Kaiser Y Kuo (@kaiserykuo): "In her 2008 book “Smoke and Mirrors,” my friend Pallavi Aiyar posed the question of whether she would choose to be born in China or in India, and was equivocal: India, if she were sure to be born wealthy; China, if she were likely to be born poor. Not any more. Her Substack is a…"

The app for independent voices

In her 2008 book “Smoke and Mirrors,” my friend Pallavi Aiyar posed the question of whether she would choose to be born in China or in India, and was equivocal: India, if she were sure to be born wealthy; China, if she were likely to be born poor. Not any more. Her Substack is always worth reading!

Since September of last year, I have spent a roughly equivalent amount of time—two months each— in China and India, and I am now about to write a sentence that is deeply painful for me to formulate. Regardless of class and circumstance, I would choose to be born Chinese rather than Indian in today’s world.

Pallavi Aiyar

Feb 5

6:30 AM

The app for independent voices

Log in or sign up