For the past week, in addition to creating a list of modest New Year’s resolutions (oh how I miss the days when my resolutions were wildly ambitious!), I have been thinking about how the “South Asian American experience” will change and evolve during this decade. For instance, in 2004 when we started this blog, South Asian Americans were still “outsiders” in many respects. Now, we’ve given up noting much of what was quite notable back then (e.g., every actor, politician, musicians). So here is my list of top 10 predictions involving South Asian American society for the next 10 years:
1) The United States will have its first South Asian senator
2) Entrepreneurs will be the new doctors in terms of finding a respectable marriage match (e.g., “oh you should meet their son Ravi, he is having new start-up company”)
3) South Asian reporters on the scene will replace Asian reporters on the scene
4) Every other instance of a NYTimes wedding announcement featuring a South Asian person will be in the context of an interracial couple
5) Movies directed by M. Night Shyamalan will no longer mention the director as part of the movie ad campaign.
6) All South Asian American bloggers will go the way of the Dodo.
7) Slumdog Millionaire will be derided for having won best picture (e.g., really, we thought that was best picture that year?)
8) Americans in the media will pronounce South Asian names correctly…well almost. Much much better at least.
9) Yoga will be the new Starbucks
10) A South Asian American author will write an amazing work of fiction (maybe even one that will be turned into a movie) with almost no hint of any South Asian themes
11) There will be a headline grabbing sex scandal involving a South Asian American
Ok so there are 11 not 10. But only because I believe one of these won’t happen.
