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The Rediff Special/ Sreenath Sreenivasan

Celebrating South Asiana

Last week, Sreenath Sreenivasan, journalism professor at Columbia University and co-founder of the South Asian Journalists Association, delivered the keynote speech at a function organised by the office of the comptroller of New York City, as part of an evening honoring 'South Asian Culture and Heritage.' This is what Professor Sreenivasan said:

It's a singular honor for to address you tonight. And a pleasure to see so many South Asians -- or desis, as many of us like to call ourselves -- gathered here. This is surely the largest total at City Hall in history. Perhaps we can lobby for something big -- how about replacing the bagel as the official food of Queens with the samosa?

As you may know, journalists like me can seize on a particular topic and cling to it with a ferocity that would make the most nasty New York rotweiller blush. Just ask some of politicians in Washington -- or even right here in Manhattan. But give us carte blanche -- as the comptroller's office did when I asked about a topic for today -- we are often at a loss.

But the theme of today's ceremony -- 'celebrating South Asian heritage and culture' -- got me thinking. About South Asia and the phrase 'South Asian.' What exactly does it mean, especially in the context of this extraordinary mosaic of America and New York in particular? A city where most Pakistanis will tell you they met an Indian or a Sri Lankan or a Bangladeshi for the very first time. The same goes for almost any subcontinental you ask: in South Asia, meeting someone from one of the neighoring countries -- let alone working side by side -- is almost unheard of.

My involvement with the South Asian Journalists Association has made me realise what a provocative phrase 'South Asian' is. Those who embrace it are embracing the idea that 1.5 billion people of the subcontinent can have something in common. That close to two million folks in the US share in a destiny that unites them as immigrants, children of immigrants, or as visitors. Whether you are a Mount Sinai Hospital nurse from Kerala, a Wall Street trader from Karachi or a desi NYU student whose parents came to Kansas a lifetime ago.

There are, of course, people within the community who dislike the phrase strongly -- they feel it takes away from the narrower national identity they know better... Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi. Many Indians in the US are particularly unhappy with it: they think they get drowned in this larger identity, when they dominate by virtue of their numbers and history.

A California-based columnist wrote a piece for rediff.com, an Indian website, entitled 'Why I am Not a South Asian.' In it he slammed America's 'intellectual laziness' and the 'loss of branding' by those of us who use "South Asian" when talking about the diaspora. The writer, Rajeev Srinivasan (we are not related), railed against the false presumption of commonality among desis by various groups, including SAJA (we were honored to be named at the top of his list). 'We lose by pushing South Asia,' he declared.

I believe he is wrong about this and there are plenty of people just like him -- including Pakistanis, who don't like being lumped together with India.

In April, Columbia's Southern Asian Institute received an e-mail message from an Indian upset that the Institute's map of South Asia showed more than just India. 'If you don't know what is India, shut your mouth. Don't try to give some map representing all the countries... If you don't remove the sketch, you will face the consequences soon. Regards...'

I say all this as a proud Indian -- my first identity. An Indian not at all ashamed of being from India -- as I have been accused of more than once. I just happen to believe that South Asian is a valid label too. I feel I can speak authoritatively about the common experience that South Asians have and the wonderful heritage we all share. And not just because I happen to be married to a former gold medalist at the South Asian Federation Games.

I went to high school in the Fiji Islands and have gotten a first hand look at how seriously my Fiji-Indian friends -- generations removed from British India -- took their desi-ness, their heritage, their culture. I have also seen how proud Caribbean South Asians in New York are about their connection to an ancient and beautiful place. A place most of their grandparents have never seen.

I do understand that some of the smaller countries and cultures can get lost in the mix. I also acknowledge that there isn't a single, monolithic South Asian 'community,' but rather separate communities that can celebrate their differences while sharing in their commonality. By pandering to those who would keep us separate, we all lose.

These are exciting times to be a South Asian here in the US. From the old economy to the new economy, from popular culture to public service, desis are having an impact disproportional to their numbers. One example: when the Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote this year about the hottest trend in American fashion, it declared that the bindi had replaced last year's hottest trend -- mehndi. And then there's the bidi -- the one desi trend I am not proud of.

Speaking of being proud, I want to take you specifically to one date this past spring: April 9. That Sunday, I sat transfixed as Fiji's Vijay Singh won the Masters, defeating the world's best golfers. The next afternoon, I was at a small announcement ceremony at Columbia, where it was announced that Jhumpa Lahiri had won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction -- becoming the first Asian winner of the prize. In the course of those 24 hours, South Asians had broken through in two quintessentially 'American' arenas. Winning the Masters at hallowed Augusta and a Pulitzer -- the wording reads: 'for distinguished fiction by an Indian author, preferably dealing with Indian life.'

Bathing in all the success of the community is one thing, but it is also important to acknowledge and do something about the desis being left behind in these dot-com-obsessed days. Many South Asian organizations are, in fact, fighting great odds to improve those lives, but there's a lot more that need to be done.

We also need to look beyond our own comfortable walls and to get more involved with the city we live in, becoming active participants in the New York experience as well as the desi one. Incidentally, it has always bothered me that there were no desis on ER, the hit NBC show. What kind of hospital was that in a country where almost 10 per cent of the students in medical programs are South Asian?

Well, I am pleased to tell you that a friend of mine, Purva Bedi -- who is here tonight -- will get to play just such a role in the new season of the show. How many times she gets to appear depends on the support the desi community shows her, by writing to NBC, by encouraging them to keep putting on diverse characters -- just like hers. You see, as with little kids, decision makers in the media need positive reinforcement and feedback. That's a good lesson when it comes to articles in the press too.

Writing to the editor when they do a responsible story is as effective as dashing off angry letters when do an irresponsible one. There's plenty of irresponsibility to go around; that's why SAJA runs a mailing list called 'Dissecting American Media Now' -- or D.A.M.N.

To my way of thinking, a group needs a sense of maturity to identify itself in a broad way, and your presence here tonight -- as representatives of your own nationalities and as South Asians -- is an affirmation that we are mostly on the same page. And for a journalist there's no greater sense of satisfaction.

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