Thrust into Greatness

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The reason why no ideology has ever created, let alone sustained, the world it envisioned, is that by definition it could not account for unintended consequences. The same is true of more modest ventures. A war meant to be short and sweet turns out anything but. A campaign meant to steamroll the opposition clears the field of all rivals but one, the most dangerous and unexpected. Observing something alters its nature; naming it alters its meaning. If you’ve ever planned anything – a career, a vacation, a party – you know this already.

And so, when things happen – interesting things, significant things, things that surprise us and thus lead us to feel – they result only partly from deliberate action, and as much from the gremlins of serendipity, who can inhabit any of us for any period of time. Thrust into greatness, we signify; the moment passes, the world changes, we fade to obscurity.

salonsidarth.jpgAre you having a macaca moment yet? In 2006, desis were thrust into greatness in the person of S. R. Sidarth. Senator AllenÂ’s view of SidarthÂ’s ethnic happenstance differed so radically from that of a majority of Virginia voters, that the (near-) accident of the brother being there set in motion events leading, it is argued, to the change of power in Congress.

Macaca was about revealed perception. The perception was AllenÂ’s; but the revelation stems from Sidarth. Without Sidarth, the perception would not have been revealed. The tree might have fallen in the forest, but no one would have heard.

This is old news to us; in this community at least, weÂ’ve followed the macaca story from the start and have no disagreement as to its significance. Where we differ is in what we make of it for ourselves, the extent to which we identify with Sidarth or the fate we wish on the word macaca itself.

timecover.jpgOld news, yes. But this weekend Sidarth was made to reappear, once more in his capacity as the embodiment of macaca, as two news outlets produced their round-up of people who mattered in 2006. Salon names Sidarth its Person of the Year. Time’s Person of the Year is You – you, the diffuse and disparate emanators of content, the users who generate that which is user-generated – and Sidarth is one of the Yous the magazine profiles.

ItÂ’s interesting to compare the interpretations that each of these outlets apply to Original Macaca. Salon, the established survivor of first-generation Web journalism, sees in him less the agent of a brave new world of representation than an embodiment of an America undergoing demographic and attitudinal change. Time, a behemoth of a pre-Internet era when The Press told The Public what to know and believe, now celebrates Sidarth as one of a non-organized army of little people upending the plans and certitudes of the great.

Both treatments have in common, however, that ultimately they are not about Sidarth – not the “real” Sidarth, biologically and spiritually unique, but what he seems through various filters. It was the year of You perceived and revealed, by your own doing and by that of others. That trend will continue, as attested by the fact that you read this blog, perhaps comment, perhaps have established an identity here and elsewhere on the Web.

We are learning that representation matters. We manage our identities lest others manage them for us; in a way the two processes are dialectically the same. What remains is spirit: mercurial, contradictory, and if we will it, potentially free.

48 thoughts on “Thrust into Greatness”

  1. great post! sometimes i wonder how we ever lived in the pre-internet era…but 10 years from perhaps there’ll be another pre-x thang goin’ on….

  2. Time’s person of the year gets more half assed every time.

    That said, yes, desis in America have reached critical mass, watershed, etc…

  3. This is a really interesting time to be alive. Things are changing so rapidly that we have more access to information than ever before. The spread of macagagate illustrates the “viral” nature of information transfer over the internet. Still, I can’t help but be pessimistic that this period of the free exchange of information will be shortlived. Just as the powers that be figured out a way to control information transfer through print and radio, I believe the same thing will happen to the internet, it’s just a matter of time. So, given this window of opportunity, let’s do as much as we can with it.

  4. Total cop-out.

    Both Youtube and Google Video don’t allow pornographic or obscene videos on their websites. Its an obvious form of censorship, they’d be on hot water if everyone started posting their sex-tapes, but its still censorship. They decide what obscene is, which could be anything.

    Such a cop-out.

  5. wow, I didn’t know this until like a few weeks ago I think but I actually know this kid. we used to hang out a way back at the temple probably when he was in elem school. my celeb connection!

  6. sometimes i wonder how we ever lived in the pre-internet era…

    Since this post has a label of “Kids” – I often wonder how it affects them. We can easily say “back in the day before internet, email, blogs, You Tube or whatever” but they can’t. When asking children to look for something, or do research, they are unbelievably impatient. They’re so used to Google-searching and Wiki-ing for answers, that using a real dictionary (you know, with, like pages) or having to look at the index of a book is personally insulting.

    Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge supporter of this free sharing of information and the learning (after all, that’s my trade) that can occur. Also, I am a supporter of this new realm for our internet identities (I, too, have a blog) However, I think we need to embrace this moment to clarify what this all means for us and where we’re going with it.

    Good post.

  7. “We manage our identities lest others manage them for us”

    Cultural activism, even the less aggressive, “management” kind, requires a lot more unity than usually found among the desis. I know we first geners can’t do it. We are Gujus and Bengalis first, Indians second. I am, of course, referring to another current SM post where you will see how passionate desis can get about their sub-ethnic identities.

    But maybe the ABD’s will do a better job. The only thing that mitigates against any broad desi initiative is the desi demographics. Believe me, I have done enough community work among the desis to arrive at my state of guarded enthusiasm. Educated, higher economic bracket, liberal, intellectual – these are not the ideal conditions for cultural unity and ethnic vigilance. I was thinking of the Jewish parallel, too, but don’t forget. The Jews share a very strong unifier that overrides most demographic trends.

    Thanks to SM for doing its part.

  8. Excellent post, Siddhartha. I liked the bit about identities as revealed — via a distorting media, much of which we are now creating ourselves — being as important now as our individual self-perceptions. Sepia Mutiny constantly forces me to reexamine myself and my beliefs.

    I hereby nominate that the Macaca of the Year is … drumroll…a Mutineer!

  12. Total cop-out.

    I know. That was the first word that went through my mind when I saw the cover. Kinda cutesy-clever way to conceal that the only choices they had were probably Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or (more likely) Hassan Nasrallah.

    Great post, Siddhartha. Your writing is priceless.

  13. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge supporter of this free sharing of information and the learning (after all, that’s my trade) that can occur. Also, I am a supporter of this new realm for our internet identities (I, too, have a blog) However, I think we need to embrace this moment to clarify what this all means for us and where we’re going with it.

    Tamasha, just wanted to send out a note of thanks…if only I had appreciated my teachers as much when I was a child as I do now (looking back)…I think you belong to the noblest profession…anyway, some kid who doesn’t seem like he/she appreciates your efforts right now, will very likely be someone who looks back years from now and remembers you with gratitude. Good luck!

  15. In reference to the famous macaca comment:

    The crowd cheered, but Sidarth believes it was only because they had to. “It was an unfair indictment by Allen of the people there,” Sidarth says. “They would have applauded no matter what he said.” Later, some audience members went over to Sidarth to apologize.

    Whether the crowd deserved the benefit of the doubt or not, it’s amazing that a 21 year old could see things in such a mature manner. We will be hearing about this kid again in the future.

  17. Like Sriram said this really is quite an amazing time to be alive. I’m sure every generation feels that way. To be the last generation to refer to books/library/no videogames is something that always amazes me. Atari was my first intro to “computers” and there were floppies and TV with a few channels, we actually played stick ball and invented games and spent hours at the library and had to memorize the maths table. It brings a smile to my face when I think of talking about these memories with my kids and my kids thinking of it as bad and cheesy as the “I didn’t have shoes and had to study under the street light” story my father used to tell me.

  18. JoAT:

    It brings a smile to my face when I think of talking about these memories with my kids and my kids thinking of it as bad and cheesy as the “I didn’t have shoes and had to study under the street light” story my father used to tell me.

    Sorry for the threadjack, but you reminded me of this awesome Monty Python skit.

  19. “I didn’t have shoes and had to study under the street light” story my father used to tell me.

    My version of that story is “I didn’t ever get to touch a computer until I got to college”. Heh Heh.Some things never change.

  20. back in the day when i was in college… netscape and the web was just starting.. i think i had email? i just remember having prodigy in 1991/2..and thought i was way ahead of the game… haha…medical school is when the entire web thing really came into play…and nowadays, i don’t know where i would be without it.. literature searches, studies, drug information… and seeing patients who question you with wrong information that they found online and me trying tell them that not all the web is golden…

    i think though i was more um.. productive… when there was no internet.. i know my attention span was longer… however, my knowledge base of both the useful and the completely useless has increased…

    damn you web. time sucker.

    and pat on back to ‘all of us’… because god dammit TIME magazine said so!

  21. Beautifully written. And coming from the previous thread, this post restored my appreciation for, well, everything.

    Thanks Siddhartha 🙂

    Now, onwards.

  22. That picture of Allen pointing at Sidharth and calling him macaca is so similar in look, intention and effect, to that picture of comedian Kramer pointing at african-americans in his audience at the Comedy Club and insulting them with the N word. He too had his career derailed as a consequence.

  23. On that note: my dad used to tell me that paper was scarce, so he would write down his notes, memorize them, and then erase them to reuse the paper. I still haven’t figured out if it’s true.

  24. Thanks Doordarshan. I wanted to point out the M-word from previous Siddarth’s posts, as I found them as offensive as the N-word, yet I am neither African American nor pure desi. The notion of self-races using self-terms is questionable as I know Siddarth does mean it in a derogatory sense (as neither do most rappers, comedianss, etc.). but where does intent lie in intrepretation?

  26. Awesome post Siddhartha, you really rocked the conflation of identity issues perfectly. The O.M. (there you go, SA) is either a representative of the ‘new ethnic America’ or the ‘new grassroots America’. In all likelihood, neither and both are S.R. Sidharth. I think it’s cool that he has taken back some of the management of his identity, and has, I think, through his subsequent words, more fully informed the media of his real self.

    And frankly, neither and both are “new”. On the one hand, America has fundamentally always been about race and identity, and about grassroots v. elite. Of course, both issues are also new because the manifestation of those issues (non-white Americans and the type of technology now available), is different. The differences aren’t fully realized yet, though. I am intensely curious about what our collective future holds in store.

  27. Ahem. 1. Siddhartha, the wily worded one.

    🙂 srsly

    Poor thing… can we please get his name right? Not Sid, not Sidd, not Siddharth, not Sidharth, not, Sidarth… it’s SIDDHARTHA, and it says so at the bottom of all his posts just in case you forget 🙂

  28. wow, I didn’t know this until like a few weeks ago I think but I actually know this kid. we used to hang out a way back at the temple probably when he was in elem school.

    Only on Sepia Mutiny…

    😉

  29. Ooh and I forgot to add, Siddhartha, you’re the post-colonial theory lit professor I wish I had…

    Isn’t it funny how internet forums and online magazines like Salon which are run by a smaller group of people than publications like TIME seem to be more trusted by people nowadays?

    Good on TIME for recognising Sidharth, but the choice of ‘YOU’ (cue the ‘awwww’) for their Person of The Year is a bit like your Mum telling you you’re really really ridiculously goodlookin’…thanks Mum but it would have been cooler if it actually meant something.

    What about Barack Obama? He’s a better black Prez than Morgan Freeman is in the movies, and that’s saying something 🙂

  30. my dad used to tell me that paper was scarce, so he would write down his notes, memorize them, and then erase them to reuse the paper. I still haven’t figured out if it’s true.

    I can completely believe that. I wrote on scratch paper first in pencil, and then in pen so I could use it twice. I think it was coz at that time and situation (pre-college days) paper was expensive enough for my family to warrant such things, and that’s what all my friends did too. We used up loads of scratch paper in preparing for the IIT entrance and such stuff, so I guess the savings added up.

  31. Siddhartha,

    Thanks for such a beautiful and perfectly-paced post.

    The gooseflesh has since abated, but i know i’m going to be carrying your insights on “revealed perception” around for a while.

    %Respect; You Rock! %

  32. but the choice of ‘YOU’ (cue the ‘awwww’) for their Person of The Year is a bit like your Mum telling you you’re really really ridiculously goodlookin’…thanks Mum but it would have been cooler if it actually meant something.

    Tash: true.

  33. Q: Is this “Person of the year” just for “US” or this is for the entire globe?
    If just the US, perfectly fine. If not…a bad choice.

  34. meanwhile indians sign away their rights to nuclear weapons in washington. and the macacas on sepiamutiny declare victory.

  35. what’s up with the negativity, bookburner?

    anyone who’s done organizing knows how rare “sucesses” are, how rare it is to feel a difference has been made. how frustrating it can be to work “on the ground,” to do the grunt work, the little things that all too often are overlooked. to feel overworked and underappreciated, to feel like the small things you do doesn’t make a difference. but clearly it does. yes, it’s corny, but i have to say it–i salute you sidarth. for showing that the little people do make a difference, that it’s not all in vain. power to the people, the internet relvolution seems to be going in the right direction…

    so, yes, let’s revel in this one. don’t worry, a little celebrating doesn’t mean we think our work is done.

  36. Good post, Siddartha. As usual, your writing rocks.

    I think the “you” that gets the award is us, the brownz. The self-styled macacas, the ones who tipped the scales. We get the goddamn trophy, thank you very much. The rest of the planet can watch fuckin’ “12 Days of Desi Christmas” on endless repeat on Youtube. And you know who else? People who actually go out and do stuff. I think those people should get a “Person of the Year” award. I don’t think it’s enough to just “create content.”

    I’m all in favor of those who foment discontent, though.

    Who wants to go cow-tipping? Meet me at McDonald’s.

  37. Thanks, everyone! By the way Jon Stewart had a pretty funny riff on the TIME cover last night, complete with ridiculous clips from the interview CNN’s Soledad O’Brien did with the TIME editor. CNN and TIME are part of the same conglomerate.

  38. Jon Stewart had a pretty funny riff on the TIME cover

    I liked the “tribute” section where they played clips of crazy you-tube videos. Seriously, I fail to understand why is you-tube such a big deal?? Do they make any money??? Or this is just the late 90’s “eye-balls” metric.

  39. Its funny he’s wearing the “College” t-shirt which is freely given away by Citibank marketers on campus.

  41. so, yes, let’s revel in this one. don’t worry, a little celebrating doesn’t mean we think our work is done.

    fat chance of that. after a promising start, the congressional india caucus is in ruins. whatever good work was started in the 80’s by the enthusiastic worthies of OFBJP, solarz, and others now lies buried under mass of inanities by flunkies and chutiyas and other assorted posers of various ardha commie orgs. a corpse has less apathy than majority of indian americans today. they will have a piss party over macaca but will lick the spittle of bushie’s billion dollar govet funded missionary enterprise, which has just managed to destroy india’s nuclear potential with insider help from the UPA. and this was all done by probably the most credibilty poor administration in all of US history, whom no one but no one takes seriously on the world stage. sorry for the strong words but it’s too much how the new generation of abcd dandies have lost the steely perspective of their elders, if they ever had it in the first place. carry on with the cock measurements and the lipstick porn, sepia jokers.

  42. abcd dandies have lost the steely perspective of their elders

    Dandies! You have lost the steely perspective of your elders!

  43. sorry for the strong words but it’s too much how the new generation of abcd dandies have lost the steely perspective of their elders, if they ever had it in the first place. carry on with the cock measurements and the lipstick porn, sepia jokers.

    Join the Leftist Cabal in persecutional infamy, you ABCD dandy SCUM!

    Death to cock measurements and lipstick porn! Death to Sepia Mutiny!

    Hail enthusiastic worthies of OFBJP solarz Mogambo!

  44. wow, you came to all those conclusions by this post? your attitudes are strongly reminicent of the “us vs. them” policy of the republican party.

    not everyone takes everything seriously 100% of the time, and if you can’t find joy or celebration in anything, then i feel sorry for you. there are plenty of posts on this blog about politics, war, nuclear weaposn etc. this post wasn’t about “the congressional india caucus” or “nuclear weapons in washington”…perhaps thats why people aren’t engaged in intense discussion about it in this thread?

    i’ve never understood the people who come in here and are like “YOU’RE NOT LIBERAL ENOUGH” or “STOP JOKING AROUND”. ironically, those are the ones that make the least progress, b/c they sit in an ivory tower, preaching to the choir.

  46. And rock jaws and beefy loins no doubt…>>

    they did manage to almost get pakistan declared as a rogue nation..

  47. sorry for the strong words but it’s too much how the new generation of abcd dandies have lost the steely perspective of their elders, if they ever had it in the first place. carry on with the cock measurements and the lipstick porn, sepia jokers.

    Damn right. Oh the nostalgia for the days of yore, when South Asian men were manly and women were demure, when a Dev Anand-style quiff or a Raj Kapoor/Guru Dutt-style pencil moustache was enough to make a man feel like a sexual tyrannosaurus, when the bride had no say at all in whom she married, when a lightning-quick girding of the lungi and a threatening “Arre !” from a suitably spindly-armed hero was enough to inspire thousands to buckle their swashes and join the revolution against the latest deserving rogue on the receiving end of the lynch-mob’s righteous fury. “Collective guilt” ? “Blame the victim” ? “The harlot was insufficiently demure so the besharam ladki bloody well asked for it” ? Well, rightly so !

    We definitely need an outbreak of manliness on Sepia Mutiny. I’ve been considering this for quite some time. Enough with the complaints about exotificationalizationistic objectification and fetishization — arise, arise, oh ABCD man, and put on the talcum powder of your ancestors on your faces once more (allegedly to “freshen up”) and revive the desi ideal of asli mardani.

    Thug Life 4Ever.