ethnic identity. Filmmaker Anjan Dutt believes that Bengalis are okay with calling themselves Bongs. He used the term Bong instead of Bengali for the title of his 2006 film The Bong Connection because it was something that can be used with jest just like Yank. According to him terms like Bong or Yank stand for certain quirks and attributes of the person coming from a particular region. According to New Delhi-based writer Samit Basu, the people who identify themselves as Bong should fight against the age-old stereotypes of the Bengalis. Bengalis had become proud to be known as Bong, as it was no longer an offensive parochial label. Bong is generally perceived to stand for the global cosmopolitan West Bengali. Blogger Arnab Ray believes that Bong stands for the globalized Bengali. According to a West Bengali civil servant who blogs as Sadoldbong, Bong stands for the Bengali in exile. However, according to Anjan Dutt, there is no cultural or generation gap between the Bong and the Bengali identity. Blogger Sandeepa Mukherjee Datta who blogs as Bong Mom in Bong Mom's Cook Book describes Bong as an identity limited to the Bengali people of West Bengal. Durga Puja has been described as a Bong festival. The prohibition on eating the seasonal Indian plum before the Saraswati Puja has been referred to as Bong cultural heritage. Derivatives Bong is listed as a notable word in Indian English. Contemporary Indian English uses several words that are derived from Bong. Examples include Bongdom (Bengali domination), Bongness (attachment to Bengali culture), Bonglish (pidgin Indian English consisting of Bengali loanwords), hon-Bong (abbreviation for honorary Bong, a person who is not a Bong, but can be considered a Bong by virtue of his/her acquaintance and closeness to Bongs and Bong culture). Stereotypes The Bengali as Bongs are often stereotyped especially in Bollywood and the Internet. A popular Internet joke goes like this. One Bengali is a poet, two Bengalis are a film society, three Bengalis are a political party and four Bengalis are two political parties! One common stereotype is that Bongs are invariably fish eaters and often referred to as Machher Jhol, literally meaning fish curry in Bengali. Bengali women are stereotyped as having big round eyes. Filmmaker Jag Mundhra believed that Bengali women have big round eyes. See also Bongal Madrassi References Neologisms Ethnic and religious slurs Bengali Hindus Stereotypes Indian English West Bengal Regional