Sepia Mutiny
 | |
Type of site | News |
|---|---|
| Owner | Abhi Tripathi |
| Created by | Group Blog |
| Revenue | Not for profit |
| URL | http://sepiamutiny.com |
| Registration | Optional |
Sepia Mutiny is a prolific blog and discussion forum, initially conceived by a group of South Asian American students and young professionals in August of 2004. The site has had an exponential growth rate and according to its FAQ, as of May of 2007 had amassed over five million readers since its inception.[1] The majority of the editorials on the site are authored by its main roster of bloggers — Amardeep Singh, Anna John, Siddhartha Mitter, Abhi and Ennis. The current site administrators are Kunjan Shah and Paul Singh and the domain is owned by Abhi. In addition to the major contributors, the site also functions as an essentially open forum and boasts a wide range of contributing members hailing from diverse geographic locations, although predominantly the United States and England.
The title is a direct pun on the Sepoy Mutiny, or First War of Indian Independence in 1857, a violent widespread movement by sepoys against the British Raj during the latter's imperialist rule in India. Sepia is a shade of brown tinged with red, ostensibly a tongue-in-cheek reference to the tone of South Asian skin.[1] [2] This title is a trope similar to the one used by the blog Chapati Mystery.
Social context
Sepia Mutiny discusses issues facing first and second generation immigrants from the Indian subcontinent. The goal of the site is to in effect capture the position of the South Asian American diaspora as it emigrates to foreign nations and primarily North America.[1][3]. Sepia Mutiny's has become a focal point of discussion for Desis on the Internet in the United States and, to some extent, other parts of the South Asian diaspora. [4]
Sepia Mutiny's emergence is part of the increase in mainstream diasporic Desi writing and creative arts outside the traditional genres — an expansion that is occurring not only in America, Canada, and the United Kingdom, but also on the Indian subcontinent itself. This rapidly evolving trend can also be seen with sites like Badmash, an online comic that gained notice for its Amitabh for President campaign, South Asian magazines such as Nirali, as well as the greater prominence of Bollywood films in the United States, as can be seen by crossovers such as Bride and Prejudice, Bollywood/Hollywood and Monsoon Wedding. The blog also addresses the growing prominence of South Asian Americans like Bobby Jindal, Russell Peters, Sanjay Gupta and Kal Penn, among others, as they enter the mainstream of Western culture.
South Asians and American politics
Part of the focus of Sepia Mutiny is to bring attention to the expanding involvement of South Asian Americans as a political body in the United States, perhaps most notably in the recent 2004 and 2006 congressional and presidential elections. Much attention was given to the controversy surrounding MacacaGate, a scandal that erupted due to comments by former Republican Senator for Virginia, George Allen, in which he used the ethnic slur macaca to refer to S.R. Sidarth, an Indian American aide working for his opponent's Senatorial campaign. Sepia Mutiny also drew attention to other public figures in America who have used racial slurs against Indians in the past, including major radio personalities in Philadelphia and New York.
The contributors at Sepia Mutiny are also acutely aware of current trends in the Western political system, for example with articles focusing on the emergence of South Asians in the Western political structure. The site serves as fertile ground for discussion regarding the actions of these politicians in the Western world, ranging from Bobby Jindal to Nimrata Randhawa-Haley to Shahid Malik.
Violence against South Asians
A second major focus of the site has been to highlight violence abroad against South Asians — a phenomenon which unfortunately has become more common since the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center.[5] The site, however, broadens its awareness of violence beyond simple hate crimes. For example, Sepia Mutiny responded to the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech with editorials about South Asian shooting victims Professor G. V. Loganathan and student Minal "Minu" Panchal. They also were one of the few media sources that addressed the recent assault of a young Indian American National Lawyer's Guild observer Sanjukta Paul during the Los Angeles May Day Mêlée at MacArthur Park by a member of the Los Angeles Police Department.[6] [7]
South Asian literature, music, and the arts
In the spring and summer of 2006, a number of Sepia Mutiny posts debated the allegations of plagiarism in Kaavya Viswanathan's novel, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life. Posts related to Kaavya Viswanathan were widely cited by other blogs and the mass-media, including the New York Times and Washington Post. The site has also highlighted South Asian authors that have come to attention in the United States and abroad in a more positive light, including Booker Prize winners Salman Rushdie and Kiran Desai and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Jhumpa Lahiri.
There is considerable discussion about South Asians in the music industry, ranging from recent Bollywood soundtracks to mainstream Western musicians, such as recent American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar. The site also provides coverage of the long history in the music industry of fusing Eastern and Western styles of music, as can be seen through the work of artists like Panjabi MC, Raghav, and Talvin Singh, and unique new niche genres such as Desi Ska and Hindu Rock.[8]
The blog also highlights Indian American film and television, including discussion and reviews of mainstream releases to Western audiences like Harold and Kumar, Salaam Bombay, and the Elements Trilogy, as well as lesser known work such as the cult-classic American Desi.
South Asian Americans and the Indian subcontinent
In addition to being aware of issues faced by South Asians outside of India, Sepia Mutiny is also cognizant of current events within the subcontinent as well. Many posts and forums exist to discuss current events in India, including controversial topics such as terrorism, communal tensions, AIDS, and even the rapid evolution of the Bollywood film industry. Sepia Mutiny's comprehensive international awareness serves to highlight that the changing South Asian culture in the Western world is often mirrored by reciprocal evolution on the Indian subcontinent itself.
References
- ^ a b c Sepia Mutiny FAQ.
- ^ Petition Online. Bring Sepia Mutiny Back. 2005. October 16, 2006. <http://www.petitiononline.com/sepia/petition.html>.
- ^ India Network Foundation Incorporated (2000). Asian Indian Population in Metropolitan Areas in the US.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Ahmed, Tanzila (September 9, 2006). Alternet Mix the Message.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ http://www.asata.org/issue/hateviolence/content
- ^ http://accidentalblogger.typepad.com/accidental_blogger/2007/05/may_day_up_clos.html
- ^ Leslie Radford. Police Terror in the Park.
- ^ Amardeep Singh (May 30, 2006). "Going Multi-tone: Desi Ska Music".
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