It seems that desis are a “model minority”, entrepreneurial in spirit, and drawn to excel in all spheres. Even criminal life.

In the past 13 years, police have reported 76 young men killed in the Vancouver area in gang-related violence. The authorities blame drug deals gone bad and local turf wars, mostly involving well-to-do young people of Indian descent.

The gangs deal mostly in marijuana, according to police, and specialize in a popular variety grown in the province called B.C. bud. “B.C. bud marijuana is highly sought after in the United States,” said constable Alex Borden of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

In Blaine, Wash., Joe Giuliano, assistant chief at the local U.S. Border Patrol office, said 23 Canadian smugglers have been arrested on the U.S. side of the border this year. “Virtually all marijuana smuggling in the past fiscal year is either directly or indirectly tied back to the Indo-Canadian community,” Giuliano said.

Somehow, I don’t think this is what was meant by swadeshi.

Thus far I have managed to avoid controversy. This post may result in the creation of a new orifice on my body, but I felt like it was time to mix things up.

In an “Open Letter to the Asian American Community” members of NYC based DRUM (Desis Rising Up Moving) write:

Correction: DRUM is just a listserv which people post to in the NY area. The open letter below was written by the South Asian Sisters

We went to watch Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle because we genuinely wanted to support our Asian American brothers. After all, the media coverage told us that this movie was supposed to break stereotypes and be a positive step for Asian Americans. Asian websites raved about the film, and so we were all excited to rally around this film with the rest of the community. We entered the theater and immediately noticed that the audience was comprised of predominantly Asian Americans. We wondered if a movie based on the same premise featuring white boys would draw a bigger crowd. The movie started, and we sat back, waiting to be empowered.

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i know the rest of you blase brown are probably so over it you’re ready to be in to it again, but because i didn’t play or hear Punjabi MC’s “beware of the boys” 1000 times over the last few years, i still get excited whenever i hear it in some unexpected place. like right before they do “the numbers” on marketplace. i just heard the unmistakable joint an hour ago, and i thought i was hallucinating, so i went to their website. there, i was delighted to find that they list all the songs used during each program…et voila:

Most Recent Listings 8/12/04

Beware of the Boys – Panjabi MC

The Shy Retirer – Arab Strap

Sun is Shining – DJ Krush

One Big Love – Patty Griffin

Thank You – Dido

Arab Strap? i also saw Belle and Sebastian listed, and i confirmed that on June 24 of this year, they had indeed played my beloved Pixies. someone at marketplace has hot taste in music. 🙂

Mutineers wept openly last October when our favorite, cheesy, chubby-cheeked Baritone was arrested by Delhi’s finest in a brutal police raid. We chanted, marched, and printed posters to speak Truth to the Power. How could they not understand that Na na na na na re (whatever it means) was the answer to Rodney King’s question for the ages – Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? Continue reading →

No aspiring desi humor blog is complete without a de rigeuer reference to that film of films, Indian Superman.

There’s a cottage industry on the web of whitefolks reviewing this landmark 1987 movie. I personally liked Stomp Tokyo’s review the best–

You will believe a movie can suck….

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Even though many have speculated that the Bollywood-influenced Braodway show Bombay Dreams is standing on its last legs, Republican National Convention delegates will at least have an opportunity to check out the Desi marvel.

Apparently eight Broadway shows have been approved for viewing by the host committee depending on where the delegation is from.

Every delegate, alternate, party official and elected official will receive a ticket based on where they are from to a show on Broadway. So will it be the Edison delegation or the Silicon Valley delegation that will have the pleasure to view the Bollywood drama?

Only half of the shows that wanted to be on RNC’s list were selected. Emanuel Azenberg, producer of one of the rejected shows, Movin’ Out, a Tony Award-winner set to music by Billy Joel, complained it was passed over because it deals with the unpopular Vietnam War. Hmmm. I wonder if the host committee has seen BD–why would they allow a show that shows the Poor overcoming the Rich—very un-Republican!

A fine rant – Dancing with Dogs: White people, black people, brown people

Translated from the movie “Padamati Sandhyaragam”-

Father: DonÂ’t trust these white people – they look down upon us because we are dark.

Â…later in the movieÂ…

Father: DonÂ’t trust these black people – they are jealous about us because we are whiter [than them].

Watch Madhoo handle it…

Guest blogging continues @ DanielDrezner.com with an interesting post from Reihan analyzing Harold & Kumar Go To Whitecastle. Interestingly, the racial dilemma he’s focusing on is Harold’s rather than Kumar’s –

In “Harold and Kumar”, Harold dreads the prospect of pursuing a romantic relationship with “Cindy Kim,” a straight-laced Korean American co-ed at Princeton meant to evoke the stereotypical Asian American overachiever. She is a crashing bore. “Maria,” this shapely bombshell he worships form afar, is decidedly not Asian (she’s of indeterminate Latin origin, it seems — one assumes that making her a classical Anglonormative blonde would’ve been too much), though it’s never clear that she’s not also a crashing bore.

it raises interesting questions concerning the ways in which sexual attraction is bound up with aspirations. Could it be that Harold needs Maria to affirm his own attractiveness, and his self-identification? Man, I don’t know.

Reihan’s a fun writer BUT, I think I like Manish’s analysis of the trend that Harold & Kumar may portend for us (oh, wait, it’s cuz he’s citing me. 😉

Is Hollywood’s newfound interest in drugged-out Asians a good thing or a bad thing? Vinod points out via email that Asian stoner characters are unthreatening comic figures to the average American, a sly way of slipping Asians into major roles to be laughed at without making them romantic leads. That leaves them only slightly more respectable than Fu Manchu and Stepin Fetchit.