Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi thread

[burythehatchet]

It seems I'm running into a bunch of you folks on DU. It would be nice if you might check in, tell us where you are, and share an interesting fact about yourself.

Me I live in Atlanta, immigrated to New York in 1970 and for the first time in my life I'm starting to enjoy Hindi movies.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. indian

i live in nyc
i used to live in calcutta
i am 25

theres nothing particularly interesting about me

[IronLionZion]

4. I thought your name sounded Indian

:toast:
I'm Indian too. I live in Rochester, NY now but I'm from a small narrow-minded redneck town called Somerset, PA. My family is from Kerala. I'm 20

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. hmm

did you give us an interesting fact about yourself?

[IronLionZion]

26. I hate fried fish and coconut

which happen to be staples of a South Indian diet. It's in almost every Kerala dish. yuck!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

27. really, weirdo!

[IronLionZion]

28. haha, I know,

I'm not that interesting

[burythehatchet]

5. I'm not buying that last statement

pretty please...share

[La Lioness Priyanka]

7. well ask a question

i will probably have a boring answer.

[burythehatchet]

13. Ok here goes

What is your favorite vacation destination, and why?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

15. any city in italy

i loved rome and florence...i am dying to tour italy again


however most of my family and close friends live in india so i end up spending all my vacation time in india

[burythehatchet]

18. now the interesting part

why? Is it the geography, the people, the food, the wine, ....

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. all of it

i like the spirit of the country...people randomly also bought me flowers ...just random strangers...it was fun..

[Eureka]

2. Aussie but........

It's, IMHO, wonderful news that India is touring Pakistan for Cricket after so long.

Okay, so I'm probably going to be pretty lonely on the whole cricket thing, but I do seriously see this as a good step forward.

Anyone care?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. i do

hope sachin does us proud!

[Eureka]

9. Hey cool

Aussies have a special thing for Indians/Pakistanis/Sri Lankans/Bangladeshi's (especially) because of our sporting links.

Actually, I went to two matches this year vs India, great stuff. It's particularly cool when there are entire sections of the stadium totally filled with Indian flags and chanting etc. The local Indian community really puts in the effort.

Could cricket be a way to save the world, or just a great excuse to get totally drunk for five days? (personally, I'd support the former, but I'm all for the latter :-) )

[IronLionZion]

6. Go India!

India is known for rabid cricket fans. The whole country goes nuts when we win. Australia is good too.
:toast:

[burythehatchet]

8. It really is wonderful

I saw a news report showing that on both sides people are really excited about it.

Are you in Australia or transplanted? I really miss Sydney and my closest friend just moved to Brisbane.

[Eureka]

10. Transplanted

about 200 years ago on a convict ship, ha ha ha ha. No seriously, if you were the english and wanted to isolate yourself from the convict class, wouldn't it have been a better idea to send the aristocrats to the lovely tropics instead of the crims? Us crims got the better end of the deal.

I used to live in Sydney (and Melbourne) but now I live a little north of Brisbane.

There is lots of news about the tour, everyone is excited, not least because they are supurb cricketing nations and, if you're into cricket, there are some great matches coming up.

[burythehatchet]

11. Cricket is in my blood

Which is why I love baseball so much

(here in the South cricket doesn't get much coverage)

[Eureka]

20. Well here you go....

If you want to catch all the action (from the Aussie perspective),

aus.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2003-04/IND_IN_PAK/

(sorry, can't get that link to work)

And, since lionesspriyanka brought up Sachin......



People must be excited, they are rioting for tickets!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. as i suspected

the number of liberal indians can be counted on one hand

[IronLionZion]

14. bullshit

there are tons of liberal Indians. they just haven't found DU yet. Most of the middle and lower income Indians I know are staunch Democrats.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

16. good point!

i was just being silly..

[IronLionZion]

17. haha I know what you mean

my parents associate with wealthy conservative Indians who think tax cuts are great and poor Indians belong in India. It drives me nuts when I'm at home and there's a dinner party!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

19. also homophobic....

not your parents but a lot of indians are....it was more obvious in NYU cos almost everyone else was gay so the homophobia was observable...

[burythehatchet]

21. I know what you mean

Rumor has it that in his youth, my dad was a member of the RSS. Although I don't hold it against him, I do hate that he's so conservative politically

[IronLionZion]

24. yes the unconditional hatred of Muslims is a real turnoff

and the crazy thing is that we're Christians. Some of the nicest and sweetest Indian people I've met have the most burning hatred of Muslims in their hearts. It's scary. They talk about watching lynchings like its a sport instead of cold-blooded murder.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

25. yes that kashmir thing too

makes me squeamish...

[IronLionZion]

29. it's insane how hawkish some Indians are

they want to nuke the hell out of Pakistan. We've come along way since the days of Gandhi and peaceful activism.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

30. i am very opposed to gandhi

for numerous reasons...but keep in mind 90% of our population is illiterate so progressive thought is impossible

[IronLionZion]

31. you dirty little traitor!

just kidding!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

32. lots of people seriously feel that way

but with most things i am convinced i am right!!

[varun]

37. the literacy rate...

in now 52% (still a long way to go)...some states like Kerala have literacy approaching 95%.

I disagree that one needs to have formal schooling to be progressive. Some of the most educated Indians I see are the least progressive.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

41. well i disagree with you

education does bring about social change...which does not mean every educated person will want to be progressive...

[La Lioness Priyanka]

42. well i disagree with you

education does bring about social change...which does not mean every educated person will want to be progressive...

[varun]

35. Not true...

I am an Indian...live in Miami, FL...immigrated from India 14 years ago.

I am fairly liberal...also gay (if that matters) live with my partner (American) of 13 years.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

40. well yes i admitted i was just being silly

not that it matters but i am gay too

[htuttle]

33. I'm not from India...

...but my scooter is!



I got a 2002 Chetak last year and have had a blast commuting on it ever since. A lot of times when I ride it, I consider the environment that it came from. I do that with things sometimes.

It's much different from an American-made vehicle in many ways. It's designed to be efficient above all else (top speed is only about 53 mph), it's really sturdy, it's very compact, it's easy to fix, and it was really cheap, even brand new.

In short, it's everything that a modern American vehicle IS NOT.

I find this particularly fascinating to contemplate as I get my bi-weekly tank of gas for 83 cents next to an unhappy looking SUV driver looking into their wallet.

And just for that experience, I owe a debt of gratitude to Indian engineering.

:evilgrin:

[burythehatchet]

34. Hey that's cool htuttle

I want one. Where do I get it?

[htuttle]

38. Here's the main US importer

http://www.bajajusa.com

[burythehatchet]

39. Thanks fer the link

I was about to get an overpriced Vespa. I'll re-think that decision.

[htuttle]

43. Definitely!

I only paid $2000 brand new for a 2002 Chetak. That's the regular US price - shipping. I think the cheapest new Vespa I've seen in the US was over twice that much.

Also, the Chetaks have 4 cycle engines with a 4 speed manual transmission. Unless Vespa came up with a new engine (not sure what's in the new Stella's showing up in the US), they are still using 2 cycle engines (ie., you have to mix the gas and oil, high polluter, less overall power).

The ONE drawback: sometimes, parts take a while to get, since most of the time they still get shipped from India. Luckily, I haven't needed parts very often (just a headlight so far).

One piece of advice: Get new tires ASAP. The 'Nylogrip' tires that are stock on most Bajaj bikes are nearly indestructible, but don't have very good traction, IMHO. I got some Zippy 3's, and they are very sticky even on wet pavement.

[burythehatchet]

44. Sound advice about the tires

and the Vespa is a 49 cc as opposed to the Bajaj 149cc. I might have to join the Hell's Angels.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

45. hey whats up?

so i went home after midnite yesterday...:P

[varun]

36. I used to drive a Chetak...

...back in 1980s on the streets of New Delhi.

When Chetak was first released in India, it was almost a carbon copy of Vespa (of Italy). Now it is made completely in India...and exported too.