i had an indian friend. his last name is pai. which ethnic group does he belong? and which ethnic group does that famous indian miss world "rai"(aishwarya) belong?

Aishwaria Rai is from Mangalore, Karnataka, India. So technically she's south indian merchant class(not brahmin). However Rai is a north indian name so people speculate that she could be one of the Kashmiri Brahmins who settled in the south when the muslims invaded. Other people believe that she has partial punjabi ancestry.
Her area called Coorg is famed for its women with light eyes/fair skin so many people insist that she's native to Coorg.

About the name Pai, sorry I dont know anything.

Isn't "Pai" the name of a character in the anime known as 3x3 Eyes?

I've never heard of it in real life before, so I have no idea which caste/class it belongs to.

I did meet a South Indian Rai at my internship once, and they looked indigenous compared to Aishwarya.

Punjabis use Rai too, but so do Bengalis and Biharis.


My mom said it's one of those generic last names in India?

Aishwarya Rai is a Bunt. Its a Mercenary military caste i believe. She is indigenous and a Tulu. And Rai being predominantly north indian caste has nothing to with it. She is a bunt, as is sunil shetty, shilpa shetty!

are you going to f@g up this thread with more useless bollywood triva?

I'm the one who bumped the thread up.