Lost in Transliteration: Do Not Litter Signs in Mysore

At SKAR, it appears that 'Do not Litter' signs are a great source of inspiration.

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With apologies to the Chinese signs featured elsewhere on this site, the signs are actually quite readable in Kannada. It's the act of transliterating idioms from one language to another of a different family that produces these spectacular results.

With apologies to everybody else, this is 50% of the same "trick" that propelled Salman Rushdie's language use to fame. Except in Rushdie's case, the trick provokes learned papers in learned journals.

From an article in Poetics Today


Postcolonial Literature and the Magic Radio: The Language of Rushdie's Midnight's Children
Much postcolonial literature depends on unacknowledged processes of translation working like the "radio" in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children that magically renders all Indian languages intelligible to the children of midnight. It is surprisingly difficult to determine what languages the characters in Rushdie's novel are actually speaking; though there can be found in the novel several of the strategies Meir Sternberg identifies with translational mimesis (the representation of one language within another), the material substance of English is important in much of its dialogue. Arguably, the English language itself is the magic radio by means of which meaning becomes accessible in Midnight's Children—and Rushdie's own comments reveal ultimately that he evaded the issue of the underlying languages the characters are speaking.


What and all these radios say, ya. Simp-simply giving gyan left, right and center

Man Killed by Bull in Pamplona

Another thing I don't understand. A 27 year old man dies in Pamplona last week during his 7th running of the bulls. The entire episode seems to be captured on video, but I was too gore-shy to look.

The bull, named Capuchino, is then killed by a matador at a bullring in Pamplona

I don't have the deep cultural context to understand this, but it does appear ridiculous that
a. the bulls are marketed from being from violent, goring stock
b. that somebody would voluntarily do this seven times in a row.

Just a tragedy. I wish it hadn't happened.

Save Savita Bhabhi is dead (will Savita Bhabhi follow?)

As predicted here, the Save Savia campaign is dead

"Deshmukh", the founder, has revealed his identity as a 38-year old second-generation UK Indian but to no avail.

75% of the website's traffic comes from India, so this may be the end for this particular site (though the fantasy will likely live on). The other option of course is that Bangladesh really picks up.

This just goes to illustrate the market dynamics of a SKAR cycle.

Unmet need -> Ridiculous product (toon website) -> Ridiculous response (righteous dissenters) -> Ridiculous reaction (heavy-handed response) -> Ridiculous counter-response? (still waiting...)

Dead Man Walking / Association of the Dead

Another SKAR classic. The Mritak Sangh (Association of the Dead) founded by people in India who have incorrectly been registered as dead.

Forget the "Carlos the Jackal" loophole in British documentation, this one is too bizarre to be anything but true. From a Time Magazine Article in 1999:


"I'm here. I'm alive," Lal Bihari told revenue officials after discovering he was listed as deceased in 1976. "That may be so," an unruffled clerk replied, "but according to my books you're dead." It took Lal Bihari 18 years to get his life and his land back. During that time, he added the word Mritak, or Dead, to his name and to prove that he was living sought arrest, tried to run for parliament, kidnapped the son of the uncle who had stolen his property, threatened murder, insulted judges, threw leaflets listing his complaints at legislators in the state assembly and demanded a widow's pension for his wife.


Wow. now that's what you call a Dead Man Walking.

Lal Bihari (born. 1961, dead. 1976-94, reborn 1994-date) founded the Mritak Sangh for other like him, who have been dispossessed by the Indian land registry records. The organization supposedly has over 400 members today, and has managed to declare 4 of them "alive"

His story has served as inspiration for the movies, and in 2003 Lal Bihari was the recipient of the IgNobel Peace Prize "for a triple accomplishment: First, for leading an active life even though he has been declared legally dead; second, for waging a lively posthumous campaign against bureaucratic inertia and greedy relatives; and third, for creating the Association of Dead People."

Lal Bihari overcame the handicap of being dead, and managed to obtain a passport from the Indian government so that he could travel to Harvard to accept his Prize. However, the U.S. government refused to allow him into the country. Spoilsports.

The opening scene of the movie Barah Anna is based on Lal Bihari's life.

Long Live Sri Lal Bihari!

Never the twain shall meet...or should they?

At SKAR, we pay special attention to the meeting of worlds that ordinarily never collide. Turskish TV game show and Religion? Who would have thought. This is the premise of the show:

Muslim imam, Christian priest, rabbi and Buddhist monk are put in a room with 10 atheists. These spiritual leaders, have to convince the non-believers to join their religion. The prize for converts will be seven days fully paid vacation on an island of their choice. Just kidding. The prize...the grand prize (drum roll please) will be a pilgrimage to a holy site of their chosen religion -- Mecca for Muslims, the Vatican for Christians, Jerusalem for Jews and Tibet for Buddhists.

We highly support this madness. However, one very large religious group seems to be missing. An act of omission by design because we Hindus are just too crazy for TV? Well if the Turks wanted some real entertainment they would involve us. At SKAR we think Naga Baba Bir Giri Ji would gladly participate in the show (if he can't convince he will coerce by threatening to rub his belly on you):

And of course the grand prize will be a trip to the largest gathering in humanity (the last one was attended by 60 million people!): The Kumbh Mela:

Random Acts of Epic Weirdness

What would an Indian American Idol look like? Perhaps a competition called Bizarro Baba?Our three nominees are:

Raise the Roof Baba:This dude decided to raise his right hand and keep it raised for over two decades. We applaud his single-handed dedication. Who doesn't like someone with a permanent high-five? Apparently this brings him closer to attaining nirvana. 

Rolling Baba: Mohan Das, or "rolling saint" is a sadhu promoting peace by rolling his body along the ground when he travels. He has covered over 18,750 miles across India and most recently decided to "roll" into the Pakistani border. He was stopped at the border. Border Security Force official L.R Yadav said authorities had no choice but to turn him away:

" He does not have the required travel papers. So quite naturally, we do not have orders to allow him to cross." Way to go Pakistan. Follow the strict letter of the law when a man rolls into your country. He holds a Guinness record for longest rolling at about 9,845 miles.

Silent Baba: This Baba, decided to take a vow of silence for the majority of his life. He was silent from July 10, 1925 to January 31, 1969 (44 years!) 

Who is the winner? The weirdict is out. 

The Internet is NOT for Porn

...says the Indian Government, as they ban a popular porn website in India called Savita Bhabhi




ContentSutra has the story. I quote (with emphasis added):


N. Vijayaditya, of the CCA, confirmed the development. “There were several complaints against the site. We have taken action under the relevant sections of the IT Act and blocked the site,” he said. When asked if the agency will give a chance to the owners of the site to defend themselves, he said nobody has come forward so far with such a request. He said he could not say if the agency will pursue legal action against the operators of the website.

....

Savitabhabhi is the 82nd-most-visited Indian website, attracting more visitors than Bseindia.com, the website of the Bombay Stock Exchange.

.....

The portrayal of a married Indian woman as wildly promiscuous raised the hackles of many in a largely conservative nation. One of them, Bangalore-based N. Vijayashankar, who describes himself as a “techno-legal information security consultant”, waged a sustained campaign against Savitabhabhi, complaining to the government’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) as well as the Director General of Police in Karnataka in October last year. “Cartoons are a more participative medium. Videos don’t do as much damage. When a child is watching a cartoon, he imagines himself as the character. This has a deeply corrupting influence on our youngsters. This, apart from the fact that an Indian name was being used in such an obscene cartoon, is what led me to make the complaint,” Vijayashankar said. “A child will see a Savitabhabhi among his relatives.” When asked if there was any scientific basis to his thesis that pornographic cartoons did more damage to young people than pornographic videos, he said that was his own psychological interpretation. (Vijayashankar has no training in psychology.)

......

In an email interview with contentSutra, the main brain behind the site, who goes by the handle Deshmukh, said they were exploring legal options. “We are talking to our lawyers and trying to figure out our options. The initial reaction is since the site does not pose any threat to India’s national security and is not illegal, it must be against some international treaty to block it. However, we are still working on the legal angle.”

Currently it seems safe to say:
1. SavitaBhabhi can't do much about the power of the Indian govt over Indian ISPs. In fact, it appears that they still haven't understood the reality of regulatory control in India. The government has fairly broad rights under Section 67 of the Indian IT Act 2000.

2. The Indian govt can't do much more about SavitaBhabhi registered in the US. However, what kind of due process bans a website first and provides review upon request afterwards? The cart appears to be before the horse.

3. N. Vijayashankar really doesn't quite get the Internet. Or psychology. Or adolescent children. Poor guy.

4. There will be more back-and-forth here. For instance, check out www.savesavita.com

As a freedom-of-speech issue, it will be interesting to see if anybody in India picks up the cause. Crates of comics to Mr. N. Vijayashankar, our favorite “techno-legal information security consultant”? I doubt it.

Toon porn doesn't have the same zing as a Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women



Meanwhile, Avenue Q explains:



Lyrics | - The Internet Is For Porn lyrics

ps. Section 67 of Indian IT Act quoted below. Young Deshmukh will do well not to announce his real name in India.


67. Publishing of information which is obscene in electronic form.

Whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or if its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.

Gladwell on Anderson: The Gods Must Be Crazy (to be dissing each other like this)

In India, we have 16-330 million gods whom we pray to daily, so they can explain life to us. They don't do a good job.

In the US, since things are more rational and efficient, every generation has only 4 gods, but they explain everything.

Currently they are called Gladwell, Anderson, Surowiecki and Diamond (though Diamond's luster is fading, and is being replaced by lord Taleb on his chosen vehicle - A Black Swan)

Gaze upon their holy countenances.






Don't you feel elevated?

Recently, the New Yorker published an snappy critique by Gladwell of Anderson's book Free. Observe the thunderbolts of Great God Gladwell.

Information wants to be free,” Anderson tells us, “in the same way that life wants to spread and water wants to run downhill.” But information can’t actually want anything, can it? Amazon wants the information in the Dallas paper to be free, because that way Amazon makes more money. Why are the self-interested motives of powerful companies being elevated to a philosophical principle?

Overall, a quite cogent argument. The Great God Gladwell (3G?) is revealing an avatar I would like to see more of, the thoughtful critique.

Unfortunately, I think that was possibly an Outlier

I now quake to imagine what might happen if there were to be a clash of the Gods, a type-face Titanomachia? Blogs would bleed the world over.


"GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL rain down upon a LONG TAIL of OUTLIERs. for FREE"

"The WISDOM OF CROWDS says if you BLINK you will COLLAPSE"


etc. etc. A truly horrible outcome.

I can't wait.

Romance in a governor's life

Reading Gov. Mark Sanford's emails to his Argentine affairee, I couldn't help but feel a sense of tragedy for the Governor. I quote the e-mails, from The State

Gov. Sanford
I also don’t want you walking20away (sic) from some guy (I take it the younger guy you mentioned a t dinner) because of me — and what we both have to see as an impossible situation. I better stop now least this really sound like the Thornbirds — wherein I was always upset with Richard Chamberlain for not dropping his ambitions and running into Maggie’s arms. The bottom line is two fold, my heart wants me to get on a plane tonight and to be in your loving arms — my head is saying how do we put the Genie back in the bottle because I sure don’t want to be encumbering you, or your options or your life. Put differently, given I love you, I don’t want to be part of the reason you are having less than an ideal week in what sounds like a cool spot.

Lastly I also suspect I feel a little vulnerable because this is ground I have never certainly never covered before — so if you have pearls of wisdom on how we figure all this out please let me know ... In the meantime please sleep soundly knowing that despite the best efforts of my head my heart cries out for you, your voice, your body, the touch of your lips, the touch of your finger tips and an even deeper connection to your soul. I love you ... sleep tight. M


Not sure what to make of it all.. but it does make one wonder about:

a. The False Romance of Infidelity: The most frightening movie I have seen in recent times in Unfaithful. The spiral of tragedy when someone crosses a line they should not have.... something is broken irreparably, and the world is a sadder place.

b. Infidelity is Rife. One commonly cited paper is Atwood & Schwarz (2002) which suggests that 50-60% of men and 45-55% of married women have an extra marital affair at some point in their life. In many of these cases, the driver is the need to feel emotionally connected to another person.

c. The Inevitability of It All. It seems a standard recipe. Person A establishes a position of moral superiority, Person A is caught in a damaging moral situation. US politics seems especially prone to this cycle. Clearly, expectations of behavior are not in sync with the reality of human weakness. What happens next? It's absurd that one appears doomed to repeat this cycle over and over again.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer, Gov. David Paterson, Sen. John Ensign and now this.


Let me point out that this type of expose never, never happens in India. I am under no illusions that politicians from India are cut from a cleaner cloth. It's just that either the quality of public expectations or the quality of public debate preclude this from being an item of public discussion. All you hear are dark rumours of how somebody is with young women, and now and then the ocassional mysterious reopening of a criminal case.

It's all a mystery to me.

Not all doves are created equal

Well, I do have a fondness for human absurdity illustrated via animal metaphors. So here's a lament to the unfortunate flying pigeon killed last week by an errant cricket throw.


This pigeon did not get the same honourable treatment as one of it's brethren, a sparrow killed in Lords in 1936 during an MCC-Cambridge cricket game. This one was mounted on the cricket ball that killed it!



Antony Amos , MCC’s Tours & Museum Manager commented:

“The dead sparrow is a very popular attraction in the MCC Museum. Despite its untimely death, it has certainly not gone unnoticed – being seen by over 50,000 visitors to our Museum each year.”

Clearly one can draw only one conclusion from this episode:

Better a dove gone above than a turtle gone hurtle.

Amen, again.

Not all turltes are created equal

So we have introduced you to the Turtle-Dove paradigm. Turtle's projected into space will definitely create the illusion of flight but a harsh inevitability awaits them: they will crash and burn. When a SKAR member was in Trinidad earlier this year, he met a different kind of turtle and observed the opposite phenomena. The leatherback turtle (featured above)  on first glance looks slow, lethargic, fat, indolent and stupid but is actually a king amongst Turtles. A couple of reasons why:

1. Fourth largest reptile after three crocodiles which is effectively like coming in second. Unlike their midget friends, these turtles weigh between 250 and 700 kgs!

2. They are fast. The 1992 Guiness Book of World Recrods has the leatherback turtle listed as having achieved a speed of 9.8 meters per second in water -- making them the fastest reptiles!

3. They love deep sea diving and can dive as deep as 4200 meters below sea level.

4. They are super international and can be found all the way in Alaska and Norway to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and dispersed as far as New Zealend.

5. In the Caribbean their eggs are considered to be aprhodisiacs!

The ones we saw in Trinidad had apparently swum all the way from Africa for a little Trini limin. So in short, they are big, fast, love adventure sports,  are well travelled and help Carribean people get turned on. Wow!

Just imagine the conversation that might transpire between a regular turtle and a leatherback turtle. Might be similar to the one that Vijay Malaya has with Dalip Singh Rana!

Japanese smuggling $134.5B from Italy to Switzerland

Last Week Bloomberg news reported that two Japanese men with $134Billion in US treasury bonds were caught sneaking across the border from Italy to Switzerland. The article is hilarious, I excerpt:

Think about it: These two guys were carrying the gross domestic product of New Zealand or enough for three Beijing Olympics. If economies were for sale, the men could buy Slovakia and Croatia and have plenty left over for Mongolia or Cambodia. Yes, they could have built vacation homes amidst Genghis Khan’s Gobi Desert or the famed Temples of Angkor. Bernard Madoff who?

These men carrying bonds concealed in the bottom of their luggage also would be the fourth-largest U.S. creditors. It makes you wonder if some of the time Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner spends keeping the Chinese and Japanese invested in dollars should be devoted to well-financed men crossing the Italian-Swiss border.

This tale has gotten little attention in markets, perhaps because of the absurdity of our times. The last year has been a decidedly disorienting one for capitalists who once knew up from down, red from black and risk from reward. It almost fits with the surreal nature of today that a couple of travelers have more U.S. debt than Brazil in a suitcase and, well, that’s life.

That's life indeed. How about I walk away with a few countries tucked into my coat pocket??

ps - thankfully, the bonds were fake. Apparently nearly all of US Treasury bonds are electronic now. Which is good for world monetary security but bad for, amongst others, SKAR, the Italian government and the two Japanese smugglers. William Pesek explains:
The bust could be a boon for Italy. If the securities are found to be genuine, the smugglers could be fined 40 percent of the total value for attempting to take them out of the country. Not a bad payday for a government grappling with a widening budget deficit and rebuilding the town of L’Aquila, which was destroyed by an earthquake in April.

pps- the blogosphere is reverberating with North Korean conspiracy theories

Please push an interphone to turn into Maiko

At SKAR, we love Japan. Japan might be a close second to India in terms of its inherent SKAR-iness. When SKAR member was innocently walking thorough Osaka, he caught a glimpse of a door and a sign that beckoned. The sign read: 

Please push an interphone to turn into Maiko!

If you pressed the button would you turn into a national park from the democratic republic of Congo? A member of the Canadian pop group Sugar Jones? Or perhaps a plain vanilla Geisha in training? 

While all three seemed like perfectly reasonable options (as far as turning into things go)

this was a button we did not want to push because...across the street from the sign, we were greeted by the stark and melodramatic image of a transvestite with bunny rabbit ears weeping while the world whizzed by silently. Hard not to see a causal connection between the button and the bunny ears!

The Tongue-Fold Path

Engulfed in the maelstrom and the throngs of people in Shibuya, Tokya, a SKAR member got a glimpse of these three characters. Who are they?Renegade Monks? Japanese take on the Three Stooges? Nothing like some good old fashioned come-hither tongue action from a female monk ; especially when her two male counterparts, baldie and fatty are looking away.

The Original Gold Digger

If Kanye West was chillin in China around 1893, he would have met the original gold digger -- Empress Dowager Cixi (check out her nails designed for gold digging) who married the emperor, embezzled state funds set aside for expanding the navy, teamed up with a bunch of conniving eunuchs and used the money to build....a marble ship!

Get down girl, go 'head get down
Get down Dowager, go 'head get down
Get down Cixi, go 'head get down