Here is an excerpts from The Times of India:
"Not only do I think I'm a desi , but I'm a desi ," the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Obama as telling a mirthful crowd. "I'm a homeboy." Obama then went on to recall how when he first went to Occidental College, his first roommate was Pakistani. And in his dorm, he said with a laugh, "Indians and Pakistanis came together under one roof ... to cause havoc in the university." To applause, he said he became an expert at cooking dal and other ethnic dishes, though "somebody else made the naan."Desi is a colloquial term of endearment commonly used by people from South Asia to distinguish themselves as immigrants, but I thought he was African American and not Asian, but he apparently sees himself more of a Asian? hmmm
