Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Coming Together at Phuket !!!

In December my wife and I attended a Indian wedding hosted in Phuket , Thailand. The Indian  bride groom attended  a  Hong Kong International school. and then went to a Ivy League college. He works for a top private equity firm. The bride is an American who works as a analyst for a large American bank. While the wedding was lavishly hosted, with every thing being well thought and taken care of, what fascinated me most was the mix of young people and their ability/willingness to participate and enjoy the functions without any hesitation or awkwardness. What particularly brought them together was the music. Every evening  there was a party which lasted till the early hours of the morning.

The young guests were a mixture of Indian,Pakistanis, Americans,Chinese,Koreans, Japanese and numerous other nationalities. Most of the girls were dressed in saris and many of the boys in kurta  pyjamas. They all appeared well at ease with their attire. The evenings started off with top well known singers from Bollywood which were then followed by djs.The singers all sang Bollywood numbers and Punjabi bhangra  - all of them with a pounding beat. The dance floor was packed solid with people dancing Bhangra. Surprisingly the Asians , who normally tend to be more self conscious, had no problem at all adapting to the " Bhale Bhale " of the bhangra with the shrugging shoulder movements and the adaptation of both fore fingers in the air ala John Travolata in Saturday Night Fever ,with legs kicking and pounding  Cossack style and circles being formed in the manner of the Jewish " Hava Nagela " . Of course no party  these days would be complete with a Gangam style, including a version of Gangam " Punjabi  " style - the Punjabi's should certainly teach  the Gangam residents a thing or two about extravagance ! The stars of the show one evening were two Korean pre-teen brothers  who outdid the bhangra boys with their vigorous version of Gangam style horse riding performance.

The djs played a mix of Bollywood item numbers and rave and other club music about which I know very little, but  people on the floor were doing the combination of bhangra, gangam style or whatever went with the beat. It was incredible seeing the mixed group and the fusion  of music and dance  with a common objective of having a good time. It was a pleasure to see the intermingling of the young ( and older people like me) and their willingness to adapt and adopt the different cultures.

They all attended  the Sikh wedding ceremony sitting cross legged on the floor and the vegetarian food afterwards, as if they did this every day. 

I have thought about it further to understand what was it which pulled this diverse group together and come to the conclusion that it  was America. Yes of course an international city such as Hong Kong  played a role , but it was the American thread which pulled it all together. The people all were from America, or had studied in America or worked for American firms.While this might be stretching it and  sound like  the words of an Americanophile ( which to some extent I am ), I cannot think of any country including the United Kingdom which impacts the people and universalizes them as America does. Being a nation of immigrants it absorbs all cultures and " Americanizes " them,  to the extent there is something common to which they can all  relate to , while still retaining their own culture.

I have worked for a large American international banking institution and a large British international banking institution ( for a much shorter time). I left the American institution almost twelve years ago , but there is a common bond  among the the former employees  which enables you to  link up and you get talking about individuals or events which might have happened decades ago. This is certainly not the case with the British institution. I have friends who have worked with European ,or Asian  institutions,companies where the camaraderie is even less or non-existent. As a non-French or non-German, or a non-Japanese , you are in different category. There are institutions which are changing - Standard Chartered is probably one of the most prominent and was one of the first to have Indian Chief Executive, but then Standard Chartered is now more of a  international institution which just happens to have its head office in London.

 If only the world could always come together and work towards  a common goal of living happily, and not worry about race or religion, it would  truly be a wonderful place.

1 comment:

  1. Well said, Avi. I don't think you are wrong in saying that the common thread of America pulls everyone together. One of my friends in Hong Kong from the Cambridge University said he has not been able to leverage on this great network at all for work (for personal probably is a different matter). America fosters more openness. Here on the West Coast, there are so many strangers networking and helping one another just because a common friend introduces. Best, Marianne

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