Just two cents here.

p.s. i accidently posted this in another story. gaaah!

Where does one draw the line on where to divide? A Malayalee Christian would already have a very different experience of integration in Western society than a Buddhist from Sikkim who would in all likelihood have an experience closer to a Chinese American. I mean when someone comes from India, i think the fact that they are Indian has less of an impact on their experiences in this foreign land than their appearance, accent or religion. And that varies greatly in India, and even more in South Asia. I bet the vast majority of Americans still view Sikhs as “Middle Easterners,” and their experiences may very well be similar.

And isn’t this one of the main reasons of the project? To document their experiences? Well, where do you find the common thread in all of South Asia that is yet different enough to not include, say Iranian Americans or Tibetans?

Now if you are to add Bangladeshi’s, Pakistani’s, Nepalese, and Sri Lankan’s to the mix, each with their own different patterns and periods of migration, objectives of migration (escape political or religious persecution, in search of better opportunities, or any other reason), the unique identity of the “Indian” experience is further reduced, and you are now you are just a stone’s throw away from portraying the “immigrant” experience.

Certainly, there are more than sufficient populations of Indians living in America for this project. To Kahani Movement, I think this is a wonderful, long overdue project, but I submit that there is no real need to include all South Asians for the project. I know that the Sepia Mutiny leadership and its members like to use labels such as “Desi,” and “South Asian,” and like to be inclusive of all South Asian groups, and their responses thus far are commensurate with this, its their first gut reaction. I wholeheartedly respect this; I’m all for South Asian unity, however not only do i not see the need to lump together all South Asian groups in this project, I actually think it would drastically take away from the project. Even the word “Kahani,” itself would be unknown in meaning to those that do not speak Urdu/Hindi.

And yes…we’re hoping Abhi partners “Desi Dad”, which was a brilliant idea, with the Kahani photos section. Still looking for the one of my father grilling tandoori chicken on the backyard patio in short shorts and aviator sunglasses.

Sorry for double posting, but I completely agree, Shruti!

And as always, the good ones are taken.

THANK YOU FOR ARTICULATING THIS!

Taz, this is for you (if you don’t understand it, ask your father or mother to translate).

I however wanted to comment on the thread regarding the whole ‘Indian’, ‘South Asian’, ‘Brown’ identity deal. Aren’t they all bankrupt identities anyway? ‘Indian’ - we have see enough North Indian vs South Indian BS. And every state in India has its own division of some sort. Identity in these contexts is based on religion, community, language etc. ‘South Asian’ - India and Pakistan. Nuff said. ‘Brown’ – we have the ‘fair and proud’ desis and the ‘dark and proud’ desis. What about the South American browns? Why are they not part of our group and why don’t we get invited to join them)?

Point is, you can choose to draw this imaginary line called your identity anywhere – but just remember that this line exists only in your head and nowhere else.

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.