Elisabeth,
I say " Bravo! " to you for your answer.........as you
pointed the typical "putdown " to the gent who posed the
question.
Italians may stereotypically be described , as having large
hand gestures to make a point in their native language..............
but is`nt that something that all of us north-americans tend (
mistakenly) to suppose that everyone with Italian blood is prone to ?
There was a time when I, growing up in British East Africa ,
heard Brits who incindentally were settlers in a foreign land
describe any one from Asia as
"wogs"................ ie " wiley oriental gentlemen".. We asians
whether gujerati, punjabi, goan or bengali were supposed , by them,
to be of an inferior intellect and ................ hence any
asian who was vocally demonstrative in protesting their
discriminations was a threat to their presence and hence to be
silenced with a slur !
Did not one of their prominent politicians dismiss M. K.
Gandhi as "a naked
Indian fakir " who would not be any use to the British
Empire that they hoped to hold onto past the year 1947 ?
However are we goans, ourselves free from such " put- downs "
or name calling...... as i remember some of our seniors in
those days call someone they considered stupid as " sarko
Hampri "........................... little realising that black folk
or Africans in that part of the world ( Tanganyika ) would give
an example to the other nations in multi-cultural living and
rejection of the communalism that was so rife in India itself .
----- Original Message -----
From: "Elisabeth Carvalho" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2006 12:09 PM
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Why do we nod?
Dear Jerry,
Have you ever heard the following jokes?
Why do Jews breath?
Why do African-Americans have chickens in their yard?
I won't tell you the punchlines. Do you know why?
Because they are racial slurs. In the same vein, this
so-called "nodding" of the head is a racial slur
propagated by Arabs and Brits alike in the Gulf
region, to demean Indians and make them feel as if
they are stupid.
No doubt Indians, especially from the South use this
particular head gesture but so do a lot of ethnic
groups use gestures particular to their culture.
Next time an Arab or any one makes references it,
please don't be party to this insult. If you don't
stand up for yourself as an Indian, no one else will.
Elisabeth
----------------------------------
--- Jerry Fernandes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi all
Just a curious question. Would appreciate if someone
can give an answer.
Why do we people of sub continent especially India,
whenever we say YES or
NO, we shake our heads or Nod our heads?
It came to my notice only when some Arab friends I
work with used to tease
me when I used to do that and say Why you Indians
shake your head so much?
Is it because our country is famous for barath
Natyam dancing and somehow
unconsciously this action has become part of us?
Pls someone can shed some answer to this query?
Cheers
Jerry Fernandes
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