![]() ![]() No one was standing in the corner making fun of it. You don’t have to pretend to care about your ancestry or whatever.’ But then he took me to their campus powwow. At first, I was like, ‘You’re away from your parents. “My roommate Nick is Native American, and he’s so into being Native American. After asking why he would ever come to this “lame fest,” he replies: But a huge moment of truth came out when Devi interacted with Harish, a family friend who came back from Stanford to attend the event. ![]() I smiled as I saw my own personal experiences in many parts of the show, like weird conversations with Aunties. In this episode, Devi attends Ganesh Puja (a Hindu holiday) put on by the Hindu Association of Southern California. The look on her face is so recognizable it’s a sense of claustrophobia in a seemingly foreign (and itchy) outfit, an expression I’ve held every time my mom gets me ready for an Indian wedding, religious event or family party. She is adorned with jhumka earrings, a thick set of gold necklaces and a bright blue and gold half sari. The painfully honest and genuine depiction of her uncomfortableness, slight disdain and forced acceptance of her Indian-ness triggered some unexpected introspection within myself while watching the show, especially during episode 4, “Never Have I Ever…Felt Super Indian.”Ī hit Hindi song from the 1970s, “Dum Maro Dum,” kicks this episode off while Devi is being dressed up by her cousin. Watching her character - particularly how she navigates her heritage - reminded me of my young self. She has a full American accent, cares about school while also caring about social goals (popularity, her crush, fitting in) like any normal teenager, hangs out with white friends, likes cheeseburgers and doesn’t outwardly exert her Indian identity. When I think of Indian Americans in the shows I watched growing up, I think of Ravi from “Jessie,” Baljeet from “Phineas and Ferb,” Raj from “The Big Bang Theory” and a few other often socially awkward, teased, overly studious characters who did not represent me. Among all of these, my favorite trait of the show was that it made me feel represented. The show - as expected - is heartfelt, cringey and cute, but is also filled with vulnerable moments relating to her grief and her Indian heritage. ![]() Yet, her adolescence and search for a different, newer and cooler identity is what made it a bit more complex when she loses her father to cardiac arrest. She navigates the ups and downs of relationships with her best friends, her mother and of course, the boy she’s been crushing on. ![]() In summary, the plot revolves around Devi’s standard trials and tribulations as a 15-year-old girl. At first I was uninterested in another heartfelt yet cringey Netflix series, but the show’s mixed reviews sparked my curiosity: While a few of my friends told me the show perpetuated stereotypical tropes of South Asian Americans - a sight I did not need to see - “NHIE” has also been acclaimed as “a watershed moment for the representation of South Asians in Hollywood.” Curious, but more so bored out of my mind during quarantine, I gave the ten-episode show a try. Recently, I binged Season 1 of Mindy Kaling’s “Never Have I Ever,” a classic coming-of-age teen rom-com revolving around the life of a 15-year old Indian American, Devi Vishwakumar. ![]()
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