Asian Indians in Cleveland Are Selfish Not Snobby

Why Asian Indians in Cleveland don't volunteer for events and show up at Cleveland Asian Festival in downtown Cleveland, Ohio
 
The FICA (Federation of Indian Community Association) official should be commended for taking the monkey by its horns and attempting to deal with this issue that may be nonspecific to Asian Indians in Cleveland.  The official of the elite FICA wrote something like this in the June 2013 issue of their publication Lotus. 

Surprisingly, however, at the volunteer appreciation dinner a week ago, the presence of the Indians was extremely sparse, to say the least, which meant not many offered to volunteer at this event, though there were many non-Asians seen helping out at this Asian event . 

So, once again it led me to wonder why there is such utter reluctance on the part of the Indians to be “out there”!! I have often heard comments made by non-Indians that we are a community driven to snobbery by our relative successes and greater wealth, and consequently, we chose to remain aloof. Is that true? Do we suffer from a sense of superiority over all others? But how can that be? Are we not a humble people? Isn’t snobbery uncharacteristic of our cultural upbringing? Is our reluctance then to blend with the non-Indians caused by our relative shyness? Any thoughts, anyone?

I don't think Asian Indians of Cleveland are more or less snobby than any other community.  It is observed that they tend to be less snobby when dealing with Caucasians and more snobby towards their own kind and this makes them humble, right?  The days and times when one could say that snobbery is inconsistent with Indian culture is history.   That is never coming back and nostalgia is day dreaming.  I don't think Asian Indians of Cleveland suffer from a sense of superiority over all others either.  Maybe they do in some areas because of a false notion their culture is better than other cultures. 

So why are Asian Indians not into voluntary community service and events?  Here's one sugar coating free theory; I think that a lot of them, who are newer immigrants, think what's in it for me, for my family, for my sub-community, my state in India and finally India (not the US)? and they don't like the answer they get.  Its that uncomplicated.  A lot of them tend to be selfish and this is okay.   They know who and what pays the bills.   Asian Indians are not shy either; when it comes to being "out there" for the darshan of the Supreme Lord, the Dollar.

"aaj kaha ka nation kahe ki dharti maiya
Na Biwi Na Bacha Na Baap Bada Na Maiya
The Whole Thing Is That Sabse Bada Rupaiyya"

Volunteer work and community participation is an unpaid at will individual choice.  No one is obligated or required to do any volunteer work for any cause or reason.  And yeah, Swami Vivekananda is wrong.  What Swami Vivekananda said about volunteer work probably made a bit of sense when he was alive but now it simply is abba su lu tely  ridunkulous.  

Asian Indian performers at Cleveland Asian Festival

Cleveland Asian Festival is a good event.  The organizers put up a good show.  The Asian Indian kids put up a good show too and present Indian culture well..  The Indian food at this event sucks.  After two or more visits to this Cleveland Asian Festival, most people can't stand this good event anymore, they move on and find relatively more interesting things to do. 
 
 Any thoughts, anyone?    

Cleveland Museum of Art lines up Asian Indian Music for Summer Solstice Concert

Cleveland Museum of Art will feature Asian Indian bhangra music with DJ Rekha and Red Baraat in Summer Solstice Concert 2013

Cleveland Museum of Art's new atrium

The Cleveland Museum of Art has announced the line-up for the fifth annual Summer Solstice concert, which takes place at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 22 at the Cleveland Museum of Art.  The newly completed atrium stage of Cleveland Museum of Art, pictured above, will include DJ Rekha.  The outdoor stage on the museum’s south terrace will feature an eclectic group of world beat/electronic dance acts, including Brooklyn’s Asian Indian bhangra beat act Red Baraat.  The 8 p.m. entry tickets cost $60 per person, $30 for museum members.   Kind of overpriced, eh?  Well, not really because there is demand for this kind of music and the tickets have been sold out. 

DJ Rekha (born Rekha Malhotra, 1971) is a London-born musician, DJ, producer, curator, and activist. She has been credited with pioneering Bhangra music in North America.

Red Baraat is a Brooklyn based music group founded by Sunny Jain.  Sunny Jain is a dhol player, drummer and composer.  Its members include Rohin Khemani, Tomas Fujiwara, Mike Bomwell, Sonny Singh, MiWi La Lupa, Ernest Stuart and John Altieri.

The man who has put together this project of Cleveland Museum of Art is Aaron Petersal.  Aaron Petersal is the Director of Membership and Visitors Experience.