Comments on: Gori Girl: Now Blogging from the Desi Suburbs

By: Aamba

Aamba — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:10:52 +0000

You must be near Silver Spring That’s where my mandir is and I pass about five of them on the way!

By: Gori Girl

Gori Girl — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:42:27 +0000

Hey guys – I thought the gori conversation was so interesting that I made a post about it here. (And NeoKalypso – don’t encourage Aditya – I have to live with the results )

@ whiteymcwheatbread: we were actually wandering through the Fair Oaks mall. I can’t say that I’ve noticed the same thing at other malls in the area – but I’ve been to a couple so far on very specific missions right before Christmas.

By: whiteymcwheatbread

whiteymcwheatbread — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:24:27 +0000

now that I realized you live close to me your post about the mall makes sense. I have found the Pentagon City Mall to be as you described. I have only been to 4 of the malls in the area.

Glad you are moved in and hopefully all settled. That hail storm was very unexpected wasn’t it!

By: NeoKalypso

NeoKalypso — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:23:47 +0000

Round of applause for Aditya! Heheheh….

Any suggestions for *this* Gori Aditya??? R’s mom is not dealing with the idea of me so well… I probably just need to give it time and patience. Sigh.

By: Aditya

Aditya — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:13:23 +0000

Technically, gori = fair girl / pale skinned girl [in languages derived from prakrit]

There’s nothing inherently negative about the term, it’s used for both Indians [there's many goras / goris amongst us too] and foreigners…

It can be used as a derogatory term, but in common usage doesn’t have the negative connotations…

/end today’s linguism lecture

By: CaliforniaTransplant

CaliforniaTransplant — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:35:55 +0000

I agree, NK – I like it too. There’s something really powerful about taking a negative term and making it a positive and something empowering. Just got to get my guy to see it that way. He feels the same way about the term “Guju” which I think a lot of Gujarati people have reclaimed as a positive, playful way of identifying themselves, but M still regards it carrying very negative and insulting connotations.

By: NeoKalypso

NeoKalypso — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:03:04 +0000

Well, CT, I actually kind of liked the way our GoriGirl is using it here . The word may have been originally intended to be derogatory in nature but then our Gori sort of took it and reclaimed it by being a “Gori” who is actually quite “Indian” (for lack of a better term–you all know what I mean). So I think the way the word is used here sort of redefines it, spoofs it a little, and claims it in a way that says: hey I’m a Gori but I also know what’s up and can roll with the culture almost quite like anyone inside the culture… hehe. So I think, in her own way, our Gori here sort of strips it of its negative connotation and uses it in an empowering way.

Anyway, just my two hundred cents. GG may totally disagree with me!!

By: Pale_Desi

Pale_Desi — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:33:55 +0000

There’s a Punjabi restaurant here that I always go to with my closest Indian (Punjabi) friend. Whenever she goes there and doens’t have me with her with her they’ll ask “where is the gori?”. Also I’ve heard them say it even when I’m there (about me not to me). They really seem to like me so I always thought it wasn’t derogatory.

Also side note…one day after they served us our food they sat down to eat with us (the Auntie and Uncle) and my friend told them that I was dating an Indian. They didn’t flinch or anything, they weren’t phased at all. They only thought it was bad that he wasn’t Punjabi… hehehe

By: CaliforniaTransplant

CaliforniaTransplant — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:58:20 +0000

I think it’s interesting that my fiancé actually regards “gori” as a very derogatory, insulting term for a white person. I’m not sure if it’s a regional thing or a misconception on his part or maybe it’s just *him*. (He tends to be very sensitive about word choices).

By: galaxie

galaxie — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:45:29 +0000

Gori can be a noun, “white girl,” but since adjectives change according to gender in Hindi it can also just mean “pale-skinned” – the “i” on the end just means it has to modify something feminine. Just like in all those romance languages where words change according to some arbitrarily defined gender.

Gori can’t mean white for things other than people, though. That’s a different word, because people are not actually white-colored.

By: Gori Girl

Gori Girl — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 01:35:22 +0000

@ ara: yes, gori means white – actually, it means “white female”, or even “white girl.” So strictly speaking, I’m saying white girl girl, but I’m told that Gori Girl is a good slang term for the type of atmosphere I’m trying to develop here – fun, easy-going, and a mix of cultures. Don’t worry about not getting it – the only place I come out and say it is in the About page.

I’m super white right now, but the weather is finally turning into the short sleeve & dress season so I’ll probably develop a tan soon.

@ NeoKalypso – I just put in the comments bar a day or two ago, so you probably didn’t notice it because it wasn’t there! I’ll try to put up a link to the comments RSS soon, too.

By: NeoKalypso

NeoKalypso — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:38:46 +0000

Wow I’m a total idiot, just found the comment roll…

By: NeoKalypso

NeoKalypso — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:39:52 +0000

Hey GoriGirl, is there any way you can put new comments up in a side bar? I’d like to follow all these conversations but I’m having a bit of trouble because to see new comments you have to reaccess every post — or maybe I’m missing something!!!

By: ara0062

ara0062 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:32:05 +0000

Okay, so maybe I am dumb, but I think maybe I figured it out..does gori mean white? LOL..kinda like ghoul..is a ghost..which is white hehe Because if so, I am as Casper as they get

By: Gori Girl

Gori Girl — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:56:02 +0000

@ NeoKalypso – Aditya’s mom had the most problems with the intercultural relationship thing too. But she came around! I’m a a follower of your “you can only control your own actions” philosophy, too.

@ Chanakya – thanks for sharing your video with us. I think I even recognized a film/actor or two!

@ Mirchi – I’m a fan of sparkly in jewelry, but not crystalware type things – I just see it as another thing I have to dust and try not to drop!