And the fact that there may be some commonality in how people look and the food we eat has little to do with other deeper political and social issues, where there are major differences – conveniently ignored by the South Asians.

Let’s be clear here. You are talking Indian community in the West or raising a question about India it self?

Of course. How people choose to place themselves is their business. Nevertheless, the point I was trying to make (I guess) that this South Asian community business is based on sharing a common heritage/skin color/interests e.t.c I don’t quite see the ”common” there. Despite that, if people wish to organize themselves without acting as spokesperson of Indian interest, then my problem if merely academic. Though, it seldom happens, I would argue, that it does not extent into oh, why are Indians and Pakistanis fighting–we are all the same.

Pat,

Mild objection: I would think that those of us who take interest in American politics have a far greater knowledge of American politics than SM has of its Indian version. Though I would agree, it may not extend to deep insight about gubernatorial or local elections.

Alankrita,

When did I talk about Indian Community? I am pretty diffident to Indian community anyways. And I already have an Indian passport–hard as it was to get. Blame Overlord!

(Okay, that should tell you pretty much all that you need to know)

I also agree with you that Indians (as in Indian citizens, not those with Indian roots) should be careful about being placed in the South Asian category. But Americans of Indian origin are free to put themselves in whatever category they wish. I have no objections to that.

The agenda seems to have nothing to do with India or Pakistan or any country – it looks to me like it is about the interests of people (from a certain geographical part of Asia) in the US. That’s why I find the debate about India, Pakistan, South Asia, Common Heritage etc. rather off-topic. The debate over at SM (DBD vs ABCD interests) looks much more relevant.

You were absent. Your identity has been stolen.

Shadows,

I don’t think it really makes a difference either way.

Ms Taggart,

Well, that is a historical question which I am not really that well equipped to answer but broadly.. I have my doubts if ever India and Pakistan shared the same civilization.

Jyo,

yes. cricket madness is there. But that does not make nations. Unless you are Ram Chandra Guha.

Patrix, Vivek,

I would refer to Nitin’s comment on DP. I think Indians should be careful about being placed in the South Asian straitjacket; it limits their options. And SM’s lack of knowledge about Indian politics doesn’t stop them from posting on it.

Absolutely! if you visit their website, tons of community programmes/cerebral n gala meetings coupled with “heavy schemes like – protection of rights, policies etc”" are laid out….at the first glance, it looks like a
*
**Pale / or Deep Brown skinned community ( am sorry, let’s face it, that’s how the pink salmons would look at this)….
efforting in to affirm/reaffirm its presence in the American Dream society (forget the fact that 1/3rd of America goes to Wal-Mart, a few may claim they go to TARGET) and nurtures severe ambitions to influence American Politics in a big way….it’s wholly ‘Outsiders-now-working in the land-attempting to integrate selves with the mainstream culture”…so therefore, what they do, they clean the parks, they raise trees, they attend certain societal issues that are causing nervous breakdown to the American society, while retaining the dress code/behavioral code/accent code/food code that they are originally born with (South Asian or South East Asian ..blah blah)….

simple; BE IN A COCOON, ENJOY THE FAMILIARITY, GET MARRIED WITHIN THE COCOON, RAISE ONE MORE GENERATION, FEEL HURTED WHEN ONE GETS HURT, RAISE VOICES N N N DO SOMETHING ADMIRABLE WORK FOR THE ENVIRONS IN THE COUNTRY THEY PHYSICALLY BELONG TO

I don’t think genetic heritage has any relevance in this context (I am hard-pressed to think of any relevance outside of a medical kind of context). I mentioned it only to refer to your rhetorical question in your previous comment.

As I said, I have no first-hand experience of life in the US, so I really can’t guess what this agenda hopes to accomplish. You might want to head over to Sepia Mutiny where a passionate argument is going on. Apparently, FOBs and ABCDs themselves have a lot of differences. Good luck to them with carrying out a South Asian agenda.