The acronym for American Born Confused Desi was an inspired coinage on the part of Indian Americans.
Per Wikipedia ".....ABCD is a term that refers to people of Desi origin (of South Asian descent), living in the United States. "Confused" refers to their confusion regarding their identity, having been born in America or lived there since childhood and been closer to American culture than their native culture...."
However, there is much in the behaviour pattern of the South Asians of America which can cause confusion not only to themselves, but in others too as they search for a composite image for this increasingly visible group.
A magazine published from New Jersey describes itself as the "largest circulated Indian publication in the USA". It should be safe to assume that scanning the pages of this publication would assist in building a composite image that would be true to the reality, and provide glimpses of the standards and aspirations of South Asians in the country. Certainly, leafing through a recent issue, the articles did reinforce many of the positive stereotypes which spring to mind when thinking of South Asians in America. I recall a security guard at a New York club who addressed me as "Doc". Clearly he assumed that an Indian crossing those portals had to be a Doctor of some sort.
Many of the ads in the magazine - real estate brokerages, technical services, investment houses, home decor - clearly speak to a target audience which was clearly affluent, upwardly mobile and sophisticated.
And then suddenly there was an ad across two full pages, placed by a "World Famous Peer Sahib" based in England offering spiritual remedies for issues such as "husband and wife domestic problems", "marriage of your own choice", "..life affected by any kind of evil spirits or black magic".
There were other ads from psychics, one from a lady who "...mends marriages, Stops enemies, solves business, financial and family problems" and another describing herself as "Spiritual Doctor" modestly claims that she "...Performs miracles ; restores love, happiness and success.."
Another website offering services to "...prevent & destroy black magic, evil powers and jadoo.." includes the catchy slogan "....Doing business with God".
Interestingly, all of the ads mention "immigration problems" among their catalogue of ills for which they profess to have solutions.
The Peer Sahib from England confidently proclaims in his ad that "..100% guarantee in less than one week your every wish will come true" . I presume that under the Truth in Advertising laws, this claim is capable of strict verification.
What place do these services have in the make-up of the composite Indian image in North America ? Where do they fit in amongst the lawyers, IT gurus, astronauts, research fellows, management consultants and finance professionals that make up the popular image ?
1 comment:
Wonder how long ago was this, a NY club guard addressing you 'doc'. It used to happen to me in the UK in mid-sixties, when I was a journalist on a British daily in a small NE England town of Darlington. It hardly had any Indian residents then. I knew of only one other, who was also a journalist. People I ran into on streets and dept. stores enquired if I were a doctor. For the only Indians they had come across were those in National Health Service.General public perception was, I you're Indian, you must be a doc.
Interesting that you mention about Peer Sahib of UK. During my US visits in recent years I used to see his ads appearing in Asian TV channels. And he seems to be not the only one in this business. Oddly, enough they all had overseas address. Could this be because the Truth-in-Ads clause could not be enforced on overseas company ads. Or else, how were they being permitted to be telecast in US?
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