Guest blogged by Simran Jeet Singh
Last week, people around the world watched a Sikh with a turban and beard – Gurpreet Singh Sarin – charm the judges on the iconic television show, American Idol. The show’s judges and producers played up his nickname, the Turbanator, and almost immediately, #Turbanator began trending nationwide on Twitter. As is often the case, however, the ugly face of bigotry reared its ugly head and reminded us all of the problems faced by Sikhs around the country. Countless Americans equated the contestant’s turban and beard with terrorism, and #Osama also began trending across the country.
Gurpreet has little control over how the producers of American Idol choose to project his image. Yet he has done an incredible job of working within the system to create positive change, and his breakthrough performance is something from which we will all benefit for years to come. More importantly, we as a community cannot learn how to build our image in greater America if we do not see Sikhs experiment within mainstream media and learn from those experiences. Certainly there were moments on the show that could have been improved, and while it is important to recognize and build upon these for the future, it is also important for us to take this moment to enjoy this unprecedented moment in our community’s history.
(Disclaimer: I’ve never watched American Idol before. It’s true.)
Most of you are probably already well aware that a young Sikh named Gurpreet Singh Sarin appeared on American Idol last night and made it through the first hurdle. In case you missed it, here is the clip from his audition in front of the judges.
Like most of you, I’ve been barraged with posts on Facebook and Twitter about Gurpreet’s success on the show last night, mostly expressing excitement and support for the self-proclaimed “Turbanator.” The vibe I’m getting from all the posts I’m seeing from Sikhs is that this big moment for Gurpreet is a big moment for the Sikh community in the US, perhaps an opportunity for some positive representation in popular culture. The Sikh Coalition and SALDEF have tweeted congratulations to Gurpreet as well, and the overall sentiment appears celebratory.
I share some of this excitement, or at least fascination, but the whole thing is also making me cringe a bit. I don’t want to unnecessarily rain on this parade because I do think it is an interesting moment and opportunity. I also think Gurpreet is a solid singer and did a great job at handling what must have been an uncomfortable situation on many levels.
Like American Turban, I am a massive fan of comic books, and particularly of the superhero narrative, so I was intrigued by the recent Op-ed piece by Vishavjit Singh of the SikhToons website, titled “Wham. Bang. Pow. It’s time for a superhero to fight hate crimes,” where he suggests the creation of minority superheroes, including a Sikh, to fight moral battles such as hate crimes.
I like the sentiment of Vishavjit Singh’s piece and I’ll address what it seems like he is suggesting at the end of this post. But first, my usual tangent. The issue as I see it is not that “minority” superheroes don’t exist. There are quite a lot of them, covering many ethnicities and religious backgrounds, even Satanism (Ghostrider, anyone?). Most of them are just not developed with as much awesomeness as their white male counterparts. Even the white female superheroes and supervillains are foils to their more powerful, funnier, and wittier male counterparts. Here’s a quick experiment to show you how quickly you run out of steam:
-Name five white, male superheroes.
-Name five white, female superheroes.
-Name five black, male superheroes.
-Name five black, female superheroes.
-Name just one Sikh male or female superhero.
I’m not even bringing sexual orientation, Hispanic superheroes, or the all encompassing “Asian” superheroes into this, and most people will struggle after the second one, and all but the die hard comic book fans who don’t rely on movie adaptations will reach #4. But to name even one Sikh character requires a certain commitment to the lore of comic books– some would call it a lack of a social life, although I would certainly not. I think people like this should be called what they are: extremely cool.
The use of social video sites by our community has seen an upward trend. Of course, many readers of this blog will instantly recognize individuals that have emerged in the last two to three years using YouTube and other social media sites – Mandeep Sethi, Humble the Poet, JusReign, and IISuperwomanII are but a few of the commonly recognized names from North America alone.
As it becomes more accessible, we are also seeing the emergence of more grassroots-level use of social video. This medium has allowed Sikhs, and particularly Sikh youth, to express themselves to an unprecedented audience size, and there are several organizations encouraging Sikhs to make use of this platform. For example, SikhNet has been running their Youth Online Film Festival since 2006, and the Sikh Coalition is also holding their third annual Diversity Video Competition for its third consecutive year.
Recently, Manbeena Kaur, the Sikh Coalition’s Education Director, was good enough to answer some questions about the use of social video for the purposes of Sikh education and awareness.
Needless to say, it’s been a tough week. I have been grateful for all the thoughtful writing my Sikh brothers and sisters have been putting out through the mainstream and independent media and all the important conversations that have been happening here at TLH and beyond.
That being said, sometimes it’s nice to take a few minutes away from the intense discussion and laugh a little. As Naunihal Singh noted in his recent (fantastic) column in the New Yorker, neither John Stewart nor Steven Colbert have made any mention of Oak Creek at all since the tragedy. Fortunately, there is a new, edgy late night talk show on FX called Totally Biased, hosted by comedian W. Kamau Bell and produced by Chris Rock, that did go there. And in a respectful way. No surprise, given that fellow desi Brooklynite Hari Kondabolu (who has a master’s degree in human rights from the London School of Economics) is a writer for the show. In this clip, Bell exposes the absurdity of some of the discussions in the mass media (and by politicians) about Oak Creek and the Sikh community. Hope you enjoy it. And I look forward to what Totally Biased has in store moving forward. (Also check out this clip from the same show about the NYPD’s stop & frisk policy).
Sikh comedians like Jus Reign have been gaining popularity through YouTube and social media sites for the last several years. I love being at gatherings of extended family when my little cousins show me the latest viral video, which often is hilarious. Even when it’s not, I find myself wondering what it would have been like to grow up as a Sikh in the diaspora in times like these. While we are still by and large not represented at all in the mainstream media, young Sikhs now create our own media, and many do so with much success. Sometimes the videos are brilliant, and perhaps sometimes they get hits simply because Sikhs in the diaspora, especially young Sikhs, are thirsty for the latest quirky, bizarre, or silly video put out by other Sikhs.
To end this hot and humid summer week in NYC, I thought I’d share this video that has been circulating lately, a trailer for what appears to be a series called “Sikhs in the City,” brought to us by Laughistan. There are some familiar faces in there including Sikh Coalition co-founder Amardeep Singh. I’m eager to see what their series will bring us in the future. Enjoy!
By now, you have surely been inundated with Facebook posts and discussions expressing excitement, amazement, or maybe skepticism about French designer Jean Paul Gaultier’s recent showcase of (non-Sikh) models wearing colorful “Sikh-style” turbans.
Gaultier has a thing for India, it seems. According to a recent news article, “The designer is known to visit the country quite often and owns a vast library of intensely coloured textile swatches here since his first visit to Kolkata in West Bengal and Puri in Orissa, in the 1970s.” In a recent interview, Gaultier said, “In every collection I have done, there is always an Indian inspiration.”
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been fascinated by the buzz about the turbaned models in Sikh circles and have been trying to figure out exactly how I feel about it and if I have anything useful to contribute to the conversation. I can’t promise this will be useful, but here are some thoughts and questions that have been swirling around in my head lately.
We Sikh men are not used to being seen as attractive or desirable through the lens of mass media. In Bollywood we are buffoons, in Hollywood we are nonexistent, save the English Patient and the occasional shoutout Waris Ahluwalia gets in the press. So yes, there is something amazing about seeing these models rocking turbans like they are the hottest accessories imaginable, when we, for so long, have received little to no positive reinforcement from the mainstream.
Chances are you’ve probably heard about Tonight Show host Jay Leno’s joke last week that has angered a lot of Sikhs in the US and around the world. In the segment, the voiceover stated, “Here’s a look at Mitt Romney’s summer home on Lake Winnipesaukee,” as a photo of Darbar Sahib was shown.
The New York group Sikhs for Justice has gone so far as to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a California based Sikh doctor has filed a lawsuit for libel against Leno and NBC in the superior court of California. A petition to NBC is also circulating, which has over 4,000 signatures so far. The petition, in part, states:
…the sentiments of Sikhs worldwide are off limits to his monologues and cannot be used further his TV ratings. The Right to Speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution excludes defamation and spreading hate, incitement and false advertising.
My Mamaji, a very well known Punjabi writer in India, has penned loads of best-selling novels, won numerous awards, and has some incredible stories about his experience of being in the Indian Army during the 1980s, but he has never once written about 1984. Nothing. Not even a short-story. He has written stories set during partition, about the Indo-Pak War, about religion, ethics, and many other controversial topics, but confessed that he just didn’t know where to start writing about 1984 because of the emotions it stirred up within him, and all the hidden layers. He claimed that as a fiction writer, it was too difficult to separate the reality enough to let his characters and the story breathe and grow.
As many of you know, I am very slowly working on a novel, which uses 1984 and 9/11 as backdrops and I find that the difficulty in writing about 1984 is that, even after more than twenty-five years, it is still a raw nerve that continues to elicit all sorts of emotions and unresolved issues. Many of my family members still shudder with the mere mention of anything relating to 1984. And although dissimilar in many regards, 9/11 does elicit similar emotions, particular with New Yorkers.
Some people who read my previous post, where I basically go into detail about how awful I thought the writing of Breakaway/Speedy Singhs was, made the assumption that I just don’t like that genre. Quite the contrary. I thoroughly enjoy the “feel good” genre, where everything turns out okie dokie in the end.
Whenever a movie involving brown folks comes out, I am always down to check it out, regardless of whether it’s Bollywood, Hollywood, Mollywood, or Lollywood. No, I didn’t just make the last two up (check out this guide to the woods) and am initially hopeful that it will be a good movie or at least get the ball rolling towards someone else making a good movie. Bollywood’s Rocket Singh, for example, was great; Singh is King, on the other hand, was horrible. Bend It Like Beckham was a very cliched concept, but I thought it was a relatively well written simple story with an amusing twist. Breakaway/Speedy Singhs, not quite so much.
So when I heard about the movie I am Singh, which details the lives of Sikhs after 9/11, I was beyond hopeful. Finally, a film that brings the story of Sikhs post 9/11 to the surface. Not quite. And aside from the overly melodramatic plot points and sermonizing speeches, I was still intrigued enough to go watch it. And then I saw one of the superhit songs, complete with topi and pagh switching, and the requisite sari scene on the pretty white girl love interest. Incidentally, I would like to meet a Punjabi munda from the pind who knows how to properly dress a tall white woman in something as complicated as a sari (starting at 0:36). Here it is for all of you to enjoy:
It’s that time of year again!
For those Southern California natives, you (hopefully) know it rolls around once every year. This year, SikhLens is proud to announce its annual Sikh Arts and Film Festival to be held November 18th – 20th, 2011 at the prestigious Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University in Orange, California. As avid supporters of Sikh Arts, and creativity in general, I am hoping our readers would be especially interested in this event coming up in the next couple of weeks.
The Sikh Arts and Film Festival serves as a central venue for artists to showcase and share Sikh heritage and culturethrough the mediums of film, literature, art, music, social media and fashion. As an often-misidentified minority, this type of forum has proven to be essential for Sikhs to transcend cultural boundaries, generate awareness, and connect with the broader community.
For tickets, scheduling and more information, visit www.sikhlens.com.
Co-blogged by Sundari and Ajaib Kaur
How many young Sikh women do you know who are looking to meet their Sardar? And how many young Sikh men do you
know who are looking to meet their Sardarni?
Lots? We hear you. But how can we make these two groups meet?
We decided to write a post on this topic for many different reasons. It’s clear that there is little space elsewhere to talk about how young Sikhs can meet each other, with the potential of pursuing something beyond a friendship.
Gasp! Are we actually admitting this? After a few dialogues with friends and families, we decided that we may as well start breaking the ice here on the West Coast. Over the last few years, SikhNet has been hosting “Gursikh Speed Meetings”, in cities such as New York, Boston, and Toronto. It is nice to see that the organizers has decided to bring this successful event to the West Coast, in our beloved City of Angels. These events give young, single Sikhs between the ages of 25-40 a chance to meet fellow single-and-ready-to-mingle like minded Sikhs in a communal safe space. This concept may feel familiar, because it is. The ‘speed meeting’ is a popular spin-off of an American cultured speed-dating event; having an even number of men and women participants, and rotating through getting a brief chance to connect with everyone in the room. It seems like a lot of work, but based on our feedback from some past participants, it is fairly enjoyable. The best part: if you do not click with someone mutually, you do not need to face them again. Contact information is only shared if both parties have expressed interest in each other. Fool proof for both ladies and gents!
Sit down with my cousins in Punjab for more than a few minutes and in-between their reckless driving and ear-pumping tracks of Jazzy B and Gippy Grewal, they will often give their commentary about how Punjabi music is now trash and doesn’t represent the “true” culture. Ask if they enjoy the folk music of Sharif Idu and they’ll ask, “Who?” Push them further and they’ll blame artists like Jasbir Jassi and other hucksters of cheap lyrics and videos. Here comes Amrit Bains of Canada (this video is also EPIC, check out the background dancers!) with a very different thesis, but one that may resonate with a previous conversation we’ve had here in The Langar Hall. It is the music industry’s fault.
Well, enjoy the video, especially the AMAZING background dancers. Sorry for the language, hope it brings a smile, and have a happy Friday!
UPDATE: Amrit Bains, a long-time bus driver, seems to be following his dreams. Here is a great interview that gives some background of this singer.
For the past few months, I have been inundated with information about the much-hyped Canadian-Bollywood venture, Speedy Singhs, also called Breakaway. As of September 3o, the film is available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and India.
It’s interesting to note that, in the comments to another post on TLH titled “Stick Handling Singhs,” even those who thought the movie sounded corny (it is) would go watch it to “see what’s out there.” I have lost count how many conversations I have abruptly ended that began with, “Dude, have you heard about. . . ” or that mentioned the names of “Russell Peters,” “Rob Lowe,” “Camilla Belle,” or “Akshay Kumar.” The film has been endorsed by everyone from Ludacris to Jus Reign to the king of Punjabi slapstick, Ghuggi Sahib himself.
There are many sports movies that transcend the rules its genre are bound by to provide real insight into their characters, award-winning films like Any Given Sunday or The Fighter. And I can name plenty of Bollywood films that have impressed me over the years with the way they tackled real issues. Similarly, Speedy Singhs/Breakaway takes on heavy issues like school bullying, tradition, and religion, but the film suffers from an identity crisis. It’s a romantic-comedy. It’s a melodrama. It’s a Punjabi comedy skit. It’s action. It’s even Bollywood at times. There were a few funny lines and scenes in the film, but you can find them all in the trailer.
The actors and musicians involved with the project are quite impressive, but the writing just isn’t good enough to keep up with the shifting genres – it’s not worthy of this caliber of actors. Case in point: The not-so-subtle sexual jokes and one liners by Russell Peters are amusing for about five minutes, but they do get tiring when you realize there really is nothing more to his character than that. He might as well have played himself.
It’s like the producers went out of their way to create a project where the actors would be confined by the quality of writing. And while a film about team of underdog turbaned Sikh ice-hockey players who have to battle whitey is just destined to have an audience, the storyline is essentially unoriginal, the writing is mediocre (with occasional spurts of witty dialogue), and it is riddled with clichés throughout. Here are some examples:
I recently learned about an up and coming young Sikh American musician and songwriter named Raveena Auro
ra, who just released a four-song demo entitled “Fools” this week. Listening to her original music and her vocal stylings, it’s hard to believe she just graduated high school this past spring.
Here at The Langar Hall we’re always excited to learn about Sikh musicians and performers in the diaspora expressing themselves creatively and breaking new ground for out community. A musician myself, I was particularly excited to talk with Raveena to learn more about her story and share it with you all.
Brooklynwala: How do you describe your sound to people?
Raveena: For now, feel good folky pop music with a dark underbelly.
BW: When did you start playing music and singing? How did you get your start?
RA: I’ve been writing poetry since a very young age, but I started singing around the age of eleven when I entered a talent show in the 6th grade and gave a heart wrenching performance of “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas. Much to my parent’s dismay, I became obsessed. I was very involved with musical theatre throughout middle school and early high school and in the middle of high school, I started writing original music.
As mentioned last month, New York City-based Vishavjit Singh released his first “Sikhtoons” book this Spring. Entitled My Headcovering is Downright Sikh: An Illustrated Intro to Turbans, the book “uses a collection of cartoons from Sikhtoons.com to create a visual narrative to dispel the mysteries of the Sikh turban. Featuring Fauja Singh, Waris Ahluwalia and many other Sikhs from all walks of life this visual journey is a turbanful introduction to Sikhs.”
The book features 30 cartoons and can be ordered online in the US, Canada, and UK for $10.
Though I have not seen the book myself yet, it has the endorsement of Sikh scholar IJ Singh, who states:
Vishavjit Singh’s topic is serious, his touch light, but not comedic. The sense of the absurd is critically important to the cartoonist. That, too, will emerge, I am sure, for I see their seeds in his work. I believe that the lightest matters deserve a serious undertone and the most heavyweight issues need some levity, even comedic treatment sometimes, lest the burden becomes too heavy to carry.
Congratulations to Vishavjit on this accomplishment. As misconceptions and stereotypes about Sikhs continue to persist in the mainstream media and general public, I hope Vishavjit’s creative cartoon interventions reach a much wider audience through this book.
In the 1990s (that seems so long ago!), I was a linguist and photographer for the U.S. Navy and the aircraft carrier I was on stopped for a few days in Romania. Me and a Nigerian friend decided to deboard our ship and go explore the town. Don’t worry, we didn’t get kidnapped and become reluctant protagonists in a horror film. I’m used to getting stares, especially in racially homogoneous countries in Asia and Europe, and don’t find it offensive. It’s simple curiousity that a “hello” and a smile usually breaks the ice and gets a conversation going.
Romania was a little different though. Instead of stares, people were gasping and running away when they saw us. Eventually we found some skateboarders willing to talk to us after we bought some overpriced Romanian candy from them (not recommended). It turns out, they were petrified of my Nigerian friend because their impression of what sort of person he must be was based on the only American television show they got. Yep. NYPD Blue where every black man was in a hostile altercation with a white policeman either for selling drugs, or raping and/or murdering someone. That is the power of the media. And I am a firm believer in having Sikhs play a much more significant and visible role in various facets of the media. Not just cameo appearances as the terrorist, the comic relief, or the overly pious Sikh hate crime victim with a thick Indian accent.
The Three Idiot Sardars
Some of our fellow Sikhs and Punjabis have helped create the image of the violent prone, idiot Sardar in Bollywood over the years. Every D lister like Gulshan Grover, Sunny Deol, and Johnny Lever used to play the role of the caricature Sardar. But that image drastically changed seemingly overnight also with the help of some of our fellow Sikhs and Punjabis when Rocket Singh starring Ranbir Kapoor came out in 2009 and instantly every A lister wanted to play a Sardar (Abhishek and Amitabh Bachchan; Saif Ali Khan). The portrayal isn’t perfect, but it is attempting to show Sikhs with more complexity than they’ve been doing in the past, and as more than just two bit characters, but as the lead. And this is all thanks to a higher quality in narrative, and in Sikhs loudly objecting to Sikh stereotypes in Bollywood films. Why can’t the same be done in Hollywood?
Whenever a tragic incident takes place that shakes the Sikh community, we have a tendency to start campaigns to combat ignorance, even wearing daft turbans made out of the American flag to show just how American we are, we attend interfaith dialogues and multicultural events, and we update our FaceBook status to show our indignation at the ignorance, which we assume is the root cause of these acts of bullying, violence, and general acts of hatred. People just don’t know who the Sikhs are is our rationale, and that by fixing this problem, we will find our solution.
My father reading to my daughter
I don’t know if telling stories is part of the DNA of Punjabis, but virtually every member of my immediate and extended family can spin a good yarn. From the educated to the uneducated, city folk to rural farming stock, all of them can take a mundane story and turn it into the most entertaining story filled with all of the elements I spent my college years analyzing: plot, complex characters, simple characters, subtext, dramatization, personification, some even had the “O-Henry” ending (the one with the surprise twist at the end).
While the good ole chugli maaring factory a.k.a. gossiping that both men and women take part in anywhere Punjabis congregate – under the diminishing bohr tree, by the tube well, at a mela, at the langar hall, to name a few places – is wildly entertaining, I have always been much more fascinated by Punjabi folktales that my parents used to tell me on Sunday mornings in bed, or just before me and my sister went to sleep at night.
Some of my earliest memories that I can recall with clarity are of my mum and dad telling me the unadulterated story of the sparrow and the crow (ik si chirri, te ik si kaan), which many of you may be familiar with.
The story I remember revolved around the last two lines, which me and my sister gleefully waited for. Chirri: “Cheen, cheen mera poonja sarriya.” Kaan: “Kyon paraya khichar khaada?” which translates horribly in any language other than Punjabi, but here it is. Sparrow: “Ouch. Ouch. My tail has been burnt.” Kaan: “Why did you eat more than your share of khichari?” I warned you didn’t I? This original version has its various story layers intact and an adult can easily pick up on the underlying theme of caste injustice, power, and from a narrative structural perspective: the structure of the cumulative folktale. But once sanitation starts taking place, these other interpretations often cease to exist. In a nutshell, here is the plot of the story stripped of its language, culture, and all entertainment characteristics:
Once upon a time, there was a chirri (sparrow) and a kaan (crow). They got together and decided they were going to make khichari. The sparrow went to get the rice and the crow flew off to get the daal. When the khichari was made, the sparrow told the crow he was dirty and should go wash himself in the pond before sitting down to eat. In the meantime, the sparrow eats up all the khichari and puts a lid on the pot. The crow returns and is furious that the khichari is all gone and sees the sparrow’s tail from behind a curtain (this was my mum’s addition). The crow takes a needle and heats it up on the stove and pokes it into the sparrow’s bottom, resulting in the above lines. Sometimes, they would tell a slightly tamer version where the sparrow’s tail was set on fire or a pot of boiling water was placed under her feathers. But every version resulted in the above rhythmic lines.
Not to delve too deep into semantics, but the word “folktale” connotes many different ideas, especially in the subcontinent. Some people use the word kahani, or story, for narratives that are meant for both entertainment and moral. The word is sometimes even used for religious based stories such as the Mahabarat, or Janam Sakhis, for example. Some put ballads and poems (like Heer-Ranjha) in the same category as a narrative folktale.
Like most folktales, the aim is not to entertain children, but to preserve a culture, its societal mores, and its language. The original folktale of Cinderella made popular by the Grimm Brothers, for example, is very different from the distilled children’s story we all know today. In the folktale, the stepsisters are not physically ugly, and in the famous scene of trying on the glass slipper Cinderella left behind at the prince’s ball, they desperately want it to fit, and in a horrific act, they cut off their toes and heels in order to squeeze their bleeding feet into the glass slippers the prince brought over.
Happy 100th Birthday Fauja Singh!
New York City-based Vishavjit Singh, the creator of Sikhtoons, is releasing his very first Sikhtoons illustrated book next weekend at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival in NYC. We’ve blogged about Vishavjit and Sikhtoons many times before, and are glad to see Sikhtoons going to the next level in book format.
According to Vishavjit, “The book focuses on dispelling the mysteries of the Sikh dastaar…target[ing] young and old, Sikh and Non-Sikh. The book features Fauja Singh, Hip Hop Singhs, Waris Ahluwalia and much more.”
Sikhtoons has long been a creative and light-hearted medium to tackle important issues for our community from 1984 to Hindutva, bullying in schools to contemporary Punjab politics. The details on the release event are below, and you can buy tickets in advance here and RSVP on Facebook here. Hopefully the book will be available to order online in the future. We’ll keep you posted.
Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Festival
MoCCA Fest 2011!
Saturday April 9th and Sunday April 10th 11am-6pm
At the Lexington Avenue Armory
68 Lexington Ave (Between 25th &26th Streets)
New York, NY 10010
This post by our Mehmaan is none other than Harinder Singh. About Harinder Singh - he works with the Sikh Research Institute and the Panjab Digital Library to address all things Sikhi and Panjabi. http://twitter.com/1force
I have taken some time off to be Mr. Mom while my wife is on a work assignment in India. In preparing to make the move to Bangalore, I was excited about being in the land of MS Subbulakhsmi (renowned Carnatic vocalist) and Kalmane (locally grown 100% Arabica beans) coffee. Being here for about three weeks, this is what I have discovered: people are nicer than the North, infrastructure is horrible, and there is not much to see in the city. Even Frommers.com couldn’t come up a list of not-to-be-missed attractions in Bangalore, though people in India claim it to be a great city. I guess the new IT opulence has brought in pubs and gigs only (it is common for Indians to end almost every sentence with ‘only’).
Yesterday, I picked up my son Jodha Singh from the pre-school he is enrolled in here. His teacher said, he wouldn’t play Holi (“Festival of Colors”—though bastardized; some “celebrants” today throw sewerage on people as well!). Now, the legend of Holika is vanishing and so too the spirit of post harvesting thanksgiving prayer to the Almighty. Apparently, Jodha was upset when other children were throwing water and colors on him. I told Miss Priya that his aversion may have come because he has not partaken in this festival as the Sikhs of Panjab have a little reason to celebrate. She wasn’t sure how to respond; do most Panjabis and Sikhs know how to “play Holi?”
An exhibition showcasing British Bhangra music and Culture, titled ‘Soho Road to the Punjab’, will be crossing the pond from the UK to New York City on March 18th 2011 at 6pm. The USA version of the exhibition, Soho Road – Five Rivers to Five Boroughs, will be the world’s first visual arts exhibition inspired by Bhangra music and culture held outside of the UK. The event is being hosted by 92YTribeca and is free to the public.
Originally debuting in Birmingham, UK, Soho Road to the Punjab is an exhibition that includes photography, album sleeves, promotional art and rare prints from South Asian media. This contemporary archive uncovers the worldwide Bhangra phenomenon, showcasing individuals who have championed the UK and USA Bhangra scene.
“Soho Road – from the Five Rivers to the Five Boroughs” is a gift of a title. The Punjab is, of course, the Land of the Five Rivers, while New York iconically comprises Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island and the Bronx. This is a symmetry just too much too leave alone – it’s a sign! Queens is the largest and the most diverse, and famous as the birthplace of bebop and jazz. Queens also has the largest Sikh population outside California and the highest concentration of Indians anywhere in America. Punjabi is in the top ten of the hundred-odd languages spoken locally, and almost half of all South Asians who live in New York live in Queens. The NY experience will shape the show for the USA. [link]
The event will be held at 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson Street, New York. For more information and to view the exhibition online, see the Facebook page.
