How you doin’, Kamaljeet?

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Jay Sean, the brown (whom we’ve known about for years) who crooned “Down”, was on The Wendy Williams show two days ago. Behold:

After he performed “Down” and “Do you remember , Williams exclaimed to her guest, “You are, STUNNING!” She followed up with “You’re exotic and spicy, what is your background??”. Mr. Jhooti let her know that his “heritage” was Indian and immediately clarified that he did not, in fact, live in a “wigwam”, i.e. that he wasn’t THAT kind of Indian.

Other scintillating bits from the show included Jay swatting down rumors about Ashley Tisdale, a mention of how the New York Post named him one of NYC’s most eligible bachelors and Sean’s confirmation that he’s already got a bird. So all you single ladies (all the single ladies)…and single men (all the single men), if you were in to him…you’re tatti out of luck. 🙂

66 thoughts on “How you doin’, Kamaljeet?”

  2. tattiing or pesabing up the wrong jarr??

    ANNA is back!!! whoooooo hooooooo!!!!!!!!

    btw down is a well good tunnnne!!

  4. Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys. (Anybody read “2 states” by Chetan Bhagat yet? loved it.)

  5. Man, brown people blowin’ up. You know, in the good way.

    Anna, can you post more? I need more real talk/short stories in my life, and less genetic analysis of of the whiteness of brownness or something. Although, since SM has slowed down on the fiction, I have been supplementing my real talk need with local spoken word, so maybe there is some good to be had…

  8. Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys.

    it’s only because i would get to do some serious bhangra at the wedding. also, a lot of those punjabi boys have that sleazy sexy look i like 😉

    anna, i miss you – and your posts.

  9. Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys.

    First try defining south (where will you put Maharashtra, Orissa..& if Telangana is formed where will it be?), later you can generalize. May be due to lack of Punjabi girls? (Anybody checked the sex ratio in Punjab?)

    sleazy sexy look i like 😉

    He is soooo sexy

    Welcome back Anna 🙂

  10. You do realise that there is this country were brown people are on T.V. ALL the time, and also they star in ALL the movies, and put out music albums also. It’s crazy.

  11. First try defining south (where will you put Maharashtra, Orissa..& if Telangana is formed where will it be?), later you can generalize. May be due to lack of Punjabi girls? (Anybody checked the sex ratio in Punjab?)

    Lack of Punjabi girls is a quality that women look? Women are weird.

  13. Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys

    It’s easy, it’s the choice between Kamal Hasan and Dharmendra.

  15. “It’s easy, it’s the choice between Kamal Hasan and Dharmendra.”

    I assure a majority of south indian women prefer Kamal Haasan to Dharmendra.

  16. It is surprising even though they had to get brides from Kerela (which I think has matrilineal communities), they haven’t changed their attitude that resulted in them having so few marriageable aged women. Hopefully, those Kerela wives will carry with them and pass on to their children (boys and girls alike) their female friendlier attitudes.

  17. You do realise that there is this country were brown people are on T.V. ALL the time, and also they star in ALL the movies, and put out music albums also. It’s crazy.

    You do realize that your sarcasm contributed nothing to the conversation? It’s crazy! And it was not at ALL clever or relevant, on an ALL American blog.

  19. Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys. (Anybody read “2 states” by Chetan Bhagat yet? loved it.)

    pfft if I had to generalize, I’d say it’s because a lot of south indian girls in america (from what i’ve noticed) are socialized to believe that north indian dudes are “manlier” and more attractive than south indian dudes.

    but i’ll take sendhil ramamurthy or kunal nayyar any day over jay sean 🙂

    but yay for jay sean! i actually really like his new album, i was listening to it on repeat a month or two ago. no shame here!

  20. Wigwam? Seriously?!! Even if he narrated this as “someone asking me about it,” I cringed at his insensitivity.

  21. pfft if I had to generalize, I’d say it’s because a lot of south indian girls in america (from what i’ve noticed) are socialized to believe that north indian dudes are “manlier” and more attractive than south indian dudes.

    So it is not bc north indian dudes are in any objective ways “manlier’ it is bc south indian girls have been schooled to internalize an inferiority complex about their fellow south indian men.

  22. SM intern, yes I suppose it doesn’t contribute much to be sarcastic, but sometimes I feel rather frustrated.

    To discuss more fruitfully:

    I don’t think everyone on this blog is American, at least from my impressions. Sure it has to do with the American experience, but I don’t think people here are so divorced from the ‘brown’ countries.

    I have been reading this blog off and on for sometime, n I always notice somethings.

    One is that a lot of people get all excited for brown people being in the lime light. This is good and all, but I almost feel like people are more excited when someone like Jay Sean jumps into the melting pot of the west, singing some western-style pop tunes, rather than the hundreds (thousands) of really amazing vocal artists that exist in the world already and are also brown. I mean, brown people have a lot of amazing stuff going on in the world, like the biggest film industry in the world, yet it seems like some people here don’t think brown people have accomplished much unless they get on the “Wendy Williams” show and get called “exotic and spicy” (which makes me ulta a little in my mouth). I mean, I don’t even know who Wendy Williams is. Why do I care if she praises Jay Sean? N do I have to like Jay Sean, just because he’s brown? (Answer no, but I totally respect you if you choose to like him)

    And what about music types. People get really excited here when there is a punk group with brown people, or a rapper, or anything else that seems to be an “American/Western” music style, which is totally cool and fine. But there are also tons of AMAZING artists in brown countries using traditionally brown styles to make some really good music. But it feels to me that some people only want to appreciate music when it is brown people doing something western. I’m not saying that is not OK, but I think widening our horizon is also something good too. Especially in this globalized era, I can easily buy my favorite Hindi movies or artists… they are not inaccessible or foreign, they are right in front of us, and just as good (or better or worse) than Jay Sean or M.I.A.

    So anyways, I am sorry for the sarcasm of earlier, but what do other people here think about my comments? Am I totally off-base? These comments are just sort of general feelings I get from this group, I can be convinced I’m wrong though. What’s you viewpoint?

  23. Anon-E-mouse wrote:

    This is good and all, but I almost feel like people are more excited when someone like Jay Sean jumps into the melting pot of the west, singing some western-style pop tunes, rather than the hundreds (thousands) of really amazing vocal artists that exist in the world already and are also brown.

    Anon, Are you suggesting that brown artists should stop making pop music and stick to “traditional” art forms?

  25. “Anon, Are you suggesting that brown artists should stop making pop music and stick to “traditional” art forms?”

    No, not at all. brown artists in India also make pop music all the time (and also use influence from musical genre’s around the world). Like I said, I think it is totally cool for artists to make the kind of art they want. My argument was more that it seems like some people here tend to get super excited when a brown person is doing some sort of art form or in the public eye in a very western way, but seem to ignore or be completely uninterested in all the amazing brown artists that already have been doing their thang in the public eye for a long time, just because they are not in the ‘west’. Anyways, that is my perception based on blog posts/comments here. I mean people get really excited when they see brown people doing things in the limelight in the U.S. or the U.K., which I understand, since that is not so common here. But we really don’t NEED the media to tell us what brown artists are worth our time, we can identify them ourselves, n I personally don’t think we should limit ourselves to the western view of what’s “good” or popular, there is a whole HUGE music and movie industry out there, full of talented brown artists.

  26. I am definitely more excited when a Brown person is accomplishing something of noteworthiness in Western forms of media, entertainment, politics etc. Growing up in the US does not make me Indian – it makes me Indian-American. And to see people of my background break into popular culture is hugely exciting in a way that may not be understood by those who were raised in India. Y’all didn’t have to grow up never seeing a person who looked like you on the television or movie screen, so it’s natural that you don’t understand how personally gratifying it is to see one of our own make it in the entertainment industry. I, for one, am thrilled to learn more about these artists and to support them as culturally groundbreaking pop culture icons.

  27. Jes, I can understand that, but can I ask you a question?

    You say you are Indian-American, so does that mean you don’t have any interest/connection with media coming out of India? Let’s not say with a language barrier (I don’t know if you do or do not know an Indian language) but there are also films and artists from India in English. Did you watch any of this stuff growing up, or now? Did your family show you movies and songs with brown people? I am just wondering if people just don’t find any of the things coming out of India appealing or if it is just because it is special to see the artist in your own American culture?

  28. Anon, perhaps the reason why it seems that way to you is because the focus of the blog – it’s diasporic in nature, and to a great extent, geared towards a South Asian-American audience (even if there are DBDs who constitute a large number of the commenters). Obviously, then, there are far more posts about South Asian American and South Asian artists in the US than e.g. artists operating strictly in South Asia. I think it’s rather parochial to think that what is discussed on this blog defines what the commenters’ general interests are in South Asian artists or culture. The comments read here are a reaction to the posts, which, as most would agree, are usually limited to something occurring within the States. When I want to know what’s going on in, e.g. India or Pakistan, I don’t come to SM, but that is not to assume that I, or any other SMer for that fact, is not interested in such topics – they just don’t arise on this site.

  29. pfft if I had to generalize, I’d say it’s because a lot of south indian girls in america (from what i’ve noticed) are socialized to believe that north indian dudes are “manlier” and more attractive than south indian dudes

    heh? maybe it’s the north Indian guys goin after south indian girls- cause ya know, we are skinnier..it takes two to tango. but, Jay sean looks south indian. To me anyways- I have a telegu friend that looks very similiar to him. either way he’s hawt.

    Am I totally off-base?

    No, but if this blog just talked about artists in India, it would be a Bollywood blog. Jay Sean’s style isn’t influenced by Indian-style music whereas most artists in India are- but he’s Indian and making it big (although his first song appealed massively to the public mainly because it featured lil wayne)

  31. “The comments read here are a reaction to the posts, which, as most would agree, are usually limited to something occurring within the States. When I want to know what’s going on in, e.g. India or Pakistan, I don’t come to SM, but that is not to assume that I, or any other SMer for that fact, is not interested in such topics – they just don’t arise on this site.”

    OK, I see your point there. But I guess I would also challenge people to why can’t both be mixed together? Why does it have to be dichotomy. I mean, as far as I know, artists from the U.S. and Europe travel and do shows all over the world, if people in the U.S. got introduced to more South Asian artists, they could also do world tours just as easily… I mean, technically Jay Sean is British, right? But we feel cool discussing him on a mainly American focused blog. If we can discuss brits like M.I.A. and Jay Sean, then why can’t we also bring artists from South Asia to the mix? I get your point about the focus of the blog itself, and that people might be looking at this other stuff somewhere else, but I guess I just wonder why there has to be segregation.

    For example, I really love this song from Delhi 6 by A R Rahman (though not so much the movie itself). The song is about a guy who grew up in the U.S. and goes back to India.. it is kind of a dream sequence which is really cool- it mixes up times square NYC with bits of India.. autorickshaws n hawkers and all that. I don’t know, but I love it– and it is relevant to diaspora and all too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9snY21B_tQ

  32. we are skinnier..

    I totally agree. I have not seen a single fat chic from the south (draw the imaginary LOC whereever you want). They are all size zero. (btw she is till single)

    Please stop generalizing unless you have some data to prove it. Personal anecdotes are good but speak for yourself.

    How can you even club four(or five) different states into a single entity? When people from say, Mysore & Bangalore itself are so different (They are like twin cities in the same state). The difference is so much that some girls/guys won’t even agree to marry someone from a different city. (Yep, the differences are carried even to US by the hordes of grad students). I was speaking with one of my Mallu friend, we were discussing about our future spouses. The girl said firstly, he should be a Mallu christian. Secondly, he should have a MS…My conversation with another girl – Dude, I want to change this apartment complex. This has so many Mysoreans, the other apartment has lots of people from Bangalore. What I have seen in grad school is people from big cities hang among themselves (everyone comes together when finishing assignments, bollywood parties, festivals..)

    If you ask me, I would say Indian girls care more about how educated the guy is + plus other factors (religion, caste, language…). Each having a different weight-age depending on the girl.

  35. It’s not likely that Wendy or women of her ilk would find guys like Jay Sean to be “exotic” or “spicy”. She was just acting/pretending.

  36. South Indian women beware! Don’t marry North Indian men:

    CUITURE SHOCK These are differences that Sreeja, who got married to Bhirbal Singh of Sorkhi two years ago, is still coming to terms with. Attired in a blue salwar suit, dupatta over her head and speaking fluent Haryanvi with her mother-in-law, there’s little to betray Sreeja’s roots except for her dusky complexion and the Kerala-style mangalsutra. She’s even learnt to tend cattle and make rotis, but the scorching heat of a Haryana summer and the incessant power cuts make her long for the raindrenched green countryside where she grew up. ‘‘It’s tough to adjust because everything is so different here. I can’t even pop into my neighbour’s house without telling my mother-in-law. Back home, there were no such restrictions,’’ says Sreeja, fanning her daughter to give her some relief from the heat. But is being the mother of a girl easy in a culture with such a marked son preference? ‘‘When she was born in Payannur, all the relatives and neighbours came with gifts. Here, they gave her nothing because she is a girl.’’ Like other brides from Kerala, Sreeja laid down two conditions before her marriage: that Bhirbal build her a toilet so that she wouldn’t have to go to the field and that her delivery be in Kerala. Now, back in Sorkhi with her little one, Sreeja has busied herself arranging alliances for other unmarried youths. ‘‘I have been the go-between for six marriages. Like me, the girls think this is the only way out of poverty. They have no idea what it is like here,’’ she says, with a tinge of bitterness. Just a few houses down lives Omana, another Payannur girl whose marriage to 33-yearold Ajit Singh in April was facilitated by Sreeja. Married just a few months ago, Omana — who was an anganwadi teacher in her village — speaks only a few words of Haryanvi and makes heavy weather of chappatis. The cellphone is her only connect with the world she’s left behind. ‘‘It’s an alien world for these girls and the first few years of marriage can prove to be tough,’’ says Ravinder Kaur, an IIT Delhi researcher who came across more than 40 cases of across-region marriages in a survey of five districts of Haryana.
  37. Like other brides from Kerala, Sreeja laid down two conditions before her marriage: that Bhirbal build her a toilet so that she wouldn’t have to go to the field

    What? The villagers in Kerala have indoor toilets, unlike villagers in Haryana and the rest of India?

    Damn keralite commies 🙂

    ‘‘When she was born in Payannur, all the relatives and neighbours came with gifts. Here, they gave her nothing because she is a girl.’’

    That is why these ignorant misogynist female infant murderers from Punjab and Haryana have to hunt for wives in Kerala and the northeast….

  39. Someone did tell me that Jay Sean had some Indian roots when they played the “Down” song at a party. I hadn’t looked him up, but because of his somewhat nerdy rendition, I totally conflated him with Kevin Gnapoor in my head. Yep, Kevin isn’t the sexiest, but I have a special place in my heart for Kevin I-only-date-women-of-color Gnapoor :).

  40. Ooh, on-topic insightful conversation, I’ve got a good one too: Airline food, what is the deal with it?

  41. Everyone should check out the clip Ashwini linked to in the first comment. It never ceases to amaze me how fluently most 2nd gen Sikh Brits (including Jay Sean) speak Punjabi.

  42. It’s not likely that Wendy or women of her ilk would find guys like Jay Sean to be “exotic” or “spicy”. She was just acting/pretending.

    Alot of black women dig Indian guys. From middle school to now, black women have always been hitting on me and I am not the only Indian guy this happens to.

  43. 38 · Umm on February 1, 2010 8:52 AM · Direct link “Sreeja laid down two conditions…” That was only one condition.

    umm no.. that was the no 2. condition.

  44. Alot of black women dig Indian guys. From middle school to now, black women have always been hitting on me and I am not the only Indian guy this happens to.

    But Jay Sean is short and not well built. As long as Desi dudes are tall and well-built, yeah, I can see sistas hollerin’. Otherwise NO!

  45. A lot of black guys dig Indian women too. Have been hit on by so many black guys or the mexicans. But white guys? Once in a Blue Moon.

  47. “It’s not likely that Wendy or women of her ilk would find guys like Jay Sean to be “exotic” or “spicy”. She was just acting/pretending.”

    So it’s totally cool for ole; Wend to call y’all exotic and spicy? I thought was a pet peeve of many here, the whole “oh Indians are so EXOTIC” bs.

  48. So it’s totally cool for ole; Wend to call y’all exotic and spicy? I thought was a pet peeve of many here, the whole “oh Indians are so EXOTIC” bs.

    Why so salty? Wendy’s reaction wasn’t great but for me personally it’s a hell of a lot less sinister coming from a Black person than a white one. And yeah, your memory works: most of us don’t want to be exoticized. Why would we?

    Different people have different pet peeves. For example, some may think it’s awkward and tacky to trumpet one’s charitable endeavors. It’s good to help those in need, but please be aware of how weird it is to see a white person showing off the poor brown children she sponsors via her blog’s sidebar. All I could think of after clicking your link was “White Woman’s Burden”.

  49. Wendy’s reaction wasn’t great but for me personally it’s a hell of a lot less sinister coming from a Black person than a white one.

    Is that a fact?