Desi

Related Topics:
Design :: Design_Theory :: Designers_and_Studios :: Designated_Mourner,_The :: Design_and_Development :: Design_and_Project_Management :: Design_Groups :: Design_Tools :: Desipramine :: Design_Education

Desi (pronounced // or //, and alternatively spelled Deshi), is a term used by South Asians to refer to themselves (in a manner that avoids any allusion to the specific state of origin and pointing to a common broader identity). This is also the name of the subculture found amongst the Indian diaspora and South Asian diaspora.

Introduction

The term comes from the Sanskrit ( देशः ) "Deshah" ("nation" or "the motherland") and when pronounced as Deshi/Desi, it refers to something that has its roots in Desh/Des (Desi-Countryman, Desi Ghee-Indian Butter, Desi Dawaa-Home Remedy). As most South Asian languages can trace their origins to Sanskrit, the word for country is "Des" or "Desh" in them.

Amongst people from the Indian subcontinent, especially in English-speaking First World countries, this term refers to the blend of cultures and identity of the South Asian communities, crossing national, cultural and religious boundaries that separated them in their ancestral countries. Moreover, many of their ancestors left the Subcontinent before its partition or some of them have mixed Desi background and consequently don't relate to a single native country. South Asians living outside South Asia now refer to anything or anyone related to their countries or culture as Desi or Deshi e.g., Desi refers to an Indian, Pakistani, Nepali and/or Bangladeshi and so on, Desi food refers to food like rice, curry, daal, dosa, idli, roti, chapathi etc. Desi dance can refer to traditional/classic dances like Bharathnatyam and Kuchipudi, to popular dances in the movies, to Punjabi dance, Raas, Bhangra, folk dances, Bhangra beat, Desi hip hop, filmi remixes, etc.

It is an umbrella label for a very physically/ culturally/ linguistically/ religiously/ geographically and otherwise diverse group of people, similar to a term like "Latina" or "Latino", or "people of the African diaspora". Indians may not want to be lumped with Malaysians, for instance, or Pakistanis may not want to be classified as Asian, and so on. The phrase "South East Asian" is inaccurate, as Southeast Asia refers to Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand (Siam), and Vietnam.

Evolution of the Desi identity

The Indian subcontinent is linguistically and religiously diverse. Socialization and marriage often occur among one's own community; in other words, among people with the same religion, language, and, often for Hindus and others, caste. But the early emigrants from South Asia to the USA, the United Kingdom, and Canada found themselves a small minority in a very different culture, and found cultural commonalities with other fellow South Asians.

Their children grew up in a mostly Western cultural environment, augmented by Indian, Pakistani, and other South Asian influences limited to the home and when amongst family friends within the expatriate community. This group shares many experiences being caught between Western and South Asian cultures, often including being members of minority religions (e.g. Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism) unrepresented in popular media and unfamilar to most people surrounding them.

There are some people from India who consider that the term Desi applies only for South Asians originally from this country. This point of view is targeted for the non-inclusion of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. The main argument is that Desi is a Sanskrit word (pertaining to the Vedic tradition) therefore its use should be limited to Dharmic people (opinion rooted in the bitter history of the last century). However, the vernacular use of the word for all South Asians is even boosted by the improvement in Indo-Pakistani relations (particularly between young people), the rising importance of SAARC, the coming of age of new generations of Desis.

Desi literature

The list of Desi writers range from the classical style writings of RK Narayan to the more contemporary Anita Desai, Gita Mehta, Raj Kamal Jha. In recent times Suketu Mehta (Maximum City), Mitra Kalita (Suburban Sahibs), Monica Ali (Brick Lane) and Jhumpa Lahiri (Namesake) have written about their home country from the perspective of the Desi diaspora.

Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children), Vikram Seth (A Suitable Boy) are Desi writers who have found a global readership. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Mistress of Spices) has made waves. Over the past decade Desi writing has become bold (e.g. Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things) and now the writers do not feel the need to explain the use of Desi terms that are liberally used in their stories.

Gautam Malkani's recent novel Londonstani, explores the Desi phenomenon explicitly in the lives of male British Asians in Hounslow London Whats Right With Desi Boys

Music

A unique style of music has arisen amongst the Desi communities of the United Kingdom. Artists like Panjabi MC (who has an album called Desi) and Apache Indian have mixed the style of Indian music played along with bhangra dance with hip hop and reggae, and used a mix of the English and Punjabi languages, and have often spoken about the experience of being caught between two cultures. Similarly Indian duo, Kanchan and Babla covered popular songs of the Trinidadian genre of "Chutney music" by Sundar Popo, which fused Caribbean and Indian melodies and was sung in Hindi and Bhojpuri. The Pakistani group, Junoon (two of whose members were brought up in America) mixes traditional Pakistani folk music, Sufi poetry, and Rock and Roll. In a similar light is Boston's Punjabi Punk band, The Kominas. Part of the new Taqwacore movement, the band combines Desi music with punk, with songs written from a Muslim perspective. A. R. Rahman, one of the most popular Desi artists, blends classical South Indian and Hindustani music with western music to give some quintessential contemporary Desi music. Shahin Badar's voice was heard in British electronica/rave/rock band The Prodigy's Smack My Bitch Up which was a rare sound at the time, at least in North America.

MTV is now launching MTV Desi in the United States. This could lead to increased popularity of the term Desi in American vernacular.

Institutions

As the South Asian college population increased, South Asian student organizations became increasingly common, organizing parties and social events catering to South Asian increased, and Bhangra dance groups started forming. As the first large generation of American-raised South Asians started working, professional groups started forming in the mid 1990's including the South Asian Journalists Association, and the Network of South Asian Professionals. A leading South Asian event management company is East West International who also works with Young Indian Professioanls. They do event in NYC every week including Bollywood Remix Saturdays every week.

External links

The Desi Diaspora
"What’s right with Asian boys" Gautam Malkani, FT, April 21 2006.
UK 'Indian' wants to shed 'Asian' tag12 Jul, 2006 TIMES NEWS NETWORK

South Asian Bar Association of Southern California