January 28, 2002

1:37 PM

Indian & Pakistani ex-pats dissect world affairs,write fiction, and discuss anything and everything under the sun. I'm a typically ignorant American, so it's illuminating to read the opinions of others much more familiar with central Asia and the Indian subcontinent than I am. Site features a high level of discourse and exemplary manners.
posted by BitterOldPunk (6 comments total)

Just had to pop in and say thanks. Interesting stuff here.

Jen
posted by NsJen at 5:18 PM on January 28, 2002

<pedantry>
What is an ex-pat? Someone who changes his or indeed her name from Pat to another name?

Expatriate. Expat. No hyphens.
</pedantry>
posted by joeclark at 8:11 PM on January 28, 2002

Nice. And it only took four previews for that to blow up.

<pedantry>
What is an ex-pat? Someone who changes his or indeed her name from Pat to another name?

Expatriate. Expat. No hyphens.
</pedantry>
posted by joeclark at 8:13 PM on January 28, 2002

It really wasn't clever enough to be worth repeating.
posted by rodii at 8:34 PM on January 28, 2002

Wow, BitterOldPunk, Chowk is really a find! Literate people interested in "discussions skewed towards politics, socio-economics, history and theology." So they do exist online, after all. This is the sort of thing I've been looking for on the net, without much success. I wonder why MeFi posts about something bizarre, sexual, or easy to rant about attract so much attention, while this gem appears to go unnoticed.

Has anyone found something stateside, er, of American origins, that's the equivalent of Chowk? Please, somebody, disprove my thesis that we gringos are just too uncivilized these days to hold online gatherings with that level of discourse!
posted by sheauga at 9:58 AM on January 29, 2002

Thanks, sheauga (lemme guess -- a Georgia Bulldogs fan) and NsJen. That was my reaction when I found the site. It's not flashy, sexy, racy, or particularly funny, but I always come away from reading it with a new perspective or at least feeling slightly better informed. Glad I could send some traffic Chowk's way.

(My Punjabi buddy sez "chowk" means "crossroads", BTW.)
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:01 AM on January 29, 2002