Saath

Going to the Movies

2008-04-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

So I'm not going to sing and dance... a little unfortunate. Here is my web site From Bollywood to Hollywood. The web site was a lot of fun to research and create.

Like much of my blog, I hope the web site introduces an aspect of Indian culture. There is a lot more to cover (not just about Indian film, but also about Indian culture) I hope this blog served as an introduction into my world... it's a wonderful, spicy haven. :)

I Might Just Sing and Dance

2008-04-12T18:16:00.000-07:00

As a little girl growing up in suburban Los Angeles I had a dream… to be a sari wearing, singing, dancing, little part of Bollywood.

No, I didn’t misspell.

Coined as a mix of Bombay and Hollywood - I wanted to be a part of one of the largest movie industries in the world. A week later, I decide I didn’t want to do that and instead wanted to be a doctor. The parents were ecstatic, not to mention relieved.

Career choices aside - years later I came to realize there was an entire spectrum of Indian film. South Asian movies are much more than Bollywood masala. A hodgepodge of independent film, language based film, and of course the mainstream. What’s more, there is an immense availability of all types of Indian and South Asian film in the Los Angeles. So I am going to do a little digging, and hopefully come up with the lastest on South Asian Film in Los Angeles. It will cover everything from history to coverage of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.

So until then... here is a little something to tie you over.

In Search of THE Kati Roll

2008-03-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

I didn’t know what a kati roll was until my visit to New York last December. Apparently, I should have checked Wikipedia,because the place I visited got a nice lil shout out.

The experience was amazing. A

lovely paratha stuffed with vegetables

(for you meat- eaters it can be stuffed with chicken or lamb too) garnished with slivers of red onions and a hint of lime.The description does no justice to an actual wrap sitting in greased wax paper in front of you.

Since coming back to Los Angeles I’ve been in search of finding a place like NY’s Kati Roll Company. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck. I did find a restaurant that does a rendition of a chicken kati roll, but it is still the same as the ones in NY. Perhaps adding that L.A. is lacking in kati rolls will inspire someone to open a specialty store. Check out the new Wikipedia kati roll entry .

Inside Amar's Satchel

2008-03-11T05:56:00.000-07:00

From NOHO art galleries to beautiful building-side murals, art in Los Angeles is everywhere.

South Asian art is no exception. From the extensive collection at LACMA, to the collection of ancient statues and figures at the Norton Simon Museum, South Asian art intertwines its way into the urban art scene in Los Angeles.

I stumbled upon a hidden gem a few weeks ago. From February 23 through March 1, Gallery Arena 1, hosted FFEM/Zanbeel Art’s South Asian/American Art Festival.

The building did not look out of place. An art studio and gallery, in Santa Monica next to the Santa Monica Airport, it could be easily be mistaken for a small replica of an airplane hanger. Yet, once inside, memories of the cold exterior melted away. Upon entering the gallery, you were introduced to vibrant images that spiced up the blank white gallery walls. Artists and art enthusiasts mingled and wandered by images, stopping and staring at images that inspire or remind them of a home they left behind.

“I like to paint what I see in the community,” said Riffat Ahmed. Contemporary South Asian Art focuses on current society. The depiction may be abstract, but the inspiration comes from real life.

I had the opportunity to speak to festival managing curator, Fatima Sulatan Khan, who is also executive director for FFEM/ Zanbeel Art.

LP: Tell me a little bit about Zanbeel Art.

FK: The word Zanbeel in Arabic means satchel. There is a story about a man, Amar, who had a satchel, and it is full of stories. He would take stories out and the stories would never finish. It is an appropriate title because this is what we are doing here through our art… telling stories

As for Zanbeelart.com, hopefully it will provide a platform for emerging and already established South Asian, South Asian American, as well as American artists. For a fee, artists can set up their own virtual gallery space and there is no intermediary. We do not collect a commission and each artist can communicate directly with the buyer. Our goal is to make the artists financially independent.

LP: There are many South Asian artists. What was the selection process like for this festival?

FK: Each of the artists were interviewed and their submitted jpegs of their artwork. We focused on the vision behind artists and their artwork. The ones that we selected for the festival had their own unique style and unique idea of what the world should be like in the present and the future. We wanted to represent the diaspora. The artists we selected had a vision of a peaceful world, of family, of environmentalism and of togetherness.

LP: What lead you to those themes?

FK: The reason for those themes are I see how careless we are sometime with the environment and how easy it can be to make a positive influence on our environment just by being aware of our surroundings. The idea of environment also leads to the ideas of family and togetherness and combined it all leads to true happiness.

LP: I feel those themes speak to the root of many South Asian cultures.

FK: Exactly. Exactly, they are very much a part of South Asian cultures and it is where I am from, but it is also a part of the United States and it is also a part of United States culture. I guess I am re-emphasizing those ideas by bringing forth the artwork, which is a soft side of that part of the world.

An example is Salma Arastu’s The Bride.

LP:Is there a piece that stands out to you?

FK: They are all unique but the pieces by Amina Ahmed are interesting. They are inspired by weeds. It is the ground where we are buried and she said she was pulling weeds one day in her garden and was inspired… So then she started coming up with these fabulous pieces.

Below is a slide show of some of the images that were on display at the South Asian/American Art Festival and many are on display at Zanbeelart.com .

Rock the Vote... Redux

2008-02-24T17:23:00.000-08:00

Last week we heard some opinions regarding who South Asians are looking to support. This week I decided to stick closer to home and see if there were any South Asian campaign contributors in my neighborhood, Arcadia,CA.

According to opensecrets.org here are the top ten donors in my neighborhood.

Musa Nasir 2,800
Jae Park 2,300
Jian Xiao Wu 2,300
Jason Yong 2,200
David Sweeney 2,000
Keith Renken 2,000
Hieu Tran $1,975.00
Terence Smith $1,000.00
Shirley Sun $800.00
Prince Dennis $750

Of the top ten, each person contributed to not just one party or one organization and contributed several times. The majority gave to Republican candidates. Ron Paul was the most favored Republican candidate where the contributions spread evenly between Clinton and Obama.

Musa Nasir is a private practice physician who founded the Birzeit Society, which provides medical and educational help in Palestine. He is a contributor to Hillary Clinton’s campaign as well as Representative Adam Schiff.

On the list of supporters, I did find one South Asian contributor in good ‘ole Arcadia, TAPOSH CHATTERJEE, a self-employed anesthesiologist he gave $250 to the American Society of Anesthesiologists … and they provide non-partisan support to several candidates including their first win of the 2007-2008 election cycle... Gov. Bobby Jindal.

Rock the Vote… Yaar.

2008-02-19T18:39:00.000-08:00

You can’t turn on the television or pick up a newspaper without being inundated with election news. From superdelegates to the original content of speeches everyone has an opinion on the candidates, the issues, and the spin.

After the 2004 election, South Asians Leading Together (SAALT) compiled a study looking at voting trends within the South Asian Community in eight different states on the East Coast. The study reported that South Asians turned out to vote in record numbers. The political interest and momentum continued this year with Republican Bobby Jindal being elected Governor of Louisiana.

So… I spent an afternoon in Little India, in Artesia, CA, asking people about this year’s election. Here are some of the responses regarding voting, the candidates, and the issues.

Garba… WITH ATTITUDE!

2008-02-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

Wait, what with attitude?

Garba …. a folk dance from the western state of Gujarat in India. Ten teams from across the nation came to compete in Long Beach this weekend at the 6th annual Garba with Attitude. The teams worked hard all year long and it came down to one night. Parents and friends trekked from all over to see the hard work these students put into the routines.

Aside from the dancing the M.C.s, Rasika Mathur and Harvin Sethi, provided comedic relief in between performances and Ragapella performed a few musical numbers as well. Stanford won first place with UCI and St. Louis University winning second and third respectively. Overall, it was college students putting a funky fresh twist on some traditional moves.

Garba With Attitude

Los Angeles to India in 45 minutes

2008-02-03T17:33:00.000-08:00

For the South Asian people living in the

Los Angeles, Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia, CA is your home away from home. Deemed "Little India,"it stretches from 183rd Street to 187th Street and there is something for everyone.

There are boutiques selling one of a kind hand-made jewelry many in traditional designs. Saris draped over fair mannequins each a representation of the latest style. With large show rooms, customers can come with their entire family and shop, or better yet, haggle themselves a deal.

The other thing that you will find in abundance in Little India is food. From vegetables to savory ready-made delights, the broad range of Indian cuisine is represented. Wandering through a grocery store there are 10-pound bags of rice and wheat reaching the ceiling along with fresh vegetables, like okra and baby eggplant, which would not be found in your neighborhood grocery store. There are about a half dozen scattered along Pioneer Blvd. and it seems that once you have a favorite you become a regular. Yet, there is always room for more, as one more is being expanded and renovated to keep up with the competition.

A gamut of restaurants can easily remedy the difficulties of shopping on an empty stomach. There are plenty of sit down restaurant to choose from, but there is a certain allure to the small corner side restaurants. Evoking the images of eating from street side carts in India Surti Farsan and Jay Bharat are staples in old fashion straight from the motherland roadside Gujarati cuisine.

Once inside people sit down with their dishes

and enjoy the company of family and friends.

Snacking on pani puris, savory samosas and several other dishes while catching up on Bollywood film songs and pop songs playing on flat screen televisions and serve as the sound track to the experience.

Reflective of the diversity of cultures within the South Asian community it is not a place reserved just for South Asian Indian visitors. Instead, it is the perfect place to experience a little piece of South Asian culture … without the $1,300 plane ticket.

Breaking Through

2008-01-27T16:51:00.000-08:00

After reading “Year’s End,” Jhumpa Lahiri’s new short story in The New Yorker I started thinking about the state of mental health in the South Asian Community.
Addiction. Depression. Paranoia. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Phrases that have meaning in English but are foreign to many in the South Asian Community.

I spoke with Puja Trivedi, MSW a Psychiatric Social Worker with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health regarding mental health in the South Asian Community and what can be done to raise more awareness about the issue.

LP: What is the state of mental health in the South Asian community? Is it something that is acknowledged and defined?

PT: Well, it’s interesting, being South Asian, so many people in our community are doctors or in the healthcare field, yet mental health is not something broadly explored or really talked about.
There is just so much stigma attached to the phrase mental health that it is taboo to discuss it. Even in Hindi, one of the national languages, or even in other South Asian languages there really words that convey the emotions or distress that a person is feeling. Also there aren’t many facilities that focus on treating South Asians on mental health, because there aren’t many South Asian’s coming forth for that kind of treatment… and there is just a lack of awareness.

LP: Did you find a lot of resistance when you decided to pursue a degree in social work?

PT: I mean it would be different if I said if I was going to get a M.D. or my M.B.A, but the minute I said I was going to get a degree in social work I was asked, “Why do you want to work with people who are like that?”

LP: What are some of the most prevalent mental health concerns in the community that you’ve encountered through case studies and experience?

PT: From the few case studies I have read many of the issues deal with identity. So it is cultural identity and also personal identity. For a lot of kids that are born to immigrant parents they are raised to live in an American environment and sometimes it is a big conflict to maintain their South Asian identity as well as their “American” identity. For a lot of people depression can arise from such issues there are adjustment disorders.
There was a case study that involved a 26-year-old Muslim Bangladeshi female who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and there were a lot of cultural barriers to get through before a diagnoses could be reached.

LP: What specifically are some of the cultural barriers?

PT: Well in the case of the 26-year-old Bangladeshi woman she was always accompanied with a male family member even during her sessions so it is hard to come to a diagnosis often times.
The other barrier is that often symptoms don’t present themselves in an emotional form. So people will say oh my neck hurts, or my muscles are sore, or I have a lack of appetite and all are symptoms of depression but they will go to a regular doctor and they will diagnose it as something else or will suggest seeing a therapist, and many are reluctant to follow up on that suggestion.
No one normalizes the feelings because your not supposed to show those symptoms or signs.

LP: How can we, as a community, raise awareness about the topic of mental health?

PT: Well, I definitely think that we should do outreach at community events and start a dialogue. We should not fearful of telling someone if we do not feel right for fear of brings shame on our family or on ourselves. There are some organizations in the community, but again due to a lack of publicity and a lack of advertising they are organizations that we have never heard of.

LP: Who’s responsibility is it? I mean is it the generation of American born South Asians to change perceptions?

PT: Yes, I mean I think it is upon the younger generation to become more proactive and make the subject of mental health to be less taboo. It starts with expressing feelings and having honest conversations within the household, having a conversation with the older generation.

The South Asian Network in Artiesa, California works to do public health and domestic violence outreach. Also, if you would like more information on clinical psychiatry get in touch with Puja at Pkt206ATnyuDOTedu.

What Can Brown Do For You?

2008-01-20T15:18:00.000-08:00

Nope, I’m not talking about UPS. I’m talking about the growing South Asian community in Los Angeles. From events, cuisine, and topics of interest from the sub-continent, Saath
(the Hindi phrase for together) will look at the South Asian community in Los Angeles.

Here are a few examples of what’s out there right now.

A personal favorite, Sepia Mutiny, is a mosaic of first and second-generation voices. Written with fresh perspective, the blog covers the latest in Bollywood as well as recent articles about what's going on in South Asia. Sepia also posts direct links to news and events. Encouraging dialogue, they have friendly and active comment threads. The downside is aside from the occasional Los Angeles event they don’t carry anything specific to the LA metro area.

You can tailor Sulkeha to keep you in touch with the events and on goings that are going on in your neighborhood both here and abroad. A straightforward listing the site supplies the nitty-gritty, with little editorializing. Sulekah tends to cater to the newly immigrated community as well as the older South Asian population. Less user friendly then other sites and you do have to register to get the most out of the website.

A funny and irreverent blog, Ultrabrown, is similar to Sepia. Mostly commentaries but with easy access to news and events links it has a younger perspective than Sulekah. They also have a large network of blogs and professional organizations on their website. Yet,again, there isn’t anything specific to Los Angeles.