Racism in United States?

Updated!!

Have I been racially discriminated in the United States? Well… I don’t really know but I’ll let you judge!

Well, since I’ve been getting a lot of hits to this post, I thought I should share my experiences in the land of dreams (for most Indians) with you.

As is the case everywhere, people tend to get apprehensive to find someone different than themselves in their own locality. No wonder that you see ‘goras’ and ‘goris’ getting chased around by an Indian crowd in the streets of Jaipur or Chandni Chowk in Delhi. It is very natural for them to get curious, get agitated, or even get annoyed with the ‘foreign’ presence. Keeping this background in mind, consider the events that I describe below.

A brown man stands out in a white and black crowd as much as the opposite. So, it is not surprising to get an occassional comment like ‘Oh! you’re an Indian… yeah… I thought so!’ Now, depending on the way it was said, this simple statement can be ajudged a comment, a complement, a simple observation or a racist remark! Mostly, what you can do is to ignore all of it if said with negative connotation. Avoid brawls to the best possible extent except if you are bigger, stronger and as they say, in a position of might (rare… very rare!) Please understand that this behavior is called discrimination… and if you don’t have an elephant’s memory, must I remind you that it is the same as what you do to other people while you go bossing around in India.

Now, most waiters and waitresses have a notion that Indians don’t tip well. Hence, expect a rough serving at any ordinary restaurant unless you walk in with the attitude suiting riches! Listen to this well… TIP atleast as much as the service tax on your bill or 10-15% of total bill amount. Yes, that would come to be around 2-5$ but it is a good habit. Saves people like me from getting remarks like ‘hey… you’re Indian and still you gave me a 5$ tip! Wow, thanks!’

 

Jaipur Serial Blasts… A Sad Awakening? (UPDATED!!!)

It’s no wonder that we see the American government spend billions of dollars in the name of internal security. What amazes me is that this country, which has seen the ‘real’ face of terror for only a few years now, has pioneered in showing the world how to counter it!

Terrorism came bundled with the scheme of events that took place on the night of August 15, 1947. It became our destiny as Indians to wake up to the sounds of machine guns, AK-57s, grenades, and bombs going off in the various parts. But, again, as Indians, we replied ‘appropriately’ by turning a deaf ear to all that concerns our nation. No matter how loud the sound of this ‘cuckoo’ got, we just kept on sleeping. Not even that, dare I say, worries me! What actually gets on my nerves is the fact that every day, we see so many men, women, and children being consumed in the pyre of ‘jehaad’ and that the more we see those gory scenes on TV and the more we hear about them on the radio, the more lackadaisical we become and the lesser we care for our fellow countrymen.

The moral and cultural fabric of the society that we so commonly use to counter any comparison with the ‘west’, is, and I feel sorry and ashamed to say, being not torn but shredded into pieces. No Indian that I meet can stand up and defend this nation for five minutes against the criticism (based on facts and figures) that i toss at him/her. Though I’d more than love to loose this debate, against the usual habit, it has not happened still and I’d be shouting my lungs out at this very blog the day it does! It may sound too critical of me, even bordering sycophancy of the developed nations, but the fact is that if we have to improve, we will have to learn from those who are there already.

Our intelligence agency is called RAW (Research and Analysis Wing). It is incredibly stupid (or brilliant, depending on the way you see it!) of the people who coined the term for the pun which was ingrained. It really is a raw (read untrained) manner in which this agency functions. I can not imagine them not being able to get a tip-off for such a major terrorist activity. But again, the motto of these ‘take the nation’s money-do nothing-get fat each day-keep vacationing at behest of missions’ agents (not to offend the real agents working for agencies like CIA, FBI, MI5 etc) is to ‘rise beyond expectations’ (only to fail in a new manner each time, to maintain USP that is!) If I get kidnapped after writing this piece, you know whom to blame… no damnit, it’s not RAW (those people don’t know how to do even that!), its our age-old acquaintance, the ISI. They need me because they can’t ridicule the RAW in the manner that I do!

When a nation has 90% of its police officers above the ‘you are fat’ level and the IPS’ and IAS’ making money like poker machines, this is bound to happen. Why is it not that even after three decades, we have not been able to curtail the wings of terrorism in J&K and North-East when it took us less than five years to do that in Punjab.

The answer is not that simple but the pathway surely requires a leader who actually thinks more than the ways to live for another year! Also, an important mention would be of the role of ordinary citizens, including ME and YOU, who have been sleeping long enough to cause clinical brain damage! If we don’t wake up, the policies would not change, politicians will not feel afraid of abusing and even selling our own country, and terrorism will continue to spread.

And then, one day, you will wake up to the same sound that you have been hearing over TV for years, but you would be lying on a stretcher being rushed to the emergency and the loss of one arm won’t bother you as much as the remorse and the agony of the fact that you did not do something, anything when you could make a difference.

Vande Mataram!

Time for some updates on Jaipur Blasts:

1. RDX used in blasts. (Do we really care about WHAT was used? Work harder and find out WHO did it!)
2. HUJI suspected. (Ok, so this Jehaadi setup is the cowardly face behind it. Good job finding that out RAW. Oh wait, was it that they called you up to take responsibility and get the fame! Doesn’t matter, don’t cry, just CATCH them!!)
3. PM announces 1 lakh compensation for the kin (Oh thanks Mr. Prime Minister. Thanks but we don’t want those green bundles rolling our way the next time. Stop being so fucking shameless and get those bastards!)
4. Curfew Imposed in Pink City (Just cross your fingers and pray to god it works. Fools!)

 

Stars and Stripes!

This is my first post during my trip to the United States. To some it might come as a surprise as I had managed to keep the preps very low-key but anyways, I apologize for not informing on an individual basis.

I’ll write more soon…. stay tuned!!!

Cheers… Adios!