In bright retrospect, India has been a victim of racism for a long time. It’s not a new thing to see ‘others’ generalizing Indians through what they’ve seen in films and series.
The films portray Indians with a sepia filter nudging towards the ‘third world’ vibe.
As much as we love social media for quick communication and modernization, it is still the hub of front-hand bullying and people taking things too far.
Meaning Behind The Viral Term, ‘Pajeet’
Meaning Behind The Viral Term, ‘Pajeet’
Currently, ‘Pajeet’ is going viral all over the internet. The term means a Sikh man who wears the turban, but in this sense, users are generalizing and using it to describe all Indians with ‘epic fail’ videos, which seems like a loser move on their part. The internet is using this term to describe the, ‘Designated Shitting Streets’.
The term went viral back in 2015, and in 2017, through the reference to ‘Civilization 6,’ the meme of Nuclear Gandhi was created which went viral. Though it died down, every year it started coming up in social media trends to bash Indians and their cultures respectively. Pop culture is also on the trend where from the show, ‘American Psycho’ the term, ‘Patrick Bateman‘ is called, ‘Pajeet Bateman’.
The fact that these memes or posts get likes and get reshared almost immediately after they get posted exposes the vicious mindset of people in the year 2024. These kinds of racial slurs aren’t as cool as people make them out to be.
It is derogatory and very bad for people to be indulged in them. Respecting a variety of cultures, skin types, dialects, languages, and religions is a step toward not becoming a well-mannered being, but social media bullying is all about taking it too far.
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer. The purpose is to shed light on issues of racism and cultural insensitivity. Reader discretion is advised.)