Introduction
Another Subcontinent is a non-profit entity that seeks to foster an interactive understanding of South Asian society and culture. The heart and soul of Another Subcontinent is its community--which can be accessed via the forum links on the left (we invite you to read the membership agreement and join the community). In addition to the dynamic, daily exchange on the forums Another Subcontinent also features on this website original work by our community members and others. We hope to bring a new feature online every two to three weeks, archiving older features in the relevant sections as we go. Guidelines for submissions, as well as those governing the display of original content on this website are available on the "submissions" page.
We hope you will enjoy our features and visit our forums to discuss them or other issues of interest to you.
The People Behind the Scenes
Another Subcontinent is run by a loose collective of individuals (not all of whom like being referred to as part of a loose collective) who are most easily located and contacted on the forums.
Founding Members (responsible for overall site direction and forum administration):
Arnab Chakladar (arnab on the forums), the founder of Another Subcontinent, is an assistant professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Arnab is an avid cook and a huge fan of Bombay cinema from the 50s through the 70s. An airforce child, he grew up all over India, spending his last 5 years there in New Delhi. Though he calls himself a Delhi-ite, the city he has spent the most time in is Los Angeles, where he spent 10 overlapping years in graduate school and the internet industry.
Ajit Sanzgiri (ajit) works in the high tech industry in Northern California. Among his favourite things are: double short lattes at Starbuck's, Seinfeld, fitted sheets, books written by Matt Ridley, the skyline boulevard when it is foggy, the song "agar main poochhoon jawab dogay", the campus bookstore at Stanford University, Manisha Koirala and pho containing fatty brisket.
Susan Chacko (Susan) is a scientist who reads to escape all the other things she should be doing. She's been involved with Sawnet (South Asian Women's NETwork) since '91. She lives in DC and likes open spaces, crowded city cafes, used bookstores, and most vertebrates.
Poorvi (poorvi) is a techie and likes coffee, black figs, dark chocolate, sparkling water, road cycling, books by Amin Maalouf and Arturo Perez-Reverte, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's qawwalli, and old Jaya Bhaduri movies. She would like to be able to sing, but, unfortunately, cannot to save her life.
Moazzam Sheikh (moazzam) is a librarian by profession and coffee drinker by instinct but avoids chain stores. In his spare time, he reads, which can be while he is at work and being paid. "If you are in San Francisco for a short vacation, do drop by for a conversation, mostly about me. "
Forum Moderators (responsible for nurturing and optimizing the community experience for all members):
CJ (seajay), the moderator of the literature forums, is the proverbial master of none of the many trades she has plied over the years -- which include everything from interludes of waiting tables to work among the chattering classes in the worlds of art and publishing -- and more! Currently residing in the US Pacific Northwest, she is a serially obsessed book-a-holic, bead-a-holic, and foodie -- with childhood and marital ties to the subcontinent that keep her gaze wandering ever in that direction.
Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal (Rushina), who co-moderates the food forums, actually trained as an animator. At present she juggles motherhood, and writting. She earns her daily bread by letting her creativity loose with her small candlemaking business. She is working on a book on the evolution of the cuisine of the Garhwal region. She loves to read and gravitates toward historical subjects. Her culinary interests also lean toward the history and evolution of food. Her food of choice is Chinese (Indian Chinese) and she could survive 300 days a year on soup alone with no complaints. The other 65 she would supplement her diet with pickles and chutneys. In her life she aspires to make an animation movie, write a book, write a thesis on the hot and sour soup, learn Italian and taste a truffle. Rushina is based in Bombay/Mumbai.
Roshna (roshna) moderates the art forums. When she is not driving her kids about to sports activities or music lessons, Roshna likes to play tennis, read, and lose herself in museums. She loves to travel with her husband and is a sucker for Italian opera. Born in Bombay, Roshna lives in the Washington DC area, after making residential/academic stops in Boston, Paris, and Philadelphia.
Shanta (shanta), who co-moderates the food forums, is an architect turned software engineer who is juggling motherhood and work in the Silicon Valley. She learned to cook around the same time she changed her career and is still learning. She collects cookbooks, craft books and anything that interests her. In her spare time she enjoys keeping herself busy with crocheting, knitting, tatting, watercolor and oil painting, photography, reading, etc., and of course, trying new recipes and tips from ASers! Shanta is the co-moderator of the food forums.
Shahpar Selim (shahpar) moderates the cultural identity forum. She was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh and went to convent school in Dhaka and a boarding school in Jaipur. She is now atoning for her sins in London, by doing her Doctorate in Environmental Policy. When she is not fiddling with her iPod, she likes to read, gym, go dancing, drink tea, check email and sleep. She is into Ghalib, Tagore, Seth, Neruda, kureishi, the Rolling Stones, strappy heels, linen skirts, peach roses and fresh towels. Hates chopping onions, among other things.
Lekha Nair (lekha) lives in Bangalore. She works in the BPO industry in her spare time. Otherwise she is involved in nostalgia and neuralgia. She loves children and does not make faces at them in cars. However she does wave to people from trains. Her favourite song is "main dil hoon ik armaan bhara". Lekha moderates the music forums.
Pradnya (loislane) is a software engineer by profession who has worked in California, Europe and India. She likes mountain hiking, shorelines, fresh breads, most cheeses, and enjoys cooking for family and friends. She also likes to travel and has a long list of places that she would like to visit. She currently lives in Northern California. Pradnya moderates the film and tv forums.
Prachi (frangipani) lives and works in Northern California. When she is not being driven crazy by poorly written student essays, she is trying to deal with the horrors of cooking on an electric stove in her new flat. She dislikes exercise and Mukesh, but loves Hindustani music, travel, knitting, and British mysteries. Prachi moderates the gender and sexual identity forum.
Karthik (twwc) grew up in Bombay and now lives on the east coast of the US. Like all good Indian boys, he is an engineer and leads an uncomplicated life. He loves the outdoors (especially the beach), smacking tennis balls, reading by the pool, hops and Govinda. Karthik co-moderates the cultural identity forum.
About this Website
This website is built by hand by Arnab Chakladar, who is not exactly a professional web-designer. It assumes a minimum screen resolution of 800x600 (though it is viewed to best effect at 1024x768); we have tried to limit javascript and css abuse but we assume that viewers are using newer standards-compliant browsers that can display this code (essentially Netscape and IE 5 and higher, and any flavor of Mozilla, Firefox or Safari). We have tested the site on as many browsers as we could but doubtless there are still things that are broken. If you find any bugs or errors please click on the "contact" link on the left and let us know. If you are a professional web-designer who would not be opposed to doing some pro-bono work also let us know.
