Desi Manifesto Blog: The Forum for South Asian American Men

NOW who’s the exotic one? Seriously, I’m asking.

[Blogger: S.I.] A real post is coming soon. A tumultuous time in life as the roommate search continues… THAT will be a post. Until then, sate the hunger with these morsels:

* Adriana Lima in GQ. Less-than-fully-clothed photos. And a world famous photographer who may or may not have Indian roots, though he grew up Dutch and now lives in NYC. Vinoodh Matadin, who partners in photography and life with his wife Inez van Lamsweerde, is one of the most sought after photogs in the world. But I can’t find anything confirming or denying the desi in him. Not even his looks give it away. Oh well, it was enough of a connection for me to list this. Take some vicarious pride.

* The Press Enterprise, a local paper for the LA exburbs, reviews an Indian grocery store. The reviewer makes sure to envelop the store in curious but good-natured exoticism. Once you see his picture, it all makes sense. And if you want a laugh, Santosh of Uber Desi writes a curious and good-natured review of the review itself.

* Props to blog Stuff Indians Like for this music video, well worth watching. And not just because I hate Macs as well.

* If you like tennis, Ravi Ubha is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com’s tennis section (Ravi’s archive). Is he good? Can’t promise that, I’m not a good judge of tennis writers. Same goes for Tennis.com blogger Kamakshi Tandon (also on ESPN.com).

* A Desi American-specific spelling bee. Was there really a need for this? The Scripps Spelling Bee essentially became one when they got down to the finalists. Impressive, however, are the big name sponsors, including State Farm. And props for the bee itself being brown. Not quite a mud wasp, but it’ll do.

I’m more interested in how they vet the judges. I feel they should have to go through a spelling bee of their own, where winning words are the desi contestants’ last names. I’d find it far more enjoyable, anyway. [Thanks SAJA Forum]

* BBC South Asia with a write up on Auroville, an odd ‘utopia’ within South India, almost like a government-subsidized European Raj, at worst.

* This is one of the many stories I hope outsiders don’t think typify India. Devout Hindu saar, I hope you have something under that dhoti. Boxers or briefs? Just say “yes.”

* An interesting read to which I’m sure many of us can relate, Diversity Inc. put out an article entitled “7 Things NEVER to Say to Asian-American Executives.” I would go so far as to say that you don’t have to be an executive to feel the sting, though this mag is aimed at high ranking suits it seems. More on this below… [Thanks Angry Asian Man]

* The article quotes many East Asian Americans as well as Indian Americans. The last section reads as such:

“You’re not Asian, you’re from India.”

For the record “Asian American” is a general term for Asians and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) living in the United States. According to U.S. Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders refer to people who can trace their original background to the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands, including Native Hawaiians.

Gupta adds that the Asian-American community needs to come together under its common cultural traits. “We Asian Americans need to figure out how to substitute the individual configurations for the overall Asian-American culture,” says Gupta.

Why? Because many believe that Asian Americans are too disparate as a group for marketing efforts.

“At IBM, I attended an Asian industry conference about two years ago. A senior leader said it’s too hard to do anything with Asian Americans because they’re not one homogenous [sic] culture,” Gupta recalls hearing. “My response was that our culture may not be one but our values are the same, so let’s focus on the community’s values rather than the different cultures.”

How do you feel about this? Personally, I’ve always felt (and gotten the vibe from East Asians and East Asian Americans) that Indians and Asians are indeed two separate groups. The concept of Asia is just what white people drew on a map as “East of Where White People Live”-land, and I don’t feel like abiding by their construct. Beyond our basic looks, our cultures, while vaguely similar, are still quite different, as are the religions and lifestyles. I find India and its immediate South Asian neighbors to be far more similar than India is to China and certainly Hawaii. But I’m sure this will be hotly contested.

Well, go ahead and contest, I’d like to hear your thoughts.

I feel a full post coming on.

Pic from Siliconeer June 2004.