The Beauty of Diaspora: UNC’s Asian Culture Groups Hearken their Heritage

UNC Ek Taal performing at the 2022 "Journey into Asia" Spring Event. Source for Photo: Saurya Acharya of The Daily Tar Heel

In late February, UNC’s Asian American Students Association (AASA) organized their yearly “Journey into Asia”, a celebration to showcase Asian cultural heritage. The event notably included dance performances from cultural dance and acapella groups. From Chinese silk dances to modern K-Pop, to Bollywood fusion, the groups encompassed multiple Asian cultures. Each group demonstrates how diaspora groups maintain their cultural heritage while artfully injecting elements of western pop culture. Yet, the groups remain true to their heritage, rejecting the notion that diasporas must lose links to their cultural backgrounds with each generation. Faced with such a celebration of culture, I had the honor of delving “behind the scenes" of UNC Ek Taal, the University’s competitive Indian classical dance group.

“Blood runs thicker than water” is a common phrase repeated first or second-generation immigrants, now standing at 62 million and constituting ⅕ of the population. Yet, the well-known statement is more than an adage or cliche of language. In diaspora communities, the journey to maintaining cultural ties is narrow and arduous. Distanced by oceans and borders, immigrant communities – especially second and third-generation descendants – are prone to frayed ties to home. Commonly, the only window to their mother lands is static-filled Facetime videos and phone calls. By the third generation, most diaspora members have already lost their ethnic tongue – their cultural birthright and gift. However, exemplified by UNC’s “Journey into Asia,” UNC’s Asian groups are striving – and flawlessly succeeding – to provide a connection that transcends geography.

To balance rootedness and conduciveness, UNC’s cultural groups inject nuances of western culture into their performances, events, and celebrations. For example, “UNC Ek Taal does a great job creating a very diverse and unique community where they mix trendy pop songs with classical dance,” explains Shreya Selvavel, a dancer in UNC Ek Taal. “At our performances at Holi Moli and Sangam Night, we were better able to relate to students because we used songs like ‘Goosebumps’ and ‘Blinding Lights.’ But, we also could integrate classical Indian dance and our culture with it.” Yet, the mixing between Asian cultures and conduciveness comes with a risk: that diaspora members reduce their heritage cultures to become digestible to western audiences. For example, Smrithi Tirumalapudi, another UNC student, laments that “certain aspects of Indian culture are hyper-consumed by Americans, specifically in beauty and food. Changes in media are significantly different in the sense that chai, golden milk, or oil in your scalp are coming to the spotlight now in a way that is divorced from their ethnic roots.” Yet, UNC student groups, notably Ek Taal, avoid falling into this trap, explains Shreya. “UNC Ek Taal is very strict on their guidelines for adding pop culture,” she describes. “We keep it real. We make sure that it is purely classical. We have not tried to change the pure cultural aspect of it.” In general, she states that “there’s an honest effort to make sure that our cultures are getting across.” Indeed, to walk the balancing act, one must stay rooted and reject the notion that only western culture can garner mass appeal. 

Additionally, the growth of diaspora communities enriches local communities and precipitates cultural syncretism. Rejecting the common perception that immigrants must bow to assimilation and acculturation, the “selectivity and marginality [that they face] may have pushed and pulled those with ability into high-risk career paths that reward creative work.” Indeed, Shreya explains that “we are all immigrant families, so our stories are different from our parents. What we hear from our parents is what we carry down. The spread through generations is not true to what our parents have faced, but is still 100% positive.”  

With the United States predicted to become a minority-majority nation by 2045, immigration poses a vital question to the country: “What does it mean to be an American?” UNC’s student cultural groups gracefully answer this question: an American upholds their respective culture and stands their ground.