It's Good to Be (Half-) Indian

photo of me!

One of my big dilemmas for the wedding (besides wondering where the, you know, money is coming from) is how to work in my heritage. First, let me explain. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a half breed. That's right, a designer dog...though I prefer bitch. My mother is white...though I prefer bitch (I'm KIDDING...even though I complain, I do love my mom), and my father is Indian, as in India Indian. Dot...not feather. Though not really dot either since, you know, we're Catholic.

Anyway, I digress. The older I get, the more I embrace the fact that I'm Indian, er, half-Indian. I never really denied it growing up, but I like it more and more. I think that this stems from the fact that my dad is getting older and I'm more aware of his mortality, and also from my realization that there will be no more brown babies! I'm the last one!! Since A.P. is the whitest white boy, I assume that our babies will be the whitest white kids...with a mother who tans so dark she looks dirty. It kind of bums me out. I've told A.P. this before, too. Which is why I think at some point, I'll push harder for adoption. Mix it up. Can't be outnumbered. That's never good.

So I've always wondered how I will incorporate my Indian-ness into my big day, besides inviting my Indian best friend and my half breed family, that is. I always felt it was going to be this big challenge, and lately it seems that I'm, well, wrong. Indian is totally in! Who knew? Growing up it was all Apu and the quickie mart, Gandhi, smells like teen curry jokes. But then something happened...it started with the yoga craze, and then Madonna and her mendhi, and Gwen Stefani and her bindi, and then, then it became Slumdog Millionaire, and Kelly Kapoor. Now suddenly I see Indian inspired wedding cakes, and Indian weddings in 27 dresses! It's INSANE.

But here's the kicker...the terrible thing I almost don't want to admit. Now that it's trendy, it makes me want to incorporate it even less into our wedding. I mean, I was already on the fence, because even though it's who I am, it's not part of my personality. I mean it is, but not in any way that makes me feel I have to build a freaking wedding theme around it. Eh, who knows? Maybe I'll draw some saris on my freaking birds, and call it a day.


PS...Totally unrelated, but have you guys seen this commercial? It cracks me up!!