So I went to this party a few weeks back, a mixed crowd of boh Desis (us South Asians’ term for each other) and non-Desi (East Asian, Caucasian) collegiate folks. I was in conversation with this boy of brown descent near the punch bowl when the inevitable question came up: “Hey, are you desi?”
Now the fact that he had to ask wasn’t all that surprising to me. I don’t “look” stereotypically South Asian, I’ve been mistaken for Persian, Egyptian, Palestinian, Kuwaiti, and all kinds of shit in between. In typical fashion I tell the dude: “Somewhere in the general area” just to get a kick out of it. “Well, you’re Muslim right” he says, probably referring to the Allah (SWT) pendant around my neck. “So probably Pakistani.” Nope, I say, I’m Indian…South Indian at that!
The dude looks totally flabbergasted! No, he says, you don’t look Indian at all! I give him the line I tell every wiseass ignorant Indian boy I come across: “India has like 200 Million Muslims…equal if not more than Pakistan. Besides, dude…I have relatives in Pakistan. When it comes down to it, the two peoples aint that different.”
At this, poor brown boy’s head looks like its gonna explode. He simply can’t believe that a) I’m Indian b) I’m an SOUTH Indian MUSLIM and c) I’m an Indian who has relatives in the–gasp!–enemy country of Pakistan!
So the Question is: How can you tell an Indian from a Pakistani?
Answer: YOU CAN’T!
It’s a NATIONALITY, people. They are not two different races. It was one land till only SIXTY years ago! The only reason one group of people were either called Indian or Pakistani is because ended up on a particular side of the border! (Or in the case of Kashmir, you really are neither and both countries are trying to steal your land). And yes, it is entirely possible to have Pakistanis and Indians related to one another. In fact, many South Asian Muslims find themselves in that exact situation: I, for one, have extended family in both countries.
Yes, you might say, but isn’t Pakistan like 99% Muslim? Well, not quite. There are Christian, and yes even Hindu minorities in Pakistan, just like India is host to the second largest Muslim population in the WORLD.
However, I never tire of ABCDs (American Born Confused Desis, our oh so flattering moniker) trying to hash out the diff between Indian and Pakistani. It’s like asking if a Canadian and American have different genetic codes or something. It just doesn’t exist!
We are all “Desi” aka of the “homeland” a.k.a. South Asian…end of story.
On Religiousity
Posted in Uncategorized with tags political commentary, religion on June 27, 2008 by SultanaFirst, my apologies for the long absence–this thing called real life interfered. That, and I had college graduation (thank you, thank you
And I wasn’t really inspired to write anything until today anyways.
I had an interesting convo with a good friend of mine a few days ago. The girl was a card-carrying, ultra-liberal, North Face-fleece wearing Seattlelite, and we were discussing (what else?) politics. In particular, the topic that is on everyone’s minds: the 2008 Presidential Election and Obama’s chances of winning (which seem pretty good at the moment–barring any Swift-boating).
There was an article a few days back about Obama’s tenous relationship with the American Muslim electorate, specifically the incident where two headscarf (Hijaab) wearing women were barred from appearing behind Barack at a campaign rally. It became a huge snafu with many Muslim organizations protesting, and Obama eventually called the two ladies to apologize. My take on the whole incident was that it was a) More the product of Obama’s hypersensitive campaign managers, not wanting to associate the candidate with anything “Muslim”, and less a directive from the man himself and b) Not unexpected, as just saying the word “Muslim” is tantamount to a slur. Bullshit, no doubt, but we know by now that the Americans who elected Bush aren’t that adept at detecting Bull when they smell it!
Anyway…it got me thinking on the subject of religiousity. Going back to my conversation with my fellow Seattlelite friend, at one point religion came up. Namely, her dislike of organized religion, and “wacko religious people” in general, like the ones who support Bush and smear Barack by saying he’s Muslim (ha)…and that made me stop for a second. Well, mainly because of that first part. It’s interesting that a lot people seem to assume that just because you are a tolerant, pragmatic liberal or moderate, that you have to be necessarily agnostic, atheist, or non-religious. Or that belief in an organized or major religion is somehow incompatible with being a “progressive” (for lack of a better term).
I consider myself a fairly religious person, I adhere to a fair number of religious practices at a personal level, which skew toward the conservative side. My feeling is that my relationship with God (Allah SWT) is a fairly personal one as well, and prayer has helped me deal with difficult situations in the past. But I consider my practice and beliefs to be an intensely individual thing–Namely, that I NEVER push my religion on other people. My creed has been the golden rule: I will respect your right to live in the way you please if you respect mine, end of story. In that way, my beliefs are compatible with being a liberal-minded person–that everyone makes their own choices and lives in the way they feel is right.
Mainly, I think its important that people understand that being religious or spiritual does not go hand-in-hand with being holy-book thumping conservative Republican. That one can believe in an organized religion and respect others’ individuality. Not to say that it isn’t difficult at times, but I think that the assumption that religious people are close-minded is a falsehood.
That’s my take. But if you have concerns, comments, a counter-argument…do share!
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