This week marks the start of the fifth South Asian Heritage Month. Founded by Jasvir Singh CBE and Dr Binita Kane, this pioneering festival is designed to showcase the best of South Asian heritage in Britain and is a corollary to Black History Month which has been celebrated in Britain every October for nearly two decades. The theme this year is ‘Free to Be Me’.
This festival reminds me of my 2010 ‘Masala Tour of Britain’ where I travelled 1,500 miles to showcase India in Britain and got wide coverage on the BBC. For those of us born in the heritage and proud about it, it’s always hard to share our culture with others positively, in a world of stereotypes and media hype, where the attention span is low and judgement is spontaneous, superficial and often condescending and negative. That at school South Asian history is at best about cows, curry and caste, and at worst about race and poverty, we have a huge challenge in communicating the depth and breadth of one of the oldest and wisest cultures of the world. This is one of the key reasons why I write this weekly column and celebrate this unique initiative.
Just this week, I have been to several events where our heritage has been showcased very positively. On July 14, nearly 2,000 Jains from all over UK gathered at the Harrow Leisure Centre to celebrate the birth of Mahavira, the visionary prophet of Non-Violence, and we marched through the locality in a festive spirit, singing and chanting along the way. There was a delightful cultural programme to showcase our talent and love for Dharma.
Then on July 16, Archana Kumar, the director of ‘Mrs Kapoors Daughter’s Wedding 2 - Mauritius’, invited me to the West End debut of the play at Adelphi Theatre. The musical was a heady mix of pantomime, Bollywood dancing, and Gujarati stereotype self-deprecating humour which for me showed how our communities have arrived in Britain and are bold to create new art and stories about our culture. What was so special was the general audience cheer and clapping throughout the play, something so unusual in the West End, but also so very Indian! For me the South Asian Heritage Month has come with full force, and I have pending wedding invitations and other events where this culture will be celebrated in full vibrant colours and music.
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The world is in a precipice of war, inequality and climate change. The United Nations is celebrating the importance of indigenous cultures and their knowledge systems for creating a sustainable society. South Asian culture has a rich mix of indigenous wisdoms and beliefs and these have survived the trials and tribulations of foreign invasions and even Empire, which tried hard to ‘civilise’ our people, after looting our treasures. We have now come into the home of Empire and are trying to speak truth to power from the inside, something which is virtually impossible to do, as we would be seen as being biased and maybe even racist. It is time to be free to be me, and stand tall and proud.
It is important that we continue to learn and to empower, and I welcome South Asian Heritage Month 2024, and hope everyone feels that they can be themselves, without needing to pretend to be someone else.
Identity provides a deep source of self-confidence, which is critical to success. In reality, South Asians have become very adept at camouflaging their identity, and fitting in wherever they go. If they come to occupy positions of power and influence, they are also good at practicing kindness and respect, instead of allowing the hierarchy to go to their heads. We are actively moving away from empire, to empowerment, whether or not others value us. Let us support and encourage one another in this journey to positively celebrate our heritage. Unity is strength indeed.
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Professor Atul K. Shah [@atulkshah] teaches and writes about Indian wisdom on business, culture and community at various UK universities and is a renowned international author, speaker and broadcaster.