Local Businessman Can’t Escape Persecution for Religious Symbology

"Ash78, voting early and often" (ash78) 02/06/2018 at 12:50 • Filed to: Taketheoutsideline, Satire

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Chaminda “Chip” Rupasingh is a Charlotte, North Carolina, textile distributor and fabricator whose parents brought him to the area in the 1980s to escape the Sri Lankan civil war. As a teenager, he struggled to find his identity as his parents worked odd jobs driving taxis, cleaning motel rooms, or working in auto repair. It was his interest in cars that inspired him to pursue degrees in chemical engineering at Georgia Tech in the early 1990s, eventually earning his PhD and returning to Charlotte to found Queen City Auto Interiors in 2000.

Chip Rupasingh still puts in at least six day of work each week, doing many of his larger and more complex jobs by hand.

Despite a thoroughly American education and what he considers “full immersion” in the American lifestyle, Dr. Rupasingh still feels he cannot escape bigotry and persecution for expressions of his native Theravada Buddhist faith. His personal car, a 1998 Volkswagen Jetta VR6, was one of his first test vehicles for his interior creations and it proudly wears an ancient Indian swastika embroidered into the leather seatbacks. He keeps the car – and the custom seatbacks – as a reminder that he should remain humble and continue to work hard towards his goals.

“For many years around Charlotte, I have gotten many many compliments on my work. Sometimes it’s a thumbs up or a wink from someone walking by, other times people want to stop and talk with me about making America great again. I agree – we need more support for small businesspeople and to encourage people to go into the STEM fields like I did.”

Swastika decoration is not especially uncommon among South Asian cultures.

Dr. Rupasingh even claims he’s turned down requests to speak at various rallies across the state and the region, insisting that his schedule is too full to branch out into motivational speaking right now. “Most of my free time, I spend in my lab, working on new adhesives or polymers that I can test market through my shop, eventually licensing them to companies like 3M or PPG,” he counters. “When KKK sent me a request letter, I explained to them I was not in the turbocharging business, but I was still very flattered.”

Although the local reception has been positive, on a recent trip to an industry trade show in Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Rupasingh left the exhibition hall on the first day to find his car severely vandalized. The paint had been scratched on all sides, with hateful messages written around the car. “They even mocked me by scratching my beloved swastika backwards into the hood and told me to ‘go back to redneckville’.”

Dr. Rupasingh’s Jetta just weeks before the vandalism occurred.

Dr. Rupasingh insists he will never return to Sri Lanka, since his memories there as a child are almost all filled with sadness and violence at the hands of Tamil militants. “Everyone in my family has since moved away, to places like North Carolina, Florida, London, and around the world.”

Upon returning home to Charlotte, Dr. Rupasingh took his Jetta to the body shop of a close friend, fellow Sri Lankan Ranjith Prasad. As they discussed the paintwork, the discussion turned to the larger problem of intolerance in America.

“For over a thousand years, our people have suffered — at the hands of Muslim bandits, British imperialists, and then Sri Lankan separatists,” he laments. “Displaying symbols of your heritage are supposed to be a protected right in this country. I would never have expected this kind of intolerance in America,” adding “Maybe when that sketchy Muslim guy was president, but not with Trump. I honestly believed the swastika was safe again.”

MonkeePuzzle > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 13:05

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maybe the sri lankan signage would be better received if they weren’t finger painted in the blood of his enemies

Ash78, voting early and often > MonkeePuzzle 02/06/2018 at 13:06

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Pretty sure that one is from Kashmir.

E90M3 > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 13:08

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It was his interest in cars that inspired him to pursue degrees in chemical engineering at Georgia Tech

That doesn’t sound like anyone here.

boredalways > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 13:08

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You really want to write for The Onion, don’t you?

Milky > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 13:12

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IMO this is why republicans don’t do satire.

“Maybe when that sketchy Muslim guy was president, but not with Trump. I honestly believed the swastika was safe again.”

Chariotoflove > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 13:31

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“Displaying symbols of your heritage are supposed to be a protected right in this country. I would never have expected this kind of intolerance in America,”

Hey, diversity is celebrated in this country. As long as it conforms to the established standards.

DipodomysDeserti > Chariotoflove 02/06/2018 at 14:05

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+1 “Heritage not Hate” bumper sticker

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 14:12

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That last line. Bravo.

Ash78, voting early and often > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 02/06/2018 at 14:13

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I was like “What would M. Night Shyamalan do here?”

Ilike_cougars > Ash78, voting early and often 02/06/2018 at 15:12

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As a Hindu I think I need to explain

The swastika symbol is supposed to represent Lord Ganesh the god that removes obstacles.  Also the writing on top of the symbol on the car reads as “Shubh laab” ie Blessings for new beginnings 

Ash78, voting early and often > Ilike_cougars 02/06/2018 at 15:14

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Thanks — I didn’t want to go into that level of detail here (for space reasons), but I alway feel compelled to scold the Nazis for just about everything they did.

crowmolly > Ash78, voting early and often 02/07/2018 at 13:08

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Fuck yea Led Zep! But I don’t remember this on the album cover.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > Ash78, voting early and often 02/07/2018 at 13:13

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

This guy is a true hero.

SnapUndersteer, Italian Spiderman > Ash78, voting early and often 02/07/2018 at 13:30

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It’s a shame The Onion doesn’t have you on staff

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Ash78, voting early and often 02/07/2018 at 14:08

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Sri Lanka represent!

Also Buddhists (at least in Sri Lanka today) don’t go around sporting swastikas, no matter what it’s meant to symbolize – although it does have historical meaning in Buddhism. Symbols similar to what is shown on the hood of that car is probably more common in Hindu communities though, and I believe that is meant to be a “blessing” placed on a new vehicle.

As for talk of religious tolerance (and imagery of peaceful pacifist Buddhist monks), recent Sri Lankan history really shows how corrupting an influence any majority religion can have on a society. Sri Lankan Buddhists at least today certainly cannot claim any moral high ground there.

This guy also lost a vowel on his last name (either an “a” or an “e”).

Ash78, voting early and often > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 02/07/2018 at 14:42

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Funfact: my best friend growing up in the 80s was Sri Lankan Buddhist and they had actually left Colombo a few years earlier due to unrest. His parents did have an old book with a swastika on it and I remember freaking out when I saw it (like all good 10-year-old boys do) because my dad is a hige WWII fanatic and I knew the symbol pretty well, or so I thought :D