Posts Tagged ‘FOB/DBD/IBI/Indian-born’

Desi Dose: Burritos, Brown Men and Weathering the Storm

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Reader P’s story of “the burrito”: P is an Indian guy in his early to mid 20s in LA. Works in a corporate-ish building, though his company is relatively relaxed in dress code.

During lunch break, he grabbed some food to go and made his way back to the office. As he rode the elevator up, bag with food in hand, the door opened and another building worker (different company) entered…

“Well she was a white woman probably in her late 30s. I was coming up from the parking garage and the door opened on the ground floor, I was about to step off but then I stopped and realized it was the wrong floor. She got on the elevator, looked at me and smiled, then said: “Let me guess, you’re delivering a burrito?”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brown in North America, Comedy, Coolie Files, Culture Shocks, Desi Dose, Diaspora, Entertainment | 16 Comments »

Garage Uncle and Me

Tuesday, February 19th, 2008

I think somewhere in my brain, an older Indian national represents India herself. Like my parents, someone like him is the closest I have to the motherland, and by extension, the history and the culture. Except, Garage Uncle is not required to like me.

Tags:
Posted in Best of Desi Manifesto Blog, Brown in North America, Comedy, Identity, InterDesi Issues | 4 Comments »

Resolutions for 2008

Tuesday, January 1st, 2008

As it’s a new year (well, not if you follow the Hindu Calendar), I figured it would be appropriate to draw up some resolutions for myself and desi fellows in general… Much like the electric rickshaw to the right, it’s all about modifying what works and dropping those things that pollute you. Or something more clever than that.

I resolve…

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Brown in North America, Comedy, Culture Shocks, Dating and Mating, Entertainment, Ethnic Rage, Identity, InterDesi Issues, Who We Are, Xenophobia | No Comments »

“The Invisible Person”: A short story

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

No one here talked to urchins on the street – he was supposed to be invisible. I told him to wait - I would give him breakfast - he looked at me with skepticism. One member of the household asked me what on earth I was doing - I had to shoo that person away. Another female member of the household told me I should not give away food “to these street people” - they would then form a habit of coming to the door daily. The servant looked at me and said she would take breakfast out to him as soon as it was ready; in the meantime, he had started to walk away, not believing me.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Best of Desi Manifesto Blog, Fiction, InterDesi Issues, Motherlands, Who We Are | 7 Comments »