People in California need to keep pushing back against the casteist attacks on #SB403 by forwarding the text of #Article15 of the Indian constitution. And point out that the bill is just adding this to the California statutes.
Plain and simple.
Nothing to protest here.
Oh for sure, but then let's have them make it explicit, in the United States, especially California, that they are the side in this debate that pines for a theocratic state as an ideal.
Right now they pretend as if the bill is an attack on Hindus. #SB403
These HAF suhag Shukla types are just pouring a lot of heat into the discourse and very little light.
While it is important to combat their misinformation, we should also be putting them on the defensive by asking if they are also opposed to the Indian constitution. 🤷
Literally just adds 1 word, one more category, very properly defined, to 15 other protected categories.
Only someone dedicated to preserving and defending casteism would have any objection to this bill.
Do read the blue text for sure.
Also random Desi uncles who deal only in rhetorical questions asking "how do they even define caste", read a little.
It's great that they added endogamy as one of the identifying factors of the phenomenon. Caste endogamy is widely prevalent in the South Asian American popn.
- total lack of the words Hindu or Hinduism
- listing India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, South America, Japan, and Africa, NOT singling out Indians
The debate from the sanghi & centrist side has been so dishonest!
Of course that's just the intro section with declarations.
The actual change to the law is literally just adding the word caste with 15 other protected categories. And the definition of caste.
In a way, I'm glad that sanghis are making such a big hue & cry every time a jurisdiction adds caste to its protected categories.
Cos they rehash the same old jaded arguments black folks, Jews, Muslims, Catholics, queer folks remember being at the receiving end of in the past.
And by repeating the same old Jim Crow era arguments against the civil rights act, but in the caste setting, they just end up convincing Americans, both liberals as well as pro civil rights conservatives, that yeah, caste definitely should be added to discrimination statutes!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Last week in Pune, I went to many cousins' & friends' new or recent homes. In and around Pashan. And I could picture exactly which areas were sure to flood. I've walked those hills for years.
Why is it called Pashan?
Some of the oldest & hardest rock on the planet!
Marathi has a word for seasonal streams. ओढा. Literally means "to pull".
Those rocky hills had centuries, millennia old odhas which took water from heavy rain all the way down to the rivers. Mudslides were unheard of, given how hard the rock was.
Recently I was in Pune for a short trip visiting parents. Had sprained ankle, wanted to ice it. But their fridge didn't have enough ice.
Went on dad's Activa to nearby medical store to get a gel pack. Next door is a barber shop. A dude was outside. /1
Guy in his 30s. Looked at me & gave a big smile, waved.
I was confused. This was Pune not the Midwest. People don't just randomly smile at strangers. Did I know him from childhood or youth? Didn't seem familiar.
But I was limping & in pain. So drove away.
Coupla days later, dad was making chai but we were out of khari. I took Activa to grocery store next to same barber shop.
Again as I was leaving, same dude standing outside smiled & waved. I again smiled. Still couldn't place him.
Be it 1993 serial blasts, 2001 Parliament attack, 26/11 or German Bakery, Indian govt identified perpetrators and laid out details of how they happened very soon.
But we still have no answers or details on Uri all these years later. Public was satisfied with Balakot alone.
Will that be the fate of Pahalgam too? Will we get no serious investigation of the terrorist perpetrators and no serious systemic introspection of security lapses, because these missile strikes and dogfights have brought the josh to shallow armchair patriots?
Have you ever been to Kashmir? There are so many security personnel doing security checks everywhere. You can't carry a nailcutter into a sensitive location, much less a truck full of explosives in the middle of a lot of Indian soldiers. Or guns at one of the most popular spots.
Why I think Mexican food is the best food in the world. A 🧵
I'm not talking about the "taco nacho burrito quesadilla" snapshot of Mexican food that most of the world carries. That's like thinking chicken tikka masala, naan, samosa defines Indian cuisine.
I'm talking for reals
What I'm saying is I'm an Indian who's been all over the world and food I ate in Mexico is, on average THE best food I've eaten in my life!
Not talking Mexican food in America or your country or Taco Bell.
Actual real Mexican food in Mexico.
Reason 1 - Zero taboos!
Coming from brahminical India, it is so mind-blowing awesome to eat in a country that literally has no food taboos at all! They eat pork, beef, shrimp, everything! They even eat insects. Proudly. And those insects are delicious!
During & after COVID, I became good friends with a dozen neighbors ages 65-85, mostly women. Coming from India, watching their daily senior citizen lives is such a pleasant cultural shock! So happening!
Now bear in mind, there is a huge self selection element at play here.🧵
These are senior citizens who can afford to AND have chosen to live in Manhattan. Didn't move to Florida Arizona California like many of their generation.
Manhattan is walking friendly. And it also makes you walk. And also keeps you in close walking distance from everything.
But still, their lives are so noticeably different from my roughly just as affluent or more affluent relatives that age.
They truly feel like characters from Golden Girls!
They are active in many clubs, travel a lot, and are politically VERY active. They're 60s flower children.
Another student visa cancellation horror story. Swimming in these today!
Dude was making a turn in rainy foggy weather and gently bumped against a car. That driver got out. Both examined the damage. Negligible. A nearby cop car saw the small accident and showed up. /1
Cop realized that Dude's license expired 3 days ago. Dude said I know and I've already applied for a renewal and the new one should be in the mail.
Cop said I still have to write you up for driving on an expired license. But explain your situation to the judge. It's cool.
Dude went to court and explained, I was traveling a lot. So only sent in license renewal paperwork close to the expiration date. It arrived literally 2 days after the accident. Which had no damage.