Putting aside his politics for a moment, I think most of us are capable of agreeing that Congressman Bobby Jindal has accomplished several things which would make any brown parent gloat; a quondam Rhodes Scholar, he was appointed Secretary of Louisiana’s Department of Health before serving as President of the University of Louisiana. Later, he was an Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Just one of those titles would make my family faint with joy, but I happen to think his latest accomplishment is the coolest of them all (via CNN):
Rep. Bobby Jindal barely had time to call 911 when his wife woke with labor pains Tuesday. Minutes later, he helped deliver his own son.
Slade Ryan Jindal arrived before the ambulance did at about 3:25 a.m. Jindal, coached over the phone by a nurse at the doctor’s office, put the baby in the arms of his wife, Supriya, and tied off the umbilical cord with a shoestring.
Dr. Bobby Jindal? It almost happened– according to his official bio, he “turned down admissions to medical and law schools at both Harvard and Yale.” On a more serious note, it’s probable that this unexpected turn in Supriya Jindal’s pregnancy was extra-worrisome, beyond the obvious not-in-a-hospital angle.
The Jindals already had two children, Selia who is four and Shaan, who is two. Shaan was born with two holes in his heart, requiring open heart surgery soon after his birth. Due to her son’s medical issues, the Congressman’s wife was being watched closely in the days before her delivery.
Supriya Jindal had been to the hospital twice in the last week with pains thought to be contractions, her husband said. She was at the doctor’s office as recently as Monday and was told there were no signs the baby would be coming as soon as it did, he said.
Mother and baby were resting comfortably Tuesday at a nearby hospital.
“We were very fortunate. There were no complications,” said Bobby Jindal, 35.
Two days early and weighing a healthy eight pounds, Slade Jindal entered the world on a very special day. His older siblings were typically oblivious (when my little sister was born, I looked at her for four seconds before requesting Baskin Robbins):
Slade’s 4-year-old sister, Selia, and 2-year-old brother, Shaan, were at the house and slept through the birth, Jindal spokesman Trey Williams said.
Williams said Jindal had dreamed of becoming a doctor: “He kind of got to play that role today.”
I’ll admit it– I’m more affected by this story than I would have predicted; I think it’s because my best friend had a less-than-easy pregnancy which ended in an emergency C-section, and my new nephew just spent his first weeks in the hospital, so these days I’m extra thankful and happy for others who are in similar situations. Congratulations, Congressman. And props for picking something as interesting as Slade (while remaining firmly ensconced in alliterative desi naming conventions).
congratulations to Dr. Bobby.
i wouldn’t call him ‘dr.’… but a midwife instead. congrats nonetheless..
“slade ryan jindal” ??? wow. oh well. still, congratulations to my macaca brother bobby on the happy occasion.
anna, you really do love the word “quondam,” don’t you…
That is very sexist; why can’t we call him midhusband?
AK, this all seems like a big ploy by Jindal’s handlers so that he can be called Dr. Bobby — and therefore be just as cool as Dr. Vijay. Isn’t it….Dr. Chick Pea MD..
oops… so UN-PC of me… i’d call him mid-man and call it a day.
chick pea —
reallly?? ya think??? 😉
Siddhartha —
“Slade Ryan Jindal” can be rescrambled into “Dr Jindal Leads Any.” Or “Any J-Dal Deals R In”.
Hmmmmm……
OMG, AK, you need to get outside, my macaca. it’s a lovely day…
Hey congrats to Bobby and Supriya — good job there dude!
Slade.. Is that pronounced like Slate or Slahdey? or e-slate?
vutt kind of pukka desi name is “Slade”? kya bakwaas hai?
oh wait, I know what kind of name Slade is…
Desidancer..I so wanted to comment on that…so thanks for bringing that up.. I think Jindal-Mid-Man wants his kid to star in some Hollywood movie… Slade Jindal..Master of the Universe.. has a nice ring to it, no?
Oh no! more ammunition for those who consider him a brown sahib. Clearly, he is not desi at all.
“Midwife” is actually a gender neutral term (even though most midwives are women), so calling him a “midwife” is not un-PC at all. The word came from Old English: “mid-” = “with” and “wif” = “woman.” Hence, midwife meant someone who is with a woman [at the time of childbirth].
That is fascinating and one of the more useful comments I’ve seen, but I think the point was to ensure no one got confused and thought of Jindal as a Doctor; such an erroneous assumption would somehow damage real doctors, hence the recommendation to use “midwife” instead. When it comes to being a physician, I’ve always thought that it’s not a club, it’s a career, but many would fervently dispute that.
Oh, I fully agree. I was just commenting on chick pea‘s joking “mid-man” remark…
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Jindal named his son after this right-wing politician.
Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but cavemen also helped deliver there own children and the the univeristy of bedrock’s school of medicine was horrible.
Congrats Piyush (that’s his real name, btw – he changed it at a very young age and converted to catholism some years later)!
You are one crazy smart, passionate and accomplished fellow with a lovely family. I just cannot figure out what motivates your political views homes…
ps: shallowthinker – “univ of bedrock…” LOL!! But you need not go back that far to find folks delivering their own kids – try much of India today.
Slade seems like a soap opera name.
I know he desperately wants to be seen as American as apple pie, but would giving his kids Indian names have been SO bad? Would his political career have been hurt by that? Actually, maybe…
Hold up, wait a minute– am I less desi because of my name? INDIAN NAMES? That’s a litmus test? I know a little brown toddler named Madison; it’s nothing I would choose for my offspring, but I’m not going to think “sell-out” the next time I see her chubby cheeks. I hope everyone looks at her (and this “issue”) the same way. He converted to Christianity. Naming his children Selia Elizabeth and Shaan Robert is a logical outcome of that choice. Christians are brown, too.
It’s so funny how you and I see things– I read a few articles about him this morning and I thought, “Selia, Shaan and Slade…wow, they went with the ‘brown’ spelling of the middle child’s name…”
“wow, they went with the ‘brown’ spelling of the middle child’s name…”
i thought shaan was an “indian” name. forgive my ignorance, but what is the “non-brown” spelling of shaan? thanks.
Anna’s comments would apply even if the Jindals didn’t convert…a couple has every right to choose whatever names they want for their children. And if they did give “Indian” (you mean “Hindu”?) names, what would it prove? If anything?
Yes, Amitabh is making the fallacy that “Indian equals Hindu”. Shamey-shamey…
BTW, my favorite badmash comic is about Mr. Jindal.
Yeah, thank YOU for the sarcasm. I’m probably the one who will end up being wrong, but my friend Shaan pronounces his name like…”Shawn”. Or “Sean”. Or “Shaun”. You know, that Bond guy’s first name? I don’t need to tell you that there are a bunch of names that “go both ways”, which are ubiquitous for desi toddlers: Neel, Maya, Neena, Tara…they can be spelled a few ways. When I see “Neel”, I think “brown spelling”. When I see “NeAl”, I don’t.
anna, honestly there was no sarcasm intended. i was wondering if there was a western male name spelled shan which jindal had “indianized” into shaan. i know a sian, pronounced shan by her, but didn’t think of sean, shawn, neal, neel etc. so i guess i misunderstood you.
Shaan means pride, and it isn’t pronounced like Sean/Shawn/Shaun. Shaan has A matra, whereas Sean has more of a au matra. Both words would be spelled differrently in Hindi.
I think I will name my kid Shaan. You can say, I have taken a shaan to it 😆 😆 ok that’s enough
Awww, then I withdraw my reactionary hissing, good mutineer. I guess I misunderstood you, too. Thanks for the clarification. 🙂
BrooklynBrown – vhat a wonderful link to the comic, yaar. Sums up my position on old Piyush well – such a high IQ, but nary a clue i wonder.
I think I need to go over my comments several times before hitting that ‘post’ button. Sometimes you don’t realise how your comments will hurt people. I am not equating Indian with Hindu. Obviously, any name owned by any Indian is automatically an Indian name. Furthermore, India has large communities of Christians and Muslims who have their own names as part of their heritage and tradition, and all are bona fide Indian names. But traditionally, most names that would be considered typically Indian, are usually Sanskrit-derived words, just as Muslim names are typically Arabic in origin (although yes, I am aware there are Dravidian origin names out there too). Secondly, I have no difficulty accepting that Bobby and his wife’s conversion was genuine, and done out of faith, and for no other reason. But he still has a CULTURAL background (which I have not really seen him acknowledge) that does not have to conflict with his religious faith. His wife comes from that same cultural background. And people from that particular cultural background, typically give their kids Sanskrit-derived names. Becoming Christian does not have to cut you off from your cultural roots. For Anna, who comes from an established Indian culture of Malayalee Christians, Christian names are a part of her cultural heritage and traditions. I don’t think that’s quite the case for Bobby. So it makes me wonder if he chose those names because he’s totally Americanised (or just doesn’t value the culture of his parents), or he did it for political reasons (because again, becoming Christian imposes no such naming requirements). And I did note the name Shaan, I was referring to Selia and Slade. Anyway, if I have offended anyone I apologise. One’s name has nothing to do with one’s desiness. It’s all good.
Jindal named his child after a seminal 80s glamrock band? Bitchin’! I can’t wait to read the posts on the inevitable births of Ratt, Winger, and Faster Pussycat Jindal.
My advice to Piyush:
So cum on feel the noise Girls rock your boys We get wild, wild, wild, We get wild, wild, wild, So cum on feel the noise Girls rock your boys We get wild, wild, wild, At your door
And Sid, you’re not the only one that noticed this is the third time Anna used the word “quondom.” It’s not as cool as “whilom” though.
Anna has used that word more than three times. Look, I take my duty to edify seriously. That’s all there is to it.
about the shaan-gate… at least he is named after one of my fave indian movies out there.. for the james bond fans of course 😉
I thought Jindal didn’t believe in the use of quondams?
Chick pea,
Shaan was an interesting movie.
FYI: Shaan means “pride” in Urdu/ Hindustani. I do not know Louisiana boy Bobby Jindal intended that when he named his daughter, I do not know. We both were Baton Rouge residents at one time. Once, Bobby Jindal noted that in Mike Foster’s (Governor Louisiana) cabinet swearing ceremony photo-op, he was not in a group photo for minorities, and how he had become part of color-blind crowd. I think he thinks he is white. He is the same guy who told Brown U. alum magazine that he did not identify with Asian Americans.
um.. he’s an oreo… plain and simple..
Bean, you know I adore you, and this has nothing to do with Jindal, but as someone who has had that “sweet slur” lobbed at them repeatedly, I don’t support its use, especially here. 🙁
“Indian” names ? By that do you mean Hindu names ? Guess names like “George Fernandes” aren’t really “Indian” according to that logic. If Barack Obama can have a political career by escaping an infamous name by a single letter that even his party members stumble over, I doubt Bobby would have had any trouble with naming his kids anything. But then again a brown Republican doesn’t get any slack…
Vikram, as one of my previous comments indicates, I feel just as strongly about and agree with your position, but Amitabh was gracious enough to own his error and I believe he was sincere. I thought his comment was thoughtful and I want to make sure such discourse is encouraged here, in every possible way…
Anna, My point was that the general tone of comments about Jindal is one of disdain because he is a “brown sell out” so anything he does including choosing a name is viewed with suspicion. Note the disclaimer Amitabh gives to Indian Christians having “Western” names because that is somehow not seen as being somewhat traitorous to one’s parental culture. So one set of standards for brown conservatives and one for non conservative browns for the same exact thing.
just as Muslim names are typically Arabic in origin
just a minor fyi, some “muslim” names are turkic or persian in provenance. my surname is originally mongol of course 🙂
And what about Mr. Mr Kobayashi? What’s up with him? Is he a pumpernickel with mustard sandwich or what? What I want to know is when he goes to thee sushi bar, and it better not be Nobu, does he order kampachi or is he a california roller?
Yeah sushi, I don’t see what the big deal is about the stuff. I bought some once, yaar, cooked it in some of that Goanese masala. It tasted just like any other fish. What rubbish, I tell you.
I don’t approve of all this food naming, unless we’re talking about the Death to Mangoes issue, and that pesky Pawpaw Liberation Front, then all bets are off.
The term oreo, that term makes me wince. Frankly, I prefer “macacaly impaired.”
But I see that you’re as curious as a trio of 23-year old Swedes, so I’ll refer you to my book (now standard in the field) in which the answer you seek is revealed.
Arigato gozaimasu.
it’s just how i feel about jindal.. i feel he’s a complete and utter sell out… or macacaly impaired as mr. kobayashi put it…
vikram, i think you are overreacting on the name thing. all of this strikes me more as celebrity gossip than conservative victimhood. white blonde liberal actresses who name their kid “apple” get subjected to the same treatment. we’re all part of the babyrazzi…..
and i think we should cut chick pea some slack on the oreo comment — she is, after all, the bean. food naming is in her DNA. 😉
Um… how many kids named “apple” have you come across before ? Jindal’s kid has a fairly conventional name. In Jindal’s case the issue was not with the name as much as Jindal’s possible motivations giving that name to the kid.
In her DNA ? “Oreo” is what people like Judge Clarence Thomas have been called… “coconut” would be the epithet for Jindal. Obviously some gene therapy or therapy in general is needed. 😉
vikram — i actually don’t think “slade” is all that “conventional” a name by any measure, probably akin to “apple,” actually. and in the context of indian names it definitely isn’t. that’s not at all a criticism from me at all — as far as i’m concerned, the more unconventional perhaps the better, as long as the name itself doesn’t sound ridiculous. please no naming your kids “phineas,” now — that’s not a very good way to show that you love your child. 😉
but regardless, i think you’re reading a lot into what people are saying in this thread, and generalizing, to boot. not to mention being a bit unnecessarily harsh towards chick pea (“therapy in general”? c’mon) — i don’t much care for people being called oreos either, but please take a page from anna’s more civil book.
and sorry, but i can’t resist saying this in this particular thread — you know what they say about, um, honey and vinegar. 🙂 and molasses — didn’t know about that one.