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From: ssm@ahuta.UUCP (s.modak)
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india
Subject: Re: Patel motels
Message-ID: <576@ahuta.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 5-Apr-85 10:49:50 EST
Article-I.D.: ahuta.576
Posted: Fri Apr  5 10:49:50 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 6-Apr-85 03:10:19 EST
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Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ
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> It seems to me that this has been discussed before, but here goes again:
> 
> Yes, many motels in this country are owned by Indians, and in some areas the
> motel industry is even dominated by Indians.  This is not just due to
> chance.  If you take a closer look you'll find that a disproportionate
> number of the Indians running these motels are Gujeratis named Patel, and an
> awful lot of them are related by caste if not by blood or marriage.  
> 
> I always thought that "Patel motel" was a joking term used just by my future
> in-laws, until I overheard a group of Indians on the Galveston ferry ask one
> another, "Do you suppose there's a Patel motel on the other side?"

No offense to any Patels anywhere, but why call them "Patel motels"?
Wouldn't *POTELS* be more concise?

S. Modak
AT&T