Emma

The subject tonight is the UK Asian Music Awards, or UK AMA. If you are not a British Asian you would pronounce it as plain three letters i.e. as a, m, a. But if you are then you would call it “Emma”. How AMA came to sound like Emma is not a mystery. It is partly due to the typical Asian British way of emphasising consonants before the vowels. This pronunciation is completely absurd and is confusing- if you register my complaint. Partly, I guess it is just to join the elite family of Tony, Oscar and others.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that the term Asian here primarily refers to us Pakistanis and Indians, and has no reference whatsoever to the rest of Asia. It feels good to know that we are at least dominating the biggest continent, innit?

So I was privileged to be present at the UK Emma last Wednesday at the Hammersmith Palais in London. The moment I entered the arena I realised how divorced I am from the British Asian life. I am an Asian by their definition, and I live in London but I still am not a part of this particular race, and it is a race.

Gone are the days when this generation used to be called the BBCDs. They have come quite far, and actually do now know who they are. Interestingly, their newly found identities look and sound surprisingly similar to Jamaicans and other variants of cool black crowd. They have so far kept the mingling of genes out of this complex racially-hybrid behavioural matrix, but everything else around them is just a combination of things Indian, Pakistani, and “yo mama, ‘sup?” in nature. Their music, their dresses, the accents and their choice of partners are a complete reflection of this new identity. I wonder what the reason behind this lifestyle is, though I do certainly and completely appreciate and understand the power of the anti-white sentiment that comes with this coalition of mindsets and cultures per se.

The evening was grand. The set, performances, and the jokes on stage- all came with a strong and unique cultural signature. That signature heightened the sense of divide that exists in the British Asian Youth. Now given that media often go on about the rise of religious fundamentalism in the youth’s attitudes, this brave and liberal tone of the youth was worth reconciling with.

While the “Emma” attitude (for the lack of a better term) is quite refreshing, its ability to shock people is quite big at the same time. Established strongly as the voice of youth, the tone is received with a raised eyebrow in quarters that are alien to it- parents, people of the original race back in India and Pakistan, and the scattered nay self-righteous critics of our culture (like myself)- all included.

I heard a lot of voices criticise what was around, I had a few comments too. However, it would be meaningless and futile to criticise this attitude and behaviour in a traditional framework. It is not a traditional phenomenon and should not be put in traditional context. What is worth having, however, is a cultural dialogue with this youth – something that we do not seem to be doing, be it within families, or socially, or even on media. This would also have to be in their language – the Emma language. Mind the accent while you learn to live with the South Asian Jamaicans please.

You would be able to watch the Emma on TV- just in case you were reading to find out more about the show. Why would you think that would happen in this blog?