I don't care about his music much, but I like him just for the fact that he's a brown guy successful in an industry where you don't find many.

Also, this interview with him is hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UChhpLXx4Ic

tattiing or pesabing up the wrong jarr??

ANNA is back!!! whoooooo hooooooo!!!!!!!!

btw down is a well good tunnnne!!

" if you were in to him…you’re tatti out of luck. :)"

Nooooooooo. Life isn't fair :'(

Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys.
(Anybody read "2 states" by Chetan Bhagat yet? loved it.)

Man, brown people blowin' up. You know, in the good way.

Anna, can you post more? I need more real talk/short stories in my life, and less genetic analysis of of the whiteness of brownness or something. Although, since SM has slowed down on the fiction, I have been supplementing my real talk need with local spoken word, so maybe there is some good to be had...

i see wendy's still as controversial as she was back in her plasmatics days.

can't wait for the brown album to drop

Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys.

anna, i miss you - and your posts.

Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys.

sleazy sexy look i like ;)

Welcome back Anna :-)

You do realise that there is this country were brown people are on T.V. ALL the time, and also they star in ALL the movies, and put out music albums also. It's crazy.

First try defining south (where will you put Maharashtra, Orissa..& if Telangana is formed where will it be?), later you can generalize. May be due to lack of Punjabi girls? (Anybody checked the sex ratio in Punjab?)

Lack of Punjabi girls is a quality that women look? Women are weird.

Yep, Women are weird. Read it yourself

Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys

It's easy, it's the choice between Kamal Hasan and Dharmendra.

Seeing him standing next to the host reminds me of this unforgettable scene.

"It's easy, it's the choice between Kamal Hasan and Dharmendra."

I assure a majority of south indian women prefer Kamal Haasan to Dharmendra.

It is surprising even though they had to get brides from Kerela (which I think has matrilineal communities), they haven't changed their attitude that resulted in them having so few marriageable aged women. Hopefully, those Kerela wives will carry with them and pass on to their children (boys and girls alike) their female friendlier attitudes.

You do realise that there is this country were brown people are on T.V. ALL the time, and also they star in ALL the movies, and put out music albums also. It's crazy.

You do realize that your sarcasm contributed nothing to the conversation? It's crazy! And it was not at ALL clever or relevant, on an ALL American blog.

GNARP UURNWURNW KNEKETHIK CHLOODLOOBLOOBLE......EH EHE HEH HEH........SKNEEXR BOMPOMGLOMMA PDOMPOMP

Somebody explain the attraction between south Indian girls and Punjabi boys. (Anybody read "2 states" by Chetan Bhagat yet? loved it.)

pfft if I had to generalize, I'd say it's because a lot of south indian girls in america (from what i've noticed) are socialized to believe that north indian dudes are "manlier" and more attractive than south indian dudes.

but i'll take sendhil ramamurthy or kunal nayyar any day over jay sean :)

but yay for jay sean! i actually really like his new album, i was listening to it on repeat a month or two ago. no shame here!

Wigwam? Seriously?!! Even if he narrated this as "someone asking me about it," I cringed at his insensitivity.

pfft if I had to generalize, I'd say it's because a lot of south indian girls in america (from what i've noticed) are socialized to believe that north indian dudes are "manlier" and more attractive than south indian dudes.

So it is not bc north indian dudes are in any objective ways "manlier' it is bc south indian girls have been schooled to internalize an inferiority complex about their fellow south indian men.

SM intern, yes I suppose it doesn't contribute much to be sarcastic, but sometimes I feel rather frustrated.

To discuss more fruitfully:

I don't think everyone on this blog is American, at least from my impressions. Sure it has to do with the American experience, but I don't think people here are so divorced from the 'brown' countries.

I have been reading this blog off and on for sometime, n I always notice somethings.

One is that a lot of people get all excited for brown people being in the lime light. This is good and all, but I almost feel like people are more excited when someone like Jay Sean jumps into the melting pot of the west, singing some western-style pop tunes, rather than the hundreds (thousands) of really amazing vocal artists that exist in the world already and are also brown. I mean, brown people have a lot of amazing stuff going on in the world, like the biggest film industry in the world, yet it seems like some people here don't think brown people have accomplished much unless they get on the "Wendy Williams" show and get called "exotic and spicy" (which makes me ulta a little in my mouth). I mean, I don't even know who Wendy Williams is. Why do I care if she praises Jay Sean? N do I have to like Jay Sean, just because he's brown? (Answer no, but I totally respect you if you choose to like him)

And what about music types. People get really excited here when there is a punk group with brown people, or a rapper, or anything else that seems to be an "American/Western" music style, which is totally cool and fine. But there are also tons of AMAZING artists in brown countries using traditionally brown styles to make some really good music. But it feels to me that some people only want to appreciate music when it is brown people doing something western. I'm not saying that is not OK, but I think widening our horizon is also something good too. Especially in this globalized era, I can easily buy my favorite Hindi movies or artists... they are not inaccessible or foreign, they are right in front of us, and just as good (or better or worse) than Jay Sean or M.I.A.

So anyways, I am sorry for the sarcasm of earlier, but what do other people here think about my comments? Am I totally off-base? These comments are just sort of general feelings I get from this group, I can be convinced I'm wrong though. What's you viewpoint?

Anon-E-mouse wrote:

This is good and all, but I almost feel like people are more excited when someone like Jay Sean jumps into the melting pot of the west, singing some western-style pop tunes, rather than the hundreds (thousands) of really amazing vocal artists that exist in the world already and are also brown.

Anon,
Are you suggesting that brown artists should stop making pop music and stick to "traditional" art forms?

Hopefully the Cash Money/Universal move with benefit him...congrats

"Anon,
Are you suggesting that brown artists should stop making pop music and stick to "traditional" art forms?"

No, not at all. brown artists in India also make pop music all the time (and also use influence from musical genre's around the world). Like I said, I think it is totally cool for artists to make the kind of art they want. My argument was more that it seems like some people here tend to get super excited when a brown person is doing some sort of art form or in the public eye in a very western way, but seem to ignore or be completely uninterested in all the amazing brown artists that already have been doing their thang in the public eye for a long time, just because they are not in the 'west'. Anyways, that is my perception based on blog posts/comments here. I mean people get really excited when they see brown people doing things in the limelight in the U.S. or the U.K., which I understand, since that is not so common here. But we really don't NEED the media to tell us what brown artists are worth our time, we can identify them ourselves, n I personally don't think we should limit ourselves to the western view of what's "good" or popular, there is a whole HUGE music and movie industry out there, full of talented brown artists.

I am definitely more excited when a Brown person is accomplishing something of noteworthiness in Western forms of media, entertainment, politics etc. Growing up in the US does not make me Indian - it makes me Indian-American. And to see people of my background break into popular culture is hugely exciting in a way that may not be understood by those who were raised in India. Y'all didn't have to grow up never seeing a person who looked like you on the television or movie screen, so it's natural that you don't understand how personally gratifying it is to see one of our own make it in the entertainment industry. I, for one, am thrilled to learn more about these artists and to support them as culturally groundbreaking pop culture icons.

Jes, I can understand that, but can I ask you a question?

You say you are Indian-American, so does that mean you don't have any interest/connection with media coming out of India? Let's not say with a language barrier (I don't know if you do or do not know an Indian language) but there are also films and artists from India in English. Did you watch any of this stuff growing up, or now? Did your family show you movies and songs with brown people? I am just wondering if people just don't find any of the things coming out of India appealing or if it is just because it is special to see the artist in your own American culture?

Anon, perhaps the reason why it seems that way to you is because the focus of the blog - it's diasporic in nature, and to a great extent, geared towards a South Asian-American audience (even if there are DBDs who constitute a large number of the commenters). Obviously, then, there are far more posts about South Asian American and South Asian artists in the US than e.g. artists operating strictly in South Asia. I think it's rather parochial to think that what is discussed on this blog defines what the commenters' general interests are in South Asian artists or culture. The comments read here are a reaction to the posts, which, as most would agree, are usually limited to something occurring within the States. When I want to know what's going on in, e.g. India or Pakistan, I don't come to SM, but that is not to assume that I, or any other SMer for that fact, is not interested in such topics - they just don't arise on this site.

pfft if I had to generalize, I'd say it's because a lot of south indian girls in america (from what i've noticed) are socialized to believe that north indian dudes are "manlier" and more attractive than south indian dudes

heh? maybe it's the north Indian guys goin after south indian girls- cause ya know, we are skinnier..it takes two to tango. but, Jay sean looks south indian. To me anyways- I have a telegu friend that looks very similiar to him. either way he's hawt.

Am I totally off-base?

No, but if this blog just talked about artists in India, it would be a Bollywood blog. Jay Sean's style isn't influenced by Indian-style music whereas most artists in India are- but he's Indian and making it big (although his first song appealed massively to the public mainly because it featured lil wayne)

Punjabi Sikh guys are totally HOT, HOT, HOT!

"The comments read here are a reaction to the posts, which, as most would agree, are usually limited to something occurring within the States. When I want to know what's going on in, e.g. India or Pakistan, I don't come to SM, but that is not to assume that I, or any other SMer for that fact, is not interested in such topics - they just don't arise on this site."

OK, I see your point there. But I guess I would also challenge people to why can't both be mixed together? Why does it have to be dichotomy. I mean, as far as I know, artists from the U.S. and Europe travel and do shows all over the world, if people in the U.S. got introduced to more South Asian artists, they could also do world tours just as easily... I mean, technically Jay Sean is British, right? But we feel cool discussing him on a mainly American focused blog. If we can discuss brits like M.I.A. and Jay Sean, then why can't we also bring artists from South Asia to the mix? I get your point about the focus of the blog itself, and that people might be looking at this other stuff somewhere else, but I guess I just wonder why there has to be segregation.

For example, I really love this song from Delhi 6 by A R Rahman (though not so much the movie itself). The song is about a guy who grew up in the U.S. and goes back to India.. it is kind of a dream sequence which is really cool- it mixes up times square NYC with bits of India.. autorickshaws n hawkers and all that. I don't know, but I love it-- and it is relevant to diaspora and all too: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9snY21B_tQ

we are skinnier..

Please stop generalizing unless you have some data to prove it. Personal anecdotes are good but speak for yourself.

How can you even club four(or five) different states into a single entity? When people from say, Mysore & Bangalore itself are so different (They are like twin cities in the same state). The difference is so much that some girls/guys won't even agree to marry someone from a different city. (Yep, the differences are carried even to US by the hordes of grad students). I was speaking with one of my Mallu friend, we were discussing about our future spouses. The girl said firstly, he should be a Mallu christian. Secondly, he should have a MS...My conversation with another girl - Dude, I want to change this apartment complex. This has so many Mysoreans, the other apartment has lots of people from Bangalore. What I have seen in grad school is people from big cities hang among themselves (everyone comes together when finishing assignments, bollywood parties, festivals..)

If you ask me, I would say Indian girls care more about how educated the guy is + plus other factors (religion, caste, language...). Each having a different weight-age depending on the girl.

I have not seen a single fat chic from the south

They wait until they're married

You guys are awesome.

It's not likely that Wendy or women of her ilk would find guys like Jay Sean to be "exotic" or "spicy". She was just acting/pretending.

South Indian women beware! Don't marry North Indian men:

CUITURE SHOCK

These are differences that Sreeja, who got married to Bhirbal Singh of Sorkhi two years ago, is still coming to terms with. Attired in a blue salwar suit, dupatta over her head and speaking fluent Haryanvi with her mother-in-law, there’s little to betray Sreeja’s roots except for her dusky complexion and the Kerala-style mangalsutra. She’s even learnt to tend cattle and make rotis, but the scorching heat of a Haryana summer and the incessant power cuts make her long for the raindrenched green countryside where she grew up. ‘‘It’s tough to adjust because everything is so
different here. I can’t even pop into my neighbour’s house without telling my mother-in-law. Back home, there were no such restrictions,’’ says Sreeja, fanning her daughter to give her some relief from the heat. But is being the mother of a girl easy in a culture with such a marked son preference? ‘‘When she was born in Payannur, all the relatives and neighbours came with gifts. Here, they gave her nothing because she is a girl.’’ Like other brides from Kerala, Sreeja laid down two conditions before her marriage: that Bhirbal build her a toilet so that she wouldn’t have to go to the field and that her delivery be in Kerala.
Now, back in Sorkhi with her little one, Sreeja has busied herself arranging alliances for other unmarried youths. ‘‘I have been the go-between for six marriages. Like me, the girls think this is the only way out of poverty. They have no idea what it is like here,’’ she says, with a tinge of bitterness.
Just a few houses down lives Omana, another Payannur girl whose marriage to 33-yearold Ajit Singh in April was facilitated by Sreeja. Married just a few months ago, Omana — who was an anganwadi teacher in her village — speaks only a few words of Haryanvi and makes heavy weather of chappatis. The cellphone is her only connect with the world she’s left behind. ‘‘It’s an alien world for these girls and the first few years of marriage can prove to be tough,’’ says Ravinder Kaur, an IIT Delhi researcher who came across more than 40 cases of across-region marriages in a survey of five districts of Haryana.

Like other brides from Kerala, Sreeja laid down two conditions before her marriage: that Bhirbal build her a toilet so that she wouldn’t have to go to the field

What? The villagers in Kerala have indoor toilets, unlike villagers in Haryana and the rest of India?

Damn keralite commies :)

‘‘When she was born in Payannur, all the relatives and neighbours came with gifts. Here, they gave her nothing because she is a girl.’’

That is why these ignorant misogynist female infant murderers from Punjab and Haryana have to hunt for wives in Kerala and the northeast....

"Sreeja laid down two conditions..."

That was only one condition.

Someone did tell me that Jay Sean had some Indian roots when they played the "Down" song at a party. I hadn't looked him up, but because of his somewhat nerdy rendition, I totally conflated him with Kevin Gnapoor in my head. Yep, Kevin isn't the sexiest, but I have a special place in my heart for Kevin I-only-date-women-of-color Gnapoor :).

Ooh, on-topic insightful conversation, I've got a good one too: Airline food, what is the deal with it?

Everyone should check out the clip Ashwini linked to in the first comment. It never ceases to amaze me how fluently most 2nd gen Sikh Brits (including Jay Sean) speak Punjabi.

It's not likely that Wendy or women of her ilk would find guys like Jay Sean to be "exotic" or "spicy". She was just acting/pretending.

Alot of black women dig Indian guys. From middle school to now, black women have always been hitting on me and I am not the only Indian guy this happens to.

38 · Umm on February 1, 2010 8:52 AM · Direct link

"Sreeja laid down two conditions..."

That was only one condition.

umm no.. that was the no 2. condition.

Alot of black women dig Indian guys. From middle school to now, black women have always been hitting on me and I am not the only Indian guy this happens to.

But Jay Sean is short and not well built. As long as Desi dudes are tall and well-built, yeah, I can see sistas hollerin'. Otherwise NO!

A lot of black guys dig Indian women too. Have been hit on by so many black guys or the mexicans. But white guys? Once in a Blue Moon.

no. 2 condition? ha.

"It's not likely that Wendy or women of her ilk would find guys like Jay Sean to be "exotic" or "spicy". She was just acting/pretending."

So it's totally cool for ole; Wend to call y'all exotic and spicy? I thought was a pet peeve of many here, the whole "oh Indians are so EXOTIC" bs.

So it's totally cool for ole; Wend to call y'all exotic and spicy? I thought was a pet peeve of many here, the whole "oh Indians are so EXOTIC" bs.

Why so salty? Wendy's reaction wasn't great but for me personally it's a hell of a lot less sinister coming from a Black person than a white one. And yeah, your memory works: most of us don't want to be exoticized. Why would we?

Different people have different pet peeves. For example, some may think it's awkward and tacky to trumpet one's charitable endeavors. It's good to help those in need, but please be aware of how weird it is to see a white person showing off the poor brown children she sponsors via her blog's sidebar. All I could think of after clicking your link was "White Woman's Burden".

Wendy's reaction wasn't great but for me personally it's a hell of a lot less sinister coming from a Black person than a white one.

Is that a fact?

NOT AWKWARD AT ALL, take a listen to this black man talking 'bout Desi racism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8vxmRrsDrc&feature=related

Different people have different pet peeves. For example, some may think it's awkward and tacky to trumpet one's charitable endeavors. It's good to help those in need, but please be aware of how weird it is to see a white person showing off the poor brown children she sponsors via her blog's sidebar. All I could think of after clicking your link was "White Woman's Burden".

Indian children suffer from malnutrition at a higher rate than any population on the planet - far more than sub-saharan africa. Maybe if more desis focused on feeding starving kids in the homeland and their plight instead of having the balls to take cheap shots at someone from the outside trying to help you would have some more credibilty. From what I can see on the blog, she is helping those kids - without any political or other agenda.

Maybe as long as you can walk around well fed its worth a couple dozen 5 year old skeletal macacas running around India.

"From what I can see on the blog, she is helping those kids - without any political or other agenda."

Thank you Anon.. The reason I have them on my blog sidebar is two-fold: One is that at a recent point (when I was unemployed) I found out one of my students needed a tutor (she had been repeating second grade) and so I did a fundraiser for her because I did not have the money at the time to help her myself and I wanted her to get the help she needed ASAP.

The second reason is that a lot of people I have talked to say they that they want to sponsor a child or donate money to education but they don't 'trust' the different sponsoring agencies, etc. They think they are scamming you, etc. I have sponsored kids through Children International since 2004 and visited one of my kids, so I can see first hand that they are not scamming me. By sharing this, other people may finally decide to take the plunge and sponsor a child somewhere. The child doesn't have to be brown-- the reason I chose Indian children was because I visit there a lot and have a greater chance of being able to visit them at some point. Also two out of three of them speak Urdu/Hindi (one speaks Bengali) so when I do visit them I can talk to them easily. (or when I write them letters). This would not be the case if I chose a child from another country.

Anyways, not awkward at all, I find it interesting that Wendy calling you "exotic" seems to make you less angry than me sponsoring some kids education. weird.

I did volunteer work in the Bay Area for an organization called "CRY" to raise money to educate poor children in India. Later found out that most of the money was not getting to the children but was being eaten by bureaucrats. Now the organization calls itself "Vibha".

Brij-- I think CRY (Child Rights and You) still exists... there are a ton of organizations that work in education in India, and it is important to research them first and make sure the money is getting where it is supposed to.. additionally some are more efficient than others at meeting their goals. Children International is good in some ways-- it is easy to communicate with the children you are sponsoring them, and to do extra projects if you want (like income generating projects for the family, or help improve the house, etc). It is also easy to see where your money goes-- you will always get a letter, and if it is an extra donation you will get pictures showing what was purchased for the family. The downside is that they still spend a lot of money in the U.S.-- the C.E.O. makes quite a nice sum and I think there are still many ways for them to cut back on costs here... but overall I am pretty happy with the organization. Another plus side is that they do not have any religious agenda, which many child sponsorship programs do.

There are also many smaller organizations that do similar things. Barakat has schools in Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. Nahni Kali sponsors girls education in India, and is very inexpensive to sponsor a child through them (though I have not tried it, so I am not sure how good the org. is). Akshaya Patra has an amazing program to feed kids in gov't schools healthy lunches. (and it is growing quite large very quickly).

Anyways, Brij, it is true that it is difficult to ensure your money is being used properly and to the maximum benefit of others... that is one of the reasons I choose to share information about my sponsored kids (besides the fact that I converse with them regularly and have a relationship with them... I'm sure people here like to share pictures of their children, nieces and nephews, etc at work, on their profile. etc, I feel the same way sharing about my sponsored kids. I am proud of them, I think they are great kids, and I don't think sponsoring children should be secretive or shameful).

the C.E.O. makes quite a nice sum and I think there are still many ways for them to cut back on costs here.

I realize people donate to help hungry kids rather than to send the children of well-heeled bureaucrats to good colleges, but that's just a fact of life. If you don't let the people with a passion for this stuff actually make a living from it, you're going to reduce the number of good people willing to work on it and consequentially, the number of hungry kids who get fed.

Hey Yoga Fire, didn't you work for www.brahmin.com a few years back? Did you work for the internet but not get paid? I recall a huge debt accumulation on your part and a near abuse level of "असतो मा सद्गमय" inculcation. Your spiritual debt is real, brother and your karma is idling.

"How else is an organization supposed to hire a top-notch CEO? Maybe this is self-serving, but I'd like to think that people shouldn't have to dramatically diminish their income just to do good work."

YogaFire, I do agree with you to an extent... they should be given a good salary for their job, but at the same time, I think there should be some kind of limit. Your reasoning is exactly the reasoning that Children International gives for the salary they give their C.E.O., etc. Obviously we want someone who is good at what they do and committed to their job, but I mean, when is the salary good and when is it too much? Of course, the same could be said for C.E.O.s of most organization- nonprofit or profit.

And in the end, I do choose to support Children International, regardless of this fact, because of other factors about the organization which are important to me.

LinZi,

Generally speaking, it is rarely executive talent that accounts for the majority of an organization's costs-- particularly non-profits. The focus on salaries and the hand-wringing about paying people "too much" is usually an exercise in ignoring the forest and the trees to stare at a patch of moss. What we usually find at non-profits is inefficiency at any number of levels that far outstrips the costs of hiring capable people. I'd much rather pay the CEO of some big NPO/NGO a market-rate salary and focus on the likely costlier systemic problems than try to fix things with sub-standard leadership.

Hey Yoga Fire, didn't you work for www.brahmin.com a few years back? Did you work for the internet but not get paid? I recall a huge debt accumulation on your part and a near abuse level of "असतो मा सद्गमय" inculcation. Your spiritual debt is real, brother and your karma is idling.

Also, it seems www.brahmin.com is a purveyor of fine leather handbags.

It would probably be for the best if we kept this information hidden from Rajan Zed.

I also must add that most of the people who you want leading an NGO/NPO are people who understand money and understand how to get money. In other words: people of rare qualifications. A skilled leader can, by directing the organization well, pay off huge dividends. It's an overly simplistic hypothetical, but are you better off with the $100K/year CEO who brings in $2m in grants, or the $200K/year CEO who brings in $3m in grants? Or even just $2.5? Either way, you ended up with more money net the CEO's salary.

Now, of course it's true that not everyone who you pay more will pay off; that's a gamble you have to take in hiring anyone. However, when you have the choice of someone with a proven track record of bringing in significant amounts of money in either the for-profit or not-for-profit world, you are usually better off paying his "too high" salary simply for the dividends that his skills will bring you.

Supporting this guy just because he is " brown" (highly problematic term) is the same idiotic thinking as the prejudice upper class that our "struggle" as ethnics always seems to be against.

Common South Asian Diaspora, just because this kid is brown doesnt mean he needs to be embraced.

Lets look beyond skin color, and if not, lets stop complaining when someone else points our's out to us.

---I have not seen a single fat chic from the south

LOL!

They wait until they're married

LOL!

NOT AWKWARD AT ALL, take a listen to this black man talking 'bout Desi racism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8vxmRrsDrc&feature=related

He's right about some things and Indians can be very racist, but black Americans are also some of the most xenophobic people around. I'm actually much more comfortable around white than black Americans for this reason.

Lets look beyond skin color, and if not, lets stop complaining when someone else points our's out to us.

WORD.

Why so obessed with skin colour? Let me put some brown on that face!