because a white actor,za hanka, did the accent. -yeah. the accent is definitely a part of it. it's an accent meant to elicit laughter. it's not that realistic. the fact that everything he did always was connectedto is indianness or what, like, the white writers and executives thought indianness was. -you were taking on... or you are taking on a well-loved tv show an ataking on the question in relation to identity politics, so what was your processho in decidingto present te in a way that would make sense and matter to a broad audience? -sure. i mean, i think "the simpsons" is a great place to start because it's "the simpsons it's a global show. like, there's so many of us who grew up on it. "the simpsons" at its peak influenced so much of the conversation of the country. i mean, it was a very important show, so that already gave me a place, an institution to start from. -what was the impact, do you think, of apu? so t-i mean, i think for a lote, of young south asian-americans, i think it shaped our identity. there was a certain embarrassmentou sometimes being who we were. ther