Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
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I have a lot of questions about India and the Indian diaspora (whether US, UK, or elsewhere) that I feel uncomfortable asking anyone I know in real life. I feel like I have no sense for the actual role caste plays in life, both in India itself and in its diasporas. I’m in a STEM field so naturally I interact with many 1st/2nd generation Indians. Over the years, conversations have on rare occasion drifted to these topics and people have mentioned things like sometimes when other Indians ask for surnames they’re really trying to figure out your caste, or how their parents are have a pretty low opinion of Indians from X region. I didn’t quite feel right asking for more detail, but it seems we have quite a few Indians here so I figure I’ll give it a shot. These are rather broad questions so shrink the scope as you see fit.
How confidently could you guess someone’s ancestral state based just on a standardized passport headshot?
How confidently could you guess someone’s ancestral state based just on their family and given names?
How granular/significant does regional discrimination tend to get in India vs in diaspora communities? (North vs South, state by state, city by city?)
How confidently could you guess someone’s caste based just on a standardized passport headshot?
How confidently could you guess someone’s caste based just on their family and given names?
How granular/significant does caste discrimination tend to get in India vs in diaspora communities? (North vs South, state by state, city by city?)
Can you tell what Indian language is their native language based just on their accent while speaking English?
Do social groups in diaspora communities tend to cut across regional/linguistic lines? As a point of comparison, being in a STEM field I naturally also interact with many 1st/2nd generation Chinese. Obviously caste isn’t really a factor there, but it seems they also make little distinction by ancestral province or Chinese dialect. I’m wondering if, when I walk by the large groups of Indians playing cricket at the park speaking a language I can’t identify, are these groups usually, say, the Hindi speakers hanging out amongst themselves while the Tamil speakers have their own group? Presumably they all speak English being in America so if they were a mixed-region group they’d be using English but I rarely see large groups of Indians speaking English with each other.
Do social groups in diaspora communities also tend to cut across caste lines?
Can answer as a 2nd gen for good measure
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