My Life is Desi

There are several websites out there like FML and My Life is Average, which tell stories about people’s lives. I sometimes read one called My Life is Desi. Desi is a term used to describe people who are from South Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It means “one from our country". The website tells stories about things that happen in people’s lives that are considered Desi. It is sometimes hard to get the inside joke if you aren’t from one of these countries.

Here are some examples,

Today, my parents made me go to shunucks at 12:15 am (grocery store in stl) to get milk because they need to make their chai which they would die without in the morning. MLID

Desi people tend to drink a lot of chai (tea). I think this is kind of true because your parents would make you go get milk in the middle of the night because most desi people can’t survive without tea. I have observed that an average desi person drinks about 4-5 cups of chai a day or more.

Another one,

Today, I arrived home at 2 in the morning. Where was I? At my cousin's shaadi, which was supposed to start at eight. MLID

There’s a inside joke that desi people never come on time and that’s why if the an event starts at 8pm make sure you invite them for 6pm because that is the only way they will be on time. I sometimes see that when we go to desi parties where people will come 2 hours after the time they were invited for.

Another one,

Today, I felt it was my duty to tell you all that Ben and Jerry's is giving away free ice cream nationally on March 23. MLID

There is a stereotype that desi people tend to be cheap. I don’t think that’s true but people always use to crack jokes.

I think overall this website is fun to read sometimes because I usually get the inside joke since I’m desi but a lot of the stories are so stereotypical and don’t really apply to every single desi person. I think people find it ok to point out these things about their own culture but would it offensive if another person was pointing these same things out.