Desi Humor ... Is it ok if non-Desis laugh at these?

In a Seinfeld episode, a competitor comedian goes through a religious conversion so that he can then joke about both his old and new religions, thereby vastly expanding his own safe-joke territories.

By becoming an American citizen, I feel I, too, have two wonderful safe-joke territories, in that I can make fun of, and laugh about, all things Indian or American. 

Heck, I can play my Indian card when it isn't even about jokes.  The other day, in class, "B" remarked something about pronouncing the word "treacle" to which my response was something like this: "you are asking a guy who walks around butchering every word with his accent."  I so know that I can get away with mispronunciations, while an American-born cannot :)

But, the more Indians view me only as an American, well, I think that my days of freely and publicly enjoying jokes related to India will be numbered.  I shall keep pushing my luck!

The following three are all from tweets with the hashtag #DesiJokes:

From @Sadia_Sandhu:

Rasgulay and Gulab Jamun. One is white and the other is dark. Both are sweet. Say no to racism

From @BipashaKhan:

If crack came in mango flavor, all desis would be mango flavored crack-heads 

From @Mandeep_Kaurx:

You offer someone a sincere compliment on their mustache and suddenly she's not your friend anymore.

Another thread is with the hashtag #DesiProblems

From @Srithanya:

I just read IPADMINI as I PADMINI

From @SanaTazeen:

Seriously though, ironing mens shalwar kameez is like ironing a tent.

From @Eagles9412:

20 min late to a party and still the first ones there

Hey, we know humor in both these countries; good for me :)

If mixing two countries results in humor being multiplied so much, imagine how fantastic it would be in the scenario that Russell Peters makes us laugh about:

First world desi problems :)

I suppose every immigrant group has its own inside jokes.  It is one of the many wonderful aspects of living in the US.When you superimpose the 140 character limit of Twitter, then humor becomes quite a creative exercise as well.

Some of the tweets with the tag #Desiproblems are simply awesome, like the ones here :)

Getting invited to your grandmothers brothers sons, australian friends sister wedding #desiproblems
— AJ (@PreetJhandi) September 2, 2012

#DoYouRemember the time your parents let you go out with your friends? I don't, either. #desiproblems
— Desi Problems (@desiproblem) September 6, 2012

When you go to a relatives house they never let you leave #DesiProblems
— Sadia Sandhu (@Sadia_Sandhu) September 9, 2012

Wow did my dad really just buy $20 worth of mithai...#desiproblems
— мαяS♥(@MariamKaay) September 3, 2012

Yesterday I got married, and today we are starting to get to know each other. #DesiProblems
— Yasar Khan (@YasarKhans) September 3, 2012

My earphones fell in my curry. Omg no! #desiproblems.
— Sana Shams (@SuppSana) September 7, 2012

So I went to get some margarine out from the fridge, open it up and it's chole. #DesiProblems
— Jasmine Sanghera (@JasmineSanghera) September 7, 2012

Everyone talks over everyone #desiproblems
— Bushra Khan (@thatbushragirl) September 8, 2012

Good ol' US of A!

My first immigrant humor experience was Yakov Smirnoff's.  Once, when I played a clip of his in class, during a discussion of immigration, one student said that I probably like him all the more because I look like him. Really?



And I could relate a lot to Russell Peters' jokes, of course



Aziz Ansari perhaps represents the next step in this assimilation story.  His comedy routines do not seem to have ethnic humor as a center-piece.  Occasionally he might throw one in.  I suppose one more generation, and "DesiProblems will belong to history.  Cool!