Desi Clubbing Firangi Style
It’s a well known fact that we Indians love partying and that too in a grand manner. Check out our wedding bashes and those DJ nights, it just takes some nice latka jhatka music for us to get on to the dance floor. And once we are there, we totally rock the place. Having grown up in Delhi for twenty three years, I have been to a lot of dance events which normally took place in my university. My whole idea of a dance event was one wherein you wear some nice clothes, go with friends and dance through the night.
But couple of days back I went through a cultural shock. Attending a couple of dance night in London wasn’t as interesting as it was back in Delhi, for several reasons and I will go into those later. Out of all the dance nights I attended here, the recent was “kuch kuch nights”. The monthly dance night, held in Central London, kick started at 10 at Alibi and the crowd kept pouring in till the wee hours of the night. The music played was definitely pure desi bollywood but a major section of the crowd seemed to be confused whether to call themselves Indian or British? I went around speaking to a lot of people in the party who after a couple of shots of tequila and a few dance numbers were enjoying a cigarette outside. And trust me, not for once I felt it was an “Indian dance night”.
Call me conservative when I say this, but we can’t call ourselves Indian just because our parents belong to that place. Being Indian has a lot more to do than just simple bollywood music and latka jhatkas. Agreed that the bollywood industry is a great cultural ambassador of India but is that what we are all about? Where have the values gone?
I was myself very disappointed with the dance night, not because of music or the place; the organisers did a great job at bringing together everybody, but because of the crowd. These are supposedly those people who are considered among the higher echelons of the Indian society. The NRI or the Non Resident Indian population makes investments and contributes to the growth of India in a very respectable manner. And they will continue to be known as the high flying Indian Diaspora for all times to come.
It is quite logical that we expect their children to be well educated, mannered and brought up in a value stricken atmosphere. And I am sure a lot of effort goes into doing that as I have experienced it myself at those times when I have had to stay out of India. My parents would make that extra effort to make sure I get the best of the place but maintain my values. I have come across many youngsters in London and was absolutely amazed to see them so well rooted. But what goes wrong when there is booze and music? Speaking to the men at the dance night, more than half admitted that they had come to check out girls and get lucky for the night. A couple of them even made absolutely unacceptable comments at a few girls while I was carrying out my interviews. And what an irony when towards the end one of them said “I am Indian”.
Dance events like these also become the place where a lot of misbehaviour happens. Well it happens everywhere but not when we name it an “Indian dance event”, not when educated, well bred young Indians who live in London and dressed in posh brand names make the crowd. Couple of people who I spoke to about some other dance events also mentioned instances of misbehaviour on the dance floor by other people.
In all this, the responsibility lies on the organiser to make sure things go well without any sort of a problem. In the case of “kuch kuch nights”, the organiser was always on her toes, making sure nothing goes wrong. Ms. Rita Hirani one of the organiser of the event said they were very proud of the event which has been running for almost a decade now. I am sure a lot of effort goes into making these events a success. It is definitely not an easy task to bring so many young people together at a place where there is booze and music.
And if one really comes to think of it, nothing went wrong. People came dressed up in their best clothes, checked out each other, danced, got drunk, went outside and cursed at every car that passed by. I guess that’s the way clubbing is done here. Perhaps It’s for me to accept it and be prepared not to get another cultural shock next time.
(Published in Asian Voice on 6th June, 2009 – Source)