The Saffron Wave was an interesting book to read. It provided a historical perspective on how Hindu nationalism developed, as Hansen observed in the 1990s. What stood out to me the most was that Hindu nationalism was a movement beyond religion. It connects to larger anxieties about security, social order, cultural identity, and India's place in the world. Because the book was written in the 1990s, I wanted to look at several events that came afterward and consider how Hansen'

Zohran Mamdani’s rise in New York politics is significant for South Asian representation. But what is more interesting is the way he has actually engaged South Asian communities across the city. His outreach has not just been showing up at cultural events or mentioning his background. It has been through language, community organizations, religious events, social media, and a style of campaigning that feels authentic. One of the clearest examples is language. Mamdani recentl

When Kathak travels from India to places like the United States and the United Kingdom, it does not remain the same. Teachers encounter students with different cultural backgrounds, audiences who understand and react to performances differently, and dance schools that operate under new institutional structures. At first, these changes might seem like Kathak is becoming less “traditional.” But Kathak’s history in the South Asian diaspora suggests that adaptation has been one o

Every family uses a group chat, whether it be to send birthday wishes, family photos, or religious messages or just to have casual conversation. South Asians tend to use the platform WhatsApp for family group chats, and it reveals a lot about their borrowed digital identities as "avatars," Akansha Awal explains. Sahahna Udupa and Max Kramer describe the internet as a space of “multiple interfaces” connecting families, communities, organizations, and specifically South Asian d

Many view India as having just one culture, but it really is a “supreme example” of societal diversity. It contains multiple major religions, thousands of ranked caste groups, and two major language families: Indo-Aryan and Dravidian. The divide between northern and southern India extends beyond language, including differences in food, dress, religion, and broader patterns of life. These differences became especially important in southern India, where leaders argued that Tami

Contrary to what most people believe, India does not have a national language. Many might wonder why Hindi is not the national language when that is what the majority of the population speaks. This is because while 53.6% of the population fluently speaks Hindi, about half of it does not understand this language. For example, in the Southern half of India, less than 15% of speakers can understand Hindi. This leads to the question of what language the rest of India speaks, if n

Indian immigration really only started after the Immigration Act of 1965. The wave of diverse immigration post-1965 called for a revision of assimilation theories. Much of this was also due to the different economic and social contexts. The economy during the time was an hourglass economy that had lots of high-skill and low-wage jobs. Furthermore, these immigrants faced more persistent racial discrimination, leading to residential segregation and the formation of ethnic encla