Although Desis have become more visible in the US lately, we've remained a quiet minority...until relatively recently.
For decades, we seemed to epitomize the Model Minority stereotype. As a group, we're more educated and better off than Americans as a whole. We worked as engineers, doctors, computer programmers. We ran large companies. We even showed up in movies and TV shows...playing engineers, doctors, and computer programmers. And we rarely spoke up and made ourselves heard. The model minority!
But lately, that trend has been changing.
There are Desis like Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal rising up the political ranks...granted they've changed their names and their religions so that I have trouble remembering that they are Desis, but Desis they are. I may not agree with their politics but I appreciate that they provide a younger generation of Desi Americans the vision that they, too, can shape the directions this country takes.
There are entertainers like M. Knight Shyamalan who have enjoyed both the successes and failures of being a household name in the US. And there are Desi Americans playing non-traditional roles in TV and movies - Mindy Kaling plays Kelly Kapoor on The Office, a boy-crazy, pop culture fanatic; Maulik Pancholy plays Jonathan on 30 Rock, Jack Donaghy's idolizing and vaguely homosexual assistant; Kal Penn portrayed Kumar Patel in Harold & Kumar, a stoner who goes on a hamburger hunt; Aasif Mandvi is a regular on The Daily Show, hilarious and brilliant; Padma Lakshmi, model and host of Top Chef, is not afraid strut her stuff in print and on the screen; the list goes on...
But for me the true mark of a culture that's finally becoming comfortable in its skin is when they feel bold enough to protest and speak out when disparaged or mocked. Which is why I was so gratified and proud to see the response, a few months ago, to Joel Stein's article in Time Magazine.
Mr. Stein's article was meant to be a commentary on the slow cultural shift that occurred in his hometown of Edison, NJ. He says he was trying to show how even he, an educated American who believes immigration has enriched this country, finds that he is sometimes uncomfortable and nostalgic when he sees the changes it has wrought in his hometown. And if you read the article with a charitable eye, he does mock the anti-immigrant sentiment and himself throughout. But the article falls just a little too flat and goes a little too far to have been featured in a magazine like Time.
Leaving aside the cliched jokes (yes, we have many gods; and yes, one has an elephant nose) and some unfortunate terms ("dot heads"...not a good idea to use a term that was once used by a hate group responsible for several Desi American deaths), what I really objected to was that Time Magazine thought it would be acceptable to run this piece at all. Can you imagine an international magazine of Time's caliber running a piece in this era that makes similar disparaging comments about the Jewish community? The Muslim or Christian communities? How about Mexicans? Or Irish Americans? African Americans??! If Time truly didn't think they were printing something objectionable, why did they choose to leave the article out of the international edition of the magazine?
But hey...Joel Stein is, in the end, a writer and he can choose to write about anything he wants, and Time Magazine can print what they decide to...I never liked the magazine much anyways. What I care about is what we, as Desis, do about it. Which is why I was SO gratified to see the loud response from the South Asian community ultimately necessitating an apology from Time and Mr. Stein. For me, it was a sign that we, as Desis, have truly, finally found a voice in this country...and I loved it! So...thanks, Time & Mr. Stein, for providing such a great cause for the community to rally around. Next up...Desi American politicians who actually retain some of their Desi-ness...and still win the election!
But lately, that trend has been changing.
There are Desis like Nikki Haley and Bobby Jindal rising up the political ranks...granted they've changed their names and their religions so that I have trouble remembering that they are Desis, but Desis they are. I may not agree with their politics but I appreciate that they provide a younger generation of Desi Americans the vision that they, too, can shape the directions this country takes.
There are entertainers like M. Knight Shyamalan who have enjoyed both the successes and failures of being a household name in the US. And there are Desi Americans playing non-traditional roles in TV and movies - Mindy Kaling plays Kelly Kapoor on The Office, a boy-crazy, pop culture fanatic; Maulik Pancholy plays Jonathan on 30 Rock, Jack Donaghy's idolizing and vaguely homosexual assistant; Kal Penn portrayed Kumar Patel in Harold & Kumar, a stoner who goes on a hamburger hunt; Aasif Mandvi is a regular on The Daily Show, hilarious and brilliant; Padma Lakshmi, model and host of Top Chef, is not afraid strut her stuff in print and on the screen; the list goes on...
But for me the true mark of a culture that's finally becoming comfortable in its skin is when they feel bold enough to protest and speak out when disparaged or mocked. Which is why I was so gratified and proud to see the response, a few months ago, to Joel Stein's article in Time Magazine.
Mr. Stein's article was meant to be a commentary on the slow cultural shift that occurred in his hometown of Edison, NJ. He says he was trying to show how even he, an educated American who believes immigration has enriched this country, finds that he is sometimes uncomfortable and nostalgic when he sees the changes it has wrought in his hometown. And if you read the article with a charitable eye, he does mock the anti-immigrant sentiment and himself throughout. But the article falls just a little too flat and goes a little too far to have been featured in a magazine like Time.
Leaving aside the cliched jokes (yes, we have many gods; and yes, one has an elephant nose) and some unfortunate terms ("dot heads"...not a good idea to use a term that was once used by a hate group responsible for several Desi American deaths), what I really objected to was that Time Magazine thought it would be acceptable to run this piece at all. Can you imagine an international magazine of Time's caliber running a piece in this era that makes similar disparaging comments about the Jewish community? The Muslim or Christian communities? How about Mexicans? Or Irish Americans? African Americans??! If Time truly didn't think they were printing something objectionable, why did they choose to leave the article out of the international edition of the magazine?
But hey...Joel Stein is, in the end, a writer and he can choose to write about anything he wants, and Time Magazine can print what they decide to...I never liked the magazine much anyways. What I care about is what we, as Desis, do about it. Which is why I was SO gratified to see the loud response from the South Asian community ultimately necessitating an apology from Time and Mr. Stein. For me, it was a sign that we, as Desis, have truly, finally found a voice in this country...and I loved it! So...thanks, Time & Mr. Stein, for providing such a great cause for the community to rally around. Next up...Desi American politicians who actually retain some of their Desi-ness...and still win the election!
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