With the Winter Olympics now in full force, it got me thinking about India’s involvement in the sports. I got excited, dreaming of a Cool Runnings’esque situation with amazing athletes running on ice or skiing down the slopes.

Sadly, only three men out of India’s one billion plus population made it to the winter Olympics in Vancouver this year. I have to say that I was very disappointed, given all the hype over athleticism in India, particularly over the unbeatable skill of the cricket players. After a little more digging, I discovered that it wasn’t the skill (or even the snow) that athletes in India were lacking, but rather the money. Athletes in India do not receive money from the government and rarely see endorsements from companies in India’s booming industry unless they work for these companies themselves. Even in the case that they are working, they consequently have little time to train. Furthermore, they probably won’t be seeing money from Stephen Colbert anytime soon.

However unfortunate the situation may be, Indian athletes have hope—in the railroad industry. In the article “In India, Many Top Athletes Work on the Railroad” by Elliot Hannon of the New York Times, the Indian Railways is providing Indian athletes a secure income that supports their athletic endeavors and a flexible work schedule that allows athletes to train (no pun intended, Click Here). The Indian Railways even sets aside jobs specifically for top athletes to give them opportunities to represent their country. They give them this support in exchange for their hard work in their respective sports. And in the off chance that one of these athletes decides to slack off on the field, they bear the consequence of having to work full time, a slight impediment to their training schedule. When the railway athletes bring home a medal, as a few do in the summer Olympics, they come home to bonuses and promotions rather than endorsement deals and advertisement opportunities.

Even though the railway is a great chance for athletes to achieve their dreams of becoming an Olympian, I still see the Olympics as a missed opportunity for India. Seeing as the Olympics are a great source of pride for the United States and countries all over the world, why aren’t the Olympics as highly valued in India? The country offers a wealth of amazing athletes in astounding numbers, but how is it that there is so little support for them in a time when India is becoming such an industry giant that’s so heavily focused on improving its economical image?

- Danielle Steussy

“I say this to everyone: Our fantasies are about earning a good living,” he says. “Having maybe a car — not two. Getting an education for your kids. Our fantasies are not about getting to be president of the country, to sit in a rocket and go and break a meteor. Our fantasies are very real.”

Shah Rukh Khan, one of Bollywood’s biggest film stars speaks of the difference between American and India films in an interview with NPR just prior to the release of his new film, “My Name is Khan.” Now, I must admit, my first experience with Bollywood was on an Air India flight from Chicago to Frankfurt nearly six years ago and I vaguely remember it being much more than a love story with lots of singing and dancing. Oh yeah, and there was this other time that I find myself on a tour bus with an Indian film crew in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, but that is whole other story I won’t get into. Since then I have watched only bits and pieces of Bollywood films, outside of American releases such as, Slumdog Millionaire, Monsoon Wedding, and The Namesake. However, Khan’s comment made me reanalyze my experience with Indian films to discover that he makes a very good point…a little singing and dancing is nothing outlandish compared to aliens taking over earth and a super hero spitting spider webs from his fingers.

Khan describes Indian films as being very real, scripted after real India fantasies like getting an education, owning a car, and earning a living. Not all American films are super fantasies, in fact there are thousands of American films telling tales of love, family hardship, and personal success stories, but when was the last time you heard of an Indian film about heroes in outer space stopping a giant meteor from hitting the earth?

Are our fantasies much different or has our film industry just tainted the minds of our viewers with extreme entertainment? How do you think our dreams in America differ from those in India? Of course, we are not battling equivalent poverty levels as in India, but there are thousands of Americans scrapping for pennies and living in substandard conditions. As children and students, don’t we dream of making a good living and being successful? What do you think is the driving force behind many of the extraordinary American films?

Though some argue the Khan is performing outside of his typical role in his upcoming film, he affirms that he is once again acting out an India fantasy that few Indians get to realize…he is going to America.

To see the movie trailer for “My Name is Khan”, click here.

Check out the full article on NPR here.

- Emily Schaapveld

I love “Thursday Nights” on NBC. Every week my wife and I meet up with some of our married friends and watch our favorite shows: Community, The Office, and 30 Rock. Every now and then, we watch “Parks and Recreation,” but it is not one of our favorites. Yesterday, it occurred to me that all four of these shows feature something that few other television comedies do, but something that seems to be part of a growing trend; they all have Indian characters in their casts.

For instance:

·On “Community,” Danny Pudi plays Abed Nadir, a pop-culture junkie who aspires to become a director and is currently taking film directing classes at Greendale Community College. The character of Abed is Palestinian descent, but the actor Danny Pudi is of Indian descent.

·On “Parks and Recreation”, Aziz Ansari plays Tom Haverford (born Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani), a sarcastic, underachieving government official for the city of Pawnee.

·On “The Office,” Mindy Kaling plays Kelly Rajnigandha Kapoor, the office chatterbox who likes celebrity gossip, and one-sided conversation about trivial teenage matters.

·On “30 Rock,” Maulik Pancholy plays Jonathan, Jack’s loyal and overprotective personal assistant, who at times appears to be in love with Jack.

What I think people find most refreshing about these characters is how they defy stereotypes, which is always healthy. They don’t assume the more typical roles of doctors, engineers, lawyers, IT workers, or worse yet, convenient store owners like Apu from “The Simpsons.”

Perhaps these casting choices are evidence that Indian culture is making massive headway into U.S. pop culture. After all, Indian clothing, food, music, and religion have been growing in mainstream acceptance and maybe Americans now know just enough about Indian culture to laugh at its portrayal on TV. Or perhaps it is the American ignorance concerning Indians and Indian culture that makes it such a funny element to include in television comedy.

One of the main themes in the humor associated with each of these characters is how ignorant, insensitive, and out of touch their white American counterparts are to their ethnic background. For example, who can forget when Kelly won the “Spicy Curry” Dundie Award on “The Office” or when Michael started talking in a horrible Indian accent and tried to offer her some of his “googy googy” on “diversity day?” Another theme is how out of touch the Americanized Indian characters often are with their own ethnic background or the struggles they have separating themselves from stereotypes.

Two new television shows are taking this Indian infiltration even further. “Never mind Nirvana” on Fox is said to be like “Everybody Loves Raymond “only with all Indian characters, and “Outsourced” on NBC is about a customer service manager training call-center employees in India. I haven’t seen either of these shows yet, but am curious to see what they are like and how popular they become.

So what do you think? Is it coincidence, political correctness, globalization, or are American audiences simply opening up? Has anybody seen “Nevermind Nirvana” or “Outsourced,” and what is your take on these shows?

-Phil Hamer

I thought I would follow Dr. Carr’s attention-grabbing title with one of my own, except this one actually has to do with the topic of my post…….well, sort of. Last week, Boa Sr. of the Great Andamanese Tribe died at the age of 85, which marked the end of a tribe that survived for thousands of years on a remote island off of India (Click Here). Boa was the last speaker of an ancient tribal dialect called “Bo”, and to me, her death was a blessing in disguise to find a topic to write about. Boa spent her life on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are actually closer to Thailand than India, but they are territories of India. The islands intrigued me. So I tried to research them and all I found was grainy tourism videos, and vague descriptions of tourist destinations. It made me wonder why isn’t India capitalizing on this territory the way U.S is capitalizing on Hawai’i?

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are tropical islands with pristine beaches, and perfect weather for amazing fishing, and epic surfing opportunities. They are also home to some of the oldest tribes in the world, which leaves some of the islands and land off limits to visitors to preserve their culture. The land that is open to tourism is for the most part, rustic and undeveloped. I did find one resort that would be considered a five star resort, but the rest were small cabanas on the beaches that put the word resort on them to make them seem more appealing.

This makes me wonder why India is not pumping money into the Andaman Islands to develop parts of the island and make them more tourist friendly. Paving roads, distributing power, increasing electrical production, and providing drinking water could go a long way in making the islands a romantic getaway for the large middle and upper class Indian citizens or foreign tourists that have some time to vacation. When the US took over Hawai’i, the islands had few paved roads and little electrical distribution. Now, a person can rent a car and travel around an island in a few hours. This occurred because the US military needed a rapid transit system between bases in Hawai’i, and it made the islands more accessible, which acted as a catalyst to increase tourism.

Granted the Indian government has no need and no desire to make the Andaman and Nicobar Islands a military outpost, it could benefit from another tourist destination. The tourism from the islands could generate jobs and increase revenue from the islands. Its location could interest tourists in both India and Southeast Asia, due to its remote spot in the Indian Ocean. The islands could act as an alternative getaway that wealthy Indians and foreign tourists could use to relax and let loose.

Imagine the possibilities! Rather than the end of “Slumdog Millionaire” in which Jamal Malik wins a million dollars and gets the girl, think of this. Jamal wins a million dollars, gets the girl, and then goes to the Andaman Islands! Well, that doesn’t have as good of a ring to it as I thought, but I am sure it will, if there is advertising and further development to make it a destination. For a country that is emerging as a power in the world, do you think this a possibility or is the idea just a little too American for India?

-Fred Peemoeller