hello cb, <<Maybe it's nothing more profound than that Indians speak very good English, better than Americans, and maybe it's just that Indians are more closely related to Europeans>>
... i am suspicious of any premise that equates language (in the case of indians) and actual skin colour or perceived culture (in the matter of russians) equation as a foundation for strategic alliance or as a base for any other sort of affinity, because the truth does not allow such easy takes on the facts, to wit the attached article, and never mind the additional religious peculiarities and caste singularities not mentioned
it may serve better if one were to discern the reality of family values and moral guidance sort of markers, but that is also not perfect as guide because in any case the usa seems to have lost both, at least in an aggregate sense as sanctioned by the majority of electorates
i mean, would it bother anyone in homeland defense should the gitmo inmates start to commit mass suicides out of utter despair, guilty of nothing more than having a moslem name? probably not. it is exceedingly distressing to see the nation founded on high principles by brilliant men come to what is on fox tv channel. the direction is wrong, and the trend is not uplifting.
just as a counter example, i figure there is more in common between the jews and the chinese than there are between the french and germans, and between the zimbabwan and the trinidadian. perhaps i am imagining.
as to the call centers, a call center business i am affiliated with in the philippines has just wrestled a large us multinational from an indian competitor; we were told the mnc's clients calling in get upset at the accent of the indian service providers ... apparently the accent training is not altogether perfect.
the filipinos, otoh, are excellent at voice modulation, and in fact there are many filipino music bands performing all over the world, include very many 3-star and above hotels in china in secondary and even third tier cities, and the singing is indistinguishable from the original artists, in english, chinese and japanese languages - pretty awesome
any way, onward to watch & brief ...
asia.scmp.com
Thursday, March 9, 2006
Wives shared between husband and brothers
AMRIT DHILLON in New Delhi
It would be reasonable to assume that the shortage of women in northern India might have improved their lot, as an increasing number of men are forced to compete for their hand in marriage.
But instead, the shortage caused by 20 years of aborting female foetuses is prompting men who manage to find a wife to share her with their frustrated brothers.
In Haryana and Punjab, men visit remote, poor rural areas to buy wives whose families cannot afford a dowry.
Tripala Kumari, 18, was brought to Haryana last month from her home hundreds of kilometres away in Bihar by farmer Ajmer Singh.
When she realised that Singh expected her to sleep with his two brothers, Kumari refused and Singh allegedly killed her.
He has been arrested and the Haryana government has set up an inquiry into the practice of fraternal polyandry.
In some villages of Haryana and Punjab, the sex ratio is 500 baby girls for every 1,000 boys.
"I came across one case where five brothers were sharing the same woman," women's activist Subhashini Ali said.
"You'll have one woman being passed around like a sex object."
These arrangements often go wrong. Police in Uttar Pradesh reported last year that they had registered five cases of fratricide - murder among brothers, provoked by sexual jealousy or rivalry.
Fraternal polyandry also raises social issues. When children are born, who has paternity?
And as men scour India for a wife - often one from a different region, who eats, dresses and speaks differently - there is evidence of growing numbers of family conflicts and mistreatment of the outsider.
"These families don't just need a wife to service the sexual needs of the son, they also need someone to do household and farming work so she is actually a bit like a bonded labourer," said Preet Rastogi, junior fellow at the Centre for Women's Development and Studies in New Delhi.
"The neighbours ignore her and the community doesn't accept her."
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