Sandeep,
shit happens man! what can you say... i dont understand the reason for an indian guy,born and brought up over there to be scrutinised like this!! makes no sense to me. must be a compulsive action that stems from paranoia. its just a passing phase. chillax!

You must be bored!

I know..it hurts! Been there, seen that (unfortunately)! I really used to avoid smaller airports in the US; those airport screening guys,having lot of time at their dispoal, would always bother me (& my food stuff!)

Hey you!

Any relations to Michael Jackson?

Rog.

Sandeep, you should whip out some Eckhart Tolle on these players!

Sandeep, things don't just happen to us.
We create the "reality" that we experience.

Look into yourself, something in you attracted this experience.

If you didn't like it, then all you have to do is change yourself, change your frequency, change your thoughts.

Don't be a victim. Take control of your life.

Best wishes

sucks for you Sandeep but I guess that's the way it goes these days. I am not surprised.

Dude,
Been there... felt it... Was worse with the Feds making a visit to my home and I am a poor grad student man....

Well, sometimes I wonder why Indians make so much fuss about racial profiling. They also do similar profiling when they have an upper hand. Many people in India and even those live in US have a general feeling about brown skinned muslims that they are terrorists. If they (the group of people who have muslims integrated in their society) see all muslims with such an myopic eye, how can you blame others about it. What they do is nothing different from your own community's actions. Having said that I want to make it clear that I don't support profiling. I wish people from all colors treat each other equally and with respect.

Well Sandeep I don't think we will be treated like sheep and cattle much longer.

Eleven Eleven

11:11

Notice the days that all the recent posts were posted on is “11”

Now I know the technical reason, some human edited the date field and put the month where the day should be, but do you know the divine reason?

11:11 is a signal, if it hasn’t it will begin capturing your attention. It began for me about 10 years ago and I started writing about it. However at the time I did not realize all the things connected.

Do you think this is just coincidence?

http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/twominutesofsilence/index.php#2

If you all have never been here http://www.adbusters.org/

If you don’t know about

CULTURE JAMMING (you will love it) Go for it, introduce it to your country or city.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming (check out the links for examples)

This is from http://www.abrupt.org
Once upon a time, the "Evils of the Establishment" were subject to rational critique by academics and revolutionaries. Most people still function under this rationalist model: "Change will come if enough people understand the problem rationally and intellectually." Without at all dismissing the importance of rationality and intellect, I would argue that these tools are no longer themselves adequate. Specifically, in the struggle to debrief people on the poisonous symbolic system called "The Media", the rules have been changed.
Advertising imagery has long been post- or pre-rational. Only in its infancy was promotion about informing people about the product. Now its task is to weave stories, sing songs, to portray not the product but the people who use the product. Promises, threats, training. How can a rational critique even begin to address a worldview whose fundamental issues are not TRUE/FALSE but PLEASURE/PAIN, SEXY/GEEKY, "QUALITY"/"RIP-OFF"?
"Culture Jamming" sticks where rational discourse slides off. It is, simply, the viral introduction of radical ideas. It is viral in that it uses the enemy's own resources to replicate iteself -- corporate logos, marketing psychology, clean typography, "adspeak". It is radical because--ideally--the message, once deciphered, causes damage to blind belief. Fake ads, fake newspaper articles, parodies, pastiche. The best CJ is totally unexpected, surprising, shocking in its implications.

Guerilla Peacefare Using Advanced Technology Coming Soon….

Krish, i am surprised at your view. india has the has as much muslim integration as any other country (maybe even better than most countries). other than a couple of debatable blotches our basically hindu based democracy treats muslims so much better than would be the reverse case. how many muslim dominated countries treat minorities with such respect! the integration that we see in india is probably an example of how minorities should be treated in any country around the world. of course we can still better ourselves but other countries can learn a lot from india

Hey that's awesome, I'll send out my bhajans let it fly!

Sandeep
I personally think that we Indians do tend to do a lot of profiling, racial, relegion as well as caste. A lot of people still look at caste, sect and subsect during wedding. A fair person is seen as a better prospect than a dark skinned one. In our community, Iyers and Iyengars seem to rule the roost compared to others. Please note that this is a perception and not reality. Also, a lot of us classify the dark skinned middle east folks as terrorists.
During one of my engagements in Scotland, (i sported a goatee then), i was the only person to be skin frisked at the airport. It is probably a perception that the white skins have about brown skins. Frequently post 9/11 aiports viewed muslims with keen eyes and there would be triple checks on backgrounds.
Even in India, when i switched jobs, there was a detailed background check through a detective agency. I remember when my cousin got married, groom was from US, my uncle did a thorough check through Globe Detectives and this was way back in the 80s.
I guess one has to live with these small incidents.
cheers

Sandeep,

Sorry man, but I don't take you seriously! You must be here to play the role of resdident court jester, or some form of comic relief.

Debby.

Hello all,

First Sandeep...yes you are right it was "your number" to face a maybe racial profiling. And Krish I support your statement about discrimination that is out there in everyway at all levels [educational/family/social/career] in India. Eg, in Swadesh movie they showed it in a village...i tell ya go to a corporate/gov office [i mean high management level too] and you will find such stories in huge numbers and much worse and sensitive. For heavens sake it is here in US too right among Indians!!!....I go to an Indian party and all they talk is family background/per month income/..and by-the-way family background is not how hard one worked and is at the stage he/she is today rather caste/class/family in US!!..and the Indian US citizens [second generation and forth] arent any less discriminating either...they have names for Indians who are not born in US..you know what i mean...and forget about friendship they cant even talk courteously for a moment!!!...

why all this discrimination...it is hard as it is...no need for additional hardlooms...well after 7 years in US I have realized this discrimination isnt going anywhere...as spiralarchitect put it...got to live with these discriminations..not just Indian to Indian but human to human...just dont let these petty things get the better of you or your ambitions or enthusiam...You go get the world Sandeep!;)...

Sandeep, What was the ethnic background of the man who asked you the question?

And with everything written by Thomas Friedman these days . . . do you think he is just scared that his job is going to be in India in a few years?

I wonder. And I, like everyone else who has commented, agree, that discrimination exists and is not going anywhere anytime soon. But as a human being who is capable of understanding how wrong it is to discriminate due to skin color -- don't we have some responsibility to try and dispel the myth?

Monk,

1) India is not a Hindu based democracy. It is a secular democracy.

2) I didn't talk about how India treats muslims in general (thatz a different topic for discussion). It was more about how Indians living in the US view many muslims here, I have even heard many comments in the Indian groups and they call mosque as a terrorist haven. Similarly there is a predominant feeling among many Indians that blacks are some sort of a group indulging in criminal activities. This may not be the case with all the Indians but this is what I observed among many of the Indians in whatever little opportunity I had with them. Deep down they also profile people based on color/religion. I have seen this attitude among the group that immigrated to US in the late 90s and 200x.

If you really feel that bad about being "profiled"... you are always welcome to shift your capital and come live in India.

Will you?

If you REALLY feel that bad about being "profiled", you are more than welcome to live in India.

It's really sad people still and probably will always have issues with races and cultures. It hurts when people's issues cross-over into your personal life as well. The only thing I know what works is to remain calm. If you know you have integrity and are honest. Then...hey, let them find out that you are! It's not right or fair! But at least you can sleep knowing that you know you are. You know yourself and that counts in the end.

Try being from a culture you know your most defintely not from! Me... I swear there must have been some sort of mircle! "A mircle birth!Two white parents have child of hispanic race." Ha. My whole life has been a marvel on this... Sometimes people get really nervous and I can just feel their tention. I get quite a chuckle out of it! Other times it becomes a compliment...

Just last tuesday, this woman interrupted me to say, "I'm sorry, but I not into women. I have to say you are a very beautiful woman"! She kept apologizing making sure I knew she wasn't hitting on me, before she went on to say I looked like her baby granddaughter who was half Mexican. It was kind of cute and sweet. But it reminds me that people get so caught up in illusions. You can't read a book by it's cover...

THAT WAS ATORY WAS A WAISTE OF MY TIME!!! IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RACIAL PROFILING!!!! U ARE A DISGRACE TO ALL HUMAN BEINGS. i'M TRYING TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ABOUT RACIAL PROFILING AND YOU ARE NO HELP. yOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF CRAP. I HATE YOU AND I HOPE YOU DIE!!!!

ANONYMOS