Desicritics.org – English-Language Online Magazine Focused on South Asian News, Culture, and Reviews – Launched This Week

This week marked the launch of Desicritics.org (http://desicritics.org), a new English-language online magazine and community in which South Asian bloggers, writers from the Diaspora, and those with a passion for South Asian news, commentary, reviews, and interviews come together on a global platform in which writers and readers alike can interact, inform, discuss, hash out new ideas, and make purchases.

Desicritics come from all parts of the globe – from Carrollton, Texas to Calcutta, India – with the mission of providing readers with high quality news, opinions, and reviews enmeshed with the funky, eclectic, and personality-driven flavor of the blogosphere, all in one Desi-riffic package!

The colloquial term for people from South Asia is "desi." This has rich connotations and familiarity for South Asians. In an article about the South Asian party scene in the Big Apple, New York Times reporter Somini Sengupta described the word as a "Hindi version of homeboy or homegirl" (NYT, 6/30/96: "To Be Young, Indian and Hip").

The wave of globalization has increased the visibility and importance of regions like South Asia, but at the same time the cultural milieu is poorly understood globally and the facts on the ground remain abstract for many. Thus, the insight into the South Asian dynamic afforded by Desicritics.org will be of vital interest across the planet.

Desicritics.org covers media, popular culture, politics, sports and much more with a South Asian focus. A full-featured RSS 2.0 feed provides on demand access to a steady flow of news and information on South Asia. More than 100 noted South Asian bloggers and writers from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Diaspora in the United States, United Kingdom, and elsewhere have already signed on.

Desicritics.org Launches With Compelling Stories From All Star Desi Writers

* Sakshi Juneja, from Mumbai, interviews Indian actor Kay Kay Menon, who opines on his outsider status in Bollywood and cinema as a collective art form.
http://desicritics.org/2006/01/25/210503.php

* Teeth Maestro finds peace and friendship across the Indo-Pak divide via blogging and dinner in Karachi, Pakistan.
http://desicritics.org/2006/01/29/094819.php

* Addabaj explores the winds of change blowing through South Asia. Hailing the power of the Internet and just launched Desicritics.org to bring people together he writes:

"It is really the beginning of the end of the digital divide."
http://desicritics.org/2006/01/26/004404.php

* Reformist Muslim from Pakistan writes on the continuing normalization of Indo-Pak relations.
http://desicritics.org/2006/01/26/000243.php

* Satya reports on Mittal Steel's hostile takeover bid for Arcelor, the European steel giant.
http://desicritics.org/2006/01/28/201925.php

People Are Already Feeling the Desicritics.org Buzz!

Dancing With Dogs writes that Desicritics.org "…is a fun little place to celebrate and comment on all things South Asian!"

Comfortably Numb: "On January 26th, the Indian blogosphere made its most concerted effort yet at bringing together the opinions that matter. Desipundit was a great effort, but it just cannot keep up with the pace. It needed a more regulated effort. I think Desicritics fills that void."

chapatti mystery: "It should be duly noted that Desicritics has launched with the power of a thousand suns."

Vulturo: "Desicritics will be powered by team of superior bloggers from around the world, mainly those residing in India or belong to the international Indian Diaspora."

Desicritics.org is a new addition to the Blogcritics.org (http://blogcritics.org) network of websites and is published by longtime Blogcritics.org editor Aaman Lamba.

For press inquiries, requests for interviews, sales and advertising information, please contact:

Aaman Lamba
Desicritics.org Publisher
937.684.4431
aamanlamba@gmail.com

Eric Berlin
Desicritics.org Executive Producer
626.372.0778
dumpsterbust@gmail.com

Craig Lyndall
Blogcritics.org Sales and Advertising
440.666.1087
clyndall@filteringcraig.com