#aas218sanjayp

[s99park]

AAS 218 - Reflection

Quarantine scuffed this entire class. So, I would give this class a 6/10. If COVID-19 hadn’t ruined the country, I’m sure this score would be higher.

There isn’t all too much to say because of the fact that we met once a week and we didn’t even meet that many times before the lockdown occurred. I also missed one or two classes so that definitely played a role in my AAS experience. I think a large part as to why I didn’t necessarily enjoy the class was because of how long it was and that it isn’t a traditional class. I am a traditional student; I like to read material and study it. I appreciate the class and it not being that traditional lecture class and more of an experience, but that’s just not me. That being said however, I’m 100% sure that the class was a great experience for people trying to find a break so to say, or a change in pace in a college class. It’s definitely a good class for energetic and outgoing people who like to work as a team, but that’s not me, so it wasn’t my sort of class. But that’s not anyone’s fault. 

Maybe if the lockdown hadn’t taken place and we were able to get through the entire class as a unit, my opinion might be different. At the beginning of class, we were told that this experience may start out rough and then blossom, but I guess we’ll never know. As for the curriculum and what was being taught, I enjoyed it. Again, I’m a traditional student and like enthusiastic lectures so the mode of teaching the curriculum wasn’t my thing. Also, staying at school until 6 is something that I didn’t really enjoy, which is my fault for picking the class and not having foresight as to what my Thursdays would be like.

So overall, I think this class just works well for certain people and doesn’t work for others. I’m definitely one of the others. But regardless, any experience positive or negative, is something to learn from, and I think I learned a little bit from this class. So thank you.

[s99park]

Asian Americans and Family

I come from an immigrant household. My family is desi and comes from a state called Punjab, in the northern part of India. It’s a beautiful state that runs on agriculture and has an incredible culture, also being one of the holiest states in the country as it is the heart of the Sikh community. I am ethnically Punjabi and come from a Sikh religious background; I don’t entirely follow the religion but I identify with it because of my family and my loose connection to its teachings. 

Growing up in a desi household, I was lucky enough to have “less restrictive’ parents that were still very restrictive, if that makes sense. Desi parents are incredibly overbearing, overprotective, and just overly a pain. I couldn’t stay out past 8. I’m 20 years old, and I’m still limited to how long I can stay out. I want to hang out with my friends. Parents are like, “No, what are your friends going to help you with? Finish your studies then you’ll get friends, and no I don’t want you to have a girlfriend right now. We’ll find you a good girl once your ready.”

Fuck. That.

I can’t even have a female friend without getting hounded. I’ll post a picture on my Instagram with my friends and my cousins that follow will show my pictures to their family members and then those pictures circulate through toxic WhatsApp conversations between the Indian moms and aunts with the final destination point being my mom. I’ll be asked after a post, “How many friends are girls do you have?”, and I’d say that I have not that many. But every time, the conversation ends with, “Don’t get girlfriend, too young.” Which is a part of why I have a pretty bad social life, because my parents want to keep me locked off for whatever reason.

As for education, I’m very lucky to have parents that don’t have extreme expectations of my future. They’re clear and say, “Do whatever you want, as long as it makes money”. And that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. But at the same time, not having that pressure of expectations has made me lazy and I kind of wish I had just a pinch of the expectations that many Asian American kids have in their life. Right now I’m on the verge of switching majors from kinesiology to political science and the response I get when asking if I should go through with that is, “Do what you want.”

Thanks.

[s99park]

Indian Independent Movement

Gandhi is one of the most popular figures in world history, a name that is taught around the world for his work. He was a massive figure in India’s movement for independence from the British and will always be the first name people will think of when India did finally gain their independence. But, because of how big Gandhi’s name has become and how revered he is by people like MLK and activists today, there are many crucial figures of the independence movement that don’t get the recognition they deserve. This blog post will be about one of my favorite revolutionary freedom fighters, a figure that every Punjabi must know and every Indian should know, Bhagat Singh.

I understand that this isn’t Asian American activism and that it is just Indian activism, but the reason I’ve decided to do this blog was because it is about a revolutionary that most Indian Americans are unaware of or they’ve heard of him but shrugged him off. He is an important figure that Indian Americans must know of, because he is one of the reasons that the independence movement was successful and someone who sparked fire within thousands of Indians.

Bhagat Singh was an Indian socialist revolutionary who was responsible for the death of an English police officer named John Saunders, mistaking him for a police superintendent named James Scott. The “failed” attack on James Scott was due to the British police abusing a comrade of Singh named Lala Lajpat Rai. Rai died in the custody of the police and the British government denied any wrongdoing had occurred that led to Rai’s death. This caused Singh and two of his fellow comrades to seek out the superintendent James Scott and kill him, which unfortunately did not go to as planned for Singh and his comrades. 

They were arrested and tried for the murder of the British police office John Saunders and were sentenced to be hanged. He was executed on March 23, 1931. His death was met with both praise for his actions and also resentment. Many Indians that were behind Gandhi and his peace movement believed Singh’s actions were radical and hurt the independence movement. But many others, like myself, believed that Gandhi’s approach was not enough to gain freedom from the British. Physical action was required. It’s similar in a way to MLK and his differences in ideology with Malcolm X. One believed in a peaceful approach, one believed in direct action that will secure their goals no matter what fashion is used. 

Another reason as to why Bhagat Singh is one of my favorite historical figures is because he is often regarded as one of the first few Marxists in India. He was known to have read the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Leon Trotsky. All famous Communists that I have read, asides from Trotsky. It seems like many of the famous revolutionaries that people know off have mostly based their ideologies on Marxism or a form of Communism. It kind of seems like people just brush that under the rug, which does a huge disservice to Marxism and Communism. 

[s99park]

Growing up Desi in 2019

So, for this blog I decided to watch one of Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act videos on YouTube titled “Hasan Learns What It’s Like To Grow Up Desi In 2019 | Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj | Netflix“. The reason I decided to watch this video was because I was interested in seeing the differences in how I was raised in a desi family and how kids today are being raised. 

After watching the video, everything, every single thing is the exact same. Getting your name pronounced incorrectly, people thinking you speak Indian then correcting to Hindu, having overprotective overbearing parents, expectations to enter the medical field, and the same feeling that every kid wants that is freedom. I mean really, nothing has changed between my experiences and the kids Hasan interviewed and their experiences. Now, these kids are from New York and New Jersey, some of them with Ivy League expectations which makes me think that they’re all mostly in very good financial situations. I didn’t have that same level of financial stability as a kid, which is what makes the fact that our experiences aren’t so different, very weird. Over the years my parents have become less of the relatable desi parents and have become less demanding regarding expectations of success, but their overprotectiveness still remains. I guess that quality of desi parents will never, ever change. 

This is important to me because when I was younger, I didn’t have Indian or any desi friends who I could relate to, which made me feel left out sometimes. My main source of being able to relate other Indian, Punjabi, desi people was YouTube. People like JusReign, an absolute king, Akakaamazing, an oldhead, and Lilly Singh, didn’t watch much but still relatable. These kids have Hasan Minhaj and the Patriot Act to follow, I had my own oldhead material, but the experiences remain the same regardless of time. That’s really interesting to me.

[s99park]

Why Indians are taking over Hollywood

As of recently, we’ve witnessed an increase of Indian American actors and actresses in Hollywood. This shows that my community is starting to make it big in the States and are finally getting positive representation in American media. You’ve got Hasan Minhaj, Lilly Singh, Dev Patel and other Indians that are making it into the spotlight of American media, something that I would not have expected several years ago. It feels fantastic to see representation, but the YouTube video I watched, “Why Indians are taking over Hollywood” from Colin and Samir, has made me think about how natural this occurrence of Indians in media is.

Colin and Samir explain that this surge of Indians in movies, shows, talks shows, and everything else that is media, is partly due to the fact that the country of India is an untapped gold mine for profit. India is the biggest and fastest growing audience on YouTube, making it a very good market for different medias. India also has one of the biggest English speaking populations in the world. So, it makes sense for American companies to expand into the Indian market considering how Indians are gaining greater access to internet which opens them up to American media. To make American media more appealing for Indians, you bring in young Indian Americans that have established their presence in the US and are possibly recognizable names back home.

But part of me feels that this doesn’t feel natural. Rather than having Indians in American media because of how important representation is, it feels as though they’re being propped up for profit more than anything else. This is something I’ve witnessed with wrestling as well, specifically the WWE where Indian wrestlers have been propped up before going on tours in India, to make sure they can receive as much attention and money as possible during that tour. Once the tours over, those Indian wrestlers get tossed down the rankings, never to hit that spotlight ever again. I feel like the same could happen to some of my favorites. I hope not, but I guess time will tell.

[s99park]

What Home Tastes Like

I’m standing in line in the langar hall of the gurudwara. I’m here with my dad after spending some time listening to the daily prayers. In front of me are Sikh men and women with their children. The men with their long beards, wearing turbans covering their head and hiding their hair. The women wearing Punjabi dresses and shawls to cover their heads. There I am with my dad, wearing bandanas provided by the Gurudwara. The head must be covered when in the Gurudwara, hands and feet clean. Inside the langar hall, you can hear the daily prayer being recited through speakers, the commotion in the kitchen, men talking amongst themselves, kids running around trying not to knock over the food of those trying to eat. It’s chaotic today for some reason, but it still feels warm and welcoming. Everyone who is eating is sitting on the floor. I never knew why we did this, nor have I ever asked anyone, I just did it too. 

It’s my turn to get my food. I grab a tray, spoon, and a couple napkins. It tends to get a little messy. As I’m picking up what I need, I look into the kitchen and see Sikh women making roti, daal, and everything else meant to fill the stomachs of those in the Gurudwara. It smells like a mix of fire and daal, with a little bit of old floor mats. I walk down the line, asking for roti, paneer, daal, dahi, sabji, raw red onions, tomatoes, and jalebis. At the end, I pick up a glass of water. I follow my dad towards an empty spot on the floor where we will eat. 

While I’m eating my meal, a pair of kids have run in front of me several times. I overhear some men discussing Indian politics. Sometimes there would be one or two people walking through the floor mat aisles with roti and water for those who wanted more. 

But the meal.

I begin by breaking off a piece of the roti and making into something that can scoop out the things on my tray. I dip into the daal first, then with that same piece of roti, I dip into the dahi. After I have a good ratio of daal to dahi, I start to eat it. To add more flavor to the bite, I start to eat some of the red onion. After the first bite, I continue to mix and match with the other items on my tray, making sure to finish it all and not to waste the food that was provided to me in the name of God. Most of the time however, I enjoyed having leftovers so I could eat them with my spoon. I would mix the remaining daal, paneer, sabji, and dahi together to have a mix of flavor. Once that was all gone along with the onions and tomatoes, it was time for the sweets: jalebi. Crunchy and savory, it mixed so well with the other flavors that were already in my mouth. I was satisfied. Now it was time to put the tray at the washing area. At the same spot, I poured my dad some chai to drink and waited for him at the newspaper and shoes section. This is where you could retrieve your shows and get Indian newspapers to stay up to date with what is going in Punjab and India as a whole. 

This is what home tastes of.

[s99park]

Blog #7: Nancy Pelosi vs President Trump

Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi are both trash. One of them is the president of the United States that is utilizing xenophobic rhetoric to rile up his hogs that are called supporters in an attempt to push the attention away from him, and shifting blame of the handling of the crisis to other sources, like the entire country of China, instead of taking responsibility for his own ineptitude. He is also The other is an extremely affluent establishment Democrat that provides nothing for the American people and is a performative progressive who thinks flexing her $24,000 fridge, that is loaded with expensive ice cream during a pandemic while Americans aren’t even able to acquire food they need to survive, on a talk show is a good idea.  

Now that the reader understands that both parties in this situation are trash individuals that don’t care about the American people and have other priorities that don’t benefit the interests of the people during a time of crisis, it is easier to assess the situation. What House Speaker Pelosi said during her visit to Chinatown was not smart, but President Trump’s reaction to her statement was even more problematic. Any reasonable person with any sense of foresight would have realized that encouraging people to continue socializing during what seemed to be the beginning of a pandemic is a bad idea. The Chinese government was already starting to take drastic measures in combatting the virus in their own country, as they should, while the American government were sitting on their hands doing nothing. We should have acted on this virus way sooner than we did, and that is the fault of the Trump administration and the GOP, but also the establishment Democrats. But that is beside the point of this assignment.

Asian Americans in this country are being targeted, harassed, and attacked because of dangerous xenophobic and racist rhetoric amplified by our president, the GOP, and conservative news networks. Because these different outlets of misinformation and propaganda are so loud, it is an extremely scary time for any Asian who has immigrated to the US recently or was even born in this country. They have made the Asian American community the scapegoat in this pandemic, rather than taking responsibility for their lack of action when other governments were already preparing. Now because of the delayed reaction, hospitals are under equipped with masks, ventilators, and any other tool required to combat the virus, but also minorities and the working class have been put under financial strain and are not receiving the aid required to survive. They have also thrown wood into the anti-China fire with their rhetoric, blaming China for their own failures and loss of American lives which adds to the already burning anti-immigration fire. Asian Americans are seen as disease ridden sub-humans that are destroying this country and are the sole reason for our failures in combating the virus. For far too long, Asian Americans have been seen as just foreigners that aren’t American, that will never be American, that will never be to the standards of a real American. Immigrant or not, we are all still human and should treated as such.

As for addressing President Trump’s combination of China and Chinatown, it can be concluded that this is not accidental whatsoever, and anyone who is shocked by this does not know who Donald Trump is. Him putting the two together is nothing unexpected, but that doesn’t take away from how harmful it is for China and Asian Americans. By combining both, President Trump is essentially saying that both Chinatown and the entire country of China, are to blame for the virus. The hogs that are his supporters eat up this narrative that Chinatown is a probable haven for the coronavirus, and that further enables his supporters to take negative actions towards Chinese Americans and Asian Americans in general. It is extremely dangerous and irresponsible for the president of the US to be saying these things, but that’s exactly what is expected from him. You simply cannot be surprised by this. You especially cannot be surprised by this if you understand that establishment democrats that wield greater power than progressive Democrats the likes of Pramila Jayapal, Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, AOC, and etc., are not pushing back against Trump. They sit there and twiddle their fingers, doing nothing to hold Trump and his administration accountable for their incompetence and inability to act properly against a pandemic that wreaks through the minorities and working class of the US. So while we attack Trump, we remain blind to the fact that these establishment democrats aren’t doing anything that progresses us forward or benefits the general population. It’s the loudest voices of the left that are proposing relief packages that are for the benefit of the Americans and corporate interests, but establishment democrats like Nancy Pelosi aren’t as concerned about Americans as some people think. You have to hold both parties accountable of the response to this pandemic, not holding the democratic party’s leaders accountable is regressive.

[s99park]

Blog #6: Claudi Kishi

Growing up, I didn’t see many characters that looked like me. I didn’t see many Indian Americans in TV shows, cartoons, books, or any other sort of media. It felt sad not being able to see people like myself in these different forms of media. The times I did see Indian characters in American media, it was the stereotypical “Indian guy”. Looking at Phineas and Ferb, we had Baljeet, an Indian boy with a very heavy accent that was very smart. In Big Bang Theory, we had Raj, an Indian guy with a very heavy accent that was very smart and pretty perverted. In Sanjay and Craig, there was an Indian kid with the same name as me but with a pet snake. In the Simpsons, we had Apu, an immigrant Indian American who ran a convenience store and had eight kids.

So, while it was nice for my young self to see Indian characters on screen, it didn’t feel nice knowing that they were side characters, asides from Sanjay, and were just written through stereotypes. It was cool to see Sanjay as a main character, what’s not cool is walking around middle school having kids acting like snake charmers or asking where Craig is. Well, I’m sure having the name Sanjay was a large part of the Craig “jokes”, but it did not feel good. But, Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire were two movies that I actually felt proud to see in big media. Both really good movies that were received very well in the US that finally saw Indians in the big leagues of movies. Also, Indian actors and actresses have been beginning to emerge in more mainstream American movies now, which is a huge step forward for the Indian American community. Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan, Dev Patel, Amrish Puri are just some of the Indians that have made it to Hollywood. Of course, they’re side characters but they’re not based on stereotypes. The movie Blinded by the Light doesn’t have an Indian American as the lead character, but it does have a Pakistani Britisher lead. The plot of the movie is something I can relate to as Pakistani and Indian families have nearly identical family structures. It’s a movie that has someone that looks like me as the lead, and that lead is someone I can actually relate to. It was refreshing to see this.

It is incredibly important to have diversity in different forms of media because representation matters. We live in the US, the most diverse country in the world, so it is inexcusable to not have a wide variety of representation for different groups of people in the US. Asian, African, Latin-x, Native American, LGBTQ+, you name it, whatever group there is in the US, they deserve to be represented in various forms of media because they exist. Simply not putting them in the spotlight is essentially erasure of their existence. Thankfully, its been getting better for groups with low representation and progress is actually being made. However, it shouldn’t just stop here. We need to keep on going so these groups get the equal representation they deserve so media isn’t bland and full of white folks.