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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| Trustworthy |
| 03/25/04 at 22:06:53 |
| [slm] But what's a Desi? Ethinicity or nationality or regionality or culturality? I've always wanted to know but always felt like it was rude for me to ask. Please explain so that I don't feel as stupid as I do now. :'( Jazakh.... Ma-assalama..... |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| ltcorpest2 |
| 03/25/04 at 22:11:34 |
| trustworthy, this is too funny. But It seems lately that people have been using that term and I thought that I was really lame being here 2 years and not knowing what it meant and I didn't want to show my usual ignorance. So thanks for asking for me! mike of course no one will respond and leave us ignorant. Maybe it is Desi Arnez from I love Lucy. |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| al-ajnabia |
| 03/25/04 at 22:14:41 |
| [slm] Its my undrestaning that a Desi is somone from the subcontenant. |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| timbuktu |
| 03/25/04 at 22:17:58 |
| [slm] :) I explained it earlier on but perhaps mike missed it. anyway: desi = ÏíÓí = local and it is indeed normally used by the people of the sub-continent to refer to themselves, or their local products or local conditions sometimes used derisively ABCD = American Born Confused Desi BBCD = British Born Confused Desi not good terms, but just to show how people deride each other I don't know what FOB means, though ___________ added later OK, about this India Pakistan thing The languages in Indo-Pak are quite related, and many things are common despite cultural differences in Bangla Bhasha (Bengali language), they would say: deshi = ديشي = local (sorry, I don't know why the arabic does not come up here) In Hindi,and Sindhi too, they would say the same I cannot write the devnagiri (Hindi) or Bangla scripts. Sindhi script is similar to Urdu, with some differences. I guess that takes care of Bangladesh. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and even Burma have a few things in common with the rest of the Indo-Pak subcontinent, so I wouldn't be surprised if desi or deshi were also used there for local. |
| 03/26/04 at 05:37:47 |
| timbuktu |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| Aadhil |
| 03/26/04 at 01:23:09 |
| [slm] I looked it up in google... :P FOB refers typically to Immigrants coming to the us.....FOP would be a more modern term. FOB=Fresh of the boat. P.S Ill let you figure out the FOP thing ;-) :) ..... Anyone wanna tell be why :-[ is labelled "embarrased" ??? . [slm] |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| Trustworthy |
| 03/26/04 at 02:08:18 |
| [slm] Oh. Thanks. So someone from Asia or like South Asia. Forgive me, but I thought it was like someone from India or Pakistan. Is that right? Or is there more to it? I just don't want to offend anyone. This man from Bangledesh was offended when I asked him how was the weather like in India cause that's where everyone told me where he was from so I assumed that's where he went to visit his family. That man never spoke to me again. I could care less, but I don't want to offend anyone here or elsewhere. Did not know that was labelled embarassed either. :-[ eh...oh well. I geuss this is the ignorant post or thread. (I know Bro Nomi explained to me what the difference of the two was, but that was way back when....) Ma-assalama.... |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| Halima |
| 03/26/04 at 04:28:56 |
| [slm]Trustworthy, A colleague of mine (a lady), admired my Somali outfit (it was my Somali dress week). She said: "these/this (depending on how you count/saw/looked at it, as one or several) is like our traditional dress, especially the tuni". Then I said: Oh yeah, Indian dressing, the sari". And she responded with a dark face saying: "I am not an Idian!" I was like oh sorry, what nationality are you? She said: "Sri Lankan". She is an expatriate. My excuse was I could not tell. In fact, the Asia community in Kenya who are Kenyan by birth are mostly either of Indian or Pakistani Origin. So, unless you ask, you can put your foot in your mouth and offend people unintentionally. Among the Asian community from the sub-continent (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc., and even their expatriate counterparts, you can not tell unless you ask. So, I perfectly understand your situation with the Bangladeshi gentleman. It happens. No offense to anybody here. I am just relating an experience. [wlm] Halima |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| bismilla |
| 03/26/04 at 05:27:31 |
| [slm] :-) Desi in my mind is anyone living in "India". Sorry :-) but that is the what i had thought all this time. FOB = this one i learnt the hard way when i asked the question "who are the ex. desi's on this board"....turns out i was referring to FOB and not ex. desi's - sorry, can't remeber the difference...hehe [quote]In fact, the Asia community in Kenya who are Kenyan by birth are mostly either of Indian or Pakistani Origin.[/quote] Would they not be "Kenyan" rather than "Sri Lankan or Indian etc.? No offense or anything intended, i'm just curious. I encounter this all the the time myself. When someone finally plucks up the courage (on the phone, in our training centre chatroom @ work) to say "what race / nationality are you?" (not a very politically correct thing to ask considering the history of this country), I usually reply i am proudly " South African" (thank you very much). The person asking is not usually satisfied with this and would prefer to know my "race". The thing is, i have no ties with India, being born and bred in South Africa like my parents and grand parents etc., so why must i be referred to as "indian" at all? When South African's go oversees eg. for Haj or Umrah - one look at the green passport and you classified as African...[u]not[/u] Indian / Malay and so on. Most of the "white" community here have their roots in England/Britain and Holland. I don't see anyone referring to THEM as Dutch or British? It appears to be highly prominent and saved for "Indian" people only it seems. *sigh* Sorry, i appear to have strayed off the original question.... |
| 03/26/04 at 05:38:48 |
| bismilla |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| superFOB |
| 03/28/04 at 00:58:05 |
| [slm] From the horse's mouth... desi = urdu/hindi word for native, pronounced like day-see, also called deshi Desis are people primarily from SAARC countries (india, pakistan, bangladesh, sri lanka, nepal, bhutan, and maldives). Third (and higher) generation desis also hail from africa, far east, south america, carribean, and the mid east. Main religions are hindusim, islam, buddhism, and sikhism. Eat lots of spicy food (no one eats more spice) and have arguably the highest threshold for hot chili! Mostly brown skinned but also come in light and dark skinned varieties (lot of variation there). All of them love indian/bollywood movies, especially the corny song and dance routine. Caucasian ancestory, very conservative, wiry but tough and quarrelsome, can survive any kind of pollution and weather. Play cricket instead of soccer, can't play any other sport. Way too many in the world now. In fact, there are more desis in the world right now than chinese!!! Almost one and a half billion!!! Desis have deeply influenced cultures where ever they have immigrated to: malaysia, south-east africa, england, san francisco bay area (lol), and more. Who are NOT desis: afghans, iranians, arabs, asians (as in chinese, burmese, etc) and whites (lol). There are black desis as well, the coast dwelling sheedees (not just black skinned, they actually look african). phew |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| Trustworthy |
| 03/28/04 at 03:16:32 |
| [slm] Aaaaaoooohhhhh. Jazakh for the explainations. Much appreciated. So I am nop a Desi even though a like that corney song and dance routine. They got really good drama, can make a man cry, even me too, movies. Really great exercise. Our versions of those are like soap operas with an ending after 16-30 VHS tapes. Yeah....not my idea of something fun to do, but beleive you me, there are people here who take the weekend off if they find a good one they just heard about. And our song and dance routines are more like the hawiian hoola but unsynced, my opinion. But then again, I have two left feet so I shouldnt talk at all.... Yeah I'll end it here. Jazakh again and ma-assalama.... |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| Halima |
| 04/01/04 at 03:55:27 |
| Sis bismilla wrote: [quote]Would they not be "Kenyan" rather than "Sri Lankan or Indian etc.? No offense or anything intended, i'm just curious.[/quote] Sis, the lady I am referring to is a Sri Lankan by nationality working here. She is not a Kenyan. The Kenyans of Asian origin born here are indeed Kenyans. But all the time you hear the distinction being made. It is not me. It is just the way it is. Same goes for Somalis of Kenyan origin despite that fact we do indeed have a province of ours in this country. I never actually ask for someone's nationality unless it is absolutely necessary. But sometimes you put your foot in mouth unintentionally like the case I related and Sis Trustworthy did too. Same old, same old. Shukran. Halima |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| bhaloo |
| 04/01/04 at 19:54:55 |
| [slm] I thought people from Afghanistan are also considered desis? ??? |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| bismilla |
| 04/02/04 at 00:44:41 |
| [slm] Sr Halima, please forgive me :-* i was just "venting" i suppose. Congrats on your 1000th post :-[ Br. Bhaloo - i suppose if Desi = "LOCAL", then everyone is a "Desi" in their home country? (stereotypes aside) :-) |
| 04/02/04 at 00:46:35 |
| bismilla |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| superFOB |
| 04/10/04 at 07:01:48 |
| [slm] [quote author=bhaloo link=board=bebzi;num=1080270413;start=10#11 date=04/01/04 at 19:54:55][slm] I thought people from Afghanistan are also considered desis? ???[/quote] Well, it might be apt to call them desi-o-philes :). Afghan culture has a very strong persian and central asian influence btw. On the other hand, desi-hood is a mental state conditioned by centuries of gora rule and the confluence of central asian and indian cultures with a dash of arab and east asian influences. To give an example, pakistanis wouldn't feel alien in india and vice versa. Hope that makes sense. |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| Nadeem |
| 04/10/04 at 14:18:05 |
| [slm] Hmmm.... interesting discussion, lots of different views on the word "desi". I thought it was a Bollywood term for people from indian subcontinent, as opposed to "par-desi" which means foreigners. :D If english, or german, or american or canadian or even arab people spoke hindi/urdu/gujarati/bengali, etc, then they would also use "desi" for local natives and "pardesi" for foreigners.... But they don't. Only people from indian subcontinent use it. So there you go. But technically I dont see why Afghanis cant use it, or anyone else for that matter. ;) [wlm] On a slight tangent, I live in England, and the term FOB I came across when I visited the States. Fresh Off the Boat? :-/ Hilarious! Over here, we use "banana boaters", i.e. people who came over on banana boats. Or more commonly, "yardies". A "yardie" is someone from "back yard" (back home). The best way to describe yardies is like this. (Forgive me in advance if I'm describing people on this board but I'm just jesting). :D If its a young bloke, they most commonly have extreme side parting in their hair which has been liberally oiled or waxed. They have a handlebar moustache, or a thin pencilly one, but only because they couldnt grow the handlebar moustache. They wear v-neck grandad jumpers and shirts buttoned up to the top. Their trousers are "jackups" (that means the bottom of the trouser leg ends just at the strt of the socks (above the ankles). They normally wear smart shoes with tracksuit bottoms, or of course if its a wedding and theyre wearing a suit, they have to wear trainers (sneakers). :-X I just realised I've described myself, :-/??? but anyway, if you wanted some useless "yardie" trivia there you go. :D |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| nida |
| 04/12/04 at 01:55:26 |
| [slm] desi is most commonly used by indian/pakistani ppl. cuz desi--> des-homeland..(isn't "des" a hindi/urdu word??) so desi simply means someone who is from their homeland. |
| Re: Sorry for my ignorance.... |
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| rkhan |
| 04/14/04 at 17:08:58 |
| [slm] You know you’re a desi when… ….on a trip abroad you convert foreign currency into desi denominations within seconds and are happy/sad depending on whether you’re earning/spending ….you sing ‘50s film songs and ghazals instead of this weeks US/UK Top 10 when it rains or when you're in love. …..you think drinking gallons of Horlicks (ugh!!) will get your kids better grades …you buy gold by the kilo not grams ….you’re engaged to be married at age 5 to your cousin/father’s best friend’s kids/the kid next door ….everyone you know knows your grandfather’s name …..you think meals that take less than 3 hours to cook and come without a layer of ghee on top are not worth eating ….you think girls who wear jeans (without dupatta ) and lipstick are “fast” …..you think the perfect daughter in law looks 16 till she dies …..you think “homely” = home-loving and make it a point to use it in matrimonial ads describing your daughter …you have your kids regale hapless visitors/co-travellers/passerby with renditions of English poems…and stare meaningfully until they’re rewarded with effusive praise ….you think everyone’s kids are “spoilt”…except your own ….you spend a fortune on weddings but think a pizza from Pizza Hut is expensive …you think Ali G is a distant descendant of Malcolm X PS No offence meant...I'm the desi-est of them all |
| 04/15/04 at 04:32:27 |
| rkhan |
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