When a single-line reply underneath a hackathon picture set off a storm on X, many exterior the Indian and South Asian tech neighborhood initially dismissed the response as overblown. The phrase was quick, obscure and, to some, simply defined away as a crude joke about lengthy hours and crowded rooms. However for a lot of Indians in tech, the remark landed very in another way. It touched a nerve formed by years of stereotypes, coded insults and experiences that make sure phrases something however impartial.
What really occurred
The controversy started when {a photograph} from a high-profile hackathon was shared on X, displaying a big crowd of builders and engineers. In response, Nik Pash, Cline’s head of AI, replied with the phrase “think about the scent.” Virtually instantly, Indian and South Asian customers identified that the phrase is broadly recognised on-line as a racist meme geared toward their neighborhood.As criticism mounted, Pash defended the comment as a innocent joke about hackathons and refused to apologise. “I’m not going to apologise for making a innocent joke about hackathons smelling dangerous,” he wrote, including that he had attended a number of such occasions that yr and that “all of them smelled dangerous.”That stance intensified the backlash. Distinguished voices within the tech ecosystem stepped in to clarify publicly why the phrase carried racial which means no matter intent. Deedy Das, an Indian-origin tech investor, put it bluntly: “Each time I’ve seen ‘think about the scent’, it’s an assault on Indians.” His level, echoed by many others, was not about studying malice into each joke, however about recognising how sure phrases perform on-line.The dialogue escalated quickly, alongside respectable criticism, there have been additionally cases of harassment and threats, which many critics condemned outright. Solely after sustained public stress did Saoud Rizwan, the founder and chief govt of Cline, situation a press release. He distanced the corporate from the remark and acknowledged that hurt had been brought about, whereas emphasising that the comment was not supposed to offend.
A phrase with an extended and ugly historical past
The response was not pushed by hypersensitivity to humour. “Think about the scent” is broadly recognised on-line as a racist meme used to mock Indians and South Asians, notably in tech and gaming areas. For years, the phrase has circulated alongside stereotypes about hygiene, meals and overcrowding, typically functioning as a technique to demean Indian professionals whereas preserving believable deniability.Probably the most persistent tropes behind it’s the concept Indians “scent like curry”, a stereotype that has adopted South Asians for many years throughout faculties, workplaces and fashionable tradition. From playground taunts to workplace jokes and nameless remark sections, meals, spices and our bodies are collapsed right into a single insult, implying uncleanliness and otherness. Indian media commentary has repeatedly traced this trope to colonial-era attitudes that used hygiene and bodily distinction as instruments of racial hierarchy.On-line boards clarify how widespread the affiliation stays. Indian and South Asian customers steadily describe encountering feedback reminiscent of “smells like curry” or “think about the scent” underneath unrelated pictures or movies, typically accompanied by emoji reactions meant to sign mockery slightly than humour. The phrasing survives exactly as a result of it permits customers to retreat behind irony or alleged ambiguity when challenged.Due to that historical past, intent turns into secondary. When language is repeatedly used to focus on a particular group, it carries which means even when the speaker claims a unique context. For a lot of Indians, the phrases don’t arrive as a clean slate. They arrive loaded.
Intent versus influence is just not an equal debate
Defenders of the remark centered closely on intent, arguing that as a result of it was not meant to be racist, it shouldn’t be handled as such. However this framing misunderstands how hurt operates. Impression is formed by repetition, energy and context, not by a single clarification supplied after the very fact.For Indians in tech, the influence is cumulative. It’s constructed from schoolyard taunts, on-line slurs, office jokes and the fixed stress to chortle alongside to keep away from being labelled humourless or tough. Considered by means of this lens, the remark didn’t exist in isolation. It match a well-recognized sample.Calling out the phrase was not about punishing a person. It was about naming an issue that’s typically minimised or ignored. A number of Indian voices made the identical level publicly: even when the remark was not supposed as anti-India, its impact was indistinguishable from feedback that clearly are.
Company responses and unresolved questions
Cline’s response mirrored a well-recognized company dilemma. Firms typically transfer rapidly to handle reputational fallout, however hardly ever go far sufficient in confronting the cultural assumptions that make such incidents potential. For a lot of Indian professionals, the lingering query is just not whether or not a press release was issued, however whether or not real understanding adopted.Will future humour be filtered by means of an consciousness of historic hurt, or will every episode be handled as an remoted misunderstanding?
Why this was by no means nearly a joke
At its core, the controversy was not about policing humour or imposing ideological conformity. It was about who will get to outline hurt. Indians in tech are steadily cited as proof of variety and meritocracy, but their experiences are sometimes discounted after they articulate discomfort.For a lot of Indians, the phrase was by no means impartial as a result of lived expertise has taught them it hardly ever is. This doesn’t imply each careless remark is malicious. It does imply that dismissing the response as oversensitivity ignores the way in which phrases accumulate which means over time.The lesson from this episode is just not that humour ought to vanish from tech tradition. It’s that context issues, historical past issues and listening issues. When these are ignored, even a couple of phrases can reveal way over the speaker supposed.
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