Back in my younger mutinous days, when I was the youngest in the bunker, I wrote this post on “cool” desi women under the age of 30. I wrote it because I wanted to highlight other Desi American women in my age range who were “doing something”. A list like that didn’t exist then. We have since had many more young folk added to the mutinous blog roll in the bunker and there are even more Desi women than ever doing amazing things.
I too am jumping on the ’00 decade list making band wagon. In the past decade, I went from being a nascent 20 year old to a pseudo-mature 30 yr old. But more significantly, I think of how in 2000, as a desi girl in the U.S., I didn’t have any South Asian American females that I could turn to – as role models, as women breaking barriers, as women in the media. It was alienating and isolating, to not see Desi women breaking glass ceilings. I didn’t realize that there were things that desi girls could do outside of the “model minority job list” – I had no one really to look towards. In these past ten years, the South Asian American community has grown with leaps and bounds. Strong desi women have coming out of the wood works. They are on big screens, on the shelves of major book stores, and profiled in the news. Desi women are running for office, going to space, starting and directing non-profits, and running companies. I am so proud of to be a Desi woman of this decade, to be a part of a community giving the next generation of Desi girls role models to look up to.
So here is my mutinous list of the top 20 most influential South Asian American Women of the Decade (in alphabetical order). Please vote on the woman that you feel has been most influential to you in the poll at the bottom of the post. – Alpana Singh – She is the youngest female master sommelier in the country. Based in Chicago, Alpana hosts a local PBS restaurant review show (started in 2003), has published Alpana Pours: About Being a Woman, Loving Wine, and Having Great Relationships (2006), and has a regular weekly wine column.
Bhairavi Desai – In 1998, Bhairavi founded the Taxi Workers Alliance in New York. This organization was one of the first labor organizations that fought for a largely South Asian American clientele, and really founded a model for community organizing in the Desi community in the past decade.
DJ Rekha – This Brooklyn based DJ is noted as the woman that brought bhangra beats to the music scene in the U.S. She helped start and DJs at the monthly NYC event Basement Bhangra (since 1997), and released a Basement Bhangra CD in 2007.
Deepa Iyer – Deepa is the Executive Director for the South Asian Americans Leading Together. SAALT was founded at the begining of this decade, but really started to come together when there was a need for advocacy in the post 9/11 backlash our community experienced. Deepa transitioned into E.D. in 2004 and SAALT has slowly turned into the premier national advocacy organization for the Desi community, working on voting rights, immigration rights, and to coordinating the National South Asian Summit.
Indra Nooyi – In 2006, Indra was named the Chairperson and C.E.O. of PepsiCo. A Yale graduate, she joined PepsiCo in 1994 and moved up the ranks to CFO in 2001. Forbes named her #3 most powerful woman in 2008.
Jhumpa Lahiri – Lahiri’s short story book Interpreter of Maladies (1999) was arguably the first piece of South Asian American literature to really catapult the Desi diaspora lit scene of this decade. She had since written The Namesake (2003), which was turned into a feature film, and the book Unaccustomed Earth.
Kalpana Chawla – the first Indian American astronaut to fly into space, Kalpana not only pierced Abhi, she was one of the seven astronauts that died in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Her life even inspired a graphic novel.
Kashish Chopra – In 2003, Kashish competed in the Miss India U.S.A. pageant – and in turn won the category for Miss Congeniality. She was the first openly gay competitor in a Miss India pageant, which is no small feat in the Desi community. Kashish speaks out on her story of being a member to the GLBTQ community, and continues to inspire.
M.I.A – From Sri Lanka to England to Williamsburg, NYC. M.I.A. is a musical MC that really needs no introduction to The Mutiny. From her concerts, to her fashion line, to her baby’s name, I would not hesitate to say in SM’s lifetime she has been the most blogged about woman on our site.
Mindy Kaling – Otherwise known as Kelly Kapoor in the hit NBC TV show The Office (2004) for the past four years, Mindy is a comedian and a writer who just happens to be the funniest (and only) desi woman on primetime television. And she has a two year contract to produce her own television show in the near future.
Mira Nair – With Missippi Masala in the distant past, NYC based movie director and producer Nair broke some serious barriers in this decade with Monsoon Wedding (2001), Vanity Fair (2004), The Namesake (2006), and Amelia (2009).
Mohini Bhardwaj – Mohini you may remember from the 2004 Olympics, where she won a Silver Medal for the U.S. gymnastics team. She is the first Indian-American gymnast and second Indian-American athlete overall, ever to medal at the Olympics.
Padma Lakshmi – Supermodel and Salman Rushdie’s ex-wife, in the past decade Padma has rebranded herself as a Top Chef judge, selling her Easy Exotic wares and a soon to be baby mama to a papa who we know not yet. All while being really hot.
Parminder Nagra – The 2002 film Bend It Like Beckhem featured Parminder as a soccer loving Desi girl that fall for her White boy coach. It was one of the first movies of the Desi diaspora genre, and definitely one of the most well known. Parminder came state side soon after and was on E.R. from 2003-2009 as Dr. Neela Rasgotra, possibly being the first Desi doctor for that show.
Rinku Sen – is the President and Executive Director of the Applied Research Center (ARC) and publisher of ColorLines magazine (founded in 1999). Her prolific writing on race and her work at ARC has placed her at the forefront of racial justice work this past decade- she’s also published two books, Stir It Up (2003) and The Accidental American (2008).
S. Mitra Kalita – Former president of the South Asian Journalism Association, I think it’s fair to say that her role at SAJA (founded in 2003) helped catapult the South Asian American journo community to where it is today as well as how Desis are written about in the press. A former Washington Post, Newsday and Associated Press reporter, in 2008 she accepted a position at the Wall Street Journal. She’s written Suburban Sahib and is working on two forthcoming books, Get To Work and My Indian Dream.
Sonal Shah – Most recently known for her controversial (and highly blogged) spot on the Obama-Biden transition team, Sonal is a long time activist and economist. She and her siblings are the founders of IndiCorps, an NGO formed at the start of th decade that provides Indian American young people with year long fellowships in India. She had been at the advocacy arm of Google, but as of April 2009, she was appointed director of the newly created White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation.
South Asian Sisters – Not one woman, but these women took The Vagina Monologue and re-appropriated the format for South Asian women with Yoni Ki Baat. First performed in Berkeley in 2003, Yoni Ki Baat has taken the nation by storm this decade, giving space for Desi women to dialogue and have stories be told.
Sunita Williams – Sunita is the second Indian American woman to fly into space. An astronaut that was assigned to the International Space Station in expedition 14 and 15, she holds the record for the longest space flight for female space travelers, 195 days.
Swati Dandekar – A democratic Iowa State Senator (elected 2008), she had been a member of Iowa House of Representative from 2002 – 2008. I don’t think I’m mistaken in saying that she is the highest ranking longest running elected Desi-American woman politician.
I must jump in and say Sunny Leone deserves to be on a list of influential desi women of the decade. She is the 1st big indian pornstar of the internet age and that is no small accomplishment coming from a punjabi Sikh background. There are over a billion south Asians in the world and she was the ONE who broke into this field on this big of a scale.
In circles of desi men, there is no doubt that she was just as big as anyone on that list. I seriously cant think of one woman, that sent a generation of college aged desi men running faster to their computer to see something they have never seen before….
the Indian pornstar.
And I voted for Mindy Kaling by the way.
All though it was close between her and MIA. Kaling just does for me because she is so damn funny.
Besides porn, the one thing you wouldnt expect a desi woman to be is a, comedic writer/actor and she does it so well. “The Office” is a top 3 show of the decade for me and her being apart of that is amazing.
@ShallowThinker – Sunny Leone was my #21, trust me. 🙂
How many demerits does Mindy Kaling’s get for her tasteless Polanski joke?
I just voted twice by switching browsers. Im guessing you’re storing the vote as a client cookie.
FAIL.
i vote for madame lakshmi for simultaneously making inroads in multiple categories. i mean, entertainer, hottie, muse, cook, fashion diva, yummy mummy, business maven – hellooo… no peak left unconkered.
It’s not an easy choice at all.
But i’m going with Mira Nair. The Namesake(feature film) might have single handedly and authentically encompassed more about desi peeps and shared this with the rest of the world than anything else in the mainstream. It cud be argued that Ms. Lahiri probably deserves the adulation for the story, and she does, but without the brilliance of Ms. Nair, it would have remained a lovely niche little story unread by most 🙂
For that, Ms. Nair wins hands down for me.
Also, I wud like to think Indra Nooyi is a worthy runner up. Not for what she has done, but for inspiring millions of brown girls about what CAN be done.. I cud of course also say the same about Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams, Padma Lakshmi, MIA, Mindy Kaling, DJ Rekha, Tazzystar or the others in the sexy professions, but to be able to do it in a domain where you become singlehandedly responsible for making decisions which affect almost the entire planet (albeit only when they are thirsty :P), is IMHO really way mo serious! 😀
Also, who is the gorgeous woman sandwiched between Ms. Nooyi and Ms. Chawla in the above montage?
And how the hell did Taz like bypass her 27’s and turn 30? Wasn’t she jus like 24 a few years back? 😀
That’s Jhumpa Lahiri!!
I was, six years ago! I been blogging since ’06 spring on this site, almost 4 years. 🙂
Sonia Gandhi.
At least, going by the headline of the post: Desi women of the decade.
Whoa…how did MIA get more votes than Jhumpa Lahiri, Mira Nair, Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams, and Mohini Bhardwaj so far? Not to offend the majority that likes her, but I think I’m going to go cry now.
is not a desi.
It was tough to choose between Indira & Kalpana. Also I was expecting that Noureen DeWulf would make it to the list.
Why not? Isn’t she?
Who is that woman to the left of Yoni Ki Baat (South Asian Sisters) in the last row? I thought it was Sunny Leone, but then didn’t see her on the list. Now I really want to know who she is.
Kashish Chopra
Also, great job putting this thing together, Taz! Very professional 🙂
The only thing is, this seems very American. I mean, I think a Brit desi would have come up with some women who we in the States have never heard of. And South Asian nationals would have come up with a very different lists too. Can we say these are the women of Desi America?
I think I do in the intro to the list – even “Desi America” is a slight misnomer – you have desis that are first gen, 1.5 gens, and 2nd gens on the list (and the hadesi too). And people like M.I.A. who are really Brits married to Canadian. My focus on this list was desi women who have made an impact in America in past decade, and are part of the diaspora.
Also – Sepia Mutiny has always been a South Asian American centered blog, focusing on news of desis of the diaspora in the U.S. I just kinda figured that was implicit since it’s in the FAQ.
You’re right Taz, my bad. I just had the post title and that Sonia Gandhi comment in my head.
I voted for Mindy Kaling for a number of reasons:
1) she is the first mainstream Desi female actress/writer/comedian to really hit it the big time. if she plays her cards right, she could be in the same league as Tina Fey, Wanda Sykes, Margaret Cho, etc…
2) she is dark skinned, unlike the majority of successful Desi/Indo-Pak females in the entertainment biz. I just had to say it.
3) not only is she an inspiration to Desi females, but also for females in general– most especially, for female writers slash actors struggling in a white-man dominated entertainment biz that is still a sexist and racist White Boys’ club.
cheers
I vote for Sunny Williams. I am biased though. 🙂
I second post #19!
Very accomplished group there, quite a tough choice but I voted for Mira Nair just because of the influence she has had in shaping the south asian image in rest of the world and successfully communicating the desi experience through really meaningful films such as The Namesake.
I’d go with Mira Nair. BTW, great list!. I wanna sing..who is the smartest and hottest girl in the world..Desi gal!
By that, you are suggesting that the soundtrack to this post be this song? That’s too hilarious.
And people like M.I.A. who are really Brits married to Canadian.
i thought his mom was an american citizen, in which case he is too, right? or do you have to choose when you’re 18 and abjure one?
mindy kaling.
Where is Norah Jones on the list?
any doubt? 🙂
Oh..I am going to do a Volte-face and vote for this unknown human rights activist from North eastern India
ANNA John
& Tanzlia Ahmed, two extremely inspiring writers. for me non of the others have come close to these two. anna is separate as she introduced me to this blog Taz. and the new ideas and wonderful words.
no joke, non of the others come close,
distant third would MIA because she makes me do crazy dancing.
Peace
For the next decade it is most likely Nikki Haley.
yeah, good call. i’ll remember your psychicness in 10yrs, especially if she’s in the white house. if she wins the governorship this is going to be great. a conservative women with a white husband to boot will really piss of the left-wing authenticity police; plus a christian convert to drive the hindu fascists, the original authenticators, nuts. most likely will be presidential material after a few yrs as gov but sadly too late to take on Bam. good times ahead, though.
we must get in on the act. Pliss to vote on your favorite confection.
Khoofi, you ras-malai hater.
Desi porn has been around for a long time. Don’t you remember desibaba.com or indiansex4you.com? Amateur uncles and aunties doing their thing on the floors of their huts.
“yeah, good call. i’ll remember your psychicness in 10yrs, especially if she’s in the white house. if she wins the governorship this is going to be great. a conservative women with a white husband to boot will really piss of the left-wing authenticity police; plus a christian convert to drive the hindu fascists, the original authenticators, nuts. most likely will be presidential material after a few yrs as gov but sadly too late to take on Bam. good times ahead, though.”
Bobby boy already an afterthought in conservative circles? Ouch.
I thought he was supposed to be the Great Brown Hope for the GOP.
I completly forgot about her, but she is probably one of the best selling female artist of the decade. She did when a grammy for best album, which I dont think any south asian has ever done that.
This must be annoying, but one of the best aspects of lists is bitching about who is not on them.
I dont even want to think about it.
plus a christian convert to drive the hindu fascists,
Manju, I think she was Sikh originally.
So she will annoy the Sikh fascists? (Actually, all the Sikh republicans I know — and I know a few, you’d be surprised — are very enthusiastic about her.)
MUNA JAVAID for DESI WOMAN OF THE DECADE
TRILLUMINATI IN EXCELSIS YO
You could have just said Hindu, we fascists would have understood.
Is this blog run by just heterosexual South Asians? I notice Mira Nair is on the list she was born in India she is not American! Also Nair also lives part time in Uganda. So if Mira Nair can be on your list why isn’t lesbian feminist Irshad Manji on the list? Irshad works at NYU right now in America! I have to wonder because I am very surprised South Asian lesbian feminist Irshad Manji is not on your list! Irshad had one of the controversial and successful books this decade “The Trouble With Islam!” How could the editors of this blog ignore Irshad! Irshad is a very important South Asian woman because she challenged the patriarchy and she talked about the dirty laundry in the South Asian community.
Mods, pardon me for the double post. I must not understand SM’s priorities at all. Because this list is missing Renu Khator Chancellor and President, University of Houston, the first desi to become a university president.
Irshad has also been very visible she had a documentary on PBS a few years ago about the misogyny in Islam and the homophobia. Irshad has written articles for the NY Times, Times in London, Guardian, she has been very vocal and very visible. I think it is homophobic and xenophobic for the editors of this blog to exclude Irshad Manji!
well, not all hindus are fascists even if you try and make us so.
isnt manji canadian you goober?
sheesh… people should seriously haf more jalebis.
But then all fascists are Hindu, no? And Hinduism is itself a garb for fascism, obscurantism, revanchism, pseudoscience and everything else horrible. At least that’s what we have learnt from the desi North American intellectual of the decade, Meera Nanda, and honorary desi North American woemn Martha Nussbaum and Wendy Doniger! Give credit where it is due!
also, dont forget triskaidekophobic and koumpounophobic. what? you say that is completely stupid and without evidence?
it is pretty clear that manju neither said nor implied anything of the sort. you should get on a couch and work out your inferiority issues out of the public view.
the anti-intellectualism of the right wingers and shadow boxing with made up enemies would be funny if it werent so pathetic.
isnt manji canadian you goober?
sheesh… people should seriously haf more jalebis.
Well, I am not sure Nooyi and Meera are Americans, they may have Indian passports. Also Nagra is British. I think Manji is a good candidate, better than some of the people who got no votes .