Here’s the deal Andrea Miller-–we’ve read your “advice” for the non-Indian on how to date the Indian in the Onion Huffington Post.

We have thought about it–-since you’re so good at giving out free advice, we thought you would appreciate some as well.

1. When you describe a diverse and rich culture by reducing it to beauty, Bollywood, and bhangra, you minimize the realities and complexities of our people’s existence in a way that can only be described as racist and, well, ignorant. Don’t get us started on how you have homogenized 1 billion people into a fun-loving accessory for Joe/Jane Smith.
2. Consider it passe that you have to reference the Kama Sutra several times while talking about dating Indian people. I mean, really?
3. Most Indians are innately gracious , social creatures? You know, the British thought so, too, and we all know how that worked out for them.
4. A hubby is not a hobby-–we know that can be confusing sometimes.
5. You clearly do not understand your privilege here. An article that puts out a few ridiculous points to snag us simpleton Indians is both frivolous and damaging. Some of your readers have been commenting on your piece and wondering why we should be upset by what is clearly such a positive portrayal. Here’s the deal-–you don’t get to minimize my existence to some cute yet exotic sound bites. I don’t care if you think this is a compliment.
6. India Does Not Equal Bollywood, and if you believe that, we’re not sure what else you could believe.
7. On the bright side–you talk to cabbies. Sadly, you think they all speak Hindi.
8. You’re clearly embarrassing your own kind–we like the plain and simple STFU advice being doled out here.
9. Okay–some clearly fall into the SRK loving category–we’ll give you this.
10. Racism is racism. AND stupid (even well-intentioned) ignorant opinions can also be racist.

So, when I began reading about two friends’ journey, I didn’t think much of it at first as being new. And then I began to read about what they were going to attempt to do.

Anirvan and Barnali (both of whom I met through their ASATA connection, another progressive-y collective–this one in the Bay Area) have committed to a new way of traveling.

As they describe it, they are “spending a year trying to live aviation-free, traveling across continents, and talking to people exploring solutions to transportation and the climate crisis.” Ridiculously awesome.

As many of us travel back to our respective motherlands–for weddings, adventures, and hopes of reconnecting–Barnali and Anirvan have taken it to another level. They are exploring more responsible options for travel and engaging with local activists, scientists, and cool folks to share their stories.

They also talk about how to not continually submit ourselves to the “tourism industrial complex.” You know what I’m talking about–when we participate in making our people into subjects to observe or when we create “tourist-y” areas only to then dis-invest in them because they have become, well, too touristy.

Barnali and Anirvan’s adventure began with taking a container ship traveling from Seattle to Yokohama, Japan.  It evokes memories of a time when our families sailed to their new homes and created our diasporic identities, so eloquently described in Minal Hajratwala’s Leaving India and Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies–stories of our people–some voluntarily and others not so–boarding the ships for South Africa, Fiji, and beyond.

You will love reading Anirvan and Barnali’s adventures like “Agriculture 2.0,” connecting urban dwellers with healthy local food, while supporting farmers and educating consumers and how they spent their holidays in Cambodia. This month, our fearless travelers went to Bangladesh talking to a wide range of people about climate change, development issues, social change, and art.

Year of No Flying is a really great example of good folks who practice what they preach, and while you or I are unlikely to hop onto a container ship in the near future, it will remind us how we can be more conscious of how we travel and contribute to the Tourist Industrial Complex.

Safe travels Barnali and Anirvan….