Comments on: Is FOB a fighting word?

By: Sameer

Sameer — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:50:35 +0000

Fob– this word is so common in schools and universities that most people have heard it one way or the other… In our school we even had an award for thr biggest FOB( I won it of course) in one of our indian club superlatives. Do i think its derogative…i think it is if you want it to be… I whole heartledly declare myself as a FOB…. And proud of it… When i hear people or my friends make comments about FOBS … i declare myself as one and then the conversation takes an akward turn. I then ask the question ..whts wrong with FOBs… and why should we as fellow desis put someone from our own country down.. We should be helping them instead calling them names…

By: sakshi

sakshi — Mon, 28 May 2007 23:45:28 +0000

in conclusion, i am not saying fobs are bad and deserve to be ostracized.....just let nature take its course

trapped, don't be softhearted: please do ostracize any FOBs you find. If you talk the way you write, I am sure they'd be grateful.

By: kathkavi

kathkavi — Mon, 28 May 2007 23:38:16 +0000

normal dressed, normal behaving desis don't fit in in india. i know this because i have been here for 4 months

You probably don't fit in because you can't string a couple of thoughts together coherently.

By: Non-Tamil and Non-Sikh

Non-Tamil and Non-Sikh — Mon, 28 May 2007 23:33:54 +0000

Amitabh, nasty crack. Not nice.

By: Amitabh

Amitabh — Mon, 28 May 2007 20:11:31 +0000

First off the incident took place in Brampton not Oakville, and it was approx 20 Tamil youths who attacked three Punjabi youths, and it was not Amrinder who instigated the fight, it was someone outside of both groups (the Tamil 20 individuals and the three Punjabi individuals).

Name (#264), thanks for your comments. I suspected that there must have been a big imbalance in the numbers for the outcome to be what it was.

By: Runa

Runa — Mon, 28 May 2007 19:30:18 +0000

to put it mildly the culture of the locals in india is completely backward and pathetic.

Wow ... and statements such as this definitely will foster intra- desi co-operation between the great , emancipated american born desis and all us India born, weak ,pathetic FOBs

Dear trapped, Please save your sympathy The DBDs don't want it ... along with your sheer arrogance , immaturity and ignorance displayed in sweeping statements such as this one:

to say they don't fit in is an understatement, just as normal dressed, normal behaving desis don't fit in in india

By: trapped

trapped — Mon, 28 May 2007 19:03:24 +0000

first of all ‘dot -busters’ need to be massacred by all desis, be they fob or non-fob. an alliance of necessity needs to be formed for that………..not to mention, this whole argument about us all being pakis to the rest of society….this is just injecting a spurrious argument into the equation…….the real matter at hand is intra-desi community……and this is what i have to say……….when non-fobs go to india, the locals all look at them as soft, docile, non-hardened, non-tough, weaklings who have life easy. the small % that makes it to the real world are very, very, very upper class. they have spent their lives belittling the lower classes and thinking when they get to the real world they will use their sheer toughness to take over. to put it mildly the culture of the locals in india is completely backward and pathetic. (let us not forget this is not india’s true true culture, but what the fallen, devastated remains from centuries of rule by mughals and british assholes). there is nothing wrong with not being “the bigger man” and feeling sympathy for these people when they arrive even though they are our brethren and look just like us…..to say they don’t fit in is an understatement, just as normal dressed, normal behaving desis don’t fit in in india. i know this because i have been here for 4 months….obviously this is not to say sentiments such as “they make us look bad” should be harboured or espoused. anyone who feels that way is a loser, probably with a really small penis, and deserves to get whooped….in conclusion, i am not saying fobs are bad and deserve to be ostracized…..just let nature take its course, they were 100% certain when they came they would kick ass, since they had seen soft desis who come to visit doing so well, and imagine how well tough jatts from the pind could do in that case…..one thing all fobs should strive towards is not burping loudly and frequently when around others.

By: name

name — Mon, 28 May 2007 00:08:44 +0000

“If I had a rupee for every time I heard “Oh, I dont even hang out with Indians”…or ” I dont even know that many Indians”…I’d probably have a 1,000 rupees.”

Damn Rathi…

If you heard that from Desi’s then maybe like I wrote before that these lost Desi’s need to be aqcuainted with the Dot Busters in Jersey (if those bastards are still lurking about) so they know that they are still considered “PAKIS” no matter what! I may be totally off when using this following bell hooks quote (also altering it) but to all these Desi’s living in their racial harmonious, unearned priveleged, white washed, republican, ivory towers (and I hope that they feel the same offence that the people who you call FOBS and REFS feel,” “CHECK YA DAMN SELF!!!!”

By: RC

RC — Sun, 27 May 2007 23:31:10 +0000

As for the whole ABCD vs FOB thing, speaking as a 2nd gen, I think it is true that people who come across too 'fobby' make us feel on some level that others might view us in the same way, and reduce our social standing. I know that I used to feel that way when I was younger, and can't say that I never feel that way now, in rare circumstances. But now I just scold myself and try to get rid of it.

Very nicely put, Amitabh.

By: PG

PG — Sun, 27 May 2007 17:52:00 +0000

I know it’s a fighting word but I also think it’s a word that can be reclaimed, more so than ‘nigger.’ I’m not trying to downplay the specific situation discussed in the post,which is serious and needs to be addressed. Fob is a fighting world in that context, but in my part of the world fob is less of a gang insult and more of a joke/reminiscing about your own geeky past/term of endearment… I think we can work it more than we can with a word ‘nigger’ or ‘untouchable.’ We’ve all been through that high school stage of wanting to distance ourselves from fobness, but now that I’ve discowered the fobuliciousness I don’t think I’d ever go back I put chilli paste on a mince and cheese pie and not give a f***…and I’m 19 so prob a bit of a wee one by the standards of most commenters on this blog, but I hope as many of those crazy kids grow out of fob-hatred and move to fob-lurrrrve

True. Often words that are meant to be taken as insults are indeed taken as compliments by the person(s) to whom they are aimed.

Example; “independent woman”

In the area where I was residing, this is considered a criticism.