Our internal e-mail lists have us discussing all kinds of stuff: Asian American identity, representation in the media, the experiences of activism in an academia setting and its progression as we transition to the working, adult world. And sometimes, we talk about the East India Company, being revived. By an Indian.
Moye: Indian-born importer bought the intellectual rights to the East India Company to open up a high end tea shop in London and hopes to expand this into a new luxury empire. This kind of makes my brain explode.
Efren: WTF. Lovely — I’m sure all of us colonized folks will rush over there.
Ernie: So because I’m a skimmer and I was a Computer Science Engineering major — why is this important and this caused Moye’s head to explode? (Seriously. I feel kinda ign’ant. Does this have to do with that Wes Anderson movie or anything?)
John: You should have learned about the East India Company in history class in high school. You’re no model minority!
Ernie: Dude, I went to the Richmond Unified School District.
Moye: East India Company = British Imperialism = white people colonizing India = white people ruling over the country until the mid 1800’s or something?
Now, East India Company = Indian entrepreneur taking rich people’s money based on the nostalgia of British colonialism where white people lived in exotic places (I’m guessing?) = brain exploding.
Ernie: Ah-ha. See? That’s all I needed. The Indian’s profiteering on hipster’s romanticism of British imperialism of India is the new black! Also, what did I just write?
Moye: BTW, I am now thinking up of opening a sushi fusion bar/ironic pop art gallery/fixie bike shop in Manzanar. I think I covered all the hipster bases there.
This is what Alanis Morrisette means when something is ironic, right?
