I live in Canada which has the 2nd largest population of Indian people after England. My city is like 1 quarter Indian, out of a population of 400 000. All of my life I have heard whitep eople, black people, asian people, call that guy with a turban paki, or do an Indian accent, call them towelheads, tell them to eat curry of play cricket and listen to punjabi music. I dont think they mean it, they probably think its a joke,  but its like im living in the 50's here where black peopel were called the N word frequently.

The media doesnt help either, because they portray Indian people as cheap convient store owners, but I guess the media doesnt count because they do it to other races also.

Ah, race and stereotypes....

punjabi is the politically correct name for the people from the punjab provinces of pakistan and india (it is also their language) so I don't see the problem with that. Using the term Indian to refer to these people is considered offensive over here. East Indian is politically correct term for those from southern asia and the asian islands (not including Japan, Taiwan, etc)

Stereotypes make it so much more funny when you see the people who fit exactly into the stereotype. I find it hilarious that whenever I go into a remotely urban area the convenience stores are manned by people from India most of the time.

The Indian stereotype isn't so bad. I also know them to be talented and hardworking people too, you see them a lot working in R&D for various companies.

Also, I think its OK to refer to them as "Indian" if you don't know what part of India they are from, skip.

its not ok to be racist or xenophobic under any circumstances.

I was never a big believer in sterotypes. I guess life has a sense of irony, though, because I'm finishing up a YEAR with a miserable roommate. He's Iranian, and miserably fits every annoying stereotype you could think of that apply to Persians. Which means he has to spray himself with multiple scented sprays every time he leaves the damn room, he vacuums his carpet practically every day, and treats said carpet with more respect than he does me.

Also, I'm sure we've all been stereotyped by other people before. I just think its silly. When people realize my name is Greek, I get Greek stereotypes dumped on me(like everyone assumes that I'm Greek orthodox). If people mistake me for asian, and sometimes they do (god knows why), I get some asian stereotyping too.

its probably because of the smell and the turbans. societies dont generally like people who dont conform and these 2 things stand out. especially when you have court cases all over the place regarding turbans.... their was that recent one where the sikh was refusing to where a helmet on his motorcycle because he didnt want to take the turban off. People get annoyed when it appears that certain groups think they are above the law or societal rules.

Ever self realise that u fall into a stereotype? Like the other day I realised how often I say 'eh' my fellow Canadians know what im talking about eh?

I say "wicked" a lot and have a slight Massachusetts accent. Otherwise I don't really fall into any stereotypes.

No wait I go to shows a lot and like obscure bands and thus get stereotyped as scene/emo occasionally. Because of that I do my best to NOT dress like them at all.