American life is based on a reassurance that we like one another but won’t violate one another’s privacies. This makes it a land of small talk. Karan Mahajan Read Quote
The deadpan brilliance of John McCrea has been underrepresented in music since 2004, when Cake served up ‘Pressure Chief.’ Karan Mahajan Read Quote
This Is Not That Dawn’ is remarkable in part for its careful and sensitive attention to women’s lives – and also for its harsh critique of men and their failure to stop violence. Karan Mahajan Read Quote
Yashpal, writing in the nineteen-fifties, sought to indict this culture of men, Hindus and Muslims alike, who value their freedom and power over the rights and lives of women. Karan Mahajan Read Quote
Asian-Americans are still regarded as ‘other’ by many of their fellow-citizens. Karan Mahajan Read Quote
When more Chinese started coming after the Gold Rush, employed on large projects like the Pacific Railroad, anti-Chinese sentiment became shrill. Karan Mahajan Read Quote
American policies toward Asians reached a nadir in 1924, with the implementation of a law that sought ‘to preserve the idea of American homogeneity’ and denied admission to the country to most non-whites. Immigration from Asia was banned completely, with the establishment of an ‘Asiatic Barred Zone.’ Karan Mahajan Read Quote
In Delhi, where I grew up, commerce is brusque. You don’t ask each other how your day has been. You might not even smile. I’m not saying this is ideal – it’s how it is. You’re tied together by a transaction. The customer doesn’t tremble before complaining about how cold his food is. Karan Mahajan Read Quote
I had a thick accent, and people didn’t understand me, and I was ashamed, and I fumbled. I radiated an uncertain energy; sometimes baristas sensed this and wouldn’t try to talk to me, and then an insecure voice in my head would cry, ‘He’s racist!’ Karan Mahajan Read Quote
