Comments on: Glory

By: runnerwallah

runnerwallah — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 20:17:54 +0000

I wonder whether any of them fought for the South

Reminds me of Apu's quote in the the Simpson's episode where they recreate the Civil War...

Barney: I'm not too thrilled with our Stonewall Jackson, neither. Apu (dressed as General Jackson): The South shall come again!

By: Manish Vij

Manish Vij — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 18:54:56 +0000

The intimacy of history and the depressing realization that everything's been done before: Bey enlisted in Brooklyn not a mile from where I live and lived in SF not two miles from where I used to, a hundred years before me.

These guys well predate the Punjabis in California as well as Neil Prakash and his band of brothers.

I love how the Union couldn't deal with desi names, so they just made up new ones out of whole cloth. All while fighting slavery and its attendant massa naming schemes.

I wonder whether any of them fought for the South-- or maybe the answer is obvious.

By: uncleji dusty from the archives

uncleji dusty from the archives — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 13:39:00 +0000

Brilliant post ! I would hazard a guess that the first Buffalo soldiers were Lascars who jumped ship. Apparantely the first appeared in America in the 1700's "We'll be the turban wearing special forces teams who are unleashed at the last moment of defeat with our large beards as we singlehandedly bring down war elephants with our curved talwars and bows" Hilarious ! I think we appear in LOTR: return of the king. Problem is that we are the baddies.

By: anangbhai

anangbhai — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 04:02:37 +0000

If a movie is made, hopefully…We’ll be the new Indian Indians youknowhatimsayin? We’ll be the turban wearing special forces teams who are unleashed at the last moment of defeat with our large beards as we singlehandedly bring down war elephants with our curved talwars and bows and arrows that can hit soldiers hiding behind trenches and knives that when we throw them cut a bullet in half (mithunda style). Or we take over an enemy camp singlehandedly because a team of sadhus who were buried days ago before the enemy camped at the site spring out of the ground and kill everyone in the night with their khukri knives. (Dhoti Force 2: electric boogaloo). Ohhh man do I have a dream…

By: Sandeep A.

Sandeep A. — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 01:44:56 +0000

Seriously, Thanks Abhi. A truly brilliant find. People have been using the “Indians don’t come to America to join the military” argument against me for as long as I’ve wanted to enlist. A find like this is truly inspirational.

By: Umair Muhajir

Umair Muhajir — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 00:50:50 +0000

Very interesting post, thanks Abhi.

On the subject of Indians in combat in the service of others, let's not forget World War I; there is apparently even a graveyard in Baghdad where tons of Indian soldiers are buried...(the Brits used them to help crush the post WWI rebellion in Iraq).

By: Saheli

Saheli — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:49:04 +0000

Ahem, cough, cough. Though you did find a lot more. The more the merrier!

By: Quizman

Quizman — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:34:28 +0000

The Star Spangled Banner did have an Indian connection

By: ms

ms — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:27:35 +0000

Interesting read! All of them seem to have completely anglicized names. I wonder if there was a significant number of people of European descent born in India or people of mixed racial heritage.

Btw, did you know the fifth beatle was born in India?

There are Parsi sailors on board the ship in the novel Moby Dick

Didn't the HMS Minden aboard which Francis Scott Key penned the 'Star Spangled banner' have a Parsi connection too?

By: hammer_sickel

hammer_sickel — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:13:21 +0000

Want more surprises? See what happened in WWII.

While some 2.5 million Indians fought the war for British rulers, a few thousand men and women joined the Germany-Japan-Italy (Aix Powers) alliance, under Subhash Chandra Bose, hoping to overthrow the British rulers from India... Though the war was not India's, Indians were among the most heroic, borne out by the fact that they won over 4,000 gallantry awards, among them almost 20 Victoria Crosses. Over 36,000 Indians were killed. Official estimates put the wounded at 64,000.