I've said that phrase several times in the last couple of days. First time, we were discussing someone named "Sheila". To almost anyone not born on the subcontinent, "Sheila" is a generically European, possibly Jewish name. My coworkers, however, all believed that "Sheila" is solely an Indian name.

The name "Sheila", to me, brings up images of an overly tanned 40-year old with a 20-year old hairstyle who wears a lot of gold chains and smokes menthol cigarettes. I can't imagine an Indian "Sheila". Indian women, for the most part, do not smoke. They tend to not have feathered hair. I just can't reconcile my mental picture of "Sheila" with an Indian woman.

The great Sheila debate, I believed, was an anomaly. Then came the news that Chandra Levey's body was found�and my coworkers thought she was Indian.

"She's Jewish, dammit, not Indian!"

"But Chandra means "heart" in my language. It's a common Indian name"

So maybe we're on to something here. I have yet to meet and Indian Jacob or Ishmael or any other man with an Indian/Jewish name, but maybe they exist.