Comments on: Kali-ma at Seder Dinner

By: musing

musing — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:35:12 +0000

Anjali, I agree. I loved sepia when I first started reading it, but the comment section (and some of the posts) make me want to stop reading. Everything is so incendiary and there are far too many trolls or otherwise who don’t want to listen, just make up some controversy to talk about.

By: AnjaliToo

AnjaliToo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:23:28 +0000

Does anyone realize that this was started by a TROLL? who is now gone about his business? I swear, I’ve been reading Sepia since 2005 where the discussions where witty, thought provoking and hella intelligent. But lately man, every bloody thread gets jacked with the same shadism conversation. It doesn’t seem to matter what’s being discussed, colour seems to creep in somehow. I’m half Indian and half black, and should probably be more concerned with colour than most, both sides of the coin and all, but to be honest, I don’t think about it as much in a month as it comes up in a thread on this site. I miss the old Sepia. I miss the witticisms of Sid, Vin Et al ( and frequency of ANNA and Ahbi). No offense to current contributors.

By: amaun

amaun — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:34:56 +0000

Problem: A ridiculous interpretation of a Hindu priest (Temple of Doom/popular tv shows).

Solution1: Ignore the characterisation and continue as before (clothes, religious marking, incantation etc.).

Solution2: Change culture in response to characterisation.

Choosing 1 implies we disagree on the characterisation; 2 implies we agree with characterisation.

By: Amrita

Amrita — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:41:30 +0000

I think the real problem, which we are not discussing here-- as yet-- is that this was NOT the best performance by Pt. Narayanachar Digalakote's backup band, Penn Masala, who have been known to do much better. For next Diwali, I recommend Raagapella from Stanford with Stanford Noopur (bharatnatyam) and Stanford Dil Se (movie dance). Kal Penn, are you listening?

By: Amrita

Amrita — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:37:53 +0000

By: LinZi

LinZi — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:28:16 +0000

“For those of you wondering how shadism was brought in, if that priest was lighter skinned than Obama and everything else about him was the same, I doubt the Kali Ma scene from an old movie would have come to mind on this post. Dark=Kali Ma scene, Light=Good PR”

And the irony is…. (http://www.imdb.com/media/rm809933056/tt0087469) Mr. “Kali Ma” himself isn’t half as dark as the priest on t.v.!

By: LinZi

LinZi — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:25:01 +0000

urggh.. sorry I wrote that last night when I was sleepy... full of typos!

we can't let them government all our actions. (ha!)= GOVERN all our actions.

There are some more too, but hopefully they were clear enough that I don't need to correct them.... sometimes my fingers just type a different word than I am thinking, anyone else have that problem? (I guess the answer is that I should proofread better, eh?)

By: Sameer

Sameer — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:31:14 +0000

For those of you wondering how shadism was brought in, if that priest was lighter skinned than Obama and everything else about him was the same, I doubt the Kali Ma scene from an old movie would have come to mind on this post. Dark=Kali Ma scene, Light=Good PR. I think Desi introspection is a good thing in this case like Just Saying said.

By: JustSayin

JustSayin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:57:27 +0000

Abhi (and Manish) - this is a great moment. You have very succinctly represented the thinking of most self-loathing desis like yourselves. The reality is that you looked at the priest and were thinking "shit! not this guy - oh my god! this conjures up yet another weird image of Indians in the white world we live in. I hope peeps realize that not all Indians look like this guy".

Anna nailed it on the head - most desis who agree with you are the ones that distance themselves from other Indians who look a little different for the very reason she mentioned.

And an FYI to you Abhi "Oh and FYI, my parents worship at the temple that this priest is from" does sounds like "I have many friends who are black".

I am sure your intention was different, but some introspection will help. You said: "I am still at a loss as to how skin color entered this conversation in the first place. What the heck does the shade of his skin have to do with any of this?" This basically has to do with how you want the world to look at Indians.

Regarding the reference to Kali Ma, you said "In my opinion, both references were in good taste". If you, a so-called proud desi, regular contributor to this blog, thought any such references could be in good taste, then your outlook is no diff from rednecks

By: LinZi

LinZi — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:43:45 +0000

I really don't understand everyone's comments about "other" and so forth to begin with.. it all seems like faulty logic to me.

1.) Everybody seems pretty excited that Diwali was celebrated by the Pres on t.v. 2.) At the same time, people were upset by the priest, because he could easily be "otherized" or "exoticized" by the right-wing media. ( I still don't understand why seeing him reminded anyone of a bad Indiana Jones movie in the first place.. is it his skin tone, his "exotic" priest clothes, or what?)

News flash: the other is only the other (and exotic) when it is unknown and mysterious. once it becomes commonplace (like seeing a Hindu priest of t.v.), it doesn't really catch people's attention or seem weird anymore. So what gives? Shouldn't we all be happy that the often far-too-ignorant-about-other-cultures Americans are getting exposed to something they should already be exposed to. And the (crappy) news media is always going to try to manipulate its viewers.. we can't let them government all our actions.

I saw, light the diya, my friend. And share that box of mithai.