I am tired of screaming at the top of my voice that indian Americans are quite liberal , usually vote democratic and even the who don't aren't casteist lmao

I genuinely cannot understand his mentality. First he insults the citizens who he’s running to represent by calling them lazy and stupid during an incredibly economically dicey time period. Then he - during peak anti-Indian sentiment - decides it’s a good time to bring up his female running mates abusive mother who’s husband sexually assaulted her to her knowledge (which is both just incredibly cruel, but also makes the hate more vitriolic towards our kind)…

I know it’s controversial to say (since a common sentiment is to not associate with bad portions of the Indian diaspora) but he certainly makes me feel a bit ashamed for our community.

Not really pre-law so much as polisci the discipline (Comparative Politics, IR, Political Theory, American politics, Political Economy, Formal Theory, Methods, etc.). Seems like there's so few of us around despite the growing interest for the subcontinent in the discipline. Would love to hear the perspectives of anyone in academia/policy/think tanks about your views on the discipline and what the future of South Asian area studies is as quant methods reign supreme

The mostly desi high school in our district a few town over it’s pretty standard to hire one starting in grade 9. They pay between 2-9K for this service. My family did not hire one.

I’m a dental student, and lately I’ve been struggling with this feeling that I’m just… forgettable.

It feels like none of my faculty members remember my name. I try to interact with them, make conversation, participate, and build relationships. I make an effort to be friendly and engaged, but somehow, I still feel like I fade into the background. I watch other students seem to develop relationships with faculty, get recognized, and be remembered, while I feel like I’m just another face in the room.

I can’t help but wonder whether being brown and having a name that isn’t traditionally American plays a role in this. Is it harder to be remembered when your name is unfamiliar to people? Is there an unconscious bias that makes some students more recognizable or approachable than others? Or am I overthinking this and taking something personally that happens to everyone?

The hardest part is that I do try. I’m not someone who deliberately keeps to myself. I make an effort to engage, and yet I still feel invisible sometimes.

I know that faculty members have dozens of students to remember, and I don’t expect everyone to know my name immediately. But when it feels like a consistent pattern, it starts to affect how you see yourself. You begin to wonder whether you’re doing something wrong, whether you’re not memorable enough, or whether people simply don’t see you the same way they see others.

This already seems like an interesting story….

I struggle to understand the longing of ABCDs who didn’t grow up immersed in brown culture and feel that they are ‘whitewashed’, for lack of a better term. As a child, I didn’t have the option to opt out of my culture or my language. I see the value in it now, but at the same time, I feel my parents didn’t make much of an effort to understand the culture here in Canada. Some examples:
- We always ate brown food (sometimes arabic), even while travelling, because my Dad refused to eat anything else
- My parents never took me to the cinema to watch an English-language movie, only Bollywood (Mission Impossible being the rare exception lol)
- Never been trick or treating because my parents didn’t know what that was/didn’t care
- Didn’t put me in sports because they didn’t know that was something parents did here, so I would sign myself up at the ages of 10-11 at the local community centre cuz my doctor kept telling me to work out

These are minor things and I’m already anticipating the comments telling me to be grateful for the sacrifices immigrant parents make, but it feels isolating to be in one country and grow up with the culture of another. It’s nice when you can voluntarily participate in it, but not at the expense of not being able to relate to your peers.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I envy ABCDs who got to grow up immersed in the culture of where they live, the “dominant” culture. It feels like that they can take on “Indian-ness” as a positive attribute, while for me it’s something I don’t have a choice in.

IDK if I’m making sense, but I’m wondering if there are others here who feel this way.

Found this post interesting! Maybe we can help OP?

Just like our Gods and Goddesses. Just a random thought that came into my head and wanted to share here.

I am not ABCD but moved to the states very young. Growing up we did all the Hindu festivals and poojas and I felt a strong connection to my roots and can speak my mother tongue.

I am married to someone also non ABCD but moved very young to the states from a different region in India so we don't speak the same language. We moved away from both our families and now have children and I get so lonely around festivals especially. I want to give my children the experience my parents gave me but I don't have many Indian friends and am not sure how to make that connection. I guess my question is how do you make this community when you are also juggling young children?

We recently changed our Amazon Alexa echo dot language to the Hindi one so that my kids could practice. We've always used "computer" as the wake word instead of Alexa btw. Anyway it literally will not wake/light up to listen UNLESS you say this wake word in a desi accent wtf???? 😂 can someone else try this and confirm for me. they're on some bullshit because Alexa will acknowledge everything else I say in my normal accent (American) but it won't wake unless I say computer like how my mom would

Also this post is not serious, I just thought this was so goofy, so don't @ me

Does anyone have experience learning Hindi later in life?

Growing up my parents never really spoke Hindi at home or taught me or my siblings in order to help us assimilate better. Now that I'm in my late 20s I feel I've missed out on experiences and connections, like Hindi movies/music or even being able to speak with some relatives and I've been looking for ways to incorporate learning Hindi into my routine.

Has anyone else had similar experiences or have good tips for how you learned Hindi?

Hi guys,

I think I am one of those few ppl who has a non existing social life and as the oldest child & daughter, growing up my Pakistani parents had a huge part in it.

I lost touch with the already few friends I had in high school friends. Started undergrad pretty late cause of mental and physical obstacles and ppl my age had already graduated. I met some sweet ppl but they were many years younger than me and i just couldnt have that connection with them. Then Covid and lockdown happened a few months later to make things worse.
Years have passed and I have struggled a lot to make friends cause now honestly it feels like a forced task! And like the 99% of ppl i meet already have very close/best friends that they met in uni/college or high school.

So question especially for the girls, for those who didnt find their best friends in high school and university, did you eventually find your people in your late 20s or early 30s? If yes where did you meet them and how did you become close?

30F from Canada