https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakireddy_Bali_Reddy exploited the Indian caste system to bring young Indian women and girls to Berkeley, California, From 1986 to 1999, he and his family members and associates forced them into servitude and sexual slavery and to work in his Indian cuisine restaurants
How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
221–230 of 256 posts
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#222[deleted]
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#223"No boundary existed between work and life."
I'm some senses, this is a story about an older way of doing things.. or a capitalism that has existed at a smaller scale alongside the I understand/liberal system we generally think of as capitalism (or socialism, really).
That is, things work by convention, affiliation and duty. They don't work through formal agreements, roles and contracts.
Family is a true economic unit, with productive capacity, credit potential and such. Affiliations with other families are important.
The ability of one hotelier family to assess an informal loan to another one... Its not necessarily worse than a Banks's.
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#224Earlier quoted context omitted.
> The Gujaratis are known for being very enterprising folks. The downside is that some of the biggest and famous crooks are from the same community as well.
I'm not sure such comments are appreciated on HN. All communities and groups in the world have crooks.
Which is an irrelevant point and needlessly pedantic in the context of this thread about Gujjus. What I hope is even less appreciated on HN is the pointless "yeah that's true of any community" nonsense the minute anyone says anything with specificity.
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#225Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, having family members work for you for free is legal. My accountant once encouraged me to try to get my family members involved in a business I ran just for that reason.
I think the question of age comes into play though.
There's a family business exception.
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#227Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I am in agreement that BC has plenty of authentic south asian cuisine, Seattle is not so terrible. Food recommendation: Gulberg Restaurant, 5943 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z6 Authentic Lahori food. The cuisine is way older than the 1947 partition...
What is good in Seattle?
Naan and Curry has the best non-vegetarian South-Asian food in the Seattle area. It has branches in Renton and Issaquah. I have personally found it much better than Maza grill, mentioned in the other comment.
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
Indian food is labor intensive and uses expensive ingredients. Restaurants are also low margin businesses that don't scale well and are super risky, not something I'd advise someone to do unless they have a passion for it and ability to fail and carry on with life. I have not been to a single Indian restaurant that can compare to a home cooked Gujarati meal, especially made by someone who grew up there.
> Indian food is labor intensive and uses expensive ingredients Labor intensive yes, but expensive ingredients? Maybe saffron, but it's used very sparingly in only a few dishes, and a little goes a long way.
Generally, vegetables are more expensive than grains and more perishable.
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#229Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is good in Seattle?
Naan and Curry has the best non-vegetarian South-Asian food in the Seattle area. It has branches in Renton and Issaquah. I have personally found it much better than Maza grill, mentioned in the other comment.
I’ve eaten there in the Bay Area and am inclined to agree with you.
Re: How Indian Americans Came to Run Half of All U.S. Motels
#230Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know, but I mean there are Muslim Patels too, is what I was driving at.
You wrote “non-Patel Muslims”. And Patel is just a common name, it doesn’t mean you’re in the same tribe. Especially since in the old days tribes were frequently family oriented and religion was a big part of family. But tribes keep changing. When everyone was immigrating and desperate, they acted as one and helped each other. Now, the successful ones and 2nd generations americans who can stand on their own have beco…
Yes I did, implying that Patel Muslims might be given the benefit of the doubt, but non Hindus to boot wouldn’t.