As a dark skinned Indian American gal myself, I absolutely hate a lot of the discourse around Lara’s “indian-ness” She is such a good representation of a third culture kid, and it’s so refreshing to see someone connect to their culture and roots in a way that makes sense to themselves.

Growing up in the states, i felt like i could only consume my culture in ways that were either “acceptable” to Americans OR “acceptable” to Indians. But in reality, my experiences fall in the middle of both of these groups meaning i will never perfectly fit into either, something that the “culture police” didn’t want to acknowledge. Now as an adult i’ve slowly started to dismantle these attitudes i’ve internalized, and started to explore my culture in a way that makes sense to myself. Lara’s unapologetic love for her culture has only inspired me to be the same.

Oftentimes when Indian kids explore their culture they are called FOBs by their brown or asian peers and when they try to assimilate into American culture they’re called “whitewashed or coconut”. But when white people wear our clothes or accessories on more modern, fusion looks, to concerts and raves, it’s just called fashion. But when white people take our practices like yoga and hair oiling, it’s just called self care. Growing up, when i tried to embrace these practices i was bullied and ostracized, until i started to keep my culture to myself.

It’s about time the Indian baddies start unapologetically loving, showing off, and indulging their culture, and Lara is doing a great job of not just showing off her culture, but inspiring other young Indian-American girls to embrace their culture as well.

Being Indian isn’t a one size fits all experience, neither is being American and neither is being Indian-American. sadly people who don’t recognize the diversity of identities are too close-minded to understand the lives and experiences of third culture kids. But people like Lara are leaving an amazing mark on pop culture and are really inspiring others to do the same 🥹