U.s. Television Outsourced to India?

Have you seen this…? ‘This’ being the amount of Indians on TV now…

Image via Wikipedia

The picture is of Micheal Scott (Steve Carrell) from the show “The Office”, eating cake at an Indian Diwali (Festival of Lights).

That was the name of the episode, Diwali, and it was written by Mindy Kaling, the Indian actress on the show. It was just funny to me how the entire episode was based on this Indian holiday.The lights, decorations, and many, many people showed all throughout the episode. Hm, perhaps I could’ve been an extra.

I think it was ever since Slumdog Millionaire, that the American public began to take a deep interest in India. On some other networks I’ve seen, there seems to be an Indian character on every show now. Pretty soon, we may see another BET (Bollywood Entertainment Television).

Another specific example I found was on USA Network’s “Royal Pains” show, in its “Wonderland” episode where one of its main characters, Divya (Reshma Shetty) is in an arranged marriage, and in this episode is her engagement. She wants to break off the engagement, and hallucinates what it would go like, but decides not to. It was a full Indian engagement party, with her parents and relatives and stage and everything.

The jokes presented in these shows I personally find hilarious as I’ve experienced a taste of it in my own life (I’m Guyanese). What’s even funnier is that in some of the “bollywood” movies I’ve seen in the past, they try so hard to be just like Americans. They even have a cheaper version of the Matrix. Hilarious.

However, even further than this, I do have a point I want to make.

I feel like all of this inclusion of Indian/Brown (yes, I said “brown”) culture means something. I once heard someone say that a minority becomes accepted, firstly “through the arts.” So, an example of that would be the African-American community who had first become popular through their arts (with music, and later comedy and acting). Now, I guess it’s the brown people’s turn (and yes, I’m not sure how to politically-correctly include all of the ‘brown’ people I’m speaking about, so I used that term).

So, perhaps there’s hope for the misunderstood cultures (and religions, like my own, Islam). It’s funny, my sister was an extra in an episode of “Burn Notice” (where one of my friends acted as a worker at the Pakistani Consulate) which is when I started watching that show and thereafter “Royal Pains” (with an Indian main character!).

Do you think that this is only a trend that will pass? Or are you like me and see a future of Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis, West Indians, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and all other people I forgot to mention, in the media?

Leave a comment and let’s see what your thoughts are.

(By the way, I’m a Muslim from Guyana, South America).