Comments on: lowest common denominator

by: B

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 18:09:39 +0100

bhenchod

by: mark

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 06:31:36 +0100

i think that desi’s should be flattered by a white person trying to be like them. well i say that because i am a half white half brown kid living in canada and i realize that i love being brown and despise my whiteness…

by: rocky

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 10:42:29 +0100

‘goodness gracious me’ has actually had quite a few funny moments (like ‘how big is his danda?’ - sorry, i tend to remember only filth) - i like the way that they make fun of themselves. even the one gori who was obsessed with being desi and used to dance around trees, in ridiculously outdated desi clothes, was so exaggerated that it would make anyone laugh.

uber, i haven’t kept up with paki theater, simply because i’m not there, but i did catch a ‘black fish’ performance last year in karachi and i have to say that it was much better than i had expected - in fact, they could kick ‘funjabis’ ass anyday.

by: Red Baron

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 09:08:56 +0100

Goodness Gracious Me is a very interesting example because it is kind of an updated British Not The Nine O’Clock News, I say British because part of it’s success was that it was very establishment in a way, it proved the complete mixing of British-Indian culture and made fun of it from the Indian side. The 2 cultures now are inexhorably linked, at least for our generations, British life and language is flooded with sub-continent influence. After all the top 3 cities in the world for number of Curry Houses are London, Bradford and Delhi in that order! For me the pioneering sketch in this genre is Rowan Atkinson’s Indian waiter (on the album Not Just A Pretty Face). I remember hearing this once described as racist by a politically correct imbecile, which it is in a way…. but only against the English lager lout crowd.

Another thing that interested me about GGM is that the writers/performers are English with Indian roots, their battle has been to convince people they are English which contrasts with mine trying to prove that I am not! There was a very moving radio program on Kulvinder Ghia who went to India and did his stand up routine which was not especially well received, it was this situation that led to him to realise that he was far more English than he had previously thought.

by: uberhomme

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 08:11:51 +0100

Agreed. I think humour is one art form we haven’t quite managed to get right in this part of the world. There are few (if any) comic writers that I am aware of in Urdu. What passes for humour in our “theatre”, films and television is either purely physical (it aint over till the fat lady tilts and falls over)or slapstick. For all its failings, something like Goodness Gracious Me at least attempted to bring South Asian themes into a very western comedy show genre.

by: rocky

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 11:55:33 +0100

vague, he said NOTHING remotely funny with it. it was blah, blah, bhenchod (and everyone was rolling). i use that word all the time (its my all time favorite) and i teach it to goras (who, like i said, get quite a few laughs at parties when they use it, in context), but i expect more from stand up comedians. and yeah, you’re right, it wasn’t THAT bad, i just tend to get pissed off by random things.

by: vAgue

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 16:51:26 +0100

again, wish i had more time to write but alas it is not so.
Re: the stand up act, it doesnt sound as good as they seemed to find it nor as bad you though it, rocky. “bhenchod” just has a funny ring to it many times, an coming from a ‘gora’ it would have to be odd- possibly odd enough to rpompt a laugh. (but did he say nothing with the bhenchod???

by: Red Baron

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 10:35:11 +0100

What renders the use of the word Paki as a slur here somewhat ludicrous is that those who use it are generally using it against Indians, the concept of there being any difference between peoples of the sub-continent is a complete anathema to them, principally because they are stupid.

We can all face insults based on things we cannot change, I have long accepted that I will always be a Plastic Paddy because I was born of Irish family but not in Ireland, having accepted it it is now useless for anyone to try to insult me with it because like Rocky says it’s a “no shit Sherlock” moment.

by: Dan

Sun, 19 Jun 2005 06:37:45 +0100

I agree with most of what you’ve said. Desis are a big part of what we now call ‘UK Culture’. Chicken Tikka Masala the national dish, ‘kiss my chaddiez’ in the dictionary alongwith some other desi cuss words, its actually become normal for the goras and even the black kids these days to call each other bhenchod, as previously it was with punani. We’ve found our identity and we stick to it as we’re proud of it. Rather than trying to become gorafied and thats why if someone calls you a paki, it can only be offensive if its meant to be as there is a lot of history behind that.

by: rocky

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 21:05:30 +0100

ali, i agree that a gora cussing in urdu is funny but it’s not funny enough to be the main thing in a stand up act. i taught the scottish guy i dated some weird urdu lines like “kaha kaha say aajatay hain?!” and him using that in context, with desis, is hilarious but a guy who earns his living this way (as a comedian), getting away with screaming ‘bhenchod’ every time his other gora jokes fall flat, is pathetic. and desis lapping it up like starved puppies, feeling validated because gori chamri is speaking their language is even worse.

by the way, hope you’re okay…you wanna write about the earthquake?

medussa, good to see you here girl!

baron & kristie, to be honest, i do think that using loaded language often devalues it…we become desensitized to words (like to everything else) the more we’re exposed to them. and paki definitely doesn’t carry any negative connotations for me (like ali said, it’s a loaded word only in UK), regardless of who uses it. if a gora called me that and meant it as an insult, i’d really laugh my head off cause ‘no shit, sherlock, i AM one’.