Minal Hajratwala's Blog

What I'm eating: Dragonfruit (pictured)

What I'm reading: India edition of my book, prepping for readings and interviews; Hindustan Times (delivered free to my hotel room);  Poets & Writers magazine

What I'm doing next:  Going for lunch at Eatopia and taking a walk in Lodhi Gardens before tonight's launch event

And now for a brief commercial …

LEAVING INDIA launch schedule

If you or people you know are in India and would like to come to book events, here is my tour schedule. The India edition...

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What I've been eating: lotus roots sliced thin and fried in honey-chilli sauce (at Kylin, Vasant Lok); Burmese khao suey noodle-coconut curry (at Kitchen, Khan Market); bear naked fruit & nut bar; custard apple; parathas, rotis, brown rice, home-cooked vegetable curries; pizza

What I've been reading: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville; Wicked by Gregory Maguire; Lonely Planet India; The Cost of Living by Arundhati Roy

What I've been spending (43 rupees = $1): 44 rupees to have 2 days'...

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Facebook Flarf

(created without intention over 17 hrs by 1,097 'friends')

making persimmon velvet floor length curtains for the front parlor

fantastic padded throne like chairs. It is pretty big. Free WiFi, and iced mocha

all the hula

one of my favorite Modern Loves

All-male college cracks down on cross-dressing

in my pink tutu (hope it holds up till the end!)

hoping to attract an Indian family who owns a restaurant

I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your...

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This Friday is the National Summit on Arts Journalism, which convenes some key thinkers in the worlds of journalism and the arts, in Southern California. Ten projects that are supposed to represent promising directions for the future of arts journalism and arts criticism are being presented in front of a live audience and online. You can watch them right here. (If the links on this page don't work, go to http://najp.org/summit/).

The times are approximate, but here's the rough agenda (Friday...

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As my nearest and dearest know, I'm the most annoying person to sit near while trying to read a newspaper. I obviously haven't gotten over my past life as a daily newspaper journalist, because more things irritate me per page than you would think possible.

So, as an experiment, I'm going to start using this blog for some media criticism.  Feel free to let me know what you think, and crit my crits (ooh that sounds kind of naughty) if you like!

This week the Washington Post ran an article...

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*guest blog by Little Clarence*

Experienced writer's companion seeks new home, short- or long-term

My person is off to travel overseas for a while, so I am looking for a temporary cuddle partner and feeder in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dates flexible but approximately Nov 1 - Jan 15. Possibly longer-term if we get along really well (i.e. you do everything I want)!

About me: Grey short-haired mestizo, approximately 5 years old, formerly wild, cleans up well, cross-eyed, pleasantly plump...

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My publisher has kindly agreed to provide a limited number of giveaway books for silent auctions, raffles, and contests benefiting nonprofit organizations. If your nonprofit is holding an event and would like to offer Leaving India as one of the prizes, please email the following to contact@minalhajratwala.com :
- Your name
- Organization name
- Address to which the book should be mailed
- Date of the event (IMPORTANT: We need at least one month in advance, because the books are mailed at the bulk m

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Wednesday Aug 19, 2009 — A gay online news site reported today that an executive of the group that organizes the annual India Day Parade in Manhattan apologized for the exclusion of a gay and lesbian organization from the parade.

Nirav Mehta, executive vice president of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), told a reporter for EDGE that the exclusion of the South Asian Lesbian Gay Association (SALGA) was due to a volunteer's clerical error.

"We apologize," Mehta told the reporter. "There wa

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Photos in this post were taken Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009 by Roopa Singh: www.politicalpoet.wordpress.com

By Minal Hajratwala

Sunday, August 16, 2009– Lesbian and gay Indo-Americans and their allies marched and demonstrated along the route of Manhattan's annual India Day Parade today, with signs reading "Gay Hind," "Indian Gay Proud," and "Shame Shame FIA, Homophobia is so last year."

The demonstrators were protesting the decision by the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) to bar the South Asian Les

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The Federation of Indian Associations has barred the South Asian Lesbian Gay Association from the huge annual India Day Parade in Manhattan, upcoming on Sunday August 16. This is a roundup of community statements and developments on this breaking-news controversy, intended for use by journalists, activists, and interested community members.

What's happening:

The gay lesbian group SALGA and its allies fought a long battle in the 1990s for inclusion in the India Day Parade, which draws more than 50,

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