MetaFilter posts tagged with india

The Economist: The World in 2010

goodnewsfortheinsane — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:09:43 -0800

In 2010, Obama will have a miserable year, NATO may lose in Afghanistan, the UK gets a regime change, China needs to chill, India's factories will overtake its farms, Europe risks becoming an irrelevant museum, the stimulus will need an exit strategy, the G20 will see a challenge from the "G2", African football will unite Korea, conflict over natural resources will grow, Sarkozy will be unloved and unrivalled, the kids will come together to solve the world's problems (because their elders are unable), technology will grow ever more ubiquitous, we'll all charge our phones via USB, MBAs will be uncool, the Space Shuttle will be put to rest, and Somalia will be the worst country in the world. And so the Tens begin.

The Economist: The World in 2010. Previously: 2009, 2008, 2007. How did we do last time around? Guest contributions: President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso lines up Europe's priorities President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev argues for dialogue and cooperation President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed wants his island nation to remain above water President of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would like for Islam and the West to live in harmony President of South Africa Jacob Zuma says Africa should rise to the occasion Director-General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan predicts the development of the flu pandemic Managing director of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn explains how to prevent another crisis CEO of Yahoo! Carol Bartz believes business leaders should tap into the information flood Chairman of HSBC Stephen Green argues that the financial sector should welcome emerging economies CEO of Fiat Group and Chrysler Group Sergio Marchionne thinks greener cars require bolder action CEO/CTO of SpaceX Elon Musk says the private sector should handle space travel

Are nuclear weapons safe in Pakistan?

homunculus — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:44:09 -0800

Defending the Arsenal: In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe?

Not a Halloween Post.

gman — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:46:13 -0800

The Maskatorium: hundreds of masks collected from around the world over the past 20 years.

The Charlie Doctor

MCMikeNamara — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:41:27 -0800

An Indian Doctor's Cure-All: Charlie Chaplin "Aswani's pushing sixty. He's not in great physical shape, thanks to a bad motorcycle accident years ago and also arthritis but he can do the funny walk beautifully." In a story about movies that seems like it would make a good movie itself* (or at least a moving story on This (Non-)American Life), Ashok Aswani, a practitioner of ayurvedic medicine in Adipur, India has taken the phrase "laughter is the best medicine" to its logical conclusion and hands out free DVDs of Chaplin movies to cheer up his patients Known as "The Charlie Doctor", he's carries a fake moustache in his wallet so he's always prepared to do his imitation of Charlie Chaplin and to cheer himself up. He prays to a large Charlie Chaplin cutout before each meeting of the club he's started locally the Charlie Circle. * - In fact, filmmaker Kathryn Millard did turn this story into a movie in her documentary The Book Cake. For full effect, I recommend listening to the story rather than just reading the NPR text.

Premanand will not recant

vanar sena — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 05:25:41 -0800

Basava Premanand, rationalist and founder of The Indian Skeptic, is dying. Premanand has been dispelling miracles and exposing charlatans for over fifty years, often facing persecution from the entrenched political and popular power of godmen in India. Now, his 79 year old body is shutting down. To counter already spreading rumours that he has recanted and accepted spirituality, he has issued a statement that despite being on his deathbed, he has no intention of finding God.

It is the season to be jolly!!!

hadjiboy — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:08:12 -0800

Navratri = Nine Nights of Garba and Dandiya on the eve of Dussehra and Diwali.

Hindu festivals

homunculus — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:22:38 -0800

The Big Picture: Recent Hindu festivals and rituals. "Many Hindus throughout India recently celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi, a 10-day festival celebrating the birth of Ganesh, their supreme god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. Hinduism, the predominant religion in India, is rich with traditional festivals and rituals, celebrated in many ways and locations around the world. Collected here are a few photographs from recent Hindu festivals and of Hindu devotees worshipping and practicing ritual ceremonies in India, England, Nepal and Indonesia."

World appears slightly less bad due to supply and demand

shothotbot — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:56:32 -0800

The government of Delhi is claiming success in reducing female infanticide by a recent scheme to pay the school fees of poor girls. (if you go through to read the article you might want to be reminded that a lakh is 100,000)

Bollywood Gastronomy

tellurian — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:38:57 -0800

Kuchh Kook Hota Hai is an all singing, dancing (and possibly epileptic fit inducing) Indian cookery show (without much cooking), featuring two sassy assistants 'salt' and 'pepper'. To whet your appetite – Mutton Burger and Carrot Roll.

At the Roof of the World...

hadjiboy — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:20:10 -0800

The beautiful artwork of the Tibetan people.

Dear Mandir

notashroom — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:16:09 -0800

When you think of Hinduism, you probably don't think of suburban Lilburn, Georgia, yet it is home to BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, at over 30,000 square feet the largest Hindu temple in the world outside of India. The beautiful temple was assembled from 34,000 pieces of Turkish limestone, Indian pink sandstone, and Italian Carrara marble hand-carved by some 1500 craftsmen in India, then shipped to Georgia, where about 900 volunteers put in over a million man-hours to bring the architects' vision to fruition (YT), at a cost of about US$19m. There is no steel in the mandir's structure (YT) at all, which was built in the Nagara style common in 8th to 10th century India. The mandir is stunning at night, thanks to the multicolored LED lighting used to highlight architectural details, add color to festival celebrations, and comply with religious rules that the lighting be hidden from view. Related

Living Root Bridges

homunculus — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:06:51 -0800

The Living Root Bridges of Cherrapunji, India. [Via]

Sacred Groves

homunculus — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:42:14 -0800

UC Scientists Determine That Ancient Maya Practiced Forest Conservation — 3,000 Years Ago. "As published in the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, paleoethnobotanist David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati has concluded that not only did the Maya people practice forest management, but when they abandoned their forest conservation practices it was to the detriment of the entire Maya culture." [Via] Meanwhile, in present-day India, conservationists are trying to preserve sacred groves: New Notion of the Sacred

Unlike much of the Western world, the Indian subcontinent has managed to retain many thousands of groves, forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains that are afforded special protection for religious or spiritual reasons. Despite the enormous cultural disruption caused by British rule and the wave of industrialization that followed independence, sacred places in India have survived as a living tradition into the modern age. As the nation starts to feel the environmental strain of its economic boom, with a rapidly expanding population growing ever more hungry for land and resources, ecologists have begun to recognize sound scientific reasons for preserving human-free zones. Ancient as the tradition is, and as imbued with folklore and myth, declaring certain places sacred dovetails with some very modern concepts. Conservation groups are currently urging the Indian government—whose policies have led at times to the erosion of many sacred-grove systems—to acknowledge and understand the ways in which the country’s past may be key to its future.

Namaste Spiderman!

nickyskye — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:54:01 -0800

Jyothi Raj [it gets cool at :50], a real life Spiderman.

Boy meets guru, boy loses guru

Kickstart70 — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:58:38 -0800

An American Sadhu - A seeking of holiness, resulting in disillusionment and abandonment. A very good read about one man's experience meeting a guru and his disciple, and ultimately coming full circle to "you get the guru you deserve".

‘Everyone has a jet’ : Scenes from the new New Delhi

sk381 — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:33:04 -0800

"‘You have to have at least, like, a BMW or a Mercedes to join. They meet at midnight and they race their cars. The Prime Minister’s office is always calling us to complain.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because the Prime Minister can’t sleep. These engines make so much noise they keep him awake...." (via Ultrabrown)

Playing with fire

infini — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:39:03 -0800

"Its the story of our own village" ~ A journey in Indian street theatre (PDF of article) share's author Joel Lee's experiences wandering around India with three street theatre troupes. Also called the "theater of social change" this grassroots artform has become a powerful means of communication across the barriers of language, literacy and culture in both rural and urban India. This would be incomplete without a mention of street theatre's patron saint, Safdar Hashmi, whose birthday has become national Street Theatre Day in India, but he, and the use of this medium in politics, deserve their own FPP.

Ourgothlaundry?

The Whelk — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 07:38:06 -0800

The Art & Life of Annie Truxell [via mefi projects]: Annie Truxell is a well known painter who has lived a long and fascinating life. Her adventures have been legendary, encompassing Greenwich Village in the 50s, London in the 60s and India in the 70s. She was friends with Franz Klein, Bill de Kooning, Truman Capote, Terry Southern, Mati Klarwein & many other wild & woolly people.

Indian High Court Says Ban on Gay Sex Unconstitutional

Azaadistani — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:40:10 -0800

New Delhi legalizes homosexuality. In a landmark ruling, the Delhi High Court has for the first time in India declared the British-era law against homosexual sex unconstitutional. Is this India's Stonewall?

Nice weather for protests.

shii — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:59:51 -0800

June has been a good month for political upheaval and mass protest. Peru (update), China, and Iran were discussed here previously. But how many of the following were you aware of: Canada, Thailand, Honduras, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Pakistan, and India? The latter four reflect a quite serious electricity shortage throughout the Indian subcontinent, during a record-breaking heat wave that has caused over 100 deaths. But don't worry, not everyone is dealing with life-threatening problems. In Israel 30,000 turned out to protest a parking lot. Meanwhile, Indymedia continues to cover all the bourgeois first-world protests you've never really wanted to know about.

Van Shipley and slide guitar music in India

nickyskye — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:37:43 -0800

Van Shipley was the first electric guitarist in India. The name Van Shipley is Methodist, he [was] from Lucknow [Uttar Pradesh, India]. He designed his own electric eight string steel guitar in the 1940's. The reason he did this was that he'd studied Indian classical music under Ustad Alaudin Khan, the leading classical musician in India, who was also a contemporary of Ravi Shankar. He also studied the violin with a German teacher... so he made an eight string guitar, instead of a five string. His guitar was a solid guitar, designed to his style at the time, it was futuristic. Van Shipley "Aawara Hun" & "Mujhe Kisi Se Pyar Ho Gaya" -.mp3 Van Shipley - Hum Donon Do Premi Duniya chor Chale -.mp3 More clips of Van Shipley's music from the excellent site, Hamara CD, packed with free gem sound clips from the Indian subcontinent, where you can also customize your own cd. Steel Guitar In India, Country Music From Another Country! l Debashish Bhattacharya is another Indian slide guitar musician who plays classical Indian music on the Hawaiian guitar, introduced to India through the music of Tau Moe l Indian Classical music on Hawaiian guitar l Another example of Indian classical music on Hawaiian guitar l Interview and concert footage of legendary world blues and slide guitar master Bob Brozman.

Choog, Choog, Choog, Choog... Tweeeeeet!

hadjiboy — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:00:05 -0800

Come, take a Train Ride through India. You could take the Palace on Wheels, and opt for a Luxurious Travel. Or, you can take one of the Super-Fast Trains here, according to Indian standards that is. And hey, while you're at it, how about taking a train ride to one of our Hill Stations? Some of the Trains have even made it to the Best Train Rail Adventures list in the World... And Ashok Kumar's song (watch it till the end) Rail Gaadi, which means Train in English, is not to be missed... even if you don't understand Hindi--learn it (please)!

India and South Asian resources

nickyskye — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:22:27 -0800

Dr. Frances W. Pritchett, Professor of Modern Indic Languages at Columbia University, New York, has created a superb online collection of resources, all about India and South Asia, its art, history, literature, architecture and culture. Her Indian Routes section (the Index page) is a particularly rich resource. Her vast, colorful and informative site also has many great images. Check out her "scrapbook pages" on the Princes l the Ghaznavids l British Rule l Women's Spaces l Perspectives on Hinduism. Photos of Professor Pritchett and her encyclopedic page of links about India/South Asia, Morningside Mix.

Wait For Me (3 Minute Documentary)

stbalbach — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:33:24 -0800

Wait For Me (3 Minute Documentary)

Carvaka

homunculus — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:18:17 -0800

Atheistic Materialism in Ancient India. Interesting piece on the ancient Indian philosophical school of Carvaka.