Brown soldier in the ring

It wasn’t too long ago that the sight of a man in uniform would turn many a girl’s head — in fiction and in the movies at any rate. Whether it was a few of Jane Austen’s pesky heroines or much later in our very own war zone, post-Kargil (at least in the afterglow of our victory in the conflict) or even earlier during any of the wars with our neighbour to the West — the soldier was a hit with the ladies.

Dashing soldiers, from the debonair Dev Anand in Hum Dono and hunky Dharmendra in Haqueeqat to quasi-bionic Hrithik Roshan in LoC have been the subjects of female reverie. Considered gallant and sexy, soldiers in India may have intermittently fed the romantic imagination; but only very rarely have the stripes on their uniforms catapulted war veterans to political power.

It’s quite another picture in the United States. Senator John McCain and his supporters are trumpeting his injuries on the battlefields of Vietnam. Battle scars make for good presidents in this land. Remember the other Jack, John Kennedy, and the oft-told stories about his misadventures on the PT 109 boat and the life-long back injury he suffered during the Second World War. And let’s not forget General Ike Eisenhower, the WWII hero who preceded Kennedy as president of the United States.

No doubt Americans love their war heroes: post 9/11 even more so. And no wonder, then, that one savvy desi-American is flaunting his stripes in pursuit of the American dream. Ashwin Madia, a former Marine and an Iraq war veteran, is running for Congress in a district that has sent Republicans to the House for the past 48 years.

Apparently, Madia was a Republican until 2002: the divergence of his views from those held by the Republican Party over Iraq and social issues led him to the Democrats. It’s the usual pursuit-of-the-American-dream story. Ashwin’s parents came to America from Mumbai with just $19 in their pockets — less than what most other Indian-American migrants brought with them. But they dreamed big for their children. The Madias finally settled in Plymouth, Minnesota. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, Ashwin went to New York University Law School.

Diverging a bit from other desi-Americans, the young advocate with short-cropped hair and an all-American smile joined the US Marine Corps. He was a leading attorney for the Corps in over a hundred trials. Madia also served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, primarily in Baghdad, where he worked with US military and civilian officials, and also briefed US generals on the status of rule of law efforts in Iraq.

The Indian-Americans, especially the Democrats, appear to have gone gaga over Madia; he seems to have become the new brown hope. Currently, there is no desi-American serving in Congress and in the past only two have ever been elected to Congress. The browning of the American political landscape will take a long, long time; but the odd brown speck does appear once in a while. Perhaps, it was the amazing trajectory of Bobby Jindal, the governor of Lousiana, that has encouraged the American desis to be part of the US political process.  Second generation desis want to have more of a say in what the government does.

The ‘Indian’ community comprises less than one per cent of the population. Yet their status as one of the most affluent immigrant groups has made them an attractive target for political fund-raising. Interestingly, while they have coughed up generously for Madia, even outside the state of Minnesota, more non-desis have contributed to the campaign of this all-American desi boy.

Once reticent about being involved in American politics, desi-Americans have begun to take a more aggressive part in electoral politics. The fall-out of this in their homes is even more interesting, like a soap opera. Ghar ghar ki kahani has it that spouses might be on the opposite side, with more wives going for Barack Obama. The fights over the dining table, I am reliably told, can be quite real.
Email: jain_madhu@hotmail.com