Placing people to where they belong
Desis love placing people. The placing exercise is all about identifying the social, economic, intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic class to which the person belongs. Perfect strangers with whom there is no business what so ever are subjected to this perpetual exercise. Desis are so good at it that is ingrained into every single aspect of their lives starting with their very names.
Indian names are very much like IP addresses. An Indian full name can give you the ancestral village name, caste (sometimes sub caste), the generation, linguistic affiliation, the professional background, and the exact social class to which the person belongs etc. Desis are very good at parsing these names and placing them in the exact social strata or geographical location they come from.
Indians also use social appearances, attire and other paraphernalia like markings on forehead, number of threads in a sacred thread, design of rings and other jewelry to place them in a caste or a sub-caste. Brand names of clothes and dressing are used to put them in an economic class.
Cellphones and cars are another biggie. The size, color, brand, the size of the screen, the resolution of the camera, the ringtone on the phone, the cautiousness with which the phone is handled, the frequency of changing to a newer device are all signals to flaunt their class and desis are adept at reading them. Desis make it a point to include pictures of themselves holding expensive cellphones or standing beside high end cars in their portfolio.
More recent cues to place people have been people’s accents, hair styles, visa statuses, the countries they have been to, schools they have gone to, foreign degrees conferred upon them, companies they work for etc. When desis check facebook/orkut profiles online, they most certainly check for all the above cues along with their tastes in music and film. A degree from an ivy league school, an americanized accent, a little goatee, a liking for Coldplay or Death cab for Cutie are sure to get you placed you up there.
But to get yourself placed in a totally uber category, you should be dating/married to a white person or at the minimum having lunch/coffee with a non desi.
Are you a clone of V S Naipaul … ??
neways ur writing style is awsum!
Hey, I haven’t had a chance to read many of your posts yet but from what I’ve seen I like your style! Would love to be in touch w/you. Check out my blog too… http://www.tinachaudhary.wordpress.com
When you say dating white places you in an “uber category” do you mean a more superior category? i dunno if marrying white is “marrying up” in the desi world these days. maybe under the Raj, but the consciousness has changed. Then again…i know my parents would probably rather i marry white than marry lower caste…ah…classism…its like racism, only classier
keep up the good work, your blog always makes me smile. i am generally shocked at how worked up people get in their comments on this blog. Desis, puhlease. have a sense of humor ! glad these bloggers do
Pardon the double post, but I just read the full list and while I”m sure you get this all the time, could you possibly rant about how Desis loveeee collecting “free things”, such as McDonalds Ketchup, Taco Bell Hot Sauce, countless sugars and my personal favorite, NAPKINS! Desis LOVE napkins! napkins in the purse, napkins in the car, napkins in the pen drawer in the kitchen, napkins everywhere. why oh why do desis feel the need to collect “free” stuff? perhaps this can be a corollary of desis liking “stuff they own”….the more stuff they collect, the more they own, hence more to love. just a suggestion from an insomniac desi beauty blogger…
I like napkins. Mostly because I am a Messy (A-B) Desi. And I like to eat everything with my hands.
but anyone belonging to a society places hirself and the other. not sure if it is eccentric enough to be stuffdesislike. more generally names are traceable to their roots (atleast to some extent), identity is defined by appearance and lifestyle, and so on in many cultures. but yes, desis love to place people socio(caste, language, place of origin)economically.
death cab for cutie is not the new metallica among desis, thankgod
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Hey Kesava, its amazing to read your writing. I was actually referred to it by one of my friends and I thought it would be a comical affair.
But after reading, I changed my mind. Let me clarify that, my issue is not with the characteristics you point out. They are beyond doubt, true. My problem is with your language, and the contempt with which you talk about desis.
It makes me feel that you are some aloof person who really wants to be not counted with the “commonfolk” desis, and is desperately looking for approval by such posts, so that you can get your so called “non-desis” status.
If you have half the balls and judgement that you are attempting to portray in your blogs, you can start off by using “we” instead of “desis”.
You are still a part of it I assume, or have you become a wannabe “white” person. Have the guts to live up to your roots and then go about pointing out flaws.
Maybe getting such vitriolic comments on your blog gives you some kind of sadistic pleasure.
Yes, you got your fun, so please try not to be so offensive about it.
@kk kishor
Yes you have proved that you are a smart and “well-read” creature by using VS Naipaul’s name. Good job.
P.S.: I bet you couldnt have expanded what V and S are in VS Naipaul.
@browngrrrl
Puhlease try and differentiate between objection to language and objection to ideas. It is one thing to bash your so called “desi” status and really critique someone’s ideas.
@Rajesh Thanks for liking it. Writing about desis in third person is part of the act. Many desis criticize and talk about other desis like they themselves are so much removed from desi community and not plagued by any of their criticisms.
I think its a generic statement. It can hold true for whites/AAs/Chineeese etc. I would love to see you write or mention instances where these characterstics are starkly highlighted in desis vs others…
Lamborghini, Rolls Royce are style icons for the world. And definitely they are not Indian.
@ Browngrrrl:”Desis loveeee collecting “free things”, such as McDonalds Ketchup, Taco Bell Hot Sauce, countless sugars and my personal favorite, NAPKINS! Desis LOVE napkins! napkins in the purse, napkins in the car, napkins in the pen drawer in the kitchen, napkins everywhere. why oh why do desis feel the need to collect “free” stuff? perhaps this can be a corollary of desis liking “stuff they own”….the more stuff they collect, the more they own, hence more to love. just a suggestion from an insomniac desi beauty blogger”
a thought… lets take it back to our ancestors. A society plagued with famines and lack of resources. A country where people out number the resources atleast by 1000 to 1 if not more. Combine with a mind set of saving for the worst-is-yet-to-come mind set….Importance to preservation of what ever we can salvage..whatever we can get…
And we take it to the next level with the napkins and ketchups
……and Desis who want to get into the uber category also end up buying more house than they can handle ! I have seen desis with HUGE houses……but they dont spend either time or money in it’s upkeep ! They want huge houses to show off but do not want to maintain a decent lawn or garden, do not maintain or furnish it well.
LOL… truly love your style… “…the cautiousness with which the phone is handled..” lmfao