The Desi Stare

Note:(These are thoughts that are to be taken in jest, so I'm sorry if anyone gets offended reading this)

India has a population of more than a billion people. Some of them venture across to the United States (ah the land of opportunity and the home of the "immigrant") in search of a better life and to make it big. Somehow ever since I landed here, I've come across "The Desi stare". If I see a desi walking past me there's always this confused look on his/her face. It's something in between a "hey, I know you " look and a "looks could kill" stare. It's as though they're thinking to themselves, "what the heck are you doing here?You should be back in India. I came all the way from Juhu, wrote the gre, got my relatives to accumulate all that money so that I could convince the consulate chaps to give me a visa, got my visa, came here,somehow got hold of decent accomodation.. ". And the population of Gujuratis at USC is quite astonishing. I once met someone whose first word to me was "chem cho". And then there are desis who walk in these huge groups like some roman army file from Asterix n Obelix.When you walk past them they all give one the same desi stare. They could sure start a band called "Collective Stare" and do quite well for themselves. I don't know if I'm the only one who has come across this, but I'm guessing it's a common desi phenomena.


I'm proud to be Indian, it's just that we should try and inculcate a better attitude amongst our own kind. Too much of groupism and insular thinking is making us retrograde. You look at the Chinese or other people from asia pacific and they always stick together, give each other support. In our race, it's totally opposite. I wish this mentality could change amongst us Indians . We should try harboring more camaraderie amongst our own race. Even during interviews, a person's chances are anyways quite tough in EE and then you come across either a chinese dude or an indian. Chinese love their kind and Indians hate their own. So your chances are reduced that much more. Only a spectacular performance can truly save your skin in that case. :).