Pearsall's Books

I just found this post at a blog called Sepia Mutiny, which is dedicated to the issues and culture of American-born (or raised) South Asians (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Sri Lankans). It starts off as a fairly perfunctory discussion of a possible rise in hate crimes as a result of last week's London bombing, before turning into a dizzyingly rich discussion of identity issues. Well worth a look if you are curious about such things (as I am). A lot to take in and absorb.

Update, 3:55pm: Actually, reading through this reminded me of a story I read in, I think, the Saturday magazine of the (London) Times a couple years back. It was a story about the experiences of the journalist (a young British Indian) who went to some kind of Indian marriage convention in Las Vegas (I guess where the relevant families try to find a nice doctor for their daughter or something like that?) Anyways, one day the journalist and her family were by the pool at their hotel, and the uncle starts singing a famous Bollywood song, and all of the Indians (first and second generation) around the pool joined in, singing and dancing. The journalist saw a middle-aged white couple surveying the scene from the edge, a bit bemused by what was unfolding in front of them.

The white lady asked the journalist, "Who are you folks?"

And she replied, "Oh, we're Indians."

The white women took this in, thought about it, and responded, "So they let you off the rez for this?"