so would this explain why half of all indian men seem to have cultivated a stick-finger-in-ear-canal-and-vigorously-gyrate habit?

while i’m at it, if bass, jackson et al are done with their ear wax investigations, i wish they’d dedicate some time to the mucosal membranes of the indian male. apparently there’s gold to be found in dem nasal pasageways, at least one would suspect so from that other enduring routine, namely the stick-finger-in-nose-then-examine-contents-and-wipe-on-pant/lungi.

but wait, there’s more: the endless chorus of expectoration, the public pissing parade, the adjusting of family jewels by the bright light o’day…

(like i said at the beginning, GRRR ARGH BITTER BITTER BITTER…)

on a minutely more serious note, you know that uncle whose ear rims resemble those of a koala? i once remember hearing that the hairy ear rim phenomenon had been studied on the subcontinent because of the regional preponderance of this trait. might any of you know if there is any truth to this legend?

if so, all ye knights of the brown table better start investing in some braun ear hair trimmers. cuz what’s cute on a koala ain’t so cute on you.

this ends today’s chapter of mama eye for the brown guy. tune in next time when i take on…those narrow shouldered wife beater undershirts. aiyoh, endeh dhevamaaaay!!!

well, there are parts of india that are actually cold. also salt-loss is a problem–maybe the british monopoly did a bit of selection?

sylhetis aren’t that different from other bengalis (there are genetic studies which show a strong discontinuity between particular NE indian ppls and browns, eg nagas or mizos vs. bengalis, sylhetis cluster with bengalis, not mizos, nagas or manipuris). my understanding is that they regularly claim they are very different from other bengalis for nationalistic reasons (my father taught in sylhet for several years and everyone told them they were part of assam, not bengali. the same thing happens to my uncle who also teaches in sylhet).

My bad Manish, guess too excited to calm down and write

i don’t buy their explanation. i think selection is at work to get “A” to a high level, but they don’t know what it is. this a common problem, it is often easier to detect selection on the genome than understand what is being selected on the level of the phenotype.

re: east asian features in south asia, well, bengalis can tell you that for true. i have relatives who could pass as burmese (though don’t tell ‘em that), my family is from the region of bangladesh next to tripura.

I was just waxing poetic, don’t sweat it.

HAW!!!
… she really stuck it to you dude … tsk tsk..

Certainly not the Mumbai local trains.