Yesterday, I linked to the writer Roxane Gay’s response to Lev Grossman’s Time entry about seven books he is looking forward to 2012. What she found most troubling was Grossman’s seemingly flippant acknowledgment that there were no women or people of color on his year-end list. There are two parts about Gay’s piece at The Rumpus that I loved—in addition to addressing Grossman’s oversight, she presents her list of books by those same underrepresented segments of the publishing world.
But.
The discussion really picks up comments—and what I love is that Grossman chimes in in the comments section and Gay is not so quick to let him off the hook just because he bothered to chime in. Gay is patient, but fierce. I like her style. But she got me thinking about solutions. One of my own pet peeves along these similar lines is a lack of South Asian representation in popular Western culture. So here is my own attempt to curate some wonderful media that South Asians around the world are making that people—whether they are South Asian or not!—should consume.
• Pop music. Anjulie is one of the most fascinating new pop singers out there. In 2008, she had a U.S. club hit with “Boom”. Last year, she returned with something decidedly more mainstream: “Brand New Bitch”. And now she’s pushing “Stand Behind the Music”—which is slightly cheesy with its Occupy motif, but that’s what makes it perfect for Top 40. I loved this one so much, I passed it onto Popjustice if only to help it reach a wider audience. She makes brilliant, fun pop. Also: Rishi Rich remixed Britney sometime ago and A.R. Rahman’s “Jai Ho” became a worldwide hit with some help from the Pussycat Dolls.
• Film. Has the hype around Freida Pinto faded already? I’m hoping it’s just momentarily quiet. Shilpa Shetty! If you live in New York City, you’ll probably find this Bollywood mash-up of James Bond, Ocean’s 11, and The Italian Job playing at a theatre near you.
• TV. In 2010, Archie Panjabi (who you might remember from Bend It Like Beckham!) winning an Emmy for The Good Wife. And of course, there is Padma Lakshmi on Top Chef and Aziz Ansari on Parks & Rec.
Books. Apart from Jhumpa Lahiri, who has skillfully made herself the Queen of Indian-American Literature, it can be difficult to find South Asians doing things in literature that defy the status quo. I can think of Funny Boy by Shyam Selvadurai. I am also keen to read Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal—his contributions to The Awl already fascinate me.
Which isn’t to say that there isn’t a lot of work that needs to be done to level the playing field, but it is to say that there is progress and things like YouTube and Amazon make it so simple that there’s no longer an excuse for not being able to find what you’re looking for.
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