This morning I read this article from the Hindustan Times - Celebrating Indianness.

I read it and I felt a sense of despair, on one hand the Indian Diaspora doing very well for themselves and therefore very welcomed into the British genteel society. However, despair set in when I read this paragraph

One may call it globalisation of the Indian culture or cultural synchronisation or trans-cultural movement or cosmopolitanism or put it lightly the emerging curry and tandoori factor, the reality is that there is now an amazing awareness of all aspects of Indian culture among the English. Be it yoga, ayurveda, or the various forms of Indian spirituality, music, fashion, food or even family values and the tradition of respect for elders, all are widely known and accepted even by the inner city conservatives.

Every where the diaspora went, they took the Indian culture with them and remoulded them to suit their new society.On one hand Indian culture is termed as conservative, very Indian. On the other it is has opened itself to incorporating other foreigh elements, to suit the society the diaspora lives in.

However, my sense of despair arises from the fact this "hybridity" of cultures is merely hogwash and is still not accepted into mainstream. Diasporic culture will always be a minority culture, so using it to gain acceptance into the mainstream society isn't good enough.I think the diaspora likes to think itself as distinctly "Indian" or distinctly 'British/American/African'. Hence the Indian yoga, Indian spiritualism with a foreign passport...

Want to know what I mean - Forget about "Celebrating Indianness" - "Celebrate being British Indianness".

I welcome a discussion on this!