Hollywood Harv: Nobody wants to be type-caste

HOLLYWOOD HARV
VANCOUVER DESI

For as long as I can remember I have been hearing about caste.  Punjabi songs, Punjabi movies, in casual conversation it was an accepted thing to talk about.  Back in the day the villages of Punjab had or still have very distinctly separated areas of people from like castes.  You had your carpenters, farmers, servants, potters, metalworkers and so on.

But why are we still discussing this today?  Why do people in conversation still say “so and so is a farmer”, or “he comes from a family of minions”?  How is this still relevant?  Why would a 15 year old kid who has never been to India be talking about being a carpenter?  How is this any different from racism?  We are fifty or so years removed from the ways of the village and yet in many families it is still acceptable to define people by what caste they belong to.

One of the contributing factors is pop culture.  Movies and music just like in any society have a massive influence on popular opinion.  And we keep seeing movies and hearing songs being released that glorify this system.  Even most news and media outlets don’t really want to tackle this subject or even mention it.  Why is that?

BBC radio DJ Bobby Friction

Last month a very popular radio DJ by the name of Bobby Friction who works for the BBC Asian Network in Birmingham England made a bold move.  He announced that his show will no longer air any song that mentions caste.  I applaud you Mr. Friction.  It will be interesting to see how long this will last or whether the rest of the network will follow suit.  But this is a big step.  And I believe every radio station and DJ should follow Bobby, which in turn will curb writers and singers from releasing their backwards nonsense.

How long until we have castes of Mac users and PC users?  We have so many politicians and businessmen who consider themselves community leaders and they have no problem coming out for photo ops at Vaisakhi galas or awards banquets.  Maybe one of them would like to tackle an actual issue that is important to the community’s future.  But again, these are just my thoughts.

Hollywood Harv Puni is a comedian from Richmond.  You can follow him on Twitter at @hollywood_harv or go to his website and purchase his DVD. He can be reached at hollywoodharvcomedy@gmail.com

Tags: bbc asian network, bobby friction, comedian, comedy, harv puni, Hollywood Harv