I was looking at the photos from the recent Bhangra Blowout [thanks Amardeep] and was struck by the non-desi dancers in the photos. What confuses me is why I’m surprised at all.
Growing up, NYC was a giant thali of different cultural practices. Black kids did Kung Fu and Lion Dances, Chinese Americans breakdanced and rapped. Culture wasn’t “apna,” it was for anybody willing to put the time in to learn. I probably did as much Irish and Israeli folk dancing (yes, I’m a dork) as a kid as I did Punjabi folk dancing. I should be no more surprised to see a non-Punjabi, non-desi, dancing Bhangra than I am surprised to see a non-Latino doing Salsa, or a non-Korean doing Tae Kwan Do.
Still, I’m not used to it, and I think that other desis are even less used to it than I am. We tend to snark a lot about white people doing puja or yoga, criticizing their pronunciation, saying that they don’t somehow grok the soul of the practice. Well guess what – it’s not going to stop there and we ABCDs are hypocrites if we’re affronted. Let’s be honest, many of us sit here and learn the words to Hindi songs phonetically, just like the non-desi next to us. We’re cosmopolitan, not essentialist, in all other aspects of our lives.
We’re just scared that if somebody else can do these things, these things that we associate with our homes, cook our food, speak our languages, worship our God(s), dance our dances, sing our songs, as well as we can or better that we’ll lose our distinctiveness. That’s understandable but dumb.
Yes, I’m better at dancing Bhangra than most non-desis, but that doesn’t mean that I have the rhythms of Punjab in my veins, just a bit more practice than some. At the end of the day, it’s about talent and enthusiasm, not ancestry (and I cringe equally when I see most non-Punjabi desis dancing Bhangra). It just takes a little while to get used to the fact that these things are now … public, and open to all.
Related posts: White girls in Brooklyn appropriate Saraswati
this is a great post ennis – you’ve put your finger on something that’s felt but not articulated. I think cultural practices (such as folk dances) can become more understood and appreciated if they are shared with non-members of the cultural group…
On another note, not only does this happen with desis/non-desis but also within different desi groups. It used to be considered odd if a north indian studied bharatnatyam or odissi, or a south indian kathak, but several accomplished dancers broke those barriers by excelling in those dances…
In another sense, the english language is a great example of having survived and evolved despite being totally “mutated” from its original syntax and grammar in various regions…and its all the better for it…as compared to french and L’academie francaise which imposes such stringent rules on how french should be spoken and approves/disproves changes and new developments – as a result there are less and less people speaking french or choosing to learn french than other languages than what was perhaps the potential of the language, say 100 years ago…
i used to get worked up about preserving culture (as i did on this blog). but i saw those pictures and i was like…cool. which was a pretty pleasant reaction. i’ve actually been annoyed with having to “defend” a culture rather than just dance to it. i think maybe it has to do with whether one sees culture as threatened. For me, since I was first introduced to Punjabi culture, it was very much in the context of struggle for justice and i took that to be a struggle for the “authentic” performance of culture.
More and more I understand that there is no “authentic”. I still believe there are just and unjust ways of participating in any culture, but that’s not to do with authenticity
I think its a really good place for Bhangra culture, which is not even solely Punjabi, that people of many ethnicities are doing it. If anything, if you wanted to make the arguement, you might say that there can be no “authentic” Bhangra without West Indian Reggae music.
It’s very ironic that the style of music that people — including myself — have lauded as undoubtadely Punjabi is very immersed in other cultures. Without Bally Sagoo and others using beats from Reggae and Hip Hop, there’s a question as to if Diaspora Bhangra would have “made it”. Truly thats a good lesson to learn. And it also goes all the way to the Syncretic culture of Punjab itself. More and more I wonder if there is anything authentic about anything
awesome post! and no you’re not a dork…..
Pattie – Oh yes I am. Trust me, Irish and Israeli folk dances are fun, but very dorky.
Sahej – It’s also limiting to Punjabi culture to define itself solely by Bhangra. There was an urban Punjabi culture as well, one about poetry and literature. It wasn’t all plowing the field, harvesting the grain and dancing.
Ennis,
Very much agree. I think thats something that should get more play as well….the poetry and literature aspect. Even in the rural Punjab bhangra dancing wasn’t always a central part of the culture all the time. I also think Punjabi culture would flower again if the borders opened up
not to divert this thread, rather my question is an aside to anyone (ennis?) who might know more about this….the remark about opening up the borders made me realize that one doesnt hear as much in the mainstream media about the trials and pains of partition on the punjabi community in quite the same way as you do about the two koreas…and separations of both communities happened around the same time, circa 50-60 years ago…so, I was wondering if anyone would know if this issue has received much attention because I think it might be a quite important one. On the other hand, I might just be totally unaware of a lot of stuff that is out there, since I’m not punjabi, but just an interested brown person 🙂
The first picture from the Bhangra Blowout gig, with the guddi in pink, is a wicked photo – she is burning up the floor!
word, those eyes man, on fire
Cool!!!
At a recent desi wedding a couple where the guy was white performed a dance to “Yeh kudia” from Dilwale and OMG we were all just blown away. He was fantastic and even mouthed the words while he was dancing. After the dance was over they went over to hug her parents and he even bent down and touched their feet.
I recently taught two (otherwise guidos) at work how to make chicken tikka masala (the short cut ready made paste version) and they were so excited. Apparently they’ve gone out on their own now and expanded their collection of spices and are experimenting more.
I’m never surprised but always amazed at the cultural openness I have experienced in NYC and it’s always heartwarming. I’ve been in my share of bridesmaid dresses and am even a godmother. It’s what makes this a wonderful melting pot albeit sometimes being a rotten apple 🙂
For once, I agree with Pattie. =]
She looked amazing in that photo. Here’s a very faint video of the Penn State Team, from last year.
Ennis, I challenge you to a bhangra-off
i went to my first BB in 2000 and there were non-desi dancers then, too, and they were FANTASTIC. they were also impossible to miss– each team was announced visually on giant video screens where all team members’ names were listed. i can’t remember which school…it might have been yale, but their one unbrown dancer was easily the best on stage. it was beautiful to see and even better to feel.
Great topic and post, Ennis! I was complaining to my roommate once (he’s Japanese-American, a Yoga instructor) how Americans appropriate Indian things like Yoga without respecting their Indianness and so on… I pretty much had to shut up when he pointed out I could be accused of doing the same thing with Salsa. So that comparison actually hits home with me!
I used to be a little cringey when I first got to the US and saw non-Indians doing Indian stuff like dancing bhangra at local SAS parties and so on…but now I’m cool with it. It’s perfectly fine to take things from another culture to play with as long as the intention is respectful, I think.
No, but I’d still not condone anything from the Happy Hippie store!
Love the PSU video — I was on one of the earlier PSU teams to go to BB in 2000 and we had a non-desi on our team who kicked mucho kundi. All about spreading the love.
One of the more peculiar experiences I had in the past year was being at a club in Lagos (Nigeria) and seeing a stage full of Nigerians doing a dance routine from Kabhi Khushi Khabie Gham.
I think I stood there for a full minute with my mouth open.
Until you’ve seen a room full of sardarji’s grooving to Fela Kuti as I poured another round of whiskies for my uncles at my flat in London when I was a student, you havent seen anything my friend 😉
they’re on the same level as polkas. not dorky at all. actually, it’s cool that you’ve such a broad mind, and are willing to try things from other. you can’t be a dork just for dances. i know some of the coolest people who do irish dances…and isreali folk dances just sound amazing. dorky are people who call each other mushy and and stuff when they’re both far more drugged up than i’ll ever seem.
woohhoo! kewl.
is that an invite?
Sonia – Is that your new diet and exercise plan 😉 I’ll concede up front – I was never on a team, so I don’t have the skills for it. I’m a recreational dancer, not a pro like yourself 😉
Water, it no get enemy Balle Balle Water, it no get enemy Hareepa
I’ve never known anybody who didn’t like Fela. And dancing to Fela is even easier than dancing Bhangra 😉
And the Chinese are following suit.
Fantastic. Long live the Indo-Nigerian Alliance.
fela is awesome!
love it!
Not to toot my own Gujarati horn, but I was actually on GW’s Bhangra Blowout winning team in 1999. Yeah, I took it back to the 90’s. I actually met my fiance, also Gujarati, when we were on that team.
Thanks for sharing my workout woes with all the SM’ers =) Now if all of you could leave your secret weight loss tips as well, that would be great 🙂
Hey Ennis, thanks for the shoutout!
The word “appropriate” (the verb, not the adjective) is a loaded one. It’s all perception, honestly. Some people can’t look past the skin color and will automatically discredit (or hire!) me just because I’m white. It’s happened both ways. And I’ve certainly been known to look down on Those Girls(tm) who are all like “OMG you sing Hindu songs! I love yoga! I want to marry an Indian boy! Kama Sutra! Ayurveda! and belly dancing.” .. mainly because I hate that just by looking at me, people will assume that is what I am.
I sing on a semi-regular basis at events around Dallas. (This Friday, North Lake College, 4pm, show is free…ahem ;>) But I digress. The question always gets asked, “so why do you like Indian culture so much?” That’s the wrong question, because it was never about that and always about the music, but it is just assumed that because I’m white, I must have some perverse exotic fascination with a culture that is not my own… but I don’t go home to a different world. This IS my world – how I grew up, my mostly-desi circle of friends, post-undergrad experiences… past and present all rolled up into one. I didn’t go looking for this… it just happened. That is the hardest thing to explain to people.
People don’t know what to do with you when you live on the lines we draw between cultures. But I think it’s getting better… people on all sides becoming more inclusive and understanding that those lines are arbitrary in so many ways. Not all ways, but more and more every day.
Stereotypes are usually grounded in reality, but they don’t take into account the fact that other people live very big lives just like you. I don’t feel ‘classifiable’ … and yet people are so quick to judge.
hey…dont make a difference to me what color you are. as long as ur dancing to my tunes — representing the south-asian-ness, ROCK ON!!!! By all means. Exposure rids ignorance. Loads of respect to those who make the effort to expose our culture and loads more to those who embrace it. 🙂
Chai
You have a great song in your blog.
omg, your social insight is sooo phenomenal.
Ha! This reminds of being roped into the Diwali festival dance shows by the South Asian Student association in college.
Girls in my organic chem lab sort of badgered me into it. They walked me through all the steps, repeatedly during rehearsals… (something with sticks? something else with sheaves of grain?) … walked me through alll the steps, repeatedly…(I dropped the sticks) …repeatedly…(I missed the other sticks and nailed arms and necks)…until the flamenco dancer virtually-a-pro white chick finally stopped in teh middle of everything and exasperatedly yelled, “so are you Indian or not?!”
Of course, they all had a bit of fun when they slapped a too-tight lengha-choli on me and flung me out to gyrate during the filmi “fashion show” number. I had no idea why I was so popular (my abs aren’t that great) until I realized yeeaars later that I’d danced to that “Choli Ke Peechhe” song…
Just another bhangra lowe-lowe story.
“We” = you. I snark on quality. If you can cross cultures and do it well, you’re a stud++.
let’s face it… bhangra dancing sucks. it’s the eastern equivalent of country-line dancing. same with garba… the moves are repititive, non-unique, and are suppposed to be done in unison. how much more conformist, uniform, sheep-like and unoriginal can you get. seriously. fuck bhangra.
“Let’s face it, sex sucks. The moves are repetitive, non-unique and done in unison. How much more conformist can you get. Seriously, fck fcking.”
Ooh! A rebel. You’re so non-uniformed, non-sheep like and original and unique – your music man, it’s…I’m lost for words – dude, if you’re going to step up like that make sure your music is better than the laughable pompous fartings and lyrics on your website, I mean seriously, what are your lyrics supposed to be? At least bhangra people smile and have fun and don’t have their heads stuck up their own ass – balle balle! 😉
Not neccessarily, as clearly demonstrated in KamaSutra. Purchase a copy today.
Sharaab ~ maybe I should have the bhangra-off with you instead so I can show you some “unique” moves .. my favorite being the one I coined “The Bitch Slap” (No, really, I’m serious – it’s one of my favorite bhangra moves)
I don’t cringe anymore, though I admit I used to, as long as the dancer doesn’t have his pugri or chuni (dupatta) falling off his or her head during the dance (oh and it’s great if his pugri falls off and he chooses NOT to kick it off stage – oh yea, it happened). And second, please learn how to say the word BHANGRA! It annoys me to no end when a bhangra competition MC can’t even say the word (hence part of the reason I boycott shows like BB and UCLA’s BB). “Bhangra” people, as in PUNGRAA, not BAINGRA or BHAANGRAA. Is it really that damn hard?
Rant over.
Manish said:
When brown people do mediocre bhangra, we applaud. When a non-brown person joins them in doing mediocre bhangra, we criticize. When a white person’s pronunciation is off, we look at them like they’re a crpetbagger. When an ABCD’s pronuniciation is off on some Sanskrit terminology, we criticise the elders for not teaching in a technologically sophisticated fashion. Double standard, yaar.
Again, ‘we’ = you. Badly done is badly done, and competence shines.
Not if there are more than 2 people involved, right (never done that)? 😀
But seriously, I like Manish’ stand, I think I’d give extra credit to anyone who tries a thing from some other culture and does it well.
Ha Ha!!!! I love that story!
I usually take my non-desi friends to the desi-themed parties in Houston. They’re usually the only ones dancing on the floor for the first hour or so wondering why desis are so shy about dancing. Until that first bhangra song hits, and all the soporific browns spring to the floor and start yelling and flailing. The reaction on my friends’ faces is usually priceless as they slink meekly away from the floor.
You’ve never seen the double standard applied to the 80% of stuff in the middle? Never heard the inconsistent carping about pronunciation from white faces but not from equally poorly spoken brown ones? Never heard anybody ask – what are they doing here?
Ennis is right. His “we” is actually not just him. No matter how enlightened Manish is (and I don’t doubt it), people in general are pretty harsh towards outsiders. Outsiders are especially likely to be made into figures of fun, when they are being earnest.
But, of course, it’s not just South Asians who do it.
Not to get all academic on this thread, but it seems that you’re verging into the realm of the philosophical (and knowing that “Ennis” is a closet philosopher along with his political bent), I’ll suggest some further reading from the Dark Continent
K.Antony Appiah – Cosmopolitanism
or if you want to go to the source of that effort, read his adviser
Kwasi Wiredu – Cultural Universals and Particulars
I suspect there are desi equivalents…
Of course I’ll admit that it’s more fun to discuss music, dancing, clothing and pop culture… your mileage may vary, caveat emptor etc.
I agree with Ennis…it’s not just him, many if not most of ‘us’ have those double standards, consciously or not. Manish is probably a relative exception.
I second the Appiah recommendation. It’s a short book too, and gets to the valuable point that many of us now are from everywhere.