Reflections on Desis require a defining of terms. Let’s begin at the beginning.
Desi: A Desi is someone from the Indian subcontinent. The word means country or homeland in Hindi. It is commonly used among Indians to refer to someone of Indian origin, whether born on the Subcontinent or abroad. A good summary can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desi
ABCD: An acronym that stands for ‘American Born Confused Desi’. This term is often hurled at the poor American soul born to Desi parents who, though brown on the outside, is most confused about his Desi roots on the inside.
FOB: An acronym that stands for ‘Fresh off the Boat’. A term used by ABCDs to label the newly arrived Desi who has not yet learned the ways of the West.
Uncle and Auntie: The English words ‘uncle’ and ‘auntie’ are used as suffixes when addressing people such as neighbors, acquaintances, even total strangers who are significantly older than oneself. E.g., “Hello, Swathi Auntie.” In fact, in Indian culture, children never address their friend’s parents as Mr. or Mrs. Patel (etc.). On the contrary, if a person is really one’s uncle or aunt, he/she will usually not be addressed as “uncle”/”auntie”, but with the name of the relation in the vernacular Indian language, even while conversing in English. For example, if a woman is one’s mother’s sister, she would not be addressed as “auntie” but as Mausi (in Hindi). (exerpts from Wikipedia)
Yaar: Yaar means ‘friend’ in Hindi and several other Indian languages.
