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Sebastian John
Beyond Tikka Masala
WASHINGTON DC – “”Let’s try Indian food for dinner!” You’ll hear these words more often now from average Americans. Even small towns like Eureka in California (population 42,000) have Indian restaurants-two, in fact. These bastions of spice are considered exotic and different, except for the fact that most of them are the same. Every restaurant [...]
Toonz Animation in Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM – In conservative Kerala, offices tend to be sleepy places filled with bored staff and dusty files. That’s why walking into the Toonz Animation office in Thiruvananthapuram is a bit of a shock. The walls of the office hall are spattered with caricatures. Dozens of 20-somethings are rushing around, shouting instructions. Another 100-odd youngsters [...]
U.S. Farmers’ Markets
WASHINGTON DC – Two years ago, every bite of food that Darrell Meyer ate traveled an average of 2,100 kilometers from where it was grown to his dinner plate. He bought lots of packaged, processed food at big supermarkets and fast food restaurants. Eating that kind of food led him to be diagnosed with high [...]
Edison, New Jersey: An Indian American Town
EDISON, NJ – Driving down Oak Tree Road in Edison, New Jersey, is like going through Lajpat Nagar market in New Delhi-albeit with some key differences. Chock-a-block with sari showrooms, grocery stores selling curry pata, and Bollywood music shops…even the mannequins have the same plastic hair. Though the streets are crowded in the early evenings, [...]
An Indian’s Bus Journey Across America
EUREKA, CA – The United States: it’s on TV, on the radio, its flag is on everyone’s T-shirts. In my mind, it was cowboys, hamburgers, football, the Statue of Liberty and so many other things. But all I had was an image, not reality. Just where does Hollywood’s fantasy end and the reality of living, [...]