A friend of mind who lives in NYC has written a novel that’s going to be made into a feature film. We’ve never met face to face, but we’ve talked on the phone, emailed, and he was also a guest on a public affairs show I host on the station I work for. He’s quite a mover and shaker, and he amazes me with his tireless networking and promotion of his talents. It’s paid dividends in terms of his career advancing and he’s inching closer and closer to realizing his dreams of being a film director.
Oh, and he’s Asian Indian.
But since he’s absorbed so much of the larger American culture, he’s what is now being called a “Desi.” Guess what? I’m a Desi, too. I had no idea what the hell that meant until I was contacted by a web-based publication (can you call it a “publication” when there’s no hard copy? Hmm…), called “Desi Connect.” They want to do a profile on me and my careers in academia and the media. Guess who forwarded my name to this publication? Yep, my tireless networking fellow “Desi.”
I thought I would look into this world that I’ve suddenly found myself a part of. Did you know MTV launched a “Desi” channel? Did you know that there’s a club in New York that’s celebrating its 10th anniversary by playing “Basement Banghra” to young Desis? According to an AP story, over half of all motels in the U.S. are owned by Asian Indians. Over 2.3 million Americans are from Asian Indian decent. There are political action committees, professional associations, and the like that signal that Asian Indians and their “Desi” offspring (a term that describes individuals who have absorbed both the larger American culture and Indian cultures into their lives) are becoming a cultural and political influence.
It’s difficult for me to feel connected to this “community.” My family was one of the “first wave” Indian immigrants to California, but our cultural traditions were Guyanese. Try and explain that to people who were constantly trying to figure out what the hell you were. Even Indians from India couldn’t quite fathom our background. When it was my turn to try and explain why I’m Indian, but not from India, I would often get a quizzical look and a furrowed brow because I didn’t tell them exactly what part of India I was from.
And then a couple of years ago I was reading in the New York Times about the Indo-Guyanese communities in Queens. A few paragraphs into the article, I found this explanation pretty handy when it came to answering the question “Where are you from?”
“Most Guyanese, and the smaller number of Trinidadians in Richmond Hill, are descendants of Indians who were brought over to the Caribbean starting in 1838 as contract laborers on sugar plantations after slavery was outlawed in the region’s British colonies. The influx of indentured laborers continued into the first decades of the 20th century, and Indians eventually formed a majority of the population in Guyana, the former British Guiana, and they became 40 percent of the population of what is now the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
In the political or economic upheavals of the 1970’s and 1980’s, Indo-Caribbeans began leaving for the United States, where Indian professionals from Asia had already settled more than a decade before.
For Guyanese, even those who grew up with Indian grandparents who had been indentured servants, the passage of time has worn away much of their Indian cultural character. For many, it has erased their fluency with Hindi or other South Asian languages and given their English a singsong lilt and Creole dialect.
So, does this mean I’m still a Desi?
–PK
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7 thoughts on “Desi! Desi! Desi!”
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Hey Py! You’re now in my arena. 🙂 The concept of desi is an interesting one. Yes, we still are desi’s, even though we are so far removed from India. It isn’t until recently that South Asian diasporas have received recognition. We are just as much a part of India as those who come from India directly. We still retain our culture and religion, and we are ethnically Indian. It’s hard to fit into a mold of what we perceive as “Indian,” but what is that mold really? There are so many of us out there from Guyana, Trinidad, Mauritius, Fiji, etc. Even so, Indians from India differ from each other based on location, language, and tradition…get what I’m saying? It’s far too complex of an issue to narrow down.
Next time an “authentic” Indian sits down and asks you where you are from and why you don’t know Hindi, tell them it is the work of colonialism. That usually works, for they understand that story more than you can imagine.
Third generation Indians in Guyana who have lost their ability to speak and understand Hindi just shows how absolutely necessary it was to assimilate into their new enviroment. Indians felt that it would be more prudent for their children to learn English (or their variation there of)in order to attend schools and shed their indentured status. In many ways, the coolies were kept away from education and encouraged to stay in the fields working the days away, while Afro-Guyanese were attending Christianized schools. Now, I believe this backlash against Hindi by Indians was a show defiance which prompted complete (if there is such a thing) assimilation.
I would think the same as Beenz. We are Desi’s. I’d never heard of it until tonight, so I went over to Wikipedia and did some reading.
I’m so glad that there’s someone out there that experiences similar frustration when try to explain our ethnicity. I go through this at least 3 times a week. Then, I get asked how come we speak English and are from S. America. Ugggh!
I was just getting used to having my child being classified as “EurAsian”, now I’m a Desi. Geez, all this time I was thinking that I’m just a simple coolie girl from Guyana? 🙂
BTW, Great post!
The Ghana thing blows. I've had that too or they remember Jonestown……
Here's an interesting tid-bit: Do Brahmin's really exist in Guyana? I mean from everything I've read, it suggests that the rate of ship Brahmin's (those who upped their caste on the way over) was quite high during that time. Plus, crossing the kala pani(black waters) was polluting to Brahmin's and stripped them of their caste. The only way to regain their caste was to return home and perform strict ablutions. Makes you wonder what is really true anymore.
Desi? Never heard of it until your blog. I guess I am a desi now, or from Guyana, a Guesi. Oh well, I am still proud of my heritage and my ancestors. Informative blog. Thans Py.
Beenzzz: I’ve tried to explian by using the “You know, British colonialism”, but it usually falls on deaf ears. They don’t really get it. And then they think I’m talking about Ghana. I hear you on assimilation. Heck, we’re walking ads for assimilation (both British and U.S.). If my memory serves (and I’m working on scholarship from the late 80s) Afro-Guyanese folks had the civil servant jobs, and most Indo-Guyanese “worked the land.” Learning english was one step in getting off the farm and to a better job. Another method of assimilation was religious conversion from Hinduism or Islam to “C of E.”
Shelliza: I liked you’re comment. “Simple Coolie girl from Guyana.” Classic!
Lalapunci: I think Guesi is a perfect name at this point. However, I was born in Canada, so am I a Cuesi? 😉
I’m facisinated that you didn’t know what a Desi is.
I’m half Asian of the Chinese type, but far removed from my heritage. Growing up my mom would say that I was EurAsian with a little Native American thrown in for spice. I liked that.
Explaining to a bunch of red neck “fer ah ain’t gat no jello fer dinner tonight” people that you’re from India, but from Guyana, but don’t speak Hindi, but speak English, but used to speak Guyanese English is like bashing your head up against a brick wall. Yes, and the Ghana thing does blow!
I start playing with their minds “Oh me? I was adopted.”