Desi Writing of the Giddy Sort

Check out Anokhi a flippantly south asian version of Vanity Fair/Cosmo. Do it eventhough the current edition places the words “Does Not Have” in front of the word much beloved of glossies-- “SEX” --making for an unwittingly ethnic-ironic headline.

And also, Virgin Comics --an unholy alliance of the multinational maverick, Richard Branson, and Deepak Chopra, my favorite Desi proponent of mucho mumbo-jumbo including intelligent design. Virgin Comics offers Indian themed--er… ummm... rather “Hindu” themed--comics with titles like Ramayan Reborn, Devi, and Sadhu. Despite my misgivings about the fundie potential of the subject matter, i have to say the artwork looks amazing.

Not entirely edifying news. True. However, it does signal a deeper Desi engagement with alternatives to traditional publishing--publishing that actually has the likelihood of commercial success unlike literary publishing that looks for recognition via big businesses with the big bucks.