This statement: “You look like Connie!” boggled me the first time I heard it – mostly because I look nothing like her. I cannot possibly over-emphasise how unlike Connie I look. After hearing this a few more times, it hit me that when people said I looked like Connie, what they meant was: “You’re Indian, so I guess I’ll mention the first Indian character I can think of.” My individual appearance and culture do not matter here: Connie and I are interchangeable parts, beings boiled down to a single trait of national origin. Interestingly, Connie and I do share a background: her surname, Maheswaran, is a common male name in Southern India. Traditionally, her last name would be the first name of her father (or perhaps grandfather, like in my family) – but the show’s creators, perhaps afraid of alienating their non-Tamil audience with this confusing naming scheme, opted to call him Doug instead.
Zen Master Hui Neng: The Bright Mirror has no Dust
Hui Neng was born in Tang Dynasty China, around 600 AD. His father died while he was young, forcing him and his mother to…