Lost in the diversity controversy at the Oscars Sunday night was this: The only woman of color who won was Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Who? That’s the problem. Very few people in America know who she is. But they ought to. Obaid-Chinoy, 37, has two Academy Awards to her name; her latest was in the best documentary short category for “A Girl in the River: The Price … Continue reading Moment of desi pride at the Oscars
It’s too bad “Midnight’s Children” was a bust at the box office. I’m thinking that Deepa Mehta was perhaps the wrong director to give us the celluloid depiction of Salman Rushdie’s terrific book, which won the Booker Prize in 1981. The protagonist and narrator of Rushdie’s story, Saleem Sinai, is born at the exact moment when India gained independence from Britain. The film, had it been … Continue reading The price of independence
A difficult agreement created Pakistan 63 years ago. The “land of the pure” was partitioned off from India and both nations became independent — Pakistan on August 14, 1947 and India a day later. Though it split India apart, we were finally free. No more British Empire. No more second-class citizenry. That’s why today should have been like any other August 14. Joyful. Celebratory. Patriotic. … Continue reading Freedom and flooding
