SAJA Convention: Chowk Insights

South Asian Journalist’s Association held its annual convention for 2004 at Columbia University, New York City from 17th to 20th June. It was a remarkably well-attended convention with over 1000 attendees, mostly from nearby areas and a few from across the US as well as other countries. The SAJA convention seems to be mainly designed to be a networking opportunity for known and aspiring journalists and writers. This year’s convention had events and workshops with seasoned journalists and published writers. (Fareed Zakaria: Editor Newsweek Int’l, Salman Rushdie, Padma Lakshmi, Tunku Vandaranjan: Features Editor Wall Street Journal, and many more).

Observations, both cruel and gentle:

1. It seems that the desi is coming of age. Every year the attendance at these conventions is increasing. Last year was 10% less than this year. Many attendees thought that South Asian culture has become a fashion trend within the fabric of all things American.

2. Whether the South Asian fashion trend is a stage towards assimilation or a permanent condition with political ramifications in USA remains a huge debate.

3. ‘South Asia’ is a very difficult term since it’s literal meaning doesn’t carry well to cultural facts. The SAJA convention proved the difficulty of the word. Because of the sheer numbers of Indian origin participants, one barely met people of any other origin. India is the biggest country in the region with the largest number of people in the US. Apart from the numbers game, history is witness to the lack of solidarity between the ‘South Asian’ countries. Will it happen now, now that we are all in the land of the free?

4. It can happen if people from these countries get chances to interact and share their identities. Chowk is an effort in that direction, with the ideal that all are welcome to read, write and think. Chowk provides an interactive format for all its content, simply because it is no longer enough to witness passively but a meaningful exchange is of vital importance.

5. An incredibly large number of attendees were women. I always wondered and the convention proves it, women read more than men.

6. Most of the attendees were from the East Coast.

7. Being a second-generation immigrant is a very tough place to be.

8. Being a first generation immigrant was an even tougher place to be.

9. Being a third generation immigrant would probably be a real anti-climax, but heck they will keep coming to the US of America.

10. Many of the attendees wanted a part time writing job. The writing marketplace is an increasingly difficult place to break into. From what I heard, the Wall Street Journal receives over 100 submissions per day (Chowk gets around 10 articles and essays on most days). Adding the other well-known names in the newspaper space in USA… probably a 1000 serious pieces of writing are submitted to the biggest papers in print every day.

11. Like all things except the market for fuel in USA, the US market for the printed word is a buyer’s market. The satiated buyer is reluctant to spend time reading anything, because of competition from visual media and the frenetic pace of life.

12. A number of new magazines, events, non-profit agencies, cultural centers and societies were being promoted at the event. All of these were targetted to the South Asian person. Is the ‘South Asian’ a demographic, a trend or a passing phase? Your guess.

13. Even the most reputable journals like the Wall Street Journal have to fight very hard to get read. Therefore articles by famous people and specialists get more copies sold, and articles by ordinary people with points of view are not so effective. (conclusion, if you are Bill Clinton, the world is at the edge of your pen). Though you might be tempted, don’t think about ramifications for the general dumbing down of media in USA. Future immigrants will continue to run America, so don’t worry.

14. In New York, do as the New Yorkers do. Look through people, pretend you are a celebrity, you may become one, and above all, never ever let anybody pass you, on the pavement, in conversation, or for a Taxi-cab.

15. Every second person I met knew about Chowk and I met quite a few. It was great fun to meet Chowk Interactors and learn how they view Chowk and what they want from it. The two things most people mentioned were that Chowk should also be in print and that it should be in local languages such as Urdu, Hindi and Bengali. There was overwhelming appreciation for Chowk’s non-commercial stance. It made the past seven years very much worth it. ‘What makes you work at Chowk’, people asked. I hadn’t antcipated how tough the question is face to face with someone you have never met before. The single word that came to mind was, ‘passion’ and they smiled. ‘Passion, yes, for a place where all are welcome to read, write and think. ‘

16. Padma Lakshmi is taller than Salman Rushdie. Go figure.

17. There is so much to be done in the, ‘South Asian’ space. Support for journalists in countries like Pakistan who are regularly picked up and beaten. Fund-raising for poverty stricken children in Calcutta, Bombay and Karachi. Opportunities for the youth of South Asia who are regularly fed into hate factories simply because there is nothing for them to do. The South Asian space in USA is a small beginning of the huge work left to be done, before this planet can claim tall ideals such as ‘democracy’, ‘human rights’ and ‘education for all’. The global world proves that it is about one world, not one region, one country or one sub-continent. We need to be ever more inclusive and ever more vigilant of forces that divide and separate us as humans, even as we seek to preserve and nurture our different ways of life.

18. pheww….make your own insight…:)


List of the most attended events:

1. Salman Rushdie and Padma Lakshmi’s talk
2. A Decade of Desi’s panel
3. Fareed Zakaria’s talk at the Asia Society.
4. Popular workshops were on freelancing, opinion writing, blogging and non-fiction writing.

Note: Details of events available at www.saja.org