Newsweek has done a great job at condensing the news and events of this past decade into a short 7 minute film.

Of course US news and its elections take center stage but pertinently enough Terrorism seems to have dominated this decade in more ways then one. Ofcourse some direct associations can be made with each American President and the corresponding World Wars and events also. Ironically Madonna and Britney Spear’s kiss hogs more screen time than the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. A foreboding and predictive way in which the media is already heading towards titillation rather than truthful fact informing. If NDTV made this, would they give Rakhi Sawant’s ‘swayamvar’ more time than the Naxalite problem? Probably yes I say.

The Fort Hood attack and it’s coverage in the US is a scary example of stereo typing and even ignorant reporting. More to come on that.
So will the next ten years have a corresponding increase in headlines on Terror? What’s your prediction?

I had the great fortune of meeting Malalai Joya, a wonderful voice against the occupation in Afghanistan. She is against the warlords and drug lords in Afghanistan who she says are just as bad as the Taliban and are becoming stronger and more corrupt with the support of the US. A good account of the talk, written by Ellora Derenoncourt can be read here on the South Asia Solidarity Initiative site.
It was an honor to stand by this incredible human being.

In solidarity with Malalai Joya at the Graduate Center, CUNY.

On a separate but related note, this Sunday The South Asian International Film Festival SAIFF is screening ‘Made in Pakistan’ which appears to be an interesting documentary posing a fresh un-stereotyped view on what Pakistanis themselves feel and are doing in their country. Possibly some good post Halloween realism.
Tickets can be purchased here

Malalai Joya is speaking tomorrow at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.

This extraordinary woman and her story of courage and spirit is just what the World needs! During the Taliban rule Malalai Joya started underground schools in defiance of the oppressive militants. She spoke out against the war criminals and drug Lords of Afghanistan and at the age of 27 stood for parliament elections while facing death threats. Her enemies call her a ‘dead woman walking’. “I am young and I want to live. But I say to those who would eliminate my voice: ‘I am ready, wherever and whenever you might strike. You can cut down the flower, but nothing can stop the coming of the spring.” The Independant has done a great story on her while The Gaurdian features her message to the British people. After being deposed in 2007 for publicly denouncing the corrupt war Lords in the Aghani Parliament her voice sounds a signal of truth and justice at a time when words like democracy and freedom are being misused to send more troops into Afghanistan.

Malalai Joya

Watch Wide Angle’s documentary about this Woman Among Warlords. It’s an incredible story about about one woman’s conviction and strength to stand against deadly wrongs and believe in her power as an individual. If this doesn’t move you and Hollywood’s heroic tales do, then we all might as well ask Will Smith to save the World. Because according to me the cards are on the table and increasing troops in Afghanistan is America trying to star in Hollywood’s next version of ‘The Declaration of Independence.’

Come hear these women raise their voices.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 2009

THE SKYLIGHT ROOM, 3 PM—5 PM

CUNY GRADUATE CENTER, 365 FIFTH AVE @ 34TH ST.

Malalai Joya, Minister of Parliament in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. She is the author of A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice (Simon and Schuster, 2009).

Awista Ayub fled Afghanistan in 1981 for the U.S. After the fall of the Taliban, she returned to Kabul and founded the Afghan Youth Sports Exchange, dedicated to nurturing Afghan girls through soccer. Her work is the subject of However Tall the Mountain (Hyperion 2009).

Nasrine Gross, founder of The Roqia Center for Women’s Rights, Studies and Education in Afghanistan. Professor Gross’ work is profiled in Walking the Precipice: Witness to the Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan (Feminist Press, 2009).

Moderated by: Laura Flanders, GritTV

It’s important to understand Mumbai and what it’s all about. Recently a fantastic fifty reasons were penned down by Kanika Parab & Mansi Poddar on CNNGo about why Mumbai should be considered the greatest city in the World. The list includes six features which play a relevant role in ‘The Taxi Takes on Terror.’

So at number three there is the Famous Ladies Specials which even got press in the New York Times article I posted. Yes it’s good for Indian women to have a hassle free commute.Though I think woman, all around the World have commuting stories of alarm and horror that they could share.

Leopold Cafe, and it’s distinctive charm and toughness is at number 24. I know that people still throng this bar and the 26/11 attack didn’t make any dent in it’s popularity. In fact more people probably go to see the bullet holes and shattered glass now more than ever.

And at number three we have the taxis! The ‘kalee peelee’ or black and yellow cabs which are fun and noisy, old and sacred, tarnished and decorated, sturdy and yet unfortunately slowly leaving the landscape of the city. The Government has passed a law that forbids taxis that are older than 25 years to stay on the streets. So the iconic Fiat taxis are being replaced by zippier Omnis, Santros and Marutis. But you’ll get to see a lot of these soon to be vintage classics on The Taxi Takes. So stay glued:)

The ‘dhobhi ghats’ of Bombay are a historic place where the laundry of Bombay comes to be washed at row upon rows of stone wash pens. A ‘dhobhi’ is a washerman and nearly two hundred ‘dhobhis’ will wash clothes together at any given time. I met two of these ‘dhobhis’ who have been washing clothes in Bombay as part of a profession that has been passed on to them by their grand fathers. At one point when the taxi driver and two washermen were talking in the taxi, I chuckled to myself thinking I really had an incredible slice of the working class! So at number 37 we have the Dhobhi ghats.

Haji Ali , the miraculous floating Dargah comes in at number 43. Built in 1431 by Sayed Peer Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, a rich Muslim merchant it is one of the most recognizable structures off the coast of Southern Mumbai. I have some wonderful footage of the taxi driver Jamid Ali standing near the mosque , by the water’s edge as the sun was setting behind him. He sang a song he had written in dedication to his mother, who died when he was nine. I’ll put a clip of him on his profile page eventually.

The last reason was because there were so many holidays in Mumbai. Due to it’s multi cultural, multi ethnic and secular nature India houses every religion in the World. So at any given time of the year Indians can expect to have a holiday celebrating either a Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Parsi, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain tradition.

The other reasons are also fun, brilliant and definitely worth a read for anyone who has heard of Mumbai but never been there. A great city in a wonderful country. More on Mumbai later.

Today, October 2nd 2009 is the hundred and fortieth birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Today I will place a flower at the feet of his wonderful statue that stands at Union Square in New York City. His legacy and life will influence the World forever. I have always been in awe of him.
Another fact which always astounded me was that at the same time in history there lived a man who managed to compel masses of people towards non violence while another being provoked them towards genocide. Mahatma Gandhi and Hitler were contemporaries. Imagine a movie with a split screen showing the peace and self will involved in non violence (ahimsa) alongside the holocaust, simultaneously in India and Germany. A horrific image that makes my heart beat faster. I wonder what it is that can drive one human being towards peace and humanity and another towards the extreme opposite? But then again, why must I look back in time with a sense of disgust and horror when the World around me still hasn’t yet blown out those demonic fires of terror and violence.

In 1950, the great Jewish physicist, Albert Einstein, a genius and noble being in his own right recorded an interview in his study in Princeton, New Jersey. In this United Nations radio interview he said about Mahatma Gandhi, “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth. ”

These words ring like a loud Buddhist temple gong reverberating into the air for minutes. These are my favorite words about Gandhiji. They are inscribed in stone at the Gandhi museum in New Delhi. They came to my mind when I spoke to taxi drivers in Bombay. I had earlier thought of calling my project, ‘If Gandhi were a filmmaker.’ I wondered what his insights and documentary recordings would be while driving around the country. What would he make out of this fine Nation of ours that he had strived so hard to keep from partitioning into Pakistan and Hindustan.

Mumbai Taxi drivers said that if the great man had existed in today’s day and age, no one would give him the time of day. Materialistic, superficial people would laugh at his ascetic lifestyle and flimsy loin cloth and no one would heed his call to non violence and ‘satyagraha.’
Taxi drivers cursed the current politicians and literally spit on them as they were driving around. They spoke of how not one politician had it in them to lead a country to Independence from 200 years of British colonialism like Gandhiji yet alone help us get out of the shackles of terrorism that India is facing now. In fact it is the people in power, they said, who have brought on these acts of terror and violence for the common Indian citizen.

I know that Mahatma Gandhi, may his ‘great soul’ rest in peace was a great champion of women’s rights and empowerment. In 1940, reviewing his twenty-five years of work in India concerning women’s role in society, he had said:
“My contribution to the great problem lies in my presenting for acceptance truth and ahimsa (non-violence) in every walk of life, whether for individuals or nations. I have hugged the hope that in this women will be the unquestioned leader and, having thus found her place in human evolution, will shed her inferiority complex.”
“…Woman is the incarnation of ahimsa. Ahimsa means infinite love, which again means infinite capacity for suffering. And who but woman, the mother of man, shows this capacity in the largest measure?… Let her translate that love to the whole of humanity… And she will occupy her proud position by the side of man… She can become the leader in satyagraha..”

I know he would find great solace in the young breed of women taxi drivers who can be seen on the streets of Mumbai nowadays.

I just heard Rory Stewart on Channel Thirteen talk about his views on if the US is doing the right thing by increasing troops in Afghanistan. Mr. Stewart is currently the Ryan Family Professor of the Practice of Human Rights and the Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. As a former British soldier he walked across Afghanistan in 2002 getting to know the Afghan people, understanding its culture and studying the country. He writes about his experiences in his book, The Places in Between
He eloquently spoke about how he believes that the US goal of creating a Nation State in Afghanistan with the indirect goal of added US security from the Taliban, Al Qaeda and other terrorist outfits was impractical.

He goes on to add that it might take several decades for Afghanistan to have basic education, infrastructure, a judicial and military system etc. institutions that Pakistan has. However in my mind, this does not necessarily imply security against terrorism.

Unlike Mr. Stewart I am not an authority on such issues, but I do firmly believe that Pakistan’s current political instability and situation should be of greater concern to the US than Afghanistan. A new documentary called RethinkAfghanistan is currently online to be viewed. I’m personally not in favor of another war, this time Obama’s war!

An excerpt from Rory Stewart’s Irresistible Illusion :

“Furthermore, there are no self-evident connections between the key objectives of counter-terrorism, development, democracy/ state-building and counter-insurgency. Counter-insurgency is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for state-building. You could create a stable legitimate state without winning a counter-insurgency campaign (India, which is far more stable and legitimate than Afghanistan, is still fighting several long counter-insurgency campaigns from Assam to Kashmir). You could win a counter-insurgency campaign without creating a stable state (if such a state also required the rule of law and a legitimate domestic economy). Nor is there any necessary connection between state-formation and terrorism. Our confusions are well illustrated by the debates about whether Iraq was a rogue state harbouring terrorists (as Bush claimed) or an authoritarian state which excluded terrorists (as was in fact the case).

It is impossible for Britain and its allies to build an Afghan state. They have no clear picture of this promised ‘state’, and such a thing could come only from an Afghan national movement, not as a gift from foreigners. Is a centralised state, in any case, an appropriate model for a mountainous country, with strong traditions of local self-government and autonomy, significant ethnic differences, but strong shared moral values? And even were stronger central institutions to emerge, would they assist Western national security objectives? Afghanistan is starting from a very low base: 30 years of investment might allow its army, police, civil service and economy to approach the levels of Pakistan. But Osama bin Laden is still in Pakistan, not Afghanistan. He chooses to be there precisely because Pakistan can be more assertive in its state sovereignty than Afghanistan and restricts US operations. From a narrow (and harsh) US national security perspective, a poor failed state could be easier to handle than a more developed one: Yemen is less threatening than Iran, Somalia than Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan than Pakistan.”

One of the notions I wanted to explore in the taxi dialogues was perceptions about Muslims. It’s a tough one to deal with and can come across as being ill informed. However I wanted to give the chance for this topic to surface. There is a shot of a young Hindu driver, Ram Singh asking an old Muslim passenger with a white beard this question. He asks, rather apologetically but also with a hint of curiosity, “If you don’t mind my asking, why does it seem that all terrorists are Muslims?” In fact any taxi drivers removed symbols of their faith after the 1992 – 93 communal riots in Bombay.

So the taxi drivers and passengers both had some prolific comments to make. But they didn’t look at the media or cinema and how it creates images. Post 26/11 there has been enough media bashing in India and Bollywood isn’t critiqued enough by the masses anyways. However Bollywood’s grand daddy Hollywood has surely come under the radar.

Yesterday I came across this gallery about Muslim celebrities in Hollywood. There are some fine men and women featured. But there seems to be an underlying current that their work is or should be directly connected to their faith. I think it may or may not be. In the case of ‘Allah Made me Funny’, it’s perfect to use humor to break down stereotypes and perceptions. The moment you laugh or don’t laugh about something, you either realize your beliefs on something or change your take on it by the simple act of laughing.

I also came across a great event at The Asian Pacific American Institute at NYU. It will be held today, the 25th of September between 6 and 8 pm at Tisch. Dr. Jack Shaheen is having a screening of his documentary, ‘Guilty Hollywood’s Verdict on Arabs After 9/11′ followed by a Q and A of his work.
Go to http://www.apa.nyu.edu/ to RSVP. It’s open to the public.

And please keep commenting on the blog itself and not on Facebook

It’s nice to come to a foreign land and find that the taxi drivers speak your language! It’s a good feeling and as a documentary filmmaker I jumped to the chance of doing something with this observation. In 2007 I went out on the streets of Manhattan and interviewed Indian and Pakistani taxi drivers about what they felt about New York, how they came here, 9/11, the War in Iraq and the War on Terror.

I started my prowl with the camera at the famous ‘Punjabi Deli’ on Houston streets where you’ll always see a bunch of taxis parked. This is a huge omen of how good a place is. Similar to when you look into a restaurant or cafe and can judge how good it is by the volume of people dining or waiting outside. ‘Punjabi Deli’ has affordable food and it’s home cooked Indian food. My uncle in Jersey has been known to drive down, pick me up, take me out to a fancy bar for a drink and then head to Punjabi Delhi for food he describes as ‘dil khush kar deta hai’, literally translated to mean ‘makes my heart happy.’

So I’m rambling away from the taxi drivers and point. Eventually I made a short film titled, ‘Street Smarts’ which focuses on racial profiling post 9/11 and my short got selected to the Sikh International Film Festival.
I’m heading out to the venue now and hope some of you can make it. Take a taxi to Asia Society and tell the driver about the film. Who knows maybe he’s in it. Once when I got in a cab and spoke to the driver about my project, he’d seen my taxi film on youtube! Keeping my fingers crossed for some synchronicity in the city this week:)

My first text message for today was from my friend Alci telling me about a cover story in today’s New York Times. Something about Indian women and women only compartments in trains. “Indian Women find New Peace in Rail Commute” talks about how the Indian Government has started ‘women only’ compartments in trains in the big urban cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai as a way of providing more safety to larger numbers of working women who have entered the work force in a country that is patriarchal and gender dictated in many ways.

Now I know that ‘Ladies Specials’ as they are also called have existed for a while in Mumbai local trains and some seats are even reserved for ladies in buses in different cities. When I was in Bombay I would travel by the general compartment, only if I had a male friend along and even then I got glares and stares my way. The one exception was one late night after filming when I got on and started taking pictures with my camera. I ended up making friends with two mothers and their children on their way back from a wedding which is a separate incident all together.

So to be perfectly honest this cover story on the New York Times front page comes as a surprise to me. Yes I admit that many westerners might find this story shocking and news worthy in many ways. Being victimized and asserting their rights is an issue that Indian women face on a daily basis thanks to a legacy which consists of traditions like ‘sati‘, where women would burn themselves along with their dead husbands on the funeral pyre, female infanticide and foeticide, notions of purity and pollution from the caste system that lead to maternity deaths, dowry and even dowry deaths. The fact that Indian women are empowering themselves, becoming financially independent and standing on their own two feet to get to work and earn for their family is a step that is in effect a giant leap across decades of norms and traditions. So yes I think it’s a positive step to ensure ladies have a safe commute to their workplace.
And why not?! It’s what the New York City MTA is trying to enforce through their new anti harassment ad campaign that I saw the other day in the subway. Enough ladies in New York have a hard time in public spaces and this too in a country that championed female empowerment and suffrage half a century before India even became free of the shackles of colonialism.

So I still wonder why the NYT’s put this story on it’s cover today and that too without even mentioning the efforts made by it’s own Mass Transit Authorities to ensure a peaceful commute to ladies. The ‘white man’s burden’ was what the British called their efforts to help educate and empower the masses in India. Under this guise of charity work they enacted a subtle and enslaving colonialization. Talking of the distress and oppression of women in India or Afghanistan can also be the perfect PR war cry to ensure independence to Afghanistan and its women. History has proven that women are often used as pawns in some man’s game of power politics.

Which makes me think of Sameena, a woman who plays by her own rules. She is 23 years old, Muslim and divorced her husband because he would beat her. She stands up for what she believes and wears a burkha most of the time. Except for when she sits in the front seat and drives a taxi in Mumbai. A woman that represents great independence and shatters many stereotypes in one drive. You’ll hear more from her soon.