Fight Ignorance.

First of all, congratulations to the new Miss America, Nina Davuluri! I could not be more ecstatic about the fact that someone of South Asian heritage has won the title. She truly deserves it.

"America is a melting pot" " All of our ancestors were immigrants, except for Native Americans" "Indian-American" "America is diverse". I've been hearing all of these things for years now. As a kid I did truly believe that everyone loved each other and got along. As I get older, my eyes are open to the fact that America is NOT such an accepting place. As the child of American immigrants, an Asian/ South Asian woman, as a Sikh, and as a female in the industry I understand that people will hate no matter what although the hate that I receive is nothing compared to what Nina is dealing with. We can blow the haters off and ignore them as much as possible, but what do we do about ignorance?
From the moment Nina Davuluri, Former Miss New York, was crowned Miss America Twitter basically blew up with tweets referring to her as a terrorist, an Arab, a Muslim and much more. First of all, even if she was Muslim, she is still an American and still deserves the title. Religion shouldn't matter. Second, these people need to go back to the first grade and figure out where India is on the map (if their tiny brains could handle that much information). I'm disgusted at the fact that people can be so ignorant and stupid. Calling someone of a different background a terrorist? Really? Last time I checked the TERRORISTS behind the massacre at Oak Creek Gurudwara in Wisconsin, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, and she shooting in the movie theater in Colorado were all Caucasian. Every race, every religion and every country will have these nut jobs who go around trying to kill people. Don't blame it on one group of people.
As far as people saying Nina Davuluri is not American, I'd like to ask them if they know where she was born and I would also ask them to please go have a look at her passport. It's disgusting that apparently America is one of the top countries to get an education yet people are still so uneducated and ignorant and it's sad that the moment that was probably the happiest moment in her life, is bringing her so many challenges and so much hate.
Now, I kind of expected for some people of different cultures to be hating the new Miss America, but I never expected people of our own heritage to be joining in and hating her as well. Ever since last night I've been seeing comments and tweets saying " She's ugly though. She's so dark. Why did she win?". To all of the jealous brown girls saying these things, SHUT UP. Stop hating for once and just be proud that one of our own has made it this far. Don't be jealous just because your parents wouldn't let you compete in pageants. Everyone has something they're good at and everyone has something great about them. For her, she was meant to be a role model for people around the world. You meant to be something else. Just take your negativity and turn it into motivation to do something great with your lives rather than sitting around and talking crap like a bunch of bibi's in the gurudwara. Brown guys, you're not any better. Stop being mad that she'll never accept your friend request on Facebook and that a woman is more accomplished than you probably are. The hate will never change the fact that she was/is deserving and won the title of Miss America and she'll do great things in the future.
Before I end this, I just wanted to acknowledge all of the people of different cultures who are fighting against this ignorance with us. You guys are true Americans, not these backwards racists. If Miss America was a true representation of America, she would be obese and unemployed.

All Over The Place

I haven't really done anything exciting lately to be completely honest. The semester started so I've been going to class and working, and of course going doing Bhangra Beats every weekend. Since the summer's over my life is back to normal if not more hectic. This week my biggest problem has been trying not to procrastinate and getting my paper on Syria done on time, but I'm struggling and writing this blog post instead.

By the way, did I mention that I'M GOING TO CALIFORNIA?! Yeah, I got booked to host Bhangra State of Mind in Sacramento, California on November 9th and I'm SO excited. I've never been to the West coast so I kind of just want to get there already. Also, I've never really traveled alone before.
I have to admit my dad was pretty mad when I booked this gig behind his back, but if I didn't he would have never agreed since I'll be going to Boston Bhangra the weekend after to celebrate my 21st birthday on November 16th. Everyone who knows me knows that my past few birthdays have been pretty crappy but I plan on making this one fantastic. Cali on the 9th, Boston on the 16th, NYC on the 23rd and then my little cousins sweet 16 on the 29th. It's going to be a hectic but amazing month.
But back to the present, I really don't know how to find sources for this paper. Since the issue with Obama trying to go into Syria is pretty recent I can't find any credible sources. Also, I can't decide which suit to wear to a wedding that I have to go to this weekend. Patiala or Anarkali? FINALLY I have normal problems like everyone else.
Another thing I wanted to mention is the fact that someone who I thought was really close to me has recently been going behind my back talking crap, considering me as "competition" even though they've practically known me since I was born. It hurts to see someone act like that, specially when I considered this person a member of my family. But I was wrong so oh well. I have many other people in my life who genuinely support me and don't act like fake immature little children even though they're grown adults. Someone who's interested into getting started in the industry emailed me a couple of weeks ago which absolutely made my day, and unfortunately I think I had way too many negative things to say about this industry. You really have to have thick skin and not let anything get to you because you never know what you'll end up dealing with in this field. People are selfish and mean, but seriously, just live your life, have fun, and in my case do a lot of bhangra and everything will just fall into place. No matter how tough things are just keep smiling, it'll get you a lot farther than you think. And I'm not sure how religious or spiritual everyone is, but a trip to the gurudwara really puts me in a better mood and gives me the strength to fight any battle that may come my way. Whether it's listening to kirtan in the morning in the morning, or doing ardaas or simply just wearing the khanda pendant every day, now I feel as though so matter how tough things get, Waheguru will always be by my side and help through every single situation.
One more lesson, never tell employers when you're applying for a job that you can work early mornings because waking up at 5am for a 6am shift is absolutely killing me, and my weekends.
Last but not least, good luck to everyone who's just started school, college or uni! And if anyones going to be at Bhangra State of Mind, Boston Bhangra, Or Bhangra in the City on November 23rd at Pranna tweet or FB me! I'd love to meet you guys and I'd love to have anyone who supports me join me to celebrate my 21st birthday :)