DesiPundit

Indiatime lists out ten reasons why, contrary to news reports, John McCain will not pick Bobby Jindal as his VP nominee.   He makes some interesting points.

4. Obama’s African ancestry gives him over 90% of the black vote in the coming elections. Jindal’s Indian ancestry is of little use in that regard. Indians will not be flocking to the republican party to vote for the Mccain-Jindal ticket.

If you’re like me and have been eying the avocados in the grocery aisle with no idea how to cook it to go with Indian dishes, you might want to check out Indira’s delicious-sounding aachar avocados recipe.

I enjoy avocados. It hadn’t been always that way. My avocado experience began with facemask, then expanded to salsa, chapatis, avocado annam. And the latest is this aachar avocado, a new recipe I have come up with. A variation on a classic guacamole, in aachar avocado, the creamy avocados are spiced up with aachar masala powder. Light and clean, but with enough punch, it’s a good twist on the old classic.

Meera describes life in Saskatchewan after moving to Canada from Delhi.

Snow and ice just becomes part of your surroundings when you live here. Here, Mother Nature showcases her pure beauty in the form of vast expanses of lands and skies. The clouds and sun compete to paint the skies with lovely colours every day. You can drive out of town for ten minutes and find yourself on a lonely country road amongst land covered with nothing but snow. This is the land of the living skies, as Saskatchewan is fondly called here.

It sure sounds beautiful, but maximum temperatures in negative double digits, whoa! I don’t think I’d brave those freezing temperatures voluntarily!

1. Desis love to bargain
2. Desis loving to be using the funny grammar
3. Desis love talking about their digestive tract
4. Desi women love pulling stuff out of their cleavage
5. Desis love telling you about having $8.00 in their pocket

Admittedly inspired by the hugely successful Stuff White People Like, Alka is embarking on a similar project about Desis. She calls it - Desis 101. I leave it up to you to judge if it meet the standards of its inspiration but she is just starting and it may get better.

Update: Randomizer informs us of a similar site, Stuff Desi/Brown People Like which is already at #28. In fact, there is another one that Randomizer unearthed - Stuff Indians Like and it was apparently the first off the block in getting inspired (at #182 currently).

The tiniest buds begin to emerge along seemingly lifeless stalks. Trees take on the electric, green sheen of fresh, new leaves. Pruning shears see the light of day after a long winter’s sleep. Birds wing back north. Abandoned porches and stoops buzz with signs of life again. Neighbours linger to talk for longer than it takes to exchange pleasantries. It’s a heady time when memories of snow, ice and slippery sidewalks recede to the background, and when unruly lawns and the hot, humid days of summer are too far off in the distance to ruin the party.

Spring is in the air! Sujatha eagerly awaits cherry blossoms in Washington,DC, while Patrix scoots over a highway to photograph bluebonnets in texas.

His 5 minute long digression on how even Jihadis in Afghanistan religiously (no pun) watch “Kyun ki saas bhi kabhi bahu thee” at 8.30 every evening may be an affectionately amusing anecdote for Americans who are new to India, but hardly a testament to the country’s greatness or global reach. Likewise, his constant focus on how even fishermen and toddy-collectors in India now have cell phones detracts from real achievements; large-scale availability of cell phones can constitute the means but not the end to progress.

Ashutosh is not too impressed with Shashi Tharoor’s over-the-top love for India and never-ending cliches.

Santosh is not satisfied with the only desi music station on satellite radio, channel 159 ATN Asian Radio.

Their programming needs some serious upgrading to be at the level of a satellite radio station and to appeal to a wider variety of audiences. Talk shows, news, current affairs, finance, sports (cricket, in particular, preferably live) are some of the things that would fit in well should they choose to upgrade. Being the first South Asian channel on satellite radio, they have the potential to draw a sizable audience, maybe they already are. But that audience certainly deserves better, translation we don’t need a clone of All India Radio.

Preston profiles A. Sivanesan, a prominent lawyer in Malaysia who raises money for the families of the HINDRAF Five (five leaders who were detained indefinitely after the protests on November 25th, 2007).

… All are well respected, and the fact that these men — professionals, educated, elite — are risking their lives and livelihoods on behalf of Malaysia’s Indian community is helping to mobilize support among people who have considerably less to lose. Though there are some high-profile exceptions, most of Malaysia’s Indian population is working-class, with few opportunities for advancement.

Patrix has an informative post on different deductions available to resident aliens living in the U.S.,

Deductions are basically credits offered by the government to deduct from your total income. You pay income tax only on your taxable income i.e. amount calculated after claimed deductions. Depending on your filing status (line 1-3), your standard deduction (line 40) can range from $5,350 to $10,700. Your filing status depends on your marital status and if you are filing separately or jointly. Although I’m married now, I filed separately since Ash’s tax returns involve change in immigration status and it would unnecessarily complicate things.

Return journeys usually seem shorter, but these night walks back, past the desolate Higgins Hall, where architecture students are up late, seem so much longer. That night I bumped into a group whose gaze I had done my best to avoid. They were slightly younger than me, and twittered on in the language of trouble. A few steps later, stones hit the back of my head. I turned around to look, and one of them asked ”What are you looking at?”

Rahul on a student’s walk home in the alleys of Brooklyn.