Sonia Aggarwal
SOPHOMORE SPEAK

Of Stereotypes and Suitable Boys

When one thinks of a typical Indian, they imagine the sari, the bindi, and of course, the accent. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never actually heard an Indian say “Thank you, come again,” yet Americans seem to think we say it on a daily basis. These may be stereotypes of adults, but what about teenagers? How do they blend in with the rest of the crowd?

To understand this, one must understand the various hierarchies of high school. At the top are the popular people, in all of their Juicy Couture and Abercrombie glory. The typical look is flat-ironed hair, glossy lips, and enough Sephora foundation to build a house. Their male counterparts usually wear the most expensive basketball or skateboarding shoes, and play at least two seasons of sports per year, or spend most of their time higher than a kite.

Next come the semi-popular kids, who stand on the outskirts of the top level. They attempt to follow the trends, with their Ugg replicas, and Coach fakes. Along with them are the nerds, who have pathetic clothes, but are the future CEOs of the world. And finally, there are the geeks, or dorks, who have the same style, but lack the brains.

Those who don’t fit into the above categories arrange themselves into little cliques of Anime lovers, with their lunch time meetings and strange hair dye, weird “Goths,” who try to be cool with their piercings and all, but just end up scaring everyone off. Somewhere along those lines come the musically inclined, who are forced to play their instrument at every football game, the artistically inclined, who stay in the art room for hours after school has ended, just painting, and those who simply float around from one group to another, never remembered as anything but a blockade in the hallway.

But we still haven’t answered our main question. Where do Indian Americans fit in? Indian American teenagers usually carry the stereotype of being smart, with an extraordinary amount of extracurricular activities, and very strict parents. While some kids’ parents are thrilled with a B-plus, when my parents find out that I received a 99 out of 100 on an essay where the average grade was 70, they ask which point I missed.

In some schools, Indian Americans are a majority, with their own cliques. However, at my school, there are about four Indians in my grade who fit into their own categories. For example, I’m in the “Asian group,” where all of my friends are Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Korean. Of course, one would assume that I’m one of them, being from India. Yet, they consider me an “Asian Wannabe.” Why? Apparently, India is no longer part of Asia. I suppose it must have broken away to form its own continent… In fact, when we were learning about Native Americans and their history, my friend told me to tell the teacher that I was Indian.

Columbus may have been a brilliant man, but he was just a bit geographically challenged. Indians may be a bit browner than the rest of Asia, but we still are part of the same land mass. Of course, when it comes to stereotypes, such as getting good grades, the explanation is always, “Well, duh, you’re Asian. You guys are supposed to be smart.” Funny.

Our parents seem to have the same explanation. “Beta, you come from a good set of genes, look at your father and me. We’re smart Indians. Why can’t you be? Look at (fill in the blank)! He’s already in medical school! And he’s doing so well! His parents are so thrilled! And he’s getting married to (fill in the blank #2)!”

Another stereotype is that we all are destined to become doctors and engineers. Sounds amazingly fun! When I told my family that I wanted to become a lawyer, they were appalled. They were angry at first, but then realized that there might actually be some suitable boys in the law business. My mother already has about three suitable boys lined up for me. And I’m only in high school!

On the one hand, they don’t want me to date, but on the other, they want me to find a suitable boy. My mother’s fantastic advice for my 8th grade formal was, “The only reason you should ever have your arms around a boy’s neck is if you’re strangling him.” Go figure.

Sonia Aggarwal will be a sophomore this fall at Piedmont High School in Piedmont, California.