India’s Sticks and Dance Festival in Modern Times

by Abha Malpani on

In India, the concept of BYOB (bring-your-own-beer) is unheard of, but BYO Sticks is commonplace. I can’t believe I’ve called one of India’s most fun and celebrated festivals one of ‘Sticks and Dance,’ but truth be told, that’s exactly what it is.

During these nine-nights of Navratri (this year 12-20 October — depending in the moon), huge tents are set up throughout the country and people get together to dance ‘dandiya’ (dance with sticks). If you have watched any Bollywood films and wondered if we dance like that in India, the answer is yes — in weddings and in this festival.

As with most Hindu festivals, hundreds and thousands of people go to pray on the occasions; stampedes happen and people die, (in a country of over a billion, these things are unfortunately commonplace) but in general they are happy celebrations. People get together in traditional outfits or fused-modern ones, and as long as you have two foot-size wooden sticks and are willing to hit other peoples foot-size wooden sticks to the beat of drums, you are more than welcome.

This festival is probably India’s most joyous; attendance levels at work and educational institutions are low and political campaigns take a step back as they know people are too busy hitting each others sticks till the wee hours of the morning; except in Mumbai perhaps where open air fiesta has to shut at midnight. I laughed out loud when I read that in Mumbai, dancing is only permitted until midnight because of the noise levels, but dandiya venues managed to overcome that problem by offering guests headphones to wear while they dance!

Great time to visit India if you want enjoy rocking to Indian music and want to experience the cultural partying scene of the Indian youth.

Local Bloggers Revealing Country Secrets

by Abha Malpani on

The political situation of many countries doesn’t allow much freedom of press; what gets printed is thoroughly watch-dogged. That’s kind of messed-up when you realize that the media is the one thing that keeps us connected and informed about the rest of the world.

I remember when I lived in Dubai, I saw journalists fearing to write about anything outside the standard protocol of the publication. I would get bored senseless reading the local publications and as a budding writer, would get itchy palms when some meaty news would come to me through the grapevine, that of course, would never see the day of light. Until we started blogging!

I think blogging has taken to new levels our insight into otherwise forbidden cultural information of cities. Secret Dubai Diary, UAE Prison blog (blocked in Dubai) and Neurotic Iraqi Wife, are some blogs I read for raw insight into lives of people and culture in these countries. Others such as Sex and Dubai and controversial Beijing blog of Zhao Jing have unfortunately now been shut down.

There was great story in the IHT recently about underground bloggers in Havana who are screaming out to let people know the realities of life in Castro’s city.

My only contribution to the free press cause is being part of Global Voices and Reporters Without Borders. Both blogs are fighting for freedom of press and doing their best to provide untainted feeds and news from around the world.

It takes solid guts to blog on the edge, as it could result in imprisonment and/or deportation. I don’t know if I’d have the balls.

Big in Japan: What Exactly is Wasabi?

by Matthew Firestone on

Did you ever wonder what exactly that green stuff is that you smear on your sushi?

I mean, we all know that wasabi (わさび, 山葵) burns like a hell-spawned wildfire, and clears the sinuses with a fiery vengeance. But, where does it actually come from, and how can something so seemingly innocent be so unbelievably potent?

For starters, the best wasabi comes from Japan (no surprise there), most notably the Izu peninsula in Shizuoka prefecture. Much like American horseradish, wasabi plants grow naturally in stream beds, particularly where there is clean water that is free of impurities.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of smearing just a tad too much of the stuff on your tuna roll, wasabi is a nasal irritant that is more comparable to hot mustard than it is to chili pepper. That wonderful little chemical that can have you rolling your head on the sushi bar is called an isothiocyanate, which coincidentally inhibits microbe growth.

Although there’s no denying that wasabi brings out the flavors of sushi, it may have been traditionally added to raw fish in order to prevent it from spoiling.

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Needless to say, you shouldn’t eat raw fish unless you’re absolutely confident in the quality of the fish. Just because sushi makes an appearance at an all you can eat buffet doesn’t necessarily mean that you should eat all you can!

Interestingly enough, most Americans have never actually eaten real wasabi as the stuff sold stateside is usually squeezed out of a tube. In fact, this stuff actually doesn’t even contain any real wasabi, and is usually nothing more than horseradish, mustard seed, and green food coloring.

Real wasabi, which I can assure you has no equal substitute, is sold in Japan in the form of a root.

Before it can be used, the wasabi plant is grated on a metal oroshigane (卸し金), which is a special kind of grater used solely for wasabi. Traditionally of course, the best graters were made of shark skin, and today upmarket sushi restaurants in Tokyo still grate wasabi according to this method.

(By the way, the lovely lady in the picture to the right is my dear mother, who is clearly showing her prowess at grating wasabi. Of course, not that she would ever touch the stuff, or sushi for that matter, but you can’t deny that she has good technique).

Once the wasabi paste is prepared, it should remain covered until served in order to protect the flavor from evaporation. In case you were wondering, this is the actual reason why sushi chefs always put the wasabi between the fish and the rice.

Well, I hope this little lecture on wasabi has been informative. Now that you know exactly what wasabi is, go ahead and impress your friends with some wasabi trivia the next time you’re sitting at a sushi bar.

But seriously – go easy on the stuff – it really does pack a serious punch!

Big in Japan: Sony Reveals the World’s Thinnest TV

by Matthew Firestone on

Anyone who has ever been to Japan can tell you that this country has the most amazing televisions in the world. For years now, ultra-thin plasma TVs and high-definition broadcasting has been the standard, and with each new year it seems as if the best is yet to come.

Truth be told however, you haven’t seen anything quite like this yet…

Earlier this week, Sony announced that in December, they will release their ultra-thin Organic LED TV, a new generation television with a thickness of just 0.12 inches or three millimeters.

Yes, you read that correctly – Sony’s new TV screen will be about as thick as a few sheets of paper stacked together!!

Sony’s new technology is based on organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, which will most likely transform the realm of electronics in the years to come.

An organic light-emitting diode is any light-emitting diode (LED) whose emissive electroluminescent layer is comprised of a film of organic compounds. These compounds are deposited in rows and columns onto a flat carrier by a simple printing process, and the resulting matrix of pixels can emit light of different colors.

In the case of TVs, OLEDs are self-luminescent and do not require a backlight. As a result, a screen sandwiching a very thin layer of organic material between two plates uses less power and offers brighter images and wider viewing angles than liquid crystal display panels.

All of this translates directly into the thinnest TV screen you could possibly imagine.

In December, Sony’s flagship Organic LED TV, dubbed the XEL-1, will be 9.9 inches (25.1 centimeters) wide and 5.6 inches tall (14.1 centimeters).

It will also have a hefty price tag of over 200,000 yen or US$1,740.

In an official statement to the press, a company spokesperson stated: “Going forward, Sony will progressively develop its OLED TV business alongside its existing line of ‘BRAVIA’ televisions.”

Currently, the BRAVIA flat-screen televisions are some of the most successful flat-screen TVs on the market, especially since Sony is expected to unveil the world’s largest flat screen TV in the months to come.

Although the flagship OLED TV will be modest in size compared to the huge TVs currently overwhelming the market, it’s hard to deny the coolness factor of the XEL-1.

Imagine a TV so thin that it virtually disappears when you view it from the side – amazing.

Of course, it’s only a matter of time before OLED technology improves to the point where the same technology could be applied to big screen TVs as well. Consider for a moment the possibility of a wall-sized TV so thin, that it could literally be hung as if it was a large tapestry.

The applications of OLED technology are, needless to say, endless. Currently, there are plans to use OLEDs in everything from computer displays and portable system screens to advertising billboards and car navigation systems. They can even be used for general space illumination, and may one day transform the way we light our interiors.

The future is indeed looking brighter.

Photo of the Day (10/15/07)

by Iva Skoch on

If this photo doesn’t brighten your day, there is no hope for you my friend! Wow, this is a truly spectacular sight. Lovely colors. Taken on Friday in Korea, by ladyexpat.

***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr site and post it.***