In the 8 months that InsideDesi has inhabited this side of the Internet (launching in April this year!), we have seen our columnists produce articles of all nature, ranging from the thought provoking, to the funny, and not to miss out the ones highlighting stories of concern. Today we look back at some of my favourite articles of the duration, so read on to see what you may have missed…

InsideDesi interview with Tre Azam (Apprentice)
One of our earliest interviews, Tre brought with him his trademark brand of wit and humour (in reference to his application to the Apprentice he said “A friend said I’d be good at it. I watched one show, saw Syed and thought if he could do it, I can do it. I filled in the application form, where it said what annoys me the most in the world of business, I wrote stupid people, ugly people and fat people. I didn’t even take the interview seriously.”)

Aliya Razaaq’s review of Brick Lane
A poignant review of the Monica Ali film adaptation; Aliya does an excellent job of relaying the core aspects of the film, finally giving it a score out of ten.

Cashing in on the Indian Premier League
At the time it was one of the most talked about topics in and out of South Asia. The IPL managed to commercialise and bring the world’s attention to a game which till then had only been spoken about by the masses during its World Cup cycle.

The Superwoman Complex
Kia Abdullah’s first article for InsideDesi; it talks about Asian women, and what she says is their seeming need to prove themselves to their male counterparts. A very thought provoking read if you haven’t already.

Lady Jalebi goes Speed Dating
How can we have a “Best of” without having a Lady Jalebi article in the mix? With her pursuit high and wide for “The One”, Miss.Jalebi plays her luck at a Speed Dating event. Funny, witty, and a great read!

Shades of Brown
Kia talks about the infighting within South Asians. The second one of her articles in the list. Racism within our own communities exist (it would be almost silly to claim otherwise). The divide between people originating from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is ever present, even in 21^st century Britain.

Where are the darker skinned roles models?
Aliya Rashid asks a very relevant question aimed at the South Asian media industry. Is the singular use of fair models (some not even Asian) within the Asian media space ethical? Is the promotion of skin lighting creams by these publications morally correct? With the skin lightening industry worth £100m in India alone, should we be making a stand against this?

Here come the Indians
The Indians are here to stay! - Not only that, but they’re slowly making their presence known in the Worlds rich lists (and buying huge chunks of British companies, even whole companies, in the process). While you’re reading the article, check out the little war of words in the comments section between Shamik Das (the author) and Tre Azam (The Apprentice) -  it adds a nice touch of humour to the whole thing.

Lost Freshies and Ignorant Desis
Naushad , one of the newest recruits to InsideDesi, writes a ground breaking piece on the friction between British Asian’s and new South Asian Immigrants (aka “Freshies”). The discrimination they face, the segregation they put up with, the ignorant attitudes towards them, Naushad, from first hand experience, breaks down the illogical nature of it all.

What was your favourite InsideDesi article from 2008? Tell us about it in the comments section.

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