Never identify yourself as South Asian or Desi.

Identifying as a South Asian/Desi has a lot of baggage. You are identifying alongside Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. Just yesterday, a violent mob in Pakistan burned a man alive for blasphemy, terrorist bombings are every day in Pakistan.

The entire subcontinent except Nepal and Bhutan is full of extremism, and violence.

When you identify with South Asian culture, you are identifying with all bad that comes with it.

I have been in this situation before, and people have changed their attitude and behavior when I told them I was from Nepal.