On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 5:31 PM, Thaths <[email protected]> wrote: > Sometime in the early 2000's I started noticing that Indian passport holders > had become much more sophisticated (laptops, designer clothing, etc.) and > the the SE Asian diaspora Indians started appearing to be the less > sophisticated moffusil variety.
This is very true - Malaysian Tamils I find for example are more class conscious and submissive than their Indian Tamil counterparts. They seem to be stuck in a class conscious age that India lost in the 90s. When I am served in Tamil restaurants and barber shops and other establishments I find this class inferiority felt by the local Tamils feel come out rather palpably. For that matter they even worship second class gods. Farm deities that aren't part of the premier Hindu divine pantheon are still rather popular in Malaysia - whereas most Indian Tamils have traded up, and even small villages today have temples to higher echelon Hindu gods that are accessible to all.
