Dating Indian Men II

If you have not already done so, you are highly encouraged to read Dating an Indian Man - Part 1 to get the background, before you read what's written below.

Important Disclaimer
Anytime one writes something like what I am writing - making generalizations about people from a vast and diverse culture like India - one is taking a big risk of appearing to be prejudiced or stupid, of saying something which is totally different from the experiences of others, of offending some people, etc. So, remember that there are exceptions to everything I have written above and I will write on this subject going forward. After all, despite cultural influences, each person is an individual in their own right, and each situation is unique. Also, remember that I am merely stating the truth as I see it. Finally, remember that I am an Indian guy myself. I have dated Indian women as well as (white) Americans. There may be some unavoidable prejudices based on my background and experiences. However, it is important for those who know me - Indians and Americans - to understand that all of the following may not be true of me, as an individual. I am merely stating the predominant trends among Indian men.

In this post, we shall discuss what I think are the most important factors you should know about if you are interested in dating an Indian man outside India: his attitude towards romancing women, money & immigration status, and his family (not in any particular order).

Indian Men's Attitude Towards Romancing Women

• If your Indian guy is quite new to your country and its ways, he may not be very familiar with all the cool places to take a girl out for dating, the nice things to do together in your place, and other basic stuff like that. Also, his tastes in entertainment and cuisine may vary from yours. Don't let this discourage or displease you. This is just a matter of learning for him, and you could encourage/help his learning. You could learn many new things from him too.


• India is still a country where most marriages are arranged (not forced) by the parents and families. Dating is still not the normal way in which people choose their mates. As such, the Indian guy you are interested in may not be familiar with all the rules, do's and don't's of the Western dating scene. There are some Indian guys who are surely adept at this. But most are not. Even if they have dated in India, they may not be familiar with the Western dating conventions.


• The other thing the Indian may not be familiar with is all the verbal and non-verbal signals which encourage or discourage intimacy. A lot of these signals are biological and universal. But there are many signals which are quite specific to a culture, because of cultural differences in the way affection is shown and shared. There might be a learning curve associated with this. So, don't think the guy does not like you if he does not immediately respond to your signals and cues.


• Indians are not big on public displays of affection (PDA) between romantic partners. Such displays are discouraged and frowned upon in general Indian public life. Your Indian man might quite fine or better than fine in private, but he might not be very comfortable with showing affection in front of others - family, friends or strangers. He might particularly be uncomfortable expressing physical affection in front of his family or yours.


• While the last two points were about the Indian guy not expressing affection the way you want him to, there is also a flip side to this. It is quite possible that the Indian might get overly affectionate and attached pretty quickly. While dating is not very predominant in India, casual dating (i.e., dating without being emotionally invested/attached) is even more of a rarity. In the contemporary Western society, when a girl agrees to romantically date a guy, she is pretty much giving him the signal that, "If everything goes okay, I will sleep with you sooner or later." Similarly, in most Indian dating situations, when a girl agrees to go out with a guy, she is letting him know that, "If everything goes okay, we will get married sooner or later." That may sound dramatic, but it's true. Such conditioning might cause him to get emotionally attached to you quickly.


• The other thing that Western women dating an Indian guy might experience is a speedy and overt physicality on his part. For reasons which are too numerous to go into here, many Asians (Indians and non-Indians, men and women) believe that Westerners (men and women) are easy when it comes to sex. Without going into a big debate on whether Westerners are truly easy about sex or not, let us just accept that Asians think they are. This belief, coupled with the fact that women in India normally agree to date a guy only if they really really like him, makes an Indian guy think that the Western lady who agreed to go out with him really really likes him; ergo, he is going to get laid soon. This belief and enthusiasm prevents him from giving the lady the time and space she needs to get to know him, and get intimate with him at her own pace.


• All over the world, in all cultures, men and women know that there are a certain type of people whom they would only date short-term, but never get serious with; and then, there are a certain type of people whom they might like to marry. Indian guys are no exception to this. There are many Indian guys who think that they could date a Western woman for the sex and fun, and then later marry an Indian woman. If this works for you, go ahead and have fun with such a guy. If it does not work for you, ask the guy about this upfront, make your decision and part ways with the him. But do not pass judgment on the guy and say that he is a pig committing a great crime or doing something very dirty. As I mentioned earlier, he is merely doing what men and women all over the world do, or would do if they could get away with it.


• In India, most people marry just once. Divorces and second marriages are still very rare. As such, people are used to marrying other single people, who have no kids and no baggage from past marriages. Since dating is still not very common in India, for many people, their spouses are the first person they are getting romantically involved with. This is a very prevalent cultural thing. Another very common thing is that the woman is younger and shorter than the man she marries. As such, if you are a Western woman, who have been married before and/or has kids and/or is older than the Indian guy she is dating, be very careful about getting emotionally attached to the guy. Better talk to him upfront and clarify what both your expectations are from the relationship. The chances that he would not want to marry you is very high. Once again, don't blame the guy for this. This is just a cultural programming on his part. From his cultural perspective, you are okay to date, but not okay to marry. If you were in his place, you would probably feel the same way. That's just how it is.

Those are some of the main points I could think of right now regarding the romantic attitudes of Indian guys towards Western women. As I think of more stuff, I will add them to the list above. If there is something specific you would want me to add to the list, let me know about it. Leave a comment or email me.

Indian Men's Immigration Status
Before getting involved with any foreigner, it is good to know his exact immigration status. Depending on what kind of visa he is on, he may have a few days, a few weeks, a few months or a few years left in your country. Apart from his visa status, his job situation would also dictate how long he would stay in a particular place. If you are dating the foreigner casually, it might be okay. But if you are getting emotionally involved, it is better to get all the accurate information you can about his visa and his job. Understand exactly how much time he has left on his visa and job assignment, ask him what are the factors which control the possibilities of extension of his stay and assignment. People don't give out a house for rent or a driving license without knowing this information. You should not give out your heart without knowing this. This might seem like an obvious thing, but it is worth mentioning here.

Indian Men's Money

• Depending on how long the Indian has stayed in your country, he may or may not be used to your currency. If you are in a country like the US or UK, the value of your currency is much higher than that of the Indian currency. If the guy has only recently come into your country, he can't help but do a mental conversion calculation before making any purchase. What might cost 20 bucks in the American currency, would by his calculation, cost upto 900 Indian rupees. In India, that could be his entire month's lunch expense. Psychologically, it takes some time for an Indian guy to get used to the foreign spending habits.


• Many Indians who come to the Western countries these days are akin to the baby boomers of the US. The baby boomers grew up in a period of post-World War II hardships. As such, they are careful with how they save and spend their money. Similarly, most Indians who are adults today, probably know of hardships from their childhood. The typical Indian studies and works hard before he comes to a Western country. He probably did not grow up rich. Also, culturally speaking, Indian society is not as consumerist as American society (although that is fast changing). So, although the Indian guy might earn more money than the average American, his spending habits may be more frugal.


• Indians who go to Western countries for a short-term work assignment, look at it as a money-making opportunity, since they get paid in foreign currency which is of greater value than Indian money. So, they might prefer to save as much money as they can on their short-term assignments. Many of them on really short assignments (like 60 or 90 days) do not even bother to buy too many furnitures for their apartments since they have to leave soon anyway.


• Although the Indian guy in the West might appear to be a single guy with no responsibilities and a carefree life, that might not always be true. He may have some financial obligations towards his family (more about this coming up) or a house/apartment he has purchased in India, etc. So, his spending potential might not actually be quite as much as his earnings would indicate.


• We normally don't tip in India. This is another thing which takes time for some of us to get used to. Even if we accept it and get used to it, we might not be too happy about it. We may stick to the bare minimum expected. We are not being cheap. This is another psychological thing. To put this in perspective, imagine that you pay no sales tax on food purchases (which is the case in most American states). Then imagine that all of a sudden, the government starts charging you 5% tax on food. It will take sometime for you to get used to it. For a long time, you will think of this 5% as something additional you are paying, apart from the fair price of the food item. And you will certainly not voluntarily pay 6% or 8% tax on the item just because the checkout person at the store was nice to you, right? That is how it is.

These are just some indicators and pointers about the Indian guy's attitude towards money in a foreign country. You will most probably have no money issues at all when dating an Indian. After all, he is probably quite successful professionally and has his financial situation on a solid footing. However, if it looks as if the Indian guy you are dating is too tight with his money, don't automatically assume he is being cheap. He may not even be aware that he is being too tight. Depending individual situations and relationships, you might encourage him to spend more on dating expenses or even for his personal needs and comforts. Be careful not to push him too much. You might not really know what his reasons for being frugal are. If the money situation bothers you too much, you don't have to stick with him, of course. That is certainly better for both of you.

The Indian family:
Indian families tend to be pretty close-knit. Most Indians have very close emotional and/or economic interdependency bonds with their families. Without discussing the pros and cons of this situation, I just want to state this as a fact with most Indians.

Emotional family bonds: It is not the norm in India for young people to leave the home and live their own lives. Usually young people leave only if there are personal differences with the rest of the family or if job / economic factors force them to relocate. If there are no personal differences which have caused a major rift between a person and his family, the family will influence, or at least attempt to influence, every major decision in a person's life including whom he marries, which job he works on, which/where he purchases a house, etc. If everybody lives under the same roof, the family's meddling and influence will affect pretty much everything about a person's life - major and minor. Depending on the individual and how he relates to his family, their "influence" can range anywhere from being mere suggestions and advice, to being total - almost dictatorial - control over how the person lives his life.

Economic interdependency with the family: This means that the person draws wealth or contributes money to the family, usually the latter. A person could be pitching in to help educate siblings, help marry siblings (Indian weddings are very expensive affairs), pay off a long-term family debt, help support aged parents and/or grand-parents, etc. If the Indian is the first-born or only son in the family, you can be pretty sure that he is expected to shoulder a large part of the family's economic needs. He is also pretty much responsible for the aged parents. Most old people in India do not live by themselves or in old age homes. The expectation is that their sons will take care of them.

Having said all that, there are definite exceptions to the above. There are some Indians who are totally independent of their families emotionally or economically or both, who have almost nothing at all to do with their families. Although such exceptional cases are not very common yet, the increasing modernization of India and reduction in the size of family units, is freeing more and more individuals from overbearing family influence and from family care. Nevertheless, it is easier for Indians to be economically independent of their families, rather than emotionally independent.

There are some Indian guys how are total pansies and defer to their families for every decision big and small. And then, there are some Indians who are totally rebellious. And there are guys of all intermediate types. There are some who will defer to their families when it comes to financial matters, but not in choosing a partner. There are some who will let their families choose the life partner, but are otherwise independent. And there are many who are totally attached to the family before they are married, and then become totally independent after they get a wife. You just have to find out for yourself what type of a guy your Indian is.

If things get emotionally serious between your Indian guy and yourself, you should be prepared for the fact that his family might have misgivings simply because you are a foreigner. This is not hard to understand. If you are older than the guy, if you have been married before and/or have kids from a previous relationship, you can be almost certain that the Indian guy's family will not approve of his relationship with you.

Conclusion
Inter-racial relationships are always a delicate balancing act. One has to not only understand the partner as an individual human being, one also needs to understand their cultural background, motives and influences. Having an open mind and heart, and communicating a lot certainly helps. I hope all the above information also helps non-Indian women who are interested in dating Indian guys. If I think of more things to add or edit, I will do so.

I always believe that sharing the cultures, love, lives and various bodily fluids between people of different races is good for the world and the human race. Good luck and best wishes to everything involved in or considering the idea of inter-racial relationships.

Concluded.

Dating Indian Men I

I know that a lot of people are doing Internet searches on variations of the phrases "dating indian men" or "indian men and white/black women", etc. Many such searches lead them to my previous post on Indian Men and Inter-racial Dating.

There is definitely an increasing interest among non-Indian women towards Indian men, as the tech industry is bringing more and more of the latter to countries like USA and the UK. Non-Indian women have asked me some basic questions about Indian men. Being an Indian guy myself, I thought I would help answer some of those questions in a blog post. The following information would be useful to anyone who is interested in dating Indian men. This post is especially addressed to non-Indian women.

Most of what I write below is true of native-born urban Indians, irrespective of where they are in the world right now. However, this post is partial to the scenario where a non-Indian woman is interested in dating an Indian-born guy, residing in a non-Indian country (in other words, a non-resident Indian). Some sections of this post are very specific to Indians in the US. I am not familiar with ethnic Indians, who are born and brought-up in a non-Indian country. So, what I say below may not be true of such foreign-born Indians. I am also not very familiar with how things work when a foreign woman goes to India and dates an Indian guy in India.

Important Disclaimer
Anytime one writes something like what I am writing - making generalizations about people from a vast and diverse culture like India - one is taking a big risk of appearing to be prejudiced or stupid, of saying something which is totally different from the experiences of others, of offending some people, etc. So, remember that there are exceptions to everything I have written above and I will write on this subject going forward. After all, despite cultural influences, each person is an individual in their own right, and each situation is unique. Also, remember that I am merely stating the truth as I see it. Finally, remember that I am an Indian guy myself. I have dated Indian women as well as (white) Americans. There may be some unavoidable prejudices based on my background and experiences. However, it is important for those who know me - Indians and Americans - to understand that all of the following may not be true of me, as an individual. I am merely stating the predominant trends among Indian guys.

Indian Culture
The first thing you should remember about an Indian is that he comes from a culture which is very different from the Western (American and European) culture. The Indian might dress like Westerners and might speak English, but his culture is very different. It is very old, very deep and all-pervading in an Indian's life. If you are interested in an Indian, you should consider the breadth and depth of this cultural influence on him. The culture might influence the Indian in all or any combination of the following: food, communication (particularly communication in showing/sharing affection and during disagreements/conflicts), bath & toilet habits, living conditions, attitude towards money and spending, recreational activities and hobbies, tastes in entertainment, religious and spiritual beliefs, attitude towards the other gender, relationship with own family and the partner's family, relationship with children, etc. You should be prepared for the possibility that the Indian might differ from you in all of the above factors. You should try to get to know the Indian as much as possible vis-a-vis these factors.

Diversity within Indian Culture
Another thing you should keep in mind is that India is a very diverse and complex country. It is an amalgamation of numerous distinct as well as fuzzy cultures. So, even within India, the cultural differences are pretty significant. A person's geography, his family's traditional home (native place), the socio-econo-religious lifestyle of his family and the places where he grew up, his parents and family, his own individuality will all have a significant influence on his personality. So, do not make the mistake of thinking that if you have known one or two Indians, all the rest of them must be alike. There may be some similarities, but there will also be many differences.

Good things about dating Indians
Don't let all the cultural differences scare you away from Indians. The guy you are interested in may not necessarily be quite so different. Also, some of the differences are easily resolved, and just a matter learning, making minor changes, or getting used to each other and each other's culture. And then, differences are not necessarily bad. It is quite possible that these very differences might make a particular Indian guy very special to you, they might be a source of joy, and even the foundation for your relationship with him. There are some great things about dating non-resident Indians:

• Most non-resident Indian are smart. They are at least college-educated. That is what enabled them to legally move to a foreign country to study or work.


• They are economically stable, holding well-paid jobs.


• They are a polite and pleasing people. They are reasonable and dependable, easy to get along with.


• Your Indian guy could be your window / door-way into an immensely rich, complex and interesting ethnic culture. It could be a real fun ride, if you are interested in diverse ethnic experiences.

In Part 2 of this post, we shall discuss what I think are the most important factors you should know about if you are interested in dating an Indian outside India: attitude towards romancing women, money & immigration status, and his family (not in any particular order). Knowledge of these factors will help you understand an Indian man and his motivations better. They might also alert you to the differences that could come up when you date him.

Dating Indian Men II

Google Hindu Calendar

Update on 12/30/2009:
The Google Hindu Calendar linked and described in this post has been renamed as Google Hindu Calendar - MST, for Mountain Standard Timezone of USA.

If you have a Google account, you can add this Google Hindu Calendar - MST to your Google account using this link: Add Google Hindu Calendar.

To simply view the calendar in your web browser use this link: View Google Hindu Calendar. After viewing, if you want to add this Google Hindu Calendar - MST to your Google account, there is a button at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

For calendars of other timezones, visit this link: Google Hindu Calendar with Timezones.

Original Post below:
Google Calendar was released on April 13th, 2006. This is a few days later than April 1st, on which date Google traditionally launches new products. More information: Google Calendar Overview.

I have created a Hindu Calendar on Google Calendar. This calendar is publicly shared. Just search for "Hindu Calendar" in Google's public calendar search and look for Hindu Calendar / Panchangam by Libran Lover. Click on the "Add Calendar" button to access it.

With this, you can easily access the important Hindu calendar information about each day. As of today, the calendar has only information about important Hindu festivals from April to December 2006. There is a little more information for the month of April (such as amAvAsya, pUrNima, ekAdashi, sankatahara chaturthi, etc.). In the coming days, I will be adding as much information as I can from the Hindu Panchangam.

This will be an ongoing effort. Until some professional Panchangam maker like Kalnirnay publishes in the iCal format, updating the Google Hindu Calendar will be a manual effort. As such, I need help in entering information into this calendar. If you would like to help, please write to my Google mail id libranlover.

Hope this calendar will be useful for everyone, all over the world. As the Google Calendar application grows rich with additional functionality, this Hindu Calendar will grow in tandem, with more features and lots of useful information.

I wish Google would provide an easy link / URL for the calendar, by which it could be shared and accessed by everyone. Until Google provides such an easy URL, the easy ways to access a particular calendar is to be invited by the calendar's owner or to search for public calendars. Meanwhile, here are a couple of links to the Hindu Calendar, if you can figure out how to use them:

Hindu Calendar HTML link
Hindu Calendar iCal address
Hindu Calendar XML feed.

Shoot the Harassers

One way that people in New York City are reacting to being harassed is by shooting the harassers... with a camera. Then, they send the photos to Holla Back New York City for the whole world to see!

Many of the photos are posted with text by the women who got harassed. It is evident that the act of doing something to get back at the harassers, even it is to merely pull out the cellphone camera and shoot a picture, seems to immediately make the women feel better. They seem to regain their sense of personal power and confidence during or soon after the incident.

There are chances of genuine misunderstanding or real abuse of this facility by some woman, of course. But hey, whatever works!

Wondering if this would work for eve-teasers and their victims in India...

Related posts:
Sexual Harassment and Power
Root Cause of Eve Teasing in India

Sexist World - 2

This was an interesting reminder of what of kind of a sexist world we live in. Last Thursday, the radio station 104.7 KISS FM, broadcasting out of Phoenix, was annoucing a night out for "naughty moms" at a local bar and restaurant. They wanted female listeners to call in and tell them why or how they are "naughty moms". The listeners who called in would then get a pass to the "naughty moms" party or drink tickets or whatever!

Quite a few ladies called in to say how or why they were naughty moms: one was sleeping with her husband's best friend; another was having simultaneous affairs with her husband's friend and her husband's cousin; yet another slept (separately, at different times) with her husband's brother and her husband on his birthday, conceived a child and now did not know if the father of the child was her husband or his brother. She said that even a DNA test could not tell who the father is because the two guys in question are brothers! Apparently, for these ladies, being a "naughty mom" meant cheating on the dad. And the way they called in to talk about their cheating episodes... it was almost as if they were proud of it!

But the interesting part of this whole exercize is that, the radio station was throwing a party for these moms, because they cheated. These ladies were appreciated because they cheated. It was a celebration of cheating women! And later in the evening, when the party was on, the RJ's urged listeners to drop in at the party because things were "getting wild". So, not only do these cheating women have a party thrown for them, but they even have a radio station sending more meat to their party so that they can cheat some more!

Amazing! I mean, can you imagine something like this being done for cheating guys? A party for "player dads", perhaps? How many ladies would attend that party? How many people would even find the idea of such a party acceptable? Something like that would never happen.

Damn! And women think they don't have it good, and guys get to enjoy everything in the sexist world!

Related post: Sexist World.

Sexual Harassment and Power

I usually have frustrating exchanges with women whenever power is mentioned in the context of sexual harassment... specifically, sexual harassment of women by men. The discussion in the comments section of my blog post about the root cause of eve teasing in India is an example. Women, especially the feminist types, believe that sexual harassment is mainly about power, and less about sex. Some of them even claim that it is all about power and not at all about sex.

This is frustrating for me because I am a man. As such, I understand how the male libido works. I am not a rapist nor have I sexually harassed anyone. Nevertheless, I understand what goes on in the mind and loins of a guy vis-a-vis sex. So, I know what I am talking about when I say that the primary motivation for most men who are guilty of sexual harassment is sex.

This is when women like to ask questions such as: Why would a married man who has free access to a sexual partner, still harass some other woman? Or, why would a man, who could easily buy sexual gratification from a prostitute, risk everything to commit violent rape instead?

Clearly, there is a lack of understanding of male sexuality. The reason why I keep coming back to the "power and sex" discussion is because I feel that women's beliefs about the role of power in male sexuality further distorts their understanding. Thus, women totally miss out on understanding the root cause and the motivation behind male sexual acts... whether they are acts of harassment or acts of shared pleasure.

For the record, through this blog post, I want to clarify my position on sexual harassment and power in as simple terms as possible. So, here goes: Sexual desire is the root cause and primary motivation for sexual harassment. Power enables or allows harassment to happen. Power is only an enabler, a facilitator. Sexual desire is the root cause.

To give an analogy: The primary reason for humans to eat chicken is not that they are more powerful than the chicken. The primary reason is that humans feel hunger. The fact that humans are more powerful than the chicken enables or allows them to eat chicken. But that is not the root cause for chicken being part of the human diet.

Now, one may ask, why should humans violently kill and eat chicken, while they could easily eat vegetables, which involves less violence and gore. There are a different set of reasons for that. That is a different line of discussion. But we know that it is certainly not because there is more power in eating chicken than in eating a vegetable.

It is important for us to discern and understand this truth. If we don't understand the truth, our efforts and energies will be directed at the wrong things. For example, if we believe that sexual harassment is all about power, we will conclude that empowering women will stop sexual harassment. I don't think it will. Empowering women will help curb sexual harassment, but it is only a matter of time and place before the woman will be vulnerable and a possible target. No one can be powerful at all times.

Having said all that, I want to reiterate that I am not totally dismissing the power factor from the sexual harassment equation. Not only is power an enabler of harassment, power (or rather the feeling of powerlessness) also happens to be the most important, overwhelming and enduring experience of sexual harassment for the victim. From the victim's perspective, the harassment is not a sexual experience. It is an experience of total vulnerability and powerlessness!

Consider a woman who has been raped. Physical violence and humiliation are big aspects of her experience. However, the biggest aspect is the feeling of being utterly powerless and helpless. It is like a stranger, or someone you know and thought you could trust, came up to you, helped himself to a piece of your soul, and simply walked away. There was nothing you could do to stop it, before or while it was happened. And so often, there is nothing you can do after it has happened. Even catching and punishing the perpetrator, only helps the woman's feeling of powerlessness in a very small way. The feeling of total weakness and powerlessness, wherein any asshole could just drop by and violate her body and soul intimately, is something that endures for a long time.

Yes, from the victim's perspective, the overwhelming and most enduring experience of sexual harassment is the utter feeling of powerlessness. It is important to understand this because this understanding is more useful in the healing of a victim, than in the prevention of such crimes. Yes, empowering women will help curb harassment to a little extent, but it is not the panacea for harassment prevention. The role of empowerment is much more in the healing of a harassed victim.

Empowering a harassment victim and specific steps/measures to make her feel empowered, should be the most important part of any healing process. Catching, punishing and preventing the perpetrator from repeating the crime play an important role in restoring the victim's confidence. On the other hand, if the criminal gets away scot-free, it contributes to her feeling of helplessness. However, justice alone is not enough to heal her. Real healing starts when the lady is empowered enough to feel safe again, to feel that she will not be violated again. It is through such empowerment that the lady starts to feel like a living human being again, instead of like a powerless object. It is through such empowerment that she starts to value herself again, to feel that life may be live-able and then to grow to feel that life is worth living after all.

I hope this blog post has helped people understand what I have been saying all along about sexual harassment and power. Not only has this been written from a man's understanding of male sexuality and power, this is also written from an empathic understanding of sexual harassment by being close to a victim, from sharing the deeply painful feeling of powerlessness. I hope this understanding contributes to better prevention and healing of sexual harassment.

Project Rajkumar

The veteran superstar of Kannada cinema, Dr Rajkumar is no more. He passed away on April 12th, 2006, following a cardiac arrest.

For those of us who grew up watching his movies, this is the passing of an era in the history of Kannada cinema, in the history of Karnataka state. He is undoubtedly the most popular Kannada artist of all time. What is most striking about him is not just his charismatic on-screen presence, not the acting skills, not even his gifted background singing talent. What is most striking is the incredible simplicity of his off-screen life. No flamboyance, no arrogance. So unlike many of his less-talented-but-equally-popular contemporaries.

His career spanned almost half a century, with over 200 movies! That is an incredible average of around 5 or more movies every year, starting from 1954 until 2000. What a prolific career! As I scroll through his filmography, I see an enormous range and variety of roles, so many high-quality, highly entertaining, super-hit movies! The filmographies of the best and most popular Hollywood actors pale in comparison.

Sometime after I heard the news of Dr Raj's death, I visited IMDb.com, the "Earth's Biggest Movie Database" to check out his filmography. Unfortunately, there was not quite enough information on Dr Raj's page on IMDb.com. There was some erroneous information, and not even his name was listed properly and in an easily identifiable manner.

In order to compile exhaustive information about Dr Raj's movies and to do proper justice to his prolific career on IMDb.com, I have started a Wiki project called Project Rajkumar. If you are a fan of Dr Rajkumar's movies, please do visit the home page of Project Rajkumar, and share your precious knowledge about his movies with us. The idea is that, all this knowledge will ultimately end up on IMDb.com for the benefit of many generations to come.

I hope Project Rajkumar will turn out to be Dr Raj's online fans' way of paying homage to the great actor. This is certainly far better than the mindless violence that some fans in Bangalore are indulging in.

Johnjay and Rich on KISS FM - Phoenix deserves better!

You know something is quite not right when a couple of radio talk show hosts ask listeners to call in and say what body parts they are missing, on a casual morning talk show (not a medical talk show). To my disbelief, that is precisely what happened on this morning's Johnjay and Rich radio talk show on 104.7 KISS FM, broadcasting out of Phoenix.

There was a lady on the show (someone named Michelle?), who happened to mention that her professor was missing a finger. So, Johnjay and Rich, who are bereft of bright ideas for their show, decided to have listeners call in and say what body parts they are missing, "in honor of Michelle's professor, who is missing a finger"! We know that intelligence is not an important requirement for a radio jockey's job in the US, but can't we at least expect some maturity from them? I mean, these are not 7-year-old boys who derive morbid pleasure out of handicaps and accident victims, right? Couldn't these guys come up with a better topic of discussion on the morning after a 100,000-strong march in Phoenix?

Meanwhile, "Michelle" was being a total bimbo! Some of the gems she said on radio in her high-on-sugar-teenager tone and voice:

"So, we have these people call us and tell us what parts they are missing. And then, we say, 'Okay bye'?"

"In case my professor wants to sue the station or something, I just want to say on air that she is a really good person and I don't want you guys to do this."

"If you want to make fun of someone, don't talk about my professor. Talk about my friend who has a hook for a hand. Or my friend who has to go to the bathroom in a bag." (The last friend has a medical condition because of which she is not able to "go to the bathroom" in the bathroom. She wants them to make fun of her friends and not her professor because her friends will probably not sue?).

"Stop talking about this because it hurts my stomach. I can't stand talk about missing body parts and ...(I forget what else she mentioned here) because it hurts my stomach." (So she wants them to stop their disgusting charade because it hurts her stomach. Not because it is indecent!)

"I can't stand this talk. At 10:01, I am getting out of this station." (She said this at around 8:55 AM. 10 AM is when the talk show ends. She couldn't stand the talk, so she is going to leave AFTER the talk ends?)

What was Johnjay-and-Rich's defense for their indecent and insensitive stunt? "Hey, we are just asking them what body parts they are missing and how they lost them. We are not treating them differently or anything. It is those people who don't want us to talk about this, that think these people are different!" Yeah, right!

Great going, KISS FM! You suspended Crazy Kid, just because he happened to say some bitter truths, which some hypersensitive morons thought to be politically incorrect. You totally disrespected the much vaunted and flaunted American Freedom of Speech. You trashed the Kid and Ruben show, which was smarter, funnier and MUCH better in every way. And the best you could do was give us these immature jokers, Johnjay and Rich? Come on KISS FM, Phoenix deserves much better stuff on its airwaves first thing in the morning!

Hips Don't Lie

Shakira joins the ever-growing list of popular artists who draw our attention to swinging hips and bouncing booties.

The song Hips Don't Lie from her latest album Oral Fixation Vol 2 is fast becoming a major hit. It jumped from the 60th last week to the 41st place this week on The Billboard Hot 100. It's only gonna climb higher and higher in the coming weeks.

For the past week, I have not been able to listen to the popular radio stations for 15 minutes before this song starts playing. I am not complaining. It's a very catchy number, alright! The music video on Yahoo with Shakira's swinging hips and belly dance moves is equally entertaining. There is even a fun(ny) fans only version of the video which was the result of a contest.

Libran Lover is Internet (In)Famous!

Alright, now who has been out-ing information about me all over the Internet? Whoever did this or knows who did this, better confess or else...

"Libran Lover" on MSN Search: http://www.mymsnsearch.com/results.aspx?q=Libran+Lover&FORM=VJNNVFSobbgz