Don’t think I put this up here, but I’m writing a story in my fiction class about this transboy actor who plays the Hindu god Muruga in a movie and thinks that he really is Muruga. (Maybe he literally is! I haven’t really played around with the possibilities yet haha.)
So I spent 50 minutes trying to find Desi/ south asian prompts and I couldn’t find a single good one hence here’s a list I made of them:
A making lunch for B. B expected sliced mangoes after meal but was disappointed when they couldn’t get some. Instead A served B smth better- aamras
B wants to buy earrings/bangles so they go to the crowded markets with A to find some. A holds the mirror for B and as B admires the jewellery, A admires B.
Goes to the museum and poses as the old goddess and women idols.
Slow dancing at night on retro 70’s songs, dedicating the sweet romantic lines to each other.
Helping A around the house when they have henna design on till elbows
Sorting B’s long heavy plates on saree/ attaching dupatta on the head
A braiding hair w mogra flowers, B plucks one mogra strand from A’s hair and ties around their wrist, smelling it while maintaining eye contact w A
A making paan for B/ A hooking anklet around B’s foot/ A helping B w hooking their blouse
A making laddoos and B stealing them with kids from the neighborhood
A and B having a dance in the neighborhood festival celebration
A tying their saree and carrying something heavy on the side hip, B resisting the urge to touch A’s exposed skin
A and B getting in a fight. They don’t talk until the next day, when A comes out of bath and goes to get ready. As A puts Kohl and sindoor, B takes the bottle and puts the sindoor on A themselves.
A coming from work to the smell of rice and chicken gravy
Making chai when they are stressed
Wholesome baths- A lathers up B as B pours water
Some royalty core
A tasting food in kitchen before it is served to B, then editing the meal themself instead of the workers
A helping the royal medic make medicine when B comes from a fight injured
A taking over the political decisions when B is gone for war
Arranging huge feasts for people of the kingdom on festivals
A slicing their thumb enough to draw some blood and using that as tilak for B
A performing for B
B protecting A in the royal court when the shitty courtesans attack A for wanting good for the kingdom
I can’t think of anything more than that rn so please add them!! And please add some of your own ethnicity if you can’t generally find them <3
for the ones who identify with the oceans and whose roots have known many lands -
stretched beside those of sweet cane, cut by laborers’ hands.
i draw brown girls all the time, but am overdue for a piece on my own history ().
during the 19th & early 20th century, over 1 million indians were brought from their homelands to various european (primarily british) colonies as replacement laborers for recently emancipated african enslaved peoples.
these included various nations in south america, the caribbean, africa & asia, such as guyana , trinidad & tobago , suriname , jamaica , grenada , st. lucia , st. kitts , st. vincent, fiji , mauritius , sri lanka , malaysia , kenya & south africa . here, indentures worked on plantations for the colonizing countries who owned them for a certain length of time.
in some instances, the indentureship system was wholly consensual, but far too often it involved coercion, misinformation & kidnapping. many entered into contracts unaware of the terms they were agreeing to & the freedoms they were signing away.
i’ve linked a playlist of podcast episodes for anyone interested in learning more. some topics touched on include:
- the pieces of south asian tradition that persisted, what was lost, & the amazing hybrid cultures that came to be - the origins of the word “coolie” & why most believe those outside the culture shouldn’t use it - how colonizers pit indian & black communities against each other & resulting anti-blackness in the indo-caribbean community - other lasting effects of colonization (alcoholism, weakened economies, gender-based violence, etc.) - the (sometimes tense) relations between descendants of indian indenture & individuals more directly from south asia
of course these tiny lists are not exhaustive, nor do they cover the entirety of this corner of the south asian diaspora. maybe, though, it’s enough to encourage a deeper look into our often overlooked history.
thank you to @mjenai.art for the title & inspiration, and to @haani_beee, who identifies with the oceans <3
