Desi Haters Club Member

BACKGROUND:

Desi Haters Club "Members" are other Desis whose sole aim is (sadly) to alienate, put down, and discredit other natives that don't fit into the "DHC definition" of what it means to be a native.

DHC members create divisions amongst their own people by pointing out how a particular native is "unlike the rest of us" or "not up to par with the rest of us".

PATHOLOGY:

A Desi Haters Club member seems blind to the fact that the inhabitants of their countries vary immensely in ethnicity, (Pakistan and India for example, both have immensely multicultural and multi-ethnic societies) languages, not to mention their interpretation of local customs.

Desi Haters Club members also harbor an unhealthy fear of change. They deny the ever-changing nature of culture, choosing instead to view it as if though it was some unshakable law of nature.

TACKLING A PANDEMIC:

DHC members can be reformed as soon as they realize that they themselves can be victims of alienation by other natives for any number of manufactured reasons. They also tend to leave the DHC after acknowledging their alienating and snobbish ways. (see examples below).

The following example is taken from a TED message board where potential Desi Haters Club Member s responded to a musical performance by a fellow native (musician Vishal Vaid, in this case). The performance was generally well received by non-natives and was billed as "a modern perspective to the traditional music of India". Note that it was NOT billed as a purely traditional/classical Indian performance.

Despite this, here are some of the actual responses to the performance (taken from the viewer comments page):

1. Hameed C (Misc. Desi Haters Club Member):
"Being from south asia, and classical/folk music geek, this is way below standards. It shows more Confusion than Fusion. ...this piece here is merely a feeble attempt to catch attention rather than producing an original idea."

2. Ram N (Misc. Desi Haters Club Member):
"Less than mediocre. For the western ear this may have some appeal..."

3. Mohammad M (Misc. Desi Haters Club Member):
"It's understandable why this should appeal to a 'western' audience, but this really is sub-standard, by ANY standard, especially the vocals".

A NICE COUNTER POINT TO THE DHT ONSLAUGHT

John F:
"I hate it when puffed up toffee noses take over a forum like this with their snobby opinions about what's good and who's better. Maybe Vishal isn't to your taste. So what. He is obviously not an unaccomplished musician. Gee, Bob Dylan, you should take some voice lessons! De gustibus non disputandum est."

by SixBillionHumansAndCounting January 21, 2010

Flag