Letters to Editor – March 2006

As a supplement to “Chandani Chowk” news item, “Souza Sells for $1.5 Million on the Internet” (January 2006), I would like to bring to the attention of your readers a recent auction at Christie’s in New York, which fetched $1.58 million for the painting by another Indian artist Tyeb Mehta. This is a record breaking price for the work of any living Indian artist. The painting is entitled “Mahisasura,” which is Mehta’s 1997 depiction of the buffalo-demon from Hindu mythology.

Like all true artists, the 80-year old Mehta gained no financial reward from the record breaking sale. Apparently the painting had changed several hands since Mehta painted it and the sale was in the secondary market. While his paintings command the highest prices for any living Indian artist, currently Mehta lives in a small fourth-floor walk-up flat in a crowded Mumbai suburb. His health is frail, but his spirits high and he has a great sense of humor. Apparently he is fond of pointing out that even the great Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh died hungry.

G. Subba Rao
Streamwood, Ill

I love your magazine. I’m a high school student, born in America, and find it really interesting to read an Indian magazine.

Niti Patel
Via Email

I read about Julie Sahni in the article “The Immigrant Table” by Lavina Melwani. The article mentions her website and her cooking classes, but does not provide details of either. You should provide contact information of this nature.

Mona Saeed
Via Email

I just read the article “The Chug that Tugs” on the Indian film industry and Indian railways. I have never ever read such an erudite and well researched piece on the Bollywood film industry.

Mihir, Via Email

Thank you for the article “The Colors of Desi.” I am American and my husband is from Tamil Nadu. I feel as if there was finally something written that speaks directly to me. I am interested in joining the internet group Amy Regati speaks about in this article for Americans married to Indians. How can I find out more?

Christy Alagarsamy
Via Email

The article “The Colors of Desi” offer a very positive spin on a very pathetic situation. Children and future generations will grow up confused and without proper roots and cultural and religious anchor in life.

A.H. Venkitesh
Via Email

What a wonderful look at the life of multicultural kids and their parents (“The Colors of Desi,” Jan 06). I’ve been married to my husband Baldev for nearly 20 years (I’m Italian-American) and we have two daughters. One thing my children always noticed was that there was no one like them in books, movies, on TV. Let’s hope we see more of our mixed race children depicted as heroes in the media in the future!
Via Email

I have been reading your magazine for a long time. Your magazine is full of news, family life in the U.S. as well as in India, Hollywood and Bollywood, sports and success stories of Indians in the U.S. Kindly accept my sincere congratulations on your success.

Bipin Engineer
Administrative Law Judge
New York, NY

I totally concur that Lisa Fotedar Miller, part Norwegian and part Indian, is a stunner (Chandani Chowk, “Daddy’s Daughter,” Feb 2006). I also enjoyed the articles “The Immigrant Thali” and “The Hidden India in America” by Lavina Melwani. As a Chicano, I’m catching up to India’s rich culture. Your magazine is a window to the fascinating and wonderfully enriching world that is India.

Michael A. Garcia
Houston, TX

I came to this country with my kids 10 years ago. They were 14 and 16 years old at the time. They blended well with the Indian crowd and went to temples and watched Zee TV, which brought a lot of thrill to us. As parents, we want to give out kids the best education and hope that they can retain their Indian roots.
I am proud to say that for the future of my kids, I changed myself, instead of expecting changes from them. I began watching English movies, cooking pasta and salad, while at the same time cooking my dal roti and watching Indian Idol. Today they have the best of both worlds. I am proud that I did not give up my Indian upbringing in adapting to the new environment. At the same time, I can say that I am no longer a desi but a pardesi.

Gauri Chander
Edison, NJ

The article “The Hidden India in America” by Lavina Melwani (Feb 2006) is excellent. It gives us a panoramic picture of the hidden world of antiques, artifacts and paintings of India. Without even visiting India, you can see the religious idols, art and cultural masterpieces in America.

Girish Chitalia
San Jose, CA

I want to commend you on your magazine. I love it and am glad to have, even if belatedly, become acquainted with it this past year.
Your articles are great. The column, “If You’s Brown, Get Down, Get Down,” and a recent article on the snake handler families were fascinating. I also loved the feature article on the demographics of the bi-racial South Asian population in the United States.
I want to call your attention, however, to what I perceived was an omission in your article “Have Film, Want Money” (Jan 2006) on funding for South Asian filmmakers and the venues available to them – that of a vital film organization, San Francisco’s 3rdI (Third Eye), which exclusively features and promotes South Asian filmmakers, like those mentioned in your article. 3rdI serves the San Fransisco Bay Area, which has one of the largest South Asian populations in the country. During the course of its three day festival it has an audience of over 5,000. Over a year that number swells to over 10,000 with its monthly screenings. 3rdI has established national branches in Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., etc.
Since I think films are one of the most creative ways to address the question of what makes a cultural identity, your article was
of particular interest to me.

Sue Jean Halvorsen
San Fransisco, CA

The editorial “Terrorists of the Soul” (Dec 2005) touched my heart. I have always felt that the United States, Britain and NATO countries work as warlords behind the curtain, using the rhetoric of peace, freedom and democracy. The United States has supported dictatorships in Iran, Philippines, Haiti, Uganda, etc. to rob the wealth of these countries. It also supported Saddam for his oil and then stabbed him in the back for oil too.

Manhar Mody
Skokie, Ill.

The article “Beauty’s Beast” by Swati Sharan (Jan 06) was excellent. The beauty in an Indian woman lies more in her grace and charm than her figure. She should stop aping the West and concentrate on true substance.

Via email.