Desi Manifesto Blog: The Forum for South Asian American Men

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.

This past Thursday, NBC aired an episode of “The Office.” And while that show has slipped so far down the crapper that no creative plunger can retrieve it, I found myself thoroughly pleased. Because of a GE commercial that aired during the show.This advertisement starred Indians, depicted India, and portrayed elements of Indian culture.

And to my complete shock, it didn’t suck. In fact, it was very well executed and showed awareness.

I think I’m getting soft.

So we’re all aware of the typically Hollywood, over-the-top premise of The Love Guru and why it could (should, and probably will) offend Hindus and Indians in general.

We delve into something else: how offended should we feel?

Because in a strange way, The Love Guru might be exactly what we want.

It’s not uncommon for Indians to be the “filler” race in film, TV, and commercials. I’ve seen Indians routinely portray Latinos, Arabs, Persians (or as Hollywood calls them, “terrorists”), and of course, other South Asians. As posted on this site a little while back, even in the real-life legal system, our peeps sub for any race you want.

And by “we,” I mean Indians, and that includes the Scrabulous brothers, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla. We finally got caught ripping off other people’s ideas and using them as our own. And I can say that it’s about time, and I’m not all that sorry to hear it.

Among India’s litany of problems, lack of education is arguably the cornerstone. With education, solutions to most of the other issues could present themselves. That’s why it’s good to see a public service announcement like this. Give yourself a good seven minutes. They may be among the best-spent time of your life…

Thus, the only way to address this was through a running commentary [re this Telugu Condom Song]:

I can confirm for you that the potential disaster of a cultural hodgepodge these white writers (assumption, but I’d bet money) threatened to put together is not only enjoyable at times, but is also tonally uplifting and not a complete cultural massacre. Perhaps more like a back alley stabbing. But with Hollywood nowadays, that’s a boon.