Being desi in Australia in the 80s and 90s was a lonely experience compared with the rise of other cultures. The Italians introduced lattes, the greeks new restaurants serving delicious food and then the chinese were making their mark with their academic abilities. In this period of time, we started to get comedians from these backgrounds emerge and work against the 'usually WASP' Australian television images. Shows like Acropolis Now started to make its mark, giving the Greek Community a great opportunity for their culture, language and humour a place to shine.
The Desi Community was still growing and encouraging people to move away from the arts and move into more traditional careers. They still do it today. When a person is a writer, they usually work as a lawyer during the day or a person with a medical background afraid to pursue what they love, like a fashion career, is encourage to dismiss the ideas and go for something more 'respectable'. What happens is that we get these talented people who later on in life, want to make the switch.
Most do. And it gives us the chance to have an opportunity to share their stories and talents.
It's inspiring but also sad that these creative souls did not have the courage to do what they believed in and loved instead, the pressure of family, friends and the community as a whole contributed to choosing a 'suitable' career.
It's a similar case for the duo from 'Fear of a brown Planet' in Melbourne. Amir Rahman and Nazeem Hussain were studying law when they fell in love with comedy. They dabbled in gigs relating to desi and australian muslim life whilst studying and at the end of their courses with with some heart break for their parents, decided to pursue this 'alternative' career full time.
Congratulations to them for working against any hardships and pursuing what they love.
What they are doing is important because they are reprsenting the alternatives to the desi communities and also, bringing their stories and humour to the mainstream Australian Community.
They are funny and for desi's it's great to have them as role models.
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