Peaceful Negotiations

The Cloonster (aka George Clooney) in Delhi visiting Indian Defense Secretary Vijay Singh doing his part as the newly titled UN Messenger of Peace.

He joins an illustrious group including Michael Douglas, Yo-Yo Ma, and Jane Goodall among others.

One Small Step

In what is a truly momentous moment in South Asian LGBT history, Rose (nee Ramesh Venkatesan) will become the first transgender TV host in India.

Her show Tamil show “Ippadiku Rose” (Yours Rose) will address topics ranging from marriage and divorce, to sexuality and drugs. Despite of the taboo material, the show doesn’t seek to shock people, but educate and expand horizons.

When she’s not busy breaking down cultural barriers, she works on a litany of other projects as well. Together with her friend Priya Babu, she is also working on a book for the transgender community and conducts awareness programs for the local police.

A Rose never smelled so sweet.

Blue No More

Girl meets boy. Girl gets married. Girl moves to India to be with boy. Girl gets dumped. Crap.

In her animated film “Sita Sings the Blues”, Nina Paley draws comparisons between the age old epic, and her own story of being dumped by her husband. After moving to India when her then-husband for his job, she discovered Ramayana. On a short trip to New York, her husband dumped her via….. email. Although she couldn’t relate to Ramayana at first the story later inspired her to create “Sita Sings the Blues” all from her home computer.

Set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, “Sita Sing the Blues”, the film is like a yummy candy land ride of beautifully saturated colors and quirky characters. Smart and funny, the story is more “Sitayana” than “Ramayana”, telling the story from Sita’s point of view.

Currently scheduled to screen at the Berlinale Film Festivale in February, Nina hopes to eventually distribute the film at independent theaters around the world.

Take that Rama.

View the trailer.

Sita Sings the Blues www.sitasingstheblues.com

Nina Paley’s website blog.ninapaley.com/

**Nina still needs some $$$$ to convert the video movie into film. So if you like what you see and want to help out visit her website.

The Berlin Film Festival
www.berlinale.de

So In

Africa is sooooo last year. The new vacation du jour is clearly India. Check out the material girl visiting Rajasthan.

Design for All

What do you get when you mix a born and bred South Indian girl with a Scottish lad? Well you could get haggis-filled samosas, but that probably wouldn’t taste so good.

Doshi Levien, the brilliant design duo, based in London, bring together the best of their two very different worlds to form a unique and vibrant collective. Jonathan is a cabinet maker and studied industrial design, while Nipa hails from Gujarat and studied furniture design. After meeting at the Royal College of Art, they went to work for separate design studios before starting their own company.

Together, the husband and wife team have created a desi-inspired line of cookware for Tefal, beech wood furniture swathed in Indian fabric for Moroso, and created art installations around the world including one inspired by the bustling markets of India.

“What is ethnic and what is pure? I am inspired when opposites get together.”,says Nipa Doshi.

With Doshi Levien designing, so are we.

Doshi Levien, 5 Tenter Road, London. Tel: +44 (0)20 7375 1727 www.doshilevien.com

I do

Check out Vanisha Mittal as one of style.com’s favorite society brides….

www.style.com

Hot Wax

First Amitabh. Then Aishwarya. Last year it was Shah Rukh. Next in line to be immortalized in wax? None other than Bollywood babe Salman Khan.

People Magazine’s 7^th best looking man in the world beat out several other Bollywood stars including icon Madhuri Dixit, Abishek Bachan, and Hrithik Roshan, in a poll conducted by the museum and Ikonz magazine. The big unveiling takes place on January 15^th, when Bollywood fans can line up at the Madame Tussaud’s London to ogle the actor en wax.

Now if you’re anything like the rest of us, you’re probably wondering if the famously buff actor is going to be shirtless. Alas, the answer is no. According to Madame Tussaud’s, the actor will be clad in jeans and a white tee. Bummer.

Well at least he can finally be with Ash .

For more info check Madame Tussaud’s website,

www.madame-tussauds.co.uk

Rapper's Delight

Find out with Maya A. has to say in this month’s Paper Magazine.

Or read it here: www.papermag.com

Parlez-vous francais?

If you read French or even if you don’t check out Sikh-a-licious Waris on the cover of Jalouse magazine.

New Year New Candy

Another year, another calendar. Yes, we all have our Blackberries, PDAs, and Treos, but there’s nothing like a little eye candy to start off the new year.

First up is the Maxim-style Kingfisher swimsuit calendar. This year the ladies will be showcasing their “assets” against the backdrop of India’s various lush backdrops, including Havelock Island, Nubra Valley, Mukut Mandir, and the beaches of Goa.

If shirtless guys are your cup of tea, check out Dabboo Ratnani’s annual celebrity calendar this time with men only.

This year you can feast your eyes on the likes of Shah Rukh, Salman, Abishek, John, and more.

Lastly, if you’re in the mood for something a little more action packed, check out photographer Subi Samuel’s “Alchemy” calendar, featuring Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra and Hrithik Roshan in comic book-style shots.

Happy 2008!!

For more info, check the following websites:

Kingfisher, http://www.kingfishercalendar.com/2008/

Dabboo Ratnani, http://www.dabbooratnani.com

Subi Samuel, www.subisamuel.net