Guessing ethnic origins.

[Vinayaka]

One of the observations I like to do to get a better understanding of my Hindu brothers and sisters is to guess their country or state (in India) of origin. There are clues like clothing, facial features, jewelry, accents, hair style etc.Besides the observational skills you develop, it's also an opener for engaging people.

This morning at Home Depot I got lucky. The cashier was obviously East Indian, and looked Dravidian. I read her name, addressed her by name, and then guessed, "Andhra" . She was kind of pleasantly shocked. How would this old white guy know where I was from? So then we talked a bit. I had to ask, "Hindu or Christian?" before finding out that she occasionally comes to the temple I attend.

But sometimes I'm just way off too.

Anyone else play this game?

 

[Sb1995]

I'm too good at doing this. If you find a cheap/lying indian, definitely a gujju. If you see a tall, light skinned and strong indian, most likely punjabi/kashmiri

 

[Poeticus]

I'm too good at doing this. If you find a cheap/lying indian, definitely a gujju. If you see a tall, light skinned and strong indian, most likely punjabi/kashmiri

​

 

[Sb1995]

Modi's also unpredictable. Can't trust him either

 

[Vinayaka]

Sb, I like everyone. No matter what state. I just go on looks, clothing, walking style, the way they talk, etc. It's a fun little game, but gets tougher when you throw Fiji, Guyana, South Africa, etc into the mix. South Africans, though, are a dead giveaway of they talk, as are Mauritians.

 

[Sb1995]

Sb, I like everyone. No matter what state. I just go on looks, clothing, walking style, the way they talk, etc. It's a fun little game, but gets tougher when you throw Fiji, Guyana, South Africa, etc into the mix. South Africans, though, are a dead giveaway of they talk, as are Mauritians.

Guyanese/Trinidad is also a giveaway of how they talk, they have that carribean accent. I don't know a single Hindu from Fiji. But I'm warning you, watch out for gujjus

 

[Poeticus]

Sb, I like everyone. No matter what state.

It's just inter-cine banter between Desi-s. Nothing serious (at least not from my part). Comes an outside threat, Indian Desi-s unite w/o second thought. Plus, the most powerful corporations in India are owned by Gujaratis. So what if a few Punjabi-s hate/dislike us ? It didn't stop Juhi Chawla from marrying one. ​

 

[Vinayaka]

It's just inter-cine banter between Desi-s. Nothing serious (at least not from my part). Comes an outside threat, Indian Desi-s unite w/o second thought. Plus, the most powerful corporations in India are owned by Gujaratis. So what if a few Punjabi-s hate/dislike us ? It didn't stop Juhi Chawla from marrying one. ​

Yeah, its kind of funny ... until it gets serious. I remember talking to one person, who said she liked everyone ... except for those blanking _____s. But for an outsider like me, it's just fun. At school, can you guess which US state people are from?

 

[Poeticus]

I remember talking to one person, who said she liked everyone ... except for those blanking _____s.

You'll find those in every camp. It's a socio-cultural reality born from the muddy lap of ethnocentrism. In fact, it's a vivid and tangible reality that Eastern Europeans face in Western Europe. In India, Northern Indians working in Maharashtra are not favored by a large percentage of Marathi-s in Maharashtra. Many North Indians are not fond of Southern Indians (which is absurd, because 'twas South India that gave us the presence of both Rekha & Sridevi; and it is in South India that the purest form of yajna-centric Shrautism survives to this day). Gujaratis are very competitive amongst themselves and their various sub-ethnic groups of the Gujarati ethno-linguistic family. The clannish rivalries in Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana, make blood feuds in the Balkans look tame in comparison. The list goes on.​

 

[Kalidas]

I could never ever hope to guess what part of India someone is from.

I do know this though. If I ever get the chance to go to India and I tell them I am from California everyone is going to think I'm some kind of a super star from Hollywood.

 

[Vinayaka]

Here in Canuckistan, neighbouring towns of about the same size often have feuds ... over sports, schools, country fairs, that sort of thing. It can get nasty, especially at hockey games.

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

I don't think I"ve been around enough Indians long enough to say with confidence I could identify them, but it's interesting what you learn.


The Tamil woman who helped me tailor a sari my sister bought for me years ago looked at it and said, "Definitly a north indian sari. North Indian girls, you know, are very particular about their saris." I should have asked her to elaborate.

I just no little quirks here and there from what various Indians have told me. One Gujarati woman told me that Gujaratis don't like to do public, sponsored archana because they take the "giving without expecting a reward" very seriously.

My general experience is that Sou Indians tend to be more conservative overall.

I'm sure over time I"ll learn more.

:camp:

 

[ShivaFan]

Namaste

I am pretty good at this. And not just regarding those of Indian odigin, but also much of Asia and parts of Africa, variants of European, Mexican verse parts of Central and South America, different Pacific Islanders.

Some are easier than others, but I can even and often accurately tell you if two of the same Indian origin exactly whether one is a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, (Goan) Christian, and even Jain though Hindu verse Jain can be tricky. Without the person of Indian origin telling me, nor even telling me their name (often this is a "dead give away"), just based on clothes, looks, accent, expression, some of the easy one's to identify are:

Nepali
Tamil
Mumbai Marathi and Maharashtra
Kolkata parlor Bengali (and Brahmins)
General Bengali
Bangladeshi
Bhutani
Panjabi
Hyderbadi
Kashmiri Brahmin
General Kashmiri
Goan
Assamese
Gujarati pallu drape (female)
Rajastani drape however can approximate Gujarati but Rajastani traditional attire stands out
Sometimes can pick out a Bihari even without accent

Edging on sari, banding color, bangles can be give aways. I can figure out others, too, but these are the "easy ones".

Om Namah Sivaya

 

[Sb1995]

^I doubt if you see me you'd guess I'm Kashmiri Brahmin. (I wear a kara )

 

[Vinayaka]

Namaste

I am pretty good at this.

It's fun, isn't it? You're clearly a lot better at it than I am though.

 

[Poeticus]

The easiest and quickest way to guess ethnic origins is by assessing one's last name/"sir-name". This is especially true of Indians, in general. However, as always, there are certain names that are very hard to attribute to a specific ethno-linguistic group, since many of those last names are titles/honorifics rather than clan/tribal names.​

 

[Aupmanyav]

I'm too good at doing this. If you find a cheap/lying indian, definitely a gujju. If you see a tall, light skinned and strong indian, most likely punjabi/kashmiri

Unfair, prejudice. Kindly ask the mods to delete the post and ask your excuse from Poeticus. He is a gujarati.

 

[Sb1995]

Unfair, prejudice. Kindly ask the mods to delete the post and ask your excuse from Poeticus. He is a gujarati.

Already talked with him through PM janab.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I too have done this during my interaction with students. Indian students are not difficult to place, but I have been fairly successful in recognizing Nigerians and Ethiopians too.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Just today, I was expecting people that wanted to visit my flat (I will leave soon, so the agency send people that are interested in to find a new tenant) By his accent on the phone, I guessed he was either indian, either arab (from pakistan or around).

Just by seeing them (wow, 4 mens in my flat ahah xD) I immediately guessed : "Ah ! You are Tamil right ? You are from south Tamil nadu ?"

They were SO surprised because I guessed all right xDD They saw my home mandir while taking photos of every corner too. They were very shy, but just by guessing that it really opened up the conversation.

I'm becoming good at this too