THE INDOFILES

Vijay

If you are a casual golf fan, you may know that the US Open is being played starting on Thursday through Sunday at Bethpage Black on Long Island. And much of the fanfare leading up to it has been centered on, as is usually the case, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Woods is always the center of media attention; Mickleson has been a US Open bridesmaid several times, and this year in particular, he is playing in light of recent news that his wife has breast cancer.

But if you are into Asiatic things when it comes to golf, as I am, I’d recommend keeping your eye on one threesome in particular: Vijay Singh, Jeev Milkha Singh, and KJ Choi - teeing off at 7:44am tomorrow. Vijay, of course, has had plenty of press over the years (including by yours truly), some of it quite negative. His surliness is often read as him being ungraceful, but that is another conversation entirely. Choi has won multiple times on the PGA Tour, and has been a presence in American golf over the past several years. But the least known of this group is Jeev, who is often wrongly mistaken to be Vijay’s kinsman of some sort.

Jeev, the son of Milkha Singh, an Indian track and field Olympiad, is a central force behind the growth of golf in India and a multiple winner on the Asian and European Tours. He is playing more and more in the US these days.

The cliché goes that you should watch Woods because a player like him comes around only once in a lifetime. I suggest you follow Vijay and Jeev not because they’ll come around once in a lifetime, but rather because they are hopefully setting a trend for more Indian golfers in the future. Or to put it another way, they are a sign of good Singhs to come!

Since Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, microlending has become a buzzword. And at levels large and small, South Asians have been a driving force in the spread of its popularity.

Yunnus, of course, heads the Grameen Bank in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Premal Shah is the president of Kiva, a very popular website that connects lenders with entrepreneurs around the world.

And now recently, as reported by the New York Times, Shah’s cousin Tanuj Parikh along with Nimay Mehta and Joshua Kushner, three recent Harvard University graduates, have set up a website, Unithrive.org that hooks up donors with students who need loans.

South Asians don’t have a monopoly on microlending. There is nothing intrinsic about South Asians that pushes them toward the practice. So is it a complete coincidence that there is such a strong South Asian presence in microlending? There is something bigger going on here, but I am not quite sure what it is.

Update (by SS): There is also one other prominent south asian entrepreneur that should be mentioned here.  Asheesh Advani, considered by many to be one of the pioneers of peer to peer lending, founded Circle Lending in 2001. He successfully sold the company to Richard Branson and is now the President of Virgin Money USA.

My wife and I love to go out and eat. We have eaten in restaurants with every cuisine possible: Thai, Mexican, Japanese, American, French, Spanish, Chinese — you get the point. We have eaten in dives to Michelin 3-stars to everything in between. We love food, and find that most places we choose to go are generally pleasurable experiences. For the majority of my adult life however, I am baffled by the fact that the poorest service I receive hands down is when we eat at Indian restaurants in the U.S..

Before you get up in arms about this - you know what I’m talking about. The surly host meets you at the front, eyeing you suspiciously while you survey the restaurant identifying a few white couples who look like they could have starred as British ex-pats in Passage to India. The host, rather than seating you, tells you to take “whatever table you’d like”. Once you sit down, it is another wait to get your papadum and chutneys. The waiter who comes over, looks thoroughly unhappy to be there, and overfills your water glass, causing the outdated tablecloth to get wet. Of course, there is no apology. You order your food, without any meaningful assistance from the same waiter (q: “which is better: the bhindi masala or the saag panner?”  a: “either one should be ok sir”). Invariably, at least one of the dishes you ordered has been forgotten or prepared incorrectly (the number of special requests you make results in exponential growth in the problems with the food output). 30 minutes pass. No one has come by to fill your water, so you have to wave your arms frantically trying to get someone’s attention. A Latino busboy sees you, and begrudgingly fills your water glass. You finish your meal - another 20 minute wait for the check. As you leave, no one acknowledges you except perhaps a cursory glance over that says “don’t let the door hit you on the way out”.

This experience has happened to me over and over and I should mention is unique to the United States. When I have eaten Indian in Europe and Asia, I generally find the service in quite nice. So, the question is, why don’t Indians in the U.S. take more pride in service? The easy answer would be that they don’t care/culturally are not attuned to service, but I don’t really buy that since service is excellent in other countries.

My personal theory is that there is something culturally demeaning for Indians to be serving in America (perhaps this goes back the model minority belief) and as a result, there always seems to be some distance in the service. You see this type of attitude manifest itself in other occupations where Indians are prevalent to, e.g., hotels, and taxis. Do any of you have any theories on this? Anyone have a completely different experience?

At one point in its history, Shimla was a shining Indian tourist destination. Known by the British as “Queen of Hills”, the once majestic city has fallen into decay and is now considered by many to simply be a “concrete jungle”. Well, there is another reason to avoid Shimla now.

McAfee came out with a report recently that detailed the 10 most dangerous search terms in India - and yes, our summer capital of the British is on it. What exactly is a dangerous search term? One where the top results tend to be virus-laden, malware sites up to no good. Not surprisingly, the majority of the list (displayed below), is comprised of hot young desi stars and popular social media sites. They are ranked as follows: 

1. waptrick

2. Katrina Kaif

3. Orkut

4. Yahoo Mail

5. Shahid Kapur

6. rediffmail

7. How to earn money

8. Namita Kapoor

9. Shimla

10. Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

So does this mean people who like bollywood stars, get rick quick schemes, and overrated tourist destinations are susceptible to malicious attacks on their computer? It would seem so. But least Shimla is in good company with Katrina!

Since both of us here at The Indofiles are proud fathers of young children, we thought it would be a good time to impart some valuable knowledge for all expectant desi fathers (and mothers) out there: how to go about the process of naming your unborn child. There are so many issues to take into account here -  avoiding naming the child after any of your crazy college friends, names of girls you may have dated in a past life, etc. We narrowed the list down to five important considerations:

1. How Can the Name Be Shortened?

Without a doubt, one of the first things any Indian American parent does during the naming process is think “how will my child Americanize his name once he grows up”? Will Nikhil choose to become Nick much like the protagonist in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake? Will Sameer become Sam (or worse yet, Sammy)? Does the beautiful name Siddhartha become the more common Sid? For some parents, name shortening can be a way to allow their child to choose their identity - for others, it is a derivation to be avoided at all costs. Whatever your choice, just be aware of the potential of name shortening when choosing a name.

2. Consider How Americans Will Pronounce It.

One of the most challenging aspects of naming your child is figuring out how their name will be pronouncedwhen spoken by a strong American accent. Many Indian/Sanskrit-based names that sound melodic pronounced with an Indian accent can fall flat when pronounced by the general U.S. population. Names like Sneha sound nasally (apologies to any Snehas out there) and the “u” sound in Uma becomes exaggerated to the point of distortion. Even a simple name like “Arun” can be mistaken for the more American sounding “Aaron”. Our advice: show your favorite names on paper to people whom you know are unfamiliar with Indian names and ask them to pronounce them. This should give you a feel for what your child will be in for. One additional note: if you looking for a traditional South Indian name, feel free to ignore this entire point as any name you select is pretty much guaranteed to be unpronounceable by the greater white population (and most North Indians as well).

3. Weigh The Grandparents Factor.

This can be the most torturous for many young desi parents. Most desi grandparents (and parents) have very strong opinions about the names of the yet-to-be-born grandchildren. Unfortunately, those names tend towards the most traditional, multi-syllabic monikers shunned by “modern” Indian-American moms and dads. How do you take the Hindu grandmother’s feedback into account without offending her when you choose a different name? Or even worse, when you fall in love with the name ‘Fatima’, which derives its background in Muslim roots?

4. Think About Meaning.

All Indian-American names (especially those with Hindu origins) fall into two categories: either they are a god’s name or they are not. If you choose a name like Krishnna, Ram, Ganesha, Arjun — there’s not much to be worried about, other than the inherent pressure that comes from naming your child after a celestial being. If you choose to stray away from the god-naming strategy, you are on your own for the most part. We would recommend checking on an indian baby name website to help you find a name with a meaning you will be happy with. We would also recommend avoiding celebrity baby names like Apple, which in Marathi translates to the unfortunate name “suffer-chand”. 

5. Choose the Right Spelling.

Finally, once you have chosen your perfect name, make sure you pick a spelling that makes sense. A bad spelling can cause issues with pronounciation (see #3) or grandparents. Is it “Aravind” or “Arvind”? “Meera” or “Mira”? “Bharat” or “Barath”? As a rule, in the U.S., the fewer letters the better, as Americans tend to butcher any unfamilar names greater than six characters. Also, try to stay as close to the phonetic spelling of the name as possible without making it completely foreign to those who count.

Given all of the above, there is one factor that is ultimately going to override all else - and that is what your wife thinks. Good luck!

The recent white-on-brown violence in Australia has brought on a flood of reaction from the desisphere. Shavran Kumar, the latest victim of an alleged hate crime, lies in critical condition, having being beaten by a group of white Australian kids who simultaneously suggested that he “go back to India”. The issue has escalated all the way to the top ranking officials in India, provoking even Manmohan Singh to publicly admonish the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd today. The larger question being: is this outbreak of violence a systematic issue in Australia, or just the action of a handful of troublemakers that would be found in any society.

My thoughts, which may be controversial to some, is that the latter is the case. Honestly, I am not sure what Rudd is expected to do here. Clearly, Indians are a rapidly growing minority in Australia, for a number of reasons, access to quality higher education being one of them. In any country where a minority grows rapidly, there is a tendency for the majority to view them suspiciously. There are few Indian Americans that haven’t been slighted racially at one point in their lives or another (another topic, for another day). This does not make it right, but we should not condemn Australia as a whole for not taking more aggressive action - this will only further fray our relationship with the country and its citizens. The response by Singh and other high ranking officials smels a little bit of political opportunism to me. Instead, let’s seek to persecute those individuals who committed these violent acts to the fullest extent of the law and have faith that Australians in general are good people who have done much to welcome Indians into their country in recent years.

Ok, so maybe Sidharth Chand wasn’t all he was cracked up to be. When the 2008 runner-up bowed out early in the competition, the road was cleared for a confident Kavya Shivashankar to battle through 16 competitive rounds to the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championship - overcoming the personality-less Tim Ruiter to claim the crown. Shivashankar displayed an awesome knowledge of word origins and roots, seemingly knowing every word thrown her way. By the time the Kansas native spelled her last word, “laodicean”, there was no doubt who the best speller in the field was. 

Couple of parting thoughts on the rest of the field:

* Sidharth Chand: Ok mom, I get that your son was eliminated earlier than expected, but when he has his head in his hands after being disqualified, can’t the poor guy at least get a hug?

* Aishwarya Pastapur: You were my personal favorite. If my daughters can grow up with your self-confidence, poise and will, I will have done a good job as a parent.

* Ramya Auropren: Way to compete — everyone here in Cali was rooting for you! (and extra points for being Tamil)

* Kyle “The Killer” Mou: If I learned one thing from this competition, it was that you don’t mess with Kyle.

* Kennyi Aouad: How do you spell “ham”?

In all, I have to say there was a major sense of pride watching so many Indian-American kids representing themselves so well on a national stage. These are great role models for their younger counterparts to have. It was notable that at one point in the competition, Kavya discussed how her initial impetus for entering the competition (and playing violin) was by watching Nupur Lala, the 1999 bee champion. From all of us here at The Indofiles, congratulations and we look forward to you facing the bright future ahead of you, whatever that may be. 

And then there were 7.

If U.S. boxing has Ali-Frazier, then spelling has Shivashankar-Chand. The two desi wunderkinds advanced easily into the finals accompanied by nine others where they will duel it out this evening in the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Seven of the 11 finalists are of desi origin, once again proving the complete dominance of the sport by folks from the greatest subcontinent in the world. Besides Shivashankar and Chand, they include: Neetu Chandak, Anamika Veeramani, Ramya Auropren (go California!), Aishwarya Pastapur, and Tussah Heera. For those of you keeping track at home, yes, that means 64% of this year’s finalists are desis.

The biggest story though is the budding Shivashankar-Chand rivalry. Sidharth Chand, 13, placed 2^nd in last year’s bee, followed closely by Kavya Shivashankar, 

also 13. Shivashankar finished in 4^th in that bee and has finished in the top 10 in the last three years. This being her last year of eligibility, the teenager also appears to be crowd favorite in the competition.

This Indofile is picking the upset and going with Chand to complete his business from last year. Who do you think will win? And what impact will it have on the poor kid’s social life?

Remember Akshay Buddiga and his tumble?

While it has become marginally customary to hear an Indian name on “American Idol” in the past couple of years, no other event has done more to get Indian names onto the tongues of everyday TV watchers than the Scripps National Spelling Bee. And no event has done more to underscore the stereotype that all young Indian kids are dorky, bumbling, and tact sharp when it comes to math and the science of spelling.

The semifinals are being shown on ESPN and the finals are on ABC tonight. And I look forward to watching them just a sliver less than I look forward to watching a game seven in the baseball and basketball playoffs, the Super Bowl, a Sunday pairing that includes Vijay Singh, and the finals of the French Open. I like watching the spelling bee because it is the one of the few occasions in American sports where I can root for an Indian contestant, and have a reasonable chance that one will win. (Yes, a spelling bee’s status as a sport is questionable. But it is being shown on ESPN and so let’s leave it at that.) It’s fun to watch not only the kids, but also to see the parents who have been responsible for their children knowing more about the origins of words than most of us will know in a couple of lifetimes.

I like watching the bee with all the Indians because it gives me some sense of what it would be like to be a sports spectator in America, watching sports with Indian athletes. I got into golf because of Vijay, and I have stuck to it because of new guys like Jeev Milkha Singh, Daniel Chopra, and others. But I really look forward to a time when a lightening quick Indian kid plays the point for the Knicks or the Lakers.

Getting there is hard work. And so here is my plea to parents and would be parents. Please continue to push your kids in whatever way you want so that they will become the type of adults you want them to be. Hell, don’t push them at all if you don’t. But if you are going to push them, could you also push them toward the basketball court, perhaps after they are done with their spelling exercises. Or give them a football every Divali or Christmas until they learn to throw a perfect spiral. Toss a tennis ball into the crib instead of a pacifier.

My happiness on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and the happiness of countless other Indian-Americans who grew up on American sports, depends on it.

What are some of the great U.S. cities to live in if you are a 20-something or 30-something professional desi? Our esteemed panel (of one), decided to take a shot at it. There is really no criteria other that our personal experience and what we have heard from others. We based our criteria on best food, culture, nightlife, and of course, ability to meet that special desi that amma and appa will be proud of. For a more detailed breakdown and how we looked at each of our 5 cities, go to Table 1 at the end of this post (after the jump):

5. San Francisco - With Silicon Valley, Stanford, and Berkeley just minutes away, it’s no wonder the city by the bay ended up in our top 5 for Indians in the U.S. The pure concentration of Indians in surrounding cities such as Fremont, Saratoga, and Cupertino provides a wealth of cultural and culinary opportunities for the brown crowd - and the opportunity to send your kids to middle schools comprised of entirely desi and Chinese cheerleading squads is a plus. Our only complaint is that the most of the desis here seem to be stereotypically the same - varying slightly between geeky technologists or making-momma-proud physicians. 

4. Houston - I haven’t spent much time in Houston, but I’m adding it to the list because every desi I’ve ever met from Houston raves about how it’s the best desi city in the U.S. They also all seem to listen to Nelly and live with their parents.  Indians I meet there never seem to be the brightest bulbs, but they do have a cool (or at least strange) accent and know how to have a good time. Plus, the attractiveness level of the folks here is much higher than you would think not being a “cosmopolitan” city.  

3. Los Angeles - My home town, so I had to sneak this in here. The food is questionable (Westside is best), as is the party scene (you won’t see any desis over 26 out after 10pm - which could be a good or bad thing depending on who you are), and if you think you’re going to have a meaningful conversation, forget it (unless you consider “when did you graduate from SC?” meaningful conversation). That said, in terms of variety, attractiveness (ahem), and influence, Los Angeles competes with any other U.S. city. The annual Indian Film Festival just turned five years old and is getting nationwide recognition. And if that wasn’t enough, Cerritos, a.k.a. New Jersey West, is just a one hour drive away.
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