Hadji Singh

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Hadji Singh is a character on the US television animated series Jonny Quest (1964-65). Hadji is an Indian boy, eleven years old. As the adoptive son of Dr. Quest, he is also an Asian American. He is seldom seen without his bejewelled turban and Nehru jacket. His name "Hadji" apparently has only an accidental resemblance with the title of a Muslim veteran of the Mecca pilgrimage, Hajji; a fuller name for the character is never revealed in the original series.

Hadji is often assumed to be Hindu but The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest series gives him the last name Singh, which suggests he may actually be either a Hindu or a Sikh. In a flashback in the episode "Calcutta Adventure", Dr Quest is lecturing at Calcutta University. The Quests meet Hadji who is an orphan and a sort of street urchin fakir. He can use magic both for fun and to get out of trouble, by reciting the Hindu incantation SIM, SIM, SALABIM. He is proficient at both snake charming and the Indian rope trick. He saves Dr. Quest's life and is ultimately adopted by the family in consequence. He reveals that he learned to speak English (for which he has a complete idiomatic command) from an "American Marine" who also taught him judo. He has nurtured a longing to "see America" ever since. In the same episode, a character (Pasha Peddler) facilitates Hadji's departure from India with the Quests by obtaining passport, health certificate and adoption paperwork by bribery. (Pasha and Hadji seem to bear resemblances to characters in Rudyard Kipling's novel Kim -- Mahbub Ali and Kim, respectively.) In truth, Hadji is a hodge-podge of exotic "oriental" features and stereotypes concocted by the show's writers who were none too well informed about Asian cultures.

[edit] Ongoing popular references

• From at least as early as 2000, and especially during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the term Hajji has been documented among U.S. military personnel as a slang reference to all things "civilian" in the Middle East.
  • This term used by U.S. military personnel may originate with "Hadji" (the Jonny Quest character) rather than the Muslim pilgrim title. (This usage may be considered an ethnic slur, however, a Muslim may not object to the term due to its status as an honorific in the Muslim faith.)
  • The term has gained some minor use beyond the military as well. So used, the term is often collective in sense, describing a community of Muslims or Middle-Eastern people, vehicles used by civilians in the Middle East, civilian dwellings, and civilian authority figures, rather than directed towards a particular individual.
  • The United States Army Rangers combat medics refer to the resuscitation mannequin used in medical training as "Hadji".
• In the episode "Stewie: The Untold Story" of the cartoon series Family Guy, Jonny Quest characters are boarding a plane. When it's Hadji's turn, Stewie orders him to have selective screening based on his appearance (accent, turban, etc.) because he thinks Hadji is a terrorist. Hadji protests by uttering his catch phrase, "Sim sim salabim," at Stewie, who then tells Hadji that (I'd) "try to cut back on that".
• In volume 2 of the Star Trek novel The Eugenics Wars: The Rise of Khan Noonian Singh there is a brief appearance of a character who is clearly meant to be Hadji. This is an adult version of the character who has become a Calcutta diplomat.
• In the season 3 episode of The Venture Bros., The Doctor Is Sin, Hadji is briefly seen as a manager of some sort of tech company which is working with Jonas Venture Jr.. While working on the project, he mentions how is is somewhat distracted as Jonny, (who is a withdrawn heroin addict) is with him, and that if Hadji brings him back to his place, Hadji's wife will leave him, but wants to help Jonny, who is like a brother to him.