April 30th, 2008

Bartender in Delhi Wanted… Indians need not apply

I had a slightly uncomfortable experience today on a mailing list I subscribe to which is for expats living in Delhi trying to help each other find their way around the city.

I signed up for it to try to find an apartment / stuff as I as setting up my flat, and I follow it from time to time. Some guy has set up a website tailored to expats, and also organizes “expat night” at a local club.

He sent the following advertisement to the list this morning:

Hi all,

I am looking for female expat bartenders for a bar/disco

5 Days a week
From 20.00 to 2.30 AM
Salary 40000 Rs per month + tips + % on revenue
Proper employment contract.

Please contact me asap if interested

To which I replied:

Hi Alex,

Are you aware that this amounts to employment discrimination? Since a
bartneder’s country of origin has little to do with their ability to
perform their task, and is merely useful in the preferred image of
(let’s be honest, white people) working at your establishment.

Are you sure that this is not violating any laws? I realize that there
is plenty of discrimination within India (and any country), however I do
not see the need to have “expat” bartenders. Don’t you find it a bit
racist? Is there something else here I am missing?

Best,
-Jacob

The eventual reply after a series of people essentially condoning his post (and a couple Indians on the list who thought it was awful):

Oulalalalala…

I am not sure whether to laugh or cry about this…

FYI, here are the nationalities of the women who kindly answered me:
- 1 Italian
- 1 Brazilian
- 1 Swedish mother
- 2 French
- 1 from the Ivory coast
- 1 Japanese
…..

I really didn’t know how to respond here… I was really disgusted by the whole thing, and that the community of people on the list where by and large complicit in this tokenization.

I wrote a lengthy reply, which I did not send because I don’t see the point, but decided to publish it here in case someone actually reads this and finds it interesting:

Hi Alex,

I find that the candor of these postings is that expats are somehow special, and you should make a point of meeting other expats. As an American who is part Indian, with an Indian wife and a long time resident of Delhi, I find it really sad.

I have some friends who are not Indian, and some who are Indian. I like that. I don’t make a point of associating with either group because of “what” they are. In fact, I make a point to mix the groups so that people can stop obsessing over their differences.

The majority of expats I’ve met in Delhi feel like they have no in road to Indian society. This is difficult and it is true, but there are ways to break that. Here are a couple ideas for those that are interested (I’m not directing this at Alex, indeed, he may do these things):

1) Learn Hindi, I did. It’s not that hard
2) Go to places where it is not just extremely rich Indians and foreigners (stray from Def Col, GK and Kahn Market).
3). Volunteer at NGOs, and go to people’s houses for dinner.
4). Talk to local people in your market, get a sense of what’s going on.

As a result of feeling alienated, many expats prefer to just live in their obvious wealth (far greater than they enjoy at home), and associate with one another, thereby further alienating them from anyone other than super rich Indians in their localities.

One must also understand that this is not just a case of “there is discrimination everywhere”. Fair enough; but that doesn’t make it okay. Also, India has been historically oppressed by Europeans - or people of European decent, which; regardless of your ohlalalalla mixed bag of token ethnicities, make up the vast majority of expats in India. So what it looks like to people here may be this:

1. People who looked like me messed up this country ages ago.
2. Now I want to come to your country
3. My currency and salary is worth vastly more than yours, so for no fault of my own, I’m really rich.
4. I don’t really want to meet you, learn your language, or live where you live.
5. I want to go to establishments which cater to my tastes, and on top of that, I don’t want any of you to be seen working at those establishments. (of course, there are the 10 guys in the back crushing limes for 4,000rs per month - they can come).
6. YOU are the racist if you have a problem with that.

Now, it could be that you want “expat” bartenders because you feel there is a genetic predisposition to stirring and smiling which just doesn’t exist in the Indian populace. I’ll let that argument stand I suppose.

If it is not that, and it is not the color of someone’s skin (which are obviously alluding it is not), than I can only assume that the real request is not for “expat” bartenders, but rather, that you do not want to see Indians behind the bar.

What possible explanation, other than outright racism would be responsible for such a predisposition?

Sincerely,
Jacob Singh

P.S. please note, that of all the people responding to this argument, most thought it was perfectly fine, and the only ones who didn’t as far as I can tell, are the only people who are Indian

I know noone probably reads this blog, but I’d love to hear what people’s comments are on this and if they have any suggestions on how to approach these types of situations in the future.

posted by Jacob Singh in Professional, Uncategorized 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 12:13 am and is filed under Professional, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Bartender in Delhi Wanted… Indians need not apply”

  1. Guy says:

    To be honest I think you approached the situations in a negative and insensitive way and I don’t fully understand the incredible furry it has put in. From your initial response and from reading through the response in your blog I felt some of the following things. I may be misunderstanding what you were trying to achieve by the post but this is what I think and feel.

    I don’t feel welcome in India anymore and I feel that there is a sense of animosity towards me because I am a foreigner. I am saddened by this as I hoped that I would forge long term relationships with Indian people during my 2 or 3 years here. I find your comments about ‘expats preferring to live in their obvious wealth (far greater than at home)’ and ‘expats not wanting to see Indians behind the bar’ contrived. The general tone of the post leaves a very bitter taste in ones mouth. I would venture to say that it carries the tone of someone who has a strong vendetta against expats, or as you put it ‘White Europeans’. It feels somehow that you want expats to apologize for the oppression that Indians have experienced in the past. I apologize on behalf of the Westerners, Muslims, Hindus etc who have been brutalizing each other for thousands of years in India.

    You seem to take the moral high ground, having lived in Delhi for a long time and being married to an Indian woman. Somehow I don’t feel that it puts you in a position to condemn how foreigners choose to live in Delhi. That said in support of part of your argument I do find it all a bit incestuous and sad how expats hang out in certain places that are generally expensive and seldom get out into ‘real’ India. However I don’t think that it is your position to attack expats on that front. It is hard to make friends in Delhi especially when you have just started to learn Hindi and are new to the city. It is nice to build a support system through meeting other foreigners once every couple of weeks on a Thursday. I really don’t understand what the problem of having foreign people working behind a bar is? I think you turned a simple ad calling for foreign women into an unnecessary racial issue and the contempt that you portray toward expats only makes the situation worse.

    I found your post interesting, well written and I hope you got some issues you have with expats off your chest. It made me feel pretty shitty about myself and I feel less positive about being accepted into the Indian community. I hope we get to meet someday I would like to debate many things with you. It probably won’t be in a place where it is just extremely rich Indians and foreigners as I am an African and earn an African wage. You might be interested to know that one can sometimes feel discriminated against being a Black person in India.

    April 30th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
  2. Jacob Singh says:

    Hi Guy,

    Thank you for your reply. It was really thought provoking and honest, and I appreciate your insights.

    I admit, that upon re-reading my post it is written with a lot of anger, much of it probably because of my own insecurity being a wealthy expat in India and feeling these same feelings of alienation (although on my salary I could never think of living in DefCol!).

    These things are tricky and not black and white, but I do feel saddened by the fact that when I hang out in groups which are exclusively foreigners, I often have felt on edge and having to “defend” India and Indians.

    I know that this mostly comes from a lack of understanding context of history, feeling left out of what is honestly a very racist society and guilt around the differences in wealth.

    I am sure being African in this country is hell. People are extremely prejudiced, and I cannot understand how difficult that must be. I am 1/2 Indian, but to most, I just look “white”, so I don’t deal with this level of discrimination. Prejudice and stereotypes, yes, but not negative discrimination. I suppose, if I felt this day in and day out, I would feel that expat societies were more my cuppa tea.

    I actually don’t have so much of an issue with a “expat meetup” as an affinity group as long as it is non-exclusive. I may have even been interested in going. One of my big laments about India is how non-cosmopolitan it is. I do still take serious objection to employment discrimination though.

    A colleague of mine spent 5 years in the Peace Corp in Chad, and when discussing this with her, she said she experienced much of the same there. She lived almost totally among Chadians and learned Chadian Arabic, but many of the French expats there only hired French people in their bars, and stayed exclusively in expat circles, despite hiring Chadians as help and frequenting Chadian prostitutes. A lot of her anger from this was not just at the hypocrisy and injustice of it, but the fact that it set yet another roadblock up in her acceptance in Chad, as she would be associated with their behaviors.

    I guess that is where some of my “venom” comes from. Also I was shocked that everyone thought this was totally non-contentious and I was an asshole for bringing it up. I don’t know where you are from, but if you are Nigerian, how would you feel if some Brits set up a social club, and said that Nigerians are not allowed to work in the front. How is that different from “whites only” signs in the U.S. south? Well, it’s actually worse, because Alex is IN INDIA! This is not really about White Europeans in India and the legacy (although that sets up much of the sensitive relationship). We can phrase his ad another way: “BARTENDER WANTED: NO INDIANS ALLOWED.” He’s excited that people from 10 ethnicities applied, so it’s not that he wants white people, he just doesn’t want an Indian, and I still don’t understand why.

    May 1st, 2008 at 10:13 am
  3. Guy says:

    Thank you for the great response. I feel much better about the whole thing . I will write more comprehensively soon.
    Cheers

    May 2nd, 2008 at 9:38 am
  4. Guy says:

    Quickly wanted to add some support to your argument. I am on these expat group mailing lists and am very embarrassed by how much naive crap half the people write.

    I understand why many of the postings would irritate local Indians. The tone of many postings makes me feel that too many people see their relationship with India as “us” (foreigners) against “them” (INdians) which is dispicable and unacceptable. These types of people should just go home.

    VIVA to equality and cultural diversity.

    May 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am
  5. Sandy Davenport says:

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    November 13th, 2008 at 9:16 am

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