Culture, Cuisines & Jeans
A few weeks ago I sent my father a video profiling an Indian restaurant deep in the San Fernando Valley, about 40 minutes from where my family lives. Indian dining is increasingly common in Southern California but what set this particular restaurant apart was that a significant portion of its menu was dedicated to a sub cuisine rarely found in US-based Indian restaurants. Like my family, the proprietor of "Mother India" restaurant in Chatsworth, hails from the Western Indian state of Maharashtra (Mumbai is its capital). Marathi cuisine is unique, nearly nonexistent in American menus, and downright delicious.
My father became obsessed, demanding I drive him there instantly. This past weekend we pulled up to a modest mini-mall and entered the tiny hole-in-the-wall eatery with dated decor and dynamite dishes. My parents quickly befriended the restaurant owner, slipping easily into Marathi conversation, and we left stuffed to the brim, bearing bags of takeout. "Worth the long drive" was the final assessment. All weekend, I bragged about the restaurant to friends and neighbors, secretly hoping they'll try it out and enjoy my people's food.
"Thalipeeth" on the left. My father savoring a glass of "solkadhi" a sour drink made with coconut milk and mangosteen
The immigrant yearning for a taste of home is visceral. It offers an anchor in the storm, a powerful pull toward familiar smells, sights, sounds.
I felt a similar feeling when I recently attended an Indian classical music concert at the Norton Simon museum featuring Kamaljeet Ahluwalia on the santoor, accompanied by her husband Jas Ahluwalia on the tabla (watch a video of the duo performing in 2019). Far less familiar to Western audiences than the sitar, the santoor is a 100-stringed wooden dulcimer. Women players are rare, and Ms. Ahluwalia had studied under the famed Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, whose CD I listened to nonstop when I was a homesick college student.
As she expertly plucked and hammered the strings, I sobbed, silently bawled, and ugly cried into my scarf in the dark. Around me, non-Indian audiences were moved too, albeit in different ways. I wiped my tears and glowed with joy--and a little pride.
There is so much beauty and art in the cultures immigrants bring to this nation. It is not just a way for us to feel at home in a foreign land. It is a gift, an offering, to our fellow humans, a showcasing of our own humanity.
Whiteness strips people of such complex cultural beauty. It demands assimilation and adherence to a base common denominator in order to feed notions of racial superiority. White supremacy, thanks to Donald Trump, is enjoying a new heyday. Its cultural ambassadors are hip young people like actress Sydney Sweeney who boasts of her "great" (jeans) genes to shill for a clothing brand with a wink and a nod to eugenics.
Watch this powerful NBC documentary about the resurgence of interest in eugenics
If you don't think Sweeney's controversial ads were designed for the MAGA-crowd, just read the comments on American Eagle's official social media posting. There is ample glee over upsetting the "libtards".
I can't help but feel sorry for Sweeney and her fans, who may not know or care about their own cultural heritage beyond the whiteness of their skin, the blueness of their eyes, and the (fake) blondness of their hair.
Skin will wrinkle and eyes will fade. And then what? What will move the likes of Sweeney to tears ? Surely not a pair of jeans mass produced in China, Vietnam, and Mexico?
On another note... A BIG THANK YOU to those of you who are paying subscribers. We are NEARLY at 300! Please considering upgrading to $4 a month if you haven't done so.
Also, I am thrilled to announce that I will be contributing new monthly reports to Truthout, the same independent media outlet that has taken on the huge task of preserving YES! Media's archives. Look out for my first two pieces, about immigrant community self-defense and Black-Palestinian solidarity in the next several weeks.
Truthout
And, I'll be attending the Netroots Nation conference next week and will be live streaming interviews and panels on Free Speech TV from there. I'll also be gathering interviews with many of the thinkers and activists who are attending the conference and will produce a special report for Rising Up.
Also, for those of you in the LA area, I'll be in conversation with writer and filmmaker Stephen Vittoria about his new novel Christina and the Whitefish at Vroman's on August 21. Details below:
