They should be, because it is delicious. Perhaps we will find out next year. Recently India launched a Indian space mission to the Red Planet. Hailed as a crowning achievement in the sciences for India, it is not without controversy. India sent a satellite to probe Mars by the fall of 2014. Only four space… Continue reading Are Martians Partial to Lamb Vindaloo?
Farewell to the ‘god of Cricket’
The greatest cricket player in decades, Sachin Tendulkar, announced his retirement in India this week. He is 40 years old and not only the face of Indian cricket, but the entire sport. His batting records will probably never be broken. I know, most of you have probably never heard of him. But, nearly a quarter… Continue reading Farewell to the ‘god of Cricket’
Why is science fiction unpopular in India?
The Atlantic recently published this piece, entitled, “Why the West Loves Sci-Fi and Fantasy: A Cultural Explanation.” The story examines why science fiction movies are huge moneymakers in the West, but not in India particularly. The author briefly touches on Japan and China’s embrace of fantasy. However, she seems confused about why India is seemingly… Continue reading Why is science fiction unpopular in India?
Quick Response to Reuter’s Adoption Piece
I am working on a longer post about “The Child Exchange”, Reuters exposé about the underground internet market in adopted children called ‘private re-homing’, and will publish something soon. However, I wanted to get the Adoption Policy and Reform Collaborative’s statement below into the blogosphere immediately. Adoption Policy and Reform Collaborative (APRC) Response to the… Continue reading Quick Response to Reuter’s Adoption Piece
Are you familiar with manual scavenging?
1.3 million Indians clean shit off the street…with their hands. Of that total, 97% are women. They know no other life. To visualize that number, picture a city like Dallas, Texas, Montreal, Canada or Prague, Czechoslovakia. Now imagine if every single person in those cities, cleaned toilets by hand. That would equal the approximate number… Continue reading Are you familiar with manual scavenging?
An awesome adoption conference is happening this November. Will you be there?
A group that I belong to, The Adoption Policy and Reform Collaborative (APRC) and the Minnesota Transracial Film Festival along with others, are organizing a two-day conference called “Reframing the Adoption Discourse,” in St. Paul, Minnesota this November. This is the APRC’s first conference and the line-up of presenters is impressive. There is also an… Continue reading An awesome adoption conference is happening this November. Will you be there?
Happy 67th birthday India!
I realize it has been quite a while between posts. My continuing job search and a part-time internship at a conflict transformation NGO have sapped my writing energy. I also just celebrated my one-year wedding anniversary with Sasmita. However, on my homeland’s 67th birthday I wanted to share a sober editorial summing up many of… Continue reading Happy 67th birthday India!
Happy 4th Birthday to WorldCitizensBlog!
Dear Readers, Sunday marked four years of putting my thoughts on the web as a blogger. It continues to be an incredible journey for me. On Father’s Day in 2009, I began this blog. I am amazed by where it has gone since.
Pharmaceutical Gone Wild; Ranbaxy Exposed
You have probably never heard of Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals. But I bet you are familiar with the drug Lipitor. Ranbaxy makes Lipitor, and is the world’s sixth largest producer of generic drugs. They serve customers in 150 countries and have manufacturing plants around the world.
Ranbaxy was recently fined $500 million dollars, and charged with seven counts of the following:
- Selling adulterated drugs with intent to defraud
- Failure to report its drug did not meet specifications
- Making intentionally false statements to the government
The Department of Justice wrapped up a nearly 10 year case about their illegal, fraudulent and corrupt business practices.
My ‘fairy-tale’ narrative in voice: A podcast interview.
My ‘fairy tale’ story, through a podcast, in three 10 minute segments from the Land of Gazillion Adoptees blog.
A “game changer for poor people”…?
In January, the Indian government began the ‘Direct Benefit Transfer’ program paying its citizens cash into their bank accounts for scholarships, old age pensions, and rural employment guarantees (100 days of employment doing unskilled manual labor for minimum wage) among others. The Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram called it a “game changer for poor people.”
Marrying an Immigrant – Part 1
As some of you know, I married the love of my life Sasmita in August of 2012. After a courtship conducted primarily over Skype for over a year….But this post is not about her background, but rather what it’s like to be married to someone who had never left India and came to the US for the first time in mid-July 2012.
Faith, Religion and International Security – My Roundtable Experience
A few weeks ago I attended this discussion ‘Faith, Religion and International Security.’The overriding question was “How can faith inform both US and global foreign affairs?”
“Joseph, No Last Name”
His birth certificate read ‘Joseph, no last name given’. An American couple adopted him; 32 years later, AJ Bryant returns to District Three Hospital in Kottayam where the mother he’s never met gave him birth…
Dear Readers,
Below is a re-post from Land of Gazillion Adoptees as promised.
I’m also in the midst of re-designing this blog.
One of the more surprising revelations after living in India in 2011, was learning that the Dalits, formerly the “untouchables,” are no fans of Mahatma Gandhi. Coming from the United States and Western society in general, the Mahatma is held up as a paragon of non-violence and civil disobedience. I would guess that most in the US consider his life and his work as one of the most selfless, incredibly beautiful and inspiring of the modern world. The belief is less in India.