In case you missed it, MTV launched its newest offspring the other day:
MTV Desi [press release]
From my Bombay-entrenched perspective, I'm surprised that it's taken so long to put together the channel. Why not just beam MTV India into homes? Well, other than the fact that the VJs here go in and out of Hindi and English (Hinglish) so quickly and with so much slang, you can't wait for the next video/movie ad to come on. The other problem is that most of the "videos" that are played here are basically musical snippets from up-and-coming Hindi films, many of whch will take a while to reach the DVD stores in Jackson Heights and elsewhere. At least MTV India plays music - I don't think regular MTV has played a video in about 10 years.

I've made some really cool Bollywood/Indi Pop mixes for some of my friends back home that I'll get in the mail one of these days. In the meantime, if you've got DirecTV and money to burn, take a look at MTV Desi. Alternately, here are links to some artists currently on my headphones. Yes, try as I might to avoid it, I have succumbed to the desi dance ishtyle!

Bombay Rockers | M.I.A. | Rishi Rish Project

Thievery Corporation
(The band's Indra [iPod download]
is the theme music for MTV India)