A Mockery of South Asian CultureThe Trouble with the South Asian Students’ Association

Let us preface our comments with a clarification: this article is not a personal attack on the individuals involved with the South Asian Students’ Association (SASA). We are friendly with various members of the organization and believe that they joined the group with the best of intentions. Our piece is simply an observation from two disappointed members of Brown University’s South Asian community.

“In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule.” The wise words of Friedrich Nietzsche ring true for SASA. As individuals, SASA members are generally among the brightest students at Brown. As group, they resemble one of the most insufferable cliques on campus. The club itself is not just an innocent student organization; it is an entangled group of friends that seems impossible to penetrate. These individuals hang out with each other during the weekends and spend much of their free time together. Is this type of self-segregation what it really means to be a “South Asian” student at Brown? Is it right for South Asians to surround themselves constantly with other South Asian students? To us, and many other South Asians to whom we have spoken on campus, SASA has practically become a cliquey group of students who happen to be South Asian.

Members of SASA often defend their group on the grounds that they can “relate” better to other South Asians. We find this argument to be specious. South Asians make up less than 1% of the American population. Certainly, the South Asians at Brown have not always isolated themselves among other South Asians for the first eighteen years of their lives.

But even if SASA members have a genuine interest in exploring their culture, the group’s own activities reveal how far SASA has deviated from their supposed mission. SASA depicts “being South Asian” in a completely iconic, superficial, and foolish way. We never knew that a love for samosas, an urge to perform Bhangra or other “traditional” dances, or an in-depth knowledge of dreadfully long and superficial Bollywood movies, made one South Asian to the core. Do South Asian students really want to define their identity in such a frivolous way? What about all the students like us who know little about Bhangra dancing, who never had the time or interest to watch Bollywood movies, or who cannot speak fluent Hindi? Of course, certain traditional foods, cheesy Bollywood musicals and even dancing in flashy clothes are all culturally significant. They should not, however, serve as the basis for identifying a whole community.

“Being South Asian” is not something you can cook up or watch on television; it is a mind-set. It is through our parents’ inspirational “coming to America” stories, our admiration of the academic and financial success of South Asian-Americans, conservative social values, and appreciation of South Asian democracy that defines why we are proud to be South Asians. We were saddened, for example, that SASA refused to participate, support, or even demonstrate the slightest interest in last year’s Asian Equality in Admissions initiative, which would have acted to ensure fair treatment for all South Asians and other high-achieving minority groups in the college admissions process. Instead of meddling in the superficial, iconic areas of South Asian culture, SASA needs to embody the concepts that best illustrate what it really means to be South Asian.