Sep12

Onashamsakal

Here’s wishing all our Keralite friends a very happy Onam! May this, the harvest festival, herald a harvest of fortune and felicity in your lives.
Desi friends and relatives who have lived abroad for many years tell me that Indian festivals used to be rather difficult to celebrate outside India. Barring a few major north Indian […]

Sep9

A smokin’ good idea

One of the most popular desi tracks on the UK charts features none of the scantily-clad dancers, exotic locales or quaint videos that have become de rigueur in music these days. Instead, this unlikely hit features two firemen, some ‘uncles’ and ‘aunties’, an important social message and a wicked hip-hop-meets-bhangra sound. This is […]

Sep7

Is that a phone in your pocket…?

The next time someone feeds you a tired line about India or Indians being “conservative” or “backward”, here’s a rejoinder to leave them tongue-tied. One of the most popular Indian ringtones worldwide is the “condom a capella” (see report)! An imaginative composition produced by the BBC World Service Trust, this ringtone features the […]