http://www.scstatehouse.gov/members/bios/0735227185.html

If she was so resentful or ashamed of her background, she would’ve dropped Randhawa as soon as she got married.

I’ve been silent on this thread so far, but comments like this make my blood boil. Do you know any women who took their husband’s last names after marriage? When I married, I chose to keep my last name, and my mother-in-law still gives me grief about it. Nikki has obviously been a better daughter-in-law. Many of us who have been born and raised in this country will marry non-South Asians. Some of us will have Christian marriages, even if we didn’t grow up within that religion. (Some of us will have a second ceremony arranged by our own parents.)

What we do with our names– whether it’s taking on our husbands’ names as a symbol of our connection to them, or going formally by nicknames (a la Jhumpa Lahiri) because that “nickname” is actually the name people have called us all our lives and how we’re known doesn’t mean we’re rying to hide who we are. Her name is Nikki Haley, and she represents the second-generation South Asian American experience as truthfully as any other person does.

so – what’s Indian about her?

Nice. although the reason people have requested or suggested you to change names has more to do with the anglicized pronunciation than the Indian origin of it. Perhaps a respelling mightve made your experiences easier: Deekshith or something like that.

Imagine someone who’s name is “Sugga Madeek” or “Lyggam Apusee”

You should meet my friend Hardik.

Surprising why she didn’t choose to stick with it, would be a good political play by the Republicans to start putting up candidates with obviously foreign names to combat the name “Barack” I wonder if she mentions the name in her speech.

Look, not that name changing or religion converting is a crime or anything like that. But let’s not mistake what it is, which is attempt to cast off your original seed heritage and adopt the host country heritage, as totally and completely as possible. Change your name, your religion, your thoughts, your lifestyle all to minimize or eliminate where you came from, and focus on relating with the locals as much as possible. Given the racialized history of the US, skin color is one of those ways in which a person can be easily reminded that they aren’t “american” If there was a safe, effective way to skin bleach, chances are someone like Mrs Haley would have looked into it – certainly being called a “raghead” is something Nikki would like to do without, if it’s possible.