Move Over Sanjaya, There Goes Kashif

I vaguely remember hearing commercials for the new television series created by the makers of American Idol where people from all over the nation can audition with any sort of talent. Though most of the acts on the show are satirical, there is a small minority of serious talent featured on the show. It was not until towards the end of the series when I was surfing online and I saw that one of our own was an aspiring Bollywood star that made it all the way to the semi-finals. Kashif Memon mesmerized judges Sharon Ozbourne, David Hasselhoff and some celebrity hater who I honestly had no idea who he was, but apparently he thought Kashif was a terrible dancer, at least by his standards. What does he know?

Kashif somewhat took the nation by storm too. Even Jerry Springer had some positive things to say about his performances. Though Kashif, of Skokie, Illinois, experienced a small version of the overnight fame that Sanjaya underwent, there were some undeniable differences between the two overnight successes. Since I read about Kashif at the point that he was off the show, I had to do some research on the Internet to find his dope Bollywood moves. I hate searching for stuff like that online, because I am bound to find something that angers me. Usually the comments are from people outside our culture. However this time, it appeared that it was our own people that aggravated me. A message board war between Hindus and Muslims seemed to erupt on some forums. It is sad that a few ignorant people from our culture could potentially impact the perception of Westerners trying to learn about our culture. Some of the comments I read were from user names that sounded Indian saying mean things about how Kashif sucked. And in response, there were comments about Paki-pride and how we are dumb Indians that are hating because we can’t dance like Kashif.

It becomes really sad when you talk to Americans that barely realize that India and Pakistan are two different countries. I currently live in a small farm-state city filled with people who barely leave the state, and it is hard enough getting some people to understand that India is a country on the other side of the world and that I do not belong to a tribe and despite the fact that I am 100% Indian, I am not eligible for a check from the government. Some American people get really confused, and have no overall clue of how the world is constructed.

I wish all of these Indian people would keep their negative comments to themselves. If they really do not like what they see, get out there and do it better and let your actions speak your mind. But putting hurtful comments out there about how Kashif talks (which is the exact same way many of our mothers and fathers and uncles and aunties talk) is just plain ignorant and makes you look totally stupid. Furthermore, your ignorance and stupidity makes me feel embarrassed for being Indian. In the clip that showed Kashif talking about what he wanted to do, he said “I want to do the dancing.” Many of us attacked him for using improper English. So what? I know about 25 other Indians that would have said the exact same thing.

It was very seldom that comments were posted on You Tube and other forums that reflected how well Kashif did, or how he had the courage to go out there and dance in a manner that was going to be foreign to the majority of the audience. I would like to say that I thought that Kashif did an awesome job. It was the coolest thing seeing this 4-minute Bollywood rendition on national television performed by someone who was practically my next door neighbor. Thank you Kashif, for having the courage to go out there and tell America about your dream and exposing the mass media to a piece of our culture. I hope that we do see you in Bollywood films someday. Don’t take any of the negative comments personally, and don’t think that the comments on the Internet reflect what all Indians think about you. You have a lot of supporters out there, so as they say, haters, keep hating, and players, play on!

Thanks, But No Thanks

Several years ago, as I embarked upon an endeavor to expand my Gujarati vocabulary, I would often translate overheard sentences in my head from English to Gujarati. It was a great way to identify words that I did not know. Subsequently, I would ask one of my parents, or a friend how to say the word. One day, I realized that I do not know how to say "thank you" in Gujarati. I proceeded to ask one of my close friends and off the top of her head, she could not recall. "Everyone just says it in English," she told me. I went through a couple people until one of my elders introduced me to the word "aabhar." From what I was told, the usage of this word is somewhat archaic and could potentially get you some weird looks from people that you say it to. I used it anyway. And I did get the weird looks.

Being in Madison, Wisconsin, I am lucky to be in one of two cities in the United States that offer college level credit courses in Gujarati. It has been my goal to enroll in a year's worth of credits before I leave Madison. The class is offered in a concentrated 6-week period where you go to class everyday for something like five or six hours. It seems like a great opportunity to learn the language. I have been recruiting friends and family to come down to Madison for six weeks and take the class with me. So far I have one friend who is a dedicated participant in this project of mine (no one really wants to come out to Madison to stay for six weeks when the same class is offered in such an exciting city like Philadelphia).

My friend and I will often exchange phrases in Gujarati and he once asked me how to say "thank you" in Gujarati. I explained to him the background of the word and he just laughed. "No wonder your people are so rude, you have entirely eliminated the usage of the word from your language!" His prospective is a little skewed from a job he held in college when he had to interact with a lot of Indians who were constantly trying to barter for discounts, or worse, change tags and insist certain items were on sale knowing that they weren't. Through this experience, his prospective of Indian people are that they are rude and never say "thank you" when you give in to their aggressive tactics to save a few dollars. I can't really defend us there, because I was one time among those Indians who put regularly priced items on the clearance rack and insisted that it should be 50% off. So tacky, I know.

I kind of snickered back as he was right. I can't deny being rude, and very often using the phrase "thank you" in appropriately. If you borrow my car and crash it, my response might be something like "Thanks a lot, this is just great" and than after a couple minutes, I might ask if you are okay. When my supervisor at work gives me a big project to do when I am already overworked, my response is usually "thank you" and in my head I will be cussing him out. I think that my use of the word is a little skewed because my first language did not really use it. Perhaps many Indian people are like that.

I think of words that were eliminated from the English language. Some words are replaced, such as "thou shalt not" ends up being modernized with other words that are more commonly used. But if you look at words that are just not used anymore, one of the many reasons is because the term was derogatory or offensive with the change of times, or that the term is no longer needed. I really can't understand the motive or rationale behind eliminating "thank you." To me, "thank you" seems like it should be an important phrase that is needed in the language. To only use the term in English, is it not also saying that Gujarati's need English in order to survive or be functional? Why did "aabhar" become outdated?

Recently at a friend's gathering, I was served some juice and I said "aabhar." I think more of us need to say it in Gujarati and maybe out word will be resurrected through common usage. She did look at me funny and said it's okay, I can say it in English. Thanks, but no thanks.