Why is this story here, I know? Aside that Joe Paterno has traits, features, and character could be attributed as Indian qualities. I do know that Indian football fans have great admiration for this man regardless of their faith. Yeah, he could have Roma, Sinti, and so on ancestry for my interest. But that is not why? The answer is due to this cynical view in Indian politics. "If you aren't corrupt then your children are." Before Matt Millen goes crazy on me ("What! Just because I achieve, my children can't achieve without straight forward honesty like I did"), I will explain the wisdom of this expression.
An individual is corrupt because you are hiding the truth of what you are really doing. The second part is you are hiding the truth of what your children are doing. The question becomes at what price is an individual hiding the truth or truths? Indian folks can definitely relate to this particularly a parent. But it is not about achievement vs. underachievement and why that you see haters talk about so much. Or high achieving parents and their low achieving children. Maybe, if its not done honestly.
In Joe's case, he has graduated a lot of folks and done it the right way on his football team. His Grand Experiment of being great in the field and classroom has worked. The players that he has graduated are constantly higher than the national average since he became coach in 1966. He has two national championships and 5 undefeated seasons to boot. Likewise, they have done well in life as well besides playing in the NFL. I think about Jack Ham, Dave Robinson, Franco Harris, Mike Reid, Matt Suhey, and Ted Kwalick for the success they have had off the field. One thing I respected him is his honesty in saying that he was harder on Italian players because he wanted them to so well. LOL.
In addition, he has been very loyal to folks like Kerry Collins, John Cappelletti, Blair Thomas, Joe Jurevicius, and many others who failed in the NFL for one or many teams. It was his persuasion them kept them in the NFL. Example, current Colts coach, Jim Caldwell. He didn't play for Joe but was a QB coach for Joe during their six years together. He got the head coaching job at Wake Forest in 1993 but his teams just stunk but he stayed for eight years before getting fired. The next year, he got on Tony Dungy's staff based on a recommendation from star QB, Kerry Collins from his Giants' days? Yeah right, it was Joe Pa for why he stayed at Wake Forest and how he got to the Bucs.
Jim Caldwell is Joe Paterno's mentor. He is also a mentor to current Rutgers coach, Greg Schiano. When he was Athletic Director, he mentored Renee Portland, the women's basketball coach. He covered her homophobic attitude and her roughneck attitude towards her players that resulted in lawsuits and protests. The players that he coached were his children but very few would be his mentors. Matt Millen is one and Jerry Sandusky is the other. For Matt, he really persuaded the Ford's to hire him and keep him when things went south. But for Jerry, he just stayed on as his assistant hoping to take over Joe when he retired. But Joe never left so Jerry retired abruptly in 1999.
My question becomes why did Jerry retire and not take a coaching job somewhere else? He had to know that Joe was not going to give up Penn State. Likewise, why didn't Joe didn't do anything like he did for others? Well, my research says that Joe did but Jerry kept turning them jobs down like the one at Temple in 1988. Not only that, he turned down the Maryland job not once, not twice but three "bleepin" times in 1991, 1996, and 2000! Others blogs have mentioned that Joe was getting concerned in the early 80's that he was turning down so many head coaching jobs. The answer was the Second Mile home he was running for troubled youths since 1977. He wanted to run his home which was located in Happy Valley. Going to another place, he would have to find another camp to run?
If that was a teenager or young college grad, it would have been called "failure to launch." Matter of fact, he got his parents to run that home as administrators in 1982. Undercover officers with a help of a concerned parent, said that Sandusky admitted showering with a child in the Penn State locker rooms in the mid to late 90's. The district attorney from that county decided that no criminal charges will be filed. However due to the allegations, Sandusky left the program in 1999 but still had access to the PSU campus. Which bring me to this, is this a witch-hunt or something really tragic? Until the truth comes out, Matt Millen, one of Joe Pa's kids and mentor, says this, "its time for Joe Pa to step up and tell the truth." Like a father and mentor should.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Friday, 30 September 2011
Indira Gandhi, 1975-1977 State of Emergency
I remember seeing a documentary about her on PBS either national or one of those local affiliate station in the United States. My favorite scene where she was talking with her grandchildren, giving the answer that 1 lakh is a 100,000. The film was shown a few months or a year before her death. It felt creepy, they talked about like she was dead when she was still alive. Everything was like past tense. It sort of reminded me when ABC sports did a a bio about "Bear" Bryant, a year and a half before he died.
Going back to Indira, I was pretty attentive with her story except for the Emergency period of 1975. Very confusing but I thought it was me being confused. Yet, that period is still very confusing to this day. That documentary would say that it was her toughest period and showed b&w picture stills with a cloudy background, sitting at her office, looking distressed with the narrator describing her mental or emotional state on the voiceover.
Questions came up of why and what happened. I was in India at the end of the Emergency period but I was only 5 years old. But, I was aware of things besides no television, hardly no cars, and animal/homeless kids on the street. Everything seemed so quiet and eery. Though, I was in the state of Tamilnadu where nothing much happened. Heck, I was in a village where seeing a car pass by was an event. Buses and bikes, you saw all the time (all the cars were Ambassadors with some jeeps and Fiats).
I say leery because my family would talk about family and some political parties but I didn't know that Indira Gandhi was Prime Minster until I came back to the states and started school. Somebody mentioned her name at party and asked some kid if she or he knew who she was? I don't remember the answer and I was like well, Ronald Regan is the President. The concept of countries was as alien as biryani.
All I remember is going to school with uniforms on and seeing teachers who were white but never lived in America (I did know that I lived in a place of white folks but didn't know what city, country and all). I was trying to learn Tamil and I didn't even know what that word meant. At a doctor's office, this dude show me a picture of an elephant and asked me what that was. I said "elephant" he say "Gnanai" as in Yonnay. I was like, what? You know how long it took me to learn that damn English word and he is saying its wrong? That was true when I went to my grandfather's village in Thanjur, 4 years later, and met some relatives who were cooking up some food. Another family dude asked what he was cooking and I said "spinach." Wrong. "Keerai." Whatever, I quit.
Back to Indira, I really stated to read about her due to a set of encyclopedia books that my parents ordered around 1981. But it was a just a brief bio of her life, niece of Gandhi, mention of her late husband, Feroze, her 1966 election and losing her election in 1977. India is a Parliamentary government! The book didn't get to her re-election in 1980 because the events went up to 1979 but it did say she was barred from politics from a certain number of years. The disturbing part was that of her son Sonjay. How he got to power to run things, I have no clue? He sterilized people including political opponents vasectomy for men and tubular ligation for women, and removal of slum dwellings. A witness said that he saw a pregnant lady get raped, tortured, and killed by Sonjay's guys. If that wasn't enough, he mutilated her fetus and put in her mouth. A political opponent said he was tortured when they would hammer his top nails.
So when I asked my father or relatives about this emergency around 1983 after seeing this documentary. It was just wasn't clear to me like the Kennedy assassination that I was obsessed with at the time. Still isn't. From what I read, she won a election and her opponent (Raj Narain) charged her with corruption. The Indian courts or the court in Allahabad agreed and banned her from politics for 6 years. It was viewed that Indira Gandhi was kicked out for a minor infractions like using the government electricity. But then protests by student, trade, and other unions protested her election in that she was rigging votes, and using elected officials as election agents.
Another guy from charged her with corruption back in 1971 during the general election but was overturned. The Raj Narain one was overturned on Nov. 7, 1975 but with all the protest and opposition of various groups, she declared an emergency on June 26, 1975 banning media, arrest of opposition leaders, and elections postponed. My take, very inconclusive of what went down from June 26, 1975 to March 1, 1977. Amnesty International said that 140,000 were arrested and 40,000 were sikhs. Wikipedia mentions that oppositional groups to Indira Gandhi were shut down in the state of Gujarat and Tamilnadu.
Then there are critics said that this was a slight exaggeration and that only a few would endure this harm and that it was her right to declare an Emergency. This policy of forced sterilization was started back in 1971. The cause that got Indira to declare and emergency was due to inflation and lack of rainfall which created these protests. The 1971 war with Pakistan and the 1973 oil crisis caused financial issues but by 1976, India was improving economically. But Indira, had to release the prisoners and set up an election where she lost to Morarji Desai and his Janata Party (known to drink his own urine, aagh).
But, it didn't mention about the Naxalites from West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. They were an off-shoot from the Indian Communist group declared as a terrorist group in 1967 by Indira. During the Emergency, they were targeted by police and the Indian army. The Naxalites were killing landlords and feudal folks who exploited the indigenous folks but were killing and torturing regular villagers because they were on feudal and landlord side. Yet, a blogger says it was a slight exaggeration, you had a few villagers who went trigger happy and killed all those people back in 1975. But, now they are non-violent?
I always wondered how these groups still survive when they are declared as terrorist. I guess bad roads was an advantage to them on the country side. Eric Rudolph approach. Another, you heard about Sikhs and her (her son, Sanjay married one). You heard about the operation Blue Star and others during the 80's but not this one from 1975. Of course when I was there, I could careless. I got to re-learn the ABC's that I learned in America. I got them all right with the exception of the letter Z. Ezat (their interpretation, dang). One thing though missing, maybe not significant, India did test for a nuclear device on May 18, 1974 which the United States didn't quite like and imposed sanctions on them as well as Japan.
Going back to Indira, I was pretty attentive with her story except for the Emergency period of 1975. Very confusing but I thought it was me being confused. Yet, that period is still very confusing to this day. That documentary would say that it was her toughest period and showed b&w picture stills with a cloudy background, sitting at her office, looking distressed with the narrator describing her mental or emotional state on the voiceover.
Questions came up of why and what happened. I was in India at the end of the Emergency period but I was only 5 years old. But, I was aware of things besides no television, hardly no cars, and animal/homeless kids on the street. Everything seemed so quiet and eery. Though, I was in the state of Tamilnadu where nothing much happened. Heck, I was in a village where seeing a car pass by was an event. Buses and bikes, you saw all the time (all the cars were Ambassadors with some jeeps and Fiats).
I say leery because my family would talk about family and some political parties but I didn't know that Indira Gandhi was Prime Minster until I came back to the states and started school. Somebody mentioned her name at party and asked some kid if she or he knew who she was? I don't remember the answer and I was like well, Ronald Regan is the President. The concept of countries was as alien as biryani.
All I remember is going to school with uniforms on and seeing teachers who were white but never lived in America (I did know that I lived in a place of white folks but didn't know what city, country and all). I was trying to learn Tamil and I didn't even know what that word meant. At a doctor's office, this dude show me a picture of an elephant and asked me what that was. I said "elephant" he say "Gnanai" as in Yonnay. I was like, what? You know how long it took me to learn that damn English word and he is saying its wrong? That was true when I went to my grandfather's village in Thanjur, 4 years later, and met some relatives who were cooking up some food. Another family dude asked what he was cooking and I said "spinach." Wrong. "Keerai." Whatever, I quit.
Back to Indira, I really stated to read about her due to a set of encyclopedia books that my parents ordered around 1981. But it was a just a brief bio of her life, niece of Gandhi, mention of her late husband, Feroze, her 1966 election and losing her election in 1977. India is a Parliamentary government! The book didn't get to her re-election in 1980 because the events went up to 1979 but it did say she was barred from politics from a certain number of years. The disturbing part was that of her son Sonjay. How he got to power to run things, I have no clue? He sterilized people including political opponents vasectomy for men and tubular ligation for women, and removal of slum dwellings. A witness said that he saw a pregnant lady get raped, tortured, and killed by Sonjay's guys. If that wasn't enough, he mutilated her fetus and put in her mouth. A political opponent said he was tortured when they would hammer his top nails.
So when I asked my father or relatives about this emergency around 1983 after seeing this documentary. It was just wasn't clear to me like the Kennedy assassination that I was obsessed with at the time. Still isn't. From what I read, she won a election and her opponent (Raj Narain) charged her with corruption. The Indian courts or the court in Allahabad agreed and banned her from politics for 6 years. It was viewed that Indira Gandhi was kicked out for a minor infractions like using the government electricity. But then protests by student, trade, and other unions protested her election in that she was rigging votes, and using elected officials as election agents.
Another guy from charged her with corruption back in 1971 during the general election but was overturned. The Raj Narain one was overturned on Nov. 7, 1975 but with all the protest and opposition of various groups, she declared an emergency on June 26, 1975 banning media, arrest of opposition leaders, and elections postponed. My take, very inconclusive of what went down from June 26, 1975 to March 1, 1977. Amnesty International said that 140,000 were arrested and 40,000 were sikhs. Wikipedia mentions that oppositional groups to Indira Gandhi were shut down in the state of Gujarat and Tamilnadu.
Then there are critics said that this was a slight exaggeration and that only a few would endure this harm and that it was her right to declare an Emergency. This policy of forced sterilization was started back in 1971. The cause that got Indira to declare and emergency was due to inflation and lack of rainfall which created these protests. The 1971 war with Pakistan and the 1973 oil crisis caused financial issues but by 1976, India was improving economically. But Indira, had to release the prisoners and set up an election where she lost to Morarji Desai and his Janata Party (known to drink his own urine, aagh).
But, it didn't mention about the Naxalites from West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. They were an off-shoot from the Indian Communist group declared as a terrorist group in 1967 by Indira. During the Emergency, they were targeted by police and the Indian army. The Naxalites were killing landlords and feudal folks who exploited the indigenous folks but were killing and torturing regular villagers because they were on feudal and landlord side. Yet, a blogger says it was a slight exaggeration, you had a few villagers who went trigger happy and killed all those people back in 1975. But, now they are non-violent?
I always wondered how these groups still survive when they are declared as terrorist. I guess bad roads was an advantage to them on the country side. Eric Rudolph approach. Another, you heard about Sikhs and her (her son, Sanjay married one). You heard about the operation Blue Star and others during the 80's but not this one from 1975. Of course when I was there, I could careless. I got to re-learn the ABC's that I learned in America. I got them all right with the exception of the letter Z. Ezat (their interpretation, dang). One thing though missing, maybe not significant, India did test for a nuclear device on May 18, 1974 which the United States didn't quite like and imposed sanctions on them as well as Japan.
Friday, 15 April 2011
Leave the Mother Alone
I had my clashes with Indian women but the NPR report from Thursday about Indian girls are disproportionate to males made me think. They put the blame on the women because of infantile killings through sonograms which tell early detections to see if its a girl or boy. If its a girl, they have abortions or other means. If its a boy, Happy Divali!
Years ago, I was volunteering at this station in Matthews, NC which mostly played gospel music with some preaching. However, during Sunday's, you had time slots for about 3 hours per program with a fee, of course. One of these was the India something. Where they essentially played Gujurat stuff and some Hindi no Tamil. Man, I was messing up on the board, stopping music with no flow to announcements. I shaking like a leaf. Others were messing up too but I went to broadcasting school but they knew Gujurat. The guy who headed the program, Divakar Shukla said that I had to know Gujurat to play "Indian" music. He was trying to kick me out because I wasn't fitting in and my asberger's started to kick in (thanks for giving me a chance, Divakar!). Didn't phase me, though. I stayed through.
However, in the studio, I was surrounded by these three girls who were Gujurat (very cheerful) and the mother or grandmother found out that I was Tamil (I told her). She got Mr. Divakar to get me out of there via telephone. Well, it worked. He called me to say that she didn't approve of me being there, blah, blah. The radio owner and manager, made a comment about me being with girls. But I knew the real reason. They had to find a reason to kick me out. So, they used the low caste, Hindu tag on me, which was convenient to show me the door.
Point is the fear of a girl getting raped, harmed, by a low caste boy is real. Shoot, you can be Indira Gandhi or a Indian women with those degrees and honors but if she gets assault by somebody of low caste, she gets the blame not the perpetrator. The honor is gone. Worse, if she loves a low caste boy with no coercion, that is it. Over. She can get killed and nobody will look. Shoot, a woman can marry a Christian or a Muslim but someone lower than your caste in Hindu is, goodbye. If she had been a man, who cares but a woman.....
That is why when I hear the intelligence of Indian woman and how they are doctors, respected wives/mothers, and so on. I always listen to what the "vicious" aunties and uncles have to say. Most of them always mentions about her marrying within her caste or race. If they marry a different caste, it usually recognized as a higher caste. Maybe, if she married somebody a lower caste, that man is highly educated. If you are in the same caste, a man doesn't have to be highly educated because its all centers on procreation of the tribe. I guess, its better than marrying your relations. LOL.
The next generations won't have to worry about marrying an Indian girl because there won't be none. You know what, I don't the blame the Indian woman for not wanting to give birth to girls. They have a heart. They don't want their female offspring to suffer. What their action is telling me is that, "we" aren't Indians when push comes to shove. They maybe bitchy about but they have a point. I'm not going put the blame on them like many family advocates in India do. Thank God.
Years ago, I was volunteering at this station in Matthews, NC which mostly played gospel music with some preaching. However, during Sunday's, you had time slots for about 3 hours per program with a fee, of course. One of these was the India something. Where they essentially played Gujurat stuff and some Hindi no Tamil. Man, I was messing up on the board, stopping music with no flow to announcements. I shaking like a leaf. Others were messing up too but I went to broadcasting school but they knew Gujurat. The guy who headed the program, Divakar Shukla said that I had to know Gujurat to play "Indian" music. He was trying to kick me out because I wasn't fitting in and my asberger's started to kick in (thanks for giving me a chance, Divakar!). Didn't phase me, though. I stayed through.
However, in the studio, I was surrounded by these three girls who were Gujurat (very cheerful) and the mother or grandmother found out that I was Tamil (I told her). She got Mr. Divakar to get me out of there via telephone. Well, it worked. He called me to say that she didn't approve of me being there, blah, blah. The radio owner and manager, made a comment about me being with girls. But I knew the real reason. They had to find a reason to kick me out. So, they used the low caste, Hindu tag on me, which was convenient to show me the door.
Point is the fear of a girl getting raped, harmed, by a low caste boy is real. Shoot, you can be Indira Gandhi or a Indian women with those degrees and honors but if she gets assault by somebody of low caste, she gets the blame not the perpetrator. The honor is gone. Worse, if she loves a low caste boy with no coercion, that is it. Over. She can get killed and nobody will look. Shoot, a woman can marry a Christian or a Muslim but someone lower than your caste in Hindu is, goodbye. If she had been a man, who cares but a woman.....
That is why when I hear the intelligence of Indian woman and how they are doctors, respected wives/mothers, and so on. I always listen to what the "vicious" aunties and uncles have to say. Most of them always mentions about her marrying within her caste or race. If they marry a different caste, it usually recognized as a higher caste. Maybe, if she married somebody a lower caste, that man is highly educated. If you are in the same caste, a man doesn't have to be highly educated because its all centers on procreation of the tribe. I guess, its better than marrying your relations. LOL.
The next generations won't have to worry about marrying an Indian girl because there won't be none. You know what, I don't the blame the Indian woman for not wanting to give birth to girls. They have a heart. They don't want their female offspring to suffer. What their action is telling me is that, "we" aren't Indians when push comes to shove. They maybe bitchy about but they have a point. I'm not going put the blame on them like many family advocates in India do. Thank God.
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Back Home
Scariest word for me. I was talking to this dude at this party celebrating India over Pakistan (cricket) in Buckhead. He was talking with this lady who is pretty attractive. I was staring at her and he made a joke about her being captain of a cricket team since I only talk about sports. She laughed. He mentioned about him getting married and I asked if she (lady was I looking) was the one and then he said no, I'm marrying back home.
When he said that, I got out of there quick. "Back home" is code word for cousin or a distant relative. Nightmares. These girls have that demeanor like Jerry Lee Lewis' first wife, related or not. Wasn't really doing a great job at the club of getting ladies as a matter of fact, I crashed hard. But I wasn't the only one. Guys at the club sat against the wall or hung out with other guys while the girls danced hard. Not all of them. One dude offered me a drink. But most resigned to themselves that the only way to get a lady is "back home." I did have a person who offered to teach "Bollywood" Dancing but that I had to bring a dance partner. Then why would I need to be at a club?
Truth is harder for an Indian guy (maybe even women) to get an non-relations Indian than its to get a white, black, or other racial types of women. Shoot, its easier for that Hindu to get a Muslim or a Christian woman for that matter. Its like what my real mother use to say to me. You can marry anybody you want but if you marry an Indian, you better do it within your caste (essentially within your family relations). This attitude is still prevalent when it comes to Indian men.
Truth is: I stink. I don't know about other Indian guys and their issues. I can only go on me. I tried to avoid them because in my younger teen days, there family was around them. As an adult, I realized how American I am but that I have too much Southern Indian sexism to relate. Mostly, I couldn't relate to them. Not that I can with anybody else but they ain't no practice dummies, which I respect. Unlike..... I will stick with being friends but I ain't going home. LOL.
When he said that, I got out of there quick. "Back home" is code word for cousin or a distant relative. Nightmares. These girls have that demeanor like Jerry Lee Lewis' first wife, related or not. Wasn't really doing a great job at the club of getting ladies as a matter of fact, I crashed hard. But I wasn't the only one. Guys at the club sat against the wall or hung out with other guys while the girls danced hard. Not all of them. One dude offered me a drink. But most resigned to themselves that the only way to get a lady is "back home." I did have a person who offered to teach "Bollywood" Dancing but that I had to bring a dance partner. Then why would I need to be at a club?
Truth is harder for an Indian guy (maybe even women) to get an non-relations Indian than its to get a white, black, or other racial types of women. Shoot, its easier for that Hindu to get a Muslim or a Christian woman for that matter. Its like what my real mother use to say to me. You can marry anybody you want but if you marry an Indian, you better do it within your caste (essentially within your family relations). This attitude is still prevalent when it comes to Indian men.
Truth is: I stink. I don't know about other Indian guys and their issues. I can only go on me. I tried to avoid them because in my younger teen days, there family was around them. As an adult, I realized how American I am but that I have too much Southern Indian sexism to relate. Mostly, I couldn't relate to them. Not that I can with anybody else but they ain't no practice dummies, which I respect. Unlike..... I will stick with being friends but I ain't going home. LOL.
Friday, 18 February 2011
The Cruel and Vicious Auntie
I tell you. This type of character can destroy a Jack Lambert or Albert Einstein in a heartbeat just by saying, "your child don't look like you, its too dark, too short, or too skinny" and looks at the wife. I have been asked if I'm afraid of being attacked by extremists of Islamic faith? I'll make the late Sam Kinnison's reference of him not being afraid of terrorism because he was married. In my case, its dealing with vicious, Indian aunties.
Most are family but some are not but are included in manners that can resort to gossip. They are the krptonite and to be avoided by ambitious folks. Either they will try to put you down or ask for your money through gossip. I guess that is why you see so many Indians move to other countries but they are just vicious here in the United States. Here are some quotes: "Why is your daughter so fat? Why she wear her dress like that, must have a boyfriend, heh, heh, heh? Is he Indian?"
There is no way, you can make comebackers to them like you do with other guys. It just makes you look bad. Particularly when they look older with a mustache growing and mutton chop growing on the sides. LOL. But what I don't understand is the bondage that they place. Parents of successful PHD's, military folks, doctors,engineers, and so on. "When is your son going to get married, its getting late?" Likewise, no one researches their personal life. I guess that is the trap. But then why, the word "soon" or "when he is ready." Instead of "Bitch, shut up." Another trap?
The question becomes why do successful folk need them or want them. It sort of reminds of that journalist who got sexually attacked in Egypt. A female blogger mentioned her disgust about the comments such as "What was she doing there, showing her face? She is too pretty, too blonde, and too white? You know how them Egyptians are?" She wrote her column implying that men wrote those comments. No, it was the aunties of her own race. They have been saying that for centuries because its a good way to keep an ambitious person in line especially during war. Yet, remain annoymous.
Most are family but some are not but are included in manners that can resort to gossip. They are the krptonite and to be avoided by ambitious folks. Either they will try to put you down or ask for your money through gossip. I guess that is why you see so many Indians move to other countries but they are just vicious here in the United States. Here are some quotes: "Why is your daughter so fat? Why she wear her dress like that, must have a boyfriend, heh, heh, heh? Is he Indian?"
There is no way, you can make comebackers to them like you do with other guys. It just makes you look bad. Particularly when they look older with a mustache growing and mutton chop growing on the sides. LOL. But what I don't understand is the bondage that they place. Parents of successful PHD's, military folks, doctors,engineers, and so on. "When is your son going to get married, its getting late?" Likewise, no one researches their personal life. I guess that is the trap. But then why, the word "soon" or "when he is ready." Instead of "Bitch, shut up." Another trap?
The question becomes why do successful folk need them or want them. It sort of reminds of that journalist who got sexually attacked in Egypt. A female blogger mentioned her disgust about the comments such as "What was she doing there, showing her face? She is too pretty, too blonde, and too white? You know how them Egyptians are?" She wrote her column implying that men wrote those comments. No, it was the aunties of her own race. They have been saying that for centuries because its a good way to keep an ambitious person in line especially during war. Yet, remain annoymous.
Friday, 20 August 2010
Class, Indian Gossip 101: The Art of Conjecture
I remember hearing this word in a parking lot at the WTVI studio in Charlotte, NC. It involved two guys discussing about their TV producers not allowing them to do certain stories because it was controversial and they may be attached to it due to their skin color. In my context, this word has been used particularly in the Indian community of all tribes. The idea behind it though is to get to main truth. Like Oliver Stone said about JFK "that he tried to create myths" to provoke action to get to the truth (the Mossad?). Same could be said here.
Class. Go to your typical party involving old Indian people. You see the mixtures, hot milk, tea or coffee. Cards, of course. India music and movies from the old. Maybe, some sweets or beech-nut pak. Then, gossip. Somebody will bring up someone with a new house or car. Job outlook. What kid got into college and what they are studying? Who is getting married and to who, what their occupation is? Mostly, it involves relatives and problems. What's new?
However, everybody wants to know more whether its the guest who leave early, leaves late, or who stays over particular when it involves an Indian who is different. Urvashi Vaid comes to mind. A typical Indian-American girl (born in India) with great academic pedigree reinforced by Indian family values from college professor parents. Whew! Yet, Urvashi could interact and make a difference with the outside world while still maintaining her Indian identity. The A Dr. Laura Schlessinger's Nazi ideal (Do as I believe but not as what I am).
Throughout the late 80's, this woman appeared in family conversations amongst Indians. I know, there wasn't a day when I was being lazy or complaining about dating non-Indians. This lady's name would come up, frequently. "Look, she listens to her parents, doesn't date, and works hard. They mentioned about her staying within her race non-verbally but that was their message. Because, they kept perseverating on her until whispers about her being single. It was 1990 and she was thirty-two, very late for an Indian woman.
Many said, don't worry this is America, women get married late. What about that short hair, showing her ears? Hey, its the fashion. Whispers about her being head of some Gay force. Okay, she is a liberal who supports equal rights for everybody but she isn't gay. Even if she was, its just a fad, she'll go back to a man. Oh, you are just jealous. At least, that is how it was explained to me when I asked those questions in a defensive manner.
My questions didn't provoke actions but it did keep the conversations down. My use of conjecture. When she came out visibly after Bill Clinton's election, she disappeared from conversation. Truth was, she was out as a gay woman since 1983 but the Indian community were in denial until she lead a protest march of gay people to Washington which they couldn't deny. The Indian magazines left her just like that. Threw her accomplishments out the window and are still waiting for the next heterosexual Aryan-Indian ideal in America.
Well, class. This is my spiel on conjecture. They can be used to get to the truth but mostly they are used for slander. Careful how you use them. When you go to your next party or next assignment, try not to create scenarios about people. It will lead to some truths but it comes with a price. Like JFK, it provokes action but it doesn't do much and goes away. Me and the Indian community in America are still paying for it concerning Urvashi Vaid. We left her.
Class. Go to your typical party involving old Indian people. You see the mixtures, hot milk, tea or coffee. Cards, of course. India music and movies from the old. Maybe, some sweets or beech-nut pak. Then, gossip. Somebody will bring up someone with a new house or car. Job outlook. What kid got into college and what they are studying? Who is getting married and to who, what their occupation is? Mostly, it involves relatives and problems. What's new?
However, everybody wants to know more whether its the guest who leave early, leaves late, or who stays over particular when it involves an Indian who is different. Urvashi Vaid comes to mind. A typical Indian-American girl (born in India) with great academic pedigree reinforced by Indian family values from college professor parents. Whew! Yet, Urvashi could interact and make a difference with the outside world while still maintaining her Indian identity. The A Dr. Laura Schlessinger's Nazi ideal (Do as I believe but not as what I am).
Throughout the late 80's, this woman appeared in family conversations amongst Indians. I know, there wasn't a day when I was being lazy or complaining about dating non-Indians. This lady's name would come up, frequently. "Look, she listens to her parents, doesn't date, and works hard. They mentioned about her staying within her race non-verbally but that was their message. Because, they kept perseverating on her until whispers about her being single. It was 1990 and she was thirty-two, very late for an Indian woman.
Many said, don't worry this is America, women get married late. What about that short hair, showing her ears? Hey, its the fashion. Whispers about her being head of some Gay force. Okay, she is a liberal who supports equal rights for everybody but she isn't gay. Even if she was, its just a fad, she'll go back to a man. Oh, you are just jealous. At least, that is how it was explained to me when I asked those questions in a defensive manner.
My questions didn't provoke actions but it did keep the conversations down. My use of conjecture. When she came out visibly after Bill Clinton's election, she disappeared from conversation. Truth was, she was out as a gay woman since 1983 but the Indian community were in denial until she lead a protest march of gay people to Washington which they couldn't deny. The Indian magazines left her just like that. Threw her accomplishments out the window and are still waiting for the next heterosexual Aryan-Indian ideal in America.
Well, class. This is my spiel on conjecture. They can be used to get to the truth but mostly they are used for slander. Careful how you use them. When you go to your next party or next assignment, try not to create scenarios about people. It will lead to some truths but it comes with a price. Like JFK, it provokes action but it doesn't do much and goes away. Me and the Indian community in America are still paying for it concerning Urvashi Vaid. We left her.
Friday, 18 June 2010
An Indian tale
There are things can drive you nuts. But India politics can drive you crazy. But don't think that it originated in India. Here is one story that any Indian observer can relate to. This is about former Governor of Alabama, George Wallace. Maybe some of you heard of him. The man who said "Segregation today, Segregation Tomorrow, and Segregation Forever." Ordering police to beat on Martin Luther King and civil rights demonstrators during the 60's. But this man is from the United States of America. Yes, I know but his story is an Indian story.
Believe it or not, George was actually a liberal out of law school. When he ran for governor in 1958, he supported the NAACP. But his opponent, John Patterson, had support from the KKK and won the election. Patterson as Attorney General got the NAACP out of Alabama. Then as governor, he tried to send Martin Luther King to jail on tax evasion, and the Freedom Riders out of Alabama. George realized that people in Alabama cared about race more than roads, education, and the future. So when he ran for governor in 1962 (Alabama was a one term state), he played the race card and won on the segregation platform.
As governor, he was responsible for the church bombing which killed four black girls and other racial crimes in Alabama. But in 1966 due to the one term policy, he couldn't run for governor. However, because white Alabamans loved his attitude on race, they were willing to elect his wife, Lurleen, a homemaker over the 1958 winner, John Patterson. She married George straight out of high school at 16 years old. They met a store where she was a cashier. With Lurleen as governor, George ran state government behind close doors. George or Lurleen passed laws for allowing more than two terms.
Unfortunately for Lurleen, she was holding a secret. She had been fighting cancer for 5 years due to the pregnancy of her last child when a doctor noticed a growth in her tissue. At the time, the man was told first of his wife's condition. George insisted on not telling his wife the diagnosis. Four years later, she visited a gynecologist for abnormal bleeding and the doctor's diagnosis of cancer was a complete shock to her. She was particularly outraged at George when a staffer told her that he knew her diagnosis in 1962.
Despite the cancer, she ran a full campaign and made a 24 minute inauguration speech promising to uphold her husband's political platform. Meanwhile, she was going through radiation treatments and a hysterectomy before the campaign started. She would have to go to Houston, Texas for her treatments because Alabama didn't have a center. Her life would end on May 7,1968 and lieutenant governor, Albert Brewer would finish her term. He lost in the 1970 Democratic run-off to George who ran a brutal racial campaign on Albert and his family. In her short term, Lurleen pushed funding for the developmentally disabled and state parks in Alabama. In finishing her term, Brewer established a cancer research center at the University of Alabama Birmingham in her name.
In the end, George "changed" his attitude after he got shot and paralyzed in the 1972Presidential campaign. He asked for forgiveness of his racial past by going to NAACP meetings and black churches. In his last term of governor (1983-1987), he appointed a racially diverse government. As for his 1958 and 1966 opponent, John Patterson, he endorsed Barack Obama. Later on, both men said that they had run on a segregation platform to hold office at that time. They also mentioned about the good things and the changes that came about in due time. However, all this would not have happened without Lurleen Wallace.
Believe it or not, George was actually a liberal out of law school. When he ran for governor in 1958, he supported the NAACP. But his opponent, John Patterson, had support from the KKK and won the election. Patterson as Attorney General got the NAACP out of Alabama. Then as governor, he tried to send Martin Luther King to jail on tax evasion, and the Freedom Riders out of Alabama. George realized that people in Alabama cared about race more than roads, education, and the future. So when he ran for governor in 1962 (Alabama was a one term state), he played the race card and won on the segregation platform.
As governor, he was responsible for the church bombing which killed four black girls and other racial crimes in Alabama. But in 1966 due to the one term policy, he couldn't run for governor. However, because white Alabamans loved his attitude on race, they were willing to elect his wife, Lurleen, a homemaker over the 1958 winner, John Patterson. She married George straight out of high school at 16 years old. They met a store where she was a cashier. With Lurleen as governor, George ran state government behind close doors. George or Lurleen passed laws for allowing more than two terms.
Unfortunately for Lurleen, she was holding a secret. She had been fighting cancer for 5 years due to the pregnancy of her last child when a doctor noticed a growth in her tissue. At the time, the man was told first of his wife's condition. George insisted on not telling his wife the diagnosis. Four years later, she visited a gynecologist for abnormal bleeding and the doctor's diagnosis of cancer was a complete shock to her. She was particularly outraged at George when a staffer told her that he knew her diagnosis in 1962.
Despite the cancer, she ran a full campaign and made a 24 minute inauguration speech promising to uphold her husband's political platform. Meanwhile, she was going through radiation treatments and a hysterectomy before the campaign started. She would have to go to Houston, Texas for her treatments because Alabama didn't have a center. Her life would end on May 7,1968 and lieutenant governor, Albert Brewer would finish her term. He lost in the 1970 Democratic run-off to George who ran a brutal racial campaign on Albert and his family. In her short term, Lurleen pushed funding for the developmentally disabled and state parks in Alabama. In finishing her term, Brewer established a cancer research center at the University of Alabama Birmingham in her name.
In the end, George "changed" his attitude after he got shot and paralyzed in the 1972Presidential campaign. He asked for forgiveness of his racial past by going to NAACP meetings and black churches. In his last term of governor (1983-1987), he appointed a racially diverse government. As for his 1958 and 1966 opponent, John Patterson, he endorsed Barack Obama. Later on, both men said that they had run on a segregation platform to hold office at that time. They also mentioned about the good things and the changes that came about in due time. However, all this would not have happened without Lurleen Wallace.
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