Spicing up the Identity Crisis

All the world is a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and entrances;
Each man in his time plays many parts.

Shakespeare was a smart man and that couplet is one of the most intense couplets of his which I like. Indeed, we all have our exits and entrances and the time we are on stage is the one for us to show what we are capable off and that is what becomes our identity.

But then, what if the stage was shifted to different places, different times, how can we identify with that identity ?

I am by birth an Indian, grown up completely in the Middle East and have been living for the past three years in Canada. If any one were to ask me where my home is, I have to think for a bit before answering. Its because I really don't know where do I belong too.

On a spirtual context if I were to question who am I, I can say I am not this body but the spirit soul as what the holy book Bhagavad Gita says. But how to I say that to people questioning me in a daily context ?

This dilemma is faced by the 1000s of immigrant kids around the world. Most of us are the first in our families to attend universities outside our home lands and as the world becomes a smaller place, this is going to become a normal phenomena.

Being an Indian myself, I have often found it hard to blend my Indianess into my routine culture. Living in Middle East for so long really helped to set the base as the Indian community there though has been there for long, still holds an Indian Passport and is just 3 hours away from 'home'. There, I went to an Indian school, had Indian friends, saw Indian movies mainly and ate Indian food.

Coming to Canada was a big change. Though Canada has a huge South Asian Community, and in particular my university and my program is very popular among desi kids, I still could feel the distinct difference. Like here, listening to Hindi music or watching too many Hindi movies, is at times considered fobbish (FOB => Fresh off Boat) , to wear Indian clothes to class attracts stares and going for desi parties is just another way to attracting weird people to hit on you! And to get a good plate of Pav Bhaaji, the journey is a tasking one !

So then began the change, I started to listen to non desi music a lot more, read more about the culture here and try to merge into the society here.

However, I've always wondered, what is my identity ? Am I losing it as I battle my way through daily routine drudgery of life? Have I shed who I really was for what I am today or is who I am today my real identity?

It was between my identity crisis where I started seeking for ways to blend my usual North American lifestyle with my existing Indian lifestyle without it seeming out of place and yet standing unique. And that is when I looked out for inspiration.

Inspiration often comes in different forms and my inspiration came from an all boy a capella band called Penn Masala whom I saw in concert last weekend at University of Pittsburgh.

Penn Masala is a group of boys currently studying at University of Pennsylvania, US. They've been around the scene for the past 10 years. Every year the graduating seniors train the freshmen who want to join the band and this cycle of training the new members continues till this day on.

Penn Masala are the world's first Hindi a capella group, which means they sing without music, no instruments are used and they produce sounds with their voices. Check out their website to find out more and listen to them.

So, I heard about them first in the movie, American Desi where they sang two tracks and it was very impressive. But it was truly me seeing them in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and later hearing their track Aankhon Mein Tu Hai got me hooked onto them.

Watching Penn Masala perform was a unique experience in every sense of the term. Musically, it was an absolute high as they crooned out some of the most beautiful Hindi and English songs with equal ease. What impressed me most about their singing was their level of competence in it. Trying to sing songs like Dheere Jalna and Mitwa is not a joke and many have failed in their attempts but these guys were just super. Also considering that their only shruti is coming from the harmony created by other singers, its just mind boggling to think of the focus and concentration the members must have. One person going even a micro second off key can make the song sound miserable. Fortunately not one of them went off key and it was just like river flowing smoothly.

From an academic Engineering perspective, I was intrigued to see the variety of voice variations one person could do. It was very evident in the beat boxing jamming they did. Beat boxing is kinda like producing sounds made by drums or other bass instruments using your voices. Its fascinating to observe the beautiful engineering design of our Vocal chords which let us do such funky stuff with our voices. Be it the sound of rain drops or the hard core bhangra beats, its pretty crazy stuff !!

But from the inspiration point of view, I took back a lot that night. The Penn Masala members are the best example I can think of people who probably have really found their identity. Fusing east with the west was done so effortlessly through out the show. From the sweaters to the kurtas to the jeans, Penn Masala boys showed that they are there to impress every one alike, desis, non - desis, young university students with catchy tunes and the older crowd with the golden hits. I don't think any one left the David Lawrence Hall on Saturday night disappointed! It showed in their style, it showed in their singing style and it showed in the total entertainment they provided - they are here to make a statement, that if we have a vision, a dream, we can find out our identity.

Juggling some serious professional academic programs like Engineering and Finance along with doing concerts all around the US almost every weekend, the Penn Masala boys have it busy. But they should be proud of themselves because they are are pursuing their hobby and also in that process entertaining 100s and 1000s of fans not just in US but all around the world.

At the end of the concert, I began to wonder, why do people have an identity issue? The Penn Masala boys make it seem so easy to be able to identify yourself. It doesn't matter where you are from, who you are, at the end of the day, it really comes down to what you do. And whatever you do, you do so that you make people around you proud.

PM is predominantly based in the US, but their popularity is evident even in Middle East and India showing that these people really pushed their boundaries and took South Asian Music to various frontiers. To me that is effortlessly fusing the East with the West and your identity lies in you and in your ability to creatively do that.

To conclude, with a line from Penn Masala's own song, Pehchaan which literally means Identity: Kya Pata ki Kaun Hoon Main, Shayad mujhme Aag Kaahi, Jagao Usse, meaning 'I wonder who I am but I think there is a fire in me. I must ignite that fire'...

Wonderful message for us all,
to ignite the fire of who we really are...
to ignite the fire to find our identity
to ignite our fire to play our part on the stage to the fullest...