Publication: Times Of India
Date: Jul 31, 2006
Section: Education Times
Page Number: 52

Drama of a desi's life
YOUNGER GENERATIONS OF SOUTH ASIANS IN THE US ARE CHALLENGING TRADITIONAL EXPECTATIONS TO PURSUE THEIR CALLING, TURNA RAY REPORTS

A few years ago the Princeton South Asian Theatrics performed 'Desis of Our Lives', a play about the trials and tribulations of growing up 'desi' in the United States. The comedy, written and directed by then Princeton students Karthick Ramakrishnan and Sachin Shah, included a scene in which a Princeton-bound girl, Jyoti, reveals to her Indian father that she wants to pursue theatre in college. ''Dad, I want to major in drama,'' she says. Her father dismisses her ambitions, exclaiming, ''Drama? What kind of a major is drama? What kind of medical school can you get into to major in drama?''

The terse exchange encapsulates the 'DLE' drama of our desi lives. Despite the wide-eyed ambitions of young, intelligent and college-bound desis to be a dancer, painter or playwright, chances are their parents are hoping, praying, pushing for them to become a successful DLE - a doctor, lawyer or engineer. Although today one is more likely to see the younger generation of South Asians in the US academically pursuing subjects previously blown-off as fluff majors - such as film, journalism and music - they are still the exception to the DLE standard.

Ramakrishnan, wrote the play while getting his PhD in Politics at Princeton. Today, as assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Riverside, and the author of Democracy in Immigrant America, Ramakrishnan's own non-DLE achievements in academia has the support of his parents, but not necessarily their understanding. ''My dad was an engineer. He did not insist on me studying medicine or engineering, but he did not know what to make of my decision to study political science. They did not know anyone whose kids studied liberal arts,'' recalled Ramakrishnan.

Growing up desi in the US is a high wire act balancing personal ambitions and parental expectations. Indian-American youth often find themselves teetering on that thin hyphen between two realities, with the ideals of limitless American opportunity ahead and the cautious voices of immigrant parents from behind urging them to build upon a hard-earned legacy. With a faulty step, one risks falling into the unknown abyss below, threatening failure, low pay, and worst of all, family embarrassment.

Understandably, few are willing to free-fall in pursuit of their childhood dreams without their parents' financial and emotional support. In fact, once the curtains fell, a majority of the cast of Desis of Our Lives went on to pursue profitable careers in medicine and finance.''A place like Princeton is highly career-oriented and attracts a certain demographic of students,'' explained Ramakrishnan. ''Still, a lot of children of immigrants are risk averse. Our parents, as well as our own generation, define success in a narrow way.''

When Vanitha Sivarajan, 27, decided to pursue a Master's degree in Environmental Management at Yale University, her parents tried to encourage her to follow in their footsteps into the medical field. Alternatively, they even tried to convince her to get an MBA or become a software engineer. Sivarajan's interest in working with non-profit organisations on environmental issues was a foreign concept to her family. ''It was too embarrassing to say non-profit, because it was unfortunately mistaken by the South Asian community to be hypocritical to everything that hardworking Indians came to America for,'' said Sivarajan.

Indeed it takes a brave desi to refuse the wealth and prestige that comes with belonging to the Indian DLE contingency in the US.There are 38,000, physicians of Indian origin, accounting for one in every 20 doctors practising medicine in the US. The average income for non-resident Indian professional is over $60,000 per year, nearly $20,000 more than the average US household income. It's hard to compete with those numbers without belonging to the DLE club. However, Maneesh Kenia, DJ and music producer for the electronic artist collective Dhamaal, was never concerned about being a member.

While Kenia decided to major in audio production and business marketing at the University of Texas, Austin, his parents would have preferred if he had taken a more stable path. At the time of making his educational and career decisions, Kenia struggled with familial expectations, but still made a personal lifestyle choice. Although, his profession may not always be ''easy, lucrative, or steady,'' he is also not chained to a nine-to-five corporate lifestyle and this affords him the flexibility to keep artist hours, Kenia said.

According to freelance production assistant Mukesh Vidyasagar, who recently graduated from Syracuse University with a Master's degree in Film and International Relations, one way to alter the DLE stereotype within Indian communities is to change the way desis see themselves in mainstream American culture. Indian families are more likely to accept their children's non-traditional educational and career choices as South Asians like film-maker M Night Shyamalan, actor Kal Penn and Newsweek International editor Fareed Zakaria garner more visibility in fields previously considered off-limits to Indians. Vidyasagar hopes to contribute to that shift in perception, as he is researching and writing a movie about a heist, in which an Indian guy is the hero and a white guy is his side-kick.

After all their disagreements, Sivarajan has held steadfastly to her career decisions as she approaches graduation from Yale in 2007. In turn, her parents have come to respect her choices. ''They ultimately support my career decision as they see how happy and content I am,'' she said.

Although everyone wants to make their parents proud, in the end, money talks louder than angry parents. ''As South Asians become more established here it affords more opportunity and privilege to future generations,'' said Kenia.