The C-word
January 22nd, 2008
[Blogger: S.I.] Put the kids to bed. It’s time to talk about a word that instantly offends. Divides those who use it from those who don’t. Tells you all you need to know about someone the second it’s uttered. And you’ll see why this photo to the right matters if you keep reading.
The C-word.
I’m talking curry.
The other day, by the time I retrieved my Indian food from the office microwave, the scent had caressed every nook of the hall and nearby offices. As usual, heavy scrutiny surrounded me as I opened the appliance door. People wondered, for better or worse, who had the gall to nuke such a pungent dish within smelling distance.
I used to feel some reservation about bringing the desi food to work. I didn’t want to step on the noses of those with “sensitive nasal passages and a choosier palate.” The people, who coincidentally happened to be lighter skinned, never said anything outright of course. But I foresaw the future:
Food is in microwave. Employees nearby sniff the air. Noses crinkle.
Female co-worker: “Ewww, what is that?”
Male co-worker: “That stinks.”
Microwave BEEPS. Food ready.
Female: “Everyone has to use this microwave. I wish people would just bring in food that’s norm–”
Indian male walks to microwave. Conversation dies as co-workers’ eyes fill with shock. Who else were they expecting? The awkward moment seizes the room.
Female (fumbling): “…Have you ever been to Panda Express? I love exotic food.”
Eventually, the cheapness won out. It’s just more affordable to buy Indo food in bulk and microwave it than it is to buy sandwich ingredients and waste time assembling it. Besides, I’m taking their olfactory senses halfway around the world for five minutes at a time, on “high” power.
Actually, I’ve been pretty lucky here. Colleagues have a genuine interest in other cultures and food, so most of the time, people comment on how wonderful my food smells, or they ask what kind of food it is. After seeing me, others make the hop of faith and ask if it’s Indian food. And, unsurprisingly, the resident hefty gourmand can identify many of my dishes by sight alone, her eagerness unparalleled.
But my rose-colored glasses shattered yesterday. As I removed my lunch from the microwave, another co-worker approached me, inhaling the aroma deeply. I awaited another compliment. Instead, I got, “Is that your curry?”
My face contorted in disgust. I looked away, opting to concentrate on stirring my food in concentric circles. My lips pursed as I held my tongue. I could have delivered a verbal lashing. I could have gone didactic on her. Because technically, no, it wasn’t my curry. It was my channa. Rather, I went for “Yeah, it’s my Indian food,” followed by a hasty exit to my desk.
Why did her comment turn me off? She didn’t mean it in a negative sense, and she was admiring the food. So why the visceral reaction? A few hours later, it hit me: “curry” is the n-word of Indian food.
No, of course it’s not even close to hurling racial epithets at people. But it does the same thing, makes me feel the same way about our cuisine as when someone gets racist with me. “Curry” simplifies us. Or the food anyway. It’s a term from outsiders who didn’t know what our food was and didn’t care enough to learn the distinctions between the dishes. Mixed with the colonialism from whence it came, it just reduces our food to some kind of liquid sideshow, some perversely spicy jungle attraction that’s all the same and is indistinguishable. And it’s such a broad term, it’s like saying that it’s not important enough to learn any more about the subject. That would be like me following a white person to the microwave, waiting for him to pull out his lunch, then saying, “Is that your meatloaf?” no matter what he had.
Maybe I should have edified her about the edibles in my bowl. I mean, it was solid chick peas, does that look quite so stereotypical? Is that a liquid based dish? Clearly she was misguided. But at least I had a potentially receptive ear there, and I didn’t take advantage of it. Maybe next time.
For now at least, I prefer enjoying my curry alone.
Tags: Assimilation Issues, Co-workers, Food, Indopedia
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January 22nd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
hilarious because it’s true, maybe i’ll call everything meatloaf
January 23rd, 2008 at 5:16 am
dont you think you are overreactin a bit? she didnt mean any harm. if you get to into your racial views youll be a bigot or something.
January 23rd, 2008 at 1:41 pm
This just happened to me the other day, its prolly worse in the U.K.
February 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pm
perfectly encapsulates how I think white people see our culture on the whole. this is how I’ve felt my whole life.
February 8th, 2008 at 5:45 am
oh.. having a similar argument on my blog abt the brit idea of ‘welcome packs’. funny how everything is curry but they dont mind making the effort to learn about 5 types of yoga and know everything abt the kamasutra and tantrik sex.
May 21st, 2008 at 12:23 pm
My conversation with a co-worker:
Janet: Do you eat tuna?
Me: No
Janet: Do you eat a lot of tofu?
Me: No, I’m Indian, my vegetarian diet isn’t based on that.
Janet: Oh, do you eat a lot of curry?
Me: I don’t know what that means.
Janet: I can’t handle it, I went to Indian row once and I got so sick!
Me: But what was it?
Janet: Food that had curry in it.
Me: What is it though?
Janet: It contained that spice, you know, curry!
Went on for like 10 minutes, ridiculous.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:18 am
Curry is english for “masala”.
It has it’s origins in the kadi pata, curry leaf.
Go into any Indian store and ask for “curry leaf” and they will give you kadi pata.
Really, no need to act like a smart ass snob.
May 22nd, 2008 at 10:47 am
Do you post just to read your own comments? I strongly suggest you get your own blog and comment on it.
And, speaking of acting like a snob–we know what curry leaves are. This is not what the coworker meant, and that’s obvious. She used it as the general term for all foods Indian as well as all Indian spices.
If you mean that perhaps Zen could have edified Janet, then maybe. But sometimes one doesn’t feel up to the workout of scaling the walls of ignorance.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
She meant it to mean masala, or spice. She made it clear that it was the curry, or the mixture of spices (masala), that she could not handle.
I qoute:
Janet: It contained that spice, you know, curry!
I don’t understand why every single, little, easy-to-figure-out-what-they-are-getting-at comment made by a non-desi has to turn into some snobby analysis of how racist or unclued in non-desis are about desi culture, food, mating practices, etc.
Why should non-desis be clued in in the first place?
Are we that insecure that we need everyone to know all about us for us to feel validated as human beings.
This is why I always say that we desis need to get over ourselves, take the stick that’s been shoved up our booty and just RELAX.
Be and let be.
May 22nd, 2008 at 11:23 am
If you mean that perhaps Zen could have edified Janet, then maybe. But sometimes one doesn’t feel up to the workout of scaling the walls of ignorance.
Um, it seems that Janet was the one who had to edify Zen. Either that or Zen knew that curry means masala and she pretended, for whatever weird reason, not to.
Walk into an Indo-Pak grocery store and you will see “curry” written on several products. So it seems that even amongst Indians, the word “curry” as become synonomous with “masala” or “spice” or “spicy mixture”.
Does Zen not know this? I doubt it.
Therefore my “snobby, smart-ass” statement.
In the exchange between Zen and Janet above, it is Zen who comes up looking foolish, not Janet, with her correct use of the word “curry”.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
We share these stories because they are humorous and fun. And they are part of the desi experience, whether you like it or not.
No one takes them that seriously except for you.
Please limit yourself to 2 comments a day. For all of us.
May 28th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
It’s like when I got back from sunning myself last 4th of July at the Ramada Inn pool in Maryland and this dude I work with looked at me and was like, “Wow, you got dark! I mean, darker….I mean, you know…Did I mention I really like Ben Kingsley?”
May 29th, 2008 at 9:50 am
And your desi family members must’ve been stock full of compliments regarding your sunning.
Rigggghhhhhtttt……………………..