I'm a cultural anthropologist, and I'm generally interested in all topics relating to society and politics in South Asia. My research focuses on human rights, peace and justice, and post-conflict reconstruction in Kashmir.
John Edwards, Arundhati Roy, Frantz Fanon
M.I.A., Lucinda Williams, Kathleen Edwards, Falu, Zerobridge, Bohemia, Sabri Brothers, Panjabi MC, Archers of Loaf, Crooked Fingers, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, White Stripes, Arcade Fire, Manu Chao, The Clash, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Talvin Singh, Ryan Adams, Richard Buckner, Billy Bragg, Spoon, Cornershop, Wilco, Calexico, Bally Sagoo, Todd Snider, The Velvet Underground, The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan
Bollywood, Baby!
I like South Asian movies: Lagaan, Rang de Basanti, Shabana Azmi movies (Arth, etc), Mirch Masala, Anand Patwardhan's documentaries, Veer Zaara, Deepa Mehta, The Terrorist, Monsoon Wedding, Dil Se, Munnabhai series, and everything by Satyajit Ray, especially The Chess Players, and lots more. I have a weakness for 1970s Bollywood films like Sholay, Don, Deewaar, Zanjeer, Trishul, Great Gambler, Sharaabi, Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Do Anjaane, Amar Akbar Anthony... anything with Big B.Other favorite movies not from South Asia: Don't Look Back, Contempt, 8 1/2, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Fire Walk With Me, The Battle of Algiers, The Graduate, Blowup, Land without Bread (surrealistic anthropology!), Rear Window ... I saw Reservoir Dogs a few days ago and it blew me away, all over again.
My Favorite: A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam.
I've recently read The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, A Life Less Ordinary by Baby Halder, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie, Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, Londonstani by Gautam Malkani, Beasts of No Nation by Uzodinma Iweala, The Wonder House by Justine Hardy, Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid, The War Works Hard by Dunya Mikhail, and Beyond Bollywood by Jigna Desai.
My all time favorites include The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh, Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr., Hell's Angels by Hunter S Thompson, Maximum City by Suketu Mehta, Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, Cities of the Red Night by William Burroughs, The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, Midnight's Children and The Moors Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Another favorite is The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire by Tom Zoellner.