"Not Only In France"

My frog roommate forwarded an email to me with the above caption, in relation to an email going around the company stating that our Bangalore offices are closed. Why would they be closed? Riotiong, of course. And why are people rioting? Religious fundamentalism? Anti-government democracy movement? No, of course not.

An icon of south Indian cinema and star of more than 200 films, Rajkumar, died on Wednesday, sparking widespread violence as distraught fans torched buses and ripped hoardings in the country's hi-tech hub.

Um...

Actors in the southern Indian film industry are often revered with as much intensity as the gods they regularly portray on screen. Many people include icons of their favorite star in their household shrine, alongside portrayals of the more usual Hindu pantheon.

Okay, well this might be the best argument against polytheism that I've heard in a while. Kyle really liked this part:

Rajkumar, sometimes called the John Wayne of the regional Kannada-language film industry, was kidnapped in 2000 along with four members of his family in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu...He spent 108 days in the jungle bordering the two states before police negotiated his release. Veerappan was shot dead in 2004.

These Indians..with their obsession with these crazy filmstars, can they ever join the ranks of the modern, civilized western world? Can they ever become like us?

TOM Cruise yesterday revealed his latest bizarre mission..to eat his new baby's placenta. Cruise vowed he would tuck in straight after girlfriend Katie Holmes gives birth, saying he thought it would be "very nutritious".

(Sigh)...