From Kerala to Virginia Tech

Several thoughts and updates:

The Unwarranted Racial Focus in India/US Media Coverage of the Virginia Tech Shootings
First of all, I am deeply saddened by the loss of life at the Virginia Tech campus this week. I was just at the end of my relaxing vacation in Kerala in a pleasantly air-conditioned hotel room in Trivandrum when I decided to flip on the TV, expecting a stimulating update from the ladoo maker at the Abhishek-Aishwarya wedding, but instead heard about the shocking and tragic news of the violence which took place at Virginia Tech University.

I first learned of the shootings while watching CNN-India. I was taken aback by the news, but as I heard story after story broadcasted on the Indian news networks, I was equally stunned by the portrayal of the events which took place. It, like the portrayal of so many other news events, made me think of how much the media shapes our views of the world, particularly depending on where we are and what we read/see. The focus of Indian reports was on the death of Professor G.V. Loganathan who grew up in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Clearly his murder is devastating and it is not surprising that India was mourning the loss of one of its own in this tragedy. But it is surprising that the discussion placed so much attention on race when to me the shooting did not have to do with race at all. The journalists covering the story portrayed the incident as a targeted hate crime against Indians and took it as a reason to raise doubts about the safety of Indians in particular as an ethnic immigrant community in the US, and further suggested that the events should deter Indians’ interest to attend college, travel, or live in the US, when clearly no such conclusions could be logically drawn. It was striking to see that for the Indian press, race and immigration rather than so many other issues which could be discussed surrounding the shootings assumed the focus.

After getting back to Bangalore, I was curious to check out what the American press had written about the incident. Like the racially-focused discussion in the Indian press, it again struck me how many times the words “Korean-American” and “immigrant” were featured in the headlines and in the discussion of the shootings. The American media has portrayed the event as the act of a socially-isolated, awkward Asian immigrant, as if that stereotype needed any bolstering, when in reality it seems that he fit the profile of the Columbine High School shooters more than any number of peaceful, law-abiding immigrants from Asia or elsewhere who come to the US for a better life and to positively contribute to society, if it is in fact necessary to put him in any group at all. This incident did not have to do with the race of either the killer or the victims, and I am profoundly disturbed by the portrayal both in the US and in India which gives so much emphasis to such an irrelevant, or at minimum tangential, issue.

As I was reading the profiles of those who died in the New York Times yesterday, I noticed that they were as diverse a group as you could find with men and women of all ages and ethnic and professional backgrounds. The group was comprised of graduate students, professors, and students. There were immigrants from many countries not just India, and others were from various parts of the US. From a Holocaust survivor in his 70s to 18-year-old Freshman, the only link amongst those who lost their lives to me seems to be that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The killings were clearly random and the fact that those who died represent such a diverse body shows that the murder spree was not racially-driven, as particularly the Indian media seemed to suggest.

It is no wonder that we live in such a racially-charged discriminatory society when the media chooses to portray events in this light when it is simply not valid. Not only does it obscure the real reasons for such a violent and tragic event (which are in my opinion lax gun laws and ineffective monitoring and response systems), but it becomes a “boy who cried woof” situation which dilutes the validity of real instances of hate crimes and racial discrimination. I am disturbed and bothered by the media reaction in both countries.

Sanjaya Must Go
On a lighter note, I think that American Idol’s Sanjaya Malakar must now finally exit the stage. His performance last night was absolutely pathetic and an utter disappointment. I was actually impressed with him in the last few weeks, particularly his oldies number which was quite cute and charming. But his rendition of Bonnie Rait’s Let’s Give ‘Em Something to Talk About was “dreadful” to quote Simon Cowell. Come on, it’s been fun till now, but that performance wasn’t even good enough for Café Jun (my favorite Berkeley karaoke bar). It’s time to go home, Sanjaya.

Back from Kerala
I just got back from a relaxing and wonderful week in Kerala! My Dad and I managed to hit many hot spots in Kerala and saw an awe-inspiring range of landscapes and cultural sights. Highlights included:
• Walking around the gorgeous tea plantations (the bushes look like green leafy cobblestone streets, see pictures!) in Munnar
• Spotting wild elephants, bison, birds and even some pigs on a 6am river boat ride in the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary
• Walking down the cardamon-scented streets in Thekkady and eating some fabulous Marwadi food at an excellent dhaba there (ask me about my theory for why there were so many Marwadi restaurants in Thekkady)
• Watching a traditional Kathakali performance in Thekkady
• Sitting at a breezy café overlooking the crystal-clear blue waters of the Arabian Sea in the pristine beach town of Varkala
• Cruising the beautiful and lush Keralan backwaters on a houseboat in Allepey
• Seeing the second most gorgeous sunset of my life standing in the warm waters at the intersection of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean at the tip of India in Kanyakumari (the first is without a doubt watching the sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge from my apartment in Berkeley which did not get old despite watching it nearly every day for 3 years)
• Dining at the beautiful Leela Palace at the Kovalam Beach
• Visiting a 4,000 year old Hindu temple (with incidently some shockingly sexually-explicit murals) and some great contemporary art museums in Kerala’s capital city Trivandrum

Check out my pictures!
Kerala
Kanyakumari

Set a Date!
I am thrilled that I have set a tentative date for my return to the US. If everything goes as planned, I hope to come back to California on November 15, after spending the week prior traveling in India for my birthday. I will most certainly be back for the Big Game on December 1, so I expect to see all of my fellow Golden Bears at the game that day! And Vegas in December, anyone?

The Namesake
See this movie if you have not already. It is absolutely brilliant. This is a late update because I saw the movie two weeks ago, but I thought that it was wonderfully done and was a stunningly-real look at an Indian family in the US. The parallels to my life, particularly those that were less obvious such as the scenes surrounding Gogol’s dad’s heart attack and the aftermath with Gogol’s breakup with his girlfriend, were almost haunting. It’s a very strange feeling to watch an episode in your life unfold before your eyes on a big screen in a movie theatre. In any case, the movie was an excellent interpretation of the book, but can stand on its own as an exquisite production. It is definitely worth going out of your way to find the one movie theatre in town which is playing it!

Listening to: Dixie Chicks, as always
Reading: Freakanomics

A.B.