Desi community gains visibility among school cultural groups
February 14, 2023
After years of dancing to Bollywood music and drawing mehndi prints on her palms, senior Kriti Sarav was finally able to share these experiences with her non-desi peers at U-High this year.
Despite members of Lab’s desi community organizing events in an effort to draw the attention of the greater school population to desi culture, they have felt overlooked for a long time now. Recently, however, the desi community has received an increase in participation at events, like Diwali celebrations, helping promote visibility and appreciation of a culture growing in prevalence.
The U-High desi community’s most active representatives are the Asian Students’ Association, advised by counselor Aria Choi, and the Desi Culture Group of the Parents’ Association, led by Masha Sajdeh and Bhawna Singh. According to Ms. Singh, it’s great to finally gain visibility, but is overdue.
“Lab prides itself in diversity, so it’s great that we are now becoming a part of that diversity statement that Lab strives to adhere to so strongly,” Ms. Singh said.
Many desi students are excited by the presence of non-desi people at recent events because they get to share their culture with new people. Asian Students’ Association president Zara Baig, a senior, said seeing such an increase in participation is incredibly meaningful to her.
“Non-desi participants attending desi events is an opportunity for us to share our cultures, and it shows that our peers are also interested in learning about ours,” Zara said. “Members of different identity groups or backgrounds showing up for each other is a sign of mutual respect and understanding. It builds community.”
Kriti, the treasurer of Asian Students’ Association, is also excited by this shift in perception of desi culture that she finds evident in the newfound interest and engagement from non-desi peers, a stark contrast to the mockery she believes the Desi community has faced for so long. This excitement is largely rooted in her own personal experiences.
“I grew up being called all kinds of names for the color of my skin or for my Indian name, so I understand the reality is that our culture is not widely appreciated. And it’s to the extent that such ignorance toward our culture even exists at Lab,” Kriti said. “So I’m really excited at the new appreciation we’re seeing at least at Lab. But I definitely think we have a long way to go in making sure that this appreciation and participation is sustained, and also to keep it growing and fight mockery.”
According to Ms. Sajdeh, to sustain appreciation toward desi culture, students need to continue to advocate for participation at events.
“I think South Asian and desi culture are such that it’s a lot easier to learn about how beautiful it is if you experience it. And the best way for students to grow appreciation, then, is to actually attend the events,” she said. “These events that we take time to put together just makes the culture very real and authentic for people to see and understand.”