Half-Indian Celebrities We Should Stop Taking Pride In
A list of people we always took pride in just because their ancestry is Indian.
Stop taking pride in…
Is it not idiotic on our part to rejoice on the success of these part-Indians who have spent most of their lives abroad than in India
Bobby Jindal, American politician: The only thing that connects the first every Indo-American Governor in USA is that his parents, Amar and Raj Jindal, migrated to America six months prior to this birth. Else, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, Indian about Jindal.
Kal Penn, actor and Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement: The American actor who is majorly known for playing Kumar Patel in the Harold and Kumar films was born as Kalpen Suresh Modi in Montclair, New Jersey to Indian parents Asmita and Suresh Modi. Though Penn tells the world about his grandparents' participation in Indian independence, to us it looks more like a PR machinery. Everything from his schooling to acting career has happened in the US.
Sunita Williams, astronaut: We as Indians quickly lap-up to her achievements but there is hardly any contribution of India to her inspiring success as an astraunaut. Her parents Deepak Pandya and Bonnie Pandya already stayed in the US when she was born in Euclid, Ohio, Sunita did her schooling in Massachusetts, got commissioned in US Navy, was selected by NASA and is married to Federal officer Michael J. Williams. Yes, she has some property in Gujarat and her first name is Sunita, but is that enough to make her an Indian.
Norah Jones, musicians: The nine-time Grammy winner musician is somewhat Indian because her father is famous sitar player Ravi Shanker whose legacy is impeccably being carried forward by his daughter Anoushka Shanker. Ravi and Norah's mother Sue Jones separated in 1986 and since then Norah has been brought up in US, so we hardly have a reason to relate to her as Indian..even half Indian for that matter.
And the ones we can
Sabeer Bhatia, Founder, Hotmail Email Service: The 45-year-old businessman was born in Chandigarh, grew up in Bangalore and Puna and went to California Institute of Technology through a foreign transfer from BITS, Pilani.
Kalpana Chawala, NASA astronaut: The first Indian woman in space who was killed in Space shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003 was born in Karnal, Haryana and completed her schooling from there. Then she received her Bachelor's degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Punjab Engineering College at Chandigarh in 1982, and moved to US for further studies, and subsequently NASA happened to her.
Sant Singh Chatwal: The controversial hotelier who has been accused of defaulting on bank loans was awarded Padam Bhushan in 2010, so some what our government wants us to respect this man who owns Bombay Palace chain of restaurants and Hampshire Hotels & Resorts.
Deepak Chopra, personality development and health author: The famous alternative medicine healer and popular friend of Michael Jackson was born in New Delhi, studied here and graduated from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
From the January 2013 issue of FHM India.
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