Route 79

heh - I wonder if that marketing is actually aimed at us aging hippies with statues of Ganesh in the lounge and Asian dub on the stereo. We like to feel like "world citizens" doncha know? ;-)

'course I'll only eat ready-salted, myself. And Doritos - got to keep in touch with my roots, hey?

Yes - I have to subscribe to the ageing (or is it aging - now you have me paranoid about spelling!) hippy theory. (I have the Peter Gabriel solo album collection on cassette - and I also have Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon on compact disc.) No Ganesh - but perhaps burned-out incense stick-ends in the soil of the rubber-plant of the living room is a veritable alternative! :-)

Ahhh - Doritos - but as I am sure you will testify - the Walker's Doritos are nothing like the one and only original Doritos that I once enjoyed when I lived in USA in the late eighties. These were *huge* bags of nacho cheesy corn chips with a "bite" that was a time and world-apart from today's UK-licenced Doritos - which are just way too thin and crispy for my liking. (I have very fond memories of grabbing a a few huge bags of these from our local Wawa (http://www.wawa.com/) or Seven-Eleven (http://www.7-eleven.com/) store - along with catering-size jars of picante/jalapeno salsa or cool-ranch style dip! Memories eh?

LOL - I've been wondering about aging vs. ageing. Could go look it up, I suppose - but perhaps that would be cheating. (oh phew, it's both!)

It sounds like I left the states around the same time you did - well sort of - 1991. I always pick up a big package of corn tortillas when I visit now. Ick, those yellow corn ones in the grocery are nasty! I tried making my own once but that didn't really work either...

mmm, cool ranch...

They have tomato ketchup crips? Man, I'm out of touch... The other day I tried some fish and chips flavoured French Fries (Walkers). They were OK, but I wouldn't make a habit of it. I also tried the Marmite ones, but then I stank of Marmite all afternoon (possibly not a good thing, although I am partial to marmite on toast...). What next, Jamaican style crisps? Chinese themed crisps? I'm all for choice, but it seems more of a marketing ploy. Personally I can't get enough of those salt and balsamic vinegar Kettle chips. But I also like Quavers.

It's not just tomato ketchup flavour - it's HEINZ Tomato Ketchup flavour - that makes all the difference you know! You're right - it's all a ploy to get us all to eat more crisps.

With very high levels of saturated fat content though one has to be frugal I'd say. Kettle chips are nice I agree (I like the Marks & Spencer equivalents) but these are even worse - you can actually squeeze the oil out of each crisp with your fingers!

I'll pretend I didn't read that last sentence ;-)

Goodness Gracious Me! (pun intended! lol)

I hate the way the Brit's are taking this whole Bollywood theme..it's so silly!

There's more to India than just Bollywood! And the ad's and movies they do with the extra bright colours don't make them look Bollywood style but (excuse me) whore-ish. The actual Bollywood has so much class, having been for several events and bumping into filmi people all the time(many of them are from my school :) ). They're just making a mockery of it.

What Meera Syal meant by her quotes were:
a.) She did the ad as she wanted the quid.
b.) Yep, they do eat crisps but it's mainly gonna be the White's having it and not the brownies.
c.) Advertising using Asian's increases so that I get more work.
d.) Walker's is only doing it to rake in the moolah as Bollywood is the "in" thing now.

I've blabbered on here..no offense meant....but it's only the opinion of a 19 year old Indian living in India.

I'd tried some shrimp flavoured crisp last to last time I was in London which was really nice. We barely have 6 flavours here :( Walker's is known as Ruffles Lay's here...or I guess it's become only Lay's now.

Ciao.

Hey Amrita - no offence caused at all - I agree with your sentiment entirely! Absolutely spot-on my own thoughts!

Thank God..thought I might have offended you. But I didn't! Yay!

:-) - well even if you had - I would have probably just sulked - and maybe munched through a few packets of crisps! No - your interpretation of the undertone was perfect!

I'm a bit of an alien to the UK, so please excuse any stupidity (or offensiveness) on my part.

People often tell me that the British are really embarrassed about their colonial adventures in India, so sometimes it seems to me that they overcompensate in trying to be inclusive. It's too bad, because after living in the states, it seems that people deal really well with multiple cultures here. I'm guessing (and I am totally talking off the top of my head here) it's because there's quite a lot of movement back and forth between the two countries. You don't see that between Mexico and California or Cuba and Florida, for example - once they're gone, they're gone (well, a bit more complicated than that, but you get my drift). Still, I'm sort of playing Devil's advocate - I understand why it's insulting.

Still, like Amrita says, there's more to India than Bollywood, but it's hard for a non-Asian to know what those things are. Living out in the provinces probably doesn't help, I suppose - we don't even get that. Jag - you need to educate me now that I'm here! Well, you don't *need* to... :-)

Interesting theory regarding the more movement back and forth - I think you're right - but I think the latter is actually a *consequence* of upholding cultural identity more strongly than the promise of what the spirit of the nation represents. It's hard to describe in words - so let me compare and contrast with a "thought" example: (bear in mind that this is purely conjecture and also not meant to offend!): People who migrate to USA do so for the promise of the "American Dream" - liberty, opportunity etc. where success in doing so results in a fierce pride in being "American" first and foremost. (Picture if you will a smiling Italian American in front of a huge American flag.) Whereas people who migrated to UK from India also do so for a better life and education etc. (UK having been fairly more accessible in the 60's and 70's given the Commonwealth linkage) - where success in doing so doesn't engender as fierce a loyalty to being British; no (say for example) "I am Indian first and foremost - and by the way I happen to be a British citizen." (And not necessarily standing there grinning in front of a huge UK flag!) Do you see where I'm coming from? (Related interlude: check out the flags icons and captions that I've used in the top-right-hand part of the Route79 homepage at http://www.route79.com and try to guess how long I laboured over the sequencing and the wording on that! :-) )

And yes - I agree that there's more to India than Bollywood and "Chicken Tikka Masala" - but I do feel strongly that the onus is on the British Indian community to demonstrate that. And I think we are doing that now more so than ever before - it's just that we are still riding the early part of the curve. Which is why I was probably less vocal about the Bollywood crisps thing than Amrita was - because it *does* go some small way to bringing greater cultural awareness - and celebrating it. Even if the way in which it is done doesn't necesarilly do complete justice; the fact that I (sitting here as an Indian for a long time living in UK) can sit back and laugh about the quirkiness of it - whereas Amrita's reaction (sitting in India) is a lot more vociferous - is I think a very healthy thing. (The underlying sentiment is the same though.) In my view I think it will simply take some more time for the masses of people in UK to appreciate that India and it's culture is more than just Bollywood (and that Bollywood is more than just ladies in colourful sarees and punjabi suits dancing) - but as my Dad would probably say on the issue "At least something's better than nothing!" - but it's up to the British Asian community to make the "something" more of an accurate perception over time. We are currently in the phase where quirky things like Chicken Tikka Masala and the Bollywood are celebrated here in the UK as formulaic of imported Indian culture - and we need to build upon that to get to where Amrita is coming from.

The "provinces" eh Lise? :-) You live in Cambridge don't you? Let me tell you about something my Dad also said to me a few years ago - he was recalling from his own childhood of how pervasive the knowledge of all things English is in India - even in provincial India. He said to me that if you asked any child in any village in India what they knew of that faraway land called England - they would reply "Oxford, Cambridge, and The Beatles!" :-) (Bear in mind that this was probably going back to the 1960s!) Always makes me smile that. It's always going to be hard to correct the metropolitan/provincial divide re perception of alien cultures - wherever in the world - but in some small way I guess I *am* educating you through the existence of this blog .... ;-)

yes - that's exactly it. My own family went to the US as well-to-do Mexicans and so there was a lot of back and forth going on and a lot of cultural exchange, but that was the early part of the 20th century. The majority of Mexicans would go to the US to escape rather abject poverty and pretty much went on foot. They'd then send money back, but there wasn't a lot of cultural mixing - just living in barrios in the US and slums in Mexico and trying desperately to eke out a living - never really much concern with nationality or culture.

I think the other thing might be that the media is very aware of the "lowest common denominator" in the UK and frankly, a lot of them need OTT just to get anything through to them. I was in town just now and had to laugh thinking about Amrita's comment about the Walkers ads being "whore-ish". *How* many English girls in shorts and stillettos did I see today?! Too funny!

How nice to be known for Oxford and Cambridge though. Really demonstrates the priorities, doesn't it? In the US, it's Monty Python and castles! Oh, and Princess Di.

Wow. It's nice to find such an interesting (and polite) discussion. Reading the opinions of people from different corners of the world is fascinating. And it all started with some crisps. :-) I'm ashamed to say I have very little knowledge or understanding of Indian culture. I've a friend of some years whose parents emmigrated from India to the UK. He and I both grew up (in different parts of the Midlands) on a diet of American television and cinema ("The A-Team", etc). With the exception of a few Bollywood films, we've never discussed Indian culture. I don't know whether he simply has no interest in it himself (he's an avid consumer of Amercian pop culture), or whether he thinks it's something I wouldn't be interested in.

you know that walkers' ad dont half get on my nerves.

Stu: glad you find the discussion stimulating. I agree it's very polite! Too polite in fact ...
Interesting: which part of Midlands did you grow up in?

Jaina: I haven't actually seen the Walkers ad - but I can imagine it would annoy me too! Can you imagine what Amrita from Mumbai would think? (That would be interesting to know - because she is the about same age as you!) Perspectives are fascinating aren't they? Share with us *your* opinion on all this "Bollywood cool" thing here in UK ...

i'd like to hear all you're views on the bollywood walkers advert! i need it for my dissertation!!!
cheers

Hi Mina - to be honest with you - I've only seen it once - and I thought it was pretty crap.

fuck u! whats the point of dissing asians. walkers crisp is 4 ne1. so it aint only asians!

Hey Meena - you had better learn how to read first - I think you missed the entire point of the article. It wasn't about dissing asians at all.

Chk the details for the Maharaja cruise...going from Miami to cozumel...all asians on board ...

Exiting isnt it

Details chk maharajacruise.com

what a load of cobblers

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