Prada and Louis Viutton bags can only aspire to.
Didn’t we learn in third grade geography and plastic bags threaten the flora and fauna? Birds choking to death by having their beaks and feet entrapped in plastic bags. Cows dying as result of consuming toxic plastic waste — every week Indian newspapers carry such reports.
In 2000, about eighty to hundred cows died everyday in Lucknow because of consumption of plastic bags. Early this year, there were reports of 2-25kg of plastic discovered inside bodies of dead cows in Gujarat.
By 2010, India will be world’s 3rd largest consumer of plastic and no surprises, 50% of the plastic is used for packaging purposes. In the 1996 waste mangement meeting of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, a buy-back policy was suggested to plastic manufactures but the idea was rejected. The minutes of the meeting reveal that plastic manufactures simply did not want to accept any responsibility for the waste it produced. But a decade later, there is still no effective solution for the tonnes of plastic waste produced each day.
Environmental issues have been tossed around carelessly in parliamentary debates since ovre a decade. In 1996, Himachal Pradesh became the first state to pass a “Non-Biodegradable Waste Act,” that bans the use of plastic bags in the state. Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Sikkim also have restrictions on the use of plastic. Last year, the government of Maharashtra ordered all plastic-producing units (1000 units in Maharashtra alone!) to shut plants within a month. A brilliant move but hopeless timing — 1 lakh people left jobless.
But change happens at a microlevel, in this case, maybe the Ahuja’s are the torch-bearers for this predicament. By employing slum-dwellers, the Ahuja’s are not only generating employment but doing their bit to reduce an iota of waste from the choking, congested, about-to-explode city of Delhi. This solidarity for a cause and this contribution towards humanity is exemplelary.
Hopefully, the Indian Ministry of Culture will realize the worth of their cause and grant them a well-deserved “craft” status. (The Ahuja’s run a non-profit and if their skill is recognized as a craft, it will be available to plenty government sanctions and funds)
Other References
Indian Express
Bbc
Mindfully Org
The only oomph in Indian television
February 21st, 2006 • Culture Briefings
My week-days after work are usually spent watching old re-runs of Everybody loves Raymond andSeinfeld. (Blame the weather for my dormant social life) On and off, I’ll watch a couple episodes of Lost or The Bachelor. (hey- -its addictive!)
Last night, I was struck by the sheer number of “special” episodes in these sitcoms. The Barone family spends a vacation and a couple of episodes in Italy.Seinfeld I’ve heard goes to India for a wedding! Sex and the City went to Paris for its finale…. The Bachelor was also in Paris this year.
Travel in your chair
This isn’t a new or an emerging trend- sitcoms have been traveling locally and nationally for episodes since the conception of outside-the-studio shows. (What the heck, even FRIENDS traveled to California and What-was-it Minnesota? although we never saw anything beyond the standard three-walled mock studio rooms)
Packaging a holiday or a couple episodes at an exotic locale gives the show an element of reality and fantasy at the same time.
Reality because, people travel in real life- A family of five with nosy in-laws take vacations to Disney Land, go on cruises and travel to Italy. This dimension adds extra oomph to our favorite shows. It packs the excitement of watching our characters idiosyncrasies unravel in a foreign city and the added glamor of a new country.
Switzerland and Bollywood
In India, Bollywood movies have long followed the trend of shooting stray dream sequences in Europe (usually involves actress’s in chiffon saris canoodling their heros in the Alps). Subhash Ghai, an Indian film director/producer gives a sweeping history of the visuals in Indian cinema,
“Shooting on locations started in the fifties. Rural India was exposed majorly in our films for about 20 years. Then came the era of family dramas and the focus shifted to lower middle class and middle class families. Gradually, you had films being shot in towns of India. In the seventies and eighties, Bombay and Delhi were where many film stories had their base. That’s when 5-star hotels and helicopters were shown on screen. Then came the television and satellite boom of the nineties. That gave the audience world exposure. Filmmakers, therefore, began to cook up NRI characters to shoot their films abroad. That’s how the visuals have broadened over the years.”
Indian Sitcoms can’t be far behind
Indian sitcoms started crossing frontiers in the 80’s – for a few special episodes ofcourse. The earliest Indian sitcom (that I remember) that may be opened this idea to other directors was Dekh bhai Dekh’s series in London where the entire family crosses the border for a relative’s wedding in London. Tara followed suit with a few episodes in Dubai. And then, there was a sort of lull. But in the last five years, shooting episodes in Mauritius, Maldives and Dubai has become routine setting a new standard for Indian TV sitcoms. And often not one episode, not a couple episodes but entire shows ( Hum Pardesi ho gaye ) are based in abroad. There was Dollar Bahu that even opens with the protagonist chasing a fluttering dollar bill on a NY street. I don’t know if it ever made it on screen though.
Earlier, Foreign specials have been added with the only intentions of glamorizing the show and romanticizing the audiences. Now, it has become a necessity to shoot entire shows abroad to maintain the TRP’s and one-up other shows, even on the same channels. From its burgeoning booty of family dramas several episodes of Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kasauti Zindagi Ki were shot in Australia and Aroona Irani’s (an ex-bollywood actress) Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chaand in London. Even Jassi went to Mauritius for a makeover and Krishnaa Arjun flew to Singapore to hunt for a diamonds. Bollywood veteran Paresh Rawal, took his Bhagwan Bachaye Inko to Mauritius. Indian sitcoms in English based in America are also in the offing.
Reasons Why
This accelerated and unexpected rise in taking sitcoms abroad may be ascribed to the en-masse attitude and lifestyle change of middle-class Indians. An unnamed chief executive at Zee TV told Hindu Online in 2001, that Indian audiences now expect the same level of entertainment that Bollywood provides. That includes catchy music (anyone noticed how lovely the soundtracks for these sitcoms are!! My favorite is still the Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye title song) , young nubile good looking actresses and of course, foreign locales.
Another obvious reason is the 25 million + NRI’s and POI’s scattered across the world (America, UK, MiddleEast, Malaysia and South Africa with the most) This includes working professionals, visiting in-laws and Indian students studying abroad.
With Sony TV, Zee TV, TV Asia and other channels available abroad, sitcom producers are scrambling to fabricate dramas that will appeal to this audience. Besides, almost every other family in India has a family member or a relative living/working abroad. Shows catered to this sector is ek teer do nishaan (killing two birds with one arrow!) — assuring viewer-ship from both within and outside the country.
Lastly, tourism boards worldwide are familiar with Bollywood’s penchant for shooting abroad.
Movies like Dil To Pagal Hai , Kaho na Pyar hai , and Salaam Namaste put low-profile countries like Germany, New Zealand and Australia on a middle-class Indian’s radar. For countries looking to woo Indian tourists, what better promotion and advertising than having a Bollywood movie or a sitcom shot there?
In fact, Australian Tourist Commission (ATC) admitted to a clear marketing strategy to lure Indian tourists to Australia via sitcoms and movies. It even has 25 hours of raw footage of scenes-capes, landscapes and cityscapes of Australia on Beta format shot by their experts ready for use in Indian movies or sitcoms to save time and cost for film crews. Even the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism and Culture has been sending “feelers” to Indian producers and directors
Not for long though…
Based on my observations, I don’t think this trend will last long. Indian sitcom industry is a somewhat close replica of Bollywood. Bollywood went international – Indian sitcoms followed lead. Bollywood does concerts – Indian sitcoms followed lead. Bollywood awards? Indian sitcoms are right around the corner. Bottomline – Indian sitcoms are only an exaggerated and elastic version of Bollywood movies. For another decade or so, Indian sitcoms will exploit foreign lands, the emotions of leaving home, the travails of studying in America, of being married to an American– you name it, you will watch it on TV.
But the way I see it — Bollywood is switching gears now. A patriotic awareness, a sweeping optimism about India’s economic growth and the intelligentsia returning to homeland has sparked ideas for unconventional, spirited, movies. Swades, about a NASA scientist returning to India, Rang De Basanti about young students realizing the true worth of their country, Yuva about young politicians crossing the mile are only recent examples of movies that altered the history of Indian cinema and quite possibly introduced a new era, a new phase of reformist, progressive ideas that will see more intense and more profound treatment in the coming years.
And when this happens, Indian sitcoms will be the first to follow suit. And what a time will that be! Imagine inspiring sitcoms on TV about Indian software professionals, scientists…. writers…. and with some creative liscences, it is very possible to add a touch of glamor to these raw ideas. (because without glamor there is no Bollywood or TV sitcoms, right?) But I’ll leave that to the producers.
(Actually, anything but the saas-bahu (mother-in-law vs. daughter-in-law) drama will be a relief!) But anyways, that only my prediction. I’m not film-critic, only a culture enthusiast, so take my predictions with a pinch of salt.
Concluding…
This derivation is a mere observation. Culture is cyclical. India is young, just about to embark on probably the most exciting period of its history. And as Indian audiences mature and whittle away from the drama, Indian sitcoms will have no choice but to reform their strategies and please this new, educated, intelligent audience.
Hey even Dilbert creator Scott Adams is thinking of moving Dilbert to India. He was quoted in Fast Company, “The world is changing, so Dilbert has to change or else he’ll become outdated. I have to figure out if Dilbert’s going to move to India or not.”
References
Hindu On Net
Tribune India
Other related articles
Jinal Shah on Jassi Jaise Koi Nahi
Just a thought…
February 21st, 2006 • 5 comments To be filed
How many times have you called Customer Service numbers and wished you’d just get a live human instead of the automated machine-voices?
My answer? Lets calculate. On an average, if I make three calls a month to either my bank, phone company or credit card company, that equals to 36 times a year. (discounting the times I’ve wanted to order something from somewhere or simply ask for information) And since I’ve been in USA for 5 years that means, 180 times.
Yes. I’ve wished (on an average) 180 times for a live human on a 1-800 number.
10 Jobs that won’t exisit in 10 years
February 21st, 2006 • 5 comments Culture Briefings
Fast Company predicts the death of these jobs by 2016:
Cool-hunting, wall street-researchers I second this. Trend-spotting is a dying science.
Bloggers I’m not sure why FC mentioned this because as of 2006, blogging is not even an official job. We have a handful like Boing Boing , Huffintgon Post and Gawker that rake in enough money to support a livelihood. But out of the 27 million + blogs, not even 10% can claim to be bloggers by profession.
Advertising creatives FC thinks amateurs are far better at making ads and posting them online. I disagree. The job of advertising creatives is not limited to chugging out art-like advertisements. If anything, this job is only going to gain more potential and become super-important as audiences find more effective ways of avoiding any reception of advertisements. (Tivo, anyone?!) FC is grossly wrong here. This is akin to stipulating, journalists will lose their jobs because bloggers do a good job of reporting!
Auto mechanics Hmm. In USA, maybe cars will run on softwares by 2016, but auto-mechanics will only graduate to becoming soft-ware mechanics and when our cars fall apart, as they always do at some point, maybe instead of an oil-change, we’ll be charged for a hard-drive change.
Indian call-centers This was evident, wasn’t it?
US-High-tech jobs They’re already going.
What do you think? Which job profiles are bound to disappear in the near future? Banking? Air-Hostess’s?
Fossilize pop-ups please!
February 17th, 2006 • 10 comments To be filed
Cluttered websites are the first kinds to lose their readers and their customers. Sulekha is officially on my BANNED-LIST of websites. It is not only dirty and messy to look at, but every time you click on a link, an annoying advertisement pops up.
Pop-up advertisements are ancient. Pre-historic. How can India’s premier web-portal not know that?
I was looking for apartments, housing, roommate. whatever around NY/NJ. I am in a sorta desperate situation. And I assume most people who are looking for a place to live are slightly restless and needy. Such people do not want to deal with the added burden of hitting close to the pop-ups that invariably appear every single time you click a link. I remembered why I had stopped using Sulekha.com.
Clean web-sites have become so rare. It is an imagined notion that the more you have, the more readers will flock to your site. If your site is not presentable and easy to navigate, you’ll lose your audience quicker than you can close your pop-ups.
For subtle yet persuasive advertising check out Salon or NYT These ads don’t assault your senses and muddle you. That is tasteful advertising.
Sulekha’s advertisements aren’t even pretty to look at. Honestly, would you click a repulsive brown box that declares the best deals for money transfers? It baffles me how they can be so oblivious to these little bugs. For that matter, even the Rediff website can be a pain to navigate sometimes. I lose my patience quick.
Sigh. But the good news, we’ll only have to put up with these web-sites until a young whizkid steps in to give these sites some serious competition.
Lonely places of the head
February 16th, 2006 • 6 comments On my mind...
On my way to work, I usually listen to a shuffled playlist from the Devotional Genre on my Ipod. I am not religious and do not believe in religion but the cleansing vocals of devotional songs is very refreshing in the mornings. Listening to Ik Onkar (from Rang De Basanti) is like watching the dawn break on the marble foot-steps of a temple, feeling a heaviness that is inexplicable and reveling in the wafting fragrance of sandalwood frankincense burning closeby. Similarly, Shri Ventakesha Suprabhatam, reminds me of a cool stone floor, the smell of ghee mingled with marigolds permeating the air of Guruvayoor temple in Kerala. A place I’ve never been to, but heard about and seen in photographs.
Ave Maria and Amazing Grace take me to that lonely place in my head where its past midnight and I’m standing alone, a little scared, a little in awe, in the vast emptiness of the Vatican City grounds. The glowing statues that adorn the church, stare solemnly in space. The only sounds are those of the gurgling water fountain two feet away from me. Sometimes when the wind blows, I hear murmurs and whispers from the past. The thousand year old cobble-stones I stand on, are so smooth and rounded by now that it is impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins….
There is a marathi song that I love, Airanichya deva tula and the Ganesh Aarti, Jaydeva Jaydev. Listening to these songs take me back to the safe place I know from my childhood. I grew up around Maharashtraians, my mother studied in Marathi medium (she is Gujju) We watched Marathi movies, sung marathi songs and ate marathi food. (my favorite kind!) Once Dad bought this tape of mix songs and we played ,i> Airanichya deva on a loop – the coarse voice, the shrill bells and the upbeat tap-tap-tap sound was not only addictive, but it managed to lift our spirits everytime.
The list of my beloved gujarti songs in never-ending. I even coached a my class group in 10th grade for the recital of Dada Aadishwarji for our Moral Science class. (remember moral science?!!) But the one song I identify with and began appreciating after I left India is a Navratri hymn called, Vishwanbhari I think we all have our own derivations of music and why we love it. There is one line in this song that goes, Aa zindagi ma tuj vina nathi koi maru translated as, In my life, there is no one except you and every- time I hear it, I’m moved to tears. The simplicity of this sentence, the fearsome truth it conceals and the poignant acceptance of it …..
I believe in God. Or atleast I believe in a greater, more divine energy that takes care of this universe. Hymns and bhajans, evoking the goodness of this energy, the blessings of this potency or in mere adulation of its impossibility, bring me peace. Sooth my fluttering, restless soul. I don’t understand Punjabi or Malayalam or Latin… but I listen to these songs irrespective of the meanings they hold. I listen to them because of the feelings they inspire. It doesn’t matter what language it is then.
Jamies Barrie, someone I deeply admire said, “You can visit neverland anytime you want.” All those lonely little places in our head ? They are probably more beautiful than the ones on our To-Go list. I know mine are. For me, music is my ticket to those places in my head, but it doesn’t really matter what evokes them. As long as they exist.
This morning I found out the company I work for can’t afford to pay me so instead of 160hr/month that I work right now, they are cutting down my hours to 40hr/month. Losing my computer and than three-fourths of my job would have given me an anxiety attack in another lifetime. But thank god for those places in my head. Where the ponds are green, the trees purple and flowers grow cup-cakes.
Thank God for music.
Loss.
February 15th, 2006 • 11 comments On my mind...
My hard-drive crashed. And I lost all my data. 
I’m sending my hard-drive to India, maybe my dad’s technician can retrieve at-least some of my data. It is very painful but I’m trying to stay positive about it. This loss has given me an opportunity to hold back and simply exhale. I’ve been juggling many responsibilities and trying to stay ahead of myself. I am very ambitious and the mere thought of being idle and allowing life to take its course tests my patience. I prefer to take charge and make my life happen and work for me the way I want it to. And my laptop was my lifeline to this: to my work, my rising career and my sanity. To have lost it, even if it is for a couple weeks, has suddenly given me too much time. (That also means I have no excuse to avoid my relatives phone calls)
StyleStation so far, has been a reporters blog. Written under pressure, without any drafts or further editing. I’ve been trained to save my opinions, get to the point- cut out the crap and get rid of excess fat (from words) And thats exactly what poured out here.
I started this blog as a tool to help me with my job-search. I didn’t really get a job because of this blog but I met some amazing people and discovered more about my interests. But now I have a job that I’m happy with, so, I figured I can relax here.
No! I’m not going to talk about what I ate for dinner (but if it’s somewhere really great, I promise I will!) or discuss my love life. Why would I want to talk about that? (esp. why would I want to PAY to talk about that! yes, typepad.com is a paid service) But maybe I’ll write a little bit more about what moves me, what inspires me and what matters to me.
I could sit back and brood over my loss. Or I could forget about it for a while, keep my fingers crossed and allow this time for myself and my writing to breathe.
And if I’m very lucky, I might not only get all my data back but emerge wiser, (atleast a little patient) and happier out of this experience.
Enhancing beauty or erasing identities?
February 11th, 2006 • 6 comments To be filed
In South Korea, about half of all twenty-something women have had some form of cosmetic surgery. These days, if one doesn’t have Western-style double eyelids or is not the acceptable height, tasks like finding a husband and winning over the boss are nearly impossible. And many girls in my school seemed to share the fears of their Korean mothers, cousins and aunts." – Jane Magazine, March 2006
A hundred definitions of beauty
A universal conundrum, innit? And yet we ponder over it without arriving at any satisfying answers. Growing up, I was envious of my sisters lighter skin color, my cousins brown eyes and later my American cousins dyed blonde hair. To elevate my status of "beautiful" I did it all: binge diets, weight-reducing pills, fair and lovely cream, green and brown contact lenses and purple/mahogany/brown colored hair. But really, there is no one defined line to draw anywhere. Thankfully, my pain-intolerant nature and my laziness never let me consider past these solutions: I never considered plastic surgery. You may wonder, why does she even need plastic surgery? And that’s exactly what I wondered when I found out that in the year 2000 alone — 125,000 cases of blepharoplasty (eyelid augmentation) were reported in America. Most of them in California. I think and truly believe Asian women are blessed with beautiful skin and hair – why would they be so insecure about their eyes that they’d consider changing their structure to look more "western."
Sadly, the world does share a uniform of notion of what is beautiful and what isn’t. C’mon, how can we "desis" not admit that we refer to the Asians as "chinkas"- a word derived from their hidden eyes. And the others aren’t any better– because as "desis" we hold our share of epithets, most of them not very pleasing. It is so easy to put a bunch of normal looking women on a Dove commercial and call it the campaign against real beauty or whatever demented definition of beauty– but lets face it, no guy is going to ask a buck-toothed, overweight girl out to prom. And ladies, lets not get too smug please. Even I am guilty of dimissing not-so-tall and not-so-debonair looking men. Whether we like it or not, we are all guilty of judging the book by its cover.
Which is why, I empathsize with women and men who consider cosmetic surgery. I do give enough credibility to people’s experiences and although I don’t endorse cosmetic surgery – I think I understand the socio-cultural changes that necessiate this thriving industry. Whatever someone’s reasons are — to become more attractive, to stop the teasing, to stop people from calling names….I empathsize.
Cosmetically enhanced beauty or cosmetically altered identity?
What is more disturbing and what we SHOULD be worried about is this —
In California, groups of all ethnicities have vied to transform themselves into a Caucasian standard of beauty. Jewish women undergo rhinoplasty, or "nose jobs," and African Americans have undergone the same, along with lip reductions and skin lightening.- Women’s E-news
And the Asian women undergo eyelid surgeries…
Boob-enhancing surgeries if you are an aspiring hollywood star or a model or one of those, I’ve heard of but I had no idea the new trend is to get rid of the very features that make a Jewish woman jewish, an african-american women an african-american and an asian woman, asian.
The article blames the parents of Asian-American women for instilling the idea that flat eyelids or squinty eyes aren’t acceptable and pushing their children to assimilate in the American environment. Rings a familiar bell to me — remember Indian mothers reprimading their dark-skinned daughters to not play in the sun? Are parents and their long-held beliefs to blame for this total rejection of one’s own identity? Or should we lump it all in one bundle and blame it on the media? (The funny thing is–we blame everything on the media: complain when they portray skinny models, perfect skin and skinnier models. Yet, we are the first to point out that cellulite on Sandra Bullocks legs and the extra flab on Bipasha Basu or Esha Deol’s arms. We are hypocrites! We don’t have the guts to stand up for or atleast watch what we believe in on TV!)
I know Indian parents to a certain extent believe a light skinned daughter has a better chance of finding a handsome/better beau than a dark-skinned one. (This is a generic observation. Please don’t leave comments like, "I know so many.. yadiyadiyadi.) And after reading these articles, I gather Asian parents have similar fears when it comes to their daughter’s height and eyes. I was going to suggest support groups and community discourses for young women, but now I’m re-thinking…. maybe it’s the parents that need a 101 on being beautiful and the superficial necessity of "fitting in." Maybe pregnant mothers should have some sort of a grooming or educating school about the generation their child will be born into. Now that I think of it, I think it’s a brilliant idea. Maybe I’ll find some VC’s and work on it myself…
But seriously– -Fit in. Assimilate. Adapt. How many variations of this phrase have we heard? Besides, is it really worth it to blend with the others at the cost of risking your own identity? America prides itself on its diverstiy and multiculturalism, from this point of view- it seems like we aren’t really concerned about preserving this diversity. We just want to make things easier for all of us and fit in. What can we as members of this American society do to not just survive but thrive within our ethnic cultures, adapting the larger cultures into our own, not losing ours into it.
What are your thoughts? What do you think?
Straight Questions: Graham Hill of Treehugger
February 9th, 2006 • To be filed
Fashion. In. All. Its. Glory.
February 9th, 2006 • 9 comments To be filed
At a journalism convention at Columbia University a couple years back, I inquired about a reporter’s position with at a local newspaper booth. The recruiter asked me if I had any internships or previous experiences and ina giddy state of having just accquired an internship at an esteemed fashion magazine in New York – I told him, Yes! Ofcourse! I’m a reporter at *******!
He tossed my resume in a pile and said, "Well, if you are intersted in serious journalism – get in touch." I was dismissed. The verdict was out. Dejected, I didn’t have the heart to walk to the other recruiters. One thought repeatedly kept bugging me- what is serious journalism? I thought I executed my job at my fashion magazine with utmost sincerity and seriousness. What about my job was dismissable as un-serious journalism?
Straight Questions: Josh Rubin
February 7th, 2006 • To be filed
Josh Rubin – designer, trend connoisseur and cool hunter will be appearing at the Future Marketing Summit on Feb 23 in NYC. (Sponsored by IF )
A quick q/a :
q)Where do you get your inspiration from?
a)I get my inspiration from the details. I believe there are no new ideas, just great executions.
q)What is the biggest but most ignored trend you see?
a)If it’s a trend then it’s not being ignored, is it?
q)Are new wave trend spotters a competitive or complementary to the established trend firms?
a)Both. The traditional trending firms tend to have a longer term focus and less frequent deliverables to their clients—this works for many large corporations. For smaller or more nimble organizations, and those with rapid product development, the ‘new wave’ is more valuable. Consumer demand is changing more frequently these days, making it harder to keep up using traditional methods which means there will be more competition (or collaboration) between models in the near future.
q)You’ve just started to produce video content What sort of content are you covering ? Should all online publications move into video?
a)We launched video for two reasons: 1. the technology is just getting to a point where people can easily consume video content distributed through untraditional conduits. 2. there are lots of things we cover on CH that are better served by audio and video over words and pictures. And that’s the first requirement for what we will do a video on. The second requirement, just like the site, is wide open—it simply has to capture our interest. The videos are 1 – 3 minutes because that’s what we think is the optimal length for mobile, and even web-based, viewing.
(Interviewed by IF)
Her.
February 7th, 2006 • 2 comments To be filed
When I went to the NY Fashion Week four years ago — I saw her at the Luca Luca show. Dressed in a super-tiny black dress with teensy sparkles sprinkled on it – she posed for the photographers like a pro. What struck me most about her were her lips. There was something, weirdly odd about them. As though they didn’t really belong to her face. They kinda just jutted out, and hung there. Limp. Blood red and glossy. The photographers wouldn’t leave her alone and she didn’t want them to leave her alone. She grabbed whoever walked infront of her, air-kissed, exclaimed “fabulous, fabulous” and forced them next to her urging the photographers to click away.
I later learnt she was an old-timer. She used to be a professional model and was a nobody now. So she came to fashion shows twice a year to stay in the news and recharge her fame-fodder level. I winced when she walked out in the chilling winter frost to pose for more paparazzi waiting outside the Bryant Park tents.
Yesterday, I saw her again. I was walking out of a show and it was deja vu. Chilling winds, a tiny black dress, high heels. Bundled up in my warm coat, I watched the illusive her posing for the photographers outside the tents. A page-boy followed her powdering her face and re-painting her lipstick every few minutes as if her lips magically dried off or absorbed the color. This time, in addition to her limp limps- I spotted a curiously saggy forehead that looked as if it had been molded in clay to stay upright. And pulled out cheeks – as though there were pins behind her ears holding up her cheeks. I heard “fabulous” in faint strains as I walked further from the tents. I glanced back one last time to see her air-kiss and disappear in the crowds.
L.A Dreams
February 5th, 2006 • 10 comments On my mind...
Los Angeles : People have always been attracted to the city for its balmy weather, its vibrant lifestyle, its unique, high-velocity energy, and the opportunity to realize the "American Dream."
When you type Los Angeles and do a Google search for it, this is what you get first. And this is what I had in my head when I packed my bags and left my home in Mumbai city and came here. Just another desi. And yes, I’m doing my Masters in Computer Science too J. And I’m a south indian. Could I be more stereotype ?
Los angeles is an aweosme place. The glitz, the glamour, the clubs, the bars..and most importantly ..the people. The beautiful, beautiful people.
Everyone in Los Angeles is either super-hot. Or super-rich. Or both. Otherwise, you’re pretty fucked. Heh.
My school of choice is USC (Go Trojans!), located in downtown Los Angeles.Downtown Los Angeles is awesome. When I cross the tall buildings of Ernst and Young, SBC Yahoo, Goldman Sachs and KPMG, I feel small. You know how a child looks up at a hot air balloon for the first time? Stretching his or her neck as backwards as it can go with dream-filled eyes ? That’s how I always look at these buildings. I feel revived and I always, always think – That’s the dream. That’s why I’m here. Away from my home. Away from my family. Away from my friends and everything familiar to me.
Downtown Los Angeles
Once I cross downtown with the glitz and glamor, I enter a whole new part of Los Angeles. Here, you won’t find Paris Hilton look alikes. The men aren’t perfect tens with bleached blonde hair and washboard abs. I watch a eighteen year old African American put up his sweatshirt hood. Next I hear a cop car siren and as expecetd the next day, we all check our e-mails for the new Crime Alert mail. Someone got mugged. Someone got robbed. Blah Blah. We’re so used to it now. Along with morning cup of tea and newspaper, the sound of cop car sirens is usual. As I cross Burger King, I watch kids of all ages rollerblading in the hot California sun and I hear the usual Hola,Tipo? and Que pasa?
Ghetto L.A
This is the part of Los Angeles that reminds me the most about Mumbai city. The fact that there are two completely different worlds, existing like a parallel universe. And how both worlds are completely oblivious of each other.
Mumbai City
Aamchi Mumbai
And as for feeling homesick, I can say this about anyone from Mumbai city : You can take the girl out of Mumbai, but you cannot take Mumbai outta the girl. J . So as I start another day of school filled with work, class, homework, endless hours at the library coding something in some god-forsaken language, I feel slightly less homesick as I enter the tram and hear Tujhe Dekha to yeh jaana sanam playing on the stereo and the tram driver saying “Kaise ho, dost ?” !
Donatella Versace pleased to learn beautiful clothes are inexpensive in India
February 3rd, 2006 • 4 comments To be filed
I’m sorry- but am I the only one who didn’t know of the Versace-Lakme Fashion House association? The talks have been on for months– I haven’t heard anything about the program yet. But hey, apparently there’s also a winner.
Anyways, here’s the gist– A la Project Runway style, Samir Gupta produced, Lakme Fashion House, a fashion-reality TV show on Star One. Indian fashion designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla act as judges, eliminating contestants each week. You can obviously expect Bollywood celebrities to fire things up a little bit and make the reality-TV even more “interesting.”
The cake — Donatella Versace picked the final winner, Shahzad Kalim who won a 6-month internship with the House of Versace in Milan.
The world on India
February 3rd, 2006 • 6 comments Culture Briefings
There is a reason why I’m not a huge fan of surveys and polls. You never know if it is an educated answer!
In one such poll for BBC World Service -they asked 39435 people “all over the world” whether on how they saw various countries. Predictably, Iran has the most negative influence. And Japan was seen to have a positive influence.
About India, however — the world view is neutral. Iran and Afghanistan heavily think India has a positive influence and Philippines is the only nation that thinks India has a negative influence. (btw, Pakistan was not a part of this survey – I would have really liked to know what regular Pakistan people thought of India.) The interviews were conducted face-to-face or via telephone.
The thing is — I can’t figure out what they exactly mean by “positive” and “negative” influences. And why would the Filipino’s think so negatively about India– I’d like to know the reasons which the survey fails to provide or disclose them to public.
In Phillipines, 1000 people polled out of which a 57% said that India has a negative influence on the world as compared to the 2000 pollers in Afghanistan and 1118 in Iran out of which 59% and 71% respectively have a positive opinion on India. You do the math.
I dismiss this survey and its results entirely because
1)I don’t know anything about the people surveyed. Geographical and demographic information about the pollers is simply not enough to give this survey any credibility.
2) There is no constancy in the sample of people in each country. For example, only 800 Brazilians participated while 3497 South Africans participated in the survey. Regardless, these numbers don’t even make a strong enough percentage of the population of these countries. It is ridiculously unfair to say, “Philippines thinks so and so” or “Iran thinks so and so” when not even a significant population is represented!!
And best of all– I still don’t get the point of the survey!
Welcoming Madhu
February 2nd, 2006 • On my mind...
I have been thinking of including new voices on my blog for some time now. There are only a few things that interest me that I can write about — new voices bring new interests, new opinions and definitely new readers 
I’m very happy to introduce ione of my closest and oldest friends, Madhu Iyengar who is enroute to finishing her masters degree from USC, California.
Expect sarcastic, creative, cynical observations from her about Los Angeles, culture and life in general. Welcome to StyleStation, Madhu!
Spanish youth are Hedonisitic- not idealistic
February 2nd, 2006 • To be filed
In a survey conducted by Foundation Against Drug Addiction, the Youth Institute, and Caja Madrid’s Social Work in Spain — it was found that 15-24 year olds displayed a lack of trust towards politicians and political system. Infact, 60% of the youth polled showed no interest in politics or society. A little disturbing. However, they support democracy and 70% believe voting is important.
Unlike the 60’s or 70’s when every youth wanted to a cause to rebel against — the current generation shares a good and healthy relationship with their parents and themselves that doesn’t really give them a reason to rebel.
But the most interesting facet of this survey was that the youth described themselves “more as hedonists than idealists.” I am not entirely sure what they meant, the survey didn’t explain this further. Any thoughts?
One desire
February 1st, 2006 • On my mind...
What I truly, madly want right now:
Two tickets to the Torino, Italy for the Winter Olympics.
Maxim- India’s hearing
February 1st, 2006 • 15 comments To be filed
Just last week I blogged about glossies like Maxim launching in India. Looks like I made the prediction a tad too early!
Situation
Khusboo, an Indian actress has filed a case against the magazine for publishing a faked photograph of her in underwear in an article titled, “Women you will never see in Maxim.” Maxim apologized, but Khusboo refused to accept the apology.
In Khusboo’s defense
In Hollywood, women like Khusboo would be applauded for their brutal honesty. In India, women like her who dare to express their honest opinions are shut. Last year she faced severe criticism and even demonstrations for saying no educated man should expect his wife to be a virgin. She offended an entire populace by making that remark and presumably, “went against the Tamil culture.” Irrespective of the controversies surrounding her, she is much revered and even has temples in her name in South of India.
Maxim’s joke was uncalled for -it definitely insults her integrity as a woman first and then as an actress. Although the Maxim editors are trying to settle this issue out of the court, Khusboo is vehement and intends to bring a stop to people who “treat woman like a commodity and exploit them as they please.” This issue has deeper social implications. Women hold a very complex position in the social structure of an Indian family. It is easy to dismiss Khusboo’s remarks as feminist but historically, Indian men haven’t exactly demonstrated respect and equal opportunity for women. I will hastily add that this is slowly changing, so please don’t clutter my comment-box with anti-feminist insults!
Khusboo, probably has based her comment on commoditization and exploitation on her perceived status of women in India. If so, she is rightfully justified.
In Maxim’s defense.
Maxim is a lad-mag! It is the job of a lad-mag to poke fun at others. A lad-mag only publishes stuff that men are already thinking in their heads. Besides, Maxim’s target audience is a population of educated, metro-sexual men who (Maxim hopes!) respect women. Really though, doesn’t look like Maxim has much standing for itself as this point. Indian courts have been known to restrict channels from showing movies like Kill Bill — the fact that the resolution to this will be in Maxim’s favor is a huge doubt. Even if Maxim is pardoned this time, it will severely affect the snarky tone/vision of the magazine. What’s Playboy without pictures of sexy women? What’s Cosmo without articles instructing women how to please their men and what’s maxim without its jokey-pokey finger!
Maxim will lose a part of its essential personality if it is further prohibited from pulling such pranks. It might as well become another Men’s World or whatever that Indian men’s magazine is called these days.
Concluding
Maxim, although a lad-mag with British sensibilities, should have studied the Indian market before publishing this brash one-page spread. (One page!?!) It was in poor taste. Maybe this is something Indian audiences aren’t just ready for. It is difficult to promote the stuff Maxim stands for and not offend anyone at the same time. It is a very fine line and unless Maxim achieves the right balance, it is doomed before the next issue launches.
But it should be a good lesson to aspiring foreign magazines eager to make a quick buck in India. In pleasing a 100 Indians, you will almost always displease a 100 others! Reminds me of the time BMW wanted to set up a manufacturing plant in Kerala and the opposition party put forth demonstrations of anti-imperialism. BMW said, fuck this shit and went and put a plant in China. And now, they sell Made-in-China BMW’s in India!
A very wise person once told me that for every 5 steps India takes forward, it takes 3 steps behind. Culture, progress, humor and politics are so impossibly meshed together that to separate one thread out of another will take a very fine craftsman and tremendous patience!!