Am I alone in feeling this way?

We attended a Holi cultural program on March 14th. It was organized by the Hindu Cultural Center of Connecticut. S had participated in a dance so we were extra eager to attend and see her performance. The performances were wonderful - all participants had put in a great deal of effort and time in preparing their presentations. And for a few hours we felt connected to the land that we had left when we came to the US to set up a new life for us here. M enjoyed all the dance performances and booed at the show presenters when they talked too much before introducing the next item :) Just one thing grated on my nerves real bad.

There were two sets of show presenters. One set comprised of two college going kids - a girl and a boy. I don't know if they were trying to be witty or if they were just annoying, but some incidents and jokes they narrated during the show left a poor taste in my mouth. The girl ranted about Indians being clubbed with all "Asians" and how we Indians are NOT Asians but only Indians and how someone should somehow just pluck India out of Asia and put it somewhere to be a continent by itself. Then she rambled on saying parents should go home tonight and teach there kids that India is NOT in Asia and those kids should go to school next day and tell their teachers that India is not in Asia. I think she was trying to be funny but she failed to tickle my funny bone. Heck she even failed to intrigue my mind enough to think hard on it. I just felt embarrassed and hoped there weren't any "other" Asians watching the show because then they might think that ALL Indian parents teach their kids this kind of narrow-range thinking.

The boy went a step further. He told a joke. A joke that made fun of India and the corruption in India. I agree we all tell those jokes. We forward them to our entire contact list in Gmail and even repeat them at parties. But to make fun of India in front of an audience who is there to celebrate an Indian festival? It felt like betrayal. VERY poor taste. I think there is a time and a place for everything and this was neither the time nor the place for such juvenile jokes.

I also think the organizers of the show should have asked the show presenters for a script of their speech before the function and made sure everything in there was appropriate to the occasion. But what I can't get over is that many people in the audience cheered when these bad jokes were made. Don't we have any pride left now? I know we are all fed up of the corruption in India and of the politicians who, instead of leading the nation, are pulling it back into the stone age. But we are still proud of our country, right? I mean all these things - corruption, power cuts, political games, poverty - they can all be conquered if we put our minds and hearts to it. And while we try to fix things bit by bit, we are still proud of our country. Aren't we?

Am I the only one feeling this way? Or are there others who would have identified with my feelings of outrage, embarrassment and betrayal had they been there?