A Journey In Black and Indian Love

Tonight we watched “Seven Pounds,” the recent movie starring Will Smith. I thought the movie was poignant. My husband thought the movie stank. This is the life of me and M. LOL.  Last month, after we suffered through the movie “Hard Candy” my husband turned to me, looked me dead in my face and said “your taste in movies sucks here lately.” All I could do is laugh. After “Hard Candy,” and the bomb “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom,” the day earlier, it was pretty hard to defend.

Thanks to our Netflix account, we watch quite a few movies. Last month we watched 10. Out of that 10 M liked 4, “Russell Peters: Red White and Brown” (if you haven’t seen this rent it. He’s a HILARIOUS Indian comedian), Madagascar 3 (yeah it was cute but he’s a 42 year old man and he seemed to enjoy it more than the kids. WTH? LOL), Street Kings (we both liked it) and “Mama Mia (Mama Mia?! OMG).”  We also watched “Dil Chahata Hai”  which he was pretty middle of the road on. Everything else he hated!

We are opposite in so many ways. He likes hard rock and country. I’m a R and B and jazz kind of girl. I like thoughtful and insightful movies (not girlie but just artsy) kind of like “Rachel Gets Married.” He’s a “Batman” kind of guy.”   I’m Bridezillas and Clean House kind of girl and he’s a CSI and Law and Order kind of guy. I am a basketball love and during NBA season he becomes a basketball widower. M couldn’t care less about sports. You get the picture. We are opposites. There I said it. We are complete opposites but we make it work thanks to this little thing called compromise. I suffer through his stuff (the movies, music etc) and he suffers through mine. LOL.

Some people think that because we have an intercultural relationship that perhaps we live our lives a bit differently than others. I hate to disappoint the people that think this is some type of exotic lifestyle but it’s not. LOL. We do the same things that most couples do. We just happen to look a little differently doing it. I cook the same food I would in any other relationship, only with the occasional curry thrown in.  We raise our children with the same values most parents try to instill in theirs- respect of others, integrity, honesty, and the importance of hard work and education.  So not a whole lot in our lives is affected by the fact that my husband is Indian and I’m Black.  I think the adjustment has been greater on my husband’s end than it has on mine. I chose to absorb myself into the Indian culture where I could and I personally think the negative stereotypes about blacks instilled a bit of fear into M. He will never admit this to me but I could tell he was really taken aback when he met some of the stereotypes face to face on his job. A few days into his job he timidly approached me to ask why the some of the blacks on his job has red, blue or blonde hair that was in strange styles and why the guys dressed with sagging pants and why they had to curse so loud.. or my favorite, why they had to sing and dance while they worked. His question made me think of this video where after he watched it, M said of the guy dancing style… “he’s got smooth legs.” LOL

I’ll be honest and say I struggled with the questions M had about the people on his job because some of them I couldn’t answer myself but I did compare it with Indians that are seen as being different in his society. It’s the same difference. Some people just choose to live their lives a bit more uniquely. Sometimes it goes against the grain of societal norms but it doesn’t make them any less decent. You may just have to dig a bit further. I will say this thought, –some of them gave my husband hell because of his accent or because he’s Indian. I explained to him that it’s just ignorance and the same level of ignorance exists in Indians who tease Americans.

Unfortunately, the only exposure M had to blacks prior to me was via the television (as he says Wesley Snipes and Louis Gossett Jr.  LOUIS GOSSET JR?! Where does he come up with this stuff??).  As I write this blog my poor husband is trying to prove to me his wordly knowledge of blacks. He’s throwing out names like Donna Summer, Miles Davis and- this is a quote (after I told him Michael Jackson didn’t count) “and that other black guy that sings.” OMG..my eyes can’t roll any harder.

One of the many things I love about M is the fact that he’s eager to learn about different aspects of my culture and American culture as a whole. I see him soaking the information in and comparing notes. He still has a lot to be exposed to and based on the names he threw out tonight….

I think after this blog, it’s time for me to take my husband through black culture 101 again.  Until the next blog….