Folks, there are three little twerps out there who are forever stuck with me as their “James Uncle.”
And part of that role is the need to pass on the lore, culture and traditions of the Laplam house. Whether it’s phone calls from Sojan Uncle, going straight to Pathanamthitta or the time Appi tricked a teacher into planting a banana leaf — it’s my job to make sure these stories live on.
Inside My Masala Dabba
In that paternal spirit, there are some things I’d like to share with you this week.
Consider them the ingredients I use to cook up these emails. They’re the contents of my मसाला डब्बा, my masala dabba, my spice box.
Social Media
I just learned about Brown History from my cool older cousin. Why Brown History? Cuz you got a lot to be proud of…cuz!
Brown Girl Gang is making all us Desis feel centered and supported. Stop explaining yourself to all the goras in your life and enjoy stuff made by South Asians for South Asians.
My good friend Carol Kuruvilla told me about a couple of facebook groups for folks like me who are fleeing the white-supremacist-patriarchal-homophobic-evangelical-industrial-complex. One is for Progressive Asian American Christians. And the second is a South Asian breakout group.
Language Learning
Are your relatives calling you an ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) behind your back? Why not turn the tables on them by picking up some Hindi in your spare time? DuoLingo is my secret weapon for breaking down the language barrier. And if you’re nice, I’ll add you to my family plan.
Of course, Duolingo doesn’t have any Malayalam lessons…yet. For that I’m looking into taking lessons through the American Institute of Indian Studies. Hey, who wouldn’t want to spend a few months learning the language of God’s Own Country?
Books
And while you’re on the plane to Kerala for those language lessons, brush up on the history of the Syrian Orthodox Christians with this book by Dr. Prema A. Kurien. It’ll help you make sense of the generational conflicts in the Mar Thoma churches here in the States.
Now if you were unlucky enough to be raised in evangelical churches like me, you’ll need this history book to make sense of your childhood. It’s a lively read, that stuff about “Wild at Heart” and John Piper made me want to puke…but in a good way?
Young brown woman, thou art loosed! This book will help you deconstruct all that theology saying you can’t teach, preach or hold authority in the church.
Speaking of liberation, there are alternatives to the conservative party line about LGBTQ issues. This book, recommended by some friends of mine, has helped me re-examine my views on this topic.
Up Next: Joking About the Planet
I’ll be at a conference next week but don’t worry! I’ve got a special Earth Day post scheduled to publish on Friday while I’m desperately job hunting networking.
See you then.
