In Defence of Desi Pun

Regarding the last paragraph; I have had the opportunity to interact with an ABCD, me being a genuine desi like yourself (born, raised an educated in Pakistan currently working in Dubai, if that is what comprises being a genuine desi!). i.e. I was married to an ABCD, it was an horrendous experience, both for me and for her (I assume). There was absolutely nothing in common between us despite being first cousins (which is even worse I guess).

The point is that ABCDs, I believe through my personal experience, are much closer to the goras in very conceivable way, except, for course for the physical appearance

Great article, personifies desiness in the States impressively...keep it real.

Doesn`t desi come from the word ``Desh`` which means country, homeland. After 1947, the word can and has been extended to the Indian Sub-continent.

Ok ok I do agree that desi`s can be very polite and helpful to you. But it can be the other way round as well. I mean I live in Netherlands. Their are plenty of desi`s around here. But they are notorious for their misdeeds. Name one scandal they are not involved in. Be it drug trafficking, illegal telephone calls, fake passports and visas. You name it, they do it. The fact is that whenever a flight from Pakistan arrives, the authorities come inside the aircraft with a drug sniffing dog and checks the aircraft before letting the passengers out. Similary an immigration officer checks the passport right at the aircraft door to check its validity and authenticates the visa. Yes indeed we are special people so we require special treatment.

Finally, ever wondered whats the favourite question of every desi? ``Bhai sahib, Aap ko Tankhwa kitni milti hai``(How much do you earn?. I have thought of many answers to it, but havent been able to figure out a decent answer without screaming on the person asking.

write ,if you want to, on things that you consider of serious nature and for constructive purposes but don`t write just because you feel like writing on any topic .. because here all you have done is ridiculed the desies ... but have not presented a single thought of constructiveness

Cheers!! Wonderful essay.

i think its matter of attitude and moral values

about things in life which reflects on a person`s upbringing.its pathetic and embarassing that the term `desi` has become a symbol of all the immoral activities.

Great Article! My sides ached while reading it. The stereotypes are so true and the funniest thing is so many people conform or feel it imperative to conform to the stereotypes without even realizing it! I love being desi & indulging in desi activities. infact I fine it more fun to do desi stuff outside of our homelands. Doing Bahngra back home would undoubtedly be considered too ``Azaad`` activity. Here you can say ``hey! I am desi okay!``
I am homesick. Hats off to desi power!
By the way in response to one of the replies i dont think bengalis are desi. the most desi is probably people from pakistan and the dilleewalas

re sadna #51:

Textiles may contribute 25% of Indian exports but what does that it actually mean? You are buying something for 5 rupees and selling it for 4 rupees in the international market. Now that`s an ingenious scheme which only a commission or commitee can conjure up :) Lack of internal demand in India has caused it to dump its textiles just to get foreign exchange. A strategy that will ultimately destroy whatever industry that is left. Infact apart from IT there is not even a single growing economic sector in India. My objective is not to belittle India`s progress but simply point out that numbers have to be handled with care.

As far as drug money and all I remember reading this article in the WSJ about India being the only country in the world that is legally allowed to produce morphine(or was it hash:) in order to be exported to the industrialized world. Infact Indian farmers were up in arms because the WTO wanted to take away that monopoly. Maybe Pakistan should also ask for being an exclusive supplier of heroin for the teeming masses :)

later

-sac

P.S: I`d rather believe anecdotal evidence than trust than some government commission run by corrupt bureaucrats.

RE: S. Anwer

I do agree that there is much more to being a desi than what I have described - and many serious issues that I didn`t touch upon, but my intent was not to be serious - it was to be funny! Now I am working on writing about some of the other types of desis (or attitudes of desis)that you have asked about - if only General Umair Khan will let it in (in a preliminary inquiry I made, he thought Chowk readers wouldn`t be interested).

As far as this statement of yours ``when you counsel patients about certain likelihoods...you are looking at information that has been meticulously recorded...research following exacting scientific procedures`` - all I can say is, I wish! A lot of what we do is based on personal clinical impressions - often there is no data to guide us. Sometimes new phenomena are discovered by such pattern recognition - which I think is akin to stereotyping - you start associating a particular trait with a particular group of people until you can say Aha! something is afoot here - the best example is again that of AIDS. Somebody noted that a large number of young gay men in San Francisco were developing strange pnemonias and a wasting syndrome.

But let`s say we have hard data. Let`s say a very well done study shows that a third of all black Americans have been incarcerated at one time or another in their lives because of violent crime. And only 2% of whites are (I am making up the numbers here). Now I will admit, I will be a little bit more wary of being alone with a young black guy at a subway station at midnight than with an old white guy because the data tells me that I am more likely to be attacked by the former than the latter. Does that mean that the black guy will definitely attack me and the white won`t? Obviously not. The truth is that anyone with reasoned thinking has some expectations from a given situation, but can retain an open mind to consider that the reality might be different. So, when I invite a group of desi friends over for dinner at 6, I expect that they will come at 8, but I am prepared for the rare eventuality that somebody might actually show up at 6. Saves me a lot of anguished calls to find out what happened, if folks don`t show up on time.

Re Anita Zaidi

Anita, I will not respond to your stereotyping of those who use terms like `diaspora`, etc. Just as I chose not to respond to your speculation that I am a young person, since I call myself `bad girl`. The reason is that I think all that is irrelevant to the disucssion. it should be focuse d on the issues raised. You and I disagree on stereotypes and averages - so be it. (incidenly, my own experience with statistics and econometrics has made me highly cynical of these things; as the saying goes, if you torture the data enough, it will confess - but that`s neither here nor there)

I know I am repeating myself, but maybe this time I will make my point of view clear (after this, I give up). Basically, I was responding to your `defence` of desi characteristics that are, for one thing, not representative of all desi`s. And secondly, are cultural, and therefore NEED no defence. To defend them is to imply they need to be defended.

But, as Tahnoon said, your article sparked a lively and interesting discussion. Thanks :)

To paraphrase Anita, notwithstanding your relative ``damned desi``-ness, lighten up guys.
What, is Torquemada back in fashion? The ignorant, narrow minded and self-important are quite sufficiently worthy of contempt and not really in need of defending.

I found the article funny and thought provoking, by the number of replies, I infer that it had at least one of those effects on you. It would be merely courteous to acknowledge the fact.

If we cannot laugh at ourselves, we can never tolerate the ``slings and arrows`` a vagrant life will throw at us.

Tahnoon.

Re: Saeed Jaffar

Saeed, glad you could share your thoughts. I share your sense of pride in our culture.

Re: BG and S. Anwer.

I must quibble with your definitions of ``averages`` and ``stereotypes``. To continue my steeped in statistics arguments, averages are great measures of ``central tendency``, provided large enough groups are studied. Sure, there will be some variation about the mean, but most people will fall in the middle of the group. Even BG`s example of 2.2 children per US household holds - just round it off to 2!

BG, why might I ask are you being so defensive about these desi characterstics that you interpret my writing as CRITICISM of desipun? In no way is this a criticism. In fact, to me apart from the one point about the common perception that desis might sometimes not be happy at a fellow desi`s progress, there was nothing critical in the article. What is so wrong with being late, or loving freebies and conspiracy theories? Nothing! I enjoy all this stuff, including sometimes eating like there is no tomorrow - and defend the right to do so, against all those who say I shouldn`t. Hence the title.

As far as stereotypes are concerned, I maintain my earlier stance. Stereotypes are essential to us in many ways. And no, although I probably wouldn`t use the word with a patient in explaining what might be expected, I will give an answer based upon inference from stereotypes. I will give an example which Mr.Anwer will probably hate even more. Suppose I see a 6 month old Haitian baby with a bad pneumonia - I would be an idiot not to suspect HIV. Why? Because Haitians have a high rate of HIV because they GENERALLY have multiple sexual partners. And I`ll be right 9 times out of 10. An example of sound clinical judgement based on - yes, that dreaded word again, stereotyping. If I wouldn`t rely on stereotyping I would be doing a lot of unnecessary testing for diseases that are less likely (note, I am saying less likely, not impossible - I admit, there are always exceptions, and one must not forget that, but they are EXCEPTIONS). So you see, its all a question of prior probabilities and decision analysis.

Your obsession with words like ``diaspora`` and ``stereotype`` makes me think you two have attended one too many classes teaching one-dimensional half-baked liberal rhetoric. But oops! I am stereotyping again!!:)

Re S Anwar

You have articulated quite well what is extremely offensive about stereotypes.

Re S. Anwar

I agree with you entirely. That is why I said that though steretypes may not always be `negative`, they are not always representative of the group - like averages. (Incidentally, averages are just as problematic for similar reasons)

Great article, Anita! I enjoyed that very much.

As a self-proclaimed former ABCD, I relish the desi term. Born in the States I found that it was hard to grasp onto any identity. A variety were offered to me, but the one that appealed to me most was ``desi``. I`m not sure how to explain it, but I didn`t see myself in the Muslim fold or the strictly Pakistani fold. People from other countries in South Asia had commonality with me as far as I could see. Moving to Pakistan at age 14 was like rediscovering the hidden desi within me. It was the best thing that could have happened to me and I hope I can offer a similar eye-opening experience to my own children as they grope for their own cultural identity.

After coming back to the States I realized I was no longer an Amreekan, but something else entirely. I liken it to just ``ABD`` without the confusion. In addition, I discovered that the same desi immigrants who accusingly label south asian kids as ``ABCDs`` were themselves DCBAs (Desi Came Became Amreekans) very different from the development of desi culturality taking place in South Asia today.

Regardless, these are just labels that don`t truly provide a descriptive basis for a person. Each person finds something positive and negative out of the culture that they have a connection to. Personally, the term ``desi`` provided me with a very positive distinctive identity that assisted me in my own realization of who I am.